History Videogame / TheKingOfFighters

* SlidingScaleOfContinuity: Level 5 (Full Lockout). There are currently five [[StoryArc arcs]]: the [[SNKBoss Rugal]] [[StarterVillain Saga]] (the first title, ''[='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]].

** Also the case for the Boss Team in ''95'', Outlaw Team for ''97'' and ''03'', and (likely) Team Southtown and Villains Team in ''XIV'', again if you play as them.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: The Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, minus Goentiz[[note]]and even then, he's shown to be quite friendly towards them in the non-canon ''[='98=] Ultimate Match'' and ''2002/Unlimited Match'', if his intros with them are anything to go by[[/note]], genuinely seem to care about one another. They drop the menacing act during their special intros with each other even in their alternate personas, and while Yashiro isn't averse to killing the other 2 to revive Orochi, he's apologetic about it and immediately kills himself afterward as an offering, too. This is also partly why Gaidel chose not to be involved with the Orochi business anymore, and Vice and Mature also shows some concern for Iori.]]

* SomeDexterityRequired: The series had a problem with this early on. Then there's the legendary Raging Storm: Down-Back, Half-Circle Back, Down-Forward. There's a reason it's called "[[FanNickname The Pretzel]]." Most games starting with ''[='96=]'' averted this, but SNK still throws curveballs from time to time. K9999's inputs are also ridiculously difficult as are Duck King's in ''XI''. The Raging Storm is notoriously difficult ''for the sake of nostalgia''.

* SimilarSquad: Teams that are close relationship-wise to Team Japan will have an equivalent for Kyo (the fire user), Benimaru (the "pretty") and Daimon (the tough brawler), such as Team Yagami (Iori, Mature, Vice), Orochi Team (Chris, Shermie, Yashiro), Team K' (K', Whip/Kula, Maxima), Team Ash (Ash, Duo Lon, Shen) and Team China (Shun'ei[[note]]although his is more of a fiery fist than anything[[/note]], Meitenkun and Tung).

* SimilarSquad: Teams that are close relationship-wise to Team Japan will have an equivalent for Kyo (the fire user), Benimaru (the "pretty") and Daimon (the tough brawler), such as Team Yagami (Iori, Mature, Vice), Orochi Team (Chris, Shermie, Yashiro), Team K' (K', Whip/Kula, Maxima), Team Ash (Ash, Duo Lon, Shen) and Team China (Shun'ei[[note]]although his is more of a fiery fist than anything[[/note]]), Meitenkun and Tung).

* SimilarSquad: Teams that are close relationship-wise to Team Japan will have an equivalent for Kyo (the fire user), Benimaru (the "pretty") and Daimon (the tough brawler), such as Team Yagami (Iori, Mature, Vice), Orochi Team (Chris, Shermie, Yashiro), Team K' (K', Whip/Kula, Maxima), Team Ash (Ash, Duo Lon, Shen) and Team China (Shun'ei[[note]]although his is more of a fiery fist than anything), Meitenkun and Tung).

** Many Tales of Ash-introduced characters (save for Tung, and he really only comes in XI's console release without any bearing to the plot) don't come back in ''XIV''. Played with in that [[spoiler:King of Dinosaurs is almost certainly Tizoc, introduced in 2003, and Ash appears in Official Invitation Team's ending where Kukri and Elizabeth are looking for him.]]

* SimilarSquad: Teams that are close relationship-wise to Team Japan will have an equivalent for Kyo (the fire user), Benimaru (the "pretty") and Daimon (the tough brawler), such as Team Yagami (Iori, Mature, Vice), Orochi Team (Chris, Shermie, Yashiro), Team K' (K', Whip/Kula, Maxima) and Team Ash (Ash, Duo Lon, Shen).

* An as of yet unnamed new story arc that begins with ''The King of Fighters XIV'' and introduces 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 will now use 3D graphics while still retaining its roots as a two-dimensional playing field, similar to games such as ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' or ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''.

* ArtShift: The games have a completely new look with higher definition sprites starting with ''XII''. ''XI'', ''[='98UM=]'', and ''2002UM'' in particular were the last games to use the old sprites.
** ''XIV'' will be the first of the main series with 3D graphics (the ''Maximum Impact'' games were spin-offs).

* SiblingTeam: The Bogard Bros., who usually team up in KOF alongside their good buddy Joe. The current saga (until ''XIII'') marks the first time Andy wasn't on the roster alongside Terry.

