King of Fighters: a brief introduction to the series and its characters - a thread (the movie: the video game)
QRT don't reply! i'm a relative newcomer to the series so feel free to correct me if i get things wrong, i just want to introduce more people to the series!
before i start, i want to give props to @/ebisueika for making another very informative thread on the same subject before this! i'll likely be referencing that thread a little in this one
i won't be covering maximum impact or games that kof characters are originally from in+
+great detail, sorry!
so what is KOF?
think of KOF as smash bros before smash bros - one of the first crossover fighting games. KOF's parent company, SNK, is famous for its fighting games: Fatal Fury, Samurai Showdown, and more.
KOF brings together characters from those+
+series, stringing them together through a tournament-arc style plotline.
if you've heard about kof recently, it's probably for one of four reasons: terry bogard (one of kof's signature characters) being in smash, kof14, which came out in 2016, kof: all stars, the mobage+
+beat-em-up based on the series, or kof for girls (i know, i hate the title too), which is a japan-only otome game where you can date a few of the series' more prolific male characters.
the plot is simple: teams of 3 (or 4 in some cases) compete in one-on-one fights in a grand tournament organized by a mysterious benefactor. that's pretty much the whole plot, though the series has multi-game arcs that share bigger overarching plotlines.
KOF '94, the first game, is its own story (it's also covered by the cgi anime series KOF: Destiny, which you can find on YouTube) but the respective arcs are:
- Orochi Saga ('95-'97)
- NESTS Saga ('99-'01)
- Tales of Ash/Those from the Past Saga ('03, XI, XIII)
- ??? (XIV-)
As for '98, '02, and XII, those are non-canon games with no connection to the main plotline. They bring back dead characters and are considered "dream match" games, so I won't be referencing story events from those games very much.
Here's what you're probably here for: character introductions! I'll be listing characters by teams they're most commonly associated with (though I may reference others), and by first name/last name order. Ages listed will be their ages as of '95.
KYO KUSANAGI - "Scion of the Flame"
Age: 20
Country: Japan
Team: Japan Team
Origins: KOF '94

a perpetual high school delinquent, kyo is the heir to the kusanagi clan and has the ability to control fire. though often arrogant and rude, he has a strong sense of justice.
kyo is the "face character" of king of fighters, serving as the main character of '94 and the orochi saga and a prominent figure in nearly every other game. he and the rest of his team were created just for kof, instead of being originally from another game.
despite being from a storied family line, kyo has no respect for traditions and superstition and prefers to let his own drive motivate him. though he's a skilled fighter, he has little talent for schoolwork or writing (though he enjoys it). he also has a girlfriend named yuki.
BENIMARU NIKAIDO - "The Shooting Star"
Age: 21
Country: Japan
Team: Japan Team

the hedonistic son of a millionaire as well as a model with electrokinetic powers. despite seeming to have everything going for him, he was defeated by kyo in a competition to pick japan's rep in kof.
the two of them entered the '94 tournament alongside the third place winner, who'll be coming up next.
a Professional Women Respecter, benimaru is a bit impetuous, but his heart's in the right place. his hair is like that because of his electric powers. normally, it's like this.
before you say anything, benimaru's nickname during development was "Polnareff", and some developers continued to call him that even after '94 came out. his designer says that the influence is mostly physical, though, and the two don't have much else to do with each other.
GORO DAIMON - "The Rising Storm"
Age: 29
Country: Japan
Team: Japan Team
Origin: KOF '94

the voice of reason among the japan team, goro is a level-headed judo master who boasts several olympic gold medals. he loves kids very much, and often teaches them judo.
because of his intimidating appearance and size, he's not very popular with women. fortunately for him, he has a wife and son who he's very devoted to.
while character designs in kof change a lot, goro's design has remained the same in most of his appearances.
here's his son.
TERRY BOGARD - "The Legendary Hungry Wolf"
Age: 24
Country: America
Team: Fatal Fury Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

a laid-back, friendly, and reliable guy. he originally entered king of fighters to avenge the death of his father, but has competed in every tournament since.
while terry gets along with almost everyone, he has no sympathy for evil people. he doesn't have a particular job and gets by mostly through odd jobs. terry later adopts rock howard, the estranged son of his father's killer, geese howard. he also has a pet monkey named ukee.
ANDY BOGARD - "The Human Weapon"
Age: 23
Country: America
Team: Fatal Fury Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

terry's younger brother, and a practitioner of ninjutsu. he's a lot more quiet and introspective than his brother is, and envies him because he's never beaten him.
his height is a point of embarrassment for him, and mentioning it is enough to send him into hysterics. he tries to hide this by acting prideful, but doesn't think much of himself.
he loves mai, but is hopelessly obtuse when it comes to her romantic advances.
JOE HIGASHI - "The Young Champ of Muay Thai"
Age: 23
Country: Japan
Team: Fatal Fury Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

the third wheel of the fatal fury team, joe is a hotblooded and passionate master of muay thai. he's japanese, but was raised in thailand, where he learned to fight.
it's hard to believe, but joe was once very serious and stoic. he's mellowed out a lot over time, and doesn't take things quite as seriously as his teammates do.
there's a running gag that his "legend is just beginning", but most of the time, nothing really happens to him.
MAI SHIRANUI - "The Alluring Ninja Girl"
Age: 21
Country: Japan
Team: Women Fighters' Team
Origins: Fatal Fury 2

mai is a bright, peppy girl and can be a bit of a superficial airhead sometimes. she's an incredibly talented ninja, though, and uses her good looks to her advantage.
she's really a yamato nadeshiko, but you'd never know it with how flighty and prideful she is. her dream is to settle down and live a simple life with the love of her life, andy. she's a bit infatuated with him and loves to tease him about it.
mai founded the women fighters' team when andy refused to let her join the fatal fury team, and she's incredibly supportive of her teammates.
as a bonus fun fact, the women fighters' team is called the "queens team" in KOF: Destiny.
KING - "The Beautiful Kick's Illusion"
Age: 24
Country: France
Team: Women Fighters' Team
Origins: Art of Fighting

a former bouncer and a muay thai specialist. though a passionate woman, she doesn't open up to others often. she's a shrewd businesswoman who runs her own bar.
she appears as an enemy in the original art of fighting, and worked under the evil mr. big. king has a younger brother named jan who was paralyzed from the waist down, and she entered the kof tournament to raise money for his surgery.
king was one of the first female characters in a fighting game, but she was initially pretending to be a man to keep herself safe. her defeat in art of fighting is pretty shameful (her shirt gets ripped, revealing her secret), but since then she's developed a lot.
YURI SAKAZAKI - "Wild Flying Swallow"
Age: 20
Country: Japan (lives in America)
Team: Women Fighters' Team
Origins: Art of Fighting

yuri originally appeared in art of fighting as a damsel in distress, but pulls her own weight as a fighter in kof. she's a lighthearted prankster.
though she practices Kyokugenryu karate like her brother ryo, yuri's shtick is stealing her opponents' moves and modifying them. she doesn't always have an understanding of the moves she copies, though.
ryo is a bit overprotective of her, and she entered kof against his wishes.
RYO SAKAZAKI - "The Invincible Dragon"
Age: 24
Country: Japan (lives in America)
Team: Art of Fighting Team
Origins: Art of Fighting

ryo was trained as a martial artist practically from birth. his mother died when he was 10, and his father left to seek revenge.
he had to step up to take care of himself and yuri, and took up street fighting to continue his training while his father was away.
he was kind of a shameless ripoff of ryu from street fighter, with his friend robert being a ripoff of ken. they both inspired dan hibiki.
ROBERT GARCIA - "The Raging Tiger"
Age: 24
Country: Italy
Team: Art of Fighting Team
Origins: Art of Fighting

