Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (餓狼伝説 THE MOTION PICTURE Garō Densetsu: The Motion Picture) is an animated film based on SNK's Fatal Fury series on games, and was released on July 16, 1994.

It is the third and final anime production directed by Masami Obari based on the series, following the two TV specials, Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf and Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle. Unlike the first two titles, Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture does not follow the plot of any particular game, however it does feature several characters from the first two games making extensive cameo appearances. It was released in English dubbed and subtitled formats by VIZ Media.

Initially, Art of Fighting characters were slated to be in the movie. Ryo Sakazaki was to side with the good guys. Mr. Big, Eiji Kisaragi and King (the latter two taking the place of Hauer and Pani) were planned to be included as well. These ideas were later axed.

The original Japanese ending theme "Yoake no Legend" ("Legend of Dawn"), is performed by Kazukiyo Nishikiori, the voice of Terry Bogard. For the North American release, the song was given English lyrics and retitled "Oh Angel," performed by Canadian singer Warren Stanyer. SNK also released a limited amount of art books that featured select scenes from the movie. The artist for these illustrations was Shinkiro.

Plot
While exploring a cavern in Alexandria, Egypt, Cheng Sinzan finds the discovery of a lifetime: a piece of armor which belongs to a set of powerful armor known as the Armor of Mars. Cheng extracts the armor from the cavern, but when he makes it up to his camp, his surprise turns to horror when he realizes that all of his associates in the camp have been killed.

Cheng then runs into three unknown individuals, one who can control fire, one who can control the wind, and one who controls water. All three of them are excellent fighters, but Cheng manages to escape when he makes it to his jeep. He then faces the group's leader - who destroys the car and only asks that Cheng return the artifact to him. Cheng refuses, however, and is defeated by the leader. After his woman servant fixes the armor to his leg, it assimilates itself into his body and boosts his power level greatly. Jumping into the air, the man unleashes a blast of power which eradicates the archaeological dig site, and then proclaims that when he has the final pieces of the armor he will become a god.

In Japan, Terry Bogard has been invited to Joe Higashi's Victory Ceremony after his defeat of the Thai-kickboxing Champion, Hwa Jai. It is a big moment for Joe, who had to spend an entire year healing up after he was defeated by Wolfgang Krauser in his attempt to avenge Terry's honor.

Along the way, Sulia, a young teenage girl who bumped into Terry at Neo Geo Land as she was being chased by her brother's henchmen, arrives at the party. Terry remembers her, since he fought the first three assailants who had her trapped at Neo-Geo land, before she ran off. This time around, it is Cyber Cheng who attacks the party searching for Sulia.

Big Bear (the reformed Raiden) attempts to intervene before Cheng can reach her, but Cheng unleashes a powerful blast of energy which viciously hurts Bear, rendering him unconscious. Kim Kaphwan steps in, telling Terry and the others that it is finally time for his two young sons to see their father fight. After his defeat to Terry in the previous film, he underwent a strict training regiment, and it pays off as he is able to take the punishment that Cheng is so intent on dealing out.

After initially getting hurt by Cyber Cheng, Kim defeats him using his trademark Desperation Move, the Hou'Ou Kyaku, in the face, which breaks the cybernetic mask controlling Cheng. After removing the device, Joe and Andy quickly realize who Kim has just defeated and they call Terry over to take a look.

Sulia introduces herself and then tells Terry about her brother, Laocorn- since he is the only one who can take him on, and to stop him from collecting the Armor of Mars, 6 pieces of a powerful armor which will make the wearer into a god. Laocorn already has 3 of the pieces in his possession, so Terry, Andy, Mai and Joe all agree to help her in her mission.

