Jab’s Builds! (Nightmare Creatures/Circus! Lawnmower Man! Metroid!)

[Jabroniville]

Hey, sweet! An interview with Bill Sienkiewicz about his New Mutants run: https://www.cbr.com/sdcc-new-mutants-bill-sienkiewicz/

Fun Facts:
* Shooter always backing him up (Shooter's blog indicated he was a big fan, and liked having him in "side books"), despite loving to read him hate mail from the fans.
* He turned down X-Men, figuring he'd screw it up (this was the era when John Romita Jr. was giving them hideous jackets and stuff).
* He hated Magneto being the team leader, so gave him the stupid "M" costume on purpose.
* Legion is what EVERY comic book artist does- takes a childhood creation and makes a character out of it once he makes it big.
* He never did drugs as an artist, despite... well, look at his work.
* He quit the book when a bunch of editors were like "hey, reign it in and be LESS WEIRD", even though sales had climbed during his tenure.

[Jabroniville]

Raiden from "Fatal Fury", and Leon "Vader" White.

RAIDEN (aka Big Bear)
First Appearance: Fatal Fury (1991)
Game Appearances: Fatal Fury 1, 2 & Special (30% of series), King of Fighters XII & XIII (14% of series), Capcom (vs) SNK 1 & 2
Role: Big Van Vader Wannabe, Surprise Return Character (in Capcom vs. SNK)
PL 9 (109)
STRENGTH 5 STAMINA 5 AGILITY 4
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 1 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 4 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Deception 2 (+4)
Expertise (Pro Wrestler) 8 (+8)
Expertise (Football Player) 4 (+4)
Intimidation 6 (+8)
Perception 1 (+2)

Advantages:
Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Fire Breath), Improved Critical (Powerbomb), Improved Critical (Power Charge), Improved Grab

SNK Fighting Style: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Giant Bomb Feint" Enhanced Advantages 1: Uses Athletics To Feint in Combat [1]

"Green Mist" Damage 6 (Feats: Reach, Accurate) (Reduced Defenses -1) (6) -- [9]

• AE: "Giant Bomb- Power Charge" Strength-Damage +2 (Inaccurate -1) (1)
• AE: "Powerbomb" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit if Opponent Parried Last Turn) (Inaccurate -1) (2)
• AE: "Raiden Bomb- Jumping Powerbomb" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit Jumping Opponents) (Inaccurate -1) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Special Moves +9 (+8 Damage, DC 23)
Green Mist +10 (+6 Damage, DC 21)
Initiative +4

Defenses:
Dodge +9 (DC 19), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +5 (+6 D.Roll), Fortitude +8, Will +5

Complications:
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: 50 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 5 + 11 / Powers: 11 / Defenses: 15 (109)

-In one of the greatest surprises of the excellent Capcom (vs) SNK series came in the form of the shocking return of RAIDEN, a forgotten character from the early trio of Fatal Fury games- similar to Ryuhaku Todoh & SF I's Eagle, this was out of NOWHERE, and brought back a character who'd been missing for over a decade. Raiden, with his distinctive haircut and extremely tall, "Powerful Fat Guy" physique, was quite obviously modeled after the late Leon "Big Van Vader" White, then a major star in New Japan Pro Wrestling (he'd made his debut by stiffing the CRAP out of Antonio Inoki and beating him for the World Title, shocking the entire crowd and nearly setting off a riot... and as most pro wrestlers would note- the Japanese fans are NOTORIOUSLY quiet, and rarely act out for anything. So RIOTING was definitely out of the ordinary.

-Raiden was a heel, and joined the King of Fighters tournament as a lackey for Geese because he wanted to get involved in some serious fights after dominating in puroresu so much. He quit after finding distaste with being a lackey, and fought in a couple more games as "Big Bear", a babyface wrestler instead of a heel. He disappeared from the games come the Real Bout series, only showing up in the background (he got RICHARD MEYERED!), but when Capcom (vs) SNK brought him back and made him look awesome, he was put into the King of Fighters series as a big bad-ass once again. He's thus a rather unusual thing- a Muscular Fat Guy. Most Fighting Game powerhouses are bodybuilder-types. Also unusual is that the American pro wrestler has evil Green Mist as a weapon- in America, it's almost exclusively something for Japanese heels.

