RIP: Omega Rugal is coming for free in KOF 15.

Beat him in boss mode to unlock a new skin.. good luck!!

In KOF ’95, Omega Rugal retains almost the same moveset from his original version in ’94, however, most of his normal and special moves gained a lot more priority and damage. His Dark Barrier, not unlike several reflectors of its nature, nowobtains a hitbox besides its usual projectile bounce property and incredibly fast recovery, becoming one of his cheapest methods to win. In spite of being a final boss character, he’s playable by a code, however, and his boss properties never got toned down for competitive gameplay. His infamous Genocide Cutter‘s damage ratio has barely changed as well. Also in this form, he eventually gains his very first legitimate Desperation Move, the Gigantic Pressure, a stronger version of his God Press that causes the iconic Orochi skull pillar to emerge as Rugal slams his opponent to the corner, and resembles Mature’s Heaven’s Gate. Said DM also eventually becomes Rugal’s initial DM for all of his incarnations.

In KOF ’98, his moveset was changed via most of his special moves, and he lacks his normal version’s Dead End Screamer DM, but gains two new ones: the Rugal Execution and the Destruction Omega. The former is where he injects his hand into opponent to overload them with green fire, and the latter is a pummeling combo after a grab ending in his Genocide Cutter (which ironically may miss if he’s too close to his opponent). He only retained his Dark Barrier move from the original version of Rugal. His Genocide Cutter (now dubbed Dark Genocide) gains a second launching kick (with his alternate leg) with its priority and damage increased. He lacks his Reppuuken, Kaiser Wave and God Press special moves, and instead gained a new projectile: a chargeable projectile called the Gravity Smash (which can also be done in midair and bears strong resemblance to the Kaiser Wave), and a rushing multi-hitting attack named Vanishing Rush (which despite its appearance does not render him completely invincible). He’s only playable in the console versions of KOF ’98, and most of his moves have increased properties in ’98 UM. Also, all of his DM’s are oddly grab attacks that can be blocked in this version.

In KOF 2002, he returns to his classic moveset, but with even more power and speed (as well as more cybernetic outfitting in much of his artwork for that specific version). His standard Kaiser Wave travels extremely fast with notably quick start-up, and by holding the punch button during the motion, he can charge up the move for two versions of the projectile, the Divine Arrow (used by Igniz and even in this incarnation, shares the same voice actor as him) and his classic Gravity Smash, the last one becoming an unblockable projectile. His Genocide Cutter retains his ’98 values using the B button, but his D button performs a third downward overhead kick. Gained a new move dubbed Beads Destruction which is a barrage of kicks that juggles opponents in the third hit, while the D version performs a downward chop as a fourth attack. His Hidden Desperation Move/MAX2 DM is the Kaiser Phoenix, which is a barrage of randomly generated versions of Kaiser Waves, Divine Arrows and Gravity Smashes. He also retains his Gigantic Pressure and Destruction Omega DM’s, and is only playable in console versions.

The home version of KOF Neowave features him as a playable character, but he’s drastically toned down in comparison with his 2002 version. However, his 2002 UM incarnation brings him back up to boss status with several more properties on his moves, and the ability for his Kaiser Phoenix to hit OTG at the cost of its original damage output.

The 2002, Neowave and 2002 UM versions are also infamous for the Kaiser Wave‘s ability to possess a hitbox behind Rugal while he is charging the attack, allowing people who roll past him to be punished. Timing this trick right can allow Rugal, via a bug, to detach the fully-charged projectile behind himself, catching his opponent with it and instantly draining their HP to zero in one go.