The group heads to Rhodes Island in the Mediterranean Sea where Sulia tells them about her family history which dates back to the time of Alexander the Great, and that her family is cursed with the Gaudeamus bloodline. Sulia and Laocorn are direct descendants of Gaudeamus, who was king of the island and a powerful warrior. Gaudeamus is believed to be the man who stopped Alexander the Great's invasion of the countryside, so the two struck an undisclosed bargain. Soon after, Alexander the Great invited Gaudeamus to his capital, but he fell ill and died shortly thereafter. Fearing the power of Gaudeamus, his generals set a trap and burned him alive, but the armor itself came to life and took on the persona of Mars, the God of War, and proceeded to destroy the capital city. Sulia tells the group that the legend says the armor was stopped after four traveling strangers took it upon themselves to stop the killing and bloodshed that the armor had caused. When they finished their task, the armor was broken up and taken to secret locations within the Empire, so that it would never be able to cause such havoc again.

Sulia then shows them a room with a map that details the Empire as it was in Alexander's time, where, Terry, Andy and Joe notice wall paintings with fighting stances of the Hakkyokuseiken and House of Strolheim styles. Using the pendant around her neck, Sulia procures the locations of the remaining armor pieces. The group decides to split into two groups: Terry, Joe and Sulia in one group and Andy and Mai in the other, will go to the countries located on the map where they hope to find the last 3 remaining pieces of armor.

As Terry, Joe and Sulia are in Antakya, Turkey, Sulia becomes curious about Terry and asks if he has a girlfriend, to which he tells her that it is someone he used to care for. Terry is haunted by his memories of Lily McGuire, but her spirit asks him to move on with his life.

The next day, the group discovers that the armor was located under a police station which exploded. The police found ancient remains under it but nothing else. Terry and Joe think that Laocorn already has a new piece of the armor, but Sulia tells them that her brother does not have that armor piece since they are twins and can feel each others thoughts. If he had it, she would have felt the energy surge as he acquired it.

Terry mentions the wall paintings and thinks that some how they could be related, since each stranger was a known practitioner of each represented style. If Krauser had a piece of the armor, so too must the other styles have it locked away somewhere. Terry and Sulia decide to go to Frankfurt, Germany to Strolheim Castle to investigate, while Joe will go to Baghdad, Iraq to tell Andy and Mai the new information regarding the fighting styles.

On their way to Strolheim Castle, Terry and Sulia encounter Laocorn and Jamin. Terry fights both of them, but he cannot win, and barely manages to escape through the sewers with Sulia's help.

Mai and Andy go to Duck King's new night club and meet Richard Meyer and Jubei Yamada. Andy ends up losing Mai in the crowd and she reappears on stage- giving the whole nightclub a dance show. Throughout the show, Andy learns from Jubei that a piece of the Armor Of Mars is in a temple in China.

After getting this info, Andy encounters Billy Kane who survived from their previous fight. As they are about to battle, Billy discovers Hauer nearby.

Hauer is mad that Andy and Billy's interruption has caused Mai to stop dancing, but does not engage them in battle. Instead, he tries to seduce Mai and bring her to his side by lifting his mask and revealing a handsome face. Mai finds him very pretty, but not as Andy. A displeased Hauer then disappears using a huge blast of wind which destroys the club.

In another part of the world, Geese Howard has been training heavily. Billy arrives, informing him of Hauer, but he finds the information meaningless. He then unleashes the Raging Storm, destroying a huge section of the forest around him. All the training Geese has done has been so that he can defeat Terry Bogard when he encounters him once again.

In the sewers, Sulia tends to an injured Terry. She is determined to save him, even at the cost of her own life, and gather her own power to heal him. While unconscious, Terry has a dream about meeting Lily and her death at Geese's hands. Towards the end of the dream, Lily is replaced with Sulia and Terry mourns her death. This reinforces Terry's belief that any woman he falls in love with is doomed to die.

Back in the real world, Sulia uses her healing powers to its limits and is successful. After Terry regains consciousness, Sulia shares the story of her childhood to him: Their father was an archaeologist who studied the Gaudeamus legend some time after their mother died. Along with a nameless colleague, he successfully found one of the pieces of the armor of Mars. But in a fit of greed, the colleague killed Sulia's father and took credit for the finding. After Laocorn confronted the colleague about the death of their father, he was shot. Wounded, Laocorn stumbled upon the piece of the armor and touched it. Because he was a direct descendant of Gaudeamus, it granted him great power, which he then used to kill their father's killer. Then Laocorn began his own search for the remaining pieces of the armor. After hearing the story, Terry vows to fight to protect Sulia from any pain or suffering.

