Kim Kaphwan

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Kim
Kim in The King Of Fighters XII.
Profile
Full name	Kim Kaphwan
Birthdate	December 21, 1964; 28 years old (Fatal Fury 2), 32 (Real Bout Special), 30 (KOF)
Birthplace	Daegu, South Korea
Height	176 cm (5'9")
Weight	78 kg (172 lbs)
Blood type	A
Family/Relatives	Kim Hye-Ryen (probable ancestor), Myeng Swuk (wife), Kim Dong Hwan (son), Kim Jae Hoon (son), Kim Sue Il (probable descendant)
Job/Occupation	Dojang owner, Taekwondo master
Likes	His wife and two sons
Dislikes	Evil
Hobbies	Karaoke
Favorite food	Korean squid sashimi (Fatal Fury 2), Korean barbecue (FF Special), kimchi (KOF 2003)
Forte in sports	Gymnastics
Special skill	Rehabilitating evil people
Favorite music	Popular mood music
Fighting style	Taekwondo

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

In recent years, Kim's first 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). 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 online game, Kaphwan was removed from Kim's name.

In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Kim was voted as the staff's tenth favorite character. In a 2005 poll made by SNK-Playmore USA, he was voted as the tenth fan favorite character with a total of 119 votes.

[edit] History

[edit] Fatal Fury

Kim is the reigning Tae Kwon Do champion of the world. Kim has been able to use this in his favor and fight against the best fighters on the planet. He first traveled to fight Krauser, who was looking for some decent challenges. On the way, he encountered the "Lone Wolf" himself, Terry Bogard. They soon became very good friends, and ever since, Kim always agrees to help Terry in all that he can, though a definite rivalry is maintained. Kim also has two sons, Kim Dong Hwan and Kim Jae Hoon, as well as a wife (named Myeng Swuk in Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture), as well as many others in his dojang.

[edit] The King of Fighters

Kim is considered as both a sport and national hero in his native Korea. This status is what enabled him to convince the authorities to give him custody over Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge to rehabilitate them out 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 with 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 the Pao Pao Cafe and Kim becomes humorously drunk, advising Terry to find a wife and get married.

[edit] 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. Watching Kim's intro against a character is a good way to tell if the character is considered evil in the canon of the story.

[edit] Powers

Sense Evil - Kim can sense evil energy or intent in others.
Phoenix Attack - In the Real Bout series, Kim is able to summon a phoenix while using his Ho'Oh Kyaku.

[edit] Skills

Acrobatics - Kim is very proficient in acrobatics using it with his Tae Kwon Do skills.

[edit] Fighting Style

Kim uses a very traditional taekwondo style.

[edit] Music

Seoul ni Ikou! - Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special, and The King of Fighters 2002
Yuu - The King of Fighters 94
Prisoner - The King of Fighters 95
Seoul Town - Real Bout Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters 98
Seoul Road - The King of Fighters 96
Seoul'ssu - Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2
Attack Me! - Fatal Fury Wild Ambition
The Way to Rebirth - The King of Fighters 99
Wild Party - The King of Fighters 2000
Nerichagi - The King of Fighters 2001
Seoul Love - The King of Fighters 2003
Street Dancer - The King of Fighters XI
Soul Town ~Ver. Justice~ - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
Kim Kaphwan - Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture

[edit] Voice Actors

Satoshi Hashimoto - since debut
Brett Beyer - Maximum Impact series (English voice)
Hiroshi Isobe - Fatal Fury Dengeki drama CD
Daiki Nakamura - animated films
David Kaye - animated films (English voice)

[edit] Game Appearances

Kim's card from Card Fighters Clash DS

[edit] Mobile Appearances

[edit] Cameo Appearances

Garou: Mark of the Wolves - during Kim Dong Hwan's winpose with a Potential Power super finish
Samurai Shodown II - randomly in backgrounds
Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden (Neo-Geo CD version only)
Garou Densetsu The Legend of Wild Wolf
Garou Densetsu Special
The King of Fighters (pachinko)
The King of Fighters 2

[edit] Anime Appearances

[edit] 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.

[edit] Sprites

[edit] Gallery

Kim in KOF 2001	Kim in KOF 2003	Kim in KOF XI	Kim in The King Of Fighters 2006.
Kim's Another outfit in Maximum Impact series.	Kim artwork from Capcom vs. SNK 2	Kim in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.