Billy Kane

Billy Kane (ビリー・カーン, Birī Kān) is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series. His family name, Kane, is meant to be pronounced like "Kon" or "Kaan" with a silent "e" (as in James Caan, an American actor), rather than the word "cane". He fights with a three sectional staff that he somehow can ignite with fire and can be split into three parts connected with a chain. He always tries to look out for his little sister Lilly Kane.

His appearance in Fatal Fury 2 seems to be modeled after the former English pro-wrestler, Dynamite Kid. In later games, his design takes inspiration from the musician Axl Rose. In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Billy was voted as the staff's fourth favorite character. In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, he was voted as the seventeenth favorite character with a total of 757 votes.

Fatal Fury
When he was a young teenager, both Billy and his sister were orphans in London. Life was hard for them with Billy having to steal food to feed Lilly. They were spotted by Geese Howard, who was on a business trip in Europe. Seeing himself in the two orphans, he takes them in after he sees Billy's skill with his bo.

Years later, Billy became the crime lord's right-hand man. Geese would hold The King of Fighters tournament every year with Billy as his champion. Billy was undefeated until he was beaten by Terry Bogard, who moved on to defeat Geese. Billy then swore revenge against "The Lone Wolves" Terry, Andy Bogard, and Joe Higashi.

After his boss' apparent death, Billy went back to England with his sister. In order to adequately provide for her, Billy continued his life of crime and joined Wolfgang Krauser. Although it seemed like he was loyal to the nobleman, Billy was actually working undercover to search and destroy Geese's impostor. His additional order was to overthrow Krauser. He succeeded in the former and continued to serve the real Geese until the latter's death. Later, in Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind, he was brainwashed by White to serve him.

Billy's whereabouts during the Garou: Mark of the Wolves timeline remain unclear. In his development blog for KOF: Maximum Impact 2, Akihiko Ureshino states that he doesn't know about Rock's mother or the true inheritor of Geese's legacy, but hints that it would most likely conflict with Terry. Billy's scenario in this game explores his personal take on the character's actions in the yet to be released Mark of the Wolves sequel. He particularly wanted to emphasize Billy's anger and bitterness, which is later found in the cellphone novel.

The King of Fighters
In The King of Fighters series, Billy's biography is identical, except Geese isn't dead in this continuity. As a result, he is consistently following Geese's orders in all of his appearances.

In The King of Fighters '95, he became one of the members of the Geese organized Rival Team, which included Iori Yagami and Eiji Kisaragi. His orders were to get revenge for Geese's defeat by the Bogard siblings. In his team's ending, he was badly beaten by Iori in the tournament's climax. In the 1996 tournament, Billy stayed on the sidelines and saved Geese's life from a sniper sent by his teammate Mr. Big. The following year, he teamed up with Blue Mary and Ryuji Yamazaki to investigate Orochi and the effects of Orochi blood in humans.

Although he is often paired with these two in many appearances, Billy didn't officially enter another tournament until 2003 with Gato and Yamazaki. His personal orders from Geese were to keep a close eye on them, especially Gato, since his father could be tracking him. Remembering the broker's attack on Geese after their last team up, Billy remained hostile to Yamazaki throughout the tournament. In their team's ending, the duo fight to an unknown conclusion.

Billy appears twice in the semi-canon manga The King of Fighters: Kyo. First he's sent to investigate the movements of the Orochi clan with a bunch of Geese's enforcers and he fights with Kyo Kusanagi in the streets of Osaka, but as a side-effect of Kyo's latent insecurities his flames die out. Later, Billy's companions are massacred by Goenitz; a very angry Billy asks  Geese to give him permission to fight Goenitz, but is denied since Geese would rather watch the events unfold.

The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact
In KOF: Maximum Impact 2, Billy moved back to the countryside of the United Kingdom with his young sister after Geese's fatal showdown with Terry. Although he spent his days in tranquility, Billy internally struggled with his desire to fight and stay with his sister. Once he hears that the Meira borthers, Alba and Soiree, were running Southtown, Billy embarked from his home to defend his old boss' legacy. He additionally wants to settle his differences with Terry, which is explored in detail during his and Terry's story mode.

The second episode of The King of Fighters: Another Day also explores a possible encounter Billy would have if he met Geese's son, Rock.

Personality
While Billy cannot be considered a 'good guy' he is not an evil man; his criminal career is motivated more by a desire to make easy money and his respect for Geese Howard than actual malice. His softer side is often shown when he's with his sister Lilly or friends Eiji Kisaragi and Blue Mary; even his hatred for Terry Bogard has softened to be much more of a rivalry.

Billy is violently anti-smoking, hating cigarettes, and will assault anyone who blows cigarette smoke in his face (a fact that acts as the explanation for the 'no smoking' sign on the back of his jacket) and while his hatred of Terry Bogard may have softened, Billy has a deep hatred for Iori Yagami: Iori beat both Billy and Eiji Kisaragi to near death and then abandoned them (in The King of Fighters '95). Billy is also bitter towards Joe Higashi, who took a liking to his sister, of whom he is quite protective.

