List of SNK characters

The following is a list of fictional characters created by SNK Playmore.

Characters

This section lists characters in KOF Sky Stage, and those added or removed in Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting.

• Dr. Brown (From World Heroes)

  The existence of this unplayable character and his connection to the concept of time travel appear to pay homage to Doc Brown from the Back to the Future film trilogy.

• Iroha (from Samurai Shodown VI)
• Marco Rossi (from Metal Slug)
• Akari Ichijo (from The Last Blade)
• Kyo Kusanagi (from The King of Fighters '94)
• Iori Yagami (from The King of Fighters '95)
• Terry Bogard (from Fatal Fury)
• Mai Shiranui (from Fatal Fury 2)
• Athena Asamiya (from Psycho Soldier)
• Kula Diamond (from The King of Fighters 2000)
• SYDIII Pilot - mysterious female character VOICED by Megumi Toyoguchi; originated from Alpha Mission; pilots a SYD III ship

Recurring teams

Japan Team

The Japan Team appears during the first game of the series. Its leader is Kyo Kusanagi, a high school student who is the heir to the Kusanagi clan, who can use pyrokinetic powers. Once Kyo leaves the Japan Team, it is renamed Benimaru Team by . Benimaru has the ability to create electricity, which—due to an exaggerated case of static electricity—causes his straight hair to stand up during fights. He is loosely based on the character Polnareff from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, right down to his outfit in The King of Fighters '94 and The King of Fighters '95. His vocal performance was initially deemed by his original designer to have nothing to do with the character's original image. Due to the particular pitch in his voice and appearance, some fans have questioned Benimaru's [...] identity with the developers; they responded, "he is not what you think."

, a former gold medalist of Judo, is a mentor to his own dojo. After the climax of The King of Fighters '97, Goro retires from being a fighter and returns to the Judo circuit representing Japan. He returns as a fighter in King of Fighters 2001 and 2003 due to his teammates' requests. His character was created to add a practitioner of Judo to the cast, and many elements from his original designs, such as his geta and his victory cries, remained for his final look.

first appears in 97 as an edit entry, but in later games he joins the Benimaru Team and the Japan Team. He dreams of being able to wield flames like his idol Kyo, which is stressed to the point of comic relief throughout the series. To follow his character's persona, he was also meant to be marketed on a lesser scale of importance for his introduction to the series. Benimaru and Daimon make their appearances in The King of Fighters XII and its sequel, with the latter joining Kyo to reform the original team.

Fatal Fury Team

The Fatal Fury Team is composed by characters from the video game series with the same name. The team is initially composed of Terry Bogard, an American fighter who sought to defeat an evil crime lord named Geese Howard in order to avenge the death of his father; Andy Bogard, the younger brother of Terry who uses Shiranui Ninjutsu to fight; and Joe Higashi, a Muay Thai fighter and friend to both Terry and Andy. During the NESTS tournaments, Mai Shiranui, a Shiranui kunoichi, and Blue Mary, a female agent, also enter the team, to fulfill the team's the need for a fourth member at that time. In the 2003 tournament, Andy leaves them to take care of a Shiranui disciple named Hokutomaru, who fell sick, and Tizoc, a famous Mexican pro wrestler, enters the team to replace him. In The King of Fighters XI, Tizoc and Joe leave the team for their own reasons, enabling Duck King and Kim Kaphwan to replace them in order to help Terry out.

Garou Team

The Garou Team appears only in KOF XI, containing characters that appear in the video game Garou: Mark of the Wolves. The team includes Tizoc, a famous pro wrestler, Gato, a powerful martial artist and a female pirate named B. Jenet. Though the members become good friends, Gato decides to leave them after the end of the tournament.

Art of Fighting Team

The Art of Fighting Team is composed of characters from the video game of the same name, and most of its members are practitioners of the Kyokugen Karate style. The team initially consists of the teacher Takuma Sakazaki, his son Ryo, and the heir of the dojo and his student Robert Garcia. Takuma's daughter, Yuri only appears in some tournaments, since she wants train with the Women Fighters Team (which is exclusively composed of women); her appearances sometimes end in asking King to take her place on the team. Takuma, however, likes this idea, and also asks King to stay in the team, wanting her to force the consummation of Ryo and King's still tentative relationship.

Women Fighters Team

The Women Fighters Team is a group composed exclusively of women, christened "The Princesses of Punch." The team originally comprises the ninja Mai Shiranui, the Muay Thai fighter King and a teenager karate prodigy named Yuri Sakazaki. Throughout the later games of the series, there are several changes in the members of the team, as Yuri is replaced by the heir of the ancient Yata clan Chizuru Kagura and Kasumi Todoh—a young female martial artist who seeks to defeat those who practice Kyokugen karate. In later games, new characters appear, due to the new rule of using four members; these include the Chinese-American female martial artist Li Xiangfei, the sumo fighter , and the agent Blue Mary in 2003. In XI, the team is dissolved, since the members go to other teams or they have other things to do. The Women Fighters team is reformed for The King of Fighters XIII, featuring the three original members from the 1994 tournament.

Psycho Soldier Team

The Psycho Soldier Team specializes in using psychic powers—dubbed "Psycho Powers" by SNK. The powers, and some members of the team, originally belonged to the SNK video game Psycho Soldier. The team includes , an elderly mentor and master of Psycho Power. He participates with his students throughout the tournaments since 1994, but leaves the competition in 2003 to observe the matter thoroughly, asking K' and Maxima to investigate the tournament in his place for activity. The others members of the team are his students Athena Asamiya, a famous Japanese pop singer; a Chinese teenager named ; and a little Chinese boy named Bao (; Pinyin: Bāo; Japanese: 包 Pao). As Bao trains with them during the time between King of Fighters '97 and King of Fighters '99, Kensou gradually loses his powers, until they become obsolete. However, his powers are recovered in King of Fighters XI, causing Ron and Misty to take an interest in it, revealing a probable importance of the Dragon Spirit.

A young girl who trained with Kensou and Athena, , also debuts in the team in The King of Fighters XI. She was added into the cast to fit the image of the younger Psycho Soldier team, though the developers have expressed discomfort with adding so young a character amongst a large group of adults. In addition, Momoko's discipline is capoeira, rather than Chinese Martial Arts like her teammates. Chin and Kensou make their latest appearances in The King of Fighters XII; in The King of Fighters XIII, the Psycho Soldier team is re-formed and represented by the original members.

Ikari Team

The Ikari Team is a group of mercenaries that enters in each tournament in the series in order to find well-known criminals and capture them. The leader established the team in order find the criminal Rugal Bernstein, in order that Heidern could get his revenge against Rugal (who killed Heidern's wife Sandra and their daughter Clara). The other two recurring members of the team are the soldiers Clark Still and Ralf Jones, who were originally the player characters in Ikari Warriors and its sequels.

, Heidern's adopted daughter introduced in The King of Fighters '96, replaces him. Although she tends to be very quiet, Leona was conceived to be an Orochi descendant at the time of her debut, and her designers took special care to let their interests at the time reflect in her actions. Although she recovers from her childhood trauma at the end of King of Fighters '97, she leaves the team after attacking her friends in the Riot of the Blood state at the conclusion of King of Fighters 2003 and tries to regain her focus from within her personal time.

appears in The King of Fighters '99 as the new member to the Ikari team. She is a clone of K''s sister and once worked for NESTS as an assassin. She is eventually assigned to Heidern's mercenary unit for the King of Fighters tournament, to investigate NESTS and the mysterious fighter known only as K'. Once she realizes who K' is, she reveals their relation to him and joins him in his objective to destroy the NESTS cartel. After NESTS' downfall, she returns to her duties under Heidern's command. One of her moves depicts her shooting her opponents with a Desert Eagle-like handgun. The firearm is edited from the American release of the games in arcades, but is uncensored in the home release versions. Leona makes her latest appearance in The King of Fighters XII.

Leona, Ralf, and Clark compose the Ikari team for The King of Fighters XIII, reflecting the team's roster from the 1996 tournament. Despite her difficulties in controlling herself during the XI tournament, Leona commits herself to entering the XIII tournament, deciding to accept, and deal with, her Orochi blood.

Korea Team

The Korea Team is composed of Tae Kwon Do users. The group is led by Kim Kaphwan, a national hero from his country who forced two criminals to enter his team as part of his "Rehabilitation Project". The criminals are Chang Koehan (Korean: , Japanese: Chan Kōhan), a giant man who uses an iron ball, and Choi Bounge (Korean: , Japanese: Choi Bonge), a little person who uses claws to fight, based on the famous fictional character Freddy Krueger. During their time with Kim, Chang and Choi befriend each other and scheme many ways of escape, but they eventually mellow out and work with Kim from within his methods of fighting and justice.

In the '99 tournament, a new member called Jhun Hoon (Korean: , Japanese: Jon Fūn) enters the team as the fourth member of the group. He has known Kim since childhood and often considers him to be a true rival. After seeing Kim's ethics and methods of training, Jhun Hoon decided that he would show him a more "efficient" way of management. In 2001, Jhun breaks his right arm in a car accident while chasing an image of his beloved idol star Athena Asamiya and is replaced by a young girl called May Lee (Korean name: Lee Jinju, ) who admires the group. May Lee's character design stems from sponsor Eolith's desire for a "Korean Athena" that was an "idol-like visual fighter." In The King of Fighters XI, the team takes a break, due to Kim entering the tournament as a member of the Fatal Fury Team.

Geese Howard's teams

The villain known as Geese Howard creates several teams in the series. In King of Fighters '95, he sends his right-hand man Billy Kane to kill his enemies, the Bogard brothers. Billy allies with Iori Yagami and Eiji Kisaragi to form a Rival Team in the tournament, but once they fail to obtain the victory, Iori brutally attacks them and nearly kills Billy and Eiji in the process.

In The King of Fighters 96, Geese creates the Boss Team, including Wolfgang Krauser, Mr. Big and Geese himself. Geese uses both Krauser and Big as pawns in the tournament, hoping to get the power from the Orochi being, while the others only want to prove their strength.

As the group disbanded at the end of King of Fighters '96, Geese sponsors a new group known as the Outlaw Team in the'97 and 2003 tournaments for the same purpose. The team for the'97 tournament is made up of Billy Kane, Blue Mary and Ryuji Yamazaki, though Blue Mary is replaced by Gato in the 2003 tournament.

American Sports Team

The American Sports Team is a group that only appears in The King of Fighters '94 and'98. The team is composed of a former heavyweight boxer named Heavy D!, a cheerful basketball player/martial artist named Lucky Glauber, and an aggressive football player named Brian Battler. The team's only canonical appearance in the series is in King of Fighters '94. They have not been heard from in the later years, though a running gag in the series insists that the members have always received invitations to the later tournaments, only to get beaten up and have them stolen by other fighters. They did made a comeback in King of Fighters '98, as a part of the reunion of the previous teams of King of Fighters '94.

NESTS Team

The NESTS Team is a group that appears in The King of Fighters 2001, entering in the tournament to eliminate anybody who would try to destroy their organization. The team is composed of Angel, a ditzy yet deadly Mexican female fighter, K9999 (pronounced K Four-Nine), and a clone from Kyo entirely based on Tetsuo Shima from Akira, able to transform his arm into a long tentacle like Tetsuo's. Due to copyright issues, for the King of Fighters 2002 remake he was replaced with a similar character. The character is called "Nameless", a clone from both Kyo and K' who uses two types of flames to fight. Kula Diamond, aptly named the "Anti-K" due to her ability of creating ice, and Kula's guardian, are also part of the team.

When their boss Zero dies from his battle upon the blimp that takes the winning team to the headquarters of NESTS, Kula and Foxy decide to leave NESTS in order to begin a new life, but the two are attacked upon sight by their teammates, who consider them traitors. K9999 and Angel mortally injure Foxy in the fight, and waste no time in attacking Kula, but when they are about to defeat her, she is rescued by K', whose abilities make the attackers flee in an instant. Both K9999 and Angel haven't been heard from since. After the destruction of NESTS, Kula, Foxy, and Diana decide to work together with K', Maxima, and Whip, leading to Kula joining forces with K' and Maxima in King of Fighters XI after Whip returns to the Ikari Warriors team.

Ash Crimson

is the new antagonist for The King of Fighters 2003, in which he makes his first appearance in the series as the leader of the New Hero Team. Ash is designed with the intent of creating an "attractive evil character", with few changes made to him since conception. Falcoon adds that the main goal for Ash was to make him an ambiguous protagonist that purposely makes players "feel bad" for cheering for him. His motive for entering is to take the powers of the descendants of the clans who sealed Orochi away 1,800 years ago—Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, and Chizuru Kagura—for unknown purposes. He has been successful thus far, leaving Kyo as the last power he needs to steal. Ash is cunning and manipulative, often condescending to friend or foe at his whim, and has ambiguous morals in his actions. He often gains his teammates through promises that he can fulfill, though he rarely specifies the means of granting them. Despite seeming frail by appearance, Ash is powerful, as he is able to defeat Iori in his Riot of the Blood state seemingly with ease. He also has the unique ability of creating green fire, and after defeating Iori he obtains his purple flames.

In The King of Fighters XII, he makes an appearance, but does not have a team (like the rest of the cast). For the sequel, Ash appears as the only character who does not belong to a defined team. Ash's role in King of Fighters XIII reveals that he has been trying to stop the ambitions of the organization (Those From the Past), seen in 2003 and XI. He comes into direct conflict with the organization's leader, Saiki, at the end of the game. Ash acts as the final boss of The King of Fighters XIII as Evil Ash which is imbued with power stolen from Saiki, who is attempting to possess him. He ultimately sacrifices himself to destroy Saiki. He is voiced by Sōnosuke Nagashiro in Japanese.

Chizuru Kagura

is a member of the Yata clan who holds one of the three sacred artifacts that originally sealed the serpent monster Orochi 1,800 years ago. As the heiress of the Yata, she is raised as a priestess and maintains the duty of keeping the diligent seal on Orochi intact. One night, an Orochi servant, Goenitz, visited her home and destroyed the seal after [...] Chizuru's sister, Maki. Ten years afterwards, Chizuru is a very successful and prestigious businesswoman. She secretly hosts the tournament in 1996 in hopes of entreating Kyo and Iori to help her replace the broken seal. The three of them succeed in their task at the climax of The King of Fighters '97.

