Fatal Fury/Characters

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The characters of Fatal Fury will be listed here.

Characters are listed by game of introduction.

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Characters introduced in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters

Terry Bogard

The main protagonist of the series who happens to be an expert street fighter. A young man who grew up in Southtown, he and his young brother Andy were adopted by Jeff Bogard, a rival martial arts student of Geese Howard. Out of spite and jealously, Geese had killed Jeff in front of him, and both Terry and Andy seek revenge against him. After countless battles and many struggles, Terry defeats Geese from within their last fight at the top of Geese's personal tower building (and tries to save Geese from falling off in the end, only to see that Geese had refused his help and allowed himself to fall to his own death and in due time, Terry adopts Geese's young son Rock to raise and ensure that he doesn't go down the same path as Geese himself.

• Animal Motifs: The wolf. His nickname is even "The Legendary Hungry Wolf", a play on the series' Japanese title (Garou Densetsu).
• Badass: Perhaps the most cheerful one you'll ever meet.
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Calling Your Attacks: Notable in that he nearly averted this in Garou. Instead of belting out "POWAH WAIF!", "BURNAKKU!" and "POWAH GEESAH!", he said stuff like "ROCK YOU!", "BURNING!" and "GO BANG!". Buster Wolf is the only exception.
• Cartwright Curse: In the anime. Oh so very much. Fortunately, not in the games since his girlfriend love interest there is an Action Girl. To be fair, the second anime special did subvert this as Terry kept things to a nice platonic level with Tony's Hot Mom Elsa. If only he remembered to do that in The Movie...
• Catch Phrase: "OK!"
• Char Clone: Based on Ken Masters, who happens to be a Char Clone, making him a Char Clone by proxy.
• Combat Pragmatist: While he gained some training from Tung Fu Rue, the bulk of his technique was self-taught from years of wandering the streets, getting into fights, and simply figuring out what worked and what didn't.
• Disappeared Dad: Jeff.
• Do-It-Yourself Theme Tune: Kazukiyo Nishikiori, Terry's seiyuu for the animated features, sings "Yoake no Legend" ("Legend of Dawn"), the ending theme of The Movie.
• Eagle Land: He tends to be a bit of a mix. On the one hand, he's boisterous, proud, and wears stereotypical American clothes. On the other hand, he's largely self-sufficient, at least partially self-taught, and is not only a good guy, but is considered one of the most important characters in the games.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: In Mark of the Wolves, he changes his clothes and cut his long hair.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Gratuitous English: One of the poster children. "OKAY!"
• Heartbroken Badass: The anime version of him. See Cartwright Curse above.
  • His Heart Will Go On: Twice, in fact. Poor guy. Just be thankful that Blue Mary wasn't introduced, or she too may have been subjugated to this.
• The Hero: Terry is credited for having repeatedly saved South Town by defeating Geese, Krauser, the Jin Twins and Kain respectively.
• Heroic BSOD: Suffers from one due to the death of Sulia in The Movie. He recovers quickly, just in time to curbstomp Mars, the God of War.
• I Don't Know Mortal Kombat: There's one official art that portrays him having a hard time playing Art of Fighting at an arcade (though, strange enough, he complains at the demonstration screen). The Movie has a very similar scene where he plays a fighting game in Neo-Geo Land, and loses, something that a little kid points out.
  • For bonus points, Art of Fighting 's John Crawley is playing Fatal Fury 2 next to Terry in said artwork.
• I Know Madden Kombat: The Power Dunk is a modified slam dunk.
• Ki Attacks: Nearly all of his attacks weaponize Ki, including both his signature specials: the Power Wave and his Burn Knuckle.
• Mascot: This guy is the face of SNK.
• Mr. Fanservice: Extremely popular among Gamer Chicks and gay/bi male gamers. One wonders the reasons why.
• Nice Hat: That falls off when defeated. He flings it off when he wins.
  • Tragic Keepsake: According to the intro of Wild Ambition as well as the first anime specials, the hat was a gift from his deceased adoptive father Jeff after he was killed by Geese. Terry later presents it to Rock, and the kid has cherished it ever since.
• Papa Wolf: What gets him outta his drunken funk in the second OVA is seeing Tony get pummeled by Axel Hawk.
• Parental Substitute: After he adopts Rock.
• Ship Tease: With Mary. Unfortunately, by the time of Mark of the Wolves, it seems that they're still Just Friends.
• Spirited Competitor
• Tears of Blood: In the movie, after Sulia's Heroic Sacrifice. Even better, they appear to be mixed with bluish ki. He quickly gets over his Heroic BSOD (to the point that he's shown to be visibly angry and bearing fangs). Oh, you've done it now...

Andy Bogard

The younger brother of Terry and a McNinja. He was taught a basic form of Shuranui ninjitsu by Mai's grandfather Hanzo. After hearing of his father Jeff's death at the hands of Geese Howard, he joins forces with Terry and Joe Higashi, and the three of them enter Geese's King of Fighters tournament. Although Andy fights Geese first, he loses badly, and Terry finishes the villain off... maybe. He's also the apple of Mai's eye, although he rejects her advances.

• Adaptation Dye Job: The first anime special gives him blue hair instead of blond.
• Bishonen: Especially in the anime.
• Celibate Hero: He knows Mai is crazy for him, but his overall behavior is more of a Big Brother Instinct.
  • Andy pretty much sees this as a Like Brother and Sister moment; having lived most of his life with Mai, he has a hard time adequately returning her affections. The status quo is kept in the second anime special (minus an epic asskicking of Laurence for harming her), but this is finally averted in The Movie, where they actually share a kiss after Andy trounces Hauer and Mai finishes Panni.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: He suffers an injury in 3 that continues to plague him throughout the Real Bout series, but it doesn't seem to hamper him in actual fights.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: He is shown training much more than Terry, but can't keep up with him.
• Ki Attacks
• McNinja: A highly visible one at that. Sure, white does work as camouflauge, but what need is there for stealth in a Fighting Game?
• The Rival: To Terry. He's not the only one, but Terry recognizes Andy as his most legitimate and fiercest rival.
  • In Hokutomaru's ending from Garou, Andy praises his disciple for his growth as a fighter, but then states that their relationship is no longer that of master and student, but that of two rivals.
• Ship Tease: With Mai in the anime. The games make it more one-sided.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Shadow Andy (his EX version from Real Bout Special) is this and a Dark-Skinned Blond.
• Will They or Won't They?: His Real Bout 2 ending pokes fun at this.

Joe Higashi

A Japanese man who is well versed in the fighting art of Muay Thai. He is the best friend and friendly rival of both Bogard brothers and helped them fight against Geese and his henchmen in the first game. After that, well...

• Anime Hair: Joe's hair is basically a bunch of spikes, which have steadily grown taller with each new game.
• Arrogant Muay Thai Guy
• Blow You Away: Uses wind-based projectiles.
• Boisterous Bruiser: While the Bogard brothers are typically reserved, Joe is the good-natured braggart of their group.
• Characterization Marches On: In the first two games, Joe was relatively laid-back and reserved. It wasn't until the anime specials (complete with Nobuyuki Hiyama's trademark fiery passion) that Joe evolved into the guy we know today. This characterization has stuck ever since 3.
• Demoted to Extra: Since the King of Fighters series started, he's gone further and further into the background.
• Hachimaki: With the Japanese flag on it.
• Hot-Blooded
• Large Ham
• Nobuyuki Hiyama: His seiyuu since Fatal Fury 3.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs/Spam Attack: Which perfectly describes Joe's TNT punch, though it lacks the vacuum effect of Ryo Sakazaki's "Zanretsuken".
• Walking Shirtless Scene

Duck King

A street breakdancer who appears in the first game as one of the competitors. In the second game, he opens a nightclub (alongside King), but still fights every now and then. Notable for keeping a duckling in his mohawk.