-Statistically, Raiden is equivalent in strength and power to Zangief & T. Hawk, and like them, makes PL 9 status... well, PL 8.5, since being so strong gives him a solid advantage over the low-Toughness acts in the Fighting Game world- this makes him about even with all the PL 9s out there. He was apparently unstoppable in KoF XIII because they made his Dropkicks too quick and thus Infinite Combo-capable, but otherwise he's settled down. More mobile than your typical Powerhouse fighters. He has two kinds of Powerbomb, one specializing in catching guys in the air, Green Mist (Damage w/ Reach), and even a "Feint" move that boosts his ability to feint in-game.

[Jabroniville]

CHENG SINZAN
First Appearance: Fatal Fury 2: Special (1992)
Game Appearances: Fatal Fury 2, Special, Special DM, Real Bout FF Special & 2 (55% of series since debut)
Role: Fat Loser, Greedy Businessman
PL 7 (112)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 8 DEXTERITY 3
INTELLIGENCE 3 AWARENESS 3 PRESENCE 2

Skills:
Acrobatics 3 (+8)
Athletics 6 (+9)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 3 (+11)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 4 (+7)
Expertise (Business) 8 (+11)
Intimidation 4 (+6)
Perception 3 (+5)
Ranged Combat (Energy Ball) 4 (+9)

Advantages:
Benefit (Wealth), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Energy Ball), Improved Critical (Multi-Blast), Improved Critical (Rolling Ball), Ranged Attack 2

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:
"Martial Artist" Strength-Damage +1 [1]
"Floater" Leaping 2 (30 feet) [2]

"Energy Ball" Blast 5 (Reduced Defenses -2, Diminished Range -1) (5) -- [7]

• AE: "Multi-Blast" Blast 3 (Feats: Accurate) (Extras: Multiattack) (Reduced Defenses -2, Diminished Range -1) (5)
• AE: "Rolling Ball Attack" Strength-Damage +2 (Drawbacks: Inaccurate) (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +11 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Special Moves +9 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Blast +9 (+5 Ranged Damage, DC 20)
Multi-Blast +11 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +5

Defenses:
Dodge +10 (DC 20), Parry +10 (DC 20), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +4

Complications:
Motivation (Greed)- Cheng is a greedy man, and while not evil per se, he will let his love of money and food overwhelm his better instincts. He wishes to enter the King of Fighters tournament to gain the money to starta dojo chain.
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: 58 / Skills: 32--16 / Advantages: 7 + 11 / Powers: 10 / Defenses: 10 (112)

-Cheng is one of the worst fighting game designs I've ever seen- he lacks even the most BASIC elements of a bad-ass look that should be a requirement of any fighter, to the point where he looks like a REGULAR DUDE can beat his ass! A short, fat, bespectacled Chinese man (apparently based visually off of one of the game designers), he is a money-hungry businessman, and was taught alongside Jeff Bogard & Geese Howard. However, he was thrown out of "The Three Brothers of Godly Battle" for rigging bets and engaging in street fights, and is even now in the tournament for money. Despite that, he's apparently not a BAD person- more of a Scrooge McDuck figure that gets an overwhelming lust for money. However, he's much more lazy than Scrooge, and nowhere near as dangerous if crossed.

-Cheng proved to be pretty unpopular, I think, as he debuted in Fatal Fury 2, but was immediately dropped for the next game, along with ten or so other characters. He reappeared for the Special versions, showing up in the huge roster until finally dumped in 1998, and he's never returned.

-Another weak fighter (despite the pedigree of his fellow trainees), Cheng is a PL 7 with some fast attacks, but he pretty well sucks. Despite his short stature and fat body, he's quick and agile (doing a Rolling Attack that's a more bouncy version of Blanka's), and he can throw out a weird Energy Ball that's more of a short lob (probably making it harder to dodge, though). Despite training with an Aikido guy and whatever Bogard was, he uses Tai Chi Chuan.

[drkrash]

Man, I am still 4 pages behind!

I just finished AoF. I appreciate those games for their role in the SNK canon, but to this day, I'm not sure I ever beat any of them. They were *hard.* Reading about them makes me want to pull out my PS2 and AoF compilation.

King is undoubtedly my favorite of that crew. I'll post more when I get a little further along.

