is a video game character created by
SNK
is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...
. Robert stars in the fighting video game ''
Art of Fighting'' as the supporting character along his best friend
Ryo Sakazaki
is a video game character developed for the 1992 fighting game ''Art of Fighting'' from SNK. His name is most often written in kana, although in some games, kanji is used to write parts of his name. In the series, Ryo is a skilled martial arti ...
, the lead character. The game has both of them as practitioners of the Kyokugenryu Karate fighting who search for Ryo's younger sister,
Yuri Sakazaki
is a fictional character from SNK's ''Art of Fighting'' series of fighting games. She first appears in the original ''Art of Fighting'' being kidnapped by Mr. Big, a criminal from the city of South Town. The players, Yuri's brother Ryo and his ...
, who was kidnapped by a criminal named Mr. Big. He is additionally featured in most of ''
The King of Fighters'' crossover games, in which starts into the King of Fighters tournament in teams composed of three members. Thus far, he has been a
playable character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
in every edition of ''KOF'' except ''
The King of Fighters XI''; however, he has been added back in for the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
version of the game.
Robert appeared in the film adaptation of ''Art of Fighting'' and the
manhua from ''The King of Fighters''. He received mixed critics from video games publication, which praised his design, but some also noted him similar to the ''
Street Fighter'' main characters. He has also been well received by gamers, appearing in several popularity polls developed by journals and websites.
Creation and design
Robert Garcia was based on the actors
Steven Seagal and
Andy Garcia.
SNK staff members Youichiro Soeda said that Ryo and Robert's debut was unique to other games based on the company because it did not focus on fighting tournaments but instead of the duo's quest to save Yuri Sakazaki. Artist Shinkiro has expressed difficulties in designing Robert due how he does not understand how rich people behave. In contrast, he had no problem with Ryo. In the making of ''The King of Fighters'' Robert was made "the slimmest of them all" in comparison to his original design. His Osaka accent was given to fit ''
Psycho Soldier
is a platform game developed by Japanese software company SNK. It was released in 1987. It is a distant sequel to ''Athena'', released a year earlier, featuring a late descendant of that game's main character. Ocean Software on their Imagine ...
'' Sie Kensou and give both of them the traits of comedians. Due to fears of Robert's outfit feeling dated, SNK revised him for ''
The King of Fighters XIV
''(KOF XIV)'' is a 2016 Japanese fighting game. Part of SNK's franchise ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') series, with this installment being published by Atlus USA in North America and Deep Silver in Europe. After the 13th installment that ...
'' to make him stand out more by giving a new redesign based on an unspecified American actor(Johnny Depp).
In the first ''Art of Fighting'' Robert sports a black T-shirt with short sleeves, a brown vest and a gold medallion around the neck. He also wears white pants, white and black shoes and black gloves. He has the same outfit in the following ''Art of Fighting'' but without sleeves in his T-shirt. This costume is also featured in the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
two ''King of Fighters'' as well as ''
The King of Fighters XII'' and
XIII
XIII may refer to:
* 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals
* 13th century in Roman numerals
* ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance
** ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a 2003 video game based on the comic b ...
.
In the third ''Art of Fighting'' game, Robert is bare-chested under a light blue jacket and does not wear his medallion. He also sports white gloves and brown shoes, but keeps having his white pants. He has the same appearance from ''
The King of Fighters '96'' to ''
The King of Fighters '98
''The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest'', known in Japan as ''The King of Fighters '98: Dream Match Never Ends (KOF '98)'', is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1998. It is the fifth game in ''The Kin ...
''.
From ''
The King of Fighters '99'' to ''
The King of Fighters 2002
''(KOF 2002, or KOF '02)'' is a fighting game produced by Eolith and Playmore for the Neo Geo in 2002. It is the ninth game in ''The King of Fighters'' series and the second one to be produced by Eolith and developed by Playmore (formerly Brez ...
