The King of Fighters (tournament)

The King of Fighters (abbreviated as KOF) is a recurring tournament in SNK's gaming universe. It is prominently featured in the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting, as well as more frequently in the eponymous fighting game series. The tournament has been featured differently across the years, varying from a local competition to a global phenomenon.

Overview
The King of Fighters is a martial arts tournament originally held in South Town, but fighters from all over the world were invited to participate. The tournament was not limited to any specific martial arts, and any kind of fighter is welcome to join the fray. Also, there are no limitations to weapon use, with KOF having a history of weapon fighters, such as former champion Billy Kane.

KOF was originally a singles tournament, but when Rugal Bernstein first hosted it, he instituted the famous 3-on-3 rule. Teams of three fighters would compete against each other, with one fighter from each team fighting at a time. This rule was the basis of several tournaments, from '94 to '97, and again from 2003 to the XIII tournament. The non-canon '98 and 2002 tournaments also used this rule.

In 1999, a new rule was instituted. Teams were now formed by four participants instead of three, but only three participants would actively fight. The fourth participant was denominated as "Striker", and could only assist their companions a specific number of times during their fights. In 2000, a slight change to the striker rule was established. Now, a team could have anyone as his striker, not necessarily being limited to their fourth participant. Another change was made to the rules in 2001. In this tournament, a team could assign any number of active fighters and strikes as they would see fit. A team could have only one fighter and three strikers or four active fighters and no strikers at all, as well as any combination inbetween.

The 2003 tournament marked the return of the 3-on-3 system, albeit with slight changes. Any time during the fight, a team member could swap positions with a fellow member, making fights even more dynamic. The position of Team Leader was also first seen in 2003. The next tournament carried on with these rules, but they were eventually revoked in KOF XIII.

The singles iterations of KOF usually consist of 2-round fights, with the winner advancing to the finals to face that edition's host. In all KOF tournaments, fights are limited by a timer of usually 60 minutes. If time runs out and no winner is decided, the less damaged fighter is declared the winner. This system was changed in KOF XI, swapped for a judging system that would evaluate the fighter that sought the win the most and award him/her the victory.

Art of Fighting-Fatal Fury timeline
The King of Fighters was a tournament created and hosted by Geese Howard, as seen in Art of Fighting 2. The martial arts enthusiast Geese created the tournament with the intent of scouting for strong fighters that could help him conquer South Town. Ryo Sakazaki used this opportunity to avenge the kidnapping of his sister the year before, an event triggered by Geese. Ryo was the winner of the first King of Fighters tournament in history, and after his defeat Geese escaped to Japan.

When Geese returned to South Town, he established yearly editions of the King of Fighters tournament. Billy Kane, Geese's right hand man, was the reigning champion for several years, until the Lonely Wolves appeared. The two sons of Jeff Bogard, a past rival of Geese that he assassinated, Terry and Andy, together with their friend, Muay Thai champion, Joe Higashi made their names during the 1991 edition of the tournament. They reached the finals, Terry defeated Billy and advanced to face Geese. The crime lord tasted defeat one more time, and almost died when Terry inadvertently knocked him out of the top of Geese Tower.

The following year, Wolfgang Krauser took the King of Fighters concept and created his own version of the tournament. In search of strong opponents, Krauser announced a worldwide The King of Fighters tournament and invited fighters from all over the world to compete. The Lonely Wolves participated once more, as well as Kim Kaphwan and Mai Shiranui, who would also make their names in the tournament. Terry managed to reach the finals and defeat Krauser to once again be crowned the champion.

After Geese resurfaces in South Town and publicly announces his presence, he hosts another KOF tournament in order to draw his enemies to him and end their conflict once and for all. Terry managed to, once again, reach the finals and climbed to the top of Geese Tower to meet his mortal enemy. They fought each other in a heated battle, and Terry won, knocking Geese out of the top of Geese Tower again, this time to his death.

