Armor of Mars (Fatal Fury)

The Armor of Mars is an artifact that features in the animated movie Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture.

History
The Armor of Mars was a legendary relic linked to Rhodos Island in the Mediterranean Sea. At some king, a powerful ruler known as King Gaudemus had risen to power who was more feared than the god of war Mars. He was noted for being a powerful combatant and wore a suit of armor. At this time, the reign of Alexander the Great had risen to power who had conquered much of the the world with his empire ranging from Europe to western Asia. As part of his campaigns, he intended to claim the ends of the Earth and thus moved to the east where he was stopped at the Indus River. Though history attributed the end of his campaign to fatigue, the truth was that he was stopped by King Gaudemus. Whilst defeated, Alexander struck a truce with Gaudemus whereupon he returned to his kingdom but never forgot his defeat. Afterwards, he would invite Gaudemus to Babylon and for reasons unknown Alexander would fall ill as well as die. As a consequence, his terrified generals ambushed their guest and Gaudemus was burnt alive within his armor. Though killed, his armor actually survived the inferno that killed its wearer and without a scratch on its surface. This would become known as the Armor of Mars where the curse of Gaudemus flowed inside of it with any wearer being transformed into Mars himself and it was responsible for setting Babylon ablaze. Despite its power, four warriors managed to challenge Mars where they won after a brutal battle. In the aftermath, the Armor was split into six sepearate pieces that were sealed in stone in order to prevent this threat from ever being inflicted on the world again. These pieces were scattered throughout Alexander's empire in the hopes that their terrifying power would never be allowed to return. Five of Alexander's generals each carried one of the piece that were placed in secret underground chambers at Macedonia, Thrace, Egypt, Iraq and Turkey. In Egypt, General Laomedon sealed off any underground chamber in the palace to serve as a resting place for his piece of the artifact.

At some point, the ruins of Alexander's empire were raided by crusaders many years ago. These saw the underground chambers of several sites being discovered and a piece of the Armor being taken back to Europe and other locations. Genghis Khan was one noted conqueror who had stolen a piece of the Armor of Mars and taken it to China. Through such means, a piece of the Armor went into the hands of Richard Stroheim in the time of the Crusades. He would later take the breastplate back to Castle Stronheim in Germany where it remained in the House of Stronheim for centuries. Through it, a technique of King Gaudemus was learnt by a descendant of House of Stronheim down to its latest son in the form of Krauser. Similarly, another piece found its way to China where it was at the Ryu-o Temple and there the Hakkyoku-Seiken stance was learnt from Gaudemus's fighting style. As such, a lasting legacy of King Gaudemus was the influence of some specialised martial artist schools around the world. After his demise, Gaudemus's country would be plundered and his heirs would be exiled from their homeland. Those survivors of his bloodline had long held the dream of a time when their suffering would finally end. The legends surrounding the Armor were shown through paintings in a chamber at Rhodes and various inscriptions detailed the history of Gaudemus. These included a map that showed the location of five pieces of the armor though the last relic was not detailed on it. According to legend, if any member of the cursed bloodline ever wore the armor again than they would control the power of Mars and the family would be finally set free.

During the modern era, a descendant of King Gaudemus fathered two children in the form of an older son called Laocorn Gaudemus and a younger daughter called Sulia Gaudemus. Their father started a career as an archaeologist where he split his time between raising his children after their mother died and his studies. The father was noted to had a family pendant which drew an interest in his colleague thus leading to a research into the legends of Gaudemus. It was he who discovered the ruins at Rhodes and a necklace that contained clues to the Armor of Mars. Their father of the two children later used the map in the underground cavern to find the first piece of the Armor which excited the archaeological community. However, the fame generated by this time inspired greed in the archaeologists colleague who betrayed him and murdered him with the death masked as a robbery. Afterwards, the colleague would claim all credit for the research and became famous though never believed that the relic had any true power. Despite his achievements, the deceased's two children knew the truth and Laocorn confronted their father's colleague. The researcher would shoot the boy and attempt to kill him but Laocorn had inadvertently worn the arm piece of the Armor of Mars thus gaining the power he desired. With it, he survived the bullet wound and killed his father's killer. In time, the world would forget the rediscovery of the legend of Gaudemus though Laocorn himself went down the path of power as he desired the acquire all the pieces of the Armor with this act leading to him being estranged from his sister. Laocorn inherited the power of Gaudemus and the curse of the blood where he vowed to claim all six pieces of the Armor as he believed that acquiring them would turn him into a god.

