Tizoc (The Griffon)

Tizoc, known as Griffon Mask or The Griffon in Japan, is a character from both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series. He debut in Garou: Mark of the Wolves as a wrestler of justice, and enters in The King of Fighters 2003 as part of the Fatal Fury Team.

He is voiced by Hikaru Hanada.

Personality
Tizoc's gimmick in wrestling is his life. He loves to be the hero of poor children and even acts and speaks outside the ring the same way he does when he is fighting. Because of this, Tizoc is very over the top: seemingly having a naturally loud voice and a screaming habit. Mainly using this to scream his move names in an exaggerated way or speaking to befit his flamboyant poses

Fighting Style
Tizoc fights with a style derived from Pro Wrestling. He uses several real moves such as drop kicks, clotheslines, suplexes, a highly exaggerated Hurricanranna, and a highly exaggerated piledriver among others.

Music

 * Invincible Mask - Garou: Mark of the Wolves
 * Prolongation - The King of Fighters 2003
 * Kiss of Poison - The King of Fighters XI

Game Appearances

 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters XI

Mobile Appearances

 * Kimi wa Hero

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters 2002 - in the Mexico stage
 * The King of Fighters XIII - in the Brazil stage and cameo in cinematics
 * The King of Fighters XIV - mentioned in Terry's and Rock's winquotes against King of Dinosaurs; in Rock's winquote, as Hero of Justice; also mentioned by his heel persona as "real wrestler"
 * The King of Fighters XV - in the G.A.W. Team ending
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - background cameo, Hanzo Hattori's Another Outfit-Variation
 * The King of Fighters '94 Re-Bout - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match - in the Greece stage
 * Days of Memories (second title) - in-text
 * Moeyo! KOF Daiundokai
 * SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy - mentioned indirectly in a win quote of Terry vs. Shermie

Trivia

 * Although the mysterious man who defeated him in Garou: Mark of the Wolves was never named, the fan Q&A implies that the man was Gato's father.


 * A majority of his movelist are named after Greek and Norse mythology.
 * His special move "Olympus Over" is a reference to the Mount Olympus, a real-life mountain in Greece and known in Greek mythology as the home of the 12 Greek gods.
 * His special move "Poisedon Move" is a reference to Poisedon, the god of the seas in Greek mythology.
 * His special move "Hercules Throw" is a reference to Hercules, the Roman divine hero known for his strength. He is the equivalent to the Greek divine hero Heracles.
 * His special move "Icarus Crash" and his super special move "Daedalus Attack" are references to Icarus and Daedalus, two figures known in Greek mythology.


 * Tizoc shares many similarities with King, a character from the Bandai Namco fighting game series, Tekken:
 * Both of them are inspirational pro-wrestlers who originated from Mexico.
 * Both of them wear a mask that represents an animal that is a symbol of Aztec culture.
 * Tizoc's mask represents the high-flying eagle.
 * King's mask represents the ferocious yet graceful jaguar.
 * Both of them are known for using their fighting skills to be heroes toward children in need.
 * Tizoc donated his winnings to poor children.
 * King used his winnings to support an orphanage that he built for street children.
 * Additionally, Tizoc and the second King both have a heel (wrestling term for "bad guy") version of themselves.
 * Tizoc's heel persona, King of Dinosaurs.
 * King II's heel counterpart, the second Armor King.
 * In yet another similarity, both Tizoc and the second King have a strong relationship with a fighter from their past.
 * Boxing prodigy Nelson, in the case of Tizoc.
 * Vale Tudo fighter Craig Marduk, in the case of King II.
 * While Tizoc and King II's relationships with Nelson and Marduk are strong, they show it in opposite ways.
 * Tizoc wanted revenge on Nelson for harshly defeating him in their first encounter, prior to the events of The King of Fighters XIV.
 * King II and Marduk started out as enemies, but eventually put their differences aside and became friends, as well as wrestling partners.
 * Coincidentally, both Nelson and Marduk have a connection with Tizoc and King II's heel counterparts.
 * Tizoc became King of Dinosaurs after losing to Nelson.
 * Two years prior to his debut in Tekken 4, Marduk got into a bar fight with the original Armor King, an old friend of the original King, mentor of King II, and the elder brother of the second Armor King. During the fight, he (unintentionally) murdered Armor King I. Armor King II not only hated King II for forgiving Marduk, but hated Marduk for killing his beloved brother in the first place. This would cause Armor King II and Marduk to engage in a bitter feud that would escalate to the point of brutally hospitalizing one another.
 * Interestingly enough, both Tizoc and King pay homage to Fray Tormenta, a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who supported an orphanage as a masked wrestler.


 * Tizoc and his heel persona shares the same voice actor.
 * Both personas also shares the nationally, the birthday date, the height, the weight, the blood type and his fort in sports.


 * According to the developers, Tizoc replaced Raiden in The King of Fighters 2003 lineup.


 * Tizoc and Marco Rodrigues are the only characters of the Fatal Fury series (and consequently from SNK) with different names in some world audiences.
 * Both characters also shares the same voice actor in Garou: Mark of the Wolves.


 * Tizoc is the only character of MOTW to being part of its series' source team.

Similar Characters

 * King of Dinosaurs - his heel persona in The King of Fighters series