NESTS is a secret organization that had control over all kinds of criminal activity throughout the world. Their dealings made many corporations around the globe go bankrupt. Their members were wanted by all investigation agencies, but no one could find their headquarters, since their true location was on a satellite hovering around the world. NESTS had a high-technological arsenal of weapons and machines at their disposal, which allowed them to conduct research on many fields of science, specifically on bio-engineering.
Sometime during the Orochi Saga (possibly during the period between the KOF '95 and KOF '96tournaments), they learned about the Orochi power, as well as Kyo Kusanagi. When Kyo was knocked out after the fight with Orochi in the end of the KOF '97 tournament, they kidnapped him and began the "Kusanagi Cloning Program", an experiment in which children were turned into human weapons based on Kyo's appearance and DNA.
The second wielder of the flame.
One of these children for this program was a boy with an unknown name, and his elder sister Seirah. In 1998, the boy was made to participate in the Kusanagi cloning program. He was infused with Kyo Kusanagi's DNA, which gave him the power of pyrokinesis, as well as a clone based on his own appearance named Krizalid. During the program, his memory was tinkered with, and he was made to believe that he was Krizalid's clone. Any real memories from his past have either been erased or suppressed by NESTS. With his memories missing, and now working for NESTS, the boy with no name now became known as K'; a powerful fighter who would eventually become NESTS's ultimate downfall.
The King of Fighters '99[]
New Challengers, New Rules[]
Two years after the previous tournament, The King of Fighters tournament returned in full force. However, this new tournament came with a surprising new rule; Teams were no longer comprised of 3 members, but rather 4. This 4th member of a Team would be dubbed as "Strikers", allowing them to be summoned at any time during a match for assistance, albeit for limited attempts. With these new rules in place, every single team was shaken up with new dynamics:
Benimaru Nikaido and Shingo Yabuki (Kyo's best friend and huge fan, respectively) are given a special invitation to KOF with preset members for their team, with those members being the fugitives K' and Maxima. With this, the Japan Team is undone and this new formation becomes this year's Hero Team. Goro Daimon, who had fought alongside Kyo and Benimaru during the Orochi Saga, returns to his Judo career.
Sie Kensou suddenly lost his Psycho Power, which has now manifested in a young boy named Bao. Confused as to why this is happening, Kensou and Bao, along with Athena Asamiya and Chin Gentsai joins KOF to form the Psycho Soldier Team once more in order to investigate and solve said mystery.
Once again, all of the teams fought will all their strength, culminating with the Hero Team winning The King of Fighters '99. However, during the tournament, several reports from many agencies reported that many people with the appearance of Kyo Kusanagi have shown up in various locations around the world, a feat that Heidern requests the Ikari Team to look into.
K' vs Krizalid.
During the finals, the Hero Team is taken to an underground base to meet Krizalid, an agent who reveals himself to be a member of the mysterious organization NESTS. Krizalid reveals that the whole tournament was used to record combat data from all of the fights he obtained to activate an army of Kyo clones that NESTS themselves had created after the fight against Orochi. He is faced in two states: first he appears with a special coat that analyzes an opponent's data. Once he's defeated, he burns away his coat and increases his strength while having stronger moves. K' used everything that he had and more to take down Krizalid.
K' and Maxima barely escaping.
After Krizalid's defeat, his superior attempts to kill him via falling debris while other members of NESTS attack K' and Maxima, who are both revealed to be former NESTS agents and that the duo succeed in defeating their enemies before making their escape from the collapsing location of their battle against Krizalid. K' then discovers that he is a test subject designed to replicate Kyo's techniques. Interested in learning more about his stolen past, he decides to take down NESTS, with Maxima helping him.
Aftermath[]
Awakening the Dragon Spirit.
Mere moments after Krizalid's death, the underground NESTS base exploded, which caused many of the fighters to get caught up in. Terry Bogard, a yearly combatant in The King of Fighters tournament, was nowhere to be found, with his glove being the only thing left. Takuma Sakazaki was seemingly crushed underneath the rubble, although he humorously broke out of it shortly afterwards. Athena was caught underneath the falling rubble and passed out. Though he has no memory of it, Kensou saved her with a formidable latent energy known as the Dragon Spirit, something that seems to affect both him and Bao.
The agent mourns silently.
A few hours after the tournament's conclusion, Whip returned back to the area where the final battle took place and found Krizalid, still barely alive from the crash. She asks Krizalid if he remembers his father's face, to which he discovers that he cannot remember. Whip reveals to him the reason why he couldn't remember is because he was not her brother; K' was. Krizalid would shortly die realizing that he was the clone of K'. His corpse was later taken into custody by the Ikari mercenaries, with Whip crying silently.
