Krohnen McDougall

Krohnen McDougall is a character from The King of Fighters series and a new character introduced in The King of Fighters XV. His official nickname is "Exceptional Esper".

He is voiced by Kenn (alias of Ken'ichirō Ōhashi).

Development
Krohnen's appearance shares numerous similarities with K9999 and Nameless. First alluded to in the PS4 datamining reveal of KOF XV, and was at first, theorized as an outright inclusion of K9999 in the game despite issues surrounding his character, he is often theorized as SNK's answer to fan clamor in bringing back K9999 to the series without the elements that makes his appearance risky.

At the time of the character announcement, the only official reaction that can be considered as a statement from SNK so far is Krispy Kaiser's reaction in SNK's official Discord channel, as seen below. This has since been supplemented by the Team Stories focusing on Krohnen and his eponymous team.

Personality
Similarly to a certain character, Krohnen is a very loud person with an extremely short temper. He hates Kyo Kusanagi and K' with passion and intensity. However, this time, he claims he is not all about rage and claims to be a changed person. Though he has no personal grudge towards the original Kyo himself, he only fights him because some of Kyo's head appearance during the fifteenth tournament (his classic hairstyle and headband) reminds him of a Kyo-look alike fighter, whom Krohnen held a grudge against.

Powers

 * Pyrokinesis - Krohnen can control fire, but his ability is quite limited in comparison to Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami or even K'. He can create fire to erupt from the ground in front of him, and attack with streams of fire in a slashing manner.
 * Polymorphic Arm - Krohnen can transform his left arm into an iron drill, a blade or a shotgun-like weapon.

Fighting Style
Krohnen fights with his polymorphic arm. The arm can transform into claws, blades of different sizes and shapes, and into a shotgun. He knows some basic fighting techniques.

Music

 * Liberty - The King of Fighters XV
 * KD-0084 - The King of Fighters XV (vs. K')

Games

 * The King of Fighters XV

Trivia

 * Krohnen has attributes, moves and even mannerisms of certain existing characters from the series:
 * He has the primary color scheme, mannerisms and fighting moves of K9999, a character removed from the series due to SNK's dislike of his design and controversy, with only the longer hair and shades setting them apart.
 * He also has some attacks and cybernetic themes found in Nameless, K9999's replacement in KOF 2002 UM.
 * He also seems to have elements from Alba Meira's design from the KOF: Maximum Impact series.


 * Immediately after Krohnen's reveal special trailer, SNK community manager Krispy Kaiser stated on the official SNK Discord channel, "I had to keep the lie going for years", implying that the legal issues around K9999 were faked to add mystique to the character.


 * His first name bears similarities to the German word "krone", which means "crown".
 * Krohnen's Japanese Katakana's spelling is a play off the word "Clone", with the difference of only one character place in it (Krohnen = /Clone = ).
 * Krohnen's name also could be a reference to Canadian film director David Cronenberg, one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infection, technology and the intertwining of the psychological with the physical. Curiously, Krohnen, K9999 and Nameless show these features in their moves.


 * His last name, "McDougall" was not present on in-game nor both of his character and team bios, making him having similar situation as Kim Kaphwan in the Maximum Impact series and starting from The King of Fighters Neowave (unless if counting Leona's surname [Heidern]).
 * Krohnen's surname is possibly a reference to Kane McDougall, protagonist of Blue Knight Beserga Story, a spin-off of the mecha anime series Armored Trooper Votoms. The spin-off also inspired K' and Maxima's names (as a Kane's clone and the robot ATM-FX1 Zerberus VR-Maxima, respectively).


 * Several things point out that Krohnen is the possible evolution (if not the alter ego) of K9999:
 * His intro with Kyo Kusanagi, during his reveal trailer, resembles K9999's special intro against Kusanagi, a character used in The King of Fighters 2002/UM and one of Kyo's various clones (and later an illusion character crated by Chizuru Kagura). This behavior is directly inspired from Tetsuo Shima's banter with Shotaro Kaneda.
 * One of Krohnen's generic victory quotes has him saying "Were you excepting me to be more hot-headed? Well, unfortunately for you, I've changed.", further suggesting that he is indeed K9999.
 * As the leader of Team Krohnen, he has Ángel and, ironically, Kula under his wing. Ángel as a member makes sense and strengthens his identity as K9999, as the two are friends and look out for one another. However, Kula is a perceived enemy, basing on his prior interaction as K9999 in KOF 2001, with the latter joining the team in protest against K' (he and Kula had a grudge, which resulted in her running away from the team after 17 years), when they took her as a "kidnapped hostage." Kula, as per their team story, however, has no intention of escaping her "captors."


 * Krohnen, Nameless and K9999 all share the same blood type, all primarily inherited from Kyo Kusanagi.
 * However, only Nameless has the RH factor (negative) present in Kyo's blood.
 * K9999 and Krohnen also share the same type of favorite food (peanuts and nuts are part of a same family [nuts]).


 * The Team Story of Team Krohnen (released shortly after the team's confirmation) practically confirms that Krohnen and K9999 are the same person:
 * Krohnen is wary against surveillance from remnants of NESTS, confirming he did defect from NESTS.
 * Krohnen relies on Ángel for errands and the two are constantly on the run and changing locations. Moreover, K9999 was stated to consider Ángel as the one he considers a friend and by implication, the only person he trusts.
 * Krohnen is stated to be using aliases to evade surveillance, and his current name is implied to be one of many K9999 has used. This is most likely the plot device SNK is using to retire the K9999 name completely.
 * His hostility towards K' and Kusanagi (and by extension, their precursor, Kyo Kusanagi) is a trait well known to K9999 as well. However, while Kula is considered an enemy as well by association, Krohnen is surprisingly tolerant of her.


 * His biker outfit has the word "silber" written horizontally on the left side of his sleeve. This name is shared with Silber, the final boss of Buriki One, who made an appearance in The King of Fighters XI as a mid-boss.