History Videogame / TheKingOfFighters

* EasterEgg: In ''XI'', certain characters have alternate taunts depending on who they're facing. Iori has specific taunts for Kyo and Ash. Ash has the same in regards to Kyo and Iori. Oswald happens to have three different poses for his taunt, although it's not character-specific. The special intros and idle animations throughout the series could also count. Try holding down with Bao for example.

* 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. ''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.

* 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.

* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:The whole Tales of Ash saga was revealed to be one in ''XIII'' due to Saiki and [[MeaningfulName Those From the Past]]. It's broken in the ending by Ash's HeroicSacrifice.]] This action sets into motion [[spoiler:the creation of Verse, a being composed of the souls of dead characters from the series past, who makes his appearance during the finals of the tournament being hosted in ''XIV''. Ash is among them and apparently his defeat released these souls back into the world of the living, which means characters could now come back to life]].

* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:The whole Tales of Ash saga was revealed to be one in ''XIII'' due to Saiki and [[MeaningfulName Those From the Past]]. It's broken in the ending by Ash's HeroicSacrifice.]]

* TournamentArc: The point of the entire series, considering that it revolves around the titular fighting tournament. However, KOF always seems to serve as the vehicle for some nefarious person or group with an axe to grind to the point that certain fighters in the ''Maximum Impact'' series [[LampshadeHanging hope that the next tournament can simply be a test of their skills and not the instrument of the possible destruction of mankind]]. ''The King of Fighters XIV'' manages to be just that, although [[spoiler:in-universe GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Verse still shows up to make a mess of things during the finals, very similar to Goenitz in ''[='=]96''.

** Most notably, [[SamuraiShodown Nakoruru]], as well as her team-mates, Miu Miu and Love Heart, are stuck in King Of Fighters possibly permanently, making them ExiledFromContinuity for their ORIGINAL universes!

* TournamentArc: The point of the entire series, considering that it revolves around the titular fighting tournament. However, KOF always seems to serve as the vehicle for some nefarious person or group with an axe to grind to the point that certain fighters in the ''Maximum Impact'' series [[LampshadeHanging hope that the next tournament can simply be a test of their skills and not the instrument of the possible destruction of mankind]].

A new game, ''SNK Heroines ~Tag Team Frenzy~'' ,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.

A new game, ''SNK Heroines ~Tag Team Frenzy~'' ,will star the female cast of the ''IV'' title (plus Shermie and [[GenderFlip a gender-bent Terry Bogard]]) as a 2v2 fighter.

A new game, ''SNK Heroines ~Tag Team Frenzy~'' ,will star the female cast of the games as a 2v2 fighter.

* SequentialBoss: '''97'' has ''five'' of these, or even ''six'' if some conditions are met. The first one is either [[spoiler: Orochi Iori]] if you don't have [[spoiler: Iori Yagami]] in your team, or [[spoiler: Orochi Leona]] if you do. He or she will be followed by [[spoiler: the empowered forms of the New Face Team: first you defeat Orochi Chris, then Orochi Shermie, and Orochi Yashiro at last]]. Not satisfied? Once they're defeated, [[spoiler: it's time to fight {{Orochi}} himself.]] ButWaitTheresMore! If you [[spoiler: fight as the Japan Team and defeat Orochi with Kyo Kusanagi]], this will unlock one last match [[spoiler: where Kyo fights Iori Yagami (as in, normal Iori without the Riot of the Blood).]]

* UnexpectedCharacter:
** Seeing at it was the old SNK's last hurrah, ''2000'' featured a massive overload of [[TheCameo cameos]] from most of their older titles. The Maniac Strikers in the console versions continue the trend.
** It happened again with ''XI'', which added the likes of Gai Tendo and Silber from ''Buriki One'' and Sho Hayate and Jyazu from ''[[VideoGame/FuunSeries Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter]]'' as {{Secret Character}}s.
** Raiden in ''XII'' and Hwa Jai in ''XIII'', two characters from the original ''Fatal Fury'' that players never expected to see again. ''Ever''. Bonus points for teaming up with Kim.
** ''XIV'' brought with it not only Nakoruru from ''SamuraiShodown'', but also a Mui Mui and Love Heart, characters from a couple of obscure Japan only pachinko games as part the "Another World Team". The fact that they're appearing in a non-DreamMatchGame opens the door to more of these as well.

** Leona, Benimaru, Daimon, Kensou, Robert and Clark have all come out with the same set of voices from ''96'' to ''2003''.

** 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.
** Leona, Benimaru, Daimon, Kensou, Robert and Clark have all come out with the same set of voices from ''96'' to ''2003''.

*** Most excitingly, there are four DLC characters. Whip is the first revealed, followed by 3 others thereafter. Them being Yamazaki, Vanessa, and to everyone's surprise, an unexpected candidate to the main KOF series: Rock Howard! (Though he did appear in the ''Maximum Impact'' games beforehand.) A new character, a Saudi woman named "Najd", will also join the cast as a downloadable character at a later time.

* 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 then 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 [[WhatItCouldHaveBeen originally planned for]] [[spoiler:Krizalid to be brought BackFromTheDead.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Krizalid]] in '99. His 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 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 worse in the Ikari team's ending where he [[spoiler:'mistakes' Whip for his lost sister,]] only for [[spoiler:her]] to reveal that [[spoiler:NESTS gave him that false memory and that he's actually a clone of K', rather then the other way around.]] This gets expanded in the Ikari team's ending 2000, [[spoiler:when Clone Zero tells Whip that she's actually a clone of the dead sister of K', making Krizalid die without knowing that Whip really was his biological sister.]] No wonder why SNK originally planned for [[spoiler:Krizalid to be brought back from the dead.]]

* ArtEvolution: Patch 1.10 of XIV includes a significant graphical upgrade to the character models, making it look even better and less like a PS2 game as it was derided before. [[http://www.siliconera.com/2016/11/28/king-fighters-xiv-patch-1-10-will-make-game-look-better/ See for yourself]]

*** Most excitingly, there are four DLC characters. Whip is the first revealed, followed by 3 others thereafter. Them being Yamazaki, Vanessa, and to everyone's surprise, an unexpected candidate to the main KOF series: Rock Howard! (Though he did appear in the ''Maximum Impact'' games beforehand.) There is also an unnamed Arabic character that will be eventually offered as DLC in the future.

*** Extra outfits for Shun'ei and Nakoruru (both Japanese school uniforms). Extra outfits for Sylvie, Angel, Meitenkun, and Kula are also inbound.

*** Most excitingly, there has been DLC characters confirmed. Whip is the first revealed, followed by 3 others thereafter. Them being Yamazaki, Vanessa, and to everyone's surprise, an unexpected candidate to the main KOF series: Rock Howard! (Though he did appear in the ''Maximum Impact'' games beforehand.)

** Not even the songs are safe! [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vH4t4XOOdg To the rhythm! T-t-to the rhythm!]]

Aside from fighting games and tie-ins, there were the rather infamous DatingSim games for mobiles and UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, ''Days of Memories'' allowed the player character to venture in Southtown and date most of the fighting divas from the series ([[VideoGame/FatalFury and]] [[VideoGame/ArtOfFighting from]] [[VideoGame/SamuraiShodown others]]); later versions also allowed a girl player character to date the male fighters as well. An animated web series loosely adapting the events of the ''Rugal Saga'' (as well as the first ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' game) called ''The King of Fighters: Destiny'' began streaming in 2017.