Ralf Jones
| Ralf Jones | |
|---|---|
Ralf Jones in the King of Fighters:Neo Wave | |
| Birthplace: | USA |
| Birthdate: | August 25 |
| Height: | 188cm |
| Weight: | 110kg |
| Blood type: | A |
| Hobbies: | Collecting knives |
| Favorite Food: | Chewing gum |
| Measurements: | N/A |
| Favorite sport: | Baseball |
| Most valuble: | Medal awarded by the President of the United States |
| Hates the most: | Snakes |
| Fighting Style: | Martial arts + Heidern style of assassination arts |
| First Appearance: | Ikari Warriors |
| Appears in KOF: | KOF 94'-XI |
Ralf Jones is a character from both the Ikari Warriors and King of Fighters video game series.
History
Ralf Jones, together with his partner and friend Clark Steel, have gotten through so many missions, many mercenaries would like to do half of what they did. No mission, however, was as hard as the ones they undertook during the King of Fighters tournaments.
As said above, Ralf and Clark have been together for a long time, accomplishing many missions with outstanding results. Their combination of strength and intelligence means danger for criminals and crooked politicians. While Clark loves weapons, Ralf prefers working with his knives to take his enemies down. He is also very skilled with punches and body attacks, being able to swing his arms so fast and so powerfully he can create explosions upon touching anything.
During a mission, Ralf and Clark shrouded themselves into the Amazon Rainforest in order to destroy a weapon facility. Upon completing the mission, Ralf and Clark noticed they had been left inside the jungle. They walked around for a long time (unfortunately for Ralf, he stumbled across many snakes in his path), until the rescue helicopter located them. Then, their commander, Heidern, came down and told his two most efficient mercenaries that he needed their help to put an end to Rugal Bernstein, a greedy criminal and a menace for the world governments. He also killed Heidern's family some time ago, so it was also a personal mission for Heidern. The mercenaries accepted, and so began the adventures of Ralf and Clark through the KOF tournaments. Ralf was more pumped than Clark, as he always looked for a good fight wherever he went. Ralf also respects Heidern a lot, not only because he is his superior, but more as his master and the man who trained him for combat situations. Ele helped Heidern out until Rugal's death and then, one day, Ralf is called to Heidern's office...
Clark was present too, and then Heidern started talking. He said the King of Fighters tournament was around the corner again, but this time he wouldn't be with them. Rugal was dead, so Heidern could rest at last, but that didn't mean he wouldn't let them be. He calls Leona in. Ralf was surprised to see his new partner was a woman! And she looked much like a bratty girl... Ralf protested, but Heidern didn't mind him so much, saying only: "Don't underestimate her until you see her in action..." . Heidern then gives them a new mission: hunt down Geese Howard, main leader of the Southtown gangs, and report his intentions in the tournament. If his acts poise any menace to mankind, he'll have to be stopped. Ralf accepts for Heidern, although still having his doubts about Leona, even though he feels a strange respectful feeling whenever he's close to her...
Ralf investigates on Geese, as ordered, but he finds out a lot about Leona too. The more he found about her, the more interested he got. Heidern calls upon the Ikari Warriors and orders them to gather at the stadium to watch the final battle. As soon as they arrive, a huge blast of wind destroys the whole arena. Ralf then sees a tall man standing over the rubble. His name was Leopold Goenitz, but that was not the most surprising: when Goenitz says both Iori Yagami and Leona have Orochi blood, Ralf got even more astonished. By the time Goenitz is defeated, Ralf decides to comfort a confused Leona making jokes together with Clark. That cheered her up a little, but Ralf knew things would end up more complicated for them now.
The next year, Ralf almost had to abort the missions due to the flashbacks Leona had during them. He then asks Heidern to let them in the KOF tournament, in order to set Leona apart from her bad memories. However, worse things that way came. In the last battles of the tournament, Leona is seized by the Riot of Blood and starts a killing spree. Worried about their friend, Ralf and Clark decide to go after her to try and stop her. And they do it, but when Leona snaps out, she says she's too dangerous to live, and tries to put an end to her life with her knife, but Ralf stops her, saying that, even though she used to be alone, now she had friends to help her. He then gives her his bandanna and the three friends walk together contemplating a new future.
Ralf gets a little relaxed when he returns to his mercenary life, together with Clark and Leona. Whilst none of them closed in to the Orochi experience, Ralf felt better upon seeing that Leona felt calmer. As happy moments don't last forever, Heidern soon informs them about the new King Of Fighters tournament, and now the purpose of investigation was to find out about the bad intentions of the new sponsors. And the team gains a new member: Whip, another female mercenary. Ralf acquiesces, but starts considering if the Ikari Warriors are becoming a ladies' club...
But the danger was not over. The NESTS organization, who was behind Krizalid, was still big and Ralf was ready to stop them. Together with commander Heidern, they analyzed their next goal: it seemed NESTS was based in Southtown. Heidern then sends his mercenaries to attack there, staying with his companion Ling to supervise the mission.
