KOF world

Kof is a three on three (most of the time ) fighting game that shares similaraties with street fighter. This post will focus on the snkplaymore game and the character that have been in it and who were made for it. ( I will be updating this from time to time with more characters)

History
Orginally the name for the first tournament of in the first fatal fury. Kof was used by Geese to find more people for his organization and since then has been used for evil ends every since. After the third Fatal Fury Kof was turned into its own game following the moves a martial artist named Kyo Kusinagi. So far only three saga have been made with a side one following kof maximum impact. Impact stays in south town and follows the alba brothers as they try to keep peace. so far only two entries in that saga.

Characters
Fire Users

Kyo Kusinagi
The one of the heroes of the series Kyo is in the middle of most of the major events but in the past two sagas he has been in the back seat. Kyo fights using his own family fighting style that focuses on using flame power attacks mixed with Chinese kenpo. This can be seen when he start using those punching chains. He is very creative as seen in moves which he is always switching moves up or creating news ones. His power is incredible as it has been sought after by two groups Nest and Ash. Nest wanted to use the power to make super powered clones which is how they came up with K( although he is not a clone. I will explain in his bio.) Ash group wanted so that they can use his power to control the Orochi. Most of the time Kyo is facing off with Iori a member of the Yagami family who has a long time blood fued with the Kusinagis. Kyo Personality is play full up to a point. He doesn’t take the tournament seriously except when the people behind it reveal themselves. He is the one Kof character who has changed his clothing for each saga as well as in MI 2. His hobby is playing hockey.  In XIV he has his punching mix up now with his father old DM as his climax move with the family emblem appearing right before he does it.

Iori Yagami
Kyo rival Iori appeared in KOf one year after Kyo. Obssesed being Kyo Iori enters every Kof with the hopes of meeting Kyo so that he can kill him. Even though he is said to hate violence in his bio Iori is a very violent person. When his team mates lost (Billy and Eji) Iori brutally attacked them. He is fighting is a in house style mixing flame themed attack tiger claw strikes and while Kyo fights us moves he creates Iori fights on raw instinct. His claw strikes are powerful even without the flames as shown when Ash takes the flame from him. With out his flames Iori had to enter the tournament relying on his slashing strength and many characters noted that he was scarier because of it. When he lost his flame it was the first time Iori had to under go a serious movelist change as well as his custom which never changed before. He plays as a guitarist in a band. Iori’s clan swore alligance to the Orochi which gave them more power but at the coast of their lives and sanity. It is because of this promise that IOri flame are purple while Kyo is organ. The lose of his sanity can be seen when he enters riot blood mode. IOri loses all control and acts on instinct and compared to his nomrmal version his attacks are more aggressive and savage. At the end of XIII he gets his flames back and is then seen ready to fight Kyo. In XIV Iori has a new look wearing a red long coat. His moves are now a mixed between his normal self from XIII with his normal command moves now having the claw animation to the ex version with the fire which shows in his neomax as it now has flames.

K Prime(K Dash)
K was introduced during the nest saga as a clone of Kyo but was later proven to be a man who had his memory whipped by Nest. K fights using Kyo flame which has been infused into his right hand and a style similar to Jeet kun do as well as high speed movement as all of his dms use his speed in one way of another. K is the main hero of the Nest Saga and after defeating ingitz K wants nothing more to do with Kof but he is often dragged into it one way or another. In 2003 Chin got him to go as he sensed Mukia and his right hand reacted. IN his ending he is the one of the few people who actually have Mukia in their ending. K was absent from XII but then was brought back in XIII where he introduced his new move the neo chain drive which looked similar to Nameless dm. At of XIII K and his team, Maxima and Kula are about to take a cruise when a terrorist group gets on board and tries to take them so that they can copy the nest technology inside of him. (My favorite character) K entry in kof also mark one of the few times KOF time line meets up with another game. Gaoru mark of the wolves shows the destruction from the 2002 storyline when Nest fires a blast at South town causing massive damage. For the most part it is hard to match the KOF time line with other games which is why Geese is dead in fatal Fury but not in KOF.

