In my last theory, I explained what my research led me to conclude about what Rose’s story mode told me about what G’s ultimate plan would be. She wanted to prevent him from ever getting the chance to unleash it by reaching into the past to save the future. However, I lamented that there wasn’t really a point in time she could return to, unless she was planning to stop Bison at the time he got his power. This would rely on a number of things, and would require G to have been present when Bison received his Psycho Power. Basically, a lot would have to happen, and it just wasn’t clear why Rose thought “returning to zero” was the only way to save the world and, potentially, the universe.
Then I had an epiphany. All of the things I have discussed regarding G and Q began to piece themselves together. The stories that remain in the background appear to be finally coming to light, and some of the things I’ve found in my research could very well have been in Capcom’s plans this entire time. Neither G nor Q were in the Alpha series, at least that we know of. It’s possible that one of the characters from the playable roster, like Nash, was turned into Q. However, if they did appear, they did not appear in the forms they’re in now. So what connection do G and Q have to the Alpha series? The same connection that every character has to the Alpha series: Shadaloo.
From all available research, neither G nor Q are directly tied to Shadaloo in any way; they are not creations of the organization, they have never worked for them, and characters like Cammy, F.A.N.G, Birdie, and Balrog seem to have no idea who G is and don’t even know Q exists. In other words, they’re completely clueless to G’s intentions because they have never seen him before. So the obvious question is, “How is G connected to Shadaloo?”
Well, it’s not so much about how as it is who. I’ve stated in the past there was one person who could be working for G that would be the missing link: someone who was a mercenary, who did it for their own reasons, who could conceivably work for two organizations at once.
It’s Vega.
In my Fallen Claw theory, I showed how my research led me to believe that Vega could be a double agent, and that the trench coat he wore in his Street Fighter V arcade ending was a clue to his duplicity. In other words, he was working for G and Shadaloo at the same time. What we don’t know is the timeframe of Vega’s deception. With Rose wanting to send a message back to the time of Alpha, we can conclude that Vega has been going behind Bison’s back from day one.
Rose’s explanation of her apocalyptic vision is vague. She describes it “as if a gigantic glacier fell into the ocean.” We can determine she likely sees a great flood happening, on the scale of the one in the Bible. However, she keeps mentioning Shadaloo over and over again, as if the organization, now defunct, was keeping the power of G at bay.
Does this mean that she’s going to send a message to her past self to let Shadaloo continue their operations in order to keep a greater threat from emerging? Well, no. Look at what Rose says as she sits in her bathtub:
The idea that Rose wants to “stop the seed of evil from ever taking root” is a good sign that Rose has no intention of allowing Bison to continue his plans. In fact, she still seeks to eliminate him outright. The only difference is that she’ll destroy him earlier in the timeline.
“Didn’t she already try that and fail?”, you ask. Yes, but this time, she would tell herself that the answer isn’t to attack and destroy Bison directly, but to attack and destroy the technology around him. It’s Shadaloo’s technology that is the key to ending both Bison and G.
What does this have to do with Vega? It should be obvious by now: Vega is selling Shadaloo’s technology to G.
The thing is that while Vega may be working for G, he may not completely understand exactly what it was he was giving away. This is telling, considering that the technology he gave away belongs to a project he personally oversaw.
Because of Vega, G owns the technology of the Shadaloo Dolls.
If Vega had any idea that the project he was working on was so valuable, he would have kept it for himself, if his prologue in Super Street Fighter IV was any indication.
Instead, his obsession over beauty blinded him to the fact that he gave G the single most powerful technology Shadaloo had.
The Shadaloo Dolls are the most important project Shadaloo has ever conducted because the Dolls harbor within their DNA the blueprints of the perfect super soldier. That’s why S.I.N. was so adamant on retrieving them in Super Street Fighter IV, and why Bison needed them in Street Fighter V.
That being said, there is one piece of technology in particular that G coveted, and one that has been used by him ever since he acquired it:
G wanted the mask that controlled Decapre. I’ve stated in another theory that Decapre’s mask was the source of her mind control. By acquiring the mask, he would have been able to go through his own plans more quickly. https://manestreetblog.com/2019/05/26/g-is-not-the-fool/
Now, there’s an argument to be made that Decapre’s mask may not be the same one as G’s considering that Decapre’s looks more like Vega’s and G’s mask looks more like a skull. That being said, this can easily be explained by the masks having the same technology, but merely having a different aesthetic – if G’s approach to appearance is any indication, he’d have a mask that would fit his more masculine style. G gaining ownership of the mask would also explain why Decapre’s mask changed between Alpha 3 and Ultra Street Fighter IV: with the first mask gone, she needed a new one.
