Rock Howard
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BIO:

Rock is the son of the most infamous crime lord of Southtown, Geese Howard. Although he knew of his father's existence as a young boy, Rock lived a modest life with his mother in a small apartment. He often wondered about his father and was excited about potentially meeting him someday. When Rock was seven, his mother contracted a mysterious disease and he tried his best to nurse her to health. As her illness worsened, Rock went to Geese Tower and met his father for the first time in his life. Though the boy pleaded for medical aid and told him that Marie desperately wanted to see him, Geese wanted nothing to do with the matter and sent him away. Marie died that same night, and Rock formed a deep grudge against his father ever since.

A year later, Rock met Terry Bogard, who recently settled his personal vendetta against Geese. Rather than hate his father's enemy, Rock felt a mix of loneliness and joy knowing that his father died. Rock decided to follow Terry and attended his street fights. Terry soon became somewhat of a father figure to Rock, and began teaching him martial arts. Rock soon became a formidable fighter, fighting similarly to both Terry and his father, Geese.

About ten years after Geese's death, Second Southtown was established. During this time, The King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem tournament took place, which Rock joined to find his purpose in life. By the end of the tournament, Rock faced
Kain R. Heinlein, who revealed himself as Rock's uncle. After defeating Kain, Rock discovered that the tournament was orchestrated by Kain to bring Rock to him. Kain was aware that Geese Howard's will held presumably valuable secrets but was unable to discover them without assistance. Kain earned Rock's aid in working through the document by offering information regarding Rock's mother, whom Kain claimed was still alive. Terry accepted Rock's decision to become Kain's new partner, as Rock promised to return.
 
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ORIGIN:
Garou: Mark of the Wolves

  
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OTHER APPEARANCES:
Capcom Vs. SNK 2, The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact, The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact MANIAX, The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2, KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation A, The King of Fighters XIV, The King of Fighters XV, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, SNK Vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash 2, Card Fighters Clash DS

  
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Page Updated:  June 15th, 2024

Rock is a damn cool design. Firstly, because he's a mix of Geese and Terry. In late 1999, it wasn't easy to measure up in "coolness" with the many existing SNK protagonists, but Rock Howard pulled it off with flying colors. Rock has style, charisma, and a unique fighting style that stands out among others. Seriously, his moves makes some other 2D fighting game characters look BORING. 

Rock has appeared in several games since his debut in Garou, and he even acquired some cool new moves over time. Most of his later appearances were solid, too. Rock's epic cross over to Capcom VS SNK 2 wasn't short on badassery, and he was great in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum as well! His jump to 3D in KOF: Maximum Impact 2 wasn't terrible either, although some of his alt. outfits in MI were pretty bad (like most outfits in that game, so I won't lower Rock's score just because of that). Thankfully, Rock finally made his debut in a proper 2D KOF game... KOF XIV! Welcome back, Rock! At the end of the day, Rock is easily one of the all time best protagonists from SNK. 

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

    

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