HEIDERN
First Appearance: King of Fighters '94
Game Appearances: King of Fighters '94-95, '98, 2001-02 & XIV (DLC only), KoF XV (47% of series), Ikari I-III
Role: Stoic Commanding Officer, The One They're Always Trying to Drop
PL 8 (151)
STRENGTH 3
STAMINA 3
AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 11
DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 3
AWARENESS 4
PRESENCE 3
Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 7 (+10)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+13)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 5 (+8)
Expertise (Soldier) 8 (+11)
Intimidation 4 (+7)
Investigation 4 (+8)
Perception 5 (+8)
Persuasion 2 (+5)
Stealth 3 (+7)
Vehicles 6 (+10)
Advantages:
Benefit 4 (Military Clearance), Equipment 5 (Army Gear), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Neck Ringer), Improved Critical (Moon Slasher), Improved Critical (Cross Cutter), Improved Critical (Storm Bringer), Ranged Attack 6
SNK Fighting Style: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Defense, Improved Hold, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)
Powers:
"Neck Ringer- Spin Around Enemy's Neck" Strength-Damage +0 (Feats: +1 to Hit if Enemy Parried Last Turn) (Extras: Multiattack 3) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Affliction 3 (Toughness; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree) (6) -- [9]
- AE: "Moon Slasher- Energy Circle" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Reach) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
- AE: "Cross Cutter- X-Shaped Blast" Blast 4 (Reduced Defenses -2, Diminished Range -1) (3)
- AE: "Storm Bringer- Grab & Blast" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit if Opponent Parried Last Turn) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
Offense:
Unarmed +13 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Storm Bringer/Moon Slasher +11 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Neck Ringer +13 (+3 Damage & Affliction, DC 18 & 13)
Cross Cutter +10 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +4
Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +12 (DC 22), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +8
Complications:
Enemy (Rugal)- The criminal Rugal slaughtered Heidern's wife and child, along with fifty of his men, in an attack eight years prior to the 1994 King of Fighters tournament.
Disabled (One-Eyed)- Rugal also took Heidern's right eye (left, if he's facing the other way).
Motivation (The World)- Heidern watches the world-threatening events of the King of Fighters tournaments with great concern, and often sends the Ikari Warriors to investigate.
Relationship (Leona- Adopted Daughter)- Heidern found the infant Leona in a village of slaughtered people, and soon adopted her. He is both her commanding officer and her father.
Weakness (Predictability)- SNK Characters cannot simply "spam" out the same attack over and over again, as the opponent will expect the attacks, and be ready for them (and a counterattack). The third time they try the same technique (or same combo of techniques) in a short span, they will be at -2 to Accuracy, AND to his Active Defenses in that round. All will decrease by 2 every successive round the same move is done.
Total: Abilities: 70 / Skills: 50--25 / Advantages: 20 + 11 / Powers: 9 / Defenses: 16 (151)
-Heidern is always a character I thought was SUCH garbage- a flavorless, boring design I considered a rip-off of M. Bison at the time. SNK seems to have agreed, and almost constantly dumped the guy- within a couple of years, they'd created Leona, who easily replaced him in
King of Fighters '96 and many other versions of the game. However, circumstances often saw them bringing him back-
KoF '98 was the "Dream Match" edition, and so he joined the "Old Man Team" alongside Takuma (who'd also been dropped) & Saisyou. Missing for the next two years again,
KoF 2001 was now comprised of FOUR-MAN teams, so he had to be brought out of the mothballs to join the Ikari Warriors in the field once more. One more appearance in this incarnation was left, and then he disappeared for four games in a row, popping up only as DLC in the most recent version-
KoF XIV. So it really seems like SNK also didn't like the character's style- otherwise why dump him so early and regularly?
-That said, the CHARACTER isn't that bad. Heidern is actually based off of the Heidern character from
Space Battleship Yamato, a nationalistic propaganda sci-fi anime that featured this villainous character as part of the blue-skinned baddies (the Bison resemblance is owing to the popularity of their jackbooted militaristic uniforms, popular among villains in anime & manga long before Bison debuted). Their uniforms are very much the same. Heidern was initially going to be played up as a similar sort of guy- a remorseless killer- but the developers "fell in love" with him and made him much more benevolent. He thus led the "Ikari Team" alongside Ralf & Clark, the heroes from
Ikari Warriors. He left after two games, and a suddenly-introduced adopted daughter replaced him- Leona was meant to be a much bigger deal, though Heidern was always leading the team in the backdrop.
-Heidern is thus watching things during the Orochi Saga (his main opponent, Rugal, is instead killed fighting other people), then the NESTS Saga, where he sends the Ikari Warriors to destroy the evil cartel. Again, his team is but a minor notion in the plot, but he's also got information for Seth, Vanessa, Ramon & Blue Mary- kind of a general "behind the scenes" leader. He is DLC in
KoF XIV, and makes a surprising return to the series in
KoF XV as part of the "Rival Team", oddly joining Isla & Dolores is their attempts to find Shun'ei, the other person with Isla's Amp-Powers.
-Heidern has a very odd fighting style, much different from that of Ralf & Clark- he's a slender, more athletic fighter, tossing out a weird half-circle of energy (almost a temporary Aura) called the Moon Slasher, an X-shaped blast called the Cross Cutter (made by slicing the air with his hands in the pattern and sending it out, in a cool notion), and more. Leona copied most of his offense so it wouldn't be "lost" when his character was dropped. An early bug in
KoF '94 saw his Storm Bringer do 100% damage if he'd failed the Moon Slasher beforehand- the most recent game includes an option to boost its power if the same circumstances are met. Heidern, like Guile & Chun-Li from
Street Fighter, is much more expensive than most other fighters, by virtue of having far more well-rounded skills as a part of his military background- he has the Mental Abilities, Ranged Attack, and Investigative skills that most simple brawlers won't have.