Kunio

Character Information

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Name:	Kunio
Name (kanji/kana):	くにお
Affiliation(s)	{{{Affiliations}}}
Year	{{{year}}}
Birthday	{{{birthday}}}
Blood Type	{{{blood type}}}
Localized Name(s)	Mr. K Sam Alex Jeff Cooney

Kunio (くにお) is the first recurring and protagonist character of the series. He serves as the guardian of Nekketsu High School against rival schools and is the captain of his school's Dodgeball team, although he excels at other sports (such as soccer and hockey). Despite his roughed up appearance and scowl, he is deemed a nice person who helps those in need of it.

Appearances

Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun

Kunio first appears in Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, where he is chasing a gang and trying to get revenge for his beaten friend, Hiroshi. In the Famicom version, Kunio has to rescue Hiroshi from the leader of a yakuza gang, Sabu.

Nekketsu Kōkō Dodge Ball Bu

His second appearance is in Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu, and he is the captain of Team Nekketsu HS. In the opening sequence (JP arcade version) he is being hit by a dodge ball thrown by a passing thug and his teammates chasing after said thug.

Super Dodge Ball (Neo Geo)

Kunio as he appears in Super Dodge Ball (Neo Geo)

A tough guy from Nekketsu High School. His Power Shots are the Nekketsu Nut Shot and the Nekketsu Rolling Shot. His Super Shot is the Nekketsu Royal Strike. He is an all-around type character, and his default teammates are Kamekichi and Musashi.

After defeating D.B Maou, the latter states that he created the tournament for the purpose of making people hate the sport after he became frustrated in an incident where he killed his wife with one of his super shots, thus began to hate the sport. Kunio states that he does not hates dodge ball, and the reason why he entered the tournament is because he loves the sport even after all he went through in the tournament, and should D.B Maou host another tournament, he would wish to participate in it again.

Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari

In this game he teams up with his rival Riki in order to rescue Riki's girlfriend (Mami) from Yamada and his gang. His main technique is Mach Kick in the GBA version.

Localized versions

• In Renegade, Kunio was known as a nameless vigilante (Mr. K in the NES version), who had to rescue his girlfriend from a gang thug.
• In NES version of Super Dodge Ball, Kunio was named Sam, a captain of Team USA.
• In River City Ransom, Kunio is known as Alex.

• In Crash 'n the Boys: Street Challenge, Kunio was named Jeff "Crash" Cooney, a captain of Team Southside High School.

• In River City Ransom Underground Alex's full name was Alex Kun

Trivia

• He is named after Technōs Japan's former president, Kunio Taki.
• Kunio is the only character, who's name was not mixed up in Nintendo World Cup.
• The character Yusuke Urameshi from the Yu Yu Hakusho bares a resemblance to him.

• Kunio's birthday is on Nov. 27.
• Although never referred as such, Kunio can be considered Nekketsu High's Banchō (番長), a japanese term used to call the leader of a juvenile delinquent gang.This can be noticed due to the fact most of his schoolmates often look up to him (Ex: Hiroshi), and is always the captain of the Nekketsu High sports team in every respective game.
• Also, the typical image of a banchō is an uncouth fighter who has a strong sense of honor.

Shodai Kunio.jpg