List of The King of Fighters characters
The King of Fighters fighting game series, produced by SNK, includes a wide cast of characters, some of which are taken from other SNK games. The story takes place in a fictional universe in which an annual series of 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 fighting tournaments are held.
The first game in the series introduces the initial main character of the series, Kyo Kusanagi, a young Japanese fighter who is the heir to a powerful group of martial artists having pyrokinetic abilities. Kyo fights against the Kusanagi clan's enemies, his rival Iori Yagami, and the snake entity [|Orochi] and its human followers, among others. The first four games in the series revolve about these fights, while The King of Fighters '99 introduces a new story arc, revolving around K′, a young man who seeks to destroy the mysterious NESTS organization because they kidnapped him at an early age and stripped him of his past memories so that they could force him to be a fighter under their control. In The King of Fighters 2003, a new character named Ash Crimson enters the tournament, to steal the powers of the clans who sealed the Orochi in the past for unknown reasons. A new group of antagonists, known as [|Those From the Past], also appears in the series; they want to obtain Orochi's power for the purpose of giving it to their unknown master. The latest story arc involves a young Chinese fighter named Shun'ei who possesses unknown supernatural powers, as a result of and being connected with Ash's time-traveling paradox.
The plot and the characters came from the Yamata no Orochi legend. There are also several characters in the games that are parodies or homages. Merchandise based on the characters has also been released, including action figures and keychains. The characters have garnered praise from several video game publications for the quality of their designs and movesets. Comments focused on the lack of improvements in some of the characters, but added that the roster is greatly diverse.
Cast creation and influences
The developers of the series claim that their prototype version for King of Fighters was going to be a Double Dragon-style side-scrolling beat 'em up titled Survivor. It would have used only core characters from the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury series, specifically allowing players to play Robert Garcia and Terry Bogard for location testing. However, the idea was quickly abandoned. Since the developers were attached to the idea of the two series cross-over, they eventually agreed to make their idea into a fighting game. Characters from the Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier games were also added in the spirit of other gaming genres considered for their final product. The concept of a three-man team was one of the ideas kept from the side-scrolling version. Flagship director Toyohisa Tanabe asserts that the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury fighters were added specifically for adults. The newer King of Fighters characters were aimed to appeal to younger and newer audiences. He adds that every original character for the series was added based on the developers' strong desire to make one. For example, he agreed to include characters such as Benimaru Nikaido and Chang Koehan to add an off-beat variety to the cast, which he had previously deemed to be too serious. Later in the series, their approach to creating their characters altered slightly, to also serve as a type of fan service, which he refers to as a collaborative effort between fans and the staff.Several characters that appear in the series are parodies or homages to either anime, manga, actors, films or television shows that held the creators' interest. Noticeable examples are K9999 and [|Zero]. Characters are sometimes added at the voice actors' convenience, or to fill in gaps that occur for each installment's story; this happens with Duck King in The King of Fighters XI and Ryuji Yamazaki in The King of Fighters '97. Several characters were added to the roster by Eolith's desire when this company sponsored SNK, to attract fans from Eolith's region.
When designing characters for the first King of Fighters game, developers wanted a new, "snazzy" hero who would easily fight against Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters. Initially, this character was called Syo Kirishima, but late in the production, his name was changed to Kyo Kusanagi. This was done in order to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend, which was used as the inspiration for the first arc. To continue with the idea of the Orochi plot, the designers gave several other characters, such as Kyo's rival Iori Yagami, similar characteristics to Kyo. In The King of Fighters '99, to contrast the previous protagonist of the series, K' was made to be the "dark hero". K's introduction to the series was meant to remove popular characters Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami from the roster, though this idea was scrapped in the game's release. Due to the large additions of teenager characters in the series, SNK decided to add several middle-age ones to balance them.
Oda said while researching for the game's new characters, they avoided stereotypes like Japanese sumo wrestlers to produce more diversity in the cast which includes characters of various nationalities. Oda coined the term "Kyo-ify" based on the series' main character Kyo Kusanagi in regards to the stylishness presented in the cast. As a result, Oda wanted the fighters to look as appealing as Kyo. Art director Nobuyuki Kuroki found it unfair that only a few designers were included on the staff. Oda created Antonov by mixing traits SNK founding owner, Chairman Kawasaki, and Mr. T, an executive at the time, and divides it by the cosmological constant. Eisuke Ogura created newcomers Shun'ei and Sylvie, distancing them from previous veterans. Kuroki regarded Shun'ei as important to the narrative, desiring his personality to contrast previous leads. Main characters Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami underwent a major redesign to fit the series' new story arc while at the same time the development team tried to keep their appeal intact. Kuroki said he made this move despite fearing a negative response based on the rivals' popularity.