• Anime Hair: And it's Multicolored Hair, too!
• But Not Too Black: But it didn't become apparent 'til Real Bout.
• Cool Pet: P-Chan! We're talking about an adorable chick that copies Duck's every move. (Not that P-Chan...)
• Cool Shades: Duck is never seen without his trademark blue rayban sunglasses.
  • Sunglasses at Night
• Dance Battler: Uses breakdancing in battle.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Fun Personified: Duck isn't in it for the money, the King of Fighters Tournament simply gives him a venue to show off his dance moves and promote his club.
• Head Pet: His pet ducklings ride on his hair.
• Matt Hill: Dub voice for The Movie.
• Perpetual Smiler: The only time you'll see a frown on his face is when he loses. Though, in later games, he simply shrugs it off.
• Yuji Mitsuya: Seiyuu for The Movie.

Richard Meyer

A Brazilian Capoeira master who happens to be the owner of the Pao Pao Cafe, a popular Southtown drinking spot. He competed in the first King of Fighters tournament, but after losing in the competition, he had decided step into the background and focus more on his restaurant. Throughout the series, he can be seen running the Pao Pao Cafe in cutscenes (and in Bob's intro in the third game).

• The Cameo: Showed up as a playable character (for the first time ever) in The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2.
• Chef of Iron: He owns a cafe, and is often seen tending at a bar.
• Dance Battler: His fighting style is Capoeira. He was the first fighting game character to use it.
• Demoted to Extra: Keeps making cameos but never returns to the arena (except once, see above). At least once it's said that he realized he was outclassed in combat and decided to focus on his restaurant.
• Mentor: To Bob Wilson.
• Retired Badass: Passed the torch to Bob.

Michael Max

An African-American boxer who seeks to test his skills out against many opponents. He competed in the first game, but after losing from within the competition, had decided to retire from mainstream fighting, though he does help train Axel Hawk from time to time.

• Blow You Away: He also has the Hurricane Upper, though Max's version of it is faster and stronger than Joe's.
• Christianity: Shown when he does the Sign of the Cross after winning a round.
• Expy: Anyone else getting a Mike Tyson vibe?
• Extremity Extremist: He's a boxer.
• Mentors: To Axel Hawk.
• Put on a Bus: In favor of Axel Hawk.

Tung Fu Rue

The Chinese master of Hakkyokuseiken and mentor to both Terry and Andy. He, along with the trio of Terry, Andy and Joe, had participated in Geese's King of Fighters tournament, but doesn't win. Later on, he accepts the Jin brothers (Chonshu and Chonrei) as his new understudies.

• Badass Grandpa: You know damn well that age is clearly not slowing this guy down.
• Bald of Awesome
• Cloudcuckoolander: Due to hilarious Bowdlerization of his win quotes.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Senpu Ken and Senpu Gou Ken is him spinning himself around like a dervish.
• Old Master
• Schrodingers Cat: Died in the first anime special, but is still alive in the game series.
• Shout-Out: Has lots of things in common with Kame Sennin/Master Roshi from Dragon Ball, but his personality is different (especially in that he's not a pervert).
• Super Mode: In the first game only, right after losing 1/3 of his life and until losing another third, he would morph into a hulking giant much stronger than his regular self. In later games, his ability to become gigantic like this is used more freely.

Hwa Jai

An arrogant Muay Thai fighter and early rival of Joe, he becomes a more formidable fighter after getting a little tipsy. Eventually smooths out his rivalry with Joe, and the two are now good friends.

• Arrogant Muay Thai Guy
• Blow You Away
• Defeat Means Friendship: After years of antagonism, he finally buried the hatchet with Joe. However, he hasn't given up on trying to defeat him. The difference being that now he's motivated by sportsmanship.
• Demoted to Extra: Makes cameos around Joe, but never gets to fight again until his ascension to The King of Fighters XIII.
• Drunken Master
• Super Mode
• "Wake-Up Call" Boss

Raiden/Big Bear

A pro wrestler that has two personas, representing good and bad. When being villainous, he takes on the name "Raiden" and wears a mask. When portraying a more righteous character, he does not wear the mask and goes by the name "Big Bear". Works under Geese during the original Fatal Fury, but breaks away once Geese is defeated by Terry.

• Ascended Extra: After an unexpected appearance in Capcom vs. SNK 2 Mark of the Millennium, Raiden crossed over to King of Fighters in The King of Fighters XII (originally, he was to appear in '94, but the original idea for the England Team was axed; in 2003, the dev team thought Tizoc would be a better and more popular choice).
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Breath Weapon/Fire-Breathing Diner: His original desperation move was a fire breath attack.
• Cool Mask
• Expy: Of Zangief.
• Face Heel Turn/Heel Face Turn: According to his backstory, he became Raiden after his tag-team partner betrayed him in the ring. He then went to work for Geese as an enforcer. After being bested by Terry and co., Raiden had a change of heart and reverted to his honorable, kindly Big Bear persona.
  • Face Heel Revolving Door: Although as of late, this is just his wrestling gimmick. In real life, he'd be a Face.
• Fat Bastard: Mainly as Raiden.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Land Down Under: His character bio says he's from Australia, but missing the accent.
• Mighty Glacier
• Surprisingly Good English: Had an actual English VA.

Billy Kane

Geese Howard's British right-hand man. He wields a staff that freely separates into multiple chained sections, and which he can light on fire. His devotion to Geese is total, and if you want to get to Geese, you have to go through Billy. Only his sister is closer to him.

• Big Brother Instinct: To his sister Lilly. Needless to say, he does not approve of Joe and Lilly dating.
• Blond Guys Are Evil: Well, not so much "Evil Brit" as morally ambiguous.
• Daiki Nakamura: Seiyuu for the first anime special.
• The Dragon: To Geese.
  • Dragon Their Feet: Implied in the cellphone novel Stray Dog, Stray Wolf.
• Gratuitous English/Surprisingly Good English: Depends.
• Heel Face Turn: EX Billy does this in Real Bout Special realizing that without anyone to care for him, he should start clean and change his ways. He even tints his bandana and cane pink. Sadly, many are freaked out by the redeemed and gentle Billy. Mai shoots down the guy's advances without hesitation, although Billy should have been expecting that...
• Morality Pet: Lilly, too.
• Nice Bandanna
• No Smoking: His one pet peeve. He wears the sign on the back of his jacket and will knock the block off of anyone who blows smoke in his face. The only exception to this rule would seem to be Geese.
• Paul Dobson: Dub voice for the animated adaptations.
• Playing with Fire: All of his DM and HDM techs ignite his staff to deal insane amounts of damage. In certain installments, several of his standard specials also set his opponent ablaze when they connect.
  • Ring of Fire: His max technique.
• Punny Name: Subverted. His last name isn't pronounced "cane" (like the weapon he uses), but "kon" or "kaan".
  • ...but the fact he is English probably means that it should be pronounced "Cane".
• Shirtless Scene: Somewhat. He wears a jacket, but no shirt underneath.
• Shout-Out: His original appearance was similar to former British pro-wrestler Dynamite Kid. His redesign in the Real Bout series has Billy looking like Axl Rose (only without long hair).
• Simple Staff
• Super Strength: Relatively speaking, it would take a great deal of might to properly utilize a three-section staff held together by chains with great tensile strength.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Aside from his bandanna, he wore a Union Jack shirt in 2/Special.
• The Worf Effect: He gets his ass kicked a lot by up-and-coming villains.

Geese Howard

The Big Bad. Formerly the Chief of Police for Southtown (as seen in Art of Fighting 2), he stepped down from that role when he decided crime was more profitable. He killed Jeff Bogard when Tung Fu Rue chose Jeff to inherit his secrets, and has a vendetta against Bogard's sons as well. Waterfowl names were never so scary before.