Back in China, Mai waits as Andy enters a temple, one of the pieces of armor next to be handed over to him by the priests. Mai is confronted by Hauer, who has been sent to retrieve the armor for his master. After a brief fight, Hauer gains the upper hand over Mai.

Andy returns from the temple and is met by Hauer, who is now holding Mai hostage. Hauer kisses Mai - which enrages Andy, thereby revealing his feelings for Mai. This causes Andy to act irrationally and carelessly, allowing Hauer to beat him. Hauer laughs as he departs with the armor, leaving Andy unconscious in Mai's lap, and she's very upset with herself for her weakness.

At Strolheim Castle in Germany, Panni, another one of Laocorn's allies, searches for the fifth piece of armor. She is met by Laurence Blood, formerly Wolfgang Krauser's right hand man. Upon revealing that she wants after defeating Blood, Panni assaults Sebastian, Krauser's personal butler, to procure the breast plate before she leaves the castle.

In the morning, Joe arrives at Strolheim Castle at the same time as Terry and Sulia. They realize that they are too late and Laocorn has already been there. Because of their link as brother and sister, Sulia is able to "feel" when Laocorn dons the fourth and fifth pieces of armor. Laocorn realizes that the key to the location of the final piece, is hidden within the first Gaudameus artifact discovered: the pendant that Sulia wears. He sends Panni, Hauer, and Jamin to retrieve Sulia.

Back at the cave on Rhodes Island, Joe stumbles onto a hidden wall section. After Sulia inserts the pendant, it is revealed that the final piece of armor is hidden in the Dead Sea in Israel.

In Jerusalem, the reunited team take a break before heading off to the Dead Sea after the mask. Mai and Sulia sit by the pool and talk about relationships, particularly Mai and Andy's and Sulia and Terry's, and Mai explains to Sulia what happened with Lily. Andy trains in the woods with a controlled rage, still upset by the fact that he was defeated by Hauer. Joe and Terry have a drink together in the hotel room, also talking about Terry's budding relationship with Sulia.

Suddenly, Joe and Terry pass out, presumably as a result of Hauer draining the oxygen from the room with his wind powers. Panni attacks Mai and Sulia and is soon joined by Hauer and Jamin, who is holding Joe and Terry, both of whom are unconscious. Sulia agrees to leave with them as long as they do not hurt her friends.

After Sulia leaves with Jamin, Hauer decides to have a little fun at Mai's expense. But before he can do anything, Andy appears. Much more focused this time, Andy beats Hauer and Mai takes out Panni. Afterwards, they share a tender moment where Mai apologizes for her past weaknesses, but Andy does not mind and kisses her.

As Terry, Andy, Mai, and Joe drive towards the Dead Sea, Laocorn succeeds in raising a massive temple in the middle of the water. The team approaches the temple only to be slowed by more soldiers of Laocorn. Terry goes on ahead, as the rest defeat the lackeys.

At the front of the temple, Terry is met by Jamin. Both perform their signature moves (Terry's Burn Knuckle and Jamin's Boost Knuckle), which hit at the same time, freezing them in place, joined at the fist. Swirling in a whirlwind of power that will eventually kill them both, Jamin voluntarily stops his attack, allowing Terry's strike to penetrate. When Terry asks why he stopped, Jamin tells Terry that he is the only one that can save Laocorn for Sulia's sake.

Laocorn and Sulia are engaged in an argument as he drags his sister towards the Mars statue which depicts the final act of Mars being subdued. Sulia is pleading with her brother against his attack of any government, but Laocorn wants nothing but revenge on those who scattered their great family and left them to wander the earth.

