Kim Kaphwan

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Template:CharacterInfoboxPlease note: This name is Korean; "Kim" is a surname, not a given name; the given name of this character is "Kaphwan".

Kaphwan Kim, usually written surname first as Kim Kaphwan (Hangul: 김갑환, Hanja: 金甲喚, Japanese: キム・カッファン, Kimu Kaffan), is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series by SNK. Kim is a master of Taekwondo and considers himself a fighter of justice. His official nickname is The Crown Jewel of Taekwondo.

Development

Originally, he was going to be named Kim Haifon, but this was changed because it wasn't a viable Korean name.​Template:Cite 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 Korean president of Viccom, who had a similar pronunciation to Kim's name (金甲煥).​Template:Cite​  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.

Story

Fatal Fury

Kim Kaphwan is the reigning world champion of Tae Kwon Do. Kim is invited by Wolfgang Krauser to compete in his King of Fighters tournament as he was hoping to face superb challengers. During the tournament Kim encounters the "Lone Wolf", Terry Bogard. Kim acknowledges Terry as the superior fighter and the duo become good friends. From that moment on Kim helps Terry in all that he can, though a definite (but friendly) rivalry is maintained.

The King of Fighters

Kim is considered a sport and a national hero in his native land of Korea. This status is what enabled him to convince the authorities to give him custody over Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge to rehabilitate them of their criminal ways. Although both men resented Kim for his actions, they have since grown to grudgingly respect him. In most of his King of Fighters appearances, he has been team captain of Team Korea.

In The King of Fighters XI, Kim appeared as a member of Team Fatal Fury in place of Tizoc. Wanting to see Kim enjoy himself for once, Chang and Choi convince him to join Terry Bogard and Duck King. Although he's happy that his disciples have matured, he is forced to play the middle man between his teammates, both of them ragging on each other over trivial grievances. In the team's ending, the team celebrates at Pao Pao Cafe and Kim becomes humorously drunk, advising Terry to find a wife and get married.

Realizing that his first "rehabilitation subjects" have mended their ways, Kim remembers two other villains that have disturbed him in the past, Hwa Jai and Raiden, and summons them to Southtown. Kim believes they are still working for Geese Howard and is intent on changing their "criminal ways", stubbornly remaining oblivious to their actual reform. The new team shocks the media, and it becomes a popular subject of gossip with those who hear it. In his team's ending, Hwa Jai and Raiden pretend to be "reformed" by Kim, and the gullible Kim falls for it. After they part ways, Kim thinks he might have been "too soft" on Chang and Choi. To honor his former teammates and the struggles they went through, he intensifies Chang and Choi's strict training.

He has a master named Gang-il who forms a team with him in 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..." ("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, though Kim on occasion may yell out traditional Korean battle cries.

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. Games where he gains an alternate stance may reference his original fighting stance from time to time.

Music

  • Seoul ni Ikou! - 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 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
  • 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

Voice Actors

Game Appearances

Mobile Appearances

Cameo Appearances

Anime Appearances

Similar Characters

Trivia

  • 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.<ref>NGBC Q&A Station Q81. from Official website for Neo Geo Battle Coliseum</ref>
  • 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 favourite character with a total of 1,392 votes. In a 2005 poll made by SNK-Playmore USA, he was voted as the tenth fan favorite character with a total of 119 votes.​Template:Cite​
  • 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 Kim was added to the team instead.
    • The third dangerous criminal character would eventually be created as Xanadu, appearing in KOF XIV.

Cards

SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters' Clash SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters' Clash 2 Expand Edition SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters DS SNK Dream Battle SNK Dream Battle KOF98UM OL KOF All Star KOF All Star Kimi Wa Hero

Sprites

Metal Slug Defense Fatal Fury: First Contact Fatal Fury: First Contact (Sprite Edit) Fatal Fury 2 Real Bout Fatal Fury The King of Fighters '94 The King of Fighters '95 The King of Fighters '96 The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle The King of Fighters 2002: Challenge to Ultimate Battle Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 The King of Fighters XII

SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (Midnight Bliss) SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (Makai Spell) SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos (Heaven Spell)

Gallery

  • Kim-kofxii.jpg

    KOF XII artwork

  • Kim-kofxiii.jpg

    KOF XIII artwork

  • Kim-mi2.jpg

    KOF Maximum Impact 2 render

  • Kim-mianother.jpg

    Kim's Another outfit in the Maximum Impact series.

  • Kim-cvs2c.jpg

    Capcom vs. SNK 2 artwork

  • Kim-kofxiv.png

    The King of Fighters XIV render.

  • Chara img 121.png

    Lady Kim Kapwhan in King of Fighters All Star

References

<references /> Template:Wikipedia

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