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Wolfgang Krauser von Stroheim (ヴォルフガング・クラウザー・フォン・シュトロハイム, Worufugangu Kurauzā Fon Shutorohaimu), more commonly known simply as Wolfgang Krauser, is a boss character in SNK Playmore's Fatal Fury series.

He fights barechested, with armored belt, and tight red pants. He has purple hair with a moustache, and an X shaped scar on his forehead. He may sometimes wear armored boots and armored gloves as well.

Krauser's various in-game themes are compositions by Mozart, such as his Real Bout: Fatal Fury Special stage music being Lacrimosa and his The King of Fighters 96 and Fatal Fury 2 music being Dies Irae.

History

At some point in time one of Krauser's parents had a child (the FF2 OVA implies it was Krauser's father) that would grow up to be the crime boss Geese Howard. This was confirmed by SNK when Fatal Fury Special came out.

Fatal Fury

Pathway of the Earl of Strolheim

Krauser hails from Germany, the titled Earl of the House of Strolheim, a band of bodyguards who possess such immense physical strength that none dare fight them for any reason. For many years, the Strolheims were considered to be the most feared fighters in all of Europe, dating back to historic Prussia. The fighters of the Strolheim Lineage were considered to be of the most violent bloodline in all of Germany due to the brutal nature of the house laws, requiring each fighter to keep their strength within Strolheim bench at all times. In the past, the Strolheims acted violently, but soon, the violence died out little by little since the current Strolheim Earl, Krauser, was forced to defeat his father since his father wanted to ensure Wolfgang was up to Strolheim bench.

The Spanish Blood Family--Destined to serve the Strolheims

With his father put away, Krauser becomes the new Earl of Strolheim. Krauser lives in Mittelbirge Castle in Germany, the home of the Strolheim for many years. In addition to earning the title of Earl of Strolheim, Krauser received right-hand personnel service from a matador named Laurence Blood (a cold and ruthless bull-fighter who has no regard for women and children whatsoever). Although Wolfgang Krauser sponsors Laurence's matador activities, for many years the Blood clan of Spain has been serving the Strolheim House as Right-Hand Personnel, much like Billy Kane has been serving Geese as his right-hand man.

Lack of Challengers, Rise of the Upstarts

Krauser fought during his early years of his life and because too many people feared his strength, Krauser suddenly had no challengers. This caused Krauser to take a rest from fighting for excessive periods of time. When Wolfgang hears about his half-brother's demise (Geese Howard) at the hands of Terry Bogard, Krauser organized a worldwide version of the King of Fighters tournament so that he can finally fight what he believe are worthy opponents. Krauser's intent is to surpass the Hungry Wolf legend by demonstrating that he is stronger than Joe Higashi or the Bogard Boys in the King of Fighters tournament. In 1993, Krauser organized the King of Fighters tournament with 8 contestants: Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, Joe Higashi, Big Bear, Cheng Sinzan, Jubei Yamada, Kim Kaphwan, and Mai Shiranui.

Billy joined the tournament to get his revenge against the Bogard Boys for the demise of his boss, Geese. Axel Hawk and Laurence Blood are grandmasters who will only fight the finalists throughout the tourney. During the tournament, Terry managed to defeat both Laurence and Axel. Simultaneously, Krauser attacked Duck King, Richard Meyer, Hwa Jai, Michael Max, and Tung Fu Rue methodically and mercilessly, and when Terry landed the final blow to Laurence Blood, Krauser invited Terry to fight him at Mittelbirge Castle at Germany. There the championship match to determine the strongest in the world started.

Terry Bogard--The New Champion

Krauser gained the upper hand earlier on because even at his size, he was extremely fast, agile, and had several high-priority techniques that made it difficult for Terry to keep up. While Krauser enjoyed having priority over Terry Bogard, that was not to be as Krauser rarely spent time improving his techniques while Terry Bogard always have kept his condition up to par even after Geese's demise. Krauser did 2 Kaiser Wave attempts at Terry, but the final Kaiser Wave was countered by Terry's Power Geyser, knocking Krauser out cold. Terry looked at a downed Krauser (while there has been assumptions that Krauser died after being defeated, this is not true as Krauser was just dethroned, not killed), but Krauser stated that Terry is now the strongest in the world, and tells Terry to leave him at once, realizing that he is no longer the strongest in the world, and has to live the rest of his life with his pride in shambles.

The King of Fighters

Nothing was heard of from Krauser until the King of Fighters 96 tournament, when Krauser joined forces with Geese and Mr. Big to create the Boss Team. Although Geese used both him and Mr. Big as pawns in his attempt to nab an ancient power called Orochi, Krauser only cared about self-improvement as his aim was mainly to fight stronger opponents. After knowing his mistakes at the hands of Terry, Krauser vowed only to fight stronger opponents in order to restore the strength he once had prior to meeting up with Terry, and to eventually regain his title back from Terry one day, but for now, Krauser wants to improve himself first.

Personality

While Krauser seems to have an evil nature when in battle, in reality, he's not, as he has a very gentle side outside the battle ring. He simply sees no justification for mercy or place for righteousness in battle. Krauser believes that he committed no transgression whatsoever, as he only fights brutally in the battle ring and only for personal gain.

Krauser can play the piano/organ well as demonstrated in the anime to honor his father one day every year.

Appearances

• Krauser appears as Mai's unlockable Maniac Striker in the console version of KOF 2000.
• Krauser is the only member of the '96 Boss Team to not make a return appearance in the PS2 version of KOF XI.
• Krauser appears in the background of the Italy stage in KOF 2002.
• SNK have recently confirmed that Krauser will be in the updated version of The King of Fighters '98 titled The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match.

Gameplay

• In KOF '96, there is an unused animation for a special attack viewable in the debug mode via dip switch. In this move, Krauser performs a cartwheel and then flies forward in a bodypress-style attack. It is easy to see why this technique was scrapped, Krauser looks somewhat goofy with his rather large frame, performing a technique like this.
• Krauser's own super move, the Kaiser Wave was adopted into the regular special attack moves of notoriously difficult King of Fighters boss, Rugal. By KOF '02, Rugal had developed three different versions of it.
• In his Real Bout: Fatal Fury incarnations, he has his own version of Geese Howard's infamous Deadly Rave. His version is titled Unlimited Desire, and it has three possible enders, as opposed to Geese's one. One of his enders is his own DM Gigantic Cyclone, and when used in this situation, it deals about the same damage and does not require any addition power stock.
• In Real Bout 2, his Kaiser Wave super can be performed like Guile's Sonic Boom special move; the player doesn't have to press Up-Forward.

Voice Credits

• Anime (Eastern)—Hirotaka Suzuoki
• Anime (Italy)— Marco Balzarotti
• Anime (Brazil)— Guilherme Lopes
• Fatal Fury 2, Fatal Fury Special— Michael Beard
• King of Fighters 96 and ever since— B.J. Love
• Anime (English) — Paul Dobson

Character Relationship

• Terry Bogard was his toughest opponent
• Geese Howard's half brother
• Laurence Blood is his servant
• Previously teamed with Mr. Big

Related Games

• Fatal Fury
• King of Fighters

External links

• Template:Jp icon Fatal Fury 15th Anniversary Official Website
• The King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website

• Fatal Fury characters
• The King of Fighters characters
• German video game characters
• Fictional martial artists
• Fictional nobility
• Video game bosses