• Authority Equals Asskicking: He's the head of the Howard Connection for a reason: because he has extensive underworld connections and influence among South Town's top politicians and law enforcement. And he's capable of channel vast amounts of Ki to supplement his mastery of both Hyakyoku Seiken and Kubojutsu.
  • Asskicking Equals Authority: It's how he made it to the top of Southtown in the first place.
• Badass
• Battle Aura: As Nightmare Geese.
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Disney Villain Death: The first time he's knocked off of Geese Tower by Terry, he gets better. The second? Er, not so much.
• Embarrassing First Name: And he'll still kick your ass.
• Evil Laugh: And he goes plum crazy when you beat him as Nightmare Geese in Real Bout Special.
• Executive Suite Fight: Prefers to fight in his office.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a nasty scar on his back from the survival of his first fall. He also has a gaping slash mark going across his chest, believed to have been inflicted by Krauser when Geese had attempted to kill their father.
• Go Out with a Smile: Maniacal grin, actually: Geese sees his death as the last slap in Terry's face, and he lets it show as he falls.
• Hidekatsu Shibata: Seiyuu in the anime special and The Movie.
• Immortality: Speculation rages over whether Geese received immortality from the Jin scrolls.
• Ki Attacks
• Leitmotif/Bootstrapped Theme: Geese Howard's theme, from game to game. So far, he's had a kiss, soy sauce, a stiff neck, a nightmare and now mustard.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Is a Corrupt Corporate Executive with shades of Wicked Cultured. Need I go on?
• Normally I Would Be Dead Now: Survived two falls from his tower before the third one that stuck. Or did it?
• Occidental Otaku: It's heavily implied in almost all his stages and the way he dresses (with the only exception of Art of Fighting 2 when he fights in a executive dress, and in his office) that Geese seems to love Japanese culture maybe too much. In fact, in Art of Fighting 2, he escapes to Japan after he's defeated.
• Parental Abandonment: Rock loathes the man not only for abandoning him and his wife Marie, but for turning down his pleas to save his mom the very night that she died. Ironically, Geese hates his father for leaving him and his mother Maria to fend for themselves in Southtown while he went on to become the head of the Strolheim family. Geese even tried to kill his dad, but half-bro Krauser stopped him.
• Say My Name: Gets this a lot from the Bogard Bros. Luckily, Rock and Kain don't get a chance to join in.
• Schrodingers Cat: He's dead here, alive in The King of Fighters, and dead again in The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact.
• Shirtless Scene: From 3 onwards, Geese never wore the top of his dogi, arguably thrusting him into the land of Walking Shirtless Scene.
• Shock and Awe: His Raimei Gouha Nage special throw and his Thunder Break super.
• SNK Boss: Trope Namer and one of the two main Trope Codifiers.
• The Syndicate: Howard Connection is this, although Geese fools the people by using his seemingly benevolent actions and the police force as a front.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Rare steak.
• Wearing A Flag On Your Back: For his first appearance only, the American flag was plastered onto the back of Geese's dogi.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: The fight against Nightmare Geese is heavily implied to be one big nightmare. That doesn't stop him from being a nightmare of the other variety though.

Characters introduced in Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury Special

Mai Shiranui

A beautiful kunoichi from Japan. Her grandfather trained Andy, and she herself has a bit of a crush on the man herself. Best known for her outfit (or lack thereof). Her main mode of attack are folding fans she carries.

• Action Girl <- -> Faux Action Girl: Really depends on which media we're talking about. She's more competent in the games, whereas in the anime, she suffers a bad case of Chickification. (Except for her fight with Panni, where Mai brutally curbstomps and kills her with a single but very well-timed and placed Chou Hisatsu Shinobibachi. About time, dammit)
• Adaptation Dye Job: Has brown or black hair in the games; red in the anime.
  • Her hair in her Real Bout Special ending is purple.
• All Love Is Unrequited: While Andy does kiss her in the movie, no in-game event yet shows him unambiguously returning her feelings in the same degree as hers.
• Ass Kicks You: Her Wild Cherry attack.
• Clothing Damage: A bit in the second anime special, much more in The Movie.
• Cool Big Sis: To Hokutomaru, apparently (he refers to her as "Mai-neechan" a.k.a. "sister Mai"). She also plays this role to Sulia in The Movie.
• Dogged Nice Girl: To Andy, natch.
• Fiery Redhead: Her personality fits perfectly, but she only has red hair in the anime.
• Flanderization: She wasn't as obsessed with Andy in the early games as she was in later installments.
  • Word of God even jokes about this, as they say that as of Garou, she's probably still looking for Andy.
• Foot Focus: Mai goes barefoot in Fatal Fury 3.
• Gainaxing/Jiggle Physics: She was probably the first video game character to ever do it.
• Hammerspace: Where she keeps all of her fans.
  • Seems to overlap with Victoria's Secret Compartment.
• Hello, Nurse!: Gets reactions from several male characters, especially in Fatal Fury 3.
• Highly-Visible Ninja
• Kotono Mitsuishi: Her seiyuu in the anime specials.
• Lady in Red
• Lisa Ann Beley: Dub voice for The Movie, taking over from Sarah Sawatsky in the second anime special.
• Ms. Fanservice: To Flanderization levels.
• Ninja
• Nipple-and-Dimed: Averted in the anime movie. For you pervs, there are brief nip-slips that can be seen if one looks hard enough, as many have pointed out.
• Paper Fan of Doom
• Playing with Fire
• Plucky Girl: Always cheerful and stubborn in the face of danger, loneliness, etc.
• She Fu
• She's Got Legs
• Sideboob: In her later incarnations.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Guess who!
• Stripperiffic: Since the very start, but the anime exaggerated it much further, and the spinoff games also ran with it.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Mai is supposed to be one (or at least believes to be), and to her credit, she tries hard. One of the official arts has her wearing a kimono while apparently hosting a tea ceremony for Terry and Andy, and this is invoked again in The King Of Fighters: KYO during one of Kyo and Yuki's dates.

Kim Kaphwan

A Korean Taekwondo expert and champion of justice! He's also a pretty good father, and his sons are his foremost students.

• Animal Motifs: The Phoenix. In the Real Bout series, Kim can even inexplicably summon one at the end of his Hou'ou Kyaku.
• Badass: And a Badass Normal at that, considering that he has no abilities other than his insane adeptness when it comes to Taekwondo, and yet can still match people like Terry and Geese in combat.
• Daiki Nakamura: Seiyuu in the anime specials and in The Movie.
• David Kaye: Dub voice for the above.
• Detect Evil
• Extremity Extremist: Only has one punch.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Flanderization: His love of JUSTICE!
• Hair Flip: His sprite for the Real Bout series has Kim doing this.
• Hot-Blooded
• Hot Dad
• Kiai: Whenever he starts whipping out his specials, expect the sound barrier to be utterly broken.

Kim: "Hou'ou Kyaku! ATATATATATATATAAAAA!! WATAAAAAA!!!"

• Love Freak
• Martial Pacifist: Although he occasionally shows flashes of being a Technical Pacifist when confronting villains.
• Shout-Out: The aforementioned Kiai? Kenshiro did it first.
• Team Dad: To his entire Taekwondo school.
• This Is Unforgivable!: "Aku wa yurusan!" Usually coupled with a Glowing Eyes of Doom Death Glare.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Averted and then sent on a one-way trip to space. Myeng Swuk is a looker, but so is he!
• Vocal Evolution: In his debut, Kim was given a rather youthful voice. Around Special, Hashimoto switched to a much deeper tone.
• Wearing A Flag On Your Back: The Korean flag.

Jubei Yamada

An ancient judo master and longtime friend of Mai's father who pervs out on Mai constantly.

• Dirty Old Man: Entered the King of Fighters tournament to get noticed by girls. While he molests and spies on Mai, most of the time girls seem to have no trouble hanging around him.
• Improbable Weapon User: Throws rice crackers at you. And they hurt.
• Jouji Yanami: Seiyuu in the anime.
• Old Master: When he's not peeping on Mai, he gives out useful info to the heroes
• Put on a Bus: But kept making cameos around Mai.

Cheng Sinzan

A Hong Kong Chinese Tai Chi expert who's strong power is as big as his own greed. Seeks to make himself even more rich from within his participation in the King of Fighters tournament.

