Billy Kane

Billy Kane (ビリー・カーン, Birī Kān) is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series. His family name, Kane, is meant to be pronounced like "Kon" or "Kaan" with a silent "e" (as in James Caan, an American actor), rather than the word "cane". He fights with a three sectional staff that he somehow can ignite with fire and can be split into three parts connected with a chain. He always tries to look out for his little sister Lilly Kane.

His appearance in Fatal Fury 2 seems to be modeled after the former English pro-wrestler, Dynamite Kid. In later games, his design takes inspiration from the musician Axl Rose. In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Billy was voted as the staff's fourth favorite character.

Fatal Fury
When he was a young teenager, both Billy and his sister were orphans in London. Life was hard for them with Billy having to steal food to feed Lilly. They were spotted by Geese Howard, who was on business trip in Europe. Seeing himself in the two orphans, he takes them in after he sees Billy's skill with his bo.

Years later, Billy became the crimelord's righthand man. Geese would hold The King of Fighters tournament every year with Billy as his champion. Billy was the undefeated until he was beaten by Terry Bogard who moved on to defeat Geese. Billy came to Geese's aid at the end of the fight and took him to the hospital. Billy swore revenge against "The Lone Wolves" Terry, Andy Bogard, and Joe Higashi.

After his boss' apparent death, Billy went back to England with his sister. In order to adequately provide for her, Billy continued his life of crime and joined Wolfgang Krauser. Although it seemed like he was loyal to the nobleman, Billy was actually working undercover to search and destroy Geese's impostor. He succeeded and continued to serve the real Geese until the latter's death.

Billy's whereabouts during the Garou: Mark of Wolves timeline remain unclear. In his development blog for KOF: Maximum Impact 2, Ureshino states that he doesn't know about Rock's mother or the true inheritor of Geese's legacy but hints that it would most likely conflict with Terry. Billy's scenario in this game explores his personal take on the character's actions in the yet to be released Mark of Wolves sequel. He particularly wanted to emphasize Billy's anger and bitterness which is later found in the cellphone novel.

The King of Fighters
In The King of Fighters series, Billy's biography is identical, except Geese isn't dead in this continuity. He is consistently following Geese's orders in all of his appearances.

In The King of Fighters '95, he became one of the members of the Geese organized Rival Team, which included Iori and Eiji Kisaragi. His orders were to get revenge for Geese's defeat by the Bogard siblings. In his team's ending, he was badly beaten by Iori in the tournament's climax. In the 1996 tournament, Billy stayed on the sidelines and saved Geese's life from a sniper sent by his teammate Mr. Big. The following year, he teamed up with Blue Mary and Ryuji Yamazaki to investigate Orochi and the effects of Orochi blood in humans.

Although he is often paired with these two in many appearances, Billy didn't officially enter another tournament until 2003 with Gato and Yamazaki. His personal orders from Geese was to keep a close eye on them, especially Gato since his father could be tracking him. Remembering the broker's attack on Geese after their last team up, Billy remained hostile to Yamazaki throughout the tournament. In their team's ending, the duo fight to an unknown conclusion.

The King of Fighters Maximum Impact
In KOF: Maximum Impact 2, Billy moved back to the countryside of the UK with his young sister after Geese's fatal showdown with Terry. Although he spent his days in tranquility, Billy internally struggled with his desire to fight and stay with his sister. Once he hears that Alba and Soiree were running Southtown, Billy embarked from his home to defend his old boss' legacy. He additionally wants to settle his differences with Terry, which is explored in detail during his and Terry's story mode.

The second episode of The King of Fighters: Another Day also explores a possible encounter Billy would have if he met Geese's son, Rock.

Personality
While Billy cannot be considered a 'good guy' he is not an evil man, his criminal career is motivated more by a desire to make easy money and his respect for Geese Howard than actual malice. His softer side is often shown when he's with his sister Lilly or friend Blue Mary, even his hatred for Terry Bogard has softened to be much more of a rivalry. Billy is violently anti-smoking and hates cigarettes and will assault anyone who blows cigarette smoke in his face (this is the explanation for the 'no smoking' sign on the back of his jacket) and while his hatred of Terry Bogard may have softened, Billy has a deep hatred for Iori Yagami; Iori beat both Billy and Eiji Kisaragi to near death then abandoned them (The King of Fighters '95). Billy is also bitter towards Joe Higashi, who took a liking to his sister, of whom he is quite protective.

Powers

 * Hold up weapon: Billy Kane is stronger than he looks, capable of carrying very heavy weapons like his three-part staff.


