Recently I got The King of Fighters XIV for PS4.  A lot of times when I get a fighting game, I like to talk about the characters in it.  But there are SO many characters in this one that there’s NO WAY I’m going to do that!  So we’ll just look at my favorites, OK?  And none of these are in any particular order.

Ralf and Clark

You’ll notice a lot of these characters on my list are from older games.  This is a good example.  Ralf and Clark are from the old, yet popular at the time, Ikari Warriors vertical scrolling military themed shooter.  This game was HUGE back in the day, at least it seemed that way to me.  I saw it in a lot of arcades, it got a few sequels and tons of home ports.  I can’t really tell who is Ralf and who is Clark, though.

Leona Heidern

She’s also on the Ikari team.  I just like her because she wears army clothes and has blue hair.  You’ll notice sometimes I have silly reasons for liking the characters I do.  What’s cool is that in some of SNK’s Metal Slug games, you can play as Ralf and Clark, and I think in the PSP Metal Slug exclusive game, Leona’s a secret character, too!

Vice and Mature

So one of the bad guys in the KOF games has two lady fighter helpers who wear office clothes.  So they’re kind of like bad guy sidekicks and I like bad guy sidekicks.  Like Bebop and Rocksteady.  Although I don’t think Vice and Mature act stupid like Bebop and Rocksteady (it would be cool if they did), but I still like them anyway.

Shermie

She’s not in the newest King of Fighters game.  I think in one of the earlier games, they killed her and her team off.  I hate it when they do that.  But really the only reason why she’s on the list is because I like her name and she looks cool.  Sometimes that’s all you need.

Blue Mary

Another character not in this KOF game.  She’s also in the Fatal Fury games and is Terry Bogard’s boyfriend.  I just like her because she has a pet dog.

Vanessa

And speaking of characters that I like because they look cool, Vanessa is just a red-haired boxer fighter.  In this game, the pants she wears kind of look like PJ pants.

Alice

She just looks like a regular fit woman, but she wears a Fatal Fury cap for some reason, like Terry Bogard.  Did you know I got a Fatal Fury cap at SNK’s booth at E3 one year?  I always liked visiting them at E3.  Anyway, Alice also looks like she’s wearing the clothes she slept in, as her shirt is very loose fitting and goes down below her waist, which is good because it doesn’t look like she’s wearing any pants.  What is it with these fighters wearing their PJs?  Anyway, the reason why she’s on my list is because according to the art book I got, she was originally in a SNK slot machine, which I thought was interesting.

Meitenkun

And speaking of characters who look like they’re ready for bed, here’s one with messy hair, wearing PJs, and even holding a pillow.  He fights with the pillow, giving new meaning to the word pillow fight, and he’s always nodding off.  He reminds me of Little Nemo for some reason.  What is it with characters wearing PJs and looking sleepy in this game?  Were the character designers just in dire need of a nap?  Should they have called this game SNK Slumber Party?

Luong

Nothing significant about her except she just looks tough and strong, which are important things to be in fighting games.

Athena

There are actually two different Athenas in SNK games.  The original one was in a game called, well, Athena, but the one that’s in most KOF games is a different Athena.  Although they have hinted that the original Athena is an ancestor or something.  Anyway, KOF Athena originally came from an old SNK game called Psycho Soldier.  It played like Son Son and had an awful level one theme song (go look it up, if you dare, it has vocals).  In fact, the team Athena is on is called the Psycho Soldier team, and one of the other fighters on that team is player two from the original game!

Chang Koehan

He’s just a big fat guy who carries around a giant ball and chain and fights with them.  He reminds me of Earthquake from the Samurai Shodown games.

Love Heart

She’s a pirate lady and also from a slot machine game.

Angel

No other reason why she’s on this list other than that she looks cool.  That’s all.

King of Dinosaurs

Hmmm…let’s see, what reason would I have to put him on this list other than the fact that HE’S A FREAKING DINOSAUR!

Zarina

As a fighter she reminds me of Christie from the Tekken games, but the reason why she’s on this list is because she has a TOUCAN on her shoulder.  I imagine when they’re not fighting, she and her toucan go on adventures trying to find Froot Loops or something.  “Follow my nose, it always knows!”  The toucan’s name is Coco, so it even sounds like a cereal character. Unfortunately the toucan doesn’t help her fight, which isn’t fair because Nakoruru is also in this game, and she has a pet bird that helps her fight.  Oh yeah, Nakoruru’s in this game, too, even though she’s from the Samurai Showdown games, which are set in the past.  She’s on the “Another World” team.  In fact, if you have Zarina and Nakoruru fight each other, they’ll first have a conversation about their pet birds and what they eat and stuff.  Kind of funny.  If they were going to put in a Samurai Shodown character in this KOF game, I’d rather they put in Galford.  He’s my favorite character from Samurai Shodown because he has a dog named Poppy that helps him fight!  In the PS2 version of Samurai Shodown 6, you can even play as just the pet characters like Poppy and Nakoruru’s bird!  How cool is that?  I wish you could just play as the toucan in this game!

Sylvie Paula Paula

This new character is a little girl whose dress looks like it was made out of balloon animals.  She looks like she belongs in a parade, not a fighting game.  SNK, you’re so crazy!

And those are my favorite KOF characters!  Let me know what you think of my list and tell me your favorite KOF characters, too!  Later!  –Cary

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