Rugal Bernstein

Rugal Bernstein (pronounced "Ru-GAHL BURN-shh-TYNE") is a recurring character in The King of Fighters series. Introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as a notorious crime boss, he turns fighters into living trophies, and stirs trouble for those who compete in the tournaments he hosts. Due to his overwhelming strength and power, he is often considered by players to be one of the most difficult bosses in the franchise.

Development
On their anniversary website, SNK has stated that Rugal was originally based on the concept of the "mightiest and most evil boss character ever". Like Goenitz and Heidern, his name comes from the anime, Space Battleship Yamato. Toyohisa Tanabe states that his fighting style was created to emphasize Rugal's strength as the series' first boss character. He also comments "going a bit overboard" with Genocide Cutter's damage ratio in The King of Fighters '94.

Their first idea for Rugal's character was that he could learn any move that he saw just once. The developer notes that he was supposed to be "the cheapest bastard ever", but they dropped the idea because they didn’t have enough memory to execute it.

Personality
Rugal is a cruel and powerful man who will kill anyone who stands in his way. He sees absolutely no value in human life, to the point where he proudly displays the metal-encased corpses of worthy opponents he has killed in battle as trophies. He will even go so far as to kill people simply to spite others (such as when he slaughtered Heidern's family simply because he found Heidern to be a disappointment). Unlike most other KOF villains, Rugal has a sadistic sense of humor about what he does. Many of his winquotes are snarky insults toward his opponents, and he often sees the act of taking human life to be more of a pastime.

Much like Igniz, he believes himself to be a human god. Unlike Igniz, however, he hardly takes his "godhood" seriously. It could be said that Rugal possesses the greatest proverbial swagger of all The King of Fighters boss characters. His "godhood" is also a motif for moves like his God Press attack.

Due to his arrogant nature, Rugal has also been shown to be an incredibly sore loser. Refusing to accept defeat at the hands of his enemies, he'll instead trigger the self-destruct mechanism of whatever the base he's in with the intention of taking his opponents down with it, but ends up being the only one caught in the explosion instead. While this first appears in KOF '94, it happens again in KOF '98 and KOF 2002. This trait even carries over to Metal Slug Defense, where upon his defeat, he'll get back up, pull out a detonator and blow himself up.

Powers
Most of his powers are from his physical strength and his ability to imitate other attacks. Since gaining Orochi power, he has expanded his abilities to lethal heights. However, he can only use a fraction of the Orochi power, lest he is consumed and destroyed by it, as it happened in KOF95. Upon his revival, he continues using his powers that are from the borrowed Orochi blood, but he is still just as susceptible, despite his growing mastery of his own powers.


 * Energy Manipulation - Rugal can channel energy from Gaia and other sources, including Orochi's power.
 * Energy Projectile - Rugal can fire projectiles of energy from his hands (Geese Howard's Reppuken, Wolfgang Krauser's Kaiser Wave)
 * Energy Reflector - Rugal can create a barrier that reflects projectiles.
 * Energy Punch - Rugal, most notably in Capcom vs. SNK, can charge up dark energy into himself and rush forward with a powerful punch imbued with said energy.
 * Sense - Rugal can sense chi energy of those nearby.
 * Slashing Aura - Rugal can create a cutting aura around his legs (used for his Genocide Cutter).
 * Orochi Power - Rugal can slam a foe whilst using his Orochi energy, producing a pillar of dim light with a large skull inside, this attribute sometimes manifests itself in a burst of deep crimson as well.

Skills

 * Mimicry - Rugal is able to mimic and learn moves of other fighters just by observing them.
 * Management and Manipulation - His occupation is that of an international arms dealer who secretly holds dangerously powerful influence over global politics.

Fighting Style
His fighting style is an amalgam of various arts, including Hakkyokuseiken and House of Strolheim, the styles used by Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser. He has adapted several moves from each character, such as Geese's Reppuuken and Krauser's Kaiser Wave (the latter converted into a special move for Rugal's case). Oddly enough, so far only Geese and Krauser's techniques are used very frequently by him (the two men are even related out of ironic coincidence) and he even clashes paths with them at some point; both him and Krauser even clash their Kaiser Waves together in their  '98 UM special intro.

