Characters / The King of Fighters: Heroes

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Main Series
Protagonists | Deuteragonists
The King Of Fighters: The Rugal Saga
The King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga: KOF '95 | KOF '96 | KOF '97
The King of Fighters: The NESTS Chronicles: KOF '99 | KOF 2000 | KOF 2001
The King of Fighters: The Tales of Ash: KOF 2003 | KOF XI
The King of Fighters: The New Age: KOF XIV | KOF XV
Spin Offs
The King of Fighters EX | Maximum Impact
Related Series
Athena | Psycho Soldier | Fatal Fury | Art of Fighting | Samurai Shodown | Metal Slug | Fu'un Series | Buriki One

The main page for the Arc Heroes of The King of Fighters series.

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Rugal/Orochi Saga

Kyo Kusanagi

Cleansing Fire

"Resistance is flammable. No one can snuff my flame!"

Debut: The King of Fighters '94

Origin: Japan

Fighting style: Kusanagi-style ancient martial arts + Chinese boxing (Kempo)

Voiced by: ^note Masahiro Nonaka ('94-XIII), Tomoaki Maeno (XIV-current), Andrew Roth (Maximum Impact series, English), Peter von Gomm (XII, English), Ryōtarō Okiayu ('94 Dengeki Bunko drama CD), Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese dub of the live-action movie)

Portrayed by: ^note Sean Faris (live-action movie)

Playable in: ^note All mainline KOF games, Maximum Impact, MI2, MI:RA

The Protagonist of the series and one of SNK’s poster children.

Kyo begins as an Ordinary High-School Student who enters the first tournament both to prove his strength to the world (having already won the All-Japan Martial Arts Tournament) and to find his missing father Saisyu. After defeating Rugal for the first time, he encounters Iori Yagami who proclaims himself as Kyo's eternal enemy. Kyo makes it to the finals again and fights his brainwashed father, and then Rugal once again. He learns of his destiny to seal away Orochi from Chizuru Kagura, and in '96, defeats Goenitz along with Iori. In '97 he, along with Iori and Chizuru, battle the last remaining forces of Orochi and reseal him, but he disappears afterward, and he is found by NESTS and cloned.

After having been missing for a year, he re-emerges and decides to invesigate NESTS, joining K' in combating the organization.

In the Tales of Ash saga, he joins with Iori and Chizuru once again to stop a group of people trying to resurrect Orochi, but Iori and Chizuru have their powers stolen by Ash Crimson, leaving Kyo as the final target. Due to Ash fully managing to unfurl his plan, however, Kyo never has his powers stolen.

In the Shun’ei Saga, Kyo learns that a friend of Saisyu, Tung Fu Rue, is participating in the tournament with some new students. Kyo is asked to participate in order to 'show the ropes' to these newcomers, and reforms Team Japan. In XV, though initially having been requested to join Team Hero after the last tournament, the presence of the newly resurrected Team Orochi was a cause of concern for Kyo, and so at the request of Chizuru, reforms Team Sacred Treasures with Iori to figure out what exactly they are up to, sending Benimaru in his place.

