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Cheesenitz and Goenadz for the Goenitz himself, as well as the Goenitzpin, another meme spawned in the wake of the Rugalspin thanks to his new HSDM/MAX2 in 2002: Unlimited Match.
Geese is usually called Geeser the Cheeser and Geeseter Bunnie. As for his Raging Storm DM, there's The Pretzel due to the move's absurd input command that was made that convoluted just for the sake of nostalgia.
Krauserspin for Krauser Gigatech Cyclone SDM. Again, blame MUGEN.
Shingo's notebook full of information on his techniques has been known as both the Death Note and Game FAQs thanks to his HSDM in 2002: Unlimited Match.
To answer the first question: Is Geese Howard dead or alive? There ya go.
Luise's profile and storyline in the Maximum Impact series were written to be deliberately different from one another, most likely to prevent spoilers.
Athena had Reiko Fukai in 94, Moe Nagasaki in 95, Tamao Satou in 96, Yukina Kurisu in 97, Haruna Ikezawa (aka Momoka) post-'98 (Ikezawa also voices Foxy), Robyn Gryphe in the English localization of Maximum Impact, Lily Kong in the English localization of Maximum Impact 2, and Miwa Gardner in the English localization of XII.
Rugal's main VA is Toshimitsu Arai, who also voices Heidern. Other VAs are Banjo Ginga (in the '94 Dengeki Bunko drama CD) and Norio Wakamoto (in 2002 only; notable in that this is a rare occasion where the fans preferred the original seiyuu over Wakamoto).
Iori isRukusu. In a bit of an inversion; Yasui's role as Iori is arguably his best-known role, so expect the comparisons to come this way, not vice-versa.
Igniz is voiced by Norio Wakamoto. Nothing more needs to be said.
Katsuhisa Namase voiced Joe in KOF '94. Nobuyuki Hiyama has taken over the role since.
Robert Garcia: Kay Inage was replaced by Mantaro Koichi, who voiced Robert from KOF '96 to 2003. When Robert popped up as a Secret Character in XI (which was based off of his appearance in Mascot FighterNeo Geo Battle Coliseum), Inage returned to voice Robert, and continues to do so in XII and XIII.
Bunsyu Shinoya takes over for Ralf in XII. In English, Scott Casey in the Maximum Impact series, Jeff Manning in XII.
In English, Clark went from Sean Michaels (Maximum Impact) to Eric Kelso (XII).
Kim is voiced by Kazuhiko Nagata in XII, succeeding Satoshi Hashimoto (Hashimoto still voices Terry though).
Akoya Sogi (who has voiced Mai from the beginning up to XI) has been replaced by Ami Koshimizu as of KOF Sky Stage. Given that Mrs. Sogi has apparently retired, it's a safe bet to assume that Mrs. Koshimizu will take over in all subsequent appearances. This could also be the reason behind Mai's absence in XII.
For Kyo, Andrew Roth (his English VA in the Maximum Impact series) was replaced by Peter von Gomm come XII.
Richard Meyer is voiced by Kong Kuwata, who also voices Geese Howard and Duck King.
Eric Kelso voices Takuma, Clark and Benimaru in the English version of XII.
Monster Maezuka voices Takuma, Ralf Benimaru, and Choi.
Masahiro Nonaka voices Kyo's clones, Kyo-1 and Kyo-2. Subverted with evil, magical doppelganger Kusanagi, who is instead voiced by Mitsuo Iwata.
However, KOF Sky Stage seems to be using Nonaka instead of Iwata for the voice of Kusanagi, which of course plays this trope straight again.
In XII, he shares an Englsh VA (Peter von Gomm) with Ash of all people.
King shares her seiyuu (Harumi Ikoma, who also is the announcer in KOF '96, KOF '98, KOF XI, and KOF XII) with Blue Mary. Ikoma also voiced King's brother Jean/Jan in KOF: Kyo.
Greg Irwin voices Joe and Robert in the dub of XII.
