The King of Fighters XV/Trivia


 * The 3D character models are all cel-shaded, similar to the models of Samurai Shodown (2019) (the first SNK game to use Unreal Engine 4). However, the vast majority of 3D models have been reused and remodeled from The King of Fighters XIV and SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy. The exceptions are Chizuru, Yashiro, Chris (and their Orochi versions), Ash, Isla, Dolores, Krohnen, Elisabeth, Jenet, Gato, Omega Rugal, Shingo and Goenitz, who have all-new 3D models and assets made from scratch.


 * This is the first mainline KOF game in 28 years where it doesn't feature Kim Kaphwan in the initial roster. The reasons are explained in the Secret Agents Team's Story and in Luong's interview with Clemence Bellamy, where she mentions he's currently training in the mountains with his master and her lover Gang-il. This reason is also seen in Kim Team's ending in the previous game.
 * The other probable main reason of the character's non-inclusion in the initial roster is due to the recent death of the real Kim Kaphwan, founder of Viccom, a Korean company that for many years licensed SNK's games, and that inspired the fictional character.
 * Kim will be added to the game roster as a DLC character in Spring, 2023.


 * This is the second game of the series where every act of the fight is narrated, the first being KOF XIV.


 * This is the only game which reunite all the protagonists of the mainline SNK series (KOF, FF, AOF and SamSho).


 * The Story Mode of the game has a fixed time of 60 seconds, and can be changed pressing the menu options before chosing the character's team in this mode. This time also can be seen in the Boss Challenge.
 * Starting from the update 1.20 (and Omega Rugal's inclusion in the roster), it is possible adjust the difficulty level of the mode before selecting the characters.
 * This game is first which the timer of Story and Versus Mode are different, and can be adjusted in the game configurations.


 * In Story Mode, when the player chose the Team/Character Random option, here is the possibility of fighting with the same team twice, due to the system's divison.


 * This game and The King of Fighters '97 are the only which the two versions of Team Orochi appears in different slots.
 * This is also the first game which the two versions of the team can be choosed in a same team.


 * Starting from the update 1.53, the Boss Stages (Ominious Arena & Crystalization Arena) are unlocked in Versus and Training Modes. Previously, they were only available by completing the Story Mode.


 * Starting from the update 1.62 (Season 2 Start), this game, The King of Fighters '96, The King of Fighters '97 and The King of Fighters XIV are the only mainline games where it is possible fight against randomized teams in Story Mode.
 * In this game and KOF XIV, the mix occurs with regular and DLC characters.
 * During the updates 1.62 and 1.63, only the regular characters and Shingo Yabuki formed a team in Story Mode, callled Team KOF. With the inclusion of Kim Kaphwan in the game (Update 1.70), all the cast can be included in this team, who appears in the 3rd match and the Semifinals (and in some cases, in the Finals).
 * During Team KOF matches in Story Mode, only the DLC teams/characters' song themes plays in the fight (if the DLC character was the first chosed in this mode).


 * Some team formations in this game evoke details from past games of the series (or from the other SNK 's franchises):
 * Benimaru teaming with the current protagonists is a callback to how he can often be seen in several story-relevant teams composed of varying members, of which many of them resulting in their canonical victories within the most of KOF tournaments (particularly with the Hero Team). However, in the third saga's case is opposite, where Benimaru team up in its saga's Rivals Team during the eleventh tournament, Team Elisabeth, its saga Rivals Team ended up acting as a replacement Hero Team in thirteenth tournament, due to Ash's role in that storyline.
 * Certain special formations present in older KOF entries (mainline or not) appear as official teams (the Sacred Treasures Team and the Super Heroines Team).
 * Similar to Fatal Fury Team's classic formation, the Art of Fighting Team 's formation in this game consists of the three main heroes/heroines who all debuted as playable characters in the first Art of Fighting game. It would mark the second time to have a team formation based on the playable fighters from the first Art of Fighting game since KOF 2000 (if counting Takuma Sakazaki as Mr. Karate).
 * Heidern's presence in the Rivals Team marks the second formation of this team with a character debuting from the first mainline game of the series (the first being Benimaru Nikaido in The King of Fighters XI).
 * The Krohnen Team resembles the NESTS Team 's formation in The King of Fighters 2002. The only difference is that one of the members of the former formation (K9999) is removed and swapped with a similar character with the same identity (Krohnen McDougall).


