Team Outlaw

Team Outlaw, also called  '97 Special Team , is a reoccurring Special Team in The King of Fighters series.

 

Description
As the name implies, this team is formed by some outlaw characters, all hailing from the Fatal Fury series. The team was formed for the first time during a contest promoted by SNK and game magazines Famitsu, Neo Geo Freak and Gamest. The intention was to know which characters from the Fatal Fury series could make a special team, which led to the choice in the first formation of the team: Ryuji Yamazaki, Blue Mary and Billy Kane. The last character mentioned already participated in the KOF series, during the  '95 tournament. This team also is ruled by by the crime boss Geese Howard in mostly behind the scenes.

The team also makes an appearance in The King of Fighters 2003, with Gato, a character from Garou: Mark of the Wolves, replacing Mary. This team also appears in some Dream Match games.

Leader

 * Ryuji Yamazaki - Leader of Team Outlaw. Left in '99 and XI, and returned in 2002/UM and 2003.

Members

 * Blue Mary - Member of Team Outlaw. Left in '99 and 2003, and returned only in 2002/UM.
 * Billy Kane - Member of Team Outlaw. Left in '99 and XI, and returned in 2002/UM and 2003.

Member

 * Gato - Member of Team Outlaw. Left in XI.

Members' Participation
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Team Bosses
Team Bosses is the original iteration of the Team Outlaw, and is formed by the crimelord Geese Howard, his half-brother Wolfgang Krauser and the criminal Mr. Big, all of which served as boss characters in previous Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games. This team appears, canonically, only in The King of Fighters '96, and in The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match, as a dream-match formation (the latter game renamed as Team '96 Bosses, due to there being another Boss Team).

Leader

 * Geese Howard - Leader of Team Bosses.

Members

 * Wolfgang Krauser - Member of Team Bosses.
 * Mr. Big - Member of Team Bosses.

Team South Town
Team South Town is another iteration of Team Outlaw. This Team is formed by the crimelord Geese Howard, and his subordinates, the bodyguard Billy Kane and the butler Hein, and appear in The King of Fighters XIV and The King of Fighters XV (as a DLC Team), with Ryuji Yamazaki replacing Hein.

Leader

 * Geese Howard - Leader of Team South Town.

KOF XIV

 * Billy Kane - Member of Team South Town.
 * Hein - Member of Team South Town only in XIV.

KOF XV

 * Ryuji Yamazaki - Member of Team South Town in XV.

Trivia

 * With exception of Blue Mary (who is a secret agent), all the other characters of this team are real outlaws.


 * Much like Heidern, the ruler of Team Ikari Warriors, Geese also investigates the behind the scenes of some tournaments, except in the NESTS Saga. But, unlike the militar (who investigate to prevent some malice plans from materialize), the criminal boss investigate only for his personal gain.


 * This team, his Boss Variant and Team NESTS are the only teams of the series which each member have an own music theme.


 * The original and canonical formation of this team appears as DLC characters in future KOF games.
 * Beside that, some members of its variants also appears as DLC characters (in that case, Geese Howard and Billy Kane).


 * In The King of Fighters 2002, this team was called "KOF '97 Team", with its members (Yamazaki, Mary and Billy) representing The King of Fighters '97 (the canonical game which both appears as a team). However, in the remake of the referred game, the team returns to their original name.


 * About the Boss Variant, Krauser is the only member of this formation who was never involved in South Town's related incidents nor events, due to fact that Fatal Fury 2' does not involve South Town-related stages in that game.


 * The South Town Variant in XV is a callback to the team's '97 ending, when the original formation appear as a formation ruled by Geese Howard.


 * This team, Team Fatal Fury, Team Yagami, Team Hero, Team Art of Fighting, Team Ikari Warriors, Team South America, Team Rivals, Team Japan, Team Kyo, Team Sacred Treasures, Team K', Team Benimaru, Team Asian Triple Alliance, Team Agents, Team Ash, Team Elisabeth, Team Shun'ei, Team Mexico, Team G.A.W. and Team East Asia are the only teams of the series which one or more members win a KOF tournament.


 * This team, Team Women Fighters, Team Fatal Fury, Team Hero, Team Art of Fighting, Team Japan, Team East Asia, Team China, Team Kim, Team Kyo, Team Mexico, Team Athena, Team Rivals, Team NESTS, Team South America  and Team Wrestling are the only of the series with a some/greater number of team variants.
 * All the variants of this team are canonical.


 * This team, Team K', Team Agents, Team Ash, Team Hero, Team Ikari Warriors, Team Rivals, Team Women Fighters and Team Fatal Fury (and its variant) are the only in the series which one or more members are/was DLC characters.