< The King of Fighters

The King of Fighters/Trivia


  • Actor Allusion:
    • Benimaru's English VA in XII is is Eric Kelso, who also Paul Phoenix, another tall-haired blond guy in another fighting game.
    • Kusanagi from 2002 has special battle intros with any weapon user fighter, calling them out to fight with their fists instead of weapons; basically the same scene in Akira with Kaneda calling out on Tetsuo to take on him with his own fists instead of using his powers.
  • Ascended Fanon: Mr. Karate and Nightmare Geese were actually Fan Nicknames before SNK officially named them as such in later games.
    • Yamazaki became a member of the Hakkesshu because he conveniently shared several snake-like aspects with Orochi.
    • SNK says that most of Oswald's background (which has not yet been revealed) has already been surmised by the fans.
  • Billing Displacement: XIV has Shun'ei as a new protagonist of the series. However, Kyo and Iori are featured very heavily in the promotion of the game, Kyo is also on the front cover of the PS4 box art along with Iori, Mai and Nakoruru, while Shun'ei was put on the background. The opening movie of XIV doesn't help either, it focused too much on Kyo and Iori, while Shun'ei and his team only appeared as side characters.
  • Cross-Dressing Voices:
    • Chris and Orochi are both voiced by Rio Ogata, who is female.
    • Shion's seiyuu is Tokiyo Ogawa, a female.
  • Development Gag: May not even have been intentional. Prior to creating Kyo Kusanagi, SNK had drafted his character as "Syo Kirishima", a more archetypal fighting game protagonist. While this was eventually dropped in favor of Kyo, Syo showed up a couple of times in the NESTS arc as a special Striker character. During those appearances, he was voiced by the aforementioned Mitsuo Iwata. Come King of Fighters 2002, Iwata would be voicing Kusanagi, who is a throwback Kyo clone complete with his '95 moveset.
  • Executive Meddling: When Eolith sponsored Playmore so they could pick up the scraps from SNK's fallout, they requested a "Korean Athena". The end result was May Lee.
    • Rock's main series debut was held off in large part due to SNK's desire to keep him for the sequel to Garou, and thanks to Comic Book Time had his age frozen as a young boy. Averted in King of Fighters XIV with Rock being finally playable as a DLC character.
  • Fan Nickname:
    • In order to differentiate Kyo from his clones, fans often refer to his NESTS depiction as "Shin Kyo" (as in "True Kyo").
    • Yaoiori for Iori, thanks to all of his Foe Yay with Kyo. The infamous "Yagami is I'm-a-gay backwards" joke didn't help in this regard.
    • Fathena for Athena's appearance in XII: Moeness and chubby legs.
    • Yuri's parody of the Shun Goku Satsu, the Yuri Chou Enbu, is sometimes called the Shin Yuri Satsu.
    • Kim is sometimes nicknamed as The Beijing King, thanks to the My Way Entertainment fan dub of one of the Fatal Fury OVAs.
    • Ralf's Neo MAX from XIII has been christened as the MANretsuken, due to the overflowing abundance of GAR.
    • Robert's Hien Shippu Ryuujin Kyaku Neo MAX is alternatively called Robert Garcia's Pro Skater XIII and Rider Kick.
    • Cheesenitz and Goenadz for the Goenitz himself, as well as the Goenitzpin, another meme spawned in the wake of the Rugalspin thanks to his new HSDM/MAX2 in 2002: Unlimited Match.
    • Geese is usually called Geeser the Cheeser and Geeseter Bunnie. As for his Raging Storm DM, there's The Pretzel due to the move's absurd input command that was made that convoluted just for the sake of nostalgia.
    • Krauserspin for Krauser Gigatech Cyclone SDM. Again, blame MUGEN.
    • Shingo's notebook full of information on his techniques has been known as both the Death Note and GameFAQs thanks to his HSDM in 2002: Unlimited Match.
  • Flip-Flop of God: Is this series an Alternate Continuity to Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury? What gender is Shion? Is Kula Diamond a clone or just an altered human? SNK can't seem to decide.
    • To answer the first question: is Geese Howard dead or alive? There ya go.
    • Luise's profile and storyline in the Maximum Impact series were written to be deliberately different from one another, most likely to prevent spoilers.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Ray Park who is the body actor for Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace as Rugal Bernstein in the live action movie.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!:
  • Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros.": Maxima was originally in an old SNK beat 'em up called Robo Army. The other main character Rocky serves as his alternate Striker in 2000.
    • Also in XIV, the characters from SNK's pachislot games like Muimui, Love Heart and Alice.
  • Name's the Same:
    • Despite being named Heavy D!, the leader of the US Sports Team is not the rapper...
    • Duke Burkoff should not be confused with the protagonist of SNK beat-em-up Burning Fight, who has appeared a time or two in the main King of Fighters series as a striker.
  • The Other Darrin:
    • Jun Hashimoto (Andy Bogard's seiyuu in King of Fighters '94) was replaced by Keiichi Nanba in the following game; Nanba has voiced Andy in all subsequent games.
