Heidern

Heidern (ハイデルン, Haiderun) is a character in The King of Fighters series who debuted as a playable character in The King of Fighters '94 in the Brazil Team (later known as the Ikari Team), along with Ralf Jones and Clark Still. Heidern is the commander of the Ikari Warriors, and issues orders to his adopted daughter Leona Heidern and his best soldiers Clark Still, Whip, and Ralf Jones; and is also known as the "General of the Soldiers of Fortune".

He was conceptualized to be a "cold-blooded killing machine", but his designer grew attached to Heidern and gave him a tragic past. His namesake is a character from the anime, Space Battleship Yamato. His eccentric and uncommon fighting style surprised some of the staff, and they humorously wondered if they should add a supernatural quality in his character history. Toyohisa Tanabe states that Heidern was added to be the "particularly strong" character at the time of his debut.

He is voiced by Toshimitsu Arai.

Story
Eight years prior to The King of Fighters '94 tournament, a 34 year old Heidern was just promoted to his current rank for his exceptional proficiency in martial arts and strategy. The event took place at a top-secret base in Brazil and his wife and daughter were present for the ceremony. Rugal, who caught wind of Heidern's high marks, stormed the base when he was away and killed fifty secret service officers on his arrival. When Heidern hurried back from his duties, Rugal deprived him of his right eye and deemed him unfit to be a part of his collection. Instead, he murdered Heidern's wife and child. Disgraced and alone, he developed his own fighting style and mercenary unit, the Ikari Warriors. Since then, he pursued Rugal to avenge his loved ones' deaths.

Sometime before the King of Fighters tournaments, he found Leona as the last survivor of a destroyed village. The girl was amnesiac and Heidern adopted her to care for her. He originally forbid her to partake in any training yet became lenient due to her inclinations on the matter. His refusal to give her a formal rank is his way of protecting her from some of the dangers on the battlefield.

Beginning in The King of Fighters '96, he assigns Leona to take his place in the tournaments while he issues orders from the sidelines. He continues to play a major part in one of the series's story arcs, the NESTS Saga, since the Ikari Warriors are trying to destroy the NESTS group. He continues this role with the incidents surrounding the mysterious group Those From the Past. When Leona experiences the Riot of the Blood after the 2003 tournament, he decides to pull her out of the following one and stay by her side while she recovers. After hearing Ralf and Clark's personal assessment of Leona, he lets his adopted daughter enter the tournament once more. He orders them to investigate whatever role Those from the Past and Rose Bernstein have in the KOF XIII tournament.

Personality
Very calm and silent, Heidern's personality was built because of the trauma of losing his eye and his family to Rugal. Although he hides his emotions through a veil of professionalism, he cares deeply for all of his subordinates and especially for Leona.

Powers

 * Slashing Hands - Heidern's hands can cut and pierce as if they were knives.
 * Cutting Aura - Aside of his slashing hands power, Heidern can create a cutting aura around his arms.
 * Cutting Projectile - Heidern can send a cutting/piercing projecttile flying with his hands.
 * Absorb Life - By piercing his hands in his enemy's body, Heidern can absorb his life force and fuel his own.

Fighting Style
Some people say his fighting style is MAC, others say its original. His fighting style is a striking martial art with emphasis on his cutting hand strikes. He is the master of his own brutal self-made martial art, involving cutting with the use of bladed gloves, which seem to conceal explosives and a form of energy generator (used for his signature attack, Storm Bringer, which is a reference to the infamous Stormbringer sword).

Music

 * Jungle Bouncer - The King of Fighters '94
 * Desert Requiem - The King of Fighters '95
 * In Spite of One's Age - The King of Fighters '98
 * My Whip - The King of Fighters 2001
 * In Spite of One’s Age ~Ver.Immortal~ - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '94
 * The King of Fighters '95
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - As a PS2 Maniac Striker for Whip
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (first title) - NPC
 * Athena On Stage - band member

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '96 - in Chizuru's stage
 * The King of Fighters '99 - during in-game scenarios
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - during in-game scenarios
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - televised in the Mexico and Italy stages
 * The King of Fighters XI - during the Ikari team, Agent team, and K's team's endings
 * The King of Fighters XII - passing mention during Leona's profile story
 * The King of Fighters XIII - talks to Ralf and Clark during the Ikari story
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2
 * The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2 - Leona Heidern Normal Outfit-Variation G
 * Capcom vs SNK 2

Anime Appearances

 * The King of Fighters: Another Day

Trivia

 * Heidern has also used the code name Bechstein in the past. Adelheid also gives him the nickname, Heidi, which is a reference to the German novel character.