With Geese gone, the KOF tournament was only hosted again several years later, in Second Southtown, this time called "The King of Fighters: Maximum Mayhem". This tournament was held by Kain R. Heinlein, Geese's brother-in-law, who wanted to lure his nephew Rock Howard, who was living under Terry's custody. Rock and Terry met in the semi-finals, and Rock eventually won their fight. He proceeded to defeat Grant and Kain after him, but his uncle convinced Rock to join him, mentioning that his mother is still alive. Terry finds Rock, but does not stop him from going with Kain, knowing they will meet again.

The King of Fighters timeline
In The King of Fighters series, the tournament is its main plot device. After Geese's and Krauser's versions of the KOF tournament, in 1994, a ruthless crimelord known as Rugal Bernstein, seeking to add strong opponents to his statue collection, established his own version of KOF, this time with the 3-on-3 team rule. The Lonely Wolves, the Kyokugenryu Karate representatives, and several other fighters were invited to participate, but it was Team Japan that surprised the globe. Composed of olympic gold medalist Goro Daimon, shooting champion Benimaru Nikkaido, and talented martial artist who wielded the power of fire, Kyo Kusanagi, Team Japan eventually reached Rugal. Kyo, Benimaru and Daimon were able to defeat the powerful Rugal, who then, exploded his ship, apparently killing himself.

The following year, more letters with the "R" seal were handed to the participants of the '94 tournament. Geese Howard wanted to have his own team in the tournament, so he summoned Billy Kane, the ninja Eiji Kisaragi, and mysterious Iori Yagami and stole the invitations of the American Sports Team (Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber and Brian Battler). Team Japan once again reached the finals, only to discover that Rugal was alive, due to the power of Orochi. He also kidnapped Kyo's father, Saisyu Kusanagi, and brainwashed him, making him fight his own son. Omega Rugal, as he called himself, proved to be an overpowering opponent, but the Orochi power eventually corrupted his body to the point of utter annihilation.

In 1996, the King of Fighters tournament was now hosted by a conglomerate of several companies, all under the command of Chizuru Kagura. Kagura, wanting to draw the attention of both Kyo and Iori, thought that the KOF tournament was the best way to do so. Team Japan reached the finals once again and managed to defeat Chizuru, but then, a sudden and strong gust of wind, who immediately transformed into a windstorm, destroyed the arena. A mysterious man, commanding the wind and calling himself Goenitz appeared and challenged the heir of the Kusanagi clan. Goenitz is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Hakkesshu, the most powerful servants of Orochi. Goenitz proved to be a challenge to Team Japan, but was defeated with the combined effort of Kyo, Iori and Chizuru.

Now a worldwide phenomenon, the King of Fighters tournament in 1997 was to be broadcasted by Satella to several countries. Chizuru stepped away from being the host and entered as a participant in the Women Fighters Team. New faces also joined the fray, namely Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie and Chris, who were secretly the missing three of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, who used the tournament in order to gather the latent energy of the powerful fighters of the tournament to feed their master and bring him back to the world. Team Japan won the tournament once again, but Orochi revealed its presence by sending both Iori and Leona into the Riot of the Blood state, making them go berserk and attack many of the fighters. After they were subdued, Yashiro, Shermie and Chris revealed themselves as the last members of Hakkesshu, and their plot to revive Orochi. They proved a challenge, but were defeated by Team Japan. It was too late, though, as their fight provided the last bit of energy that Orochi needed. The being incarnated in Chris' body and would proceed to annihilate humanity if it was not for the efforts of Kyo, Iori and Chizuru. The trio, heirs of the Sacred Treasures, managed to narrowly defeat and seal Orochi, saving mankind from destruction. Having passed out, Kyo was carried away by mysterious men.

Two years later, a new King of Fighters tournament was being held. Heidern had some information that the tournament had some ties with the NESTS cartel, a powerful syndicate that rules the underworld. NESTS was actually trafficking in biotechnology, and were known to develop unethical human experimentation. Two products of NESTS, the cyborg Maxima, and K', a young man injected with Kyo Kusanagi's DNA, entered the King of Fighters tournament together with Benimaru and Shingo Yabuki under orders from NESTS. The tournament's host, Krizalid, used KOF in order to absord the fighters battle data - their latent energy - in order to power listless Kyo Kusanagi clones released all around the globe. K', Maxima, Benimaru and Shingo reached the finals and were able to narrowly defeat Krizalid. K' had discovered that his memories were all implanted by NESTS, and he and Maxima decided to go rogue and fight against them.

