order, killing him in the process while transforming into a red demonic being. After the battle, Ash takes his power, seemingly killing him. This plan backfires as Ash ends up being possessed by Saiki and turns into a shadowed version of himself called Evil Ash (known by fans as Dark Ash) to act as the game's final boss. During the ending, Saiki is defeated, but tries to use the gate to rewind time again in an attempt to restart his plot once more; Ash stands in his way and prevents his passage. When the gate closes, Saiki is finally killed, but it is revealed that he is Ash's ancestor, thus by denying Saiki passage into the past, Ash forces his own existence to cease. Despite this, Ash's soul would later reside within Verse during The King of Fighters XIV and after the latter's defeat, Ash would eventually be revived in the living world. Characters from other SNK games Art of Fighting Team (Ryo) (Robert) (Takuma) (Yuri) The Art of Fighting Team is composed of characters originating from the video game series with the same name (which canonically and chronologically also originating the titular KOF tournaments through Art of Fighting 2), and are mostly practitioners of Kyokugenryu Karate (also known as Kyokugen), a fighting style created by the Sakazaki family. First appearing in The King of Fighters '94, the original team consisted of Ryo Sakazaki, the heir to Kyokugenryu Karate who is the first champion of KOF tournaments, Robert Garcia, a wealthy practitioner who is Ryo's best friend and rival, and Takuma Sakazaki, Ryo's father and the founder of Kyokugenryu Karate who trains the students at the dojo, and Ryo and Robert's master. After The King of Fighters '95, Takuma decides to retire from competing due to his age catching up with him which leads to Robert suggesting that Yuri Sakazaki, Takuma's daughter, Ryo's sister, and Robert's love interest, becomes his replacement for the next tournament. Beginning with The King of Fighters '96, Yuri becomes the third member of the team for the remainder of the Orochi Saga. During the NESTS Saga, Takuma comes out of retirement and joins the team as the fourth member in The King of Fighters '99. In The King of Fighters 2000, Yuri wanted to show her independence by joining the Women Team that year by begging King, a French Muay Thai fighter who has a