Terry arrives in the main chamber of the temple just as Laocorn is about to put on the mask. Although he rushes towards him, it is too late as Laocorn has the final piece of armor- the crown- in his hands. Placing the crown on his own head, Laocorn's body becomes encased in golden-silverish "armor" and his power and abilities increase dramatically. Terry is easily hit by Laocorn, but is saved by Andy, Joe, and Mai just before the killing blow is dealt.

As Terry recuperates, Joe, Andy and Mai engage Laocorn. It is clear that they are no match for him, as he bests them easily, sometimes without even moving. Terry re-enters the fight, telling Mai to escape and take Sulia with her. Mai begrudgingly agrees to this.

Joe, Andy, and Terry reunite to take on Laocorn. Mai also returns but is quickly thrown away, being saved by Andy. Laocorn approaches them, arm outstretched, prepared to finish them. Suddenly, Laocorn's arm appears injured and he stumbles, cursing Sulia. It is then revealed that Sulia has stabbed herself in the arm, in order to prevent Laocorn from killing Andy and Mai.

Sulia tells Laocorn that their bond was only amplified through the armor; he can feel her pain just as she feels his. Sulia then stabs herself in the chest before Laocorn is able to channel a huge blast towards her. At the same time, Terry has tried to reach her, but it is too late, and he scoops the fatally injured Sulia up off the ground and onto his lap. Sulia smiles and tells Terry that Laocorn can now be stopped. Terry strikes Laocorn through the breast plate with his Burn Knuckle attack, freeing Laocorn from the curse of the armor- and reducing the armor itself into four pieces roughly the size of silver dollars.

Laocorn comes to his senses, deeply regretful for all he has done. As she dies, Sulia thanks each member of the team, and they then mourn her loss. However, the 4 loose pieces of the armor assimilate themselves onto the statue of Mars in the temple, animating it. It is at that moment that Laocorn realizes the truth: the armor only wanted to exist as Mars again, so it used him to put itself back together. Andy wonders if this is in fact, the true God of War. The being strikes at Mai, but Laocorn jumps in front of her at the last minute. As he is disintegrated, he cries out for his sister.

Andy decides to distract the monster long enough for Joe and Mai to escape. But Joe and Mai want to stick together. Without saying a word, a grief-stricken Terry attacks the monster with unparalleled power and fury- power generated by Sulia's love for her brother and for him. Joe tries to join the fight, but Andy stops him, knowing that Terry is the only one strong enough to defeat Gaudeamus at this point.

The armor gives off a lot of energy in its ensuing fight with the Lone Wolf, but after gaining an advantage and utilizing a direct hit to Mars' abdomen, the armor's power dissipates and Terry is victorious.

The four friends walk away from the temple. Terry turns around and pauses before throwing his cap into the air to commemorate both Sulia and Laocorn and their sacrifice.

SNK references

 * The Neo-Geo Land Sports Amusement, where Terry runs into Sulia, is based on a real arcade of the same name that was located in Osaka, also home to SNK's original office. The same building can be seen in the backgrounds of various King of Fighters games.
 * The SNK company logo appears multiple times in the film. Most notable are its presence in the middle of the ring where Joe and Hwa have their match at the beginning of the film, and on the grill of an 18-wheeler that Terry's motorcycle crashes into in Germany.

Cameo appearances

 * Reiko Chiba, a singer and voice actress who plays Nakoruru in Samurai Shodown: The Motion Picture has two speaking roles in the original Japanese version of the film.
 * The first is right after Joe's bout with Hwa Jai in which she congratulates him. He instantly recognizes her as "THAT Reiko Chiba". In the English version of the same scene, Reiko's character is not named and Joe simply asks if it is "really her".
 * The second is during a scene in Duck King's "King of Dancing" night club, when Reiko dresses up as Nakoruru and switches places with Mai, who has disappeared in order to get ready for a surprise stage performance. This can be considered somewhat of a double in-joke, as Reiko once performed an image song for Mai on the Arranged Sound Track to Fatal Fury Special.