King

King (キング) is a character in both Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters series. She debuted in the original Art of Fighting as the sole playable female character.

Art of Fighting
King's story begins in Thailand. When King was a little girl, she was sent to Thailand in order to learn Muay Thai with her younger brother Jan. King has always assumed a motherly role for her brother and she cares for him deeply. Despite being a woman, she clearly demonstrated to be a skillful Muay Thai fighter, and could hold her own in a match. However, she could not fight in an official tournament because she was a woman.

The following year a mysterious fighter known only as "King" entered the tournament. All the fighters were surprised by an enigmatic fighter with short blond hair and a shirt. This was, of course, King posing as a man. She advanced to the finals with relative ease. At the finals, King faced off with the current Muay Thai champion (not Joe Higashi). The fight was pretty even, but the man named only "King" was getting the upper hand. In a rage burst, the champion took hold of King's shirt; King kicked him back in retort. The force of the impact made the champion tear off her shirt, revealing her to be female. King's secret soon became evident to the crowd... she was a woman. Everybody was dumbfounded. The organizers considered the final invalid, and threw King away. The humiliated King traveled to the United States, where she would begin a new life with her brother Jan. This humiliating experience caused her to develop an intense conflict with her sex. This shirt-tearing experience can be relived in the games. In Art of Fighting (and a small number of related games, namely King of Fighters '94), if you used a special move to defeat King, her shirt rips open to reveal that King was a woman and not an effeminate man.

King began working for a mysterious criminal named Mr. Big as a bouncer in his restaurant. She was apparently reading the works of Gertrude Stein while working there. Her stage is set in the aforementioned restaurant. This is where she first came into contact with Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia. King fought Ryo in this restaurant disguised as a man. His true business lied with Mr. Big, but Ryo needed vital information from King on how to find him. She refused to answer out of loyalty to her employer. Ryo was oblivious to the fact that she was really a woman and battled her with all his might. The match was close, but he eventually won. Realizing that King wasn't really a bad person, he reached his hand out to help King. Her shirt had been ripped in the carnage and Ryo was surprised to learn that King was a woman. King had never been treated with such respect before, and developed great respect (or more likely, a crush) for Ryo Sakazaki. She helped him find his sister Yuri and quit working for Mr. Big shortly after Art of Fighting.

After the first game, she bought a bar of her own in Southtown with Duck King from Fatal Fury where she was barwoman and he was DJ. King also employed two twin women, Sally and Elizabeth. They currently work as waitresses in King's bar. Both Sally and Elizabeth can be seen in various women team's backgrounds. Sally also appears serving a drink to King in her starting pose in The King Of Fighters series.

The King of Fighters
Like all of the Art of Fighting characters to appear in King of Fighters, King's history is largely unchanged, only moved a number of years forward in time (Art of Fighting appears to take place in 1978-1979).

King had moved to England by 1994 and was running a bar there called L'amor. This is the reason it's The Woman's Fighters Team's country of origin in The King of Fighters '94, although none of the characters were from England (King herself was supposedly born in France). Her formation of the women's team (then called Team England) would suggest she is less at odds with her womanhood as she had been in Art Of Fighting. Throughout the course of the series, King has been the leader of this team. She has entered with the likes of Blue Mary, Kasumi Todoh, and Mai Shiranui. She was keen to demonstrate 'the strength of women'. The Woman's Fighters Team (sometimes called the 'Gorgeous Team') has been a mainstay in the character line-up ever since KOF '94 and has been in almost every single game.

