Kim Kaphwan

Please note: This name is Korean; "Kim" is a surname, not a given name; the given name of this character is "Kaphwan".

Kaphwan Kim, usually written surname first as Kim Kaphwan (Hangul: 김갑환, Hanja: 金甲喚, Japanese: キム・カッファン, Kimu Kaffan), is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series by SNK. Kim is a master of Taekwondo and considers himself a fighter of justice. Kim's original teammates, Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge, were to be teamed up with another dangerous criminal character to form the "Fugitive Team", but Kim was added to the team instead. His official nickname is The Crown Jewel of Taekwondo.

Originally, he was going to be named Kim Haifon, but this was changed because it wasn't a viable Korean name.​ In more recent years, Kim's given name, "Kaphwan", was seemingly dropped, as SNK Playmore refers to him only as "Kim". Additionally, Kim in Korean is now known as the "head of the Kim family" (金家藩). The reasons for this are unknown, though rumors speculate that he was named after the Korean president of Viccom, who had a similar pronunciation to Kim's name (金甲煥).​​  Additionally, Kim's sons are also named after the real Kim's son (Jae Hoon) and younger brother (Dong Hwan). After the fallout of the first online game, Kaphwan was removed from Kim's name.

In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Kim was voted as the staff's tenth favorite character. In the Neo Geo Freak's 1997 Volume 8 character poll, he was voted as the fifth favourite character with a total of 1,392 votes. In a 2005 poll made by SNK-Playmore USA, he was voted as the tenth fan favorite character with a total of 119 votes.​​

Fatal Fury
Kim Kaphwan is the reigning world champion of Tae Kwon Do. Kim is invited by Wolfgang Krauser to compete in his King of Fighters tournament as he was hoping to face superb challengers. During the tournament Kim encounters the "Lone Wolf", Terry Bogard. Kim acknowledges Terry as the superior fighter and the duo become good friends. From that moment on Kim helps Terry in all that he can, though a definite (but friendly) rivalry is maintained.

The King of Fighters
Kim is considered a sport and a national hero in his native land of Korea. This status is what enabled him to convince the authorities to give him custody over Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge to rehabilitate them of their criminal ways. Although both men resented Kim for his actions, they have since grown to grudgingly respect him. In most of his King of Fighters appearances, he has been team captain of Team Korea.

In The King of Fighters XI, Kim appeared as a member of Team Fatal Fury in place of Tizoc. Wanting to see Kim enjoy himself for once, Chang and Choi convince him to join Terry Bogard and Duck King. Although he's happy that his disciples have matured, he is forced to play the middle man between his teammates, both of them ragging on each other over trivial grievances. In the team's ending, the team celebrates at Pao Pao Cafe and Kim becomes humorously drunk, advising Terry to find a wife and get married.

Realizing that his first "rehabilitation subjects" have mended their ways, Kim remembers two other villains that have disturbed him in the past, Hwa Jai and Raiden, and summons them to Southtown. Kim believes they are still working for Geese Howard and is intent on changing their "criminal ways", stubbornly remaining oblivious to their actual reform. The new team shocks the media, and it becomes a popular subject of gossip with those who hear it. In his team's ending, Hwa Jai and Raiden pretend to be "reformed" by Kim, and the gullible Kim falls for it. After they part ways, Kim thinks he might have been "too soft" on Chang and Choi. To honor his former teammates and the struggles they went through, he intensifies Chang and Choi's strict training.

He has a master named Gang-il who forms a team with him in The King of Fighters XIV.

Personality
Kim strives for excellence and righteousness in everything he does, be it his fighting or personal life. He is a loving husband and father, and a strict disciplinarian. He is deeply respected and admired by his acquaintances for his honesty and bravery, and has many friends amongst the characters in both King of Fighters and Fatal Fury. However, he apparently can't handle his liquor very well, as seen in his team's ending for The King of Fighters XI.

One of Kim's defining characteristics is his strong, inherent sense of justice. He has the ability to tell whether or not someone is evil at a glance. As such, Kim has a special opening pose whenever he fights against an evil character, someone influenced by Orochi or any other sinister power. In this pose, he glares menacingly at the evil opponent, slowly raises his hand and points at the opponent, saying "''Aku wa yurusan..." ("Evil is unforgivable...") "Hah!"'' before jumping into his fighting stance. There are times when he is off and a little overzealous with his evil sensor, which is touched upon by others within the games' written works.

Despite his overbearing personality, the presence of his master Gang-li seems to put Kim on the receiving end of nervousness via a role reversal.

Powers

 * Sense Evil - Kim can sense evil energy or intent in others.
 * Phoenix Attack - In the Real Bout series and in other few titles, Kim is able to summon a phoenix while using his Hou'ou Kyaku.

