Joe Higashi

Joe first appears in Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as one of the three playable characters along with Andy and Terry Bogard. The plot features Joe allying with the Bogard brothers to enter the King of Fighters tournament and the defeat the host Geese Howard, who the Bogard brothers' father. In the tournament, Joe also beats his Muay Thai rival Hwa Jai, and both become friends. In Fatal Fury 2, Joe learns that Hwa Jai was beaten by the new King of Fighters host Wolfgang Krauser and enters the tournament to avenge him. Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final Victory and Real Bout Fatal Fury end the fight between Joe and the Bogard and Geese, who dies falling from the Geese Tower. The two following games, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers also feature Joe as a playable character but none of them contain a storyline. Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition retells the events from the first game, but with characters who would appear later.

In The King of Fighters series, Joe is a regular member from the Fatal Fury Team (also composed of Terry and Andy), and each game features them entering into an annual tournament to search for competition. Andy's girlfriend Mai Shiranui, joins them in The King of Fighters '99 since the tournament now requires four members per team. By The King of Fighters 2000 and The King of Fighters 2001, Mai leaves and the new fourth member is Blue Mary. The King of Fighters 2002 and The King of Fighters 2003 return the tournament to use teams of three members, but in the latter pro-wrestler Tizoc replaces Andy, who is busy taking care of his sick student. By The King of Fighters XI, Joe leaves the competition as he enters into a new Muay Thai tournament. However, he returns in The King of Fighters XII, which neither features official teams or plot. In the spin-off The King of Fighters Kyo, the player (who uses Kyo Kusanagi) can challenge Joe to a fight in a game, and also make him join to his team for the upcoming King of Fighters tournament. Joe also takes a minor role in The King of Fighters EX as an assistant character (dubbed "Striker") for the Fatal Fury Team, now composed with the Bogard brothers and Mai. Additionally, he stars in The King of Fighters Neowave with the original Fatal Fury Team. He was also added to the crossover game Capcom vs. SNK Pro, an updated version of Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 for the PlayStaion and Sega Dreamcast, and in the sequel Capcom vs. SNK 2.