- Rock has shown up in KOF, albeit as a pre-teen and only in a couple of Terry's ending poses. However, since Garou took place in 2008, we can probably expect him to join you in the fights within the next game or two.
- More proof for this is that Ryo is supposed to be older than Terry, due to Art of Fighting taking place before Fatal Fury. From my understanding Ryo should probably be the 2nd Mr. Karate by now in The King of Fighters.
- The first statement is technically true. Fatal Fury 1 and 2 have "The King of Fighters" in their character select screens, meaning the King of Fighters tournament started in 1992, with the events of the original Fatal Fury. The King of Fighters 1993 tournament saw more international participation, before it turned into KOF '94. Anything Fatal Fury-wise is localized in South Town.
- I thought that this was a given. Chronologically, the Art of Fighting series (most specifically, the second game) leads into Fatal Fury. After 2, Fatal Fury spun off into The King of Fighters and the two timelines split (certain events happened in the original timeline, such as Geese's death, which would conflict heavily with KOF). About Rock Howard possibly joining you in the future, three things to point out: 1. Every character has had their ages frozen since '95. Thus, Rock, who appears in 2001 and 2002 as a six or seven-year-old (as opposed to being 17 in Garou), will stay that age in KOF; 2. According to Word of God, the developers are saving him up for the next Garou (which will probably never happen), hence his appearances in Maximum Impact (another Alternate Continuity where Geese is again dead), Capcom vs. SNK 2, and NeoGeo Battle Coliseum; 3. SNK gives Terry's birthdate (at least by Fatal Fury standards) as March 15, 1971 and he's 35 in Garou, which would mean that Garou would be set in 2006 (ironically, that was the English title for Maximum Impact 2; maybe SNK is trying to tell us something). If they really wanted to, they could just Retcon this and age up Rock, but that would be odd considering that the rest of the cast are in their teens and twenties when they should really be in their twenties and thirties.
- Given that Rock was recently announced as a DLC character for XIV and making his main roster appearance soon, you might be getting some answers on that front soon.
- By extension, the current 2D KOF storyline looks so much like the one before the NESTS saga because it's all metafictional, and Kula is not a very original writer. The Maximum Impact games are where continuity actually goes after the NESTS saga ends. (Note that this WMG chain is a joke response to something in the series' Headscratchers entry. Mostly.)
- Unfortunately, with the roster additions in Maximum Impact 2 Regulation A, either this (rather amusing) theory is trashed, or Kula's creation has transcended his meta-fictional nature to join the tournaments proper. Granted, this would be a very Ash thing to do...
- Maybe they were subjects to the same cloning experiment, that might explain the resemblances. Also, don't forget that Ash took Chizuru's mirror, so, he's just taking the other two talismans... Perhaps he's an AU Death Buster?
- Doubtful. Given their ages, Heidern would be 17 when Gato was born.
- There's also always the more classic fan-theory that Garou: Mark Of the Wolves Freeman is an older, much more embittered and insane Chris who for whatever reason lost his Orochi powers. Granted, the theory is based on his stand-up animations and some of his attacks, the fact that Freeman's alternate colour schemes include the colours for Chris and Orochi Chris, the more recent revelation that flameless Iori and Freeman share many moves, and (most importantly) the fandom's unwillingness to accept that anyone actually dies in the series. But if we're going to toss out "Chris never died" theories, this editor felt this oldie was worth mentioning.
- It's also worth mentioning that people have suggested Yashiro is Mukai, by dint of white hair and earth powers, and that the Orochi clone in Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum is indicative of... something in canon, usually that Chris is fine and the New Faces Team's return is imminent. Again, despite the fact that maybe a dozen people have actually died in the whole series, the fandom is entirely unwilling to accept even that small number of deaths.
- So, Kula's mentor, Diana, is Shermie? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
- Eh... Sorry to be a joy-kill, but no. Even if this was true (Original Zero's actual backstory about being 44 and born in the North Pole notwithstanding) and the New Faces Team weren't Killed Off for Real at the end of '97, the fact that O. Zero went down with the ship... er... blimp in 2001 means he's probably dead, which would thus cause Chris' spirit to be reincarnated (like the rest of the Hakkesshu) once more. Besides, how would Yashiro's earth powers be mutated into petrification-based abilities? And aren't Shermie's assets and appearance a bit different? :P
- Furthermore, Clone Zero has the same stance as O. Zero, having come first and all, so unless you're implying there were more than one Chris around, this theory is somewhat flawed.
- It's also worth mentioning that people have suggested Yashiro is Mukai, by dint of white hair and earth powers, and that the Orochi clone in Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum is indicative of... something in canon, usually that Chris is fine and the New Faces Team's return is imminent. Again, despite the fact that maybe a dozen people have actually died in the whole series, the fandom is entirely unwilling to accept even that small number of deaths.
- Wasn't KOF '96 sponsored by Chizuru Kagura for the sole purpose of finding fighters strong enough to defeat Goenitz?
- Yes, but I don't see how that's relevant. Anyway, three words: Comic. Book. Time. Every tournament is a new year (and thus XI, XII, and XIII would likely be 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively), but having each character be their actual age would make most of the currently youthful cast jump up about a decade in years.
- If I recall, isn't XII not canon since they don't mention Orochi nor Those from the Past, and it being an Obvious Beta?
- The latter, yes. That (and XII's low headcount) is also why there were no official teams in the game. That still wouldn't refute the idea, as '99 and 2003 took place in their respective years despite KOF going on a hiatus the year before in both cases.
- Hate to break it to you, but the characters have aged. A conversation between Team Japan and Team Psycho Soldier in XIII confirms that Kyo is an adult and yet is still attending high school... Due to missing a few years because NESTS kidnapped him. Also, the official story of XIV is that nobody would touch the tournament for years before Antonov bought it. Also, don't confuse "everyone except a few people never change their outfits from game to game" for anything other than "oh, they obviously at some point changed clothes and just so happen to be wearing the same outfit for this new tournament". Heck, several openings even early on '95 confirm these tournaments are taking place in different years.
- So they think.
- Not only are they mistaken about their target being a clone, they've also assumed them to be a male. Which is why they'll never find what they're looking for: the one they're after is actually a 17 year old combat waitress.
