Igniz

Igniz (イグニス, Igunisu) is the main antagonist and final boss of The King of Fighters 2001. His handsome and youthful appearance was specifically created at the sponsors' request. He becomes the new leader of the NESTS cartel after he kills his own father and former leader Nests.

NESTS Saga
Igniz hosts the KOF 2001 tournament in hopes of becoming a new god, deciding to test his new found power against the finalists. In the novel, Igniz labels K' as the strongest warrior and by defeating earths strongest warrior he would surpass all of humanity making him a God. His hopes were short-lived when he is defeated by K'. Cursing his failure and declaring himself a demon instead, Igniz attempts to destroy those who oppose him by plummeting NESTS' main headquarters out of orbit. However, the fortunate passengers in the falling station survive the heat inside it (apparently thanks to Ron). Igniz's death signals the end of the NESTS cartel and its saga.

Shun'ei Saga
After his death, his soul is somehow absorbed by Verse, and was released upon the latter's defeat along with many others. Igniz is suspected to have been brought back to life as a result.

Moreover it is revealed that NESTS as an organization is not completely eradicated, still exerting dangerous influences in the world, as per the accounts of the official KOF XIV manga.

Personality
Igniz is very serious and was for years very faithful to NESTS. When he started gaining more and more power, he started to think himself as a god and found NESTS was too small for him. He becomes a megalomaniac with hopes to rule the entire planet. In keeping with his belief that he is a god, his manner of speech is very preachy. His intro speech, and many of the things he says at the end of the match are brief (but lengthy compared to everyone else's quotes) speeches. In keeping with this, when assaulting opponents with his devastating Brutal God Project attack, he declares that he is casting them down from heaven. And when defeated, he deems himself to have fallen to the level of a demon.

Powers

 * Superhuman Strength and Resistance - Igniz is shown being very strong and sturdy this skill is supposed to come from his special suit. The strength of his special suit is proven to be stronger than a full-powered Daimon and Maxima combined, its tentacles able to knockdown huge and strong fighters like Daimon and Maxima in a single "tap". The robe is also strong enough to send those fighters flying several meters away in a single sweep, strong enough to ignore strong attacks and protect Igniz.
 * Superhuman Speed - Igniz can punch, kick and use his tendrils with high inhuman speed
 * Psychokinesis - Igniz has a vast array of psychic abilities.
 * Telepathy - Igniz is telepathically linked to his special suit.
 * Tentacle Attacks - Igniz can use the tentacles of his suit to attack the opponent by commanding them telepathically to do so.
 * Sentience Inducement - Igniz can grant his special suit with sentience of their own.
 * Reflect Projectiles - His suit can reflect projectiles or physical attacks.
 * Force Fields - Igniz can create force fields, which act as shields or projectiles reflector.
 * Flight - Igniz is capable of flight.
 * Ergokinesis - Igniz can channel energy, either naturally (his own) or artificially (through his armor). His energy appears to be whitish in colour but sometime it can change to purple or orange colour.
 * Energy Projectile - Igniz can fire a projectile of white energy.
 * Energy Pillar - Igniz can create several pillars of white energy.
 * Energy Ball - Igniz can create a powerful ball of white energy.
 * Energy Blast - Through his suit, he can fire a blast of white energy from each of its tentacles.
 * Cosmokinesis - Igniz has some control over cosmic energy, he can gather energy from the universe as a source of his power. Igniz's all abilities are mostly powered by cosmic energy. Such as his strength, speed, stamina and energy projection.
 * Energy Absorption - Igniz especial suit can absorb the energy of the universe, it is seen many times throughout games but his most notable is when he draws energy from the Milky Way and creates a massive ball of energy or a crystal ball which can destroy his opponent.
 * Divine Power - Igniz's powers could also be taken as divine, heavenly-like.
 * Divine Empowerment - Igniz can use his divine powers to empower himself or his special suit.
 * Divine Energy Manipulation - Igniz manipulates holy energy, using it either through himself or his special suit. It takes the form of white energy.
 * Magic - Igniz can use mystical abilities seen in a few games. But there are theories that he uses this ability in their particular universe invoking the crystal ball that holds the opponent, a mystical symbol can be seen on the ground when Igniz uses this ability.

Fighting Style
Like many SNK bosses, Igniz is extremely powerful and difficult to defeat. Igniz relies on his powers and on his special suit. His suit is linked mentally to his mind and it contains two tentacles hidden in his wrists and four tentacles that end in pointed edges.

He had no crouching attack animations, yet had standing attacks that must be guarded low, and could not crouch initially like typical SNK bosses. His basic attacks has far and quick reach, and could poke enemies from a safe distance. Crouching animations and crouching attacks were added to him in KOF2002UM, and has characteristics reminiscent of Zero and his clone.

In his Disintegrational Universe attack, he draws power from the Milky Way and uses it against his opponent when he captures them in a crystal ball, which will display the overview of the Milky Way as well.

Music

 * Ware koso Saikyo (I Am the Mightiest) - The King of Fighters 2001, The King of Fighters: All Star
 * Save the Universe - The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
 * Igniz/Zero after Versus Regular Bonus - The King of Fighters 2
 * Igniz Clear Bonus - The King of Fighters 2

Voice Actors

 * Norio Wakamoto - The King of Fighters 2001~2002 UM
 * Masafumi Kimura - The King of Fighters: World, The King of Fighters: All Star

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters 2001 - final boss
 * The King of Fighters 2 (pachinko) - final boss
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match - possible final boss

Mobile Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match Online
 * The King of Fighters: World
 * The King of Fighters Destiny (Game)
 * The King of Fighters All Star

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '94 Rebout - in the Psycho Soldier Team stage
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - ending credits
 * The King of Fighters XIII - mentioned during K' and Saiki pre-fight dialogue as "The Man who failed to become a God" and "The Self-Proclaimed God".
 * The King of Fighters XIV - in Verse's win quote against Sylvie