History VideoGame / TheKingOfFighters2003

* TheBattleDidntCount: In all endings, even after his defeat, Mukai is as good as before, and teleports the player characters outside of his lair and escapes without getting his comeuppance. {{Justified|Trope}}, as Mukai was only using a fraction his true power to see if humans are of any worth.

!!This work shows examples of:

* SuperSpecialMove: Replacing MAX Mode and its associated [=MAX2=]'s from ''2002'', ''2003'' grants Leader Desperation Move to one of your fighters. This move is unique to each character, spends two Power Gauge stocks, and will do tons of damage on hit or produce beneficial effect.

* StoryBranching: After six battles, your team meets the sponsor of the tournamet. The exact details of this meeting change depending on how you defeated [[MidBoss Kusanagi]].

* '''Team High School Girls:''' ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier'' alum [[MagicalGirl Athena Asamiya]] finds herself on a new team alongside [[KnifeNut Malin]] and [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Hinako Shijou]].

->''King of Fighters 2003 begins.\\

We welcome all oncomers!''

* '''Team Kim:''' [[JusticeWillPrevail Kim Kaphwan]] seeks to instill more justice in the tournament, joined by [[FriendlyRival Jhun Hoon]] and [[{{Acrofatic}} Chang Koehan]].

** Mid-Boss 1: Kusanagi - A mystical clone of Kyo created by [[spoiler: a brainwashed]] Chizaru. [[note]]How you defeat him determines which of the final bosses you encounter.[[/note]]
** Mid-Boss 2: Chizaru and Maki Kagura - The penultimate bosses before the final one. Chizaru herself and a mirror clone of her deceased sister, Maki.
** Final Boss 1: Adelheid Bernstein - The boss of the false route, son of Rugal Bernstein and sponsor of the KOF who wishes to challenge the winners.
** Final Boss 2: Makai - The boss of the true route, a member of "Those From The Past" who wields the power of stone and wants to test the strength of the winning team.

* '''Team ''[[VideoGame/IkariWarriors Ikari]]'':''' [[ReiAyanamiExpy Leona Heidern]], [[BashBrothers Ralf Jones and Clark Still]] have a new mission; to investigate the current KOF tournament and its sponsor.

* '''Team ''[[VideoGame/IkariWarriors Ikari]]'':''' [[ReiAyanamiExpy Leona Heidern]], [[BashBrothers Ralf Jones and Clark Still]] have a new mission; to investigate Those from the Past and their ties to the current KOF tournament.

* '''Team Japan:''' With [[TheHero Kyo Kusanagi]] on his own investigation into Those from the Past, [[AgentPeacock Benimaru Nikaido]] and [[GentleGiant Goro Daimon]] instead recruit [[TagalongKid Shingo Yabuki]] into their usual team.

* '''Other entrants:''' [[PlayingWithFire Kyo Kusanagi]] and [[AxCrazy Iori Yagami]] enter the tournament without their teams, investigating why [[BarrierMaiden Chizuru Kagura]] is working with Those from the Past.

* ''Other entrants:'' [[PlayingWithFire Kyo Kusanagi]] and [[AxCrazy Iori Yagami]] enter the tournament without their teams, investigating why [[BarrierMaiden Chizuru Kagura]] is working with Those from the Past.

* ''Other entrants:'' [[PlayingWithFire Kyo Kusanagi]] and [[AxCrazy Iori Yagami]] enter the tournament solo, investigating why [[BarrierMaiden Chizuru Kagura]] is working with Those from the Past.

* '''Team Women Fighters:''' Series mainstays [[Bifauxnen King]] and [[MsFanservice Mai Shiranui]] return, this time joined by [[FairCop Blue Mary]].

* '''Team Kim:''' [[JusticeWillPrevail Kim Kaphwan]] seeks to instill more justice in the tournament, joined by [[FriendlyRival Jhun Hoon]] and [[Acrofatic Chang Koehan]].

* '''Team K':''' [[NinetiesAntiHero K']], [[{{Cyborg}} Maxima]] and [[WhipItGood Whip]] return to assist Team Ikari's investigation, at the request of Heidern.

''The King of Fighters 2003'' is the tenth game in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' series, and the first game in the ''Tales of Ash''. It was released for arcades on December 12, 2003, and for the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo four months later. It was the first game in the series to be developed and published by SNK Playmore.

** Iori's EvilLaugh during his Bloom of the Wolf DM is the exact same as the one he did in ''SvC Chaos'' when performing it.

* CanonWelding: While ''Fatal Fury'' was always predominantly represented throughout the ''KOF'' series, ''KOF 2003'' is the first installment to pull from its DistantSequel, ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves''. Terry loses his red cap and wears a brown jacket, and Gato and Tizoc joins the roster. It's awkward when you consider Art of Fighting characters are still same and in fact look younger than Terry in this game, when in their original timeline Terry is at least a decade younger than them.

* PublicDomainSoundtrack: Adelhied's {{Leitmotif}} starts with Chopin's Étude Op. 10, No. 12 (known as "Revolutionary Étude"), before transiting into guitar-driven techno.

* SuperSpecialMove: Replacing MAX Mode from ''2002'', ''2003'' grants Leader Desperation Move to one of your fighters. This move is unique to each character, spends two Power Gauge stocks, and will do tons of damage on hit.

The structure of each fight has been overhauled considerably. Fights are still 3-on-3, but instead of starting a new round every time a team loses a member, the next fighter tags in and the round continues. In addition, both teams can switch out their active fighters after a brief cooldown. Another mechanic known as the "Leader System" has also been introduced -- the first character added to the team in the character select become the team leader, and gains access to a unique "Leader Super Special Move".

* CanonWelding: While ''Fatal Fury'' was always predominantly represented throughout the ''KOF'' series, ''KOF 2003'' is the first installment to pull elements from its DistantSequel, ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves''. Terry loses his red cap and wears a brown jacket, and Gato and Tizoc joins the roster. It's pretty awkward when you consider Art of Fighting characters are still the same and in fact look younger than Terry in this game, when in their original timeline Terry is at least a decade younger than them.

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: A lot of sound effects were borrowed from ''VideoGame/SNKvsCapcomSVCChaos''. Some notable examples include the hit sounds, the super flash sound effect, and the sound effects in menus.

* SecretCharacter: Kusanagi, Chizuru, and Maki can be played by entering a code on the character select screen. Averted in the Playstation 2 and Xbox versions, where they're playable from the start.

* EndOfAnEra: This is the last ''King of Fighters'' game to be released for the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo.

* SwitchOutMove: By inputting a quarter-circle forward motion and one of the character switch inputs [[note]]Light Kick + Strong Punch or Strong Punch + Heavy Kick[[/note]], you can perform a Tag Attack. This launches the opponent in the air if it hits, and regardless of whether or not it does, the active fighter switches out to a teammate based on which input you used, potentially setting up a combo.

** Iori's EvilLaugh during his Bloom of the Wolf DM is the exact same as the one he did in ''SvC Chaos'' when performing it.