Orochi Saga

The Orochi Saga is the first story arc in The King of Fighters series. It covers the events found in The King of Fighters '94 (prologue), The King of Fighters '95, The King of Fighters '96 and The King of Fighters '97.

Ancient Times
During the ancient times, a being was born from the Earth itself, named Orochi. A divine being who calls itself "Gaia's Will", manifested through floating emotions and substances of nature, and became the equalizing force between humans and nature. Orochi was nature's guardian and was granted with many of its powers. It gained followers to its cause and eventually formed a clan. The eight strongest warriors of that clan would go on to be known as the Hakkesshu. As the mankind began to grow in numbers, however, the natural balance began to crumble.

1800 Years Ago
Orochi could no longer tolerate the destruction as a byproduct of human progression and wanted to completely wipe humanity from existence. Orochi decided to use the powers gained from nature to reign havoc on humanity. The Hakkeshu and the human race waged war until the Kusanagi, Yata, and the Yasakani defeated it with three mystical treasures; the Kusanagi Sword, the Yasakani Jewel and the Yata Mirror. The Hakkeshu and Orochi were defeated and sealed. Though kept in a suspended state, Orochi continues to feel that mankind pollutes the world.

660 Years Ago
The seal that was put on Orochi begins to weaken. The three clans decided to move its vessel into another location. Wanting to disrupt their unity, one of the Hakkesshu killed the leader of the Yasakani's wife. Under a disguise, the murderer then approached the Yasakani head and reported that the Kusanagi clan was responsible, saying that it was "atonement" for letting the seal weaken. To add more fuel to the fire, the corpse of his wife was found in the Kusanagi homeland. Angered by the revelation, the Yasakani made a blood pact with Orochi to gain the necessary means for revenge. Gaining a forbidden technique called "Kin Sen Hyaku Juuichi Shiki: Ya Otome" (Forbidden Method 1211: Eight Maidens), the Yasakani would renamed themselves as the Yagami clan. As a side-effect of the Orochi's curse, the once crimson flames of the Yagami changed to a violet/bluish tint from Orochi's taint. The curse also causes each heir to die young and each mother to die in childbirth. Since then, the clans have waged a generation long grudge with casualties made from both sides, which continues on to this day in the present.

Early 1960's
A child named Goenitz learns about his duty as a Heavenly King and made haste to revive his lord Orochi. In an attempt to reach this means, he became a religious missionary who would travel to those in need.

1968
A man named Rugal Bernstein and his brother began making themselves known throughout the political and fighting world. He became an influential arms dealer who operated aboard his aircraft carrier Black Noah. At some point, the two went their seperate ways.

1973
Goenitz, now 18, challenges a now 25-year-old Rugal Bernstein and easily defeated the older man by taking out one of his eyes. Impressed with his fighting power, as an experiment, he granted his opponent some of Orochi's power to see if he could become a valid host for the entity. Since then, Rugal has a bionic eye to replace the one he lost.

Later that year, he paid a visit to a remote village where a Hakesshu member, Gaidel, was staying. To his surprise, Gaidel was living a peaceful life and had no interest in their lord's mission. In response, Goenitz activated the Riot of the Blood in his daughter, Leona, which lead to the death of her parents and everyone else in the village. Pleased with the results, he sealed away her memories and continued to look for ways of speeding up his lord's revival.

1980s-Late 90s
Goenitz notices that the seal containing Orochi is too strong for his lord, and in order to awaken, the seal must be broken. He heads to the Yata household in order to break the seal, but is confronted by the Yata Clan's heiress, Maki Kagura. Unfortunately, she was not powerful enough to beat Goenitz, and she was fatally injured during the fight. Goenitz destroys the seal and leaves. Before her death, Maki passes on the responsibilities of the seal to her sister, Chizuru Kagura, and begs her to find the Kusanagi and Yagami clan leaders, and reunite them together once again to defeat Orochi.