• Acrofatic: And how.
• All Asians Know Martial Arts
• Art Evolution: His sprite looked different in Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury Special; latter games made him look a lot more like in the official art.
• Balloon Belly: That is used to attack.
• Chafurin: Seiyuu in the anime.
• Ki Attacks
• Nerd Glasses: Which evolve into Cool Shades.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Sometimes his name is given in-game as "Chin".
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: AND HOW!

Axel Hawk

A cruel, abrasive, rotund pro boxer with a mean streak a mile wide and a soft spot for his mother that's even bigger.

• Artistic License Martial Arts: Just look at his stance. No matter how Badass you may think you are, boxing just isn't meant to be fighting with your arms down and your guard wide open!
• Blow You Away
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas
• Expy: Possibly, of George Foreman.
• Extremity Extremist
• Jerkass
• Long Bus Trip
• SNK Boss
• Stout Strength

Laurence Blood

A prissy, aristocratic Spanish matador who serves as Wolfgang Krauser's perennial right hand man.

• Beard of Evil: Sports the exact same style as Mirror Spock, in fact.
• The Dragon
• Everything's Better with Spinning: One of his specials is essentially the Psycho Crusher.
• Koji Totani: Seiyuu for the anime.
• Noble Demon
• SNK Boss
• Something About a Rose

Wolfgang Krauser

The well-known and respected Earl of Stolheim in Germany who happens to be the half-brother of Geese Howard. A cultured gentleman outside of the ring, he shows no compunction in a fight and will always commit the full extent of his ability in any battle.

• Anti-Villain: Type I.
• Badass Mustache
• Blood Knight
• Blow You Away: Gigatech Cyclone.
• Bullet-Proof Fashion Plate: Used as a visual cue in the second anime special; whereas Geese has visibly aged and has been scarred, Krauser has retained his youthful looks, showing who is the better and more fearsome fighter of the two.
• Clothing Damage: Self-inflicted, no less! Poked at with his Real Bout 2 ending, where his butlers become more and more PO'ed at having to refit Krauser's armor just for him to break out of it. Eventually, they uppercut him into the stratosphere.
• Driven to Suicide: According to Memories of Stray Wolves, Krauser committed suicide sometime after his loss at the hands of Terry.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: His head has a "X" going across it, but Krauser is not a hero.
• Hirotaka Suzuoki: Seiyuu in the anime special.
• Lightning Bruiser
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Apparently, Geese is his half-brother.
• Noble Demon: To a degree. He's not evil per se, just a major Combat Pragmatist who doesn't have any mercy on his opponents, yet is more or less pleasant while not fighting.
• Paul Dobson: Dub voice in the anime special. And he actually makes Krauser sound German.
• Playing with Fire: Blitz Ball (no, not that Blitzball), anyone?
• Public Domain Soundtrack: "Dies Irae" in Fatal Fury 2 and Special. "Lacrimosa" in the Real Bout series.
• Ret Canon: Originally, Krauser was simply a rival crimelord whom Geese was afraid to take on. The anime specials established Krauser and Geese's relationship as that of half-brothers, and SNK went with this scenario for the games from Fatal Fury Special and onward.
• Self-Made Orphan: Killed his father to become the Earl of Strolheim. Subverted in that he didn't hate Krauser Sr., he just did it because he had to.
• Shirtless Scene: When he breaks out of that armor, that is.
• Shout-Out: His name, taken from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and one of the ring names from former pro-wrestler Karl Istaz.
• SNK Boss
• Spirited Competitor
• Surprisingly Good English: It does help that his VA, B.J. Love, is a native speaker of English.
• Wrestler in All of Us
• You Gotta Have Purple Hair

Ryo Sakazaki/Mr. Karate

Guest Fighter from the Art of Fighting series, where he serves as the protagonist and main character. The son of Takuma Sakazaki, older brother of Yuri Sakazaki, and best friend/rival of Robert Garcia. Practices Kyokugenryu karate, which was created by his father. Originally appeared in Fatal Fury Special as a hidden boss character. Canonically, he is considerably older than the main cast of Fatal Fury, which is reflected in his second appearance during Wild Ambition (where he uses the moniker "Mr. Karate II", which is taken from his father's on-again, off-again persona).

• Animal Motifs: The dragon. Goes by the nickname of "The Invincible Dragon".
• Badass Beard/Perma-Stubble: In Wild Ambition. It is glorious.
• Bonus Boss: Of Fatal Fury Special (this was the first step towards what would end being The King of Fighters franchise) and Wild Ambition (as Mr. Karate (II) - home version only).
• But Not Too Foreign: His dad is Japanese, his mom is American.
• The Cameo: As said above, his inclusion in Special came out of nowhere.
• Eighties Hair: Luckily, Special and Art of Fighting 2 are the final games in which Ryo still has a mullet.
• Hair Color Dissonance: Is supposed to be blond, but appears to have a bit of an orange hue in this game.
• Ki Attacks
• Shotoclone: Well, duh...

Characters introduced in Fatal Fury 3

"Blue" Mary Ryan

A Southtown freelance agent who takes up any case that comes her way. Had a boyfriend named Butch who was killed on duty when working as a Secret Service agent. Practices Combat Sambo in her spare time and has a dog named Anton.

• Action Girl
• Amazonian Beauty: Has very well-defined and muscular abs and arms.
• Bare Your Midriff
• Biker Babe
• Bob Haircut
• Canine Companion: Her pet dog Antonio (or Anton for short). Tends to pop up in several of Mary's poses.
• Expy: Clearly modeled after Android 18. Word of God confirms.
• Face Heel Turn: Not canonically, but her EX version from Real Bout Special depicts what would happen if Mary ever went bad and became a sexbomb sadist. She clearly is a Mix and Match of Dark Action Girl and Femme Fatale/The Vamp/The Baroness. EX Blue Mary even wears a red jacket and a black bra. Her ending shows her desire to make Terry into her "pet". When Joe volunteers to also be her pet (and who could blame him?), she retorts that he already is one.
• Femme Fatale: Subverted. She appears to be one at first, but it turns out that she's actually a kind-hearted Action Girl.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Forehead of Doom: Particularly in her first appearance; since then, it's been toned down.
• Foreign Fanservice
• Gainaxing/Jiggle Physics: Funnily enough, all that she's wearing is a bra.
• Getting Crap Past the Radar: The water-induced nip-slip ringout from Real Bout.
• Hot Amazon
• Murderous Thighs
• Ship Tease: With Terry. Unfortunately, by the time of Mark of the Wolves, it seems that they're still Just Friends.
• Shock and Awe: Gained an electric attack in the first Real Bout game, but it's rarely seen in other games.
  • It's a Static Stun Gun, by the way.
• Too Many Belts: Only one too many, but is clearly just decorative.
• Tragic Keepsake: Her jacket was a present from her dead lover Butch.

Bob Wilson

A Capoeira student of Richard Meyer. Works at the Pao Pao Cafe with Richard and trains in Capoeria from within his spare time. Also manages the second branch of the Pao Pao Cafe.

• Blow You Away
• Dance Battler
• Keet: Slightly.

Franco Bash

An Italian-American kickboxer whose tough strength is matched by his own big heart. Now works as an airplane mechanic in Southtown. His son was kidnapped by Yamazaki, which draws him into the never-ending conflict from within Southtown itself.

• Badass Mustache
• Big OMG: His Death Cry Echo.
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Forced Into Evil: In his first appearance, as Yamakazi blackmailed him to work as Yamazaki's henchman if he wanted his son back.
• Large Ham: Bash-O-Rama, folks.
• Lightning Bruiser
• Papa Wolf
• Say His Name: "JUNIOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!!"
• Surprisingly Good English: Again, his VA is a native speaker of English.

Hon Fu

An eccentric police officer from Hong Kong who seems to be much of a klutz when it comes to his job. His pursuit of Yamazaki had brought him to Southtown. Can never seem to catch his prey. Wields a pair of nunchaku which he can also set ablaze.

