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Kyo Kusanagi (草薙 京 Kusanagi Kyō) is the main character of SNK Playmore's King of Fighters series. He first appeared in The King of Fighters '94. Kyo was always voiced by Masahiro Nonaka.

According to his biography, Kyo stands 6' (181 cm) tall, and weighs 169 lbs (75 kg). His blood type is B-. Aside writing poems to his girlfriend, Yuki (and herself also), as it will be stated right away, he likes riding his motorcycle and playing hockey. His favorite food is broiled fish. He hates putting effort into what he does.

Legend and story of Kyo Kusanagi

This is the story of the greatest fighter that ever fought in the King of Fighters tournament... Kyo is the latest descendant of the legendary Kusanagi clan, which is one of the two families that managed to seal away the Orochi power 1800 years ago, along with the Yagami. However, ever since the Yagami striked an unholy pact with the Orochi, the Kusanagi have objected to this and due to the challenge of the Yagami, the Kusanagi now engage in a mortal war with the Yagami, and now they use their crimson flames, which were once used to put Orochi to sleep, against their ancient allies. Many members of both clans have perished up until this day, where Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami must now finish the battle of 660 years.

Kyo, despite his respect for Iori, considers he can not escape his fate, and that he has to fight, and maybe kill Iori one day. Meanwhile, Kyo studies in high school (where he had been for quite some time, due to his lack of will to study), and passes most of the time with his girlfriend Yuki, his best friend Benimaru Nikaido, his confident Athena Asamiya, and his pesky student (of sorts) Shingo Yabuki. He also likes to talk with his mother, Shizuka, whenever he gets home. Since Kyo's father, Saisyu, is always out searcand Kyo is so impressed with Daimon that he would like to see him in his team. Daimon promises, and said that, Daimon wins the third-place match. The final battle was against no other than Benimaru, the narcissist who dared Kyo to a fight. Now, they both had their shot. The fight was very spectacular, with flames and electricity flying everywhere. However, Kyo won at the end. Benimaru accepted his defeat, and decided to be friends with Kyo. The duo has been the closest of friends, but they also tend to quarrel too much when they discuss aout their skills, having to be cooled down by Daimon!

Kyo and his team now enter the King of Fighters tournament. Kyo now has to fight living legends such as the past champion, Terry Bogard, the fighters of Kyokugen-ryu Karate, and others. Kyo was very excited to fight so many good warriors, and extracted a bit of knowledge from each battle. The Japan Team fought with all their might, and won the right to fight in the last battle. A beautiful woman invited them to a helicopter, which transported them to a air carrier in the middle of the sea. Inside, Kyo saw a man sitting in a black chair with a pet panther aside him. The man introduced himself as Rugal Bernstein, the host of the tournament. Rugal admits that their skills were quite impressive, but he had to finish them now. Then, the Hero Team realizes with horror that Rugal has a personal collection of statues of fighters who were actually alive, but bathed into metal once defeated. Refusing to accept this horrible destiny, Kyo and his team fights against Rugal. Although Benimaru and Daimon fight well, they only manage to increase Rugal's wrath, and once he reveals his true power, he blows Benimaru and Daimon away, and now Kyo has to face him. But Kyo doesn't fair any better, and begins to get trashed. However, Kyo notices a man lying on the ground in a corner of the room. Upon closer inspection, it was his father! Fill with rage, Kyo now attacks Rugal with all the rage of the Kusanagi. Pushing Rugal to the limits, the evil fighter bombs his own carrier, and Kyo and his team barely escape with their lives. However, Kyo worries about his father, and thinks if he managed to survive...

A year later, Kyo is invited again by a certain "R" fellow. Suspecting something going on, Kyo enters again to look for his father. However, he also has to be aware of one man who has entered the tournament to kill him...Iori Yagami! Now with two worries, Kyo fights with all his might. While the Hero Team was preparing themselves for one of the final battles, gas fills the room. Kyo feels doozy, and falls unconsicious. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a hidden base. But then, a laughter catches his attention. It was Rugal! He seemed pretty much alive, and ready to take revenge from last year. Kyo challenges Rugal, but he instead calls for his "partner". Kyo is dumbfounded when he meets Rugal's aide. It was no other than his father! Kyo is so happy to see his father alive again, but he doesn't seem to care that much. In fact, he challenges Kyo to a fight! With no courage to fight his own father, Benimaru and Daimon decide to take care of him. Finally, when Saisyu loses control, he is defeated. Then, with his last breath, he tells Kyo to fight and take out Rugal for him. Enraged again, Kyo faces Rugal. But this time, Rugal was ready. Kyo suddenly felt a terrible power surging from Rugal's body. It seemed so powerful, and now Kyo had to fight a certainly ticked Omega Rugal! It was pretty useless for Kyo to attack Rugal, since his power had increased beyond imagination. However, with a bit of help from his friends, Kyo managed to fight back. When Rugal was about to use his full power, his body suddenly began to destroy itself. Rugal couldn't control his own power! Unable to withstand the inmense surge of power, Rugal and his base begin to explode. Kyo goes where his father lied, but he isn't there anymore. With no time to lose, Kyo exits the base, and begins to ponder on what sort of power was that destroyed Rugal.