- So NESTS has resorted to repeatedly trying to make one of their own, as an alternative. But each of them is flawed, with 'K being their best attempt. Whereas Saisyu did it the old fashioned way.
- This theory has been around for ages, but not on here. Well, here it is. Firstly, it's not stated if it really IS the real Rugal in 95. The real one could be alive and in hiding until he has enough power to get revenge on Kyo and all those who opposed him. Secondly, there is artwork of a number of '95-era Omega Rugals in various stasis containers.
◊ Secondly and most blatantly, in 2000, when a dead Striker is called upon, they fade away in some form (Chris flickering away, Goenitz exploding into a tornado), but when Rugal is summoned... he jumps off. The only Strikers to do this are still living ones and it's our understanding that Rugal DIED in '95. Also, non-canon as it is we have his winquote to the NESTS team in 2002: "There are those who you just can't betray", hinting that if he IS alive, NESTS had something to do with it. This is exemplified with the end picture in 2002, showing Rugal sitting on a throne, surrounded by NESTS members (Krizalid, Igniz, Original Zero and various others).- For one instance, he could have not only survived his boat's explosion in '94, but had been an Olympic Champion swimmer and made it to shore where one of his followers helped him out. Then he had a clone masquerade as himself, complete with Orochi power. The reason Rugal exploded was probably 'cause if it were a clone then they couldn't possibly handle the power that Rugal could manage flawlessly.
- Even though it's non-canon, when you fight Omega Rugal in '98, you see him emerging while covered in wires. Possibly it is either a clone, or a now feral Rugal who was recovering in a stasis tank that got somewhat damaged by the sinking of his boat. His win portrait shows his arms as being held by a number of wires while his face is a perfect example of insanity.
- Then his intro in 2002, wherein it shows him in his plane. He is wearing a coat attached to various wires. Could it be a NESTS clone, or the real thing, with a larger semblance of sanity than his '98 self, which was clearly prematurely re-awakened and therefore unstable?
- This theory may hold water, because in the console-exclusive SkyNoah stage for XIII, the ship's monitor feed is hijacked in the final round and shows Rugal's face, clear as day, on the monitor.
- Rugal's face appearing on the monitor might actually be for fanservice reasons.
- Possibly Jossed in XIV, since its final boss Verse has Rugal among a collection of souls. These souls are released once Verse is defeated, leaving Rugal's return in the future open.
- For one instance, he could have not only survived his boat's explosion in '94, but had been an Olympic Champion swimmer and made it to shore where one of his followers helped him out. Then he had a clone masquerade as himself, complete with Orochi power. The reason Rugal exploded was probably 'cause if it were a clone then they couldn't possibly handle the power that Rugal could manage flawlessly.
- That would also make Adel and Rose part-Orochi, and thus susceptible to the Riot of the Blood. Given that Orochi's seal was already broken, and fellow halfas Leona and Iori have already experienced the RotB (in 2003 and XI, respectively), this could make for an interesting concept in the next game.
- Assuming they were conceived after Rugal fought Goenitz, wouldn't they already have some minor Orochi power? I'd always assumed the Genocide Cutter was a result of the Orochi claw powers demonstrated by Iori, Leona, et al.
- Looking back on things, even with Comic-Book Time in effect, Adel and Rose (given their ages) would have to have been conceived before the start of the series, which could possibly coincide with some unspecified period after Goenitz ran into Rugal, cut out his eye, gave Rugal a portion of the Orochi power, and then sent Mature and Vice to keep watch over Rugal. That being said, it seems more likely that Mature is both of their parents, as she's the only one of the pair with an explicit attraction to Rugal (after all, Vice didn't get an intro pose where she blew a kiss to Rugal, now did she?).
- Doubtful about Vice, but Mature being the mother of Rugal's kids is very possible. Adel looks pretty much like a mix of Mature and Rugal. Rose not so much, but if her measurements are anything to go by, she will grow up to play Generation Xerox more or less straight (or would grow up, if not for Comic-Book Time). Also, both kids are blonde, which is a recessive trait and is guaranteed to occur if both parents are blonde.
- Jossed. None of their biographical information (DOB, age, nationality, etc.) matches up. Plus, Iori gets his powers back at the end of XIII.
Goenitz first. As we all know, Mr. KOKO DESU KA? was the leader of both the Hakkesshu and the Four Heavenly Kings. He was also 41 in '96. While no implications were given, he could have had a family at that time; he was definitely old enough to be a father. Also, would you have expected Geese and Rugal of all people to have children? Me neither. A lot of you are probably aware of Goeniko, the Midnight Bliss'd version of Goenitz from SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. Naturally, Fanon and M.U.G.E.N have already come up with multiple backstories for her. Originally, she was supposed to be a clone of Goenitz used by Rugal in his attempts to again gain the power of Orochi. Then, there were more and more riffs on who she was, with additional versions of Goeniko popping up, such as Wind (the daughter of Goenitz who was possessed by Orochi) and Reas (simply a transformation). Again, despite Goenitz being a priest (we don't know what denomination he belonged to, though, even if Christian is a likely bet), he could have possibly settled down. Gaidel, the biological father of Leona, did just that (additionally not wanting anything to do with Orochi). At the end of 2003, it's revealed that the seal on Orochi was broken, possibly allowing for the Wind version (or some variation thereof). With the exception of maybe Gaidel, I'm throwing out the possibility of being a reincarnated Hakkesshu member because everyone except for Yamazaki either died in '96 or '97, which would mean that their reincarnations would be (at the oldest) eight by the time of XI.
