Ever since then, Bao suffered from a mysterious fatigue and illness. Though he has no memory of it, Kensou saved her with a formidable latent energy. During that time, Athena was caught underneath the falling rubble and passed out. Her team's backstory in The King of Fighters 99 reveals that the team was there during the collapse of NESTS's base in the finals. Additionally, she grows concerned for Kensou once he lost his powers though she remains optimistic that they might return during the tournament on a spur-of-the-moment notice. She welcomes the new recruit, Bao, warmly and hopes that he does his best. In the aftermath of KOF '97, the Psycho Soldiers meet Kaoru, who now travels with them to most of their engagements and was even a striker in KOF 2000.īy this time in the series, Athena becomes a famous pop-star who is rising the charts with her concerts. Convinced that his students are improving, he allows them to enter once more. The contents in the letter helps her argument that their publicity moves people to do better things, which is essentially another way of saving people. Determined to change his mind, Athena presents him with an inspirational letter from Kaoru Watabe. However, Chin rejects their proposal to enter King of Fighters since he doesn't want his students to forget the purpose of their training. Athena in particular had a boost in popularity and stardom. Their success in the tournament is shown in the following year where they receive a mountain of adoring fan letters. However, they surprise him by redoubling their enthusiasm for the event and they enter. In the 1996 tournament, Chin seemed perturbed by the energy he sensed and didn't want his students to be involved with it. Other times, they enter to disrupt any evil forces they may feel at the time. Her team participates in the tournaments as a form of training and to save the populace from an apparent future threat. She has spent most of her life secluded in China's mountains training. In the King of Fighters series, she is a student of Kensou's Kenpo teacher, Chin Gentsai. As such, she is sometimes referred to as the resurrected Athena who is gifted with esper-like powers. Her psychic powers are believed to be transmigrated to her rather than inherited by her family. In Psycho Soldiers, she was one of the "heroes of light" who defended the world from the Shiguma forces. She teamed up with her friend, Sie Kensou, to fight in the name of justice. In the character popularity poll on Neo Geo Freak's website, she was voted as the tenth favorite character with a total of 1,020 votes.Īthena is a modern day high school girl in Japan. Her official nickname is The Psychic-Powered Idol.
Throughout the years, her sailor uniform outfit was a frequent request from Japanese fans that was denied due to the belief that it wouldn't translate well with the overseas audience (this kept up until recent installments). She is perhaps best known for changing her outfit and hair style for virtually every new KOF game.Īthena was a highly anticipated character for the King of Fighters lineup and developers relate that they are constantly working to keep her in the series. She was also given her own RPG game Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life in 1999 released only in Japan for the Sony PlayStation.
The king of fighters 99 athena series#
She later appears in The King of Fighters series of fighting games as a female fighter character and has appeared in every one of its editions.