The following is a list of video game characters featured in the Fatal Fury fighting game series developed by SNK.
Series' creator Takashi Nishiyama stated that giving the characters depth was of great importance when making the series. He noted that the first Fatal Fury featured a more polished plot and more fleshed out characters than that of his previous work, the original Street Fighter, which led to the game gaining a strong fanbase. To help market the games, certain character details were revealed in magazine promotions rather than the games themselves.[1]
The table below summarizes every single fighter in the series. A green cell indicates that the character is playable, while a red cell indicates that the character is not playable or does not appear.
| Character | Fatal Fury | Fatal Fury 2 | Fatal Fury Special | Fatal Fury 3 | Real Bout | Real Bout Special | Real Bout Dominated Mind | Real Bout 2 | Wild Ambition | First Contact | Mark of the Wolves | City of the Wolves | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Andy Bogard | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Axel Hawk | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Billy Kane | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Blue Mary | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Bob Wilson | 5 | |||||||||||||
| B. Jenet | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Cheng Sinzan | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Chun-Li | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Duck King | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Franco Bash | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Freeman | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Gato | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Geese Howard | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Grant | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Hokutomaru | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Hon Fu | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Hotaru Futaba | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Hwa Jai | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Jin Chonrei | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Jin Chonshu | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Joe Higashi | 11 | |||||||||||||
| Jubei Yamada | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Kain R. Heinlein | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Ken Masters | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Kevin Rian | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Kim Dong Hwan | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Kim Jae Hoon | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Kim Kaphwan | 8 | |||||||||||||
| Lao | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Laurence Blood | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Li Xiangfei | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Mai Shiranui | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Marco Rodrigues | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Michael Max | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Preecha | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Raiden/Big Bear | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Richard Meyer | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Rick Strowd | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Rock Howard | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Ryuji Yamazaki | 7 | |||||||||||||
| Ryo Sakazaki | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Sokaku Mochizuki | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Terry Bogard | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Tizoc | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Touji Sakata | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Tsugumi Sendo | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Tung Fu Rue | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Vox Reaper | 1 | |||||||||||||
| White | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Wolfgang Krauser | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Total | 11 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 14 | 13 | 14 | TBA |
Wolfgang Krauser von Stroheim made his appearance in Fatal Fury 2, where he serves as the final opponent in the tournament. Known as the only man in the world feared by Geese Howard (whom in Fatal Fury Special is revealed to be his elder half-brother from the same father, Rudolph Krauser von Stroheim or Rudolph Von Zanac), Krauser is a German nobleman who is publicly known as the current Earl of Stroheim, a prestigious family in Europe, but within the underworld he is a ruthless warlord known as the Emperor of Darkness. After Geese's supposed death in the original Fatal Fury, Krauser sponsors a new King of Fighters tournament with his three chosen warriors Laurence Blood, Axel Hawk and Billy Kane (a former underling of Geese himself) in order to lure the men who defeated Geese (Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, and Joe Higashi).
Although Krauser takes his own life following the events of Fatal Fury 2 and Special according to the background story in the subsequent games,[2] Krauser appeared in the special installments of the series, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2.
Outside the Fatal Fury series, Krauser appears as a member of the Boss Team in The King of Fighters '96 with his half-brother Geese and Geese's former partner-in-crime Mr. Big. The Boss Team made another appearance in the remake of The King of Fighters '98 titled The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match. Additionally, Krauser also appears as a "Striker" character in the console versions of The King of Fighters 2000.
Krauser serves as the main antagonist in the anime special . According to character designer Masami Ōbari (who also worked on Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer), Krauser was redesigned to be ten years younger than his video game counterpart and given a clean-shaved appearance. In this special, Krauser challenges his half-brother's nemesis Terry Bogard to battle and wins. After Terry regains his courage, he challenges Krauser again and wins the rematch, causing Krauser to commit suicide due to his loss.
