Robert Garcia•°~

Full name: Robert Garcia.
Date of birth: December 25;
22 years old (AOF 2)
23 years old (KOF'94)
24 years old (KOF saga).
Place of birth: Italy.
Height: 180 cm.
Weight: 85 kg.
Blood type: AB.
Family/Relationships: Alberto Garcia (father)
Sherry Garcia (mother)
Maxima Garcia (sister)
Yuri Sakazaki
(love interest).
Job/Occupation: Vice President of the Garcia Foundation.
Ryo's right hand in the Kyokugenryu dōjō
Hobbies: Collecting cars, sushi, his family and Yuri (NGBC).
Dislikes: Rakkyou (pickled oriental chives, (Ryo forced him to try them once).
Hobbies: Car production
Favorite food Yakisoba, sushi
Strong in sports More motorized sports.
Fighting style: Kyokugenryu Karate

Robert Garcia (ロバート・ガルシア, Robāto Garushia?) is a character as the deuteragonist (and second protagonist) of Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters, forming the second half of the original Japanese name of the same series with his own title as "The Strongest Tiger" (最強の虎, Saikyo no Tora?).

Development:
According to Neo Geo Freak, his first original design was visually based on Andy Garcia and Steven Seagal. His more mature appearance in the Neo Geo Battle Coliseum video game was originally not meant to be tied into any continuity, it was made just to match the more mature Mr. Karate II as an original form for Robert.

Robert is the son of Alberto Garcia, a very wealthy Italian businessman and best friend of Takuma Sakazaki, the master of Kyokugenryu Karate. When he was younger, Robert was fascinated with this fighting style, as he saw it as a way to escape his father's shadow in the stifling upper-class society. Against his father's wishes, Robert trained under Takuma Sakazaki and often fought against Ryo. Over time, Ryo became his best friend.

Robert eventually developed romantic feelings for his friend's sister, Yuri. He has had a crush on Yuri ever since he first met her, and would likely marry her if it weren't for the interventions of Takuma and Ryo, who are either overprotective of Yuri out of habit or suspicious that Robert might 'take her for granted' as just another conquest.

Art of Fighting
In the year 1978 (according to the original timeline of the Art of Fighting series), Geese Howard secretly blackmailed Takuma into working for him, which would eventually lead to Yuri's kidnapping. Meanwhile, Ryo and Robert began searching South Town's dojos, dives, and nightclubs for clues regarding Yuri's disappearance. In the process, they fought off South Town's toughest criminals, bouncers, and martial artists. They eventually learned that Mr. Big had supposedly planned the kidnapping. Thanks to King, they were able to find Yuri and save her from Mr. Big. In gratitude, he and Ryo later funded Jan's operation.

After the conclusion of the first King of Fighters tournament, Robert visited Mexico to help Freia Lawrence, a childhood friend, save her friend Wyler. He acts as her bodyguard during her journey through Glasshill. Once he sees his friends reconcile, he follows his father's wishes to return home and help run the family business. Before boarding the plane to leave the city,

Yuri surprises him by having her own ticket. The two of them return to Italy together.

Robert's status after the conclusion of the series is unclear. Ryo's story in the Buriki One video game and the King of Fighters series games seem to imply that Robert eventually takes over his father's company. Despite popular belief, he still remains single years after the conclusion of Art of Fighting.

The King of Fighters
As one of the successful examples of the Kyokugen Karate style, Robert is often associated with Takuma and Ryo. Like Ryo, he is often ordered by his master to proudly represent the Kyokugen dojo. He is very happy when Yuri also joins his team and often tries to voice his opinion in her favor. When he learns that King was to be his replacement in The King of Fighters 2000, he is outraged that he had no prior knowledge of Yuri's absence and thinks that this is a sneaky ruse to get Ryo to get close to King. He challenges her to prove her worth to the team and they engage in a fearsome kicking contest. Since their match ends in a stalemate, he agrees to let her join the team. The following year, Robert and his family are facing severe financial problems, so his friends and master agree to help him by winning the tournament.

Robert is the stereotypical rich, party-loving playboy. He doesn't take life too seriously and always has a smile on his face. He often acts as the reluctant mediator for the Sakazaki siblings, though he often sides with Yuri if he can. He is considered a natural genius by friends and enemies alike.

He benefits from his father's wealth. He always dresses in expensive clothes and drives expensive cars. Despite constant scrutiny from Ryo and Takuma, he sometimes gives Yuri lavish gifts. Robert also has an air of arrogance due to his constant wealth, which is seen by his friend Ryo as a sign of rudeness, due to Ryo's family living in poverty due to deriving their finances from running the Kyokugenryu dojo.

However, this doesn't mean that Robert is a bad person; far from it. He sticks by the Sakazakis' side when they really need him, and is generally a good friend judging by his relationship with the Sakazakis (especially Ryo, who tends to be his foil). He's also not one to throw down a challenge, and works hard in his efforts to improve his own karate talent.

In The King of Fighters XIII, Robert is mentioned during the introduction sequence of Yuri against Benimaru, hinting that despite his nature being similar to Benimaru's, Robert can show genuine concern for Yuri and may show some jealousy to others who try to get close to her. Despite his clashes with Takuma in The King of Fighters XIII over Robert's marriage proposal to Yuri, even being one of Takuma's students, he acts as foolish as the Sakazaki brothers at times, as evidenced by the Kyokugen Team's ending in The King of Fighters XI with Yuri and Takuma.