Vice & Mature

Iori has had a lot of team mates and some he has even attacked but the ones that keep coming to his side more than once is Vice & Mature. Once Rugal sectaries the two ladies join Yagami not only as a team but in their anger against the Kusinagi family. Vice is vicious posing super human level of strength she is the grappler. Mature is probably just a vicious as her counter part but uses slashing and projectiles more than sheer brute force. I am putting them together. As they barely part from the time Mature appeared in XIII. The two are also members of the Oriochi family with Vice being darkness and Mature light. The story goes that they were brought back in XIII to help Iori get back his flames from Ash. What has them fighting in XIV along with Iori is anyone’s guess.  But besides the custom the major change is that Mature is no longer wearing an eye patch as she did in XIII. She also now has blue version of Dead End the super she shares with Rugal. The odd thing is that according to SNK wiki both ladies have taken a liking to Iori to the point they worry about him. You can see this in the team ending when they offering a chance to wipe the curse of the Oriochi out of his blood line.

Kula Diamond

The Anti K Kula was made to counter K from her moves which lightly resembles his own. One of the youngest fighters Kula has a sweet personality something you wouldn’t be able to tell from her power of ice. A power that was made by Nest through manipulating Kyo cells. She was said to have lost her power which is why she was not in 2003 but reappeared in XI after regaining them somehow. She is usually seen with Dian and Foxy two fighters who were her guards. Kula appears in XIV with a slightly new look and some new moves.

Maxima

The grappler of the group Maxima is  cyborg mixing his powerful move with robotic themed animation. He is level headed and can scan anybody similar to what you would find in DBZ as he can asses your fighting ability thanks t Nest technology. During the Nest saga him and K were on the run together from Nest and the Ikira warriors In his recent incarnation Maxima looks more robotic as a silver lining runs along his suit.

Ash Crimson
Ash is the main character of the Ash saga. I saw main character because his actions are not heroic. He fights using Green flames and acrobatics. During the Ash saga he take the powers of Chizaru and Iori granting him the powers of illusion and Iori purple flame. It is never explained how he is able to take their powers. He can only use their powers as Dm or Neo Max. He personality is playful which comes during his matches as he fights in anon serious manner in order to anger his opponent so that he can get an opening. Since he fights so playfully it is hard to say if we had seen the true power of his flames. As for why he took the powers of Iori and Chizuru it would appear he was collecting them for Saki. Saki is Ash for ancestor and the main villain of the saga as you the bosses from the saga are form his clan. In XIII Ash betrays Saki and takes his power while at the same time killing him. This plain back fires though once Ash absorbs Saki powers he takes over Ash body. Under Saki control Ash posses dark flames and is surrounded by them. Towards the end Ash regains control and Saki from going back in time to try again. Apparently Saki was deity that represented time which explains why when he appears he can stop time. What isn’t explained is how is killing Saki in the present earsing him form the past. You see towards the end Ash is wiped from existence as he killed his ancestor and that goes all through time and thus he cannot exist. To be honest I saw Ash as K best rival. Not only are they different in style with K being aggressive and Ash a charge up but the two were different where they K was technology and Ash was ancient magic. I hope they bring him back for the one reason.

Saiki
Ash ancestor Saiki is big enemy behind the events during the Ash Saga. He is the representative of Time and sees all other life forms around him as garbage, even Mukia and the others under his command. Saiki original plan was to take the orochi power as his own. This changed when Ash attacked him and tied to take his power. At least that is what Ash thought until Saiki took over his body when he absorbed his power. Saiki is seen in three forums. One is human forum which was released as an extra character for console release the second is the his true forum when he appears as a mid boss. The final forum is when he takes over Ash body with his power covering Ash in darkness. Saiki has the power of darkness and time. You can see this when he appears as a mid boss and time stops. His power of time isn’t complete though as he needs the door you see in first and second boss stages to go back in time. His power of darkness is seen when he is in human forum and boss form. IN his human forum it is like ash except there are no charge commands and his flame is black. In boss mode he can use the darkness to hold his enemy in place or burn them. When he takes over Ash body his dark flames take over and add on to Ash moves. a good example of Saiki power increasing Ash is that instead of his normal ex fireball which is two hits he fires fours fireballs. Saiki also seems to have the power to absorb life from enemies. he shows this when absorbs Mukia life turning him to dust and a dm he has where grabs the opponent and takes a good chunk of life to a very small dose.

Boss

Human forum

Dark ash

Krizalid
The boss from 99 Krizalid is a clone of K only appearing in 99 he is suppose make sure that the Kyo clones attack on their targets. He dies in the fight aginst K as a piece of the ceiling falls on him. He uses the least fire as he only uses it in his DM. Krizalid thought himself as the orginal and that K was the clone in K ending in 99 it is reveled by Whip is the real one not Krizalid. He was suppose to gather data on the fighters from the tournament and then give it to the Kyo clones scattered all over the world. This plain failed off course with Krizalid death. He came back in 200 dream match but that was it.