, better known as, is a special agent investigating activity in the city of Southtown, and a recurring love interest of Terry Bogard. She makes her first appearance in Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory, investigating the Secret Scrolls of the Jin Brothers, items able to give immortality to their users.[3] Real Bout Fatal Fury shows Mary allying with Terry Bogard and his friends to fight the crime lord from Southtown, Geese Howard.[4] The two following games, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and , also feature Blue Mary as a playable character but neither of them presents a storyline. Real Bout Fatal Fury Special also features an "EX" version from Mary with her movesets from Fatal Fury 3.[5] [6] The PlayStation version of Real Bout Fatal Fury Special also contains a music video clip featuring the song "Blue Mary's Blues" by Harumi Ikoma, Mary's voice actress.[7]
Following her Fatal Fury inception, Blue Mary becomes a regular character with frequently changing team membership in The King of Fighters series, beginning as a member of the '97 Special Team in The King of Fighters '97 along with Billy Kane and Ryuji Yamazaki. A mysterious benefactor (Geese Howard) requests her services to enter the King of Fighters tournament, along with Billy and Yamazaki, who starts to become insane due to the power from the demon Orochi.[8] However, after discovering that Geese was her client, Mary leaves the team.[9] The team is also featured in The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters 2002, and The King of Fighters Neowave, which do not contain a storyline.[10] [11] [12] In The King of Fighters '99, she joins up with King, Li Xiangfei, and Kasumi Todoh as the new Women Fighters Team, but leaves and becomes the fourth member of the Fatal Fury Team (composed by Terry, Andy Bogard and Joe Higashi) in The King of Fighters 2000 and The King of Fighters 2001.[13] [14] [15] She would join forces with King again as member of the Women Fighters Team in The King of Fighters 2003, this time with Mai Shiranui as their third member.[16] In The King of Fighters XI, she joins Vanessa and Ramón as a member of the Agents Team in order investigate the host from The King of Fighters tournaments, an organization named Those from the Past.[17] Blue Mary appears in The King of Fighters XIV as a playable character via downloadable content.[18] In The King of Fighters XV, she joins Vanessa again to form the Secret Agent Team, with Luong as their third member. She also appears in the 3D game KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A, which does not feature official teams.[19] In the spin-off game The King of Fighters: Kyo, Blue Mary appears investigating the actions from Geese along with Kyo Kusanagi and King.[20] [21] In Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, she appears as a background character.
Blue Mary also makes an appearance in the Memories of Stray Wolves twenty-minute featurette that serves as a retrospective of the Fatal Fury series, with Terry narrating the events of the games ten years after Real Bout Fatal Fury.[22] She also stars in manhua based on the games retelling her actions in the series.
is a character introduced in Fatal Fury 3 and appears as a playable character throughout the Real Bout sub-series. He is the bartender of Pao Pao Cafe 2 and was trained in capoeira by Richard Meyer. He specializes in spinning kicks and combination attacks. He later cameos as a bartender at a separate restaurant in City of the Wolves. All of his special moves reference animals in some way, as his Fatal Fury 3 Special Moves are the Wild Wolf, the Bison's Horn, the Lynx's Fang, the Rolling Turtle, and the Hornet Attack. His Super Special Move is the Dangerous Wolf. In Real Bout, he gains the Monkey Dance special move and two Hidden Abilities, the Mad Spin Wolf and the Wolf's Fang. Real Bout Special brings in the Sidewinder, Hunting Frog and Hawk Talon Special Moves, and Real Bout 2 discards Bob's previous Hidden Abilities for a new one called Dancing Bison.
makes his first appearance in Fatal Fury 3 as one of the five new playable characters introduced in the game and also appears thorough the Real Bout sub-series. He is a retired Super Heavyweight-class kickboxing champion who works as a mechanic in South Town Airport to support his wife Emilia, and their son Junior. In Fatal Fury 3 his son is kidnapped by Yamazaki, who blackmails him into helping him obtain the Secret Scrolls of the Jin. He rescues his son in his ending in Fatal Fury 3 and trains to make his comeback in the Real Bout series. He makes a cameo at the end of KOF 2003 cheering on the Fatal Fury Team.
is introduced in Fatal Fury 3 as one of the new playable characters featured in the game and appears all the games in the Real Bout sub-series. He is a police officer from Hong Kong who specializes in using a nunchaku. His objective throughout Fatal Fury 3 and the Real Bout series is to arrest the escaped convict Ryuji Yamazaki and is aided by Cheng in Fatal Fury 3. He is a close friend of Kim Kaphwan according to his backstory in Fatal Fury 3, as the two have nearly identical desperation attacks, although Hon-Fu was given a new one for Real Bout Fatal Fury 2.
