Rugal Bernstein

Rugal Bernstein, also known as Omega Rugal, is a character from the King of Fighters series.
==Charactah Account==
Feared throughout the political and fighting world, Rugal was an influential arms dealer who operated aboard his aircraft carrier Black Noah. To those who would oppose him, he would defeat them and later preserve their bodies in liquid metal to add to his grisly trophy room. He used to work with his younger brother, but they separated over conflicting interests. When Rugal was about 25 years old, an 18 year old Goenitz took out his eye with one strike and gave him a small portion of Orochi's power for surviving the attack. Since then, he has a bionic eye to replace the one he lost.
Sometime in 1986, Rugal wanted to demonstrate his power in a base at Brazil and murdered everyone he found inside. The sole survivor of the fifty man massacre was Heidern, who lost his right eye during the attack. At the time, he was too displeased with his victim to add him to his "collection" so he deprived the man of his wife and child as compensation. It's speculated that he later regrets this act, but it is never clearly stated.
Before 1994, he recruited two secretaries: Mature and Vice. With their help, Rugal organized a King of Fighters tournament, in order to find worthy opponents. During the invitation phase, Saisyu Kusanagi came to the Black Noah and challenged Rugal. Although Rugal won the battle, he did not subject him to his metal bath. When Saisyu's son, Kyo Kusanagi, arrived with his teammates, he defeated Rugal. Unwilling to accept defeat, Rugal blew up his ship.
==Appearance==
===Anime===
*The King of Fighters: Destiny
===Video Games===
*Athena On Stage
*Avabel Online
*Bokuto Dragon
*Brave Frontier
*Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
*Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
*Days of Memories
*Kimi wa Hero
*King of Fighters Sky Stage
*King of Fighters: Maximum Impact
*Metal Slug Defense
*Moeyo! KOF Daiundokai
*Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting
*Puzzle & Dragons
*Seven Deadly Sins : Grand Cross
*The King of Fighters '94
*The King of Fighters '95
*The King of Fighters '96
*The King of Fighters '97
*The King of Fighters '98
*The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
*The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
*The King of Fighters 2000
*The King of Fighters 2003
*The King of Fighters All Star
*The King of Fighters Destiny
*The King of Fighters M: Fighting Stars Assembly
*The King of Fighters Mobile
*The King of Fighters XIII
*The King of Fighters: Kyo
*The King of Fighters: World
==Trivia==
*While Rugal's birthplace hasn't been officially confirmed yet, it is heavily implied that he is from Germany.
**His surname, Bernstein, is a common surname in the German language.
**His children, Adelheid and Rose are of possible German descent as well.
* Rugal's Theme in KOF '94, Kecchaku R&D (Conclusion R&D) , has some audios from "Digital Underground - Gutfest '89" said by Sex Packets: "you can hear behind me now that uh I think they called blue death." "Yeah you can hear that they're having a ball and a hell of a time down at gutfest this year."
** Meanwhile, its arranged version samples a part from Kool Chip & Chuck Chillout - Rhythm Is The Master, specifically the line "To the rhythm."
* In some artworks, Rugal seemingly does not have his bionic eye present, which shows only a gaping hole for his missing eye.
* Originally in KOF '94, Rugal's first round form in his suit (which returns in the Capcom vs. SNK games) lacked special moves, and only one of his normals did chip damage. His second round form with his jacket removed (used for his subsequent KOF appearances) gives him new normals and his signature special move set, though he does not have a legitimate Desperation Move. Both versions of Rugal act like so even when using a code to play as him, as he'll act just like his boss version and when he loses his first round, the background will distort to red like his boss battle. This is also the game along with the sequel to have his signature Genocide Cutter take out over half a character's health if both hits connect; however, KOF 98' onwards considerably nerfs the attack via removing its invincibility (or at least head-level invincibility only) which made it a much weaker anti-air in most titles.
* His Dead End Screamer in KOF '98, due to its notable animation involving Rugal stomp on his opponent and drilling them to the ground, is often both a testament to his brutal fighting style, and the source of memetic jokes involving Rugal (often dubbing it as the "Rugalspin"). Along with this, Rugal shares a darkness and evil motif for his moves, through techniques such as Genocide Cutter, Genocide Heaven, Dark Barrier, and Dark Smash.
* In Capcom vs. SNK 2, the word "Genocide" was censored out of his Move List, so his trademark Genocide Cutter became the "Destroyer Cutter", and a super version of it appearing in this Vs. series, Genocide Heaven, was renamed "Total Annihilation". In the Japanese version, the word "Genocide" wasn't actually censored out, thus when Genocide Cutter is used, he'll yell out the attack's name (he remains silent when using it in the international versions).
* There is no information regarding his outlook towards his immediate family, but it can be safely assumed he is somewhat distant from it.
** His daughter, Rose Bernstein inherits some of Rugal's nasty attitude, and is just as much of a sore loser as her father, while his son Adelheid Bernstein presumably inherits his combat prowess, and unlike his father, has far more better sportsmanship. However, Adelheid does not have good things to say about him.
*** When Adelheid was born, Rugal was expecting a daughter, and already picked a feminine name. Despite this, Adelheid stuck to his given name despite it causing some social misunderstandings.
** Next to nothing is known however, of his wife, or her whereabouts. The same can be said of his estranged brother.
** Due to Rugal gaining Orochi power from a blood pact with Goenitz, long after Rose and Adelheid were born, the two does not possess Orochi blood.
* Rugal and Saiki are the only bosses of the series (sub or final) with two or more versions of their persona. The personas of both characters can be coexisiting in the same game (KOF XIII and KOF '98 [and its remake], respectively). However, unlike Rugal, Saiki's versions can coexist canonically.
==Gallery==
File:Rugal Bernstein Render 01.png
File:Rugal Bernstein Render 02.png
File:Rugal Bernstein Render 03.png
File:Rugal Bernstein Render 04.png
File:Rugal Bernstein Render 05.png
File:Rugal Bernstein Render 06.png
==External Links==
*Rugal Bernstein at SNK Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:King of Fighters