The King of Fighters



"It all began in '94. Kept on rollin' in '95. The pieces were in place in '96, and it came to an end in '97. But now it comes, and here we go. KOF is here again. Nothing's gonna stop it 'cause it's 1998!"

- Cipher, Thematic Theme Tune of The King of Fighters '98 (and its Updated Rerelease, Ultimate Match, as a remixed version).

The King of Fighters series started out as a crossover fighting game, featuring some of the most popular characters from SNK Playmore's (known as SNK back then) fighting game franchises: Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, as well as classic SNK games such as Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier, splitting them up into teams of three (four in the NESTS Saga), duking it out in one-on-one battles similar to its major competition at the time, Street Fighter.

Although the first game was merely intended to be a Mascot Fighter, the series became more popular than the others that inspired it, and an overreaching plot soon developed that took the other SNK fighters along for the ride.

There are four major Story Arcs:


 * The original King of Fighters arc, focusing on notorious crime lord Rugal Bernstein and his attempt to establish himself as the world's strongest fighter by staging a grand tournament and inviting contenders from all across the world.
 * The Orochi Saga arc, which concerns Kyo Kusanagi (the winner of the first King of Fighters tournament) and a thousand-year blood feud with the Yagami family, who have gained demonic power thanks to a pact with a being known as "Orochi".
 * The NESTS arc, which focuses on the titular organisation and their conspiracy to create weaponized clones of the most powerful warriors in the world. As Kyo is absent for the majority of this arc, the main protagonist is a new character called K' (pronounced "kay dash").
 * The Tales of Ash arc, which introduces androgynous French pretty boy Ash Crimson as the new main character. The story involves a sinister plot to capture the powers of the Kusanagi, Yagami and Kagura clans and seize the sealed power of Orochi, and the question of just whose side Ash is on.

(More detailed summaries of each arc- and the individual games- can be found in the Analysis section.)

The games were initially released on the (ridiculously expensive) Neo Geo home arcade system, so they had a hard time catching on with North American home gamers, but remained very popular in Japan, as well as with arcade gamers worldwide. It released new editions of the game every year with Madden-like regularity, introducing new characters and rosters into the storyline, while the old characters have seemingly retained their basic sets of special moves throughout the series, probably to dodge the problem of the older games being So Last Season.

In addition to the thirteen games of the main KOF storyline, there are multiple spinoffs, remakes and "dream match" titles (that combine all the characters of that particular saga into one game).

These include Maximum Impact, a 3D Fighting Game series which takes place in an Alternate Continuity, right down to having characters not featured in the main KOF storylines; an RPG that ties the events of 96 with 97; a Bullet Hell spinoff called KOF Sky Stage for the Xbox Live Arcade; and The King of Fighters-i 002, an iPhone game that ties into XIII

Aside from fighting games and tie-ins, there were the rather infamous Dating Sim games for mobiles and Nintendo DS, Days Of Memories allowed the Player Character to venture in Southtown and date most of the fighting divas from the series (and from others); later versions also allowed a girl Player Character to date the male fighters as well.

This is the character sheet. Be warned, the gross amount of characters in this series is taken to an extreme degree.


 * Dream Match Game: Both the Trope Namer (thanks to the Japanese subtitle of '98, Dream Match Never Ends) and Trope Codifier.

""The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact TWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"
 * Adaptation Expansion: Usually present in home ports, which tend to add (at the very least) new characters to the roster.
 * Alternate Continuity: The Maximum Impact series, the EX series, the R series, Neowave (the latter of which has no proper story), and Days of Memories (with changes going up to the characters' personalities themselves).
 * KOF itself is an alternate continuity to both Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. This was intentionally done so that SNK could pit characters from both series without having to reconcile their ages (since Art of Fighting was set ten years before Fatal Fury).
 * Amazon Brigade: Women Fighters Team, in its various incarnations. In 2003, the High School Girls Team replaced the Psycho Soldiers Team, which consisted of Athena, Hinako, and Malin.
 * The Anime of the Game: Another Day.
 * Announcer Chatter: In the Maximum Impact series. This might be the only announcer in the series to rival those of Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, and Capcom vs. SNK. And that's saying something.

