Eiji Kisaragi

Eiji Kisaragi (如月 影二, Kisaragi Eiji) is a character in both the Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters series. He is the descendent of Zantetsu from The Last Blade series of fighting games. SNK illustrator, Shiroi Eiji, takes his namesake from the white palette of Eiji in Art of Fighting 2.

In both The King of Fighters XI and the manga of The King of Fighters: Kyo, Eiji is portrayed as only semi-serious, and is often the butt of other characters' jokes. He is voiced by Yoshinori Shima.

Art of Fighting
Eiji is a ninja from the feared and respected Kisaragi clan. Sworn to be the strongest under the heavens, he made it his goal to defeat the one school his clan had not yet surpassed: Kyokugenryu Karate. As a descendant of Zantetsu, he also wields the Nagare and Kage twin ninja daggers and uses them sparingly.

As with all of the characters from the previous two games except Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia, Eiji does not appear in Art of Fighting 3. His former student searches for him and is his rival.

The King of Fighters
In The King of Fighters '95, Eiji was summoned by Billy Kane to enter a team with Iori Yagami and him. Although he seemed surprised to see his teammates for the first time, he agreed since it was a chance to continue his agenda against the Kyokugenryu practitioners. In their team's ending, Iori, seeing no further use for them, beats Eiji and Billy. Both men harbored a grudge against Iori ever since. However, the official KOF site states that the ninja instead suffered a humiliating loss from the Art of Fighting team.

Eiji returns in The King of Fighters XI as a member of the Anti Kyokugenryu team. In their team's back story, it is explained that he was extensively training in the mountains since his defeat in 1995. Summoned by Malin, he seemed intent on taking his revenge on Takuma and is surprised to hear the master of the style hospitalized. He instead shifts his target to Ryo, who is deemed to be the most proficient practitioner in the tournament by both him and his teammate, Kasumi. In their team's ending, they continue to spy on their rivals and prepare to ambush them at a fancy restaurant. At the same moment they strike, they are unintentionally yet humorously knocked out by an irritated King.

Personality
Possibly due to his few appearances, little of his character has been fleshed out beyond his rivalry of the Sakazaki family and his more recent grudge against Iori. As with the other Art of Fighting characters, he is usually used for comic relief in his newer appearances.

Despite the timeline difference between the two series, many Western players believed Eiji to be secretly in love with Mai Shiranui due to a script change in US version of his Art of Fighting 2 ending. The original Japanese version makes no such implication. This belief was reinforced when he was planned to make an appearance in the Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture in Hauer's eventual role.

Powers

 * Translocation: Eiji is able to move himself from one place to another nearby almost instantly.
 * Energy Projectile: Eiji can create a projectile of energy.
 * Cutting Energy: Eiji can envelop his hands with cutting energy.
 * Energy Reflector: Eiji can reflect projectiles back towards his opponent.

Skills
All the skills a ninja must have, like hiding, climbing, swimming...

Fighting Style
Eiji uses the Kisaragiryuu Ninjutsu. Users of this style know how to fight unarmed and with knives.

Music

 * Shinobi no Michi (Way of the Ninja) - Art of Fighting 2
 * Arashi no Saxophone - The King of Fighters '95
 * Triumphantly - The King of Fighters XI

Game Appearances

 * Art of Fighting 2
 * The King of Fighters '95
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - As a Striker for Lin
 * The King of Fighters XI
 * The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (fourth title) - in-text character; faces off against Ryo

Cameo Appearances

 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters '94 - in the Mexico stage
 * The King of Fighters '96 - in Chizuru's stage
 * The King of Fighters '97 - in the China stage
 * The King of Fighters '98 - in the USA stage; also appears during Billy vs Iori intro sequence
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - in the Japan stage; also appears during Billy vs Iori intro sequence
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * KOF: Maximum Impact - background cameo
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - background cameo
 * SNK Gals' Fighters - with Miss X
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * Moeyo! KOF Daiundokai