Geese Howard

Geese Howard (ギース・ハワード, Gisu Hawado) is a fictional video game character appearing in SNK's (now known as SNK Playmore) fighting games. He is better known as the chief antagonist in the Fatal Fury series. Geese has also appeared in a few The King of Fighters games, while his young self makes an appearance in the Art of Fighting 2.

Aside from the Fatal Fury series, Geese also appears in many CD dramas and stars in his own character image album. He also sings in a number of image songs. In addition to appearing in manga adaptations of the Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters games published in Japan, Geese Howard was also the subject of a single-volume manga published in 1996 titled The Geese Howard Story by Etsuya Amajishi, adapting the character's fictional history from the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury games. It was followed by a single-volume sequel in 1997 titled Geese in the Dark, by the same author.

History
The fate of Geese Howard is one of the major differences between the continuities used by the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury series (where he is dead), The King of Fighters series (where he is alive) and the King of Fighters: Maximum Impact series where he's presumed dead, using his "Nightmare" look from Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, where he's a secret character and depicted as near-ghost-like.

Pre-Art of Fighting
Geese comes from a poor American woman and an Austrian terrorist. His father abandoned them after Geese was born in Southtown. Working for both of their sakes to surpass his father, he took up odd jobs around the city. Despite his efforts, his mother eventually died from poor health and hunger. Rather than dwelling in sadness, Geese tracks down his father in Europe and learns his father's real name is Rudolph Krauser Von Stroheim. He tries to assassinate him when he was 14 but fails due to his half-brother effortlessly stopping him (this same scene is later reenacted in The Fatal Fury 2 anime). He tried to rid of his anger through religion but couldn't shake the humiliation of his loss.

Learning at a young age that power grants results, Geese trained in the school of Hakkyokuseiken with Jeff Bogard, under the tutelage of another Fatal Fury character, Tung Fu Rue. Other games imply that Geese studied with other martial arts teachers, including the grandfather of "Blue" Mary Ryan and Toji Sakata. At the same time, he also started to build his network with the local mafia through intimidation and personal bribes. This is where he also gained the services of Ripper and Hopper. Sensing that Geese would not use the sacred techniques of the school selflessly, Tung passes the secrets of the school to Jeff. He had hoped to tame Geese's spirit afterwards but he departed from the place in rage.

He focuses his efforts in overthrowing a kingpin named BIG and becomes crime lord of Southtown. Using his mafia connections to hush people about his past and presenting himself with a "spotless image" to the press, Geese was eventually appointed as the police commissioner for the city. To separate his business with his mafia and to find a place to properly train, he also commissioned the building of his own headquarters, Geese Tower. As time passed, he also used the tower as one of the main operating stations for his own business, Howard Connection.

Art of Fighting 2
Art of Fighting 2 reveals that it is Geese who orders Mr. Big to kidnap Yuri Sakazaki in the original Art of Fighting game. Yuri is kidnapped to keep in line Mr. Karate (Takuma Sakazaki), who is being forced to work for Geese - the SNES version of AoF states his orders included killing Jeff Bogard, but this may not be entirely canonical. It is Geese who orders Karate to fight his son Ryo Sakazaki, who almost kills his father - he is interrupted by his sister Yuri though, who reveals their father is the man wearing the Tengu mask.

Geese holds the first King of Fighters tournament in Art of Fighting 2 and is defeated by a vengeful Ryo, Takuma and Robert Garcia. Ryo attempts to kill the crime lord with a Haohshoukouken death blow, but Geese evades it, escaping while the lights are turned out.

Fatal Fury series


Prior to the first Fatal Fury game, Geese Howard kills Jeff Bogard in front of his son Terry Bogard's eyes (revealed: Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition) and hires Billy Kane as his personal bodyguard (he is known to have two others, Ripper and Hopper who have never been playable characters). He sets up Kane as his champion in his King of Fighters tournaments.

In the 1992 video game Fatal Fury three new characters enter his tournament: Terry, his brother Andy Bogard and their friend Joe Higashi. Few people have ever defeated Billy Kane, but Terry accomplishes this, winning the right to battle Geese personally (Geese is the game's final boss). In a fight which takes place in Geese Tower and is won by Terry, Geese falls from the top of the tower to his death. Geese remains presumed dead until Fatal Fury 3, when he returns to steal the Sacred Scrolls of Immortality from the Jin twins, Chonrei and Chonshu.