"First attack!"

"Ooooh! A counter hit!"

"That one's gonna leave a bruise!"

"Here we go! The battle begins!"

"We're just getting started here!"

"Crank it up and get ready for more!"

"The moment of truth for our contestants arrives!"

"Final Round! Ready?"

"WINNERRRRRRR!!!""


 * There's also his waxing poetic on the mood the battlegrounds set in Regulation A. They really should have just gotten a native English speaker to handle this role...
 * The Artifact: It's what happens when you're not the protagonist, regardless of whether or not you've been a mainstay. The biggest cases of this are probably Terry Bogard, Mai Shiranui and Kim Kaphwan. While they are still around more than the others whom are generally Demoted to Extra or just mysteriously disappear but they are generally just simply around to only appease older fans. And as for Mai Shiranui, some people accuse SNK of the "real reasons" why Mai is still around.
 * Assist Character:
 * 2000's Another Striker cameos.
 * The cameos in '99: Evolution.
 * Audio Adaptation: There are numerous drama CDs for the series, usually one or two per game, with individual characters sometimes getting their own CDs.
 * Badass Crew: Most of the (earlier) teams fit this bill (i.e. Team Japan, Art of Fighting Team, Fatal Fury Team, Ikari Team, etc.), as many of them are family members and close friends who have known each other for a good deal of time and decide to team up. More recent examples would include Team Korea and the K' Team. At this point, most of these teams have at least two or three characters that function as True Companions.
 * Badass Family: The Kusanagi, Sakazaki, and Howard families, natch.
 * Battle Trophy: Rugal Bernstein: it's revealed in his debut game that he preserves the bodies of the countless martial artists he's defeated over the years by subjecting them to a grisly liquid metal bath, making them living trophies.
 * Bishonen: Half of the male cast is made up of pretty boys. Nagase, the tech-head ninja from Maximum Impact 2, dislikes each and every last one of them.
 * Blind Idiot Translation: Most of the games up to 2002 will have at least one totally bizarre line that becomes almost way too funny. At a serious scene, just one slip up in translations and BAM: INSTANT NARMAGE.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Iori Yagami, Mature, and Vice, whenever they form the Yagami Team.
 * Bootstrapped Theme: Aside from the repeated use of "Geese Ni", nearly every theme for the Art of Fighting Team is based off of Ryuhaku Todoh's theme from the first AOF. To date, the only notable exceptions are "Kamikirimushi" ("Praying Mantis") from '96 and "Fight to the Limit" from 2001.
 * Boss Dissonance: Like most of SNK's bosses, this series has some nasty ones. How nasty? It has a trope!
 * Calling Your Attacks: Almost everyone. Very often subverted when the characters yell something other than the move's name (like Iori); averted by the less talkative characters (Daimon, Leona) and Orochi, whose moves didn't even had actual names until '98: Ultimate Match.
 * The Cameo: The entire gamut is enough to probably warrant its own page.
 * Character Customization: While its still impossible to change costumes in XIII because of 2D, SNK have been very creative with color palettes (Robert Garcia with very convincing Terry Bogard palette for example), especially with skin color and skintight clothing (Most notable are "no pants" Yuri and Raiden's many "costumes"). And then, as soon as the arcade version was released, it's been revealed that there's alternate palettes that give certain characters actual headswaps: Yuri gets her long hair back, Raiden loses his mask (revealing that he is, in fact, Big Bear), and Takuma gets his Mr. Karate tengu mask back.
 * The console version adds to this with Kyo getting his old 94 school uniform back (And this is without counting his DLC form which comes with a whole new costume altogether.)
 * Character Roster Global Warming: As far as Mighty Glaciers go, the series started with Ralf, Clark, and Chang. It took them about six years to add Maxima, a year to add Seth, three years to add Tizoc, and about another six to add Raiden.
 * Charles Atlas Superpower: Partially averted, as many characters have incredible strength and powers due to their bloodlines. On the other hand, others are powerful simply because they trained.
 * Colony Drop: Igniz tries this in 2001.
