So the final King of Fighters 15 character can only be one person now right?
Do we blame Ash or Elisabeth for all this mess?
With the announcement that Kula Diamond will be rounding out Team Krohnen's members, we've reached the point of 38 of The King of Fighters 15's 39 launch characters have been revealed.
Taking a look at who's left standing without their third partner now, it appears quite obvious who number 39 will be for those paying attention to the story.
The previous arc's protagonist and the mysterious Kukri are the only ones left needing their third member, but neither of them have worked together before.
If we look back to the earlier games in the series by themselves, one might predict Ash's former teammates Shen Woo, Duo Lon or Oswald to be the pick, but they won't be.
Instead, it'll be someone who hasn't entered a tournament with either of the guys yet.
That honor will of course almost assuredly go to Elisabeth Blanctorche, who was first introduced in The King of Fighters 11.
Despite being Ash's best friend and like an older sister to him, the pair end up becoming rivals with Elisabeth spending most of her time trying to track down and stop the green flame wielder's mysterious plans.
That all went to hell of course, as she was only able to catch up to him at the end of KOF13 by the time that he had already defeated his ancestor Saiki and was himself fading from existence.
Although she was not playable in KOF14, Elisabeth does appear in Kukri's team ending after he discovers Ash's revived body, where it's revealed the man from the underground society was hired by Blanctorche to find a way to rescue her friend.
Now it only makes sense that the three of them would be joining together for their new venture, but what exactly is that going to be?
Unless Saiki and Those from the Past were also revived by Verse's defeat in their time, the brand new team doesn't have any apparent missions or goals to get to.
Perhaps Ash will live up to his hero status by feeling responsible for Verse's creation by his own time paradox and wishes to undo or make up for the havoc caused in his absence.
Maybe Elisabeth's unexplained abilities to sense Ash's presence and be the only person to remember him after being erased from time are somehow also tied to Verse and the paradox too.
Or they could just be on a mission to find a reason for Ash to live again.
She's no Rugal, but Elisabeth is still a pretty strong way to close out KOF15's base roster since she was a popular request with players wanting to bust out her riding whip and light manipulation skills again.
Plus, she'll finally get to fight alongside Ash too.
Either which way though, Team Sacred Treasures will certainly have something to say about Mr. Crimson showing back up — that is if they remember him of course.
