Geese Howard

Geese Howard (ギース・ハワード, Gisu Hawado) is a fictional video game character appearing in SNK's (now known as SNK Playmore) fighting games. He is better known as the chief antagonist in the Fatal Fury series. Geese has also appeared in a few The King of Fighters games, while his younger self makes an appearance in the Art of Fighting 2 and The King of Fighters Neowave.

Aside from the Fatal Fury series, Geese also appears in many CD dramas and stars in his own character image album. He also sings in a number of image songs. In addition to appearing in manga adaptations of the Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters games published in Japan, Geese Howard was also the subject of a single-volume manga published in 1996 titled The Geese Howard Story by Etsuya Amajishi, adapting the character's fictional history from the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury games. It was followed by a single-volume sequel in 1997 titled Geese in the Dark, by the same author.

In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, he was voted as the thirteenth favorite character with a total of 903 votes.

History
The fate of Geese Howard is one of the major differences between the continuities. In the Fatal Fury series, he is dead. In The King of Fighters series, however, he is alive (excluding the King of Fighters: Maximum Impact series). He is sometimes known for using his "Nightmare" mode for games where he is dead, such as in Real Bout Fatal Fury Special.

Pre-Art of Fighting
Geese comes from a poor American woman and an Austrian terrorist. His father abandoned them after Geese was born in Southtown. Working for both of their sakes to surpass his father, he took up odd jobs around the city. Despite his efforts, his mother eventually died from poor health and hunger. Rather than dwelling in sadness, Geese tracks down his father in Europe and learns his father's real name is Rudolph Krauser Von Stroheim. He tries to assassinate him when he was 15 but fails due to his half-brother, Wolfgang Krauser, effortlessly stopping him (this same scene is later re-enacted in The Fatal Fury 2 anime). He tried to rid of his anger through religion but couldn't shake the humiliation of his loss.

Learning at a young age that power grants results, Geese trained in the school of Hakkyokuseiken with Jeff Bogard, under Tung Fu Rue's tutelage. Other games imply that Geese studied with other martial arts teachers, including the grandfather of "Blue" Mary Ryan and Toji Sakata - mainly Japanese martial arts styles. At the same time, he also started to build his network with the local mafia through intimidation and personal bribes. This is where he also gained the services of Ripper and Hopper. Sensing that Geese would not use the sacred techniques of the school selflessly, Tung passes the secrets of the school to Jeff. He had hoped to tame Geese's spirit afterward but he departed from the place enraged.

He focuses his efforts in overthrowing a kingpin named BIG and he eventually becomes the reigning crime lord of Southtown. Using his mafia connections to hush people about his past and presenting himself with a "spotless image" to the press, Geese was eventually appointed as the police commissioner for the city. To separate his business with his mafia and to find a place to properly train, he also commissioned the building of his own headquarters, Geese Tower. As time passed, he also used the tower as one of the main operating stations for his own business, Howard Connection.

Art of Fighting 2
Art of Fighting 2 reveals that it is Geese who orders Mr. Big to kidnap Yuri Sakazaki in the original Art of Fighting game. Yuri is kidnapped to keep in line Mr. Karate (Takuma Sakazaki), who is being forced to work for Geese - the SNES version of AoF states his orders included killing Jeff, but this may not be entirely canonical. It is Geese who orders Mr. Karate to fight his son Ryo Sakazaki.

Although he was powerful, Geese had still not completely conquered Southtown yet. Hoping to gain more men for his cause, he hosts the first known King of Fighters tournament. Unfortunately, he came out of the event empty-handed and was defeated by Ryo. He was able to escape and successfully defended his turf from the jealous Mr. Big.

Fatal Fury series
In 1982, Geese Howard kills Jeff Bogard in front of his son Terry Bogard's eyes (revealed: Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition) and hires Billy Kane as his personal bodyguard. He sets up Kane as his champion in his King of Fighters tournaments.

Ten years after Jeff's death, Terry, his brother Andy Bogard, and their friend Joe Higashi, enter Geese's King of Fighters tournament. Terry faces him on top of Geese Tower and defeats him by knocking him out the window. While the town presumes him to be dead, Geese was actually alive which is apparently thanks to the secrets of a Chinese scroll in his possession. The scroll, called the "Phoenix Scroll", was later discovered in Geese Tower; it allows the user to speed up their recovery rate.

