Whip

"You’ve got some pretty good moves, but you’re not quite a match for me."

- Whip

Whip, whose real name is Seirah, is a heroine in The King of Fighters series of fighting games. She debuted in The King of Fighters '99 as the new member to the Ikari team. Her affinity for whips earned her the nickname, Muchiko - which roughly translates to "Whip Girl" (sometimes known as "Whippy") - by Ralf Jones.

She was planned to join the series of tournaments in The King of Fighters '96 but was pushed back to The King of Fighters '99 due to Leona's initiation. According to the developers' diary for King of Fighters 2000, her name Whip is an anagram of Winnie-the-Pooh.

History
According to the 2001 novel, Whip is a clone of the real Seirah; Seirah was biological older sister of K', who was younger and died after being abducted by NESTS, a mysterious syndicate. Ureshino comments that he wrote this origin story for her because the video game developers didn't want to clarify anything about her to him. If this was written, Seirah is only shown briefly as a child in K's memories, imploring him to remain strong until they meet again.

Regardless of whether she is usually a clone or not, she is called Seirah by people who knew her in NESTS. She also responds to the nicknames Sally or Sarah. She befriended Krizalid under the assumption that he was her brother before she escaped from the cartel. She used Sally as a codename to join the military.

While she is eventually assigned to Heidern's mercenary unit under her current name, Whip. She enters the King of Fighters tournament to investigate NESTS. While her team is not present, she privately interrogates NESTS agents to retrieve information regarding herself and the whereabouts of K'.

After learning a startling but undisclosed revelation from Zero, she joins K' and his objective is to defeat NESTS. After the defeat of NESTS, she returns to her duties under Heidern's military command. During the King of Fighters XI tournament, she serves as backup for the Ikari team and asked Kula Diamond to enter the tournament with both K' and Maxima.

Personality
She is a mysterious and quiet individual who acts towards her own heroic goals. According to Maxima, she is a pure and honest person who judges others fairly. She treats both K' and Kula as a little brother and sister.

Powers and Abilities
Whipping strike is an ability that Seirah can use her hands to strike at her opponent in a blindingly fast whipping motion. She probably doesn't have enough control of this power and only chooses to use such power to a knocked opponent. Her attacking range increases and she can attack many times.

Her fighting style is based on the Japanese martial arts with the use of the whip called Soubenjutsu and takes inspiration in any kinds of whipping arts. Her whip, probably designed by NESTS, can transform into a blade or a gun. She also has a concealed Desert Eagle which she can fire at the opponent.

Her Desert Eagle was censored for international release. The most obvious example of the edit is her team's ending in KOF 2000 where she points the weapon at the camera and shoots Zero. As replacement, she uses some kind of exploding beads held interlocking between her fingers, and in her HSDM in KOF 2002 and KOF 2002: UM, instead of bringing out a firearm, her whip morphs into one.

Trivia

 * Whip originally appeared in The King of Fighters fighting series. With the exception of The King of Fighters 2001 - 2003 (where she is part of K's team) and The King of Fighters XII (which is not team based), in every appearance she is part of Ralf and Clark's team.
 * Whip originally had a move where she'd fire at a downed opponent to hit OTG. It was censored and replaced by a less effective version of Mature, Vice, and Yamazaki's snake arm abilities.
 * In Shinkiro's artwork from '99 and 2000, Whip had brown hair. Her sprite has more of a lavender tint, and subsequent artwork is split between the two.