History Franchise / TheKingOfFighters

A spin-off game, ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'', stars the majority of the female cast of the ''IV'' title (plus Shermie and [[GenderFlip a gender-bent Terry Bogard]]) as a 2v2 fighter [[spoiler:bridging the events between ''IV'' and ''XIV'', released on September 18, 2018.

In 2010 [[Film/TheKingOfFighters2010 a film adaptation]] was released, starring Creator/MaggieQ, Creator/WillYunLee and Creator/RayPark.

A new game, ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'', stars the majority of the female cast of the ''IV'' title (plus Shermie and [[GenderFlip a gender-bent Terry Bogard]]) as a 2v2 fighter.

!! This series also provides examples of:

*** [[BonusBoss Nightmare Geese]]'s Raising Dead End HSDM, wherein [[PowerGlows his hands glow]]. If he [[CounterAttack counters]] a move then, [[ShirtlessScene he rips his shirt off]], encases you in a giant Reppuken, and fires it at you. It sounds mundane, and yet the visual delivery is surprisingly epic.

* RivalFinalBoss: In ''[='97=]'', if you beat [[spoiler:Orochi in Story Mode with Team Japan's Kyo, his rival Iori [[BonusBoss will appear as your last opponent]]]].

* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersKyo'' (1998)

* AssistCharacter: ''KOF '99'' introduced the Striker system which allowed you to allocate a fourth team member to this role. This system lasted up til 2001.

* The '''NESTS Chronicles''' saga ('99 - '01[[note]]'02 is a non-story dream match.[[/note]]) about the eponymous organization and their conspiracy to [[CloningBlues create weaponized clones]] of the most powerful warriors in the world. As Kyo is absent for the majority of this arc (he doesn't show until the end of ''[='99=]'' and remains a supporting character for the remainder of the saga), the main protagonist is a new character called K' (pronounced "Kay Dash"). It is strongly linked with the artist [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Styleos Styleos,]] although Shinkiro handled art in the ''[='99=]'' and ''2000'' versions before SNK went under and he left the company; [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Nona Nona]] took over as official artist for ''2001'' and ''2002'', both by Korean developer Eolith.

* {{Bishonen}}: Half of the male cast is made up of pretty boys. Nagase, the tech-head ninja from ''Maximum Impact 2'', dislikes each and every last one of them.

* CallingYourAttacks: Almost everyone ("Ko-oh Ken!", "Psycho Ball!", "Shingo Kick!", "Zetsuei.", "Get away from me!" etc.). Very often subverted when the characters yell something other than the move's name (like Iori, whose voice samples translate to things like "What's wrong?!" and "Die!"); averted by the less talkative characters (Daimon, Leona) and Orochi, whose moves didn't even had actual names until ''[='98=]: [[UpdatedRerelease Ultimate Match]]''.

* CirclingBirdies: Averted. Fighters can be stunned after taking too many hits, but circles stars or birds are not present above their heads.

* DeathIsCheap: Averted since dead characters only return in the non-canonical {{Dream Match game}}s.
** ... but that's not the case with Vice and Mature, who not only appeared in ''[='98=]'' and ''2002'', but also ''XIII'' [[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke which is actually a canonical installment]][[/note]] as full-fledged members of Iori's team [[spoiler:only for the duo to fade into darkness again after they become champions.]], and again in ''XIV''.

* SomeDexterityRequired: The series had a problem with this early on. There's the legendary Raging Storm: Down-Back, Half-Circle Back, Down-Forward. Most games starting with ''[='96=]'' averted this, but SNK still throws curveballs from time to time. K9999's[[note]]and by extension, Nameless'[[/note]] inputs are also ridiculously difficult as are Duck King's in ''XI''. It wouldn't be until ''XIV'' that Raging Storm would be replaced by an Orochinagi (qcb~hcf) motion. ''XV'' takes it a step further by giving every Climax Super in the game an Orochinagi plus Blowback input as opposed to the varying inputs of prior games.

* CanonDiscontinuity: ''XIII'' starts where ''XI'' left off, with ''XII'' treated as a Dream Match. With ''XII'' being an ObviousBeta, it's not hard to see why.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish:
** The opening rap from ''[='98=]'' at the top of the page.
** The announcer and pretty much all text in ''XIII''.
*** XIV's announcers as well, despite fairly clearly being native Japanese speakers, their English is otherwise quite fluent. Carries over into ''XV'', too. Especially the Rival Team's {{Leitmotif}}, [[https://youtu.be/4DATzZahRcM "Time for revolution it's our generation"]], having fluent English lyrics.

