is a video game character created by Japanese video game company SNK. He was introduced in the 1992 fighting game Art of Fighting as the best friend of Ryo Sakazaki, the game's lead character. The game has both of them as practitioners of the fighting style who search for Ryo's younger sister, Yuri Sakazaki, who was kidnapped by a criminal named Mr. Big. He is additionally featured in most of The King of Fighters crossover games, in which starts into the King of Fighters tournament in teams composed of three members. Thus far, he has been a playable character in every edition of KOF except The King of Fighters XI; however, he has been added back in for the PlayStation 2 version of the game. Besides Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters, an older Robert has appeared as downloadable content in the video game Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, but under the name . Robert appeared in the film adaptation of Art of Fighting and the manhua from The King of Fighters.

Robert and Ryo were created in Art of Fighting to have a notable role in the narrative based on the game's presentation. Across his appearances, Robert's appearance has changed influenced by multiple famous actors though his gameplay has remained consistent to focus on kicks to contrast Ryo's punches. The character was also used several times in crossovers which led to revisions in The King of Fighters and a major redesign in Fatal Fury to tease a future installment in the Art of Fighting series.

Robert received mixed critics from video game publications. Some praised his design, but some also noted similarities between him and characters from Street Fighter, which eventually led Capcom, the company behind Street Fighter, to make their own parody character. His inclusion in the Fatal Fury series as "Mr. Karate III", the nickname Takuma and Ryo often used in previous SNK games, surprised journalists and gamers. Nevertheless, it received an overall positive response based on his new design and how he still incorporates classic techniques from previous games.

Creation and design

Robert Garcia was based on the actors Steven Seagal and Andy Garcia. SNK staff members Youichiro Soeda said that Ryo and Robert's debut was unique to other games based on the company because it did not focus on fighting tournaments but instead of the duo's quest to save Yuri Sakazaki.Hiroshi Matsumoto made Art of Fighting story driven, which was uncommon in fighting games, to make the characters more appealing. Artist Shinkiro once stated in an interview that he had difficulty designing Robert due to having "no idea how rich people act or behave".

For the second Art of Fighting game, SNK kept the same outfit for Robert, having scrapped three concept outfits. Robert's stage from Art of Fighting 2 helps to further show his background, as it features his wealthy state by featuring his butler and his father, who is the leader of a business corporation. Robert eventually abandons martial arts to succeed his father's business. According to writer Akihiko Ureshino, while both Robert and Yuri are more talented than Ryo, Ryo will eventually surpass the both of them due to their different personal lives. . In regards to the third Art of Fighting, the game was noted to be called "Gaiden" (lit. "alternative story") as a result of the story focusing now on Robert rather than Ryo. In Art of Fighting 3, Robert was given a new outfit which would be reincorporated in The King of Fighters series. Voice actor Mantaro Koichi found Robert's appearance manly and compared his poses to tokusatsu characters.

In the making of The King of Fighters, Robert was made "the slimmest of them all" in comparison to his original design. His Osaka accent was given to fit Psycho Soldier Sie Kensou and give both of them the traits of comedians. His original moves in The King of Fighters '94 were considered too overpowered, which led to revisions in the sequel The King of Fighters '95. The developers for The King of Fighters XIII wanted Robert to be able to do almost any type of technique. His special moves were created to be highly accessible while also highlighting his focus on kicks. The final move was inspired by the leader's super special move from The King of Fighters 2003. SNK wanted wanted to incorporate a power-up into it, which led to the final presentation. His strongest move in XIII is an enhanced version of "Hien Ryujin Kyaku," but it can be performed from both the ground and the air. The staff noted that back in The King of Fighters XII, Robert lacked notable moves, something which they believe Iori Yagami also suffered. The SNK worked properly to make him appealing to use as they all like him. Due to fears of Robert's outfit feeling dated, SNK revised him for The King of Fighters XIV to make him stand out more by giving a new redesign based on an unspecified American actor. In several games from the series, Robert's gameplay was changed from the classic "shoto" archeytpe and instead becomes a charge character where a player uses defensive tactics to create the same techniques. Both versions are playable in The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match.

In the crossover fighting game Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, Robert Garcia was given a new design similar to Art of Fighting 3, but he was made older. For Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Robert was added as downloadable content. Since Art of Fighting character Mr. Big was already part of the initial rooster, Director Hayato Konya wanted to add more crossover elements between Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. Konya initially considered using Ryo and Yuri as potential DLCs as tease for a potential new Art of Fighting game. Konya believed the original Mr. Karate was one of the most famous icons in SNK history, even more than Terry Bogard and thus considered adding it to provide further depth to the story. As a hint to his true identity, Mr. Karate was given a distinct Italian accent and moves focused on kicks. Since Ryo had taken the nickname of Mr. Karate II in a previous SNK game, Konya believed it would be fitting if Robert instead took the name Mr. Karate III and add a sense of confusion to gamers who would wonder where is Ryo.