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• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the games and every other media he's featured in, he's always cocky, fight-happy, rebellious, and really full of himself. In Destiny though, despite these aforementioned traits still being present, he's nobler, shows great respect to Master Chin, and is less of a jerk towards the others (he was never respectful to him or anyone higher than him), putting him near Terry levels of Nice Guy by comparison.
• Alliterative Name: Kyo Kusanagi.
• Amplifier Artifact: Wields the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, which is implied to reside inside of his body.
• Animal Motifs: Most heavily associated with cats, including literally becoming one in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Just because he's The Hero and really cares for his friends, it doesn't stop him from being a cocky bastard when it comes to fighting. He'll boast non-stop in his interactions with other fighters and can leave some scalding remarks upon winning.
  "You're pathetic... How did I end up against someone with no fighting skills?!"
• Badass Adorable: The KOF: KYO manga shows us Kyo when he was no older than 8. He was this through and through, especially considering that he loved to train very roughly with his father and that he saved other kids from being bullied by high schoolers.
• Badass Biker: His motorcycle is listed as one of his likes, implying this trope.
• Badass Boast: He has a lot of these, especially early on where he's even more Hot-Blooded.
  "That was deplorable! We'll get the championship from this tournament!"
  "Your tricks don't work on us! Understand that!"
  "For saying that we were the fakes, you'll get divine punishment!!"
  "You were lucky! A bit longer and I would have turned you into cinder!"
  "My fist has a 1800 years of history! I can easily break you!"
  "That was my fist! It's hotter than napalm!"
  "You have nice moves, but that's not enough to keep going!!"
  "Kyokugen Karate is shattered! There's no fist that can pass through us!!"
• Baritone of Strength: Thanks to Mashiro Nonaka's voice aging, the latter part of his tenure as Kyo saw his voice deepening very noticeably, and as a result, Kyo starts leaning more and more into this trope starting around 2001, until he lands firmly on it in XI and XIII. Though, his current voice actor has reversed the trend, giving Kyo a more high-pitched (but still fiery) voice.
• Battle Intro: In XV:
  "Make way for Mr. KOF! He's the true successor of the ancient Kusanagi style. Kyo Kusanagi!
  Kyo: Gotta bring the heat, y'know?
• Because Destiny Says So: Pretty much the underlying reason for why stuff happens to him as the next successor of the Kusanagi clan. Several figures like Goenitz and Ash have targeted him because of his gifts, and that's to say nothing of when he was abducted and used to create pyrokinetic super soldiers. Kyo vehemently refuses to believe that fate plays an integral role in his life, but will fight people like the Orochi and Those of the Past so they'll leave him and his loved ones alone.
• Berserk Button: Ash Crimson and Iori Yagami piss him off endlessly for their repeated attempts to defeat him and use him in schemes respectively. On a less serious note, being too nosy about the fact that he never graduated from high school is a sure-fire way to get smoked. (Kim is particularly good about rising his hackles in regards to this. Hilarity Ensues every time they meet.)
• Big Fancy House: In the KOF:KYO media, we see that Kyo and his parents live in a traditional Japanese complex located atop of a small hill from the outskirts of Osaka.
• Blood Knight: Nothing gets Kyo more amped up than the promise of a good fight. He takes in every moment before a fight to roast his opponent and express excitement for the coming battle. Even when he's knocked down in-game, he'll sound like he's having a blast.
  (Getting knocked down in XIII): "That was a good one!"
• Bootstrapped Theme: "Esaka?" from '96 is so popular a song that it's probably the song of the series. It has seen multiple renditions over the years, whether it's being used for the original Japan Team, Kyo's clones, or even as a bridge in a completely different theme for Kyo.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: When performing his 524 Shiki Kamukura HSDM, Kyo utters one of Iori's signature catchphrases.
  "Asobi wa owari da!" (Play time's over!).
• Bring It: Quite prevalent in many of his selection and pre-battle quotes, and one of his favorite ways to goad his opponent.
  "Dokkara demo kina!" (Come at me however you want!)
• Brought Down to Normal: A huge plot point in the KOF: KYO manga. Kyo has had some hidden insecurities about why he's fighting for for a short while, and while fighting Billy Kane his flames suddenly die out. He spends the following days in an Heroic BSoD-induced apathy, where not even Iori really wants to fight him since he's completely Not Himself, and from then on it went From Bad to Worse.
• Bully Hunter: According to the KOF: KYO manga, this is how he started fighting.
• The Cameo: He appears in the background of KOF Stadium in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and has a spirit battle based on him; the fight in question includes two fighters based on his teammates, Benimaru and Daimon.
• Catchphrase: "Heh heh, moetaro?" ^note "Heh heh, you burned?" ("Burn, baby, burn..." in the English translation of the Hero Team's '94 story, "Feel the burn?" in the English dub of MI) and "Ore no... kachi da!" ^note "This is... my victory!" ("Victory is mine!" in the English translation of the Hero Team's '97 story, "I am the champion!" in the English dub of MI)
• Chick Magnet: A somewhat muted example but he's in a relationship with Yuki, Athena (who is herself a Dude Magnet) is in love with him, and he gets a good amount of ship tease with others.
• Clark Kent Outfit: Starting in '99, he picks up the habit of wearing long-sleeved outfits, which hides his well-built form.
• Close-Range Combatant: His '96 overhaul turns him into this, with his Aragami and Dokugami chain punch specials that guarantee Kyo to try to get close to the opponent as much as possible.
• Clothes Make the Legend: Kyo is very recognizable as the schoolboy from the Orochi Saga. Most of his appearances outside of KOF have Kyo in his uniform as well. In fact, the creation of Kyo's clones were fueled by a desire among some of the developers to include Kyo's older and more iconic look. XIII also adds the outfit as one of regular Kyo's possible palette swaps, and XIV adds it as a pre-order bonus/DLC.
• Confusion Fu: His Aragami chain punches have multiple different follow-ups that could hit either mid, low or overhead, making blocking the attempt tricky.
• Costume Evolution: He gets new garbs at the start of each saga. In the beginning, he has his trademark black/dark green school uniform with a headband. At the start of NESTS saga, he changes it to a pair of jeans, white jacket and black inner shirt, as well as losing his headband. Come Tales of Ash, he changes his jacket to a black one with a white T-shirt. And XIV gives him a new jacket that's similar to the NESTS era one but with more pockets.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Kyo was on the receiving end of one the first time he encountered Goenitz.
• Dash Attack: "75 Shiki: Kai" has Kyo dash forward and perform a leaping kick. Pressing the kick button again will turn this into a double roundhouse.
• Decoy Protagonist: Make no mistake, Kyo is the focal point character of the original few games. As the story moves between sagas, he loses focus and shifts in and out of the background, ultimately losing the protagonist spot to K', Ash, and Shun'ei. While Kyo is still an important player in the story (he's featured prominently on the cover of most of the games for a reason), he's now comfortably a Supporting Protagonist.
• Depending on the Writer: In XIII Climax, NESTS-Style Kyo is portrayed to be slightly Older and Wiser than regular Kyo. For example, Kyo bluntly tells Leona to get out of the battlefield since "this is no place for those who can't control themselves", whereas NESTS-Style Kyo asks her if she's up for controlling her Orochi blood instead.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: With the help of Iori and Chizuru, he takes out Orochi in The Three Sacred Treasures' ending in '97.
• Divergent Character Evolution:
  • Although he's one of many examples, his is perhaps the most notable. In '95, Kyo and Iori possessed similar movesets (this is justified in-story their ancestors worked together to perfect their respective fighting styles together before the Kusanagi/Yasakani schism), giving them a Moveset Clone relationship. In the following game, Kyo traded in his Yami Barai projectile for his Aragami series of moves, presumably due to the Curb-Stomp Battle he experienced at the hands of Goenitz in the interim. Currently, the only move he and Iori share is Oniyaki, their Shoryuken.
  • When Iori has lost his flames in XIII (and possesses a more physical moveset not unlike post-'95 Kyo), Kyo's back to his original moveset.
• Downloadable Content: In XIII, there's "NESTS-style" Kyo, which utilizes his Aragami chain. In XIV, it's his classic high school garb.
• Elemental Punch: His very first one is his Oni Yaki special, a fiery uppercut move. Starting from 96, he gains more and more of these, the signature being "114 Shiki Aragami" (Roughly translates to "114th form: Wild Bite"), an attack with several follow-ups that defines his Close-Range Combatant style.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Watch his intro with Vega in the SNK vs. Capcom games. Kyo is not honored in the slightest.
  Vega: "Hmm. Rather attractive. However, you can't hold a candle to me."
  Kyo: "Shut yo' mouth! You silly narcissistic little fancy pants! I'm going to torch you to your bones!"
  Vega: "Heh, heh. Relax. You should take a break before I tear you to shreds, huh?"
  Kyo: "I've got stuff to do. I can't waste my time with freaks like you."
• Every Year They Fizzle Out: Although he and the original Team Japan won throughout the entire Orochi Saga ('94-'97), with Kyo usually getting the credit for single-handedly beating Orochi, Kyo doesn't seem to have quite the same luck in either the later sagas, despite being one of the most powerful fighters in The 'Verse.
• Finger Wag: His taunt. Originally, he'd only dental click while doing it ("Tsk tsk tsk"), although Kyo later says "Mou, oyasumi ka?" ("Oh, is it bedtime already?")
• Fire Is Red: Supposedly. The flames of the Kusanagi clan are usually referred to as "crimson", but appear in-game as orange, similar to how the cursed blue flames of Orochi (see: Iori, Orochi Chris) are depicted as purple.
• Foe-Tossing Charge: His blowback move, both on the ground and in the air, is a powerful shoulder tackle.
• Fun with Acronyms: His 707 Shiki: Komahofuri is alternatively known as the R.E.D. (Rainbow Energy Dynamite) Kick.
• Good Is Not Nice: Despite being the main hero of the series, Kyo tends to be abrasive and disrespectful to his opponents, unless they're capable of providing him with a good fight.
• Ground Wave: His Yami Barai special (when he has it) is a flame projectile that travels along the ground.
• Guest Fighter: For Lost Saga, Brave Frontier, and more.
• Hellbent For Leather: Many of his costumes incorporate some kind of leather garment to emphasize his scrappy, Blood Knight attitude. His XII-XV designs all give him leather jackets for example.
• The Hero: Of the Orochi Saga if not the entire King of Fighters franchise.
• Heroic Build: While not to the exaggerated extent of Terry and Ryo, he's pretty well built, though his wearing long-sleeved outfits often hides it.
• The Hero's Idol: Kyo attracts a passionate fanbase due to his victories in the KOF tournament, including series fighter Shingo Yabuki. Shingo goes so far as to study Kyo's family style of martial arts, training under the latter's father Saisyu. Kyo and Shingo become good friends, and Kyo even invites him to join his team on several teams.
• High-School Sweethearts: A Belligerent Sexual Tension-filled example with Yuki. Despite Yuki largely disappearing from the supporting cast in later installments until The Stinger in the Sacred Treasures Ending of KOF XV, she and Kyo are going steady to this day.
• Hot-Blooded: While to what degree depends on the game (this trait is downplayed during the NESTS saga, for example), you can at least usually count on Kyo to be a passionate, fight-happy hot-head who loves a good battle. His voice lines from 94-98 and 2001 onwards can get particularly loud and intense, for example.
• Image Song: Several. The main ones fans request for Masahiro Nonaka to sing are "Burning Devotion!" and "Pieces." God forbid that you get him and Kunihiko Yasui (Iori) in the same room or less the fans will clamor that they sing their dual image song, "The Sun & The Moon."
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Daimon, who is roughly 8-9 years older than he is.
• Intergenerational Rivalry: With several older fighters like Terry and Ryo. He loves to goad Terry to get the most out of their fights.
  Terry: "Hey, what's happenin', man? Hope your precious flames haven't started gutterin' out yet!"
  Kyo: "You want to know how my flames are doing? Why don't I shove them down your throat, then?"
  Terry: "Wow! Someone got out of the wrong side of bed today! This is gonna be a really heated battle!"
• It's Personal:
  • He suffers a painful defeat by Goenitz, prompting Kyo to spend time training himself and developing new techniques to eventually defeat Goenitz.