a rich countryman with doting parents, robert ran away from home to become a fighter. like ryo, he practices kyokugenryu karate, but unlike him, he's a prodigy at it.
he's intelligent and likes fashion, but he can be a bit dense about the sakazakis' financial struggles. in art of fighting, he and yuri briefly dated, but it's barely even acknowledged in kof.
TAKUMA SAKAZAKI (no cool title)
Age: 50
Country: Japan (lives in America)
Team: Art of Fighting Team
Origins: Art of Fighting 2

ryo and yuri's father, and the head of the kyokugenryu dojo in south town. a highly respected fighter, but he's also a bit of a nut.
he's very eccentric and sometimes behaves erratically. takuma is kind of a stickler for tradition, and his strict training regime and his unwillingness to change it often drives new kyokugenryu students away.
he has an alter ego named mr. karate, who he insists he's not.
ATHENA ASAMIYA - "The Psychic-Powered Idol"
Age: 18
Country: Japan
Team: Psycho Soldier Team
Origins: Psycho Soldier

descended from a goddess (from the SNK arcade game athena), athena is a psychic with incredible powers. in-universe, she's also a very popular singer!
outside of her idol gig, athena's a normal high school girl. she means well and always wants to do what's right, but can be a crybaby sometimes. she's training under chin gentsai to hone her powers.
she's one of snk's most iconic characters.
SIE KENSOU - "The Young Rising Dragon"
Age: 19
Country: China
Team: Psycho Soldier Team
Origins: Psycho Soldier

a psychic from china who trains alongside athena, kensou is also her biggest fan. he has a massive crush on her, but he's interrupted every time he tries to tell her.
he's kind of a goofball and misunderstands things a lot. unlike a lot of characters in kof, he has a pretty pronounced dislike of training and slacks off whenever he gets the chance. he has a mysterious power called the Dragon Spirit, but it hasn't been relevant in a while.
CHIN GENTSAI - "The Drunken Fist Master"
Age: 89
Country: China
Team: Psycho Soldier Team
Origins: KOF '94

almost always drunk, chin is a master of kenpo... but because of his proclivity for alcohol, he fights in a drunken fist style instead. he's a severe cynic.
chin was introduced in '94 to give athena and kensou a master. he's a major grouch, but he's good friends with tung fu rue and online friends with kula diamond.
he doesn't have much trivia, but he's apparently really good at yo-yos.
KIM KAPHWAN - "The Crown Jewel of Taekwondo"
Age: 30
Country: South Korea
Team: Korea Justice Team (Kim Team)
Origins: Fatal Fury 2

passionate, strict, and righteous, kim has an unmatched passion for justice. he attempts to rehabilitate criminals by teaching them to fight.
though he obstinately believes that he's a hero of justice, he's strict to the point of abuse sometimes and is kind of hypocritical. He has a wife and two sons, who are also students of taekwondo. his wife ran over geese howard in a truck once.
he likes karaoke.
CHANG KOEHAN (no cool title)
Age: 39
Country: South Korea
Team: Korea Justice Team
Origins: KOF '94

a formerly violent criminal who kim recruited for his rehabilitation project. while he resisted at first, he's since mellowed out and is kind of a goofball nowadays.
in kof14, he and his partner escape from prison with a fellow criminal to get away from kim. whether this arrangement will last or not is unclear.
there's a bug in KOF98 that makes leona salute him, and it's since become a running gag.
CHOI BOUNGE (no cool title)
Age: 36
Country: South Korea
Team: Korea Justice Team
Origins: KOF '94

another criminal picked by kim for his rehab program. choi stalked and attacked victims at night, and kim defeated him when he tried to attack him.
he's very dramatic and often ends sentences with -de yansu. surprisingly, he has his own image song.
originally, they had to change choi's design at the last minute to avoid similarities with freddy from a nightmare on elm street, but they've pretty much given up with that now.
HEIDERN - "General of the Soldiers of Fortune"
Age: 43
Country: ???
Team: Ikari Team (originally known as Brazil Team)
Origins: KOF '94

a high-ranked military commander, he lost his eye and family to rugal bernstein and has pursued him ever since. heidern is a codename.
he hasn't appeared as much in more recent games, with his adoptive daughter leona usually taking his place as part of the Ikari Team. he uses his own specially-designed assassination techniques to fight.
RALF JONES - "The One-Man Army"
Age: 39
Country: America
Team: Ikari Team
Origins: Ikari Warriors

a hot-blooded soldier who lives for the thrill of the fight, ralf is fiercely loyal and protective of those he cares about. he doesn't show it, but he's experienced a lot of loss.
ralf and clark have been friends since they both started their military careers.
the ikari warriors team has made multiple appearances in metal slug, and kof14's ending for them implies that the metal slug characters are part of their unit.
CLARK STILL - "Tough & Cool"
Age: 34
Country: America
Team: Ikari Warriors Team
Origins: Ikari Warriors

the coolheaded counterpart to ralf, clark was a former spy who was later recruited by heidern. though stoic and serious, he's quick to rag on his partner in lighter moments.
clark wears his signature pair of sunglasses to cover up a scar he has on his forehead. it's one with a cool backstory, though - it's from an accident ralf had when fooling around with knives.
according to the kof: a new beginning manga, he's a fairly devoted pro wrestling fan.
HEAVY D! (no cool title)
Age: 29
Country: America
Team: American Sports Team
Origins: KOF '94

a disgraced former boxer who lost his career when he gravely injured an opponent. he's incredibly brash and outright cocky at times.
this goes for all the members of the american sports team - they've only appeared in a few games, because their invitations are usually stolen whenever someone new needs to crash the party. all their other appearances are cameos.
despite this, heavy d! is pretty well-liked.
LUCKY GLAUBER (no cool title)
Age: 29
Country: America
Team: American Sports Team
Origins: KOF '94

a cheerful, friendly guy who doesn't seem to worry too much. lucky is a karate champion and a former basketball player who joined heavy d! in kof to test his skills.
he fights with his basketball, and one of his attacks involves lighting it on fire. he likes entering contests in magazines, apparently.
BRIAN BATTLER (no cool title)
Age: 29
Country: America
Team: American Sports Team
Origins: KOF '94

a rare example of a sloppy, underdeveloped kof character. all there really is to him is that he's angry, unintelligent, and plays football. that's it. really.
i guess if i HAVE to say anything else about him, he's so low-tier in KOF '98 that the commonly accepted fanmade tier list for the game had to make him his own tier below all the others.
RUGAL BERNSTEIN
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A or Villains Team
Origins: KOF '94

a powerful arms dealer and the benefactor who hosts the first king of fighters tournament. he believes himself to be a godlike figure, and he's an utter sadist. rugal hates to lose above all else.
the initial idea for rugal was "the evilest, most powerful boss character ever" - he's considered one of the hardest bosses in the series. he also has two estranged children.
he likes making statues of his enemies' corpses. one of them looks like guile from street fighter.
that's everyone introduced in the first game, KOF '94! next up is '95, the first game in the Orochi saga.
this game introduced a new team: the "Rivals Team", composed of characters who are antagonistic towards existing characters (in this case Kyo, Terry, and Ryo)
IORI YAGAMI - "Flame of the End"
Age: 20
Country: Japan
Team: Iori Team
Origins: KOF '95

