Shingo Yabuki

Shingo Yabuki (矢吹 真吾, Yabuki Shingo) is a reoccurring character who first appears in the series in The King of Fighters '97 as an edit entry. Creators to the series explain that he is designed to be the comic foil to Kyo. While Kyo was a hero, Shingo is meant to be a "simple and plain, everyday guy". To follow his character persona, he was also meant to be marketed on a lesser scale of importance for his introduction to the series.

He is voiced by Takehito Koyasu.

Story
After he watched the televised 1996 tournament, Shingo became a huge fan of Kyo Kusanagi. When he realized that they studied at the same school, Shingo began to pester Kyo to teach him his techniques, as he was fascinated with Kyo's flame. However, Shingo doesn't know that the flame is actually an inherited gift of the Kusanagi bloodline. Kyo, wanting a gofer and taking pity on him, decided to "teach" Shingo in exchange for food. Shingo saw each of Kyo's moves once, wrote down every move, and practiced them everyday. In 1997, he participated in the tournament for the singles entry and passed. Although he excelled in his year of training, he apparently lost somewhere in the King of Fighters tournament. As a reward for his progress, Kyo gives him a pair of his gloves, and Shingo has worn them since then.

In 1999, he became one of many people worried about Kyo's disappearance. Benimaru Nikaido asked Shingo to join him, K', and Maxima in that year's KOF. Their goal for this year and the next was to find Kyo's whereabouts. In 2000, he entered alongside Benimaru, Seth and Lin, but wasn't so lucky. In 2001, Team Japan was reunited, but they needed a fourth team member and Shingo was called. He was extremely excited to fight with on the same team as Kyo. In 2002, he spent his time training with Saisyu Kusanagi, Kyo's father. Saisyu was too touched by Shingo's courage to tell him the truth about the flame's origin.

In 2003, Shingo teamed up with Benimaru and Goro Daimon. When they were eliminated, Benimaru and Daimon complimented him, but he got cocky and started yelling that he is no longer Kyo's fan, he is his rival. That's when Kyo appeared behind him and started beating him up. After Ash Crimson stole Chizuru Kagura's Yata Mirror, Shingo visits her in the hospital and promises to unite Kyo and Iori Yagami in order to investigate Ash and the weakened Orochi seal. In his team's ending, Iori in his Riot of Blood state knocks out Kyo and badly beats up Shingo. Ash then defeats Iori and steals his magatama.

Personality
He is one of the cheerful and silly characters in the series. He considers all fighters as his friends, making everybody see him as a weird but good kid. Shingo admires Kyo like an idol, and often dedicates his victories to him. He dreams of being able to wield flames like Kyo, which is stressed to the point of comic relief throughout the series. For instance, in The King of Fighters 2003, Shingo can randomly produce a small flame spark when performing his 115 Shiki: Dokugami Mikansei (Unfinished Poison Bite) attack. However, it seems that only Shingo can see this "flame", mainly due to Shingo not being a part of the Kusanagi bloodline.

Powers
Undefeatable optimism and spirit.

Excels at taking notes, being able to imitate moves he has seen only once (albeit not perfectly) by jotting down notes and pointers in his notebook, which he refers to during fights.

Fighting Style
He replicates several of Kyo's moves sans the flames. He isn't perfect though as he always takes out his handbook if he seems to forget a move. He also "messes up" certain moves (such as the 101 Shiki: Oboro Guruma Mikansei (Unfinished Twilight Wheel), Shingo Kinsei Ore: Mu Shiki, and Shingo Kinsei Oreshiki: Rouka Guruma) where he falls or collapses during or after their executions.

Music

 * Still Green - The King of Fighters '97, '98 and PS2 version of XI.
 * KD-0079 - The King of Fighters '99
 * Inner Shade - The King of Fighters 2000
 * The Invincible Flame - The King of Fighters 2001
 * Joyrider - The King of Fighters 2003
 * New Age - Arcade version of The King of Fighters XI

Image Song

 * The Song of Fighters II - Shared image song with other King of Fighters characters

Game Appearances



 * The King of Fighters 97
 * The King of Fighters 98 - also a computer challenger
 * The King of Fighters 99
 * The King of Fighters 2000
 * The King of Fighters 2001
 * The King of Fighters 2002 - unlockable in console versions only
 * The King of Fighters Neowave
 * The King of Fighters 2003
 * The King of Fighters XI
 * The King of Fighters EX: Neo Blood - as a striker for Hero Team