Takuma Sakazaki
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is a character from both the
Art of Fighting and
King of Fighters fighting game series. His distinguishing feature is an X-shaped
scar on his right pectoral. He is also somewhat eccentric, donning his
tengu mask and insisting he's
Mr. Karate, and delivering speeches that are supposed to rally morale, but often make him look silly. Takuma is the only Kyokugenryu Karate practitioner who can make full use of the discipline's most difficult moves (namely the Shoran Kyaku), available only in the Shoran principle of Kyokugenryu Karate. Takuma is voiced by Eiji Tsuda in many of the games he appears in.
Art of Fighing
Takuma's Beginnings
Takuma learned Kyokugen from his father. Upon being named the heir of Kyokugen, Takuma married an
American woman named Ronnet, and they moved to the then-peaceful Southtown to raise a family. Both Takuma and Ronnet became parents of
Ryo and
Yuri, who were born respectively four years apart. Shortly after the birth of Yuri, Ronnet fell ill and died. This tragedy filled Takuma with grief, but he resolved to make his children the best fighters in the world.
Takuma trained Ryo exclusively at the beginning, as he felt Yuri was too young and that Ryo was to be the heir to the title of Kyokugenryu Master. A friend of his, Alberto Garcia, sent his son
Robert to Takuma for training in discipline. Takuma swore that he would teach Kyokugen not only to his children and Robert, but to as many as he could - his heavy training programs, however, are so intensive that most students drop out early on, and even his children and Robert tend to complain.
The Rise of Crime in Southtown
|
Mr. Karate, his tengu-masked alter ego |
In the midst of Takuma's aim to spread the Kyokugenryu discipline, crime started infesting Southtown, and
Geese Howard made himself the
de facto boss of the city. Unwilling to live with it, Takuma fought his way through lackeys and stooges and confronted Geese himself, demanding that he put an end to the tyranny. Geese replied with threats against Takuma's children, knowing that they meant the world to him. Now with Takuma dancing at his fingertips, Geese forced him to work for him. In order to preserve his honor, Takuma donned a tengu mask and formed another persona: "Mr. Karate."
While Geese was out on business,
Mr. Big was in charge. In order to keep Takuma firmly under his control, Mr. Big had Yuri
kidnapped. Unfortunately, that move caused Ryo and Robert to tear up Southtown in search of her and Takuma. When Robert got to Mr. Big and defeated him, Big called for Mr. Karate, and he came out to battle Ryo by Robert's favor because he was already exhausted. Although Ryo won, he threatened to kill Mr. Karate if he didn't tell him where Takuma and Yuri were. Yuri stopped Ryo from killing their father, and they had a joyous reunion.
The King of Fighters
Takuma led Ryo and Robert as a team in the new
King of Fighters for two years, until he retired and brought in Yuri as a replacement. He remained on the sideline until
1999, when he rejoined the team as their fourth man. In
2000, Takuma welcomed
King onto the team, knowing that she and Ryo have a "special something" together. Unfortunately,
King of Fighters 2000 climaxed with the Zero Cannon wiping out most of Southtown, including the Kyokugenryu
dojo. He couldn't use the Garcia fortune to rebuild with, as a world financial crisis had virtually wiped it out. He entered the team into the
2001 tournament to win the prize money. At the end of King of Fighters 2003 he is attacked by an unseen assilant. He apparently recognizes him but passes out before he telling anyone. It is rumored that his assailent may either be Yamazaki or Eiji Kisaragi.
In
SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom there is a boss character (selectable by code),
Serious Mr. Karate (). He plays similarly to Mr. Karate, but is faster, more powerful, has a nearly instant and invisible
Ko-Ou Ken attack (a larger version of the one available to Takuma in
KoF 2002), has a different stance, has some abilities and attacks from the original
Art of Fighting (and his power charging ability derived from this can also be used to nullify most projectile attacks before they reach him), can use the game's regular Mr. Karate's super moves as specials (apparently in exchange for his Mouko Burai Gan and Shoran Kyaku, although he gets to use the Shin Kishin Geki super from KoF as a special too). He wears a darker gi, and his tengu mask sports longer hair and nose, complete with glowing eyes. How Mr. Karate attains this "form" or status is unknown, and it may not even be
canon. It is speculated this may be when he reaches his full potential or when encountering an outside power (similar to
Shin Akuma). He is, however, certainly less playful and preachy than his other form in the game, and it may be worthy of interest to notice the difference in the mask used in this form and in others in the same game and
KOF where the character is sillier, but the mask is also comparatively underdeveloped.
*Also, as a
running gag in that game, Mr. Karate is in ironclad denial of his true identity as Takuma, instead stating it as the "Karate Goblin" when conversing with his
King of Fighters aquaintances; especially
Kasumi Todoh, daughter of Ryuhaku Todoh and disciple of Todoh-Ryuu Kobojutsu, the rival of
Kyokugen. He, however, obviously does not deny this fact to his son,
Ryo.
*Takuma is most likely based on the famous Korean martial artist
Masutatsu Oyama, the founder of
Kyokushin-kai (Kyokugen, Takuma's style, is obviously a play on it).
*Some have translated Serious Mr. Karate to actually mean something akin to "Seriously, I'm Mr. Karate." This is somewhat plausible, as it would mean SNK/Playmore is taking a jab at Shin Akuma ("True Akuma").
*In
King of Fighters '98, Takuma appeared in a "Master's Team", along with
Saisyu Kusanagi (the father of
Kyo Kusanagi, and
Heidern (mentor to
Ralf Jones and
Clark Steel, and adoptive father of
Leona).
*In Takuma's most recent KOF appearance,
King of Fighters '02, Takuma has evidently been growing weaker in recent years, losing his ability to throw his famed
Ko oh Ken and
Haoh Sho Ko Ken fireballs. Instead, they were replaced with standing punch versions without the projectiles, despite this, they can still seem to mysteriously hit when they seem out of range... especially the
Ko Oh Ken.
*In the Kyokugen team ending of
King of Fighters '03, Takuma is attacked and severely beaten by a mysterious attacker sometime during the tournament's progression while his students are away participating. It is currently unknown who attacked him, and whether or not he will be able to pull through.
*
The King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website
