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List of The King of Fighters characters

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(Redirected from K9999)
"Heavy D!" redirects here. For other, see Heavy D (disambiguation).

Character roster of The King of Fighters XV

The King of Fighters fighting game series, produced by SNK, includes a wide cast of characters, some of which are taken from other SNK games. The story takes place in a fictional universe in which an annual series of 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 fighting tournaments are held.

The first game in the series introduces the initial main character of the series, Kyo Kusanagi, a young Japanese fighter who is the heir to a powerful group of martial artists having pyrokinetic abilities. Kyo fights against the Kusanagi clan's enemies, his rival Iori Yagami, and the snake demon Orochi and its human followers, among others. The first four games in the series revolve about these fights, while The King of Fighters '99 introduces a new story arc, revolving around K′, a young man who seeks to destroy the mysterious NESTS organization because they kidnapped him at an early age and stripped him of his past memories, so that they could force him to be a fighter under their control. In The King of Fighters 2003, a new character named Ash Crimson enters the tournament, to steal the powers of the clans who sealed the Orochi in the past for unknown reasons. A new group of antagonists, known as Those From the Past, also appears in the series; they want to obtain Orochi's power for the purpose of giving it to their unknown master. The latest story arc involves the young Shun'ei who possesses unknown supernatural powers connected with Ash's timetravelling paradox and is capable gathering new deities from other dimensions. The cast of the Orochi arc was further expanded EX Neo Blood spin-offs while Maximum Impact deals with new defenders from South Town led by the Miera brothers.

The plot and the characters came from the Yamata no Orochi legend. There are also several characters in the games that are parodies or homages. Merchandise based on the characters has also been released, including action figures and keychains. The characters have garnered praise from several video game publications for the quality of their designs and movesets. Comments focused on the lack of improvements in some of the characters, but added that the roster is greatly diverse.

Cast creation and influences

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The developers of the series claim that their prototype version for King of Fighters was going to be a Double Dragon-style side-scrolling beat 'em up titled Survivor. It would have used only core characters from the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury series, specifically allowing players to play Robert Garcia and Terry Bogard for location testing. However, the idea was quickly abandoned. Since the developers were attached to the idea of the two series cross-over, they eventually agreed to make their idea into a fighting game. Characters from the Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier games were also added in the spirit of other gaming genres considered for their final product. The concept of a three-man team was one of the ideas kept from the side-scrolling version.[1] Flagship director Toyohisa Tanabe asserts that the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury fighters were added specifically for adults. The newer King of Fighters characters were aimed to appeal to younger and newer audiences. He adds that every original character for the series was added based on the developers' strong desire to make one. For example, he agreed to include characters such as Benimaru Nikaido and Chang Koehan to add an off-beat variety to the cast, which he had previously deemed to be too serious. Later in the series, their approach to creating their characters altered slightly, to also serve as a type of fan service, which he refers to as a collaborative effort between fans and the staff.[2]

Several characters that appear in the series are parodies or homages to either anime, manga, actors, films or television shows that held the creators' interest. Noticeable examples are K9999 and Zero.[2] Characters are sometimes added at the voice actors' convenience, or to fill in gaps that occur for each installment's story; this happens with Duck King in The King of Fighters XI and Ryuji Yamazaki in The King of Fighters '97.[3][4] Several characters were added to the roster by Eolith's desire when this company sponsored SNK, to attract fans from Eolith's region.[5]

When designing characters for the first King of Fighters game, developers wanted a new, "snazzy" hero who would easily fight against Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters. Initially, this character was called Syo Kirishima, but late in the production, his name was changed to Kyo Kusanagi. This was done in order to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend, which was used as the inspiration for the first arc (and specifically featured a majestic sword known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi).[6] To continue with the idea of the Orochi plot, the designers gave several other characters, such as Kyo's rival Iori Yagami, similar characteristics to Kyo.[7] In The King of Fighters '99, to contrast the previous protagonist of the series, K' was made to be the "dark hero".[8] K's introduction to the series was meant to remove popular characters Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami from the roster, though this idea was scrapped in the game's release.[9] Due to the large additions of teenager characters in the series, SNK decided to add several middle-age ones to balance them.[10][11]

Character appearances

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The table below summarizes every single fighter in the series. A green cell indicates that the character is playable, while a red cell indicates that the character is not playable or does not appear.

Main series

[edit]
Character Origin '94 '94 Re-Bout '95 '96 '97 '98 '98 UM '99 2000 2001 2002 2002 UM 2003 XI XII XIII XIV XV Total
Adelheid Original No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No 2
Alice Nakata Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Andy Bogard Fatal Fury Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes 16
Angel Original No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes Yes 5
Antonov Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes 2
Ash Crimson Original No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes 5
Athena Asamiya Psycho Soldier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
B. Jenet Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No DLC 2
Bandeiras Hattori Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Bao Original No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No 4
Benimaru Nikaido Original Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
Billy Kane Fatal Fury No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No No DLC Yes DLC 10
Blue Mary Fatal Fury No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No DLC Yes 12
Brian Battler Original Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No 4
Chang Koehan Original Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No 14
Chin Gentsai Original Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No 15
Chizuru Kagura Original No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No Yes No No No No Yes 6
Choi Bounge Original Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes No 13
Chris Original No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes 6
Clark Still Ikari Warriors Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
Darli Dagger Samurai Showdown No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No DLC 1
Dolores Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes 1
Duck King Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Duo Lon Original No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No DLC 5
Eiji Kisaragi Art of Fighting No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No No 3
Elisabeth Blanctorche Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No Yes 4
Evil Ash Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No 1
Foxy Original No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No 2
Gai Tendo Buriki One No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Gang-il Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Gato Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No No No DLC 3
Geese Howard Fatal Fury No No No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes DLC 7
Goenitz Original No No No Yes No No Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No DLC 5
Goro Daimon Original Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No 14
Haohmaru Samurai Showdown No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No DLC 1
Heavy D! Original Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No 4
Heidern Ikari Warriors Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No No No No DLC Yes 9
Hein Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Hinako Shijo Original No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No DLC 5
Hotaru Futaba Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Hwa Jai Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No 1
Igniz Original No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No 2
Iori Yagami Original No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 16
Isla Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes 1
Jhun Hoon Original No No No No No No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No 4
Joe Higashi Fatal Fury Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 17
Jyazu Savage Reign No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
K' Original No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes 10
K9999/Krohnen McDougall Original No No No No No No No No No Yes[a] Yes[a] No No No No No No Yes[b] 3
Kasumi Todoh Art of Fighting No No No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes No Yes No No No No 6
Kim Kaphwan Fatal Fury Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes DLC 18
King Art of Fighting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes 17
Krizalid Original No No No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No 2
Kukri Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes 2
Kula Diamond Original No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes 8
Kusanagi Original No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No 3
Kyo Kusanagi Original Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
Kyo-1 Original No No No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No 2
Kyo-2 Original No No No No No No No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No 2
Leona Heidern Original No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 14
Li Xiangfei Fatal Fury No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No No 3
Lin Original No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No No No 3
Love Heart Sky Love No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Lucky Glauber Original Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No 4
Luong Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes 2
Magaki Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Mai Shiranui Fatal Fury Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes 17
Maki Kagura Original No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No 1
Malin Original No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No No No No 2
Mature Original No No No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes DLC 9
Maxima Original No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes 10
May Lee Original No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No 3
Meitenkun Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes 2
Mian Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Momoko Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Mr. Big Art of Fighting No No No Yes No No Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No No 3
Mui Mui Dragon Gal No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Mukai Original No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No 1
Najd Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No DLC DLC 2
Nakoruru Samurai Showdown No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes DLC 2
Nameless Original No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No No No 1
Nelson Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Omega Rugal Original No No Yes No No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No DLC 6
Orochi Original No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No 2
Orochi Chris Original No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No DLC 6
Orochi Iori Original No No No No Yes No Yes No No No Yes No No No No No No No 3
Orochi Leona Original No No No No Yes No Yes No No No Yes[c] Yes[c] No No No No No No 4
Orochi Shermie Original No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No DLC 6
Orochi Yashiro Original No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No DLC 6
Oswald Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No DLC No 2
Otoma=Raga Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes 1
Raiden Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes No No 2
Ralf Jones Ikari Warriors Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
Ramon Original No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes 7
Re Verse Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes 1
Robert Garcia Art of Fighting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
Rock Howard Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No DLC DLC 2
Rugal Bernstein Original Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No 4
Ryo Sakazaki Art of Fighting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
Ryuji Yamazaki Fatal Fury No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No DLC DLC 8
Saiki Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No DLC No No 1
Saisyu Kusanagi Original No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No 4
Seth Original No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No 4
Shen Woo Original No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No 4
Shermie Original No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes 6
Shingo Yabuki Original No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No DLC 11
Shion Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Sho Hayate Savage Reign No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Shun'ei Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes 2
Sie Kensou Psycho Soldier Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No 16
Silber Buriki One No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No No No 1
Sylvie Paula Paula Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes DLC 2
Takuma Sakazaki Art of Fighting Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No No 11
Terry Bogard Fatal Fury Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 18
Tizoc/King of Dinosaurs Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes[d] Yes[d] No No Yes[e] Yes[e] 4
Tung Fu Rue Fatal Fury No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No No Yes No 2
Vanessa Original No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No DLC Yes 7
Verse Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Vice Original No No No Yes No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes DLC 8
Whip Original No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No DLC Yes 9
Wolfgang Krauser Fatal Fury No No No Yes No No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No 2
Yashiro Nanakase Original No No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes Yes No No No No No Yes 6
Yuri Sakazaki Art of Fighting Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes 17
Xanadu Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Zarina Original No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No 1
Zero (Clone) Original No No No No No No No No Yes No No Yes No No No No No No 2
Zero (Original) Original No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No No No No 2
Total 25 26 26 29 35 42 51 33 36 42 50 63 37 46 22 32+2 50+8 41+22 126

Summary of the origin of the characters.[12] Franchises with less than 2 characters are combined under "other".

