Bear Hugger

Bear Hugger
Species	Human
Affiliation	WVBA
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Blue
Age	32
Weight	330 lbs.
Origin	Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
Voiced by	Charles Martinet (1994) Richard Newman (2009)
Debut	Super Punch-Out!!

Bear Hugger is a heavyweight Canadian boxer who appears as an opponent in several Punch-Out!! games.

Backgrounds

Bear Hugger was originally a carpenter who grew up beating up various animals in the forest. His favorite was a grizzly bear who acted as his sparring partner and was his greatest rival until he started his boxing career. The giant lumberjack thrived on syrup, which he believed made him as strong as a bear. The Bear Hug was his most powerful move, as it was a one-hit KO in its first appearance, despite being reduced in power in his later appearances.

He first appeared in Super Punch-Out!! for the arcade as the first opponent and the Champion of Canada. Despite having a one-hit KO move and being immune to body blows, he attacked very sparsely and could easily be defeated with a combination of ducking his Bear Hug technique and uppercutting him in the face. He also appeared in the Super NES Super Punch-Out!!, where he was the rank #2 combatant in the Minor Circuit as well as being the second overall opponent battled in the game. His Bear Hug was less dangerous, and his lower body was vulnerable to blows during a certain taunt only.

Bear Hugger reappeared in Punch-Out!! for the Wii as the #2 opponent of the Major Circuit. The accompanying slideshow depicted him drinking maple syrup and making a bear into his training partner (possibly the same from his backstory). He also had a habit of napping in between rounds. During battle, his body was now vulnerable to blows, and his Bear Hugger was even more powerful than in the Super NES game despite not being on the arcade level of being a one-hit KO again. He returned in Title Defense mode, with a new attack pattern and a squirrel partner.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he appears as an Advanced-rank Primary Spirit with the effect of lowering the player fighter's speed. When fought against in a Spirit battle, Bear Hugger's Spirit would possess King K. Rool with enhanced throwing power in a stamina battle.

Trivia

• In the Wii game, he shouts "Timber!" when he is knocked out, in reference to his lumberjacking profession.
• He also claims a love for raw fish in the Wii game, and indeed raw fish appear around him when he is defeated.
• His birthplace was originally listed as Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada in the Super NES game, but the Wii game changed it to Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Canada due to game developer Next Level Games being based in British Columbia.
• His patch of chest hair forms the shape of an evergreen tree, as another Canadian reference.