The above picture is ATHENA and HER FRIEND from the ATHENA RPG. There is no magical alter Athena or anything crazy. I have to cover all bases...
Ah. To prove the unquestionable. What a fun thing to do. As you should know, Athena Asamiya is an overtly popular character in the SNK world. The Athena... being/idea/character/whatever has been in, what, 8 series? NES Athena, Psycho Soldier, KOF, SVC, Card Fighters Clash, Gals Fighters, CVS, Awakening.... There might be more, but I fail to remember at the moment.
"Wait a minute," you ask, "what exactly is your point?" My point is to prove that all of the Athena's are connected. Some question whether KOF Athena is based on NES Athena, or even question whether the SVC Athena is based off the original NES Athena. That's right. You heard correctly. Some actually QUESTION that!
Let us list of the common counter arguments.
1: The KOF Athena is based SOLELY off the Psycho Soldier Athena.
2: The SVC Athena is not based off the NES Athena. thus...
3: The SVC Athena and KOF Athena have nothing to do with each other.
For these to be true, then the following would have to be true. SNK, for some reason or another, must have decided to create two different purple haired cahracters, similar in appearence and with the same name.And, even though there is a Capcom boss who is a throwback NES character, the SNK secret SVC boss is.. a brand new character... somehow....
The sheer absurdity speaks for itself. The SVC Athena has no psycho power, so she can't have anything to do with the KOF and Psycho Soldier Athena's. I guess this means Ralf and Clark, who have no guns, are not based of the Ikari Warriors of NES fame. Heidern just looks exactly like the Mission Briefer in Ikari Warriors 3 (I think) coincidentally.
And since the SVC Athena has no dress on, she can't be based off of the original NES Athena, as the NES Athena had a dress.
So, in the end, we end up with 3 Athena's. The NES Athena, who has nothing to do with the PS and KOF Athena's, who have nothing to do with the SVC Athena. Weird, SNK Weird.
This is where the... logic comes in. Let us take a look at Athena's glorious history.
Here we see NES Athena. UH OH!! She IS in a dress!!! Ahaps the naysayers are correct.....
MAYBE if she goes in this door, she'll take off the dress? Hopefully. I would hate to be wrong...
Crap!!! It looks like she still has it on. It looks as if I might be the misinformed one....
Oh, wait. There it goes!
And so we have Athena in her vintage red bikini, ready to traverse her way through the magical world of forest, complete with horses with human bodies and archers that were the REAL trailblazers of the "combo" so prevalent in fighting games. The Athena that graces numerous SNK throwback art and CD covers... You know, some people question that she EVER wore a bikini afore SVC... they need to import their crap afore questioning things. We all know that in america, Poison's name is Billy.
HEY!! Just for the hizzeck of it, a picture of Athena in a bikini with a sword and shield. E-strange. I just put that there for fun. She's gonna need that stuff because that game is hard.
Athena ain't no fool. That's right, when need be, she'll break out the big guns. Full armor, and a flaming sword. I hear that no matter how weakened she is, the sword will always do 600 BP Damage.
That is some mad range action. That sword only has one name. Propa.
SIEEKO SOULJAH!!!! Here is Athena. Supposedly not connected to the other Athena is any fasion. Just the hair, the looks and name are similar. So there CAN'T be any correlation. Oh, and they're made by the same company. NO connection whatsoeva'. According to some...
And here is Athena showing her (new) Psycho Powers! Teaching lessons in a bleak future. Athena's name is magic. You know that, right? Mystery is what you see. You better run if you are bad. She'll catch you. bam, quoting the english version of the Psycho Soldier song. Skills, that's what I have.
Hi! This is KOF Athena. UH OH! She DOES look a lot like PS Athena. Maybe i'm wrong about this whole thing! I mean LOOK!
Yep. Indeed, the similarities are there. So, I guess this means no direct connection to the NES Athena. But come on, hair color, name. You do the math.
Yep. That's our Athena, all right.
Look! She even uses Psycho Balls to inflict justice action!