  Original (66%)
  Art of Fighting (6%)
  Buriki One (2%)
  Fatal Fury (17%)
  Ikari Warriors (2%)
  Psycho Soldier (2%)
  Samurai Shodown (2%)
  Savage Reign (2%)
  Other (1%)
Notes
  1. ^ a b As K9999
  2. ^ As Krohnen
  3. ^ a b As an in-game transformation for Leona
  4. ^ a b As Tizoc
  5. ^ a b As King of Dinosaurs

Spin-Offs

[edit]
Character R-1 R-2 EX EX2 Maximum Impact Maximum Impact 2 MI: Regulation A Neowave Total

Original characters

[edit]

American Sports Team

[edit]
Voiced by: Toshikazu Nishimura (KOF '94, KOF '98), Takayuki Nakatsukasa (KOF:D onwards) (Heavy D!)
Voiced by: Kay Inage (KOF '94, KOF '98), Haruo Yamagishi (KOF:D onwards) (Lucky)
Voiced by: Eiji Yano (KOF '94, KOF '98), Taro Kiuchi (KOF:D onwards) (Brian), Rie Suegara (New Brian; KOFAS)

The American Sports Team, also known as the U.S.A. Team, is composed of characters originating from the United States of America. First appearing in The King of Fighters '94, the team consists of Heavy D!, a famous boxer who was expelled after seriously injuring an opponent during a match, Lucky Glauber, a former basketball player and a karate champion, and Brian Battler, the MVP football player of the year better known for his brash and violent behavior in the sport.

Despite not winning the '94 tournament, in their non-canonical ending, Brian returns to football for his fans while Lucky and Heavy D! will continue street fighting and promise Brian to contact him for further competitions. Unfortunately, the American Sports Team later becomes subject of a running gag in the series, which has them invited to participate in the later tournaments, only to get beaten up and have their invitations stolen by other teams prior to the start of each tournament. The team would make their return in The King of Fighters '98, though it is not canonical in the series, but rather for the purpose of a “dream match” as it features every character up to that point in the canon story-line.

Since then, the American Sports Team have made non-playable appearances in later games of the series as background characters and in other games. However, in the PlayStation 2 version of The King of Fighters 2000, the American Sports Team appear as optional strikers for the Fatal Fury Team with Heavy D! being a striker for Joe, Lucky for Andy, and Brian for Terry.

Antonov

[edit]
Voiced by: Moriyuki Hishida

Antonov (アントノフ, Antonofu, Антонов) is a Russian billionaire and the president of his own company, the Antonov Corporation. After being reinvigorated for his love of fighting, he purchases the rights to the King of Fighters brand despite objections from the board members of his company, and announces a new King of Fighters tournament. Proclaiming himself as the “first champion”, he sends out invitations across the world, challenging old and new teams to take his "KOF" championship belt away from him. After the incident caused by Verse at the climax of KOF XIV, the resulting lawsuits had cost Antonov nearly all of his money and damaged his reputation, causing him to briefly disappear from the public. In order to help restore his reputation, Antonov decides to form his own wrestling team named Galaxy Anton Wrestling and is prepared to take part in KOF XV as the leader of Team G.A.W. alongside Mexican wrestlers Ramón and King of Dinosaurs.

Ash Crimson

[edit]
Main article: Ash Crimson

China Team

[edit]
Voiced by: Takashi Ōhara (Shun'ei)
Voiced by: Hajime Shikase (Tung Fu Rue)
Voiced by: Seira Ryu (Meitenkun)

The China Team, which is unrelated to the China Team that appeared in The King of Fighters '94, is composed of characters originating from China. First appearing in The King of Fighters XIV, the team consists of Shun'ei, a fighter who wields hydrokinesis in a form of a claw on his right side of his body and pyrokinesis in a form of a fist on his left side of his body, Tung Fu Rue, the legendary master of Hakkyokuseiken who had debuted in Fatal Fury, and Meitenkun, a young fighter who is always holding a pillow and is very sleepy.

Despite having little knowledge of the King of Fighters, Tung convinces Shun'ei and Meitenkun to enter the tournament as a means for them to face off against renowned martial artists from around the world. In addition, Tung saw the tournament as an opportunity to reunite with the Bogard brothers and meet Kyo Kusanagi, the latter after his father Saisyu requested the Japan Team to help Tung's students with their training. During the tournament finals, Shun'ei learns that he possesses a fragment of Verse's power, which causes Verse to go after Shun'ei. After Verse is defeated, the team returns to the Wudang Mountains where Shun'ei tells his teammates that Kyo advised him to continue his training to keep his powers under control to which Shun'ei vows to train harder.

It is revealed that Shun'ei's special abilities had originated from a result of Ash Crimson's act of erasing the latter's ancestor Saiki (and consequentially, his own self) from existence by orchestrating a temporal paradox (via trapping Saiki in the present time), leading to the current events taking place in the KOF universe, with Shun'ei himself wielding a multiversal power known as Amplified Specters, which are the crucible of souls that connects all universes and converging all possibilities in the multiverse. However, these can only be perceived as illusions, and only a limited few are capable of controlling them.

Ever since Shun'ei had inherited two halves of the Amplified Specters from Verse, he has been suffering from recurring nightmares of being ordered to destroy everything in sight until Tung gave him a pair of headphones to help silence the malevolent voice inside Shun'ei's head while also keeping his powers in check. While Tung retires from fighting, Shun'ei and Meitenkun are enlisted to be accompanied by Benimaru Nikaido at Kyo's behest due to Kyo himself having an important mission in teaming up with Iori Yagami and Chizuru Kagura to help investigate the current situation during the events of KOF XV. Once the source behind the awry of Amplified Specters, Otoma=Raga has been defeated, Shun'ei's power is fully under control, allowing Shun'ei to take off his headphones safely.

Chizuru Kagura

[edit]
Voiced by: Akito Sato (KOF '96–KOF 2000), Yukiko Sugawa (KOF 2003),[13] Sayaka Ohara (KOFAS onwards)

Chizuru Kagura (神楽 ちづる, Kagura Chizuru) is a member of the Yata clan who holds one of the three sacred artifacts, the Yata Mirror, that originally sealed the serpent monster Orochi eighteen hundred years ago. As the younger heiress of the Yata clan, the other being her older twin sister Maki Kagura, Chizuru was raised as a priestess who maintains the duty of keeping the diligent seal on Orochi intact. One night, Goenitz visited their home and destroyed the seal after killing Maki since the Yata Mirror cannot fight Orochi nor Goenitz's strength alone without the aid of the other two clans. Though in a weaken state, Orochi was released from its seal and Goenitz leaves satisfied. Before her death, Maki passes on the responsibilities of the seal to Chizuru, begging her to bring the three clans together to defeat Orochi. Ten years afterwards, Chizuru becomes a very successful and prestigious businesswoman and the owner of Kagura Enterprises. During this time, she secretly kept track with the King of Fighters tournaments since it began with Geese Howard and comes up with an idea to bringing the clans together.

