Hyena (ハイエナ, Haiena?) is a fictional character from the SNK Playmore's fighting game series KOF: Maximum Impact, part of The King of Fighters series. He appears during story scenarios in the first game but enters as an unlockable playable character in KOF: Maximum Impact 2.
When creating his design, Falcoon's main objective was to make a man looks best in a green suit. His wacky gestures and his annoyed face were created to add an off-beat character to the cast. His role in the series is to serve as the cowardly yet boastful "new recruit", best shown in his ineptness during fights and his groveling to Duke. He was originally not going to be a player character in the second game, but was requested by Falcoon to be placed into the roster. His lines during gameplay were devised in a collaborative effort between Hyena, Alba, and Soiree's voice actor who became good friends during the length of the project.
He was previously Duke's henchman who acts as his messenger to challengers during the first tournament -later established mostly due to his personal fear of Duke. After Duke's defeat and Mephistopheles collapse, he goes into hiding and develops his own fighting style to protect himself. He gains a reputation as a fighter in the underworld media and is invited to KOF to participate.
As Hyena's fighting techniques are very clumsy and unfocused, he is likely meant to be more of a joke character. One of Hyena's supermoves, This Century's Most Fearsome Acting, shows him dying instantly from a hit by an opponent, and then springing back to life with an enigmatic kick move. In competitive play, many save it until near death so the fake KO would look realistic. Using This Century's Most Fearsome Acting comes with a price, however. If Hyena is subjected to a throw by the opposing character, he will be knocked out instantly, making this move more subjective to timing and defensive purposes. In Maximum Impact: Regulation A, Hyena gained a new super move - "Hyena's Joke" which is a parody on Oswald's LDM - "Joker". The same input is required to perform the move and Hyena repeats Oswald's phrase when the move connects.
Read more about this topic: List Of KOF: Maximum Impact Characters
Famous quotes containing the word hyena:
“There’s always the hyena of morality at the garden gate, and the real wolf at the end of the street.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)