'', Robert wears a similar outfit to the one from the first two Art of Fighting games but with long sleeves and white gloves and shoes. His ''
The King of Fighters 2003'' outfit is similar to his ''Art of Fighting 3'' clothes but with white sleeves. In ''
NeoGeo Battle Coliseum'' and the PlayStation 2 version from ''
The King of Fighters XI'', Robert appears as an older version from himself wearing a similar outfit from ''Art of Fighting 3''. The jacket is purple, his gloves are black and his shoes are brown.
There is an Alternate Striker version of Robert in ''
The King of Fighters 2000'' called "Another Robert". This Robert wears a white male Kyokugen Karate gi with a blue shirt underneath. His clothing now parodies
Ryo Sakazaki
is a video game character developed for the 1992 fighting game ''Art of Fighting'' from SNK. His name is most often written in kana, although in some games, kanji is used to write parts of his name. In the series, Ryo is a skilled martial arti ...
while his looks and playstyle parody ''
Street Fighter Alpha
''Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams'', known as in Japan, Asia, South America, and Oceania, is a 2D arcade fighting game by Capcom originally released in 1995 for the CP System II hardware. It was the first all new ''Street Fighter'' game p ...
s
Dan Hibiki
is a fictional character from Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' fighting game franchise. He was created to parody Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia, the two lead characters of SNK's ''Art of Fighting'' series, as Capcom saw Ryo as a ripoff of ''Street F ...
, right down to his Chouhatsu no Ken that parodies the Chouhatsu Densetsu.
Appearances
In video games
In ''Art of Fighting'', Yuri is kidnapped by the criminal
Mr. Big. As such, both Ryo Sakazaki and Robert go to Southtown to interrogate fighters until finding Mr. Big. After defeating Mr. Big, Ryo and Robert face an assassin named Mr.Karate purportedly held Yuri. Ryo nearly finishes him off, but Yuri sneaks in and tells Ryo not to kill him since Mr. Karate is their father, Takuma. The second ''Art of Fighting'' game features Robert, Ryo, Takuma and a now fighter Yuri entering into the first King of Fighters tournament held by
Geese Howard, the main responsible for the kidnap. In ''Art of Fighting 3'', Robert visits Central America to help Freya Lawrence, a childhood friend, save her brother Wyler, whose demonic power made him go berserk. In his ending, Robert stops Wyler and goes back to Italy. However, before entering into the plane, Yuri accompanies him.
In ''
The King of Fighters'' series, Takuma, Ryo, and Robert are part of the Art of Fighting Team, but in some games they form different allies. With the arrival of ''
The King of Fighters '99'' and its teams of four, Takuma returns to the Art of Fighting team. Though the Garcia Foundation no longer faced liquidation as it did in ''The King of Fighters 2001'', it needed significant help to rebuild its prior fortunes, causing Robert to be absent in ''
The King of Fighters XI''. Nevertheless, he is present in the Art of Fighting Team where he fails to stage a date between Ryo and King. He appears in the spin-off ''The King of Fighters Kyo'', in which he helps the main character
Kyo Kusanagi into finding his girlfriend Yuki. Alongside an aged Ryo Sakazaki from ''
Buriki One
''Buriki One: World Grapple Tournament '99 in Tokyo'', otherwise known simply as ''Buriki One'', is a 3D competitive fighting game produced by SNK and released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1999. It is the seventh and final game developed ...
'', an aged Robert appears in ''
NeoGeo Battle Coliseum'' with moves largely from ''The King of Fighters 2000'' and ''The King of Fighters 2003''. In his ending, it is revealed that Robert wishes to stay away from his family business and still work as part of teaching the Kyokugen Ryu. He appears in this form as a hidden character in the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
version of ''The King of Fighters XI''. He returns in ''The King of Fighters XII'' onwards as part of the Art of Fighting Team.
In ''The King of Fighters'' game without storylines ''
The King of Fighters 2002
''(KOF 2002, or KOF '02)'' is a fighting game produced by Eolith and Playmore for the Neo Geo in 2002. It is the ninth game in ''The King of Fighters'' series and the second one to be produced by Eolith and developed by Playmore (formerly Brez ...
