As a moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
In spite of everything that he's done, he did it all for her.
KOF might be a series of action, fighting, and Engrish, but there's still plenty of moments to tug at your heartstrings.- Many of the Ikari team's endings qualify with their defrosting of Leona.
- Especially in 97, where she cries after hearing her father's voice kindly speaking to her in her heart, then sees Ralf and Clark's silly antics to make her smile... and she does so.
- Despite how annoying Rose can be, the scene in XIII when she's released from Botan's Brainwashing and falls in the distressed Adel's arms is oddly sweet. Especially due to this quote:"To protect Rose as her brother — that is his role. It would never change, come hell and high water... In the end, his memory was completely gone, but a strong sense of fulfillment remained. Adelheid succeeded in protecting Rose"Rose: "W-what have I...?"Adel: "It was a bad dream, Rose. I'm here now."
- The 97's endings of The Psycho Soldier Team
and The Women's Team are both so, so cute. Especially when Athena teleports to help ill girl Kaoru when she tries to walk and falls off her wheelchair and when Chizuru hears her dead sister Maki's voice in her mind, telling her to be happy. (The second might be Harsher in Hindsight, though, considering what happens to Chizuru and Maki in 2003.) - The Fatal Fury Team's 2000 ending. Terry has apparently died after the last fight and the destruction of South Town, and Mary narrates what has been going on in a rather melancholic tone. In the end, however, she steps into a warehouse where she's supposed to find some burglars, they're already beaten up...and the one who did it was Terry, who stands in the doorway and smiles.
- Even if they're non-canonical, Kula's Sky Stage endings are rather sweet. Specially her solo end and the ones she shares with Kyo and Athena.
- In the KOF '94 manga by Tatsuya Shinjyouji, two moments stand out:
- The first volume gives us Jan retrieving King's discarded KOF invitation letter and telling her to stop sacrificing her happiness for him and her business. This leads King to accept Mai and Yuri's offer to team up with them.
- In the third volume, the slight Tear Jerker of Kyo telling Yuki, after the Deadly Game that almost got her killed, that he isn't worthy of her kisses and affection leads to one of these: when Kyo leaves Japan in a jet plane to keep on fighting, he looks through his window... and smiles tenderly as he sees Yuki watching him go from the rooftop.
- In the middle of the HUGE Tear Jerker that is Elisabeth, Shen and Duo Lon's ending in KOF XIII which shows Elisabeth mourning Ash being ret goned, there's a subtle but sweet moment — Shen and Duo Lon waiting for hours for Elisabeth to recover from her massive ordeal. Despite how she's the only one who remembers what actually took place, both guys keep looking after her. Even when Shen complains about it and wonders why are he and Duo Long doing this, he doesn't leave.
- In Iori's ending in XIV, he teams up with Kyo and Chizuru to prevent Orochi from fully awakening. It's one of the rare moments where Iori puts aside his hatred of Kyo, and Kyo himself even decides to help out Iori willingly.
- Antonov cements himself as a good guy overall when he willingly blocks a blast from Verse to an innocent child caught in the crossfire. Fortunately, he survives, but not without some pretty bad injuries, all things considered.
- Several special teams also get their own ways of heartwarming moments during these scenes. In particular, there's the Japan Team where while Nakoruru tried to finish her job alone, Tung prevents her and tells her believe in Kyo's team who's moving in to defeat Verse. In China Team, Terry encourages Shun'ei to go wild as the last student of Tung regardless of his connections with Verse, which he did.
- For a musical heartwaarming moment, the vocal version of Tachi bou ke, the Psycho Soldier Team's theme in XIV. The translated lyrics reveal that it's sung from Kensou's perspective. It's a slight Tear Jerker though, as the theme itself may as well be called "Friendzone: The Song". The lyrics are about Kensou's multiple attempts to admit his true feelings to Athena, yet they always fall on deaf ears.
- One of Momoko’s victory animations feature Athena teleporting in and Momoko immediately jumps into her arms and hugs her while saying “Athena-chan! I love you!” It’s downright precious.