Fatal Fury's ending was retconned by Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition from Geese falling from Geese Tower to Geese receiving a near fatal beating and laying low for the amount of time between Fatal Fury and Fatal Fury 3's ending.

Geese appears in Fatal Fury Special (released before Fatal Fury 3) where he makes references to being immortal - however, the game is mostly apocryphal, combining the rosters of the Fatal Fury and Fatal Fury 2 and is not considered canonical. Geese is the 4th of 5 regular bosses, following Laurence Blood and preceding Wolfgang Krauser.

Fatal Fury anime series


Geese's fate in the Fatal Fury anime trilogy differs from that of the game series. In Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf, after defeating Andy at the backyard of his island mansion, Geese faces Terry, only to be pummeled towards his koi pond by Terry's use of the late Tung Fu Rue's final attack, the Hadou Senpuu Kyaku (Super Hurricane Kick).

His appearances in the later two films are minimal. In Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle, Krauser unearths a cavern to reveal Geese, who had been hiding in secrecy after being embarrassed by Terry in their fight. It is revealed that Geese is the illegitimate half-brother of Krauser. At the age of 10, Geese traveled to Germany to extract revenge for leaving his mother to die. However, a young Krauser prevented the assassination and slashed Geese with his own knife; hence the long scar across Geese's left eye. In Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, Geese is seen only briefly as Billy Kane informs him of the Bogards' activities. He then unleashes his Raging Storm attack, creating a crater around him.

Real Bout Fatal Fury series
Real Bout Fatal Fury takes place several months after Fatal Fury 3 in 1995 and Geese, still in possession of the Sacred Scrolls, organizes another King of Fighters tournament which again ends win a confrontation between him and Terry Bogard. Geese is knocked through the wooden guard rail by his enemy, who then saves him. Geese however frees himself from Terry's grip and falls to his death with a grin on his face, presumably choosing to die rather than be saved by his nemesis. Geese's own in-game story has him clash with and defeat an impostor called Shadow, who is identical to Geese except that he stutters.

Seeing as how the story of the game is closely related to the Sacred Scrolls of Immortality, which appear to grant or cause immortality, it is plausible that Geese was in some way testing or using their power and had become immortal, which is the belief of some. This has not been confirmed by SNK-Playmore and from then on Geese is considered dead. He is survived in the games by his son Rock Howard, his half-brother Wolfgang Krauser and Kain R. Heinlein, boss of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, who is the brother of Marie Heinlein, Geese's lover and Rock's mother.

The King of Fighters
As already stated, there are major differences in the continuities of King of Fighters and Fatal Fury/Art of Fighting, one of them being the accepted status of Geese Howard. In The King of Fighters '96, released a year after Real Bout Fatal Fury, Geese is alive and enters the tournament teamed with underling Mr. Big and half-brother Wolfgang Krauser in an attempt to learn about and obtain the power of Orochi, a plan that fails. Geese survives an assassination attempt by a sniper hired by an enraged Mr. Big, thanks to the timely intervention of Billy Kane, and returns to Southtown in the Boss team's ending.

The following year in the next KoF game, The King of Fighters '97, Geese Howard organizes the first Outlaw team, consisting of Blue Mary, Ryuji Yamazaki and Billy Kane and enters them to learn more of Orochi. Kane is sent to watch KOF main character Iori Yagami, while Mary is sent to watch Yamazaki, as both are suspected to be part of the Orochi bloodline. At the game's climax it is Yamazaki who experiences the Riot of Blood, but in his ending returns to extract the money Geese owes him by force.

In The King of Fighters 2003 Geese once again sponsors a new Outlaw Team (Kane, Yamazaki and Gato from Garou: Mark of the Wolves) and is presence is treated casually.

In The King of Fighters XI for the PS2, Geese's win quote after defeating Terry shows him wondering why Terry is so surprised to see him, claiming that he already told him that he's immortal. Since Geese is a PS2-exclusive character, it's not sure whether this is canon or not - although from all the characters that could be brought from Neo Geo Battle Coliseum only those that didn't seriously clash with the current KoF timeline were brought back. The The King of Fighters: Another Day anime shows Rock being haunted by Geese's ghost, but the anime is not considered canon, having been conceived to promote the XI and MI2 releases, but not officially fitting in the continuity of either of them.

