Characters who appear in the two entries of the Fu'un Series (Savage Reign and Kizuna Encounter). This page covers their guest appearance in The King of Fighters.
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Characters introduced in Savage Reign
Sho Hayate
The main protagonist of the series. A young Japanese man who happens to be a practitioner of Fu'un Ken: a special type of fighting style that combines karate with the mastery of the boomerang. Hayate is best known for his brash nature and his loud voice. He appears as a playable character in The King of Fighters XI.
- Battle Boomerang: His weapon, which he uses in his self-made fighting style, Fu'un-ken. Not only does he uses it as a projectile but also as both a short-range weapon and a Precision-Guided Boomerang.
- Bicep-Polishing Gesture: His signature gesture, similar to Team Ikari in The King of Fighters.
- The Cameo: He cameos in the Kyokugen Dojo stage in KOF 2002 UM and the console ports of KOF XIII. Also, he appears as a Character Card in all of the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash games and in some of Mature's CGs from within Days of Memories' second title.
- '80s Hair: He sports a long, black mullet.
- Guest Fighter: One of the secret mid-bosses from The King of Fighters XI.
- The Hero: Of the Fu'un Series.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Max Eagle.
- Hot-Blooded: Scrappy, easy to anger, and has a penchant for yelling.
- Hunk: Sho is a manly fighter that wears an exposing armor to show his muscles.
- Kiai: His trademark Large Ham yell ("Uoooooooh!!!"
) in Savage Reign. His yelling is a known meme in Japan and it's also used as a Battle Intro in KOF XI. - Ki Manipulation: His moves has some ki around his body. However, he's not a Shotoclone as his boomerang works as his projectile move, instead.
- Large Ham: His Kiai in the intro of Savage Reign is a very loud one.
- Legacy Character: He's a complete descendant of the first Hayate who had created and perfected this strange fighting style. He's seen as The Cameo in Senryo Kyoshiro's Samurai Shodown V (Special) & VI endings.
- Martial Arts Headband: Wears a red one.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Emphasized in his artwork for XI, which is used in this character page.
- No Indoor Voice: Notorious for his loud voice and yelling. According to his bio, this is his specialty.
- Optional Boss: If the right conditions are met, you'll fight him instead of Adel as a mid-boss in KOF XI.
- Spell My Name With An S: Much like the Saisyu/Saishu example from KOF, expect his name to be spelled as Syo from time to time.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's at 6'1", has dark hair, and...handsome? The last one is disputed for the KOF series, but he's quite a looker in the Fu'un series.
- Red Is Heroic: Hayate wears a red chest armor (like in Aikido) and headband, with the color itself that represents both his heroic and somewhat violent personality.
- To Be a Master: Even with his victory over King Leo, Hayate feels that he hasn't mastered the full strength of Fu'un-Ken and therefore, he embarks on a journey to get stronger so that he can one day use the true potential of his fighting skill.
- Walking the Earth: He ends both games on a long journey with the goal to become a true master.
Carol Stanzack
A beautiful young female French gymnast who practices her family's gymnastic arts with Aikido. Her father, Jeanrick had arranged for her to be married to King Leo so that their family's gymnastic arts could be secured for the future. Carol, who isn't too happy to know of this, is determined to break away her engagement to King Leo.
- Action Girl: Carol may seem girly but she's as capable as the rest of the cast.
- Arranged Marriage: Her father arranged one with King Leo, which she is determined to break off.
- Ass Kicks You: Carol's background entrance has her smacking her opponents with her butt.
- The Cameo: Her first name is seen from upon a background building's display screen in the daytime version of Kizuna Encounter's Old Tollway stage. Carol has also made a few more cameo appearances from within the SNK World, in which she appears in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum from within the Cool Cool Town stage, showing up in Hayate's special picture ending from within The King of Fighters XI, and later appearing in The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match from within the Neo Geo Land Theme Park stage.
- Everyone Looks Sexier if French: French and one of the more conventionally attractive characters in the cast.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: A blonde and typically seen as a beauty among the cast.