Jin Chonrei (秦 崇雷, Japanese: Jin Chonrei, Pinyin: Qín Chóngléi, also romanized as Qin Chong-Lei) appears in Fatal Fury 3 as the third and final boss character featured in the game and appears as a regular playable character thorough the Real Bout series. Like his younger brother Chonshu, Chonrei is possessed by the spirit of Jin Kuryu (秦 空龍), the elder son of Jin Ōryū and ancestor of Chonrei and Chonshu. In Fatal Fury 3, they head to South Town to seek the Secret Scrolls of the Jin in order to unleash their true power. The scrolls are eventually taken by Geese Howard and in the next game of the series, Real Bout Fatal Fury, the Jin brothers participate in the King of Fighters tournament to recover them. However, the scrolls are destroyed by Chonrei in the Jin Brothers' endings. In Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, Chonrei becomes an apprentice of Tung Fu Rue, as seen in their corresponding ending (although Kim's ending in the game depicts Chonrei training as Kim's disciple along with his brother). Outside the Fatal Fury series, Jin Chonshu and Jin Chonrei have appeared in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.
In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Chonrei was voted as the staff's thirty-ninth favorite character. He shared the spot with four other characters, including Fatal Fury character, Joe Higashi, and Street Fighter character, Zangief.[23]
Jin Chonshu (秦 崇秀, ja|Jin Chonshū, Pinyin: Qín Chóngxiù) first appears as the second boss character in Fatal Fury 3 and appears thorough the Real Bout series as a regular playable character. He is the younger half of the Jin brothers seeking the Three Secret Scrolls of the Jin. While he appears like a regular teenage boy, he is actually possessed by the spirit of Jin Kairyu (秦 海龍), who was the younger son of Jin Ōryū (秦 王龍), the ancient warlord who wrote the Secret Scrolls of the Jin two thousand years prior to the events of Fatal Fury 3. In Fatal Fury 3, they head to South Town to seek the Secret Scrolls of the Jin in order to unleash their true power. The scrolls are eventually taken by Geese Howard and in the original Real Bout Fatal Fury the Jin brothers participate in the King of Fighters tournament to recover them. However, the scrolls are destroyed by Chonrei in the Jin Brothers' endings. In Real Bout 2, Chonshu then becomes a disciple of Kim Kaphwan, as seen in their corresponding endings. Outside the Fatal Fury series, Jin Chonshu and Jin Chonrei have appeared in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.
is first introduced as the sub-boss character of , where he is a criminal known as "Dark Broker". In the game, Yamazaki is hired by the Jin brothers into recovering their Sacred Scrolls, which are able to give immortality to its user. In the following titles from the series, Yamazaki does not work for anybody, normally committing crimes just to entertain himself, despite to this, however, he had secretly still wanting to take the scrolls from Geese. In , he was believed to be the perpetrator of beating all of Marco Rodrigues's best students in his Kyokugenryu karate gym, as depicted in Marco's ending. Yamazaki's introduction in The King of Fighters series was made as a result of three popularity polls developed by three video games journals in which players voted which character they wanted to see in The King of Fighters '97, the upcoming game from the series at that time. Yamazaki has also appeared in the crossover games and Capcom vs. SNK 2 as a playable character. Video games publications have commented on Yamazaki's character, with some praising his introduction in Fatal Fury 3 and development in titles from The King of Fighters.[24] Other reviewers criticized how hard defeating him is in the Fatal Fury games and how strong he is in Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 in comparison to other popular characters.[25]
Yamazaki's origin in The King of Fighters series eventually revealed that he was a former member of Hakkeshu, the followers of Orochi. Having had lost his father-figure yakuza boss that made him a psychopath, it saves Yamazaki from Orochi's Riot of the Blood mind control.