* SlidingScaleOfContinuity: Level 5 (Full Lockout). There are currently four [[StoryArc arcs]]: the [[SNKBoss Rugal]] [[StarterVillain Saga]] (the first title, ''[='94=]''), The {{Orochi}} Saga (''[='95=]''-''[='98=]''), the [[NebulousEvilOrganisation NESTS]] Chronicles (''[='99=]''-''2002''), and the Tales of [[TheTrickster Ash]] (the present-day saga, having started in ''2003''). 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]].

** This is the result of [[spoiler: Verse's defeat in ''XIV'']], which brings many formerly dead characters back to life, including [[spoiler: Ash as well as various DeathByOriginStory characters like Jeff Bogard and Gaidel. (Terry and Leona's fathers respectively.) Any other characters like the New Face team are still up purely to speculation by this point]][[note]]Though Shermie does appear in ''VideoGame/SNKHeroinesTagTeamFrenzy'', which WordOfGod has confirmed is indeed canon to the ''KOF'' series, meaning that she has most likely been revived[[/note]].

* 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=]'' games to ''XII'' and ''XII'' to ''XIII'', whose sprites were redone. Let's check some factors:

* EmbeddedPrecursor: Of sorts. ''[='94=] Re-Bout'', ''[='98=]: Ultimate Match'' and ''2002: Unlimited Match'' all have the original Neo Geo AES versions they were remade from included, although only in the [=PS2=] version in ''2K2UM''[='s=] case.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: The Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, minus Goentiz[[note]]and even then, he's shown to be quite friendly towards them in the non-canon ''[='98=]'' and ''2002'', if his intros with them are anything to go by[[/note]], genuinely seem to care about one another. They drop the menacing act during their special intros with each other even in their alternate personas, and while Yashiro isn't averse to killing the other 2 to revive Orochi, he's apologetic about it and immediately kills himself afterward as an offering, too. This is also partly why Gaidel chose not to be involved with the Orochi business anymore, and Vice and Mature also shows some concern for Iori.]]

* AllMythsAreTrue: They damn well might as be where the ''KOF'' verse is concerned; in fact, it's hard to tell where this ends and OneMythToExplainThemAll begins. From the ''KOF'' lore alone, it plays heavily with the Japanese myth, with Orochi and the three Imperial Regalia of Japan; however, Orochi is said to be the progeny of Gaia of Greek myth, and apparently is the self-proclaimed "enforcer of Gaia's will". Gaia herself has never appeared in any shape or form. From the series outside KOF that appears here, there's the stuff from VideoGame/{{Athena}}, Videogame/SamuraiShodown, and (indirectly) Videogame/LastBlade, with their own myths and lores. If you count ''[[VideoGame/SNKVsCapcomSVCChaos SVC Chaos]]'', then [[VideoGame/MetalSlug Mars People]] also exists in the verse.

* BlueMeansCold: Kula Diamond's hair turns blue whenever she uses her ice magic.

* CharacterRosterGlobalWarming: As far as {{Mighty Glacier}}s go, the series started with Daimon, Ralf, Clark, and Chang. It took them about six years to add Maxima, a year to add Seth, three years to add Tizoc, about another six to add Raiden, and yet another six (or seven) to add King of Dinosaurs (if he even counts, considering that he's actually [[spoiler: Tizoc]].

** This is the result of [[spoiler: Verse's defeat in ''XIV'']], which brings many formerly dead characters back to life, including [[spoiler: Ash as well as various DeathByOriginStory characters like Jeff Bogard and Gaidel. (Terry and Leona's fathers respectively.) Any other characters like the New Face team are still up purely to speculation by this point]].

* EmbeddedPrecursor: Of sorts. Both ''[='98=]: Ultimate Match'' and ''2002: Unlimited Match'' have the original Neo Geo AES versions they were remade from included, although only in the [=PS2=] version in ''2K2UM''[='s=] case.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: The Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, minus Goentiz, genuinely seem to care about one another. They drop the menacing act during their special intros with each other even in their alternate personas, and while Yashiro isn't averse to killing the other 2 to revive Orochi, he's apologetic about it and immediately kills himself afterward as an offering, too. This is also partly why Gaidel chose not to be involved with the Orochi business anymore, and Vice and Mature also shows some concern for Iori.]]

** K9999 is inspired by [[Manga/{{AKIRA}} Tetsuo]].

** 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 a the that Kensou has mastered the control of the Dragon Spirit, but still no major changes can be seen through his power level (his personality is slightly more serious but not too much), taking account at how leagues more powerful he should have been if he truly mastered the control of his powers.

