Zangief is a powerhouse from the olden days of Communist Russia. As a Street Fighter, Zangief would often take to beating opponents in the ring for money to feed his family, and even wrestled bears, just for the fun and sheer thrill of it. His encounters with bears left him scarred for life in many areas, but Zangief thought nothing of it. For he cares for the thrill of the fight, and that is all. A great fan of wrestling, Zangief even improved upon the common "piledrivers" of professional wrestlers, and created his own variation...He also copied former wrestler Mike Haggar's famous "Spinning Clothesline," and one day hopes to face him in combat. However, unknown to Zangief, Mike Haggar returned the favor, stealing Zangief's patented "Spinning Piledriver" in return.

However, Zangief's happy life was short lived upon the collapse of the Soviet Union. He had to take odd jobs to feed his family, and found his way into the second Alpha tournament. He had heard of an organization called Shadowloo, and decided to try to get himself noticed so that he could get a job from them. Zangief's strategy did not work so well, however, as all traces of Shadowloo involvement in the tournament vanished with M. Bison's mysterious disappearance after his defeat by Rose and Chun Li. Zangief himself was beaten by Ken Masters, and so then returned home, with nothing save his pride. Zangief returned home empty-handed, but highly regarded by his people and his government, whom sympathized with his plight, and helped him support his family.

In the years between the second Alpha tournament, Zangief's hatred of the United States was fueled by his government. They took care of his family so when the time came, he would have to repay them. And so, Zangief was entered into the second Street Fighter tournament. He was in it for the prize money offered by M. Bison, but his government sent him into the tournament with one purpose, defeat Guile of the American forces and prove that American people were not worthy. It seemed simple enough, but Guile barely defeated Zangief and was himself injured. Dishonored, Zangief chose not to return home right away, and saw an injured Guile badly beaten by Sagat. He was also present when Ryu defeated Bison. In the aftermath of the tournament, Zangief found out that he had been set up to fight Guile in the tournament, and simply let it be. He then returned home to his family...