* SecretProjectRefugeeFamily: K', Whip, and Kula have essentially been this post-NESTS saga alongside caretakers Maxima (who functions as the OlderSidekick to K', as well as Kula's HonoraryUncle), Foxy, and Diana (the {{Team Mom}}s of the group, [[HeterosexualLifePartners as well as]] Kula's [[HasTwoMommies maternal figures]]).

!!! The Tales of Ash:

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Krizalid]] in '99. His [[OhCrap horror]] upon realizing that [[spoiler:he was going to die by Clone Zero's will]] was enough to evoke pity, but the custom team ending [[FromBadToWorse takes it further,]] it is revealed that [[spoiler:he was brainwashed to serve NESTS the entire time and dies not knowing who he truly is.]] It gets even worse in the Ikari team's ending where he [[spoiler:'mistakes' Whip for his lost sister,]] only for [[spoiler:her]] to reveal that [[spoiler:[[FakeMemories NESTS gave him a false memory of it]] and that he's actually [[LukeYouAreMyFather a clone of K', rather than the other way around.]]]] This gets expanded in the Ikari team's ending 2000, [[spoiler:when Clone Zero tells Whip that [[EveryoneIsRelated she's actually a clone of the dead sister of K',]] [[FridgeHorror making Krizalid die without knowing that]] [[CassandraTruth Whip really was his biological sister.]]]] No wonder why SNK [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally planned for]] [[spoiler:Krizalid to be brought BackFromTheDead.]]

** It's what happens when [[DemotedToExtra you're not the protagonist]], regardless of whether or not you've been a mainstay. The biggest cases of this are probably [[TheHero Terry Bogard]], [[MsFanservice Mai]] [[JigglePhysics Shiranui]], [[JusticeWillPrevail Kim Kaphwan]] and the [[HotBlooded Sakazaki]] [[GenkiGirl siblings]]. While they are still around more than the others whom are generally DemotedToExtra or [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome just mysteriously disappear]], they are generally only kept in to appease older fans. Really, this can apply to anyone who isn't original to the series; you'll be there for the veterans but have little to no impact on the actual plot.

* CursedWithAwesome: The Orochi bloodline, which has ElementalPowers and blade-fingers by default for most members. Then the [[UnstoppableRage Riot of]] [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Blood]] happens and [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity things get a little messy for everyone nearby]]. Also an example of HereditaryCurse.

* GirlsWithMoustaches: In ''XI'', the Kyokugen Team's ending has Yuri, of all people, don a fake moustache as part of [[DatePeepers her]] [[PaperThinDisguise disguise]]. Needless to say, Ryo and King aren't fooled, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V8Ta2KILHs nor are they amused.]]

* RouteBoss: If you get certain special wins in ''The King of Fighters XI'' you can fight [[VideoGame/BurikiOne Gai Tendo, Silber,]] [[VideoGame/FuunSeries Sho Hayate or Gyazu]]. If you can't do some of the requirements for some of them, you have to fight Adel (Rugal's son and FinalBoss of ''KOF 2003'') as an obligatory sub-boss.

* SecretProjectRefugeeFamily: K', Whip, and Kula have essentially been this post-NESTS saga alongside caretakers Maxima (who functions as the OlderSidekick to K', as well as Kula's HonoraryUncle), Foxy, and Diana (the {{Team Mom}}s of the group, [[HeterosexualLifePartners as well as]] [[HasTwoMommies Kula's maternal figures]]).

* SlidingScaleOfContinuity: Level 5 (Full Lockout). There are currently five [[StoryArc arcs]]: the [[SNKBoss Rugal]] [[StarterVillain Saga]] (the first title, ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters94 '94]]''), the {{Orochi}} Saga (''[='95=]''-''[='98=]''), the [[NebulousEvilOrganisation NESTS]] Chronicles (''[='99=]''-''2002''), the Tales of [[TheTrickster Ash]] (''2003''-''XIII'') and the current, as-of-now-unnamed arc (the present-day saga, having started in ''XIV''). While it's not too bad with the NESTS Chronicles (as the protagonist of those titles, K', distances himself from previous hero Kyo despite being genetically-engineered with his DNA), the Tales of Ash almost ''requires'' that you played the first four games. This is made worse if you look past the main plot and focus on the supporting cast, as you then have to deal with allusions and plot points carried over from ''VideoGame/FatalFury'', ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'', ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', ''VideoGame/{{Athena}}''/''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'', ''VideoGame/TheLastBlade'', ''[[VideoGame/FuunSeries Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter]]'', ''Buriki One'', etc. While it's ContinuityPorn and {{Fanservice}} for those who have followed Creator/{{SNK}} Playmore since its heyday, it's borderline-ContinuityLockout for anyone else. Remember that this series [[ContinuityCreep originally]] existed as [[MascotFighter a storyless gathering of fighters]].

