Takuma Sakazaki

In this character name, his name is sometimes written in Katakana due to living and being prominent abroad, despite being born in Japan.

Takuma Sakazaki (also written as ) is a character from both the Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters fighting game series. His distinguishing feature is an X-shaped scar on his right pectoral. He is also somewhat eccentric, donning his tengu mask and insisting he's Mr. Karate, and delivering speeches that are supposed to rally morale, but often make him look silly. Takuma is the most established known Kyokugenryu Karate practitioner, and he is the only one in the discipline who can make full use of the discipline's most difficult moves.

Personality
Takuma is rather serious when he's relating to evil people. But when relating to his students, Takuma starts saying things that many people find silly. He is a traditionalist and a fighter to the core, making it sometimes impossible for him to relate with the modern day youth. His inability to change his strict training regime unintentionally drives newer students away from the dojo. He constantly makes wheat noodles to the point where it's almost sickening for his students.

Much of his sillier antics tends to spread to his family, being seen as a bit of a bumbling dad; he desperately wants his son to wed and grant them the "third successor" of the family. When Yuri cuts her hair, Takuma doesn't approve of it since it pains him to have no memories of her with a short haircut. He is also a bit overprotective of Yuri in a comical way, seeing how he and Robert fight each other behind their teammates' backs due to Robert proposing a marriage to Yuri.

Despite this, outside of his serious Mr. Karate persona in SVC Chaos and KOF XIII, Takuma himself is serious in regards to both friend and foe alike, and offers fine words of wisdom to those like K' and Saiki (though the latter dismisses his point).

Powers

 * Gather Chi - Takuma can gather ki from Gaia, the mother-earth.
 * Energy Projectile - Takuma can fire the Kouken, Haoh Shou Kouken and Haoh Shi-Kouken blasts normally.
 * Vacuum - In The King of Fighters 2002, Takuma can fire an invisible projectile.
 * Multiple Attacks - Takuma can channel his ki energy into his arms to deliver multiple punches at high speed.

Skills

 * Management - Despite not having a lot of new students, Takuma certainly knows how to run a business like a dojo. This would later extend to running a barbecue restaurant.
 * Cooking - Perhaps with the help of Richard Meyer, Takuma enhances this skill to the point of near culinary expertise.
 * Noodle-making - Takuma has been known to be skilled at cooking wheat noodles or soba. However, he seems to overfeed his prospective students and family with it to the point of saturation.

Fighting Style
Takuma is the grandmaster (black belt) of Kyokugenryu Karate. He mainly relies on strong and focused strikes from his arms and legs. In The King of Fighters series, he can eventually hurl his own ki to hurt his opponents in an invisible manner, being the first practitioner to do so.

His desperation move, Haoh Shikouken, is more powerful than the Haoh Shoukouken used by other Kyokugenryu practicioners and he can also fire several of them in succession. His son Ryo, even after becoming Mr. Karate II, still primarily relies on Haoh Shoukouken, so Haoh Shikouken is likely extremely difficult to master.

Voice Actors

 * Eiji Tsuda - Art of Fighting series, The King of Fighters '94~XIII
 * Hōchū Ōtsuka - The King of Fighters '94 Dengeki Bunko drama CD
 * Takeshi Maruyama - The King of Fighters All Star

Music

 * Shihan (Normal) ver.2 (Master (Normal) ver.2) - Art of Fighting 2
 * Ryuuko no Ken (Fist of the Dragon and Tiger) - The King of Fighters '94
 * Yureru Otokogokoro (Trembling Male Senses) - The King of Fighters '95
 * In Spite of One's Age - The King of Fighters '98
 * Ryu-Ko (Dragon-Ko) - The King of Fighters '99
 * The Beauty and the Beast - The King of Fighters 2000, 2002, EX2
 * Fight to the Limit - The King of Fighters 2001
 * In Spite of One's Age ~Ver. Immortal~ - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * Kyokugen Training! ~ Mountain Seclusion - The King of Fighters XIII
 * After a Long Absence - The King of Fighters XIII (when the music is set to "Type B", console version only, shared with Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia)

Appearances
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Games

 * Art of Fighting - as Mr. Karate
 * Art of Fighting 2
 * The King of Fighters '94
 * The King of Fighters '95
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters '99
 * The King of Fighters 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos - as Mr. Karate (both normal and Honki ni Natta Mr. Karate)
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters EX2
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * Quiz King of Fighters
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * The King of Fighters XIII - both as Takuma and Mr. Karate

Mobile

 * Athena On Stage - quiz show contestant
 * The King of Fighters Mobile
 * The King of Fighters Mobile R-2
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * Metal Slug Defense (unlockable)
 * Puzzle & Dragons
 * The King of Fighters Destiny (Game)
 * The King of Fighters All Star
 * The King of Fighters M: Fighting Stars Assembly

Cameos

 * The King of Fighters '96 - during the Art of Fighting team's ending (as Mr. Karate)
 * The King of Fighters '97 - during the Art of Fighting team's ending
 * The King of Fighters 2003 - during the Art of Fighting team's ending
 * The King of Fighters XI - during the Art of Fighting team's ending (as Mr. Karate)
 * The King of Fighters XII - passing mention by Athena
 * The King of Fighters XIV - in the Art of Fighting Team story and ending; also in Kim's winquote against Ryo and vice versa, as "father"; and Gang-il's winquotes against Ryo and Robert; and in Yuri's winquote against Gang-il
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - Kyokugen Dojo
 * SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium - passing mention
 * Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 - background cameo in the Kyokugenryu dojo stage
 * Days of Memories (first and fourth titles) - in text cameo
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2
 * SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy - mentioned by Yuri in Story Mode
 * The King of Fighters XV - mentioned in Art of Fighting Team's Story; also present in the team ending

Anime
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 * The King of Fighters: Destiny - mentioned by Yuri in the Episode 3

Similar Characters

 * Mr. Karate
 * Honki ni Natta Mr. Karate

Etymology

 * The name Takuma means "expand, open, support" (拓) (taku) and "horse" (馬) (ma).
 * Takuma's surname Sakazaki means "slope, hill" (坂) (saka) and "cape, peninsula" (崎) (saki/zaki).

Trivia

 * In Capcom's Street Fighter V, one of Dan Hibiki's alternative costumes includes a Tengu mask. This outfit is very likely inspired on Takuma and his alter ego in the two Art of Fighting series' games.