Then, there's Igniz. As we all know, Igniz was fifty-six-freakin'-years-old (in 2001) despite being (arguably) the biggest bishie in KOF history. He also had a lover named Misty (that woman with the short white hair who appears in his win poses). For all we know, she could either be close in age to him, or much younger. The key word in the equation is "lover". They weren't married, but for all we know, they could have consummated their relationship countless times over (and if the whole "they're both Older Than They Look" thing applies, they could have been doing this thing before most of the cast was born). Who knows? Maybe (in the most cliched of romantic plot developments) they mated before "lovable" Igniz bit the bullet in his failed Colony Drop. Depending on what happened, they could already have a child, or she could have just given birth. I honestly don't know (and it wouldn't explain why said child hasn't shown up yet). This is SNK we're talking about. Additionally, she comes from the NESTS saga, the KOF arc dealing with a Nebulous Evil Organization that resorted to cloning, genetic manipulation, and bionics. Many playable characters from NESTS had bionically/genetically-enhanced bodies or relied on technologically advanced battle suits. For all we know, both Misty and Igniz could have had their bodies altered to the point that having a child would result something along the lines of Sephiroth (inserted with Mako cells in the womb) or maybe even Vulcan (stillborn baby that was revived and rapidly sped up to a viable age). Again, who knows? It doesn't explain why she's with Ron (a guy who's taken interest in the MacGuffin sealed within Kensou's body), but then again Misty was a very obscure character.
Original Zero had no children of his own so to speak, but in his profile, it's said that he likes raising children, so he probably adopted a few and possibly trained them on the side. He's also a mild case of a Noble Demon. Oh, and he's dead. To be honest, K' & co. didn't kill him; Zero simply let them go on as he went down with the blimp.
Anyway, it might be cool to see the next generation of SNK Bosses (hopefully, they wouldn't be as cheap). Rock and Adel were pulled off quite well. About getting revenge, it may or may not come into play, considering that Rock and Adel are quite different from their fathers (and don't seek revenge for their deaths), thus subverting a case of Generation Xerox and You Killed My Father. Maybe they can all form a "Evil Legacy" Team or something...
- Actually, in this Troper's opinion, an "Evil Legacy" team would be more along the lines of Adel Bernstein, Rock Howard, and Alba Meira (if he ever makes it to a 2D KOF).
- The only problem really holding Rock back is that he's only a kid in the main KOF series. You'd have to scroll up his age by about ten years for that to work. I'd also question what Alba Meira's "evil legacy" would be, unless you're referring to his past life of sorts as Judeim (yes, Alba and Soiree are Fate's adopted sons, but Fate was a gang leader who actually strove to keep Southtown peaceful after Geese's death in the MI timeline).
- It would explain why he suddenly stopped entering KOF tourneys at 1996, sending his daughter in his stead: He's actually a tremendous pansy that hides under a table when and if things get hectic. He looks the right age for a good 7 years more of service and I don't think he was mentioned in Word of God's canonical ending to '95. If anything, 2001 marked the time when Ralf finally had enough and dragged that cycloptic buffoon kicking and screaming to the registration counter.
- That you, Mighty Kombat? :P Or maybe... Heidern is behind everything. His "being captured" by two weird kids at the end of XI is a part of some unspecified grand master plan. In the end, Heidern will step out of the shadows, say "Just as Planned", and will become the worst SNK Boss of all time. Of all time!
- Considering his power in '94 and '95, I wouldn't put it past him. Then again, I don't know HOW to explain how Clone Zero's clone managed to hold him at gunpoint... unless that was planned for too.
- He's the commander. It's not his job to fight, he gives the orders.
- But he's still capable of fighting (after all, who else do you think taught Leona?), he just chooses not to. All according to plan, naturally.
- In KOF '97 the New Faces Team (Yashiro, Shermie and Chris) offered Yamazaki a job in the Hakkeshu when you play as the '97 Special Team (Yamazaki, Billy Kane, Blue Mary). However Yamazaki refused and was more interested in beating them up instead. Though their mistake was not expecting Yamazaki to be willing to betray his teammates their biggest mistake was thinking he'd do it for free. Because in the '97 Special Teams ending for KOF '97 Yamazaki attacked Geese and Billy Kane as he was demanding Geese to pay him for his services. Granted to be fair one could wonder if the New Faces Team could have been able to out-do Geese Howard in payment (or even if Goenitz would've been able to do something about it before KOF '97 occurred as well).
- Or alternatively despite getting the chance to be a part of the Hakkeshu, Yamazaki had the foresight to see that they wouldn't last that long and kept his distance to not have the same fate as them. (Too bad he didn't get to fare that much better in Screen-time after the Orochi Saga ended.)
- Jossed. :(
- Billy Kane in the console version.
- Jossed. :(
- Yuri was still a teen when she was kidnapped back in the first Art of Fighting. A pretty face like hers isn't the sort of thing you see everyday in the slums of Southtown, and neither Geese nor Mr. Big seem very involved in what their henchmen do with their victims. Hence, her Manchild and Genki Girl tendencies are really a manifestation of post-traumatic stress disorder, and an obsession with reverting to the young, virginal child she used to be.
- If this is indeed true (this theory would spawn lots and lots of sad pandas), Yuri would need a great big hug.
- ... So are you peeps implying that a woman isn't truly scarred and traumatised unless said drama involves her genitalia and that men have such little self-control that they will automatically rape any woman at their mercy?
Oh wow, thank you. But aside of the potentially offensive deals, eh, I don't know: there are other ways aside of sexual abuse to traumatise a teenage girl, and specially one who apparently was pretty sheltered by her well-intentioned by very traditional father and older brother. It must have been an already traumatising eye-opener for Yuri to be captured when her brother and old friend weren't there to help her, then being chained and hidden in a warehouse (as shown by the Art of Fighting 2 opening movie), knowing that her beloved father note is being blackmailed into keeping her hostage and will have to fight her other two loved ones - possibly to the death, as seen in the first AOF game. Considering these details, it's next to no wonder that Yuri is so cheery and plucky: she doesn't want to ever be in such a helpless and horrible situation again, and she won't allow the three most important men in her life to force her depend on them for safety if she can help it. - (Not OP) To answer the first question, not in the slightest and I'm assuming the OP wasn't intending to come across as offensive (benefit of the doubt here; please don't prove me wrong, OP). That being said, I'll play devil's advocate for a second. In the timeframe we're talking about, Southtown was running rampant with crime (and in the present day, it still has its fair share) and the corruption spewing from Geese's Howard Connection wasn't doing much to amend the situation either. Change around some plot details here and there and do a few character substitutions and you essentially have Final Fight's Metro City. The scenario above could have possibly happened, but from what we've seen, all evidence points to no (unlike Jessica, there was no shot of Yuri being shown only in a bra with some Rafastarian brute snidely hinting as less than pure intentions when Yuri's captors give an ultimatum to her loved ones). In any case, we can be certain that the ordeal was enough for Yuri to decide to do something about it and toughen herself up so that, as you said, she'd never find herself in that situation again. I'd say she succeeded quite handily in that endeavor.