Powers

 * Peak Strength - Billy Kane is stronger than he looks, capable of carrying very heavy weapons like his three-part staff.
 * Weapon of Fire - Billy can set his staff on fire to cause strong fire damage. He can spin his staff to create a powerful ring of fire and throw the ring within a small range.
 * Copy Weapon - Billy can create copies of his staff as seen in his Desperation Moves.
 * Hide Weapon - Billy has another staff that he hides underneath his jacket as seen in his KoF 2002 Hidden Super Desperation Move.

Skills

 * Pole Vaulting - Billy excels in pole vaulting. He even use the sport to help him in battle.
 * Musical Instrument - Billy plays the electric guitar very well and has a Heavy Metal band back in the UK.
 * Doing Laundry - Billy loves to do laundry, often helping his sister with the washing and expertly arranging items for the best wash and lasting freshness - something he picked up as an orphan fending for himself and his sister, Lilly.
 * Administration - Billy was left in charge of Howard Connection after Geese died.
 * Bo Staff Tricking - Billy is an expert with both the Bo and a Three Section Staff, he is able to display amazing control and perform many tricks with it too.

Fighting Style
Billy uses the art of Bojutsu as his primary art, but he may also know some Kung Fu moves in order to use his Three Section Staff.

In Fatal Fury only, Billy can lose his staff by hurling it at the opponent after executing his Senpuu Kon. Once he does this, he will cower in fear before the player character leaving him vulnerable until he is thrown another staff by one of Geese's henchmen in the background. The player can prevent them from assisting him. In KoF '95, he drops his staff only when knocked out. He enters the same stance in KoF 2002 for his Hidden Super Desperation Move.

Music

 * Hashi wo Arukeba, Bo ni Ataru (Walking on a Bridge, Striking with a Staff) - Fatal Fury
 * Arashi no Saxophone (Stormy Saxophone) - The King of Fighters '95
 * London March - Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters '97, The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match, The King of Fighters XIII (console version only), Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf, Garou Densetsu Special
 * N.D.R. - Real Bout Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match (as EX Billy)
 * The Long Pole - Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Yuuwaki no Toki (The Alluring Time) - The King of Fighters 2002
 * Villainous - The King of Fighters 2003
 * Masquerade - The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match, shared with Yamazaki and Mary.
 * Geese ni Katakori (A Stiff Neck for Geese) - The King of Fighters XIII (when the music is set to "Type B", console version only)

Voice Actors

 * Katsuhisa Namase - Fatal Fury II ~ Special, The King of Fighters '95
 * Keiichi Nanba - Fatal Fury 3, Fatal Fury Dengeki drama CD
 * Atsushi Yamanishi - Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series (Real Bout ~ Wild Ambition, KOF '97 ~ 2002, Maximum Impact series)
 * Seijirou - The King of Fighters 2003; The King of Fighters: Another Day; The King of Fighters XIII
 * Marc Donovan - Maximum Impact series (English voice)
 * Daiki Nakamura - Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
 * Tomohiro Nishimura - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
 * Paul Dobson - animated films (English voice)

Game Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: King of Fighters - sub-boss character; left out of the Sega Genesis version of Fatal Fury due to memory constraints
 * Fatal Fury 2 - sub-boss character (playable in Sega Genesis, SNES and Game Boy versions)
 * Fatal Fury Special - playable and sub-boss character
 * The King of Fighters '95
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury - playable and sub-boss character
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
 * The King of Fighters '97
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo - boss character
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers - playable and boss character
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition - playable and boss character
 * Fatal Fury: First Contact - playable and boss character
 * The King of Fighters '99: Evolution - as a Striker only character
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - striker character for Andy Bogard
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - both playable and Lilly Kane's Another Outfit-Variation A
 * The King of Fighters XIII - Console version only
 * The King of Fighters XIV
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf - challenger for Terry's Big Bonus
 * Garou Densetsu Special - challenger for Terry's Big Bonus
 * Garou Densetsu Sougeki - VS character

Mobile Appearances

 * Garou Densetsu vs Fighter's History Dynamite - boss character
 * Days of Memories (fourth title) - NPC
 * SNK Dream Battle

Cameo Appearances

 * Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory - cameo in Geese's and Joe's endings, also during Terry vs. CPU Geese
 * The King of Fighters '94 - in the Art of Fighting Team's stage
 * The King of Fighters '96 - in the Boss Team's stage; also in their ending
 * KOF: Maximum Impact - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - background cameo
 * SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium - NPC
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2 - in the London stage with Lilly and Karman Cole
 * SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos - in Geese's ending
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - in Geese's ending
 * SNK Gals' Fighters - with Miss X
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2

Anime Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
 * Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
 * The King of Fighters: Another Day - 2nd and 4th episodes

Similar Characters

 * EX Billy

Trivia

 * Billy wears his Fatal Fury Wild Ambition outfit in KOF 2003 and in KOF 2006 as his Normal Outfit-Variation F.
 * Billy yells "Go to hell!" during his Great Whirlwind DM in his appearances in KOF games '97 and on.

Sprites