Nameless/ K9999 or k49
I am overlapping these two because they take the same role. K9999 was brought in to the KOF world in 2001 the nest of the nest saga. His hatred of k was similar to Iori hatred of Kyo. The problem is that overall K9999 is a copy wright issue. You see K9999 shares similarities with Akira from the Akira movie from appearance to powers. So when Snk became Snkplaymore and brought back the series from Elioth who hade it from 2000 to 2001 they had to change a few things. In comes Nameless K9999 but with changes to his own flavor. Nameless is a Romeo type character working for Nest until he can be with his beloved again islode. The woman known as islode must be for a Kula clone or related to Kula as she shares a frightening resembelence to her from looks to power. Islode powers of ice make an appearance in the game through Nameless as the power that is holding back his flames which explains why he has to take it off to use the fire. K9999 was only seen in 2001 and 2002 but when 2002 was redone Nameless took his spot and has not been seen since.

Japan Team

Shingo Yabaki
A distant cousin of Kyo Shingo is a member of the Kusanagi clan. He is not just a comic relief but he is confusing when given to much thought. I saw this because it seems Snkplaymore doesn’t know what to do with the boy. There are moments in the stories leading up to KOF that official cannon where Shingo is said to be able to use the flame to a small extent yet in game play we see none of this. A perfect point is in 2003 where Benimaru had to bail him out of Jail in because he was arrested for arson because he went around saying that he can use fire. Game play wise he is Kyo with out flames (which is probably one of the reason why Iori lost his flames and not Kyo.) Shingo style resembles Kyo punching combo but since he is with no flame effect and comical relief thrown in reflecting his personality. Since joining Kof in 97 Shingo only missed XIII because of his injuries from XI. Even though he can’t enter Shingo makes an appearance as in the stands along side Chizaru. Shingo is always looking up and because of this and his determination people like having him around.

Benimaru Nikaido The second strongest of the Japan team. Benimaru is electricity user who fighting using kick boxing. He is a model who can hold his own in a fight. He only refers to this once and that is at the end of 97 but never again. Benimaru has a heart of gold and is loyalty but is interesting to read about. Apearntly he is as odd as Iori just like Iori hates violence yet he is once of the most violent people in the game Benimaru hates anime fanes. I think Snkplaymore is messing with us on that one. His powers are electricity and high speed movement.

Goro Diamon
You can basically consider Daimnon the Earth member od team Japan. He came in third in the same tournament that Kyo and Benimaru entered in. He fights using judo and ground based moves which are mostly throws. He is a calm person who teaches Judo as his profession so when you do not see him in the tournament he is teaching his students. Unlike Kyo and Benimaru he hasn’t made a team of his own instead he is only in the tournament because the others ask him to join most of the time.

Terry Bogaurd
Technically the first Kof winner Terry entered kof when it was the official tournament for the first Fatal Fury game. His fighting style is his own creation focusing on chi manipulation and moves from other styles. A hero of the fatal fury games Terry story is shaky when looking at since the game don’t add up to well. In fatal fury Geese is dead because when he lost to Terry he jumped off his roof. In Kof he is still alive and kicking while in maximum impact he is dead and haunts south town as a nightmare. Terry also is kind of a parent figure raising Geese son Rock on behalf of his mother who asked Terry to raise him. In the fatal fury universe he trains Rock thus giving him some of his moves combing with Geese. In Kof story line it is hard to see whether or not he is teaching as it was indicated when he was wearing the mark of the wolf clothing for 03 and xi. In XIV the hungry wolf returns to his original outfit with a few alterations. His theme is most of his moves have power in the name from Power Stream his Leader DM from the ash saga to his more well known moves power wave and Power Geysers.

Andy Bogaurd
Terry little brother, Andy joined the first KOf tournament with Terry and Joe. Since he is not the main character but Terry side kick he gest the second in commands most of the time instead of the boss. In Fatal Fury storyline he trains a stundet to fight in place in second south town and at the end tells him that he is no longer his teacher but rather his rival. His love interest is Mai who loves to mess with him whenever she can. For proof of this look in their intros.

Joe Higashi is the third man in the fatal fury team Joe fighting style is Muay Thia and emphasizes a hurricane whether it be assaulting his enemies with tornadoes or powerful assaults to overwhelm them. Joe is the comical one of the group but with his fighting style he should be underestimated. Joe is the Muay Thai champion in the kof world and often time has to settle with how is the best with Hwa Jai another Mauy Thai practitioner but he adds liquor to the fight. Another point for Joe is that SNK wiki page has his girl friend to be Lilly Kane Billy Kane little sister. Which is a little issue since Billy works for Geese.