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: The SNK loved this trope. Since The King of Fighters '94 to The King of Fighters XI, developers recycled the same sprites possibly to save time as a game was released each year until The King of Fighters '94 to The King of Fighters 2003 in which SNK began to launch the games of the series by editions, not more per year. This trope was repeated in The King of Fighters '94 games to The King of Fighters XII and The King of Fighters XII to The King of Fighters XIII, whose s sprites were redone. Let's check some factors:
** Kim, Ryo, Yuri, Daimon, and Mai use the same wore 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.

* SimilarSquad: Teams that are close relationship-wise to Team Japan will have an equivalent for Kyo (the fire user), Benimaru (the "pretty") and Daimon (the tough brawler), such as Team Yagami (Iori, Mature, Vice), Orochi Team (Chris, Shermie, Yashiro) and Team K' (K', Whip/Kula, Maxima).

* ThreeRoundDeathmatch: One of the first notable aversions in the genre. The team-based gameplay of '''94'' ensured fights always lasted at ''least'' three rounds and can stretch to five. ''2003'' and ''XI'', being tag-team games, do not use rounds at all and simply have the fighters battle until one team has no more characters it can field. Installments after'' '94'' did include an option for traditional 1v1, "first to two fall" fights, however.

* NewWorkRecycledGraphics: The SNK loved this trope. Snce The King of Fighters '94 to The King of Fighters XI, developers recycled the same sprites possibly to save time as a game was released each year until The King of Fighters '94 to The King of Fighters 2003 in which SNK began to launch the games of the series by editions, not more per year. This trope was repeated in The King of Fighters '94 games to The King of Fighters XII and The King of Fighters XII to The King of Fighters XIII, whose s sprites were redone. Let's check some factors:

** Despite being the first installment of its arc, ''XIV'' manages to do this with its final boss: [[spoiler:Verse is an amalgam of departed souls of various ''[=KoF=]'' characters who came into being after Ash's CosmicRetcon[=/=]RetGone of himself. Defeating Verse causes these souls to be released, which creates the possibility that once-dead characters such as Orochi or Krizalid (and despite his actions, Ash is also among them) will now be canonically alive again]].

These include ''Maximum Impact'', a 3D fighting game series which takes place in an AlternateContinuity, right down to having characters not featured in the main ''KOF'' storylines; ''The King of Fighters: KYO'', an RPG that ties the events of ''[='96=]'' with ''[='97=]'' and indulges in Kyo and the background of his clan; a BulletHell spinoff called ''KOF Sky Stage'' for the Xbox Live Arcade; ''The King of Fighters-i 002'', an iPhone game that ties into ''XIII''; and ''The Rhythm of Fighters'', a RhythmGame spinoff for iOS.

* AbortedArc: The "Dragon Spirit" residing inside Kensou, which is said to be the source of his powers and the reason why he and Bao alternated between having powers or not. Despite the tease at the ending of ''2001'' that Ron would target him for his power, said to be greater than whatever NESTS could amass, this plot point is never brought up again (''XI'' has Kensou gain control of the power and [[spoiler:Lin is revealed to be in league with Ron]] but ''XIII'' does not venture into this plotline). ''XIV'' seems to be dabbling with this again, although it's too early to tell whether or not SNK will stick it out this time or just continue to kick the can down the road.

A manga adaptation of ''King Of Fighters XIV'', named ''Manga/TheKingOfFightersXIVANewBeginning'' started serialization in January 2016.

* FourIsDeath: Goenitz, Yashiro, Shermie, and Chris are the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi. Mature, Vice, Yamazaki, and Gaidel [[spoiler:(Leona's biological father)]] are the Four Earthly Kings of Orochi. They complete the Hakkesshu that represent the eight heads of Orochi.
** The Hizoku clan is divided up into four subgroups, with the best assassins and leaders of those groups collectively known as The Four Devas ([[VideoGame/StreetFighterII not those ones]]). Three of the Devas are [=NPCs=] who primarily appear around Lin, but the fourth was Ron, father of Duo Lon and Xiao Lon, who formerly served as the head of the entire clan until he betrayed them to lend his services to NESTS (and the fourth position is covered by Lin afterwards).

* VillainProtagonist: NESTS Team in ''2001'', if you chose to play as them, [[CaptainObvious of course]]. Mixes as QuestForIdentity.

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