The King of Fighters 2001
The King of Fighters 2001
November 15, 2001
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Because of the lukewarm reception on Zero in the previous game, the sponsors repeatedly requested the development team to make Igniz handsome:

"Since all our sponsor had to say to us-about 100 times-about Igniz was "make him hot," "make him hot," and "make him hot," we made him, well, a real stud. (LAUGH)
The standards for handsome characters in fighting games for Asian fans are exacting; and there is a tendency for people here to shy away from ugly and comic characters."
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The inception of May Lee Jinju was at the request of the game's sponsor, Eolith, expressing a desire for a "Korean Athena" character. This request initially asked for an "idol-like visual fighter," which charged over time into what was in the final game. She was named after the person who was in charge of Eolith at the time.

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