• Arch Enemy: To Yamazaki. This carries onto the Capcom vs. SNK series, where Hon Fu joins up with Chun-Li to bust Yamazaki and cameos in her intro pose with Yamazaki in Capcom vs. SNK 1 and Capcom vs. SNK 2.
• Bruce Lee Clone: Subverted. He has the nunchaku and trademark high-pitched Kiai, but he takes more pages from Jackie Chan.
• Expy: Of Jackie Chan.
• Justice Will Prevail: He's a Supercop. Besides helping to introduce Kim to his wife Myeng Swuk, the two are good friends due to their shared interest in upholding justice. Oddly enough, Hon Fu isn't nearly as justice-obsessed as Kim is.
• Playing with Fire
• Toshiyuki Morikawa: His seiyuu. MAJOR Playing Against Type, if you remember what kind of roles Morikawa plays.
• The Worf Effect: In-story, when you go fight Yamazaki with Kim in Fatal Fury 3, he has already curb-stomped Hon Fu.

Sokaku Mochizuki

A monk of a Buddhist order that has a steep rivalry with the Shiranui clan (the clan Mai belongs to and that Andy trained under). Wields a staff that he can magically control. He had arrived in Southtown to destroy the Jin scrolls, which he perceives as a great evil.

• Kouji Ishii: His seiyuu.
• Religious Bruiser
• Shock and Awe
• Simple Staff
• The Stoic
• Summon Magic

Ryuji Yamazaki

A murderous lunatic, hired by the Jin brothers to look for the Jin Scrolls while serving as their menacing bodyguard. This turns out to be a very, very bad mistake. He has a knife and knows how to use it. The King of Fighters '97 reveals that he possesses the blood of the Orochi, which explains a lot.

• Animal Motifs: The snake.
• Ax Crazy: The Ur Example.
• Bloody Murder: His secret 5th level of his Drill super has Yamazaki spray his opponents with his blood.
• Catch and Return: One of his specials consists of grabbing an energy attack and then nonchalantly flinging it back at the opponent.
• Chekhov's Gunman: His status as one of the Orochi Hakkesshu didn't come into perspective until his Crossover into King of Fighters and is a partial explanation for his insanity.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Aside from the above, his drama CD reveals that Yamazaki lived a happy life as a mobster until his boss was killed, prompting Yamazaki to snap and become the psycho we know, love and fear.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Flanderization: Believe it or not, there was a time when (as early as his first appearance in Fatal Fury 3, in fact) while we won't say he was wholly sane, he had a lot less screws loose, his in-game mannerisms then being a good deal more calmer, with the occasional Maniacal Laugh (hell, in Fatal Fury 3 and Real Bout Fatal Fury, it used to be a darkly sly little chuckle), to the point where his psychopathy would be considered more an Informed Flaw. Later games (King of Fighters series notwithstanding) put the psychopathy front and center, making Yamazaki into the nutter we all know and love, which puts into perspective how Tropes Are Not Bad.
• Fur and Loathing: Just look at that pimp coat.
• Knife Nut
• Kouji Ishii: His seiyuu.
• Maniacal Laugh
• Multicolored Hair
• Played for Laughs: His Snake Arm move is seen as a high-speed bitch slap.
• Psycho for Hire
• Rubber Man
• Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty: He's a Combat Pragmatist turned Up to Eleven. He kicks sand in his opponents' eyes and stomps on their crotches... repeatedly.
  • Point in case: Drill. Brutal with a capital, italicized, and bolded B.
• With My Hands Tied: Always keeps one hand his pockets... unless he's stabbing you to death with his knife.

Jin Chonshu

One half of the Jin brothers who had hired Yamazaki in order to search for the Jin scrolls, a powerful tome that is part of their ancestry. Said to be very stubborn and headstrong, with an inability to understand defeat.

• Chinese People
• Demonic Possession: He and Chonrei are possessed by the spirits of their 2,200-year-old ancestors.
• Final Boss
• Guyliner: Appears to be wearing it.
• Harmful to Minors: His backstory.
• Kappei Yamaguchi: His seiyuu.
• Twin Telepathy

Jin Chonrei

Chonshu's brother and the ultimate opponent of Fatal Fury 3. Protector of his brother to a near-fanatical degree. Following Fatal Fury 3, supposedly both brothers mellow out and enter Tung Fu Rue's tutelage.

• Anime Hair: And it's blue with yellow streaks!
• Anti-Villain: Type IV.
• Big Brother Instinct: Doubles as a Berserk Button and crosses into Knight Templar Big Brother territory; the guy will snap if you defeat Chonshu, but not before calling you "mousse-head".
• Chinese People
• Demonic Possession: Same as Chonshu.
• Harmful to Minors: His backstory.
• Kappei Yamaguchi: Talking to Himself.
• True Final Boss
• Twin Telepathy

Characters introduced in Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind

Alfred

A young British man whose passion is flying. Became the main protagonist in Dominated Mind to defend his village and to get revenge against White for killing his grandfather.

• Bonus Boss
• Early-Bird Cameo/Marth Debuted in Smash Bros: Although he was created to be the protagonist of Dominated Mind, Alfred's first appearance was in Real Bout 2, a game released months before his proper debut. Since Dominated Mind was never released outside Japan, most people overseas know him for being a bonus boss in Real Bout 2.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Fun Personified
• Goggles Do Nothing: Subverted. Makes use of them when flying a plane like in the Dominated Mind intro. Also uses during certain moves.
• The Hero: Of Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind.
• Hiro Yuki: His seiyuu.
• Not Quite Flight: Can glide, but it's unknown if he has any degree of aerokinesis.
• Only One Name: Some fansites list his full name as "Alfred Airhawk". That is a purely fan-made full name.
• Scarf of Asskicking
• SNK Boss: Can't utilize the line system like everyone else or use chain combos, but his attacks do double damage, he has a command throw that can be used on block, and his super take off insane chunks from your lifebar. See here for an example.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Apples!

White

A dangerous British drug lord who has more than a few screws loose in his head. Wields a staff and has powers of mind control. Loathes society and desires to remake it in an image he sees fit.

• Arms Dealer: Mentioned as being one in his profile, though it never seems to figure into the story.
• Ax Crazy: Probably the only character to outdo Yamazaki in this department. Now that says something.
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Brainwashing: White's preferred method of dealing with rivals.
• But for Me It Was Tuesday: White with Alfred's village.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Shows up in Yamazaki and Hon-Fu's endings in Real Bout 2.
• Eviler Than Thou: Enthralls Billy Kane, Geese's former Dragon, to his will.
• Evil Eye: Wields a rod with an eyeball atop it, which figures largely in most of his attacks.
• Expy: White is a Shout-Out to Alex from A Clockwork Orange.
• Facial Markings: Which look like eyeliner.
• Keiji Fujiwara: His seiyuu, in a grand case of Playing Against Type.
  • WHITE, MIGHTY IS HE!
• Lack of Empathy: Described in his profile as a "demented psycho who finds pleasure in making people suffer."
• Maniacal Laugh
• Monster Clown
• Only One Name: Presumably as another parallel to Alex.
• People Puppets
• Psychic Powers: Mind control and precognition, mainly. He's also got some illusion-generating abilities, which hints at telepathy.
• Psychopathic Manchild
• Red Eyes, Take Warning
• SNK Boss: Can't jump, duck, dash or block, but has high priority over everything.
• Taking You with Me: After being beaten, White fires a desperation attack that kills your character instantly if it connects unless your character blocks low or jumps over it. But afterward, you have a couple of seconds to make him pay dearly for cheating against you.
• Villain From Nowhere: White appeared in one game with little storyline justification and hasn't been seen since.

Characters introduced in Real Bout Fatal Fury 2

Li Xiangfei

A Chinese-American girl from the Chinatown district of Southtown, part-time waitress and full-time face-stuffer. She knows Kung Fu.

• Alternate Company Equivalent: Of Chun-Li... except not.
• Anime Chinese Girl:
  • But Not Too Foreign: Although she is of Chinese ancestry, Xiangfei was born and raised in Southtown, effectively making her Chinese-American.
• Big Eater: If anything defines her, it's this.
• Cute Bruiser: Emphasis on "bruiser". And on "cute".
• Forehead of Doom
• Genki Girl
• Ki Attacks
• Mami Kingetsu: Her seiyuu.
• Spam Attack: One of supers deals 100 hits.