Upon arriving in Southtown, Ralf orders a patrolling. Nothing was found, but when a building started shaking in the horizon, he feels the danger is right in there. He runs with his partners to an abandoned factory, where they find Heidern wounded. It turned out Ling was actually Zero, a high-level NESTS agent, who took Ling's identity. Very worried evacuating the building, Ralf notices Whip had disappeared! Before getting into action, he had to get away in order to evade the impact of the Zero Cannon.
After storming the front and not finding any trace leading to NESTS, Ralf returns to base with a defeat feeling. He then is called by Heidern, who had a package addressed to him, Leona and Clark. It was a video from Whip, left before the mission. In it, Whip bids her farewell to her companions, saying her friendship feeling for everyone, and begs them not to miss her. Ralf thinks if it's not too late for that...
Along the next year, Ralf commands the Ikari Warriors for an investigation in many places suspected to be NESTS' hideouts. However, when they broke in the places, they were already empty, without any clue about where NESTS would have gone. Ralf grows frustrated until Heidern gives them a new task: join the next KOF tournament. Looks like finally NESTS decided to show up and show they were this year's sponsors, even after destroying Southtown with the Zero Cannon. Ralf knows something smells bad, but gets surprised to know that who gave them info was none less than Whip, who they haven't been in touch with for almost an year. Ralf knows he could repay her this favor, by crushing those NESTS losers!
Ralf fights with all he's got in the tournament, but that was just to deceive the possible NESTS spies. What he really wanted was to find NESTS' real hideout. Thanks to his contacts, Ralf gets to know that the main location of NESTS was in a space station. Ralf leaves that task to Whip and her new companions (K', Maxima and Lin), and happily watches them accomplish the mission of destroying NESTS. Not too long later, Ralf and his partners are recruited for another mission, but he takes with him a recent photo of Whip, who seems to be getting along pretty well with Kula Diamond, a biological weapon created by NESTS. Ralf knows Whip might understand Kula pretty well, as it was confirmed that Whip too is a clone made up by the organization. But he knows how strong Whip is, and says to himself: "Keep it up".
Personality
Ralf is much of a bragging guy, unlike his unsplittable partner Clark. When they're together, though, those guys can do anything! But it doesn't mean Ralf does not take his missions seriously. He's conscious of his responsibilities, and is able of anything to complete a mission. He cares a lot about Leona, and he seems to like her pretty much, but he doesn't let anyone know about it, so he decides to give her advices, helping her to overcome her issues.
Techniques
- Gatling Attack - Ralf advances towards his opponent, and does two hook punches followed by an uppercut while advancing.
- Vulcan Punch - Ralf does a series of rapid flaming punches that scorch the opponent.
- Super Argentine Backbreaker - Ralf grabs his opponent, tosses him/her up into the air, does a backbreaker on his head as soon as he/she lands, and then bodyslams his opponent.
- Dive Bomber Bop - Ralf leaps into the air, and flies down towards his opponent to scorch him/her. Can be done on the ground or in the air.
- Ralf Kick - Ralf does a powerful dropkick that advances towards his opponent.
- Ralf Tackle - Ralf charges towards his opponent, viciously headbutting him/her.
Desperation Moves
- Galactica Phantom - Ralf's signature desperation move, he does a powerul charging punch that burns his opponent, taking off a lot of health. This becomes a high-powered special move in KOF 2002.
- Vicious Vulcan Punch - a stronger version of the Vulcan Punch, Ralf does what seems to be a Gatling Attack to his opponent. As soon as it connects, it becomes a powerful Vulcan Punch, soon followed by an uppercut that sends the opponent flying in the air.
- Bareback Vulcan Punch - Ralf tackles his opponent, pins him/her to the ground, does a rapid punch, and that is followed by a powerful punch that leaves the opponent dizzy.
Trivia
- He is a member of the Ikari Warriors, he is much more famous in the KOF series as part of the Ikari Team with Clark, Heidern, Leona & Whip (who later left for K' and Maxima's team). While Clark is a powerful grappler, Ralf is more of a power player, making use of some very efficient long-range attacks. Both were very effectively redesigned in KOF '99.
- In KOF '94, Ralf and Clark were very similar in looks and move repertoire. Effectively, a Ryu/Ken-type palette swap. By 1995, Clark got a newer stance and win pose, while Ralf retained his. Each year and each new installment of the KoF series, he seems to be further and further differing from Ralf.
- In the upcoming game Metal Slug 6 for the Sammy Atomiswave arcade system, Ralf and Clark will be playable characters alongside Marco Rossi (Metal Slug, Tarma Roving, Eri Kasamoto, and Fio Germi. This will be their first appearance in a shooting game since Ikari Warriors 3.
- The King of Fighters games occasionally make fun of Ralf and Clark. Sometimes when they meet, they will do some sort of Super Sentai/Kamen Raider pose.
- A special ending in KOF 97 features Ralf in his Ikari Warriors outfit, shirtless with long hair tied in a red headband. This version of Ralf is his alternate outfit in KOF: Maximum Impact.