  • In XIII, he's determined to get back at Ash for the latter almost killing Chizuru and triggering Iori's Blood Riot, which almost kills Shingo.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Kyo is cocky, fight-happy, rebellious, and really full of himself, but his heart is very much in the right place and he does love his family and friends in his own way. (And in KOF:KYO he seems to have some hidden insecurities as well, which leave him open to almost losing himself to the dark side.) Lampshaded in said manga:
  Yuki: "He's just a guy who gets flaming mad at times."
  Sanae: "That's why everyone's afraid of him. They're just too scared to speak to him!"
• Last-Name Basis: He almost always refers to Iori Yagami by his last name. It's especially notable since he doesn't address him with honorifics for that matter, not holding him in high regard either.
• Leitmotif: As the protagonist of the series as a whole, he has not one, but two leitmotifs:
  • His main leitmotif is "Esaka?" from '96, which has accompanied him to a grand total of 6 games ('96, '98, 2002: Unlimited Match, XI for his NESTS-era moveset, XII and XIV for his classic costume), and additionally adopted by his clones.
  • His NESTS-era leitmotif, on the other hand, is "Tears", being used for him in both '99 and vanilla 2002. Noticeably, it contains snippets of his main theme "Esaka?".
• Lightning/Fire Juxtaposition: He's the fire to Benimaru's lightning.
• Living MacGuffin: He becomes this post-Orochi saga. The NESTS cartel used him to make clones (one of them being K'), which starts the '99-2001 arc. The Tales of Ash saga revolves around Ash seeking to steal the three Sacred Treasures, one of them being within Kyo.
• Manly Man: While he's something of a Pretty Boy by looks, he's also a tall, well-built martial artist with fiery powers and an equally fiery personality, whose fighting style is very aggressive and involves a lot of flaming punches. He's also got a fondness for his motorcycle, and 2003 onwards, he picks up the habit of wearing biker jackets.
• Martial Arts Headband:
  • Wore one until the start of the NESTS saga (not counting his Another Kyo striker in KOF '99). He burns his headband in a few KOF '99 opening poses to distinguish himself from his clones. He finally puts it back on for KOF XV.
  • He kept on wearing it (along with his "classic" school uniform) in several spin-off games until Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, in which he appears with his NESTS Saga outfit, thereby ditching it for good (also because the outfit went to his alternate version, Kusanagi).
• Mascot: Not just of KOF, but as one of SNK's biggest poster children along the likes of Terry and Athena. Even when he's not the lead character, Kyo's still featured prominently on promotional material for newer sagas, and is his developer's rep for SNK vs. Capcom opposite to Ryu.
• Meaningful Name:
  • The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi is a sword that the sea and storm god Susano'o found inside of the Yamata no Orochi's body after slaying the great beast. Guess what Kyo Kusanagi does to Orochi at the climax of '97.
  • His Neo MAX in XIII is named the Ura 121 Shiki Ame-no-Murakumo, the "Ame no Murakumo" being the former name of the Kusanagi sword.
  • The NESTS incarnation of him in the same game has a different Neo MAX named "Saishuu Kessen Hiougi: Totsuka", which is the sword Susano'o used to slay Orochi.
  • His Climax Super in XIV is named Ura 1127 Shiki Yaegaki. Yaegaki Shrine is the place where Kushinada hid from the Yamata-no-Orochi.
  • His Climax Super in XV is named Ura 1212 Shiki Yakumo. Yakumo is a reference to a lyrical poem of Susano'o, which was meant for his wife.
• Megaton Punch: Gains one from '99 onwards in the form of his 182 Shiki. This is presumably a Continuity Nod to the killing blow Kyo landed on Orochi.
  • The end of his Mu Shiki DM (not the SDM version, though) ends with one also. since they're also sent flying.
  • XIII gives him (to be exact, NESTS-Style Kyo) another one as his Neo MAX named Totsuka, a punch so powerful it causes a screen-filling fiery explosion.
• Moveset Clone: With Iori, but only in '95. Justified as the Kusanagi and Yasakani clans built their fighting styles together. In the games after that, Kyo starts to differentiate by utilizing the Aragami and Dokugami chain techniques.
• Mundane Wish: According to one of the endings of XIII his great Tragic Dream is to... graduate from high school.
• Neck Lift: 212 Shiki Kototsuki Yo has Kyo charging the opponent with a running elbow to the stomach, hoisting them up by the neck, and lighting them up like a Christmas tree.
  Kyo: MOERO!^note Burn!
• Non-Indicative Name: Downplayed. NESTS-Style Kyo is, as the title implies, is Kyo in his NESTS saga getup. What isn't from the NESTS Saga is his playstyle, which is his moveset from the later half of the Orochi Saga.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Although semi-canon at best, other media adaptations (most notably the '98 drama CD, KOF: Kyo, and the Hong Kong manhua) insinuate that should the Kusanagi lose themselves to their darker side, they'll end up just like the followers of Orochi.
  • He and Joe quip with each other about how similar their desire to fight is.
  Kyo: "So... uh... Are you sure that leaving the Muay Thai ring was such a good idea? You could've been an undefeated champ if you'd just kept fighting in the Muay Thai ring..."
  Joe: "And you'd be undefeated if you just sat around protecting your ancient rituals. You're here for the same reason as I am. We both need to test ourselves against the best of the best!"
  Kyo: "I hate to admit it, but you're probably right!"
• Oh, Crap!: A big one dawns on him at the end of his Maximum Impact story. Why? He forgot to call Yuki.
• Old Shame: In-Universe. He doesn't like being reminded of never having graduated high school. Some supplementary art pokes fun at the fact by having him daydreaming of finally graduating.
  Chin: "I'm just saying, you shouldn't worry about repeating a school year five or ten times. You'll get it eventually. Everything in its own time."
  Kyo: "Why you! I hate when you act like you're going to say something wise, but it's really just a wisecrack! Bring it on, gramps!"
• The Only One Allowed To Kill You: XIII in a nutshell. Kyo is very fervent about making sure that he's the one who'll give Ash his just desserts, leading to him butting heads with several other competitors, including Athena (who calls him out on trying to shoulder all of the burden when he has friends who are willing to help), Kensou (who both wants to use his new powers and thinks similarly to Athena), and Elisabeth (who has the same mindset when it comes to dealing with Ash).
• Optional Boss: Along with Iori in KOF '99. You can fight him if your end points are over 280. Win, and he becomes playable.
• Pillar of Light: More like Pillar of Fire, but still, his Mu Shiki DM has him start doing this before doing multiple punches. His Neo MAX in XIII, Ama-no-Murakumo, has him create multiple flame pillars.
• Playing with Fire: Comes from his Heroic Lineage. He incorporates his flames in various martial arts moves like his flame "rekka", Oniyaki, and Crescent Moon Flash. He can also fire a massive blast of flame as a super move.
• Power Echoes: Most versions of his Mu Shiki DM have an echo effect. Canonically, the Mu Shiki is believed to be Kyo's strongest skill (Clone Zero even used its data for the Zero Cannon).
• Pretty Boy: Naturally, with his looks. Several characters taunt him in-game using this as an insult.
• Pungeon Master: Quite fond of making all sorts of quips pertaining to his natural element.
• School Uniforms are the New Black: He's entered several tournaments while in uniform. When Kyo stopped wearing his school clothes in '99, his clones picked up the slack.
• Screw Destiny: While Kyo does go on to defeat Orochi just as his ancestor did, Kyo himself refuses to believe that his feud with Iori is influenced by the ancient war between the Kusanagi and Yasakani. He wants to live his life as a fighter, but if others seek him out and/or harm someone who's at least mildly close to him (like Saisyu in '95, Yuki in '97 or Chizuru in 2003), he just will fight back so they'll leave him and his loved ones alone.
• Send in the Clones: Used as Self-Deprecation in regards to the NESTS Chronicles. XI has Kyo making a jab at the ludicrous number of clones he's picked up over the years, almost to a Once Done, Never Forgotten degree.
  Kyo: "Another clone? There's enough of me to start a baseball team!"
• Shoryuken: His Oniyaki special, a spinning fist attack that sets his opponent ablaze.
• Shotoclone: When it came to his original moveset, it does pop back up occasionally. Originally, he had Yami Barai as the projectile, Oni Yaki as the reversal and anti-air, and Oboroguruma as an advancing attack.
• Signature Move: His Oni Yaki, 75 Shiki Kai and Orochinagi are the only moves of his that he retains in all games.
• The Slacker: Never graduated from high school. "Effort" is even listed as his dislike in his bio. Lampshaded more than once in the games. He gets pissed off every time this is brought up.
• Small Parent, Huge Child: Downplayed. Kyo, who stands at 181cm (5'11") is slightly taller than his father, Saisyu, who is 177cm (5'10"). It's not that much of a difference, but it doesn't change the fact that Kyo is slightly taller than his father.
• SNK Boss: Along with Iori in KOF '99, Kyo is more difficult than Krizalid and Iori himself because the artificial intelligence is improved, compared to the other editions, responding better to each advance of the player and using his SDM when he has the best opportunity^note Stun.
• Solar and Lunar: Represents the sun, in contrast to Iori's moon-related imagery.
• Spell My Name With An S: His first name is "Kyo", but it can also be written as "Kyō" or "Kyou".
• Teen Genius: He's said to have properly dominated his pyrokinetic powers and surpassed his father's own skills when he was 15 years old (which is also the time when Souji almost lost himself to his darker side and thus asked Kyo to replace him as the family leader). He became the winner of the All-Japan Martial Arts Tournament at age 18, and the Team Japan leader at age 19. The rest is history. About his school life, though...
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: It's not exactly easy to fight alongside a guy who unreasonably hates your guts, but if the Orochi is involved, it's time to throw the feud aside and help Chizuru out.
• Theme Naming:
  • More often than not, his theme will have "Esaka" in it. Esaka refers to the locale of the old SNK headquarters.
• Three-Strike Combo: The Aragami chain punches, which usually hit three times. His HK version of Oboroguruma also has him do 3 kicks instead of 1 (the LK version).
• Trademark Favorite Food: Broiled fish. Lampshaded in XIII when he taunts K's via theorizing that he's always grumpy because he eats too much red meat and telling him to eat fish instead; K' is obviously not amused.
• Tragic Dropout: He ended up dropping out of school after '97 due to getting kidnapped and experimented on by NESTS. Certain character interactions show that he is unhappy with never having got to graduate.
• Unusual Euphemism: 2002 has Kyo prattling on about "the pepper" in his win quote. The Japanese equivalent is more along the lines of his trademark "Moetaro" ("You [got] burned") line.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Benimaru. The two clearly care for each other, but also love to goad one another with fighting words.
  Benimaru: "Are you sure you're okay, Kyo?"
  Kyo: "Hm? What are you talking about?"
  Benimaru: "Your wounds. You escaped from the hospital before they treated you, am I right?"
  Kyo: "What, you don't trust me? I'm telling you not to worry. I'll be fine."
  Benimaru: "Well, I'm not exactly worried, per se... I just don't want you making excuses if you cause us to lose. It makes us all look bad."
  Kyo: "Oh, so you're a comedian, are you? Well, why don't you take me on, huh!?"
  Benimaru: "Don't mind if I do! Show me perfection, Kyo!"
  -Team Japan's intro in XIII
• Vocal Evolution: Kyo sounds more laid-back and relaxed in later games (as compared to his almost Hot-Blooded characterization at the beginning of the Orochi Saga) and his voice has grown somewhat deeper to match this, perhaps to show his maturity over the years. Nonaka has said he feels slightly detached and disappointed by this, as he saw his younger days in Kyo's more cocksure personality.
• Warrior Poet: Literally. Poetry is a hobby of Kyo's. Though he's not too good at it, and it may explain his moveset naming since '96 via his own tastes.
• Wolverine Publicity: As the face of KOF, SNK has pushed him to the forefront of many of their biggest products. Not only is he in every mainline KOF title, but also most crossovers and promotional tie-ins. This is even Lampshaded in his battle with Terry in XIII.
  Kyo: "Man, you are here every single time, aren't you? Are you going for a perfect attendance record or something?"
  Terry: "Not really. It's just that when I hear lots of strong people are getting together, I really have to join!"
  Kyo: "You're a sick individual, Terry... And I don't think there's a cure."
  Terry: "Don't act like you're any different! I keep running into you here every time too!"
• Wreathed in Flames: His SDM version of Orochinagi (except in XIII and XIV) has him being covered in his own fire; the opponent who tries to attack him while he charges the move may get damaged by his burning body before he unleashes it. Also done in his Mu Shiki DM.
• You Don't Look Like You: His design in XIV is so different from usual that some assumed he was a brand new character at first, what with ditching his trademark '90s Hair for something described as akin to a K-pop idol's, going from muscular to slender and feminine-looking, and for a time even changing his hair color completely. Oddly enough, the concept art for him still has him resembling his usual self even with the hair change. XV sees a return to form, with Kyo resembling his look from the Tales of Ash more.

