The King of Fighters/Characters

Overview
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Characters introduced in The King of Fighters '94

 * Total number of Characters: 25 (of which 24 are playable + 1 unplayable boss character)
 * Characters appearing from other fighting games: 10
 * Art of Fighting (5 characters): King, Robert, Ryo, Takuma, Yuri
 * Fatal Fury (5 characters): Andy, Joe, Kim, Mai, Terry
 * Characters appearing from other non-fighting games: 5
 * Psycho Soldier (2 characters)
 * Athena Asamiya - A Japanese high school girl with psycho powers from her ancestor Princess Athena.
 * Sie Kensou - A young psycho powers fighter from China.
 * Ikari Warriors (2 characters)
 * Clark - A mercenary for the Ikari Warriors agency.
 * Ralf - A mercenary for the Ikari Warriors agency. Superior officer to Clark.
 * Ikari III - The Rescue (1 character)
 * Heidern - A mercenary for the Ikari Warriors agency. Superior officer to Clark and Ralf.
 * New Characters: 10
 * Benimaru Nikaido - Fights using the power of electricity. Wears a rather short costume and an unusual hairstyle.
 * Brian Battler - A violent Football player from the USA.
 * Chang Koehan - Once a feared and violent criminal in Korea, he is now supervised by Kim. Best (and only) friend of Choi.
 * Chin Gentsai - The elderly mentor to Athena and Kensou.
 * Chang Koehan - Once a feared and violent criminal in Korea, he is now supervised by Kim. Best (and only) friend of Chang.
 * Goro Daimon - A former gold medalist of Judo and a mentor to his own dojo.
 * Heavy D! - A boxing character and the leader of Team USA.
 * Kyo Kusanagi - A fighting High School student and one of the main (canonial) winners of the King of Fighters tournaments.
 * Lucky Glauber - A karate champion who is also a former professional basketball player.
 * Rugal Bernstein - A wealthy arms dealer and host of the KoF '94 Tournament. (Appears only as a not playable boss character)

Characters introduced in The King of Fighters '95

 * Total number of Characters: 26 (all playable)
 * Characters reappearing from previous game (KoF '94): 22

(Andy, Athena, Benimaru, Chang, Chin, Choi, Clark, Daimon, Heidern, Joe, Kensou, Kim, King, Kyo, Mai, Ralf, Robert, Rugal, Ryo, Takuma, Terry, Yuri)
 * Characters not reappearing from previous game (KoF '94): 3

(Brian, Heavy D, Lucky)
 * Characters appearing from other fighting games: 2
 * Art of Fighting (1 character): Eiji
 * Fatal Fury (1 character): Billy
 * New Characters: 2
 * Iori Yagami - The main rival of Kyo Kusanagi. Wields pyrokinetic powers.
 * Saisyu Kusanagi - The head of the Kusanagi clan and the father of Kyo Kusanagi.

Characters introduced in The King of Fighters '96

 * Total number of Characters: 29 (of which 27 are playable in all versions + 2 are only playable in the CD version)
 * Characters reappearing from previous game (KoF '95): 20

(Andy, Athena, Benimaru, Chang, Chin, Choi, Clark, Daimon, Iori, Joe, Kensou, Kim, King, Kyo, Mai, Ralf, Robert, Ryo, Terry, Yuri)
 * Characters not reappearing from previous game (KoF '95): 6

(Billy, Eiji, Heidern, Rugal, Saisyu, Takuma)
 * Characters appearing from other fighting games: 4
 * Art of Fighting (2 characters): Kasumi, Mr. Big
 * Fatal Fury (2 characters): Geese, Krauser
 * New Characters: 5
 * Chizuru Kagura - A mysterious woman with deep connections to the Orochi powers and who sponsors the KoF '96 tournament.
 * Leona Heidern - The daughter of Heidern and his replacement in the Ikari Warriors Team.
 * Leopold Goenitz - One of the four heavenly kings of Orochi and a very powerful fighter.
 * Mature - One of the two secretaries of Rugal Bernstein. She can wield the Orochi power.
 * Vice - One of the two secretaries of Rugal Bernstein. She can wield the Orochi power and is thought to be a very cruel person.

Characters introduced in The King of Fighters '97

 * Total number of Characters: 30 (of which 29 are playable + 1 unplayable boss character)
 * Number of Characters with alternate versions available: 6

(Chris, Iori, Kyo, Leona, Shermie, Yashiro)
 * Characters reappearing from previous game (KoF '96): 22

(Andy, Athena, Benimaru, Chang, Chin, Chizuru, Choi, Clark, Daimon, Iori, Joe, Kensou, Kim, King, Kyo, Leona, Mai, Ralf, Robert, Ryo, Terry, Yuri)
 * Characters not reappearing from previous game (KoF '96): 7

(Geese, Goenitz, Kasumi, Krauser, Mature, Mr.Big, Vice)
 * Characters reappearing from older KoF games: 1

KoF '95: Billy
 * Characters appearing from other fighting games: 2
 * Fatal Fury (2 characters): Blue Mary, Yamazaki
 * New Characters: 5
 * Chris - One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi and the dark Orochi counterpart to Kyo Kusanagi.
 * Orochi - One of the series main villains and the final boss of KoF '97.
 * Shermie - One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi and the dark Orochi counterpart to Benimaru Nikaido.
 * Shingo - A simple, plain and friendly character who considers all fighters as his friends and is liked by most other contestants.
 * Yashiro - One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi and the dark counterpart to Goro Daimon.

Characters introduced in The King of Fighters '98

 * Total number of Characters: 38 (all playable)
 * Number of Characters with alternate versions available: 13

(Andy, Billy, Chris, Joe, Kyo, Mai, Robert, Rugal, Ryo, Shermie, Terry, Yashiro, Yuri)
 * Characters reappearing from previous game (KoF '97): 29

(Andy, Athena, Benimaru, Billy, Mary, Chang, Chin, Chizuru, Choi, Chris, Clark, Daimon, Iori, Joe, Kensou, Kim, King, Kyo, Leona, Mai, Ralf, Robert, Ryo, Shermie, Shingo, Terry, Yamazaki, Yashiro, Yuri)
 * Characters not reappearing from previous game (KoF '97): 1

(Orochi)
 * Characters reappearing from older KoF games: 9
 * KoF '94: Brian, Lucky, Heavy D
 * KoF '95: Heidern, Rugal, Saisyu, Takuma
 * KoF '96: Mature, Vice
 * New Characters: 0