Whoops! What is this! Why would THIS happen? KOF Athena suddenly in a bikini???? Why? SNK must be trying to make her loose her clothes, like Yuri!
Now that's a mature situation. Commence the "right click... save picture as..." So, was SNK trying to make Athena a sex symbol? Why would The Grimace do this?
Fast forward to KOF 2000. One of my favorite KOF's of all time. THIS was THE game. Here we have our dear Athena. Would some go so far as to say that she's a completely new character because her outfit is different? I wouldn't be surprised. Either way, it's our KOF Athena. Man, 2000 was gre.... what is that behind Athena? That's odd. Bring that to the forefront!!!!
HEY!!!!!! Is that..... Athena? Why is this girl in armor named Athena? What relationship could she have with KOF Athena? Why does it say [Athena] Athena? Lets correlate with her bud soon-to-be-bad-@$$ Kensou...
Good ol' Sie Kensou. Poor guy lost all his powers to that stupid ball of clay in a hat. Good thing Bao exploded. Lets see who is behind Kensou!!!
Why, it's another Kensou??? What does that say?? [Psycho Soldier] Kensou? Why, [Psycho Soldier] is the game Kensou was -DERIVED- from! Could [Athena] be the game Athena was -DERIVED- from? I mean....
Those are some MAD similarities... Must just be a coincidence.
Have we come full circle? Or am I just seeing things. A purple haired girl with a red bikini, a sword, a shield and her name is Athena. Not only is that last sentance the most grammatically errored sentance in the history of mankind, but those are some SERIOUS "coincidences." Lets see...
This is as much of a coincidence as there are Magical Turnip Women. Well, you might find some of those in the World Of Forest, or the World Of Obscure Vegetables... or Super Mario 2.
Now what is she doing?
Athena: I'm proving your point madstyle!
Ah, I see.
So, in short:
What a fun little journey through Athena land! And everyone is happy. And if you're still foolish enough to deny the connection, I bring you the end all of end all.
This is a special ending picture in KOF 97. "SEE! It's a SPECIAL PICTURE, it doesn't count!" Some might say. But this special ending (KOF 97: Athena, Ralf and Clark) is a team of characters who debuted in KOF 94 and were not derived from fighting games. I can't believe I forgot about this little treasure. Either how, this picture shows what these characters looked like IN THEIR ORIGINAL GAMES. The third guy? That's Sie in the background. Ironically, he's looking on, wondering why Athena isn't dressed. Athena is surprised to find out what the original Athena looked like. It seems both she and Kensou expected her to be in her PS outfit. Quoth Kensou in the ending: "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Athena's words in the ending speak for themselves.
The irony comes from the fact that the BIGGEST connection between the PS Athena and the NES Athena is the KOF Athena. As far as the SVC Athena and NES Athena's not being the same, that's absurd. The NES Athena wears not a dress into combat. Basically, THE KOF ATHENA IS DERIVED FROM THE NES ATHENA. THE PS ATHENA IS DERIVED FROM THE NES ATHENA. THE SVC ATHENA IS THE NES ATHENA. Just like Red Arremer is the same Red Arremer from Ghosts and Ghouls. Plus, how does a japanese girl get the name Athena?
That is, unless you're playing the American version. yes, that version EDITED the game so Athena was NOT in a bikini. To protect our nations youth from the shapely curves of Athena's glorious presence. Yes, even the cover art was edited. The KOF Athena is the reincarnation of the Greek Godess Athena. Given Psycho Powers to use in her life's quest. Yes, that's where the Athena RPG comes in. The lovely KOF Athena we all know "AWAKENS FROM THE ORDINARY LIFE." Whee. She has a greater destiny, given her past. Much like Kyo, Iori and Chizuru. Funny.... she is the reincarnation of a greek godess.... has SNK ever made a game about a Greek Godess Athena?
So, in actuality, the connection is a lot stronger than a mere basis. Point me.
And that is the science of Athena. Man, I spent too much time on this, but it will be a good addition to my webpage either how. Sure, there will be those that, for some reason, STILL question it. What can I say? I can only quote Sima Yi. I have done all that I can do.
