Laurence Blood

BIO:

Laurence is a former Spanish matador who uses a self-styled martial art based on his deadly bullfighting methods. He serves as the right-hand man and servant of Wolfgang Krauser and participates in the tournament under his request. He debuted as a computer-only character in the Neo Geo version of Fatal Fury 2 and first became playable in Fatal Fury Special.

A world-renowned bullfighter, Laurence is easily capable of gracefully dodging the charges of bulls and killing them with one stroke of his sword. Few people suspect what is behind Laurence's incredible career. Since an early age, Laurence's family has had close ties with the Earl of Strolheim. Having served the Krauser family for generations, the Blood clan has always played the role of faithful followers. Laurence has not forgotten that vow, and has served the latest successor of the Strolheim heir in exchange that Krauser himself would support Laurence's training as a bull fighter. The trade fared off quite well, as Krauser had a respected and feared bodyguard in the form of Laurence, and Laurence himself had earned a name for himself in the bull fighting arenas.

Always the man who knows how to pay his debts, Laurence attends to Krauser's call, when the Emperor of Darkness decides to host the second King of Fighters tournament, in hopes of finding the man who had defeated Geese Howard in the first tourney. Laurence was in charge of protecting Strolheim Castle while Krauser was out trashing worthy opponents to prove his might. Laurence did not count on the power of the "Lone Wolf". Although Laurence was a formidable opponent, he was ultimately defeated and had to act witness to his lord's fall. After Krauser's defeat, Laurence vanishes from the bull fighting scene, possibly to serve his master Krauser for all eternity to make up for his incompetence.
 
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ORIGIN:
Fatal Fury Special

  
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OTHER APPEARANCES:
Real Bout Fatal Fury, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, Real Bout Special: Dominated Mind, Real Bout Fatal Fury 2

  
               
 

 

Page Updated:  Sep. 15th, 2023

I can see the cleverness of throwing a traditional matador into an early 90's fighting game... considering many other fighting game character designs and themes of the era. However, I always thought Laurence is a mostly generic and uninspiring character. To state the obvious, Vega is a much more unique and interesting design, being similar in some ways. Vega's design went pretty far, in part due to his evolution and cool personality. Laurence's personality on the other hand? Ehh. Did you see his win quotes? lol.

Laurence actually looked pretty cool in his brief appearance in the Fatal Fury OVA. His design had potential. I'm sure if SNK really wanted to, they could bring Laurence up to speed and give him a revamped look in a future game... but, again, to state the obvious, there are countless other SNK characters that deserve a comeback over this bloke. His appearance in the Real Bout series, where he was given a new sprite, was easily his best appearance to date.

Fighting  Style  /  Moveset
Personality  /  Charisma
Outfit(s)  /  Appearance
Effectiveness  in  series
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