First appearing in The King of Fighters '96, Chizuru hosts the tournament with the goal of bringing together the three clans by entreating Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami to help her replace the broken seal. During the finals of the tournament however, Goenitz appears to finally end all three heirs at once but is defeated by Kyo, with the assistance of Iori and Chizuru. Humiliated, Goenitz takes his own life by cutting his body by his own wind. In the aftermath, both Kyo and Iori protests into working together and leave Chizuru. In The King of Fighters '97, Chizuru hosts the tournament again but this time, requests to join the Women Team with Mai Shiranui and King, which they agree. During the finals of the tournament, Chizuru departs from her teammates and joins up with Kyo and Iori where they confront the remaining Orochi servants: Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, and Chris. After defeating them, Orochi possesses Chris' body and attempts to destroy the three clans at once. The Sacred Treasures Team successfully defeats him in an intense fight and in a last-ditch effort, Orochi causes Iori to enter the Riot of Blood, expecting him to turn on Kyo and Chizuru. Instead, Iori snares Orochi by the neck, and Kyo obliges his rival by crippling the great demon with one last deathblow, allowing Chizuru to reseal Orochi again.[14]

In The King of Fighters 2003, Chizuru hosts another tournament with her intentions similar to her previous attempt in 1996, but during the tournament, she becomes mind-control by Botan, a member of Those From the Past. She creates an illusion of her late sister Maki and creates a clone from Kyo named Kusanagi to test the strength of the tournament's contestants.[15] Eventually, she breaks free from her mind-control, catches up with Kyo and Iori, and tries to restore the seal of Orochi. However, Ash Crimson seriously attacks her from behind and steals the Yata Mirror from her body before evading Kyo and Iori.[16] While she doesn't appear in The King of Fighters XI, Chizuru asks Shingo Yabuki to enter the tournament with Kyo and Iori to investigate Ash and the weakened Orochi seal as she cannot due to still recovering from her injuries.[17] Unfortunately, the investigation ends with Iori, while in the Riot of the Blood state, nearly killing Kyo and Shingo, and Ash stealing the Yasakani no Magatama from Iori's body and his flames. In the conclusion of The King of Fighters XIII, after Evil Ash erases himself and his ancestor Saiki from existence, both Iori and Chizuru regain their sacred treasures.

After Verse is defeated in The King of Fighters XIV, Chizuru senses Orochi's presence in Hungary. After contacting Kyo and Iori, the trio find an awakened yet weakened Orochi in Aggtelek Karst and seal it away once again. Due to both the ongoing crisis that's taking place in the world and the unexpected return of the New Faces/Orochi Team, Chizuru, Kyo, and Iori decide to join forces in reuniting the Sacred Treasures Team as a regular team for KOF XV.

In the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters, Chizuru is portrayed by Chinese-Canadian actress Françoise Yip.

Duo Lon

[edit]
Voiced by: Tsunehito Maruo[13] (Japanese); Josh Keller (KOF XII)[18] (English); Keisuke Kōmoto (Japanese in KOF XV)

Duo Lon (Chinese: 堕瓏; Pinyin: Duòlóng; Japanese: デュオロン Dyuoron) makes his first appearance in The King of Fighters 2003 as a member of the game's Hero Team. His overall look was based on anime title character Vampire Hunter D.[19] He is a member of the assassin group, the Flying Brigands—or Hizoku (飛賊, Hizoku)—and the half-brother of Xiao Lon. He is an acquaintance of Ash Crimson and Shen Woo.

Hoping to hunt down the clan's traitor, Ron, he agrees to enter the tournament with them. However, after discovering Ash's true objectives, he teams up with Elisabeth Blanctorche and Benimaru Nikaido. Information on Duo Lon's design graph revealed he is one of the nine children of Ron, an assassin who chased after his own father.[20]

Elisabeth Blanctorche

[edit]
Voiced by: Kayoko Oshima (KOF XI–KOF XIII), Shizuka Itō (KOFAS onwards)

Elisabeth Blanctorche (エリザベート・ブラントルシュ, Erizabēto Burantorushu) (spelled "Elisabeth Branctorche" in The King of Fighters XII) is one of three original characters debuting in The King of Fighters XI. Her initial character concept was to be the rival to Ash, though developers decided to change her into a "leading lady" character. The developers also describe her fighting style as "orthodox with subtle tricks [to it]" despite her minimal moveset.[21]

She initially invites Benimaru Nikaido and Duo Lon to France to form the Rival Team. She eventually reveals her acquaintance with Ash Crimson, whom she scolds for seeming to forsake their mission. Elisabeth did not appear in the arcade version of The King of Fighters XII, but was added as one of two characters exclusive to the home release of the game. Like the rest of the cast, she does not have a team for The King of Fighters XII (though the two other members of her team from King of Fighters XI are present in the game). For The King of Fighters XIII, she now appears on a team with Ash's former team members from the 2003 tournament (Shen Woo and Duo Lon), effectively forming what seems to be the new Hero Team.

Though she does not participate in The King of Fighters XIV, she enlists Kukri's help in finding Ash following Verse's defeat, with the two of them succeeding in their mission as Ash's body is soon located in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains with his soul burning inside it, thus confirming Ash's return to the living world much to Elisabeth's rejoice. In order to help investigate and solve the unknown crisis which seems to revolve around KOF newcomers Shun'ei and Isla, Elisabeth and Kukri join forces with a fully recovered Ash for KOF XV.

Iori Yagami

[edit]
Main article: Iori Yagami

Japan Team

[edit]
Voiced by: Masahiro Nonaka (KOF '94–NGH:US), Ryōtarō Okiayu (KOF '94 drama CD), Tomoaki Maeno (XIV onwards) (Kyo)
Voiced by: Monster Maezuka (most games), Hikaru Midorikawa (KOF '94 drama CD), Genki Okawa (KOF for Girls) (Benimaru)
Voiced by: Masaki Usui (KOF '94–XIII), Ryūzaburō Ōtomo (KOF '94 drama CD), Takahiro Fujiwara (XIV onwards), Shunsuke Takeuchi (KOF for Girls) (Daimon)
Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Shingo)

The Japan Team, also known as the Kyo Team, is composed of characters originating from Japan. First appearing in The King of Fighters '94, the original team consisted of Kyo Kusanagi (草薙 京), a high school student who is the heir to the Kusanagi clan wielding pyrokinetic abilities while also specializing in kenpo, Benimaru Nikaido (二階堂 紅丸 Nikaidō Benimaru?), a professional shoot boxing fighter and model who can create electricity,[22] and Goro Daimon (大門 五郎 Daimon Gorō), a former gold medalist in Judo and mentor to his own dojo.[23]

During the Orochi saga, the Japan Team emerged victorious in the first four tournaments. In the climax of The King of Fighters '97, Kyo, along with his rival Iori Yagami, and Chizuru Kagura, seal away Orochi, saving mankind from destruction. After the fight however, Kyo was kidnapped by a mysterious cartel while Benimaru resumed his modeling career and went on a world tour, and Goro retires from being a fighter and returns to the Judo circuit representing Japan.[24] Also in ’97, Shingo Yabuki (矢吹 真吾 Yabuki Shingo?), a high school student who idolizes Kyo and dreams of being able to wield flames, becomes a friend of the team and appears as an edit entry character.[25]

During the NESTS saga which began in The King of Fighters '99, Benimaru and Shingo are invited to participate in the tournament but were assigned to a “special team” with newcomers K' and Maxima. Winning the tournament, they learned that NESTS was responsible for Kyo's disappearance, and escaped the crumbling base after a brief reunion with Kyo and being separated from K' and Maxima. In The King of Fighters 2000, Benimaru forms his own team, the Benimaru Team with Shingo, and two newcomers: Seth, an old friend of Benimaru and a mercenary, and Lin, a Hizoku clan assassin seeking to find a man named Ron. Following Southtown's destruction from the Zero Cannon, Ron confronted the Benimaru Team but escaped after Benimaru saves Lin from being killed. In The King of Fighters 2001, Kyo reunites with his friends, and as the Japan Team (with Shingo being the fourth member) enter the tournament to battle against NESTS, but also relive their time together as a team. After the tournament was over following NEST's destruction, the Japan Team went their usual separate ways instead of having a party, much to Shingo’s dismay. However, Shingo is scouted by Kyo’s father Saisyu and becoming the elder Kusanagi’s student instead.

In The King of Fighters 2003, Benimaru, Goro, and Shingo enters the tournament as the Benimaru Team while Kyo and Iori going solo to investigate suspicious activities concerning the Orochi and saving their Sacred Treasures teammate, Chizuru. Later, Kyo's team is ambushed by Ash Crimson, who steals the power of the Yata Mirror from Chizuru and vows to steals the powers from both Iori and Kyo. In The King of Fighters XI, Kyo, Iori, and Shingo enter the tournament together at the convalescent Chizuru's behest (Shingo's presence serving ostensibly to keep Kyo and Iori from being at each other's throats) to stop Ash as the '"Kusanagi & Yagami Team". Meanwhile, Benimaru and Duo Lon, a teammate of Ash's team from the previous tournament, are invited by Elisabeth Blanctorche to enter the tournament as the Rival Team to track down Ash. Near the end of the tournament, the growing presence of the Orochi from Magaki causes Iori to snap and enter into the Riot of the Blood state, nearly killing Kyo and Shingo. Ash appears thereafter and steals the Yasakani no Magatama within Iori's body, along with his flames and escapes after a brief confrontation with the Rival Team. In The King of Fighters XIII, Kyo, Benimaru, and Goro enter the tournament to relive their old days as the Japan Team, while Shingo look after Chizuru until her Yata Mirror recovers. Following the tournament, Iori regains Yasakani no Magatama and his flames, and fights Kyo to an unknown outcome.