is introduced in Fatal Fury 3 as one of the five new characters featured in the game and appears in all of the games in the Real Bout series. Mochizuki is a Buddhist monk who practices the, a fighting style created to hunt down Shura after its founder lost to the Shiranui style. He is said to have the strongest psychokinetic power in the history of the art's style. In Fatal Fury 3 and the original Real Bout, his objective is to seek the Scrolls of the Jin and destroy them, because he believes that it would be a source of a Shura. His Real Bout 2 ending shows him trapping a demon larger than a house within a single paper talisman.
is the protagonist of the main story mode in Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind, a Japan-only PlayStation game based on the original Real Bout Fatal Fury Special. Prior to his debut, he appears as a secret final boss in and . When he was young, his friend John (the elderly co-pilot who accompanies Alfred) took him on a trip on his biplane. When John flew to Russian airspace, MiG missiles were sent after him, but he managed to outfly them without getting struck. John became a hero in Alfred's mind, as the man who won against the MiGs, and Alfred was charmed by flying since then. Alfred seeks to defeat White, who took over the hometown where his deceased father is interred. Alfred goes to Southtown to seek Terry Bogard's aid and help him defeat White.
Alfred makes minor appearances in later games, including as a secret striker in the Dreamcast version of The King of Fighters '99, as a trading card in , and as a stage cameo in and KOF 2002: Unlimited Match.
is the antagonist of Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special, where he serves as Alfred's rival. A demented psycho and all-around disturbed fellow, White finds pleasure in making people suffer and follow his every wish. He uses his mind-controlling abilities to make people his personal toys, manipulating them to his desire. White enjoys playing around with those foolish enough to challenge him, using the great amount of power that he possesses. He appears to be based on the main character Alex from Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange novel.
is a character who first appears in the opening sequence of Real Bout 2, being defeated by Rick Strowd. He makes his only playable appearance in the versus mode of . In , he becomes a member of B. Jenet's Lillien Knights crew.
Li Xiangfei (Chinese: 李 香緋; Pinyin: Lǐ Xiāngfēi; Japanese: 李 香緋 Rii Shanfei) makes her first appearance in Real Bout 2. She is a 17-year-old Chinese-American girl who works part-time as waitress in her Uncle Pai's restaurant in the Chinatown district of South Town and has trained in various Chinese martial arts since an early age. She also appears as a playable character in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition.
Li Xiangfei would later make her debut in The King of Fighters series in The King of Fighters '99, forming part of the Woman Fighters Team along with King, Blue Mary, and Kasumi Todoh.[26] She was absent in The King of Fighters 2000, but would return in The King of Fighters 2001, taking Kasumi Todoh's place from the previous game.[27]
is one of the two new characters introduced in Real Bout 2.[28] He is a casino show boxer known as the "White Wolf of the Ring", who is the son of a Native American father and a white mother. He seeks the opportunity to fight in a championship match as well as fight Terry Bogard. Rick's Special Moves are the Shooting Star, the Divine Blast, the Hellion, and the Blazing Sun Burst. He also has a special dodging maneuver called Full Moon Fever. His Super Special is the Gaia's Breath, and his Hidden Ability is the Machine-Gun Wolf. Rick is seen to have a girlfriend, a blonde woman wearing a red dress, name unknown, with whom he rides off into sunset on horseback in his ending. Fans have speculated a probable connection between him and fellow boxer, Vanessa, from SNK's King of Fighters series, as she later began using Rick's Hellion, and had the Gaia's Breath as a DM in The King of Fighters 2002.
is one of two characters who appears exclusively in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. He is the legendary practitioner of the fighting style . He was once the best friend and the rival of, Blue Mary's grandfather and the man who trained Geese Howard in jujutsu. Believing that he was destined to challenge Tatsumi in a death match, this encounter never occurred since Tatsumi was eventually killed by his former student, Geese Howard. He enters the King of Fighters tournament to defeat the man who killed his rival.[29]
is one of the two new characters exclusive to Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. She's a high school girl from Osaka who was taught wrestling by her father, since an early age. However, she is secretly ashamed of this, especially after she was told by a boy she had a crush on that women wrestlers are "unfeminine", after hearing this she wanted to drop out of her wrestling training. After butting heads with her overbearing father, Kantetsu will allow her to drop out, but only under the condition that she brings a decisive victory in the King of Fighters tournament. Despite her original hatred for wrestling, she has come to enjoy fighting as she began to win matches.[30] Some of Tsugumi's move names reference her hometown, like "Tsūtenkaku Driver", "Naniwa Lariat", and "Okonomiyaki-Ire".
