Fatal Fury Special/Kim Kaphwan

Introduction

The Taekwondo master returns from Fatal Fury 2 to clash with the fighters of Fatal Fury Special, and he means business. In a game about reading and punishing your opponent, Kim's punish game is exceptional to the point he doesn't even have to play by the game's rules. An incredibly powerful anti-air reversal, a dive kick that can punish practically anything, and a simple but devastating combo game gives Kim precisely the tools he needs to force the rest of the cast to play at his own pace, or potentially risk the entire round. That is not to say he is perfect, as his strongest combos require getting pretty close, which in turn means he needs to rely on dive kick to gain momentum. However, as long as the Kim player isn't careless, getting in against anyone is a breeze.

Pros	Cons
Excellent mobility Great normals and combos Best super in the game Forces everyone to approach him differently Exceptional punishment Dive kick gives him forward mobility most others lack	Has to get in close to really deal damage Weak dodge attack Has to jump a lot Getting the most out his dive kick takes practice

Standing	Crouching	Jumping

Moves List

Ground Normals

st.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Surprisingly long hitbox, and has more reach than his cr.A jab. Not necessary for his combo game, but not a bad poke regardless. Comes out fast and is pretty active for a jab.

st.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Decently fast anti-air poke for catching opponents out of the air if Kim is unable to charge Hienzan or do an air-to-air jump D. Decent ground poke as well, but it's possible to whiff against small/crouching characters. Very slightly more range than Kim's st.A.

st.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Solid anti-air poke that hits twice.

st.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Hits twice causing a nice amount of damage. Can combo into super. --U-Q

cr.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Kim's st.A, but it's a low. This is how Kim racks up very high damage and stun as it easily combos into itself up to six times, and can be followed up with cr.C. Great block pressure as well that comes out fast. Standard fare after cr.C is to follow up with Hangetsuzan B. Kim also has the choice to follow up with cr.D for a sweep if the Kim player needs it.

cr.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Decent poke, but the range is no better than what cr.A has to offer, on top of being slower.

cr.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Your go to tool for when you're dishing out the Kim combos. Standard fare is to go for cr.C into Hangetsuzan B. Great low poke that makes for both an easy combo and free pressure, and if you follow up with Hangetsuzan, which you always should if it connects, it will be safe on block. Low commitment, high reward poke, even if it's a little slow.

cr.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Faster version of cr.C that does about the same damage, but it knocks down, giving Kim an opportunity for okizeme pressure.

Blowback ()

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
One of Kim's best tools that is safe on block thanks to being cancellable. Like cr.C, cancelling into Hangetsuzan B makes free pressure while remaining safe, as well as an easy combo.

Dodge Attack

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Pretty weak attack overall. You will likely forget Kim even has it, given it's bad range, albeit he has upper body invincibility. Hienzan and Hangetsuzan, or any of his exceptional normals, would be better than using his Dodge Attack.

Lane Attack

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	0	Overhead	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Standard fare for a lane attack. Hits a little below Kim's legs but nothing else is particularly interesting about his lane attack.

Air Normals

j.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	2	Overhead	-	-	-	-	-	-	Air
Has more horizontal range than his jump B/C, but a shorter hitbox at the expense of coming out slightly faster. Maybe there's some use for it, but jump B/C is better to strike opponents above Kim regardless. Nothing special as a jump in unless you need the pinch of extra reach.

j. /

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	2/4	Overhead	-	-	-	-	-	-	Air
Good air-to-air for opponents above Kim. Not all that great as a jump in going down, but is safer compared to Kim's jump A as it has a longer hitbox below his body, which extends past his hurtbox. Jump D is still the superior air-to-air move, but this move has its uses as a vertical attack.

j.

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	4	Overhead	-	-	-	-	-	-	Air
Excellent jump-in and air to air move. --U-Q

Throw

Sakkyaku Nage

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Kim's Throw.

Special Moves

Hangetsuzan
+ /

Version	Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
+ B Version	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Kim's main combo ender. Fully safe on block. Reaches about halfway across the screen and comes out fast enough that it's a must in Kim's toolkit. The reward Kim receives makes his block pressure shine above the rest of the cast, and it deals great damage. Can be comboed from cr.C as well as a simple punish or blockstring if the opponent gets caught by it.
+ D Version	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Reaches the full stage, but is punishable on block, making it much more risky compared to Hangetsuzan B. Has slightly longer startup as well, so unless you have a clear read and need the approach, it's best not to use this version of the move at all.

Hienzan
[2]~8 + /

Version	Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
[2]~8 + B Version	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Kim has to charge Hienzan, but if the opponent jumps at him and it's been long enough, Hienzan gives Kim a free anti-air that knocks down. It even has some horizontal range to it that makes it effective for attacking big targets like Cheng or Big Bear. Comes out fairly fast with invincibility frames mixed in, so the only way to punish it is to trade, or if Kim picks the wrong version for the height he needs. That, or the opponent baits him into releasing it and they can punish Kim on the ground.
[2]~8 + D Version	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Reaches the full screen vertically, but is also more punishable. Has slightly more horizontal range due to Kim travelling farther, but not by much.

Hishou Kyaku
Jump + /

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	3/6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Air
The crux of Kim's gameplan. If his divekick is blocked, he do a follow up j.D, but the properties are not the same as j.D, and has recovery frames as well, making it a follow-up you have to time if the opponent comes at you. There is also a difference between B and D, but D only deals slightly more damage (I think). Divekick gives Kim several uses: Forward momentum no one else has instant access to An easy punish tool that can punish pretty much anything on reaction A free pressure tool A corner escape Since this is quintessential to Kim's gameplan, he will have to jump quite a lot and as such, you want to learn how to best utilize his divekick effectively, both as mobility and as a punish tool. Even with the follow up, Kim leaves himself vulnerable if divekick is blocked by the opponent despite him jumping pretty far back off of block. Not only can the opponent punish Kim, but it's a chance for them to escape the corner as well. Kim loses the hitbox for divekick if he's about to land, so although the move can hit the opponent's lower body, it is possible to whiff and have Kim go through a few recovery frames. Albeit rare, the move can cross up the opponent and hit them behind, but they will still fall back the direction Kim is facing.

Super Move

Ho'oukyaku
+

Damage	Stun	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Property
-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground super
Completely safe on block super that also pushes the opponent pretty far back. One of the only supers you can combo into in the game, does great damage, travels fast and has fast startup that is hard to react to. He can still be shutout by projectiles, but the only other options the opponent have are to either do a jump attack, block or escape. The input is also not obnoxious, so it's easy to get a grasp of.

Combos

Combo	Damage	Stun	Notes
Close A x 1-6 > cr.C > Hangetsuzan B or Ho’oukyaku		9-20	Kim's standard BnB, which even on block is fully safe. If the entire combo connects, which depends on how many st.A's you can land, this will stun the opponent, thus giving Kim the chance to end the round with another combo. It will deal high damage even without most of the st.A attacks.
cr.A x 1-4 > cr.C > Hangetsuzan B or Ho’oukyaku		9-16	Kim's other BnB, which is also fully safe on block. Starts with a low instead of a high, and the more likely combo you'll perform, although you lose out on some range which means you can't connect as many cr.A attacks. You can also alternate between st.A and cr.A, but there's no reason to do this unless you need st.A's range to maybe connect an extra hit.
Close D (2 hits) > Hangetsuzan B or Ho’oukyaku		7-12	Easy super confirm, especially since st.D's duration gives you a ton of leg room to buffer his super input. And just like all of his other combos, it is safe on block, making it non-committal outside of st.D's startup.

Strategy