Shermie

Shermie (シェルミー) is a video game character in The King of Fighters series who first appeared in The King of Fighters '97 as a member of the New Faces Team. She is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi who is the dark counterpart to Benimaru Nikaido. Shermie and Angel have the largest bust measurement of all King of Fighter females (92 cm).

Aside from the main body of the King of Fighters series, Shermie also stars in her own character image album. Her official nickname is Roaring Lightning.

Development
Shermie and her teammates were created to offset the remaining top three characters. It's stated on her KOF 10th anniversary profile that she was based on the character Fujiko Mine from the manga/anime series Lupin the Third. The developer states that the design for Shermie was easily decided on, given that her long bangs never revealed her eyes. They would go onto calling her Tesse from Waku Waku 7 at one time. In Neo Geo Freak's August 1998 issue, she was ranked as the 4th best character.

Orochi Saga
The true origins of the Orochi fighter known as Shermie are shrouded in mystery. She, along with Yashiro Nanakase and Chris formed a music band called "CYS" (based on the first letter of the name of each member), where Shermie played the keyboard. They enter the KOF '97 tournament due to Yashiro's grudge against rival musician, Iori Yagami. Though originally not qualified for the tournament due to deciding to enter after the preliminaries were already over, the trio had succeeded in still getting in by individually assaulting and defeating each member of the qualified American Sports Team (Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber, and Brian Battler) while stealing their invitations from within the process.

When Shermie remembers her duties as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, she, along with Yashiro and Chris uses the tournament in order to gather enough power from the fighters so that the trio themselves can help awaken Orochi from its long dormant sleep. Near the end of the tournament, both Yashiro and Shermie commit suicide in order to transfer their remaining energy into Chris and because of this, Orochi is able to return to the world while using Chris' body as the host, but Orochi itself is re-sealed again by the Three Sacred Treasures: Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru.

XIV Arc
Verse's defeat during the events of The King of Fighters XIV had released numerous souls and has caused many who have perished throughout the series to be brought back to life. Shermie is apparently one of them who has been revived, along with comrades Yashiro and Chris.

SNK Gals' Fighters
Although considered to be a non-canon game to the main storyline, it is revealed that the New Face Team are now living peacefully. They have long given up on awakening Orochi, due to his foul mood after being resurrected. A letter informs her of the Queen of Fighters tournament. Interested in the tournament's participants and prize, Shermie enters the competition in her own given time and accord.

After winning the tournament, she uses the K' Talisman to get a cage for her new hamster, which is having babies soon. She is happy at first, until Yashiro points that she could have used the talisman to free Orochi.

Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
Despite being another non-canon game to the main storyline, the story itself takes place where Shermie beats Lucky in a basketball match to obtain his invitation to the tournament. She originally enters to create scene in order to help promote her band for their concert the following week but simply forgets her initial reasons by the end of the competition. She is congratulated by Yashiro and Chris for her victory, the two excited and convinced their next performance will be a huge success.

Personality
Shermie is very outgoing and friendly. However, like some people, she has reservations about society at large, as she considers them stupid, when it crosses beyond her interests and profession. She doesn't seem to take battles and fighting too seriously, often dancing around and picking up her cellphone during battle. Shermie blows a kiss towards her opponent before the battle begins. She only seems to do this when fighting against a male character that she finds attractive. She seems to dislike noisy people, as seen in her special intro with Brian Battler in KOF '98 UM. Shermie has an affinity for hamsters, and owns two of them as pets, a male and female pair named Achu (あちゅ) and Ururi (うるり).

Her long bangs makes it difficult to see her eyes but underneath them lies a glare with strong murderous intent. Even though she considers human society stupid, it's been noted that she enjoys her lifestyle working as a fashion designer.

In her other (mostly non-canonical) appearances, she seems to be aware of her own Orochi heritage, which sometimes reflects in her quotes. However, while she's clearly not antagonistic as with her Orochi form, she can be just as murderous, manipulative and ruthless if provoked, especially if faced with particular foes, most notably perverted men like Kukri, and to a lesser extent, Brian.

Powers

 * Ignore Weight - She can grab and throw anyone in spite of their weight.

Fighting Style
When not using her Orochi powers, Shermie relies on grappling as her combat style. She is also quite agile and some of her moves represent gymnastics. She performs a variety of body slams, most involving acrobatic moves, some counter throws and a few face-sitting throws. Her grappling gameplay is further improved in KOF '98 and further expanded in KOF 2002. She seems to be based on Joshi Puroresu, that being female Japanese professional wrestling. She uses the Diamond Dust move, which is popular in Japan and her bridging German suplexes, specially her Shermie Flash resemble the way joshi wrestlers execute the move. The SDM version of the Shermie Flash has her hold her enemies and trying to count to three, if she is successful, the enemy will lose all of their health. This is a nod to the bridging German suplex in wrestling, as it consists in the wrestler execute the move and holding the opponent with his/her shoulders touching the mat. The referee will count to three, and if the opponent does not kick out of the bridge, the match will be finished and the attacker will be the winner.

Shermie's new command move for King of Fighters '02, "Baku New Suplex", is a play on the Japanese slang "bakunyuu", which can be used to imply that a woman has large breasts.

Music

 * Bloody - The King of Fighters 97, 98, R-1, R-2 and 2002
 * Re:Bloody - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * Fanatic Waltz ~SNK Heroines Edit~ - SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy

Image Songs

 * The Song of Fighters II - Shared image song with other King of Fighters characters
 * Believe - NEO-GEO DJ Station 2

Voice Actors

 * Hazuki Nishikawa - The King of Fighters '97 ~ 2002 UM, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * Erina Seto - The King of Fighters: World ~ present, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '97
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters R-1
 * The King of Fighters R-2
 * The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match
 * SNK Gals' Fighters
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - As a Striker for Clark
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * CR The King of Fighters
 * SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (second and fifth title) - unplayable
 * SNK Beach Volley Gal's Attack
 * KOF Gals Mahjong
 * SNK Gals Island Jintori Puzzle Miseteagemasu
 * SNK Gals Island Techu Typing Omigotodesu
 * SNK Gals Island Beauty Dungeon Mimi to Kimashita!
 * SNK Girls Island Beauty Dungeon Bibitto kimashita!
 * Tower of Saviors
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * The King of Fighters: World
 * The King of Fighters All Star
 * The King of Fighters Destiny (Game)
 * The King of Fighters: Orochi Go

Cameo Appearances

 * SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium - compatibility warning when cartridge is inserted into a monochrome Neo Geo Pocket.
 * The King of Fighters 2003 - in the edit team's ending
 * The King of Fighters XIII - in the France stage
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - background cameo in the Art of Fighting Team and Women Fighters Team stages
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2

Similar Characters

 * Orochi Shermie

Trivia

 * Sherme's outfit in battle was designed by herself, being a fashion designer by profession.
 * In Neo-Geo Freak 1998, the characters in KOF '98 have their own interviews. Here are Shermie's response to the questions.
 * What is your aspiration in this competition? - "Like a power shutter (everyone killed) - like!"
 * Who would you like to fight the most? - "Monsieur Nikaido."
 * Who would you like to team up with? / Who would you not like to team up with? - "Wouldn't it be good if it were a team centered on breaking. Oh, I like throwing. Then Clark Still, Goro Daimon."
 * What is "KOF" for you? - "You can't do it again, right? It's more fun than video games in that regard."
 * Finally, please give a word to your fans. - "There are unexpected bonuses for those who came … please wait, Mon Chéri!"