However, King has not appeared in every King of fighters game nor has she always been with the women's team. She was absent from the team in The King of Fighters 2000. Instead, she joined her old friend Ryo in the Kyokugenryu team. Ryo had invited his love King to join the Art of Fighting team. Robert Garcia was furious that she had taken Yuri's place on the team. Robert initially had a low opinion on King. He simply refused to let Ryo fill Yuri's spot with some weird lady who dressed like a guy. He believed her Muay Thai style to be inferior to Kyokugenryu Karate. Concerned that King would disgrace the team, he challenged King to a match. She accepted and pushed Robert to his limits. With a bruised ego, he reluctantly accepted King on to the team. In King Of Fighters 2002, her place was taken in the team by May Lee. This proved unpopular and she was included in the home console version of the game. As if to undo their wrong, SNK removed May Lee from The King of Fighters: Neowave in favor of King. May Lee was included in the console versions of the game.

Despite the constant presence of King's team, their role in the games rarely has any real impact on the overall story. Their largest role thus far is arguably 'adopting' Chizuru Kagura and introducing her to normal life after years of servitude in The King of Fighters '97. This was in fact largely the work of King's little brother Jan using some emotional blackmail. Jan had been ill during previous games, but was reunited with King by Mai Shiranui and Kasumi Todoh (her teammates for that tournament) in the Women's Fighters Team's ending for the game and King shed a tear of joy when she was reunited with her brother.

In KOF 2000, it is mentioned that King may be pregnant, though this was most likely scrapped and has not been mentioned since (it might have been just a quip made by Takuma Sakazaki about her relationship with Ryo ). Recently, King teamed up with Kyokugenryu Karate disciples Ryo Sakazaki and Yuri Sakazaki to form the "Art of Fighting/Kyokugen Team". Problems with her sex also seem to have diminished throughout the years; she is even seen wearing a dress during the ending of Kyoukugen Team in The King of Fighters XI.

Personality
King is a kind, trustworthy but violent woman. She is unquestionably loyal to her friends, but relentlessly unforgiving towards her enemies. Although King is a passionate woman, she rarely shows a sensitive side to her friends (and when she does, things just seem to go wrong). She loves to dress in men's clothing and has a great affinity for fine wine. She also enjoys playing billiards. Her favorite food is vegetables. Though King is often at war with her own sex, she appears to not be so with her sexuality and as well has having an implied pregnancy (see above), she seems to be attracted to Ryo Sakazaki. They even have special starting poses to imply this.

Although King acts very masculine at the best of times, traces of femininity can't help but show themselves every now and then. For, King assumes a very feminine pose during her taunt in which she says C'mon Baby!

Powers

 * Energy Projectile: King can launch a projectile of energy with her kicks.

Fighting Style
King uses a very distinct Muay Thai kickboxing. She employs several acrobatic and jumping kicks which are not used as much by Thai kickboxers.

Music

 * Michiya Iya - Art of Fighting
 * Ne? (Isn't it?) - The King of Fighters 94
 * Kabocha to Piero (Pumpkin & Piero) - Art of Fighting 2
 * The Base Crawls on the Earth - The King of Fighters 95
 * Get'n Up - The King of Fighters 96
 * Fairy - The King of Fighters 98
 * Sha-La-La - The King of Fighters 99
 * Beauty and the Beast - The King of Fighters 2000
 * The Queen of Fighters - The King of Fighters 2001
 * I'm hot for you - The King of Fighters 2003
 * After a Long Absence - The King of Fighters XI

Image Song

 * The Song of Fighters II - Shared image song with other King of Fighters characters

Voice Actors

 * Harumi Ikoma - since her debut
 * Yumi Tōma - The King of Fighters '94 Dengeki Bunko drama CD
 * Masako Katsuki - Art of Fighting anime
 * Sharon Becker - Art of Fighting anime (English voice)

Game Appearances



 * Art of Fighting
 * The King of Fighters 94
 * Art of Fighting 2
 * The King of Fighters 95
 * The King of Fighters 96
 * The King of Fighters 97
 * The King of Fighters 98
 * The King of Fighters 99
 * Capcom vs SNK
 * Capcom vs SNK Pro
 * The King of Fighters 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - unlockable only in console versions
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters XI
 * The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match

Anime Appearances

 * Art of Fighting (anime)