EDIT TO ADD A LITTLE MORE:

Fatal Fury holds a special place in my heart. It was the 1st fighting game I really got into after SFII.

The anime also had a huge influence on me: they were the *1st* anime I watched knowing that I was watching "anime" (as opposed to things like Starblazers, which were just "Japanese cartoons" to young me). Needless to say, this drastically affected my perceptions of anime; more popular anime feel flat with me (and now I can barely watch most of it).

The stories in the 3 OVA also inspired me that a fighting game RPG could be a thing. There are definitely rules that came directly from those OVAs.

I also love Terry...especially his catch phrases which have been used so often in joke videos. Terry is always my main character in any KOF game. (I'm not surprised that Ares and I agree again, either.)

More as I catch up.

[Jabroniville]

HOKUTOMARU
First Appearance: Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999)
Game Appearances: Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Role: Another F**king SNK Kid Character, Teen Ninja, The Student (of Andy Bogard)
PL 8 (118)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+15)
Athletics 9 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+14)
Expertise (Ninja) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Survival) 6 (+6)
Perception 4 (+4)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Equipment 1 (Sword +2), Evasion, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Special Moves), Improved Critical (Kunai), Improved Critical (Sword), Improved Initiative, Ranged Attack 6

SNK Fighting Style: Accurate Attack, All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll, Extraordinary Effort, Fast Grab, Improved Trip (Throw), Power Attack, Takedown, Withstand Damage (Block)

Powers:
"Double Jump" Leaping 1 (15 feet) [1]

"Flaming Kunai" Blast 3 (Feats: Accurate) (Extras: Multiattack) (Flaws: Source- Kunai) (Reduced Defenses -1) (5) -- [7]

• AE: "Ninja 'Port" Teleport 2 (Feats: Change Direction) (5)
• AE: "Andy Bogard's Leaping Kick" Strength-Damage +2 (Inaccurate -1) (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Sword +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Special Moves +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Flaming Kunai +12 (+3 Ranged Damage, DC 18)
Initiative +6

Defenses:
Dodge +13 (DC 23), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Relationship (Andy Bogard)- Hokutomaru was trained by Andy, and is a loyal student. However, Hokutomaru did well enough in the tournament to be considered "a rival" by Andy, not just a student.
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: 52 / Skills: 36--18 / Advantages: 13 + 11 / Powers: 8 / Defenses: 16 (118)

-oh, GOODY. ANOTHER Child Fighter in an SNK game. JUST what we needed. This goofy-looking kid (wearing Strider Hiryu's outfit for some reason) is the caped student of Andy Bogard, and joined Garou to be a substitute for Andy & Mai. However, since he's not Andy, and doesn't have massive gazongas, he's a pretty poor substitute. His only effect on later games is that his illness was used as a reasoning for Andy's absence in a later King of Fighters game.

-Hokutomaru's another tiny Kid Fighter type with high-speed, low-force moves, specializing in Teleportation, jumping up and throwing a downward Sword Attack out, and throwing very fast projectiles (which oddly can counter Blasts, but lose priority to basic strikes, which can knock them out of the air). He's apparently not a bad leaper, and his Teleport is great for punishing people who over-commit. And some of his specials can be "canceled", which is a dirty Fighting Game trick that means you can avoid sending out the punishable attack, leaving your opponents anticipating strikes that never come- this opponent (often blocking) can thus be easily grabbed by your REAL offensive move.

[Jabroniville]

Man, I am still 4 pages behind!

I just finished AoF. I appreciate those games for their role in the SNK canon, but to this day, I'm not sure I ever beat any of them. They were *hard.* Reading about them makes me want to pull out my PS2 and AoF compilation.

King is undoubtedly my favorite of that crew. I'll post more when I get a little further along.

EDIT TO ADD A LITTLE MORE:

Fatal Fury holds a special place in my heart. It was the 1st fighting game I really got into after SFII.

The anime also had a huge influence on me: they were the *1st* anime I watched knowing that I was watching "anime" (as opposed to things like Starblazers, which were just "Japanese cartoons" to young me). Needless to say, this drastically affected my perceptions of anime; more popular anime feel flat with me (and now I can barely watch most of it).

The stories in the 3 OVA also inspired me that a fighting game RPG could be a thing. There are definitely rules that came directly from those OVAs.