She hosts another King of Fighters tournament in 2003 with intentions similar to her previous attempt. During the tournament, she is under mind-control by a member of Those From the Past. She creates an illusion of her sister Maki as one of the game's sub-bosses, and also creates a clone from Kyo named Kusanagi to test the strength for the tournament's contestants. Eventually, she breaks free from control and tries to restore the seal of Orochi, but Ash steals her powers. She survives the attack, but can no longer participate in fights, asking Kyo's disciple Shingo Yabuki to fill her spot in The King of Fighters XI. She is initially voiced by Akiko Saito, but in 2003 she was replaced by Yukiko Sugawa.

In the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters, Chizuru is played by Chinese-Canadian actress Françoise Yip.

Duo Lon

Duo Lon (; Pinyin: Duòlóng; Japanese: デュオロン Dyuoron) makes his first appearance in The King of Fighters 2003 as a member of the game's Hero Team. His overall look was based on anime title character Vampire Hunter D. He is a member of the assassin group, the Flying Brigands—or —and the half-brother of Xiao Lon. He is an acquaintance of Ash Crimson and Shen Woo. Hoping to hunt down the clan's traitor, Ron, he agrees to enter the tournament with them. However, after discovering Ash's true objectives, he teams up with Elisabeth Blanctorche and Benimaru Nikaido. Information on Duo Lon's design graph revealed he is one of the nine children of Ron, an assassin who chased after his own father. He is voiced by Tsunehito Maruo.

Eiji Kisaragi

Elisabeth Blanctorche

(spelled "Elisabeth Branctorche" in The King of Fighters XII) is one of three original characters debuting in The King of Fighters XI. Her initial character concept was to be the rival to Ash, though developers decided to change her into a "leading lady" character. The developers also describe her fighting style as "orthodox with subtle tricks [to it]" despite her minimal moveset.

She initially invites Benimaru Nikaido and Duo Lon to France to form the Rival Team. She eventually reveals her acquaintance with Ash Crimson, whom she scolds for seeming to forsake their mission. Elisabeth did not appear in the arcade version of The King of Fighters XII, but was added as one of two characters exclusive to the home release of the game. Like the rest of the cast, she does not have a team for The King of Fighters XII (though the two other members of her team from King of Fighters XI are present in the game). For The King of Fighters XIII, she now appears on a team with Ash's former team members from the 2003 tournament (Shen Woo and Duo Lon). She is voiced by Kayoko Ooshima.

K'

is the second protagonist of the games since The King of Fighters '99. He is a young person who lost all his memories when the NESTS syndicate captured him and injected Kyo Kusanagi's DNA into his body, so that he could copy his fire abilities. K', wanting to prove himself in his own identity, betrays the syndicate and decides to destroy them for using his body and deleting all of his memories. Although he hates fighting tournaments, K' uses the King of Fighters competition as a way to find those who are associated with NESTS, so that he can defeat them. In his search, he meets a person named Maxima who has the same purpose, and become partners with him. Yuuki Matsuda voices him in Japanese, while Andrew Scott is his English voice actor.

Kula Diamond

first appears as the sub-boss in The King of Fighters 2000; she enters as a normal participant in her other appearances. Her original hair color is strawberry blonde, but it changes to a light blue when she activates her ice powers. She was designed to be the antagonistic foil to K', in an attempt to better develop characteristics of the NESTS cartel. She was specially made with attempts to depict a "14-year-old girl" with "appropriately girlish" gestures with help from newly hired female staff.

She is a being created by NESTS to exterminate the cartel's traitor, K'. Despite the fact that their subject was a mindless puppet with no sign of emotions, the NESTS cartel created an android called Candy Diamond to monitor Kula's behavior and to ensure that she would accomplish her missions. When Kula destroys the main Zero Cannon, Candy shields her descent from space, sacrificing her body as it is badly burned from Earth's atmosphere.

Kula is often ordered to exterminate other traitors to NESTS but has been known to disobey her orders for the sake of others. After NESTS' destruction, she allies on friendly terms with her target, K' and his companions. She participates in The King of Fighters XI and XIII with K' and Maxima. She is voiced by Yumi Kakazu in the Japanese version, and by Kat Cassteneda in English-language adaptations.

Iori Yagami

is the heir of the Yagami clan, one of the three clans who sealed the Orochi. However, a dark pact with Orochi has left the Yagami clan with a tainted history, causing all of the clan's heirs to die young—but granting them the use of purple flames. Iori has an intense hatred for Kyo Kusanagi, the heir to the Kusanagi clan, disregarding their clans' pasts and seeing him as more than just a rival, but as the man whose life he must end. Circumstance has sometimes forced the two together as unfriendly allies in the King of Fighters tournaments, so that they may fight each other in the aftermath. He is voiced by Kunihiko Yasui, while in some English adaptations he is voiced by Eric Summerer.

Lin

Lin (; Pinyin: Lín; Japanese: 麟 Rin) is one of the new characters introduced in The King of Fighters 2000 as a member of the Benimaru Team. He, along with the Flying Brigands subplot, was created without the entire staff's knowledge, leading to some developers being surprised by his team's ending.

Though he is no longer an active member in King of Fighters, his story and character have not been abandoned. He is a member of the assassination group, The Flying Brigands—or Clan in Japanese—which is apparently on the brink of ruin. The agent Seth entices him to enter the King of Fighters tournament in order to find their clan's missing leader, Ron. After learning that Ron had defected to NESTS for his personal greed, Lin tracks the activities of NESTS' renegades, K' and his teammates, in hopes of finding his traitorous leader. He joins up with K', Maxima, and Whip in the 2001 tournament. He continues to search for Ron even after NESTS' destruction. For an unexplained reason, he appears next to Ron in the Psycho Soldier Team's ending in The King of Fighters XI. He is a master of the Poison Hand technique, which enables the user to turn their own blood into venom. He is voiced by Takaya Kuroda.

Malin

is a character who debuts in The King of Fighters 2003 as a member of the High School Girls Team (alongside Athena Asamiya and Hinako Shijou). Her addition to the series was due to Choi's absence in the game where she debuted. The game producers state that her name should be spelled "Malin" and not "Marin", adding that "this is the humble preference of the supervising designer and a mystery to us all". She becomes a member of the Anti-Kyokugenryu Team in The King of Fighters XI due to her animosity towards one of the style's practitioners, Yuri Sakazaki. She is voiced by Kazuyo Inosako.

Vice & Mature

and appear as members of Iori's Team in The King of Fighters '96. The designers at the time created both Vice and Mature with the image of a "cruel woman" and a "ruthless woman", respectively. Their origin story is mostly based on the notion of Rugal employing secretaries prior to The King of Fighters '96. Both women were unavailable during location testing and were likely finished near the end of the game's production schedule. Aside from serving Rugal, both women were also spies and wielders of Orochi. They are ordered by their superior Goenitz to keep an eye on Iori, but both of them are killed by Iori.

Since then, both have appeared in the "dream match" games The King of Fighters '98 and The King of Fighters 2002 (games in the King of Fighters series with no canonical connection). Vice has also appeared in Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 and the sequel. Mature is a playable character in The King of Fighters XII, exclusive to the home console version of game.

With Vice's return in The King of Fighters XIII, Iori's 1996 team is reunited for the first time since The King of Fighters 2002. In The King of Fighters XIII, both women are spirits, reflecting their fates at the end of the 1996 tournament. With the rise of a new Orochi crisis brought on by Ash Crimson's meddling, they convince Iori to enter the new tournament to settle matters and stop whatever it is Ash has in mind.

In the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters movie, Vice is played by Bernice Liu, and Mature by Monique Ganderton.

Maxima

debuts as a member of the Hero Team in The King of Fighters '99. He was added to the cast with the desire to add a "somber and reliable middle-aged character" to counteract the introduction of multiple teenage characters.

Maxima was a Canadian soldier who led a normal life until he found out that his comrade-in-arms Rocky was killed in an incident involving NESTS. To avenge Rocky's death, he abandons his ordinary life. In order to infiltrate the NESTS cartel without being recognized, Maxima was transformed into a cyborg, with his strength and reaction time increased to superhuman levels, built-in weapons, and the ability to conduct instant data analysis. He also has some degree of cyberpathy. He infiltrates NESTS and is assigned to be the partner of K'. They both defect from the cartel after K' encounters his clone, Krizalid, and grows sickened by the organization. Since then, he has become K's steadfast companion and he is often the one who enters both of them into the following tournaments. He is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi, while his English voice actor is Mike Jarmus.

Oswald

appears in The King of Fighters XI as a member of the game's Hero Team, along with Ash Crimson and Shen Woo. He was created as an older gentleman, and is enigma to even the creators. Developers consider his moves to be comical compared to the seriousness of his image, especially when the move "Joker" is blocked or misses. They chose to leave the result of his fight with Shen ambiguous, implying that fans would have been disappointed with the outcome. He was originally intended to be the "good-looking glasses" character for the series.

It is revealed at the end of the tournament that Oswald joins Ash and Shen Woo to obtain money and drugs named Dragon Pills. Ash agrees to give information regarding the [...] to Oswald, explaining that it can only be given to him if he defeats the provider's enemy, Shen Woo. He is voiced by Toshihiro Shigetsuka.

Ramon

makes his first appearance in The King of Fighters 2000 as a member of the game's Hero Team. Ramon is the only character to speak Spanish in the game, and was created to appeal to the Latin American fanbase. He has a fighting style primarily based on lucha libre.

Ramon is a famous luchador known as "El Diablo Amarillo" (The Yellow Devil), who is loved by his fans in the wrestling circle. He is approached by an agent named Vanessa, who requests in his cooperation in forming a team for The King of Fighters 2000 tournament. Since then, he has had a one-sided infatuation with Vanessa. After King of Fighters 2000, he continues to team with Vanessa at her request, often along with Seth. He is voiced by Eiji Takemoto.

Saisyu Kusanagi

debuted in The King of Fighters '94 as a victim in Rugal's gallery of defeated fighters. He appears as a mid-boss in The King of Fighters '95, and becomes playable for the first time on the screen in The King of Fighters '98, although he was selectable in the console versions of The King of Fighters '95 as a secret character. He was originally meant to have died in The King of Fighters '94, but was added in at the last minute of development for The King of Fighters '95.

Saisyu Kusanagi is the previous head of the Kusanagi clan, who left his family to face worthy opponents across the globe. After his defeat by Rugal, he is brainwashed by his secretary Vice to fight his son, Kyo. Upon his defeat, he regains his senses and escapes from Rugal's missile silo base. In The King of Fighters 2001, he appears before Shingo Yabuki and spends a year properly teaching him the Kusanagi fighting style. The game incarnation is voiced by Keiichirou Sakaki. In the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters, Saisyu is played by Japanese actor Hiro Kanagawa.

Seth

makes his first appearance in the series as a "Striker" in The King of Fighters '99 Evolution. He debuts as a playable character in The King of Fighters 2000 as a member of the Benimaru Team. He was created along with Vanessa, though Seth became the visual model for her. Developers wished to have a character with "the powerful image of a big, dark, middle-aged man with a Mohawk haircut".

Seth was ordered by his superior Ling to enter the King of Fighters tournament in order to capture the Flying Brigands leader, Ron. To do this, he arranges to work with the Benimaru Team. During the tournament, he learns that Ling is really Zero in disguise, and that Ron had joined with NESTS. He continues to investigate Ron's activities as the series progresses. He is voiced by Hidetoshi Nakamura, while in some English adaptations, his voice actor is Glenn Haig. Seth also appears in the KOF: Maximum Impact game series.

Shen Woo

is one of the members of the Hero Team in The King of Fighters 2003, along with Ash Crimson and Duo Lon. He was first conceptualized to be a "wild and sexy man". Due to his fighting style revolving around punches, designers for his fighting style had to make his attacks distinctive enough to avoid confusion with Ralf and Yashiro.

Shen Woo was raised in the Chinese city of Shanghai and given that nickname for developing his own, devastating street-fighting boxing style best described as "violent". He soon came to be very feared, and grew to enjoy the thrill of the fight. Eventually, he came to know the enigmatic fighter Ash, who entered Shen Woo, himself, and Duo Lon as the "Hero Team" into the King of Fighters 2003 tournament. At the end of The King of Fighters XI, Ash decides to pit his two teammates against each other by convincing Oswald to defeat Shen Woo for the mention of the "Dragon Pills" made by an unnamed pharmacist in Shanghai, telling Oswald that they will only give the Dragon Pills to someone who could defeat their mortal enemy, Shen Woo. He is voiced by Kouji Suitsu.

Vanessa

first debuts as a Striker in The King of Fighters '99 Evolution, and becomes playable in The King of Fighters 2000. Like Maxima, she was created as a middle-aged female to CONTRAST the multiple teenage characters in the roster.

Vanessa is a normal housewife who discreetly serves as a mercenary agent. Working under the orders of Commander Ling, Vanessa and fellow agent Seth are commissioned with the job of joining Ling's King of Fighters tournament to follow the footsteps of the NESTS cartel. The two agents part from one another, with Vanessa recruiting prime suspects K', Maxima, and Ramon to complete their team. Her objective from then on is to observe the activities of the NESTS defectors, based on Ling's orders.

In The King of Fighters XI, Vanessa enters the tournament together with Blue Mary and Ramon under orders to receive information concerning the broken Orochi seal and the mysterious members of Those From the Past. She is voiced by Kaori Minami.

Fatal Fury

Andy Bogard

Andrew "Andy" Bogard (アンディー・ボガード, Andī Bogādo) is Terry Bogard's younger brother. Andy practices the Shiranui-ryū ("style" in Japanese) ninjutsu and a form of empty-handed ninja combat called Koppō-ken, which he trained in after witnessing his foster father's [...] in order to gain revenge on Geese Howard. Mai Shiranui is his love interest (or fiancée in her mind), and the granddaughter of Hanzo Shiranui, the man he learned Ninjitsu from. It was after his foster father Jeff's death that Tung Fu Rue took responsibility for raising himself and Terry. Andy went to Japan to train under Hanzo and grew up alongside Mai, while Terry stayed in South Town. During Andy's time in Japan, he met the Muay Thai fighter Joe Higashi, and challenged him to a match. When Andy won, he invited Joe to return to America with him to enter the King of Fighters tournament, held by Geese. Before this, Andy had rarely, if ever, seen Terry in the interim since Jeff's death. Andy quickly grew jealous of Terry because Terry was taller, older, more experienced and quite possibly a better fighter, and unlike Andy, Terry did not practice a grueling daily training regimen.

Late in the tournament, Andy tried to kill off Geese by himself. Geese's power proved to be too much for Andy as he almost fell to his death. Terry saved Andy, who then acknowledged Terry as the less superior fighter.

Andy's emotions prevented him from reaching the final round, but when Terry defeated Geese, Andy felt a sense of closure and returned to Japan to continue his training. After Terry beat Geese at the end of their first King of Fighters Tournament, a new tournament was held, this time hosted by Wolfgang Krauser. Andy, while present in the tournament, did not accomplish much story-wise.