The NESTS Chronicles

K'

Better than K

"Learn when to quit. I'll burn you up if you don't."

Debut: The King of Fighters '99

Origin: Unknown

Fighting style: "Pure violence"

Voiced by: ^note Yuuki Matsuda ('99-XIII), Yoshihisa Kawahara (XIV-current), Andrew Scott (Maximum Impact series, English)

Playable in: ^note '99, 2000, 2001, 2002/UM, 2003, XI, XIII, XIV, XV, Maximum Impact, MI2, MI:RA

The main protagonist of the NESTS Chronicles saga, and NESTS first success in using the Kusanagi DNA in another human. He was abducted from his home when he was young for use as a test subject and was used as an agent for NESTS after his success. After the defeat of his own clone Krizalid in the '99 tournament, he was branded a traitor by NESTS and he and Maxima went on the run. He eventually helped bring the whole cartel down with the help of Whip, a clone of his dead sister, Seirah. Despite his lack of interest in having anything to do with KOF after destroying the NESTS cartel, K' often finds himself pulled back into the fray, usually at the behest of Heidern and the Ikari Warriors (since Whip is a member). In the Tales of Ash saga, he's assigned to investigate Those from the Past. In the Shun'ei Saga, he is not only assigned to investigate the Verse phenomenon, but is also dealing with remnants of the NESTS organization.