In 1994, Professor Cheng was conducting an archaeological dig in Alexandria at Egypt in order to uncover one of the pieces of the artifact. During the dig, he managed to uncover the piece underground at which point the three martial artists serving Lord Laocorn attacked where they decimated the people on the surface. Cheng attempted to flee in a vehicle with the recovered relic but was attacked and killed by Laocorn himself who equipped the piece of the armor to his body. At the same time, Laocorn's sister Sulia intended to stop her brother's mad scheme and intended to enlist the aid of the best martial artist. She determined that this was Terry Bogard who was in Japan and managed to gain fame for his defeat of Krauser. Sulia managed to find Bogard and asked for his help but he was skeptical about aiding a stranger but ultimately helped her when she was attacked by agents of Laocorn. She would explain the history of Gaudemus by taking Bogard and his friends to Rhodes Island and asked for their help in saving her brother from a horrible fate of being consumed by their illustrious ancestor. With Terry's friends, they split up to various sites to recover the pieces. At the same time, Laocorn's followers were working to gather the remaining three pieces as three had already been taken. One travelled to Castle Stronheim in Germany to acquire the breastplate whilst another went to the Hebei Province in China to steal it from Andy Bogard after he was defeated in a fight. With five pieces acquired, a search started for the final part of the Armor of Mars where the heroes managed to discover a secret map of its location being within the Rhodes temple. Using the necklace, it revealed that the final piece resided in the Dead Sea at Israel.

Howeve, Laocorn attacked and managed to kidnap Sulia where he attempted to acquire the last piece. This saw a large temple rise from the waters of the Dead Sea and Laocorn moved to retrieve the crown from the central chamber. Terry Bogard and his friends moved to pursue them where they battled Laocorn's followers but were ultimately too late as he placed the mask as his crown. The act increased his power greatly and he managed to easily defeat his opponents. However, a consequence of completing the Armor of Mars meant that it increased the bond between Laocorn and his sister Sulia. Thus, any injury to her weakened him as well which was why she decided to sacrifice her life to weaken her brother. She would stab her heart which gave her a fatal wound and weakened that portion of the Armor on her brother. This allowed strike the weak spot which disassembled the Armor from Laocorn who went into shock at his actions. However, the fallen pieces of the Armor melted and joined the statue of Gaudemus where they formed a powerful energy entity that was Mars itself that intended to be resurrected through such means. Its power was so great that it almost killed all its enemies until Terry Bogard utilized a powerful energy attack that killed it thus destroying the Armor of Mars completely.

Overview
It was composed of six golden colored separate pieces that were meant to be attached to the body. This included a crown-like mask, two arm braces, a belt and two leg braces. Once attached, the armor expanded in order to cover a portion of the body. From the arm pieces, a wearer was capable of greater levels of strength, speed and endurance. They also seemingly gained greater levels of martial art skills to the point that they were able to refine their personal chi into energy attack. An example was the creation of orb-like energy attacks capable of wounding a person or killing them. Such fine control over these attacks were provided to the wearer as it allowed them to actually stop their attack whilst in motion. The equipping of each piece to the body made their user even more powerful. After being completed, the body of the user became almost completely armored except for the face. The energy attacks of the Armor were much powerful and to such an extent that parts of it ruptured at a distance to destroy a helicopter.

According to legend, the wearer of the completed armor would become a god-like being and the embodiment of Mars. However, in truth, the cursed bloodline meant that the Armor's true intention was for the wearer to become consumed by Gaudemus. Thus, it possibly influenced and corrupted its users as Laocorn showed regret at being responsible for the death of his sister. As such, once completed, the Armor of Mars meltered where it merged with one another to release the true form of Mars. This appeared as a fiery humanoid entity that was composed of pure energy and only capable of being destroyed by an even greater energy. Its energy composition allowed it to even produce multiple limbs and attacks.

Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: The Mother Picture