Kazuhiro "Kay" Inage (who voiced Robert in KOF '94 and 95) also voices Lucky. Mantaro Koichi (who voiced Robert from KOF '96 to 2003) was also the announcer in 97.
Throw It In: Hyena's lines were devised in a collaborative effort between the seiyuu of Hyena, Alba, and Soiree (who consequently became good friends through the experience).
Krauser Gigatech Cyclone was actually taken from the spinning supers (i.e. the Senpuuken/Hadou Senpuukyaku) utilized by he and Terry in the Fatal Fury 2OVAs. His youthful beauty, lack of a mustache and scars, as well as an authentic German-sounding voice, the other hand, were not retained, despite being well-received by fans.
What Could Have Been: Beside the various prototype designs of characters (many of which can be seen as Strikers in 2000), many plot points were shafted or altered:
Orochi Iori was originally planned to be the final boss of '97 (remnants of this manifest as Iori being a Bonus Boss in said game if you beat Orochi with Kyo).
Kyo and Iori were going to be dropped from '99 to put emphasis on K'.
The biggest "what-if?" would have to come from 2001. One could only imagine what direction the series would have took if SNK hadn't gone bankrupt after 2000...
Even better, this series wasn't even originally a Fighting Game; it was going to be a Beat'Em Up in the vein of Final Fight and Streets of Rage called Survivor with Terry, Robert, and Ralf as playable characters.
Believe it or not, it was planned for Terry to actually die at the climax of '99. Luckily, head management disagreed and brought him back in 2000, avoiding what would have been a shocking Player Punch and the ensuing barrage of Internet Backdraft. However, the "what-if" aspect of his death was played up for the remainder of the saga to the point that Blue Mary told Terry how his teammates (or more specifically, her) were worried about him in the team's 2000 ending.
Kim was supposed to debut in the first Maximum Impact under the alias of "Mr. Taekwondo", akin to "Mr. Karate". Instead, Chae Lim took his place, and Kim popped up in the sequel as his good 'ol regular self. Chae Lim herself was chosen over the likes of Jhun Hoon, May Lee, and Buriki One character Seo Yong Song.
Originally, Chang and Choi were going to be paired up with another dangerous criminal to from the "Fugitive Team". Kim was a last-minute addition, thus setting up to whole "rehabilitation" gig.
King's Surprise Rose super move from Art of Fighting 2 was her original DM in '94 but was scrapped for some reason. King's designer then came up with the Illusion Dance DM and it was well received.
Ralf (and presumably Clark) was supposed to have a moveset revolving around grenades back in his KOF debut as a Shout-Out to Ikari Warriors. This was scrapped due to a possible case of game-breaking mechanics. Averted in XII, which gives him explosives in addition to most of his trademark moves.
Heidern's moveset and their names were so strange that the designers were going to make him an alien as explanation for his "abilities". However, the lead designer became attached to the character, giving him a tragic backstory instead and keeping him as a human.
Saisyu was supposed to have died during his Early-Bird Cameo in '94. His appearance in the following game was a last-minute addition.
"Chris of the Flames of Destiny" was originally going to have black flames, but the idea was dumped as they would have been too hard to notice in his rather dark stage.
According to the Developers' Blog for XIII, Chang, Malin, Momoko, and Oswald were meant to be in the game. Chang was reduced to a cameo in the India stage, whereas the other three cameo in endings (the Women Fighters Team, Psycho Soldiers Team, and Elizabeth Team, respectively).
Vanessa was supposed to be playable in 99, but didn't make it in time. She makes an Early-Bird Cameo as a Striker in the 99 Evo console release.
The Neo MAX supers in XIII were at first created as extensions to normal supers, but because of testing feedback they were eventually changed into stand alone supers. A few Neo MAX supers in the final build still look like they were supposed to follow up on normal supers, some of them only effective gameplay-wise when used as such.
Adelheid was apparently meant to be playable in XIII, based on some full-body and winpose sketches by Eisuke Ogura.
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