Some time later, a mysterious man challenges Kyo to a fight...alone. Having a bad feeling, Kyo attends the battle scene, and is then greeted by a tall man in strange clothes. An eerie wind begins to blow, and Kyo feels chills up his spine. The man seemed to have the same power as Rugal, but this time, he DID know how to use it. Kyo never had a chance, and was promptly defeated by that man. Standing next to Kyo's battered body, he tells him to keep on training, since the fight is not over yet. He then promises Kyo to fight again if he reaches the finals of the tournament. Kyo loses consciousness and wakes up in a hospital. Yuki and his friends are around him, but Kyo suddenly gets up and goes outside, with his friends hopelessly watching how he painfully walked. Kyo then begins to charge his crimson flames, and concentrates it in his fist. He then releases it with a very strong blast of power and flames; a punch filled with hatred and passion. Fazed by the blast, Kyo's friends watches how he still stands up. Kyo has finally developed a new technique, born from the desperation and the feel of battle.

Kyo enters the next tournament with his team again to go look for that man. Kyo proves to be next to new by using his new techniques against his opponents. However, Kyo notices how all his fights are overlooked by the new host of the tournament...a very elegant woman. Kyo would soon know who she was when she fights against them amidts a stadium filled with emotive people. Kyo feels familiar with the woman's aura, but doesn't realize what it is until he defeats her. She reveals to be Chizuru Kagura, heir of the Clan of the Yata, and protector of the seal imposed over the Orochi power. It had been awhile before Kyo heard that word. It seemed that some man broke the seal by killing Chizuru's sister, and now it menaces all the world. Said that, a huge gust of wind blows through the stadium, but Kyo resists the wind blast. However, everything else gets blown to pieces, and Chizuru is wounded. She tells Kyo that he has to fight aside Iori if he wishes to defeat him. Before Kyo could ask anymore questions, Chizuru faints, and once again, a familiar figure appears from the mist. Kyo identifies him as the man who had defeated him earlier. The man tells his name: Goenitz. He was pretty impressed with how much Kyo had improved. Kyo clenches his fist, and beckons for Goenitz. Both engage in a fatal battle, but Kyo's powers seem useless against Goenitz' huge strength. When all indicated that the same result would take place, Iori appeared from out of nowhere. Kyo is surprised, but Goenitz laughs and tells Kyo that since Iori has Orochi blood in his veins, he would help him in killing Kyo. But Iori thinks otherwise, and attacks Goenitz instead. He tells him that Kyo can only be his to kill. Confused by the moment, Kyo clears his mind by fighting Goenitz with Iori. Although Kyo was using his whole crimson flame power, he noticed that Iori's purple flames gradually became crimson as well, and with a final double crimson blast, Kyo and Iori defeat Goenitz. Goenitz promises that the Orochi threat would never end, and saying that, Goenitz vanishes. Chizuru wants Kyo and Iori to become allies again, but Iori refuses, and walks away. Kyo knows that the two would encounter again next year...until somebody gets killed.

A long year passes, and Kyo has been having nightmares of a strange man defeating him. Including that, he has to train a young fanboy named Shingo Yabuki, whom desires to be as strong as Kyo, and be able to wield crimson flames just like him (but of course, he can't). Having some bad thoughts about the next tournament, Kyo has no other choice but to enter. He then fights all his battles like if it where the last, and it esentially where. By the final stages of the tournament, Iori and Leona, the new Ikari warrior, disappear without further advice. Kyo is worried about Iori's fate, knowing both he and that Leona girl were of Orochi blood. Iori and Leona are found in full Riot of Blood. Kyo aids in stopping them, but when they do, more trouble looms in the horizon. It was the New Face Team, but they seemed to have planned everything, and used the tournament to gather as much fighting energy as they could to feed Orochi. Kyo vows to stop them, and engages in a desperate battle with the rest of the fighters, a fight where the fate of the world rests. Kyo then knows from Yashiro Nanakase that her girlfriend, Yuki, is one of the 8 Kushinada girls, the women destined to sacrifice themselves for Orochi! Kyo refuses such a fate for his beloved, and fights for more than the world, but for Yuki and for him! But even after defeating them, the fight was not over. The kid, named Chris, revealed himself as the host of the Orochi power, and soon, it would awaken completly! Kyo then had to face the Orochi power itself. It was useless battle for Kyo, even with Chizuru aiding him. But suddenly, Iori out of nowhere, comes to help Kyo. Iori smiles, and feels it is ironic for him to help Kyo at this moment. Kyo was satisfied that Iori and him could finally fight together as friends. And during the fateful battle, it became more evident that both wanted it more than ever. During a moment of the battle, when Kyo and Iori had the upper hand, Orochi began to control Iori, once again making him enter the Riot of Blood. But this time, Iori grabbed Orochi by the neck! It was the perfect time for Kyo to finish Orochi off. Kyo, with Yuki in his mind, gives a bone-crushing cry and punches both Iori and Orochi.