- Blink-or-miss-it, but there's one heartwarming line in the humorous ending that is the Art of Fighting team in XIV. Ryo always refers to his star student as 'Khushnood' without lampooning it. Maybe it's just a case that Khushnood is his first name, but it's nice to see that Ryo, as the respected master, wouldn't make fun of that name. It carries over into the Art of Fighting team's ending in XV as well, as the team is more than accepting of him deciding to go by his original name, Marco, even if Takuma almost forgets to because of muscle memory, showing how they respect him as a valued member of the Kyokugen team.
- While some of the special intros in XV range from humorous to awesome to mundane, there are a few interactions that move the senses.
- While it's easy to laugh at Andy rejecting Mai's request to propose to him, the fact that he doesn't outright deny wanting to do so deserves a mention. Especially since he'd rather take things nice and slow with her instead of rushing into it outright. The fact that he's completely flustered as he's telling her also makes him look quite adorkable.
- Leona's and Iori's special intro is one of the few instances where the latter isn't his usual scornful and, well, jerkish self. Rather than being rude to Leona, he calmly tells her - in his own way, of course - that Orochi is no longer a threat to them both and that she should move on from Orochi, or else his influence will have power over her. After all, being that they're both affected by the Riot of the Blood, it'd make sense that Iori is understanding of her.
- Isla's entire interaction with Ash. She's very impressed by his signature green flames and even indirectly offers to make some art together. Ash is actually flattered by her words and is impressed at her perspective... before calmly warning her that her aerosol paint is flammable, of course.
- Ash's and Elisabeth's intro is one of the rare times we actually get to see a nicer side to Ash, especially after everything he went through in his own saga.Ash: It's really been a while, hasn't it? Really takes me back.Elisabeth: Indeed, it has been some time...
- Speaking of which, Ash himself has clearly taken a level in kindness considering how most of his interactions with the cast are less malicious in his banter and more playful overall. Being that he doesn't have to worry about having to deal with a personal enemy like Saiki (coupled with the fact that Kukri is, in fact, the focus of Team Ash's story, not so much Ash himself) or even having to put up a facade to throw people off his trail, it's safe to say that XV is probably the happiest he's been in a while and it's great. The Stinger even has Ash and Elisabeth relaxing with each other on the very same field pictured above, too.
- In a bit of Fridge Heartwarming, since Isla has a background as an orphan, it's quite touching that the two people she teamed up with - Heidern and Dolores - are not only extremely patient with and even understanding of her, but are also parental figures themselves. Heidern even has a daughter (Leona) that's roughly Isla's age and has a similar affliction (Isla with Re Verse and Leona with the Riot of the Blood). And Dolores has experience with someone like Kukri, clearly having the patience of a monk in doing so since she's never shown to be annoyed by his or Isla's antics.
- The K' team's ending in XV sees the trio arrive at a diner with the intent to rescue Kula from Krohnen and Angel. When they hear her scream from the inside of the diner, they burst in without a moment's hesitation. It turns out she's just fine and was just freaking out over losing a grip on her ice cream, but who's the first member of the team to act when they think she's in danger? None other than K' himself. The rest of the ending sees the group bury the hatchet, with the post-credits stinger showing that they fulfilled their promise to take Kula to an amusement park, K' included.
- The Team Garou ending in XV is one on multiple levels for Rock Howard, as firstly, this confirms his canonical entry to the KOF tournaments in the first place, but going further still is that Terry hosts a small party at Pao Pao Cafe to celebrate Rock's first tournament. What follows is a brief scene where Terry asks him about the experience, how it felt to fight on a team, wearing a fatherly pride on his sleeve — and as the two talk, proposing that, maybe next year, they ought to be on the same team.
- Shingo's special ending if he's teamed up with Kyo in XV. The two of them celebrate at the Kusanagi household, with Kyo respectfully congratulating Shingo, who's so ecstatic over both winning the tournament and getting one step closer to surpassing his idol that he's crying tears of joy.
