Capcom vs. SNK/Rugal

For more information about Rugal, see his King of Fighters (Orochi Saga) entry.


 * First appearance: The King of Fighters '94
 * Other appearances: The King of Fighters '95, The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters 2002, The King of Fighters Neowave, The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * Related characters: Heidern, Saisyu, Mature, Vice, Goenitz, Adelheid

Rugal Bernstein, also known as Rugal or Rugal B. is a recurring boss in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters series and is often considered one of the most difficult bosses in the entire series. According to his official biography, Rugal was born on February 10, with no place specified, possibly Germany. His blood type was unknown. His hobby was "resurrection." He had no favorite food or sport (claimed he's good at everything). His fighting style was an amalgam of various arts, including Hakkyokuseiken and House of Strolheim, the styles used by Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser. He has adapted several moves from each character, such as Geese's Reppuken and Krauser's Kaiser Wave, though he also uses his own techniques, like the Genocide Cutter. In the US release of Capcom vs. SNK 2, parts of the game were also censored; for example, the word "Genocide" was taken out of his trademark move Genocide Cutter and it became "Destroyer Cutter". Rugal's DM version, Genocide Heaven became "Total Annihilation" in the English version as well. The voice clip for Genocide Cutter is also removed and replaced with a grunt.

Normal Rugal plays like his The King of Fighters '98 appearance in the Dream Match, while Extra Rugal plays more like the Omega Rugal seen in the same game. In Capcom vs. SNK 2, these identities are distinguished between his normal version and Ultimate Rugal.

Pro version changes

 * Rugal's Reppu Ken comes out faster on the ground and has less delay in Normal.
 * His Kaiser Wave also comes out faster.
 * Genoicide Cutter is faster and has more priority, the version travels really high in the air so you can no longer cross it up easily. It can even catch high jumpers like Benimaru.
 * Extra Rugal's Dark Smash on the ground comes out slightly faster and has better priority.
 * Extra Rugal's Rugal Execution grab has more priority on the ground (even against high priority specials such as Dan's Dankyaku). However, it has a longer delay when missed or blocked.
 * Rugal can juggle into his Total Annihilation super in the corner from just about anything in both Normal and Extra. This includes the God Press, the Gigantic Pressure super, his air or ground Dark Smash in Extra, or his Rugal Execution in Extra.
 * This allows for corner combos such as regular Rugal's jumping, crouching (cancel) --> God Press --> Level 1 Total Annihilation for the juggle.  This can take around 75% of a ratio 2's characters life bar using only one level of super.
 * He cannot combo out of a crouching into his God Press. However, he can still combo off the crouching  into his Genocide Cutter or Total Annihilation super.