The King of Fighters '98/King

Introduction

King is the titular character of the King of Fighters. Much like Ryu, she has a fireball, a tornado (hurricane) kick, but no Dragon Punch. As such, she's only mid tier.

She also owns the fabulous bar "Illusion" that hosted the music video of Champagne Life.

Stand	Crouch	Jump	Backdash	Grab	Run

Colors

Gameplay Overview

King is a strong fundamental character, able to play the zoning game with a good projectile and a great set of normals for anti-airing and poking, but also excels in locking opponents down with her longer normals and using Venom Strike more aggressively. She has no need for meter other than fundamental CD counters and GC rolls and can be utilized on the front, but she lacks any sort of a good reversal and is forced to find a way out of rushdown.

Movelist

	Frames	Advantage	Cancel	Block	Hitbox			Notes
Standing Close
	5/3/5	+4/+2	C,S,Su	HL
	3/6/5	+1/-1	C,S,Su	L				A fast kick to the shins that hits low and is cancelable. Can be chained into from a cr.B at very close range, or else a st.B can come out instead. Good for the occasional empty jump mixup if you want to try canceling into dp+P in the corner, or can be canceled into dp+K or hcb+P for a safe option.
	7/6/15	-1/-3	C,S,Su	HL				Hits once, but the hitbox can be used to antiair above King, Iori style, only she already has a cr.C to do that. cl.D is better in most instances.
	4/3(4)7/16	-3/-5	C,S,Su	HL				Hits twice and can be canceled on both hits. Easy to confirm this into hcb+K or any other special on block.
Standing Far
	5/6/5	+1/-1		HL				Has quite a reach to it, at times inching further out than st.C. A good st.A for stopping hops.
	8/6/7	-1/-3		HL				Acts like a faster, shorter st.D. Can be used to AA surprising well with the tip of her foot.
	3/9/15	-4/-6		HL				Great footsie normal; has range, damage, and the potential to stop hop attempts. Just watch out for sweeps, as this wont hit crouching opponents.
	7/7/18	-5/-7		HL				Another great poke that works as a strong AA, hits even lower then st.C near the front end of her leg, and gives good damage.
+	12/5/14	KD/+3	S,Su	HL				A long-range, cancelable sobat that will knock opponents down on hit. Good for meatying opponents with, and can be canceled into Venom/Double Strike to keep opponents stuck blocking. Will always hit mid unlike her other ranged pokes. Just be wary of jumps if you use this move from a further distance, because you have no good move to whiff cancel into to catch jumps.
Crouching
	3/5/6	+1/-1	C,S,Su	HL				Has a range slightly shorter than cr.B, but can be used to cancel into Venom/Double Strike as pressure. Note: Will not connect after two cr.Bs.
	3/6/5	+1/-1		L
	5/3+9/15	-7/-9	C,S,Su	HL				A great Mexican Uppercut, and one of King's best anti-airs. Try to cancel into a venom strike on hit to meaty the opponent as they land.
	5/10/13	KD/-5		L				One of the worst sweeps in the game. Reaches no further than her cr.B, and is uncancelable.
Jump
	6/12/-	-/-		H
	6/12/-	-/-		H				Strong air-to-air move. Comes out fast and covers a long horizontal distance. Use when j.CD wont cut it fast enough.
	8/4/-	-/-		H				Good jump-in, and hits a little closer in to King than j.D, and has a more 'typical' startup and timing for jumping in.
	5/4/-	-/-		H				Comes out fast enough and hits deep enough that you can instant overhead with this move. Works wonders as a jump-in, just delay starting the move until you're deep in to the opponent. Not an air-to-air move in the least.
+	12/3+3/-	-/-		HL				Outstanding j.CD with a wheeling hitbox that allows it to function as a sweeping air-to-air that controls a lot of space, but also works as a jump-in and gives more blockstun than j.C or j.D. Use it to hop in, create a wall off a neutral hop, or stuff a handful of most jumping normals (save some such as Chris j.CD/ Iori j.CD).
Command Normals
df+	12/10/15	-5/-7		L				King's slide that does not knock down on hit. Shrinks her hitbox to where it can slide under jumping moves and meaty an opponent as they land, can go under non-grounded projectiles, and works as a great pressure move to apply. If spaced further out, it is safe on block, although typically at a little frame disadvantage so be careful pushing a button afterwards. A great move that makes up for her tiny sweep.
Special Moves
qcf+	3+9/-/34			HL				Venom Strike (qcf + K) King's projectile, on the weaker end of the AoF projectiles. The B version's range reaches a little over half screen, and the D version covers around 90% of the screen, being avoidable by the opponent at fullscreen. The recovery is on the heavier side, so use carefully and be ready to AA. Can be avoided by slides or low DMs (aka Maiden Masher), so watch out for that. A good move to cancel normals into to lock down opponents and zone.
qcf+	3+9/-/38			HL
qcfx2+	3+9/-(26)-/43			HL				Double Strike (qcf x 2 + K) DM turned special, Double Strike shoots two venom strikes, where the second one reaches further than the first. The second projectile on the D version will travel the full screen. However, the duration and recovery are hefty, so prepare to be jumped in on for free if abused from full screen (Or prepare to eat fullscreen Maiden Masher every time). The second strike will only combo against a cornered opponent, but the move makes a great blockstring tool and the second strike works as a frametrap for catching opponents trying to jump or do anything after the first hit.
qcfx2+	3+9/-(26)-/47			HL
dp+				HL				Surprise Rose (dp + P) Another DM turned into a special. King hits the opponent twice on her way up, and then kicks them on the way down. The second hit is what causes the launch, so against crouchers or from a distance the move fails to combo. C version travels further out once reaching the apex. Due to its tendecy to drop opponents use with caution, but it can make for an alright move to throw out unexpectedly to cause chip damage and is hard to punish on block, but it can be AA'd fairly easily.
dp+				HL
dp+				HL				Trap Shot (dp + K) King's backflip kick into a ranbu. Despite its large hitbox, it is never a good move to use as an anti-air as it loses or trades (with trades never being in your favor). Having it connect from the second hit of cl.D can vary on spacing and character hitboxes, so the main way of landing this special is from canceling a cr.A or cl.B. Pretty safe on block due to the pushback.
dp+				HL
hcb+				HL				Mirage Kick (hcb + P) King runs forward and does four kicks. The harder version causes her to run forward further before kicking and logically has more startup. Generally safe on block and can be canceled into for a blockstring. If they block the kicks, be ready to gauge the opponent's response (sweep, hop, block...) and act accordingly, or just block.
hcb+				HL
hcb+				HL				Tornado Kick (hcb + K) This is the "new" version of King's Tornado Kick, differing from her '95 style version that covered more horizontal ground. Kick flys at about a 45 degree angle in an upward kick series. Despite it looking intimidating, it does not make for a reliable AA option, but the B version does sport a decent amount of invulnerability frames to reversal grounded opponents with, and has low invul afterwards. Primary use is her meterless bnb ender, and whiffing or canceling into this move on block will get you killed.
hcb+				HL
DMs
qcf,hcb+				HL				Illusion Dance (qcf, hcb + K) King hops backwards, then again forward and goes into a ranbu on hit. There is no invuvln on this DM, and the startup isn't fast enough to catch a sweep even, and there is no way to combo into it. D version makes her fly back and forward eve further, making it even slower and less practical. On block you're lucky if you spaced it correctly so you're not punished, and there is no reason to use this DM. The SDM is equally useless.
qcf,hcb+				HL
qcbx2+				HL				Silent Flash (qcb x 2 + K) King does a backflip kick, then rockets straight upward with a second kick. No invuln on this DM, and the startup is too slow to be any good. Even if you AA a poor jump correctly with this DM, her followup kick will come out which will DROP an aerial enemy--and sometimes even a grounded opponent--and make your DM unsafe on hit. The only instance to use this DM is off a cl.D, or if the initial kick would end a match assuming you can even AA with it and not get stuffed.
qcbx2+				HL