Ever since Geese's death, the fall of the First Southtown, and the birth of Second Southtown, Andy has been busy training his young apprentice Hokutomaru in the ways of the Shiranui-style ninjitsu and Koppo-ken. Instead of fighting in the KOF: Maximum Mayhem tournament himself, Andy sends Hokutomaru in his place to see on what his apprentice has learned. In Hokutomaru's ending, Andy writes him a note saying that he was proud of how strong Hokutomaru has gotten. Then he ended the note by saying he is no longer his teacher but his rival and that they will cross paths again.

When the new King of Fighters '94 tournament was announced, Andy joined Terry and Joe in the new 3-on-3 matches. Since then, Andy has always agreed to follow his brother Terry whenever he decided to enter the new version of the King of Fighters tournament. The Fatal Fury Team maintained his original formation (Terry, Andy and Joe) from King of Fighters '94 to '98. With new rules in KOF '99 allowing teams of four members, Mai Shiranui (in KOF '99) and, later, Blue Mary (KOF 2000) joined the team. After the beginning of the Ash Crimson Saga (KOF 2003, XI,) Andy left the Fatal Fury team to take care of Shiranui disciple Hokutomaru, who fell sick, and Mai went after him. Andy made his return to The King of Fighters XII but does not participate in a defined team. The King of Fighters XIII sees Andy rejoining the Fatal Fury team as his brother's interest in the tournament has compelled him to reunite the original Fatal Fury team from the 1994 event. In his anime incarnations, though sometimes perplexed by her actions, Andy is more open to showing his affection towards Mai.

Joe Higashi

Tung Fu Rue

is one of the first four opponents the players faces in the original Fatal Fury. He is an elderly martial arts master from China who developed his own fighting style based on Bājíquán known as the . In the past, he trained Terry and Andy{{'}}s adoptive father, Jeff Bogard, and his nemesis Geese Howard (as well as Cheng Sinzan). He raised the Bogard brothers after Jeff was killed by Geese and participates in the King of Fighters tournament in the first game with the objective to defeat Geese. He can transform his body into steel and draw out great power using a deadly secret technique known only to himself. In the game, he appears as meek elderly man, but after taking a bit of damage, he transforms into a musclebound warrior, whose special moves including a flying whirlwind punch and a spinning whirlwind kick in which he shoots fireballs at both directions.

In Fatal Fury 2, Tung was one of the characters defeated by Wolfgang Krauser in one of the game{{'}}s cut-scene. He would appear as a playable character in Fatal Fury Special, the upgraded version of Fatal Fury 2. Unlike the original game, Tung only transforms into a musclebound version of himself while performing certain special moves. Tung reappears in Real Bout Special and Real Bout 2. In Real Bout Special, there are two versions of him in the game. In regular version of him has improved versions of his previous special moves, as well as new moves, while the alternate version of him (EX Tung Fu Rue) has all of his moves from Fatal Fury Special and one Hidden Ability. in Real Bout 2, Tung has special moves from both versions of his character in the previous game.

Tung also appears in the SNK crossover game NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. This version of the character was used as an additional character in the PlayStation 2 port of The King of Fighters XI.

Duck King

Duck King (ダック・キング, Dakku Kingu) appears in the original Fatal Fury as one of the first four opponents in the single-player mode. Possessing incredible talent when it comes to brawling and street dancing, Duck King once challenged Terry Bogard to a street fight and lost. He trained himself to improve his martial art skills in order to surpass Terry. Duck uses a unique martial arts style which includes rhythmical dance-like movements and attacks. His primary special move is a flying cannonball technique.

In Fatal Fury 2, Duck was one of the characters from the original game who is defeated by Krauser in one of the game{{'}}s cut scenes, although he would appear as a playable character in Fatal Fury Special. He would retain his cannonball technique, now dubbed the Head Spin Attack, along with new special moves such as the Dancing Dive, Break Storm, and the Beat Rush. He also has a new hidden special move called the Break Spiral. From Special and onward, Duck would be accompanied by his pet chick "P-chan". He makes another quick cameo in Bob Wilson's ending Fatal Fury 3 before returning as a playable character in Real Bout Fatal Fury and its sequels, Real Bout Special and Real Bout 2. He also appears as an exclusive character in the PlayStation version of Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition.

Although Duck King has made numerous cameo appearances thorough The King of Fighters series, including as an alternate Striker (a character who helps the player in battle) in The King of Fighters 2000, he did not appear as a playable character until The King of Fighters XI, where he appears as a member of the new Fatal Fury Team along with Terry and Kim Kaphwan.

Richard Meyer

appears in the original Fatal Fury as one of the first four computer-controlled opponents in the single-player mode. A capoeira mestre originally from Brazil, Richard makes his daily living in South Town as the manager of the restaurant Pao Pao Cafe. He competes in the King of Fighters tournament in order to make his capoiera style known to the world. In this game, his character specializes in numerous kick techniques.

Richard makes cameo appearances in subsequent Fatal Fury games as a friendly acquaintance of the Bogard brothers and Joe. He appears in Fatal Fury 2 in the cut scene shown immediately after the first battle against the CPU, tending to a crowd of spectators at Pao Pao Cafe witnessing the player{{'}}s fight on television. He appears again near the end of the game, where he is defeated in battle by Wolfgang Krauser, as well in Terry Bogard's ending, serving him and his date their meal.

In Fatal Fury 3, Richard opens a new Pao Pao Cafe restaurant, which is maintained by his capoeira apprentice Bob Wilson. In Fatal Fury 3, as well as in Real Bout series, Richard appears to cheer and encourage Bob before each of his matches. He makes cameos in King of Fighters XI, trying to tell Kim to leave the cafe and King of Fighters XIII witnessing several female fighters destroy his bar.

Richard appears as a hidden character in the PlayStation 2 game KOF: Maximum Impact 2 (released in North America as The King of Fighters 2006), participating as a fighter for the first time since the original Fatal Fury.

Michael Max

is a black boxer who appears in the original Fatal Fury as one of the first four CPU-controlled opponents whom the player faces. Prior to the events of the game, Michael was a young boxing prodigy who was once considered a strong contender for the title of Worldwide Heavyweight Champion. However, he left the boxing circuit to seek real combat and participate in the King of Fighters tournament, feeling that professional boxing was a mere sport protected by rules. His only other appearances in the series includes in the cut-scenes of Fatal Fury 2, where he is one of the fighters defeated by Wolfgang Krauser, and in Axel Hawk{{'}}s ending in Fatal Fury Special, where he is depicted as Axel{{'}}s trainer. In one of his victory poses, it is revealed that he is Catholic. Michael Max is the only character from the Original Fatal Fury that has never appeared in a 'King of Fighters' series.

Hwa Jai

is the first of three opponents the player faces in the original Fatal Fury before the final match against Geese Howard. A former Muay Thai champion once nicknamed , he once fought against Joe Higashi in the past and lost, causing him to lose his title. Seeking to defeat Joe, he became a more reckless and dangerous fighter. After being banned from competing in the Muay Thai circuit, his brutal talent was noted by Geese Howard, who hired him to serve as one of his bodyguards and a participant in the King of Fighters tournament. His special technique, the Dragon Kick, was developed to compete with Joe{{'}}s Tiger Kick. He also gains additional strength by drinking a sort of Super Drink, which thrown at him by one of Geese{{'}}s men when he is in danger.

In Fatal Fury 2, Hwa Jai is one of the characters from the original game who gets defeated by an unknown challenger (Wolfgang Krauser). He is apparently hospitalized and visited by Joe Higashi, as seen in Joe{{'}}s ending in the game and in Fatal Fury Special. He makes further cameos in the subsequent Fatal Fury games (Fatal Fury 3, Real Bout, Real Bout Special and Real Bout 2) as Joe{{'}}s training partner and trainer. Despite having been absent since his original appearance as an opponent character in Fatal Fury, Hwa Jai has been confirmed to return in The King of Fighters XIII and marks the first time the character has been playable. Kim, following his "reform" of his previous teammates (Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge), seeks out Hwa Jai and Raiden as he believes they still work under Geese Howard. It is not the case as Geese had returned to America long ago but Raiden manages to talk Hwa Jai into joining the team to bolster their reputations as fighters. Hwa Jai accepts, partially due to wanting to fight Joe once again.

Raiden

first appears in the original Fatal Fury as the second of the final four computer-controlled opponents in the single-player mode. He was once a popular face wrestler until he was betrayed by his tag partner during a match (a character later revealed to be Big Bombarder from the SNK wrestling game 3 Count Bout). This incident transformed him completely and he became a notorious heel wrestler. Not satisfied with venting his frustration in the ring, he enters the King of Fighters tournament as a masked fighter, acting as one of Geese{{'}}s guardians. His primary special move in the game is the Vapor Breath. This character was modeled after real life pro wrestler Big Van Vader.

He returns as a regular playable character in Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury Special, where he renounces his Raiden persona and now fights as an unmasked face wrestler under the identity of . He trains at his native land of Australia, where his deadly strength increased on several levels. He also develops a friendly rivalry with Terry, as seen in his endings in both games. His special moves in Fatal Fury 2 includes the Giant Bomb, a rushing tackle, and the Super Drop Kick. He also has a hidden special move called the Fire Breath, an improved version of his Vapor Breath. In Special, he gains a new special move called the Bear Bomber.

Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, being a retelling of the original Fatal Fury tournament, depicts Raiden under his masked heel persona once again. Outside the Fatal Fury series, Raiden also appeared in the Capcom-produced crossover game Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000, and its sequels, Capcom vs. SNK Pro and Capcom vs. SNK 2, being one of the few Fatal Fury characters who did not appeared in The King of Fighters as a playable character (at the time) in those games. Raiden also appears in The King of Fighters XII and the sequel. In KOF XII none of the characters are assigned into teams but for KOF XIII they are. Raiden's teammates in KOF XIII are Kim Kaphwan and Hwa Jai. Kim is mistaken in thinking Raiden and Hwa Jai are still in the employ of Geese Howard, wanting to "reform" both men. Raiden convinces Hwa Jai to act as if they are so they are able to enter the tournament to build reputation for themselves. The Fatal Fury characters refer him as "Bear", his face persona, which he denies.

Billy Kane

Kim Kaphwan

Jubei Yamada

is one of the five playable characters introduced in Fatal Fury 2. An elderly Judo master who was once known as "Yamada, the Demon" during his youth. Having lost his charm from his younger days, Jubei fights in the new King of Fighters tournament in order to re-establish his popularity with girls around the world. Despite this, he refuses to change his womanizing lecherous ways. Although Jubei does not return as a playable character in later games, he makes several cameo appearances, including in Mai Shiranui's ending in Real Bout Fatal Fury, where he is shown to have an infatuation with her.

Cheng Sinzan

is introduced as one of the new playable characters in Fatal Fury 2. A rotund fighter who practices t'ai chi ch'uan. Despite his immense strength, he hates training and becomes tired very easily. He enters the King of Fighters tournament seeking to gain international recognition and open his own dojo. He is characterized as the richest man in Hong Kong, who resides in a high class neighborhood and is married to a former Miss Hong Kong. Despite his social status, he seeks to find ways to make himself even richer. His Special Moves in Fatal Fury 2, as well as in Fatal Fury Special, includes the , the , and the , while his Super Special Move is the .

He makes a non-playable appearance in Fatal Fury 3, helping Hon-Fu chase after Ryuji Yamazaki and doesn't return as a playable character until Real Bout Special and Real Bout 2. In the backstory of Real Bout Special, it is revealed that Cheng was once a disciple of Tung Fu Rue trained in Hakkyoku Seiken along with Jeff Bogard and Geese Howard, but was expelled due to his greediness. He would also make money by having people bet against him in street fights and then lose on purpose.

Axel Hawk

first appears in Fatal Fury 2 as the second of the final four opponents in the single-player mode. A former heavyweight champion said to be the strongest of all time until his retirement. According to his backstory, he began spending most of his days at home after his retirement, playing with his R/C car and being supported by his elderly mother, his father having died at some point. One day, he received an anonymous letter inviting him to the King of Fighters tournament and began training for his comeback. He was originally a non-playable character in the Neo Geo version of Fatal Fury 2, although he playable in the SNES and Genesis versions of the game. He became a regular playable character in Fatal Fury Special. He makes a cameo at the end of KOF 2003 cheering on the Fatal Fury Team.

Laurence Blood

first appears in Fatal Fury 2 as the third of the four boss characters the player faces at the end of the single-player mode. A former Spanish matador who uses a self-styled martial art based on his deadly bullfighting methods. He serves as the right-hand man and servant of Wolfgang Krauser and participates in the tournament under his request. He is a computer-only character in the Neo Geo version of Fatal Fury 2 and became playable in Fatal Fury Special. He would return as a playable character in Real Bout Special and Real Bout 2. He is notable for being one of three bullfighter characters in fighting games (the other two being Vega of Street Fighter and Miguel Caballero Rojo of Tekken). He is also the only boss character from Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 that hasn't appeared in The King Of Fighters Tournaments.

Wolfgang Krauser

Krauser made his appearance in Fatal Fury 2, where he serves as the final opponent in the tournament. Known as the only man in the world feared by Geese Howard (whom in Fatal Fury Special is revealed to be his elder half-brother from the same father), Krauser is a German nobleman who is publicly known as the current Earl of Stroheim, a prestigious family in Europe, but within the underworld he is a ruthless warlord known as the Emperor of Darkness. After Geese's supposed death in the original Fatal Fury, Krauser sponsors a new King of Fighters tournament with his three chosen warriors Laurence Blood, Axel Hawk and Billy Kane (a former underling of Geese himself) in order to lure the men who defeated Geese (Terry Bogard, Andy Bogard, and Joe Higashi).

Although Krauser takes his own life following the events of Fatal Fury 2 and Special according to the background story in the subsequent games, Krauser appeared in the special installments of the series Real Bout Fatal Fury Special and Real Bout Fatal Fury 2.

Outside the Fatal Fury series, Krauser appears as a member of the Boss Team in The King of Fighters '96 with his half-brother Geese and Geese's former partner-in-crime Mr. Big. The Boss Team made another appearance in the remake of The King of Fighters '98, titled The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match. Additionally, Krauser also appears as a "Striker" character in the console versions of The King of Fighters 2000.