In The King of Fighters XIV, Saisyu Kusanagi (Kyo's father) informs Kyo of a new threat which will cause untold chaos. On his father's suggestion, he convenes with Tung Fu Rue and Nakoruru to investigate, while entering the tournament with Benimaru and Goro as the Japan Team. After winning the tournament, Kyo advises Shun'ei to keep training to control his powers. At the airport, he tells his teammates to go home without him and travels to Hungary. In Hungary, Chizuru had called him there for his assistance after Iori found a weakened Orochi and seal it together once again. While the Sacred Treasures Team reunite in order to investigate the revived New Faces/Orochi Team in The King of Fighters XV, Kyo had also insist for Benimaru to accompany Tung Fu Rue’s last disciples from the previous tournament, Shun’ei and Meitenkun per the Hakkyokuseiken grandmaster’s request.

In the spin-off series The King of Fighters EX, there are two additional members of the Japan Team: Moe Habana (葉花 萌, Habana Moe), an Asian American high school girl from the United States who is one of the ten treasures of Japan with her treasure being the "Yatsuka Sword" (八握 剣, Yatsuka no Tsurugi), and Reiji Oogami (大神 零児, Ohgami Reiji), a Japanese man from Japan who is a member of the Yata clan, and one of the keepers of the ten treasures, the "Hetsu Mirror" (辺津 鏡, Hetsu Kagami).

Shingo stars as the main protagonist of a gaiden manga series titled The King of Fighters Side Story: The Origin of Flame - Shingo Travels Through Time! Let's Go!, taking place between The King of Fighters XIV and The King of Fighters XV, in which Shingo is unexpectedly brought to the past where the Sacred Treasure Team members’ original ancestors are and finally learns both the origin of their powers and Orochi before returning to the present.

K′

[edit]
Main article: K′

Kim Team

[edit]

The Kim Team, also known as the Korea Justice Team, and originally the Korea Team, is composed of characters mostly originating from South Korea and are mostly Taekwondo practitioners. First appearing in The King of Fighters '94, the original team consisted of Kim Kaphwan (who had debuted in Fatal Fury 2), a national hero in his homeland of Korea who convince authorities to take in two criminals as part of his new "Rehabilitation Project" with the goal of rehabilitating them of their criminal ways. These two criminals are Chang Koehan (Korean: 장거한 Chang Keo-Han, Japanese: チャン・コーハン Chan Kōhan), a giant and violent man who uses an iron ball and chain and Choi Bounge (Korean: 최번개 Choi Beon-Gae, Japanese: チョイ・ボンゲ Choi Bonge), a sadistic little man who uses Freddy Krueger-esque claws.[26] During the Orochi saga, Chang and Choi would become friends and would always attempt at a chance to escape from Kim's grasp during the end of each tournament but fail due to speaking out loud their scheme near Kim.

During the NESTS saga, Jhun Hoon (Korean: 전훈 Jeon Hoon, Japanese: ジョン・フーン Jon Fūn), a childhood friend of Kim and rival, took noticed of Kim's rehabilitation project and after seeing the ethics and methods of training towards Chang and Choi, he decides that he would show Kim a more efficient way of management for the criminals and joins the team as the fourth member for the '99 and 2000 tournaments.[27] In The King of Fighters 2001, the team was set to enter the tournament as usual. However, before the tournament started, Jhun broke his right arm while chasing an image of Athena Asamiya, of whom he is a fan of. Down one member, Kim decides to have May Lee, a perky teenager and a student of Kim who have always admired the team, replace Jhun as the fourth member with the task of keeping an eye of Chang and Choi during the tournament.[28] During the tournament, May Lee surprised the audience and her teammates with her unique taekwondo style and gains much praise. When the tournament ended, the team return home and are celebrated as heroes for ending NESTS (despite not actually winning the tournament nor defeating NESTS themselves).

In The King of Fighters 2003, Choi is requested by Jhun to sit out of that year's tournament to watch over Kim's children, allowing Jhun to take his place with the scheme of showing the world the difference in ability between him and Kim due to the tournament's new “free tag-off Multi-Shift rule.” In The King of Fighters XI, Chang and Choi convince Kim to join the Real Bout Fatal Fury Team with Terry Bogard and Duck King as they want Kim to enjoy himself for once after Kim believes that Chang and Choi are finally “rehabilitated.” Following the tournament, Chang and Choi realize that Kim will be on the look out for more criminals to help rehabilitate. Despite being deem “rehabilitated”, Chang and Choi are still in Kim's custody. In The King of Fighters XIII, Kim summons Raiden, a famous heel professional wrestler and Hwa Jai, a former Muay Thai champion who was defeated and lost his title to Joe Higashi in the past, to Southtown after he believes that they are still employed by Geese Howard, and takes them in as his new students. However, unknown to Kim, Raiden and Hwa has since cut their ties with Geese and have already reform for quite some time. Instead, they trick Kim into thinking that they are still working for Geese and enter the tournament with him as a way help boost their reputations as fighters, as well as secretly to prove they are better on fooling Kim than Chang and Choi. Once the tournament ended, Hwa and Raiden pretend to have been "reformed" by Kim, and the gullible Kim falls for it. After parting ways with his new teammates, Kim thinks he might have been "too soft" on Chang and Choi, and to honor his new teammates and the struggles they went through, he intensifies Chang and Choi's strict training much to duo's displeasure.

In The King of Fighters XIV, Chang and Choi are sent to prison after destroying a bar while intoxicated. Upon arrival, the criminals encounter Xanadu, a mysterious, enigmatic, infamous and dangerous criminal who through his eccentric yet mesmerizing charisma, reverts Chang and Choi back to their old criminal ways. Upon the announcement of the new tournament, the trio enter as the Villains Team with the goal of causing chaos and destruction. Meanwhile, Kim has not heard from Chang or Choi and is unaware of their imprisonment. Deciding to go look for them, Kim was about leave the dojo when Gang-Il, Kim's master and chairman of the World Taekwondo Federation, and Luong, a seductive woman who is secretly a freelance secret agent and fell in love with Gang-II during his world tour, appear at the dojo's entrance. Though Gang-II and Luong are excited to meet Kim, Kim's bitter memories of his master distracts him from their conversation until Gang-II shows Kim a leaflet, revealing that Chang and Choi are entering the new tournament with a criminal. As Kim decides to enter the tournament to retrieve Chang and Choi from the criminal's control, Gang-II and Luong also decides to enter alongside Kim in the tournament, despite Kim's objections. Due to Kim and Gang-Il’s absence from the KOF XV tournament via focusing on their Taekwondo training, Luong went to join her fellow secret agents Blue Mary and Vanessa in order to form the Secret Agent Team.

Originally, SNK wanted KOF '94 to have a Prisoner Team, formed by Chang Koehan, Choi Bounge, and a third prisoner, but due to various circumstances, they added in Kim instead and made it the Korea Team. Xanadu was created for XIV to fulfilled this concept. Also, during the development for 2001, May Lee's character design stems from sponsor Eolith's desire for a "Korean Athena Asamiya" that was an "idol-like visual fighter."[5]

Kula Diamond

[edit]

Kula Diamond (クーラ・ダイアモンド, Kūra Daiamondo) is a teenage girl who was experimented on by NESTS in order to exterminate the cartel's traitor, K'. Despite the fact their subject was a mindless puppet with no sign of emotions, the NESTS cartel created an android called Candy Diamond to monitor Kula's behavior and to ensure that she would accomplish her missions. During KOF 2000, Kula can be fought as a mid-boss during her debut.[29] Shortly afterwards, Kula destroys the main Zero Cannon from its titular creator who is betraying NESTS. Candy shields Kula's descent from space by sacrificing her body in the process, as it is badly burned by Earth's atmosphere.[30] While recovering from the trauma of Candy's destruction, in the following game, The King of Fighters 2001, Kula enters into the fighting tournament with fellow NESTS' agents Foxy, K9999 and Ángel to capture K'.[31] During the story, Kula and Foxy are betrayed by K9999 and Ángel.[32] However, in K''s Team ending among others, she is seen as being safe and forms a friendship with her original target and allies.[33][34] In the story-less game, KOF 2002, Kula appears as member of a team with Ángel and K9999.[35]

