(last updated: 12/28/17)The Japanese city of Southtown has always been a premiere city for the unveiling of the world's most cutting edge fighters; many tournaments have been born on its streets. However, what many people don't know is that Southtown is also host and birthplace of one of the world's most powerful criminal organizations ever; the Southtown Syndicate.
Some time ago, one of the major acts that allowed the Syndicate to gain its current power and influence was the killing of Jeff Bogard, one of the few fighters at the time who could directly oppose the Syndicate's interests in the city. Coercing the then-master of Kyokugen Karate, Takuma Sakazaki, to weaken Jeff on its behalf through the kidnapping of Takuma's daughter Yuri, the Syndicate was able to kill Jeff Bogard and cement its position in the city. Soon thereafter, Geese Howard, then the corrupt police commissioner of Southtown, became a powerful business magnate, spearheading the creation of Howard Industries through these dealings.
While Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia were able to save Yuri and so free Takuma from the Syndicate's grip, with Ryo inheriting the Kyokugen Dojo in the process, the events of this incident still resonate with many powerful martial artists as fresh and raw today as it did so many years ago.