Introduced in ''The King of Fighters '94''
Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi, a high school student whose family possesses an ancient pyrokinetic abilities.Benimaru Nikaido
Benimaru Nikaido, a professional shoot boxing fighter and model who can create electricity, In The King of Fighters XI, Kyo, Iori, and Shingo enter the tournament together at the convalescent Chizuru's behest to stop Ash as the '"Kusanagi & Yagami Team". In The King of Fighters 2003, Benimaru, Goro, and Shingo enters the tournament as the Benimaru Team. Benimaru and Duo Lon, a teammate of Ash's team from the previous tournament, are invited by Elisabeth Blanctorche to enter the tournament as the Rival Team to track down Ash. In The King of Fighters XIII, Kyo, Benimaru, and Goro enter the tournament to relive their old days as the Japan Team, while Shingo look after Chizuru until her Yata Mirror recovers. in The King of Fighters XV, Kyo had also insist for Benimaru to accompany Tung Fu Rue's last disciples from the previous tournament, Shun’ei and Meitenkun per the Hakkyokuseiken grandmaster's request.Goro Daimon
Goro Daimon, a former gold medalist in Judo and mentor to his own dojo. Goro retires from being a fighter and returns to the Judo circuit representing Japan in KOF '97.Chin Gentsai
, master of Athena and Sie and a master of various styles of Kung Fu, though he fights primarily with Drunken Boxing.Heavy D!
Heavy D! is a professional boxer who was banned from regular competition after severely injuring his opponent. While introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he only returns in The King of Fighters '98.Lucky Glauber
Lucky Glauber is a former professional basketball player and a Karate champion with a penchant for street fighting. While introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he only returns in The King of Fighters '98.Brian Battler
Brian Battler is an American football player who also makes use of wrestling. While introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he only returns in The King of Fighters '98.Chang Koehan
Chang Koehan is a very large criminal who fights with a large metal ball attached to a chain.Choi Bounge
Choi Bounge is a very small criminal who fights with Freddy Krueger-esque claw.Rugal Bernstein
Rugal Bernstein is an arms dealer and the organizer of The King of Fighters tournament. He is capable of copying any technique after seeing it performed once and he makes heavy use of Geese Howard's Reppuuken and Wolfgang Krauser's Kaiser Wave ki-attacks. He also has techniques of his own, such as a slashing kick named Genocide Cutter. While in The King of Fighters '95, he only appears in his superpowered form, his regular form can be selected in The King of Fighters '98. Omega Rugal returns in The King of Fighters 2002 and its remake as well as in The King of Fighters XV.Introduced in ''The King of Fighters '95''
Iori Yagami
Iori Yagami is a descendant of Yasakani, gifting him blue flames that he uses to fight. However, the curse of the Orochi gives him a berserker form in KOF '97 called Orochi Iori which appears as a boss. Iori also often appears as Kyo's rivals not because of their clans' past but because of a personal grudge.Saisyu Kusanagi
Saisyu Kusanagi debuted in The King of Fighters '94 as a victim in Rugal's gallery of defeated fighters. He appears as a sub-boss in The King of Fighters '95, and becomes playable for the first time on the screen in The King of Fighters '98, although he was selectable in the console versions of The King of Fighters '95 as a secret character. He was originally meant to have died in The King of Fighters '94, but was added in at the last minute of development for The King of Fighters '95.Saisyu Kusanagi is the previous head of the Kusanagi clan, who left his family to face worthy opponents across the globe. After his defeat by Rugal, he is brainwashed by his secretary Vice to fight his son, Kyo. Upon his defeat, he regains his senses and escapes from Rugal's missile silo base. Although Saisyu is missing, in The King of Fighters 2001, he appears before Shingo Yabuki and spends a year properly teaching him the Kusanagi fighting style. He is still playable in The King of Fighters '98 and Neowave. He returns in the story during the prologue from The King of Fighters XIV asking Kyo to meet Tung Fu Rue in the upcoming competition. In the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters, Saisyu is played by Japanese actor Hiro Kanagawa.