* VagueAge: The game used to list the ages of characters, but later on the official data lacks it. Most likely have something to do with ComicBookTime and how [[YoungerThanTheyLook some characters don't]] [[OlderThanTheyLook look their stated age]].

* The '''Shun'ei Saga''' (XIV - XV), introduces the titular Shun'ei, a student of [[VideoGame/FatalFury Tung Fu Rue]] as the new protagonist, as well as finally the official addition of another one of SNK's fighting game juggernaut titles, ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'', via their mascot/heroine Nakoruru. The game itself uses 3D graphics (through an inhouse engine in XIV and Unreal Engine 4 in XV) while still retaining its roots as a two-dimensional playing field, similar to games such as ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' or ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''. This arc is notable as the first to not be developed first for the arcades, with Playstation 4 serving as the lead platform for XIV.

!!! The Shun'ei Saga:

** K' got hit with rather nastily after the Nest-saga concluded. While Kyo retains a level of relevancy to the central plots of the Tales of Ash and Shun'ei Saga due to being the original poster-boy of the franchise, K's connection to the central plot has been tenuous at best. In the more recent entries, his connection to the story is solely on the basis of being a hired gun along with Maxima for Heidern and the Ikari Warriors.

* BarBrawl: The Women Fighters Team's ending in ''XIII'' is a particularly [[CatFight catty]] example. At the Pao Pao Café, King, Mai, and Yuri, all smashed from their victory celebration, start bickering with each other over who's the best fighter on the team, which in turn strikes a nerve with B. Jenet, Kasumi, Malin, and Xiangfei. This leads to a free-for-all overlooked by an amused Vanessa (who muses to herself that [[ChristmasCake "it's nice to be young"]]), the worried pair of Hotaru and Hinako, and an utterly distraught [[TheBartender Richard]].

* OffModel: Since the default sprites are used since ''[='96=]'' and the style of animators keeps evolving or the animators are changed, this is bound to happen, starting with new attacks that looks a little different in style (some attacks in ''2000'') to very noticeable art clash (starting with ''2000'' newcomers, although ''[='99=]'' newcomers are an arguable transition).
** [[ArtShift The jump to the redrawn, higher definition sprites]] starting in ''XII'' and ''XIII'' has garnered this as a general complaint for a number of characters, either due to discrepancies between the in-game sprites and official artwork or a simple matter of [[YouDontLookLikeYou their appearances coming across as a stark deviation from a more consistent look in past titles]].

* The '''Orochi Saga''' arc ('95-'97, '98 is a non-story dream match), which concerns Kyo Kusanagi (the winner of the first King of Fighters tournament) and a thousand-year blood feud with the Yagami family, who have gained demonic power thanks to a pact with a being known as "Orochi." [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Shinkiro Shinkiro]] continued to be the lead artist.
* The '''NESTS Chronicles''' arc ('99-'01, '02 is a non-story dream match) about the eponymous organization and their conspiracy to [[CloningBlues create weaponized clones]] of the most powerful warriors in the world. As Kyo is absent for the majority of this arc (he doesn't show until the end of ''[='99=]'' and remains a supporting character for the remainder of the saga), the main protagonist is a new character called K' (pronounced "Kay Dash"). It is strongly linked with the artist [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Styleos Styleos,]] although Shinkiro handled art in the ''[='99=]'' and ''2000'' versions before SNK went under and he left the company; [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Nona Nona]] took over as official artist for ''2001'' and ''2002'', both by Korean developer Eolith.
* The '''Tales of Ash''' arc ('03, XI and XIII. XII is more a dream match and test run for the new engine they were developing), which introduces androgynous French pretty boy Ash Crimson as the new main character. The story involves a sinister plot to capture the powers of the Kusanagi, Yagami, and Kagura clans and use them to [[SealedEvilInACan seize the sealed power of Orochi]], as well as the question of [[EnigmaticMinion just whose side Ash is on]]. The main enemy of this arc is a band of enigmatic people named "Those from the Past". It had [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Nona Nona,]] [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Falcoon Falcoon,]] Shinkiro's unofficial "successor" [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Hiroaki Hiroaki]] and [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Eisuke_Ogura Eisuke Ogura]] as artists. It also experienced a change of hardware platforms multiple times ('03 on UsefulNotes/NeoGeo as with all the previous games, XI on Atomiswave and XII and XIII on Taito Type X2) the first in-game ArtShift ever, and turmoil in the parent company, but managed to get on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in the end. This is also where the series drops the yearly naming convention in favor of numbered sequels starting with XI.
* The '''Shun'ei Saga''' arc begins with ''The King of Fighters XIV'' and continues in ''XV'', introducing Shun'ei, a student of [[VideoGame/FatalFury Tung Fu Rue]] as the new protagonist, as well as finally the official addition of another one of SNK's fighting game juggernaut titles, ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'', via their mascot/heroine Nakoruru. The game itself uses 3D graphics (through an inhouse engine in XIV and Unreal Engine 4 in XV) while still retaining its roots as a two-dimensional playing field, similar to games such as ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' or ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''. This arc is notable as the first to not be developed first for the arcades, with Playstation 4 serving as the lead platform for XIV.