The next year, the tournament was hosted by Ling and Heidern in South Town. The two mercenary leaders wanted to use KOF in order to draw out NESTS. In reality, Ling was being impersonated by a former NESTS operative named Zero. Zero used the tournament in order to power his Zero Cannon, a powerful sky-based weapon with the power to level entire cities. Zero wanted to destroy NESTS using the Zero Cannon, so he, not NESTS, would be the harbinger of a new era. During the tournament, NESTS' presence was seen in the Anti K'. The Anti K', a little girl named Kula Diamond, and her overseers, Diana, Foxy and Candy Diamond, were sent with two goals in mind. Destroy K' and crush Zero's plans. The team of K', Maxima, Vanessa and Ramon were able to reach the finals and face Zero, but he had already used the Zero Cannon South Town. When he was going to use the cannon to kill his enemies, the Anti K' managed to disrupt the Zero Cannon and fired it on Zero. South Town was nearly lost.

In 2001, KOF was hosted by Nests, the CEO of the cartel. He wanted to bring all his enemies in one place in order to crush them all, but Igniz, one of the higher ranking officials of the syndicate, had other plans. The winners of the tournament were the team comprised of K', Maxima, Whip and Lin, who were all put into a spaceship where they were greeted by the original Zero, his lion, Glaugan, a revived Krizalid and Ron. They fight, and K' and his team manage to defeat their enemies. The spaceship is self-destructing as the heroes rush into NESTS real headquarters in space. There, they meet Igniz, who kills Nests and declares himself the new CEO of NESTS and the new god of mankind. Wanting to use all of NESTS's power for himself in order to achieve godhood, Igniz masqueraded as loyal, but revealed his true intentions. Deciding to test his newfound powers against his own creations, he attacks. It took the combined might of K', Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami and Kula Diamond to fully defeat Igniz. He then activates the self-destruction of the space station, but the heroes managed to survive, saved by unknown benefactors. NESTS was finally destroyed.

The tournament returned two years later, with several of the tournaments past participants as well as newcomers receiving invitation letters sealed once again with an "R". One of the newcomers was a young lad called Ash Crimson, who entered the tournament with his own agenda. The tournament was eventually revealed to be hosted by Rose Bernstein and Adelheid Bernstein, the children of Rugal. Chizuru Kagura was also, mysteriously involved in the tournament, and with the power of the Mirror of Yata, summoned Kusanagi, a shadow of Kyo. In reality, Chizuru was being controled by Botan, a member of a mysterious group known as Those From the Past. Botan and her companion, Mukai were trying to use Chizuru in order to weaken the Orochi seal, in order to give its power to their master. Chizuru, who had also summoned an image of her long lost sister, Maki, attacked the team of K', Maxima and Whip, but the sisters were defeated. Mukai, then, proceeded to test the trio. After an overwhelming struggle, Mukai was defeated, but he rose to his feet, unscathed and disappeared, together with Botan and several members of Those From the Past. Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami helped in the fight, and they were checking the Orochi seal, when suddenly, Ash Crimson appeared and somehow managed to steal the Yatta Mirror from Chizuru. He vanished, promising he would take both Iori and Kyo's Sacred Treasures as well. KOF once again revealed itself as the stage of conspiracies. Although it was K' and his team that defeated the true enemies in Mukai and Botan, the official winners of the tournament were the Ikari Warriors (Leona, Ralf and Clark), who faced and managed to defeat Adelheid.