, real name, is the leader of a group of pirates known as the Lillien Knights. Jenet entered the Maximum Mayhem to rob Kain R. Heinlein of anything valuable he might be keeping in his mansion. In her ending, she passes out amidst the destruction of Kain's mansion after defeating him. Her crew saves her from being trapped under the rubble, but fails to secure any of the treasure they had been looking for. She decides to stay in South Town for some time, leading her to participate in the new King of Fighters tournament in City of the Wolves.
In The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2, her parents are revealed to be incredibly wealthy; she formed the Lillien Knights when she became bored of her tedious lifestyle. Before the start of the tournament, she attends a party in her otherwise occupied parents' place. While there, the son of the host attempts (and fails quite miserably) to impress her with his paltry skills in Savate. Although Jenet is rather repulsed by his arrogance and embarrassing lack of skill, she learns from him that the King of Fighters tournament is being held once again. After her Lillien Knights knock the man unconscious and rob his father, Jenet decides to join the tournament in hopes of winning the prize money. She is voiced by Rei Saitō in Japanese, and by Gina Rose in the English version of KOF: MI2.
Jenet is very comfortable around men, and her win quotes and prefight and postfight animations express that she doesn't seem very serious about fighting. In The King of Fighters XI, she was in the tournament for monetary gain strictly, and she enters with Tizoc and Gato to form the Fatal Fury/Mark of the Wolves team.
Her fighting style, the LK (Lillien Knights) arts, is similar to savate, a French form of kickboxing. Her moves are mostly made up of attacks by swooping her dress (in moves such as specials "The Hind" and "Crazy Ivan" and Super Special Move "Aurora") and she is able to control the wind (being reflected in her projectile attack "Buffrass" and her Super Special Move "Too Many Torpedoes"). Her Super Special Leader Move "An Oi Madamoiselle" sees her take off her left shoe and beat her opponent with it.
Her appearance consists of a purple dress with a skull and crossbones, red fingerless gloves, a red belt with gold lining, and blonde hair, along with stiletto heels as used in "An Oi Madamoiselle".
, real name unknown, is a mysterious English serial killer that fights using slashing movements with his hands as if they were claws. Little is known about him, except that he killed Kevin Rian's partner. Many of Freeman's special techniques are references to heavy metal bands, such as Nightmare, Morbid Angel, Overkill, and Vision of Disorder.
is a martial artist searching for his missing father, seeking revenge on him for killing his mother. In his Mark of the Wolves ending, a stranger — insinuated to be Gato's father — saves Kain R. Heinlein from the crumbling mansion, but blinds Gato before he can act. As the stranger taunts Gato, he angrily swears vengeance. Gato is also implied to be the older brother of Hotaru Futaba, though he keeps his distance for her protection.
Gato first appears in the King of Fighters series in King of Fighters 2003 as part of the Outlaw Team, along with Ryuji Yamazaki and Billy Kane. Gato is summoned to Geese Howard's office and forced to cooperate in order to prevent his sister from being harmed. Gato does not like his teammates at all as revealed by the ending, in which Gato ditches the other two immediately and tells them off, leaving Yamazaki and Billy to fight. In The King of Fighters XI he is partnered with B. Jenet and Tizoc to form a Garou Team. He also immediately leaves them, though on friendlier terms.