Tung Fu Rue

Tung is one of Terry Master. Appearing in both Fatal Fury and Art Of Fighting games Tung is known as KOF Master Roshi. He gets this as he can pump his muscles up to the same way Goku legendary master does. Tung and Geese have something in common other than Terry and his father in that they are both dead in the Fatal Fury storyline but are very much alive in KOF. The last time Tung was seen was in KOF XI as a special character sharing another thing with Roshi  in the fact he gained beam move of his own.  He reappears in KOF XIV showing off his old moves making us wonder what his new ones will be.

Geese Howard
The big bass boss of the Fatal Fury series Geese is a boss character who fights using a hybrid fighting style. Geese is a boss of a crime syndicate which is how he was able to fund the first kof tournament. Geese is story is confusing since in the Fatal Fury world he is dead and depending on which kof game you play he is alive. I say that because in the maximum impact series which takes place in South Town Geese is dead and thus you fight the infamous nightmare version. In other installment he is alive. Geese also has a few family members in the game with Wolfgang Krauser is half brother make a few appearances and Rock his son who is later raise by Terry. Geese last kof appearance was XI when we can see him as a secret character. Geese also has a interesting argument about him as his best known move is either Rising Storm or Raging Storm depending on the game you play.  In XIV it seems he may be sporting a new look as we see him in a white suit from the Snk Entertainment page.

 

 

Kyokugenryu Karate team
Based off of the art of fighting games the team member focus on Kyokogen team with Ryo, Yuri, and Takuma Sakazaki with Robert along with King on occasion. They are based out of Southtown but only in KOF did they meet with the exception of mark of the wolves and Snk VS Capcom. Also unlike other charatcers you can see similarities between these character Street Fighter main characters.

Ryo the main star of the team he tries to keep the school up by doing jobs. He has taken Both Mr. Big and Geese on separate occasions and won. Ryo is trying to get with King but his family makes that a troublesome task. Ryo has been given the title Mr. Karate but unlike his father he has not put on a mask. Also he has only done it twice so far. Also their seems to be a playful thing going on with this character between Capcom and Snkplaymore. Ryo has his own moves but there are similar two Street Fighter Ryu and thanks to the name fans say their some links but it is with Dan that their are the most as Dan moves make fun of Ryo own moves from his fireball to his kicks.

Yuri is Ryo little sister who has been other teams not just his own. Yuri is playful and seems to be a play on Street Fighter Sakura with moves that just like Ryo similar to how Sakura moves are similar to Ryu and both have their own playful or student spin. Once instance is the fireball which other doesn’t cover the same distance like Ryo and Yuri or power like with Ryu and Sakura. Yuri personality seems to can be seen when she is caught up with her father antics. One instance is inn KOF XI where Ryo and King go out on a date and Yuri and the rest of the team act like waiters finding the worst mask ever with Takuma where his Mr. karate mask and Yuri grabbing some glasses and mustache. Other than her family team she has joined with the ladies team with King and Mai a few times. At one point she had her own raging demon.

Robert Garcia is Ryo rival making him his Ken to Ryo Ryu. Robert has a more flashy style and has some more kicks in his style as apposed to Ryo. Robert has some serious money from his family business like Ken Masters does but unlike him Robert hits on all women from King to Yuri. He has even proposed to Yuri or at least planed to only to have his master Takuma say no. The two fight without Yuri, Robet & King even knowing it. In XIV he is now sporting a mustache and a blue top as opposed to his black one.

Takuma is the old master of the group and can be seen as the crew Akuma if you will. His moves are stronger versions of Ryo without the punch that he has along with some moves of his own. He is the serious one seeing himself as keeping the youth in line. I mentioned Akuma because he is at the times the baddest of the crew but only when he is Mr.karate. In Snk VS Capcom Chaos we see Takuma sport the Mr. Karate Persona in two ways. One is his usual self just wearing a mask and two is the serious one which has been put on par with Shinn Akuma or as some people say true Akuma often sending chills down everyone spine with moves that back it up. Most recent was in KOF XIII where as a DLC character he was sought out be other players because he was just that dangerous. With even without the mask Takuma is a hand full just like Akuma is.

Yuri

Ryo little sister who sometimes fights on the ladies team is Kof Sakura as she has some of the family moves but at the same time they are not as strong. Yuri is the silly one of the group and you can see it in her climax super as she ends with a comical posse. In the past she did posses her own raging demon without the symbol that goes along with it. In XIV she joins Robert and Ryo again with the added information that she is dating Robert.