Krauser serves a main antagonist in the anime special Fatal Fury 2: The New Battle. According to character designer Masami Ōbari, Krauser was redesigned to be ten years younger than his video game counterpart and given a clean-shaved appearance. In this special, Krauser challenges his half-brother's nemesis Terry Bogard to battle and wins. After Terry regains his courage, he challenges Krauser again and wins the rematch, causing Krauser to commit [...] due to his loss.

Blue Mary

Bob Wilson

is a character introduced in Fatal Fury 3 and appears as a playable character throughout the Real Bout sub-series. He is the bartender of Pao Pao Cafe 2 and was trained in capoeira by Richard Meyer. He specializes in spinning kicks and combination attacks. All of his special moves reference animals in some way, as his Fatal Fury 3 Special Moves are the Wild Wolf, the Bison's Horn, the Lynx's Fang, the Rolling Turtle, and the Hornet Attack. His Super Special Move is the Dangerous Wolf. In Real Bout, he gains the Monkey Dance special move and two Hidden Abilities, the Mad Spin Wolf and the Wolf's Fang. Real Bout Special brings in the Sidewinder, Hunting Frog and Hawk Talon Special Moves, and Real Bout 2 discards Bob's previous Hidden Abilities for a new one called Dancing Bison. {{-}}

Franco Bash

makes his first appearance in Fatal Fury 3 as one of the five new playable characters introduced in the game and also appears thorough the Real Bout sub-series. He is a retired Super Heavyweight-class kickboxing champion who works as a mechanic in South Town Airport to support his wife Emilia, and their son Junior. In Fatal Fury 3 his son is kidnapped by Yamazaki, who blackmails him into helping him obtain the Secret Scrolls of the Jin. He rescues his son in his ending in Fatal Fury 3 and trains to make his comeback in the Real Bout series. He makes a cameo at the end of KOF 2003 cheering on the Fatal Fury Team.

Hon-Fu

is introduced in Fatal Fury 3 as one of the new playable characters featured in the game and appears all the games in the Real Bout sub-series. He is a police officer from Hong Kong who practices Kung Fu and specializes in using a nunchaku. His objective thorough Fatal Fury 3 and the Real Bout series is to arrest the escaped convict Ryuji Yamazaki and is aided by Cheng in Fatal Fury 3. He is a close friend of Kim Kaphwan according to his backstory in Fatal Fury 3, as the two have nearly identical desperation attacks, although Hon-Fu was given a new one for Real Bout Fatal Fury 2.

Sokaku Mochizuki

is introduced in Fatal Fury 3 as one of the five new characters featured in the game and appears in all of the games in the Real Bout series. Mochizuki is a Buddhist monk who practices the , a fighting style created to hunt down Shura after its founder lost to the Shiranui style. He is said to has the strongest psychokinetic power in the history of the art's style. In Fatal Fury 3 and the original Real Bout, his objective is to seek the Scrolls of the Jin and destroy them. His Real Bout 2 ending shows him trapping a demon larger than a house within a single paper talisman.

Ryuji Yamazaki

Jin Chonshu

Jin Chonshu (秦 崇秀, , Pinyin: Qín Chóngxiù) first appears as the second boss character in Fatal Fury 3 and appears thorough the Real Bout series as a regular playable character. He is the younger half of the Jin brothers seeking the Three Secret Scrolls of the Jin. While he appears like a regular teenage boy, he is actually possessed by the spirit of Jin Kairyu (秦　海龍), who was the younger son of Jin Ōryū (秦 王龍), the ancient warlord who wrote the Secret Scrolls of the Jin two thousand years prior to the events of Fatal Fury 3. In Fatal Fury 3, they head to South Town to seek the Secret Scrolls of the Jin in order to unleash their true power. The scrolls are eventually taken by Geese Howard and in the original Real Bout Fatal Fury the Jin brothers participate in the King of Fighters tournament to recover them. However, the scrolls are destroyed by Chonrei in the Jin Brothers' endings. In Real Bout 2, Chonshu then becomes a disciple of Kim Kaphwan, as seen in their corresponding endings. Outside the Fatal Fury series, Jin Chonshu and Jin Chonrei have appeared in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.

Jin Chonrei

Jin Chonrei (秦 崇雷, Japanese: Jin Chonrei, Pinyin: Qín Chóngléi) appears in Fatal Fury 3 as the third and final boss character featured in the game and appears as a regular playable character thorough the Real Bout series. Like his younger brother Chonshu, Chonrei is possessed by the spirit of Jin Kuryu (秦 空龍), the elder son of Jin Ōryū and ancestor of Chonrei and Chonshu. In Fatal Fury 3, they head to South Town to seek the Secret Scrolls of the Jin in order to unleash their true power. The scrolls are eventually taken by Geese Howard and in the next game of the series,Real Bout Fatal Fury, the Jin brothers participate in the King of Fighters tournament to recover them. However, the scrolls are destroyed by Chonrei in the Jin Brothers' endings. In Real Bout Fatal Fury 2, Chonrei becomes an apprentice of Tung Fu Rue, as seen in their corresponding ending (although Kim's ending in the game depicts Chonrei training as Kim's disciple along with his brother). Outside the Fatal Fury series, Jin Chonshu and Jin Chonrei have appeared in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum.

In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Jin was voted as the staff's thirty-ninth favorite character. He shared the spot with four other characters, including Fatal Fury character, Joe Higashi, and Street Fighter character, Zangief.

Alfred

is the protagonist of the main story mode in Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind, a Japan-only PlayStation game based on the original Real Bout Fatal Fury Special. Prior to his debut, he appears in Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers as a secret final boss. When he was young, his friend John (the elderly co-pilot who accompanies Alfred) took him on a trip on his biplane. When John flew to Russian airspace, MiG missiles were sent after him, but he managed to outfly them without getting struck. John became a hero in Alfred's mind, as the man who won against the MiGs, and Alfred was charmed by flying since then. Alfred seeks to defeat White, who took over the hometown where his deceased father is interred. Alfred goes to Southtown to seek Terry Bogard's aid and help him defeat White.

Alfred appears in later games, such as the Dreamcast version of The King of Fighters '99 (as secret striker), in SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash series (as a trading card) and in KOF: Maximum Impact 2 and KOF 2002: Unlimited Match (as a cameo in one of the stages).

White

is the antagonist of Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special, where he serves as Alfred's rival. A demented psycho and all-around disturbed fellow, White finds pleasure in making people suffer and follow his every wish. He uses his mind-controlling abilities to make people his personal toys, manipulating them to his desire. White enjoys playing around with those foolish enough to challenge him, using the great amount of power that he possesses. He appears to be based on the main character, Alexander DeLarge from Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange.

Li Xiangfei

Li Xiangfei (Chinese: 李 香緋; Pinyin: Lǐ Xiāngfēi; Japanese: 李 香緋 Rii Shanfei) makes her first appearance in Real Bout 2. She is a 17-year-old Chinese-American girl who works part-time as waitress in her Uncle Pai's restaurant in the Chinatown district of South Town and has trained in various Chinese martial arts since an early age. She also appears in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition as a hidden guest character.

Li Xiangfei would later make her debut in The King of Fighters series in The King of Fighters '99, forming part of the Woman Fighters Team along with King, Blue Mary, and Kasumi Todoh. She was absent in The King of Fighters 2000, but would return in The King of Fighters 2001, taking Kasumi Todoh's place from the previous game. {{-}}

Rick Strowd

is one of the two new characters introduced in Real Bout 2. He is a casino show boxer known as the "White Wolf of the Ring", who is the son of a Native American father and a white mother. He seeks the opportunity to fight in a championship match as well as fight Terry Bogard. Rick's Special Moves are the Shooting Star, the Divine Blast, the Hellion, and the Blazing Sun Burst. He also has a special dodging maneuver called Full Moon Fever. His Super Special is the Gaia's Breath, and his Hidden Ability is the Machine-Gun Wolf. Rick is seen to have a girlfriend, a blonde woman wearing a red dress, name unknown, with whom he rides off into sunset on horseback in his ending. Fans have speculated a probable connection between him and fellow boxer, Vanessa, from SNK's King of Fighters series, as she later began using Rick's Hellion, and had the Gaia's Breath as a DM in King of Fighters 2002.

Lao

is a character introduced in Fatal Fury: 1st Contact. He can be seen in the opening scenes of Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 and Fatal Fury First Contact. In Garou: Mark of the Wolves, he becomes a member in B. Jenet's Lillien Knights crew.

Toji Sakata

is one of two characters who appears exclusively in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. He is the legendary practitioner of the fighting style . He was once the rival of , Blue Mary's grandfather and the man who trained Geese Howard in Jujitsu. Believing that he was destined to challenge Tatsumi in a death match, this encounter never occurred since Tatsumi was eventually killed by his former student, Geese Howard. He enters the King of Fighters tournament to defeat the man who killed his rival. {{-}}

Tsugumi Sendo

is one of the two new characters exclusive to Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition. She's a high school girl from Osaka who was taught wrestling by her father, since an early age. However, she is secretly ashamed of this, especially after she was told by a boy she had a crush that woman wrestlers are "unfeminine", and wants to drop out of her wrestling training. After butting heads with her overbearing father, Kantetsu will allow her to drop out, but only under the condition that she brings a decisive victory in the King of Fighters tournament. Despite her original hatred for wrestling, she has come to enjoy fighting as she began to win matches. Some of Tsugumi's move names reference her hometown, like "Tsūtenkaku Driver", "Naniwa Lariat", and "Okonomiyaki-Ire". {{-}}

B. Jenet

(Bonne Jenet in full, or real name Jennie Behrn) is a character from both Garou: Mark of the Wolves and the King of Fighters series. Jenet is the leader of a group of pirates known as the Lillien Knights. Jenet entered the tournament hosted by Kain R. Heinlein to rob him of anything valuable he might be keeping in his mansion. In her ending, she passes out amidst the destruction of Kain's mansion after defeating him. Her crew saves her from being trapped under the rubble, but fails to secure any of the treasure they had been looking for.

In The King of Fighters Maximum Impact 2, her parents are revealed to be incredibly wealthy; she formed the Lillien Knights when she became bored of her tedious lifestyle. Before the start of the tournament, she attends a party in her otherwise occupied parents' place. While there, the son of the host attempts (and fails quite miserably) to impress her with his paltry skills in Savate. Although Jenet is rather repulsed by his arrogance and embarrassing lack of skill, she learns from him that the King of Fighters tournament is being held once again. After her Lillien Knights knock the man unconscious and rob his father, Jenet decides to join the tournament in hopes of winning the prize money. She is voiced by Rei Saitō in Japanese, and by Gina Rose in the English version of KOF: MI2.

Freeman

Gato

is a character from Garou: Mark of the Wolves and the King of Fighters series. He has no concerns outside of besting anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. In his Mark of the Wolves ending, a stranger saves Kain R. Heinlein from the crumbling mansion. Gato appears to know the stranger, but he is blinded before he can act. As the mansion falls, the stranger taunts Gato, telling him to start training in order to defeat him. Gato appears to have a vision of his past and his father, and angrily swears vengeance - this insinuates that the stranger is connected to Gato's past (the stranger's outfit appears to resemble Gato's), but nothing has been officially confirmed. Gato also appears in the ending of Hotaru Futaba, who claims that he's her older brother and slaps him when he denies even knowing her. He then leaves her there, and Hotaru silently prays for Gato to come back to her and their father.

Gato first appears in the King of Fighters series in King of Fighters 2003 as part of the Outlaw Team, along with Ryuji Yamazaki and Billy Kane. Gato is summoned to Geese Howard's office and forced to cooperate in order to prevent his sister from being harmed. Gato does not like his team mates at all as revealed by the ending, in which Gato ditches the other two immediately and tells them off, leaving Yamazaki and Billy to fight. In KOF XI he is partnered with Bonne Jenet and Tizoc to form a Garou Team. He also immediately leaves them, though on somewhat friendlier terms (he declines their invitation to celebrate) reinforcing Hotaru's description of his true nature. He is voiced by Kōji Ishii ().

Hokutomaru

Hotaru Futaba

is a character who was introduced in Garou: Mark of the Wolves and also makes an appearance in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and in the PS2 version of The King of Fighters XI. Hotaru is the daughter of a family of martial artists, but is not very fond of violence. She never wants to hurt others, which is the probable reason why her father taught her the lighter side of Chinese kenpo; the Juu-kei style, which suits her easygoing personality. There are two things that Hotaru appreciates the most after her mother's [...]: her sable, Itokatsu, and her older brother, Gato. But Gato was a man who was tormented to become an accomplished martial artist, and was pushed too far by their father. Still, Hotaru knows who the real Gato is, and she is sure that he is not such a bad person at heart.

Gato's disappearance led Hotaru to a hostile city located in the United States: Second South Town, where fighting rules all, crime rules the society, and strength dictates who lives and dies. In this harsh place, Hotaru set out to find clues about her brother. She then heard news of a fighting tournament of epic proportions that would soon occur in Second South Town - "King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem." Hotaru had a feeling that her brother would enter the tournament, as he was always looking for strong opponents to fight. Following her premonitions, Hotaru entered the tournament as well. She is voiced by Yuki Horie ().

Kain R. Heinlein

Grant

Kevin Rian

Khushnood Butt

Kim Dong Hwan

Kim Jae Hoon

Rock Howard

Tizoc

Tizoc, otherwise known as or the Griffon in the Japanese version, is a character from both the Fatal Fury and King of Fighters series. He started out in the Fatal Fury game Garou: Mark of the Wolves. By the time of Garou: Mark of The Wolves, Tizoc already sees himself as a washed up has-been and enters the tournament in order to gain his passion into going back into the ring. When the events of King of Fighters 2003 occur, Tizoc is an up-and-coming superstar in the professional wrestling circuit and joins the Fatal Fury team after being invited by Terry Bogard himself after his brother Andy becomes unavailable since he is teaching a young boy in Shiranui style Ninjitsu in Japan (the boy would later grow up to be known as Hokutomaru in Garou). He is voiced by Hikaru Hanada ().

Art of Fighting

Kasumi Todoh

is the daughter of Ryuhaku Todoh, the first enemy in the original Art of Fighting. Kasumi grew up learning the Todoh school of Aikido and Kobujutsu, taught to her by her father. As her family's sole heir, she does all she can to stand up for the Todoh way. When Ryuhaku stayed at Southtown to settle an old score with a man named Takuma Sakazaki, Kasumi remained in her house, waiting for her father's return. A couple of months later, she learns that Ryuhaku has been defeated by Ryo Sakazaki, Takuma's son and has not been seen since. She decides to fight Ryo and anybody else in order to avenge her father. However, her mother does not like that idea and convinces her to make peace with Ryo to the point of slapping her in the face.