, real name, is Kain R. Heinlein's closest friend and personal bodyguard. Having protected Kain since he was young, Grant becomes disillusioned with the state of the world, and makes a deal with a dark entity that grants him knowledge of the dark style known as Ankoku Karate. Prior to the events of Mark of the Wolves, Grant takes a bullet for Kain that becomes lodged near his heart, leading him to seek one last great battle before it kills him. He appears as the sub-boss of Mark of the Wolves, finally perishing after his defeat. In City of the Wolves, his apprentice Vox Reaper carries on his will, donning the remains of his mask.
is a ninja and the student of Andy Bogard, who sends him to participate in the Maximum Mayhem tournament to complete his Shiranui style ninjutsu training. He is extremely fast and crafty, with many moves that are among the fastest in Garou, making him a nearly unpredictable opponent to deal with. His stage is a traffic accident that he caused, as he was unfamiliar with urban ways due to his age and training. Hokutomaru carries a sword on his back, but he seldom draws it except during two special moves.
is a martial artist who practices the Juu-kei style of Chinese kenpo, though she generally dislikes violence. Following her mother's death and her father and brother's disappearance, she enters the Maximum Mayhem tournament after hearing rumors her brother is participating. In her ending, she meets up with Gato, begging him to come home, but he denies knowing her and departs as she silently prays for her brother to return to her. As of City of the Wolves, she continues to search for her missing brother.
Outside of the Fatal Fury series, Hotaru is playable in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and the PS2 version of The King of Fighters XI.
is Rock Howard's maternal uncle, being the younger brother of Rock's deceased mother Marie Heinlein. Having grown up in poverty and surrounded by violence, he sought power and rose up the ranks of Second Southtown's criminal underworld. After learning of Geese Howard's death, he began planning to secede Second Southtown from the United States, turning it into a city-state where the strong rule over the weak. To accomplish this, he hosted the King of Fighters Maximum Mayhem tournament to draw out Rock Howard, planning to use him to obtain his father Geese's fortune and gain the resources needed to accomplish his goals. He appears as the final boss of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and is set to return in the upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
is a high-spirited SWAT officer stationed in Second Southtown, with a nearly flawless arrest record. After his partner and best friend is murdered by Freeman, he enters the Maximum Mayhem tournament in hopes of finding his killer. He is cheered on in his fights by Marky, his partner's young son whom he adopts after his death. Kevin returns in City of the Wolves, still searching for Freeman to avenge his partner. He fights using Sambo, similar to his distant relative Blue Mary,[31] although much of his fighting style revolves more around direct strikes than grappling.
, sometimes written as Korean: 김동환 (Kim Dong-hwan), was taught Taekwondo by his father, Kim Kaphwan, using techniques infused with lightning, and has a friendly rivalry with his younger brother Kim Jae-Hoon. He is more of a show-off and slacker than his brother, relying more on aerial attacks and juggles (i.e. attacks that strike the opponent into the air uncontrollably). He believes he is a "genius" in the story, and doesn't need to study diligently in order to master Taekwondo, but his father and brother see it differently.
, sometimes written as Korean: 김재훈 (Kim Jae-hoon), was taught Taekwondo by his father, Kim Kaphwan, using techniques infused with fire, and is a brother of Dong Hwan's. Jae-Hoon admires his father, so he fights more like him than Dong-Hwan does, with a combination of high and low attacks with plenty of power behind them. Like his father, he has a strong sense of justice and chivalry, but unlike his brother, he establishes his strength through constant practice.
is a Brazilian Kyokugen-style karate expert, who trained under Ryo Sakazaki. He leads a somewhat austere life in a wooded area on the outskirts of town, and fights using powerful, deliberate attacks. He enters the Maximum Mayhem tournament to help promote Kyokogenryu and lure new students to his dojo. In City of the Wolves, he is forced to train at Yuri Sakazaki's fitness club due to his dojo's sign being stolen, and enters the King of Fighters tournament to reclaim it and rebuild his dojo's reputation. Just like Ryo, he has several famous moves from Art of Fighting with some of his own derivatives.
Marco was renamed Khushnood Butt in the U.S. release of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, possibly to avoid confusion with mixed martial artist Ricco Rodriguez; the character's name would be reverted to Marco in future localizations beginning in The King of Fighters XV (2022).
See main article: Rock Howard.