Rick Strowd

A Native American boxer who works prize fights at a casino. Believing he has a higher calling as a fighter than simply acting as a showpiece, he decides to enter a street fighting tournament.

• Blow You Away
• Dark-Skinned Blond
• Demoted to Extra: Notice how much emphasis is put on him and Xiangfei for this game. Rick was considered for the lineup of The King of Fighters '99, but was ultimately passed over in favor of Xiangfei. Sadly, it seems that Rick might never make it into King of Fighters, especially with Vanessa "borrowing" his moves.
• Extremity Extremist
• Fingerless Gloves
• Magical Native American:
  • But Not Too Foreign: His dad is a Native American, but his mom is Caucasian.
• Multicolored Hair: White-Haired Pretty Boy and black/blue.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs
• Walking Shirtless Scene

Characters introduced in Fatal Fury: First Contact

Lao

A strong, yet sluggish man who isn't exactly the sharpest knife when it comes to thinking.

• Ascended Extra: Only for this game. Makes a cameo latter as one of the Lillien Knights under B. Jenet's service.
• Shout-Out: His father, mother and sister are respectively named Darren, Samantha and Tabitha, and his dog is named Lassie. Somebody at SNK must have been a big fan of 1960's Hollywood sitcoms.

Characters introduced in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition

Touji Sakata

An elder Aikido expert who seeks to settle an old score with Geese.

• Badass Grandpa
• Good Scars, Evil Scars
• Nice Hat

Tsugumi Sendo

A young female wrestler who wants to prove herself in being a strong and tough fighter.

• Cute Bruiser
• Cute but Cacophonic
• Fingerless Gloves
• Genki Girl
• Spirited Competitor: Even moreso than Terry.

Characters introduced in Garou: Mark of the Wolves

Rock Howard

Son of Geese and adopted by Terry. Has a grudge against his father for abandoning him and his mother which caused her death though Kain says otherwise. Although his fighting skills were taught by Terry, he somehow acquired some of Geese's attacks as well. He entered the tournament to find information about his mother.

• Angst: Or Wangst.
• Disappeared Dad: We're still not sure whether Geese actually died or if it was just a case of Never Found the Body.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Rock is the kid who shows up in Terry's endings in 3 and throughout the Real Bout series.
• Eiji Takemoto: His seiyuu's first famous role.
  • OBJECTION!!!
• Emo: Commonly misconstrued to be one. K', a character similar to Rock who debuted around the same time, is also seen as one by proxy.
• Face Heel Turn: Approved by The Hero, even. Rock ends up joining Kain and becoming his Dragon, but in order to find out about his Missing Mom. Terry told him to just forge his own path.
  • Forced Into Evil: However, he's not exactly thrilled and apologized to Terry as he left.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Generation Xerox: Tries to avoid this, but...
  • A lighter example comes from the fact that Rock is childhood buddies with Jae and Dong. In a sense, this descends from Terry and Kim's own friendly rivalry.
• Hair Color Dissonance: While it was rectified in later Crossover appearances, Rock's hair has a noticeable green tint in Garou.
• The Hero: Of Garou, arguably.
• Heroic BSOD: A somewhat milder example: if Rock wins a match using his Neo Raging Storm or Neo Deadly Rave (moves he "inherited" from Geese), he'll slump down to the floor in pain, agonizingly and momentarily unable to control his Blood Rage.
• In the Blood
• Ki Attacks
• No Social Skills: Rock can function normally in society, but since he grew up surrounded mainly by men, he's flustered by women, hence his shy reaction to B. Jenet (whom he suggests to get less revealing clothes). However, this doesn't stop him from helping those in need (as seen in his interactions with Hotaru).
• Oedipus Complex: Rock is pretty much defined by his hate of his Disappeared Dad Geese Howard.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Subverted and later played straight in his ending.

Bonne Jenet

A rich aristocrat who fled from her parents to become a captain of a crew of modern-day pirates out of sheer boredom. Became interested when she found out that the sponsor of the tournament was quite wealthy. Quite the Attention Whore (when she runs, she waves).

• Blow You Away
• Combat Stilettos: Which she whacks you with.
• Cool Boat: Which is capable of turning into a submarine.
• Femme Fatale: Although in no way is she evil, Jennie will use her womanly charms to gain the desired effect.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Foreign Fanservice: British.
  • Arguably, she's Ms. Fanservice in Garou, considering the absence of Mai and Blue Mary. Her only competition is Hotaru, and that isn't much competition at all.
    • You sure there's not much competition?
• Fun Personified
• Good Bad Girl: More or less.
• Kick Chick: The LK Arts seem to be primarily based off of Savate, the French version of kickboxing.
• Kiss of Death: In one of her super moves, she ends her attack with a kiss complete with a heart... which still damages you.
• The Ladette
• Pirate: The Lillien Knights are modern-day equivalents of this.
  • Pirate Girl: Yes.
  • The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Subverted. The reason they joined the tournament is to loot Kain of his belongings.
• Rich Bitch: Subverted, she's from a rich family but doesn't like relaying on their money.
• Ruthless Modern Pirates/A Pirate 400 Years Too Late
• Sexy Walk
• She's Got Legs
• The Tease
• Trademark Favorite Food: Sirloin steak.

Gato

A man well-versed in Chinese martial arts involving powerful strikes. He is Hotaru's brother, although he constantly denies it. He enters the tournament to prove he is the strongest and get Revenge on his father.

• Aloof Older Brother: If he is indeed Hotaru's brother.
• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy
• Badass:
  • Badass Normal
  • Handicapped Badass: Is blinded by a man who appears to be his father in his ending.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: He's got three on his back, courtesy of his father.
  • Achey Scars
• Jerkass: Wouldn't think twice to shout at his poor little sister to get the hell out.
  • Hell, wouldn't think twice to shout at anyone to get the hell out... complete with Trash Talk.
• Kouji Ishii: His seiyuu.
• Murderous Thighs: A male version; one of his super moves has him jumping with the opponent he just knocked in the air breaking their neck in midair.

Hotaru Futaba

Gato's little sister who is well-versed in Chinese martial arts involving soft strikes and ki blasts. She enters the tournament hoping she could convince her brother to come back to her.

• Armor-Piercing Slap: To Gato in her ending. He "lets her off the hook" as he leaves, but promises to kill her should they meet again.
• Cute Bruiser
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Her "orgasmic" super.
• Girlish Pigtails
• Hair Decorations
• Ki Attacks
• Martial Pacifist: A more tragic example; Hotaru simply wants to reunite her family. Fighting, unfortunately, is the only way to go.
• Meaningful Name: Her name means "firefly", which explains the animation behind a few of her attacks.
• Morality Pet: Possibly, for Gato.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Defied with moderate success. As opposed to Gato's physical "hard" style, Hotaru fights with internal (or "soft") Kung Fu, and most of her special moves involve Ki Attacks.
• Parental Abandonment: Her mom is dead, and her father has left for parts unknown. Hotaru is currently searching for both her dad and Gato, who is heavily implied (but not outright stated) to be her older brother.
• Weasel Mascot: Her pet marten Itokatsu.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Tizoc/Griffon Mask

A Mexican Luchador wearing a griffon mask. He enters the tournament for his fans and for charity. At the end of the tournament, he retires, but comes back anyway after he caught a glimpse of a young fan who admires him.

• Animal Motifs: The griffon, obviously.
• Boisterous Bruiser
• Contemplate Our Navels: Considers leaving the ring because he sees himself as a has-been. It takes just the support of one fan to encourage Tizoc to do otherwise.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Large Ham
• Love Freak
• Masked Luchador:
  • Cool Mask
• Mighty Glacier
• Shout-Out: A few of his moves seem to mimic that of Japanese pro wrestler Tiger Mask.
• Spinning Piledriver: Ahem... Big. Fall.
• Walking Shirtless Scene

Freeman

A British Serial Killer who kills for pleasure. Most of his victims are cops as well, including the father of Kevin Rian's young partner Marky.