Personality
Geese is a ruthless person who thinks highly of himself. He craves for power in all sorts of ways: from money to immortality. He will crush anyone who stands on his way. Geese had very little feelings for his family and cared more about himself. That's why Rock blames him for his mother's death and agreed to live with Terry. However, Geese is an honorable fighter, respecting those who deserve it. After his fight with Terry, he will never underestimate anyone ever again.

Powers

 * Gather Chi: Geese can gather chi energy from Gaia, the mother-earth.


 * Sense: Geese can sense the presence of people nearby.


 * Energy Projectile: Geese can fire a wave of energy called Repuuken and even fire two of them at the same time. The air version of Repuuken is called Shippuken.


 * Energy Attack: Geese can improve his normal attacks (punches, kicks,...) with chi energy causing more damage.


 * Cutting Energy: Geese can create blades of energy as seen in his Flying Solar Slash move.


 * Energy Geyser: By touching the ground with his hands, Geese can make a geyser of energy come from below the ground. He called this attack Raising Storm or Raging Storm.


 * Summon Thunder: Geese can also summon thunders from the sky, but it seems to be difficult for him. He uses this in his Atemi Nage and Thunder Break moves.

Skills

 * Administration: Geese is the CEO of the facade Howard Conection.


 * Japanese Religion and Philosophy: Due to his training in Hakkyokuseiken.

Fighting Style
Geese uses Aikijutsu as his primary fighting style. Aikijutsu is a style with several throws, counter throws and locks. He also knows Kobujutsu, the art of Okinawan weaponry. Many official sources state that his fighting style is Hakkyokuseiken, but this is disputed. It can be assumed that Hakkyokuseiken only teaches the way of the chi and not fighting techniques since Terry Bogard, Tung Fu Rue and Geese Howard, students of the Hakkyokuseiken school, have very different fighting styles.



Music

 * Geese ni Kissu (A Kiss for Geese): Fatal Fury
 * Geese ni Shoyu (Soy Sauce for Geese): Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
 * Geese da! (It's Geese!): Fatal Fury 3 (first round against CPU)
 * Geese ni Chuushite (Give Geese a Kiss): Fatal Fury 3 (second round)
 * The Battle: Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Geese ni Shoyu ~Ichiban Akumu no Hate~ (Soy Sauce for Geese ~The End of the First Nightmare~) - Geese's theme as the final boss in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
 * Geese ni Kissu -Cyber Edit- : Art of Fighting 2
 * Geese ni Kattakoi (Stiff Shoulders for Geese) - The King of Fighters '96
 * Kiss Geese Once More - While never used explicitly for Geese, this theme is used in the "Infernal Gate" stage of both The King of Fighters Maximum Impact and The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2. The stage is modeled after Geese's "throne room" from the original Fatal Fury.
 * Devotion -The Sun Set Sky Final- : Neo Geo DJ Station Image Song
 * Geese ni Ketto - 100 Mega Shock!

Voice Actors

 * Katsuhisa Namase - Fatal Fury Special
 * Kong Kuwata - Fatal Fury 3 ~ present
 * Hidekatsu Shibata - animated films
 * Ward Perry - animated films (English voice)
 * Katsuji Mori - Fatal Fury Dengeki drama CD

Game Appearances

 * Fatal Fury, boss character


 * Fatal Fury Special, playable and boss character


 * Art of Fighting 2, boss character


 * Fatal Fury 3, playable character


 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury, playable and boss character


 * The King of Fighters '96, playable character


 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury Special - Dominated Mind, playable character


 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury Special, hidden character


 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury 2, playable and boss character


 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, playable and boss character


 * Fatal Fury: First Contact, playable and boss character


 * Capcom vs SNK, playable character


 * The King of Fighters 2000, striker character for Terry Bogard


 * Capcom vs SNK PRO, playable character


 * Capcom vs SNK 2, playable character


 * The King of Fighters EX, boss character


 * SVC Chaos: SNK vs Capcom, mid-boss character


 * The King of Fighters 2002, Playstation 2 and Xbox exclusive playable character


 * The King of Fighters Neowave, boss character


 * The King of Fighters XI, Playstation 2 exclusive hidden character


 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, playable character


 * The King of Fighters 98: Ultimate Match, playable character


 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf, boss character

Anime Appearances

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

Trivia

 * Geese has an alternate form called Nightmare Geese. In this form, his attacks are much stronger and it is this form which is present in KOFMI2.


 * One of Geese's outfits on Maximum Impact 2 resemble Goenitz and another resembles Mukai. Another one resembles Karman Cole.

Similar Characters

 * Nightmare Geese