Omega Rugal

Omega Rugal (オメガ・ルガール, Omega Rugāru) is an alternate form of Rugal Bernstein in The King of Fighters series of fighting games. He was first introduced in The King of Fighters '95 as the boss, and is used in dream matches as the boss as well. On their KoF tenth anniversary website, SNK admitted his reappearance as a boss character in every dream match game is due to him being the developers' favorite boss character. He is voiced by Toshimitsu Arai and Norio Wakamoto.

Story
When Rugal Bernstein was trying to channel Orochi's power, Goenitz came to him and attacked him, taking off his eye. Rugal survived the attack and Goenitz gave him some extent of power and warned him not to use his full power. Goenitz left Mature and Vice to watch him. In '94, Rugal sponsored the King of Fighters tournament but lost to Kyo Kusanagi. He returned the following year and decided to use 80% of his full power. Even with that power, Rugal lost to Kyo, Benimaru Nikaido and Goro Daimon. With hatred in his heart, he activated his full power, but it was too much for his body to withstand and he exploded from inside.

Personality
His personality remains unchanged.

Powers

 * Gather Energy - Rugal can channel energy from Gaia and from other sources.
 * Sense - Rugal can sense the chi energy of people nearby.
 * Energy Projectile - Rugal can fire Geese Howard's Reppuken and Wolfgang Krauser's Kaiser Wave.
 * Energy Reflector - Rugal can create a shield of energy that reflects projectiles.
 * Slashing Hands - Rugal can make his hands become like knives.
 * Slashing Aura - Rugal can create an aura of cutting energy around his legs.
 * Negative Energy - Rugal can slam a foe out of pure hatred, producing a pillar of dim light with a large skull inside, this attribute sometimes manifests itself in a burst of deep crimson as well.

The King of Fighters '98
These powers are not considered canon, as they are only used in The King of Fighters '98, a dream match.


 * Electric Projectile/Shield - Rugal can create a ball of electricity around his body and then fire it.
 * Super Speed - Rugal can run and strike at incredible speeds.
 * Orochi Power Surge - By piercing his enemy with his Slashing Hands power, he can let loose his Orochi power within them, poisoning them from the inside.

Fighting Style
In KOF '95, Omega Rugal retains almost the same moveset from his original version in '94, however, most of his normal and special moves gained a lot more priority and damage. His Dark Shield obtained hitbox besides his projectile bounce property and incredibly fast recovery, becoming one of his cheapest methods to win. In spite of being a final boss character, he's playable by a code, however, his boss properties never got toned down for competitive gameplay.

In KOF '98, his moveset was changed in most of his special moves, lost his Dead End Screamer desperation move, but gained two new ones: the Rugal Execution and the Destruction Omega. He only retained his Dark Barrier and his God Press moves from the original version of Rugal. His Genocide Cutter (now dubbed Dark Genocide) gained a third knockdown kick and its priority and damage got increased. He lost his Reppuken and his Kaiser Wave and instead gained a new projectile: the Gravity Smash and a rushing attack named Vanishing Rush. He's only playable in the console versions of KOF '98.

In KOF 2002/2002UM, he returns to his classic moveset, but with even more power and speed. His standard Kaiser Wave travels extremely fast to, and by holding the punch button during the motion, he can cause two versions of the projectile, the Divine Arrow and the Gravity Smash, the last one becoming an unblockable projectile. His Genocide Cutter retains his '98 values using the B button, but his D button performs a fourth downward kick. Gained a new move dubbed Beads Destruction, which is a barrage of kicks that juggles opponents in the third hit, while the D version performs a downward chop as a fourth attack. His Hidden Desperation Move is the Kaiser Phoenix, which is a barrage of randomly generated versions of Kaiser Waves, Divine Arrows and Gravity Smashes. He's playable only in console versions.

The home version of KOF Neowave features him as a playable character, but he's drastically toned down in comparison with his 2002 version.

Music

 * Guitar, Omega and Rugal - The King of Fighters '95
 * Ketchaku R&D - The King of Fighters '98
 * Last Dance - The King of Fighters 2002
 * Unlimited R - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '95 - final boss
 * The King of Fighters '98 - final boss
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - final boss
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * KOF Sky Stage - extra boss
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko) - boss character
 * The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match - possible final boss
 * The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match - extra boss
 * Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting

Mobile Appearances

 * The King of Fighters Mobile R-2
 * The King of Fighters Volleyball
 * The King of Millionaire
 * Moeyo! KOF Daiundokai

Cameo Appearances

 * Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden (Neo-Geo CD version only)

Similar Characters

 * Rugal Bernstein
 * God Rugal