- ... So are you peeps implying that a woman isn't truly scarred and traumatised unless said drama involves her genitalia and that men have such little self-control that they will automatically rape any woman at their mercy?
- If this is indeed true (this theory would spawn lots and lots of sad pandas), Yuri would need a great big hug.
- Both are blonde, blue-eyed, masculine, badass, classy, French and voiced by Harumi Ikoma.
- Given how vague SNK is on how connected all of its universes are, I wouldn't put it past them. It's already been hinted that Eiji is Zantetsu's descendant, that Mai is (somehow) descended from Gen-An, and that Kim Hae-Ryeong and Kim Sue II are Kim's respective ancestor and descendant, so why not?
- How else can you explain the outfit? I'd say it would work on me, that's for sure.
- Confirmed. "Loosely based on the kunoichi technique of being sensual to their unassuming prey before they strike" as the SNK wiki puts it.
- Confirmed. "Loosely based on the kunoichi technique of being sensual to their unassuming prey before they strike" as the SNK wiki puts it.
- One complaint about The King of Fighters series recently is due to how SNK did seem to be downplaying the fact that the KOF series is supposed to be a big crossover of earlier SNK game series' such as Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. However in KOF XIII a good portion of the older character did get a bit more of a presence in that game. But while SNK probably won't go so far as to do a Continuity Reboot (kind of like what Mortal Kombat did) now that the Tales of Ash saga is now over with there is a decent chance that SNK would give their older characters a bit more of a chance to shine.
- The only older characters who I think are in need of exposition are not from Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting (they never had any importance in KOF's bigger plot); the only older characters who had importance were Ralf and Clark, who are still playing their minor part in the story by Heidern's command, the others are Athena and Kensou, these two are the ones left hanging about Ron planning bigger schemes and the Dragon Spirit thing, since XI they stalled for Ash's eventual climax, now that it is over, I think it should be brought back to focus again.
- Well whether if SNK reboots the KOF storyline or not there is a good chance that the Hakkeshu will get more of a spotlight again ever since Vice and Mature have been brought back in the KOF storyline in XIII. In other words the C.Y.S band (Chris, Yashiro and Shermie) along with Goenitz and Yamazaki. Yamazaki will actually work with the Hakkeshu this time (in which Goenitz will have him be well paid for his work) and Yamazaki will be an absolute Troll in the games as well if SNK continues the pre-battle banter from KOF XIII.
- Aside of the fact that a reboot (which sounds a bit unlikely IMO; I'm the same guy as below if you're wondering) would probably revert things to around the time of the Orochi Saga (which would render the need of having every Hakkesshu member not named Yamazaki come Back from the Dead somewhat pointless), you're forgetting that Mature and Vice immediately depart back for the afterlife in their team's ending. Whether or not Shermie and Chris actually came back or are just random stage cameos is debatable, but what happened to Mature and Vice would probably apply to CYS as well. Plus, there's the fact that the seal on Orochi was restored after XIII. It's possible, if not likely, that Mature and Vice only were able to return from the afterlife because Orochi's seal was broken. And Yamazaki is still a Wild Card when it comes to the Hakkesshu; he has no real interest in helping out the others (now, yes, money could possibly sway him, but Yamazaki still has no interest, especially when he has other potential employers like Geese). Changing the past most likely would not change around his personality (and the same would probably apply to the other Orochi defector, Gaidel).
- The storyline in KOF XIII seems to be strongly giving off the impression that this is likely due to Ash giving himself a Cosmic Retcon out of existence in which the potential consequences will be a bit more than just making the "Tales of Ash" saga no longer happening.
- How so? The only implications of the ending is that all of the major events of the entire saga somehow still happened, but without Ash being there because he Ret Goned himself due to the Temporal Paradox he pulled with Saiki. Just about every ending, especially the ones that tie-in the heaviest to the story (i.e. Elizabeth Team, Japan Team, Yagami Team), and the ending scenes of the Story Mode in the console version seem to take place after the tournament and (more importantly) after the Cosmic Retcon. In addition, nothing so far suggests that the absence of Those from the Past in the timeline would conflict with the events of the Orochi Saga or the NESTS Chronicles. It's not impossible, but it also sounds unlikely. Given Saiki's pre-battle dialogue to Kensou (and if SNK is smart), it'd make the most sense to finally bring Ron back into the spotlight. The Dragon Spirit and Hizoku subplots have been dangling over our heads since the NESTS Chronicles started back in '99 and have become more and more complex as time went on. With Orochi sealed again and Those from the Past out of commission, there's really nothing stopping SNK from revisiting that.
- Alternatively, Elizabeth pulls a Please, Don't Leave Me a-la-Shiro, being the only one who remembers Ash, if you believe the console edition's intro.
It's somewhat straightforward. Shingo simply jots down facts about all of the fighters he's met, fought against, seen in action, or heard tales about. Of course, Shingo might not always be 100% accurate, leading to minor discrepancies (i.e. movesets, EX characters, the various arenas, edit teams, etc.). Upon learning that he needs to fill in the blanks in certain areas, Shingo revisits his notes and makes an addendum or two, which is how we got '98 Ultimate Match and 2002 Unlimited Match. In particular, the K9999-Nameless switcheroo was Shingo still trying to fit K9999 into his overall idea, but skirting around the fact that he died. Or perhaps he just didn't like the guy and replaced him with an OC of his with similar powers and a more tragic backstory.
Now what about XII, which was touted as a "dream match" much like '98 and 2002? That one's easy. Remember that Shingo was savagely brutalized by Orochi Iori in the previous game and was hospitalized as a result. Who's to say that his notes weren't damaged or outright destroyed during the fight? Shingo tried to reconstruct things from scratch as best he could, but his faulty memory led to "inconsistencies" such as the drastically lowered roster count and characters fighting with movesets that were either reworked or missing moves from previous titles.
- What about Neowave? I'm fairly certain Shingo couldn't have any knowledge about Geese when he was younger.
- You've got me there. Perhaps someone overheard Mr. Big talking about the days when he was still under Geese's thumb and that somehow made its way back to Shingo?