1986
A 34 year old operative named Heidern was just promoted to his current rank for his exceptional proficiency in martial arts and strategy. The event took place at a top-secret base in Brazil and his wife and daughter were present for the ceremony. Rugal Bernstein, who caught wind of Heidern's high marks, stormed the base when he was away and killed fifty secret service officers on his arrival. When Heidern hurried back from his duties, Rugal deprived him of his right eye and deemed him unfit to be a part of his "collection". Instead, he murdered Heidern's wife and child. Disgraced and alone, he developed his own fighting style and mercenary unit called the Ikari Warriors. Heidern would spend nearly a decade filled with hatred and rage against Rugal.

Prelude
Goenitz assigns the task of observing Rugal to two other Hakkeshus, Mature and Vice, believing that he could be a suitable host for Orochi.

Rugal, wanting to expand his "collection", decides to host The King of Fighters in 1994, with an additional twist; fighters must form a team of 3 to compete and represent a country. Now he awaits on his battleship, the Black Noah, waiting to see the teams that will participate.

Invitations Sent
News spread quickly around the world that a global King of Fighters tournament is happening once again. The biggest discussion was the host of the tournament who was a compete mystery to the public, other than his name, R.

The Truth Behind "R"
Throughout the tournament, all of the teams fought will all their strength, culminating with the Hero Team winning The King of Fighters '94. After the tournament, Mature, the secretary of "R", invited the winners on a battleship called "Black Noah" to meet the host of the tournament. Before reaching him, Kyo ran into Saisyu Kusanagi; Kyo's father and the former leader of the Kusanagi Clan, bloodied and bruised. He tells the Hero Team before Kyo left to enter the tournament, he disappeared order to fight the host of KOF, which nearly killed him. Angered by this, the Hero Team decided to meet the host.

Inside the main room was Rugal Bernstein, the true host of KOF '94. Rugal is happy that the Hero Team won, as they can be added to his "collection", which are former fighters turned into living trophies, with Rugal pointing out that he did not turn Saisyu into a trophy because he felt that he was unfitting. Kyo and his teammates fight against Rugal, who would end up being one of the hardest fight of their lives. Unwilling to accept defeat, Rugal attempted to blow up his ship along with the Hero Team. With Rugal's death, the Hero Team decides to part ways, with Kyo deciding to travel abroad in order to train, while also wondering where his father is.

Conclusion
Geese Howard & Wolfgang Krauser, two of Terry Bogard's old enemies, watched the events of KOF '94. Although the Fatal Fury Team did not win KOF '94, they were both impressed with their results in the tournament, and begin plotting their downfall.

Prologue
Rugal is revealed to survived his suicide attack against the fighters, but not without losing his right hand. Believing that his loss against the Hero Team was a fluke, he decides to host the 1995 edition of King of Fighters tournament. He also promotes Vice as his new secretary, and replaces his missing hand with a cybernetic one.

Break A Spine
The KOF invitations were sent to all of the teams who participated in KOF '94. This time, teams were no longer represented by a country.


 * The champions of the previous year, the Hero Team, were given a surprised meeting by Mature, who gives them the invites to KOF '95.


 * The Fatal Fury Team gets a surprise letter from Geese Howard, stating that he "prepared something fun for the tournament". Believing that Krauser may have a hand in this, they enter.


 * Takuma forces Ryo and Robert to participate in KOF '95, wheater they like it or not, forming the Kyokugenryu Team again.


 * Heidern, after several months of nightmares, is unconvinced that Rugal is truly dead. When Ralf & Clark show him the invitation, they immediately went to enroll, forming again the Ikari Warriors Team.


 * Chin, after teaching Athena and Kensou to sense negative energy, he enlists them into KOF to put their new powers to the test, and enters the KOF as the Psycho Soldier Team.


 * King runs into Mai and Yuri, asking her once again to join her in KOF as the Women Fighters Team.