a musician, iori is the heir to the yasakani bloodline, a clan of pyrokinetics who once fought alongside the kusanagi clan. this doesn't stop iori and kyo from hating each other, though.
iori is a carrier of cursed blood that makes him susceptible to a phenomenon called "riot of the blood", which makes him go berserk and attack people indiscriminately. it's this that makes him prefer to distance himself from others. he doesn't want to hurt people he likes.
iori is kof's other main "face character", because he's kyo's rival. the two have an antagonistic relationship with one another, though it's developed into a rivalry over time due to them going through a lot together. iori does seem to care about kyo, in his own weird way.
his cold demeanor aside, iori likes music and is the frontman of his own band. while he's not out to make any friends, he's not out to make enemies, either. he also really likes cats, a feature that prominently gets used in his promotional material.
iori's latest adventure is a light novel called "the king of fantasy", where he gets isekai-ed into a parallel fantasy universe featuring fantasy versions of kof characters.
i went on about iori a lot compared to other characters thus far, but he does receive a lot of focus.
as a short aside, iori, kyo, athena, terry, and nakoruru from samurai showdown were once in a band together. the band of fighters served as a "canon" idol au for the series for a short time, and they've "produced" some songs.
they last appeared in shermie's snk heroines ending.
BILLY KANE - "Emperor's Right-Hand Man"
Age: 28
Country: England
Team: South Town Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

right hand man to the overlord geese howard, billy straddles the line between bad and good. he's mostly into crime for money, and doesn't care much for people's motives.
he's a punk and seems bitter, but he's respectful towards those he looks up to (like geese) or sympathizes with (like eiji and blue mary). he has a younger sister named lilly, who's dating joe - someone billy doesn't like at all.
billy hates smokers and will even assault them.
EIJI KISARAGI (no cool title)
Age: 28
Country: Japan
Team: Anti-Kyokogenryu Team
Origins: Art of Fighting 2

eiji is a skilled ninja, but carries a big chip on his shoulder against ryo. his clan has defeated warriors of all fighting styles... except kyokugenryu karate.
he hasn't appeared very much, so there's little information available about eiji. he ends up being the butt of jokes more than anything.
eiji has no sports specialty, because "a ninja never plays sports". his special skill is apparently "not talking".
SAISYU KUSANAGI (no cool title)
Age: 50
Country: Japan
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF '94

kyo's father, with whom he shares a lot of similarities. he's just as arrogant as his son. due to age, though, he's more even-keeled than his son.
he was supposed to be k*lled off in '94, but this plotline was scrapped and he later appeared in '95 as a midboss. his playable appearances are all in "dream match" games.
saisyu loves his wife and will do anything for her, but is also kind of scared of her forceful nature.
next up is '96! feel free to take breaks between games if you want.
at this point in the story, KOF has become a famous, sponsored event. because of this, it's attracted a variety of strange new participants.
LEONA HEIDERN - "The Silent Soldier"
Age: 18
Country: ???
Team: Ikari Team
Origins: KOF '96

an orphan with a sordid past who was adopted by heidern. she keeps to herself for the most part, and has trouble expressing her emotions. she rarely talks to anyone outside of Ikari Team.
like iori, leona also possesses orochi blood and often worries about its effects. in battle she uses a variety of fun gadgets like explosive earrings.
leona is popular among snk staff, with people like shinkiro, nao q, and yasuyuki oda all stating she's one of their favorites.
KASUMI TODOH (no cool title)
Age: 16
Country: Japan
Team: Women Fighters' Team
Origins: Art of Fighting 3

mai's replacement in the women fighters' team in '96, and a frequent backup member of the team. she's a typical teenage girl, but her ability in aikido is undeniable.
kasumi is the daughter of ryuhaku todoh, the first opponent in the original art of fighting. she's had a fairly sheltered upbringing and isn't very good at english, but she's trying to learn.
she likes horror movies, particularly gory ones.
MATURE - "The Speedy Cruel Beauty"
Age: 28
Country: ???
Team: Iori Team
Origins: KOF '94

supposedly one of rugal's secretaries, mature and her partner keep an eye on iori for unknown purposes. it seems as though not even iori is certain of what her intentions are.
mature and vice are both ruthless killers, but mature likes to toy with her victims for longer than vice does. in KOFXIV, she uses her makeup as weapons.
according to an interview with kotaku done in preparation for KOFXII's release, mature is canonically bisexual.
VICE - "Throbbing Brutal Sadic"
Age: 27
Country: ???
Team: Iori Team
Origins: KOF '95

another one of rugal's supposed secretaries, and the one responsible for brainwashing saisyu in '95. vice is a cruel and merciless person with little regard for the feelings of others.
vice's fighting style revolves around grappling, which isn't a common style for female characters in fighting games. her attacks are blunter to differentiate her from mature, who uses slashing attacks.
she likes american comic books and, according to falcoon, spongebob.
GEESE HOWARD (no cool title)
Age: 42
Country: America
Team: Boss Team/South Town Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

the big man himself. geese is a crime lord who rules over the city of South Town, and the CEO of Howard Connection. a japanophile who trained under tung fu rue.
geese's exact motivations are unclear, and have ranged from everything from money to immortality, but he wants power. he dies in fatal fury, but in the kof continuity, he's alive - kof developers did not know he died while developing the game.
he's a dlc character in tekken 7.
because of the nature of '90s-era localization, geese has some really... interesting quotes.
WOLFGANG KRAUSER (no cool title)
Age: ???
Country: Germany
Team: Boss Team
Origins: Fatal Fury 2

geese's half-brother. during the events of fatal fury, he started the ORIGINAL king of fighters tournament. in kof, he only really cares about reclaiming his name.
once a villain, krauser is more of an eccentric personality nowadays. he thinks he's a true genius like mozart and only wants to fight those he deems worth his time. he apparently plays the organ once a year to honor his dead father.
MR. BIG (no cool title)
Age: 34
Country: Australia
Team: Boss Team
Origins: Art of Fighting

a notorious mafia crimelord, and the one who had yuri kidnapped in art of fighting. he's cocky and ambitious, and is a real playboy. he has a long-standing rivalry with geese.
the main reason he accepted a kof invitation was because he thought it would help him get ahead in the crime world. it did not, and he was totally taken advantage of by geese.
he gets his revenge in KOFXIV, but whether it works out for him is... unclear, right now.
CHIZURU KAGURA (no cool title)
Age: 22
Country: Japan
Team: Various
Origins: KOF '96

the sponsor of the '96 tournament, chizuru for once has no ill intent in holding it. she's a miko priestess and a businesswoman, but really she's the heiress to the yata clan.
the yata clan was one of the three clans that sealed orochi long ago, and she hosted the tournament in an attempt to bring the three clans back together before disaster struck. she's a lot more level-headed and responsible than the other sacred treasures members.
chizuru doesn't have a specific team she's associated with, though she's been a member of the women fighters' team a few times. she, iori, and kyo form the three sacred treasures team, a special team for story events.
she likes racing motorcycles.
GOENITZ - "Goenitz of the Wildly-Blowing Wind"
Age: 41
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF '96

one of the four heavenly kings of orochi, and the final boss of kof '96. goenitz has a hand in a lot of the events that occurred prior to '96. he leads the hakkesshu.
as one of the four heavenly kings, he possesses elemental powers - specifically, the control over wind. he's a priest by trade and has a messiah complex.
his theme music is called "trash head". no one's sure why, but some say it's a joke about his hairstyle.
KOF '97 time! there's really no new plot this time around, but it does mark the end of the orochi saga. the hakkesshu are a much larger part of the story this time, the game culminates with the fighters facing orochi himself.
'97's main contribution to the series is bringing in the new faces team - members of a band called CYS who all possess orochi blood. the team is meant to serve as a counterpart to japan team, and its members mirror each other.
YASHIRO NANAKASE - "Shrine of the Seven Shackles"
Age: 23
Country: Japan
Team: New Faces Team
Origins: KOF '97

