Team Ikari Warriors



Team Ikari Warriors, shortened called Team Ikari , is a reoccurring Team in The King of Fighters series.

Description
As the name implies, the team is formed by the main characters of Ikari Warriors series, Ralf Jones and Clark Still, alongside his Commander Heidern, who was present in the two first tournaments of the series.

Starting with The King of Fighters '96, the team earns new members: Leona Heidern, who replaces his adoptive father in the leadership, and Whip, during the NESTS Chronicles and the Tales of Ash. The two female soldiers and the Commander were created exclusively for the KOF series, although the commander himself debuted in NES version of Ikari III: The Rescue.

The most active team formation is commonly the members of  '96 formation through the games, except in The King of Fighters XI, where Whip replaces Leona. However, The King of Fighters 2001 brings all members who were active during the Orochi Saga, such as the former classic pre-‘96 team leader Heidern, due to Whip’s absent into joining Team K' in 2001 - 2003 prior to temporarily re-join with the Ikari Squad, due to an emergency matter regarding of Leona's absent as mentioned previously (the weakening of the Orochi seal and her Riot of the Blood).

Orochi Saga

 * Commander Heidern - First Leader and Member of Team Ikari Warriors in '94 and '95. He left the team in '96 and 2003, and returned in 2001.
 * Colonel Ralf Jones - Member of Team Ikari Warriors. He leads the team in XI, XIII and XIV, and appears in all games of the series.
 * Lieutenant Clark Still - Member of Team Ikari Warriors. Appears in all games of the series.
 * Frontline Soldier Leona Heidern - Member of Team Ikari Warriors. She leads the team in most of the game's series, and left only in XI.

NESTS Chronicles/Tales of Ash

 * Soldier Whip - Member of Team Ikari Warriors. Left the team in 2001, and returned in XI.

Trivia

 * With exception of Ralf Jones and Clark Still, the other characters on this team are exclusively created for the KOF series.


 * This team won the 2003 tournament, with the second classic formation (Leona, Ralf and Clark).
 * This currently makes them the only non-original KOF Team to win a KOF tournament set in The King of Fighters universe.


 * This team is the only beyond the Hero and Rivals Teams whose some members are important to the history of KOF series, through the connections as the main events of each saga (Leona and Heidern have ties with the Orochi Saga and Whip, with the NESTS Chronicles. However, Heidern investigates the behind the scenes of most tournaments).


 * All members of this team are prominent in Metal Slug series, starting from Metal Slug 6.


 * Whip was originally scheduled to officially debut in the team in KOF '96, but due to fact that the character was not ready in time, the frontline soldier Leona replaced her. The soldier girl made her debut in KOF '99 (the first game of the NESTS Chronicles).


 * All members of this team appears at the same time in two games: KOF 2001, KOF XIV and KOF XV (with Whip and Heidern being DLC characters in XIV, and in separate teams in XV).


 * In The King of Fighters '94, this team was called Team Brazil, despite none of their members being Brazilian.


 * This team, Team Yagami, Team K', Team NESTS, Team Kim, Team Rivals, Team Agents and Team Isla are the only teams of the series which one or more members have unknown nationality.


 * This team, Team Hero, 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.