The fight was over...and Kyo and Iori were never to be seen again. It was said that he and Iori now engage in their final fight...a fight for detsiny!

However, destiny proved otherwise. Being knocked out by the inhuman effort against Orochi, Kyo lies unconscious. He is then approached by a mysterious figure, who takes Kyo's limp body, and takes him to an underground base. Kyo is then subjected to several experiments, while being kept out cold by some narcotics. Samples of blood of Kyo are extracted, as well as memory images from his brain. Several clones are created by these experiments, and the mystery man deploys them to several parts of the world. As long as Kyo's body remained there, there would be no deadlier weapon than him!

Kyo manages to open his eyes one day, and finds himself surrounded by weird gadgets and needles. Decided to find some answers, Kyo breaks out of captivity, and while still woozy by the drugs, he manages to make a way out of the hidden fortress. During his path, he constantly hears references to the NESTS cartel and to some certain "Krizalid". Who can they possibly be? With no time to ask himself, Kyo finally breaks out, and begins to recover slowly from his sleepy effect, and decides to perfect his techniques, and deploy the best of the Kusanagi power in order to make that Krizalid fellow pay for his daring task!

Ready and as powerful as ever, Kyo follows the trail of the King of Fighters tournament, in hopes that he would get his chance of payback. Suddenly, everything began to turn familiar as he reaches the same place where he had been taken to for the experiments. Taking a familiar path, Kyo quickly arrives in time to see his best friend, Benimaru, and Shingo, his student, fighting against a familiar face: Krizalid, no doubt! However, there was also two unknown fighters helping them out: a skinny, but explosive young man named K', and a huge man with heavy armor called Maxima. Kyo felt something familiar about the energies of K' and Krizalid. Could it be Kusanagi power? They should have infused his power into their bodies in order to acquire his strength. Kyo stared in awe as his own clone, K', dispatched Krizalid with a final flaming blast. Before he could knew it, Kyo was standing next to a defeated Krizalid, and facing his friends (and not-so friends).

Kyo is quite happy to finally see some familiar faces, but reunion time is cut short when an omnipotent voice begins to echo in the room. He had heard that voice during his bold escape...It was the NESTS cartel! Kyo demands their true intentions, and they explain that they would forward the 10-year process. Kyo begins to get a bad feeling about this, but not after long, the base begins to fall down to nothing, and Kyo is trapped by steel doors. However, Kyo remains cool and calm. He is glad about how much he has improved, and feels he can take anything on! Kyo gets a chance to escape from the base in ruins, but he knows that NESTS must no be allowed to continue doing such atrocities. He must put an end to their ambition with his flames of justice!

One year passes by, and Kyo is ready to face the menace of the NESTS cartel once again, this time, in Southtown. Upon locating the hideout of the NESTS, Kyo suddenly finds his friend Benimaru, his student Shingo, and his clone K'. It would be very grateful to talk to them once again, but now is not the time. Kyo finds the voice that had talked to him in Krizalid's base, but he was now rendered hopeless and didn't have much time left in his life. His name was Zero, but Kyo wanted to know a lot more. Zero might have been Krizalid's superior, but he knows he's not the highest command. Kyo demands Zero where his superiors are, but Zero warns Kyo that a much bigger menace draws near. And as fate would have heard him, a familiar voice invites him to a friendly match. Kyo turns around to face his eternal rival, Iori. This would be the time that they would fight with no hatred in their souls, but just the feeling of fighting and giving their bests with no regrets....

Everyone assumed that Kyo would be lost once again for a year as Southtown was destroyed and Kyo was not heard from ever since. But suprisingly, he shows up to meet his old friend Benimaru Nikaido before the next King of Fighters tournament, expressing his interest in participating this year with him again. It would be a very special occasion, as Daimon would also come back from retirement, and lend his friends his strength once again. The former Hero Team now regroups to find the obscure truth behind NESTS! Kyo knows that several spies have been following them, but he also knows that they can't avoid the inevitable: that he would kick their butts! Even if it means having to stand his annoying student Shingo as the fourth team member....

Kyo made his official return to a team in the next King of Fighters tournament, quickly confirming that both he and his team have returned to run things once again in the new tournament! Kyo lends his incredible power to the cause, and even helps out his own clone K' to fight Igniz, the man behind his cloning operation. Kyo was pretty tired that both Igniz and NESTS would mess up their life so much, and he made it his business to finish them off! After K' defeats Igniz, Kyo realizes that Igniz has a familiar suicidal behavior, and persuades the others to escape as soon as Igniz sets the whole NESTS space station (the place where the final battle was held) on a crash course to Earth. Kyo and the others manage to survive the crash on the ocean, and after his friends and him set foot on dry ground, Kyo confesses that he was really happy to see his friends again and fight along them once more. The old partners bid their farewells once again, but Shingo wants to know why aren't they happy for winning. Kyo arrogantly replies that Shingo should just buzz off, and leaves him on his own! But Kyo knows that in order for Shingo to progress, he must walk the path of a fighter alone. Feeling assured, Kyo goes back to his girlfriend Yuki to continue his life.

Descendant of the Kusanagi

Kyo was born on December 12. His mother Shizuka is willing to pass on the legacy of the Kusanagi to him. His father Saisyu is the current leader of the Kusanagi clan. He is always searching opponents to fight. Saisyu wants him to be strong to wield the flames and to be ready to go against the Yagami's latest descendant.

Personality

Kyo is a very proud and arrogant man, and is sometimes very cold with those he deems to be a bother. However, his friends know him to be a warm and caring man. He cares a lot for Yuki, his girlfriend, and is also very romantic, since he likes to write poems. He quarrels with his friend Benimaru a lot, and sees in Daimon a sort of parental figure. Kyo respects all the fighters in the tournament, and about Iori, he really doesn't want to kill him, but he also doesn't seem to have another choice.

Trivia

• Kyo has sported 4 different outfits, one being the school uniform version from KOF 94-98, the 'Shin Kyo' version (black shirt with white cross, white jacket and jeans) from KOF 99-2002, and the KOF 2003 Kyo with black jacket, white shirt and jeans. The Kyo EX Striker in King of Fighters 99 On Dreamcast also features a different outfit, similar to the 2003 Biker uniform, but with his headband and the jacket closed. This outfit is also used in KOF Battle de Paradise. The only iteration where Kyo didn't wear the Kusanagi gloves is the Shin Kyo version.
  
• At the start of the NESTS saga, King of Fighters 99, NESTS has created Kyo clones en masse in an attempt to take over the world. The Kyo clones which appeared in KOF are: Kyo-1 (KOF 99), Kyo-2 (KOF 99), Kusanagi (KOF 2002). Kyo-1 and Kyo-2's whereabouts are unknown as they do not even have their own endings in KOF 99.
  
• K' and K9999 are not officially Kyo clones as both of them got Kyo's DNA from NESTS. Kula may have Kyo's DNA but reversed so she can use ice-based attacks.
  
• Kusanagi appeared in KOF 2002 and 2003. In KOF 2002 he was a Kyo clone, while in KOF 2003 he was 'created' by Chizuru Kagura during the tournament. Kusanagi basically has most of the attacks of the old Kyo from KOF 94 to 95. In KOF 97 and 98, you can also choose an alternate version of Kyo, with his attacks from KOF 94 and 95, respectively, although it has never been assumed whether they can be Kusanagi or not.
  
• In the SNK vs. series, Kyo gains a new rival: Ryu, from Street Fighter.

Quotes

• "This is too easy!"
• "That's it? Well, I'm not angry. Just disappointed."
• "Wow! Back to the gym for you. You're really pathetic."
• "Eat my flames of fury, wimp! Grovel before the Kusanagis!"
• "You just ain't got it. So stop whining and get lost."
• (vs. Iori) "Haven't you come to grips with reality yet? You can't touch me, Yagami."
• (vs. Goenitz) "Got the picture now? Your "good wind" that blows only fans my flames!
• (vs. Sagat) "That's not what I'd call even close to kick boxing. Just what is that anyway?"
• (vs. Riot Iori) "Yagami! I'm telling you to chill, you punchy pinhead!"

External links

• The King of Fighters 10th Anniversary Official Website

• SNK characters