The King of Fighters 2000[]
New Millennium[]
Nearly a year after the events of the 1999 tournament, Heidern is determined to figure out the objective of the NESTS cartel so that he can stop them from achieving their ruthless ambition. A fellow commander and long-time friend of Heidern, named Ling, tells the veteran fighter that K' and Maxima may hold the key to locating the whereabouts of the mysterious organization. Using this information, Heidern decides to focus his efforts on finding the duo so that they can be captured and interrogated for information.
Teams[]
K' and Maxima were joined by the mercenaries Vanessa and Ramón. They entered the tournament to discover the NESTS scheme, but both agents were really there to capture the cartel fugitives at the end of the tournament, since they were working for Ling and Heidern.
After leaving the Hero Team, Benimaru Nikaido and Shingo Yabuki meets up with two new individuals: an agent/mercenary named Seth and an assassin ninja named Lin, from the Hizoku clan, forming a new entry led by the model: the Benimaru Team. Shingo was nearly killed by Lin when he almost touched his band, but was saved at the last second by Benimaru.
Terry Bogard is revealed to have survived the NESTS base collapse and returns back to South Town. The reason Terry didn't contact with any of his friends and/or loved ones in his time of absence between the previous and upcoming tournaments was because he discovered that Blue Mary is one of NESTS' primary targets to be disposed of. He decides to help her out in her job by teaming up with her in tournament, along with his brother Andy Bogard and the Muay Thai champion Joe Higashi, as part of the Fatal Fury Team. Blue Mary replaces the kunoichi Mai Shiranui.
After Yuri Sakazaki's insistence, her brother Ryo Sakazaki welcomed King into the Art of Fighting Team in spite of Robert Garcia's protests. Yuri moves back to the Women Fighters Team, along with the kunoichi Mai Shiranui. Ryo and Yuri's father, Takuma Sakazaki, apparently noticed (and mistook) the respect the young fighters had for one another for love and presses his wishes for her to join whenever the time calls for it (something Robert and Yuri would eventually do too).
A few days prior to this tournament, Yuri and Mai calls Kasumi Todoh (a rival of Kyokugenryu Karate) to be a member of the Women Fighters Team in this year and gracefully accepts. The next day, they hold auditions for who would be their fourth member. A young girl named Hinako Shijo enters, with the three girls are surprised to see a girl like Hinako would enter a tournament. Mai deciding her worth by making Yuri and Hinako fight. Hinako succeeds in proving her worth by defeating Yuri in a mock match.
The Ikari Warriors Team is once again tasked with investigating any shady activity during the tournament, targeting the NESTS scheme and under Heidern's orders. The team continues with the same formation of the prior tournament.
Prior to the events of the tournament, Chin Gentsai suspects that the Dragon Spirit is connected between the two boys. His theory is because when Sie Kensou used the Dragon Spirit, its power was transferred to Bao, and completely drained Kensou of his Psycho Power. Despite this and being uncertain whether or not he can regain his Psycho Power, Kensou decides to enter KOF with the Psycho Soldier Team, consisting of himself, his beloved Athena Asamiya, his master, and his friend.
Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, once again, view the tournament events from the sidelines, without a team.
Anti-K'[]
The Ice Doll.
After K' and Maxima's betrayal, NESTS began working on ways to take out the traitors. Due to how powerful K' was, the answer was to fight fire with fire; or in this case, ice. Learning what they knew about the K' program, NESTS created the Anti-K' program; an experiment that alters the users DNA to control ice. Their experimentations culminated by using a little girl who was kidnapped by NESTS at a young age. This little girl would become Kula Diamond; their "Anti-K'." Despite the fact that Kula was a mindless puppet with no sign of emotions (aside from being an innocent young girl), the NESTS cartel was not willing to repeat the same mistake they made with K'. Therefore, NESTS created an android called Candy Diamond, who would monitor Kula's behavior and assure that Kula would accomplish her missions, providing assistance in battle if she was needed. NESTS also assigned two of their top agents, Diana and Foxy to supervise and prevent any sort of betrayal by Kula.
Kula freezing the arena.
During the KOF 2000 tournament, NESTS orders Kula to exterminate the cartel's traitor, K'. During the midway point of the tournament, Kula freezes an arena, trapping K' and his team. She is ordered by Diana and Foxy to exterminate K'. The two fight and K' came out the victor, forcing her to retreat.