 * Some team endings in the previous game make clear two current formations in this game:
 * The Sacred Treasures Team appear together during the Yagami Team's ending in KOF XIV, after Iori talking with his teammates. The three guardians find themselves near the crater where Orochi was found, in Hungary, and seal the evil entity away again.
 * Another scene in the Japan Team ending also suggests the formation. In it, after talking with Benimaru, Kyo reads a phone message of Chizuru, who arrives in Europe to resolve the Orochi's matter.
 * The Ash Team appear together in the Official Invitation's ending. Kukri and Elisabeth are near to the crater where Ash is found, sleeping and unconscious, in Ukraine. The same scene can be seen in the manga The King of Fighters: A New Beginning.


 * This game and The King of Fighters XI are the only mainlines game with profound team changes.


 * Some classic teams, like the Japan Team, Yagami Team and Psycho Soldier Team, do not appear in this game, and the other classic formations receive new names.


 * This game is the fourth KOF mainline game, and the third KOF canonical game to have another variant of Women Fighters Team, in form of the Secret Agents Team, thus making the team the third all female teams to be another variant of the original team. The other games with other teams composed only of female fighters are The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match (with the Pretty Girls Fighters Team and the NESTS Team) and The King of Fighters 2003 (the High School Girls Team).
 * Athena's inclusion as a member of the Super Heroines Team was foreshadowed in two games prior through her dialogues against the members of the original Women Fighters Team (those being her XIII intro dialogue with King, and XIV win dialogue against Mai).


 * Several references to SNK 's universe can be noticed in many trailers, cutscenes and endings for the game:
 * The Shibuya Crossing, in Tokyo, appears in one of the scenes of the first trailer of the game (when Benimaru and Kyo talk to each other) and in the Story Trailer/First Cutscene (when Shun'ei and Meitenkun are seen in the street talking with Isla). This place also appears as a fighting stage in World Heroes Perfect.
 * When Clemence Bellamy appears in the first trailer and cutscene, flashes of the Kagura Stadium (The King of Fighters '96's Sub-Boss Stage) appears.
 * In Terry's reveal trailer (Character Trailer #10), the formation of the Fatal Fury Team recreates the arcade cover of the first Fatal Fury game. Besides that, Kurikinton, a song from the arcade game, plays in a small match after the main trailer. Also in this trailer, the theme VS. plays before the match.
 * The Opening Theme of the first Art of Fighting game, Dragon and Tiger, plays in Ryo and Robert's shared reveal trailer (Character Trailers #16 & #17). Also in this trailer, the theme Wait, Yuri! plays during the team's formation.
 * In Ralf and Clark's shared reveal trailer (Character Trailers #19 & #20), they indirectly quote "Cross Changer" pose in their dialogue, a reference to Chojin Sentai Jetman, which both characters would perform as their special interaction in the last two games of the Orochi Saga. This also appears as their special pre-battle dialogue in the game.
 * In Story Mode cutscenes (more precisely, when the characters are in Shibuya), a poster of Athena Asamiya with her outfit in the previous tournament can be seen.
 * In the main trailer of the game (released during the Gamescon 2021) and in the second cutscene in Story Mode, the appearance of Verse in the penult cutscene of the previous game can be seen.
 * During the ending of Team Sacred Treasures, the coat that Shingo Yabuki uses displays the first letter of the company's logo. This coat is very similiar to that he uses in the his intro in The King of Fighters '99. The coat also appears as his new costume in this game, during his confirmation as DLC character.
 * The ending of Team Legendary Heroes (a special team) references some artworks and win screens seen in the series:
 * Ash poses like K' in the artwork of Team Hero in The King of Fighters '99;
 * Kyo poses like Ash in his victory screen of The King of Fighters XII;
 * K' poses like Kyo in the artwork of Team Japan in The King of Fighters 2002.
 * Besides that, the victory theme of The King of Fighters XIII plays during the ending.
 * The post-credit scene of Team Ash references one of the scenes of Ash's ending in The King of Fighters XIII, when Elisabeth and the young man are standing in the Blanctorche's garden, with Ash (as a child) putting a flower crown in the noblewoman's head.
 * The post-scene dialogue of the two characters also references Ash's attitude of erasing his existence and Elisabeth's effort to bring him back.
 * During the ending of Team Garou (more precisely during Gato and Hotaru's encounter), a new version of Fullmoon: Heartful (Hotaru's theme in MOTW) plays.
 * The post-credit scene of Team South Town references the main cover of Real Bout Fatal Fury, with Geese sitted in a red throne and his subordinates standing before him. The only difference in the scenes are the color of the tie that Geese uses.
 * During the ending of Team Awakened Orochi, a new version of The Origin of the Mind (Orochi's theme in KOF ' 97 ) plays.
 * The pre-battle dialogue of Haohmaru and Mai references the ronin's ending in the first Samurai Shodown, when he fights with a similiar persona of the kunoichi.
 * In his pre-battle dialogue with Shingo, Ash resembles the ending of Team Kusanagi-Yagami, when Iori, in his Riot of Blood state, tries to kill the young man and Kyo. Suddenly, the French young man says, in both situations, that both "should head home before you (I) catch a cold".