 * Chang and Choi recieves the KOF invitation and discover that Rugal is alive. The two devises a plan to switch sides when they meet Rugal. Unfortunately for them, Kim sees the invite and forces them to train twice as hard to prepare for KOF, as the Korea Justice Team.

New Challengers
Geese Howard learns about the Orochi power, and becomes intrigued with it. He sends his right hand man, Billy Kane to form a team and enter KOF '95 to investigate. He seeks out the help of the ninja Eiji Kisaragi to join his team, but not without retaliation. Their fight comes to a draw when a mysterious man appears dragging one of Geese's assassins.

His name was Iori Yagami. Billy tries to convince him to join KOF with him, although. Each of these men had something to do with one of the participants of the tournament. Billy wanted revenge against Terry for defeating Geese in the past, Eiji wanted to continue his agenda against all Kyokugenryu practitioners (namely Ryo), and Iori wanted his chance to kill Kyo in a fight.

The 3 enter KOF as the Rivals Team, with Iori being the leader. They were able to enter KOF by stealing the American Sports Team's Invitation. This would end up becoming a reoccurring theme for the USA team.

From "R" to "Ω"
Once again, all of the teams fought will all their strength, culminating with the Hero Team winning The King of Fighters '95 after beating the Rival Team. On their way to reach Rugal, Kyo runs into his father, Saisyu, who was brainwashed by Vice. After beating him and snapping him out of Vice's control, Rugal appears to challenge the heroes. Learning from his previous mistake, Rugal taps in the Orochi power and transforms into Omega Rugal, starting all out during the fight.

Foreboding Coming
Frustrated by his 2nd defeat, Rugal tries to tap in more of the Orochi power, but just as he does, Rugal's body explodes into microscopic pieces, instantly killing him. At the same time, Iori suddenly snaps and brutally attacks Billy and Eiji, nearly killing them. Iori swears that he will kill Kyo and all of the Kusanagi's in the near future.

Darkest Sky
A few months before the KOF '96 tournament, Goenitz runs into Kyo and challenges him to a fight. Goenitz toyed with Kyo throught the entire fight before ending it with a single fatal blow that nearly killed him. Kyo was rushed to the hospital, where Benimaru and Daimon was waiting for him. Feeling bitter about his embarrassing defeat, Kyo swallows his pride and becomes determined to defeat Goenitz the next time they meet.

Violent Fighting to Come Again
As time passes, The King of Fighters tournament was about to begin. However, things would be different this year, as KOF would unexpectedly explode in popularity, to the point where this iteration of KOF would be hosted on an international level.


 * After a nightmare with Goenitz, Kyo convinces Benimaru and Daimon to defeat him, and forms, once again, the Hero Team.


 * The Fatal Fury Team once again formed a team together, but not before long, Billy Kane and Geese Howard appeared before them. Geese reveals to the team that he'll be entering KOF as an invited guest.


 * Takuma talks to Ryo, Robert and Yuri about this upcoming KOF tournament. He announces that he'll be retiring starting this year, and requests that Yuri should team up with Ryo and Robert, much to the former's disdain. The three team up as the new Kyokugenryu Team.


 * Heidern informs Ralf and Clark that he will not be joining KOF anymore, as his long life goal of killing Rugal has been achieved, and he must oversee their mission to watch out for any suspicious activity for the tournament. To fill in the missing team member, Heidern enlists a new operative named Leona, who after a not-so-friendly introduction, forms the new Ikari Warriors Team.


 * The Psycho Soldier Team once again enters KOF. Athena and Kensou sees this as their chance to boost their popularity, while Chin wonders who could be behind the strings this time.


 * Mai tells King that Yuri won't be joining them for KOF, as she is already on the Kyokugen Team. King initially decides not to join KOF, as she wanted to spend time with her brother Jan, he convinces her that she should join this year. As for their final member, they meet a Japanese girl named Kasumi Todoh, who wanted to join KOF to possibly find clues about her missing father. The three come together as the new Women Fighters Team.