- I have my own theory that sheds an Alternative Character Interpretation in regard to the NESTS Cartel. Though NESTS has resorted to illegal means (e.g. crime namely) but I believe that they overall are utopianists (or then at least utilitarians) who believe that their research will be used to benefit mankind. The number of generally honorable people, those being Krizalid, Foxy, Diana, Kula Diamond, Candy, Original Zero, Nameless, Isolde, and even perhaps Old Man Nests himself note , seems a little high for a Nebulous Evil Organisation. Foxy and Kula's outraged reaction at Igniz's usurpation of the old man and subsequent revealing of his true intentions as well as the fact that Foxy and Diana seek to re-establish the organization following its downfall in KOF 2001 would imply that NESTS was founded on achieving some sort of beneficial intentions (e.g. advances in medicine via bioengineering and technology).
- Igniz, on the other hand, is a is an undeniably evil person who has lead the organization behind his father's back for his own ulterior goal of ruling over a new world as a god. He kills his henchmen when they are no longer of any use to him (Krizalid and Nests and also unsuccessfully attempt to have Kula and Foxy killed off as well). He also seems to imply in his dialogue just before fighting Team K' that he has been using K', Maxima, and Whip as unwitting pawns to gather data via their fights against Krizalid and Clone Zero to make improvements to NESTS' clone program (not just only to create more powerful fighters to enforce his will, but also to suppress (possibly even outright eliminate) free will), but also because he simply enjoyed their suffering. For Igniz to achieve his plans, it would likely involve committing omnicide against humankind and replacing everyone with absolutely obedient clones. "Lovable" Igniz certainly makes M. Bison look campy in comparison.
- Outside of a dream match, bringing back a character who erased himself from the timestream would cheapen his death in a way worse than when Shadow was revealed to have survived his fall in SA2. And given that it took until XIII for Ash to lose most of the ire he's been incurring since 2003, something like that might just bring him right back to square one with meteoric speed. Time travel might make it possible, but I'm not so sure that'd be for the best.
- Highly likely now that the eventd of XIV have undone his erasing himself in his XIII ending.
- Guess that depends on their budget. Still, you'd think that if SNK can get Norio Wakamoto (among other notable names in the industry) on board for a few of their games, their efforts at dubbing would be of a higher quality than what we've been subjected to for the most part.
- Those characters, if I'm not mistaken, would be Adel, Chang, Malin, Momoko, and Oswald, all of whom were playable in at least one previous installment of the Tales of Ash and thus would already be on the list for inclusion in a real dream match. As great as it'd be to see the American Sports Team back, that's more dependent on how the game would be structured. If it's like '98(UM), then probably not since they weren't in any of the games from 2003-XIII. If it's like 2002 and 2002UM, however, they might stand a chance, as those titles also included characters from previous arcs (i.e. Mature & Vice, the New Faces Team, Billy, Yamazaki, Geese, etc.) alongside all of the playable fighters from the current one. Of course, the biggest problem any of these kind of games faces is the sheer amount of time it'll take to redraw everyone in the new art style. Counting EX characters and the PS2 exclusives in XI, there's still a good 30-something characters uncounted for from the Tales of Ash alone (although the trading cards for XIII hint at not only a few of the missing guys from this arc, but the likes of Geese, Heidern, Orochi, and Igniz, which may be evidence for a 2002-style dream match).
- Jossed, XIV is the start of a new story arc, and possibly the long awaited Dragon Spirit Arc.
- Or maybe it'll end with the guy giving up his own existence in exchange for another's (this would be the closest thing he has to death). Whose existence is exchanged for his? None other than Ash Crimson. His explanation is that his time was up centuries ago, but Ash still had his whole life ahead of him. (Note: Yes, I realize how little sense it makes and just how obscene it sounds.)
- Dark Barrier could possibly be based off of Athena's Psycho Reflector, though it's dubious unless Rugal could mimic fighting technique simply by seeing them in action. Likewise, Mature's Heaven's Gate DM could have been the basis of Gigantic Pressure (a touch more believable, as Mature was one of his secretaries, although that would imply he fought Mature at some point off-screen).
- Word of God says XIII was the conclusion of Ash's story, in line with the previously-established convention of three canonical games per arc, followed by a "dream match" (though XII likely messed up the pattern for the Tales of Ash). However, that doesn't mean leftover plot points can't resurface in the next saga. Then again, seeing as there's still no clear sign of the Hizoku/Dragon Spirit subplot (introduced way back in '99 and 2000, with Ron implying the latter to be a really big deal) coming to the fore, piling on more story threads that'll probably never be resolved could prove unsatisfying. And either way, the members not named Mukai, Shion, Magaki, or Saiki may just end up being The Unfought until the end of time.
- I'm pretty sure that the canon KOF '94 winners were the Japan Team. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense for them to have the only pre-Final Boss talk that includes a character non-related to Rugal's entourage: the one where Kyo finds his father Saisyu gravely injured after he loses to Rugal... and is the basis for Saisyu becoming a Brainwashed and Crazy sub-boss in KOF '95.
- OP here: Yes, I know that Team Japan are the canonical winners, I was simply coming up with an explanation for the US Team's Put on a Bus status.
- The cast of XIII would remain, with the need of a huge balancing act. Here are some new (probable) teams:
- Boss Team: Geese Howard, Rugal Bernstein and Igniz.
- Second Southtown Team: Rock Howard, Kain Heinlein and Billy Kane.
- Samurai Shodown Team: Haohmaru, Nakoruru, and Genjuro.
- Ash Team: Ash Crimson, Oswald and (*insert original character here*).
- Orochi Team: Saiki, Orochi and Mukai.
- Please make this true, a pachislot machine is not enough.
- The idea is certainly within the realm of possibility, but whether it happens this year is the real question. As mentioned above, redrawing the characters is a vastly time-consuming effort, taking 16-17 months for 10-11 artists to finish a single fighter. SNK decided to switch to hand-drawn, higher resolution sprites around 2005/2006, and they ended up with the smallest playable roster in the series when XII was released for consoles in 2009 note . Two or so years later, we received an additional 14 for XIII, though five of them note were Palette Swaps. Going by the XIII-styled trading cards, we know that some of the suggested parties are in the works, but how far along are they? And what about the 30+ characters from 2003 and XI who missed out on XIII? As for the various pachislot games (and that Theatrhythm-style KOF mobile game), that's probably what SNK hopes will generate the revenue that will undoubtedly go right back into development costs.