also known as "yashiro of the parched earth", he's the vocalist and frontman of CYS. he's a cool-headed guy. he does have a tendency to write overly-violent songs.
yashiro is meant to be a foil to goro, as they're both the strongest members of their teams. he has a serious grudge against iori, because he upstaged CYS at one of their performances.
he also keeps a pet hawk named tatsuuru.
SHERMIE - "Roaring Lightning"
Age: 21
Country: France
Team: New Faces Team
Origins: KOF '97

also known as "shermie of the insanely violent lightning", she's a fashion designer by trade and the keyboardist of CYS. she's outgoing, friendly, and flirty. like vice, she's a grappler.
she's a foil to benimaru, because they both have lightning motifs and are part of the fashion world. shermie actually designed the outfit she wears herself! her eyes are covered almost all the time, but they're apparently filled with strong murderous intent...
CHRIS (no cool title)
Age: 14
Country: Sweden
Team: New Faces Team
Origins: KOF '97

also known as "chris of the flaming destiny", chris is the drummer for CYS and the host of orochi's spirit. he wields dark fire and is very fast. he's a shy, cheerful kid, but he can get violent.
chris is a foil to kyo, being the youngest member of his team and a fellow pyrokinetic. despite his age, he's often the mature one of the group and knows a lot more than he lets on. unlike the other four heavenly kings, he's able to access his RotB form manually.
prior to KOF '97's release, there was a poll held by SNK to determine which Fatal Fury characters would enter the KOF world as their own team, known as the '97 Special Team. one of these characters was billy, but the other two are all-new characters.
BLUE MARY - "S-Class Woman"
Age: 23
Country: America
Team: Agents Team
Origins: Fatal Fury 3

a private detective and occasional secret agent, blue mary is one of terry's drinking buddies. though friendly, she doesn't like to let her relationships get in the way of her work.
blue mary became a detective after the loss of her father and former lover, who were both killed in action on a secret service mission. she's had a more involved role in the plot since her introduction.
she was apparently inspired by android 18 from dragon ball.
RYUJI YAMAZAKI (no cool title)
Age: 33
Country: Japan
Team: '97 Special Team/Outlaw Team
Origins: Fatal Fury 3

yamazaki joined the yakuza at a young age, and when his boss was killed, he lost his mind and became violent and unhinged. he uses an animalistic fighting style.
like iori, leona, and the other hakkesshu, he possesses orochi blood. but since he's already crazy, he's immune to its maddening effects.
he keeps his right hand in his pocket because he was once complimented on how powerful his right-hand punches are, and only uses it to fight.
OROCHI - "Gaia's Will"
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF '97

a divine being whose sole purpose is protecting nature. they believe that mankind pollutes the world with its immoral actions, and want nothing more than to eradicate it. they have many devoted followers.
they are the final boss of KOF '97. 1800 years ago, they attempted to kill all humans, but the kusanagi, yasakani, and yata clans sealed them away with the help of the three sacred treasures.
they have a ridiculous amount of special powers.
KOF '98 introduces no new characters, but i did skip a character from '97 on account of him being a single entry character who does not belong to any team, so i'll introduce him now.
SHINGO YABUKI (no cool title)
Age: 17
Country: Japan
Team: Various
Origins: KOF '97

compared to other kof characters, shingo is an average, normal guy and one of kyo's classmates. after the '96 tournament, he realized he went to the same school as kyo and became his groupie.
shingo lacks kyo's pyrokinesis, and instead replicates his attacks without flames. kyo teaches him in exchange for food. his fighting style is called "Shingo's Humbly Made Own Style"
snk teased him a lot in '97 advertising, despite his lack of plot importance.
onto '99! this marks the beginning of the NESTS saga, and the brief period of time where kof used four-person teams.
'99 introduced NESTS, a shadowy organization that performs human experiments. they've attempted to clone kyo several times.
to make things a little less complicated, i won't be introducing kyo's less important clones - only the ones that are actually characters.
K' - "He Who Surpasses K"
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: K' Team
Origins: KOF '99

pronounced "k-dash", he's the protagonist of the NESTS saga. he was trained to be a human weapon by NESTS, but later defected. he's not actually all that interested in fighting.
k' and his sister were kidnapped by NESTS at a young age and raised by them. he possesses some of kyo's dna, as well as his pyrokinesis. he's serious and arrogant, but can be kind of immature, which often gets on the nerves of his opponents. k' is just really gruff.
despite his attitude, he does trust and like his teammates, particularly maxima and kula. he doesn't really like competing in kof that much, and only does so to pursue NESTS... which, ironically, leads to him and maxima winning all 4 tournaments during the arc.
MAXIMA - "Steel Human Weapon"
Age: 29
Country: Canada
Team: K' Team
Origins: KOF '99

k's partner. when NESTS killed his friend, he became a cyborg to infiltrate the cartel without being caught. his strength is unmatched, and he has a few bioweapons up his sleeve, too.
he's very serious, but maxima is also very polite and often finds himself having to apologize for his partner's behavior. he's usually the one who enters k' and co. in kof.
the face he has now isn't his real face, he got it surgically changed so he could infiltrate NESTS.
WHIP (no cool title)
Age: 16
Country: ???
Team: Ikari Team
Origins: KOF '99

a mysterious warrior who fights with her whip, named voodoo. she's actually a clone of k's older sister seirah. she's worked with K' Team in the past, but now she belongs to the Ikari Warriors.
according to a novel, whip was the first successful example of cloning from NESTS - k' wasn't an actual clone, he just possessed kyo's dna.
ralf calls her muchiko/whippy, a nickname she hates.
(as a small aside, i bungled the number of tournaments in the NESTS arc - there's only 3, not 4. K' and maxima still win them all, though.)
BAO (no cool nickname)
Age: 12
Country: China (assumed)
Team: Psycho Soldier Team
Origins: KOF '99

the youngest kof character, bao was designed to make the psycho soldier team more newcomer-friendly for players. he's an orphan with incredible psychic power.
he and kensou both share the dragon spirit power - the idea was that players could swap between them when one got too injured.
bao is... not the most liked character among the kof fanbase, but snk likes giving him cameos. he's also in kofg. please don't date him, he's 12.
LI XIANGFEI (no cool title)
Age: 17
Country: China (lives in America)
Team: Women Fighters' Team
Origins: Real Bout Fatal Fury 2

a lighthearted, goofy waitress who works as a bodyguard for her uncle's restaurant. the only thing more powerful than her kung fu is her appetite.
she has an ongoing rivalry with kasumi todoh. the two of them don't get along, even though they're on the same team.
xiangfei has a keen eye and frequently busts people who try to leave the restaurant without paying their bill - she actually got onto the WFT this way.
JHUN HOON (no cool title)
Age: 32
Country: South Korea
Team: Korea Justice Team
Origins: KOF '99

created to be kim kaphwan's friendly rival, they trained at the same dojo as children. jhun joined his rehab project, though his methods of rehabbing criminals are... unorthodox.
jhun is a huge fan of j-pop idols and forces his rehab subjects to attend concerts as part of their rehabilitation. he was actually absent from KOF 2001 because he broke his arm chasing after athena asamiya merch.
KRIZALID (no cool title)
Age: 29
Country: Ireland
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF '99

