King Of Fighters 15 Brings Back A Character Missing For 20 Years

King of Fighters 15 surprised fans with the return of a character who many felt would never resurface in the series. After 20 years, one of the King of Fighters franchise’s most infamous characters has made his return in the latest installment under a new identity. Although some thought that the similarities in appearance were mere coincidences at first, the game’s release cleared up all doubts.

Krohnen is a new name to the King of Fighters franchise, debuting in a team with series mainstay Kula and returning fan-favorite Ángel in KOF 15. Although his name is unfamiliar, fans quickly noticed a number of similarities between him and K9999, a rarely-used and obscure character who only appeared a small handful of times. There were several reasons that fans believed that K9999 would never return, but Krohnen’s team’s ending shows that he truly is the reincarnation of the former roster member.

K9999 was an antagonistic fighter and a member of the villainous NESTS team. His personality was hostile and aggressive by default, and his fighting style was based on manipulating psychic powers. However, K9999 was far more infamous for his similarity to Tetsuo, the villain of the famous manga and anime AKIRA. K9999’s powers are very similar to those displayed by Tetsuo, and he quotes the film in some of his lines. K9999 was even voiced by Tetsuo’s voice actor, Nozomu Sasaki. Unlike Terry Bogard joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this was not an official crossover. This gave K9999 a very infamous reputation among SNK fans as many saw him as a blatant Tetsuo reference and little else.

K9999 Was Believed To Be Banned From King Of Fighters

For many years, it was believed that SNK removed K9999 from future games in order to avoid a lawsuit from Toho, the studio behind AKIRA. How thoroughly SNK excised him from canon seemed to support this theory. He disappeared after only two games and was replaced with Nameless, who had a similar fighting style that lacked the AKIRA references. SNK even went as far as to remove him from the King of Fighters website and edit him out of classic pictures that were included in King of Fighters 15‘s Gallery. To go through so much trouble to essentially erase him from existence, one would think that SNK really wanted to erase K9999 from continuity similar to how Dragon Ball Super removed GT from canon. For 20 years, it seemed that K9999 had been permanently removed from KOF.

However, come KOF 15, Krohnen appears alongside Ángel and Kula, sharing their origin of being NESTS defectors. He is rude and disrespectful, just like K9999 was, and he looks like a long-haired K9999 with a cloak and sunglasses. His moveset is somewhat different, replacing the AKIRA references with fire attacks and a metallic transforming arm. Nothing is said of these similarities for most of the game, but in his team’s ending, after Krohnen shows compassion toward the young Kula, Ángel refers to him as K9999 and notes his development, confirming that he is indeed the long-missing fighter. It caps off a satisfying return for a fighter who, despite KOF 15‘s large roster of returning characters, no one thought would appear again.

The truth of K9999’s long disappearance will likely remain a mystery. SNK may have legitimately been concerned about a lawsuit from Toho, or it could have just been legitimately displeased with how he turned out as a character and wanted nothing to do with him. Whatever the case, the man once known as K9999 has returned, and he appears set to carve a new legacy in the King of Fighters world.

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