'' and ''
The King of Fighters Neowave'' the Art of Fighting Team remains as in '94, while in ''
The King of Fighters '98
''The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest'', known in Japan as ''The King of Fighters '98: Dream Match Never Ends (KOF '98)'', is a fighting game released by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home consoles in 1998. It is the fifth game in ''The Kin ...
'' and ''The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match'', it appears with Yuri taking Takuma's place.
Both of these latest games also feature an "EX" version of Robert with his moves from the ''Art of Fighting'' series as a playable character. He is also present in mobile phone games ''Metal Slug Defense'', ''The King of Fighters '98 Unlimited Match Online'' and ''Kimi wa Hero''. The dating sim ''
Days of Memories
'' Days of Memories'' is a series of dating sims from SNK for cell phones, beginning in 2005. SNK released a compilation of the first three games for the Nintendo DS in 2007, with new graphics and an extra viewing mode.
Summary
The games are ...
'' also features him. Although he is not playable in ''
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos'', Robert is often mentioned by other characters and makes a cameo in the endings from Takuma and Ryo. Another cameo of him is in Yuri's ending from ''
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy''. He is also present in as well as the
otome game
An , is a story-based video game that is targeted towards women. Generally one of the goals, besides the main idea/goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player/main character and one of the second-lead male characters.
His ...
''King of Fighters for Girls''.
In other media
Besides the games from SNK, Robert also appears in the ''Art of Fighting''
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
film from 1993. The plot from film is loosely based on the first ''Art of Fighting'' game, with Robert and Ryo searching for Yuri, who has been kidnapped by Mr. Big. However, in the film Mr. Big wants to obtain a diamond held by Ryo and Robert. He is voiced by
Masanori Ikeda in the Japanese version of film, and by Nick Sullivan in the English adaptation. Two manga based on the ''Art of Fighting'' games also follow Robert's role in the games. Robert is featured in the
manhua adaptations from ''
The King of Fighters'' series, which tell how he participates in the fighting tournaments.
Reception
Robert has been well received by gamers and has appeared in popularity polls from journals and websites. In ''Gamests 1997 Heroes Collection, Robert was voted as the staff's 46th favorite character. He shared the spot with seven other characters, including ''
Samurai Shodown
''Samurai Shodown'', known in Japan as is a fighting game series by SNK. The series began in 1993 and is known for being one of the earliest in the genre with a primary focus on weapon-based combat.
Plot
The stories in the series take place in ...
'' character, Hattori Hanzo, and ''
Darkstalkers'' character,
Demitri Maximoff
is a fictional character in Capcom's '' Darkstalkers'' series. Making his first appearance in '' Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors'' in 1994, he is the series' male protagonist.
Appearances In video games
Demitri is a mighty Romanian vampire lord ...
. In the January 30, 1995 issue of ''Gamest'' magazine in Japan, Robert ranked at No. 36 (tied with
Iceman from ''
X-Men: Children of the Atom'') in list of Top 50 Characters of 1994.
Videogame publications have commented on Robert's character, adding praise and criticism. Xataka felt that Robert and Ryo shared one of the most unique stories in fighting games as the first ''Art of Fighting'' featured them in a quest to save Yuri rather than participating in a fighting game. The same site noted that Robert's origins remained as a mystery to the fanbase. Upon his introduction to ''The King of Fighter '94'' as a member of Team Mexico, the fans believed Robert to be Mexican, but SNK would later reveal he was Italian.
Mexican company
Evoga
Evoga Entertainment (Evoga is the acronym of "EVOlution GAmes") was a Mexican video game company.