 * Weapon of Fire: Billy can set his staff on fire to cause strong fire damage. He can spin his staff to create a powerful ring of fire and throw the ring within a small range.


 * Copy Weapon: Billy can create copies of his staff as seen in his super move.


 * Hide Weapon: Billy has another staff that he hides underneath his jacket as seen in his 2002 HSDM.

Skills

 * Pole Vaulting: Billy excels in pole vaulting. He even use the sport to help him in battle.


 * Musical Instrument: Billy plays the electric guitar very well and has a Punk Rock band back in the UK.


 * Doing Laundry: Billy loves to do laundry.


 * Administration: Billy was left in charge of Howard Conection after Geese died.

Fighting Style
Billy uses the art of Bojutsu as his primary art, but he may also know some Kung Fu moves in order to use his Three Section Staff.

In Fatal Fury, Billy can lose his staff by hurling it at the opponent after executing his Senpuu Kon. After he does this, he just stands shaking and cowering in fear before the player character, open for any attack, until he is thrown another staff by one of Geese's henchmen in the background (this maneuver can be prevented, though). This is the only game where it happens; in KOF95, he drops his staff only when knocked out. He enters the same stance in KOF2002 for his hidden desperation move.

Music

 * Hashi wo Arukeba, Bo ni Ataru (Walking on a Bridge, Striking with a Staff) - Fatal Fury


 * Arashi no Saxophone - The King of Fighters '95


 * London March - Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters '97, and The King of Fighters '98


 * N.D.R. - Real Bout Fatal Fury


 * The Long Pole - Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition


 * Yuuwaki no Toki (The Alluring Time) - KOF '97 Team's theme in The King of Fighters 2002, shared with Ryuji Yamazaki and Blue Mary.


 * Villainous - Outlaw Team's theme in The King of Fighters 2003, shared with Yamazaki and Gato.

Voice Actors

 * Katsuhisa Namase - Fatal Fury II ~ Special, The King of Fighters '95
 * Keiichi Nanba - Fatal Fury 3, Fatal Fury Dengeki drama CD
 * Atsushi Yamanishi - Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series (Real Bout ~ Wild Ambition, KOF '97 ~ 2002, Maximum Impact series)
 * Seijirou - The King of Fighters 2003; The King of Fighters: Another Day
 * Marc Donovan - Maximum Impact series (English voice)
 * Daiki Nakamura - Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
 * Tomohiro Nishimura - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
 * Paul Dobson - animated films (English voice)

Game Appearances

 * Fatal Fury - sub-boss character; left out of the Sega Genesis version of Fatal Fury due to memory constraints
 * Fatal Fury 2 - sub-boss character
 * Fatal Fury Special - playable and sub-boss character
 * The King of Fighters 95
 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury
 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury Special - Dominated Mind
 * Real Bout: Fatal Fury Special
 * The King of Fighters 97
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo - boss character
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 - playable and boss character
 * The King of Fighters 98
 * Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition - playable and boss character
 * Fatal Fury: First Contact - playable and boss character
 * SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium - cameo
 * The King of Fighters '99: Evolution - as a Striker only character
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - striker character for Andy Bogard
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2
 * Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf - challenger for Terry's Big Bonus
 * Garou Densetsu Special - challenger for Terry's Big Bonus
 * Capcom vs. SNK 2 - cameo in the London stage with Lilly and Karman Cole
 * SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos - cameo in Geese's ending
 * Days of Memories (fourth title) - cameo
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko) - cameo
 * The King of Fighters 2 - cameo

Anime Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf
 * Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle
 * Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
 * The King of Fighters: Another Day - 2nd and 4th episodes

Similar Characters

 * EX Billy

Trivia

 * Though he has not been playable in all of them, Billy has appeared in all of the Fatal Fury games, including all of their spin-off titles, with the exception of one; he was left out of the Sega Genesis version of Fatal Fury due to memory constraints (he can still be seen among the crowd in Pao Pao Cafe, Richard Meyer's stage).


 * Billy wears his Fatal Fury Wild Ambition outfit in KOF 2003.


 * His bodyguard outfit (a business suit), only worn in Fatal Fury artworks, is the second outfit in his 2 appearances in 3D games: Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition and King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2.


 * Billy can be heard to yell "Go to hell!" during his Great Whirlwind DM in his appearances in KOF games '97 and on.


 * Billy also is one of the few KoF characters to carry over a theme song to another game (i.e. Geese Howard). While his Fatal Fury theme was very different at the time, his Fatal Fury 2/Special theme, "London March" was carried over to some KoF games, such as KoF '97 & '98. The full version of the song can be heard on the Fatal Fury Special: Image Album.