Kyo Kusanagi's Contest History

Who is Kyo Kusanagi?
Arguably the strongest entrant to ever grace The King of Fighters tournament, Kyo Kusanagi is the current heir of the legendary Kusanagi clan, who in turn along with the Yasakani and Kagura clans sealed the beast Orochi thousands of years ago. Kyo can wield fire like all Kusanagi clan members and possesses a strong fighting spirit, although he’s only in high school and has had the same girlfriends for more than 10 years straight.

Shift your clocks back to the present (well, not so present) to the year 1994. This is when the team format of KoF begins, and Kyo represented the team of Japan for during the years of 1994-1997. During this time, he and the other competitors fought against the man whose hobby is resurrection, Rugal Bernstein, and defeated the spawns of Orochi, while Kyo managed to meet his father, his own personal student, and the current heirs of the Yasakani and Kagura clans, who bonded their powers together to seal the serpent once again.

While Terry Bogard became the true King of Fighters in the year 1998, (play RBFF and find out what happened when the international KoF was not taking place) Kyo was captured by the secret agency NESTS, and had his DNA copied so his strength could be held in their self created clones. He managed to escape into the US where he rid of his schoolboy uniform and donned his white jacket and cross outfit. The NESTS saga is based around a sci-fi epic, where Kyo’s clone takes over as the main character, and Kyo serves as a shadow in the midst, at his fighting prime.

The most recent KoF arc revolves around its roots again where a mysterious French man named Ash Crimson wishes to collect the 3 Sacred Treasures used to seal Orochi. *spoilers in following sentences* In 2003, Ash kills Chizuru Kagura and manages to steal the Yata Mirror. Kyo vows revenge but more misfortune occurs in the most recent installment KoF XI, where Ash defeats Iori Yagami and takes the Yasakani Jewel away and his power to wield flames. (The Yasakani had formed a pact with Orochi to become even stronger, and instead of crimson flames which the clans originally held, every Yasakani heir has purple flames which shows their allegiance to Orochi, and they have bared a grudge against the Kusanagi since then) Kyo is the only remaining person who can stop the unknown ideals of Ash, as he bears the Kusanagi symbol once again in his new apparel for the progressing story. *end spoilers*

Although Kyo may not surpass the popularity of SNK’s true fighting game main character Terry Bogard or even his rival Iori, he remains as the main star of The King of Fighters franchise, the largest profile series of the company that keeps them running well worldwide.

“Miseteyaru…Kusanagi no kobushi yo!” – Kyo Kusanagi

(Writeup courtest of Frost Harpy)

Kyo Kusanagi's Contest History
Win Loss Record: 1-1

Summer 2002 Contest - South Division - 9 Seed
 * South Round 1 --- Defeated (8) Abe, 31160 [57.79%] - 22760 [42.21%]
 * Southern Quarterfinal --- Lost to (1) Pac-Man, 19282 [37.16%] - 32607 [62.84%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 40th Place [15.09%]

Summer 2002 was the year where a lot of obscure fighting game characters made the field, and Kyo Kusanagi is another of the many examples. But unlike a lot of his fighting brethren, Kusanagi actually managed to win a match -- a victory over one more inept in contests than he, Abe of Oddworld fame. Kusanagi was able to follow this up by nearly breaking 40% on the 1 seed Pac-Man, a feat that most thought to be impressive at the time. We now know however that this was out of Pac-Man's weakness, not Kusanagi's strength.

Kusanagi, like many of the other fighting game characters to make that contest, has yet to see action since 2002.