Kaphwan Kim, written surname first as Kim Kaphwan, is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series. Kim debuts in Fatal Fury 2 as a master of Taekwondo and considers himself as a fighter of justice. His official nickname is "The Crown Jewel of Taekwondo" (Japanese: [テコンドーのクラウンジュエル]; Korean: [태권도의 왕관 보석]) and in KOF XV, is "Taekwondo of Justice".
Originally, he was going to be named Kim Haifon, but this was changed because it wasn't a viable Korean name.[citation needed]
In more recent years, Kim's given name, "Kaphwan", was seemingly dropped, as SNK Playmore refers to him only as "Kim". Additionally, Kim in Korean is now known as the "head of the Kim family" (金家藩). The reasons for this are unknown, though rumors speculate that he was named after the founder of Viccom, who had a similar pronunciation to Kim's name (金甲煥).[citation needed]
Additionally, Kim's sons are also named after the real Kim's son (Jae Hoon) and younger brother (Dong Hwan). After the fallout of the first online game, Kaphwan was removed from Kim's name for a time. The trend finally resumed since The King of Fighters XIV.
Personality
Kim strives for excellence and righteousness in everything he does, be it his fighting or personal life. He is a loving husband and father, and a strict disciplinarian. He is deeply respected and admired by his acquaintances for his honesty and bravery, and has many friends amongst the characters in both King of Fighters and Fatal Fury. However, he apparently can't handle his liquor very well, as seen in his team's ending for The King of Fighters XI.
One of Kim's defining characteristics is his strong, inherent sense of justice. He has the ability to tell whether or not someone is evil at a glance. As such, Kim has a special opening pose whenever he fights against an evil character, someone influenced by Orochi or any other sinister power. In this pose, he glares menacingly at the evil opponent, slowly raises his hand and points at the opponent, saying "Aku wa yurusan..." (悪は許さん..., lit. "Evil is unforgivable...") "Hah!" before jumping into his fighting stance. There are times when he is off and a little overzealous with his evil sensor, which is touched upon by others within the games' written works.
Despite his overbearing personality, the presence of his master Gang-li seems to put Kim on the receiving end of nervousness via a role reversal.
Powers
Sense Evil - Kim can sense evil energy or intent in others.
Phoenix Attack - In the Real Bout series and in other few titles, Kim is able to summon a phoenix while using his Hou'ou Kyaku.
Skills
Acrobatics - Kim is very proficient in acrobatics, using it with his Tae Kwon Do skills.
Advanced Kicking - Thanks to his Tae Kwon Do training, Kim is able to do very fast multiple chain kicks.
Rehabilitation - Kim is proficient (though Chang and Choi beg to differ) in correcting otherwise destructive habits, though he can be extremely overzealous in his methods.
Singing - Through his hobby, Kim has some talent in belting out tunes.
Fighting Style
Kim uses a very traditional taekwondo style with heavy acrobatics and occasional alternate stances (depending on the game), which also packs much of a motif for phoenixes, or more accurately, the Fenghuang (romanized via on'yomi in Japanese as the "hou'ou"), a Chinese firebird that is a combination of a male and female phoenix. Despite this, many of his techniques are mainly written in and spoken out in Japanese, although Kim may yell out traditional Korean battle cries on occasion.
Music
Seoul ni Ikou! (Let's Go to Seoul!) - Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, The King of Fighters 2002
Yuu - The King of Fighters '94
Ryo - The King of Fighters '95
Seoul Town - Real Bout Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match (both the original KOF 98 version and the Real Bout version)
Seoul Road - The King of Fighters '96, The King of Fighters '98 (console versions only), The King of Fighters XIII (when the music is set to "Type B", console version only, shared with Raiden and Hwa Jai)
Seoul'ssu - Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters R-1, Fatal Fury F-Contact
Attack Me! - Fatal Fury Wild Ambition
The Way to Rebirth - The King of Fighters '99
Wild Party - The King of Fighters 2000, EX, EX2
Nerichagi - The King of Fighters 2001
Seoul Love - The King of Fighters 2003
Street Dancer - The King of Fighters XI
Tame a Bad Boy - The King of Fighters XIII
Belief - The King of Fighters XIV
Seoul Road -KOF XIV ver.- - The King of Fighters XIV (as Chang or Choi's opponent)
Seoul Town ~Ver. Justice~ - The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
Kim Kaphwan - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
Seoul ni Ikou! (Let's Go to Seoul!) -KOF XV ver.- - The King of Fighters XV
Voice Actors
Mainline Voice Actors
Satoshi Hashimoto - Fatal Fury 2~Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, The King of Fighters '94~XI
Kazuhiko Nagata - The King of Fighters XII~XIV (Japanese voice)
Kim is inspired by the real-life late Kim Kaphwan, founder of Viccom, a Korean company that for many years licensed SNK's games.
His sons, Kim Dong Hwan and Kim Jae Hoon, are inspired by the name of the younger brother and the son of the real businessman, respectively.
In the fan Q&A for Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, a fan asked Kim about his thoughts regarding hypocrites. In an "interview", Kim answers that any sort of lie is evil and unforgivable. He then naively asks why he received this question.[1]
In the Fatal Fury games (mainly in the Real Bout games), Kim often had his front side face the background in his fighting stance, while in The King of Fighters games and in other titles onward, his front side faces the foreground instead. In some games he gains an alternate stance, which may reference his original fighting stance from time to time.
In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Kim was voted as the staff's tenth favorite character. In the Neo Geo Freak's 1997 Volume 8 Character Poll, he was voted as the fifth favorite character with a total of 1,392 votes. In a 2005 poll made by SNK Playmore USA, he was voted as the 10th fan-favorite character with a total of 119 votes.
Kim's original teammates, Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge, were to be teamed up with another dangerous criminal character to form the "Fugitive Team'", but he was added to the team instead.
Starting from The King of Fighters Neowave, SNK only uses the surname Kim, dropping "Kaphwan" from his name entirely. The reasons for the result are currently unknown.