Powers:
Gather Qi: Can gather Qi from Gaia, Mother Earth.
Energy Projectile: Can fire the explosive moves "Ryugekiken" and "Haoh Shou Kouken" normally.
Multiple Attacks: He can channel his qi energy into his legs to strike with multiple kicks in extremely rapid succession.

Fighting style:
To counter Ryo, Robert was taught to be the "dragon" of Kyokugenryu Karate, somewhat ironic since his nickname calls him a "tiger", especially with his oft-reworked "Ryuugeki Ken" (Dragon Fist) technique being a recurring theme of its thematic motif. Robert's style focuses on lethal kicks, with his signature move being "Gen'ei Kyaku" (Phantom Leg), along with his "Mahha Geri" (Mach Kick) from the video games Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and The King of Fighters XI being a possible feint attack. He, of course, also tends to practice some of the same techniques as Ryo, such as "Haou Shoukou Ken".

His fighting style has been reworked throughout the history of his video game appearances, having its first drastic change in The King of Fighters '96 with a "Ryuugeki Ken" and a completely different "Hien Shippuu Kyaku" (Flying Swallow Hurricane Leg), later reworked into "Hien Senpuu Kyaku" (Flying Swallow Whirlwind Leg) which puts more emphasis on multiple rapid kicks. In The King of Fighters '99 and The King of Fighters 2000, his entire moveset was transformed into charge moves (holding Back or Down then releasing in the opposite direction in conjunction with an attack button), losing several of his traditional moves such as his Gen'ei Kyaku or his Ryuuga (this "charge" version of himself would return in The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match as EX Robert. Due to these constant reworkings to his style, Robert, unlike most fighters.

has several different fighting stances that vary from game to game.

His aforementioned "Ryuugeki Ken" has also been one of his most reworked moves, ranging from a simple wave launched from a hand motion (through several different animations for the attack) to a wave launched from a kick (Ryuugeki Sen; Dragon Attack Flash).

In The King of Fighters XII and The King of Fighters XIII, he, along with Yuri in The King of Fighters XI, now has a normal backdash command called "Ushiro Geri" (Behind Kick), which works the same as Iori's "Yuri Ori". Like Iori in the series, Robert was also one of the few characters who could pull off an aerial attack during his backdash.

One of his victory poses shows him flipping a coin and then catching it. The coin is a gift from his father before he left the Garcia Mansion, serving as a reminder of his roots and to return one day. It did not gain attention again until the video game Art of Fighting 3, where the coin was included as a very rare extra along with stickers in the limited edition for the Neo Geo CD.
In retaliation for the creation of Robert and Ryo, Street Fighter II co-designer Akiman drew an illustration of Sagat holding a defeated opponent by the head during the release of Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. The defeated opponent wore an outfit similar to Ryo's: an orange karate gi with a worn black shirt underneath and geta sandals; but had long, dark hair tied back in a ponytail like Robert. This defeated character would later be the concept behind the creation of Dan Hibiki, who would later, ironically, be inspired by Robert, much like Ryo and Robert were inspired by Ryu and Ken.
The car he drives is heavily based on the Ferrari Testarossa, which was not only popular in the automotive world during the 1980s and 1990s and was owned by celebrities such as Elton John, Mike Tyson, and Michael Jordan, but was also featured in the hit primetime police show Miami Vice and was popularly associated with the 1980s yuppie subculture. The racing spoiler may also imply that it is a 1988 Koenig Competition.
He is the first known foreign practitioner of Kyokugenryu Karate.
Robert is stated to have an Italian accent in his speech. In Japanese, the closest equivalent for him would be the Kansai dialect accent, which is found primarily in Osaka (where SNK is based). This is also reflected in the English dub of The King of Fighters XII video game, as the English voice.

since Robert's English voice has an Italian accent.
Since Robert and Sie Kensou share the same Kansai dialect accent, the two often have a special introduction in many of the games they appear in together.
One of his Action Cards in the SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS involves him using the "Hyouchuu Wari" (Ice Pillar Splitter) move, a popular normal command that has been used by Ryo Sakazaki. This is likely a nod to the bonus stage about breaking ice blocks in the original Art of Fighting.
In Gamest magazine's 1997 'Game Heroes Collection', Robert was voted staff favorite character #46. He shared that spot with seven other characters, including Samurai Shodown character Hanzo Hattori and The King of Fighters character Goenitz.[1]
His name should not be confused with that of a former American boxer, a mayor of Long Beach, California, a representative of New York, a Puerto Rican DJ and a Filipino squash player, all of whom have the same namesake.
Robert's birth date, December 25, falls on Christmas Day. He also shares his birth date with Billy Kane and Eiji Kisaragi.

White-skinned man with a muscular build, long straight brown hair tied in a low ponytail with two strands in front of his face, blue eyes, a mustache and beard in the shape of almost a delicate lock. He wears a shirt with sleeves down to the shoulders and that reveals part of his sky-blue chest along with a black dress vest, black latex gloves, white pants and brown dress shoes. In addition to a black necklace with a small gold pendant.