In KOF 2003, she appears in the ending of the K' Team where the group go to recruit her following an apparent threat.[36] She participates in KOF XI and KOF XIII with K' and Maxima as her allies, having also joined forces with the Ikari Team. They are assigned to investigate a group known as "Those From the Past".[37][38] In KOF XIV, she once again participates in the tournament following the Ikari's orders to investigate NESTS' agents.[39] During these games, the K' Team becomes allied with the Ikari Team to help them on missions though they tend to avoid them.[40] Prior to The King of Fighters XV, Kula and K' end up having a falling out each other because he and Maxima are too busy over capturing remaining NESTS’ remnants instead of taking vacation for a while with her, causing her to join a team consisting former NESTS Agents, Angel and a mysterious agent who is in fact K9999's current identity, Krohnen McDougall, unbeknownst to Kula.[41][42]

Kula is also present in the spin-off games, Neowave which does not feature a story and KOF: Maximum Impact 2 where looks for a doctor to repair Maxima's cybernetic body.[43][44] She also appears in The King of Fighters '98: Unlimited Match Online and The King of Fighters Online.[45][46] She is also present KOF: Sky Stage, Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy.[47][48][49] In SNK Heroines, the female fighters must fight their way home but are confronted by Kukri and defeat him before he can initiate his grand plan on the kidnapped female fighters. She also makes a cameo appearance alongside Maxima in the ending of K' from NeoGeo Battle Coliseum.[50] She is playable in the mobile phone game Kimi wa Hero (as an adult) and Brave Frontier,[51][52] while also making a cameo in the dating sim Days of Memories should the player interact with K'.[53] She has since made guest appearances in more games, including the role-playing game Valkyrie Connect.[54] She also appears as a downloadable character in Koei Tecmo's fighting game Dead or Alive 6.[55] In her story chapter, NiCO pulls her into the Dead or Alive dimension while experimenting with subspace portals. Kula and NiCO briefly spar, and NiCO later thanks her for providing "interesting data" while swearing her to secrecy.

The printed adaptations of The King of Fighters retell Kula's role in the NESTS' story arc where she constantly clashes with K', having a more antagonistic characterization until the events of 2001 and 2002.[56] She also appears in the CD dramas from KOF 2000, in which she attacks K' before the events of her the story. However, this ends when K' is knocked out by Maxima for fighting with his wounded arm and the fugitive escapes with the unconscious K' from Kula.[57] A cyborg named Rugal Bernstein kidnaps Kula during the 2002 storyline to absorb her powers. Using this, Rugal manages to defeat the fighters Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, but in the end he is stopped by K' and Maxima who rescue their former enemy. In the comic of The King of Fighters XII, Kula engages the mysterious Magaki alongside K' and former NESTS' agent Nameless.[58]

SNK created Kula Diamond to bring more complexity to the NESTS' story arc in the series. Her character added another dimension to the villainous NESTS organization in the NESTS Chronicles. She was to add excitement to the story as an enemy and a foil of K'. Newly hired female staff designed her to depict a "14-year-old girl" with "appropriately girlish" gestures. The unnamed character designer was pleased with Kula's design saying: "Kula had an easy delivery. She didn't give me any pain."[59] Despite being K''s foil, Kula's was designed to closely resemble her rival as both fighters wear similar leather outfits with contrasting colors.[60] According to artist Hiroaki, Kula does not look like a 14 year old girl in the illustrations.[61] Nevertheless, he claims he grew attached to drawing her alongside K'.[62]

Yumi Kakazu has voiced Kula in all of her appearances.[63] In KOF: Maximum Impact 2, Falcoon gave her a color palette that makes her look like fighter Ash Crimson as well as the robot Candy. Her alternative costume is that of a coquettish ice skater.[64] Falcoon also once envisioned an adult version of Kula for the game Kimi wa Hero.[65]

For The King of Fighters XIII, the staff decided to make Kula similar to her original incarnation in The King of Fighters 2000. The team had no problems in designing her gameplay and added taunts where the character becomes boring. Similar to K''s moves, the developers wanted Kula's trademarks, most notably her ice moves, to be appealing to see. A move that exemplifies this was the "Crow Bites". Kula's "Diamond Breath" move was recommended for new players, while the "Reispin" was designed to make the gameplay more complex and challenging as Kula becomes stronger when executing it. Kula's strongest technique in the game involves the appearance of Foxy and Diana who attack the enemy alongside her. This technique went through numerous trials before it was added to the game.[66]

When developing The King of Fighters XIV with the Unreal Engine, the original game had more realistic visuals but they clashed with character designs of Kula and Athena Asamiya. The designs looked like those in an anime series so the designers opted for the current look.[67] A programmer with the alias of "Ando" designed the blades on Kula's boots during special attacks. Kula was the first character in KOF XIV to be given this type of design, requiring multiple attempts to work with her 3D character model. Ando further believed Kula could wield other type of weapons based on the variety used by the cast but in the end felt using blades could prove to be more challenging.[68] An extra outfit for Kula was released for The King of Fighters XIV as downloadable content.[69]

In SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, Kula appears wearing Ángel's skimpy clothing. Director Kaito Soranaka said during an interview that Kula was his favorite character in the game.[70] Ogura said that having Kula wear Ángel's outfit brought up the fact that Kula hates Ángel, so the game's villain, Kukri, gave her that appearance to humiliate her.[71]

Lin

[edit]
Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda

Lin (Chinese: 麟; Pinyin: Lín; Japanese: 麟 Rin) is one of the new characters introduced in The King of Fighters 2000 as a member of the Benimaru Team. He, along with the Flying Brigands subplot, was created without the entire staff's knowledge, leading to some developers being surprised by his team's ending.[72]

Though he is no longer an active member in King of Fighters, his story and character have not been abandoned.[73] He is a member of the assassination group, The Flying Brigands—or Hizoku (飛賊, Hizoku) Clan in Japanese—which is apparently on the brink of ruin. The agent Seth entices him to enter the King of Fighters tournament in order to find their clan's missing leader, Ron.[74] After learning that Ron had defected to NESTS for his personal greed, Lin tracks the activities of NESTS' renegades, K′ and his teammates, in hopes of finding his traitorous leader. He joins up with K', Maxima, and Whip in the 2001 tournament. He continues to search for Ron even after NESTS' destruction.[75] For an unexplained reason, he appears next to Ron in the Psycho Soldier Team's ending in The King of Fighters XI.[20] He is a master of the Poison Hand technique, which enables the user to turn their own blood into venom.

Malin

[edit]
Voiced by: Kazuyo Inosako[13]

Malin (まりん, Marin) is a character who debuts in The King of Fighters 2003 as a member of the High School Girls Team (alongside Athena Asamiya and Hinako Shijou). Her addition to the series was due to Choi's absence in the game where she debuted. The game producers state that her name should be spelled "Malin" and not "Marin", adding that "this is the humble preference of the supervising designer and a mystery to us all".[76]

She becomes a member of the Anti-Kyokugenryu Team in The King of Fighters XI due to her animosity towards one of the style's practitioners, Yuri Sakazaki.[77]

Maxima

[edit]
Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi,[13] Yui Shimodaya (New Maxima; KOFAS) (Japanese); Michael Jarmus (KOF: MI2, KOF: AD) (English)

Maxima (マキシマ, Makishima) debuts as a member of the Hero Team in The King of Fighters '99. He was added to the cast with the desire to add a "somber and reliable middle-aged character" to counteract the introduction of multiple teenage characters.[11] Both he and his former deceased partner Rocky are inspired by two characters of the same names from the 1991 SNK beat 'em up arcade game Robo Army.

Maxima was a Canadian soldier who led a normal life until he found out that his comrade-in-arms Rocky was killed in an incident involving NESTS.[78] To avenge Rocky's death, he abandons his ordinary life. In order to infiltrate the NESTS cartel without being recognized, Maxima was transformed into a cyborg, with his strength and reaction time increased to superhuman levels, built-in weapons, and the ability to conduct instant data analysis. He also has some degree of cyberpathy. He infiltrates NESTS and is assigned to be the partner of K′. They both defect from the cartel after K' encounters his clone, Krizalid, and grows sickened by the organization. Since then, he has become K's steadfast companion and he is often the one who enters both of them into the following tournaments.

Official Invitation Team

[edit]
Voiced by: Mio (Sylvie Paula Paula)
Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (Kukri)
Voiced by: AYUKA (Mian)

The Official Invitation Team is composed of characters that Antonov personally invited to participate in his tournament. First appearing in The King of Fighters XIV, the team consists of Sylvie Paula Paula, a remnant of NESTS who wields electromagnetic powers, Kukri, a mysterious fighter from North Africa (presumably Mali) who utilizes sand-based fighting techniques while hiding his face with a hood at all times, and Mian, a Sichuan opera dancer and fighter. Prior to the tournament, each member lives in the underground society with Mian and Sylvie often taking part in underground tournaments together.

During the end of the final match, Kukri reveals that he is familiar with Verse, especially since half its power lies within Shun'ei. When the tournament ends, Kukri leaves his teammates and Antonov behind and travels to the Carpathian Mountains in the Ukraine where he finds Ash Crimson. Kukri is soon joined by Elisabeth Blanctorche, revealing that she had hired Kukri to enter the tournament to find and rescue Ash whose soul resided inside Verse.