 * Besides that, another references can be seen in some stages of the game:
 * In the Provence Main Street stage (All Versions), there is a store called "Soi-méne". This is a obvious to the developer Soimen, who worked in several SNK titles during the Playmore era.
 * In the Beach Resort stage (Sunset Version), the sails of the yachts shows the date 1994-08-25, right below the main logo. This date is the Japanese arcade release date of KOF '94, the first game and the prologue of the series.
 * Also in both versions of this stage, a plaque shows the inscription PORT TOWN. This is a reference to Hon-Fu's stage in Fatal Fury 3.


 * This game, along with The King of Fighters '98 (and its updated version), The King of Fighters 2003, The King of Fighters XI, The King of Fighters XII and The King of Fighters XIII, are the only games of the series in which the character BGM plays after the round is announced.


 * The win screens of this game are very similar to, and are likely inspired from the prominent Capcom fighting games Super Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter V and Street Fighter 6, where the winning character performs a unique victory flourish as the in-game camera dynamically follows them in a cutscene-esque fashion before ending in a still scene featuring said character and their victory quote.
 * However, unlike the mentioned games, the victory quotes of each character are fully spoken by the characters themselves, a feature also seen in The King of Fighters XIV, SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy and Samurai Shodown (2019).


 * When the player chooses a team composed of the rightful members, their team emblem appears in the lower corner of the pre-fight screen. When the chosen team is random, however, an emblem of the series appears.
 * In Single VS., depending on the character chosen, the emblem of the team/character where he/she belongs appears in the middle screen.
 * Starting from the patch 1.62 (Season 2), the KOF emblem appears for all the DLC characters released in the season.


 * This game is the only one in the series in which the narrator uses phrases in addition to the original narration, during the matches and the winner announcement.


 * This is the only game in the series to use the expression "Perfect Fight" in rounds.


 * Certain DLC characters released in the previous entry appear in canonical and initial teams this time around. In the order of triailer's appearance, they are: Blue Mary and Vanessa (both in the Secret Agents Team), Heidern (Rivals Team) and Whip (K' Team).
 * Beside that, Rock Howard, Ryuji Yamazaki and Najd, another DLC characters released in KOF XIV, appears in DLC teams in this current entry.
 * Geese Howard, Billy Kane, Nakoruru, Kim Kaphwan and Sylvie Paula Paula, who appeared as initial characters in KOF XIV, now appears as DLC characters.


 * This game, The King of Fighters XIII and The King of Fighters XIV are the only games in the series which the characters say one of many specific quotes when selected.


 * This game, The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, The King of Fighters XIV and The King of Fighters Neowave are the only games in the series to use the characters' full names in the select screen.


 * This game, The King of Fighters XIII and The King of Fighters XIV are the only games in the series with selectable character costume colors.


 * This game and The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match are the only games in the series to feature an updated version of a character that was removed in future appearances due to copyright issues and controversy.


 * This is the fifth SNK game (fourth considering that KOF XIII was produced by SNK Playmore, albeit only EX-style of pre-existing characters) to use DLC content (in this case, DLC Teams, DLC Characters and DLC outfits).


 * This game, The King of Fighters '98 and The King of Fighters XIV are the only games in the series in which the defeated character's name appears dimmed on the fight screen.


 * This game, the two versions of The King of Fighters '94, The King of Fighters '95, The King of Fighters '96, the two versions of The King of Fighters '98, The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match and The King of Fighters XIV are the only games in the series with stages associated to one or more teams.
 * In KOF '98/UM, however, this occurs only with the mid-boss teams.


 * This game, The King of Fighters XIII, The King of Fighters XI and The King of Fighters XIV are the only games in the series which the hero/protagonist and their rival/deuteragonist from the same saga/story arc are on a same team.
 * Interestingly, this only applies to the odd-numbered story arcs, those being featured in the Sacred Treasures Team (from the Orochi Saga, the first saga in the series) and Ash Team (from the Ash Saga, the third saga in the series).
 * The particular characters from the even-numbered story arcs, K' and Kula from the NESTS Saga (the second saga in the series), and Shun'ei and Isla from the New Age Saga (the fourth and current saga in the series), oppose each other through different teams, instead.


