He is born into the Rafale family, one of the wealthiest families in France. They are involved in the aircraft industry. But this business is just a front for their involvement in illegal arms contracts with terrorists. Lion has been practicing Tourou-ken under an instructor as part of management education since he was five. He resents his father's control over his life and during one of their arguments, his father proposed that Lion must win the World Fighting Tournament as a prerequisite to become free from him. Thus, Lion is participating in the tournament competition.(taken from US/European manual of Virtua Fighter 2)