Rugal Bernstein

Rugal Bernstein
The King of Fighters, SNK Vs. Capcom character
Profile image of Rugal Bernstein in Capcom vs. SNK 2, illustrated by Kinu Nishimura.
First game	The King of Fighters '94 (1994)
Voiced by	Toshimitsu Arai (KOF '94-98, Capcom vs. SNK series, KOF 2002: Unlimited Match) Norio Wakamoto (KOF 2002) Banjō Ginga (Dengeki Bunko Drama CD)
Portrayed by	Ray Park
Fictional profile
Birthplace	Germany
Fighting style	Hybrid martial arts (mastered numerous martial art styles)

Rugal Bernstein (ルガール・バーンシュタイン, Rugāru Bānshutain^?) is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and '95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into stone statues as part of his collection. Despite his death in '95, Rugal is still featured in following The King of Fighters titles which do not contain a storyline (nicknamed "Dream Matches"). He has also been featured in the SNK Vs. Capcom as a boss character.

His character has also appeared in other media related to The King of Fighters franchise, including comic adaptations and The King of Fighters live-action film, and portrayed by British martial arts actor Ray Park. As the first boss character from The King of Fighters, the SNK staff created him to be one of the most difficult characters to defeat. His Omega Rugal form from '95 has been noted by the staff to be their favorite boss to the point they added him in the Dream Match titles. Publications for video games and other media have provided praise and criticism for Rugal's character.

The concept for making Rugal in The King of Fighters '94 was to make "the mightiest (most violent) and most evil boss character ever". Despite the difficulties in defeating him, Rugal has become the boss character with the biggest number of appearances in The King of Fighters series as he has been liked by players and developers. Due to his multiple "deaths" in the series, developers have joked with him, adding to his official profile that his hobby is resurrection. Flagship director, Toyohisa Tanabe, states that his fighting style was created to emphasize Rugal's strength as the series' first boss character. He also comments "going a bit overboard" with his Genocide Cutter technique damage ratio in The King of Fighters '94. His Dead-End Screamer special move was originally a technique in which Rugal breaks the neck of his opponent and crushes it. However, it was seen as lacking drama, so it evolved into a move in which he breaks his victim's neck, crushes the victim, and then further spins the victim around to do more damage, striking a pose at the end of the move. In The King of Fighters '95, Rugal appears as an enhanced version named Omega Rugal; developers liked him so much that they added him as the boss character in dream matches (KOF games with no storyline), commenting "He's the only character who truly represents the ultimate KOF boss". His The King of Fighters '98 move set was noted to be strongest of all his appearances, becoming the developers' favorite boss character.