| Rock Howard | |
|---|---|
| Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters character | |
 Rock Howard in Garou: Mark of the Wolves by Tonko | |
| First game | Garou: Mark of the Wolves (1999) |
| Created by | Nobuyuki Kuroki |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Fighting style | Mixed martial arts |
| Family | Geese Howard (father) Terry Bogard (adopted father) Kain R. Heinlein (uncle) Marie Heinlein (mother) Wolfgang Krauser (half-uncle) Andy Bogard (adoptive uncle) |
| Origin | United States |
| Nationality | American |
Rock Howard (Japanese: ロック・ハワード, Hepburn: Rokku Hawādo) is a fictional character appearing in various games from SNK. Rock makes his first appearance as a playable character in the 1999 fighting game Garou: Mark of the Wolves, a chapter in the Fatal Fury series, as the new lead character from the series. Rock appears in the series as the son of Geese Howard, the main antagonist from the previous Fatal Fury games, who fell to his death after refusing to be saved by Terry Bogard. However, Terry adopted Rock in order to put his past with Geese behind him, and helped teach Rock how to fight. The mystery behind his missing father leads him to clash with Terry in Garou which will be further explored in the 2025 sequel Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves Besides his appearance in Mark of the Wolves, Rock is featured in few games from The King of Fighters series, as well as various crossovers from SNK. The King of Fighters XIV and The King of Fighters XV feature him as downloadable content with the latter incorparting him into the main KOF canon for the first time as the leader of the Garou Team with two B. Jenet and Gato, two fellow rivals from his original game.
Rock was created by Nobuyuki Kuroki to be the new Fatal Fury as well as Terry's successor. This resulted in his younger contrasting look and dark fate caused by his relationship with Geese. Rock's development in the KOF spin-off series was handled by Akihiko Ureshino who wanted to further explore Rock's life before Garou while in KOF DLC he was developed to be a stronger fighter. His returns in City of the Wolves is meant to further explore his lineage and relationship with Terry Bogard. He was voiced by Eiji Takemoto (竹本 英史) since debut until Maximum Impact Regulation A, later voiced by Yuuma Uchida (内田雄馬). In the English edition of KOF: Maximum Impact, he is voiced by Jon Thomas and by Mike Lane in its sequel.
Rock has also been featured in manwhua adaptations from the games he has appeared as well as the anime The King of Fighters Another Day and The King of Fighters: Destiny. Rock's character has received various responses from video games publications. His debut in Mark of the Wolves has been highly praised by reviewers although some of them considered his character to be too strong in comparison to the others, although his development in the KOF: Maximum Impact series has been criticized due to his English voice actor and his new outfit. The character has been praised for his game design as his mixed martial arts combine elements from his father Geese with his adoptive father Terry, as a symbolic way of describing his life with his dark fate. While his story in Fatal Fury in general has been popular form due to Garou ending on a dark cliffhanger, the character has also been popular for his return in City of the Wolves and his inclusion as downloadable content in The King of Fighters with a more balanced design.
- ^ Romano, Sal (March 17, 2024). "Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves launches in early 2025". Gematsu. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
- ^ "Twitter". mobile.twitter.com.