Tales of Ash

The Tales of Ash, also known as the Ash Saga is the third story arc in The King of Fighters series. It covers the events found in The King of Fighters 2003 through The King of Fighters XIII.

= Past =

Ancient Times, -Another Side-
Within old Europe, a mysterious group known as Those from the Past began emerging as the counterparts to Orochi's Hakkesshu. Their leader, Saiki, was a power being who possesses control over time. Sometime after Orochi was sealed, many members of Those from the Past were wiped out, at the hands of the Blanctorche Family, a group of nobles who protect the innocent and have a mastery of the elements of light.

Late 1990s
By the late 1990s, Elisabeth Blanctorche is the last known remaining Blanctorche. At one point, she became the childhood friend of Ash Crimson and they were raised in the same mansion together. She used to act as his older sister figure, until a fire burned down the mansion and many of her clansmen to the ground. As the sole remaining Blanctorche, she lives with her butler, Jacques, near the remains of her family's home.

= Story =

Welcoming All Oncomers
Two years after The King of Fighters 2001, The King of Fighters tournament returned in full force. Once again the rules were changed, with the "Striker System" being dropped completely, and the matches returning back to the 3v3 team matches. However, the tournament introduced the Multi-Shift System; now matches took place in a single round, and fighters could freely swap out with other standby members at any time.

The King of Fighters XI
To be added soon...

The King of Fighters XIII
To be added soon...

=Characters=

Debutant Characters
Characters who made their debut on the series, whether unreleased or from other SNK franchises.

NPCs

 * Rose Bernstein (Appears in 2003, XI and XIII)
 * Botan (Appears in 2003, XI and XIII)
 * Shroom & Rimelo (Appears in XI and XIII)

KOF 2002/UM
=Characters & Teams=
 * Teams in which the characters who participated in the saga were inserted.
 * Note: As there are no teams formed, all participations in The King of Fighters XII are solo.

=Trivia=
 * The two chapters of the saga, The King of Fighters 2003 and The King of Fighters XI, are the only of the series which use the Tag-Battle System. This system is abolished in The King of Fighters XIII, and the series goes back to the 3-vs-3 system.
 * Starting with The King of Fighters XI, the series drops the years that the games take place in. Because to this, it will become very hard or even impossible to determine exactly where and when certain backstories took place starting from here on out, unless confirmed by SNK themselves.
 * All characters who debut in The King of Fighters series, starting with The King of Fighters XIII, do not have their ages displayed, adding more to the uncertainty.
 * Just like with The King of Fighters '98 and The King of Fighters 2002 (and its remakes The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match and The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match), The King of Fighters XII is not listed in the canonical story, as it is a "Dream Match" game, and is therefore non-canon.
 * This game is also the only of the series without teams or bosses, despite the game's system allows them to be formed. In fact, KOF XII act as a "beta" version of KOF XIII.
 * Certain characters who debut in the Console releases and not the original Arcade releases are considered non-canon.
 * This is the only story arc which his protagonist never won a KOF tournament, being on a team or not.
 * This is also the third story arc in which his protagonist made a solo appearance in some game (s) or the series, being the first the Orochi Saga (when Iori enters in '97 tournament alone).
 * This is the only story arc which almost all the debutant characters didn't return to the first game of the following saga (with exception of Tung Fu Rue and Oswald, which returns as a regular and a DLC character, respectively).
 * This is the last story arc of the mainline series to use hand drawing sprites. Starting with The King of Fighters XIV, the series uses 3D graphics, something already done in the Maximum Impact series.