- Jossed. Nothing major was released in 2014, and we wouldn't get XIV for another two years.
It is a bit too convenient for Gang-Il to pick up this sultry and slightly more sadistic woman as his girlfriend and bring him to Kim's team. My guess is that she could be a lackey of Xanadu, the same guy who yanked Chang and Choi from Kim, and make it so she got picked up by Gang-Il who is perverted, and Xanadu could probably be counting on that, in order to bring down Kim's team for whatever reason. In other words, she's The Mole for Xanadu. Luong has the makings of a sexy bad guy after all.
Lately, her involvement in Samurai Shodown, if it isn't a prequel of her death in 2, has been... shall we say, gratuitous, using the excuse of 'because she is a Nature Spirit, she could be appearing anytime'. Besides, she already set Rimururu up as her successor in her world about the whole nature protector thing, and her staying would halt Rimururu from developing on her own. She would learn to familiarize herself to the new world, bond with her teammates Love Heart and Muimui, and considering that this might be about the Dragon Spirit that Muimui could be involved a bit, Nakoruru will have more reasons to stay, and when the arc ended, she might end up taking the I Choose to Stay option and protect nature in this timeline, assured that Rimururu will do the job fine in the old world.
This might have the side effect of Nakoruru no longer appearing in Samurai Shodown, she's being transported for a permanent stay the KOF world.
Because of the ending of XIV, namely Verse exploding and the souls inside him scattering across the globe, among them being Orochi and Ash Crimson, not to mention his win quotes implying that he has the souls of Rugal, Igniz, either Krizalid or Original Zero, and possibly Gaidel inside him, some of those are ought to be playable in the sequel. In no particular order:
- Ash
- Rugal
- Krizalid
- Gaidel
- Igniz
- A Samurai Shodown villain
Here's the thing. One of the things Nakoruru struggle with and succeeded resisting in the Samurai Shodown verse is that she had to deny all earthly pleasures, setting aside her selfish desires to live like a normal girl. Well, what happened after Verse's defeat? She declared a vacation for Another World's Team and felt closer enough to be fulfilling her repressed desires to live like a normal girl, even if it is to wait and stand ready until the next step of the Verse saga. I don't think Mother Nature is that all forgiving and would see this as a violation of their contract, so by the next game, Nakoruru would be quite depowered and she will have to make it with her own effort and less nature power to deal with the next enemy, until she learns to re-assert her dedication... or impressing Mother Nature itself about how she can work out with just this.
- Leona
- Gaidel
- Ash Crimson
Due to Verse exploding and various Big Bads having come back from the dead as a result, the entire world is kind of thrown into chaos from the sudden rise of various BlackShirts, whether fanatic worshipers of Orochi or sleeper and/or hiding loyal NESTS agents. Whether these minions are going into bloody open warfare with each other and/or causing wanton destruction, the situation is forcing all the various military and police organizations to be stretched thin in dealing with the insanity. The Ikari Warriors are no exception. Both Ralph and Clark are unable to participate in the newest Ko F due to them needing to actively assist in rounding up all the BlackShirts, leaving Leona as the only veteran. However, she is teamed up with two new volunteers who are throwing in there expertise on Orochi to help on half of the problem.
The first is Gaidel, Leona's birth father. Despite no longer wanting to fight anymore, he understands that violence is probably the only real solution and wishes to actually fight alongside his daughter, hoping the reconnect. The second is Ash Crimson, taking advantage of this new timeline where he never actually existed in the first place in order to give himself a fresh start and become more a legitimate good guy. He'll still be a colossal troll, just not an actively malicious one.
Team Anti-NESTS:
- Sylvia Paula Paula
- Angel
- Whip
The second team assembled by Heidern exclusively to handle the threat of NESTS, consisting entirely of former NESTS agents of whom inside information may be valuable.
Team Korea:
- Kim
- Chang
- Choi
Yup. Chang and Choi are finally back under Kim's tutelage (read: heel), now worked twice as hard as before, mostly due to Kim's utter disappoint at the shenanigans they pulled after only a week of being unsupervised. He would have work them thrice as hard, but he's secretly thanking the two crooks for giving him an excuse to be away from Gang-li and Luong.
Team US Sports:
- Heavy D!
- Lucky
- Brian Battler
Honestly, the developers would have to be utter morons NOT to let guys back in after years of being absent, especially for its 15th installment! Anyway, the reason the Sports Team finally gets another shot at the tournament is basically the global war between Orochi and NESTS is scaring off and distracting enough competitors to thin the potential herd as it were.
Team Women Fighters:
- King
- Mai
- Blue Mary
Blue Mary returns to the Ko F to join with friends Mai and King due to her investigations into conflict.
Team Grand Masters:
- Gang-li
- Mr. Karate
- New Character
Takuma very well knows that his days as a legitimate fighter are up, having been putting his body through constant rigor and battle way more than should actually be healthy. Due to this, and how the world is almost burning from the war between Orochi and NESTS, he decided that now would be the perfect time for one last grand fight. Once more, for the last time, donning the identity of Mr. Karate, he assembled two other old masters, Gang-li and a mysterious masker newcomer, to join him for what may be his final tournament before permanent retirement. The masked newcomer will be revealed to actually be Jeff Bogard, another of the many souls released and brought back to life due to Verse's destruction.
Team Mexico:
- Ramon
- King of Dinosaurs
- Vanessa
Vanessa fills in for Angel on the team when the latter joins the Anti-NESTS team, and the team in general now enters as a cover to investigate the goings of the Orochi vs. NESTS war, as well as possibly Ron's activities. The King of Dinosaurs is still there as a means of further strengthening said cover, the man's Ham and Cheese Heel persona as a perfect Obfuscating Stupidity.