---

• '90s Anti-Hero: Given life at the end of the decade but still fits in with the trope. Abrupt and harsh name ("Kay-Dash"), cold-hearted SOB who only cooperates when it suits his end (his victory pose has him saying he's good enough to fight your whole team), and has a laser-like focus on his objective (stamping out the NESTS organization and anyone associated with it). However, as said before, he does move away from this a bit as time goes on.
• Adaptational Badass: While K' is already a competent fighter, many of the non canon manhua series take his strength up to 11, giving him powers he's never shown to have in any of the video games.
• Advertised Extra: He appears on the key visuals for XIII and XV, yet compared to the other protagonists, he barely has any actual bearing on the plot, if at all.
• Aloof Big Brother: To his "sisters," Whip and Kula.
• Ambiguously Brown: It's never specified what ethnicity K' is meant to be. This gets even more confusing when you recall that Whip is a clone of K's sister, Seirah, and yet she's been largely shown as being much lighter-skinned than her brother. It also should be noted that not only does he share Original Zero and Krizalid's skin and hair colors, but that Kyo's other clones are also darker-skinned than the boy they were cloned from. It's possible K's appearance are linked to the experiments under NESTS custody, so he wouldn't have been born looking how he does now.
• Animal Motifs: Birds, apparently. A few of his attacks are bird-themed and the back of his jacket reads "A Beast Of Prey" (the words are more legible in character art and in the Maximum Impact series).
• Anti-Hero Substitute: For Kyo Kusanagi during the NESTS saga. K' has a much darker backstory due to being a human weapon, and is less openly affectionate towards the people he cares for than the much friendlier Kyo.
• Badass Back: His backward walking animation has him turn around from his opponent. One of his signature victory animations also has him turn his back to the screen dismissively.
• Badass Boast:
  • "Doitsumo koitsumo", his post-battle quote^note More or less translated as "everyone" although in this case, it's more along the lines of "I can take all of you"; the English localization of XIII renders it as "I can handle it myself." in a nutshell, is K' saying that he can take on everyone by himself. Eight times out of ten, he can back up this claim.
  • His intro.
    "Just me alone is more than enough."
• Battle Intro: In XV:
  "Violent flames of destruction sealed within his right hand. A true Beast of Prey! K'!"
  K': "What a bore... Bring it on already."
• Berserk Button: Hates being called the inferior Kusanagi in comparison to Kyo.
• Big Brother Instinct: Towards Kula and Whip, who he shows a protective, fraternal side.
• Big Damn Heroes: Pulls one of these in 2001 when he saves Kula and a wounded Foxy from K9999 and Angel.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: While K' is 6'0" (183cm), he is the little guy to Maxima, who is a whopping 6'8" (204cm) and has a bigger build.
• Blessed with Suck: His Kusanagi flames are a huge boon power-wise, but he has no direct control over them, and the flames can burn him if he's not careful.
• The Bus Came Back: His return in XIII after being absent the previous entry.
• Clone Angst: Not a clone in the traditional sense; Kyo's DNA was used on him to see if the pyrokinetic abilities could be transferred. He tries to affirm his existence as something more than a mere "clone" of Kyo. He believes that he'll perpetually be stuck in Kyo's shadow, a feeling that is only reinforced when he fights Mukai in 2003. Also, initially, he believed himself to be a clone of Krizalid. Eventually, the truth was revealed to be the other way around.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Kyo. Both are pyrokinetic brawlers and arrogant fighters. But while Kyo was born with his pyrokinetic abilities and can control them with ease, K’ gained his powers via NESTS' genetic experiments and has a hard time controlling them, requiring a special glove to handle his flames. Kyo also grew up a relatively normal life, attending high school and having a loving circle of friends and family. K' had his past and only relative torn away from him and was subjected to inhumane experimentation, causing him to grow up emotionally stunted and reclusive.
• Cool Shades: He is rarely seen without his sunglasses unless he's in battle. From XIII onwards, he wears them while fighting and even weaponizes them for some of his supers.
• Cold Ham: Stoic he may be, K' has some of the most visceral battle cries in the series.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Dresses in all black and has moves with names like "Crow Bite", but is still a much lighter take of being an Anti-Hero.
• Defrosting Ice King: After the conclusion of the NESTS Chronicles where he slowly begins to open up to his allies and teammates. Sadly, the results are akin to trying to melt an iceberg with a match...
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: In regards to his origin as a "Kyo clone."
• Finger Poke of Doom: The "One Inch", a powerful short-ranged strike evocative of the classic Kung Fu technique.
• Fire/Ice Duo: With Kula Diamond; K’ controls fire while Kula controls ice.
• Flash Step: His "Blackout" move lets him dash past his opponent, setting up tricky cross-ups, or faking them out with another dash.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: The Melancholic contrasting Kula's Sanguine, K9999's Choleric and Nameless's Phlegmatic, being quite distant even from his own teammates and showing little enthusiasm for fighting.
• The Glasses Come Off: In older games, K' takes off his shades before the battle and tucks them away. He even throws them at his foe to initiate his Chain Drive DM.
• Glasses Pull: His revamped Chain Drive in XIII has him seemingly stopping time mid-combo just to put them back on. Next thing you know...
• Good Is Not Nice:
  • Although he's the main hero of his story, he lacks the friendlier attitudes of past protagonists like Terry and Kyo, instead being a lot colder to allies and opponents alike, making him come off as one cold-hearted SOB.
  • The dialogue he shares with the other fighters in XIII seems to suggest everyone is aware of his status as a heroic and well-intentioned character but he never has a kind word to say back to anyone. Most of his statements to his opponents are cold, stoic, and harsh.
• Hair Color Dissonance: More recent sprites (2003 and XI) prior to XIII gave K' a bit of a pink/purple hue.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: It's part of his style for clothing to match his "cool guy" personality.
• The Hero: Of the NESTS Saga.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Maxima. As the designer notes for XV say, there's no one he trusts and cares for more.
• Hidden Depths: In the manga adaptation, K' is depicted as an insecure teenager.
• Hurricane Kick: "Minute Spike" has him jump forward with a flying kick. It can also be performed midair.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: K' dislikes participating in the KOF tournaments, but unfortunately for him, he always finds himself drawn back into them due to circumstances outside his control. All he seems to want is the peaceful life that was taken from him by NESTS.
• Iconic Outfit: His leather jacket and pants haven't really changed since NESTS saga. The most significant change would be that he wears his sunglasses in battle starting with XIII.
• Irony: K' loathes KOF yet seems to be dragged into a new tournament each year. As a result, he seems to be very disaffected while fighting. His previous Idle Animation had K' repeatedly dozing off before falling asleep for good in the middle of a battle. His XIII sprite has him cracking his neck multiple times.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's brash and very crass, but he does legitimately care about those close to him. Maxima notes that K' tends to mask his relatively amicable actions with harsh words.
• Like Brother and Sister: He and Kula bond after she officially joins Team K'. She's one of the few characters he'll show open concern for in win quotes, and even humors her desire to enter KOF, if reluctantly, to win herself some ice cream.
• Loss of Identity: It wouldn't be unbelievable if K' was a completely different person prior to his abduction by NESTS. Although he hardly muses about it openly, his Character Development is grounded not only in establishing his existence as something more than another "Kyo clone", but in trying to piece together his lost past.
• Manly Man: Perhaps even moreso than Kyo, as aside from having the latter's fire powers, he's also a '90s Anti-Hero with a gruff demeanor, a leather ensemble with a lot of belts, a preference for meat, and a downright brutal fighting style. On the sillier side, he's a sugar hater whose most common teammates have a thing for sweet things and who gets incredibly embarrassed by going to an amusement park.
• Meaningful Name: Although the ' symbol in his name is rarely (if never) pronounced like "prime" (as in derivatives), K' was the first of several cloning processes used to see how Kyo's DNA could be implemented into ordinary humans. In some way or another, he was the precursor to Krizalid, Kula, Nameless, and Isolde.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The mean to Maxima's nice and Kula's in between. K' is rude, irritable and generally unpleasant to almost everyone else. He's strictly on the side of the good guys and does truly mean well, but you'd never know it based on his attitude towards his fellow competitors. He often butts heads with Kula and needs to be reigned in by Maxima and/or Whip.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Justified, as the memories of his former life (and thus, his name) were suppressed when Kyo's DNA was grafted into his body. K' still has no recollection of his past life, minus a few flashes following the downfall of NESTS.
• One-Letter Name: He is called K' because he couldn’t recall his real name due to his memory being erased.
• Out of Focus: As far back as 2003, K' and his teammates haven't really been as prominent in the main plot as they were during the NESTS Saga. At best, they're another cell of mercs for hire that Heidern calls if needed.
• Perpetual Frowner: And he knows it. As he tells Yuri, it's simply who he is.
• Playing with Fire: Kyo's fire abilities were grafted onto K' in an attempt to replicate the Kusanagi clan's abilities. He has to wear a special gauntlet to control them, though.
• Power Incontinence:
  • His body can't properly handle the Kusanagi flames (and can even flare out of control and harm K'), thus the reason behind his Power Limiter.
  • His team ending in 2000 shows his hand to be rather... burnt.
• Real Men Eat Meat: Beef jerky is listed as his favorite food.
• Real Men Hate Sugar: He hates sweet foods. Ironic given his teammates, Maxima and Kula, both have massive Sweet Toothes.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The hostile and antisocial Red to Maxima's professional yet warm Blue.
• Red Right Hand: His Power Limiter is a red gauntlet grafted to his hand. He's not evil, but was designed to be the "dark hero" of the series, and In-Universe is initially a tool of NESTS.
• Required Secondary Powers: K' lacking this is why he uses a red glove to unleash his flames. Because he's not a Kusanagi, his flames burn him like everyone else.
• The Rival: Somewhat to Kyo as he wants to surpass him in many other ways despite not having full control over his flames.
• Rule of Cool: K' exerts minimal effort in battle (notice how he nonchalantly flings his wisps of flame at you or how bored he is at the prospect of fighting). He tosses his snazzy sunglasses at you, then proceeds to warp next to you and beat your face with a flurry of punches and kicks. He can blow you to Hell and back with a simple thumb down.
• Shoryuken: "Crow Bite" has him leap up with a bellow of flames coming from his hand.
• The Stoic: Given his past, he's not fond of others, bar certain individuals. This still doesn't stop him from having outrageously Hot-Blooded Kiais (at first, anyway).
  Shydyaaaa!!
• Theme Naming:
  • Most of his themes have "KD" in it as an allusion to his name, K Dash. Some versions have an extra "D", such as "KDD-0075" and "KDD-0063", likely to account for the other "KD" (Kula Diamond) joining his team.
  • Expect to see the word "Drive" cap his list of DMs (i.e. Chain Drive, Heat Drive, Heaven Drive, etc.). Possibly lampshaded in Days of Memories, where his theme is called "Cool Drive."
• Too Many Belts: Out of the seven belts found on his person, only one of them is worn properly.
• Tsundere: Platonic, but no less fitting example. He vehemently denies it, but when the people he cares about need his help, he's the first to stick his neck out for them. When Kula is "kidnapped" by Team Krohnen in XV, Maxima points out how K' was the first to launch a search for her.
• Unskilled, but Strong: To be expected of a guy whose discipline is listed as "pure violence", K''s brand of pyrotechnics is unrefined and rarely more creative than blunt, direct attacks meant to be one-shot finishers. While he's suggested to be in the upper ranks of the cast in terms of raw power, his fellow flame wielders are able to match him either by using a more versatile skillset or having comparable strength and the training to go with it.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Implied, but not outright said. You can see traces of this every once in a while.
• Vocal Evolution: K' in '99 has a very youthful voice, and later games in the NESTS Saga he sounds slightly older and angrier. KOF XI has Yuuki Matsuda changing the voice to be much deeper and smoother, which carried to all future appearances. Yoshihisa Kawahara continues to use a deep voice.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Not so much "black" as "a very dark gray"; earlier on in his run, K' was only concerned about making NESTS pay. He lightens up progressively throughout the NESTS Saga and beyond, although he remains stoic and unfriendly to most.
• Younger Than They Look: Looks like he's in his 20s but is stated to appear between 16 and 18.

Tales of Ash

Ash Crimson

Mocking Firelight

^{Evil Ash (Ash Crazed by the Spiral of Blood)}

"I can play with you for a little bit~"

Debut: The King of Fighters 2003

Origin: Unknown (raised in France)

Fighting style: Personal style

Voiced by: ^note Sōnosuke Nagashiro (since debut), Peter von Gomm (XII, English), Duke Clement (Another Day, English)

Playable in: ^note 2003, XI, XII, XIII, XV, MI:RA

Boss character in: ^note XIII (as Evil Ash)

The main protagonist of the Tales of Ash saga. His past and motives are a mystery, save his connection to Elisabeth (whom he affectionately nicknames "Betty", much to her annoyance). Like Kyo and Iori, he wields flames, although his are green and it's unknown how he obtained them. He entered the tournament in order to steal the Sacred Treasures (and powers) of Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru.

