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The Tales of Ash, also known as the Ash Saga (アッシュ
Past Events[]
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 member of the Blanctorche family. 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.
The King of Fighters 2003[]
Welcoming All Oncomers[]
Two years after the previous tournament, 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.
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While the Teams are more or less one would expect from a KOF tournament, there are two Teams to note, whose formation (and as for one, lack of formation), would have extremely dire consequences for the future.
The Three Regalia and the Sneering Firelight[]
Before the tournament, Chizuru discovers that the Orochi seal is suddenly weakening, and requests Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami to team up with her and investigate this issue. However, the two men refuse to work with each other and go their separate ways. Due to this, Chizuru suddenly disappeared.
A new "Hero Team" enters in the tournament, and it is formed by the three bands of misfits; the Chinese street fighter Shen Woo, the Hizoku clan ninja prince and Ron's son Duo Lon, and the mysterious young man Ash Crimson. The two enters after Ash's invitation, whose intentions are unknown for the tournament and his teammates.
Fresh Flames Flare Up On The KOF Stage[]
During the tournament, Chizuru summons Kusanagi, a being that looks like Kyo. At the midway point, Kusanagi attacks Team K'. Although the Team was victorious, the three decide to investigate further, as The King of Fighters tournament has a long history of impending disasters. During their investigation, they meet up with Kyo and Iori, both of whom were investigating the tournament due to Chizuru's disappearance.
The Second "R"[]
Once again, throughout the tournament, all of the teams fought will all their strength, culminating with Team Ikari winning The King of Fighters 2003, making this the first time that a Hero Team did not win a KOF tournament. They are summoned to a flying battleship called Sky Noah, and the Ikari Warriors discover a shocking truth.
The host of KOF 2003 were Adelheid Bernstein and Rose Bernstein; the son and daughter of world's the notorious crime boss, Rugal Bernstein. Adelheid challenged the Ikari Team, the winners of the 2003 tournament, at the behest of his sister. Upon his defeat, Rose threatened to kill the Ikari Team, but Adelheid refused, showing his compassion in a fight and the difference between him and his father.
After the tournament, Ash, Duo Lon and Shen Woo, while not winning the tournament, still had fun. Shen leaves to fight new opponents and Duo Lon leaves Ash by himself after detecting Ron's presence. With Ash all alone, he goes on to fulfill his own agenda, with a sinister sneer on his face.
Cracked Mirror[]
Suddenly, Chizuru appeared before Kyo, Iori and Team K'. It is revealed that Kusanagi was created by Chizuru Kagura as an attempt to test the winner. Chizuru and her undead sister Maki soon challenge the fighters. Chizuru was greatly injured, and Following the Kagura sisters' defeat, a woman named Botan reveals herself as the one who had brainwashed Chizuru, and that she and partner Mukai are behind the Orochi seal weakening.
Mukai appears before Team K', testing the winning team to see if they will survive "the new age". K', Maxima and Whip defeat him, and revealed to them that he is a member of Those from the Past, an . Despite being defeated, Mukai feels no ill will towards the victors, claiming success for his unknown superior, having weakened the seal of the ancient demon Orochi. Before the duo escape, Mukai taunts K' about regaining his memories, as well as reaching his true potential.
Ash Crimson suddenly appears and attacks a weakened Chizuru and steals the Yata Mirror from her, gaining her mirror illusion powers. He taunts that Iori will be next before fleeing from the scene. Kyo swears to take down Ash Crimson.
Meanwhile, Leona enters the Riot of the Blood due to the Orochi seal being broken, and attacks Ralf and Clark, badly injuring them. Despite the two not holding anything against her, Leona is pulled out of the team by Heidern in due to the emotional trauma she suffered after the incident.
The King of Fighters XI[]
New Teams[]
Mukai, a member of a mysterious group, stole the Orochi seal in the last tournament and broke it, causing confusion and destruction to happen from within sight. Taking advantage of the situation at hand, Ash stole the Yata Mirror from Chizuru and drained her powers in the process. In the advent of a new KOF tournament, new faces are handed invitations, while old faces, such as Eiji Kisaragi, return to the ring.
Among the new KOF participants are Oswald, Duck King (a South Town veteran fighter himself), Momoko and Elisabeth. All these fighters will find themselves in a tournament full of mysteries and secrets started by motives that they’d ignored. Behind this healthy competitive tournament hides a hidden force called "People from the Past" with a mysterious goal.
Only One Will Survive[]
The hosts of the tournament are two members of "Those from the Distant Land", consisting of a weapons expert named Shion and a dimension manipulator named Magaki, who serve as the respective sub and final bosses of the game. Following their defeat, Magaki tries to escape and steal Orochi's power, but instead ends up being murdered by his own ally Shion. In the ensuing chaos, Ash attacks a rampaging Iori Yagami (affected by his Riot of the Blood curse) who had seriously injured both Kyo Kusanagi and Shingo Yabuki, managing to steal the Yasakani Jewel from him. Despite being confronted by his estranged childhood friend Elisabeth Blanctorche and her two associates Benimaru Nikaido and Duo Lon, Ash manages to swiftly escape from them, warning the trio that he intends to target Kyo as his final victim in the near future.