Kukri is the main antagonist of a spin-off sequel between The King of Fighters XIV and The King of Fighters XV titled SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, in which Kukri himself kidnaps and sends most of the female participants from the XIV tournament into his personal pocket dimension, alongside Jeanne d'Arc from the World Heroes series, Thief Arthur from Million Arthur, and a recently resurrected Shermie, as well as swapping genders of male fighters Terry Bogard, Iori Yagami (going under his previous alias Miss X from SNK Gals' Fighters), and Skullomania from Fighting EX Layer.

It is revealed in The King of Fighters XV that Kukri’s cynical attitude had been originating from the death of his master and adopted mother Dolores, who had sacrificed her life to save him after the former had suddenly awakened his sand power while being unable to initially control it at first. Although he did find Ash for Elisabeth, he still wasn't able to find Dolores elsewhere until he became relieved to learn of his master’s revival while watching her interview for the next KOF tournament on television. Back when Kukri was adopted by Dolores, he had learned the existence of Amplified Specters, the same multiversal-based power that Shun'ei inherited from Verse, which Kukri initially disbelieved at first.

Oswald

[edit]
Voiced by: Toshihiro Shigetsuka

Oswald (オズワルド, Ozuwarudo) appears in The King of Fighters XI as a member of the game's Hero Team, along with Ash Crimson and Shen Woo. An Irish professional assassin who utilizes a card-based fighting style in attacking his opponents with razor-sharp cards, he was created as an older gentleman, and is an enigma to even the creators. Developers consider his moves to be comical compared to the seriousness of his image, especially when the move "Joker" is blocked or misses. They chose to leave the result of his fight with Shen ambiguous, implying that fans would have been disappointed with the outcome.[79] He was originally intended to be the "good-looking glasses" character for the series.[80]

It is revealed at the end of the tournament that Oswald joins Ash and Shen Woo to obtain money and drugs named Dragon Pills. Ash agrees to give information regarding the drug to Oswald, explaining that it can only be given to him if he defeats the provider's enemy, Shen Woo.[81] Oswald would later make his return as a DLC character in The King of Fighters XIV.[82]

Ramón

[edit]

Voiced by: Eiji Takemoto (KOF 2000–KOF XI), Kiyoshi Katsunuma (KOF XIV onwards)

Ramón (ラモン) makes his first appearance in The King of Fighters 2000 as a member of the game's Hero Team. Ramón is the only character to speak Spanish in the game, and was created to appeal to the Latin American fanbase. He has a fighting style primarily based on lucha libre.[83]

Ramón is a famous luchador known as "El Diablo Amarillo" (The Yellow Devil), who is loved by his fans in the wrestling circle. He is approached by an agent named Vanessa, who requests in his cooperation in forming a team for The King of Fighters 2000 tournament. Since then, he has had a one-sided infatuation with Vanessa.[84] After King of Fighters 2000, he continues to team with Vanessa at her request, often along with Seth.

Ramón later becomes the leader of Team Mexico/Mexican Wrestler, the first Team Wrestler, consisting of himself, the former NESTS agent Ángel, and Tizoc (from Garou: Mark of the Wolves). He forms the team during a vacation, where he helps Ángel out in reforming her life and also helps Tizoc out in convincing and disguising him as a heel wrestler known as “King of Dinosaurs” due to Tizoc's humiliating loss at the hands of the Argentine boxer Nelson. In KOF XV, Antonov replaces Ángel in joining up with both Ramón and King of Dinosaurs, with Antonov himself leading a second wrestler team known as Team G.A.W. (Galaxy Anton Wrestling).

Saisyu Kusanagi

[edit]
Voiced by: Toshimitsu Arai (KOF '95), Keiichirou Sakagi (KOF '98), Haruo Yamagishi (KOF: D onwards)

Saisyu Kusanagi (草薙 柴舟, Kusanagi Saishū) debuted in The King of Fighters '94 as a victim in Rugal's gallery of defeated fighters. He appears as a mid-boss in The King of Fighters '95, and becomes playable for the first time on the screen in The King of Fighters '98, although he was selectable in the console versions of The King of Fighters '95 as a secret character. He was originally meant to have died in The King of Fighters '94, but was added in at the last minute of development for The King of Fighters '95.[85]

Saisyu Kusanagi is the previous head of the Kusanagi clan, who left his family to face worthy opponents across the globe. After his defeat by Rugal, he is brainwashed by his secretary Vice to fight his son, Kyo. Upon his defeat, he regains his senses and escapes from Rugal's missile silo base.[86] In The King of Fighters 2001, he appears before Shingo Yabuki and spends a year properly teaching him the Kusanagi fighting style. In the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters, Saisyu is played by Japanese actor Hiro Kanagawa.

Seth

[edit]
Voiced by: Hidetoshi Nakamura (Japanese); Glenn Haig (KOF: MI2) (English)

Seth (セス, Sesu) makes his first appearance in the series as a "Striker" in The King of Fighters '99 Evolution. He debuts as a playable character in The King of Fighters 2000 as a member of the Benimaru Team. He was created along with Vanessa, though Seth became the visual model for her. Developers wished to have a character with "the powerful image of a big, dark, middle-aged man with a Mohawk haircut".[87]

Seth was ordered by his superior Ling to enter the King of Fighters tournament in order to capture the Flying Brigands leader, Ron. To do this, he arranges to work with the Benimaru Team.[74] During the tournament, he learns that Ling is really Zero in disguise, and that Ron had joined with NESTS. He continues to investigate Ron's activities as the series progresses.[88]

Shen Woo

[edit]
Voiced by: Kōji Suidzu[13]

Shen Woo (シェン・ウー, Shen Ū, Chinese: 神武; pinyin: Shén Wǔ; Shanghainese: Wu Chinese pronunciation: [z̥əɲ˨˧v̥v̩ʷ˦], lit. "Divine Warrior") is one of the members of the Hero Team in The King of Fighters 2003, along with Ash Crimson and Duo Lon. He was first conceptualized to be a "wild and sexy man". Due to his fighting style revolving around punches, designers for his fighting style had to make his attacks distinctive enough to avoid confusion with Ralf and Yashiro.[89]

As "Shanghai's God of War", he was raised in the city of Shanghai in eastern China and given that nickname for developing his own, devastating street-fighting boxing style that is best described as "violent". He soon came to be very feared, and grew to enjoy the thrill of the fight. Eventually, he came to know and befriended both the enigmatic fighter Ash Crimson and the Chinese assassin Duo Lon, with the three of them becoming the "Hero Team" for The King of Fighters 2003 tournament.[90]

At the end of The King of Fighters XI, Ash decides to pit his two teammates against each other by convincing Oswald to defeat Shen Woo for the mention of the "Dragon Pills" made by anonymous pharmacists in Shanghai, telling Oswald that they will only give the Dragon Pills to someone who could defeat their mortal enemy, that is Shen himself.[81] As soon as he and Oswald are left to fight each other, the result is unknown, though they managed to survive the outcome. He is voiced by Kōji Suidzu. Shen Woo is one of the many examples of a sexualized male video game character of the aggressive type.[91]

South America Team

[edit]
Voiced by: Kengo Takanashi (Nelson)
Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura (Zarina)
Voiced by: Eiji Miyashita (Bandeiras)

The South America Team is composed of characters originating from South America. First appearing in The King of Fighters XIV, the team consists of Nelson, a boxer with a robotic prosthetic left arm after losing his arm in a terrible accident, Zarina, a Samba dancer whose fighting style resembles capoeira, and Bandeiras Hattori, an obsessed fanboy of ninjas who trained himself to become one, and the founder of the “Brazilian Ninja Arts Dojo.” Prior to the tournament, Nelson defeated Tizoc in a contest that left him in disgrace, with the latter adopting a heel persona called “King of Dinosaurs.”

Each member had their own reason for entering the tournament. Nelson wants to seize victory in the tournament while hoping that his fiancée Liccia will awake from her coma, Zarina wants to win the prize money to procure land as a nesting place for her pet Coco, a toucan and its species, and Bandeiras hopes that his participation and fighting style will bring in students to his dojo. While the South America Team didn't win, they saw good fortune coming out of the tournament when Liccia awakes from her coma, Zarina convinces Antonov to help procure land for Coco after he already purchased much of the land for one of his businesses (she gleefully admits that she simply kicked him in the crotch instead for his aid), and Bandeiras travels to Japan to advertise his dojo. However, he ends up getting arrested by police for causing a scene. Before seeing Liccia in the hospital, Nelson stops by at his arm's manufacturer for a checkup, completely unaware that the scientists who gave him the cybernetic left arm were responsible for his accident, and are attempting to use him as a test subject for an unknown purpose.