History
Evoga Entertainment began operations in 2000. It was the first Latin American company to focus solely on making video games. The company h ...
originally thought Robert was Mexican due to the team being called Mexico in ''The King of Fighters '94'' yet ''Art of Fighting 3'' revealed he was Italian much to their comical response. David Simpson from AceGamez noted Robert to be very similar to the ''Street Fighter'' main characters due to his practice in karate and his relation with
Ryo Sakazaki
is a video game character developed for the 1992 fighting game ''Art of Fighting'' from SNK. His name is most often written in kana, although in some games, kanji is used to write parts of his name. In the series, Ryo is a skilled martial arti ...
as both are best friends and rivals. Videogamer.com writer Wesley Yin-Poole labeled Robert and Ryo as "two double-hard bastards" and commented they had the best designs from the ''Art of Fighting'' series in comparison to the other characters who had "wicked" appearances. Spanner Spencer from
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
added that Robert had the best appearance from all the characters of the ''Art of Fighting'' series but labelled him as a "greasy yuppie". Juan E. Hernandez from IGN also compared both Robert and Ryo to ''Street Fighter'' as well ''
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
'' characters based on their type of techniques.
Gaming Age writer Jeff Keely criticized Robert's redesign in ''
The King of Fighters '99'' as his movesets' input were highly changed, something that might bother his players. In a review from ''
The King of Fighters XI'', Eurogamer writer Luke Albiger noted Robert's addition to the game as hidden character is a good way to compensate the several recurring who were absent. However, Kurt Kalata from Armchairempire.com criticized that unlocking Robert in that game was "a pain" due to the difficult challenges the players has to do to unlock him.
Greg Kasavin
Gregory A. Kasavin (; born August 21, 1977) is an American writer and designer for Supergiant Games, and the former site director and executive editor at the gaming website ''GameSpot'' for over 10 years.
Early life and education
Kasavin atten ...
from
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
listed his "Haohshokohken" move from ''Art of Fighting'' as one of the most influential fireball moves in fighting games' history.
Den of Geek listed him as the 54th with the site comparing him to ''Street Fighter'' character
Ken Masters
, originally spelled in kanji as with his original full name being unknown, is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. Ken is the best friend and rival of Ryu, who has also appeared in all ''Street Fighter'' games. Ken's g ...
based on their similar personalities but found that he did have notable actions in SNK's games outside the third ''Art of Fighting'' game which the writer felt few fans cared. Despite criticizing the graphics of ''
The King of Fighters XIV
''(KOF XIV)'' is a 2016 Japanese fighting game. Part of SNK's franchise ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') series, with this installment being published by Atlus USA in North America and Deep Silver in Europe. After the 13th installment that ...
'', Juan Garcia from IGN praised the redesigns of both Robert and
Kyo Kusanagi. Den of Geek also liked the new design of Robert, comparing him comic book hero
Tony Stark. Robert has also been described as praised "lavish style is sure to attract many players". Niche Gamer noted that while Robert performs the same fighting style as Yuri and Ryo, each present their own variety of Kyokugen Ryu. Den of Geek noted that the trio and the team in general has been characterized as more comical characters in ''The King of Fighters'' than in ''Art of Fighting'' though in ''XI'' they accidentally created their own rival.
Outside the video games, Robert has been analyzed by his role in the ''Art of Fighting'' original video animation. Akemi's Anime World found the character a poser and found his lack of danger the special "cheesy". AnimeOnDVD.com enjoyed the contrast between Ryo and Robert as both "are like night and day in some respects". The character of
Dan Hibiki
is a fictional character from Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' fighting game franchise. He was created to parody Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia, the two lead characters of SNK's ''Art of Fighting'' series, as Capcom saw Ryo as a ripoff of ''Street F ...
from the ''Street Fighter Alpha'' series is deemed as a parody of Ryo due to his similarities with Ryu and Ken, but his design is more similar to Robert's to the point that in ''SVC Chaos'', characters often confuse Dan with Robert.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Robert (Art of Fighting)
Art of Fighting characters
Fictional businesspeople in video games
Fictional Italian people in video games
Fictional karateka
Fictional socialites
Male characters in video games
SNK protagonists
The King of Fighters characters
Video game characters introduced in 1992