I also love Terry...especially his catch phrases which have been used so often in joke videos. Terry is always my main character in any KOF game. (I'm not surprised that Ares and I agree again, either.)

More as I catch up.

I kinda want to see the OVAs now, but I really don't have the time to sit down and watch three full movies in a row. Sooooooo much other stuff to do. I'm even behind on Sailor Moon watching!

But yeah, I think Fatal Fury will always kind of have an appeal that other fighters lack, just due to familiarity. You had it, and so many others do as well- it was just the "First Good SNK Fighter", and kept that going for a long time, with a roster that included some fairly-popular cast members.

Funnily enough, this whole Smash Bros. thing with Mai has only HELPED her character- she's now attained "Everyone has to draw her" art-meme status previously enjoyed only by Dark-Skinned Pokemon Girl and Bowsette so far .

[Ares]

I kinda want to see the OVAs now, but I really don't have the time to sit down and watch three full movies in a row. Sooooooo much other stuff to do. I'm even behind on Sailor Moon watching!

They actually aren't all that long. And like I said, they're all available on Youtube right now.

Fatal Fury 1 - 45 minutes - https://youtu.be/cyGJ5_janc0
Fatal Fury 2 - 68 minutes - https://youtu.be/BTLMLbldqRY
Fatal Fury the Motion Picture - 95 minutes - https://youtu.be/Jr1kHLhgh7A?t=1

So all three of them together are less than 3 and a half hours.

[Jabroniville]

LI XIANGFEI
First Appearance: Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 (1998)
Game Appearances: Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, Wild Ambition, King of Fighters '99, '01 & '02 (21% of series)
Role: Teen Chun-Li, Big Eater
PL 8 (98)
STRENGTH 2 STAMINA 2 AGILITY 6
FIGHTING 9 DEXTERITY 1
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE -1

Skills:
Acrobatics 9 (+15)
Athletics 9 (+11)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 6 (+14)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 4 (+4)
Expertise (Restaurants) 4 (+4)
Perception 2 (+2)

Advantages:
Agile Feint, Defensive Attack, Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Nanpa), Improved Critical (Rolling Grab), Improved Critical (Ten Pou Zan), Improved Initiative 2, Taunt

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:
"Nanpa- Short Chi Attack" Damage 4 (Drawbacks: Inaccurate) (3) -- [5]

• AE: "Rolling Grab & Elbow" Strength-Damage +2 (Drawbacks: Inaccurate) (1)
• AE: "Ten Pou Zan- Diagonal Shoulder Tackle" Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: +2 to Hit Jumping Opponents) (Inaccurate -1) (2)

Offense:
Unarmed +14 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Special Moves +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +14

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (DC 22), Parry +13 (DC 23), Toughness +2 (+3 D.Roll), Fortitude +5, Will +5

Complications:
Secret (Fights For Money)- Li's grandfather Pai forbids her from entering any serious tournaments, and so she is forced to sneak out and do so.
Reputation (Messy Eater)- Li eats very sloppily, and has little etiquette in general.
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: 38 / Skills: 34--17 / Advantages: 9 + 11 / Powers: 5 / Defenses: 18 (98)

-Li Xiangfei is pretty clearly a Chun-Li type of character in terms of design, though fits the "Exciteable Teenage Girl" thing so common in anime & video games more than Chun-Li's more serious personality (well, save her "Yatta!" win-pose). She joins the first Real Bout tournament for the fun of it, and surprisingly makes the Wild Ambition 3D game, recurring unlike poor Rick Strowd. And even MORE surprisingly, she is recruited onto the "Woman Fighters Team" in King of Fighters when she gets into a brawl with Kasumi Todoh, thus impressing Blue Mary & King! She appears in three KoF games in total, generally with them, Yuri or Mai on her team in some combination. All in all, she's not a BAD design, but it's still coming a BIT too close to make her stand out as anyone but a "Chun-Li Lite" girl, especially with the little hair things. Never mind that her personality is pretty much "I'M A LOUD TEENAGE GIRL WHO STICKS HER TONGUE OUT AND GETS INTO FIGHTS!!", which is annoying as hell. And too much like Yuri, who does so with more humor. But really, a latter-era Fatal Fury character reappearing AT ALL is pretty rare, even if she disappeared by 2002.