During Fatal Fury Special, an imposter sent by Krauser started to run Geese's company as his own. While Billy went to take care of him, Geese focused his attentions on his recovery and the rumor of the Jin scrolls. Hearing that the scrolls grant immortality, he discreetly searches for them. The story in Real Bout Fatal Fury explains that Geese obtained all three scrolls from Jin Chonshu and Jin Chonrei. However, he strategically wants them destroyed so that they would never be used against him. In the same game, he finally announces his presence to the public and organizes another King of Fighters tournament to settle his differences with the Bogard brothers. In the tournament's climax, he faces Terry and is once again thrown from the tower. Although Terry caught hold of his nemesis' hand, Geese refused his help and wrenched his arm away from Terry's grasp.

Though there was speculation that he survived his second encounter, the story in Garou: Mark of the Wolves depicts that Geese had fatally fell from Geese Tower. The Real Bout series alluded to this fact with his ghost/nightmare form that appeared as a difficult secret boss. He is survived in the games by his son Rock Howard.

Fatal Fury anime series
Geese's fate in the Fatal Fury anime trilogy differs from that of the game series. After suffering defeat from Terry in the first OVA, his appearances in the later two films are minimal. In Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle, he goes into hiding and is found by Krauser. The long scar across Geese's left eye was made by Krauser during his failed assassination attempt for his father. In the movie, Geese is seen only briefly as Billy Kane informs him of the Bogards' activities.

The King of Fighters
The major difference from this series's continuity than others is the fact that Geese is still alive. An interview with Neo Geo Freak reveals that this is mostly due to the fact that the King of Fighters development team wasn't initially aware about Geese's fate in the Real Bout series. Once they heard about it, the developers from Real Bout team approved his appearance in the series due to their desires to create the Boss Team. Additionally, Geese's profile statistics during this series are the same ones for Fatal Fury Special (excluding his age).

Having manipulated Mr. Big and Krauser's interests in his activities, Geese enters the 1996 King of Fighters tournament to entertain himself. His goal was to minimize his rivals' power as well as settle the score with Terry. In his team's ending, Billy shields him from an assassination attempt from one of Big's men and the crime lords part ways. Since then, Geese plays a minor role by hiring Billy to investigate oddities in the tournaments. He often plans for Billy's teammates in advance by offering them various personal awards. So far, he has been keeping tabs on Orochi and seems to have taken an interest in Gato's father.

Geese was included as a bonus character for the Playstation 2 port of The King of Fighters XI. In it, Geese's win quote after defeating Terry shows him wondering why Terry is so surprised to see him, claiming that he already told him that he's immortal.

In the series's alternate universe, KOF: Maximum Impact, Geese is presumed dead once more since the game's setting hardly mentions his presence. However, his "Nightmare" form makes an appearance in the sequel. Ureshino alludes that this was done mainly due to Rock and Billy's appearances in the game.

Personality
Geese is a proud man who considers himself a warrior, and as such thinks highly of himself. He craves for power in all sorts of ways: from money to immortality. However, he has his own code of honor; there are lines that even he will not cross. He will crush anyone who stands on his way and reward those he deems to deserve the respect. despite being a "Villain", Geese is an honorable fighter and never underestimates his opponents. (Especially after suffering his defeat from Terry). He has a fascination with Japan yet will always love his home country, often adorning the Japanese decorum on the Geese Tower rooftop with American flags. He was apparently distant from his personal family thus earning Rock's indignation.

Powers

 * Gather Chi: Geese can gather chi energy from Gaia, the mother-earth.
 * Sense: Geese can sense the presence of people nearby.
 * Energy Projectile: Geese can fire a wave of energy called Repuuken and even fire two of them at the same time. The air version is called Shippuken.
 * Energy Attack: Geese can infuse his normal attacks (punches, kicks, etc) with chi energy causing more damage.
 * Cutting Energy: Geese can create blades of energy as seen in his Flying Solar Slash move.
 * Energy Geyser: By touching the ground with his hands, Geese can make a geyser of energy come from below the ground. He calls this attack Razing or Raging Storm.
 * Summon Thunder: Through some difficulty, Geese can also summon lightning from the sky. He uses this in his Atemi Nage and Thunder Break moves.

Skills

 * Administration: Geese is the CEO of the facade Howard Conection.
 * Japanese Religion and Philosophy: Due to his training in various ancient Japanese martial arts.

Fighting Style
Geese uses Aikijutsu as his primary fighting style. Aikijutsu is a style with several throws, counter throws and locks. However, it is a style that normally lacks striking attacks, and Geese's strikes seem to come from various disciplines of Karate-Do and/or Karate-Jutsu. He also knows Kobujutsu, the art of Okinawan weaponry. Many official sources state that his fighting style is Hakkyokuseiken, but this is disputed. It can be assumed that Hakkyokuseiken only teaches the way of the chi and not fighting techniques as Terry Bogard, Tung Fu Rue and Geese Howard, students of this school, employ different fighting styles.

