Kyo Kusanagi

> It's a law of history: I don't lose so easy.
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## Summary

Kyo Kusanagi (草薙くさなぎ 京きょう) is the titular protagonist in SNK's The King of Fighters series. He was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan Team. He is the rival of Iori Yagami.

Kyo is a cocky delinquent high school student who is the heir of the Kusanagi Clan, one of the three clans that sealed the legendary snake entity, Orochi, 1800 years ago. His clan wields pyrokinetic powers, an inherited power that few members obtain. They, along with the Yasakani and Yata clans, keep one of the Three Sacred Treasures used to contain Orochi long ago. His family's treasure is the Kusanagi Sword (草薙くさなぎの剣つるぎ), and his family crest is the sun, represented in a stylized halo of fire.

His official nickname is "Scion of the Flame" (炎ほのおの貴公子きこうし) or "The Cleansing Exorcising Flame" (火炎かえん 祓はらう 濯ゆす).

Aside from the main series, Kyo also has a spin-off manga story based on his adventure in The King of Fighters '96, entitled The King of Fighters: Kyo. A video game under the same name was also created to further expand his character. In addition, a number of image songs and audio dramas featuring Kyo's character have been released, including the contents of his own character image album consisting of all of his theme songs. He is a member of SNK's character image band, The Band of Fighters and also co-star alongside Iori in one of SNK's promotional series, Part Time Stories: Kyo & Iori.

## Powers and Stats

**Name**: Kyo Kusanagi

**Origin**: King of fighters 94

**Gender**: Male

**Age**: 19 (King of fighters 94), 20 (King of fighters 95)

**Classification**: Human, Martial Artist, Heir of the Kusanagi Clan, Wielder of the Sacred Kusanagi Flames, Leader of Team Japan, Member of Team Sacred Treasures

**Powers and Abilities**:

Superhuman Characteristics, Explosion Manipulation, Fire Manipulation (Kyo can able to produce flames and explosions from thin air and surround himself with flames in his body), Damage Boost (Can encase himself with flames to increase his damage output), Soul Manipulation, Non-Physical Interaction and Sealing (Kusanagi Flames one of the 3 sacred treasures have the ability to seal away Orochi and purify souls), Power Nullification (Kyo's flames can negate attacks less potent than his flames and can dispel abilities from his opponents using the flames)

**Resistance** to Heat Manipulation and Fire Manipulation (Kyo has significant resistance to fire manipulation, he fought Yashiro in a magma filled environment), Time Manipulation (Can fight in a time stop against Saiki and can survive attacks from Saiki who can accelerate your age and cause you to decay), Reality Warping (he's not affected by Saiki's ability to warp reality), Matter Manipulation (Fought against Igniz and survived his attacks, the latter can turn you into dust by just touching you) , Law Manipulation and Logic Manipulation (Type 1, Is not affected by Otoma=Raga's ability to twist the laws of reason in the universe)

**Lifting Strength**: Class 5 (Can lift Chang and throw him around)

**Stamina**: SuperHuman

**Standard Equipment**: **The Kusanagi Sword** (草薙くさなぎの剣つるぎ) is the sacred artifact who belongs to the Kusanagi clan in KOF universe. According to the real-life legend, the god Susanoo encountered a grieving family of kunitsukami ("gods of the land") headed by Ashinazuchi (足名椎) in Izumo Province. When Susanoo inquired of Ashinazuchi, he told him that his family was being terrorized by the fearsome Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed serpent of Koshi, who had consumed seven of the family's eight daughters and that the creature was coming for his final daughter, Kushinada-hime (奇稲田姫). Susanoo investigated the creature, and after an abortive encounter he returned with a plan to defeat it. In return, he asked for Kushinada-hime's hand in marriage, which was agreed. Transforming her temporarily into a comb (one interpreter reads this section as "using a comb he turns into [masquerades as] Kushinada-hime") to have her company during battle, he detailed his plan into steps.

He instructed that eight vats of sake (rice wine) be prepared and put on individual platforms positioned behind a fence with eight gates. The monster took the bait and put one of its heads through each gate. With this distraction, Susanoo attacked and slew the beast (with his sword Worochi no Ara-masa), chopping off each head and then proceeded to do the same to the tails. In the fourth tail, he discovered a great sword inside the body of the serpent which he called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. He presented the sword to the goddess Amaterasu to settle an old grievance.

Generations later, during the reign of the 12th Emperor Keikō, Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi was given to the great warrior, Yamato Takeru, as part of a pair of gifts given by his aunt, Yamatohime-no-mikoto, the Shrine Maiden of Ise Shrine, to protect her nephew in times of peril.

These gifts came in handy when Yamato Takeru was lured onto an open grassland during a hunting expedition by a treacherous warlord. The lord had fiery arrows loosed to ignite the grass and trap Yamato Takeru in the field so that he would burn to death. He also killed the warrior's horse to prevent his escape. Desperately, Yamato Takeru used the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi to cut back the grass and remove fuel from the fire, but in doing so, he discovered that the sword enabled him to control the wind and cause it to move in the direction of his swing. Taking advantage of this magic, Yamato Takeru used his other gift, fire strikers, to enlarge the fire in the direction of the lord and his men, and he used the winds controlled by the sword to sweep the blaze toward them. In triumph, Yamato Takeru renamed the sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grass-Cutting Sword") to commemorate his narrow escape and victory. Eventually, Yamato Takeru married and later fell in battle against a monster, after ignoring his wife's advice to take the sword with him.

**Intelligence**: **Intellectually gifted** (Kyo is a very talented and gifted martial artist, after being defeated by Goenitz and managed to train and establish new moves and went on to defeat him in a short period of time. He was recognized and was popular for his skills as a martial artist at school and some even wanted to train under his teachings. He has been fighting in the king of fighters tournaments for years and has accumulated alot of experience from that.

**Weakness**: Kyo is very cocky and arrogant

1. ↑ [1] King of fighters XV | Secret Agent Team Ending
2. ↑ [2] King of fighters XV | Hero's Team Endin
3. ↑ [3] King of fighters XV | Awakened Orochi's Team Ending