Vanessa

[edit]
Voiced by: Kaori Minami (KOF 2000–KOF XI), Mayumi Hata (KOF XIV onwards)

Vanessa (ヴァネッサ, Vanessa) first debuts as a Striker in The King of Fighters '99 Evolution, and becomes playable in The King of Fighters 2000. Like Maxima, she was created as a middle-aged female to contrast the multiple teenage characters in the roster.[10] Vanessa is a normal housewife who discreetly serves as a mercenary agent. Working under the orders of Commander Ling, Vanessa and fellow agent Seth are commissioned with the job of joining Ling's King of Fighters tournament to follow the footsteps of the NESTS cartel. The two agents part from one another, with Vanessa recruiting prime suspects K′, Maxima, and Ramón to complete their team. Her objective from then on is to observe the activities of the NESTS defectors, based on Ling's orders.[92] In The King of Fighters XI, Vanessa enters the tournament together with Blue Mary and Ramón under orders to receive information concerning the broken Orochi seal and the mysterious members of Those From the Past.[93]

Verse

[edit]
Voiced by: Yusaku

Verse (バース, Bāsu) is the main antagonist and final boss in The King of Fighters XIV. An evil presence who embodies one of the Amplified Specters that is sensed across reality, time, and space, various fighters from the tournament join to stop him. Within his being, he holds the souls of deceased fighters from the past tournaments such as Goenitz, Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, Chris, Orochi, and Ash Crimson along with Gaidel, Krizalid, Original Zero, Igniz, and Rugal Bernstein, as well as Mizuki Rashojin from Samurai Shodown II, Kukri's adoptive mother Dolores and many more. The existence of Verse was the result of Ash changing his timeline to erase himself from being Saiki's descendant and killing his ancestor in the process, this being the reason of why Nakoruru travels to the present in order to help fix the timeline. Not only that, one of Verse's fragments is also implanted inside the young Shun'ei, leaving his parents to abandon him secretly due to this, though he was later rescued by Tung Fu Rue, who had decided to raise him as his last disciple. According to Geese Howard, the appearance of Verse was foretold in the Sacred Scrolls of the Jin.

In a manga adaption of XIV titled The King of Fighters: A New Beginning, once Verse gathers enough essences from the previous matches, including one which were outside the ring, he is confronted and defeated by Geese, who interrupts the recent official matches, using its power to assume his Nightmare form in order to fight alongside Billy and Hein against the China and Fatal Fury Teams while also summoning the deceased Four Heavenly Kings and NESTS executives to dispose of the other teams, including Nakoruru’s summoned Samurai Shodown warriors.

The Bernstein family

[edit]

Rugal Bernstein

[edit]
Main article: Rugal Bernstein

Adelheid and Rose

[edit]
Voiced by: Tetsuya Tanaka (Adelheid)[13]
Voiced by: Kazuyo Inosako (Rose)[13]

Adelheid (アーデルハイド, Āderuhaido) (Adel for short), along with his younger sister, Rose (ローズ), are the only known children of Rugal Bernstein. They reside in an airship called "Sky Noah". Adel is a boss character from The King of Fighters 2003, as well as a secret and mid-boss for The King of Fighters XI.[94] They were added to the series to create an alternate story to the main plot.[95]

Despite sharing several physical and fighting traits with Rugal, Adelheid is an honorable fighter who exhibits good sportsmanship,[96] even having a friendly conversation with Heidern, Rugal's mortal enemy. Rose, however, was developed to be extremely prideful and selfish, possessing her father's negative traits.[97] At the end of The King of Fighters XI, Rose is manipulated by Botan, a member from the mysterious organization Those From the Past to use her in their plans, leading to the events of The King of Fighters XIII.

Hakkesshu

[edit]
Several members from Hakkeshu with Orochi in the background.

The Hakkesshu (Orochi Hakketsushū (オロチ八傑集) in the Japanese version) are a group formed by the eight most powerful followers of the god Orochi. The four top members are referred to as "Kings".[98] Gaidel, the biological father of Leona, was also a member of the group, but when he refused Goenitz's offer to continue the Orochi's will, Goenitz manipulated Leona into killing Gaidel and the rest of her fellow villagers. The criminal Ryuji Yamazaki is part of the group, but has not awakened and does not want to get involved with them.

Vice & Mature

[edit]
Voiced by: Masae Yumi (KOF '96–KOF XIII), Mayumi Sako (KOF XIV onwards) (Vice)
Voiced by: Hiroko Tsuji (KOF '96–KOF XIII), Keiko Tsutsui (KOF XIV), Yū Shimamura (KOF: D onwards) (Mature)

Vice (バイス, Baisu) and Mature (マチュア, Machua) appear as members of Iori's Team in The King of Fighters '96. The designers at the time created both Vice and Mature with the image of a "cruel woman" and a "ruthless woman", respectively. Their origin story is mostly based on the notion of Rugal employing secretaries prior to The King of Fighters '96. Both women were unavailable during location testing and were likely finished near the end of the game's production schedule.[99] Aside from serving Rugal, both women were also spies and wielders of Orochi.[100] They form a team with Iori in order to keep an eye on him, but both of them are killed by Iori.[101]

Since then, both have appeared in the "dream match" games The King of Fighters '98 and The King of Fighters 2002 (games in the King of Fighters series with no canonical connection). Vice has also appeared in Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 and the sequel. Mature is a playable character in The King of Fighters XII, exclusive to the home console version of game.[102]

With Vice's return in The King of Fighters XIII, Iori's 1996 team is reunited for the first time since The King of Fighters 2002.[103] In The King of Fighters XIII, both women are spirits, reflecting their fates at the end of the 1996 tournament. With the rise of a new Orochi crisis brought on by Ash Crimson's meddling, they convince Iori to enter the new tournament to settle matters and stop whatever it is Ash has in mind.

The duo returns in The King of Fighters XIV to team up with Iori once more since The King of Fighters XIII. After witnessing the possible return of Orochi, they quietly return to the shadows from once they came.

In The King of Fighters XV, the two are briefly mentioned in Iori's background story telling him that they would stand back and watch him from the audience this time. They are set to return as downloadable content.[104]

In the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters, Vice is played by Bernice Liu, and Mature by Monique Ganderton.

Goenitz

[edit]
Voiced by: Yoshinori Shima (KOF '96–NGH:US), Susumu Akagi (KOF: D onwards), Hiroki Yasumoto (KOF for Girls)

Goenitz (ゲーニッツ, Gēnittsu) is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, with the power to command the element of wind. Goenitz has a very polite personality which is reflected in his winning poses and his elegant, somewhat flowery speech. Even though influenced by Orochi, he sports the same messianistic attitude that aspires to bring about "salvation" expected from people of religious occupations.

During the 1996 tournament, Goenitz discovers that Chizuru Kagura plans to gather warriors to seal the Orochi and heads there to stop her. In addition to this, Goenitz is the one who took Rugal's right eye, who in turn Rugal took Heidern's own right eye. Depending on the playable characters, Goenitz is either killed by Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi, sealed by Chizuru, or commits suicide at the end of KOF '96.[105]

According to the manga adaption of KOF XIV titled The King of Fighters: A New Beginning, it is confirmed that Goenitz is one of the souls inside Verse. Following his revival after KOF XIV, Goenitz is dismayed about his fellow Heavenly Kings/New Faces/Orochi Team members being split into two halves, but despite this, both the normal and awakened forms of the Orochi Team are still determined to carry out Orochi's mission while also trying to avoid the Ikari Warriors' current surveillance towards them.

Orochi Team

[edit]
Voiced by: Rio Ogata (KOF '97–NGH:US), Shiki Aoki (KOFAS), Yuki Sakakibara (KOF for Girls), Rui Yamasaki (KOF XV) (Chris)
Voiced by: Hazuki Nishikawa (KOF '97–NGH:US), Erina Seto (SNKH:TTF onwards) (Shermie)
Voiced by: Makoto Awane (KOF '97–NGH:US), Keisuke Hamaoka (KOFAS onwards), Megumi Han (Pretty Yashiro; KOFAS), Shinichiro Kamio (KOF for Girls) (Yashiro)

The original New Faces Team, also known as the Orochi Team is a group from The King of Fighters '97. They are three of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi. The group is composed of a young Swedish boy named Chris (クリス, Kurisu) who utilizes a swift fighting style that relies on quick movements, a beautiful but shady Frenchwoman named Shermie (シェルミー, Sherumī) who specializes in Joshi puroresu and a tall Japanese guitar player named Yashiro Nanakase (七枷 社, Nanakase Yashiro) who utilizes a fighting style that combines powerful strikes with a few aspects of capoeira. They initially enter due to Yashiro's grudge against Iori and his own band (which had overshadowed a performance of theirs before the tournament), but as the tournament progresses, the Orochi blood inside their bodies soon awakens, causing them to remember their status as three of the Four Heavenly Kings. As loyal members of Orochi, they continue to gather power for the awakening until they are forced to kill themselves in order to resurrect Orochi through Chris' body, a concept that began early in the game's production.[106] Using the Orochi power, they are stated as the Japan Team's counterparts, since they have their same abilities: Chris is able create flames like Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, Shermie creates lightning like Benimaru Nikaido, and Yashiro has enormous strength enough to shatter the earth like Goro Daimon.