 * With the exceptions of Shun'ei, Meitenkun, Kyo, Iori, Terry, Mai, Dinosaur, Antonov, Geese, Billy, Nakoruru and the characters that weren't in the previous game, all the other characters retain the same Climax Super Special Moves in The King of Fighters XIV.
 * Some characters, even with the same Climax Super Special Moves, earns new execution modes.


 * When a character defeats an opponent, the background screen radiates a color specific to the move used to defeat them, with those colors being:
 * Blue: if the opponent is defeated with a Super Special Move.
 * Red: if the opponent is defeated with a MAX Super Special Move.
 * Yellow: if the opponent is defeated with a Climax Super Special Move.


 * In Story Mode, during the Final Match, some team plays fight against specific formations, due to the rivalry or plot importance of both. Therefore, the list is as follows:
 * Hero Team: Rivals Team (and vice-versa);
 * K' Team: Krohnen Team (and vice-versa);
 * Sacred Treasures Team: Orochi Team (and vice-versa);
 * Ash Team: Rivals Team;
 * Ikari Warriors Team: Hero Team;
 * Secret Agents Team: Rivals Team;
 * South Town Team: Fatal Fury Team;
 * Awakened Orochi Team: Sacred Treasures Team;
 * Other Teams: Random Teams.


 * The way how characters interact on gameplay intros, particularly individual Round 1 intro (except against bosses) and special intros is similar to the one seen in KOF: Maximum Impact series.
 * The same thing also can be seen in Samurai Shodown (2019), with the fateful battles and intros. But, unlike the KOF entry, the regular and DLC characters interact with the boss.


 * In this game, the single random mode chose the characters with their DLC costumes. Until KOF XIV, this feature chose characters in their default outfits.


 * In the team endings, each team has a phrase featuring them. Below, the list:
 * Hero Team: A New Chapter in the Disciples' Journey.
 * Sacred Treasures Team: The Truce Goes Up In Flames.
 * Fatal Fury Team: Bromance on the Beach.
 * Orochi Team: CYS Back In The Swing of Things.
 * Art of Fighting Team: The Future of Kyokugen Style!?
 * Ikari Warriors Team: Facing The Demons of The Past.
 * Secret Agents Team: A Lady's Secrets Are Her Own.
 * Super Heroines Team: Idol Debut of The Super Heroines!?
 * G.A.W. Team: Golden Heroes of Siberia ~G.A.W. FOREVER~
 * Rivals Team: Normal Days Ahead.
 * K' Team: Kula Diamond Rescue Operation.
 * Krohnen Team: Gone In The Wind.
 * Ash Team: God's In His Heaven - All's Right With The World!
 * Garou Team: Young Wolves At Play.
 * South Town Team: The City That Never Wakes.
 * Awakened Orochi Team: The Awakening of Gaia's Will.
 * Samurai Team: One Journey Ends, and Another Begins...
 * Edit Team: Heidern Battle Report: Re Verse Incident.


 * Starting from the patch 1.51, the ending voice cast cutscene that appear before the credits earns the artworks of the DLC teams (only the initial roster appears before the patch).
 * The Hero and Rivals Team earns new artworks, showing the complete teams (the team's leaders had their own artwork prior to the patch 1.51).


 * Another several references to SNK 's universe can be noticed in the main graffiti that appears before the ending cutscene:
 * A pitbull dog, the same that appears in the main promotional flyer of the NEO GEO AES, and the slogan BIGGER, BADDER, BETTER.
 * The main slogan of the Neo Geo Mini, THE LEGACY LIVES ON.
 * The phrase "KING OF DUCK", referencing the character Duck King.


 * When the player fights with the Samurai Team, in any version (and if they win the match), the K.O. narration changes to the narration style used in the Samurai Shodown series (Shobu ari, literally the fight concludes or shortened as conclusion).
 * In the individual intros of this team, the main battle start theme of the series plays ("Iza Jinjou ni Shoubu!").


 * About the initial roster, the existence of three last characters revealed in the game's trailers (Maxima, Kula Diamond and Elisabeth Blanctorche) is showed by a leak revealed after Krohnen McDougall's confirmation in the game. Each character forms the three last confirmed teams in this entry (the K' Team, the Krohnen Team and the Ash Team, respectively).
 * The same leak showed the existence of some DLC teams and characters in the roster: the Garou Team (Rock Howard, B. Jenet and Gato), the South Town Team (Geese Howard, Billy Kane and Ryuji Yamazaki), the Awakned Orochi Team (Orochi Yashiro, Orochi Shermie and Orochi Chris), the Samurai Team (Haohmaru, Nakoruru and Darli Dagger) and Omega Rugal. Both the characters are already confirmed in this game.