• Bare Your Midriff: He's pretty much a gothed-out Benimaru.
• Black Cloak: During his introduction.
• Blood Knight
• Evil Albino
• Evil Redhead
• The Faceless: His face is never shown (and is Hidden Eyes under his bangs in his sprite), save for a cameo in The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match, but it's too small to make out his features properly.
• Gory Discretion Shot: One of his DM/SDMs has him viciously attacking his opponent in the dark.
• Maniacal Laugh
• Mistaken Identity: He's extremely reminiscent of Iori Yagami from The King of Fighters.
  • Hilariously, Iori's new moveset in XII has fans now claiming Iori to be an Expy of Freeman.
• Never Found the Body: He's shot by SWAT teams in his ending and falls into a river, his fate never revealed.
• Serial Killer
• Shout-Out: Just like Mature and Vice, some of his attacks are named after heavy metal bands.
• Wolverine Claws

Hokutomaru

Andy's young but brash apprentice. Upon learning of a tournament, he comes to the city for the first time and causes a huge mess in a road intersection.

• Big Eater: One of his winposes has him eating two large apples and a bomb in one gulp each.
• Fragile Speedster
• Junko Takeuchi: His seiyuu. Years later, she'd go on to voice Naruto, another loud-mouthed, hyperactive ninja.
• Ninja:
  • Ninja Brat
• No Indoor Voice: He's not a Highly-Visible Ninja, but he's a Highly Audible one.
• Scarf of Asskicking

Kevin Rian

A SWAT officer who is often seen around with his young friend Marky. He's looking for Freeman, the killer of his partner, Marky's father.

• Alternate Company Equivalent: He kinda reminds you of a more competent Stryker.
• Badass
• Cowboy Cop
• Distaff Counterpart: Kevin is basically a male version of Blue Mary. It's been suggested that he's her brother or cousin.
  • Word of God says he's a "distant relative".
• Everyone Is a Suspect: He suspects everyone he encounters of possibly being the one who kidnapped Marky.
• Fair Cop: A male variant.
• Fingerless Gloves
• Papa Wolf: Do not mess with Marky if you value your life.
• Playing with Fire
• Police Brutality: He's a heavily armed SWAT officer running around beating up martial artists. Unsurprisingly, he's extremely overpowered.

Khushnood Butt/Marco Rodriguez

A Brazilian Kyokugen-ryu practitioner who enters the tournament for the sake of advertising his dojo for new students. He was left in charge of the dojo by Ryo Sakazaki when he went training. At the end of the tournament, his dojo gets trashed anyway, so he goes to look for the guy who did it.

• Afro Asskicker
• Badass Beard
• Black Brazilian-American Presumably Buddhist Or Shintoist Karateka With An Arabic/Indian-Sounding Name Who Speaks Japanese
• Bowdlerization: Inverted; Butt is his name in the American versions.
  • This was to prevent confusion with Ricco Rodriguez, a mixed martial artist.
• But Not Too Black: Very averted. He's as black as they come, and no one would have it any other way.
• Carpet of Virility
• Does Not Like Shoes: All official artwork depicts him barefoot. All three of them!
• Eighties Hair: Frompadours have only been so badass once before.
• Expy: Shares quite a few traits with Segata Sanshiro.
• Hammerspace: One of his winposes has him pull out a wooden panel as big as he is. Fine and dandy until you realize the implications of him being as competent a fighter as everyone else, even though he carries several pounds of wood underneath his dogi.
• Hermit Guru: Deliberately lives and trains in a forest, away from the city, with the aforementioned bear.
• Hot-Blooded: Played both for laughs and seriously.
• Hotblooded Sideburns: Full force.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Hopefully, he's joking, but the sight of Tizoc makes Marco hungry. He mistakes him for a giant poultry.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His Zanretsuken move is a staple of Kyokugenryu Karate.
• Real Men Wear Pink: His profile specifically mentions a tendency to cry while reading Disney picture books.
• Scary Black Man
• Shotoclone
• Soul Brotha

Kim Dong Hwan

Kim Kaphwan's eldest son and Jae Hoon's brother. A slacker who uses unorthodox methods of fighting as he would prefer to hit on women than practice.

• Brilliant but Lazy/Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He sure looks like a goofball, but don't get him started...
• Embarrassing First Name: We'll let you figure it out for yourselves.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Slacks off constantly, yet remains a legitimate rival for his brother.
• Multicolored Hair: Light-brown and black.
• Perfectly Cromulent Word: Made up a bunch of imaginary words and phrases on a whim, mostly from playing video games with his bro. One of them ("pompe") is actually a word... it just happens to be one from French and Italian vocabulary.
• Retcon: Young Dong Hwan in the anime is actually more shy than Jae Hoon. In Garou, he's the more outgoing and slacker son. Then again, Dong Hwan was a little child in the anime; he could have just grown out of his shell sooner than his brother did.
• Shock and Awe
• The Slacker

Kim Jae Hoon

Kim Kaphwan's youngest son and Dong Hwan's brother. He resembles his father in the sense that he upholds a high sense of justice (even more than Kevin, who is a cop) and often scolds his brother for not practicing.

• Battle Couple: Him and his Action Girlfriend Sausu; both are Taekwondokas.
• Detect Evil: Inherited his father's "justice sense".
• Generation Xerox: Played straight at first, but Jae's ending has him contemplating on if following his father 100% is the right way to go.
• Hot-Blooded
• Instant Fanclub: Has one. Sausu herself is a part of their ranks.
• Justice Will Prevail: Like Father, Like Son.
• Playing with Fire
• This Is Unforgivable!: "Evil cannot be forgiven!"
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Grant (Abel Cameron)

Kain's best friend and most trusted bodyguard. When Kain and Grant were children, they saw a young boy who was beaten up by some older boys. The young boy didn't fight back and eventually died from the beating, thus the two adopted the philosophy of survival of the fittest. Their bond is so strong, he took a gunshot for Kain in one assassination attempt. Despite this wound, he's still one of the most powerful people to face against in the tournament.

• Badass Cape: Look at it. Look at it.
• Blood Brothers: He's sworn an oath of eternal allegiance with Kain, as seen in a special intro pose.
• Bring It: "Now show me your awesome power... show me all you have."
• Cool Mask
• Deal with the Devil: Gained the sinister power of "Ankoku Karate" through a pact with an unidentified entity.
• Death Seeker: To a degree. Due to his bullet wound, Grant lives everyday as if it were his last and wouldn't mind the prospect of dying in the heat of battle, as long as Kain can live on to fulfill their dreams.
• The Dragon: To Kain R. Heinlein.
• I Have Many Names: Real name Abel Cameron, usually known as Grant, also goes by the title "Martyr of Might".
• Knight Templar: Wholeheartedly supports Kain's plan to build a better Southtown through survival of the fittest cullings.
• Lightning Bruiser
• Secret Bullet Wound: Hides an injury he received protecting Kain, a bullet which is still lodged in his chest.
• Self-Inflicted Hell: An interesting detail: he hates hot places, but chooses to fight in a flame-filled underground chamber.
• SNK Boss: Very powerful, yet is playable by using a code.
• Spirited Competitor
• Trademark Favorite Food: Beef stew.
• Walking Shirtless Scene

Kain R. Heinlein

Geese Howard's brother-in-law and Rock Howard's uncle. He holds the Maximum Mayhem Tournament for the strong to compete against each other. He personally fights the victor in a showdown of who's the strongest. He took over Southtown after Geese's disappearance and, according to Rock's ending, was only following only the will of Geese. Despite this, he holds great contempt against Geese for taking away his sister, though he doesn't show it often.