 * Chang and Choi are once again tagged along with Kim to form the Korea Justice Team. This time, if they win, Kim will see them as rehabilitated, and will let them go.


 * Iori is approached by Mature and Vice, Rugal's old secretaries. The two women askes Iori to join KOF in the hopes of finally killing Kyo. Iori agrees, but blatantly mentions that they're both up to something. Together they form the Yagami Team.


 * After overhearing an argument between Wolfgang Krauser and Mr. Big, Geese Howard decides to for a team with the two. The three, while not trusting each other, see this as the perfect chance to crush all their enemies in one place. The three together form the Bosses Team.

Trash Head
Once again, all of the teams fought will all their strength, culminating with the Hero Team winning The King of Fighters '96. Chizuru appeared before Kyo and Iori, revealing that she was the one hosting this year's tournament, in an attempt to lure out the two men to fight the real threat; the coming return of Orochi. Before she could explain any further, Goenitz appears and destroys the stadium where the finals were being hosted. He reveals himself as the leader of the Hakkeshu, and that Mature and Vice were keeping an eye on Iori Yagami, since he is a descendent of Orochi. Seeing an opportunity to finally end all three heirs at once, Goenitz attacks the trio, but is ultimately defeated. In the final events of the tournament, he is defeated by Kyo with the help of Iori and Chizuru. Humiliated, Goenitz saves face and apparently took his own life in the aftermath of the tournament by cutting his body on his own wind.

Chizuru explains that since Orochi is on the verge of resurrecting, the three should form up together like their ancestors did nearly 1800 years ago. However, Kyo and Iori despised the idea of working together, and rejected her request.

Not soon after that, Iori entered the Riot of the Blood state and killed Vice and Mature.

Bloody Coincidence
The incident itself and the subsequent accident of Goenitz's attack was officially reported as the result of terrorist activity by an unknown group, but the details concerning the identity, motives, and subsequent whereabouts of the terrorists remained a mystery. Despite this, the KOF '96 tournament was an overwhelming commercial success. A few months after, the event triggered a fighting craze and various large corporations, expressing interest in the fad, offered to sponsor subsequent tournaments, leading to a demand for an eagerly awaited KOF '97. The fad reached all over the globe and in no time KOF '97 came into being. As expected many teams would be formed for this iteration.


 * Kyo, Benimaru, and Daimon once again team up to form the Hero Team.


 * Terry, Andy and Joe once again team up to form the Fatal Fury Team, after receiving an invitation from Blue Mary


 * Ryo, Robert, and Yuri once again team up to form the Art of Fighting Team, to discover who injured Takuma prior to the tournament.


 * Leona, for the past year, has been suffering from mysterious headaches and hallucinations. During a failed mission, Ralf asks Heidern to suspend them from active duty. In actuality, this was done for the three to form the Ikari Warriors Team to investigate what's happening with Leona, believing this to be related to Goenitz.


 * Athena, overwhelmed with her current popularity, initially decides not to join KOF this year. However, after reading a heartwarming letter from a fan named Kaoru Watabe, realised that what they're doing is inspiring other to do good. As a result of this, Athena, Kensou and Chin once again form the Psycho Soldier Team.


 * Chizuru publicly announces that she will be participating in KOF '97 to see how she stacks up with other fighters. In reality, she is coming in order to convince Kyo and Iori to work together again. She decides to team up with King and Mai to form the Women Fighters Team.


 * Kim's "Rehabilitation Project" has become well-known within the general public, and many news publications have been relentlessly interviewing them. To take a break from this, Kim, Chang and Choi form the Korea Justice Team once more.


 * A popular music band called "C.Y.S." featured Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, and Chris as the lead band members. They were preparing to perform when the club they were scheduled at canceled them in favor of a jazz band featuring Iori Yagami. Upset at their loss and angered by "the man with red hair", Yashiro and his band steal the invitations from the American Sports Team (Heavy-D!, Lucky Glauber, and Brian Battler) and enter the KOF '97 tournament as the New Faces Team in order to get their revenge against Iori.


