Joe Higashi

Joe Higashi (ジョー・ヒガシ or 丈東, Jō Higashi) is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series, used mostly for comic relief. He is currently dating Lilly Kane (the sister of another Fatal Fury and King Of Fighters character Billy Kane, who disapproves greatly of this). In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Joe was voted as the staff's thirty-ninth favorite character. He shared the spot with four other characters, including Fatal Fury character, Jin Chonrei, and Street Fighter character, Zangief.

Fatal Fury
Although Joe's place of origin is Japan, he spent the majority of his time at Thailand, where he trained Muay Thai. It was through his victories that Joe got the nickname "Hurricane Upper" Joe Higashi.

Joe earned his title as the champion of Muay Thai by beating Hwa Jai in a Muay Thai only tournament. Hwa Jai later joined the King of Fighters tournament in order to exact revenge against Joe but failed, and after admitting his defeat they're good friends and sparring partners. Ever since then, Joe has been defending his title against lesser opponents. Joe then met Andy Bogard and assumed that he is superior to Andy in an exhibition match. Joe was wrong as he was defeated. Realizing that he was much slower than Andy, Joe congratulated Andy for his tenacity. Andy then offered Joe a chance to join him on a quest to Southtown in order to help him and his brother Terry exact revenge against Geese Howard, the man responsible for the death of their father Jeff Bogard. Although Joe understands that he risked expulsion from the Muay Thai Federation for this, Joe accepted Andy's offer and then went to the King of Fighters tournament to support the Bogards unconditionally. While both Andy and Joe were not able to fight Geese, Joe did his job in helping the Bogards out. Terry managed to defeat Billy Kane and later on bested Geese on top of the Geese Tower. Joe then returned to Thailand to defend his title.



However, his recess turned out to be short-lived when a German brute named Wolfgang Krauser attacked his archrival Hwa Jai without warning. Joe was forced to enter the King of Fighters tournament to investigate the truth behind Hwa Jai's beating. While Joe tried to prove that he was much stronger than the Bogards, he could not do so and all he could do was provide support for the Bogards again. Joe then helped Terry and Andy defeat Billy, Axel Hawk, and even Laurence Blood. Terry provided the final wallop, prompting Krauser to fight Terry. Terry wasted Krauser with a Power Geyser, leading to Krauser's loss. Krauser tells Terry to leave at once since he has to live with his pride destroyed by an upstart. With Krauser finally losing to Terry, Hwa Jai and Joe ended their rivalry and became friends ever since.

According to Ureshino's personal blog, Joe gained an apprentice in the scrapped Mark of Wolves sequel from the old SNK team. Her name, as mentioned by Terry and Andy, was "Kwan" and she even had a finished idle sprite.

The King of Fighters
Joe is a mainstay to Terry's team throughout a lot of King of Fighters tournaments. During the 94 tournament, Andy chose to include Joe as a team member instead of Mai Shiranui, making her feel left out. While Joe never played much of a major role since the defeat of Geese, Joe has proven to be a loyal sidekick to the Bogards, teaming with them in every KOF. He has since become the practical joker amongst the brothers Bogard and their other friends and allies. Joe eventually becomes stronger than his former trainning partner and best friend Andy Bogard. In The King of Fighters series, he developed somewhat of a rivalry with King, a female Muay Thai practicioner that was banned from competing. Joe is seen taunting her with his Muay Thai belt in The King of Fighters '98.

He is absent from KOF XI because a Muay Thai tournament is being held at the same time.

Personality
Joe is a very goofy man who plays around everyone. He doesn't take battle as serious as the Bogards, but he loves to fight. If Joe could, he would fight every fighter he sees. He loves the spotlight and the glory of victory.

Powers

 * Hurricane Attack: He can create a small hurricane that moves forward with an uppercut. He named this attack Hurricane Upper. The stronger version is Screw Upper.


 * Multiple Attacks: He can deliver several punches at almost the same time.


 * Energy Attack: He can use energy to increase damage of his kicking and kneel attacks.


 * Explosive Punch: Joe can deliver a punch of tremendous strength that explodes upon contact.

Skills

 * Survival: Joe learned his way to survive in Thailand's jungles.

Fighting Style
Joe uses traditional Muay Thai moves.

Music

 * Chotto Koikki na Kenka Yarou (A Somewhat Stylish Brawling Punk) - Player VS. Player BGM from Fatal Fury, shared with Andy and Terry.
 * Wani no Mi - Fatal Fury 3, Real Bout Fatal Fury
 * Thai nanbu ni tsutawatta sp no shi - Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
 * Napolitan Blues - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters '94
 * Club M ~Flute in the Sky~ - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters '95
 * Big Shot - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters '96
 * The River - Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Kurikinton ~Gomame Guitar Ver.~ - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters '98
 * 117th Street - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters '99
 * Terry 115 - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters 2000
 * All OK! - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters 2001
 * Kurikinton (Chestnuts and Mashed Sweet Potatoes) - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters 2002
 * Prolongation - Fatal Fury Team theme in The King of Fighters 2003
 * Muay Thai - Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Sharakusee ze - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

Voice Actors

 * Katsuhisa Namase - Fatal Fury (2+Special); The King of Fighters '94
 * Nobuyuki Hiyama - Fatal Fury 3~present
 * Masaaki Satake - Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
 * Jason Gray-Stanford - animated films (English voice)
 * Kazuki Yao - Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters '94 Dengeki Bunko drama CD

Live Action Actors

 * Benny Wong - Fatal Fury Special live action commercials

Game Appearances



 * Fatal Fury - playable character
 * Fatal Fury 2 - playable character
 * Fatal Fury Special - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 94 - playable character
 * Fatal Fury 3 - 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
 * Capcom vs SNK Pro - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2001 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters EX - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters EX2 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 2003 - playable character
 * The King of Fighters Neowave - playable character
 * The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match - playable character
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf - playable character
 * The King of Fighters XII

Anime Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
 * Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture