K Dash (Japanese: ケイ・ダッシュ, Hepburn: Kei Dasshu, commonly stylized as K′ and also known as K Prime in certain English language materials) is a character from The King of Fighters fighting game series developed by SNK.

K′ is a young man who lost all his memories when the NESTS syndicate captured him and injected the DNA of Kyo Kusanagi to replicate his pyrokinetic abilities.

His absence in The King of Fighters XII was controversial and his return in the following game was due mainly to his popularity as a character.

[3] During the early phases of the development of The King of Fighters '99, the introduction of K' to the series was meant to remove popular characters Kyo and Iori Yagami from the roster—though this idea was scrapped before the game's release.

Even after overcoming the battle with NESTS at the end of 2001, a friendship probably had not developed between the two, but the fact that they continue to act together despite being able to escape on their own is because both K' and Maxima recognize each other as a kind of comrades in arms K' and the others have a pseudo-family-like character structure.

With just the absent-minded but "earnest father" Whip, the "dependable mother" Maxima, and the rebellious son K', the family would be too strained and unbalanced, but with the addition of the innocent "younger sister" Kula, helped give the cast a more lovable status.

[20] For The King of Fighters XIII, the producer Masaaki Kukineo mentions that the team were pursuing a more "cooler" version of K' where he now keeps his sunglasses on during the fight.

[21] K''s fighting style is simply called Pure Violence (暴力, Bōryoku), which involves him using the fire from his right hand along with martial arts moves, including some of similar movement from Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia.

[22] The character also uses Jeet Kune Do moves like the one-inch punch, as references to late martial artist Bruce Lee.

SNK recommended players using the Crow Bites (クロウバイツ, Kurō Baitsu) EX mode which was based on KOF 2003's Heavens Drive (ヘブンズドライブ, Hebunzu Doraibu) in order to create multiple attacks in a single combo.

After thinking of several methods that would show this, the staff was inspired by The King of Fighters HK Comics printed adaptations in which the character's glove once broke after defeating his opponent, leading to his winpose that happens only after he has used his strongest technique.

The team made various revisions of K''s "Chain Drive" (チェーンドライブ, Chēn Doraibu) technique that required multiple touches to generate a major visual impact.

K' and his comrade Maxima hear of a King of Fighters tournament being held by NESTS and a "Hero Team" along with Benimaru Nikaido and Shingo Yabuki.

[33] During the tournament, K' and his team face the original Zero, the one they met during the events of The King of Fighters 2000 having been a clone, and the new NESTS leader, Igniz, who has the secrets to unlock K''s memories.

[34] After Igniz commits suicide, K′ forms an alliance with Kula Diamond, a clone designed to be the Anti-K', and her guardian Diana to continue their lives.

[43][44] He returns in The King of Fighters XV, having had been persuaded by both Maxima and Whip to find and apologize to Kula for being to careless towards her and resulting her to join a team consisting defected NESTS agents Angel and the mysterious Krohnen McDougall.

[48] In the Maximum Impact series, he enters into the King of Fighters tournaments searching for the host who sponsored it and meet the doctor who might repair Maxima's cybernetic body.

[55] Though unplayable, K' appears The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise,[56] as well as in Kula's endings from both Neo Geo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy.

[67][68] The character has appeared in a dating sim part of the Days of Memories series and the otome game King of Fighters for Girls.

[76] In another review, Jeremy Dunham of IGN noted that Eolith had re-voiced K' in The King of Fighters 2001 for PlayStation 2, listing the character among those that provided "plenty of old-school enjoyment".

[78] Den of Geek listed K' as the 24th best The King of Fighters with the writer finding his story as one of the best parts from the NESTS saga despite initially disliking him.

[81] In a history article of SNK, GameSpot described Kula as the yin to K''s yang due to how different are both characters in terms of elements they control while fighting.

[84][85] UTV Ignition Entertainment's business development director Shane Bettenhausen refused to answer these rumors, but noted fans asked more often about Mai's absence.

[87][88] In an official press releases by Atlus regarding The King of Fighters XIII, it was stated that K''s return was because of popular demand.

[93] Shoryuken noted that despite how overpowered K' became in the patched version of KOF XIV, players would enjoy playing as him,[94] while Vandal referred to him as series' most popular characters.

[96] PlayStation Universe regarded K' as "one of the coolest, most popular characters in the KOF Series" while also making sure people come to enjoy his moves alongside Kula's.

[99] A. E. Sparrow, reviewing the graphic novel King of Fighters 2003: Volume 4 for IGN, commented that K' is "sufficiently heroic" with the comic allowing the exploration of his motivations.

[100] Reviewing volume five, Mania Entertainment's Ben Leary said the K'-heavy storyline makes "one of the wildest transitions I've seen in a comic yet" with K' involved in a conflict related to Japanese mythology for no apparent reason.