Combos

• cr.B, cr.A xx Trap Shot(DP + K)(tornado kick and mirage kick can combo from cr.A, but require immediate canceling to combo and Tornado Kick can whiff is not close enough. Stick with Trap Shot.)

• Close D xx "D" Tornado Kick (HCB + K)

• j.D/C cr.A xx Trap Shot (DP + K. King's most reliable way to secure a knockdown off any jump-in).

• (Corner) cl.D xx Double Strike (QCF x2 + K) (Second hit does not combo midscreen)

• (corner) cl.D (1 hit)/cl.B xx "A" Surprise Rose (DP + P), "D" Tornado Kick (HCB + K). King's most damaging BnB that requires no meter. Surprise Rose generally does not lift crouchers, so keep it for stun combos or punishing mistakes.

• cl.D (1 hit) xx Silent Flash (QCB x2 + K). Must cancel cl.D on the first hit to connect, which requires buffering before doing the cl.D. Not the most practical, but can serve as a punish and deals more damage than her corner juggle.

In-depth Analysis

King excels at a mid range where you can control the immediate space in front of her with pokes, bat down jumps with cr.C, and safely use venom strikes with less fear of jumps. You want to play a more passive lockdown with King, no straight rushdown, not always zoning, but using her tools to keep opponents blocking and stuck until they make a mistake. st.D, cr.C, and j.CD are enough to keep players out of the air alone, while df.D, st.CD, and st.D/C are her main grounded pokes. Her slide has a deceptive range and catches opponents walking, while also AAing jumps if timed right. Just be careful on how you follow up after your slide, since you are usually on the frame disadvantage. st.CD is great for pinning down opponents by canceling into Venom/Double Strike. Also remember cr.A, cl.B, and cl.D can also be canceled into Strikes or Mirage Kick for blockstrings.

A beginner player may try and CD counter his way out of dealing with Strike lockdown, but the major concern to look out for are GC rolls which will punish Mirage Kick, Venom Strike, and Double Strike if the opponent guesses on a cancelable normal and you followthrough. Putting King on point will eliminate this worry.

King's hop isn't the best for offensive high/low mixups, and she can't land a cr.B, cr.A xx Trap Shot combo after hopping in either, so learning j.D cr.A xx Trap Shot is important, and you can cancel the cr.A on block or continue your offense if you decide to not cancel. Be sure to use her instant overhead to break defenses, as every bit of damage helps.

The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest