| “ | Let's do this quickly! | „ |
| ~ Joe Higashi |
Joe Higashi is one of the heroes of the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series.
He was voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama in 1995-2011, Chiharu Sawashiro in The King of Fighters for Girls, and Kōzō Mito in current.
Biography[]
Although Joe's place of origin is Japan, he spent the majority of his time in Thailand, where he trained in Muay Thai. It was through his victories that Joe got the nickname "Hurricane Upper" Joe Higashi. Joe earned his title as the champion of Muay Thai by beating Hwa Jai in a Muay Thai only tournament. Hwa Jai later joined the King of Fighters tournament in order to exact revenge against Joe but failed, and after admitting his defeat they're good friends and sparring partners. Ever since then, Joe has been defending his title against lesser opponents. Joe then met Andy Bogard and assumed that he is superior to Andy in an exhibition match. Joe was wrong as he was defeated. Realizing that he was much slower than Andy, Joe congratulated Andy for his tenacity. Andy then offered Joe a chance to join him on a quest to Southtown in order to help him and his brother Terry exact revenge against Geese Howard, the man responsible for the death of their father Jeff Bogard. Although Joe understands that he risked expulsion from the Muay Thai Federation for this, Joe accepted Andy's offer and then went to the King of Fighters tournament to support the Bogards unconditionally. While both Andy and Joe were not able to fight Geese, Joe did his job in helping the Bogards out. Terry managed to defeat Billy Kane and later on bested Geese on top of the Geese Building. Joe then returned to Thailand to defend his title.
However, his recess turned out to be short-lived when a German brute named Wolfgang Krauser attacked his archrival Hwa Jai without warning. Joe was forced to enter the King of Fighters tournament to investigate the truth behind Hwa Jai's beating. While Joe tried to prove that he was much stronger than the Bogards, he could not do so and all he could do was provide support for the Bogards again. Joe then helped Terry and Andy defeat Billy, Axel Hawk, and even Laurence Blood. Terry provided the final wallop, prompting Krauser to fight Terry. Terry wasted Krauser with a Power Geyser, leading to Krauser's loss. Krauser tells Terry to leave at once since he has to live with his pride destroyed by an upstart. With Krauser finally losing to Terry, Hwa Jai and Joe ended their rivalry and became friends ever since. Preecha is a star pupil of his.
Personality[]
At first, Joe was a stoic man who lived for fighting and training. As time passed, he became a pretty goofy man who self-proclaims himself to be a genius with mostly everything, likely with how hard he's worked for his championships.
He doesn't take battles as seriously as the Bogards, but he loves to fight. If Joe could, he would fight every fighter he sees with a love for the spotlight and the glory of victory. Yet despite his rowdy traits, he's likely known to be a close-friend of both the Bogard brothers and to those who know him personally, though he specifically has Billy's personal ire due to Joe's interest in his sister, Lilly.
Abilities[]
- Multiple Attacks: Joe can punch several times with incredible speed.
- Energy strikes: Joe can infuse his strikes with chi energy, being able to cause more damage than normal.
- Explosive strikes: Joe can deliver a punch of tremendous strength that generates explosive force upon contact. He has also shown to causing small explosions with some of his super moves, such as his Tiger Kick.
- Aerokinesis: Joe has shown some limited aerokinesis, the power of controlling air and wind.
- Hurricane: With an uppercut, he can create a small hurricane that moves forward. He named this attack Hurricane Upper. The stronger version is Screw Upper, a tornado-like vortex that can cause severe damage to his opponents.
Other Media[]
Super Smash Bros.[]
Joe appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate both as a background character on the King of Fighters Stadium stage and one of Terry's DLC spirts, he is a novice primary grab spirit. His spirit battle is a stamina battle on the omega form of the Kongo Falls stage against Incineroar who starts with a ore club with both fighters decreased power jump.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Joe is often compared with Capcom's Dan Hibiki for being a goofy comic relief.
External Links[]
- Joe Higashi on the SNK Wiki
