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Higher Voltage Character Battle: Fagmort of the Millennium |
THE WINNER
Johnny Maximum!
would like to declare that
Neo Geegus!
TERRY BOGARD
is the undisputed Fagmort of the Millenium!
Higher Voltage Character battle 2002-2003
Beating the lovely Chun Li by just FIFTEEN votes (final score Terry 172 (52%) Chun Li 157 (48%), Terry has defied all odds, trampled the opposition and proved himself to be no less than the greatest fighting game character to ever live. We here at Higher Voltage salute him, and all who sail in him. Gawd bless ‘im.
So what is it about Terry that inspires his loyal legions of followers to such passionate, devoted heights?
To understand him a little better we need to look back at his origins. Terry Bogard first appeared in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (Garou Densetsu – Shukumei No Tatakai) in November 1991. Although clearly modified to compete with Capcom’s Streetfighter 2, which had appeared six months earlier on while SNK’s effort was still in development, the first Fatal Fury was still at heart a simplistic beast, with three selectable characters and game engine consisting of a punch button, kick button, a throw button and a two-tiered environment, suggestive of the now-archaic scrolling beat-em-ups. And although it simply could not compare with the then near-overwhelming technicality and depth of SF2, the one area that it surpassed it was the one area SNK would become known for – that of the storylines and characters.
Even in this clumsy, clunky, garish, poorly drawn effort – the people who fight and the places they fight in have a certain charm, even today, a spark, that special, indefinable something. Fighting your way through an array of mean and moody freaks and punks in the sprawling metropolis of the now-infamous Southtown, there’s just something about the atmosphere of the events that Capcom just couldn’t recreate. After each fight ends, a menacing figure in a suit with short blond hair appears and comments, in lovingly-rendered SNK-glish about the fighters. As the fights progress, he becomes angrier and angrier. It is finally revealed that the man is none other than GEESE HOWARD, a notorious Southtown crimeboss and the man who MURDERED Terry and Andy’s father, JEFF. Although obvious, such a ’simple’ motivation allows for much depth in all directions. The fact he has a father that meant so much to him, the fact his father had dealings with Geese, the fact Geese wanted to kill him, indeed, was powerful enough to kill him, the fact Terry wants revenge and is one of the few able to stand a chance of exacting it; it’s cliched, yes, but at the same time it’s the ideal grounding for a character to build on.
The final confrontation with Geese is a hilarious anti-climax. Looking like a confused old man who forgot to dress himself in the morning, Geese is laughably easy to defeat, and meets his end as an attack from one of the three characters (Terry, Andy, Joe) sends him plummeting from the top floor of Geese Tower, presumably to his death below.
Even early on it becomes clear that one of Terry’s most appealing facets is the company he keeps. Andy and Joe, his brother and friend respectively are very different in terms of fighting styles and more importantly, personalities. Equally important as his friends are his enemies, and although Geese ultimately fails to intimidate in his initial appearance, the seeds are sown; his relationship with the Hungry Wolves, his powers, his attitudes and legacy are set in place, ready to develop and expand over time.
As if Geese wasn’t monstrous enough a foe, the following years’ Fatal Fury 2 (Garou Densetsu 2: Arata-naru Tatakai) puts Terry up against the gigantic German, Wolfgang Krauser. Krauser’s entrance into the storyline is superb – a cut-scene after each fight shows an unknown assailant cutting a swath of destruction through the other characters until he reveals himself as seeking he who was announced as the strongest fighter in the world. Unlike Geese, Krauser is a beast to defeat – being one of the earliest instances of “SNK boss syndrome” – and although his appearance and behaviour are far more exagerrated and cartoony than Geese, he still exudes menace, and his defeat at Terry’s hands just boosts the Lone Wolf’s standing as an undefeatable, truly spirited hero.
Once again it’s strong characters both with him and against him. FF2 sees the introduction into the series of not only Krauser, Terry’s greatest challenge yet, but also Kim Kap Hwan and Mai Shiranui; both of whom went on to become incredibly famous in their own right.