Kasumi goes on to participate in the 1996 King of Fighters tournament with King and Mai Shiranui, replacing Yuri Sakazaki who left for Ryo's team in place of Yuri's father Takuma (Takuma threatened to seize Yuri's assets in order to motivate Yuri to join Ryo's team). After Goenitz (highest priest of the Orochi Power) was defeated (not to mention taking his own life), King took Mai and Kasumi to her bar.

In 1999, she teams up with King, Blue Mary and Li Xiangfei. Later in 2000, Kasumi rejoins Mai, and the two team up with Yuri and Hinako Shijou. While Kasumi had some reservations about teaming up with Yuri (mainly because Yuri is a Kyokugenryu Karate practitioner), Kasumi knows that she has to live under a family code of ethics and accepts Yuri as her teammate. In The King of Fighters XI, she teams up with Malin and the bitter rival of the Sakazaki family, Eiji Kisaragi to form the Anti-Kyokugenryu Team. She has also been featured in The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match as an edit character, in The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match in the Women Fighters Team with Mai and King and SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. She is voiced by Masae Yumi.

Ryo Sakazaki

is the son of the respected Kyokugenryu master, Takuma Sakazaki. Orphaned at the age of 10, he now lives with his kid sister, Yuri. After Yuri is kidnapped, the Invincible Dragon is awakened in him. He plunges head-long into the urban battlezone, Southtown.

Robert Garcia

Son of the multi-millionaire Albert Garcia. Sent to the world-famous Imperial Academy to study the mysteries of Kyokugen karate under the tutelage of Albert's lifelong friend, Takuma Sakazaki. After the death of Ryo's mother and the disappearance of Ryo's father, Robert watched over the young boy, providing him with friendship. Robert remains, however, Ryo's ultimate rival.

Ryuhaku Todoh

is the first opponent in the arcade mode of Art of Fighting. He is the creator and main teacher of Todoh style karate, which derives its style from Aikido and Kendo. Todoh has a long standing rivalry with disciples of the Kyokugenryu school of karate and considers them a threat to his style of teaching in terms of profits as well as personal animosity dating back to a rivalry with Takuma Sakazaki when both men were very young.

After the player defeats Ryuhaku as Ryo and Robert wanted to interrogate him to know about who kidnapped Yuri, Todoh went into hiding and has not been seen since. Because of his disappearance, his daughter Kasumi goes on a personal quest to look for her father and gain revenge on Ryo and all Kyokugenryu disciples to try to reclaim her family's honor. However, in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos he makes a short appearance after seeing Kasumi's development. He also appears in The King of Fighters 2000 as a striker from Kasumi named voiced by Akira Goto. He has also been a playable character in Capcom vs SNK 2. He is voiced by Takeshi Aono and Carter Cathcart. He also appears in the game Samurai Shodown II during Gen-an's ending.

Jack Turner

is a member of Mr. Big's syndicate, and a developer of his own fighting style. One of Mr. Big's highest-ranking subordinates, he devastates anyone who crosses his path. Jack is also the leader of the Southtown gang known as the Neo Black Cats. Humorously, in Jack's ending in AOF2, it was revealed that he wanted to make the gang into a dance group.

Lee Pai Long

Lee Pai Long (Chinese: 李白龍) is a master of Chinese martial arts and an expert of his country's medicine. He works as the director of the Southtown prison, but also has a small herbal shop which he runs part-time. A former adversary and long-time friend of Ryo Sakazaki's father Takuma, he enters the tournament to test Ryo's skills. And like his friend, he dawns a mask. In this case, a Monkey Mask. Humorously, in his ending to AOF2, it was discovered that Lee would become famous for finding the cure to haemorrhoids.1 He has also been featured in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum as a playable character. Eiji Yano voices him in Art of Fighting and NeoGeo Battle Coliseum and Kay Inage in Art of Fighting 2.

King

is a female Muay Thai fighter who hides her gender to avoid various issues with her. In the first Art of Fighting, King appears as a CPU-controlled character. She is hired by the criminal Mr. Big to work as a bouncer in his tournament. After King is defeated by Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia who were searching for Ryo's kidnapped sister, Yuri, King agrees to help them to find Mr. Big. In Art of Fighting 2, King enters into the King of Fighters tournament in order to win the prize money to pay for an operation for her younger brother, Jan, to regain the use of his legs. As such, Ryo and Robert decide to use the prize money to pay for the operation in gratitude for helping them to find Yuri.

King is also a recurring character from The King of Fighters series as part of the Women Fighters Team participating in various tournaments, usually acting as the de facto leader and peacekeeper. The team is initially composed of King, Mai Shiranui and Yuri, but Yuri is replaced in '96 by Kasumi Todoh and in '97 and '98 by Chizuru Kagura. In The King of Fighters '99, the tournament now requires four members per team, and while Mai joins to the Fatal Fury Team, Chizuru left competition. However, Kasumi, Li Xiangfei and Blue Mary join King to complete the team. In The King of Fighters 2000, King is requested by Yuri to replace her in the Art of Fighting Team, in which she bonds with Ryo, Robert and Ryo's father, Takuma. She returns to the Women Fighters Team in The King of Fighters 2001 with Mai, Hinako Shijou and Li Xiangfei. In The King of Fighters 2003, King joins Mary and Mai once again in the Women Fighters Team as the tournament returns to the use of three fighters per team. In The King of Fighters XI, the Women Fighters Team is disbanded since Mai went into searching for her boyfriend Andy Bogard and Mary joins the Agents Team. However, King is once again requested to enter into the tournament with the Art of Fighting Team with Ryo and Yuri as Robert has problems with his organization and Takuma is in a weak state. Takuma pretends to be in a bad state just to make King join Ryo and intensify their relationship which has been hinted several times in the series. She is aware of this, usually getting uncharacteristically going into fits of rage at the Kyokugen dojo.

King has also appeared in The King of Fighters Neowave with the her original team and in The King of Fighters Kyo aiding Kyo Kusanagi and Blue Mary into investigating Geese Howard. She was removed from The King of Fighters 2002, but was added as a playable character in the home version from the game as well as in the remake The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match teaming up with Kasumi and Mai. Additionally, she has appeared in Capcom vs SNK and Capcom vs SNK 2. Harumi Ikoma has voiced King since her debut. In the anime adaptation from Art of Fighting, King is voiced by Masako Katsuki in Japanese and Sharon Becker in English.

Mickey Rogers

is a former professional boxer who was expelled from the ranks after he accidentally killed a man in the ring. He currently stalks Southtown seeking opponents to vent his anger and frustration on, and enters the tournament for the same reason. Like Crawley, Mickey gets a haircut between his two appearances. In the first AOF, Mickey has long hair, worn in dreadlocks. In AOF2, he has short hair. In Art of Fighting 1, Mickey becomes a small time hood who works for Mr. Big so that he can get money as a street hustler. In Art of Fighting 2, Mickey has since reformed, wanting to get back into the professional boxing circuit. In Mickey's AOF2 ending, his trainer Pops (who is visible in Mickey's stage as well) informs him that his time has come, and he has a title bout. He is voiced by Kay Inage.

John Crawley

is a Martial Arts Instructor, and with his brutal and aggressive fighting style was known to his friends as "The Madman" and "The [...] Machine". He enters the tournament to win the prize money and test his skills. In the first AOF, Crawley has longer hair. By the time AOF2 occurs, his hair is cut shorter. In John's AOF2 ending, the US Military attempts to recruit him to rescue the President's canary, but John refuses. Although it is not mentioned in the game, John seems to be assigned to the aircraft carrier , since a large "62" is visible on the ship's island.

Mr. Big

is the sub-boss character from the first twoArt of Fighting games. He has been involved with the mob for as long as he can remember. He made it big in Southtown, a city as seedy and corrupt as he is. He joins Geese Howard's criminal organization, soon becoming his right-hand man. Big secretly feared Takuma Sakazaki, the master of Kyokugenryu Karate, so he ordered the kidnapping of Takuma's daughter, Yuri, and threatened Takuma into working for him. Unfortunately, the plan backfired when Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia fought their way through Southtown's crime to find both of them, beating Big senseless to rescue Yuri and Takuma. King worked as a bouncer at one of Mr. Big's establishments.

In 1996, Geese brought Mr. Big and Wolfgang Krauser to The King of Fighters, and revealed that he was after the Orochi power following the tournament's dramatic conclusion. Enraged, Mr. Big had a sniper take a shot at Geese, but the plan failed, and Mr. Big bailed out. The team also appears in The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match. Mr. Big has also been featured in The King of Fighters: Kyo, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and the PlayStation 2 version from The King of Fighters XI. He also appears in the PS2 port from The King of Fighters 2000 as an assistant version of Takuma.

Masaru Naka voices Mr. Big in most KOF titles and Nobuyuki Yuki in NGBC and KOF XI. In the AOF anime adaptation, he was voiced by Iemasa Kayumi in Japanese and Cliff Lazenby in English. Mr. Big is played by Sam Hargrave in the 2010 live-action film adaptation of The King of Fighters, being the only character from the Art of Fighting series in the film.

Takuma Sakazaki

is Ryo and Yuri's father who left them prior to the first Art of Fighting. Takuma appears as the final boss from the game as a masked warrior named , having taken Yuri as a hostage. Before being defeated by Ryo and Robert, Yuri stops them, revealing his identity. It is later revealed that Takuma was forced to work for Geese Howard and that his right-hand man, Mr. Big, kidnapped Yuri to put him under control. In the Super Nintendo port, Takuma Sakazaki reveals himself as the unwilling killer of Jeff Bogard, stating he wouldn't have eliminated him but Geese had already taken Yuri hostage. In Art of Fighting 2, Takuma rebels against Geese and Mr. Big, by fighting in their King of Fighters tournament, but retreats due to the several injures he has.

Takuma also appears in The King of Fighters series as part of the Art of Fighting tournament along with Robert and Ryo, but he lets Yuri take his place in The King of Fighters '96 as he decides to retire. However, he returns in The King of Fighters '99 to the team as the tournament now requires four fighters per team. He once again retires in The King of Fighters 2003 with the tournament returning to use 3 members per team. He becomes very weak in this game, but uses this state to make King enter the Art of Fighting Team to intensify her relationship with Ryo. In The King of Fighters 2002 and The King of Fighters Neowave he appears with the original Art of Fighting while in The King of Fighters '98 and The King of Fighters 2002: Unilimited Match, he is part of the Oniayi Team, composed of elder characters from the series. In SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos there is a boss character named , which is an enhanced version of the normal Mr. Karate (also playable in the game). He has been voiced by Eiji Tsuda in all his appearances. Following an absence from the series since the 2002 installment, Takuma makes his return debut to the series in The King of Fighters XIII, rejoining Robert and Ryo from the 1994 team

Yuri Sakazaki

Eiji Kisaragi

is a Japanese assassin from the feared and respected Kisaragi clan. His school is the sworn enemy of both the Sakazaki clan and Kyokugenryu Karate. Eiji is a mercenary, willing to kill for anyone so long as they pay well. In The King of Fighters '95, Eiji joins Billy Kane and Iori Yagami in the Rivals Team as in order to kill the Sakazaki Family (Ryo, Yuri and Takuma). Eiji's team failed to reach the finals of the 1995 tournament and he was unable to get a 'clear shot' at the Sakazaki family. While about to escape and go search for them on his own, Iori Yagami appeared in front of Eiji and Billy Kane and brutally beat them, nearly [...] them both.

Eiji did not appear as a playable, or story, character in a King of Fighters game again until The King of Fighters XI, in which he joins Kasumi Todoh and Malin as the Anti-Kyokungeryu Team to find and defeat the Sakazakis once again, only to be badly beaten by an enrage King who was too angry at the Sakazaki's, but for different reasons. Eiji did eventually make the cut for The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match along with Kasumi Todoh and the '96 Boss Team. In The King of Fighters 2000, he appears as an assistant character for Lin. He also makes short cameos with Billy Kane in some of his introductions against Iori, in which he also seeks revenge for what he did to them. He is voiced by Yoshinori Shima.

Temjin

is the only Mongolian dock worker at the Southtown port. Tem resigned himself to a period of menial work as a manure loader. Finding the job 25 bucks an hour, tem stayed on, earning money for the small school in Mongolia where he dreams of teaching one day. He is voiced by Yoshinori Shima.

Jin Fu-Ha

is a former disciple of Eiji Kisaragi, who betrayed him. He then decides to kill Eiji, to test if he is strong enough to do so, he decides to see if he can defeat Eiji's sworn enemy Ryo Sakazaki and searches for him, eventually tracking him down and confronting him in GlassHill Valley while Ryo is searching for his friend Robert Garcia there. Unlike most of the characters, Jin's final battle is not with Wyler, but Ryo Sakazaki. Unique to Jin Fu-Ha's ending is a page of text that tells the player Jin will one day fight Eiji but until then will wander the globe alone in the shadows. He is voiced by JAI.

Karman Cole

is a long-time employee of Robert Garcia's parents in a personal assistant-like role who has known Robert since he was a child. The Garcias send Karman to find their son after he disappeared to look for his old childhood friend Freia Lawrence which has led him to GlassHill Valley. Karman is a loyal employee who seems very fond of Robert Garcia and lets him get away with much more than he should. Karman's final fight in Art Of Fighting 3 is not Wyler like most of the characters but Robert. However, Karman allows him to finish his search for Freia. He is voiced by Mantarō Koichi.

Lenny Creston

is a private investigator who works with Rody Birts. Though there seems to be some romantic tension between them, the two are partners in a business sense only. They have been hired by Wyler to find Freia (also a schoolfriend of Robert Garcia) and deliver her to him. The two appear to have a bad reputation within their profession and Lenny sees their new assignment as their 'big chance'. Lenny is a tough, straight-talking woman but with a caring nature underneath. She fights using a whip, though she appears to be fond of using it for different things (such as dragging Rody around). She is voiced by Kumi Ishida.

Rody Birts

is a private investigator who works with Lenny Creston. Though she dominates him, their relationship is good-natured and there is even a hint of romantic tension. The two appear to have a bad reputation as private eyes. He has come to GlassHill Valley, Mexico because he has been hired by Wyler to find an old childhood friend Freia for him. He is voiced by Eiji Yano.

Wang Koh-San

Wang Koh-San (Chinese: ; Cantonese Yale: Wòhng Gaau Sāan) is an artist entering a competition, and is also a friend of Lee Pai Long. He comes to GlassHill Valley for inspiration for the competition, but once there he learns of Wyler's Elixir and thinks that it will interest Lee. Wang travels with his pet Pelican Hoeh-Hoeh. In his ending, he returns home and lets Hoeh-Hoeh choose the painting for competition. Then humorous 'drawings' of Hoeh-Hoeh interacting with all of the characters from the game are displayed. He is voiced by Monster Maezuka.