-A good Kung Fu fighter, Li Xiangfei is actually quite adequate, and has recurring appearances in the King of Fighters franchise, meaning she's good enough to be a Sakura/Yuri-level "Teen Girl Martial Artist". Her specialty is a lightning-fast series of close attacks, complete with the occasional "stomp on the ground and rush forward" type of move- she has an Anti-Air, a short-range Chi Attack, and more- enough to be very mobile and work on her combos- a GameFaqs page says to avoid relying on her Specials (but the Fatal Fury series is advanced enough that most players will rely on basic moves moreso anyways).

[Jabroniville]

Okay, watched the first Fatal Fury movie- it's pretty solid. WAY truncated, which causes issues with most of the supporting fighters, who are largely either completely wiped out with ease (Michael Max, Meyer, Hwa Jai), or blasted away by a single counterattack (Raiden, Billy). Lily being a major character was unexpected, and I liked how she turned out... but they had to do that "Broadway Musical" thing where they rapid-fire the relationship so that we buy the love story in minutes instead of hours or days. And all their big fighting techniques are typically poorly choreographed and barely-seen (Terry doesn't do the Power Wave or Burning Knuckle until the final battle, and both are made to look ineffective?). It's all stuff that would probably have been done better with more time- a 45-minute show just isn't enough to showcase that many characters (Billy only interacts with his sister once, and it's not clear if they're even related!).

Geese's English VA is the WORST, though- like they wanted a guy with the deepest voice possible, but couldn't actually find one with acting skill, lol.

[drkrash]

I may watch it again myself; it's been close to 20 years. I think the 2nd one is the best.

[Jabroniville]

BILLY KANE
First Appearance: Fatal Fury (1991)
Game Appearances: Fatal Fury 1, 2, Special & Wild Ambition, Real Bout FF 1, 2 & Special (80% of series), King of Fighters '95, '97, '98, '02, '03, XIII-XV (53% of series), KoF Max. Impact 2
Role: The Henchman, Overprotective Brother
PL 9 (139)
STRENGTH 3 STAMINA 3 AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 12 DEXTERITY 4
INTELLIGENCE 0 AWARENESS 0 PRESENCE 0

Skills:
Acrobatics 7 (+12)
Athletics 9 (+12)
Close Combat (Staff) 2 (+14)
Deception 7 (+7)
Expertise (Criminal) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Music/Guitarist) 6 (+6)
Expertise (Martial Arts) 4 (+4)
Insight 3 (+3)
Intimidation 4 (+4)
Perception 4 (+4)
Ranged Combat (Fire) 6 (+12)

Advantages:
Defensive Attack, Equipment (Three-Piece Staff- +1 Damage, Reach, Split, Leaping 1- 15 feet), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Critical (Staff) 2, Improved Critical (Special Moves), Improved Critical (San Setsu Kon), Improved Critical (Ring of Fire), Improved Initiative, Interpose, Ranged Attack 2, Takedown

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:
Features 1: Can Add Special Moves to Staff Damage [1]

"San Setsu Kon- Spinning Staff" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Reach) (Extras: Multiattack 5) (Flaws: Distracting) Linked to Affliction 5 (Toughness; Dazed & Vulnerable/Stunned & Defenseless) (Feats: Reach) (Extras: Extra Condition) (Flaws: Limited Degree, Source- Staff) & Enhanced Dodge 2 (10) -- [12]

• AE: "Ring of Fire" Blast 4 (Flaws: Source- Staff) (Reduced Defenses -2, Diminished Range -1) (1)
• AE: "Special Moves" Strength-Damage +2 (Inaccurate -1) (1)

Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Staff +14 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
San Setsu Kon +13 (+5 Damage & Affliction, DC 20 & 15)
Ring of Fire +12 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +9

Defenses:
Dodge +12 (+14 Spinning Staff, DC 22-24), Parry +14 (DC 24), Toughness +3 (+4 D.Roll), Fortitude +6, Will +7

Complications:
Relationship (Lilly Kane)- Billy is very protective of his little sister.
Responsibility (Geese Howard)- Geese saved the Kanes as orphaned children after witnessing Billy's skill with the bo, and so Billy is still loyal.
Enemy (Terry Bogard)- Billy was initially a fierce enemy of Terry, but it has grown more into a respectful rivalry.
Rivalry (Joe Higashi)- Joe is dating Billy's little sister. This is not good for Billy's rage.
Enemy (Iori Yagami)- When Iori first went into the Riot of Blood, he nearly murdered both Billy and teammate Eiji in a fit of rage. Billy has never forgotten this.
Hatred (Smoking & Smokers)- He will immediately assault anyone who blows cigarette smoke in his face.
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: 54 / Skills: 58--29 / Advantages: 13 + 11 / Powers: 13 / Defenses: 19 (139)