 * Comic Book Time: After '95, SNK froze all of the ages of their characters in order to keep the cast roughly youthful. While there are a few illusions of the passage of times (such as Kyo changing his outfit to show that he's dropped out of high school), the earlier characters remain in their teens and twenties whereas most of them should be about a full decade older. This also extends to cameo characters and newer entrants. This is why characters like Kim's sons Jae Hoon and Dong Hwan from Garou, as well as fan-favorite Rock Howard (SNK Playmore's desire to save Rock for the Garou sequel which will probably never come to pass aside) will probably never make a playable appearance in a future 2D KOF; they appear as children and will stay that way unless there is some sort of Retcon Plot-Relevant Age-Up involved.
 * Compilation Rerelease: Three so far:
 * The King of Fighters Orochi Hen (PS2): A Japanese release comprising of 95, 96, and '97: the Orochi Saga.
 * The King of Fighters NESTS Hen (PS2): Same as above, only it includes 99 (plus the Dreamcast port, 99 Evolution), 2000 and 2001. Basically, the NESTS Chronicles.
 * The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga (PS2, PSP, Wii): The US and European equivalent of the first collection, only it also includes the series' progenitor 94 and the popular 98. This package also includes a Challenge mode, but lacks the online mode, soundtrack selection, and customizable palettes from the Japanese compilations.
 * Continuity Creep: What was envisioned as a relatively storyless Mascot Fighter began to kick into overdrive starting in '95. The story has since become more and more complex, to the point that you'd be lost if you currently jumped into the games without knowledge of at least the first and third sagas (i.e. the arcs revolving around Orochi and the Three Sacred Treasures). And that's not even counting all of the plot elements and allusions carried over from Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Ikari Warriors, Psycho Soldier, Samurai Shodown, The Last Blade, Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter... A few more titles and we might very well approach full-on Continuity Porn/Continuity Lock Out.
 * Creepy Twins: The two that appear in the Ikari Team's XI ending.
 * Crisis Crossover
 * Cursed with Awesome: The Orochi bloodline, which has Elemental Powers and blade-fingers by default for most members. Then the Riot of the Blood happens and things get a little messy for everyone nearby. Also an example of Hereditary Curse.
 * It's also been stated that members of the Yagami bloodline have a tendency to die young, most likely due to the Riot. Puking up all that blood on a regular basis can't be healthy...
 * Specifically, mixed bloodlines (i.e. Leona and Iori) can't fully control the power of Orochi, making it easy for Orochi or one of Four Heavenly Kings (Goenitz, Yashiro, Shermie, or Chris) to induce a violent, mindless rampage.
 * Death Is Cheap: Averted since dead characters only return in the non-canonical Dream Match games.
 * Demoted to Extra: The American Sports Team from KOF '94. Their only other appearance as playable characters (rather than just background and ending cameos) was in KOF '98, which brought back almost every playable character in the series up to that point.
 * Depending on the Artist: Iori's hair is either a gravity-defying pompadour or a more realistic bang that covers part of his face. Sometimes it's in between the two styles!
 * K' usually has a (relatively) normal hairstyle, disheveled with a fair amount of bangs. This is consistent throughout the most of the series in terms of sprites and most artwork, but his hair will sometimes appear thick and bushy like a miniature afro, slicked, or even straight-up Shonen Hair.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Orochi is supposed to be able to bring The End of the World as We Know It, Goenitz is capable of catastrophic destruction (with hints that Chris, Shermie, and Yashiro can do it too), yet it is never even hinted that more than three fighters were needed to defeat any of them; and in fact, Kyo is usually given all the credit for the defeat of Orochi.
 * Difficulty Spike: Several games in the series suffer from this, but the three most Egregious examples would probably be in 94, 96, and XI. If you reach the first cutscene (in 94), face the Boss Team (in 96), or make it to the Sub Boss (in XI), expect things to take a turn for the worse.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: Only in the comical, non-serious "ending" of 2002, though: Shermie makes several suggestive poses and many male characers (including Andy Bogard!) run around trying to get a good look. Clark just runs up and tackles her.
