Poor guy...
If Heidern thinks you're a wenie it's OK. He thinks everyone is a weenie (of course, he has skills, so he can do that). Mr. Trauma here has a thing against Rugal, for reasons that will become clear. But are they justified? Let us see. He is mainly in The King Of Fighters to see that Rugal meets his doom, after all, he's got better things to do, like run his unorthodox group of mercenaries. Yes, this includes Ralf and Clark.
It's a simple statement. Every King Of Fighters Heidern joined was with the purpose of seeing Rugal to his end. If no Rugal, no Heidern ('96/'97). Heidern does kinda want to make a name for his men just a little though. So there's more to be gained in the tourney. In '94, Heidern was especially stoked. Rugal has just shown his face, given up his whereabouts and everything. Heidern was personally invited by Rugal, who was obviously mocking Heidern. In '95 Rugal's alive. So Heidern is back again with his two men (they had the BEST winning picture as a team, with Heidern first, Ralf second, and Clark thrird). Since Rugal has shown his ugly rear-ridden face again in '98, Heidern has to respond with an entrance. Rugal MUST GO DOWN! Only, he's not with his former Ralf and Clark. They had been, since '96, teamed up with Heiderns foster daughter Leona (who, in her '98 intro with Heidern, reveals that Heidern is not his first name). That's right, ol' emotionless Hei-Hei had adopted Leona when she was young to fill in and emotional gap in himself. Where did that come from?
Well, it seems Heidern had a family. A wife, Sandra, and a Daughter, Clara. They lived happily and all, but Heidern was an army guy. He was away a lot (he wanted to eventually lead his own men). Heidern was assigned a special underground black market case to stop Rugal, because people thought Heidern had the know how. Heidern was going right along, unstoppable, and this worried Rugal (stone image by behind), so the cheating piece of putrid flesh kidnapped Heiderns wife and daughter. Of course now Heidern had to go to Rugal to find them. Rugal was already the man Heidern hated most because he had kidnapped his immediae family, so when they finally confronted on Rugal's ship, the Black Noah (old SNK storylines are funny, you know Rugal has a pet panther? haha), things got oogly. Not ugly, oogly.
Rugal and Heidern fought, and Heidern wasn't doing all that bad, so Rugal played his game, he had one of his men bring out Sandra and Clara. During Heidern's emotional relapse state after seeing his bound Wife and Child, Rugal seized the opportunity and attacked, resultingly taking out Heiderns right eye. Rugal was about to finish off Heidern with one of his stolen tech's, but Sandra and Clara ran in the way and Rugal stopped the attack. Wait a minute, this is Rugal. he blasted right through them and they died. Thus casts away Heidern's emotions and in comes the deep and udder hatred for Rugal. He has since sought revenge. He did, however, advance to higher status, gaining his own men and such, two being ones he had previously met in a different mission. Heidern was assigned to brief Ralf and Clark (then Vince and Paul) in a mission that was equivalent in Ikari Warriors III. One day, while scouting an area, he found a tired and worn out Ralf and Clark trudging through the jungle. Their helicopter had crashed and they had been stranded for days. Heidern was their savior, and thus, they turned their full alleigence to him. Heidern was now in command of the best in the business, and he loved it too.
He did one day come across some shambles somewhere, a completely obliterated village in the distance. There he found a little girl who could remember nothing but her name. This was Leona (of course), and Heidern had that gap to fill, and thus adopted her, teaching her all of his strict assasination techs and such. She was kept kind of on the down-low until '96, when he first had her participate in the KOF in his stead. They both seemed the same, emotionless, and their conversations were casts off as such by others, but to them, they were both content. Each one filling a void in the other. Heidern did notice something strange about Leona, as she grew in skill very fast. Heidern would find out what's upper soon enough. Don't be fooled though, as Heiderns more active side was turned towar his two "sons" Ralf and Clark. They were as such, Clark being the obedient teeth-brusher, Ralf being the Loud, Bustiful guy who runs all over the place. Many a mission were successful with those three, and it was almost like a game.
Rugal had gone went and exploded Mech-Zangief style afte '95, but we all know he came back, and so did Heidern. It was '96 and '97 in which Leona went nuts where Heidern began to understand Leona and finally figure out a way to deal with her. Eventhough there was not much he could do but hope that the end of the orochi in '97 is enough to keep her sane and let her live a happy life, unlike him. But as long as he gots his boys around. Heidern likes to just sit and watch Ralf and Clark, and he knows them so well, he can sometimes read them like books (so does he know about Leona's feelings for Clark, or Clark's discontentment toward Leona?). The only person reach in and practically pull out his inner emotions is Rugal, whom as we know Heidern wants gone forever and ever. Heidern has known Saishu and Takuma for quite some time (they were in his days) and so finding a team in '98 wasn't hard. If only, now, he can get through all those pesky children.
So Heidern, how 'bout those Rugal slaying techniques? Well, Boo don't know, as i've only played the '95 Heidern, so he might have changed a lot. I can say to play him trickily. Keep opponents in check with trycky tech. You can often get in with a too-good storm bringer before they know it. Use the neck roller (if it's still '95 style) to counter, and, like Leona, use that Moon Slasher to no end. In '95, his cross cutter was very fast (in fact, you could combo two of them sometimes) if this is still true, then the tactic can go unsaid. Ever notice Heiderns similarity to Rolento of Final Fight and Street Fighter Alpha 2 & 3?
-Sho Reppadan-
Heidern: "I WILL beat Rugal down, wether it be with a bat or a spoon. Who's with me!?"
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