the mid- and final boss of '99, krizalid is meant to be the ultimate kyo clone. he's actually a clone of k', and has some of his memories. he fights for whichever team wins the tournament.
he's a cocky megalomaniac, but he's loyal to NESTS, and to whip as well. he considers her his sister.
krizalid apparently likes to collect clones of celebrities. uhhhhhh ok! moving on
next up is KOF 2000. this was actually the last KOF made by the original SNK before they went bankrupt and were later revived as SNK Playmore.
this game incorporates a mechanic known as "strikers" where other characters can be summoned to perform special moves.
because they're not actually fighters, i won't be covering striker-only characters. sorry, fio germi.
the plot centers around heidern attempting to track down k' and maxima so he can stop NESTS. he sends two agents to work with them so he can track them.
RAMON (no cool title)
Age: 25
Country: Mexico
Team: Agents Team/Mexico Team
Origins: KOF 2000

a luchador who was approached to enter kof by an agent named vanessa. he's a friendly guy who loves children, though he treats his opponents mockingly.
ramon was made to appeal to KOF's large latin american playerbase. it actually worked, since he was voted the ninth fan favorite character in a 2005 popularity poll.
he's based off of satoru sayama, the wrestler also known as tiger mask. several of his moves mirror his.
VANESSA (no cool title)
Age: 30
Country: ???
Team: Agents Team
Origins: KOF 2000

vanessa may be a normal housewife by day, but she's a mercenary agent by night. she's a boxer who loves drinking. she has a husband and a 4-year-old that she keeps her agent job a secret from.
since her team wins in KOF 2000, vanessa is the first female character to win a KOF tournament.
she teases ramon about his obvious crush on her, but she always rejects him - mostly because she's married.
LIN (no cool title)
Age: ???
Country: China
Team: Various
Origins: KOF 2000

...wig 😳
a member of the hizoku assassin clan, lin was betrayed by his fellow clan member ron. he joined forces with an agent named seth in order to track down his tribe's missing leader.
he's serious and loyal, but there's not really all that much to lin. the one interesting fact about him is that he was created without the knowledge of much of the staff, which led to his appearance being a surprise even to them.
SETH - "The Secret Agent"
Age: 41
Country: America
Team: Agents Team
Origins: KOF 2000

an agent who was ordered to enter kof by his superior to capture the leader of the flying brigands assassin group. seth is a true professional, faithfully carrying out orders no matter what.
seth is a family man with a lighthearted side, though not much is known about his family. his fighting style is entirely made up of self-defensive techniques, and he doesn't initiate combat.
he has a big plotline in the maximum impact series.
HINAKO SHIJOU (no cool title)
Age: 17
Country: Japan (part Russian)
Team: Women Fighters' Team
Origins: KOF 2000

though she appears delicate, hinako is a huge fan of sumo wrestling and has dedicated herself to the fighting style, even attempting to start a sumo club at school.
hinako can lift and throw people regardless of weight. she's a tiny terror, but outside of the ring, she's very shy.
she's implied to be very rich, having a private chef. apparently, she was less popular than snk thought she would be, so she hasn't appeared much since.
KULA DIAMOND - "Ice Doll"
Age: 14
Country: ???
Team: K' Team
Origins: KOF 2000

though she appears as a boss in 2000, kula has since become a staple member of k's entourage. she was created to eradicate k', and has ice powers to oppose his fire powers.
she's very childish and innocent. kula was much colder while working under NESTS, but since its collapse, she's been much more playful. she has some anger issues.
in kof13, she was convinced to enter with k' and maxima by her online friend chin, who promised her ice cream.
kof 2001, the next game, was published by the korean company eolith rather than snk. 2001 and 2002, which was also published by eolith, are a little divisive because they were made by a different studio and don't quite have the same quality as previous games.
the main conceit of the story is that NESTS enters a team into kof itself, leading the fight against them into the tournament. it's the final chapter in the NESTS arc, though the organization continues to play a role in kof's plot to this day.
there's only a few new characters introduced in 2001, so this will be quick.
MAY LEE JINJU
Age: 17
Country: South Korea
Team: Korea Justice Team
Origins: KOF 2001

a student of kim kaphwan, and the replacement for jhun hoon when he gets injured. may lee is a huge fan of tokusatsu, which she channels into her fighting style in the form of her "hero mode".
may lee's design and fighting style pay homage to kamen rider.
she's a fairly popular character in the fandom, but don't expect to see her in any games soon. as an original creation from eolith with nothing to do with the main story, snk isn't all that into her. sorry, y'all.
FOXY
Age: 28
Country: ???
Team: NESTS Team
Origins: KOF 2000

originally appearing in 2000 as one of kula's strikers, foxy is one of her caretakers. she's a rare weapon user - she fences. after NESTS's collapse, she goes on to own a successful honey factory.
the purple thing isn't actually her hair, but the official NESTS flag. she ties her hair back with it.
foxy was inspired by cutie honey. she wasn't going to be playable, then was planned to enter kof with her partner diana, but the latter never became a playable character.
K9999
Age: 16
Country: ???
Team: NESTS Team
Origins: KOF 2001

the 9999th attempt at a kyo kusanagi clone, K9999 is considered the "perfected" specimen. he doesn't actually know that he's a clone, though. he considers k' to be his ultimate rival and hates him with a passion.
K9999 is a rare instance of a character being retconned from the kof canon. his concept takes a lot of... inspiration... from the film akira, and due to the explicitness of the tribute, snk doesn't really like him that much. we'll probably never know what happened to him.
ANGEL
Age: 19
Country: Mexico
Team: NESTS Team/Mexico Team
Origins: KOF 2001

originally an agent of NESTS, angel entered the tournament in order to keep an eye on K9999. she later leaves NESTS and pretty much vanishes, but ramon convinces her to be on his team in kofxiv.
angel is flirty and fun-loving, behaving kind of like a cat. her design was apparently based entirely on her designer's "preferences".
she makes a lot of puro references, and her line "do you taste the angel's extraordinary skill" plays on "do you smell what the rock is cookin'?"
ORIGINAL ZERO
Age: 44
Country: North Pole
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF 2001

the original version of zero, the final boss of kof 2000. he's incredibly loyal to NESTS and is bent on killing the winners of the tournament. he's honorable, though, and loves children.
there's not much to say about original zero. i didn't talk about the zero from kof2000, though, so here he is.
he betrayed NESTS at the end of 2000, so original zero is disgusted with him.
IGNIZ
Age: 56
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF 2001

the CEO of NESTS, igniz is a megalomaniac bent on becoming a god. he's very preachy and prideful, and can even use magic, something that few kof characters can do. his death marks the end of the NESTS saga.
a funny thing about igniz is that in his initial appearance, he couldn't crouch - which is something almost every other boss in kof can do. it's unclear why, since he gained the ability to crouch in KOF2002UM.
he believes in aliens and likes to watch for UFOs.
KOF2002 introduces no new characters! i'm not counting KUSANAGI because, again, he's just kyo. there's really no point in giving him a profile, especially since he doesn't show up much afterwards.
NAMELESS
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF2002UM

a character introduced in the kof 2002 remake, nameless is another kyo clone presumably meant to replace K9999 after his retcon. he has a dead girlfriend he desperately misses.
that's... really all there is to nameless. he was inspired by ninjas, apparently.
kof 03 is pretty no-frills in terms of its plot. there's another tournament. new people come to fight in it. simple as that.
it did introduce a tag team system that lets you switch between characters on your team at any time, though.
ASH CRIMSON - "The Sneering Blaze"
Age: 16
Country: ??? (raised in France)
Team: Hero Team
Origins: KOF 03

the face character of the tales of ash saga... though not always necessarily its hero. he's cunning and self-righteous, willing to do anything to get ahead of the curve.
ash is calm and confident, but is also pretty condescending. while he's manipulative and uses people a lot, he does have some actual friends - though whether they feel the same about him is uncertain.
the intention with ash was to create a different kind of kof protag.
ash came at a time when many kof fans felt that the series was losing its identity and getting too far from its roots, and the introduction of a cunning, effeminate lead character was the exact opposite of what most people wanted. he wasn't very popular, but he's more liked now.
DUO LON - "The Silent Assassin"
Age: 21
Country: China
Team: Hero Team
Origins: KOF 03