A year later, Fatal Fury Special (Garou Densetsu Special) was released, SNK obviously resisting the lure of releasing continual upgrades to their fighting series the way Capcom did. FFS basically combines the first and second Fatal Furies and making all characters, included both bosses from previous games (Geese now totally redrawn and no longer looking like your great grandfather trying to score a hot chick) selectable from the start. Although developing nicely on the gameplay front, FFS is plotless, and thus not worth discussing any further.
It’s around this point in time that things really start to take off, both for Terry and the company who created him. The release of King of Fighters ‘94 in, er, 1994 was a landmark event in fighting game history. Full of innovations, character, style and panache – KOF’94 cemented Terry’s existence as a force to be reckoned with, including him as one of the few Fatal Fury characters to make it into KOF immortalised him for all time, putting him alongside other SNK classics including Art of Fighting, Psycho Soldier and Ikari Warriors.
From this point on it’s just too hard keeping track of things. Relationships are everywhere, newer, more deadly enemies come and go, die, resurrect, die again, come back as ghosts, clones and all sorts of wackiness goes on. Thoughout all this Terry’s core relationships remain. He still has his brother, rival, and Yin to his Yang Andy, he still has a friend in Joe; he hates Geese and Krauser and so on and suchforth.
Later characters added extra dimensions beyond those of the rugged, undefeatable good guy. Blue Mary became an occaisional girlfriend, and of course his aboption of Geese Howard’s wayway son Rock shows his compassionate, forgiving side as well. Throughout the years Terry has remained basically consistent, always good, and strong, never whining or giving up. The company he keeps (and beats up) increases his appeal no end, and indeed it’s true that he owes a large part of his popularity and success in thie contest to his friends and foes, his loves and losses and even the town he grew up in.
Of course being a hero of a series of fighting games means more than story and relationships. For one thing it means fighting, and this is another area that Terry excels in. While he was fairly unassuming in the earlier games, by Fatal Fury Special and KOF’95 he had become a thoroughly intimidating and boundlessly powerful character. His signature move list is instantly recognisable and never anything less than devastating.
From an aesthetic point of view, Terry is this constantly punching, slamming, dunking, rushing bulldozer of offense. Even his move names seem to have been designed to give maximum impact; all these “Powers” and “Busters” and charges and dunks and waves – names which he shouts out throughout the fight with great abandon. It’s hard to think of another fighting game character who possesses such impact, such force when they’re in action. Using Terry is almost always an incredibly satisfying experience, whether he’s ramming his shoulder into an enemy, or flying across the screen to punch them in the jaw, or loosing a huge column of energy in their general direction – it’s fantastic stuff, credit goes to the designers, the artists, his famous voice actor – all for imbuing him with such devastating power and ability.
For all his power and plot, Terry is actually still a fairly simple character from a design point of view; his original red/white jacket, peaked cap and blue jeans and sneakers giving him just the right amount of “average Joe-ness.” He’s not some elaborate girly boy in flowing robes. He doesn’t want or need metal boots, weapons or zany Japanese fashion accessories. He’s cool, he’s casual, he’s not paranoid about his appearance nor out to prove something by the way he dresses. What he wears is just as straightforward and upfront as he is. It’s a design that has been elevated to that of an icon over the years. He’s instantly recognisable and hard to do wrong. This strength of recognisability allows us to bond with him, feeling comfort whenever he appears in a new game, grounding us in the traditions of the games he’s appeared in in the past.
And even when a redesign did come around (Garou: Mark of the Wolves) – that too was done oh so very right. He looked older, a bit bulkier and more grizzled, yet at the same time kept enough of his looks, movements and abilities to still remain fundamentally Terry. In an era of gaming where ‘redesign’ so often means mechanical arms or long white hair, SNK triumphed with Terry’s new look and added yet another facet to his fan appeal.
And that’s another great thing about Terry – it’s possible to be a fan of him without shame (as long as you don’t consider fawning over videogame characters embarassing in the first place) – he’s not a fruit, or retard, he doesn’t give mouth-to-mouth to little boys or have an energy weapon concealed in a giant statue. His forthright cockiness, comparitive normality in appearance and general mental and physical stability mean that, hey, you can be a Terry fan without constantly justifying your sexuality or taste in hairstyles. He is an almost entirely guilt-free character.