 * Divergent Character Evolution:
 * Clark and Ralf used to be basically the exact same character; Little more than headswaps. Over time, they evolved to the point it was downright bizarre to think they were ever similar (Ralf likes to punch things, Clark tosses you around) Fan reaction was extremely negative when Clark was brought back to the rank of "Ralf 2" in XII.
 * Mature and Vice. The former is more speed-oriented, while the latter is a grappler; they only share one move.
 * The Kyo clones, whose differentiation came in 2002: Unlimited Match.
 * Kyo and Iori were actually Ryu and Ken in 95, but then became wildly different in the next game; in fact, when Iori lost his flames and became a more physical fighter ala Kyo post-95, Kyo went back to his old moveset.
 * The console version of XIII then added the original flames Iori and "rekka" style NESTS-saga Kyo as DLC playable characters thus restoring the Kyo-Iori side of this trope two-fold (So you can have old "rekka" Kyo versus new "melee" Iori or new/old "fireball" Kyo versus old "flames" Iori.)
 * Doomed by Canon: The New Faces/Orochi Team die in their ending, for crying out loud!
 * Doomed Hometown: Southtown, the setting of sister series/AlternateContinuity Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, is all but systematically wiped out by Clone Zero's Kill Sat at the end of 2000 in his attempt to rebel against the NESTS cartel. (This does lead to Takuma's CMOA where he redirects the Zero Cannon's laser with a Max-Power Haoh Shi Koh Ken/Suburu Ou Shikoh Ken to save King.) However, this plot point is absent in the next game, and by the time of 2003, the citizens seemingly have worked together to rebuild the shambled city.
 * Downloadable Content: XIII has 3 characters made DLC, all three of them being different versions of existing characters basically serving as nostalgia.
 * "Iori with the Power of Flames" is Iori as he used to be, using his old moveset from other KOF games before Ash stole his powers. He also claims the SDM version of his Ya Otome from KOF 99, his Yamisogi DM from KOF 2000 and his Neomax is the Homurahotogi HSDM from 2002 with a mch, MUCH larger explosion.
 * "NESTS Kyo" is Kyo in his KOF 99 outfit with his signature "rekka" moveset from 96 to XI. He loses his aerial Orochinagi DM but reclaims his Mu Shiki DM. His Neomax "Totsuka" is a whole new move involving a charging fire punch tat causes a gigantic explosion.
 * "Mr. Karate" is Takuma in his classic Art of Fighting boss persona (He has it as an alt costume of sorts but here its a legitimate EX moveset). His moves (And by the looks of things, his personality here) are based around Serious Mr. Karate from SNK vs Capcom Chaos while his Neomax is a whole new move starting with a punch and ending with a flashy, explosive karate chop with Taku- sorry, Mr. Karate powered by the golden spirit of a real tengu.
 * Dramatic Wind: A few characters have these in their intro or win poses. This includes Kyo and Iori's special introduction in 2000 which is made funny if the wind in one of the backgrounds is blowing the other way around.
 * Easter Egg: In XI, certain characters have alternate taunts depending on who they're facing. Iori has specific taunts for Kyo and Ash. Ash has the same in regards to Kyo and Iori. Oswald happens to have three different poses for his taunt, although it's not character-specific. The special intros and idle animations throughout the series could also count. Try holding down with Bao for example.
 * Enemy Mine: Kyo and Iori teaming up occasionally; Gato with the Outlaw Team in 2003 (though Gato has no friends or enemies, from his point of view).
 * Four Is Death: Goenitz, Yashiro, Shermie, and Chris are the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi. Mature, Vice, Yamazaki, and Gaidel are the Four Earthly Kings of Orochi. They complete the Hakkesshu that represent the eight heads of Orochi.
 * Game Mod: No matter which Neo Geo installment of the series you pick, there's always a hack of it. Primarily they tend to make bosses playable though some add new arenas, graphics and bump up character's attacks to ludicrous levels.
 * Girls with Moustaches: In XI, the Kyokugen team's ending has Yuri, of all people, don a fake moustache as part of her disguise. Needless to say, Ryo and King aren't fooled, nor are they amused.