** ''XV'' so far has two alternate costumes (Terry's ''Garou'' outfit and Leona's classic attire), as well as four teams and a single entry character (revealed to be Omega Rugal, complete with a Boss Challenge), with the first two revealed being Team Garou (Rock, Jenet and Gato) and Team Southtown (Geese, Billy and Yamazaki).

* MasculineFeminineAndrogyneTrio: In the Orochi saga, the Sacred Treasures Team are formed by Kyo Kusanagi (male), Chizuru Kagura (female) and Iori Yagami (androgynous). Although they aren't a formal team (more of a HeroRivalBaddieTeamUp), they're the canonical team that defeated Orochi in ''KOF'97''.

** Shingo hasn't been around since ''XI''.

* The original '''King of Fighters''' (known alternatively as the '''Rugal Saga''') ('94), focuses on notorious crime lord Rugal Bernstein and his attempt to establish himself as the world's strongest fighter by staging a [[TournamentArc grand tournament]] and inviting contenders from all across the globe. It is strongly associated with the artist [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Shinkiro Shinkiro,]] as were most of SNK's franchises of the time. Though some consider the first two games their own arc, it is sometimes thrown together with the next arc.

* The original '''King of Fighters''' arc (known alternatively as the '''Rugal Saga''') ('94-'95), which focuses on notorious crime lord Rugal Bernstein and his attempt to establish himself as the world's strongest fighter by staging a [[TournamentArc grand tournament]] and inviting contenders from all across the globe. It is strongly associated with the artist [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Shinkiro Shinkiro,]] as were most of SNK's franchises of the time. Though some consider the first two games their own arc, it is sometimes thrown together with the next arc.
* The '''Orochi Saga''' arc ('96-'97, '98 is a non-story dream match), which concerns Kyo Kusanagi (the winner of the first King of Fighters tournament) and a thousand-year blood feud with the Yagami family, who have gained demonic power thanks to a pact with a being known as "Orochi." [[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/Shinkiro Shinkiro]] continued to be the lead artist.

* IWasYoungAndNeededTheMoney: When SNK Playmore was in dire need for some quick profit in 2005, they pulled a desperate gamble; make a game to gather as many fans as they could, though another fighting game wasn't their aim. Seeing how many Bishoujo and MsFanservice girls they had in ''The King of Fighters'' and other [[VideoGame/ArtOfFighting fighting]] [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown games]] [[VideoGame/FuunSeries as]] [[VideoGame/FatalFury well]], a series of {{dating sim}}s were made for mobiles and later ported over to the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS. The series was called ''Days of Memories'' with a subtitle for each new installment, it proved to be rather successful as seven ''mobile'' games and two [[UpdatedRerelease rereleases]] for Nintendo DS were made until 2008.
** The original intent was to only aim at men with the female fighters as obvious [[LoveInterests interests]] for the average Player Character, but the series proved to be worthy of their time and SNK Playmore started to whore out male fighters for female fans of the franchise as well. The initial roster for girls was composed of: '''Athena Asamiya, Kasumi Todoh, B. Jenet, King, Mai Shiranui, Yuri Sakazaki, Leona Heidern''' and '''Kula Diamond''', and the men were: '''Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, K', Ash Crimson, Terry Bogard, Rock Howard, Alba Meira''' and '''Ryo Sakazaki''', eventually after all the seven installments the choices grew to arguably as many popular guys and girls as any ''KOF'' "fan" would like to date. Of course this also includes massive doses of AlternateContinuity, HandWave, and {{Retcon}}, specially in regards to canon/teased love interests or other relationships, in order to make the games work.