Ladies or Queen Of fighting

This tam members change depending on how the teams are the ladies team member switch to the point they are always changing. For example in  King was missing 2000 but was back in 2001. Most of the ladies have romantic counters with some of the men.

King the female kick boxer from France she has her own bar. The difference between her and Joe and her styles of Muy tai  is she uses her feet a lot. She punches but King is all about feet to the point she fires projectile from her feet. (I believe she was the inspiration for Ken omega mode where he was kick hadoken instead  launching the with her feet.)  She and Ryo keep trying to make things happen but they don’t work out.

Mai is the beautiful ninja with fire. Mai ninja fighting style has her taking hitting the enemies with fans and then following that up with what ever flame attack she can come up with. Personality wise she has Andy on the brain. Since meeting Terry little brother she has been honed on making him hers. You can see this the best in one intro where we see her bust out a hand puppet that looks like a baby that Mai then uses to mess with him playfully.

As posted before Yuri has been on this team in the past with the exception of the Nest saga as it was four team and she joined up with her father and brother.

Hinako A small petite woman who practiced summon wrestling introduced in the nest saga. From 2000 – 2003 Hinako was in kof finishing with Athena team in XI to forum the high school team which after that she has disappeared. Hinako posses special strength that allows her to lift or move people twice her size with relative ease.

Kasumi is a counter player. Meaning that she catches the opponent or throws them minuim effort. Her father  was in the art fighting game along with the Ryo team.

Ikari Team

The best way to put it is that the Ikari military is the equal to Marvel Shield. Most criminal threats from the tournament or relating to it is handled by these guys weather it is the clone situation from Nest, Criminal movement such as Rugal and Geese or unknown figures such as Those From OF The Past. Compared to war the team see he KOF tournament as R&R. It is unclear with Snkplaymore trying to be like marvel if their roll in the universe will expand.

Clark  Still

Is the normal one out of the group. Besides his big muscles and super human strength Clark is normal. He cool and level headed and he plays as a light grappler. Him and Ralf had a Ryu and Ken thing going as they share the same moves but with the slight difference where Ralf is striking Clark does all the grabbing. One of the original KOF characters with shades fans loved his quick movement and grabs moves in XIII. They are probably interested to see what he will bring to XIV.

Ralf Jones

The explosive member of the team he did share a lot of moves with Clark as they had the same training. The thing that changes was the fact he survived a nuke. This was a saying in KOF 99 but it was made to lore and it is the reason why he has such an explosive punch. Ralf explosive style is something his fans love. As part of a military group I believe he has the highest rank besides the group leader. He is in charge of his team  and takes care of them as seen when he stopped Leona from killing her self. This was on the back of the Oriochi seal breaking and she was worried about being alone. He is also hot headed

Leona

The deadliest and sometimes unpredictable member of the team. Leone is the adopted daughter of Heidern. He trained her and raised her as his daughter as you will see as she did have some of his moves. Leona is a member of the Oriochi clan just like Iori with her element bring water. Since she was taught how to fight by Heidern though we see her moves become more powerful and wild instead of having a water theme to them.  In Blood Riot she had red hair and eyes with pale skin similar to Iori. This has become a problem in the past but her team mates have bee able to deal with it. In XIII we see he Blood Riot in her Neo Max and we can still see it at the end of her Climax as her hair turns red for but a moment.

Korea Team

Chang

A big guy with a big iron ball. Chang is one of the prisoners that was left in Kim care. The man bring size to the table as uses his iron ball and body to take down the enemy. Chang is seen as a little bit of a clown.

Choi

 

Kim

 

Is a man fighting for Justice using twakendo. The family man was a parole office for Chang and Chio and mostly on the same team. This time though they are on different sides in XIV. A long staple since Fatal Fury his fast feet are always welcomed Kim is fast and versatile making him a go to for most players.

Gang il

Kim Master who seems to have had great effect on his student as Kim got his sense of justice from him. A womanizer of Gang il fighting style resembles Kim in he has basically the same moves but players have noticed that he is slightly slower. This gives a Ryo and Takuma feel as the moves are the same but their are slightly different animation that make the look and play differently. For instance some of his moves have armor. Another Interesting point  is Luong his woman at the moment most people say wife.

Luong

The mysterious wife of Gang il is s beautiful as she is deadly. She uses her kicks like a whip to strike you pull you over as some of her ex moves show. According to her bio Luong fell in love with Gang il on one of his world tours. If that is the case I wonder if we will see comedy from them in the sense that he is with a woman smiling until Luong comes over reminds him who he is married