 * Hidden Depths: Take the time to find the official bios for each character, and you'll be surprised by some of their hobbies and other aspects of their lifestyles. For example, Kyo is literally a Warrior Poet and several characters are quite the talented musicians.
 * Hong Kong Dub: Largely played straight with the Maximum Impact dub. Inverted in that the original Japanese audio doesn't always sync properly with the lip movements either, although it's far less frequent.
 * Idle Animation: K''s is notable in that it doesn't loop, which is unique for a sprite. The only way to see him in his fighting stance again after he's put his hands in his pockets is to move him from his spot and to add to that his eyes close progessively slower til he's outright fallen asleep.
 * This even extended to the characters on your team who waited their turn on the sidelines (from 94 to 98) as you fought. The combatants who had yet to fight would stand and react accordingly (positive gestures if you landed a hit, not-so-positive ones if you were getting your block knocked off); KO'ed fighters would sit there silently in a defeated slump, only acknowledging the ongoing fight if their teammate(s) managed to avenge them. If you got stunned nearby your teammates you could mash buttons and one of them could jump out and briefly attack your enemy.
 * Image Song: A crapload. Besides the numerous individual ones for the more popular characters (see the individual character sheet), SNK decided to create an entire band off of this concept called "The Band of Fighters." The lineup was Kyo (guitarist), Iori (bassist), Athena (lead vocalist), Terry (drummer), and Nakoruru (pianist) as a band in some bizarre Alternate Universe. On occasion, other characters will lend their vocal talents to the group. Perhaps their best known song is "The Song of Fighters II" and its live version, "Bright & Fly."
 * I Was Young and Needed the Money: When SNK Playmore was in dire need for some quick profit in 2005, they pulled a desperate gamble, make a game to gather many as fans as they could, but another fighting game wasn't their aim, seeing how many Bishoujo and Ms. Fanservice girls they had in The King of Fighters and other fighting games as well, a series of dating sims were made for mobiles and later ported over for the Nintendo DS. The series was called Days of Memories with a subtitle for each new installment, it proved to be rather successful as seven mobile games and two rereleases for Nintendo DS were made until 2008.
 * The original intent was to only aim at men with the female fighters as obvious interests for the average Player Character, but the series proved to worthy of their time and SNK Playmore started to whore out male fighters for female fans of the franchise as well. The initial roster for girls was composed of: Athena Asamiya, Kasumi Todoh, B. Jenet, King, Mai Shiranui, Yuri Sakazaki, Leona Heidern and Kula Diamond, and the men were: Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, K', Ash Crimson, Terry Bogard, Rock Howard, Alba Meira and Ryo Sakazaki, eventually after all the seven installments the choices grew to arguably as many popular guys and girls as any KOF "fan" would like to date.
 * Of course massive doses of Alternate Continuity, Hand Wave, and Retcon were shoehorned in the games for the characters whom were already in a relationship, had love interests of their own, or just wasn't up to start a relationship with anyone in the first place, to suddenly open their hearts for the average player character to succeed at conquering their love.
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: "Jungle Bouncer," the theme of the Ikari team in both '94 and 2002 sounds very similar to Faith No More's "Surprise, You're Dead!"
 * On the other hand, Igniz has two of them. His 2001 theme, "Kare koso Saikyo" ("He Is The Strongest!"), is a faster rock version of Original Zero's theme. His new theme in 2002UM, "Save The Universe," sounds like "Save A Future," Mildred Avalon's theme from Arcana Heart.
 * The Korea Team's theme in 2000, "Wild Party," has a few riffs indicative of "Crazy Train" by "The Prince of Darkness" himself, Ozzy Osbourne. In particular, compare the beginning of both songs.
 * Leaning on the Fourth Wall: While several Victory Poses seemed to be aimed at the player directly (such as Yashiro giving a sly pointer gesture, Kim's Twinkle Smile, Benimaru's "I love you" and "Thank you," Shermie blowing multiple kisses, etc.), but they're also combatants in a (usually) televised, wildly popular international fighting tournament, so it's possible that they're also appealing to their fanbase.