Teams[]
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The King of Fighters XIII[]
KOF Reborn[]
Magaki was slain by Shion's spear, and Shion vanished into the dimensional rift. Then other members of the group Heidern was tracking suddenly appeared and vanished, as if to mock Heidern and his team. Who are "Those From the Distant Land," and why are they so persistent in their pursuit of the power of Orochi?
Meanwhile, Ash Crimson, having obtained Kagura's power, chose to ignore Elisabeth's cautions and took on Iori Yagami's power.
Yata was defeated, and Yasakani has fallen. Only one of the Three Sacred Treasures remains: the Sword of Kusanagi. However, Kyo Kusanagi suffered a major injury at the hands of Yagami, who had been overtaken by the power of the revitalized Orochi.
Time has passed...
With these recent incidents, it was feared that the next King of Fighters tournament would never happen. However, thanks to an unheard-of amount of promotion by a mysterious party, the KOF will be held on an unprecedented scale. The new mixed martial arts tournament is on the world stage, and the mass media has been giving it coverage like never before.
Fighters all across the world begin to receive invitations... all sent from "R"!
R[]
The fighter Ash Crimson has absorbed the powers from two of the descendants of the clans who sealed the Orochi away 1,800 years ago, Chizuru Kagura and Iori Yagami, while Kyo Kusanagi is to be his last victim. As his former comrade, Elisabeth Blanctorche, prepares to stop him, fighters receive an invitation to another King of Fighters tournament hosted by a person labelled as "R". The tournament is sponsored by Rose who is being controlled by "Those From The Past", the organization behind the two prior tournaments that has been trying to break Orochi's seal.
Vanishing from the Existence[]
When the winning team reaches the game's end, Saiki, the leader of "Those From The Past" puts his work into motion. Saiki intends to use the energy expended by the winning team to enable him to cross time. However, as the fight rages, Botan notes that the gate that links them to the past is starting to close despite the battle. Before Saiki can act, he is ambushed by Ash Crimson, who steals his power.
It is revealed then that, while Ash was enlisted by Saiki to obtain the Three Sacred Treasures to power the time gate, Ash had no intention of helping Saiki. Ash is suddenly overtaken by Saiki's persona, who then attempts to cross the time gate in Ash's body. The winning team pursues him into the time gate and the final battle of The King of Fighters XIII begins inside the time gate. Saiki is defeated in the gate but persists on crossing over to the past, believing it means nothing since he can return to the past and then cross the gate again to attempt his plan anew. However, Ash halts his attempt and allows the gate to close, leaving Saiki trapped in the present. Furthermore, Ash reveals that he is a descendant of Saiki.
By locking Saiki out of the gate, he denies Saiki's existence in the past and forces his own existence to cease. As Ash vanishes from the living world, the flow of time resumes. In the epilogue of the Story Mode, in the dimensional rift, a spear appeared in front of Shroom and Rimelo, two members of Those From The Past who faced Kyo in the opening of the game (Console version). More surprising, Shion appeared before them, revealed that he's still alive.
Teams/Solo Character[]
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Characters[]
Debutant Characters[]
Characters who made their canonical debut in The King of Fighters series, ordered by their first appearance in the series.
KOF 2003[]
Original Characters[]
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Garou: Mark of the Wolves[]
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KOF XI[]
Original Characters[]
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Fatal Fury/MOTW series[]
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Buriki One[]
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Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter series[]
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KOF XII[]
Fatal Fury series[]
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KOF XIII[]
Original Characters[]
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Fatal Fury series[]
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SNK vs. Capcom: SvC Chaos (2003)[]
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Returning Characters[]
Characters who are returning from previous installments in The King of Fighters series, ordered by their first appearance in the series.
KOF '94[]
Original Characters[]
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Fatal Fury series[]
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Art of Fighting series[]
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Ikari Warriors series[]
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Psycho Soldier[]
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KOF '95[]
Original Character[]
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Fatal Fury series[]
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Art of Fighting series[]
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KOF '96[]
Original Characters[]
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Fatal Fury series[]
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Art of Fighting series[]
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KOF '97[]
Original Character[]
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Fatal Fury series[]
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KOF '99[]
Original Characters[]
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KOF '99 Evolution[]
Original Character[]
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KOF 2000[]
Original Characters[]
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KOF 2002/UM[]
Original Character[]
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NPC Characters[]
Non-playable characters who appear during the saga's lore.
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Characters & Teams' Participations[]
- Teams and/or participations in which the characters who participated in the saga were inserted.
- Note 1: As there are no teams formed, all participations in The King of Fighters XII are solo. However, it is possible to form 3-on-3 teams.
- Note 2: The order of the table are based on the appearances on the first mainline game of the saga.
- Note 3: About the colors in the table, they follow the logic below:
- Yellow: for table titles.
- Law Green & Red: for the characters' participation in the saga.
- Forest Green & Fire Brick: the first color indicates the characters who participated in all games of the saga, and the second indicates the characters who were absent from, at least, one game in the saga.
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.