- Fashionable Asymmetry
- Hairy Hammerspace: Carol has a seemingly unlimited supply of Olympic gym balls hidden within her hair.
- Improbable Weapon User: She uses a gymnast's ball.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Constantly beats one.
- She-Fu: Well, she IS a gymnast.
- The Smurfette Principle: In Savage Reign.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly-girl to Rosa's tomboy.
- True Blue Femininity
- Unwanted Harem: After breaking off her marriage with King Leo, Joker started stalking her. The girl just can't win.
Max Eagle
An American pro wrestler who is well-known and loved by the fans of the SWF (Southtown Wrestling Federation). Eagle suspects that King Leo is his long-lost older brother and thus, he embarks on a personal mission to find out on whether or not his suspicions are true.
- Cain and Abel: With King Leo.
- Eagleland: Type 1.
- Expy: Take off his axe, give him military fatigues, and he'll end up looking like Guile.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Has a blonde head of hair and is a heroic character.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Sho Hayate.
- I Will Find You: Eagle is determined to locate his missing older brother and suspects that King Leo may be him.
- Precision-Guided Boomerang: When he throws the axe, it comes back like one.
- Pro Wrestling Is Real: He uses his pro wrestling moves in actual combat and they are no less effective.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Always seen without a shirt.
- Wearing a Flag on Your Head: His outfit displays plenty of red white and blue, making him reminiscent of the American flag.
- Wrestler in All of Us: As a pro wrestler, he brings his wrestling moves to the game.
Gordon Bowman
An American obese police officer whose ruthless methods in apprehending criminals makes him a dangerous threat to those who want to commit crime. Upon learning that his young daughter, Canbee is gravely ill with a life-threatening disease, Gordon enters into the tournament in order to help secure the prize money needed for her expensive surgery.
- Carpet of Virility: Boy howdy.◊
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: When defeated, his pants fall down, revealing underwear with bunny faces on it.
- Cowboy Cop: He's rather unscrupulous when it comes to his job.
- Mighty Glacier: He's slow, he's big, and he has a lot of health.
- Papa Wolf: His main goal in the first game is to win the prize money for his daughter's surgery.
- Shock and Awe: Many of his attacks have an electrical element.
- The Ugly Guy's Cute Daughter
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Much like Eagle, he never has a shirt on.
Chung Paifu
An old Chinese man who apparently holds a past grudge against King Leo. His cap was given to him by a man known only as the "Legendary Wolf" when he was young.
- Berserk Button: Go ahead. Knock off his hat. Then, you would be in a world of hurt.
- Cane Fu: Fights with a cane and can even use it to hurl fireballs at his foes
- Captain Ersatz: Seems to be loosely based on Master Roshi from Dragon Ball.
- Cool Shades: Wears a pair until his hat comes off.
- Cool Old Guy: I mean just look at him!
- Legacy Character: His hat was gaven to him as a boy by a fighter known as the "Legendary Wolf".
Gozu
A mysterious red ninja warrior who works for a terrorist organization called the Jaguar. Alongside with his brother Mezu, Gozu seeks to eliminate King Leo in an attempt to avenge Kazu, who happens to be the slain brother of Gozu and Mezu.
- Animal Motifs: The ox. He and his brother are based on Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
- Gas Mask Mooks: He's notable for his gas mask.
- Head Swap: Of Mezu.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: Dresses in a bright red and makes little to no attempt to hide himself.
- Ninja: Along with his brother.
- Playing with Fire: His signature element. He incorporates fire into his special attacks and fights right by a pool of magma.
- Red Is Violent: Wears almost exclusively red and is very violent.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the Red to Mezu's Blue.
- Screaming Warrior: Tends to yell a lot during combat.
- Vader Breath: Since he is wearing a gas mask, his quotes are punctuated with "Koh-hoh" breathing sounds.
- Wolverine Claws: Sports a pair as his weapon.
