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Rock Howard

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Rock Howard
'Fatal Fury series
King of Fighters series character
File:Rock-MI2.jpg
Rock in KOF: Maximum Impact 2 (KOF 2006)
First gameGarou: Mark of the Wolves

Rock Howard (ロック・ハワード) is a video game character who was introduced in SNK Playmore's fighting game Garou: Mark of the Wolves, the last chapter in the Fatal Fury series.

History

Template:Spoiler Rock is the son of the most noteworthy crime lord--and most feared fighter--in all of Southtown, Geese Howard. Since Geese never acknowledged him, Rock was raised solely by his mother, Marie Heinlein. When Rock was barely eight and a half years old, Marie contracted a fatal disease, and died while in Rock's care. When Geese is defeated by Terry Bogard on top of Geese Tower, he refuses Terry's help and falls to a presumed death, leaving Rock parentless. Upon this realization, Terry adopts Rock and takes him under his wing.

As the years go by, Rock becomes a formidable fighter, due in no small part to having been trained by Terry. Approximately ten years after Geese's death, Second Southtown was established. During this time, a new King of Fighters tournament dubbed Maximum Mayhem, which Rock and Terry both decide to join.

By the end of the tournament, Rock finds his final opponent is Kain R. Heinlein, who reveals himself to be it's host and Rock's uncle. Upon winning, Rock discovered that the tournament was orchestrated by Kain to bring Rock to him. Kain, aware that Geese Howard's will held presumably valuable secrets, but unable to discover them without assistance, won Rock's aid in working through the document by offering information regarding Rock's mother--whom Kain claimed was still alive. Terry accepts Rock's decision to become Kain's new partner, with Rock promising to return. [1]

Rock's Gameplay

His movelist is an amalgam of his mentor, Terry Bogard, and his father, Geese Howard.

He possesses several of Geese's trademark moves such as the Reppuken, Double Reppuken, Raging Storm DM, the Shinkunage throw, reversals, and the Deadly Rave SDM. Moves loaned from Terry include the Rising Tackle, variants of the Power Dunk and Crack Shoot moves, along with his Shine Knuckle, which is a DM version of Terry's Burning Knuckle. In addition, Rock's Hard Edge is similar to Geese's Evil Shadow Smasher.

Also, his Crack Counter is a reversal that can be directed high or low akin to Geese, where upon succeeding, Rock slams an opponent with a kick that resembles Terry's Crack Shoot.

Trivia

  • In The King of Fighters: Another Day, an OVA that accompanies Maximum Impact 2, Rock and Terry both appear in Episode 2, "Accede", in which both he and Terry are voiced by their corresponding in-game voice actors.
  • Rock's character designer is the same as K's, which explains the similarities in appearance.
  • Rock is very shy around women, having been surrounded by men his whole life.
  • Rock's face looks similar to Kaede from The Last Blade, featuring nearly identical hair color, style and eyes. Possibly to take a jab at this similarity, SNK Playmore included Kaede's outfit as an extra uniform for both KOF: Maximum Impact games.
  • Apart from Kaede, Rock dons a costume similar to his uncle Kain R. Heinlein in one of the Maximum Impact 2 alternate outfits.
  • The refrain of Rock Howard's stage music is nearly identical to the Techno/Trance Pop song "Children" by Robert Miles.
  • The kid that stayed with Terry's ending in Fatal Fury 3 is Rock. "All About SNK" has also confirmed this.
  • Rock's favorite hobby is pick up basketball, as verified in Maximum Impact 2 (KOF 2006). Though as of yet unconfirmed officially, it is believed that Rock is terrible at the sport, as seen in the opening CG, Terry's RBFF ending and from a few fan-made mangas. This lends to the idea of Rock upholding Terry Bogard's "never give up" motif.
  • Also it is possible Rock is fond of cowboy attire. This can be seen in Maximum Impact series in variations of his alternate outfits and Falcoon's designs.[2]

References


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