Leona Heidern showed up in The King of Fighters '96 as the fresh addition to the Ikari Team. The developers basically needed someone to step in for Heidern himself as part of a bigger refresh for the game, and Leona ended up being their answer. Right from the start, they built her as an Orochi descendant—that bloodline thing was central to who she was—and you can tell the design team really let their own creative interests bleed into how she plays and acts.
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