Heavy-D!

Heavy-D! is a character who first appeared in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader to the American Sports Team.

Development
Heavy-D! was designed with the intent to create a unique type of pugilist. He was added to the series in spirit of other boxing characters popular at the time and gained his tall stature to separate himself from the rest of the cast. He was named after M.C. "Heavy-D", a former hip hop artist from the group Heavy D &amp; the Boyz.

Story
Heavy-D! was once a famous boxer, but was expelled from normal competition due to seriously injuring a fighter during battle. He, Lucky Glauber, and Brian Battler received an invitation to the KOF '94 tournament, and formed the American Sports Team (originally known in The King of Fighters '94 as the U.S.A. Team).

Like his teammates, Heavy D!'s invitation is unluckily snatched by opposing teams in this series and other games as a running gag.

Personality
D! has a mild streak of brashness that borders on being outright cocky.

Abilities

 * High-Speed Punch - Heavy-D! can deliver punches at superhuman-like speeds.
 * Tornado Punch - Heavy-D! can deliver punches surrounded by a tornado-like aura.
 * Energy Sparks - Heavy-D! can fire energy sparks with an uppercut.
 * Energy Geyser - By punching the ground, Heavy-D! can create a small geyser of energy.
 * Cannon Punch - Heavy-D! can fire a strong projectile of energy with his punch.

Fighting style
Heavy-D! is an unorthodox shadowboxer with an extremely unique fighting style. D! relies heavily on defense and countering. He has an arsenal of textbook jabs, straights, hooks, straight hooks, uppercuts, undercuts, and crosses at his disposal. Heavy-D!'s KOF '98 stance is even tighter defensive-wise than his KOF '94 counterpart, nearly tucking his face completely behind a set of massive forearms, with very few holes in his guard. He also has a small array of short-ranged, fast punches that can be buffered to become unblockable.

Music

 * Slum No. 5 - The King of Fighters '94~Re-Bout, '98~Ultimate Match, All Star
 * 9th and Divided (Ain't Got Anytime 24/7 Remix) - K.O.F. Dance Trax

Voice actors

 * Toshikazu Nishimura - The King of Fighters
 * Takayuki Nakatsukasa - The King of Fighters: Destiny~present

Appearances
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Mainline

 * The King of Fighters '94
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
 * The King of Fighters: Dream Match 1999
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - as a Maniac Striker for Joe (PS2 only)
 * The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout

Mobile

 * Moeyo! KOF Daiundokai
 * Metal Slug Defense - unlockable
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * The King of Fighters Destiny
 * The King of Fighters All Star

Cameo

 * The King of Fighters '95 - in Team Women Fighters' stage
 * The King of Fighters '97 - In China stage
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match - in Italy stage, until the second round
 * SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos - in Orochi Iori's ending
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - background in SNK Planet Stage
 * The King of Fighters XIII - Background in '95 U.S.A. stage

Anime
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 * The King of Fighters: Destiny

Gallery
Heavy D!