Fatal Fury Director talks Blue Mary’s return, her popularity among SNK ladies and designing unique grapplers

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves just launched their latest Season 2 DLC character this week, and she’s on of the fan favorites.

We had the opportunity to interview Fatal Fury Director Hayato Konya about Blue Mary‘s return to the series after almost three decades and what makes her unique.

Since she hasn’t really been in the series since Real Bout 2, we had to ask about Mary’s new incarnation and how she differs from how she appeared in The King of Fighters 15.

On top of that, we were also curious about Blue Mary’s standing among SNK’s iconic ladies though unsurprisingly they don’t want to play favorites.

The developers discuss more about designing unique grapplers that aren’t just large dudes too.

If you haven’t already, please check out our early impressions for Blue Mary to get a better picture of what makes her stand out from the rest of the cast.

We also previously interviewed Konya about Nightmare Geese’s return and the possibility of a Dream Jeff Bogard inclusion too.

You can find our full interview with Konya-san below.

KozPlayer: Why choose Blue Mary in particular to be DLC for Fatal Fury now and how early was she decided upon?

Konya: I believe we made this decision while we were releasing characters for Season 1. Since there are only a few female characters in Fatal Fury, I think she’s an important character in many ways.

KozPlayer: Blue Mary hasn’t been seen in a Fatal Fury game in 28 years since Real Bout 2, so how are you updating her design for COTW and how are you conveying that through her gameplay and appearance?

Konya: For this version of Blue Mary, we aimed to create a design that retains the iconic elements of her past iterations while also exuding her new charm as a stylish, sophisticated woman. In particular, we paid special attention to her hairstyle and silhouette to ensure her look was stylish and chic.

KozPlayer: We did previously get Blue Mary in King of Fighters 15, so how are you differentiating her here compared to her recent KOF iterations?

Konya: In terms of character design, there isn’t much of a difference from the KOF series. However, since the gameplay in KOF and Fatal Fury are different, there’s a significant difference in how they feel to play. I highly recommend trying out Blue Mary to see for yourself!

KozPlayer: Were there any specific inspirations like fashion, martial arts references or previous SNK titles that influenced her updated design and moveset?

Konya: Since Blue Mary is an agent, I wanted to make the most of that backstory and came up with something that feels true to her character. Since she was working with Kevin at this time, I added a move where she apprehends her opponent just like a police officer.

KozPlayer: SNK has a number of iconic women in the fighting game space between the likes of Mai, Kula, Nakoruru and Athena, so where does Blue Mary rank in popularity among the ladies of Fatal Fury and KOF with fans and inside SNK?

Konya: It might be because she’s one of the few female fighters in Fatal Fury, but I’ve been hearing a lot of requests for Blue Mary to join the roster ever since the game’s launch. It’s hard to say whether she’s better or worse than others, but she’s an incredibly popular character.

KozPlayer: Blue Mary has a fairly unique design for a fighting game grappler in terms of her size, appearance and use of Sambo, so do you know what the original intent and idea was behind her design and why she was brought into Fatal Fury 3?

Konya: Fatal Fury features many male characters, so there was a desire to have a female lead besides Mai Shiranui. We also wanted to include a grappler in the game, and, at the time, grapplers were typically portrayed as muscular men. We thought it would be interesting to overturn all those stereotypes—and that’s how Blue Mary was born.

KozPlayer: How can a grappler like Blue Mary take advantage of COTW’s REV System, and what sorts of things can she do that was never possible for her before?

Konya: Of course, we’ve made adjustments specific to the REV system. Since it offers a variety of actions different from KOF, we encourage you to give it a try and experience it for yourself.

KozPlayer: Can you give us an interesting fact about Blue Mary’s personal life that fans don’t know about?

Konya: This time, we’ve incorporated a few secrets about Blue Mary into the EOST story. We hope you’ll give EOST a try and have fun playing it.

KozPlayer: How does Blue Mary fit into City of the Wolves, and what was she up to during Garou: Mark of the Wolves?

Konya: Her movements are top secret, so we don’t know everything either… But I’m guessing she was investigating Freeman on Kevin’s behalf. Once she finishes her investigation and returns to Southtown, the KOF will already be underway, and with Stroheim involved, she’s going to have her hands full.