In reality, his true objective was to stop the plans of his evil ancestor Saiki, the leader of an organization known as "Those from the Distant Land" - essentially the European counterparts of the Orochi clan, a secret society that has existed for centuries across time and desires the power of Orochi to reshape the world as they see fit. To that end, Ash felt he had no choice but to essentially play the role of a triple agent - taking the three Sacred Treasures for himself, feigning allegiance with his own teammates and his enemies, all while focusing on his own goals. In the end, he succeeded in toppling Saiki, but in the process was possessed by his ancestor and transformed into Evil Ash, necessitating himself to also be beaten to fully put an end to Saiki's plans. With Elisabeth, Duo Lon, and Shen Woo defeating him, Saiki's plans were finally foiled, but at a great cost. Saiki ended up erased from the space-time continuum, and because he's Ash's ancestor, that means that Ash too would cease to exist. Bidding a final farewell to his childhood friend Elisabeth, Ash fades from existence, creating a new timeline.

Ash returns alive and well as a playable fighter in KOF XV, having been resurrected by Kukri through the Verse incident.

---

• Agent Peacock: May even outdo Benimaru in this regard! He implements graceful moves in his fighting style and is extremely concerned with his appearance. Doesn't stop him from being a clever manipulator and dangerous enemy, though.
• All Your Powers Combined: After stealing Iori and Chizuru's powers, he actually reworked his fighting style to implement them. His Germinal LDM in XI briefly seals away his opponent's powers while his Fructidor Neo MAX in XIII is a direct lift of Iori's LDM from 2003 and XI. And after stealing Saiki's power and being taken over, he turns into an SNK Boss from Hell that would make even Rugal want to piss his pants.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: For Remy of Street Fighter III. His moves are also almost identical to Guile's, although so are Remy's. Both are French also, though Ash was only raised there.
• Ambidextrous Sprite: Doesn't matter what side he's in, his bangs will always cover an eye, be it the left (if on the Player 1 side) or the right (if he's Player 2). This is also Dependent on the Artist, too; as he'll have either eye covered in any key artworks that feature him.
• Ambiguously Evil: In XIII, he starts to look less villainous than what he's been presented as so far. By the end of the game, he's actually a hero, losing both parts.
• Ambiguously Gay: Very camp, and some of his comments to male opponents can carry a flirty vibe. But while he doesn't show any particular attraction to women, any specific interest in men isn't made overt either, and his sexuality has never been confirmed definitively.
• Ambiguously Human: Given that he's the direct descendant of Saiki, it's unclear just how human Ash is himself.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: An adoptive one, to Elisabeth.
• Anti-Hero: XIII reveals him as this. His intentions are ultimately good, wanting to destroy Saiki and Those from the Past. But he manipulates his teammates and acts like a jerk to everyone, preventing him from being a full-blown hero.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • His actions have made him one to both Kyo and Iori. So much that they drop their rivalry and team up in XI to take care of this guy. In XIII Kyo is still as determined as ever to make him pay for stealing Chizuru's powers.
  • He is also one to his ancestor Saiki. It has been Ash’s personal mission to get the Sacred Treasures to become powerful enough to kill Saiki and prevent him from changing the past and stealing the powers of Orochi.
• Artificial Stupidity: As Evil Ash in XIII. Like with Clone Zero in 2000, the only thing keeping him from being outright impossible to beat (especially since you need two million points in Arcade Mode to even reach him) is that his AI isn't all that bright. He's always on the defensive, preferring to spam projectiles instead going on the offensive.
• Aside Comment: With Raiden in particular, in XIII.
  Ash: You've got a lot of courage showing yourself in public with a flabby body like that.
  Raiden: Aren't you aware that bulls possess a brute strength and a tough skin that protects against hard blows? This body of mine has those exact qualities! Pretty impressive, huh?
  Ash: Oh, yes. Immensely. ...Do I really have to fight people like this?
• The Atoner: Magaki notes in his winning quote against Ash that he seems to be trying to repent for something. It is very well possible that this is linked to that of Saiki's ambitions in XIII.
• Back from the Dead: The Stinger of the Official Invitation Team's ending in XIV reveals that Ash's existence has been reaffirmed, but he's in a coma. His revival is Kukri's real objective, having been hired by Elisabeth. As of XV, this is all but confirmed.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Some alternate artworks in '98 Ultimate Match Online show him in a snazzy suit. He also wears one modeled after the one he wore as a kid in The Stinger for his team's XV ending. The same goes for him wearing an all-white ensemble with Najd in her Edit Team ending in the latter.
• Badass Longcoat: KOF XV gives him a very stylish one that suits him well. That, and his home stage is set in a Slippy-Slidey Ice World, so it seems appropriate.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: What results from the above, between Ash and Saiki. The latter is initially (and firmly) in control of Evil Ash's body, but Ash regains control after they lose, which leads into...
  • Batman Gambit: Possibly what he planned during the final events of XIII.
• Battle Intro: From XV:
  "His emerald flames hold a devilish smile. Take him lightly and you'll get burned! Ash Crimson!"
  Ash: "I can play with you for a little bit."
• Big Eater: In addition to his appetite for Sachertorte, he's also shown indulging himself, Elisabeth, and his former teammates - Duo Lon and Shen Woo - to some crab in Shanghai in his team's XV ending.
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: A Rare Male Example. He does these types of poses in a few artworks.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: This is best seen in XIII where his fighting stance has him with a hand on hips, playing with his hair. Despite this, he is a rather competent fighter on his own right and is at his most powerful in this game. Still the case as of XV, where he maintains this stance.
• Brought Down to Badass: Due to his death at the end of XIII (and revival in XIV), he no longer has access to the Yata Mirror or Yasakani Jewel. All the same, he's still as strong as ever in XV, especially if his new Climax Super, Espoir (where he incinerates the opponent in a fiery, green tornado), is any indication.
• The Bus Came Back: After a nearly 12-year hiatus (as KOF XIII was initially released in 2010) and a cameo in XIV, he returns as a playable character in XV.
• Campy Combat: He strikes flamboyant poses and his behavior towards other male characters is heavily implied to be flirting. His fighting style is very showy and acrobatic, combining it with his fire powers all in a very graceful fighting style similar to French martial art Savate.
• Catchphrase: All together now...
  "Kekkou iisen, ittetan janai?"^EN "That was a pretty good display, don't you think?"
• Charge-Input Special: Notably, the only series protagonist that works this way. In his debut, he was a very straightforward clone of Remy (who, in turn, is 3rd Strike's equivalent of Guile with some elements from Sagat). His Ventôse and Nivôse specials are his Sonic Boom and Flash Kick equivalents, respectively, and he gains a new special in XIII that has him charge at the opponent while propelled by his flames. However, he's also incredibly aggressive for the archetype. In 2003, most of his normals were plus on block, making him a very oppressive character up close.
• Condescending Calmness: His default attitude 90% of the time whenever he isn't being playful or an outright troll. Needless to say, it's earned him plenty of enemies in his tenure as the series' Arc Protagonist.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
  • To Kyo. Both of them are fire users and both are the archenemies of ancient evils. The difference was that Kyo was born with his flames due to his being a Kusanagi clan member, while Ash's green flames and how he got them were shrouded in mystery. While Kyo acts more like The Hero of his story arc. Ash is a Hero Antagonist and a Villain Protagonist of his.
  • To K’. Both of their respective pasts are mostly shrouded in mystery and both have connections to Kyo, the former being The Rival to Kyo, while the latter became his Arch-Enemy. While K’ gained his flames via being infused with Kyo’s DNA, it’s unknown how Ash even got his flames.
• Cosmic Retcon: Because Ash decided to absorb his ancestor and then erase himself from history, much of the saga's story ceased to be. Saiki wasn't there to form "Those From the Past," Ash didn't steal the Three Sacred Treasures (Kyo, Iori and Chizuru's powers). While the tournaments still happened (as proved by the Japan Team's ending), nothing special happened behind the scenes. However, this caused a tear in reality that would pave the way for Verse to appear. In XV, Ash gets a special intro with Chizuru that acknowledges this.
  Ash: My thanks for the other day, mademoiselle~ ...Not that you remember, right? Guess I don't have to apologize, then.
  Chizuru: Apologize for what? We've never met... But why do those green flames look so familiar...? Once victory is mine, you'll divulge every little detail about yourself.
• Counter-Attack: Only in Maximum Impact, where he had Bijou. Taking a page from Elisabeth, he'll teleport behind the opponent and taunt them. It has a follow-up performed with any kick button where he grabs the opponent and incinerates them.
• Dark Is Evil: As Evil Ash.
• Dash Attack: Germinal Caprice^note  This move has an interesting history. In XI and XIII, it was associated with his Leader SDM, where he disappears briefly before he charges at the opponent and blows them up with his flames, locking out their meter in the process. In Maximum Impact, however, it's a normal special move, which would end up being the precursor to his current Germinal Caprice. Interestingly enough, Evil Ash's version is identical to the version shown in MIRA. , which has him charge at the opponent while propelling himself forward with his flames. In XV, however, the animation is now changed to Ash teleporting toward the opponent and smacking them upwards with a flaming uppercut.
• Deadpan Snarker: Ash is a massive smartass who tends to demean whoever he's talking to.
  (VS EX Iori, KOF XIII) "You're pathetic. You know that? Kusanagi this and Kusanagi that... what are you? His crazy ex?"
  (VS King, KOF XIII) "Don’t go running to the liquor bottle just because you lost to me, okay?"
  (VS Yuri, KOF XIII) "Your power and speed are sub-par, but at least you'll pass Clown College!"
  (VS Dolores, KOF XV) "You're beautiful at being irritating! I expect nothing less from Kooky's instructor! Just look at all of this mud!"
  (Generic Quote, KOF XV) "Are you going to complain to the judges? How embarrassing for you."
• Declaration of Protection: For Elisabeth.
• Demoted to Extra: Downplayed. The events of XIII do have huge consequences for the events of the games that come after it, as Kukri notes that Re Verse only came to be because of Ash's actions back then. However, Ash barely has anything to do in the actual plot for XV, with Team Hero and Team Rival doing most of the heavy lifting in the game's main story. He and Elisabeth are also overshadowed in terms of relevance by Kukri in their team story.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Ash is every bit as flippant with the Big Bads of his saga as he is with virtually everyone else. Not even Geese Howard is safe from his snark.
  Ash: (VS Geese, KOF XV) Not much of an evil emperor, are you? You give South Town a bad name.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: All too much. Which isn't helped by his camp demeanor and Sounosuke Nagashiro's voice work. Even worse in XV, where he has Hartman Hips as big as Shermie's, on top of wearing a winter jacket that looks like a mini-dress.
• Easily Forgiven: Granted, most of the people that he screwed over back in his saga can't even remember what he did in the first place (except for Elisabeth, who still kept his headband when he vanished from existence back in XIII). Even then, when Shen's and Duo Lon's memories returned, they quickly buried the hatchet with Ash over dinner in Shanghai. And Elisabeth is just happy to have Ash back at all.
  • Downplayed with Duo Lon, however, as he's still wary of Ash as he was in his own saga (for good reason), even though Ash doesn't have much reason to be cagey with him by this point and is sincerely happy to see him again.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: The Stinger for his team's XV ending has him and Elisabeth relaxing in the same field they were pictured in as kids. Considering everything he and Elisabeth have been through, it's very well-earned.
• Enigmatic Minion: Before the climax of 2003. According to XIII, he plays this role with Those from the Past. Saiki distrusts him, and for good reason.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • While he goes about it in his usual smart-assed way, his win quote to Flames!Iori in XIII shows that he draws the line at Iori's psychotic Stalker without a Crush tendencies towards Kyo. Coming from Ash, that is saying something.
  • Despite having de-powered Chizuru and Iori in the past and played everyone around him for his own ends until the end of his saga, Shermie being a Hakkeshu member is still a turn-off for him.
    Ash: Hah, if it weren't for Orochi, I bet you and I would get on like a dream.
• Evil Laugh: During his Fructidor Neo MAX in XIII, he goes into a manic, if not somewhat feminine bout of laughter. Still there in XV, where he laughs after a well-placed kick at the end of his MAX Pluviose.
• Facepalm Of Doom: His (Front) Throw from XII-onward has him pin the opponent and light their face on fire.
• Fake Defector: In XI, Elisabeth warns him about their mission to stop Those From The Past, and he seems to be aiding them, though XIII reveals he was indeed fighting them the whole time.
• Female Gaze: Boobs and Butt Poses aside, you can get a nice view of his derriere at all times in Regulation A as long as he's Player 2 (as MIRA averts Ambidextrous Sprite due to being a hybrid 2D/3D fighter). And given he's in his pre-XII fighting stance, it almost looks like he's Shaking the Rump.
• The Fighting Narcissist: His fighting style employs some graceful and showy moves, and he is very concerned with his appearance, with some of his win quotes berating his opponent for making him break a nail.
• Final-Exam Boss: With a twist. You had better get Ash's strengths and weaknesses down to a science because you're essentially facing him twice at the endgame of XIII.
• Flash Step: His Germinal LDM. It also leaves a trail of green flames. XV's version of his Germinal Caprice has him disappear briefly before striking the opponent with a flaming uppercut.
• French Jerk: Starts that way, though not born in France. He's prone to polite insults and evil giggles and is fond of Gratuitous French.
• The Gadfly: It's hard to tell when he's being maliciously truthful or intentionally trying to get a rise out of the other fighters for kicks. ...Or even both.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • XI sees the introduction of his Germinal LDM, which he could only do with the Yata Mirror, while XIII has Fructidor, which has him grab the opponent and incinerate them with the Yasakani's trademark purple flames. Because the treasures have been returned by XV, Ash can no longer use them.
  • Ash has a more serious stance in 2003 and XI while his stance from XII has him more relaxed with his hand on his hip. In XIII, the stance is justified by Ash's cockiness and the fact that everything is all going according to plan. At the same time, in XV, he's genuinely a lot more relaxed and jovial since he no longer has to worry about having to deal with the Big Bad - leaving that to the new generation of heroes.
  • Ash's personality? Somewhere in between The Gadfly whenever he's being nice and a complete Troll at worst. Usually with some scathing insults to spare. His gameplay? A Zoner - aka, one of the most annoying (especially if you're aggressive and/or playing a grappler) character archetypes to go up against, especially in the hands of a competent player. Most especially in XV, where his damage output is a lot better than it ever was in any of his prior appearances. Not to mention, having to endure very long, drawn-out "combo video-style" combos which prevent the player from actually playing the game, especially ones that can kill off of a single hitconfirm, are notoriously annoying among certain players. And it just so happens that Ash is one of the most dangerous team anchors in XV, being able to do exactly that.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite the fact that an Evil version of him possessed by Saiki serves as the Final Boss (nevermind that Ash himself is also a bonus sub-boss), it's entirely possible to still have another Ash on your team even when you're fighting him. The funny part about Ash facing himself is the fact that he has his hands on the Yata Mirror, leading to this exchange:
  Ash 1: The power of Kagura's mirror is right here. So, is this a side effect or something?
  Ash 2: Does that really matter? It looks like we've found a nice way to kill some time!
  Ash 1: I guess you're right ♪ Alright, let's have some fun then!
• Good All Along: XIII reveals his true intentions, which make him a hero. However, his actions and demeanor teeter on the edge of Necessarily Evil. XV adds some more to this if his playfully warm interactions with Chizuru and Duo Lon are anything to go by.
• Go Out with a Smile: He smiles sadly at his "big sister" Elisabeth, as he's written away from history. He gets better, though.
• Grapple Move:
  • Vendemiare in the older KOF titles, he'd deliver a quick series of blows before launching the opponent upwards for a free follow-up. He's lost it since XII, however.
  • Fructidor, his Neo MAX that was also exclusive to him in XIII, functioned like this, too.
• Gratuitous French:
  • He's French, so it happens. XIII takes it up several levels in both in his pre-battle banter and as random quotes during and after a match. His moves are also named after months in the French Republican Calendar.
  • In XII, he'd drop an "Au revoir!" as his win quote in the English version.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Ash's mucking of the space-time continuum in XIII pretty much bled into the events of the following games in the form of Verse and Otoma=Raga. And what was supposed to be a permanent sacrifice actually ended up bringing him back to life, much to Elisabeth's elation.
• Guile Hero: No pun intended, XIII ultimately reveals him as this. Compared to the previous heroes Kyo and K', he didn't win any KOF tournaments yet saved the day by sheer manipulation and guile.
• Hair Flip: During one of his taunts. He also does it while walking backward, since XII.
• Hartman Hips: A rare male example. Particularly in XV where he somehow gives Shermie of all people a run for her money.
• The Hero: Of the Tales of Ash Saga.
• Hero Antagonist: A clever inversion in that Ash is deliberately set up as an Obviously Evil Villain Protagonist, which would make the likes of Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru his Hero Antagonists until XIII turns this on its head and fleshes out Ash's backstory and motivations, essentially meaning that Ash was on the same side as the heroes from the beginning.