Sinclair

is an attractive young woman that appears to be of Indian descent, and is a mini-boss of sorts. Her flashy sword fighting is reminiscent of an assassin style. She is working with Wyler, pretending to encourage him in his experiments, but secretly wants him to stop them; whether she is there to assassinate him or not is unknown. Like Wyler, Sinclair does not have an ending sequence: completing the game only yields the staff roll. Unlike Wyler, she can be thrown, but cannot use throw moves herself. She has only appeared in Art of Fighting 3 thus far. She is voiced by Harumi Ikoma.

Wyler

is the final boss in Art Of Fighting 3. He works on perfecting a powerful elixir that was originally developed by his father and Freia Lawrence's father. However, the essential data needed for completing it was taken by Freia's father when the partnership broke up. Wyler believes this action is the cause of his father becoming destitute and even the cause of his death. Wyler hires the private investigator partners Rody Birts and Lenny Creston to find her. Wyler finds Freia, though seemingly without the help of the private eyes he hired. He completes the elixir and takes it himself, turning into a large Hulk-like man. However, it has an unforeseen after-effect and reverts his mind to a childlike state. Freia choose to stay and tend to him. Wyler is a playable character, though he does not have an ending sequence of his own. He is voiced by Monster Maezuka.

Metal Slug

Tarma Roving

• Voiced by: Dan McComas

His full name is Tarmicle Roving III. Born the son of a distinguished soldier in Hokkaidō, Japan, Tarma joined the army's training college for special tactics and combat straight out of Junior High. When he was 20, he rescued the president and used this to get himself transferred to the Peregrine Falcon Squad (PF Squad). He fought alongside his best friend Marco Rossi in the Great War, leading to his promotion as Captain.

Tarma is an expert motorcycle engineer and builds custom bikes for fun in his spare time. He had intended to retire and set up a shop, but his requests for a discharge from the military have always been denied.

Eri Kasamoto

• Voiced by: Susanna Fera

Eri is an orphan, abandoned on the steps of a church. Once she was mature enough, she fled the church and became a leader of street kids. The Intelligence Agency of the Government Forces noticed her combat skills and recruited her. She went on to receive special spy training for those with special talent and successfully completed a number of missions as a first rate agent. But Eri, weary from the series of missions involving assassinations and plots that took a hard toll on her conscience, requested to be transferred to the Special Ops Squad S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. Her request, which normally would go ignored, was specially granted given her achievements and superior abilities. For her efforts in suppressing Morden's second coup d'état, she received a promotion to sergeant second-class.

Fiolina Germi

• Voiced by: Melissa Ex

Fio is the only daughter of a wealthy Italian family. After she was born, her mother was unable to have any more children, making Fio the first heiress in the history of her family, as she had no older siblings. Throughout the generations, the Germi family has made a tradition of sending their eldest child into the military; Fio upholds this tradition willingly, though she has aspirations of becoming a doctor someday, having studied chiropractics, acupuncture, and moxibustion in college. Fio is a Master Sergeant of the Intelligence Agency's S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S, which serves as a special forces group for the government. As with her comrades in Metal Slug 2 and beyond, she rose through the ranks for her service against General Morden. She has also appeared in the King of Fighters series, first as a Striker in The King of Fighters 2000, and then being playable for the first time in KOF: Maximum Impact 2; in the game, she has a special intro when fighting members of the Ikari Warriors mistaking Ralf, Clark, and Leona as Marco, Tarma, and Eri respectively.

Trevor Spacey

A South Korean computer prodigy by the age of 3, Trevor picked up his skills from his parents and by the time he was 7 he could understand complex computer engineering jargon and would upload vaccines to the net to fight viruses. While attending college he gained a reputation as a technical programmer and was recruited by the army, leading him to join Marco Rossi's Peregrine Falcon Squad where he is, as of Metal Slug 4, a Sergeant. Trevor admires Marco Rossi, especially for his computer skills, more advanced than Trevor's. He replaces Tarma in Metal Slug 4.

Nadia Cassel

Hailing from France, Nadia was destined to be a Model, if only she could stop gaining weight. Failing to do that, she decided to join the army for the exercise despite her manager's objections. While in training she discovered her fighting potential and volunteered for the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. special unit to gain battle experience leading to her being assigned to assist Fiolina Germi and Marco Rossi of the Peregrine Falcon Squad in stopping General Morden. She replaces Eri in Metal Slug 4.

World Heroes

• Hanzo (Hanzō Hattori)

  Hanzo is considered the protagonist of the series and uses many moves similar to Ryu from the Street Fighter series, a common occurrence in fighting games of the time. Hanzo also appeared in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum as a playable character. He is based on the legendary ninja of the same name.

• Fuuma (Kotaro Fūma)

  He is considered the rival of the main character Hanzo Hattori and as such they both share many similar moves (albeit using different names). Fūma also appeared in both Aggressors of Dark Kombat and NeoGeo Battle Coliseum as a playable character. He is based on the actual Fūma Kotarō, who allegedly killed the real Hanzo. In the ADK universe Fūma is portrayed as a fun-loving bandit who is willing to adopt new ideas, sometimes he will stay in the modern era after the time-traveling, a fact not lost on his Aggressors of Dark Kombat appearance.

• Rasputin

  A philosopher of 13th century Russia, was also a known alchemist and sorcerer. He discovered a way to expand his fists and feet so he could fight at distance. He accepts the chance to fight Geegus because he sees Geegus as a fallen angel. He keeps pleading that loving one another is important and won't give into people who don't listen to his constant persuasion. He is based loosely on the actual person with the same name.

• Janne (Jeanne D'Arc)

  She is a 15th century feminist, who protects the circus who raised her and has proven to be one of the toughest fencers of her time. Accepted the invitation to defeat Geegus, only to prove that women are tougher than men. She puts all her worries about getting married into her blows. She enters the later tournaments to try to seek a husband, but finds out that guys are intimidated by her strength as a fighter. She is loosely based on Joan of Arc.

• J. Carn

  One of the top officers and personal bodyguard of Genghis Khan, was fierce and merciless in hand-to-hand combat. He joined the World Heroes tournament to fight Geegus out of boredom. He's become a tyrant and wants to be victorious by hurling his raw brawn. He and Ryofu respect each other's power. He is loosely based on the actual Genghis Khan.

• Brocken

  Brocken is an android, and his moveset contains techniques involving mechanically-extended limbs and missile 'fists'.

• Kim Dragon

  Dragon is a famous martial artist and a star of martial arts films. Accused of lacking real skill, he accepted the invitation to fight against Geegus. He is based on the real life martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, but is South Korean instead of Chinese. In the first game his nationality is indicated Chinese and the Chinese characters used to spell his name in World Heroes Perfect translates to "Gold Dragon".

• Muscle Power

  An American wrestler from the 21st century, was the first competitor to win every Heavyweight Championship from every wrestling association. He accepted Doc Brown's invitation to fight Geegus because he took Geegus as a challenger of his multiple belts. He was based on Hulk Hogan but his looks were slightly altered in World Heroes 2 and subsequent titles to tone down the resemblance.

• Captain Kidd

  A pirate who steals treasures from all over the world. He is based on the infamous William Kidd. His special moves involve ghost sharks, impressive kick moves and even throwing a blue miniature ghost pirate ship at the opponent. He also has a hanging rope for his super move in World Heroes Perfect.

• Erick

  A Viking who wants to see his family. He is loosely based on the explorer Erik the Red. His special moves invoke names in Norse mythology, including Odin, Thor and Æsir.

• Johnny Maximum

  A devilish American football player who describes himself as a "killer machine". His design is based on the famous football player Joe Montana. In his World Heroes Perfect ending it is revealed that he has a son, who wants to be like him, though Johnny doesn't approve of that.

• Mudman

  A generic Pacific Islander wizard with a large wooden mask and no real historical basis apart from appearing primitive. Also appeared in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum as a playable character. Mudman attacks using blue spirits and flying mask-spinning attacks.

• Ryoko Izumo

  Ryoko is a 16 year old girl and a master of Judo and wants to prove her power against the rest of the fighters of this tournament. She admires Janne and Hanzo, considering them her role models; Janne for her beauty and strength, Hanzo for his skill. She is based on the famous real-life judoka Ryoko Tamura (now Tani).

• Shura (Naï Khanom Tom)

  Shura is a 25 year old Muay Thai fighter who has joined the tournament to prove his worth to his feared dead older brother (even though his brother is actually alive and well). He is based on the legendary Muay Thai hero, Nai Khanom Tom.

• (Neo) Dio

  He is the boss of World Heroes 2 (then known as Dio) and later reappears in World Heroes Perfect, also as a boss, with the name Neo Dio. He is inspired by the main character of Baoh and shares similar attacks to him. He is also a boss and playable character in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum. The Super NES version lists his occupation as "Ultimate Being". "Dio" also means "God" in Italian.

• Ryofu

  A halberd-wielding Chinese warrior and rival of J.Carn. He is based on the warlord Lü Bu of the Three Kingdoms era.

• Jack

  A punk serial killer with claws on his hands. He is loosely based on the historical serial killer Jack the Ripper.

• Zeus

  The main boss in this game. He may be based on the Greek god of the same name. He also bears resemblance to Raoh from Fist of the North Star. He also appears in ADK's Ninja Commando, where he is referred to as Spider.

• Son Gokū

  He is based on the famous mythological character Sun Wukong ("Journey to the West").

Akari Ichijou

is a 14-year old girl in The Last Blade.

Born and raised in Tokyo, she was constantly battling diseases on her own until she finally understood her true calling: teleportation. When her older sister Hikari succumbed to disease, Akari became very agitated. At that time, their father called for her. She restlessly sat before her grim-faced father, who was about to give her a lecture about Hell’s Gate. Akari found out that Hell’s Gate was causing trouble again, and flew out of the room, bent on finding the perfect cure for her sister’s disease on her own: sealing Hell’s Gate. Her father accused her of not listening to what he said, but she was already gone.

It is interesting to note that Akari has had the most appearance as a playable character out of all of the cast in the Last Blade games, appearing in: Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, SNK Gals' Fighters & SNK vs. Capcom for the Neo Geo Pocket Color.{{-}}

Musashi Akatsuki

is a legendary swordsman who once traveled the countryside, honing his skills and challenging worthy opponents along the way. During one of his battles he was killed by another swordsman. When Shinnosuke Kagami begins his plan to open Hell's Gate and bring about a new world order, he resurrects Musashi to further his plans and kill innocent people. To both their chagrins, while on one of his travels, Musashi was defeated. Honorable just like he was during his life, he bids farewell to his opponent, before dissolving in a beam of light.

Although a playable character in the first game (unlocked via a code), he is not allowed in matches. He has a crouching animation (which is uncommon for some bosses in SNK fighters). He is also selectable in the Dreamcast port of The Last Blade 2.{{-}}

Genbu no Okina

is a guardian of the demonic portal known as “Hell’s Gate”. For years, he and the other three guardians stood watch over its seal. For many years it was peaceful and Okina resigned himself to fishing and the complacent life of a hermit. Five years into his life of leisure, he was found by Kaede, who wished to train with him to improve his own sword skills. Okina taught the young man all he knew and Kaede left after he had improved his skills. Sensing the boy’s departure and inquiry for training as a sign of trouble, Okina followed him at a distance.

Despite Kaede preventing the opening of the Gate, it had still not been sealed properly. As the oldest guardian, Okina was aware of that and knew that to properly seal the portal, the legendary “Sealing Maiden” was required to perform the ritual. He also discovered that an assassin called the “Messenger From Afar” was rumored to pursue the maiden. Determined to fulfill his role as a guardian, Okina set out on a journey.{{-}}

Hibiki Takane

is the 17-year-old daughter of , a renowned swordsmith known throughout Japan during the Bakumatsu era. He had retired to an isolated area in the countryside with his daughter but continued his work with various swordsmen around the country. One fateful day, Setsuna approaches Genzō and requests that he forge a new sword. Though the man radiated an aura of pure, unfathomable evil, the master swordsmith finds himself unable to refuse the request. He spends a time of almost 3 months forging this sword, which he dubs the , detailing the amount of time he invested in the weapon. The labor renders him ill, however, and he is soon permanently bedridden.

He tells his daughter that the silver-haired man was the reason for his condition, and that she should pursue him and the sword that he had forged. With a concerned Hibiki by his side, he utters his last words: “The thing that I saw... that I felt, even you must understand.” Though she was confused by her father’s cryptic request, Hibiki gathers her belongings and leaves in search of the silver-haired man.

Several days later, a man named Hyo Amano stops by, hoping that Genzō would repair his weapon, the “Otokomae”, when he learns of the swordsmith's death, he sets out to find his daughter.

Hibiki has 2 endings in the game; one of them involve her deciding to improve her swordsmanship which can be gained if the player defeats the opponents they face in Arcade mode with her super moves in every round.

She is a playable character in Capcom vs. SNK 2, with her Speed Mode 'Custom Combos' from Last Blade 2 given to her as super moves. In addition she has some different animations to her supers in Capcom vs. SNK 2.{{-}}

Hyo Amano

is characterized by his outlandish mannerisms and flamboyant personality. He uses the element of fire in some of his attacks as well as special techniques involving sakura petals. His role in The Last Blade is somewhat ambiguous. As a carefree and fun-loving individual, Hyo has a strong love for sake, women, and the thrill of the fight. When he discovers the petals of the beautiful cherry trees falling from their branches, he panics and decides he must go defeat opponents to solve the “problem”. In the end, he discovers it was only the changing of the seasons that resulted in the petals falling from the trees.

After learning of the cause for the various Sakura trees petals falling, Hyo is devastated to learn that the sky is turning a dreadful gray color due to the re-opening of “Hell's Gate”. He draws his sword, but finds it oddly dull and fragile. In order to fix it, he decides to ask his friend Takane Genzō, a master swordsmith, to fix it. However, his friend has died. Amano discovers that he had a daughter (Hibiki Takane) who had recently departed the household. Concerned for his sword and for Hibiki, he sets off to locate her.

Hyo's ending in both games is interesting in that the player must choose one of two (or 3 in the first game) choices which have Hyo something different to the player depending on their answer.{{-}}

Juzoh Kanzaki

is characterized as a power-type character in gameplay. He is the adopted brother of Akari Ichijou (he was orphaned earlier in his childhood). Despite this, he and his adoptive family are very close. At home, he is generally free-spirited and somewhat lazy. Sometime during this, he learned how to use a club with his brute strength (apparently to pass the time). While in the course of his usual lying around the house with little to keep him preoccupied, he was knocked out and kidnapped by Akari, who “persuaded” him to accompany her on a journey to discover the landmark known as the “Gate of Hell”.