Mezu
A mysterious blue ninja warrior who works for a terrorist organization called the Jaguar. Alongside with his brother Gozu, Mezu seeks to eliminate King Leo in an attempt to avenge Kazu, who happens to be the slain brother of Gozu and Mezu.
- An Ice Person: His signature element, he incorporates ice into his special moves and fights in an icy cavern.
- Animal Motifs: The horse. He and his brother are based on Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
- Blood Knight: He seems positively overjoyed at the prospect of "dealing with" his former clanmates in his Kizuna ending.
- Cool Mask: Wears a mask on his face shaped like the skull of a horse.
- Head Swap: Of Gozu.
- Ninja: Just like his brother.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: Wears a lot of bright blue and barely attempts to conceal himself.
- Making a Splash: He has the ability to summon whirlpools.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the Blue to Gozu's Red.
- Screaming Warrior: Tends to scream a lot during combat.
- Wolverine Claws: Sports a pair as his weapon.
Marco "Joker" Bariadrid
A Spanish clown-like criminal who happens to be the leader of a violent street gang known as the Looly Po Po. Joker seeks to make himself and his gang the most well-known and feared throughout Jipang City and the rest of the world.
- Cycle of Hurting: In Kizuna Encounter, he has an infinite that works on most of the castnote .
- Darker and Edgier: In terms of colour anyway. He had gone from a bright and vivid colour scheme to a monochrone one.
- Death Dealer: Throws a giant card as a projectile.
- Fighting Clown: A literal example as a combat capable jester.
- Gang Banger: Mostly the leader of his own criminal band.
- Hopeless Suitor: To Carol.
- Identical Stranger: Seems very similar to another Monster Clown in fighting games: Clown from Fighter's History.
- Monster Clown: He's not a literal monster but he is a fearsome criminal with a clown motif.
- Practically Joker: A violent clown-themed criminal whose name is Joker.
- Rollerblade Good: Wears a pair of rollerblades on his feet and uses them well.
Nicola Zaza
A young Russian genius who has an IQ of 600. Upon developing a Super Suit with a Super Shield, Nicola decides to participate in the tournament in order to test out the very depths of his own creations.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: Mostly due to his...
- Gender-Blender Name: "Nicola" is generally not a boy's name.
- Insufferable Genius: Quite proud of himself and his intellect.
- Kid-Appeal Character: Of the Teen Genius variety.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: His shield can protect him from attacks.
- Named After Somebody Famous: A Russian genius named Nicola.
- Put on a Bus: Unlike Carol, who had since made a few cameo appearances from within the SNK World, Nicola has not been seen (nor mentioned) in Kizuna Encounter or any other SNK game for that matter (save for both a KOF artwork depicting him stuck in a tiny locker room full of other SNK nobodies and having a single cameo appearance in Hayate's special picture ending in KOF XI alongside with his older twin brother).
- Shield Bash: Given his signature weapon is a shield, he uses it this way a lot in his moveset.
- Throwing Your Shield Always Works: His ranged attack have him throwing his shield at his targets. Who then flies back to him. There's also a special move that allows Nicola's shield to home in on targets and hit them multipme times before returning to his hand.
- Rummage Sale Reject: Sure, the others' outfits make you double-take but this kid's outfit◊ takes the cake.
King Lion
A mysterious warrior whom King Leo had hired in order to impersonate him so that he can help throw off his enemies. Despite doing his job quite well, King Lion wishes to do much more than just be an impersonator and that he seeks to eliminate King Leo himself so that he can take his place.
- Anime Hair: Has a crazy hairdo.
- Battle Boomerang: He uses his sword as this in some of his moves.
- Big Bad: Of the second game.
- BFS: Carries one as his signature weapon.
- Body Double: He's this to King Leo, thus he has a different family, with different mother than King Leo's and presumably Max Eagle's, and a different girlfriend, but he had to keep up the mask of King Leo being in an Arranged Marriage with Carol. As it turns out, he is looking to replace his boss.