 * Left Hanging: The Maximum Impact series seems to be heading this route. 2 ended on a Sequel Hook, Regulation A was simply an Updated Rerelease, and Regulation A2 was cancelled.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: As of XI, there are 98, not counting all the clones, alternate versions, guest appearances, or those only in Spin-Off series.
 * Massive Multiplayer Crossover
 * Mirror Match: Not just a game mechanic, considering the number of Kyo clones there are. He even complains about how many of them there are in a few games set after the NESTS Saga (namely KOF XI where he jokes that he could make a baseball team out of himself).
 * The Movie: There's one, starring Ray Park as Rugal... and let's leave it at that.
 * Mundane Made Awesome: Several.
 * One of Rugal's super moves is an overhead stomp. If it connects, he breaks his opponent's neck, crushes them into the ground, and proceeds to perpetually spin in 360 degrees and drill the opponent in the gut. Damage is sub-par, but it's well worth it. This eventually contributed to the You Spin Me Right Round/Rugalspin meme.
 * In 2002: Unlimited Match:
 * Nightmare Geese's Raising Dead End HSDM, wherein his hands glow. If he counters a move then, he rips his shirt off, encases you in a giant Reppuken, and fires it at you. It sounds mundane, and yet the visual delivery is surprisingly epic.
 * Clone Zero traps you in a black hole, follows you in, and seems to Shun Goku Satsu you.
 * Original Zero has Ron whack your soul from your body, and then has his gang of strikers physically smash it to bits before he slots it back in.
 * Igniz traps you in a galaxy and then blows it up. Check it out for yourselves.
 * EX Takuma whipping out his Max Power Suburu Ou Shikoh Ken HSDM, coincidentally the same attack he shows off in the AOF team's 2000 ending
 * EX Kensou's super repulse touch palm attack HSDM, and keep in mind this version of Kensou was based off of his powerless form from 99 to 2000.
 * Krizalid's Lightning Disaster, where he expels all of his battle data into physical form.
 * Before all of this, there was Orochi in '97, who could rip your soul out of your body, and crush it in the palm of his hand. Your soul.
 * The above HSDM/MAX2s gain Spiritual Successors in the form of the Neo MAXs from XIII. Here's a compilation of them.
 * Not even the songs are safe! To the rhythm! T-t-to the rhythm!
 * Nebulous Evil Organisation: NESTS, as well as Addes (and its sub-syndicates/branch organizations the Children of Kokaviel, Kusiel, Mephistopheles, and Belphegor) in the MI series. Those from the Past started as this, but quickly became a Standard Evil Organization Squad as time progressed.
 * No Ending: Usually in the case of characters added to home ports of games (who usually receive some sort of congratulatory artwork in place of an actual ending), as well as all the hidden characters in Maximum Impact 2. The case of the former, this also results in no character-specific prologues and cutscenes for the sub-boss and boss.
 * No Koreans in Japan: Averted.
 * Not Just a Tournament: The game in a nutshell, most prominently during The Orochi Saga (95-97) and The Tales of Ash (2003-XIII), where the primary motive of the baddies is to unseal Orochi (although for varying, but no less equally evil purposes). This has happened so frequently that characters start asking why there can't be a regular fighting tournament that doesn't serve as the instrument for The End of the World as We Know It every once in a while.
 * Numbered Sequels: Until recently, all of the games had the "The King of Fighters" title, followed by the year the game was released. This tradition stopped with the release of XI, which was released two years after 2003. There is also a bit of confusion about this, since KOF: Maximum Impact 2 was entitled "The King of Fighters 2006" in North America.
 * Obvious Beta: XII's home version was released with very spartan single-player features (only five fights and no boss), a poorly regulated and hastily-patched online mode (to the point of being unplayable,) and massive Game Breaking Bugs. Studious crackers have found files on the game disc regarding Dummied Out characters.