Zero Cannon[]
At the finals of the tournament, the Hero Team are taken to an underground mansion via a hidden elevator and are greeted by a mysterious but sinister-looking man. At the same time, Ling and a couple of his associates suddenly betray Heidern by holding him at gunpoint. In the underground mansion, the man known as Zero reveals he had the real Ling killed and replaced with a clone in disguise. He also tells the fighters that he was a former member of NESTS with plans to eliminate the cartel by using a powerful space-based weapon known as the Zero Cannon; setting it to operate with the same technology found in Krizalid's battle armor. To demonstrate his power, Zero fires a warm-up shot of the cannon towards Earth and destroys South Town; the home of Terry Bogard, Ryo Sakazaki, and many others.
Kula stands atop the Zero Cannon.
The Hero Team fights Zero and defeat him in combat. However, he is rather pleased at his defeat, revealing that the fighters' battle energy powers the Zero Cannon, and their battle gave it enough energy to power it. He attempts to fire the Zero Cannon again, but nothing happens. It's revealed that Heidern swiftly and forcibly removes the clone Ling's remote control of the cannon while dispatching him in the process. Diana and Foxy also swiftly appear, stating that NESTS will not be defeated by traitors. Meanwhile, in space, Kula and Candy stands atop of the Zero Cannon and destroys it while in orbit, and redirected its shot towards his location, critically injuring him.
With the mansion collapsing, the Hero Team escapes, with K' and Maxima being separated from Ramon and Vanessa during the chaos. During this time, Whip finds Zero dying, and the Project '00 data. Zero tells Whip he has "what she is looking for" and reveals a truth to her; a truth so haunting that it angered Whip, kills Zero with her gun, and stays in the collapsing mansion.
The End of South Town[]
Kula mourns Candy's death.
While Kula redirected the shot to hit Zero, this causes the Zero Cannon to explode and has her fall head-first to Earth, but Candy sacrificed herself to save her beloved sister.
Ron appears before the Benimaru Team.
The first shot of the Zero Cannon that hits South Town destroys the entire city while catching everyone off guard in the process. All of the fighters miraculously survived, although the Benimaru Team would come face to face with a man named Ron; the person Seth and Lin were looking for. He reveals that he betrayed the Hizoku by joining NESTS for personal gain, labeling himself as a traitor by many of the group's members. Ron attempts to kill Lin and Shingo, but escapes to avoid Benimaru's Electro Trigger. Seth, in awe of how quickly Ron's power is growing, vows to take him down. Bao was left in a critical state after absorbing the blast of the Zero Cannon. Kensou suddenly gets his powers back, and learns that the power is transferred between the two if one of them is gravely injured.
K', Maxima and Whip head towards the unknown.
One week later, the Ikari Team made a search and rescue mission to find Whip, but to no avail. Heidern discovers that the Project '00 data was stolen, and that a image data was left behind. The video show that Whip had taken the data, apologizes for it, and says that she will meet them again in the future. At night, K' has a strange dream of a little girl crying, with Maxima believing that it could be a clue to K' missing memories. Whip suddenly appears before the two and reveals the truth that Zero told her; that Whip is in fact a clone of Seirah, the biological older sister of K' who died after being abducted by NESTS. While Maxima is cautious of this truth, K' decides to believe her, and after he tears off his right glove, the three team up to destroy NESTS once and for all.
The King of Fighters 2001[]
NESTS's Requiem[]
After the destruction of South Town by the hands of the Zero Cannon, the incident was reported to be the result of an artificial satellite crashing to earth and adorned the front pages to various newspapers of countries all over the world. A legion of individuals called for the end to The King of Fighters tournament, which had a notorious history of always inviting some sort of violent accident. In an ironic turn of events, this ended up causing the KOF tournament to regain considerable popularity. And thus, The King of Fighters 2001 was planned to take place. The interest in the tournament rivaled that of the KOF '97 tournament, perhaps even exceeding it.
Teams[]
Whip leaves the Ikari Warriors Team to help her newly discovered brother K' and his partner Maxima destroy the NESTS cartel along with Lin (who continues to hunt and search for Ron, the traitor to his clan), who joins forces with them to form the Hero Team for this tournament.
After Jhun Hoon got into an accident that injures his neck and back in a street accident (in reality, he was distracted by Athena Asamiya's beauty, and was hit by a car while crossing the street), Kim Kaphwan brings one of his pupils, May Lee Jinju as the fourth member of the Korea Justice Team, as an advisor to put Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge in their place, though she does not feel the need to physically punish them on a regular basis like Kim does.