• Anti-Villain: Type I.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Stronger by far than his Dragon despite his appearance.
  • Actually, Kain is more balanced than Grant. His only advantage is that his T.O.P extends to the size of his lifebar when you win the first round against him.
• Badass in a Nice Suit
• Badass Longcoat
• Blond Guys Are Evil
• Blood Brothers: He's sworn an oath of eternal allegiance with Grant, as seen in a special intro pose.
• Dark Messiah: Kain's motive is to build a better Southtown through trial by conflict.
• Dead Little Sister: His older sister Marie.
• Expy: Shin, is that you?
• Gratuitous German: His moveset is completely written (and for the most part, shouted) in German, and attacks like Schwarze Flamme and Schwarze Panzer lead to humorous misunderstandings like "Shirt Flake!" and "Shirt Hunter!".
• Love Makes You Evil: His sister Marie's death was his Start of Darkness.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Is Marie Howard's younger brother, thus making him Rock's uncle.
• The Man Behind the Man
• Man of Wealth and Taste
• Misanthrope Supreme: Looks down upon anyone who isn't a fighter.
• My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Aside from the T.O.P. bar thing above, Kain is charge-type fighter. Kain somehow doesn't seem to care while fighting you, as he can use said attacks while walking towards you. Being a SNK Boss, this is entirely intentional.
• Playing with Fire: Wields blue flames (purple in-game) similar to those of the Orochi.
  • Of course... some circles believe him to have ties to Orochi.
• Shout-Out: Kain's name is a homage to novelist Robert A. Heinlein.
  • Cain and Abel, anyone? It's In Name Only, but still...
• SNK Boss: Is playable by using a code, but is harder to control than Grant, since many of his moves are charge attacks.
• Social Darwinist
• Trademark Favorite Food: Apple pie!
• True Final Boss: You can only fight him (and get an ending) by meeting certain conditions.
• Warrior Therapist: Many of his win quotes pick at his opponent's motivations.
• We Can Rule Together: To Rock Howard at the end of Rock's ending. Surprisingly enough, Rock takes the deal since Kain's sister Marie was Rock's mother.
• Wicked Cultured

Characters introduced in the anime specials and The Motion Picture

Lily McGwire

In the first anime special, she first appears a young girl whom Geese forces to get involved in the circumstances that lead to Jeff Bogard's death. Flash forward to ten years, and we see her as the "Queen of South Town", a beautiful Femme Fatale who deep down still feels guilty for the part she took in the aforementioned tragedy.

• Birds of a Feather: Part of the reason that her and Terry fall in love is because of the fact that they both can relate to the harshness and trials of growing up in Southtown.
• Break the Cutie: Oh God, does she get broken...
  • Kill the Cutie
• Broken Bird
• The Cameo: In The King of Fighters '94, she can be seen among the crowd (and alongside Geese) in the Mexico stage.
• Failure Knight
• Femme Fatale
• Friend to All Children: We see that she's not The Vamp when Terry catches her giving food and money to the local street children.
• High Heel Face Turn:
  • Love Redeems
  • Redemption Equals Death
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: More implied than anything.
• Innocent Flower Girl: Cruelly subverted, as Geese forces little!Lily to pose as one so she can distract Jeff and he can kill him.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In one of her and Terry's spirit talks, she explicitely tells him to stop grieving for her.
• Kikuko Inoue: Her seiyuu.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Both of the dresses she wears in the anime.
• Silk Hiding Steel
• Spirit Advisor
• Stuffed Into the Fridge: Poor, poor Lily.
• Woman in White: Was wearing a white dress in her first apparition as an adult.

Elsa

• Hot Mom
• Kikuko Inoue: Her seiyuu.

Tony

• Cute Bruiser: Terribly subverted when he goes against Axel Hawk's assistant (who is reluctant to fight a kid, but only concedes because 1. Tony is eager to fight them so they won't trouble Terry, and 2. Axel wants them to fight to draw Terry's attention).
• Fiery Redhead
• Hero Worshipper: Idolizes Terry, which leads to a subversion when Terry goes through his drunken Heroic BSOD.
• Masami Kikuchi: His seiyuu.

Sulia Gaudeamus

• Cain and Abel: To Laocorn.
• Driven to Suicide
• Half-Identical Twins
• Healing Hands: Her powers.
• Heroic Sacrifice
• Intimate Healing: After Terry's first fight with Jamin, his injuries are so serious that she strips down and lays with him to let her healing take full effect. Some cuddling, a You Must Be Cold moment and a bittersweet talk take place then. Awwwwww.
• Mysterious Waif
• Plucky Girl: Despite being helpless in combat, the girl keeps going on and doing her best to stop Laocorn, and if she has to commit suicide to save him... she will.
• Second Love: To Terry. Too bad she bites it though.
• Shy Blue-Haired Girl: At the start, though she doesn't reach Fragile Flower status.
• The Smart Guy: Of the Ms. Exposition kind, due to her encyclopedic knowledge about Greek myths.
• Tomo Sakurai: Her seiyuu.
• Twin Telepathy: An ability that later becomes a Chekhov's Gun when Sulia kills herself and de-brainwashes Laocorn through that.
• Waif Prophet

Laocorn Gaudeamus

• Aloof Big Brother: To his younger twin Sulia.
• Demonic Possession
• Despair Event Horizon: Hits the line first when his and Sulia's parents are killed by their Smug Snake associate, and then again when Sulia commits suicide to release him from Mars.
• Flash Step
• Half-Identical Twins
• Heroic Sacrifice
• Matt Hill: Dub voice.
• Physical God
• Redemption Equals Death
• Shin'ichiro Miki: His seiyuu.
• Twin Telepathy
• You Gotta Have Indigo Hair

Kim Myeng Swuk

• Hot Mom: And holy shit HOW! Played for Laughs when Joe tries to hit on her, only for Mai to reprimand him for chasing after a married woman (and almost in front of her hubby).
• Plucky Girl
• Proper Lady: Beautiful, polite, soft-spoken, but not an Extreme Doormat, and extremely coolheaded when push comes to shove.
• She's Got Legs: She's actually introduced legs first (that one's kinda justified as that particular take also included Jae Hoon, who's a very short kid back then).
• Shiho Niiyama: Her seiyuu. She also voices young Jae Hoon.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: When Kim is being trounced by Cyber Cheng, Joe gets pissed off and decides to help; however, Terry asks Joe to not intervene because doing so would crush the faith of Myeng Swuk and (most importantly) Kim's sons. Cue to a shot of Myeng Swuk staring at her husband's fight and holding her scared kids comfortingly, completely focused on staying calm and on trusting Kim no matter what.

Jamin

• Anti-Villain: Type I. Follows Laocorn out of loyalty and honor, cares for Sulia greatly.
• Bullet Catch
• The Dragon
• Graceful Loser
• Kenji Utsumi: His seiyuu.
• Lightning Bruiser: When Terry first clashes with him, Jamin is shown to have the upper hand in the speed department. Terry also notes that he's as strong as Krauser, a foe whom he barely defeated.
• My Master, Right or Wrong
• Noble Demon
• Playing with Fire
• Spirited Competitor
• Super Strength
• Worthy Opponent

Panni

• Anti-Villain: Type I and II. Was not a saint, but her love for Laocorn was very sincere and genuine.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Averted, when her top gets cut by Lawrence Blood, we can clearly see a bit of nipple.
• Dark Action Girl: Very competent in combat.
• Femme Fatalons
• Janyse Jaud: VA for the dub.
• Love Martyr: To Laocorn.
• Making a Splash: You never had a chance, Laurence.
• Stripperiffic
• You Gotta Have Pink Hair
• You Inoue: Seiyuu.
• Zettai Ryouiki

Hauer

• Blow You Away:
  • Razor Wind
• Captain Ersatz: Of Vega from Street Fighter II.
• Clothing Damage: Inflicts this on Mai when they first face-off. Luckily, her trademark outfit in underneath, but there's a brief nip-slip for all of you perverts.
• Cool Mask:
  • Malevolent Masked Man
• The Fighting Narcissist
• Paul Dobson: VA for the dub.
• Show Hayami: His seiyuu.
• Smug Snake
• Stalker with a Crush: For Mai.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy
• Yandere: For Mai.