The King of Fighters/WMG

The entire series is an alternate universe of Fatal Fury.
The primary piece of evidence for this is that Geese Howard, who died after being knocked off the top of Geese Tower by Terry Bogard, is still alive as late as KOF 2003. In the Fatal Fury series, he's as dead as a doornail, which is why Terry adopts Geese's son Rock. Characters from the latest game in the FF series (Garou: Mark of the Wolves) have shown up in the KOF games, but Rock has not. Either Terry has not killed Geese yet (which doesn't make sense, seeing as in 2003 he has his Garou look, which he adopted after he killed Geese and adopted Rock), or he never will (which removes his purpose for adopting Rock in the first place).
 * 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 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 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.
 * Hm... I thought that this was a given. Chronologically, the Art of Fighting series (most specifically, the second game) lead 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 apposed 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 Neo Geo 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.

Ash Crimson is a metafictional character written by Kula Diamond in an attempt to cope with her hatred of fire and get along better with K'.
His "flames" are an extremely non-fiery green, he's known to be out to get Kyo and Iori (both fire-users Kula doesn't hang around with) but not K' (who Kula does hang around with), and check out what a dead ringer Kula's Normal E costume in Maximum Impact 2 is for the guy. He's so important to the plot because Kula needs to give him lots of screentime in order to maximize his author-therapy value.
 * 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' It Just Bugs Me 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?

Okay, okay... who is Gato's father?
I cannot stop thinking, for no reason I can adequately explore, that it's Heidern...

Original Zero from 2001 is Chris from '97
Per their shockingly similar idle stances. His change in appearance is what's left of his transformation into Orochi after Orochi is resealed (white hair, not being a small kid). Possibly, after exploding in the ending of '97, Kyo, Iori, and Chris are all picked up by NESTS, who clone Kyo, don't clone Iori, and make Chris a high-level executive.
 * 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 Diamond, 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's spirit to be reincarnated (like the rest of the Hakkeshu) once more. Besides, how would Yashiro's Earth powers be mutated into pertification-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.

There is more than one King of Fighters tournament a year, and the series thus far has taken place over only three years.
To date, every single KOF tournament has served as a cover-up for some villain's schemes. It's gotten to the point that the Heidern Mercenaries automatically go into full alert when an invitation arrives, and various other characters have started wondering why they can't have a normal tournament for once. Now notice that no one has ever aged over the course of the series; Athena, Terry, Andy, Kyo, Robert, Billy, King, Benimaru and Kensou are about the only characters who so much as change outfits. Every tournament that is contained in a single arc, therefore, occurs in the same year - '94, '95, '96 and '97 are all held in one year, '99-'01 are the second year and '02, XI and XII are the third.


 * 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 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.

== The Geese Howards that appear in various games are actually different people taking on the "Geese Howard" name. The original died a long time ago (Perhaps killed during Art of Fighting 2!), but used this plot in a Magnificent Bastard-style Legacy Character plot to continue his legacy of crime, as well as having surgery to resemble him, martial arts training to learn his techniques (With some making new ones to explain his knowledge and use of the Deadly Rave and Rashoumon) and mental conditioning to have his personality and knowledge of the Bogards. ==


 * Well, if people deny his whole "being immortal" story, then this might make good enough sense

Rugal is Not Quite Dead and may have been in league with NESTS

 * This theory has been around for ages, but not on here. Well, here it is. Firstly, its 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 its 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 cos if it were a clone then they couldn't possibly hadnle 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 semblence of sanity than his 98 self, which was clearly prematurely re-awakened and therefore unstable?

Time runs in a different cycle in the KoF's Earth, as it's an Alternate Universe of our world.
Their year mark might be a completely different thing as well. It would explain how much years passed and nobody got older. Well, nobody except Rock Howard. But this might be explained that they age to teenagers quicker than our planet's humans, too. It would make Bao's absence open a field to imagination; he probably is a Bishounen after a couple of (our) years.

Adelheid and Rose Bernstein's mothers are Mature and Vice, respectively
It's in the personalities of Rugal's kids, really. Adel is honorable and sporting, mirroring Mature being the classier of the secretary duo. demeanor. Meanwhile, Rose's Rich Bitch-to-the-hilt act clearly takes from Vice's wild, borderline-insane personality. As to how this happened... you don't think Rugal simply had Mature and Vice just do secretarial work when he hired them, did you?
 * 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.

Freeman from Garou MOTW is Iori after he lost his power.
Freeman looks a lot like Iori with his claws attacks, and he is a bit insane too. Now, if you look at Iori's new KOFXII outfit, it doest match with Freeman outfit ...

Ash Crimson is Orochi, or some manifestation of him (possibly a Hakkesshu).
Think about it: Ash/ Orochi has been unsuccessful in taking out the clans and their descendants thus far, so this time around he wants to take away what makes them a threat- their powers. As much as his fighting ability's been trotted around, he really isn't that proven. He stole Chizuru's power while she was weakened and unaware, and he beat Iori in RoTB. With some connection to Orochi, he probably could have easily beaten him by restricting him, or with his general control over him. And it could just be me, but it seems like he's starting to look better, more vital in each of his subsequent appearances, though this could just be art style.

The children of Goenitz, Igniz, and Original Zero could be eventually be contenders in a future KOF, possibly seeking revenge for the death of their fathers.
I'll disect this wacky, yet oddly plausible theory piece by piece.

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: Chaos. Naturally, Fanon and MUGEN 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), 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 archtype (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 (you know, 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 consumated 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 ( baby that was rapidly sped up to a viable age). Again, who knows? It doesn't explain why she's with Ron (a guy whose 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. He's also a mild case of a Noble Demon. Oh, and he's dead.

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).

Heidern is a bit of a coward

 * 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.

The only reason Yamazaki didn't betray Billy Kane and Blue Mary back in KOF 97 is only because he was still expecting payment from Geese Howard.

 * In KOF 1997 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.)

XIII will have some unexpected characters as mid bosses.

 * Jossed. :(
 * Billy Kane.

Yuri is a mentally scarred and unstable Stepford Smiler.

 * 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 Adult Child 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.

Charlotte is King's ancestor.

 * 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 Hye-Ryen and Kim Sue II are Kim's respective ancestor and descendant, so why not?

Mai dresses the way she does to distract male opponents

 * 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.

SNK will give the older game series' characters more sense of a presence in the next King of Fighters saga.

 * One complaint about the King of Fighters series recently is due to how SNK did seem to be downplaying the fact that the King of Fighters series is suppose to be a big crossover of earlier SNK game series' such as Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting. However in King of Fighters 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 somewhat pointless), you're forgetting that  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 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).

SNK probably will give the series a Continuity Reboot after the end of KOF XIII.

 * The storyline in KOF XIII seems to be strongly giving off the impression that this is likely due to Ash  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 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 . In addition, nothing so far suggests that  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 comment 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 back in '99 and have become more and more complex as time went on. With, there's really nothing stopping SNK from revisiting that.