The NESTS cartel decides to host this tournament, and for it, they can use it as a method to eliminate their enemies and enter their own team into the ranks. Therefore, the Anti-K' weapon Kula Diamond teams up with Foxy, one of her mentors and guardians, and two NESTS agents hired to watch and destroy them, K9999 and Ángel, forming the NESTS Team.
The Fatal Fury and Psycho Soldier Teams remain with the same formations from the previous entry (the second team, from the beginning of the story arc).
9999th Clone[]
The Conqueror of the World.
After the death of Krizalid, the failure of Project Krizalid, the betrayal of K' & Maxima, and Zero's coup d'etat with the Zero Cannon, NESTS decided to bring back the Kusanagi Cloning Project, and created K9999; the "perfected" 9999th Kyo Kusanagi clone. Built from the ground up, K9999 wielded an exorbitant amount of power. Like K', he was given a special glove that helps him control his shapeshifting powers and keep them from going berserk. Prior to the 2001 tournament, he was tasked to form a team with Foxy, Kula Diamond, and Ángel. Their main purpose was to dispatch the rogue creations that had escaped from NESTS's grasp, as well as disposing K', Kyo Kusanagi, and anyone who would get in the cartel's way. K9999 hated the idea of working with Foxy and Kula, due to the former being way to authoritarian for his liking, and the latter being too annoying. He did seem to enjoy working with Ángel, as she seems to have the same interests at heart.
Save the Universe[]
The testament of NESTS.
As expected in a KOF tournament, all teams thought with their might, culminating in victory for the Hero Team. In the tournament finals, the Hero Team boards a special blimp that is soon revealed to be a spaceship. There they meet Original Zero, whose clone decimated the cartels' secrecy with his scheme in the previous year. He congratulates them for reaching the finals and states that they're headed for NESTS's real headquarters. He decides to entertain his passengers with a match and is backed up by his pet black lion Glugan, Ron, and Krizalid. Despite the oppressive force of his group, he is defeated moments before the ship docks at NESTS's space satellite. He stays on board the exploding ship and urges the Hero team to proceed forward.
Igniz: "K'... Are you still able to stand up? Just as expected~" K': "...I'll finish this."
Once inside NESTS's satellite, they face the NESTS leader, Nests. He expresses wishes for his renegade agents to return to the organization and is soon afterward killed by Igniz, who claims ownership of the cartel. Igniz also reveals that K', Kula, Krizalid, K9999 and Whip were guinea pigs; creations made for his own personal entertainment. Kula, who was separated from the rest of her team and present at the time, also heard her origin as an artificial life form. As the winner of The King of Fighters tournament, Igniz labels K' as the strongest warrior and by defeating earth's strongest warrior he would surpass all of humanity making him a God. His hopes were short-lived when he is defeated by K'. Upon defeated, he breaks down, shocked and appaled that he was defeated by the very guinea pigs he created. Igniz proclaims that he is a fallen god and names himself a "demon" instead, and plunges the satellite through earth's atmosphere in an attempt to demolish his competition and the planet.
Thankfully, the satellite crashes into the ocean and the fighters aboard were somehow saved from the explosion, presumably thanks to Ron. K' saves Kula from drowning; in gratitude, she and her guardian, Diana, ally themselves with K' and company. K9999 and Ángel are presumably still alive though their exact whereabouts are unknown. Foxy is also stabbed by them though her apparent on-screen death is later revealed to be false.
Ron reveals to Misty about the Dragon Spirit, and how its power surpasses NESTS. This power currently resides in Kensou, and is interested in releasing this power for an unknown goal.
Freedom.
With Igniz's death, it signaled the end of the NESTS cartel. K' and Kula, now free from NESTS, both want to make their own future and make up for the time lost in their lives.
The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match[]
This section's information is based on materials that is not canon within the NESTS Chronicles, due to K9999's eventual omission from succeeding story series and being replaced, as seen below.
Project Zhe Prime[]
Nameless with his "Dual-Flame".
Nameless is the 9,999th K' clone and the only survivor of "Project Ж". He is known by NESTS by his codename "Ж'" or "Zhe Prime". Existing as an experiment subject to perfect the Kyo Kusanagi cloning program that was first achieved with K', he only knew pain and suffering from excruciating endurance tests, with his "brothers" (other clones dubbed as "K' children") being guinea pigs to the Kusanagi DNA, with gruesome results from explosions and genetic mutations, or even death. Nameless himself has come close to death at least 180 times.
Nameless's miserable existence would one day be eased with Isolde, having fallen in love with her. Whenever he was badly injured, he would see the beautiful yet sad girl near the infirmary. Isolde became his motivation to live on and endure the painful experiments, and little did Nameless know he would also indirectly help Isolde improve her own powers, and that his attraction for her was mutual.
