Hizoku

Hizoku (「」, Kahokushō Ansatsu Shūdan Hizoku, lit. "Hebei Province Assassination Group "Hizoku""), also known as the Flying Brigands, is a fictional guild of assassins in The King of Fighters series. They are the main subject of the side story introduced in the NESTS saga.

Story
The Hizoku is an ancient clan of assassins located in the Hebei Province, China. To the public eye, they don't exist and are a mysterious entity. There are a few people who know of their existence, but they're mainly rumored to be assassins with the power to spit poison from their mouths. Due to their secret nature, no one is allowed to leave or make their presence as a Hizoku known to the public. They practice their art by leaving their home to accept assassination jobs from various clients. The former leader of the clan is Ron.

The clan was divided into four subgroups and the best warrior of each group are called "Kings" or The Four Devas (, Hizoku Shiten Ou). The subgroups are the Dong Xie (Heretic of the East), Xi Du (Poison of the West), Nan Di (Emperor of the South) and Bei Gai (Beggar of the North). Ron used to be the deva of the Xi Du, but he was replaced by Lin. Chat is the deva of the Dong Xie, Luan is the deva of the Nan Di, and Sai is the deva of the Bei Gai.

Back when most of the known Hizoku were children, Ron was previously a kind man and strict teacher who was well liked by everyone in the village. He fathered nine children (all said to be sons) from his wife and had a mistress who gave birth to Xiao Lon. However, as he aged, Ron wanted to gain power greater than his village. Sometime before the 2000 tournament, Ron betrayed his own people and killed several by his own hand. He set fire to the village and deserted it to join NESTS. Ron is interested in the Dragon Spirit shared by Bao and Sie Kensou, but his intentions for the power are not yet known. He has a group of followers, which include Misty, Lin and a few unnamed individuals.

Although the remaining Hizoku are few, their new mission in life is to execute the rogue leader. To aid their search for Ron's whereabouts, the skilled members continue accepting assassinations in the hopes of gaining clues. Lin was very adamant in his goal, but he has since possibly joined Ron; this has not been confirmed completely in any source material yet, however, as he was only spotted in the ending, and it is unknown if he joined him or is spying on him. The whereabouts of Ron's children aside from Duo Lon and Xiao Lon are not known, though it has been guessed that they are either hiding, have been evading Ron, or were killed. The known active members who are still intent on killing Ron are Luan and Duo Lon.

Members

 * Dong Xie 東邪
 * Chat (Deva)
 * Xi Du 西毒
 * Ron (former Deva and former leader of the whole Hizoku clan, now a traitor)
 * Lin (Possibly joined Ron)
 * Duo Lon
 * Xiao Lon
 * Nan Di 南帝
 * Luan (Deva)
 * Bei Gai 北丐
 * Sai (Deva)

Trivia

 * The names of the subgroups Dong Xie 東邪, Xi Du 西毒, Nan Di 南帝, Bei Gai 北丐 are inspired from characters of Jin Yong's Condor Trilogy known as the Five Greats

Reference
Hizoku
 * Xiaolon story in KOF Maximum Impact Regulation A has briefly mentioned about the structure and history of the Hizoku