The next KOF was also hosted by Rose, in order to look for strong opponents for Adelheid. In reality, Rose was being controlled by Botan, who wanted her to host the tournament so Those From the Past could use it for their own machinations. They sent Magaki and Shion to break the Orochi seal. The tournament was won by the team of Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami and Shingo Yabuki, who proceeded to defeat Shion. After his failure, Shion was trapped in another dimension by Magaki, who then challenged the winning team. Magaki was defeated, and like Mukai, rose to his feet, apparently unscathed, and tried to escape through a portal, but Shion's spear was hurled from withing the portal, killing Magaki. Due to Orochi's presence, Iori snapped and entered the Riot of the Blood, nearly killing Kyo and Shingo. Ash Crimson appeared and used Iori's uncontrollable state to steal the Yasakani no Magatama, promising that he would come back for Kyo.

Rose, still under the spell of Botan, held another KOF tournament. This time it was revealed that the leader of Those From the Past, Saiki wanted to hold a particular ceremony in order to fully reawake Orochi, so he could use its powers for his own schemes. Wanting to use the winners of KOF as sacrifice, he ordered Botan to use Rose for such end. Saiki absorbs Mukai's life force and proceeds to face the winning team so the energy spent on the fight could open Gate. Saiki, then noticed that the Gate was closing instead of opening, and then, Ash used that opportunity to rob Saiki of his spirit. This plan backfired, as Saiki was able to control Ash's body as his own, and attacked the winning team once again. He is defeated, however, and as Ash manages to retake control over his body after the battle, Saiki orders him to cross the gate so they can retry again. Ash refuses to restart time with Saiki, resulting in both being erased from existence.

KOF: Maximum Impact timeline
This continuity is mix of the Art of Fighting/Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters timeline. Here, Southtown is dominated by Mephistopheles, a gang who is run by Duke. Duke had defeated Fate, a former leader of the Addes syndicate, who was known as a Robin Hood figure in South Town. He had also adopted two brother, Alba and Soiree Meira. A King of Fighters tournament, also called the Mephistopheles Fighting Tournament, was established by Duke and several famous fighters from all over the world were all invited to participate. Alba was the eventual winner, and managed to achieve his revenge when he defeated Duke.

A second King of Fighters tournament was eventually hosted by Addes, who remained active in the shadows. Jivatma was the host of the tournament and used it to attract the Meira brothers for his undisclosed goals. Alba defeated Jivatma and won the tournament, but Soiree was kidnapped by his enemies and still remains missing.

Champions
This is a list of confirmed winners of King of Fighters tournaments.
 * Ryo Sakazaki - the winner of the first KOF tournament in the Art of Fighting continuity.
 * Billy Kane - was appointed as champion by Geese Howard, has kept the title many times succesfully.
 * Terry Bogard - winner of the tournaments held in Fatal Fury, Fatal Fury 2 and Real Bout Fatal Fury.
 * Kyo Kusanagi, Benimaru Nikkaido and Goro Daimon - team winners of the '94, '95, '96 and '97 editions in the KOF timeline.
 * K', Maxima, Benimaru Nikkaido and Shingo Yabuki - winners of the '99 tournament.
 * K', Maxima, Vanessa and Ramon - winners of the 2000 tournament.
 * K', Maxima, Whip and Lin - winners of the 2001 tournament.
 * Leona, Ralf Jones and Clark Still - official winners of the 2003 tournament.
 * Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami and Shingo Yabuki - winners of The King of Fighters XI.
 * Alba Meira - winner of the two tournaments held in the Maximum Impact continuity.

Game Appearances

 * Fatal Fury: King of Fighters
 * Art of Fighting 2
 * Fatal Fury 2
 * Fatal Fury Special
 * The King of Fighters '94
 * The King of Fighters '95
 * Real Bout Fatal Fury
 * The King of Fighters '96
 * The King of Fighters '97
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters '99
 * Garou: Mark of the Wolves
 * The King of Fighters 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * KOF: Maximum Impact
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * KOF: Maximum Impact 2
 * KOF: Maximum Impact Regulation "A"
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout
 * The King of Fighters XI
 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match
 * The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
 * The King of Fighters XII
 * The King of Fighters XIII