-Billy Kane (pronounced like "Caan", apparently) is one of the most popular recurring Fatal Fury characters, which is funny, given how he was always just a henchman for Geese, but ended up in almost all of those games, plus a half-dozen King of Fighters ones. Initially modeled after English pro wrestler Dynamite Kid (who was very popular in Japan in the '80s, helping set off the Junior Heavyweight/Cruiserweight style of wrestling), he later took more traits from Axl Rose of Guns 'n' Roses fame. In KoF '95, he joined the Rival Team with Iori & Eiji (thus opposing the main three SNK Heroes- Terry, Kyo & Ryo), then later teamed with Blue Mary & Yamazaki to investigate Orochi- generally, he's always a mercenary type of dude working for others, as Geese is usually not in the games and needs a representative.

-It's safe to say he's one of my favourite Fatal Fury characters- there was a lot of mediocrity in the early games, but Kane stood out as one of the few who was legitimately great enough to be put right into the World Warriors at Capcom without missing a beat- Billy's being left out of Capcom (vs) SNK was horribly disappointing to me for that reason- all of BISON'S henchmen got in- why not Billy? With his whole Punk Rocker Englishman look and his staff, he really stood out from the crowd.

-Billy proved popular enough to get into every Fatal Fury game but the third (and they put him right back in), but his KoF appearances are sporadic- he got into the second game, but skipped one and made the next two. Then disappeared for three editions before popping back for two games, then vanishing again until the two most recent ones. Given that his role in the plot is tenuous since Geese is usually supposed to be DEAD, it makes sense, but fans seem to like him enough to see him used frequently. Why they can't come up with anything ELSE for him to do is beyond me.

-Billy fits a PL 9 since he's a big rival of the Bogards and is generally quite awesome, but is still missing from many KoF tournaments, and has pretty much zero canonical victories to his name. He's a strong, fast, athletic fighter with crazy reach, though he's rather dependent on his Bo Staff- good thing no characters can ever knock it out of his hands in-game! There's only a couple games where it was even possible for him to fight without it, and those are exceptions. Billy's Multiattack move is a bit different since it can also stuff projectiles (making him one of the few Fighting Game characters to max out his Dodge, if only temporarily), and he's pretty versatile as well.

[Ares]

Okay, watched the first Fatal Fury movie- it's pretty solid. WAY truncated, which causes issues with most of the supporting fighters, who are largely either completely wiped out with ease (Michael Max, Meyer, Hwa Jai), or blasted away by a single counterattack (Raiden, Billy). Lily being a major character was unexpected, and I liked how she turned out... but they had to do that "Broadway Musical" thing where they rapid-fire the relationship so that we buy the love story in minutes instead of hours or days. And all their big fighting techniques are typically poorly choreographed and barely-seen (Terry doesn't do the Power Wave or Burning Knuckle until the final battle, and both are made to look ineffective?). It's all stuff that would probably have been done better with more time- a 45-minute show just isn't enough to showcase that many characters (Billy only interacts with his sister once, and it's not clear if they're even related!).

Geese's English VA is the WORST, though- like they wanted a guy with the deepest voice possible, but couldn't actually find one with acting skill, lol.

Yeah, the first one was clearly made on a budget and everything had to be compacted. Another 30 minutes and you could have stretched the tournament out to a couple of days, give Terry and Lily more time to bond, extend the fights, etc. Geese doesn't even really use his trademark style, he basically just hits people with his super move over and over. Terry's entire fight with Geese is using two normal moves, blocking one attack, and then breaking out his super-final-ultra move.

It's fine for what it is, tho, and it does a decent job of telling the story of the first game. It legit feels like an anime version of an 80s action martial arts revenge film.