** The ''Maximum Impact'' announcer.

* LeftHanging: The ''Maximum Impact'' series seems to be heading this route. ''2'' ended on a SequelHook, ''Regulation A'' was simply an UpdatedRerelease, and ''Regulation A2'' was cancelled. Plans for a third game seem unlikely.
** Basically everything surrounding the Dragon Spirit: what exactly it is, how it intertwines with the overall plot or other characters, etc. Ron has said that the power is so absurd that it makes all of NESTS look like nothing and yet this plot point never achieves to be as important as it is implied. It is said that Kensou has mastered controlling it, but still no major changes can be seen through his power level (his personality is slightly more serious but not too much), even when taking into account how much more powerful he should have been if he truly mastered the control of his powers.

* TheMovie: There's one, starring Ray Park as Rugal... and let's leave it at that.
* MundaneMadeAwesome[=/=]RuleOfCool: Several (although which side of the door things swing on is a case-by-case basis).
** One of Rugal's super moves is an overhead stomp. If it connects, he breaks his opponent's neck, crushes them into the ground, and proceeds to '''[[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning spin in 360 degrees]] [[ThisIsADrill and drill the opponent in the gut]]'''. Damage is sub-par, but it's well worth it. This eventually contributed to the [[MemeticMutation You Spin Me Right Round/Rugalspin meme]].

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: Since ''[='94=]'' to ''XI'', developers recycled the same sprites to save time as the series was an annual release until ''2003'', where SNK could no longer keep up.

** Subverted with ''The King of Fighters XIV''. Antonov is literally only interested in hosting a grand fighting tournament and buys the rights to the "KOF" name with his vast resources in order to make it happen. Thus [[spoiler:the appearance of Verse is completely disconnected to Antonov and he's not involved in the tournament whatsoever, only showing up to crash the festivities and tear up the joint in an unrelated event that only happens to occur during the King of Fighters finals]].

* PartsUnknown: Unlike most fighting games, which ''mostly'' restrict this trope to bosses, a good chunk of the characters in the series have "unknown" listed against their birthplaces -- ''26'' out of the total 90 (non-powered/cloned) characters, in fact.

* ClothingDamage: both King and Yuri can suffer this in ''[='94=]'', ''[='95=]'', ''XIII'', ''XIV'' and ''XV'' if they are defeated with any special attack, as a nod to their origins from ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting''. Curiously, this doesn't happen to Ryo or Robert, even though they originated from the same game series.

* CreatorProvincialism: Japan Team is always based on Osaka, where SNK themselves is based. You can even see their headquarters in their ''KOF '96'' stage.

!! List of the ''KOF'' video games:

* ''[[VideoGame/KOFMaximumImpact2 The King of Fighters 2006 [=/=] KOF: Maximum Impact 2]]'' (2006)

* ''KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation-A'' (2007)

* ComicBookTime: After ''[='95=]'', SNK froze all of the ages of their characters in order to keep the cast roughly youthful. While there are a few illusions of the passage of times (such as Kyo changing his outfit to show that he's dropped out of high school), the earlier characters remain in their teens and twenties whereas most of them should be about a full decade older. This also extends to cameo characters and newer entrants. This is why characters like Kim's sons Jae Hoon and Dong Hwan from ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'', as well as fan-favorite Rock Howard ([[ExecutiveMeddling SNK Playmore's desire to save Rock]] for the ''Garou'' sequel [[{{Vaporware}} which will probably never come to pass]] aside) will probably never make a playable appearance in a future [=2D=] ''KOF''; they appear as children and will stay that way unless there is some sort of {{retcon}} PlotRelevantAgeUp involved. However, Rock has been promoted to the main roster as of ''XIV'', though as a non-canonical DLC character.

** ''The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga'' ([=PS2=], PSP, Wii): The US and European equivalent of the first collection, only it also includes the series' progenitor ''[='94=]'' and the popular ''[='98=]''. This package also includes a Challenge mode, but lacks the online mode, soundtrack selection, and customizable palettes from the Japanese compilations.
** The NESTS games have never been released together in western markets but double packs of ''2000''/''2001'' and ''2002''/''2003'' were made for the [=PS2=] years before the aforementioned collections.

