Fighter's History

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Fighter's History was a short lived Fighting Game series by Data East. This game is remembered for being THE Street Fighter II ripoff. Capcom filed a lawsuit against them, but they lost, and the game was successful enough to get a home port to the SNES, a sequel titled Fighter's History Dynamite (a.k.a. Karnov's Revenge) and a spin-off Super Famicom game titled Fighter's History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!![1]. No new entry to the series has been made since Data East filed for bankruptcy in 2003 aside from a Japan-only crossover with Fatal Fury for cellphones made by SNK.

Now with a character sheet. Feel free to add to it.

Tropes used in Fighter's History include:
  • Alliteration: The tournament in both games is called the Great Grapple.
  • Attack Its Weak Point: Subverted. Attacking a certain part of the body will cause an article of clothing to be knocked off, such as Ryoko's headband, the lightning bolt on Ray's shirt or Fei-Lin's breastplate (don't worry, she is wearing something under it). At this point, the character becomes dizzy for that round. The first game also had your characters take more damage when it was removed. For bonus points, the character-specific weak points flash white when about to fly off, akin to the "Konami seizure time."
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: The worst the female competitors get are tattered clothing, a few hairs out of place, and bandages. The guys... aren't so lucky.
  • Breakout Character: Mizoguchi.
  • Calling Your Attacks
  • Camp Gay: Clown's endings in the Japanese versions actually involves him trying to pick up younger men. The endings were altered in the English versions to downplay Clown's homosexuality, yet the manual for Karnov's Revenge still makes references to his sexual preference by stating that he likes "young boys" and is seeking an "attractive male fighter."
  • Canon Immigrant: Mizoguchi was included as a bonus character in the home port of The King of Fighters Maximum Impact: Regulation A. In the backstory, his father is said to be the one who taught Lucky Glauber (of the American Sports Team) karate.
    • Chelnov, from Data East's old arcade game of the same name, appears as the final boss in Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!!, making him the other character in the series from an old DECO game besides Karnov.
  • Child Prodigy: Ryoko is one in Judo, learning since she was three years old.
  • Continuity Nod: Karnov still has the power of God, which he inherited in the end of the Famicom version of his self-titled game.
  • Demoted to Extra: Ray, Marstorious, Jean, Samchay, and Matlock in the Super Famicom spinoff. They're not playable fighters, but they still appear in the game's story mode.
  • Does Not Like Shoes: Ryoko and Mizoguchi.
  • Extremity Extremist: Liu Yungmie, the token teen Taekwondo trainee, uses kicking attacks exclusively (and is one of relatively few fighting game characters to launch her projectiles with her feet).
  • Expy: Mizoguchi seems to be partially based on Momotaro Tsurugi from Sakigake Otokojuku.
    • Yungmie is more or less a Korean Chun-Li, although how explicitly varies from appearance to appearance.
  • Guest Fighter: Aside of Mizoguchi's stint in KOF MI:RA, he and Dynamite newcomer Yungmie also popped up in Suiko Enbu: Fuunsaiki (Japan-only sequel to Outlaws of the Lost Dynasty/Dark Legend). Mizoguchi also made a cameo as a hidden boss in Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble.
  • Large Ham: Karnov ("BALLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"), Marstorius ("DOUBLE German!"), (Zazie ("Hell FIRE!")...
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Like her World Heroes 2 and Rumble Roses counterparts, Ryoko Kano was based on real world Judo champion Ryoko Tani.
  • Razor Wind: Matlok's Spinning Wave.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Ray is the main character of the series, but Mizoguchi became more popular and even starred in the Super Famicom-exclusive final game in the series.
  • Spotlight-Stealing Title: Fighter's History Dynamite was released as Karnov's Revenge overseas due to the cult popularity of Karnov.
  • Surprisingly Good Everything: Every character except Marstorius, Zazie, and Yungmie speaks in their native dialect. This is something Street Fighter and the other big-name franchises still haven't done even halfway well.
  1. translates to "Mizoguchi's Moment of Crisis!"