After their adventure, their sister Hikari falls ill and the two become extremely concerned about her health. One day as Juzoh is visiting Hikari, she discloses that their sister Akari had run away to “Hell's Gate” again to find a cure for her curse. To lay both their fears to rest, Juzoh pursues her on her quest.

Juzo's move list underwent a drastic change in Last Blade 2 where some of his moves from the first game were either removed or revamped.{{-}}

Kaede

is considered the main protagonist of the series. His name means “maple” in Japanese, and the series features many maple decorations as his motif, including a golden stylized maple leaf on the back of his vest.

He was the son of a warrior named Gaisei. Gaisei was a master swordsman who trained him with two other orphans, Moriya Minakata and Yuki. As he grew, he became an avid swordsman and powerful warrior. One day, when he was twelve, he and Yuki returned from an errand to discover their master slain and Moriya standing over his corpse. Enraged, Kaede physically attacked him for the (presumed) [...] of their master. Moriya withstood the attack and left in silence.

Shortly thereafter, Kaede and Yuki depart their foster home to avenge the death of their master and confront the killer. Five years on their quest, he still searches for Moriya. He eventually discovers that the real killer of his master was one of the four guardians of hell, Shinnosuke Kagami. He engages him, but the guardian's superior skill quickly overpowers him. However, it is revealed that Kaede possesses the power of the legendary dragon Seiryū, transforming various physical aspects and giving him additional power. With his transformation into , he defeats Kagami.

After honing his skills and learning to control the power of the Seiryū to a greater extent, Kaede and Yuki set off to the Okina in order to find more information. When they arrive, they discover that the “Sealing Rite” needs to be performed, for a great evil threatens the world. This rite is to be performed by a special maiden, but a warrior named the “Messenger From Afar” seeks to assassinate her and prevent her from performing it. Kaede sets out to protect the maiden and to allow her to accomplish her mission.

Kaede also appears in King of Fighters 2000 as a special striker. In addition, Moriya, Akari & Washizuka are playable characters in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum.

For some unknown reason, Garou: Mark of the Wolves character Rock Howard shares a similar trait with Kaede's awakened form: aside from the blond hair, both also have red eyes. Possibly due to this, one of Rock's alternate outfits in The King of Fighters 2006 is that of Kaede's.

Keiichiro Washizuka

is a unit leader of the Shinsengumi, a police-like group during the Bakumatsu era. He is a firm believer in restoring order to Japan, and in the old ways of Samurai sword fighting. As such, he carries a very serious persona. He is extremely loyal to his Shinsengumi unit, and is a friend of Kojiroh Sanada. He is the only one in the unit who is aware that “Kojiroh” is actually Kojiroh's sister Kaori.{{-}}

Kojiroh Sanada

was the captain of the fictional Shinsengumi Unit Zero, which investigated demonic forces in Japan, following the concept of Bushidō. After Kojiroh dies investigating “Hell’s Gate”, his sister Kaori disguises herself as him, using his identity in order to investigate the evils within, as well as to restore the faith in the Shinsengumi. She also travels to finish off the former Shinsengumi, Shikyoh. Washizuka is the only known person to know her true identity.

Kaori shares similar moves with Washizuka, but does not perform them via the "charge" mechanism. {{-}}

Kouryu

(or rather, in his new form) is the legendary warrior that trained Kaede, Yuki and Moriya Minakata. After Shinnosuke Kagami’s aborted plan to remove the seal on “Hell’s Gate” and bring about a new world order, Gaisei presumably stood up against the guardian in an attempt to stop him. Unfortunately, Shinnosuke is too powerful, and he dies in the battle. He is later discovered by his three students, who all vow to take revenge on his killer. Kaede accomplishes this, activating his power of the Seiryū and defeating Shinnosuke. This also clears Moriya’s reputation, as he was originally blamed for [...] Gaisei.

In The Last Blade 2, Gaisei is still deceased. However, an unknown force of evil resurrects him and drives the now-undead warrior insane. Additionally, he manages to combine the legendary powers of Suzaku, Seiryuu, Byakko and Genbu into his being, making him much more powerful than before. The now godlike warrior roams the lands and is called “Kouryu”, the Yellow Dragon. {{-}}

Lee Rekka

hails from China, where he learned a special form of Martial art that allows the user to control fire and involves the use of fans and powerful kicks. One day, he witnessed a “red star” (the opening of “Hell's Gate”). Knowing it to be a sign of great evil, he travels from his homeland of China to stop the evil before it spreads across the world.

After the closing of the Gate, he remained in Japan. He continued to study and improve his skills in the martial arts while earning a modest living at a nearby farm. When he senses the re-opening of Hell’s Gate, he stops his training to investigate once more.

His ending in The Last Blade 2 seems to indicate that he took the wrong ship and ended in America instead of returning China.He is based on the real-life legendary Chinese martial arts master from Foshan, Wong Fei Hung. {{-}}

Moriya Minakata

is a young swordsman in training under a legendary teacher named Gaisei. Under his tutelage, along with Kaede and Yuki, he became great swordsman. For many years, they lived happily together while learning Bushidō.

One day he discovered his master dead, and the killer was nowhere to be found. Kaede sees him over the body, and seeks to slay him under the belief he slew Gaisei. With this, he sets out on the run. Not only does he wish to avoid this confrontation, but he also seeks the man named Shinnosuke Kagami (who was the real killer) in order clear his name. However, after over five years of searching, Moriya has yet to find Kagami, who is defeated by Kaede instead.

After failing to take revenge upon Kagami, Moriya recluses himself to the wilderness to improve his skills and techniques. During this time, he finds within himself an urge to “return” to the portal known as “Hell’s Gate”. Ceasing his training, he travels in order to seek the truth.{{-}}

Setsuna

is a powerful spirit that was released after Kagami was defeated by Kaede. Finding a deceased baby on a field of battle, he possesses it. After maturing his human form into an adult, he walks the path of destruction, [...] and filled with hate for the human race. He uses a black katana-like blade, which leaves a trail of dark energy in its wake.{{-}}

Shigen Naoe

is a guardian of a portal called the “Hell’s Gate”. Before the events of the first game, he is magically sealed in a massive stone for ten years by a friend who perceived him to be a threat. He eventually escaped, but clouded by his rage and anger, he could only think of getting back at his captor. He set out to exact revenge.

By the events of The Last Blade 2, Shigen had regained his senses and remembered that he had a daughter. To atone for his ten year absence, he traveled to the mountains to spend time with her while training. During this timeframe, he noticed the evil aura that emanated from the opened “Hell’s Gate”. As one of its guardians, he set out to close it, leaving his sleeping daughter in the darkness of night. However, he was initially unaware that his daughter knew of his departure and that she was following him at a distance.

There is a code that the player can enter at the character select screen so that when playing as Shigen, his daughter will appear instead of him as his intro before a match.

Shigen, along with Yuki, Gaisei & Zantetsu are the only known characters to die after the events of Last Blade 2.{{-}}

Shikyoh

is a previous member of the Shinsengumi, an organization that was to protect the weak. However, Shikyoh merely joined to kill innocents. When his superiors and comrades discovered this, they resolved to punish him, but he escaped before they could take action. When he discovered the opening of the “Hell’s Gate”, he thought it a perfect opportunity to continue his [...] spree and set out in search of more prey.

After his death, Shikyoh was re-animated in the form of a zombie named . With his love of [...] still fresh in his mind along with his few memories and fighting style, Mukuro wanders the land in his undead form, continuing to kill innocents.{{-}}

Shinnosuke Kagami

is featured as a boss character in The Last Blade and was toned down to be regular playable character in the sequel.

Shinnosuke is one of the guardians of “Hell’s Gate”, a portal that allows demons and evil energy to seep through to the mortal plane humans call Earth. After residing over his position and finding (or so he thought) that the humans he protected were weak and inferior to himself, he decides to release the seal on the portal. Along with this, he goes on a horrific [...] spree, murdering various warriors including Gaisei.

After five years of preparatory action to unseal the gate, including imprisoning his fellow guardian, Shigen Naoe, Shinnosuke is eventually found by Kaede, who has the latent power of the Seiryū. Kaede defeats him; humiliated by his defeat, Shinnosuke is thrown into the depths of Hell’s Gate as eternal punishment. However, he is soon reincarnated in a new form to fulfill his role as a guardian, as the portal is being opened by another force. Shinnosuke sets out to fulfill his destiny, and to seek atonement.{{-}}

Yuki

is the daughter of a foreign family that managed ship trades; unfortunately, her family died in a ship accident. She is later adopted by a warrior named Gaisei, who trains her along with two other students: Moriya Minakata and Kaede. Unlike her fellow companions, she picks up the nagayari instead of the katana. She also secretly harbors feelings for Moriya over the course of her training.

The year she turns 13, she returns with Kaede to find their teacher dead and Moriya standing over the body. Mortified, she watched as Kaede attacked Moriya. Moriya silently took his leave shortly thereafter. She and Kaede then embarked on a five year journey, eventually discovering the truth: a powerful swordsman named Shinnosuke Kagami was the one who had murdered their master. She assists Kaede in defeating Kagami, both avenging their master’s death and clearing Moriya’s name.

In The Last Blade 2, Yuki and Kaede discover that she is the maiden that is to perform the sealing of evil, as evidenced by her necklace and its recent glowing. After this, she and Kaede part ways and she is left to make her decision about her destiny.{{-}}

Zantetsu

is the one of the last of numerous ninja clans that roam ancient Japan. Due to the decline of the ninja population, the Japanese common folk begin to consider the title “ninja” a thing to scoff at. Determined to prove the superiority of his people, he challenges warriors time and time again to prove his strength. When he hears of the opening of a portal called “Hell’s Gate”, he sets out to defeat the enemies within to prove his strength.

At the outset of The Last Blade 2, Zantetsu resides in his village, and teaches his grandson the way of the ninja in order to continue their legacy. However, he is aware that he will pass away in the near future and wishes to prove his strength once more before his eventual death. He once again travels to “Hell’s Gate” to experience a great battle.

Boss Characters villains

Geese Howard

Geegus

*:Geegus is a cyborg that created by a secret organization called DAMD who can shapeshift into any of the eight fighters and use their moves at will. Geegus wants to destroy the Earth, so the World Heroes tournament was created to stop Geegus' evil plans. Before the final battle, Geegus asks for the Champion to fight him with the threat of destroying the entire planet if he is refused. Geegus appears in World Heroes 2 as Neo Geegus, the sub-boss of WH2. In this game he is not as vulnerable in his normal form but can only transform into either of the six new characters of this game: Kidd, Erick, Ryoko, Mudman, Shura and Johnny. Also he cannot be harmed while he is shape shifting like he can in the prequel. Geegus' design and abilities may be an homage to the T-1000 liquid metal cyborg made famous by the Terminator film series. Geegus makes a cameo appearance in NeoGeo Battle Coliseum as part of one of Neo Dio's desperation moves Geo-Geegus now Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting.

Allen O'Neil

Allen O'Neil is a sub-boss, who appears in all of the games except Metal Slug 5, and in Metal Slug 6 he appears as A in the 2nd level. He has been fighting the Regular Army High Command since the first game. He taunts the player with the phrases "C'mon, boy", "Go home to mommy", and "you're mincemeat" (or minced meat), as well as maniacal laughter. Upon defeat he always utters "See you in Hell!" He uses an M60 machine gun, a knife, and blue grenades that erupt in an angry red flame upon detonation. Despite the fact that Allen clearly meets his end at the conclusion of every encounter, usually he just seems to fall down dead except in Metal Slug 2 where he's eaten by a very large killer whale which spits his bones, the game makers have humorously brought him back in each new iteration of the series. An interview with the game-makers, which is unlockable in Metal Slug Anthology, reveals that the only thing that keeps Allen alive besides his muscles and guts is his devotion and will to return home to his wife and son after a hard day of fighting.

Allen aids the player aboard the Mothership in Metal Slug 3 (unless the Metal Slug employed earlier is still surviving and in current use), laughing all the while (even though the player killed him earlier in the level). Despite his strength against the player(s) in Metal Slug 3 and before, his strength is much less on the Mothership than usual. One burst shot from his M60 cannot kill a clone by itself. He also has less "Life", and stands still against the hordes of clones. Thus, it does not take much for the clones to finish Allen, even by melee attacks. Because of this vulnerability, it can be assumed he's more of a decoy while the player assaults the clones.

Allen appears again in Metal Slug 4, as a boss in Mission Two and during the Final Mission, where it is revealed that this Allen is in fact a Terminator-like android possibly built by the rogue scientist who is the main villain in Metal Slug 4. It should be noted, however, that using a similar process, the same scientist was successful in creating a mass-produced Robot Morden Army that led people to believe Morden was behind the Amadeus Syndicate, possibly to frame him for the scientist's crimes. Unfortunately these mechanical incarnations were even weaker than their flesh & blood counterpart, having the weakness of falling after a few well placed shots from a simple handgun.

After an absence in both Metal Slug 5 and Metal Slug 6, Allen returns in Metal Slug 7 as the boss of Mission 6, where the player and Allen fight each other in Slug Gigants, with Allen apparently dying again.

Mars People

The Mars People are aliens from space that are in a plot to take over Earth in the Metal Slug universe. They are similar to squids, using their tentacles as a form of movement, and a strange fighting style which involves gas and a laser pistol. In Metal Slug 2, they appeared as enemies near the climax of the game and their mothership is fought as the final boss, but they were defeated by the alliance consisting of the Peregrine Falcon Strike Force and General Morden's army after they betrayed Morden. In the Metal Slug X remake they appear as enemies earlier in the game. They tried again in Metal Slug 3, abducting Morden and one of the members of the Peregrine Falcons in the final level (which ever one the player uses will be abducted), only for the Peregrine Falcons and Morden's army to take the fight to their mothership and defeat them, and their leader Rootmars. In Metal Slug 6, the Mars People, Morden, as well as his rebel army and the Ikari Warriors, join forces with the Peregrine Falcons to fight a new alien invader who, ironically, feed on the Mars People. In the game, after Stage 2, the Mars People become the players' allies; some are even hostages.

Mars People also are the first characters from Metal Slug series who appears in a fighting game: first in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos as a hidden (but playable) character and later in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum as a playable character once you complete 'Tag Battle' mode and, parodically, his partner in this game is Marco Rossi, who has a special ending picture in NGBC playing with this team.