Appearances In Art of Fighting, Robert Garcia is a martial artist who joins his friend Ryo Sakazaki to find the missing Yuri who was kidnapped by the criminal Mr. Big. After defeating Mr. Big, Ryo and Robert face an assassin named Mr. Karate but are stopped by Yuri. The second Art of Fighting game features Robert, Ryo, Takuma and a now fighter Yuri entering into the first King of Fighters tournament held by Geese Howard, the main responsible for the kidnap. In Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior, Robert visits Central America to help Freya Lawrence, a childhood friend, save her brother Wyler, whose demonic power made him go berserk. In his ending, Robert stops Wyler and goes back to Italy. However, before entering into the plane, Yuri accompanies him.

In The King of Fighters series, Takuma, Ryo, and Robert are part of the Art of Fighting Team, but in some games they form different allies. Robert is absent in the arcade version of The King of Fighters XI, but the PlayStation 2 version featured him as an unlockable character. Alongside an aged Ryo Sakazaki from Buriki One, an aged Robert appears in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. In his ending, it is revealed that Robert wishes to stay away from his family business and still work as part of teaching the Kyokugen Ryu. Outside Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters, an older version of Robert appears a playable character in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves via downloadable content, in which he enters the King of Fighters tournament to try and unlock the final secret Kyokugen technique, using the alias of Mr. Karate to hide his identity. In promoting the DLC, Rando Ayamine wrote a one-shot manga focused on Robert's mission.https://x.com/FATALFURY_PR/status/2060677751573766635

He is also present in mobile phone games Metal Slug Defense, The King of Fighters '98 Unlimited Match Online and Kimi wa Hero. The dating sim Days of Memories also features him. Although he is not playable in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, Robert is often mentioned by other characters and makes a cameo in the endings from Takuma and Ryo. Another cameo of him is in Yuri's ending from SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. He is also present in as well as the otome game King of Fighters for Girls.

Robert also appears in the Art of Fighting anime film from 1993. The plot of the film is loosely based on the first Art of Fighting game, with Robert and Ryo searching for Yuri, who has been kidnapped by Mr. Big. He is voiced by Masanori Ikeda in the Japanese version of the film, and by Nick Sullivan in the English adaptation. Two manga based on the Art of Fighting games also follow Robert's role in the games. Robert is featured in the manhua adaptations from The King of Fighters series, which tell how he participates in the fighting tournaments.

Reception Critical response to Robert's role in Art of Fighting was mixed. Videogamer.com writer Wesley Yin-Poole labeled Robert and Ryo as "two double-hard bastards" and commented they had the best designs from the Art of Fighting series in comparison to the other characters, who had "wicked" appearances. Spanner Spencer from Eurogamer added that Robert had the best appearance from all the characters of the Art of Fighting series, but labelled him as a "greasy yuppie". Juan E. Hernandez from IGN also compared both Robert and Ryo to Street Fighter, as well Dragon Ball characters based on their type of techniques. Greg Kasavin from GameSpot listed his "Haohshokohken" move from Art of Fighting as one of the most influential fireball moves in fighting games' history. The character of Dan Hibiki from the Street Fighter series is deemed as a parody of Ryo due to his similarities with Ryu and Ken, but his design is more similar to Robert's to the point that in SVC Chaos, characters often confuse Dan with Robert. Dan was meant to be a joke about both Ryo and Robert as SNK "stole the talent" from their own company when they started making their own Street Fighter sequels. With the promotion of Robert and Ryo got The King of Fighters XV, Raúl Velásquez from TheGamer saw such trailer as one of SNK's multiple answers to Dan's character, especially his role in Street Fighter V, while elaborating on how much Robert contrasts Ryo's fighting style despite the two fighters practicing the same martial art.

There was commentary about his role in Art of Fighting 3 and origins. While Den of Geek compared him to Street Fighter character Ken Masters based on their similar personalities, few people cared about such protagonist roles in the third installment despite being the lead. In retrospect, Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games noted Art of Fighting 3 was nicknamed Gaiden in Japan to further clarify this installment was focused on Robert rather than Ryo. This led to analysis of why Robert's story takes place in Mexico as he considered his last name Garcia as an indication that he is Mexican though SNK's developers claimed he is actually Italian descendant. This often confused people because he represents Mexico in The King of Fighters '94. Though Robert is the protagonist in a story set in Mexico, it is suggested he at least grew in such country with a friend of him having a Mexican sounding name, Friea Lawrence. Mexican company Evoga originally thought Robert was Mexican due to the team being called Mexico in The King of Fighters '94 yet Art of Fighting 3 revealed he was Italian much to their comical response.