• The Hero Dies: In a series where only the villains die, you weren't expecting them to actually KILL him off, right? Right? However, the Official Invitation Team's ending in XIV has Elisabeth working to revive him. Come XV, and he's alive and well, now fighting alongside his adoptive sister... and Kukri.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In XIII, where he erases himself from history after destroying Saiki and Those From The Past. However, XIV showed him in the process of being revived, with Elisabeth's efforts. If XV is any indication, they worked.
• Hidden Agenda Hero: Doesn't give a reason for his competition, making him seem Ambiguously Evil. He's actually trying to stop his ancestor Saki, the Big Bad.
• Hidden Depths: If his pre-fight conversation with King is any indication, much of his planning and the inevitable Heroic Sacrifice that comes with it has taken its mental toll on him to the point his trollish antics are a cry for help. Tellingly, Ash doesn't deny this and tells her to stay out of his way.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: XIII reveals his entire trollish and obnoxious personality has been a front for his true intentions to end the bloodline of Those From The Past. This still holds true in XV, where his interaction with Chizuru is playfully warm and he's sincerely flattered by Isla's complimenting his trademark flames. The "For Your People" Edit ending with Najd further solidifies this, since - in his own words - he cares more about his friends (Elisabeth especially) than some ancestors he's never met.
• A House Divided: The Hero Team's ending in XI has Ash turn Shen and Oswald against one another (after they've both served their purpose, natch) by presenting them both with a chance opportunity: Shen gets a strong opponent to face and Oswald comes one step closer to obtaining the Dragon Pills he needs for his illness by defeating the provider's enemy—Shen himself. Meanwhile, Ash makes his getaway, allowing him to go after Iori. Thanks to Ash's impeccable timing, Iori himself has been worn down immensely from his Riot of the Blood-induced battle with Kyo and Shingo, making his treasure ripe for the taking.
• Hypocritical Humor: His Special Intro with Shingo in XV has shades of this. It's one thing for Ash to tell Shingo that he'll get a cold after Shingo tells him that he doesn't remember him, but the fact that he's wearing a parka makes his remark quite amusing. Nevermind that his team's home stage is the Slippy-Slidey Ice World that is the Frozen Forest stage.
• Identical Grandson: Saiki is his ancestor.
• Intergenerational Friendship: Has this with Elisabeth. He's 16, she's 27. However, it's less of a friendship and more of a familial sibling bond.
• I Owe You My Life: Downplayed. Ash, being Ash, doesn't verbally express his thanks toward Kukri for his part in reviving him during the Verse incident, but he's grateful enough to hear him out when he talks his and Elisabeth's ear out during their Team Story.
• It's All About Me: Again, Downplayed. When his team is facing down Re Verse, Ash complains about the possibility of him disappearing again (though it's not entirely unfounded after what happened in XIII) should they defeat it. Kukri and Elisabeth both call him out on this and he quickly changes his mind afterward.
• Jerkass to One: Inverted. At best, he's haughtily affable around everyone he meets; at worst, he's a massive jerk. Around Elisabeth, however, while still his usual lackadaisical self, he's clearly shown to get along with her better than everyone else.
  Ash: It really has been a while, hasn't it? Really takes me back.
  Elisabeth: Indeed. It has been some time...
• Kamehame Hadoken: Ventôse being his Sonic Boom equivalent, Thermidor being an advancing, multi-hitting SDM version.
• Kill It with Fire: Green fire.
• Kiss of Death: Taking a page from Orochi Shermie, Ash gains an attack in XII called Genie where he blows a fiery kiss. He also does it during his Story Intro in XV.
• Lag Cancel: Sans-Culotte functions like this, basically. For example, in XV, after the opponent is launched upwards he can go into Nivose, then any version of his Floreal command normal, then into Germinal Caprice, and finally back into Nivose to loop the whole thing over and over again. All without the hassle of waiting for either Special Move to recover on hit. It takes practice, but the end result is nothing short of devastating and efficient depending on the situation.
• The Last of His Kind: Since Those From The Past were excised from existence at the end of XIII alongside himself (on top of him being directly related to their leader Saiki), Ash is technically the last that remains of them come KOF XV since there's no indication that Verse's destruction in XIV brought them back in any capacity as of yet. Likewise, he's all that remains of his direct family tree, since his biological parents have been dead well before his Saga began.
• The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort: In his case, it's more like The Law of Diminishing Anything Effort. His new stance in XII seems to support this (in 2003 and XI he had a more purposeful fighting stance but by XII his stance had become a nonchalant "hands-on-hips-and-looking-amused" pose, complete with distracted hair-twirling; this comes at a time when he not only has the Yata Mirror but the Yasakani no Magatama from Iori, meaning he's more powerful than ever).
• Manipulative Bastard: He tends to pick his teammates knowing how to manipulate them to his own ends. In his team ending in XI, he sets up both Oswald and Shen to fight each other while he tries to take Iori's power. In XIII, turns out he's stringing Those From The Past along for his own ends as well.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Sans-culotte is an install super that gives Ash tools no one else has. Besides serving as an effective anti-air, it also removes the charge time on Ash's special moves, granting him loads of utility and combo potential for a time. How long this usually lasts depends on the game and which version of Sans-culotte he uses in Regulation A in particular.
• Mr. Fanservice: Has gotten this treatment the most compared to the other KOF protagonists (even when factoring in the stiff competition he has with others like Kyo, Iori, or Terry). The fact that he's the only one to have ever gotten a proper Shirtless Scene in a mainline title (him and Saiki, amusingly enough) should say something.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ash's actions back in his saga had some far-reaching consequences that broke the space-time continuum and unleashed a powerful entity in the next saga. That said, he gets revived thanks to this tear.
• The Nicknamer: He calls Elisabeth "Betty" and Kukri "Kooky". Neither are amused by this. Elisabeth finds it grating since he's been doing it since they were kids.
• Not So Above It All: The Legendary Heroes Team ending in XV has him quoting K's catchphrase, with Kyo quoting his and K' quoting Kyo's. And judging from the looks on their faces, it's safe to say they're certainly having fun doing so.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Took down Orochi Iori and stole his power; all apparently without much effort. Though not without Kyo and Shingo taking the brunt of it, at least.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Mainly with Athena and King in particular. Compared to his usual smug and snarky self, he's particularly irritated and defensive towards them since they're quick to see through his act of superiority that he's actually conflicted with his ultimate goal.
  • He's also especially angry with Saiki, for understandable reasons. The mere fact that the two look alike is enough to set him off even more than Terry not falling for his trollish antics.
    Ash: I'm not very fond of making tirades or throwing hissy fits or anything... But when I look at your face I just want to shout at the top of my lungs!
    Saiki: It angers you that my face looks like yours? Surely it should be the other way around, Ash. I don't look like you. It's you who looks like me. Do you know why that is?
    Ash: Tais-toi!^ENShut up! Do me a favor and shut your mouth! Forever!
• Phoneaholic Teenager: Played for Laughs, as he's portrayed as such in the Team Ash story, where he's busy on his phone while Kukri is talking to him and Elisabeth about his (ambiguously) Dark and Troubled Past.
• Playing Both Sides: Pulls this between Those from the Past and everyone else in XIII. While undermining Saiki's plot, he spends his time with an intentional "Kick Me!" sign on his back, drawing Those from the Past's eye to the heroes. By the time Saiki realizes Ash's meddling...
• Playing Card Motifs: A walking Wild Card if there ever was one. Not only that, but barring "Splendid Evil" and "Slushy Road", all of his leitmotifs reference the Joker (the wild card in question). Even in 2003, he references the Joker in one of his win quotes.
  Ash: Don't play your trump card till the end... the very end!
• Playing with Fire: He's always had green flames in his playable appearances. In XIII, he had Iori's purple flames thanks to stealing his sacred treasure back in XI, but lost them in XV since Iori took i back.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Played with. He wears a red outfit with black flame designs and was noted by the developers to be the villain of his saga. However, XIII reveals he's ultimately still the hero of his story, albeit a very caustic one.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In the intro of 2003, Ash's eyes turn red before he punches the screen. His eyes also briefly flash red in gameplay when he's charging up some of his more powerful moves, but it's hard to notice.
• Red/Green Contrast: Both of his default outfits are dominantly red (with him having light blond hair and blue eyes), but his fire is green. Goes hand in hand with his personality traits and his motives.
• Refuge in Audacity: Retroactively speaking, his entire MO is a shining example of this trope, in and out of universe. Look at it this way - he defeated two of the three Sacred Treasures and Depowered them in the process (which royally pissed Kyo off as much as it did the audience back then), screwed over his prior teammates by pitting them against each other (though XV reveals that they don't really hold it against him), and sided with Those From The Past, also playing them for saps until the very end when he literally stabs his own ancestor In the Back whilst maintaining a veneer of smugness, mystique, and self-assurance that only faltered on a few occasions (see above in O.O.C. Is Serious Business)... all to ensure that they don't get their hands on Orochi's power and, most importantly, to keep Elisabeth safe, sacrificing his entire existence in the process.
  • He also has a lighter example in KOF XV in the form of his win quote to King in the game's Story Mode:
    Ash: For failing to entertain me, I expect you to pick up the tab at your bar ♪
• Ret-Gone: Does this with himself in XIII. But then it gets undone in XIV after Verse's destruction, where Kukri and Elisabeth find him.
• Secret A.I. Moves: Downplayed. Evil Ash gets a different animation on his Germinal Caprice (resembling the Super version, is also strikingly similar to the version seen in MIRA) and a variation of Saiki's screen-filling Kasumi Neo MAX Super.
• Shirtless Scene: At the end of XIII, alongside Saiki. Scenery Censor is included since they're also in their birthday suits.
• Shotoclone: One that operates entirely on Charge Input Specials, but since XIII, Ash became this, functionally speaking. He has an excellent projectile to zone with, an invincible reversal that he can use to punish jump-in attempts, and a Dash Attack that lets him quickly cover distance. Even his Super Special moves are similar to the Shinku Hadoken and Shoryureppa, with extra steps.
• Shoryuken: Nivôse is his dragon punch move, though performed as a charge-input kick special.
• Skill Gate Characters: Besides XIII, where's he's at his most difficult, while Ash demands good execution, he's otherwise simple to understand.
• Smug Snake: Very fond of acting like this for his own purposes.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: An entirely one-sided instance in XIII against Terry. He doesn't take it well.
  Ash: Look, you can't beat me... Just save us both the time and energy and call it a day. What? What's so funny?
  Terry: It's just funny hearing a runt like you acting all cocky. I was thinking about what happened to kids like that in South Town. Maybe I'm just getting old.
  Ash: Well I'm not laughing, idiot! I'm sick of you and your stupid face!
  Terry: Awww, getting upset over something petty like that... Don't worry, bro, you're still pretty cute for your age!
• Some Dexterity Required:
  • As a charge character, Ash isn't difficult fundamentally. However, using Sans-culotte fundamentally changes how he plays. It allows both command normals and special moves to cancel into each other and chain them in a way his regular form can't. In addition to removing the charge time of his specials, Ash can indefinitely keep the opponents pressured or juggled while in this state, provided the player can time the moves correctly.
  • Additionally, XIII has a system that allows special moves to be canceled into other special moves or supers. Unlike in Sans-culotte, these moves still require Ash to charge his moves to perform them, which can lead to some unique inputs on the player's part.
• Spam Attack: As Evil Ash, he gets plenty of mileage out of his Ventose when fought as the Final Boss in XIII. Naturally, you can also do this yourself (especially since charge moves in KOF don't take long to charge up^note  For reference, Guile's Sonic Boom requires the back input to be held for 50 frames - or about two seconds - while every charge character in KOF - be it Heidern, Leona, or Ash himself, only require 30, or less than a second. ) if you have the meter to spare. Even more so in XV, where EX moves only cost half a bar as opposed to a whole one in XIII.
• Stepford Smiler: Could easily be seen like this in light of XIII. Despite his confident smirk and trollish attitude.
• Stone Wall: Zig-Zagged. He can be played like one in theory, but his toolset offers the ability to go on the offensive if mastered.
• Suicide Dare: Whether or not it's intended due to SNK's track record on their translations or Ash going the whole hog on his jerkass persona, one of his win quotes in 2003... yikes. Not helped by the fact that the quote below gets a slight callback in XV. The wording is less terse, but the intent is still there.
  Ash: (KOF 2003) You're weak, creepy, and pesty. Consider euthanasia! Ha Ha!
  (KOF XV) Weak, annoying, irritating, humdrum... Aren't you ashamed to be alive?
• Super Special Move:
  • "Thermidor" resembles a larger and multi-hitting version of "Genie", which has Ash blow forward a ball of flame to blow up in his opponent's face.
  • "Pluviose" is a string of three "Nivose" specials.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Gameplay-wise, he fills Heidern's niche of a charge character with a strong projectile (Ventôse) and anti-air (Nivôse and its super equivalent, Pluviôse). His normals aren't as long as Heidern's, however. This sticks out one the two are both playable in XV.
• Sweet Tooth: His favorite food is listed as sachertorte, a type of chocolate cake. He has a special ending artwork◊ with Kula and Yuri in XIII where he's seen enjoying some sweets with them peacefully and in his Team's Story in XV, he's casually having a slice of cake while Kukri is talking his and Elisabeth's ears off.
• Taking You with Me: With Saiki currently stuck in Ash's body, he prevents him from going back to the past before the door closes, essentially killing Saiki by time paradox. But since Ash is a descendant of Saiki, he goes away too. It really gets intense when you realize that Ash must have known this would happen and was willing to erase himself from existence rather than give Saiki another chance.
• Technicolor Fire: Green fire. Except his NEO MAX in XIII, where he channels Iori's power which temporarily turns his flames purple.
• Teen Genius: He does all of this... while being only in his mid-to-late teens. Comparatively, he's the smartest of KOF's protagonists (compared to Kyo, who is Book Dumb, and K', who is Brilliant, but Lazy at best), pretty much playing everyone around him like a damn fiddle.
• Theme Naming:
  • Many of his moves are named after months of the French Republican Calendar. Even Sans-culottes refers to the Sansculottides (the last days of the year in that particular calendar). They all also refer to the French Revolution.
  • His theme in XI is titled "JOKER", whereas his theme in XIII is "The Second Joker" (likely referring to the "big" and "little" Joker cards in decks). This gets bucked in XV, where his Team's theme is amusingly called "Slushy Road" instead (though given that his home stage is set in a frozen forest and he's wearing a parka, it still works). "No. 53" continues the trend as the name can refer to either the Joker (Ash) or the Queen (Elisabeth), depending on the hand.
• This Is a Drill: Another move exclusive to his appearance in Maximum Impact; its animation is reminiscent of Benimaru's flying drill.
• Took a Level in Kindness: From his interactions with Chizuru and Isla in XV it seems that Ash has lightened up considerably since his saga. He's very friendly and laid-back with most of the cast and is even somewhat regretful of his actions, sincerely expressing his thanks to Chizuru despite stealing the Yata Mirror from her back in 2003. Though being that this is Ash we're talking about, he also rebuts by saying that, since Chizuru doesn't remember, he doesn't exactly have to apologize for his actions to start with.
• True Final Boss: As Evil Ash, he's the real final fight in XIII, requiring 2.5 million points before Stage 6 to be reached.
• Troll: The entirety of his saga can be summed up as Ash trying to annoy the cast into helping him kill Saiki. He's at his most trollish in XIII, where he tries to push everyone's buttons in his pre-fight intros (Aside from Terry, who manages to out-troll him).
• Verbal Tic: Several of his written quotes are accompanied by a musical note (♪), which indicates he is speaking in sing-song.
• Villain Protagonist: Ash's debut in 2003 had him with ominous red eyes in the intro alone, stole Chizuru's powers, and earned Kyo's hatred. Even his team theme in the game was called "Splendid Evil" and Kim performs his spiel that he reserves only for villains^note "Aku wa yurusan". Subverted when it’s revealed in XIII that he was Good All Along.
• Villain Override: After fully absorbing Saiki's power, Ash gets possessed by his spirit, becoming Evil Ash.
• Vocal Evolution: As early as the transition from XI to XIII, did Ash's inflections and delivery change with his battle cries. And given the long gap between his appearances in the latter game and XV, the difference in Ash's tone and delivery of his voice lines is even more apparent. Especially since XV is naturally the most talkative he's ever been when compared to his prior appearances.
• Voice of the Legion: As Evil Ash, which more echoes due to him and Saiki sharing the same voice actor.
• Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about him and not bring up the elephant in the room that is his self-titled saga.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: XIII has him as a hero, defeating Those From the Past at the cost of his own life. However, he had no qualms about manipulating and backstabbing to reach this goal.
• White Hair, Black Heart: As Evil Ash, since his much more malevolent ancestor Saiki has taken over his body.
• Younger Than He Looks: Despite how he carries himself and his general appearance, he's 16, making him one of the younger fighters in the series. He looks older than Yuri, who's actually four years his senior.
• Youthful Freckles: Ones that can be seen close-up of his face in the 2003 intro and through cutscenes in XIII. Fitting for a character stated to be between 16 and 18 years old.
• Zipperiffic: It's a bit hard to notice, but he has zippers places in several odd places in addition to his shirt and collar, including the tip of his sleeves.

