Joe Higashi

Game series Fatal Fury series
King of Fighters series
SNK Vs. series
First game Fatal Fury
Voiced by (English) Jason Gray-Stanford (anime)
Voiced by (Japanese) Katsuhisa Namase (FF2, FFS, KOF '94)
Nobuyuki Hiyama (FF3 and onward)
Masaaki Satake (anime)
Kazuki Yao (Dengeki Bunko drama CD)
Information
Birthplace Japan
Blood type AB
Fighting style Muay Thai

Joe Higashi (ジョー・ヒガシ, Jō Higashi?, also written as 東 丈 Higashi Jō) is a character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series, used mostly for comic relief. He is currently dating Lilly Kane (the sister of another Fatal Fury and King of Fighters character Billy Kane, who disapproves greatly of this).

He takes the stereotype of the "Muay Thai fighter" in fighting games, along with Sagat in the Street Fighter series. In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Joe was voted as the staff's thirty-ninth favorite character. He shared the spot with four other characters, including Fatal Fury character, Jin Chonrei, and Street Fighter character, Zangief.


History

Fatal Fury

Although Joe's place of origin is Japan, he spent the majority of his time at Thailand, where he trained 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.

The King of Fighters

Joe is a mainstay to Terry's team throughout a lot of King of Fighters tournaments. During the 94 tournament, Andy chose to include Joe as a team member instead of Mai Shiranui, making her feel left out. While Joe never played much of a major role since the defeat of Geese, Joe has proven to be a loyal ally to the Bogards, teaming with them in every KOF. He has since become the practical joker amongst the brothers Bogard and their other friends and allies.

He is absent from KOF XI because a Muay Thai tournament is being held at the same time.

Film and Video

Joe Higashi is a character in the following movies:

* Battle Fighters Garou Densetsu/Fatal Fury - Legend of the Hungry Wolf (1993) - Jason Gray-Stanford provides the voice of Joe in the English version, while Masaaki Satake provides the voice of Joe in the Japanese version.

* Battle Fighters Garou Densetsu 2/Fatal Fury 2 - The New Battle (1993) - Jason Gray-Stanford provides the voice of Joe in the English version, while Nobuyuki Hiyama provides the voice of Joe in the Japanese version.

* Garou Densetsu - The Motion Picture/Fatal Fury - The Motion Picture (1994) - Jason Gray-Stanford provides the voice of Joe in the English version, while Nobuyuki Hiyama provides the voice of Joe in the Japanese version.

Character Relationship

* Friends with Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Mai Shiranui, and Blue Mary
* Rival to Hwa Jai for the Muay Thai Champion Title
* Has a crush on Billy Kane's sister, Lilly.
* Also teamed with Tizoc
* Capcom Rival to Dan Hibiki.



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