If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you’d also know that I’ve stated G can already hypnotize people with his watch and control people with handshakes, making the mask seemingly redundant. However, there may be a reason for this: he can’t get to everyone by himself, and the process is painstakingly slow. So, why not go on to social media where he can not only absorb people’s energy through the Internet, but also be able to distribute the masks on a wider scale? In other words, he probably has his own Etsy shop (and if the name FooTube is any indication, it’s more than likely called Footsy).
Now that we can assume that Vega was selling Shadaloo technology to G, we can now understand that G was trying to create mind-controlled soldiers of his own. The cameramen in the Ring of Galaxy stage are proof of this, each wearing the same black mask. However, while these masks do a good job at mind control, they don’t really do anything else, which is why G, even after getting Decapre’s mask, had to do something to augment his Qs.
For whatever reason, it doesn’t look he was able to do it; if he did, the augmentation was incomplete because he wasn’t able to get everything that was required to create the equivalent of a Doll. It could have been that Bison was about to catch on and Vega had to stop, leaving G with mind-controlled servants and nothing more. He could certainly transfer his power to the Qs, as I’ve speculated before, but this could create a huge problem.
Let’s say one of the men in masks in the Ring of Galaxy stage was tasked with killing someone and reshaping the Earth by causing a natural disaster (which Qs are known to do). Say that G didn’t shake his hand or use his watch on him, and the mask is the sole way of mind control. G, being able to control the person in a hive mind-like way, gives the servant his powers temporarily. The person does their task and gets caught by… let’s go with Chun-Li. Chun-Li is able to stop the man and remove the mask from them, disconnecting them from G’s control. However, the man would still have G’s powers, and unless they would wear off on their own, G has no way of getting them back.
This would be an issue. Even if the powers were merely a copy of his own, they could still match up with his, and G would not want that. It would be way too much of a risk. That’s why he would need to get his hands on more technology and, if possible, perhaps even one of the Dolls to complete his plans.
The assault on Shadaloo’s base was the perfect situation. The right circumstances had come together for G to make his move. As it turns out, G would not only get the final piece needed to complete his own project, but he would get the one person who could help him utilize it to its full potential:
März, being the intelligence officer of the Dolls, would likely have the knowledge needed to make G’s project move forward. Her savviness with technology combined with the fact that, as a Doll, she would have all the information she would need to create a super soldier in her own body, makes März the best possible Doll for G to acquire. Since I’ve already stated that März was the creator of the familiar grey Q mask, the idea that there are servants of G walking around with different masks on isn’t out of the question, the grey one being the newest type. It also answers the question of, “Who was that guy on the boat in Ken’s Street Fighter II stage?” He was A Q, but not THAT Q.
Now that all of this has been explained, the final question can be asked: what does Rose want to do in the past to keep the world from ending? She wants to stop the Shadaloo Dolls from ever being created. By doing this, she not only stops G from getting his hands on Decapre’s mask and März herself, but she can also stop Shadaloo from going as far as they do. It would mean that the earth would be free from any sort of threat outside of Gill, but Rose seems to see Gill as far less of a threat than Bison or G. Her win quote to Gill is, “I can see time flow within you. The history of your society perhaps?”, which is an observation. Indeed, she not only knows of the Illuminati, but she doesn’t see them as a threat. To Kolin, she states, “I see you lying in the snow weeping… Nothing has changed since then.” To Urien, she says, “Your card, the King of Wands, is reversed. You undermine your own autonomy.” Basically, the Illuminati are around, but she thinks they’re of no real importance, unlike Bison and G.
If Rose does go back in time to stop the Shadaloo Dolls from being formed, however, there will be an unintended consequence that would change everything about Street Fighter: the erasure from the Street Fighter timeline of not only the Shadaloo Dolls, but of someone who is considered one of Street Fighter’s best and most iconic characters:
As Cammy (and by association, Decapre) owes her existence to being a former Doll and Bison’s clone, she would disappear completely thanks to Rose’s meddling with the past. All of the good she had done with Delta Red, her friendships with other Street Fighter characters, like Chun-Li, Ryu, Ken, Guile, and Sakura, and her entire history would be wiped from existence. But, of course, if it meant saving the world and her sisters, Cammy wouldn’t mind at all.
This leads us, as spectators and players, to ponder what would be the best thing to happen. If Rose succeeds, she saves the future, but she changes history. If Rose fails, the world faces certain destruction, but we keep the characters we know and love. So what will she do: destroy the past to save the future or destroy the future to preserve the past?”
That choice is up to Capcom.
Street Fighter Game Lore Theories 