Serious Mr. Karate (
First appearing in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, where he, alongside Shin Akuma, serves as optional default final boss of the game, should the player not fulfill the conditions to face Athena or Red Arremer.
Appearance[]
Unlike normal Mr. Karate, he wears a dark grey gi, and his tengu mask sports longer hair and nose, complete with glowing eyes. How Mr. Karate attains this "form" or status is unknown, and its canonical nature is up for debate.
Personality[]
Under most circumstances, Mr. Karate acts similar to Takuma Sakazaki, often making jokes and offering guidance to his opponents. In contrast, Serious Mr. Karate adopts a much more serious (as the name says) manner, preferring his fists to do the talking. Despite his fearsome image, he still retains his mentoring nature, though his comments are considerably more strict and boastful. Serious Mr. Karate's sole desire is to fight powerful opponent and goads worthy challengers to face him, regardless of their affiliation, age, or background.
This version of Mr. Karate seems to be based more upon Takuma's personality in the Art of Fighting series, as opposed to his more comical personality in The King of Fighters series. Despite most of the fighters knowing Takuma is the man under the mask, they can't help but notice the recent change in his serious fighting aura and the bloodlust found within him; Shen Woo gets really excited, while Maxima cannot properly gauge him, and even his students notice this form is not the comical individual they're used to seeing. Saiki even praises this persona, despite being human.
Abilities[]
- Superhuman strength - Mr. Karate possess unrivaled physical strength.
- Sense - Mr. Karate can sense people nearby through their chi/ki.
- Gather energy - Mr. Karate can gather up ki energy.
- Energy Projectile - Mr. Karate can fire two projectiles of energy (Ko-Ou Ken and Haoh Shikou Ken).
- Vacuum - Mr. Karate can fire an invisible projectile.
- Energy Attacks - Mr. Karate can infuse his attacks with energy.
- Multiple Attacks - Mr. Karate can deliver several punches at almost the same time.
Fighting style[]
He plays similarly to Mr. Karate, but is faster, more powerful, has a nearly instant and invisible Ko-Ou Ken attack (a larger version of the one available to Takuma in KOF 2002), has a different stance, has some abilities and attacks from the original Art of Fighting (and his power charging ability derived from this can also be used to nullify most projectile attacks before they reach him), can use the game's regular Mr. Karate's super moves as specials. In exchange for his Mouko Burai Gan and Shoran Kyaku, he gets to use the Kishin Geki attack from Art of Fighting 2 (though it is identical to Takuma's Shin Kishin Geki super move from KOF). As a result, he suffers from the SNK Boss Syndrome, excluding The King of Fighters XIII, where he becomes a regular EX form for Takuma.
Serious Mr. Karate as he appears in The King of Fighters XIII utilizes various other techniques that Takuma does not use, namely his iconic Shoran Kyaku, the 2002 variant of Ko-Ou Ken, and even Marco Rodrigues's Kyokugen Kohou. Because of his incredible toolset, high damage, and multiple combo options, Serious Mr. Karate is considered one of, if not the best characters in the game, ironically mirroring his former SNK boss status.
Music[]
- The Final Fight - SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
- Shihan (Teacher) - The King of Fighters XIII (erroneously labeled The Tengu Show)
Appearances[]
- SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos - playable and boss
- The King of Fighters XIII - as "Mr. Karate" (DLC EX form for Takuma Sakazaki)
- Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - cameo during Akari's super
Mobile[]
- The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
- The King of Fighters All Star - as "Mr. Karate"
Similar characters[]
Trivia[]
- It is speculated this form may be when Mr. Karate reaches his full potential or when encountering an outside power (similar to Shin Akuma). Ciel has no data on Serious Mr. Karate or Shin Akuma, and before both fights, Zero tells Ciel that either of them may be "the ultimate human".
- His SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos artwork shows him without the top of his gi, posed similar to Naraen Kongo, the closed-mouth Nio that represents latent power.
- As "Mr. Karate" in The King of Fighters XIII, he uses Takuma's theme "Shihan" from Art of Fighting 2, but it is erroneously named as "The Tengu Show", Mr. Karate's theme in Art of Fighting.
- Serious Mr. Karate pays homage to his win quote in the original Art of Fighting ("Unless you master the Haoh Shoukou Ken, you will never beat me”) various times, having it as a round quote in SVC Chaos as well as part of both his Neo Max and his win quote against Ryo in The King of Fighters XIII.
- Serious Mr. Karate's inclusion into The King of Fighters XIII is similar to Violent Ken's inclusion in Ultra Street Fighter II. Both were original boss characters for SNK vs. Capcom: SvC Chaos.
- In Team Art of Fighting ending of The King of Fighters XV, Ryo ultimately dons the Mr. Karate mask that transform his Mr. Karate II persona to become as serious as Takuma's Serious Mr. Karate persona.
Gallery[]
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