Goenitz

Goenitz (ゲーニッツ, Gēnittsu) is the last boss of The King of Fighters '96. He is the head of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi; with the power to command wind, his full title as a heavenly king is Goenitz of the Wildly-Blowing Wind (吹き荒ぶ風のゲーニッツ, Fukisusabu Kaze no Gēnittsu).

Development
Goenitz took his namesake from an alien character in the anime, Space Battleship Yamato. His Heavenly King title is a reference to the 1979 opening theme of Cyborg 009. In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Goenitz ranked 46 of the staff's favorite characters. He shared the spot with seven other characters, including Fighter's History character Makoto Mizoguchi, and Street Fighter character, Akuma/Gouki.

While the strange naming of his leitmotif hasn't been confirmed, some have claimed it may be a joke on Goenitz's hairstyle. Likewise, there have been some sources claiming Goenitz's full name is Leopold Goenitz (レオポルド・ゲーニッツ, Reoporudo Gēnittsu).

Story
Ever since Goenitz was young, he knew his duty as a Heavenly King and made haste to revive his lord Orochi. In an attempt to reach this means, he became a religious missionary who would travel to those in need. When he was eighteen, he challenged Rugal Bernstein and easily defeated the older man by taking out one of his eyes. As an experiment, he granted his opponent some of Orochi's power to see if he could become a valid host for the entity. Goenitz eventually assigns the task of observing the crimelord to two other Hakkeshu, Mature and Vice.

Meanwhile, he paid a visit to a remote village where a Hakesshu member, Gaidel, was staying. To his surprise, Gaidel was living a peaceful life and had no interest in their lord's mission. In response, Goenitz activated the Riot of the Blood in his daughter, Leona, which lead to the death of her parents and everyone else in the village. Pleased with the results, he sealed away her memories and continued to look for ways of speeding up his lord's revival. He noticed that the seal containing Orochi is too strong for his lord, so he paid a visit to the Yata household. He murdered the current head of the clan, Maki Kagura, to break the seal's power.

Sometime after the 1995 tournament, he also decided to track the Three Sacred Treasures that previously defeated his lord. Since he had previously judged Chizuru Kagura, and Mature and Vice were keeping an eye on Iori Yagami, Goenitz decided to personally test Kyo Kusanagi's strength. Although he expected a glorious fight from the 1995 champion, he defeated the Kusanagi heir with ease. Later, he interrupts the 1996 tournament to finally end all three heirs at once. In the final events of the tournament, he is defeated by Kyo with the help of Iori and Chizuru. Humiliated, Goenitz saves face and apparently took his own life in the aftermath of the tournament by cutting his body on his own wind, making Kyo the champion of the tournament.

Due to Verse's actions during the events of KOFXIV, it is likely Goenitz has been revived as well, as confirmed by Yasuyuki Oda in an interview.

Maximum Impact
According to the original online stories in the Maximum Impact universe, Goenitz and the other deceased Hakkeshu still haunt the mortal realm at Orochi's behest. Orochi seems to wants him to study the current mentality of humans, and Goenitz obeys by occasionally materializing his spirit into the mortal realm to have philosophical conversations with random people. He shares one such chat with Ninon Beart.

Personality
Though influenced by Orochi, he retains much of the mannerisms and civility of a priest, which is reflected in his winning poses and his elegant, somewhat flowery speech. He seems to be respected by the New Faces Team (as they are allies), and reciprocates the gesture with a bow, as seen in KOF '98 UM and KOF 2002 UM.

He sports the same "messiah" attitude that aspires to "save" people and dispatch disbelievers, and likewise, is harsh towards unholy and demonic beings, and anything that defies nature.

Powers

 * Slashing Hands - Goenitz's hands can cut and pierce as if they were knives.
 * Aerokinesis - Goenitz has full control over the air and wind currents.
 * Control Wind - Goenitz can create and stop wind currents.
 * Create Hurricane - Goenitz can create hurricanes and tornadoes out of nowhere.
 * Cutting Wind - Goenitz can create blades of air.
 * Translocation - Goenitz can move himself to somewhere nearby by transporting his molecules through the air.
 * Flight - Goenitz can fly.
 * Orochi Power - Goenitz has some control over the Orochi power.
 * Give Power - Goenitz can give humans Orochi power, as he did with Rugal.
 * Activate Riot of the Blood - As a Heavenly King, he can activate the Riot of the Blood in those who have part Orochi blood, like what he did with Leona (as a child) and Iori before disappearing to his presumed death.

Fighting Style
Goenitz fights mainly with his control over wind with little concern for utilizing any established combative techniques. Like the other Four Kings, his moves are all written using the Cyrillic alphabet into romaji. His trademark move, Yo no Kaze, is a tornado that comes up at random, slicing any foe it touches, done while uttering his infamous catchphrase "Is it here?" (ここですか？, Koko desu ka?).

Goenitz seems to posses an 'enhanced' version of a fighting style used by a main character like with the other three kings; in this case, he has shown to possess a "true" version of the Yasakani-Style martial art; namely, some of Iori Yagami's moves done in a different fashion, such as the "true versions" of Iori's Aoihana, Kototsuki and Ya Otome/Maiden Masher. While the other kings of Orochi sport one signature super from each member of the Japan Team, Goenitz has had much on the speculation of the actual origins of his copied techniques. Though it hints that most of the Yasakani-now-Yagami's techniques ever since the curse, have added most of the Orochi's techniques to their regime, with Goenitz being an original practitioner.

However, the Ya Otome out of Iori's techniques is the only one that has been originally granted by Orochi himself to his clan (barring his Aoihana and Kototsuki), meaning Goenitz uses a true version of one of Orochi's gifts.

Music

 * Trash Head - The King of Fighters '96, The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match
 * Trash Head ~Haru Ichiban~ (Best Spring) - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * Movin' (Favorite Blue Hyper Mix) - K.O.F. Dance Trax

Voice Actors

 * Yoshinori Shima - The King of Fighters series
 * Susumu Akagi - The King of Fighters: World, The King of Fighters: Destiny, The King of Fighters: All Star

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '96
 * SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos - hidden character
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - As a Striker for Leona
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - PS2 and Xbox exclusive character
 * The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match
 * The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
 * KOF Sky Stage
 * Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting
 * CR The King of Fighters

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (second title) - NPC
 * The King of Millionaire
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * The King of Fighters Destiny
 * The King of Fighters: World
 * The King of Fighters All Star
 * The King of Fighters M: Fighting Stars Assembly

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '97 - during in-game scenarios
 * The King of Fighters '98 - in Omega Rugal's stage (On the left, with no head) and in one of the artworks in the PlayStation version of the game
 * The King of Fighters 2003 - during Edit Team's ending
 * The King of Fighters XIII - passing mention during Ash Crimson's story
 * The King of Fighters '94 Rebout - as a statue in Rugal's stage
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - Nightmare Geese Normal Outfit-Variation F

Anime Appearances

 * The King of Fighters: Destiny