 * Geese, interested with Iori's Riot of the Blood state, sends Billy to investigate it, with Billy agreeing with revenge against him. Geese also informs him he will be teaming up with Blue Mary and Ryuji Yamazaki, both of which are unaware that they're working for Geese. Together, the form the Outlaw Team (which is known as the  ' 97 Special Team in KOF '97).


 * Iori, for the past year, has been suffering from mysterious headaches and hallucinations. While he had no intention of joining this year's KOF, he is suddenly approached by Mature and Vice. Although dead, both women continue to haunt Iori as shadows to entertain themselves, with the two mocking Iori's inability to kill Kyo. Iori decides to joins KOF, albeit as a solo contestant, to kill Kyo.


 * After watching the televised KOF '96 tournament, a boy named Shingo Yabuki became a huge fan of Kyo. When he realized that they studied at the same school, Shingo began to pester Kyo to teach him his techniques, as he was fascinated with Kyo's flames. Shingo saw each of Kyo's moves once, wrote down every move, and practiced them everyday. He would eventually enter KOF '97 and made it to the finals as a solo contestant.

Fourth and Final Phase
Once again, all of the teams fought will all their strength, up until the the finals of the tournament. Yashiro, Shermie and Chris, suddenly remembers their duties as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi. They begin to use the tournament in order to gather enough power from the fighters so that the trio themselves can help awaken Orochi from its long dormant sleep.

During the finals of the '97 tournament, Kyo confronts Iori. However, Iori suddenly enters the Riot of Blood state. At the same time, Leona falls to the Riot of Blood state, revealing that she is also a descendent of Orochi. Kyo, Ralf and Clark fight to snaps them out of the state. Realizing the situation, Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru come together and form the Three Sacred Treasures Team to stop the Heavenly Kings from reviving Orochi.

Fateful Conclusion
Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru confronts the remaining Heavenly Kings of Orochi, Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, and Chris. The Hakkesshu also mention the plan to sacrifice Kyo's girlfriend Yuki in order to revive Orochi. Fueled by these turn of events, Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru fights an emotional and heroic battle against the remaining Heavenly Kings. Their battle ends up reviving Orochi, but not at full power. In order to him to reach full power, both Yashiro and Shermie commit suicide in order to transfer their remaining energy into Chris and because of this, Orochi is able to return to the world while using Chris' body as the host, and attempts to destroy the three clans at once. As was done in the legends of their clans, the trio successfully defeat him.

In a last-ditch effort, Orochi causes Iori to enter the Riot of the Blood state, expecting him to turn on Kyo and Chizuru. Instead, Iori snaps out of his control and snares Orochi by the neck. Kyo suddenly gets a vision by various members of the Yasakani clan, explaining the circumstances behind Iori's past and his connection to Orochi. Kyo obliged his rival by crippling the great serpentine deity with one last deathblow, allowing Chizuru to reseal Orochi. Exhausted, Kyo passes out. The last thing he sees is Yuki, saying that she will wait for him.

Aftermath
Unbeknownst to even Chizuru and Iori, the final battle with Orochi was being observed by another set of eyes. Kyo disappears after the battle and would not be seen for at least a year.

The entire Hakkesshu, except for Ryuji Yamazaki and Leona, were killed and would stay so for quite some time.

The KOF scene would then fall into silence for one year.

Characters Introduced
Characters who made their canonical debut in The King of Fighters series, whether they original or from other series, ordered by their first appearance in the series.

NPCs
Non-playable characters who appear during the saga's lore.
 * Rodem (Rugal's black panther) (NPC in '94, '95, '98 and '98 UM)
 * Yuki (Kyo's girlfriend) (Appears in Novels and Mangas)
 * Gaidel (Leona's biological father and a Hakkesshu) (Appears in KOF '97)

Characters & Teams' Participations

 * Teams in which the characters who participated in the saga were inserted.