Benimaru Nikaido

  
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BIO:

Benimaru is the son of a multi-millionaire family. He is a part time professional model and a professional fighter who is very confident in his abilities. His fighting style is based on shoot fighting and he can use electricity in many of his attacks. Despite his eccentric looks, he is definitely a ladies' man and is known to flirt with many of the female fighters from the KOF tournament. His design is loosely based off of Jean-Pierre Polnaref from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Additionally, some of Benimaru's attacks - such as Handou Sandan Geri (Recoiling Three-Stage Kick) and Gen'ei Hurricane (Phantom Hurricane) pay homage to Hurricane Polymar.

When Japan held a tournament for their country's representative team in the King of Fighters, Benimaru entered and made it to the finals. In the first tournament he lost to Kyo and earned second place. Later, he teamed up with Kyo and Goro Daimon to form the Japan team during the Orochi Saga of the KOF tournaments. After Kyo disappeared, Shingo sent Benimaru an invitation to join his team and he accepted. Benimaru meet up with Kyo again in the 2001 tournament, in an effort to relive their glory days once more. After he bails Shingo from a false arsonist accusation, he teams with him and Goro in the 2003 tournament. In KOF XI, him and Duo Lon are invited to Elisabeth's mansion to discuss Ash Crimson's thievery of Chizuru's powers, the existence of "Those From the Past," and their experiences during the 2003 tournament. The trio forms the Rival Team and track down Ash.
 
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ORIGIN:
The King of Fighters '94

   
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OTHER APPEARANCES:
King of Fighters '94 Rebout, King of Fighters '95, King of Fighters '96, King of Fighters '97, King of Fighters '98, King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match, King of Fighters '99, King of Fighters 2000, King of Fighters 2001, King of Fighters 2002, King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match, King of Fighters 2003, King of Fighters XI, King of Fighters XII, King of Fighters XIII, King of Fighters XIV, King of Fighters XV, King of Fighters Neowave, Card Fighters Clash, Card Fighters Clash 2, Card Fighters Clash DS, Capcom VS SNK, Capcom VS SNK Pro, Capcom VS SNK 2, Xuan Dou Zhi Wang

  
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Page Updated: Aug. 23rd, 2022

At a glance, many would assume Benimaru is homosexual, but apparently, he's quite the "ladies man" in Japan (according to his official storyline). Regardless of his sexual orientation, his feminine, flamboyant, outfits and fabulously eccentric mannerisms definitely raise eyebrows. I wasn't sure where his design was going in the early KOF days... but Benimaru progressively became more fleshed-out as a design over time. His KOF '99 era appearance and crossover to the Capcom VS SNK series were big steps forward for his design! In particular, his 2D sprite and animations became cooler and more dynamic in later KOF sequels and CVS.

Further down the road... Benimaru's badass sprite in KOF XII and XIII definitely took his charisma to a new level. As a more evolved design, his "coolness" outweighs his questionably girly mannerisms (which some folks in the Western audience might not 'get'). Most importantly, Beni's hair has always been spectacular. Can't hate on the dude's hair game. If you give Beni a chance, he's a likeable addition to any KOF team and a fun character to use!

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

   

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