 * Oddball in the Series: It seems that this title would originally go to 2001 with its bizarre spin on the Striker System (your team can go anywhere from all four characters to only one member with three Strikers), the low-quality, highly-repetitive, techno-style music that lasts for all of 30 seconds, its lukewarm conclusion to an already controversial saga, and (most of all) "lovable" Igniz, one of the cheapest bastards in fighting game history (to put this into perspective, he was the former posterboy for SNK Boss), but you could make a case for the bare bones XII too.
 * Off-Model: Since the default sprites are used since 96 and the style of animators keeps evolving or the animators are changed, this is bound to happen, starting with new attacks that looks a little different in style (some attacks in 2000) to very noticeable art clash (starting with 2000 newcomers, although 99 newcomers are an arguable transition).
 * Over the Shoulder Murder Shot: Iori does this in one of his desperation moves.
 * Parts Unknown: Unlike most fighting games, who mostly restrict this trope to bosses, a good chunk of the characters in the series have "unknown" listed against their birthplaces - 26 out of the total 90 (non-powered/cloned) characters, in fact.
 * Practical Taunt: In earlier iterations, taunting lowers the other player's power bar (though it does the opposite in more recent installments).
 * Public Domain Artifact: Treasures of Amaterasu, which is a major part of the plot the latest story arc.
 * Put on a Bus: This happens a lot. You can't fit 80+ people in one game.
 * The American Sports Team, who appeared in the first game and has only been back in a non-striker fashion only once for the "Dream Match" game, The King of Fighters '98 (which still had missing characters, like Eiji, Kasumi and the '96 Boss Team! -- at least until Ultimate Match).
 * Leona skipped XI.
 * Andy Bogard skipped 2003 and XI.
 * Considerably, May Lee, K9999, Foxy, and Angel haven't been seen since 2002.
 * With the second being dead in a Bus Crash. Permamently.
 * ... while Bao, King, Jhun, Hinako, Xiangfei, Shingo, Lin, and Foxy, for some unrevealed reason, skipped the original 2002! King and Shingo, however, were brought back to home versions. As for the others... expect background cameos.
 * Not to mention that 2001 was the only canon installment to include Foxy as a playable character. Officially. Save for 2002UM.
 * Hinako. Put on a bus since 2003.
 * The current saga was notable in that several characters that were mainstays throughout the Orochi and NESTS sagas (i.e. Andy, Mai, Robert, Leona, Chang, Choi, Chin, etc.), were dropped from the roster in either 2003 or XI. Not that most of 'em didn't come back in either the home port of XI, XII, or XIII...
 * Quirky Miniboss Squad: The Outlaw Team from 2003 is made up of sub-bosses from the Fatal Fury games (and Gato) -- Billy Kane, Gato, and the Ax Crazy Knife Nut Ryuji Yamazaki. It was like this in '97 as well, only with Blue Mary completing the threesome with Billy and Yamazaki (Gato would not be created until 1999's Garou: Mark of the Wolves).
 * '96, 2001, and 2002 had the New Faces and NESTS teams. Especially 2002.
 * Real Is Brown: For no reason, 2002 and 2003 had desaturated colors in their stages.
 * Relationship Values: Rare non-RPG example, and stealthily inserted at that. From 94 all the way up to 98, the teammates you chose affected who would actually be willing to jump in and initiate a Help Attack if their partner in the ring was dazed or being grappled. Allies are more likely to do so if the characters aren't hostile to one another and/or have strong ties (familial, romantic, or platonic) in canon. However, not all characters abide by this rule. Iori, for example, will never bust his neck to help out a teammate, period.
 * Rotoscoping: XII was extensively rotoscoped off of 3D models, and apparently so was XIII.
 * Roundhouse Kick: Several characters have this as a move.
 * Science Is Bad: The underlying message with the NESTS Chronicles.
 * Secret Project Refugee Family: K', Whip, and Kula have essentially been this post-NESTS saga alongside caretakers Maxima (who functions as the Older Sidekick to K', as well as Kula's Honorary Uncle), Foxy, and Diana (the Team Moms of the group, as well as Kula's maternal figures).
 * Shout-Out: Check the page.
 * Sibling Team: The Bogard Bros., who usually team up in KOF alongside their good buddy Joe. The current saga (until XIII) marks the first time Andy wasn't on the roster alongside Terry.
 * So Last Season: Subverted: the rosters rotate with every new season, but the special moves rarely do.