However, he also uses his own techniques such as the Genocide Cutter. Rugal was originally supposed to have access to every special move in the game during The King of Fighters '94, but idea was scrapped because it put a terrible strain on the programming, and thus he appeared as a combination of the two Fatal Fury bosses instead. He also has a projectile reflector known as Dark Barrier/Dark Crystal Reflector which is very similar to Athena Asamiya's Psycho Reflector, this move along with him copying the Reppuuken and Kaiser Wave being a possible remainder of the original idea.

In KOF '94 Re-Bout (as well as by proxy KOF '95 for his Omega form), Rugal gains a legitimate DM, which instead becomes his God Press (this was one of his special moves in the original  '94). As of  '95, his initial DM has always been his Gigantic Pressure, the stronger version of his God Press (which Mature's Heaven's Gate is modeled after). His  '98,  '98 UM and CvS incarnations so far are the most notably balanced versions of him, though to compensate Rugal often lacks cancels the most compared to other characters, making him a character that's difficult to perform combos with in trade of having a variety of punishing options. However, Rugal also possesses a large frame and notable lag on his attacks should he use them haphazardly.

Music

 * Kettou R&D (Duel R&D) - The King of Fighters '94 (first round)
 * Kecchaku R&D (Conclusion R&D) - The King of Fighters '94 (second round)
 * The ЯR - The King of Fighters '98
 * XXX - The King of Fighters '98 (Omega form), The King of Fighters R-2
 * Last Dance - The King of Fighters 2002
 * Rugal Battle - The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * Rugal - Athena On Stage
 * The Lord GOD (The Lord ULTIMATE) - Capcom vs. SNK 2
 * Unlimited R - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * Duel R&D - The King of Fighters All Stars (‘94 Rugal, KOFAS Endless Greed Rugal)
 * XXX/Showdown R&D - The King of Fighters All Stars (‘98 Omega Rugal, ‘95/Boss Syndrome Omega Rugal)

Voice Actors

 * Toshimitsu Arai - The King of Fighters series ('94~'95, '98, 2000, 2002 Unlimited Match, Sky Stage), Capcom vs. SNK titles, Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting, Metal Slug Defense
 * Norio Wakamoto - The King of Fighters 2002 and The King of Fighters Neowave
 * Banjō Ginga - The King of Fighters '94 Dengeki drama CD
 * Hiromichi Tezuka - King of Fighters movie (Japanese voice)
 * Tsuguo Mogami - The King of Fighters: Destiny~present

Live Action Actors

 * Ray Park - King of Fighters movie

Appearances
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Games

 * The King of Fighters '94
 * The King of Fighters '95 - cutscenes only
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - as a Maniac Striker for Kula
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match - potential mid-boss
 * Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
 * KOF Sky Stage - extra boss
 * Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko) - boss character

Mobile

 * Days of Memories (second title) - in-text cameo; participates in the Orochi route
 * Athena On Stage - band member
 * The King of Fighters Mobile
 * Moeyo! KOF Daiundokai
 * Metal Slug Defense - boss/obtainable character
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * Brave Frontier - boss character
 * Bokuto Dragon
 * Puzzle & Dragons
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * Avabel Online
 * The King of Fighters Destiny
 * The King of Fighters: World
 * The King of Fighters All Star
 * The King of Fighters M: Fighting Stars Assembly
 * Seven Deadly Sins : Grand Cross - as a event character (Omega Rugal)

Cameos

 * The King of Fighters '96 - during the in-game scenarios
 * The King of Fighters '97 - during the Japan Team's ending
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * The King of Fighters 2003 - during in-game scenarios
 * KOF: Maximum Impact - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters XI - passing mention
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - Richard Meyer's Alternate Outfit-Variation B
 * The King of Fighters XIII - in the Sky Noah stage
 * The King of Fighters XIV - in Verse's winquote against Mature
 * SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy - mentioned in the Story Mode, when Kukri says "they are sculptures for my collection", resembling his intentions with the KOF tournament; also mentioned by Shermie and Yuri in his boss scene

Anime
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 * The King of Fighters: Destiny - Episode 7; Episode 16 - 24

Similar Characters

 * Omega Rugal
 * God Rugal