the son of ron, and a member of the flying brigands. lon became an assassin to hunt down his father. he's serious, but has a good heart and a strong moral code.
lon has a very interesting fighting style, with many of the command inputs for his moves being strange even by kof standards. possibly because of this, he has a much smaller moveset in his later appearances.
his blood type is listed as "poison".
SHEN WOO - "Shanghai's God of War"
Age: 29
Country: ??? (raised in China)
Team: Hero Team
Origins: KOF 03

shen woo created an entirely new boxing style, which caught ash's attention prior to the '03 tournament. he's a rowdy guy who loves a good fight, but is also very loyal.
shen is a lot more laid-back than the other main characters of the tales of ash saga, and developers have even stated that he looks more like a protagonist than ash does.
we don't actually know where he's from or what his real name is - "shen woo" is a nickname.
TIZOC
Age: 27
Country: Mexico
Team: Fatal Fury Team/Mexico Team
Origins: Garou: Mark of the Wolves

a masked wrestler loved by children, tizoc has no interest in the kof prize money - he's just there for the fight. he acts and speaks very heroically, always in character.
terry invites him to join the tournament, though he later competes with b. jenet on her team.
after losing a fight to the boxer nelson, he becomes disgraced and takes on a heel persona, known as KING OF DINOSAURS... but don't tell anyone!
GATO
Age: 26
Country: ???
Team: Outlaw Team
Origins: Garou: Mark of the Wolves

a ruthless, serious martial artist searching for revenge. his father killed his mother when he was young, and he's been trying to hunt him down ever since. he's very fast and acrobatic.
gato was invited to join the outlaw team by geese howard, along with billy and ryuji. unlike the others, he accepted in order to keep hotaru, a young girl who may or may not be his sister, from being harmed.
he can hold his breath underwater for 10 minutes straight.
MALIN
Age: 17
Country: Japan
Team: High School Girls' Team
Origins: KOF 03

a spoiled brat of a spy who operates from behind the scenes. her real motivations behind entering kof are unknown, but she's apparently on some sort of mission. she has an intense rivalry with yuri.
malin uses a variety of weapons like blades, claws, hammers, and even bladed yo-yos. she's a talented musician and a big fan of athena's.
choi isn't in 03, so she was made to fill the lack of a weapon user in the game.
ADELHEID BERNSTEIN
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF 03

adelheid and his sister rose are the two children of rugal bernstein, though they don't have much of a relationship with their father. the two of them live on a zeppelin, and host the 03 tournament.
really, adelheid is only following the legacy his father left behind. he's honorable, and above all, a good sport. he's the "other protagonist" of the ash saga.
adel has never been playable in any kof game, but he's a highly requested character from fans.
MUKAI
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF 03

an enigmatic member of "those from the past" and the final boss of 03. mukai has powers over the earth and appears in order to "test" the winning team. he's very powerful, but he has some respect for humans.
like many kof final bosses, there isn't very much trivia about him. he has a very grand and dramatic way of speaking, which is so notable about him that it's mocked by another member of "those from the past".
he's a whopping 7'7" tall.
aside edit 2: adelheid IS playable in KOFXI! he's a boss AND a playable character. it's his only playable appearance, though.
kof xi was the first game to not have the year of its release in its title - snk wanted to be able to spend more time on installments, without feeling pressured to have yearly releases. judging from the gaps between later installments, this was probably a good idea.
it picks up right from where '03 left off, following mukai stealing and breaking the orochi seal and ash's betrayal. the game focuses more on "those from the past", who were foreshadowed at the end of the last game.
ELISABETH BLANCTORCHE - "The Controller of White Light"
Age: 27
Country: France
Team: Rivals Team
Origins: KOF XI

ash's childhood friend. the two of them grew up together in france until their house mysteriously burnt down. she's a serious, dignified, and classy woman.
elisabeth is the last remaining member of the blanctorche family, a line of nobles and vigilantes. she lives with her butler, jacques.
she treats ash as a younger brother, but keeps him on a tight leash. the two are so close that she's able to sense his presence.
OSWALD
Age: ???
Country: Ireland
Team: Hero Team
Origins: KOF XI

oswald was once a professional hitman, though he's retired at the time of kof xi. ash recruited him for his team based on rumors of him being a skilled fighter. he uses a sharpened deck of cards as a weapon.
the condition for oswald joining ash was that the latter had to beat the former in a poker game. though oswald had the winning hand, he conceded defeat because he could tell that ash was very skilled.
in XI-XIII, he's implied to have a disease, but it's later retconned.
oswald is probably the most underused character in the kof roster - after XI, he was supposed to appear in XIII on iori's team, but this was scrapped when vice and mature returned for that game. he later appeared as a dlc character in XIV.
DUCK KING
Age: 29
Country: America
Team: Fatal Fury Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

a laid-back dancer and a frequent rival of terry's, duck king takes things as they come and only really cares about living life to the fullest. his breakdancing influences his fighting style.
duck king was nearly in '97 as part of the special team, but he narrowly lost the vote to blue mary. he keeps a pet chicken named p-chan who lives in his hood.
his sprites are pretty notorious for how well-animated they are. this sprite is his IDLE ANIMATION.
MOMOKO
Age: ??? (high school aged)
Country: Japan
Team: Psycho Soldier Team
Origins: KOF XI

momoko is an ordinary high schooler who possesses some psychic powers. she was personally invited by athena to join the team. in addition to her powers, she uses capoeira.
momoko was meant to replace chin in order to make the psycho soldier team have a younger appeal, but several developers found her kind of uncomfortable. xi is her only mainline appearance.
she really loves food and has a weird fascination with breasts. uh.... let's move on.
B. JENET - "Under the Skull's Flag"
Age: 19
Country: England
Team: MOTW Team
Origins: Garou: Mark of the Wolves

real name jennie behrn, b. jenet is the leader of a gang of pirates known as the lillien knights. she has an eye for treasure and valuable things, and loves money.
jenet loves to party. even though she's from a rich family, she hates asking them for things - which is part of why she became a pirate and a thief in the first place. she has a bit of a crush on terry, but given her personality, it's definitely not serious.
she likes eurobeat.
GAI TENDO
Age: ???
Country: Japan
Team: N/A
Origins: Buriki One

gai is the main protagonist of buriki one, an offshoot of the art of fighting series. he's brash, noisy, and impulsive, rarely thinking before he acts.
XI was not his first time in the kof series, as he appeared in 2000 as a striker for takuma.
he's a genius fighter who managed to beat his sensei at 10 years old. his character is heavily inspired by baki the grappler.
SHO HAYATE
Age: 21
Country: Japan
Team: N/A
Origins: Savage Reign

the last remaining practitioner of a fighting style called fu'un ken, hayate is determined to become a master of it. he's a bit behind on the times, and can be unintentionally rude, which gets him into fights.
there's... little to no info i can find online about savage reign. the series is better known for its sequel, kizuna encounter. hayate has also made cameos in samurai showdown.
he has a trademark yell (うおおおおおおおおおおおお!!!, "Uoooooooh!!!").
JYAZU
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: Kizuna Encounter

the final boss of kizuna encounter, jyazu was added into xi to serve as a counterpart for hayate. he's a member of a terrorist group known as jaguar, along with his brothers gozu and mezu.
that's literally all the info there is on jyazu. they really scraped the bottom of the barrel for some of these characters...
the kizuna encounter devs say they want to see him team up with his brothers someday.
SILBER
Age: ???
Country: Germany
Team: N/A
Origins: Buriki One