Team Villain:
- Jenet
- Xanadu
- Earthquake
Infamous pirate Bonne Jenet enters the KOF tournament once again, and once again for the prize money but also due to boredom as the current Evil Versus Evil conflict has made robbing people far too easy, as its really like looting then actual stealing. In order to complete, she decides to create her own team, the first being Xanadu after the crazed villain after un(?)intentionally ditching Chang and Choi when Kim came knocking. The second choice comes from the rather unexpected return of Earthquake and his gang from the realm of Makai.
After a couple of months of trying to plunder the riches of Makai, Earthquake soon came to the realization that there were no real treasure to plunder to being with, mostly due to.....ya know.....Makai being essentially a freakin' HELL DIMENSION. Disappointed and annoyed, Earthquake decides to round up his gang, wich now included a couple of demons, and return to the land of the living......only to find its now the 21st century. Thankfully for him, Jenet managed to rescue Earthquake and his gang before he killed himself with dealing with the modern day police. She manages to acclimate the ninja to the far future quite well, and after some sweet talking and sexy motions, convinces Earthquake to join her for the next tournament. Conflict soon arises in the team, however, as Earthquake soon realizes that he's actually taking orders from a woman who's not even a real criminal (rich brat who's into piracy as a hobby) for essentially free, but he finds himself unable to just ditch her since all this modern technology, particularly all these modern day guns scare the begeebus out of him, leaving him in a rather undesirable situation.
The inter team conflict can be used as hilarious callback to the infamous Pirates vs. Ninjas conflict, as well as possibly reveal that the cult Xanadu was implied to lead worshipped OROCHI.
Team Evil:
- Freeman
- Ryuji Yamazaki
- Mizuki
This team will be notable as none of the members were given formal invitations to compete, and in fact used forged invitations to compete. However, considering the massive war between two competing criminal organizations at the moment, nobody really cares so much. The team consists entirely of psychotic murderers who are merely taking advantage of the chaos to indiscriminately murder people left and right, in particular Mizuki, whom relishes the insanity going as it reminds her of the Warring States period of feudal Japan. The new designation is to differentiate between "Villains" and "Evil," as while "Villains" are merely bad guys who break the law, "Evil" are just plain sick bastards. May or may not be revealed that Freeman could be an AWOL NESTS agent.
Team South Town:
- Geese Howard
- Billy Kane
- Eiji Kisaragi
Geese take an intense in the ensuing Orochi vs. NESTS conflict if only because the whole thing is messing with his operations in South Town. The city being nearly destroyed during the NESTS saga already put a major damper on everything, and Geese does NOT need this war going on just when things were heading back into normalcy. Geese brings along Billy again to compete, but also brings along ninja assassin Eiji Kisaragi, mostly because Geese finds the ninja to be infinitely more reliable than Yamazaki and to indulge the ninja in allowing him to finally destroy the Sakazaki once and for all. Meanwhile, Hein is left in charge of South Town while Geese is gone.
Team Blanctorche:
- Shen Woo
- Duo Lon
- Kukri
Sent by Emily Blanctorche to mostly keep track of Ash and his activities and essentially cover him whenever things get too much for him, as Ash is now considerably weaker and must now put actual effort into fighting. We'll also learn more about Kukri, and why in particular he hates Shun'ei whom he outright despises for no apparent reason.
Team Orochi:
- Orochi
- Rugal
- Goenitz
One set of the massive Big Bad Ensemble for XV. Orochi is back, but thanks to being resurrected from Verse's destruction instead of being properly released, he is severely weakened to the point he is incapable of possessing able bodied fighters and must rely on either weaker flesh hosts or even automatons. Despite this, Orochi is still extremely powerful and not to be taken lightly. Rugal and Goenitz are his two Co-Dragons, the latter in charge of whipping up the enthralled minions into a frenzy and recruiting new ones while the former is charge of the business and criminal aspects.
Interestingly, the two Co-Dragons will have completely opposing dynamics with Orochi. Rugal is clearly the Dragon with an Agenda and plans to eventually pull a Starscream on Orochi, but Orochi treats the man is with staggering amounts of respect and trust almost to the point of absurd Genre Blindness despite him not having Orochi's blood in him. Goenitz, on the other hand, is fanatically loyal to Orochi and willing to die for his God, but Orochi treats the man like utter crap, mostly due to Goenitz having the means of freeing Orochi the first time much, MUCH earlier than expected. TWICE. Does not matter if there were back up plans, the fact remains Goenitz failed when circumstances literally served him victory on a platter.
Team NESTS:
- Krizalid
- Igniz
- Nameless
Another set of the massive Big Bad Ensemble for XV. The three most powerful members of NESTS come together to revitalize the organization, two of them right after being resurrected from Verse's destruction. Despite having both the resources and capability to utterly crush Orochi and take over the world, the thing that's holding back the organization is the heavily conflicting end goals among the three leaders: Krizalid wants to continue the work and ultimate goal of the original Nest; Igniz wants to destroy everything not loyal to NESTS, as he given up trying to become God and now wants to become the Devil; and Nameless doesn't give a crap and is actually having his own plans on the side.
This team would be able to give the developers the slack they need to flesh out NESTS as an organization plotwise as well as possibly fill up the plotholes left when K9999 was given the Ret-Gone boot.
It's... Rugal being possessed by Mizuki, due to both of them stored in Verse. This doesn't redeem him, but it would make a very scary combination. Rugal is already evil, but by getting possessed by Mizuki/Ambrosia, this would increase his power tenfold. And unlike Orochi, Mizuki/Ambrosia doesn't run on Blue-and-Orange Morality, she'll just as likely to let Rugal loose with his power, considering him the finest example of the evils of mankind. In addition, both of them are notorious as the company's biggest cases of SNK Boss. Combine them and you get not only a very evil character, but also SNK trying to top their SNK Boss credentials.
- WORSE than Evil Ash? Oh, Crap!!!
Consider this: Antonov is always, always smoking cigars when fighting, the one exception to this rule being when he unleashes his ultimate attack. He also bills himself as an extremely powerful fighter, though he surprisingly lacks the otherwise-omnipresent SNK Boss Syndrome. These two facts may simply be unrelated, and he may simply be flattering himself... or, much like Cody and his handcuffs, his extreme smoking habit is a deliberate means of limiting his power while fighting; and given the board's reaction to Antonov winning his own tournament in his ending, he has a good reason for doing so (that, and he seems like a good sport as far as SNK Bosses go).
