Falcoon

Tatsuhiko Kanaoka, better known by the pen name Falcoon (ファルコン), is a Japanese artist hired by SNK in 1998. He seems to be self-taught and was inspired at an early age by Kinnikuman and Dragon Ball. He has been involved in several iterations of The King of Fighters franchise.

Before he was hired by SNK, Falcoon started as a fan-artist doing extremely quick and professional looking renditions of games and anime such as King of Fighters, Street Fighter, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. From here he grew quite a fanbase, which was eventually noted by SNK. Older fanarts before his employment can be no longer be linked to though they have been archived by fans in various places.

His art is recognized by its heavy emphasis on muscle and weight for both genders (the proportions vary though it has a very anime-like influence), shaded with sharp gradients and highlights. His designs are also influenced by the bizarre yet colorful clothing found in Japanese street fashion, particularly Lolita and Fruits fashions. In several interviews, he insists that he uses no reference for his work, relying only on "strong images from memory". He was once an avid gamer and loves to visit the local game center on his time off. He hopes to make games where people can practice them like a sport and "perfect their skills like I used to."

His alias is also the name to a location in Kimino Yusha.

SNK Works

 * Off Beat Racer! - first work; part of debugger team
 * SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash
 * SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters' Clash 2 Expand Edition - main illustrator
 * SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS (main illustrator + for select rare cards, also director)
 * Capcom vs SNK (promotional)
 * SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos (promotional, cover image)
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - illustrator
 * The King of Fighters 2003 - illustrator
 * The King of Fighters XI (special ending artwork; also part of story development)
 * The King of Fighters XIV - Art
 * KOF: Maximum Impact
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 (also producer)
 * The King of Fighters: Another Day - original character designer
 * KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A
 * The King of Fighters
 * The King of Fighters 2 - select illustrations
 * KOF x Garou Densetsu - card illustrations
 * The King of Fighters Perfect Reader - cover
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf - select illustrations
 * Garou Densetsu Special - select illustrations
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match - art director, illustrator
 * TGS 2006 Iroha Goods
 * Part Time Stories: Kyo & Iori

Criticisms
Falcoon has quite a variety of fans and detractors. Grievances seem to be most prominent when concerning design decisions in the KOF: Maximum Impact series, usually regarding original characters for KOF: MI which said critics may feel don't fit in with the style of the main series, in addition to some of the alternate costumes for pre-established characters. This is a result of these alternates usually being radically different from what's already set in place, bearing little resemblance to the previous design without accounting for consistency with the theme of the character (as opposed to alternates in other 3D fighters, which typically suit the character they're designed for).