Shen Woo

Shen Woo (Pinyin: 神・武, Shén Wǔ, Divine Martial; Japanese: シェン・ウー, Shen Ū) is a character from The King of Fighters series who makes his first playable appearance in The King of Fighters 2003. His official nickname is Shanghai's God of War.

He is voiced by Kōji Suidzu in Japanese.

Development
The first concept for Shen Woo was depicted as a "wild and sexy guy." The development codename for him was "The Third Man," and along those lines he became Woo Shen, his name "flip-flopping" to the current name. Due to Ash's appearance, the developer notes that Shen Woo appears more like the main character no matter how you look at it. His character closely resembles certain aspects of Ralf and Yashiro in many ways, so designers toiled to create distinctive moves for this character.

Story
Shen Woo was raised in Shanghai, where he created his own brutal style of street boxing. He soon came to be very feared, and grew to enjoy the thrill of the fight. Eventually, he came to know the enigmatic fighter Ash, who entered Shen, himself, and Duo Lon as the "Hero team" into the KOF 2003 tournament. Despite he and Duo Lon having suspicions of Ash's agenda, Shen couldn't care less as he was too eager to find and face stronger opponents.

At the end of The King of Fighters XI, Ash decides to settle his teammates' agendas. Oswald joined the tournament looking for a drug known as the "Dragon Pills", an illegal and off-the-market drug. Ash explains that the provider for this drug will not sell it but will consider giving it to Oswald if he defeats their adversary, Shen. Since Shen is looking for a strong opponent to fight and Oswald needs the "Dragon Pills", Ash decides to pit his two teammates against each other.

Surviving his fight with Oswald, Duo Lon later meets up with him to find out Ash's whereabouts. Though Shen knows nothing, he isn't too happy with the idea of being used twice by a person he doesn't really know. With the excuse that he can fight stronger opponents if he decides to find out more about Ash, they team up and head to the one who seems to know anything about their former teammate: Elisabeth Blanctorche. In their team's ending, both he and Duo Lon respectively give Elisabeth time to mourn over Ash's "death".

Personality
Shen Woo has a wild, rowdy personality and is always on the lookout for a good fight. Despite his reckless nature, Shen harbors a sense of loyalty and acknowledges the value of friendship. Few people can see past his rough exterior and actually manage to befriend him or earn his respect. He strongly dislikes the idea of being used by someone or being betrayed, and he wastes no time in getting even with those who have wronged him. He is seemingly forgiving to let go grudges should he win a fight.

Powers

 * Superhuman Strength - Shen Woo has superhuman strength in his fists, being able to cause a lot of damage with his punches using his full power.
 * Deflect Projectiles - His punches can deflect projectiles.
 * Pump Up - He can duplicate damage caused by his punches using chi energy.

Fighting Style
Shen Woo developed his own, devastating street-fighting boxing style best described as "violent". His fighting style is characterized with simple yet incredibly powerful punches that constitute the vast majority of his moves. He is capable of delivering punches so powerful, they are capable of deflecting projectiles, both ballistic and energy-based, and enough to bring fighters much larger than him, like Chang, Goro, Maxima, Mukai or Raiden on their knees. On a pinch, Shen is also capable of pumping himself up with his inner chi, which significantly boosts his already remarkable level of strength.

Music

 * Splendid Evil - The King of Fighters 2003
 * Joker - The King of Fighters XI
 * Queen - The King of Fighters XIII (when the music is set to "Type B", console version only, shared with Elisabeth Blanctorche and Duo Lon)
 * Each Promise - The King of Fighters XIII

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters XI
 * The King of Fighters XII
 * The King of Fighters XIII

Mobile Appearances

 * Kimi wa Hero

Cameo Appearances

 * Days of Memories (fourth title) - cameo with Ash
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - background cameo
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - backgroung cameo, Iori Yagami's Another Outfit-Variation E
 * KOF Maximum Impact Regulation "A" - in Xiao Lon's original story
 * The King of Fighters XIV - mentioned in Oswald vs. Mary pre-fight talk

Trivia

 * In on'yomi, Shen Woo's name would be read as "Shin Bu".