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King of Fighters '95 concept art

 
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Pullmyfinger



Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 94
Location: Union City

PostPosted: Thu Oct 18, 2018 2:47 am    Post subject: King of Fighters '95 concept art Reply with quote

I was looking through the Kof '95 Guide book and found an unused character section.

There are sketches of early versions of Rugal. Characters that look like early versions of Chris and Shingo from Kof '97. What appears to be an early version or a replacement of the sports team. A male assistant grouped with Mature and Vice. And some unused characters that I can't recognize from other Kof or SNK games.

There's some japanese text with the images that may explain it all but I don't understand any of it.

Check it out here: https://imgur.com/a/IbvKCY8
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Johnny Undaunted



Joined: 08 Sep 2003
Posts: 306

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 2:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For one thing, the creature with the three faces is Rugal merged with Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser, while the bandaged man was a rejected rival for Kyo who was burned by him in the past.
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Johnny Undaunted



Joined: 08 Sep 2003
Posts: 306

PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2018 6:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I took the liberty of translating the text describing all the artwork for rejected characters. I will probably translate the all text with Rugal later on, but I feel there's more to the rejected characters section than you've posted.

Quote:
Character No. 1, Osamu-kun, was actually a candidate for the final boss in the previous game. He put up a good fight for the role this year as well.

No. 2 was someone who was set to be seeking revenge after he was burned by Kyo in the past. Based on the uniform, he likely attended the same high school. He was probably rejected based of his looks.

No. 3 was full of energy. But it seems he had too much energy, since he stuck out in the game's atmosphere.

No. 4 was a team entry. They were styled after a gang of juvenile deliquents, but didn't resemble any fighters. The guy on the front was rather Iori-ish.

No. 5 had an incredible backstory. He meets all the conditions for being the hero in a giant robot anime. Was he really designed as a serious character?

No. 6 and 7 were unnamed rejected characters.

The character on image no.8 and 9 looked pretty serious. He was a candidate for the role of Kyo's rival who ended up being discarded. As expected from a rival character, he was supposed to practice a martial arts that could control something, but he didn't seem malicious enough for the role.

No. 10 through 12 is a character from a skateboarding team. He (or perhaps she) quite a detailed backstory, but was likely rejected for not being fighter-like enough. You can appreciate the character's gender-neutral charms on image 12.
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Johnny Undaunted



Joined: 08 Sep 2003
Posts: 306

PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2018 5:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Introduction of Rugal's concept art section
Quote:
When it comes to Rugal, he naturally had tons of concept art drawn for him. Even the designers were enjoying themselves in figuring out what to do (as they clearly say on the lower right). After that, we reveal up to four designs for his secretary. Could a Secretary Team be coming soon? And finally, there doesn't seem to be any concept art of the black panther, but he does make a scary presence in the scenery. We wonder if it received the same resurrection surgery as Saishu. It's interesting to learn how he completely got the power of the Orochi Clan during a confusion


It's interesting how they foreshadow Mature and Vice's inclusion in KOF96.

Description of Rugal's ultimate form
Quote:
The year is 199X A.D. Rugal Bernstein, irritated by always losing to an unreasonable "unbeatable hero" technique each time he hosts a tournament, calls for Geese Howard and Wolfgang Krauser and shouts to the heavens "ULTIMATE COMBINATION". That's right, this is the fruit of the madman Rugal's forbidden research. His combined form, Rugal Infinity (tentative name).


It seems Rugal Infinity sounds like a joke they drew than something they seriously considered for the game.

Description of the head-gear Rugal
Quote:
A Rugal who has something of air of a mad scientist. The head gear he was wearing was pretty ugly
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Pullmyfinger



Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 94
Location: Union City

PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 4:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just saw your replies, thanks a lot for translating! I really wanted to know what the text said, especially the Rugal sketches, it makes sense that they were a joke but maybe led to the boss team in '96?

Quote:
Character No. 1, Osamu-kun, was actually a candidate for the final boss in the previous game. He put up a good fight for the role this year as well.


It seems like they really liked this concept and it eventually turned into Orochi Chris, even if it took a couple more years.

Quote:
It's interesting how they foreshadow Mature and Vice's inclusion in KOF96.


Yeah, it was mindblowing back in the day when I saw both of them with Iori.

Quote:
No. 3 was full of energy. But it seems he had too much energy, since he stuck out in the game's atmosphere.


He does seem like one of the characters from later KoF games, reminds me of Shen Woo a little.

Quote:
No. 2 was someone who was set to be seeking revenge after he was burned by Kyo in the past. Based on the uniform, he likely attended the same high school. He was probably rejected based of his looks.


I guess it would make Kyo less heroic if he burned someone bad enough to need all those bandages.

It's also interesting how they mention backstories for several characters, wonder how far they develop a concept for a character before rejecting it.

Quote:
I feel there's more to the rejected characters section than you've posted.


Not really, just those 2 pages for unused characters, however there are a few pages of characters that made it into the game. I uploaded full pictures of the unused character section as well as pictures of the other pages here.

The character pages have QA sections, not sure if they are like the "interviews" in one of the later KoF games. I can get better pictures if there is any text you are curious about.
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Pullmyfinger



Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 94
Location: Union City

PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2022 6:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just saw this trailer for a KOF mobile game. Rugal does something that kinda looks like Rugal Infinity. Wonder if it's a reference or a coincidence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgyhpK1gKbE&t=123s
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StriderVM



Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 17
Location: Philippines

PostPosted: Mon Dec 26, 2022 2:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Number 3 looks like a dead ringer for Reiji Oogami for KOF Neoblood 2.

https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Reiji_Oogami

10 to 12 reminds me of the design of Momoko from KOFXI.

https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/Momoko
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