the main villain of buriki one, silber appears out of nowhere and knocks out your supposed opponent. he's power-hungry, and only responds to his defeated foes with one-word insults.
he's apparently friends with oswald. his design draws a lot of comparisons to akuma from street fighter, but there's no way to know whether the resemblance is intentional or not.
SHION
Age: ???
Country: China
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF XI

shion is a lackey of "those from the past" who fights using wushu martial arts. he has a special weapon known as the crimson spear. shion chooses to abandon his humanity to work with magaki.
shion was originally designed to be a sister of duo lon, but the designers decided to change his gender halfway through development. his gender actually isn't even revealed in the game, but in his official backstory.
he's a big fan of japanese va and singer maria yamamoto.
MAGAKI
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOF XI

another member of "those from the past", magaki doesn't get along with mukai and disagrees with his caution towards humans. he's a social darwinist and is considered to be one of the cheapest bosses in kof.
magaki was designed to be physically unappealing - he moves in a strange, jerky manner that was meant to freak people out. there's no doubt that he's meant to be an irredeemable, unsympathetic character.
when he's not plotting to take over the earth, he plays the stock market.
TUNG FU RUE
Age: 71
Country: China
Team: China Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

tung fu rue is a master of hakkyokuseiken martial arts and a teacher of many prominent kof characters - including geese, terry, and andy. he stayed out of the spotlight until XIV, where he's in China Team.
tung fu rue's signature move is enhancing his body with chi energy, creating a very beefy double entirely out of chi. despite his power, he's calm and relaxed... sometimes a little too relaxed, to the point of seeming oblivious.
he's currently training shun'ei and meitenkun.
HOTARU FUTABA
Age: 16
Country: Japan
Team: N/A
Origins: Garou: Mark of the Wolves

despite being a martial artist, hotaru is a pacifist through and through. she uses the juu-kei kenpo style, which is a lighter form of kenpo. she believes gato is her brother, but it's unclear.
she has a pet marten named itokatsu. hotaru's family was shattered following the death of her mother, and she hopes that they can all be together again one day.
hotaru has some... interesting? moves. if you're curious, look them up yourself - they're too much for me to post here.
FINALLY we've come to the end of the new characters introduced in KOF XI. they really went back to the idea of kof being a crossover fighting game with this one.
kof xii has no plot and introduces no new characters, so we can skip over it.
KOF XIII is up next, bringing us very close to the end. in the aftermath of XI, the yata and yasakani clans have been left wounded, and only the kusanagi clan's treasure is intact. orochi threatens the world once again, but even so, the tournament continues.
XIII features some absolutely GORGEOUS spritework, some of the best i've ever seen. even generic punching animations are beautifully animated.
unfortunately, the focus on graphical detail nearly bankrupted snk again, and put the series on hold until XIV came out.
XIII features only two new characters (aside from its final boss), both members of Kim's new team. it does mark the return of chin, vice, and mature, though.
RAIDEN
Age: ???
Country: Australia
Team: Kim Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

raiden actually made his debut in kof XII, but appeared on Kim's team in XIII. he once worked for geese, but doesn't anymore... which is why he's so surprised when kim recruits him to his program.
raiden is a heel who cares little about his opponents and only wants to relive the glory days of his career.
in fatal fury, he redeems himself and dons a face persona, known as big bear. woof.
HWA JAI
Age: 34
Country: Thailand
Team: Kim Team
Origins: Fatal Fury

a former muay thai champion who went toe to toe with joe in the fatal fury series. hwa jai returned to thailand after cutting ties with geese, but kim recruits him to salvage jai's reputation.
he and joe are actually good friends, and he continues to support joe from the sidelines after his defeat in the fatal fury series. he's a lot rougher in kof, though.
when he drinks something called his "power drink" (probably alcohol), his stats increase and he gets stronger.
SAIKI - "The One Who Rules Time"
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origin: KOF XIII

ash's ancestor, and the leader of "those from the past". like orochi, he's a servant of gaia's will - but unlike his counterpart, he aims to use her power for his own means.
saiki has a god complex and believes himself superior to all else. he shares some of ash's more flamboyant traits.
when ash defeats him, they end up causing a time paradox and both get erased from the timeline... leading to the events of KOFXIV.
and KOFXIV brings us to the most recent events of the series! the game was the first 3D installment, and the first new kof game after a long hiatus where SNK mainly worked on pachislot machines. yasuyuki oda, the game's director, said his goal was to make the game easy to play.
XIV is the first in a new saga, and features a new protagonist.
after the events of XIII, a charismatic billionaire who claims to be the "first champion" of KOF buys out all the rights to the competition and holds an all new, worldwide tournament.
SHUN'EI
Age: ???
Country: China
Team: China Team
Origins: KOFXIV

abandoned at a young age by his parents because of his mysterious powers, shun'ei was adopted by tung fu rue and now trains under him. he aims to challenge others so he can prove his strength.
shun'ei is the protagonist of the new saga. like ash, the intention with him was to create a new kind of protagonist. he's very shy, but tung has taught him kindness through his teachings, and he wants to use his powers for good.
originally his design was supposed to be more stereotypically chinese, but the design team decided to make a character who would appeal more to the female audience.
because of this, he has a few "gap moe" traits, like a secret fondness for sweets.
MEITENKUN
Age: 13 (?)
Country: China
Team: China Team
Origins: KOFXIV

meitenkun is one of tung's last disciples, alongside shun'ei. he's a drunken fist fighter, but because of his age, he can't drink - so instead, he fights while half-asleep.
shun'ei and tung both think that meitenkun has exceptional abilities, but you wouldn't know it from how he acts. he's carefree to the point of seeming dense - not much fazes him.
his sports specialty is short-distance running, probably because he gets too tired for long-distance.
GANG-IL
Age: ???
Country: South Korea
Team: Kim Team
Origins: KOFXIV

kim kaphwan's former master, and the chairman of the world taekwando federation. his love of the sport is the only thing he has in common with kim, though - he's a social type and a relentless womanizer.
apparently, every time gang-il returns from traveling abroad, he's accompanied by a different woman.
kim deeply respects him, but does so a little too much - he's kind of nervous about going against him or disagreeing with him, which causes a lot of trouble.
LUONG - "The Enchanting Beauty"
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: Kim Team
Origins: KOFXIV

a mysterious woman, luong shares little about herself with others. while she's cold to her opponents, she's affectionate towards her lover gang-il and towards kim... much to his displeasure.
we still don't know where luong is from, but it's theorized that she's vietnamese because she wears an áo dài in her team's ending. her fighting style hasn't been identified, either... though she's strong enough to break necks, despite her appearance.
XANADU
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: Villains Team
Origins: KOFXIV

xanadu was created to fulfill the vision of a "prisoners' team" that was supposed to be in '94, but never came to pass. though others consider him a superior intellectual, he's very eccentric and a little crazy.
xanadu is... weird. he's a legendary criminal known as "king of the underground", but it's not known yet what he did to earn that title. he talks at length about complicated concepts, which make people think he's smart.
in reality, he's childish and throws tantrums when he loses.
SYLVIE PAULA PAULA - "Late-Blooming-Blitz Eyeie"
Age: ???
Country: France
Team: Official Invitation Team
Origins: KOFXIV

a former agent of NESTS with electric powers, sylvie is now pursuing her dream of becoming an idol. she's a lot kookier than her teammates.
sylvie is an underground fighter who was invited to compete personally by the sponsor. she doesn't act it, though, since she's very silly and impetuous. she still carries a lot of trauma from when she was a member of NESTS, and acts out as a result.
sylvie was inspired by ky*ry p*myu p*myu, but recently her outfits in official art have leaned more towards general decora-style fashion.
she's implied to be very musically talented, being able to play the piano and several other instruments.
MIAN - "Mesmerizing Masquerade"
Age: ???
Country: China
Team: Official Invitation Team
Origins: KOFXIV

