Kim Kaphwan


 * In this Korean name, the family name is "Kim". The given name of this character is "Kaphwan".


 * "Not even heroes of justice dare stand before the master! Show us the results of your hellish training! KIM KAPHWAN."
 * - The King of Fighters XV

Kaphwan Kim, written surname first as Kim Kaphwan, is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series. Kim debuts in Fatal Fury 2 as a master of Taekwondo and considers himself as a fighter of justice. His official nickname is "The Crown Jewel of Taekwondo" (Japanese: []; Korean: []) and in KOF XV, is "Taekwondo of Justice".

Development
Originally, he was going to be named Kim Haifon, but this was changed because it wasn't a viable Korean name.​ In more recent years, Kim's given name, "Kaphwan", was seemingly dropped, as SNK Playmore refers to him only as "Kim". Additionally, Kim in Korean is now known as the "head of the Kim family" (金家藩). The reasons for this are unknown, though rumors speculate that he was named after the founder of Viccom, who had a similar pronunciation to Kim's name (金甲煥).​​  Additionally, Kim's sons are also named after the real Kim's son (Jae Hoon) and younger brother (Dong Hwan). After the fallout of the first online game, Kaphwan was removed from Kim's name for a time. The trend finally resumed since The King of Fighters XIV.

Personality
Kim strives for excellence and righteousness in everything he does, be it his fighting or personal life. He is a loving husband and father, and a strict disciplinarian. He is deeply respected and admired by his acquaintances for his honesty and bravery, and has many friends amongst the characters in both King of Fighters and Fatal Fury. However, he apparently can't handle his liquor very well, as seen in his team's ending for The King of Fighters XI.

One of Kim's defining characteristics is his strong, inherent sense of justice. He has the ability to tell whether or not someone is evil at a glance. As such, Kim has a special opening pose whenever he fights against an evil character, someone influenced by Orochi or any other sinister power. In this pose, he glares menacingly at the evil opponent, slowly raises his hand and points at the opponent, saying "Aku wa yurusan..." (..., lit. "Evil is unforgivable...") "Hah!" before jumping into his fighting stance. There are times when he is off and a little overzealous with his evil sensor, which is touched upon by others within the games' written works.

Despite his overbearing personality, the presence of his master Gang-li seems to put Kim on the receiving end of nervousness via a role reversal.

Powers

 * Sense Evil - Kim can sense evil energy or intent in others.
 * Phoenix Attack - In the Real Bout series and in other few titles, Kim is able to summon a phoenix while using his Hou'ou Kyaku.

Skills

 * Acrobatics - Kim is very proficient in acrobatics, using it with his Tae Kwon Do skills.
 * Advanced Kicking - Thanks to his Tae Kwon Do training, Kim is able to do very fast multiple chain kicks.
 * Rehabilitation - Kim is proficient (though Chang and Choi beg to differ) in correcting otherwise destructive habits, though he can be extremely overzealous in his methods.
 * Singing - Through his hobby, Kim has some talent in belting out tunes.

Fighting Style
Kim uses a very traditional taekwondo style with heavy acrobatics and occasional alternate stances (depending on the game), which also packs much of a motif for phoenixes, or more accurately, the Fenghuang (romanized via on'yomi in Japanese as the "hou'ou"), a Chinese firebird that is a combination of a male and female phoenix. Despite this, many of his techniques are mainly written in and spoken out in Japanese, although Kim may yell out traditional Korean battle cries on occasion.

Mainline Voice Actors

 * Satoshi Hashimoto - Fatal Fury 2~Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters '94~XI
 * Kazuhiko Nagata - The King of Fighters XII~XIV (Japanese voice)
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto - The King of Fighters: World~present

Another Voice Actors

 * Brett Beyer - Maximum Impact series (English voice)
 * Hiroshi Isobe - Fatal Fury Dengeki drama CD
 * Daiki Nakamura - animated films
 * David Kaye - animated films (English voice)
 * Takuya Eguchi - The King of Fighters for Girls
 * Ayaka Ōhashi - The King of Fighters All Star (As Female Version)