One thing I did like was how they contrasted Terry and Andy's personalities. Terry is pretty well-adjusted while Andy is super serious. Terry allows himself to enjoy the competition, have fun and relax while Andy is hyper-competitive and focused entirely on victory. Terry drags a fight out to see all of the other guy's moves and have a good fight, Andy tries to end the fight in as few moves as possible. Terry will actually listen to warnings from his friends, while Andy is so focused on winning that he will sucker-attack a distracted Terry.

They also actually do a bit to showcase Andy's ninja training. He starts his first fight with Terry by hiding, observing him and attacking him from cover, though he gives himself away with a battle cry. And later when he fights Billy Kane, it's shown that he specifically prepared for the fight after having seen how Kane critically injured Master Tung with a crippling bo-staff to the chest. Andy takes a shot to that expect spot, only to play possum and use the moment to get a hit in on Kane. After he beats Kane down, we see Andy removing a metal plate from the inside of his gi that has a bo-staff shaped dent in it. Andy instantly pegged Kane as the type to repeat himself, so he covered up the stop where he'd seen Kane attack Master Tung. It's an oddly subtle way to showcase Andy's mentality.

I may watch it again myself; it's been close to 20 years. I think the 2nd one is the best.

I just re-watched all three myself, and had a good time of it.

The first one is a decent retelling of the first game, which like I said is basically an 80s martial arts revenge story.

The second one is a very "Rocky" style movie about a fighter falling to despair and having to build himself back up. It does have some great fights, and Krauser is an absolute BEAST, with the way he casually destroys just about everyone marking him as a clear threat. There's also other little things, like Krauser showcasing how he has his minion beat up Billy Kane, bring back Kane's shattered staff tied together with Kane's bandanna. Krauser then tosses the staff and bandanna to Geese as kind of a 'present' and to rub his nose in how much he sucks.

The third one becomes very comic-book-y, with a globe spanning mission to stop some guy from acquiring literal plot armor that makes him into a god. However, the colorful characters, elemental powered supervillains and the like really showcase how these kind of martial artists could easily fit into a standard superhero setting. Plus, like I said, even though Terry got to take down the main villains, Andy got the coolest entrance moments. This was also the movie where they REALLY embraced Mai's fanservice appeal, as she easily jumped a couple of cup sizes between this movie and her last one.

[Spectrum]

Did someone say?

[drkrash]

The third one becomes very comic-book-y, with a globe spanning mission to stop some guy from acquiring literal plot armor that makes him into a god. However, the colorful characters, elemental powered supervillains and the like really showcase how these kind of martial artists could easily fit into a standard superhero setting. Plus, like I said, even though Terry got to take down the main villains, Andy got the coolest entrance moments. This was also the movie where they REALLY embraced Mai's fanservice appeal, as she easily jumped a couple of cup sizes between this movie and her last one.

20 years later, the quote "What I want to know is...when does Joe Higashi get the girl?" is one of those stupid movie lines that I still use more often than I should.

Not only did Mai grow from 2 to 3, didn't the 3rd also have the obligatory shower scene? Mai is the reason I haven't shown these movies to my boys yet. I could show the 1st, but then they'd want to see the others.

[Ares]

The third one becomes very comic-book-y, with a globe spanning mission to stop some guy from acquiring literal plot armor that makes him into a god. However, the colorful characters, elemental powered supervillains and the like really showcase how these kind of martial artists could easily fit into a standard superhero setting. Plus, like I said, even though Terry got to take down the main villains, Andy got the coolest entrance moments. This was also the movie where they REALLY embraced Mai's fanservice appeal, as she easily jumped a couple of cup sizes between this movie and her last one.

20 years later, the quote "What I want to know is...when does Joe Higashi get the girl?" is one of those stupid movie lines that I still use more often than I should.

Not only did Mai grow from 2 to 3, didn't the 3rd also have the obligatory shower scene? Mai is the reason I haven't shown these movies to my boys yet. I could show the 1st, but then they'd want to see the others.

Jeez, they went all in with the fanservice in 3. The first shot we get of Mai is her chest in a tight t-shirt while she's eat chips at Joe's fight. Then we get the shower scene. Then we get a scene where the wind guy uses his powers to slice her clothes off. Then we get his shot of her getting up from the pool and slapping her butt a few times. Then we get a scene where she rips her street clothes off to summon her ninja gear.

Did I mention that the director and character designer, Masami Ōbari, worked in hentai? Cause the guy worked in hentai. See his OTHER fighting game anime, Gowcaizer.