Music

 * Geese ni Kissu (A Kiss for Geese) - Fatal Fury
 * Geese ni Shoyu (Soy Sauce for Geese) - Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters: Kyo, The King of Fighters XI, SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
 * Geese da! (It's Geese!) - Fatal Fury 3 (first round against CPU)
 * Geese ni Chuushite (Give Geese a Kiss) - Fatal Fury 3 (second round)
 * The Battle - Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Geese ni Shoyu ~Ichiban Akumu no Hate~ (Soy Sauce for Geese ~The End of the First Nightmare~) - Geese's theme as the final boss in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Geese ni Kissu -Cyber Edit- : Art of Fighting 2
 * Geese ni Kattakoi (Stiff Shoulders for Geese) - The King of Fighters '96, Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf
 * Speed Hucker - The King of Fighters Neowave
 * Kiss Geese Once More - While never used explicitly for Geese, this theme is used in the "Infernal Gate" stage of both The King of Fighters Maximum Impact and The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2. The stage is modeled after Geese's "throne room" from the original Fatal Fury.
 * vigor force - Capcom vs SNK
 * Geese ni Mustard (Mustard for Geese) - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * Geese - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
 * Shooting☆Star - Garou Densetsu Special
 * Devotion -The Sun Set Sky Final- : Neo Geo DJ Station Image Song
 * Geese ni Ketto - 100 Mega Shock!

Voice Actors

 * Katsuhisa Namase - Fatal Fury Special
 * Kong Kuwata - Fatal Fury 3 ~ present
 * Hidekatsu Shibata - animated films
 * Masaaki Ōkura - young Geese in Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Ward Perry - animated films (English voice)
 * Katsuji Mori - Fatal Fury Dengeki drama CD

Live Action Actors

 * Micky James Montera - Fatal Fury Special live commercials

Game Appearances

 * Fatal Fury - boss character
 * Fatal Fury Special - playable and boss character
 * Art of Fighting 2 - boss character
 * Fatal Fury 3
 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury - playable and boss character
 * The King of Fighters '96
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo - boss character
 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury Special - Dominated Mind
 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury Special - hidden character
 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury 2 - playable and boss character
 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition - playable and boss character
 * Fatal Fury: First Contact - playable and boss character
 * Capcom vs SNK
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - striker character for Terry Bogard
 * Capcom vs SNK 2
 * The King of Fighters EX - boss character
 * SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom - mid-boss character
 * SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium - boss character
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - Playstation 2 and Xbox exclusive playable character
 * The King of Fighters Neowave - boss character
 * The King of Fighters XI - Playstation 2 exclusive hidden character
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match
 * The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
 * Quiz King of Fighters - unplayable
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf - boss character
 * Garou Densetsu Special - boss character

Mobile Appearances

 * Garou Densetsu vs Fighter's History Dynamite - final boss character
 * Days of Memories (fifth, eighth, and ninth titles) - NPC
 * Athena On Stage - band member

Cameo Appearances

 * The Super Spy
 * The King of Fighters '94 - in the Mexican stage, during the Fatal Fury team's ending
 * The King of Fighters '95 - during the Fatal Fury team's ending
 * The King of Fighters '97 - during the '97 Special Team ending
 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves - intro cameo
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - in the Japan stage
 * KOF: Maximum Impact - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * Moeyo! SNK Gals Osuin Katoukai

Anime Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
 * Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

Similar Characters

 * Nightmare Geese

Trivia

 * Geese's outfit in the original Fatal Fury game had an USA flag imprinted/sewn on the back of his shirt, which was taken off in subsequent appearances. Also, this was the only Fatal Fury game in which he fought with his shirt on; in all other Fatal Fury games, he fights shirtless, whereas he keeps his shirt on in all his appearances outside the Fatal Fury series. Three American flags can also be seen in the background of Geese's stage in Fatal Fury 3.
 * The command input of Geese's Raging Storm has remained mostly untouched in his game appearances due to its popularity with fans in Japan. It is one of the few moves from Fatal Fury to not undergo a command rearrangement in The King of Fighters series. In Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, its command input was that of the Haoh Shoh Koh Ken.
 * When the silhouette of his AOF 2 appearance was leaked into Neo Geo Freak, many fans thought he was "an evil Andy" or Ryuhaku Todoh.