![kyo kusanagi kof xiii kyo kusanagi kof xiii](https://dreamcancel.com/wiki/images/5/57/Kyo.gif)
When they were nearing the end of their production schedule, staff members were indecisive upon which uniform the Kyo clone should wear. Kyo was redesigned for the game, but some designers wanted to return to his iconic school uniform. However, they retracted this decision as "they couldn't leave these popular characters in limbo". During the early development stages of The King of Fighters '99, SNK planned to avoid adding Kyo and Iori Yagami to the game, as the story's focus was meant to center on the new protagonist, K'. The idea of having two Kyos at once led to the concept of his clones. The elements and the personalities are also a homage to a Japanese phrase of giving birth to fire (it is roughly translated: "lighting strikes the earth which sparks the flame"). Kyo was based on the main character who had a "fiery" persona. In addition, the three members of the Japan Team had similar personalities to the main characters from such anime. Developers from the game decided to make Kyo's main skill would be fire along with the other movesets from the other members of the original Japan Team being inspired by the anime Getter Robo. To appease all fans, they also included an older version of Kyo from KOF '94 into The King of Fighters '97 and placed The King of Fighters '95 version of Kyo in The King of Fighters '98, which made both versions of Kyo popular during location tests. His fighting style was changed as a part of the series' overhaul in The King of Fighters '96.
![kyo kusanagi kof xiii kyo kusanagi kof xiii](https://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/902283-the-king-of-fighters-xiii-windows-screenshot-kyo-kusanagi.jpg)
But late in production, his name was changed to Kyo Kusanagi in order to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend, which was used as the idea to the first arc. Through most of his development, Kyo was meant to be called Syo Kirishima ( 霧島 翔, Kirishima Shō ?), and was dressed in martial arts clothing common with fighting games at the time. When designing characters for the first King of Fighters game, developers wanted a new, "snazzy" hero who would easily fight against Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting characters. A variety of collectibles based on Kyo have been created, including key chains and figurines. Within Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Kyo was voted as the staff's second favorite character.
Kyo kusanagi kof xiii series#
Reviewers noted him to be a necessary character to have in every video game from the series and commented of him to have the best winning pose. Video games reviewers have praised his design and fighting style as one of the best from the series. Aside from the main series, Kyo also appears in several other media series such as spin-offs and crossover video games as well as comic adaptations of the series. He enters every The King of Fighters tournament representing Japan and uses his clan's fighting style to combine fire with kenpo. Due to his clan's past, Kyo fights against the Kusanagi's enemies his rival Iori Yagami, the last member of the Yagami clan, and the Orochi's soldiers. In The King of Fighters universe, his clan is one of the three clans that sealed the legendary snake entity, Yamata no Orochi. Kyo is first introduced as a cocky delinquent high school student who is the heir to the Kusanagi clan, who can use pyrokinetic powers. Because he was highly popular and his outfit changed along the series, the designers created a few clones with his old appearance. His name and abilities were designed in order to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Kyo Kusanagi ( 草薙 京, Kusanagi Kyō ?) is the main character in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. Kusanagi style of ancient martial arts ( 草薙流古武術, Kusanagi Ryū Kobujutsu ?) with personal style of kempo ( 我流拳法, Garyū Kenpō ?) Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese dub of KOF Movie) Ĭlass=" infobox hproduct" style="float:right width:264px font-size:90% text-align:left " cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" The King of Fighters XII artwork of Kyo Kusanagi