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Kyo Kusanagi (Japanese: 草薙 京, Hepburn: Kusanagi Kyō) is a character and the protagonist of SNK's The King of Fighters series of fighting video games. The character was first introduced in the 1994 video game The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team from the series' title tournament. Kyo, head to the Kusanagi clan, is first introduced as a cocky, delinquent high school student who has pyrokinetic powers. His clan is one of three who banished the legendary snake demon entity Yamata no Orochi. During the series' story, Kyo meets rivals and enemies who seek to take his flame abilities and prevents chaos like Orochi to rise. Aside from the main series, Kyo appears in several crossovers and spinoffs with other games. Besides reprising his role in printed adaptations, Kyo is also the central character of the manga The King of Fighters: Kyo and The King of Fighters Zillion with the former exploring his personal life and the latter giving him an alternate arc facing an organization known as NESTS.
Kyo was created by Yuichiro Hiraki and Shinichi Morioka as a young hero in The King of Fighters '94 which gathers games from different SNK IPs. He rivals guests from Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting among other games. Kyo's designers took inspirations from several rebellious icons when creating him, most notably the late singer Yutaka Ozaki. His role in The King of Fighters received a large positive response by fans, making Kyo return in The King of Fighters '99, where he was originally not available in early versions. His outfit was redesigned throughout the series; since his original appearance, featuring a high school uniform, became popular with fans, designers created clones of his original costume in later games. The same occurred with his moves, changing from a standard fighting character that relies on distance to hand-to-hand combat.
Video game journalists have praised Kyo's design and fighting style as among the best of the series and in fighting games in general. His constant changes of designs and moves were praised and has stood out as one of the protagonists from the series with the exception of The King of Fighters XIV. Kyo's role in the story has been praised for his heroic portrayal while facing villains, while also forming relationships with other characters, most notably Iori Yagami as both rival and ally. A variety of Kyo collectibles, including key chains and figurines, have been created.
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