There’s more we could talk about. The Engrish, the anime appearances, the pizza boy jokes, his appearances in the crossover games, the FATAL RAP … but there’s really not much need. Terry is the champ of champs, the king of fighters, the Steven Seagal of fighting game characters. Throughout this tournament we have seen many great characters fall by the wayside, but in the end, no-one is more deserving of this “ultimate” accolade than Terry Bogard, the adopted child who saw his father murdered right in front of him, who trained to defeat his father’s killer, and then later tried to SAVE his father’s killer from falling to his death. The man who beat Krauser, who blew up a parking lot, who banged Blue Mary and wore his cap back-to-front without looking like a dick.
Terry Bogard, you are the winner of this contest, and a winner in all our hearts. Congratulations.
So what now?
Well are you feeling angry? Seething with rage? Your favourite character (Rasputin) got knocked out so early in the contest? What you need is the FOTM Backlash Kit, for all your internet-based whining needs!
Once you’ve calmed down (and put ointment on those paper cuts) you can also get your greasy mitts on the eclectic masterpieces that were the character icons for all seven rounds. Feel free to print them all out and roll around in them like we’ve been caught doing on several occaisions.
You can also spend hours reliving the highs and lows, the hilarity, misery, tragedy and assery and the time your favourite character lost to Benimaru at the one-stop totally comprehensive collation of links to ALL ROUNDS, THREADS and ROUND-UPS. Boy was that ever fun to make.
Perhaps if you’re interested in the genesis of this character battle (and god help you if you aren’t) you may wish to gaze upon the original list of characters, as well as read about some of the more closely-contended omissions.
~A Word From the Nerds~
Although it seemed impossibly distant when this GameFAQs-inspired character battle first launched back in November 2002, we’ve finally reached to the end.
And in some ways it’s a shame that it all has to end so quietly. That there aren’t any prizes we can give out and no people we can tell (aside from EVRABODY that is.) We haven’t changed the world and can’t help but wish we could have ended with a bang, or at the very least a protracted make-out session.
However our rewards come in smaller, more smug self-satisfied ways. We have done what GameFAQs didn’t – we have given anyone who cared the oppurtunity to pick from a set of characters the rest of the world have never heard of. A couple of years ago we would never have been able to do something like this – we simply didn’t have the know-how, the ambition and most importantly the readership and board population we do nowadays. And that’s what’s really made this a success in our eyes – you, the reader.It was your voting that gave us the confidence needed to continue and develop the contest, it was your commentary in the official threads that amused us and gave us ideas and motivation to carry on. It was your etheral presence, watching over us as we typed and coded and drew and researched that made it all worthwhile.
We simply couldn’t have done any of it without a loyal, effort-making readership, and for that we thank you from the bottom of our black and shrivelled hearts.
Admittedly it does feel a little strange, not having to worry any more about things like write-ups and match-ups and the hassle of a poll software with a mind of it’s own, and we will admit it is still somewhat of a relief to have finally finished.
However at the same time we’re also missing it already; the thrill of the battle, the surprise of result sheets, the comedy discussion. Despite the endless poll malfunctions and brief interludes where we got just a little bit tired of the whole thing – it was still most definitely worth doing.And while this is the end of the Higher Voltage 2003 ‘Great’ Character Battle, FOTM as we know it is far from finished. As has been said countless times before, there were characters we wanted to put in, but just couldn’t spare the space, or had to sacrifice for others. There were epic, classic matches that should have happened but through lack of planning/vote rigging simply didn’t materialise. Seeing as we have the poll software and vote templates already, it will be little additional effort to put up a poll every now and then just for a laugh, a kind of “Fagmort of the Week” sort of thing, and suggestions for characters and match-ups are of course welcome (email Neil or post on the message board as per usual).
And perhaps, one day, years from now – we’ll do it all over again. Not for a long while though.
So once again, a huge, mishapen thank you to all who participated in any way, shape or form, for helping to make this site’s most ambitious project since it first began a success. We love you.
-Skippy (and the Higher Voltage staff)