General Morden

General Donald Morden is the main antagonist of the Metal Slug franchise. He is described as "...the Antichrist..." by the Regular Army High Command. He is depicted as a rambling madman wearing a beret, eyepatch, and bomber jacket, and carrying a bazooka, not to mention bearing a resemblance to Saddam Hussein, Joseph Stalin and Adolf [...]. He serves the final boss of the first game. He is only not shown in Metal Slug 5. He apparently mends his ways by the end of Metal Slug 6, as he (or Rootmars depending on a Different route) rescues the player(s) after s/he is knocked off a wall by an explosion caused by the huge enormous alien end boss. His army is the main force of opposition in the Metal Slug games, with the exception of Metal Slug 5 and 6. He commands the ever loyal Rebellion, and in Metal Slug 4 he was thought to be behind the Amadeus Terror Syndicate. He once again return to his roots of world domination in 7, this time with the help of the Rebel Army from the future. It also marks the first time since the first game where he is the final boss.

He is quite ill-fated, with problems ranging from major injury, such as having a steel table crush him (to the dismay of his soldiers) and being dropped from his Chinook helicopter to minor embarrassment, such as being hung out of a flying saucer donned in only his ever-present hat, eyepatch, and a pair of pink boxer shorts and having his pants torn off.

Morden sometimes makes an alliance with the Mars People to help achieve his goal of world domination. Unfortunately for him, he is betrayed and abducted, abused and thoroughly humiliated by the Martians.

Like the main characters, General Morden appears in various SNK games as a cameo, especially in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash series.

Rugal Bernstein

is a recurring boss in the series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and {{'}}95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into stone statues as part of his collection. Despite his death in {{'}}95, Rugal is still featured in following The King of Fighters titles that do not contain a storyline (nicknamed "Dream Matches"). Toshimitsu Arai reprises his role as the character's voice actor in each appearance, with the exception of the original King of Fighters 2002, in which the character is voiced by Norio Wakamoto.

Adelheid and Rose

(Adel for short), along with his younger sister, , are the only known children of Rugal Bernstein. They reside in an airship called "Sky Noah". Adel is a boss character from The King of Fighters 2003, as well as a secret and mid-boss for The King of Fighters XI. They were added to the series to create an alternate story to the main plot.

Despite sharing several physical and fighting traits with Rugal, Adelheid is an honorable fighter who exhibits good sportsmanship, even having a friendly conversation with Heidern, Rugal's mortal enemy. Rose, however, was developed to be extremely prideful and selfish, possessing Rugal's negative traits. In the end of The King of Fighters XI, Rose is manipulated by a member from the mysterious organization Those From the Past to use her in their plans, leading to the events of The King of Fighters XIII.

The Orochi clan

Orochi

is the final boss of The King of Fighters '97. His character origin is another interpretation of the mythical eight-headed serpent, Yamata no Orochi. In the King of Fighters series, he is a chthonic supernatural being that regards himself as executing the will of Gaea. He does not regard humanity as trustworthy with regard to coexisting with the planet without ravaging it, and so seeks to extinguish humanity. He was sealed 1,800 years ago by the three sacred treasures of Japan. The three clans' descendants are charged with protecting the seal. In King of Fighters '97, his spirit possesses Chris (a herald of Orochi) to fight in the mortal realm. He is sealed again at the end of the {{'}}97 tournament by the three descendants of the users of the three sacred treasures, but the seal is broken in later games by the demon Mukai. A clone of Orochi appears as a boss in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum named Mizuchi.

Hakkesshu

The Hakkesshu ( in the Japanese version) are a group formed by the eight most powerful followers of the creature Orochi. The four top members are referred to as "Kings". Gaidel, the biological father of Leona, was also a member of the group, but when he refused Goenitz's offer to continue Orochi's will, Goenitz manipulated Leona into [...] Gaidel and the rest of her fellow villagers. The criminal Ryuji Yamazaki is part of the group, but does not want to get involved with them.

New Faces Team

The New Faces Team is a group from The King of Fighters '97. They are three of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi. The group is composed of a young boy named , a beautiful but shady woman named and a guitar player named . They initially enter due to Yashiro's grudge against Iori and his own band, but as the tournament progresses, the Orochi blood inside their bodies soon awakens, causing them to remember their status as three of the Four Heavenly Kings. As loyal members of Orochi, they continue to gather power for the awakening until they are forced to kill themselves in order to resurrect Orochi through Chris' body, a concept that began early in the game's production. Using the Orochi power, they are stated as the Japan Team's counterparts, since they have their same abilities: Chris is able create flames like Kyo Kusanagi, Shermie creates lightning like Benimaru Nikaido, and Yashiro has an enormous strength like Goro Daimon.

Goenitz

is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, with the power to command wind. Despite being an evil villain, Goenitz has a very polite personality, which is reflected in his winning poses and his elegant, somewhat flowery speech. Even though influenced by Orochi, he sports the same messianistic attitude that aspires to bring about "salvation" expected from people of religious occupations.

During the 1996 tournament, Goenitz discovers that Chizuru Kagura plans to gather warriors to seal Orochi and heads there to stop her,also Goenitz is the one who took rugals eye which in turn rugal took heidern's eye. Depending on the playable characters, Goenitz can be killed by Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi, sealed by Chizuru, or commits [...] in the end of '96. He is voiced by Yoshinori Shima.

Those From The Past

are a new group of antagonists that appear in the 2003 tournament. They are mysterious, and supposedly inhuman, warriors who want to get the power of the Orochi so that they can give it to their shrouded master. It is implied that they are the European counterparts of the Orochi Clan. The organization is destroyed after Saiki's death in The King of Fighters XIII.

Mukai

is the final boss in King of Fighters 2003. His appearance was designed with the concept of petrification in mind. Mukai's primary power is his control over many things related to stone. He can form stone, either in crude rocks to throw at foes, or as elaborate pillars to crush them. He speaks in very pious, grandiose declarations, but appears to have a cautious attitude toward the potential of humans.

He makes a prompt appearance in the King of Fighters 2003 tournament seeking strong opponents and to test his strength. It is also strongly implied he is somehow connected to the Orochi bloodline and the wills. Mukai reveals that his group had organized the 2003 King of Fighters tournament so that they could break the Orochi seal and give its power to the group's unknown leader. Mukai wanted to battle against the winning team of the tournament, seeing if they had what it takes to survive in "the new age". Mukai is defeated but manages to escape.

However in KOF XIII he is killed by Saiki after he disobey an order of his boss, Saiki drains his power and reduce Mukai into bones. He is voiced by Toshihiro Shigetsuka.

Magaki

is the new boss of The King of Fighters XI. Nothing is known about the fighter Magaki, except that he hosts The King of Fighters tournament. Like his partner Mukai, Magaki wants to awake Orochi and give Orochi's powers to his own master. He also shows even less respect for humans in general, believing them to have little-to-no potential, and being weak overall. He also seems to have very little tolerance for not getting what he wants from others. Like Mukai before him, after he was defeated he stood up, apparently unscathed, and made his exit into another realm after commenting that perhaps it was more than spirit that was needed to awaken Orochi. However as he finally realizes the error in his plan, he is killed by Shion's spear, hurled from the dimensional rift he was escaping from. He is voiced by Spicy Yagi.

Saiki

is the main antagonist as well as the mid-boss of The King of Fighters XIII. He is the individual who is seemingly responsible for the events of not just the tournament, but all the actions of the "Tales of Ash" arc. He seems to be able to control the flow of time due to a gate that can halt the timeline so long as it is open. During cutscenes in the game, he takes the appearance of a human, and looks very similar to Ash Crimson, except that his clothes are white, and his hair is left to flow freely. He is seen addressing the other members of the organization, implying he is the one who is in charge.

Before the battle with Saiki in KOF XIII, Saiki drains fellow Those From the Past member Mukai of his power and transforms, similar to Mukai and Magaki's ability to be human or inhuman. After the battle with Saiki, Ash Crimson takes his power and turns into a shadowed version of himself called Evil Ash (under the influence of Saiki's power overwhelming Ash's personality) to act as the game's final boss. During the ending, Saiki is defeated, but tries to use the time barrier to rewind time again and try his plot once more; Ash stands in his way and prevents his passage. When the gate closes, Saiki is finally defeated, but it is learned that he is Ash's ancestor. By denying Saiki passage into the past, Ash forces his own existence to cease. He is voiced by Mitsuhiro Ichiki (who also assumes Ash's role in XIII).

Shion

makes his first appearance in The King of Fighters XI as the sub-boss. The character was conceptually designed to be one of Ron's daughters, though developers decided to change his gender (maybe) to startle and appeal to fans with his androgynous appearance.

Shion is an enigmatic character whose past is unknown. He works as an underling for the demon Magaki, and seems knowledgeable about the workings of Orochi. After being defeated at the ruins of the tournament finals, he is dragged through an extradimensional gate and seemingly killed. However, after Magaki is defeated at the end of the tournament, Shion's spear is hurled through a gate Magaki created and goes through his chest, [...] him instantly. He is voiced by Jidai Ogawa.

The NESTS cartel

NESTS is a mysterious and dangerous cartel that is involved in the events behind the King of Fighters tournaments held between 1999 and 2001. They are responsible for the creation of the Kyo Kusanagi clones and K'. The group is composed of several agents who have different aims, but they all want to become more powerful. The cartel is destroyed with the death of their leader Igniz.

Krizalid

acts as the mid and final boss of The King of Fighters '99. He was designed to be a stylish and earnestly strong boss, though the supervising designer at the time admits, "I think I overdid it a little."

He is made to be the Ultimate Kyo clone, outfitted with a special suit to feed the data of fighters into his body during battle. He also happens to be a clone of K'. As a side effect, he gained some of K's memories and believed that Whip was his sister. He is ordered to activate the thousands of Kyo clones around the world so that they can attack in a simulatenous strike. After his defeat against K', his superior, Zero, neutralizes the Kyo clones and kills Krizalid by throwing a boulder to crush him. He is revived later by the original Zero and fights along side him in the 2001 tournament. He is voiced by Yoshiyuki Iwamoto.

Zero

is one of the higher-ranked agents of NESTS. The designer, C.A.C. Yamasaki, admits basing Zero off a certain character from the manga Fist of the North Star. Zero begins to secretly build his own weapon from NESTS' technology called the "Zero Cannon". He sets his plans into motion in The King of Fighters 2000. There, he impersonates a military commander named Ling and uses his persona as a decoy to stop the military resistance against him. Depending on the actions of the player, his plans are foiled by either Heidern or Kula, who is sent to execute him for his treacherous acts.

However, the Zero in The King of Fighters 2000 is revealed to be a clone from the , who appears as a sub-boss in The King of Fighters 2001. He was created because the supervising designer of his character claimed to be dissatisfied with Zero's design in 2000. Unlike his clone, Zero is extremely loyal to the NESTS syndicate, and was disgusted to learn of his clone's attempted coup d'état. Willing to clear the reputation of his clone's actions, Zero is commanded to destroy the winners of The King of Fighters tournament. He traps the winning team in a space ship that was disguised as a blimp. When he is defeated, he urges the team to escape the collapsing ship and dies on board the vessel.

The original Zero is voiced by Toshimitsu Arai, while the clone is voiced by Kinta Futogane.

Igniz

is the final boss in The King of Fighters 2001. His handsome and youthful appearance was specifically created at the sponsors' request.

Igniz became the leader of NESTS after he killed his father years ago. After the events of the {{'}}99 and 2000 tournaments, Igniz decides to host the King of Fighters 2001 tournament in hopes of becoming a new god, deciding to test his newly-acquired power against the finalists. His hopes are short-lived, however, when even after he easily defeats K''s team, Igniz is defeated by the combined effort of Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami. Cursing his failure and declaring himself a demon instead, Igniz attempts to destroy the planet by plummeting NESTS' main headquarters out of orbit; his attempt fails, and Igniz dies in the process. He is voiced by Norio Wakamoto.

Ron

Ron (; Pinyin: Lóng; Japanese: 龍（ロン） Ron) is first introduced as a sub-plot character in The King of Fighters 2000. He later appears as a Striker for Zero in The King of Fighters 2001. Though he is not playable in the series, he serves as an important side-story character.

According to his official profile, his main objective is to gain the ability to manipulate the dead. He is the former leader to an elite assassination group known as the Flying Brigands— Clan in Japanese—and the father to a number of their members, including Duo Lon and Xiao Lon. He betrayed the Flying Brigands by joining NESTS for personal gain, labeling himself as a traitor by many of the group's members, including Lin, his former pupil. After NESTS' destruction, he reveals his great interest in a mysterious power shared by Sie Kensou and Bao known as the Dragon Spirit. He is voiced by Takaya Kuroda.

Reception

The characters from The King of Fighters series were said to be a varied cast by Eurogamer magazine, since the cast includes characters from other SNK games. IGN agreed, commenting that every character has their own unique moves and praising their visuals, even though the magazine mentioned that the characters have old two-dimensional designs. IGN criticized that learning the characters' special moves was difficult. In reviews for the first game, IGN praised the main character Kyo Kusanagi as one of the most enjoyable characters to play, remarking on his dynamism and movesets. GameSpot also praised the characters designs, saying they "shine through, resulting in a cast of characters that's diverse and not plentiful". In other reviews, they complained about the lack of improvements in the character's movesets in some games, and also mentioned that some techniques were simply removed. They noted that, while new characters introduced in some games are interesting, they do not have the same impact as other ones.

1UP.com labelled the characters from the series as one of SNK's best creations, claiming that their appearances and quotes are all "cool"—although they commented some of the storylines are "nonsense". The boss characters were criticized by multiple reviewers for being too difficult to defeat, with Krizalid from The King of Fighters '99 being singled out as too powerful.

The character designs in Maximum Impact were praised by IGN, which noted that the conversion to three-dimensional modeling had "extremely vibrant" characters with "a decent amount of detail." However, they disliked the lack of blood, especially during violent attacks, saying the super moves and combos were "just not as spectactular here" as they were in previous installments. IGN sharply criticized the "terribly bad voice acting", calling it "truly piss-poor American dub work." Gamezone added that some characters still remain their unique fighting style, but complained about the lack of individualized endings, and commented that some of the attacks have less style in 3D. GameSpot also added that the English voices weren't distinctive, but commented that their new outfits were "pretty wild". The characters, however, were "just not done with the same pixel-perfect flair" as the 2D versions, they said, noting that "you'll recognize [the characters] because of their clothes and special moves, not because of their faces."

Action figures, puzzles, keychains, and pins have been produced based on the characters in the King of Fighters series. Many characters are also featured on posters, wallpapers, and trading cards.