Kusanagi Clan



The Kusanagi Clan is a clan present in The King of Fighters series.

They are well known as one of the three clans who defeated and sealed away Orochi 1800 years prior to the events of the series, as well as their unique fighting style.

History
1800 years ago in the past, the serpent god Orochi could no longer tolerate the destruction of the Earth as a byproduct of human progression and wanted to completely wipe humanity from existence. It used the powers gained from nature purely as a tool for chaos. Its clan and the human race waged war until the Kusanagi, Yata, and Yasakani clans defeated it with the Three Sacred Treasures.

660 years later, Orochi's seal began 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. Changing the color of their flames from red to violet due to said blood pact, as well as gaining a forbidden technique called "Kin Sen Hyaku Juuichi Shiki: Ya Otome" (Forbidden Method 1211: Eight Maidens), the Yasakani renamed themselves as the Yagami clan. The two clans would never see each other eye to eye ever again, and their blood feud continues to this day, with the two clans current heirs, Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami.

The timeline feud between Kusanagi and Yagami clans has minor alternation because of Shingo Yabuki's unexpected time-displacement presence in The King of Fighters Side Story: The Origin of Flame - Shingo Travels Through Time! Let's Go!. Despite not believing Shingo's origin and his purpose in his timeline, the heir of Kusanagim Yamato eventually believe him, and willingly to adopt Magai and Kaya Yasakani's son, following the Shogunate's arrest on Magai, Kaya's sacrifice by choice to save Shingo from Mature and Vice, and the Kusanagi heir defeats Magai's father, Iori after calling out that he was never there to support Magai's family after Magahito's death.

Unfortunately, both Yamato and Shingo are still too late to prevent Hakkesshu from transforming the Yasakani into Yagami by force, after the one of its member who possessed a corpse of Yasakani member, Yakumo (which will become Goenitz in the present) reveal their true intention to the imprisoned Magai. As Yamato originally hesitant to kill his Orochi-cursed Magai, despite the latter's request to mercifully kill him, Magai's son has a remaining will left to protect his father, allowing them to start a new while hiding from the public under "Yagami" last name until their former clan name is cleared in later generations. Thanks to Shingo, whose time-displacement finally serves his purpose and return to his timeline, the Kusanagi and Yagami are now on a neutral rivalry term for generations.