Robert Garcia

Robert Garcia (ロバート・ガルシア, Robāto Garushia) is a character in the King of Fighters video game series. A practitioner of Kyokugenryu Karate, he first appeared as the deuteragonist in Art of Fighting and currently appears in the King of Fighters video game series. Thus far, he has been a playable character in every edition of KOF except The King of Fighters XI (though he was added back in for the Playstation 2 version of the game as a hidden bonus character). He is the first known foreign practitioner of Kyokugenryu Karate, earning the title "The Raging Tiger" or "The Mightiest Tiger" (最強の虎, Saikyo no Tora). According to Neo Geo Freak, he is visually modeled on Andy García and Steven Seagal.

In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Robert was voted as the staff's forty-sixth favorite character. He shared the spot with seven other characters, including Samurai Shodown character, Hattori Hanzo, and King of Fighters character, Goenitz.

Story
Robert is the son of Alberto Garcia, a wealthy Italian businessman and best friend of Takuma Sakazaki, the master of Kyokugenryu Karate. When he was younger, Robert was fascinated with the fighting style as he saw it as a way to escape from his father's shadow in the stifling high class society. Against his father's wishes, Robert trained under Takuma Sakazaki and often sparred with Ryo. As time passed, Ryo became his best friend.

Robert eventually developed romantic feelings for his friend's sister, Yuri. He has held an infatuation with Yuri ever since he first met her, and would likely wed her if not for Takuma and Ryo, who either overprotect Yuri out of habit or suspect that Robert might take her for granted.

Art of Fighting
In 1978 (by the Art of Fighting timeline), Geese Howard secretly blackmailed Takuma into working for him, which eventually lead to Yuri's kidnapping. Meanwhile, Ryo and Robert began searching Southtown's dojos, dives, and nightclubs for clues about Yuri's disappearance. In the process, they fought Southtown's toughest criminals, bouncers, and martial artists. They eventually learned that Mr. Big allegedly masterminded the kidnapping. Thanks to King, they were able to find Yuri and save her from Mr. Big. In gratitude, he and Ryo later fund for Jan's operation.

After the conclusion of the first King of Fighters tournament, Robert visited Central America to help Freia Lawrence, a childhood friend, save her friend Wyler. He acts as her bodyguard during their journey through Glasshill. Once he sees his friends reconcile, he follows his father's wishes to head back home and help run the family company. Before he boards the plane out of the city, Yuri surprises him by having her own ticket. They return to Italy together.

Robert's whereabouts after the series conclusion remains unclear. Ryo's backstory from Buriki One and the King of Fighters series seems to imply that Robert eventually takes over his father's company. Despite popular belief, he is still single years after Art of Fighting's conclusion.

The King of Fighters
As one of the successful examples of the Kyokugen style, Robert often partners himself with Takuma and Ryo. Like Ryo, he is often ordered around by their master to proudly represent the Kyokugen dojo. He is overjoyed when Yuri also joins their team and often tries to voice his opinion in her favor. When he learns that King was to be her replacement in The King of Fighters 2000, he is indignant about not having prior knowledge of Yuri's absence and thinks that this is a underhanded scheme for Ryo to get closer to King. He challenges her to prove her worth to the team and they engage in a fearsome kicking contest. Since their match ends in a stalemate, he agrees to let her in the team. The following year Robert and his family are faced with grievous financial problems so his friends and master agree to help him out by winning the tournament. By the time of The King of Fighters 2003, he is somehow joyfully wealthy again and is confident enough to enter without the demands of his master. The reason for his absence in The King of Fighters XI was due to a simultaneous disaster in his father's company that needed to be solved with Robert's presence.

Personality
Robert is the stereotype of the rich partying playboy. He doesn't take life so seriously and always has a smile on his face. He often acts as the reluctant mediator for the Sakazaki siblings though he often sides with Yuri if he can. He is considered to be a natural genius by friend and foe alike.