The New Age

Shun'ei

Amped-up Illusionist

"There's always an opportunity in the worst developments. Grandpa taught me that."

Debut: The King of Fighters XIV (2016)

Origin China

Fighting style: Hakkyougen'eiken

Voiced by: Takashi Ohara

Playable in: ^note XIV, XV

The protagonist of the New Age saga. In his childhood, his parents shunned him because of his strange powers; he was taken under Tung Fu Rue's wing. In XIV, he decided to enter the King of Fighters tournament with his best friend, Meitenkun. He and his team emerge as the tournament champions held by Antonov, only for Verse to appear, sparking a resonation with his mysterious power. Defeating the strange monster, Shun'ei is left with many questions about its connection to his power. Unbeknownst to Shun'ei, his floating hands mark him as an "Amplified Specter" - a medium for a force from a realm known as the "Crucible of Souls" which connects timelines and universes that has manifested itself on this plane of existence. Having gained interest from multiple factions, Shun'ei is set to enter the new KOF tournament held in XV again.

---

• Affectionate Nickname: Meitenkun calls him "Shun-chan" for short.
• Air-Dashing: One of Shun'ei's Signature Moves is "Thruster Vison"; he can dash around the air in different directions depending on the input of the move (all variants of the move are a combination of quarter circle motions and kicks). This grants him even more mobility on top of KOF's already versatile movement options and can be mixed with his various aerial attacks, including some special moves. XV adds versions that allow him to glide straight down (Under) or downwards at a diagonal angle (Slant).
• And the Adventure Continues: Decides to travel the world with Meitenkun in his team's ending in XV, hoping to better control his powers and learn to stand on his own.
• Anti-Air: His "Rising Efreet" special; Shune'ei strikes upward with his red fist. It's good both as a combo extender and for cathing opponents trying to cross him up.
• Bad Powers, Good People: He commands powers of a demonic nature, it's rumored to be a similar one with those of Verse's.
• Battle Intro: From XV
  "Tung's final disciple is here to dish out justice. Catch hands with the phantom that resides within! Shun'ei!
  Shun'ei: "Leave, before you get hurt."
• Big Damn Heroes: He manages to lock hands with Isla before she gets sucked into a portal by Otoma=Raga.
• Chuunibyou: Mostly in looks (yes, his particular fashion sense is Truth in Television in his native China), not so much in personality.
• Closet Geek: He's a fan of Athena's music, and even blushes when getting a photo together with her.
• Coat Cape: Wears a black jacket over his shoulders when fighting (that somehow doesn't fall off).
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Unlike most protagonists in the previous games who have pyrokinetic abilities, Shun'ei has both fire and water manipulation and his powers let him manifest a pair of ethereal hands floating by his side, the red hand represents his pyrokinetic powers, while the blue hand represents his hydrokinetic powers. But specifically, he mostly contrasts Ash…
  • Whereas Ash was a massive Jerkass (XIII notwithstanding) and a Troll to everyone he's ever met, Shun'ei is much more laid back and pleasant in comparison, with a few wisecracks to spare every now and then.
  • Ash was an overall very difficult character to utilize at his fullest potential (at least in XIII) and, for all intents and purposes, was essentially KOF's equivalent of Remy. Shun'ei, on the other hand, is a more conventional Shotoclone who is far and away the most accessible of the four protagonists in XV.
  • Adding to the above, Ash was a charge character, automatically making him more difficult to play properly when factoring in the charge time for his specials. Shun'ei doesn't have this issue since he has no charge moves.
  • Interestingly enough, while Ash was a fire user like the previous protagonists, his fire was green (one of the three additive colors). Shun'ei's powers, on the other hand, are both red and blue, the other additive colors.
  • Their playstyles are also very different — Ash being a more rushdown-oriented zoner that is reserved for specialist players (at least in XIII where he had some of the most difficult Trials even by that game's standards) while Shun'ei is a jack of all trades who is very reliable at any level of play and has combos that are very simple to perform.
• Dash Attack: His Scarlet Phantom special is him dashing forward with a punch with his red fist. Also his Specter Extension DM.
• Deadpan Snarker: Gives a pretty good comeback when Isla comes at him for being protected by adults.
  Shun'ei: If that's why you wanna fight, then I think we know who's the real child.
• Elemental Powers: His demonic powers possess fire and water.
• Giant Hands of Doom: His powers manifest as a pair of big floating ethereal hands, one red and one blue.
• Happily Adopted: He was in fact not abandoned by his parents, but taken in by Tung with their consent when he heard of his outbursts as a young child which put his family at risk.
• The Hero: Of the Shun'ei Saga.
• Hidden Depths: Like Jhun, he's a fan of Athena's music.
• Jack of All Stats: One of the most well-rounded characters on the roster, Shun'ei can cover KOF fundamentals quite well on top of having consistent and reliable combos that are fairly easy to pull off. His specials let him perform both zoning and rushdown styles and his damage output is fairly solid, but not as absurd as, say, Maxima or Rock, for example.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: His response to one of Clemence's interview questions can be interpreted as such.
  Bellamy: Anything to say to your fans?
  Shun'ei: Dunno if I have any out there, but… I'll do my best, so keep your eyes on me.
• Leitmotif: "Inheritance" in XIV (also shared with Tung and Meitenkun), "Under the Control of…" (shared with Meitenkun and Benimaru) in XV.
• Long-Range Fighter: Can be played this way if you so desire. Especially with his Aqua Spear projectile that covers a lot of space in front of him while his Rising Efreet covers space directly above him á la Makoto's Fukiage.
• Nice Guy: Unlike every other KOF protagonist in the history of the franchise, Shun'ei is actually a nice, caring, understanding guy, though he still talks a bit rough. The only KOF champions who measure up are Terry and Ryo, and they still aren't actual KOF MC's. (Seeing as they hail from Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting respectively.)
• Parental Abandonment: He was lead to believe that he was left abandoned to Tung as a baby. His ending in XV reveals that his parents are still alive and well, and he had a happy first few years with them. But when his powers awakened, he began causing immense collateral damage to their home and community. His parents decided that sending him to study under Tung was the best choice for him, but were both heartbroken leaving him at such a young age.
• Plagued by Nightmares: Often has nightmares of the Crucible of Souls in which he hears a demonic voice compelling him to destroy everything, with resistance to the voice's commands being met with intense pain.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: Has green hair. Apparently, it's natural since XV shows that he had it as a baby, doubly odd since it also reveals his parents had black hair. It's a sign to show he's always had something supernatural going on since he was a kid.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: His Climax move in XIV with his demonic powers, which involve man-sized fisticuffs.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Has red eyes and is more than capable of kicking ass like any KOF protagonist. Though he is a special case since he is one of Tung Fu Rue's pupils - you know… Terry and Geese's teacher?
• Ship Tease: Team Hero's ending in XV heavily hints that he's developed feelings for Isla. Something Benimaru is very happy to tease him about. And on Isla's side of things, the feeling is mutual since The Stinger for her team's ending shows her traveling to China to meet with Shun'ei. Their relationship as rivals-turned-friends even forms the basis of a special edit team they have as rookies to KOF alongside Rock Howard.
• Shotoclone: An unorthodox example, but can still pass for one - he has a stationary projectile that can be used for zoning (Aqua Spear), a strong anti-air dragon punch (Rising Efreet), and a tatsu-like approach tool (Scarlet Phantom).
• Skill Gate Characters: He's a very straightforward, no-nonsense (air dashes aside) character that can adapt to almost any playstyle at the drop of a hat, though he's more of a Rushdown character with emphasis on air superiority.
• Spear Counterpart: Can pass as one for Leona, interestingly enough. Both characters are cursed with powers that they fear they can't control, their personality traits are fairly similar, both of them have blue hair (or bluish-green in Shun's case), and they are both orphans who take after their father figures (Heidern for Leona and Tung for Shun'ei). Their shared similarities (not to mention the "uncontrollable power" aspect they share with Iori) end up comprising a special edit team for them in XV.
• Sweet Tooth: Sweets are stated to be his favorite food.
• The Power of Friendship: What ultimately prevents him from succumbing to the demonic voice that compels him to destroy everything, and his major contrasting point with Isla. Unlike Isla, who grew up with no one around to support her except a few fans, Shun'ei has Meitenkun and his master Tung.
• Variant Power Copying: Being a pupil of Tung's (aka, Terry's and Geese's mentor), some of his moves bear some similarities to those of his peers. For example, his Scarlet Phantom is Tung's Senshippou (which Terry also has an equivalent to in his Burn Knuckle) - a move that Meitenkun can also perform his own variant of. His Blau Wing is also similar to Geese's Hishou Nichirin Zan, but performed exclusively in the air as opposed to leaping forward first. And finally, his Aqua Spear is similar to Tung's own Shou Ha (whose name literally means "Power Wave", another one of Terry's trademark moves).

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