- Cool Mask: Wears one as part of his costume.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of Body Double. Being someone who is picked for the job of being King Leo's impersonator, despite doing a damn good job means that King Lion must discard his old identity as Jake Abbot. He'll never see his mother again, and he'll have to play up being in an Arranged Marriage with Carol instead of hanging out with his beloved girlfriend. All these piling up and it's no wonder that aside of for the sake of his own evil ambitions, he'd want to get rid of King Leo so he can take his place and combine both aspects of his life.
- The Dragon: To King Leo.
- Dragon Ascendant: In Kizuna Encounter.
- Dub Name Change: Known in Japan as Kage Shishioh, or solely Shishioh.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He's an aspiring iron-fisted crime lord, but additionally, he also fights in dedication of his mother (and girlfriend) that he hasn't seen ever since.
- Guest Fighter: In NeoGeo Battle Coliseum.
- Palette Swap: For King Leo.
- Red Boxing Gloves: Subverted. They are blue after the first game.
- Stage Name: His real name is Jake Abbot. King Lion is an alias used to make people think he's King Leo.
- SNK Boss: Subverted. While he appears as a boss character with great AI in the first game, he's a fully balanced playable character with the purpose of being a fair playable version of King Leo.
- The Starscream: Looking to usurp his boss, King Leo.
King Leo
The main antagonist of the series who happens to be a legendary fighting champion. King Leo organizes and sponsors The Battle of the Beast God tournament in order to find an opponent who could easily give him a much-needed challenge.
- Anime Hair: He has an even more impressive hairdo than King Lion.
- Battle Boomerang: He uses his sword as this in some of his moves.
- BFS: His signature weapon.
- Big Bad: Of the first game.
- Bling of War: Different from King Lion, King Leo has all his armor made of gold.
- Cool Mask: Wears one as part of his costume.
- Demoted to Dragon: In the second game.
- Dub Name Change: Known in Japan as Shin Shishioh.
- Evil Redhead: Has a head of red hair and is thoroughly evil.
- Guest Fighter: One of the 3 special final bosses of NeoGeo Battle Coliseum along with Neo-Dio and Mizuchi. Unlike the other bosses however, you can't play as him.
- Large Ham: DYNAMITE!!!!. No matter where he appeared, it's usually very over the top, even moreso than King Lion (except in NGBC, where they both sounded the same)
- Red Boxing Gloves: Sports them in all of his appearances.
- Red Is Violent: Red from head to toe and much more violent, powerful, and evil than his bluer counterpart King Lion.
- SNK Boss: In both games he dishes out lots of damage, has powerful special moves (including one which locks into a full combo if the first hit lands), and enough health to keep up with two characters. In the first game, he also has an arena with little room to hide, depriving your character of any advantage possible.
Characters introduced in Kizuna Encounter
Rosa
A young amnesiac woman who leads a strong resistance force against King Leo. When her young brother and a couple of her friends are captured by King Leo, Rosa embarks on a rescue mission to help save them while fighting against King Leo.
- '80s Hair
- Action Girl: A more straight example than Carol as a badass swordswoman.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Much more aloof and cool-headed than most of the cast to match her dark hair.
- Amnesiac Hero: She had amnesia and doesn’t remember her past.
- The Cameo: Rosa appears in one of the backgrounds of NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, in Kim Kaphwan's ending in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos and in all of the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash games as a Character Card.
- Cool Big Sis: To her younger brother and her friends.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Rosa means "Rose" in Spanish. Her origins are unknown, but it is implied she has Spanish ancestors.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Wields a large katana as her weapon of choice.
- La Résistance: Leads one against Big Bad King Leo.
- Martial Arts Headband: A red one wrapped around her head like her brother.
- Rebel Leader: Leading a resistance against King Leo.
- Red Baron: The "Deep Crimson Vixen".
- Red Is Violent: Wears lots of red and is just a capable and brutal a fighter as her brother.
- Revenge: She wishes to avenge her fallen comrades.
- The Smurfette Principle: In Kizuna Encounter.