Appearances
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Games

 * Fatal Fury 2
 * Fatal Fury Special
 * The King of Fighters '94
 * The King of Fighters '95
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury
 * The King of Fighters '96
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
 * The King of Fighters '97
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind
 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Fatal Fury: First Contact
 * The King of Fighters '99
 * Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
 * The King of Fighters EX
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters EX2
 * SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters XI
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - unlockable
 * KOF Maximum Impact Regulation "A"
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * The King of Fighters XII
 * The King of Fighters XIII
 * The King of Fighters XIV
 * The King of Fighters XV - DLC Character (also in his classic gi costume)

Mobile

 * The King of Fighters Mobile
 * The King of Fighters Mobile R-2
 * The King of Fighters Volleyball
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * Metal Slug Defense (unlockable)
 * Crusaders Quest
 * Crash Fever
 * Tower of Saviors
 * Puzzle & Dragons
 * The King of Fighters Destiny (Game)
 * The King of Fighters: World
 * The King of Fighters All Star
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * The King of Fighters: Orochi Go
 * The King of Fighters M: Fighting Stars Assembly
 * The King of Fighters for Girls
 * SNK Fighting Age

Cameos

 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves - in one of Dong Hwan's win poses
 * Samurai Shodown II - Randomly in backgrounds
 * Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden (Neo-Geo CD version only)
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf
 * Garou Densetsu Special
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2
 * Days of Memories (first and second titles) - In-text cameo
 * SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy - in Luong's ending; also mentioned by her in some win quotes and in his prologue with Leona
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - background cameo in King of Fighters Stadium Stage and a spirit
 * The King of Fighters XV - mentioned in Secret Agent Team's Story and by Luong in her interview with Clemence Bellamy

Anime
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 * Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
 * The King of Fighters: Destiny

Trivia

 * Kim is inspired by the real-life late Kim Kaphwan, founder of Viccom, a Korean company that for many years licensed SNK's games.
 * His sons, Kim Dong Hwan and Kim Jae Hoon, are inspired by the name of the younger brother and the nephew of the real businessman, respectively.
 * The death of the real-life businessman is, probably, the first main reason that the character is not present in The King of Fighters XV 's initial roster. The other main reason for his absence is explained in the Secret Agents Team's Story and in Luong's interview with Clemence Bellamy, where she mentions he's currently training in the mountains with his master and her lover Gang-il, and is also seen in Kim Team's ending in the previous game.
 * Kim was added as DLC character in April 4th, 2023.


 * In the fan Q&A for Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, a fan asked Kim about his thoughts regarding hypocrites. In an "interview", Kim answers that any sort of lie is evil and unforgivable. He then naively asks why he received this question.


 * In the Fatal Fury games (mainly in the Real Bout games), Kim often had his front side face the background in his fighting stance, while in The King of Fighters games and in other titles onward, his front side faces the foreground instead. In some games he gains an alternate stance, which may reference his original fighting stance from time to time.


 * In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Kim was voted as the staff's tenth favorite character. In the Neo Geo Freak's 1997 Volume 8 Character Poll, he was voted as the fifth favorite character with a total of 1,392 votes. In a 2005 poll made by SNK Playmore USA, he was voted as the 10th fan-favorite character with a total of 119 votes.


 * Kim's original teammates, Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge, were to be teamed up with another dangerous criminal character to form the "''Fugitive Team'", but he was added to the team instead.
 * The third dangerous criminal character would eventually be created as Xanadu, appearing in The King of Fighters XIV.


 * Starting from The King of Fighters Neowave, SNK only uses the surname Kim, dropping "Kaphwan" from his name entirely. The reasons for the result are currently unknown.
 * Kim's name is still rendered as "Kim Kaphwan" in some games such as The King of Fighters All Star and in the Secret Agents Story in The King of Fighters XV.
 * In The King of Fighters XV, Kim goes back to use his surname.


 * Kim is the only character from the Fatal Fury series, beyond Terry Bogard, who is always the leader of a team in The King of Fighters series. The only exception occurs in The King of Fighters XI, when he forms a new entry of the classic series source team, along with Terry and Duck King.
 * Mai Shiranui, Ryuji Yamazaki, Rock and B. Jenet are also Team Leader characters, but in few KOF entries.

Similar Characters

 * Kim Sue Il‎
 * Kim Hae-Ryeong‎

Sprites