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RALF JONES
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Birthplace: Brazil
Birthdate: August 25, 1958 (41 years old)
Height: 1.88 m (6'1")
Weight: 100 kg (217 lbs)
Blood type: A
Hobbies: Collecting knives
Favorite food: Bubble gum
Favorite sport: Baseball
Most valuable: Badge of Honor
Hates the most: Snakes
Fighting style: Martial Arts and Heidern style assasination techniques
Ralf Jones, along with his lifetime friend, Clark Steel, have passed
through so many missions that many mercenaries would wish doing even half of
them. However, no mission was as tough for Ralf as those he passed in the King
of Fighters tournament.
As said, Ralf and Clark have been partners for a long time, and
accomplished a lot of missions with unarguable results. Their combination of
power and intelligence represent a threat for criminals and corrupt politicians
alike. While Clark loves to use guns, Ralf prefers the down-and-dirty work of
his knives to get the work down. He has also been very skilled in the uses of
punches and close-contact moves, even being able to move his arms so fast and so
powerful that they create explosions upon contact!
During a mission, Ralf and Clark had to penetrate the Amazon jungle to
destroy a local weapon warehouse. Upon completion of the mission, Ralf and Clark
had noticed that they were left in the jungle. They kept walking (and Ralf,
unfortunately, had to trip with a couple of snakes on the way), until a
helicopter located their position. Then, their commander, Heidern, leaped out of
the helicopter. He tells his two most effective mercenaries that he needs their
help to take out Rugal Bernstein, a criminal merchant and a menace for the world
governments. He also happened to kill Heidern's family awhile back, so it was
also personal for Heidern. Both mercenaries accepted, and thus began the
adventures of Ralf and Clark in the King of Fighters tournaments. Ralf was much
more enthustiatic than Clark, since Ralf always seeked a good brawl wherever he
went. Ralf also respected Heidern a lot, not onyl for being his superior, but
also his master and the man who trained him in combat situations. He helped
Heidern up until Rugal's death, and then, one day, Ralf was called to Heidern's
office...
Clark was there as well, and Heidern began to speak. He says that the King
of Fighters tournament is coming up once again, but this time, he won't be
coming along. Rugal was dead, so Heidern can finally sit back and rest, but he
would not leave them alone, of course. Heidern then called Leona in. Ralf was
astonished as his new partner was to be a woman! And a very tomboy woman at
that...Ralf decided to protest very harshly, but Heidern did not pay too much
attention, and only tells Ralf: "Don't underestimate her until you have seen her
in action.". Heidern then briefed the trio of their new mission: to track down
Geese Howard, main mob leader of Southtown, and investigate his intentions of
entering the tournament. If his actions represent a threat for humanity, then
they were ordered to stop him. Ralf accepts for Heidern's sake, but still has
his doubts of Leona. Although, he has this strange feeling of respect towards
her as well...
Ralf investigates Geese as ordered, but finds out a lot more things about
Leona as well. As Ralf knew more about Leona, more he became interested in her.
Then, Heidern calls the Ikari Warriors and orders them to reunite in the stadium
to keep an eye on the final battle. As soon as they arrived, a huge gust of wind
blew and destroyed the whole stadium. Ralf then saw a tall figure amidst the
rubble. He said his name was Goenitz, but that wasn't the most surprising thing
he heard: when Goenitz confesses that both Iori Yagami and Leona are of Orochi
blood, Ralf is more than surprised. Once Goenitz is defeated, Ralf decides to
comfort the confused Leona by doing a funny scene with Clark. This manages to
cheer Leona up, but Ralf knows things would only become harder from now on.
By next year, Ralf had to almost abort a mission due to Leona's flashbacks
of her past in the middle of a mission. Ralf then asks for Heidern a temporal
suspension to enter the King of Fighters tournament, as a mode of distracting
Leona from her bad memories. However, the worst was yet to come. In the final
stages of the tournament, Leona enters the Riot of Blood, and then goes out on a
killing rampage. Worried for his friend, Ralf takes Clark and decides to go
search for Leona and stop her. They manage to stop Leona, but after the sealing
of the Orochi power for good, Leona decides she is too dangerous to be allowed
to live, and is about to pierce herself with her blade hairdress, but Ralf stops
her, and tells her that she was alone before, but now she had her friends to
look up to. Then, Ralf gives her his headscarf, and all three friends walk back
looking towards a new future.
Ralf feels kind of relaxed once the fights are over, and back in the life of
mercenaries along with Clark and Leona, taking some extreme missions. While none of
them even got close to the experience of Orochi, Ralf is relieved to see Leona a
little bit more calmed down, and of course, always trashing the house with Clark!
The happy times don't last forever, however, as commander Heidern informs Ralf
about the new King of Fighters tournament, and the urge in investigating the evil
intentions of the host this time around. He also gets to have a new member with
him: the female mercenary, Whip. Ralf accepts, but begins to wonder if the Ikari
Warriors have became a women's club....
Ralf is sort of cocky, unlike his serious partner Clark. However, when
paired up together, this duo sort of does the most loony things! However, that
doesn't mean Ralf doesn't take the missions seriously. He is aware of his
responsibility, and will do anything to get the mission done. He cares a lot for
Leona, and seems to like her, but doesn't want it to be revealed. So, Ralf
decides to be a counselor for Leona, and help her pass her crisis.
*Fun fact = Ralf and Clark are always pure dynamite when paired up! These guys
do the silly Cross Changer pose dance whenever they face themselves since KOF
'96. They also do some funny scenes, like when Clark gets Ralf in a hold to
cheer Leona up. Maybe Chang and Choi are loony, but these two certainly don't
hold back!
*Cloth changes = Ralf wears a camoflague headscarf, heavy black vest, white shirt
(with a bullet belt aligned across it), and jeans from KOF '99 to '99. In KOF '99,
Ralf's headscarf is plain red, brown pants, a lighter, green military vest (lots of
pockets), has no bullets on his shirt, and has two red gloves.
Appearances: 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 '99
Other games: Ikari Warriors, Ikari Warriors II, Ikari Warriors III (in these
three games, Ralf was known as 'Vince')
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