Kim Kaphwan

Kaphwan Kim, usually written surname first as Kim Kaphwan (Hangul: 김갑환, Hanja: 金甲喚, Katakana: キム・ガプファン), is a character in both the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series by SNK. In recent years, Kim's first name "Kaphwan" was seemingly dropped as SNK-Playmore refers to him only as "Kim". The reasons for this are unknown.

Kim is a master of taekwondo, and also considers himself a fighter of justice. Since Kim was young and during his taekwondo training sessions, he was always reminded to fight for justice, and use the martial art as a way to accomplish this.

In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Kim was voted as the staff's tenth favorite character. In a 2005 poll made by SNK-Playmore USA, he was voted as the tenth fan favorite character with a total of 119 votes.

Fatal Fury
Kim is the reigning Tae Kwon Do champion of the world. Kim has been able to use this in his favor and fight against the best fighters on the planet. He first traveled to fight Krauser, who was looking for some decent challenges. On the way, he encountered the "Lone Wolf" himself, Terry Bogard. They soon became very good friends, and ever since, Kim always agrees to help Terry in all that he can, though a definite rivalry is maintained. Kim also has two sons, Kim Dong Hwan and Kim Jae Hoon, as well as a wife (named Myeng Swuk in Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture), as well as many others in his dojang.

The King of Fighters
Kim is considered as both a sport and national hero in his native Korea. This status is what enabled him to convince the authorities to give him custody over Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge to rehabilitate them out of their criminal ways. Although both men resented Kim for his actions, they have since grown to grudgingly respect him. In most of his King of Fighters appearances, he has been team captain of Team Korea.

In The King of Fighters XI, Kim appeared as a member of Team Fatal Fury in place of Tizoc. Wanting to see Kim enjoy himself for once, Chang and Choi convince him to join with Terry Bogard and Duck King. Although he's happy that his disciples have matured, he is forced to play the middle man between his teammates, both of them ragging on each other over trivial grievances.

Personality
One of Kim's defining characteristics is his strong, inherent sense of justice. It is to the point where he has the innate ability to tell whether or not someone is evil or holds dark intentions just by looking at that person. As such, whenever Kim fights against an evil character (e.g. Rugal Bernstein, Geese Howard, etc.) or someone somehow influenced by Orochi or any other sinister power (e.g. Iori Yagami, etc.), Kim has a special opening pose. In this pose, he glares menacingly at the evil opponent, which shows his strong dislike for evil, and he slowly raises his hand and points at the opponent, saying "Aku wa yurusan..." (Japanese for "Evil is unforgivable...") "Hah!" and jumps into his fighting stance (in previous instances, Kim just did not point at the opponent). Watching Kim's intro against a character is a good way to tell if the character is considered evil in the canon of the story. Something to note about that intro: In Capcom vs. SNK 2, he does it against Akuma, Shin Akuma and Evil Ryu but in SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom, he doesn't against either form of Akuma, giving the impression SNK/Playmore doesn't regard Akuma as "evil" per se. (Although he discusses the way to choose with Akuma and claims to bring justice when it's Shin Akuma in dialogue before their fights.)

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 (chief amongst them being Fatal Fury's main protagonist, Terry Bogard).

Powers

 * Phoenix Attack - In the Real Bout series, Kim is able to summon a phoenix while using his Ho'Oh Kyaku.

Skills

 * Acrobatics - Kim is very proficient in acrobatics using it with his Tae Kwon Do skills.

Fighting Style
Kim uses a very traditional taekwondo style.

Music

 * Seoul ni Ikou! - Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury Special
 * Yuu - The King of Fighters 94
 * The Shuddering Gong - The King of Fighters 95
 * Seoul Town - Real Bout Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters 98
 * Seoul Road - The King of Fighters 96
 * Seoul'ssu - Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
 * Attack Me! - Fatal Fury Wild Ambition
 * The Way to Rebirth - The King of Fighters 99
 * Wild Party - The King of Fighters 2000
 * Nerichagi - The King of Fighters 2001
 * Seoul Love - The King of Fighters 2003
 * Street Dancer - The King of Fighters XI
 * Kim Kaphwan - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

Voice Actors

 * Satoshi Hashimoto - since debut
 * Brett Beyer - Maximum Impact series (English voice)
 * Daiki Nakamura - animated films
 * David Kaye - animated films (English voice)

Game Appearances



 * Fatal Fury 2 - playable character
 * Fatal Fury Special - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 94 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 95 - playable character
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 96 - playable character
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind - playable character
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 97 - playable character
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 98 - playable character
 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition - playable character
 * Fatal Fury: First Contact - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 99 - playable character
 * SNK vs Capcom: Match of the Millenium - playable character
 * Capcom vs SNK - playable character
 * Capcom vs SNK Pro - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2001 - playable character
 * Capcom vs SNK 2 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters EX - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters EX2 - playable character
 * SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2003 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters Neowave - playable character
 * The King of Fighters XI - playable characters
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - playable character
 * The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact Regulation A - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match - playable character
 * The King of Fighters XII
 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves (cameo; during Kim Dong Hwan's winpose)
 * Samurai Shodown II - cameo
 * Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden (Neo-Geo CD version only) - cameo
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf - cameo

Anime Appearances

 * Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture