Series regulars Chang and Choi are joined by psychotic newcomer Xanadu. His fighting style is...um...wow. You need to see it.
We’re on the sixth King of Fighters XIV team profile with ten more to go. Last week, we got to see Kim Kaphwan, his mentor, and the mentor’s girlfriend. Fittingly, this week we get Team Villains, made up of Kim’s two former sidekicks Chang and Choi, as well as newcomer Xanadu.
Xanadu already looks pretty insane, but then you watch the trailer and realize...
...Xanadu is extremely insane. Jesus Christ, what did I just watch?
Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge first appeared in King of Fighters ’94 as part of Kim Kaphwan’s Team Korea. As the story goes, tiny Freddy Krueger Choi Bounge was a butcher with a dark side who decided to go around slashing people in the night. Chang Koehan – who I'm almost certain is visually based on wrestler John “Earthquake” Tenta – was an escaped convict. The two were caught and beaten up by taekwondo enthusiast Kim Kaphwan, who decided to rehabilitate them on his own terms in a way that is probably not legal.
Kim vigorously trained the two in taekwondo and constantly droned on about his beliefs in justice and morality. Chang and Choi would either try (and fail) to escape or would play along and pretend to agree with him. For years, the trio would enter the King of Fighters tournament and Chang and Choi would usually try to befriend the more villainous opponents, trying to see if they could start working with them and ditch Kim.
After King of Fighters ’97, Kim felt the two were reformed completely and sent them on their way. A few days later, Chang and Choi boasted about pulling the wool over Kim’s eyes while on an airplane, not realizing that Kim was a couple seats behind them.
Kim later brought in his best friend and rival Jhun Hoon to help him keep the two criminals under control. Having two nutball slave drivers was too much for Chang and Choi and while they fantasized about killing the two, they ultimately realized that Kim’s teachings were paying off and they were indeed becoming better people. In a “Boy Who Cried Wolf” moment, Kim decided that they weren’t reformed yet and forced them back into training.
The two remained regulars on Kim’s team for the next few years, though they were replaced in King of Fighters XIII with Raiden and Hwa Jai, who faked being criminals so that Kim would “take them under his wing” and get them a spot in this high-profile tournament. Chang and Choi were all for it, considering it allowed them some reprieve.
Now Chang and Choi are finally away from Kim, teaming with the ever-so-twisted Xanadu. What’s his story and why are Chang and Choi with him? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Gavin Jasper realizes that Xanadu learned his punching attacks from Bart Simpson. If you get hit with it, it’s your own fault. Follow Gavin on Twitter!