 * Some Dexterity Required: The series had a problem with this early on. Then there's the legendary Raging Storm: Down-Back, Half-Circle Back, Down-Forward. There's a reason it's called "The Pretzel." Most games starting with '96 averted this, but SNK still throws curveballs from time to time. K9999's inputs are also ridiculously difficult as are Duck King's in XI. The Raging Storm is notoriously difficult for the sake of nostalgia.
 * Stable Time Loop:
 * Submarine Pirates: The Lillien Knights.
 * Surprisingly Good English:
 * The opening rap from '98 at the top of the page.
 * The announcer and pretty much all text in XIII.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Nameless, who replaces K9999 in 2002: Unlimited Match could be considered a positive rendition of this.
 * As well as Aya and Hermione, Rugal's secretaries from '98, who replaced Mature and Vice after they became ascended extras.
 * Tag-Team Twins: Pre-final boss fight in 2003 against Chizuru and Maki Kagura who fit this trope just exactly: not only they're literal twins and they both fight in a two-member tag team (whereas three was the default number), they also share the same lifebar.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: In XI, one of the stages is set in an alleyway outside of the Pao Pao Café in Southtown. If you hang out in the center and right areas of the stage, nothing exactly spectacular goes on besides some civilian spectators cheering you on. Move far enough to the left, however, and a motorcycle comes barreling down the street--the very same road the combatants were obstructing earlier.
 * Tournament Arc: The point of the entire series, considering that it revolves around the titular fighting tournament. However, KOF always seems to serve as the vehicle for some nefarious person or group with an axe to grind to the point that certain fighters in the Maximum Impact series hope that the next tournament can simply be a test of their skills and not the instrument of the possible destruction of mankind.
 * True Final Boss: Several throughout the series.
 * Unblockable Attack: A good number of them, chief among them being Ralf's Galactica Phantom when charged up.
 * The Unexpected:
 * Seeing at it was the old SNK's last hurrah, 2000 featured a massive overload of cameos from most of their older IPs.
 * It happened again with XI, which added the likes of Gai Tendo and Silber from Buriki One and Sho Hayate and Jyazu from SavageReign/Kizuna Encounter as Secret Characters.
 * Raiden in XII and Hwa Jai in XIII, two characters from the original Fatal Fury that players never expected to see again. Ever. Bonus points for teaming up with Kim.
 * Updated Rerelease:
 * 94: Rebout, which added Saisyu, Team Edit (missing in the original 94 and didn't become a staple of the series until the next game), enhanced sprites, and a lot of 3D backgrounds.
 * 98: Ultimate Match, which added Eiji from 95, Kasumi, the Boss Team and Goenitz from 96, and Orochi Iori, Orochi Leona and Orochi himself from 97.
 * 2002: Unlimited Match, which has EVERYONE who was in the NESTS saga games (except K9999, who gets a Suspiciously Similar Substitute in the form of Nameless), INCLUDING Geese (with his added Nightmare mode from Real Bout Fatal Fury Special, cheapness and all!) and Goenitz, last seen on the PlayStation 2 port of 2002. Though for some reason, Orochi Iori is not present as a playable character though he was found as a Dummied Out element.
 * Ultimate Match got its own rerelease with the PGM 2 version, which brings in some balance fixes and new moves.
 * KOF XIII's arcade game: After the game is released in console and given extra contents and DLCs, the arcade game gets an upgrade called The King of Fighters XIII Climax which feature all these bonuses.
 * Up to Eleven: SDM/HSDM/MAX2/LDM/Neo MAX variants of existing specials and DMs tend to be a mite bit more grandiose than their normal versions.
 * Video Game Long Runners: "It all began in 94..." All joking aside, the series includes twelve titles (not including Updated Rereleases like 98 Ultimate Match, 2002: Unlimited Match, and Neowave), with several portable Spin Offs, four separate continuities (Maximum Impact, EX, R, Days of Memories), and various other titles like the RPG-styled KOF: Kyo and pachinko slot games. The King of Fighters XIII is currently the latest game.
 * Wham! Episode: XIII.
 * The entire "Tales of Ash" saga is pretty much a Wham Arc (Chizuru and Iori lose their powers, the seal on Orochi is broken, Ash beats Orochi Iori effortlessly, etc.), but this is all compounded by.