Having been dead for years after the events of KOF '97, Ash Crimson’s suicidal action at the end of the XIII tournament had caused their souls to reside within a creature known as Verse during the XIV tournament. When Verse is defeated, the New Faces/Orochi Team's souls are released from it, leading to both their resurrection as of the canonical spin-off crossover SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy and return in KOF XV. However, their revival causes their awakened Orochi personalities to split from them into separate entities unlike Goenitz and much to their own dismay. Despite this, both the normal and awakened forms of the Orochi Team still vow to carry out Orochi's mission while also trying to avoid the Ikari Warriors' current surveillance towards them.

Orochi

[edit]
Voiced by: Rio Ogata (KOF '97–NGH:US), Motoko Kumai (drama CD's), Shiki Aoki (KOFAS), Rui Yamasaki (KOF XV)

Orochi (オロチ, Orochi) is the final boss of The King of Fighters '97, and can be considered the main antagonist of the series as most villains either serve it or wants to use its powers for their own ends. Its character origin is another interpretation of the mythical eight-headed serpent demon, Yamata no Orochi. In The King of Fighters series, it is a chthonic supernatural being that is the will of Gaia. It has no distinct gender. It does not regard humanity as trustworthy with regard to coexisting with the planet without ravaging it, and so seeks to extinguish humanity. It was sealed 1,800 years ago by the three sacred treasures of Japan. The three clans' descendants are charged with protecting the seal. In The King of Fighters '97, it incarnates in Chris (a herald of Orochi) to save the Gaia.[107]

It is sealed again at the end of the '97 tournament by the three descendants of the users of the three sacred treasures (Kyo, Chizuru and Iori), but the seal is later broken (though not to the point of actually releasing it) by the demon Mukai at the end of The King of Fighters 2003.[14][108] A clone of Orochi appears as a boss in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum named Mizuchi.

In The King of Fighters XIV, Orochi is one of the many souls inside Verse as shown through Verse's win quote against Kyo and in the ending of Team Yagami, as it lands in Aggtelek-Karst in Hungary, it is sealed away once again due to being in its still weakened state.

The NESTS cartel

[edit]

NESTS is a mysterious and dangerous cartel that deals with drugs, weaponry, robotics, genetics and biotechnology. The global crime syndicate was involved in the events behind the King of Fighters tournaments held between 1999 and 2001. They are responsible for the creation of the Kyo Kusanagi clones and K′ being injected with Kyo's DNA. The group is composed of several agents who have different aims, but they all want to become more powerful. The cartel is destroyed with the death of their leader Igniz. However, some of its loyalists are still on the loose and branded as wanted criminals while its former agents manage to defect from the organization.

Krizalid

[edit]
Voiced by: Yoshiyuki Iwamoto (KOF '99, KOF 2002:UM), Eiji Yano (KOF 2001), Masahito Kawanago (KOFAS)

Krizalid (クリザリッド, Kurizariddo) acts as the mid and final boss of The King of Fighters '99. He was designed to be a stylish and earnestly strong boss, though the supervising designer at the time admits, "I think I overdid it a little."[109]

He is made to be the ultimate Kyo clone, outfitted with a special suit to feed the data of fighters into his body during battle. He also happens to be a clone of K′. As a side effect, he gained some of K's memories and believed that Whip was his sister. He is ordered to activate the thousands of Kyo clones around the world so that they can attack in a simultaneous strike. After his defeat against K', his superior, Zero, neutralizes the Kyo clones and kills Krizalid by throwing a boulder to crush him. He is later revived by the original Zero and fights alongside him in the 2001 tournament.

In The King of Fighters XIV, he is one of the souls inside Verse.

Ron

[edit]
Voiced by: Takaya Kuroda

Ron (Chinese: 龍; Pinyin: Lóng; Japanese: 龍(ロン) Ron) is first introduced as a sub-plot character in The King of Fighters 2000. He later appears as a Striker for Zero in The King of Fighters 2001. Though he is not playable in the series, he serves as an important side-story character.

According to his official profile, his main objective is to gain the ability to manipulate the dead.[73] He is the former leader to an elite assassination group known as the Flying Brigands—Hizoku (飛賊, Hizoku) Clan in Japanese—and the father to a number of their members, including Duo Lon and Xiao Lon. He betrayed the Flying Brigands by joining NESTS for personal gain, labeling himself as a traitor by many

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  77. ^ SNK Playmore (2007-11-13). The King of Fighters XI (PlayStation 2). SNK Playmore. Malin: I can't stand her! She acts like she's barely even trying when she fights. Hmph! ... That Yuri had the nerve to say that my fighting style was cowardly! She's the weak one, right?
  78. ^ BrezzaSoft (2001-11-15). The King of Fighters 2001 (Neo Geo). Eolith & Sun Amusement. Scene: Hero Team ending. Maxima: I must go to report to a friend that I have taken revenge. /K': A visit to the grave, eh? I guess you can't turn back time.
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  84. ^ SNK (2000-04-26). The King of Fighters 2000 (Neo Geo). SNK. Scene: Hero Team ending. Vanessa: The Zero Cannon's falling. How're you? Are you hurt?/Ramon: It's like I'm in heaven! I'm hot! I'm loose!/Vanessa: ...Give me a break.
  85. ^ "Saisyu Kusanagi's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
  86. ^ SNK (1995-07-25). The King of Fighters '95 (Neo Geo). SNK. Kyo: I knew he wasn't dead. He'll find his way home./Benimaru: Yeah, I guess you're right./Kyo: Well, let's go back to Japan./Benimaru & Daimon: Yeah!/Saisyu: Kyo, you can't escape the Kusanagi fate. We face a greater battle, soon to begin. Strengthen yourself, Kyo. Good luck.
  87. ^ "Seth's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
  88. ^ SNK (2000-04-26). The King of Fighters 2000 (Neo Geo). SNK. Scene: Benimaru Team ending. Shingo: ...Hey, what's wrong? You don't look so hot. Are you hurt?.../Seth: S...So quick! Developing faster than we planned...!!! If we don't hurry, we're all done for.
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  93. ^ "Agent Team Official Story in KOF XI". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
  94. ^ "Adelhied & Rose Story for The King of Fighters XI". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved March 28, 2008.
  95. ^ "Adelheid's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on May 21, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  96. ^ SNK-Playmore (2003-12-12). The King of Fighters 2003 (Neo Geo). SNK-Playmore. Scene: Adelheid ending. Rose: ...My brother...you lost! It cannot be! ...I will not release you! you will not go back alive!/Adelheid: Stop! Rose! Return them to the Earth... and land Sky-Noah./Rose: Brother, you're mistaken again! You must fight again!/Adelheid: Rose, defeat is defeat. To fight over and over until victory is meaningless...
  97. ^ "Rose's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on May 18, 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2008.
  98. ^ SNK Playmore (1997-07-28). The King of Fighters '97 (Neo Geo). SNK Playmore. Scene: Hero Team ending. Kyo: Rugal... Hakkesshu... Orochi... Certainly... A lot in a short time...
  99. ^ "Vice's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
  100. ^ "Mature's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  101. ^ SNK (1996-07-30). The King of Fighters '96 (Neo Geo). SNK. Mature: Are you shaking?/Vice: Yeah, he ain't normal. But, that guy... I mean... He's really tough./Iori: W, what? I can't see! Yaaah! Unnhhh! Gya... GWAAAAH!/Vice: Hey, Yagami, take it easy!/Mature: Oh, my God.../Iori: I, it's the... Riot of the Blood!/Vice: Gah. You mean there's nothing we can do?/Mature: Ooowaaaaah! Ya, Yagami!/Iori: GOOOWAAAAH!
  102. ^ "ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ XII』の発売日と価格が決定 - ファミ通.com" (in Japanese). Famitsu Magazine. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
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  105. ^ SNK (1996-07-30). The King of Fighters '96 (Neo Geo). SNK. Goenitz: I guess I underestimated you. I never thought... but this isn't the end for you./Iori: Hah! "ONE-FOR-THE-ROAD" BLAST!/Goenitz: AHHHHH!/Kyo: Hah! Eat this, pal! SERPENT WAVE!/Goenitz:GYAAAH! Why? Why is there no wind? GYAAAAAH!
  106. ^ "Chris's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  107. ^ "Orochi's KOF 10th anniversary profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
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  109. ^ "Krizalid Official Profile". King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
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