With this in mind, if he had an EX version in which he laid off the cigars entirely, his unfortunate opponent (i.e. you) would quickly and painfully find out that he is Not Left Handed (or rather, his Senses Are Not Being Clouded By Smoke). They could even call him Serious Antonov, or possibly No Smoking Antonov. Billy Kane would approve.
We might get rumors that Lee Rekka could be a DLC character as an extra for Another World Team. That or another Lee from Dragon Gal. However, with Verse's nature who's to say that the only past figure that was within him was just Mizuki Rashoujin? There's a good chance some evil bastard that was vanquished by the Last Blade characters might be one of the souls gathered within Verse, most prominently, Setsuna. Considering the ending of Last Blade 2, it's safe to say that Setsuna failed his mission to keep Hell's Gate open, and because of his evil nature, there's no way that Kaede, Moriya or one of the Four Guardians (Kagami, Okina or Shigen) will leave this one alive, so he's killed in battle, and possibly return in the future trying to re-spread his reign of terror from the Bakumatsu era to the present day in the hypothetical XV.
In addition, with information that it's not just evil people that gets absorbed (Jeff Bogard and Gaidel can attest), it also opens up for the possibility that Verse is also carrying one good soul that died in the whole Hell Gate Sealing event: The Sealing Maiden herself, Yuki. The fact that the Sealing Maiden lived means that probably Hell's Gate is in danger to open again in the present day, and Yuki might have to choose again: Go with the old way or find a new way (considering it's KOF, she might find other options). And if Shigen's ending in 2 is to be taken into account, there's also a chance that Shigen is also one of the souls within Verse (he died in his ending, and not exactly old age dying).
If this is true, KOF would be even more of a melting pot of various fighting series SNK had.
As discussed numerous times, one of the main reasons behind Rock not appearing in the main series games is that KOF runs on Comic-Book Time; if its assumed that the characters no longer age then Rock would have remained a child no older than 10 years old, preventing him from matching his age in Garou and be considered a regular participant.
However, XIV has shown that characters outside the normal KOF timeline are fair game: the Another World team obviously being comprised of individuals from the distant past and in Love Heart's case, a whole new world; this is still without mentioning Verse being the culprit behind their arrival. As such, it would be fair to say that Verse had dragged in more than just Nakoruru, Mui Mui and Love Heart; a version of Rock hailing from the original Fatal Fury timeline (where Geese is dead and he would be ready to fight at the right age, for instance) could be on the table to at least preserve the passage of time (or in this case lack thereof) in the games.
Plus, in this Troper's humble opinion it'd be providing more interesting interactions: the Fatal Fury-affiliated characters like Terry, Geese, Andy, Joe and Mai would question why Rock's aged up really fast while Rock would have to deal with knowing he has an alternate younger self and Geese being alive.
In the run-up to KOFXIV's release, SNK said on Twitter that it would take place a few years after XIII. But of course, nobody seems to look any older...but if it's only a two or three year age difference, we can't really expect too much to change. Also, notice how Rock looks a tad bit younger than he does in past appearances. Perhaps SNK chose to age everyone up just a few years, but only show it through Rock (who was 12 in the Ash Saga and 15 in the present day)?
Here's the deal: Nakoruru canonically made a contract with the spirit of Kamui Kotan to be the guardian of nature, to forsake earthly happiness. This was actually one of her main characterization and dillema of hers in the Samurai Shodown series. Her ending in the 64 series imply that she certainly had selfish desires to live like a normal girl, but her sense of duty prevailed over that.
And what did she do after the defeat of Verse? While she might have a point that she still has to clean up Verse's mess, she 'waits' by indulging things that could be considered 'having fun' or 'acting like girls in her physical age'. Sightseeing, having fun, etc. It may be heartwarming and all for her to take a break but... the eternal spirit of Kamui Kotan might see it as a violation to her contract that she kept throughout her home series. And nature doesn't fuck around.
So perhaps somewhere in XV, either her ending or early story, Nakoruru gets a visit from the spirit of nature who is displeased with how carefree she became, violating their past deal, and stripped her away from her powers or immortality, rendering her nerfed so she's no longer the almighty immortal spirit anymore.
- Confirmed via Team Krohnen's story prologue and ending.
- Ryu
- Ken Masters
- Chun-Li
- Team New Generation
- Alex
- Sean Matsuda
- Ibuki
- Team World Tour
- Luke Sullivan
- Jamie Siu
- Kimberly Jackson
Team Iron Fist
- Jin Kazama
- Asuka Kazama
- Ling Xiaoyu
Team Guilty Gear
- Sol Badguy
- Ky Kiske
- Baiken
Team Dead or Alive
- Kasumi
- Ayane
- Ryu Hayabusa
Team Fighting Layer
- Skullomania
- Darun Mister
- Blair Dame
Team Soulcalibur
- Kilik
- Maxi
- Xianghua
Team Sunsoft Fighters
- Rai Bakuoh
- Rouwe
- Bonus-Kun
Team Lin Kuei
- Scorpion (Kuai Liang)
- Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)
- Smoke (Tomas Vrbada)
- Super Geon (a heel wrestler like King of Dinosaurs, but with a dragon motif)
- Atomic Guy (a tokusatsu suit actor and "local hero")
- Cyber Woo (a secret NESTS project in an effort to get combat data for military robots)
Team Metal Slug (all three work with Heidern, but this time take a more active role)
- Marco Rossi
- Tarma Roving
- Fio Germi
Team Rebel Army (the aforementioned reason Team Metal Slug takes a more active role)
- Donald Morden
- Allen O'Neil
- Abul Abbas
Team Fu'un (this one speaks for itself, it's kind of like Team Garou)
- Rosa
- Kim Il Sung
- Sho Hayate
A new Team Another World (this one features characters not from Samurai Shodown or Panchinko Games that don't really fit in with KOF's setting)
- A character from World Heroes Presumably Jeanne, since she appeared in SNK Heroines
- A character from The Last Blade Presumably Kaede, due to his god-like powers which Nakoruru also has
- A character from a lesser known game
- Mars People
- They have fighting game appearances already, plus they could serve as a foil to Team Metal Slug and Rebel Army.
- Yuki or Ai
- Athena (The Goddess)