Skills

 * Acrobatics - Kim is very proficient in acrobatics, using it with his Tae Kwon Do skills.
 * Advanced Kicking - Thanks to his Tae Kwon Do training, Kim is able to do very fast multiple chain kicks.

Fighting Style
Kim uses a very traditional taekwondo style with heavy acrobatics and occasional alternate stances (depending on the game), which also packs much of a motif for phoenixes, or more accurately, the Fenghuang (romanized via on'yomi in Japanese as the "hou'ou"), a Chinese firebird that is a combination of a male and female phoenix.

Despite this, many of his techniques are mainly written in and spoken out in Japanese, though Kim on occasion may yell out traditional Korean battle cries.

In the Fatal Fury games (mainly in the Real Bout games), Kim often had his front side face the background in his fighting stance, while in the King of Fighters games and in other titles onward his front side faces the foreground instead. Games where he gains an alternate stance may reference his original fighting stance from time to time.

Music

 * Seoul ni Ikou! - Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, The King of Fighters 2002
 * Yuu - The King of Fighters '94
 * Ryo - The King of Fighters '95
 * Seoul Town - Real Bout Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match (both the original KOF 98 version and the Real Bout version)
 * Seoul Road - The King of Fighters '96, The King of Fighters XIII (when the music is set to "Type B", console version only, shared with Raiden and Hwa Jai)
 * Seoul'ssu - Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters R-1
 * Attack Me! - Fatal Fury Wild Ambition
 * The Way to Rebirth - The King of Fighters '99
 * Wild Party - The King of Fighters 2000, EX, EX2
 * Nerichagi - The King of Fighters 2001
 * Seoul Love - The King of Fighters 2003
 * Street Dancer - The King of Fighters XI
 * Tame a Bad Boy - The King of Fighters XIII
 * Belief - The King of Fighters XIV
 * Seoul Road -KOF XIV ver.- - The King of Fighters XIV (as Chang or Choi's opponent)
 * Seoul Town ~Ver. Justice~ - The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
 * Kim Kaphwan - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

Voice Actors

 * Satoshi Hashimoto - Fatal Fury series, The King of Fighters '94~XI
 * Kazuhiko Nagata - The King of Fighters XII~XIV (Japanese voice)
 * Brett Beyer - Maximum Impact series (English voice)
 * Hiroshi Isobe - Fatal Fury Dengeki drama CD
 * Daiki Nakamura - animated films
 * David Kaye - animated films (English voice)
 * Kunihiro Kawamoto - The King of Fighters: World~present
 * Ayaka Ohashi - The King of Fighters All Star (As female version)

Game Appearances

 * Fatal Fury 2
 * Fatal Fury Special
 * The King of Fighters '94
 * The King of Fighters '95
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury
 * The King of Fighters '96
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special
 * The King of Fighters '97
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury Special: Dominated Mind
 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Fatal Fury: First Contact
 * The King of Fighters '99
 * Capcom vs. SNK
 * The King of Fighters 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2
 * The King of Fighters EX
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters EX2
 * SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters XI
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - unlockable
 * KOF Maximum Impact Regulation "A"
 * The King of Fighters XII
 * The King of Fighters XIII
 * The King of Fighters XIV

Mobile Appearances

 * The King of Fighters Mobile
 * The King of Fighters Mobile R-2
 * The King of Fighters Volleyball
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * Metal Slug Defense (unlockable)
 * Crusaders Quest
 * Crash Fever
 * Tower of Saviors
 * Puzzle & Dragons
 * The King of Fighters Destiny (Game)
 * The King of Fighters: World
 * The King of Fighters All Star
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * The King of Fighters: Orochi Go
 * The King of Fighters M: Fighting Stars Assembly
 * The King of Fighters for Girls
 * SNK Fighting Age

Cameo Appearances

 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves - in one of Dong Hwan's win poses
 * Samurai Shodown II - Randomly in backgrounds
 * Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden (Neo-Geo CD version only)
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf
 * Garou Densetsu Special
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2
 * Days of Memories (first and second titles) - In-text cameo
 * SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy - in Luong's ending; also mentioned by her in some winquotes and in the his prologue with Leona
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - background cameo in King of Fighters Stadium Stage and a spirit

Anime Appearances

 * Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
 * The King of Fighters: Destiny

Similar Characters

 * Kim Sue Il‎
 * Kim Hae-Ryeong‎

Trivia

 * In the fan Q&A for Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, a fan asked Kim about his thoughts regarding hypocrites. In an "interview", Kim answers that any sort of lie is evil and unforgivable. He then naively asks why he received this question.

Sprites