Bao (King of Fighters)

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Bao
Game series	King of Fighters series
First game	King of Fighters '99
In-Universe Information
Birthplace	China
Blood type	O
Fighting style	Supernatural power
Likes	Consumer games, network games, fishing, B-Games, hardware for home use
Dislikes	"Huge PRG"

Bao is a character in the King of Fighters series.

[edit] History

Bao was a young child who had little in life. He was abandoned by his parents at a very young age, and he wandered China an orphan with no place to call home. That was until Chin Gentsai, a respectful, but drunk-propense old man, decided to adopt the child out of pity and good will. Thus, Bao stayed at Chin's home with his wife.

During the next few days, Bao begin to display enormous amounts of psychic power that he never knew of before. Before it could get out of control, Chin decided it necessary that Bao should train with him in order to control such power. And thus, Chin introduced Bao to Sie Kensou, his other adoptive student, and Athena Asamiya.

Bao was admitted as the new "Psycho Soldier" for the new King of Fighters tournament in 1999. It seems that Bao's psychic powers are somewhat bonded to those of Kensou's, as Kensou gradually begins to lose his psychic powers around the same time Bao appeared in the scene.

When Kensou rescues Athena from the crumbling underground NESTS base by the end of the King of Fighters '99 tournament, Kensou is forced to expel a huge amount of psychic power in order to save Athena out of sheer desperation. This unexpected outburst of energy causes both Bao and Kensou to lose consciousness roughly about the same time. Having witnessed this awesome display of power, Chin begins to wonder the link that exists between Bao and Kensou.

In the next year (The King of Fighters 2000), however, nothing seems to change much as Kensou remains powerless while Bao does not seem to have changed at all. When Bao and company arrive at Southtown, the main base of operations for NESTS that year, they are taken by surprise when several blasts from the Zero Cannon in outer space begin to obliterate Southtown. One of said shots is headed directly towards Bao and his friends. Bao takes it upon himself to absorb the powerful blast by expelling a tremendous amount of psychic energy himself. However, the infant body of Bao is unable to withstand such an overwhelming pressure and the subsecuent explosion, placing Bao in a critical status. Kensou holds the agonizing Bao in his arms, and everything seems hopeless, until Kensou decides to give Bao "the kiss of life", which triggers a strange supernatural phenomenon. Bao manages to survive, and Kensou seems to have regained his psychic powers at the same time.

Despite being saved by Kensou in the nick of time, Bao has to spend most of the upcoming year in a surrogate state of coma, while Chin continues to wonder about the connection between Kensou and Bao's powers. Bao regains consciousness just in time for the next King of Fighters tournament (The King of Fighters 2001), although this time, Bao seems to be the one who is lacking psychic power. After the destruction of NESTS, Kensou admits that he feels invigorated by the new power taken from Bao. However, Bao seems to know the secret behind the bond between him and Kensou, but does not reveal it upfront.

It appears that both Kensou and Bao share the same source of energy: the Dragon Power. It is unknown exactly how this magnificent energy works, but Ron and Misty (sole survivors of the fallen NESTS organization) seem to take an interest in it, revealing a probable importance of the Dragon Power in future KOF storylines.

[edit] Trivia

Bao appears in various Hugo opening poses in the game SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom. The reason for this is Bao is also a fan of Pro-Wrestling of André the Giant, from whom Hugo was based on.
Bao makes a cameo in the China stage of KOF 2002.
Bao and Chin Gentsai both appear in the background of the Capcom vs. SNK 2, Shanghai stage.
Bao also appears in the daytime Dragon's Lair stage in KOF: Maximum Impact 2.
Early designs of Bao showed that he was initially going to be a girl, but this quickly changed.
Many fans of the series have expressed negative criticism of him since his debut. (Despite this, he does have a fanbase. Much of this fanbase also despises his "replacement", Momoko.) It's important to note that his design was meant to appeal to younger KOF fans.