With (what appears to be) the untimely return of Geese, it occurs to me that the best way to illustrate the SNK universe is to use a number of parallel timelines. They often cross-reference each other, to the extent that the events in any one probably are reflected elsewhere — yet they aren’t necessarily equal in all cases.

It’s clear that KoF, FF/AoF/Buriki, Kizuna, and Last Blade all take place in a wide interrelated universe. It is implied in a number of places that Samurai Spirits is part of the same universe, even though it doesn’t much affect anything outside itself. (Nor does Last Blade, really, aside from the fact that one of the characters is supposed to be related to Eiji.) And yet — as some people have observed in the past — the series are not always compatible. And it’s getting to the point where one can’t easily just chalk it down to revisions, retcons, and errors. Perhaps it’s best to think of this universe as comprised of many threads wound together, that happen to touch in many places.

So if one were to make a coherent SNK timeline, one would perhaps do well to have — for example — a certain colour-coding scheme. For all practical purposes, one may assume that events outside of a certain colour label probably happened in the others, as long as there are no conflicts — and yet this is not necessarily the case. This allows a loose-tied, undefined ongoing continuity and prevents battles over issues such as the apparent revision of the Art of Fighting timeframe for the sake of King of Fighters.

Anything outside of a given series, one can either ignore or assume is present in at least some form — if not precisely the one specified — depending on the circumstance.

So in the King of Fighters continuity, it appears that the events of Real Bout never occurred — at least, as things stand now. Even in the Fatal Fury continuity, Real Bout Special and RB2 never occurred — yet some of the characters introduced there appear elsewhere (like during the NESTS saga). And yet something comparable to Fatal Fury 1, 2, and 3 must have occurred — and it looks like Mark of the Wolves is probably supposed to occur in some form.

What makes this all a little weird is that MotW is supposed to take place in New South Town — which, one would presume, would have been constructed after South Town was destroyed (at least in part) in KoF2000. Yet in 2003 (from what little has been revealed), the old South Town appears to be just fine — Geese and all. Maybe each KoF era needs its own colour code, as there are other weird continuity issues to distinguish the three plot arcs so far. Still, up until 2003, things tended to fit pretty well without much qualification — AoF aside.

Hmm…

This is all an exercise in organization, note. It does not pay to be too literal with things of this sort.