    • In XII, Matsuo Matsuo now voices Chin instead of Toshikazu Nishimura.
    • Several characters had alternate voice actors/actresses in the '94 Dengeki drama CD:
    • Katsuhisa Namase voiced Joe in King of Fighters '94. Nobuyuki Hiyama has taken over the role since.
    • Robert Garcia: Kay Inage was replaced by Mantaro Koichi, who voiced Robert from King of Fighters '96 to 2003. When Robert popped up as a Secret Character in XI (which was based off of his appearance in Mascot Fighter Neo Geo Battle Coliseum), Inage returned to voice Robert, and continues to do so in XII and XIII.
    • Bunsyu Shinoya takes over for Ralf in XII. In English, Scott Casey in the Maximum Impact series, Jeff Manning in XII.
    • In English, Clark went from Sean Michaels (Maximum Impact) to Eric Kelso (XII).
    • Kim is voiced by Kazuhiko Nagata in XII, succeeding Satoshi Hashimoto (Hashimoto still voices Terry though).
    • Akoya Sogi (who has voiced Mai from the beginning up to XI) has been replaced by Ami Koshimizu as of King of Fighters Sky Stage. Given that Mrs. Sogi has apparently retired, it's a safe bet to assume that Mrs. Koshimizu will take over in all subsequent appearances. This could also be the reason behind Mai's absence in XII.
    • For Kyo, Andrew Roth (his English VA in the Maximum Impact series) was replaced by Peter von Gomm come XII.
    • The unfortunate consequence of the suicide of seiyuu Daisuke Gouri led to Raiden's voice duty being handed over to Iain Gibb in XIII.
    • Krizalid is a rather perplexing example in that both of his seiyuu are used in 2002 Unlimited Match (Iwamoto for Krizalid as a standalone character, Yano for Krizalid as one of Original Zero's Strikers). Semi-justified since they are two different Krizalids, the one who backing Zero being a clone of the one who hosted the '99 tournament.
  • Playing Against Type:
    • Ramon is one of Eiji Takemoto's quirkiest roles. From Rock Howard to Ramon, wow, that's quite a jump.
    • Foxy has the same seiyuu as Athena and Diana (the latter only in 2002), Haruna Ikezawa.
  • Promoted Fanboy: Najd is the creation of Saudi Arabian artist Mashael Al-Barrak, who was the winner of a contest to design a new character for the series held by SNK in conjuction with Manga Productions.
  • Talking to Himself: Get yourself a snack, this could take a while.
    • Brian Battler shares a seiyuu with Kensou, Eiji Yano. Yano was also the announcer for 2002, as well as Krizalid's voice in 2001.
    • Toshimitsu Arai, the voice of Rugal, also voices Heidern, as well as Original Zero and Saisyu (only in King of Fighters '95 though).
    • Jeff Manning voices Andy, Ralf, and Shen Woo in the English version of XII.
    • Satoshi Hashimoto voices both Terry and Kim.
    • Hiroyuki Arita also voices Silber in XI. Yoshinori Shima, his original seiyuu from 94 and 95, also voices Clark, Eiji, and Goenitz.
    • Toshikazu Nishimura voices Chin and Heavy D! in 94 and 98. Josh Keller also voices Duo Lon and Kensou in the dub for XII.
    • Hanzo has the same seiyuu as Ryo in Maximum Impact 2, Masaki Usui, who also voices Goro Daimon.
    • Lilly Kane shares a seiyuu with Kula.
    • Richard Meyer is voiced by Kong Kuwata, who also voices Geese Howard and Duck King.
    • Eric Kelso voices Takuma, Clark and Benimaru in the English version of XII.
    • Monster Maezuka voices Takuma, Ralf Benimaru and Choi.
    • Masahiro Nonaka voices Kyo's clones, Kyo-1 and Kyo-2. Subverted with evil, magical doppelganger Kusanagi, who is instead voiced by Mitsuo Iwata.
      • However, King of Fighters Sky Stage seems to be using Nonaka instead of Iwata for the voice of Kusanagi, which of course plays this trope straight again.
      • In XII, he shares an Englsh VA (Peter von Gomm) with Ash of all people.
    • King shares her seiyuu (Harumi Ikoma, who also is the announcer in King of Fighters '96, King of Fighters '98, King of Fighters XI and King of Fighters XII) with Blue Mary. Ikoma also voiced King's brother Jean/Jan in King of Fighters: Kyo.
    • Greg Irwin voices Joe and Robert in the dub of XII.
    • Kazuhiro "Kay" Inage (who voiced Robert in King of Fighters '94 and 95) also voices Lucky. Mantaro Koichi (who voiced Robert from King of Fighters '96 to 2003) was also the announcer in 97.
  • Throw It In: Hyena's lines were devised in a collaborative effort between the seiyuu of Hyena, Alba and Soiree (who consequently became good friends through the experience).
    • Krauser's Gigantic Cyclone (a.k.a. Gigatech Cyclone) was actually taken from the spinning supers (i.e. the Senpuuken/Hadou Senpuukyaku) utilized by he and Terry in the Fatal Fury 2 OVAs. His youthful beauty, lack of a mustache and scars, as well as an authentic German-sounding voice, the other hand, were not retained despite being well-received by fans.
  • What Could Have Been: Beside the various prototype designs of characters (many of which can be seen as Strikers in 2000), many plot points were shafted or altered:
    • Orochi Iori was originally planned to be the final boss of '97 (remnants of this manifest as Iori being a Bonus Boss in said game if you beat Orochi with Kyo).
    • Kyo and Iori were going to be dropped from '99 to put emphasis on K'.
    • The biggest "what-if?" would have to come from 2001. One could only imagine what direction the series would have took if SNK hadn't gone bankrupt after 2000.
      • Word of God says that the game was originally meant to be an epic installment similar to 97, to wrap up the NESTS storyline. The game was said to return to the 3 vs 3 format, with a hero team consisting of K', Kula and Krizalid, who inexplicably returned. A sub boss team similar to 97's Orochi team was apparently planned, consisting of Ron, a cloned version of Krizalid, and Zero before fighting Father NESTS, the final boss. But then Eolith happened, and we got K' on his old team, Kula lumped in with Foxy and two of Eolith's creations, and Krizaild totally removed, though his voice clips remain in the game's files. Ron and the clone Krizalid became strikers for Zero, and NESTS was killed off in the cutscenes to make room for Eolith's new boss Igniz. The validity of all this information is debated, but 2001 went on to become possibly the least popular game in the entire series, or at least the canon games. What could have been indeed...
    • Even better, this series wasn't even originally a Fighting Game: it was going to be a Beat'Em Up in the vein of Final Fight and Streets of Rage called Survivor with Terry, Robert and Ralf as playable characters.
    • Athena's appearance in XII was originally conceived to be not quite as loli as the final result.
    • Rugal was originally planned to mirror special moves of the characters and use them against them. Hardware limitations killed this idea. Rugal's Reppuken, Kaiser Wave, and Dark Barrier are relics of this idea.
    • Believe it or not, it was planned for Terry to actually die at the climax of '99. Luckily, head management disagreed and brought him back in 2000, avoiding what would have been a shocking Player Punch and the ensuing barrage of Internet Backdraft. However, the "what-if" aspect of his death was played up for the remainder of the saga to the point that Blue Mary told Terry how his teammates (or more specifically, her) were worried about him in the team's 2000 ending.
    • Kim was supposed to debut in the first Maximum Impact under the alias of "Mr. Taekwondo", akin to "Mr. Karate". Instead, Chae Lim took his place, and Kim popped up in the sequel as his good 'ol regular self. Chae Lim herself was chosen over the likes of Jhun Hoon, May Lee and Buriki One character Seo Yong Song.
    • Originally, Chang and Choi were going to be paired up with another dangerous criminal to from the "Fugitive Team". Kim was a last-minute addition, thus setting up to whole "rehabilitation" gig.
    • King's Surprise Rose super move from Art of Fighting 2 was her original DM in '94, but was scrapped for some reason. King's designer then came up with the Illusion Dance DM, and it was well received. It was turned back into a DM in 2002: Unlimited Match and XII.
    • Ralf (and presumably Clark) was supposed to have a moveset revolving around grenades back in his King of Fighters debut as a Shout-Out to Ikari Warriors. This was scrapped due to a possible case of game-breaking mechanics. Averted in XII, which gives him explosives in addition to most of his trademark moves.
      • Lampshaded in the intro dialogue between Kyo and Clark in XIII, wherein Clark explains that the grenades he's wearing are duds, so there's no danger of them going off if Kyo uses his fire on them.
    • Heidern's moveset and their names were so strange that the designers were going to make him an alien as explanation for his "abilities". However, the lead designer became attached to the character, giving him a tragic backstory instead and keeping him as a human.
    • Saisyu was supposed to have died during his Early-Bird Cameo in '94. His appearance in the following game was a last-minute addition.
    • "Chris of the Flames of Destiny" was originally going to have black flames, but the idea was dumped as they would have been too hard to notice in his rather dark stage.
    • One of Orochi's early designs was that of a naked Chris using an energy ball to attack...
    • According to the Developers' Blog for XIII, Chang, Malin, Momoko and Oswald were meant to be in the game. Chang was reduced to a cameo in the India stage, whereas the other three cameo in endings (the Women Fighters Team, Psycho Soldiers Team, and Elizabeth Team, respectively).
      • And Chang (along with Choi) makes the customary Kim Team ending cameo.
    • Vanessa was supposed to be playable in 99, but didn't make it in time. She makes an Early-Bird Cameo as a Striker in the 99 Evo console release.
    • The Neo MAX supers in XIII were at first created as extensions to normal supers, but because of testing feedback, they were eventually changed into stand alone supers. A few Neo MAX supers in the final build still look like they were supposed to follow up on normal supers, some of them only effective gameplay-wise when used as such.
    • Adelheid was apparently meant to be playable in XIII, based on some full-body and winpose sketches by Eisuke Ogura.
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