The King of Fighters (ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ,Za・Kingu・Obu・Faitāzu?)), officially abbreviated as KOF (ケーオーエフ), is the most famous and prominent series of fighting games by SNK then SNK (current company). Its claim to fame is the large cast of characters and the innovative "team" system, with both original designs and characters from other SNK games.
The series was originally developed for SNK's Neo Geo video game systems, which would continue until SNK retired the Neo Geo completely in 2004. For the next few games, the arcade platform Atomiswave would be used, and later the Taito Type X2. Aside from this, ports of the arcade games and original The King of Fighters games have been released for the various consoles of then and now, such as SNK's own Neo Geo Pocket, the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance, the Sega Saturn and the Dreamcast, the PlayStation and Xbox series of consoles, and even the N-Gage, among others. The latest main game in the series, The King of Fighters XV, was announced in the finals of EVO 2019, and was released on February 17, 2022, for PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows 10, Steam and Epic Games (PC).
Special Illustration by Hiroaki for the SNK Brand 40th Anniversary.
The first game in the series, The King of Fighters '94, was released by SNK in August 25, 1994 for the arcades. The game was designed to be a dream match of characters from the company's various arcade titles, particularly Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, Ikari Warriors and Psycho Soldier. The success of the game lead to SNK to release yearly installments of the series and numbered the games for the year they were released. With yearly sports games, each new version is meant to be an "update"; SNK did differently, making each year unique with new rules and different character rosters as an incentive to encourage fans in playing the various installments within the series itself. By the year of 2004, SNK abandoned yearly releases of the series and usually numbered future games in a more traditional manner: the first main series game released as such was The King of Fighters XI.
In 2004, SNK produced the first 3D installment of the series, KOF: Maximum Impact. The game and its two sequels use an alternate story for characters and settings from previous games of the series, leaning more towards the South Town-based series like FF and AOF. The producer of the Maximum Impact series, Falcoon, stated that the Maximum Impact games are in a different canon from the original series of games.
From right to left, Kyo Kusanagi, KOF's original hero and his rival Iori Yagami, in promotional artwork of The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match. Illustration by Hiroaki.
The King of Fighters tournament, the namesake of this series, actually originated in Fatal Fury, a classic SNK fighting game that predated the KOF series. The later Art of Fighting was centered around an earlier iteration, featuring typical sponsor Geese Howard in a younger self.
The King of Fighters games have had a number of villains as their individual end bosses. The first of these was Rugal Bernstein in '94 who had a tendency to submerge his defeated foes in liquid metal, turning them into grisly trophies commemorating his victories. During the Orochi saga, Orochi is introduced as an ominous force from ancient times bent on revenge on those who imprisoned it and was aided by his heralds. In later games, a mysterious cartel called NESTS attempts to kidnap and succeeds in cloning Kyo Kusanagi in hopes of using his power to take over the world. The leader of NESTS, who called himself Igniz, hoped to amass enough power to become a god. Other villains in later games include Mukai and "Those from the Past" that he affiliates himself with, including Magaki, as well as the Mephistopheles group (Maximum Impact series), and even the supernatural gods such as Verse, Re Verse and Otoma=Raga.
In order to preserve their characters' images, SNK ceased to age their characters since The King of Fighters '95 and they have remained the same ages since then. This means that characters introduced in The King of Fighters '94 have only aged one year in the series. To stay true to this theme, newer characters following this year also keep the same age they have when introduced. Some concessions to age and the passing of time exist, though, such as Terry's switch to his Garou outfit, Kyo no longer being in high school since 1998, or Rock Howard suddenly becoming an adult when he was seen as a child. Character ages have also stopped being officially listed as of The King of Fighters XI, likely to avoid confusion amongst fans.
The King of Fighters 2006: Collectible Card Game - It is a collectible card game that was released in December, 2006, originally designed by Sabertooth Games as part of the Universal Fighting System (UFS). Other games like Samurai Shodown V, Street Fighter and Soul Calibur III are also included into the series. Character started packs were released for Terry Bogard, Mai Shiranui, and eventually Rock Howard.
The King of Fighters: Trading Card Game - It is a collectible card game that was released on June 28, 2009, by the company Weiβ Schwarz as part of a campaign that allowed collectors to exchange premium points for CDs and other collectibles.
Characters Introduced
To see the characters and teams' participation of each character on the series, check the pagesofeachsaga.
