Chris

Chris (クリス, Kurisu) is a character from SNK's The King of Fighters series of fighting games who is a member of the New Faces Team in KOF '97. He is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Orochi, and is the dark Orochi counterpart to Kyo in regards of his ability to wield dark flames.

Development
Chris and his teammates were created to offset the remaining top three characters. Chris was chosen as the host for Orochi's awakened spirit, a concept that began early in the game's production. He was designed as a character who can "kill with an innocent smile."

His quote during his SDM makes a reference to another SNK game, Crystalis. He is believed to be based on a character in the anime Armored Trooper Votoms. In Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Chris was voted as the staff's twentieth favorite character. And in Neo Geo Freak's August 1998 issue, he was ranked as the 10th best character.

Orochi Saga
His true origin is shrouded in mystery. At one point, he formed a rock band named CYS (consisting of the first letter in the name of each band member) with Yashiro Nanakase and Shermie, with him playing the drums. He, along with Yashiro and Shermie, entered the King of Fighters 1997 to form the New Face Team by individually defeating and stealing the invitations of the qualified American Sports Team (Heavy D!, Lucky Glauber, and Brian Battler), having chosen to enter after the preliminaries were over. Their initial goal for entering the tournament was due to Yashiro's grudge and desire to get revenge on Iori Yagami, the leader of a rival band that had surpassed them in popularity. Chris, Shermie, and Yashiro themselves were originally unaware of their own Orochi heritage.

As the tournament progressed, the Orochi blood within Chris and his friends awakened and they regained their memories of being three of the "Four Heavenly Kings". As loyal members of Orochi, they continued to gather power to resurrect Orochi. They kidnapped Yuki as a sacrifice for Orochi to regain his full potential and triggered the Riot of the Blood within Iori and Leona via their own presence. Near the end of the tournament, 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, but Orochi itself is re-sealed again by the Three Sacred Treasures: Kyo, Iori, and Chizuru.

XIV Arc
Due to Verse's actions during the events of The King of Fighters XIV, it is confirmed that Chris, along with Yashiro and Shermie have been brought back to life, despite Chris himself being Orochi's vessel. Unlike with Shermie and Yashiro, who gains memories of their Orochi heritage in their normal forms, Chris either does not know or disregards it.

Personality
Chris is quite innocent, shy, cheerful, and has a heart of gold, though somewhat anti-social. He also seems to be quite soulful. In normal situations, Chris will try to be the mature one of the group providing information for his teammates when necessary. Despite his generally prim and proper decorum, it's been noted that Chris also possesses a murderous intent and it's stronger than Shermie's, which ties into him being able to "kill with an innocent smile."

Powers

 * Super Speed - Chris can move faster than normal human beings.
 * Translocation - Using the Super Speed power, Chris can translocate himself to another place.
 * Energy Attacks - Chris can infuse his attacks with energy.

Fighting Style
Chris fights using his speed mixed with acrobatic maneuvers, which gives him a mixup-pressure-based fighting style that involves him playing mindgames with his opponents.

Originally, his moveset was deemed as subpar in his debut appearance, to the point where a majority of it was reworked in  '98. In 2002 akin to Blue Mary, gives him a classic system mechanic as one of his special moves (his "Leading" attacks are based on his stationary sidestep animation in Extra mode).

Chris is also so far, the only character via his HSDM of the Four Heavenly Kings to be able to manually access his other form. However, his portrait and current BGM do not change in both 2002 and NeoWave until the former does in 2002 UM; even then, ending a round with a transformed-normal-Chris will have him revert back to his normal form in the next round.

Music

 * Bloody - The King of Fighters '97, '98, R-1, R-2 and 2002
 * Re:Bloody - The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match

Voice Actors

 * Rio Ogata - The King of Fighters '97 ~ 2002 UM
 * Shiki Aoki - The King of Fighters World ~ present

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '97
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters R-1
 * The King of Fighters R-2
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - As a Striker for Whip
 * The King of Fighters 2002
 * The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * CR The King of Fighters

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (second and fifth title) - NPC; passing mention in the fifth
 * Moeyo! KOF Daiundokai
 * Cos大乱斗
 * Crash Fever
 * Tower of Saviors
 * Kimi wa Hero
 * The King of Fighters World
 * The King of Fighters Destiny
 * The King of Fighters All Star
 * The King of Fighters: Orochi Go
 * The King of Fighters M《格鬥天王M》
 * SNK Fighting Age

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters 2003 - in the Edit Team's ending
 * The King of Fighters XIII - in the London stage
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - background cameo in the Art of Fighting Team stage
 * Neo Geo Battle Coliseum - in Shermie's ending
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2
 * SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy - in Shermie's ending; also mentioned in her winquote vs. Kula

Similar Characters

 * Orochi Chris
 * Orochi