* CostumePorn: The ''Maximum Impact'' games, especially the second one, wherein Falcoon went as wild as possible with the fighters' costumes. Nagase and Luise are two big examples, and then there's alternate outfits.

* CrissCrossAttack:
** ''KOF XI'': Eiji Kisaragi's [[LimitBreak LDM]] "Yami Kari" has him grab his foe and then suspends them in the air, then does multiple slashes through his foe alongside his shadow clone, ending with a powerful downward stab.
** ''KOF XIV'':
*** Choi's [[LimitBreak Climax DM]] is him launching the foe up with a FoeTossingCharge, then he does multiple flying claw attacks through the opponent before falling down.
*** Mai's [[LimitBreak Climax DM]] is similar to Choi's but unarmed, with her finishing by grabbing the foe between her legs and slamming them down to the ground alongside her.
*** Leona's "Slash Saber" involves her slashing through her opponent multiple times with her [[RazorSharpHand hand]] before blowing them up with and explosion.
* CriticalHitClass: Shingo has this as his gimmick, where his attacks can sometimes deal "critical" damage and cause more hitstun. In 2003 and XI, it's instead just limited to his Dokugami Mikansei special, which can sometimes release a tiny spark that makes it deal much more damage (equivalent to an LDM when it's used as a counter hit).

* DifficultySpike: Several games in the series suffer from this, but the three most JustForFun/{{egregious}} examples would probably be in ''[='94=]'', ''[='96=]'', and ''XI''. If you reach the first cutscene (in ''[='94=]''), face the Boss Team (in ''[='96=]''), or make it to the [[MiniBoss sub boss]] (in ''XI''), expect things to take a turn for the worse.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Two things not found in ''[=KOF=] '94'': The ability to create your own team of fighters[[note]]it did make the cut in ''[[UpdatedRerelease KOF '94 Rebout]]''[[/note]] and recurring antagonist Iori Yagami.

* {{Expy}}:
** Benimaru Nikaido is inspired by [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Jean Pierre Polnareff]].
** K9999 is inspired by [[Manga/{{AKIRA}} Tetsuo Shima]]. A bit ''too'' much for his own good, hence his [[PutOnABus bus trip]], being replaced by Nameless in ''2002 Unlimited Match'', and being revamped as Krohnen for ''XV''.
** Blue Mary is inspired by [[Anime/DragonBallZ Android 18]].
** Shermie is stated by WordOfGod to be inspired by [[Franchise/LupinIII Fujiko Mine]].

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: SNK loved this trope. Since ''[='94=]'' to ''XI'', developers recycled the same sprites possibly to save time as a game was released each year until ''[='94=]'' to ''2003'' in which SNK began to launch the games of the series by editions, not via per year. This trope was repeated in ''[='94=]'' to ''XII'' and ''XII'' to ''XIII'', whose sprites were redone. Let's check some factors:
** Kim, Ryo, Yuri, Daimon and Mai all use the same sprite from '''94'' to ''XI''. Some characters, such as Kyo, King, Chang, Choi, Robert, Ralf and Clark changed the look, but remained with the same sprite.

* ObviousBeta: ''XII''[='s=] home version was released with very spartan single-player features (only five fights and no boss), a poorly regulated and hastily-patched online mode (to the point of being unplayable), and massive {{Game Breaking Bug}}s. Studious crackers have found files on the game disc regarding cut characters.
** This one ended up about as obvious as they come considering ''every cut character'' that had a named file uncovered in ''XII'' wound up being added to the ''XIII'' roster (including a retro, flame-powered version of Iori offered as DownloadableContent, originally fished out of ''XII'' under the filename "[=iori98=]").
* OddballInTheSeries: It seems that this title would originally go to ''2001'' with its bizarre spin on the [[AssistCharacter Striker System]] (your team can go anywhere from all four characters to only one member with three Strikers), the low-quality, highly-repetitive, techno-style music that lasts for all of 30 seconds, its lukewarm conclusion to an already controversial saga, and (most of all) [[SNKBoss "lovable" Igniz]], one of ''the'' cheapest bastards in fighting game history (to put this into perspective, ''he'' was the former posterboy for SNKBoss), but you could make a case for the [[ObviousBeta bare-bones]] ''XII'' too.

* {{Rotoscoping}}: ''XII'' was extensively rotoscoped off of 3D models, and apparently so was ''XIII''.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''KOF: Sky Stage'' is basically ''VideoGame/CastleOfShikigami'' with KOF characters: Same presentation, same gameplay, similar pre-boss and pre-stage dialogue box cutscenes, etc.