During the course of the experiments, Nameless eventually gains control and strength over his power. Once the laboratory members deemed him fit to wield the Kusanagi flame, his custom glove was grafted onto his left arm. The glove is meant to enhance his strength of will, which would theoretically make him as adept as Kyo. A similar glove design was originally planned for K' but he left before it could be used on him.
He was immediately sent to Earth to test his fighting skills, and with him being able to kill by mere touch (a tap on the shoulder), demonstrated unintentionally with an unfortunate woman victim, he was designated as an assassin. On one of his assignments, he cornered a man who was trying to escape from the syndicate. In a bid to spare his life, the escapee confessed the truth behind Isolde.
Nameless and Isolde.
She was a part of the Anti K' Project, similar to Kula Diamond, and was given the power to control ice. However, her abilities were deemed to be inadequate until she saw Nameless. The organization soon noticed that Nameless and Isolde's abilities are increasing by meeting each other, and so they were allowed to routinely see one another to bring out their full potential. Regrettably, Isolde died from her testing. Rather than waste her progress, NESTS crafted her DNA into Nameless's glove. Her abilities keep the flames pacified until needed for use.
Nameless doesn't know if he should believe the man, but he realizes that his words have weight to them. He hasn't seen Isolde since he received his glove. Not wanting to risk losing Isolde, he unquestionably follows any orders he's given by NESTS. He hopes to one day return her to her rightful body and perhaps, even bring her back to life.
Characters[]
Debutant Characters[]
Characters who made their canonical debut in The King of Fighters series, ordered by their first appearance in the series.
KOF '99[]
Original Characters[]
K' (Playable in '99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave)
Maxima (Playable in '99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave)
Whip (Playable in '99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave)
Krizalid (Final Boss; Playable in '99 [only in Dreamcast and PS2] and 2002 UM; he appears as a Maniac Striker in 2000, only in PS2 and as a Striker in 2001)
Seth (Playable in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; he debut as a Striker in '99 Evolution and appear as a console exclusive character in Neowave)
Shingo Yabuki (Playable in '99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; he appears as console exclusive character in 2002)
Fatal Fury series[]
Blue Mary (Playable in '99, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave)
Non-Canon Characters[]
Characters who are not playable in this saga canonically, but do appear in Dream Match games, ordered by their first appearance in the series.
KOF '95[]
Original Character[]
Omega Rugal (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; his normal version appears as a Striker in '99 Evolution and as a Maniac Striker in 2000; also appears as Final Boss in 2002, Special Boss in 2002 UM and a console exclusive character in Neowave)
Fatal Fury series[]
Billy Kane (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; he appears as a Striker in '99 Evolution and as a Normal Striker in 2000)
KOF '96[]
Original Characters[]
Mature (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; she appears as a Striker in 2000)
Vice (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; she appears as a Striker in 2000)
Goenitz (Playable in 2002 and 2002 UM; he appears as a Striker in 2000 and as a console exclusive character in 2002)
Fatal Fury series[]
Geese Howard (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; he appears as a Normal Striker in 2000 and as a console exclusive character in 2002; his young version appears as a final boss in Neowave)
KOF '97[]
Original Characters[]
Yashiro Nanakase (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; he appears as a Striker in 2000)
Shermie (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; she appears as a Striker in 2000)
Chris (Playable in 2002, 2002 UM and Neowave; he appears as a Striker in 2000)
Characters' Number Participations in the Mainline Series[]
Number of participations in each game of the saga. The participations can be by source game of the series, source series or source saga/story arc. This list considers only the characters inserted in the mainline series, between playable characters and strikers.
By Source Game of the Series[]
Orochi Saga
NESTS Chronicles
KOF '94
KOF '95
KOF '96
KOF '97
KOF '99
KOF '99 Evolution
KOF 2000
KOF 2001
KOF 2002
KOF 2002 UM
21
4
6
11
9
7
41
6
2
1
By Source Series[]
Original Characters
Fatal Fury/MOTW series
Art of Fighting series
Ikari Warriors series
Psycho Soldier
Samurai Shodown
Metal Slug series
Buriki One
The Last Blade series
Robo Army
Burning Fight
Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter series
Athena
Quiz Dai Sousa-sen series
SNK Mascot
64
17
10
2
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
By Source Saga/Story Arc[]
Orochi Saga
NESTS Chronicles
42
66
Characters' Number Participations in the Spin-off Games[]
Number of participations in the spin-off games. The participations can be by source game of the series, source series or source saga/story arc. This list considers only the characters inserted in the spin-offs.