- Tomboy: She is an Action Girl with Boyish Short Hair, contrasting girly-girl Carol.
Kim Sue Il
A young Korean detective who happens to be an expert in Taekwondo while wielding a bo staff. Kim is determined to complete his latest case, which is to find and arrest Joker while disbanding his gang, the Looly Po Po.
- Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Very rude and dismissive to even his partner, but especially his opponents.
- Blue Is Heroic: Wears a blue coat and is on the side of justice.
- The Cameo: First as an Assist Character in The King of Fighters 2000 and later as part of a background in 2002 and '94 Re-Bout. Not to mention he appears as a Character Card in all of the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash games.
- Cool Shades: Puts them on in a victory pose.
- Cowboy Cop: Not as bad as Gordon but has little tolerance for criminals.
- Justice Will Prevail: Yep, definitely an Expy of Kim Kaphwan.
- Kiai: Just like his ancestor.
- Legacy Character: He is strongly implied to be a direct descendant of Kim Kaphwan. The King of Fighters series would later Retconned him as being both a close relative to Kim and a Cool Uncle to Dong Hwan and Jae Hoon (Kim's sons) from Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
- Moveset Clone: Of Kim Kaphwan, at least in the Taekwondo moves.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is named after the real Taekwondo martial artist, Hwoan Sue Il.
Jyazu
An unknown yet sadistic ninja warrior who happens to be the leader of the Jaguar terrorist organization. Not much is known about Jyazu and his past history. Like Sho, Jyazu appears as a playable character in The King of Fighters XI.
- An Ice Person: Cribs an ice move from Mezu, namely dropping three icicles from the sky in front of him.
- Animal Motifs: The raven. He actually can assume the form of one.
- Asian Rune Chant: Not quite, but he does something very similar in his intro in Kizuna Encounter.
- Battle Aura: Appears with one in Kizuna Encounter, but not in KOF XI.
- Blade Below the Shoulder: Complete with mini-cannons underneath.
- Combo Platter Powers: Uses both fire and ice to attack his opponents, in addition to his bladed talons.
- Cool Mask: Complete with a mane of white hair and glowing red eyes. Even cooler than the other ninjas, with his specifically styled to look like a leering bird and even moving with his face at times.
- Hand Seals: Does something similar in his intro in Kizuna Encounter.
- Instant Runes: During his intro in Kizuna Encounter and his LDM in KOF XI.
- Final Boss: In Kizuna Encounter, replacing King Leo.
- Guest Fighter: One of the secret mid-bosses from The King of Fighters XI.
- Head Swap: Of Gozu and Mezu.
- Ninja: He doesn't claim to be one, but fights like one. His fighting style shares a lot with the actual ninjas in this series, Gozu and Mezu.
- Optional Boss: If the right conditions are met, you'll fight him instead of Adel as a midboss in KOF XI.
- Playing with Fire: Most of his special moves seem to have Gozu's element of fire and his ultimate move has him creating pillars of fire around him.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Has two DMs that are a flurry of fire-based melee attacks; one is a series of punches, the other involves kicking.
- Set Swords to "Stun": Again, it's the only way to explain how his opponents aren't mincemeat.
- Shirtless Scene: When he does his taunt in The King of Fighters XI.
- Smoke Out: One of his specials involves Jyazu outstretching his hands, creating an elliptical shape with the space between his arms. If he's attacked while in that pose, Jyazu will disappear in a puff of smoke and counter with a fiery claw from above.
- SNK Boss: Not as bad as King Leo before him, but his attacks are lightning-fast and cut through people like butter, he also has enough health to outlast two characters, and has great mobility.
- Spell My Name With An S: Sometimes spelled as Jazu.
- Variant Power Copying: One of his special moves is Mezu's whirlpool launch combined with Gozu's fire to make a fire whirlpool attack.
- White Hair, Black Heart: He has white hair, and is unambiguously evil.
- Winged Humanoid: In one of his taunts.
- Wolverine Claws: Sports a deadly pair as one of his weapons.