Tizoc, otherwise known as or the Griffon in the Japanese version, is a character from both the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series. He started out in the Fatal Fury game Garou: Mark of the Wolves and is described as being a well-renowned and popular professional wrestler. By the time of Garou: Mark of The Wolves, Tizoc already sees himself as a washed up has-been and enters the Maximum Mayhem tournament in order to regain his passion for wrestling.
When the events of King of Fighters 2003 occur, Tizoc is an up-and-coming superstar in the professional wrestling circuit and joins the Fatal Fury team after being invited by Terry Bogard himself after his brother Andy becomes unavailable since he is teaching the young Hokutomaru in Shiranui style ninjutsu in Japan. In The King of Fighters XIV, there is a new character known as, who shares the same voice actor, a similar fighting style, build, color schemes and feather decor as Tizoc, now teamed with the former NESTS agent Angel and Ramon on Team Mexico. During the tournament, several opponents, such as Tizoc's former teammate Terry, easily address King of Dinosaurs as Tizoc despite the new fighter's denials,[32] [33] while other characters, who may or may not identify King of Dinosaurs as Tizoc, merely deem him foolish.[34] Despite Eisuke Ogura's pre-release claims that King Of Dinosaurs is not Tizoc,[35] the Team Mexico ending reveals that King of Dinosaurs is in fact Tizoc who suffered a humiliating defeat by Nelson. To seek revenge, Tizoc adopted a new "heel" persona, King of Dinosaurs, relying on his teammates Ángel and Ramón to help cover his former identity. In The King of Fighters XV, King of Dinosaurs and Ramón team up with former KOF XIV tournament host Antonov to form the new wrestling team named "Team G.A.W. (Galaxy Anton Wrestling)".
See main article: Ken Masters.
is a student of Joe Higashi. She is boisterous and scientifically minded, using her battles to study her opponents and how their techniques utilize ki. Like Joe, she uses a Muay Thai-based fighting style.[36]
is a karate fighter and street assassin. Following a failed assassination attempt on Kain R. Heinlein, Kain's bodyguard Grant sees potential in Vox and takes him on as an apprentice. After Grant's death, Vox chooses to carry on his will and help Kain achieve his goals.[37]
The characters from Fatal Fury have received major positive reaction with GamesRadar calling Terry Bogard as "one of SNK's most memorable characters", as 86th "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games.[38] IGN praised the increase of the series' cast but heavily criticized the final boss Geese Howard for his high difficulty.[39] Avi Krebs from GamingExcellence.com commented that Billy Kane is one of the hardest boss characters from the first Fatal Fury, but he remains "pale" in comparison to Geese.[40] Kotaku's Patricia Hernandez wrote "one of Fatal Fury 2s biggest contributions to the medium was that it was the first game to introduce a character with breasts that moved on their own. Known as Mai Shiranui, that character is famed for having very, uh, lively breasts. Though Fatal Fury may not be a huge franchise nowadays, its legacy is very much alive: many top fighting games include a similar jiggle effect".[41] While acknowledging that Fatal Fury fans might be disappointed by the reduced roster of fighters in Fatal Fury 3, GamePro praised the new third fighting plane and ranking system, and concluded that "instead of simply adding more fighters, FF3 does more with fewer fighters (hidden moves and so on) and a unique method of gameplay".[42] They remarked that Bob and Franco are "uninteresting" new characters but praising and the modifications to Mai Shiranui's Swan Dive attack.[43] The cast of Garou was praised for their animations which was compared with the ones from Marvel vs. Capcom 2.[44]
THEM Anime Reviews criticized the characterization of the main characters in the three films citing them as "one-dimensional" and also the villains.[45] [46] [47] On the other hand, Anime News Network's Bamboo Dong enjoyed the portrayal of the characters in the films, particularly praising Terry's character development as "most adaptations of this nature barely let their characters show any weaknesses at all, much less an extended period of insecurity and despair, so it was pretty compelling seeing Terry's journey through his dark period".[48] In another review, Dong praised the selection of the main characters.[49] Chris Beveridge from Mania Beyond Entertainment also praised the development of the characters such as the interactions between the couple of Andy Bogard and Mai Shiranui as well as the grief of Terry over the loss of his girlfriend.[50]