a dancer in the sichuan opera and a close friend of sylvie's, mian is an underground fighter in her spare time. she's actually painfully shy, despite her elegant demeanor.
she practices bian lian, a chinese performing art that involves wearing different kinds of masks. instead of emoting, she often changes her mask.
mian's a little greedy and is very focused on money, but it's revealed in heroines that she's raising money for a sick relative.
KUKRI
Age: ???
Country: ??? (somewhere in North Africa)
Team: Official Invitation Team
Origins: KOFXIV

kukri is a mysterious man who hides his identity at all costs. he has the power to control sand. he seems cool-headed, but is really pretty rude and foul-mouthed.
according to antonov, anyone who looks directly at his face will die of a curse. official art of his face does exist, but...
kukri is responsible for the events of snk heroines. breaking objectivity for a second, i hope they retcon that, because he has a lot of potential.
kukri refused to fill out his profile, so the one that exists for him is pretty funny.
NELSON
Age: ???
Country: Brazil
Team: South America Team
Origins: KOFXIV

nelson is a prodigy boxer whose career was nearly put on hold by a horrific accident that lost him his arm and put his fiancee in a coma. he now sports a robotic arm and even better boxing skills.
he's a nice, confident, extroverted guy who really loves his fiancee a lot, and worries about her well-being even during the competition. nelson is kind of the straight man of his team, having a cooler head than his friends.
nelson is good at a lot of different sports.
ZARINA - "Dazzling Smile"
Age: ???
Country: Colombia (lives in Brazil)
Team: South America Team
Origins: KOFXIV

a dogged environmentalist and dancer, zarina's in it for a noble end: she wants to protect the nesting place of her pet toucan, coco, whose species is endangered.
she uses capoeira, but her fighting style is also influenced by her dancing prowess. she's fairly talented at samba dancing!
though zarina's a nice person, she's not above dirty tricks. she convinces antonov to help save coco's species by kicking him in the nuts.
BANDEIRAS HATTORI
Age: ???
Country: Brazil
Team: South America Team
Origins: KOFXIV

an, um... enthusiast for japanese culture and specifically ninjutsu. bandeiras strives to be a master ninja, but because of his enthusiasm, comes off as an obsessed fanboy more than anything.
he's not all talk, and certainly has the skills he says he has, but he gets a little overexcited around more legitimate fighters. he's a big fan of mai's, and begs her to train him after they fight.
many of bandeiras's moves are references to hanzo hattori from samurai showdown.
HEIN
Age: ???
Country: Germany
Team: South Town Team
Origins: KOFXIV

geese howard's personal butler and a member of the howard connection, hein was recruited by geese to enter the tournament along with him and billy. he's polite and mild-mannered, but can get very violent.
hein fights using "gambits" - self-crafted moves named after chess terms. he also seems to have some control over gravity, which he uses to fight.
like chizuru before him, he also has an affinity for motorsports. maybe they've raced each other...?
NAKORURU - "Mother Nature's Guardian"
Age: 17
Country: Japan
Team: Another World Team
Origins: Samurai Showdown

one of snk's most popular characters and the face of their other fighting game franchise, samurai showdown. nakoruru is an ainu priestess who fights for nature.
she fights alongside her hawk, mamahaha (which translates to "stepmother"), though she uses a sword in combat.
in kof, she was brought to the modern world by a mysterious force - though for what purpose is unclear.
MUI MUI
Age: ???
Country: China
Team: Another World Team
Origins: Dragon Gal

one of three characters in KOFXIV that reps SNK's pachislot franchises, mui mui is the last successor of the dragon clan and a kung fu master. she's looking for gems with mysterious powers.
mui mui is almost always hungry and has a seemingly bottomless stomach. her favorite food is nikuman, steamed pork buns.
her only known relative is her pet panda, pui pui.
LOVE HEART
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: Another World Team
Origins: Sky Love

another pachislot girl, love is the captain of a pirate ship that sails through the sky. she's serious and charismatic, but tends to get pushed around a lot by her more outgoing teammates.
she's strong enough to fire two bazookas at once, but she doesn't do it in kof, unfortunately.
the rights to sky love were recently sold to the company highlights entertainment, leaving her future in kof unclear. they still used her in heroines, though.
ALICE
Age: 17
Country: America
Team: Women Fighters' Team
Origins: Garou Densetsu

a character from the fatal fury pachislots, alice is a huge fan of terry's who entered the tournament to gain his approval and attention. she's a cheerful girl, though often oblivious.
alice's fighting style consists of her emulating moves from the fatal fury protagonists.
she's japanese-american, and has a much more prominent role in days of memories, a series of dating sims developed by snk. in that series, she's studying to be a nurse.
ANTONOV
Age: ???
Country: Russia
Team: N/A
Origins: KOFXIV

a billionaire who purchased the rights to king of fighters and proclaimed himself the first champion. though he seems very arrogant, he's a fairly honest man with a strong code of ethics.
antonov is secretly a sap who cries during sad movies, something he does very often. he has an executive director named yakov, who he continually demotes throughout the game for imagined slights.
in the manga kof: a new beginning, he says he doesn't believe contestants' powers (such as kyo's pyrokinesis and benimaru's electrokinesis) are "real" and thinks that they're just special effects.
VERSE
Age: ???
Country: ???
Team: N/A
Origins: KOFXIV

the final boss of XIV, an entity created by the events at the end of XIII. verse is a being made up of different people's souls - because of this, sometimes said souls can take control over verse and influence its actions.
among the souls contained within verse are many king of fighters characters who have died... meaning that when it is defeated, their souls are released, and they are all revived. surprise!
ROCK HOWARD - "Wolf's Pedigree"
Age: 17
Country: America
Team: N/A
Origins: Garou: Mark of the Wolves

a dlc character for xiv, rock is geese howard's estranged son, who terry adopted. he's the protagonist of garou: mark of the wolves, where he becomes a fighter like his dad.
rock's appearance in xiv creates a small continuity error for the series, since terry is much younger in the game than he is in garou... but that's fine, since he's dlc and isn't canon to the main story.
he's a shy person, especially around women, but always wants to help others.
he has some bad blood due to being geese's son, and he constantly tries to fight off his evil side - which allows him to use powerful darkness-based attacks, though they sometimes cause him pain.
he does appear in mainline kof, but only as a child.
NAJD
Age: ???
Country: Saudi Arabia
Team: N/A
Origins: KOFXIV

najd lives a double life, being a normal college student during the day, but a mysterious, abaya-clad vigilante at night. she's quiet and curious, but she has a dark side and strives to punish the guilty.
najd was created as part of a character contest held by snk and manga productions, meant to introduce more middle eastern characters to the series. she was designed by saudi artist mashael al-barrak (below)
despite her and kim having similar priorities, they don't get along.
and with that, it looks like we've reached the end of the line! that's every single kof character that there is, not counting strikers. granted that kofxv might be coming in 2020, though, i may have to update this thread more in the future when new characters are revealed.
i'd like to thank @/ebisueika, as was mentioned, for making the thread that inspired this one, as well as @/SimmerDownScaly for help with character research.
if you want, follow me for more kof content - i post fanart and ocs, along with some other stuff.
and you! if you've read this far in the thread, you're a real champ. thanks from me, and my kof oc team! :-) (feel free to bug me about them if you want, i'm not putting them in this thread)
that's all for now. see you next time!
You can follow @manglegrove.
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