Robert benefits from his father's wealth. He always wears fancy clothes and drives expensive cars. Despite Ryo and Takuma's constant scrutiny, he sometimes gives luxurious gifts to Yuri. Robert also has an air of cockiness due to his constant wealth, which is seen by his friend Ryo as a sign of rudeness since Ryo's family lives in constant poverty due to having their finances run the Kyokugenryu dojo.

Powers

 * Gather chi: Robert can gather ki from Gaia, the mother-earth.
 * Energy Projectile: Robert can fire the Kouken and Haoh Shou Kouken blast normally.
 * Multiple Attacks: Robert can channel his ki energy into his legs to deliver multiple kicks at a very fast ratio.

Fighting Style
To counter Ryo, Robert was taught to be the "dragon" of Kyokugenryu Karate, ironic since his nickname call him a "tiger". Robert's style focuses upon lethal kicks, his signature move being the Genei-kyaku or Spirit Kick.

Music

 * Swing the House - Art of Fighting 2
 * Mojo - Art of Fighting 3
 * Ryuuko no Ken - The King of Fighters 94
 * Ryuuko and Ken - The King of Fighters 95
 * Kamikirimushi - The King of Fighters 96
 * Art of Fight - The King of Fighters 98
 * Ryu-Ko - The King of Fighters 99
 * The Beauty and the Beast - The King of Fighters 2000, 2002
 * Fight to the Limit - The King of Fighters 2001
 * Kyoku-gen - The King of Fighters 2003
 * ART OF FIGHT ~ Ryuko to Tsubame - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match

Voice Actors

 * Eiji Yano - Art of Fighting (during battle)
 * James W. Hove - Art of Fighting (during demo), Art of Fighting 2 (English voice)
 * Kay Inage - Art of Fighting 2, The King of Fighters series ('94~'95, XI, XII), Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * Mantarō Koichi - Art of Fighting 3, The King of Fighters series ('96~2003), The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * Masanori Ikeda - Art of Fighting anime
 * Nick Sullivan - Art of Fighting anime (English voice)
 * Hideo Ishikawa - The King of Fighters '94 Dengeki Bunko drama CD

Live Action Actors

 * Timothy Lowell - Art of Fighting 2 commercials

Game Appearances

 * Art of Fighting
 * Art of Fighting 2
 * The King of Fighters 94
 * The King of Fighters 95
 * Art of Fighting 3
 * The King of Fighters 96
 * The King of Fighters 97
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * The King of Fighters 98
 * The King of Fighters 99
 * The King of Fighters 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * The King of Fighters EX
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters EX2
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters: Neowave
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
 * The King of Fighters XI - PS2 port only; cameo in the Art of Fighting Team's ending
 * The King of Fighters XII
 * The King of Fighters XIII
 * Quiz King of Fighters

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (fourth and eighth titles) - NPC; in-text cameo in the fourth
 * Athena On Stage - quiz contestant
 * SNK Gals Island Senkan Battle Gekichinshichaouzo!

Cameo Appearances

 * Capcom vs. SNK 2 - in-text cameo
 * SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos - in Ryo and Mr. Karate's ending
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2 - background cameo, Mr. Karate's Another Outfit-Variation G, Yuri Sakazaki's Normal Outfit-Variation F
 * KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2

Anime Appearances

 * Art of Fighting (anime)

Similar Characters

 * Another Robert

Trivia

 * One of his winposes is him tossing and catching a coin. The coin is a reference to his story in Art of Fighting, where his father gave it to him before he left the Garcia mansion. His father did it so Robert could remember his roots and one day come back to it. It wasn't brought to focus again until Art of Fighting 3 although it appeared sooner than that.
 * His older appearance in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum is not intended to be tied with any continuity. It was made to match the older Mr. Karate II and is considered to be an original form of Robert.
 * Although he is Italian, his given name Robert is English, while his surname Garcia is Spanish.