Yuki (KOF)

Yuki is a secondary character in The King of Fighters series. She was first introduced in the The King of Fighters '97. She is a normal schoolgirl as well as Kyo Kusanagi's girlfriend.

She is voiced by Tomoko Kojima.

Development
Originally, Yuki was not meant to be conceptualized, since her first mention ever in the King of Fighters story was in Kyo's profile as one of his most cherished possessions. Her addition to his profile was added by one of the programmers mostly as a joke since Kyo was more popular with female gamers (some of them being yaoi fans) than male ones. By 1996 and 1997, Yuki began to have cameos in several official illustrations alongside Kyo and his teammates, drawn by the series's main illustrator at the time, Shinkiro. Her character persona became more fleshed out in the spin-off manga, The King of Fighters: Kyo, illustrated by mangaka Masato Natsumoto. A video game based on the manga was also created during the comic's publication, revealing another shade to her character. Since then, she began to appear as a recognizable character in officially sponsored fan dōjinshi.

On June 15, 1997, SNK held an open audition for Yuki's seiyū for her cameo in King of Fighters '97, hoping to also use her in future drama CDs and other merchandise. A total of 1,534 young women participated, 400 of them being fans of the series and 16 of them also named Yuki. Ladies were asked to improvise their lines in front of the development team for the game and the series's voice director. Seiyū from the series were also there to open the ceremonies and to announce the progression of the event, with Kunihiko Yasui, Monster Maezuka, Yukina Kurisu (Athena's seiyū at the time), and Masahiro Nonaka there to inspire participants. Yuki's seiyū, Tomoko Kojima, was chosen out of the four finalists. Following her voice debut in The King of Fighters '97, Yuki went on to appear on the now defunct radio programs, Neo Chupi and Neo Geo DJ Station, and continues to be mentioned in Kyo's back story in select games. By this point, what started as a joke on Kyo's popularity had, in SNK's words, grown "from a one-dimensional filler to a full-fledged character".

Her namesake is Japanese actress, Yuki Uchida, who was popular at the time of her conception.

Personality
Personality-wise, Yuki is pretty much the 'girl next door' type. She is a calm, polite and patient lady who sees the best in her boyfriend, even if he gets embarrassed by what she sees. Though she can get slightly annoyed by his reluctance to study for classes, she genuinely worries for his safety and faithfully waits for his return when he disappears from Japan. In the series' drama CDs, they went on a date before the '97 tournament and she buys him an amulet, which Kyo continues to treasure when they're apart from one another.

Fighting Style
Yuki does not fight. Although she appears on SNK Gals' Fighters as a hidden character, this is not considered canon. In this game, she fights with her bag and uses her jumping skills as well. Her fighting style resembles that of Kisarah Westfield, but Yuki's appearance was several years before Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, where Kisarah first used a bag to fight.

Some of her attacks include screaming "NO!" forming a pseudo projectile, dropping a girder on the opponent or summoning a troop of Kyo clones to stampede the opponent.

Music

 * Always With You - The King of Fighters: Kyo

Appearances
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Games

 * SNK Gals' Fighters - Unlockable character

Mobile

 * SNK High School Collection
 * The King of Fighters: World - NPC
 * Kimi wa Hero

Cameos

 * The King of Fighters '94 - In the Japan Team's stage
 * The King of Fighters '95 - In the one-coin clear staff roll
 * The King of Fighters '97 - In the Sacred Treasure team's ending
 * The King of Fighters '98 and The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match - In the images shown during the ending sequence
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - In Kyo and Iori's ending
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match - Background cameo in the Japan High School stage
 * The King of Fighters XII - Passing mention by Sie Kensou in his profile story
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo - As an NPC
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko) - As an event character
 * The King of Fighters 2
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - Mentioned in Kyo's ending
 * Days of Memories - In the ninth title of the series
 * The King of Fighters XIII - In Kyo's chibi icon; passing mention by Athena Asamiya during her pre-fight talk with NESTS saga Kyo (Kyo Kusanagi Classic).

Anime
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 * The King of Fighters: Destiny - Passing mention by Kyo and Benimaru

Trivia

 * Due to the ambiguous ending of Team Sacred Treasures' ending in The King of Fighters '97, many fan theories sprouted that Yuki died at the end of KOF '97. However, this was disproven with her appearance in Kyo and Iori's story in The King of Fighters 2000.

Gallery
Yuki (KOF)