Chizuru Kagura

Chizuru Kagura (神楽 ちづる, Kagura Chizuru) whose real name is Chizuru Yata (八咫 ちづる, Yata Chizuru), is a character from The King of Fighters series that made her character debut in The King of Fighters '96 as a mid-boss and the sponsor of the KoF tournament that year. Later, in The King of Fighters '97 she appeared as a normal participant in the year's Women Team. She was created in the image of anime and manga character, Yohko Shiraki, from the Tomorrow's Joe manga series.

Like Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, she is a member of the clan that holds one of the three sacred artifacts that originally sealed the serpent monster Orochi 1,800 years ago: the Yata no kagami or Yata Mirror. Due to the rivals' attribution towards one another, Chizuru is usually the one who has to keep the trio together. They form the Three Sacred Treasures Team whose endings often entail the canon events of any parties involved.

Story
Chizuru is the younger of the two heiresses of the Yata clan, the other being her older twin sister Maki Kagura. As the heiress of the Yata, she was raised as a priestess and maintain the duty of keeping the diligent seal on Orochi intact. One night, Goenitz visited their home with intentions to destroy the seal. Maki confronts him, but since the power of their clan can not fight the Orochi without the help of the other two clans and Goenitz's strength as one of the Heavenly Kings was too great, she loses and is mortally wounded. Goenitz destroys the seal and leaves with the satisfaction of a weak but released Orochi. Before her death, Maki passes on the responsibilities of the seal to Chizuru, begging her to join the three clans together once again to defeat Orochi.

Ten years afterwards, Chizuru has become a very successful and prestigious business woman under the family name Kagura. She secretly kept track with the King of Fighters tournament since it began with Geese Howard and hosts the tournament in 1996 in hopes of entreating Kyo and Iori to help her replace the broken seal. Though both Kyo and Iori protest, the three of them succeed in their task at the climax of The King of Fighters '97. She hosts another King of Fighters tournament in 2003 with intentions similar to her previous attempt. During the tournament, however, it is revealed that Chizuru was under mind-control by a mysterious puppeteer and member from Those From the Past, Botan.

Ironically, she ends up using the power of the Yata mirror for the benefit of the very force she was trying to combat and fights alongside an illusion of her sister Maki as one of the game's sub-bosses. Eventually, she breaks free from Botan's control and tries to restore the seal of Orochi, but Ash steals her powers before she can. She survives the attack but can no longer participate in fights, asking Kyo's self-proclaimed disciple, Shingo Yabuki, to fill her spot in The King of Fighters XI. She keeps in touch with current events and Ash's movements by talking with Benimaru Nikaido. Her powers return when Ash disappears in King of Fighters XIII.

Personality
Having to watch her own sister murdered in front of her, Chizuru took that trauma and focused on sealing Orochi. She is very serious, but after Orochi was sealed, she started to lighten up thanks to Mai, King and King's brother Jan.

Powers

 * Divination - As a priestess, she can foretell some future events. She can also learn a person's history with said power.
 * Mirror Image - Chizuru can create copies of herself. The copies, when created, may only move, attack and disappear. With a little effort, Chizuru can make the copies attack more than once or create more than one copy.
 * Reflector - Chizuru can reflect projectiles.
 * Seal Powers - Chizuru can seal her enemy's powers for a few moments.
 * Create Shadow - Chizuru can use the power of the Yata Mirror to create shadows of living or dead beings. She used this power in 2003, to create Kusanagi, a shadow of Kyo and a shadow of her own sister, Maki.
 * Seal - Being of Yata heritage, Chizuru can use her powers to seal Orochi in another dimension.
 * Telepathy - Using the Yata Mirror, Chizuru can speak into other people's minds. She can also temporarily possess people for similar purposes.
 * Teletransport - While Chizuru's ability to disappear and reappear in a different location isn't mentioned, Ash gains this ability after stealing her Yata Mirror as shown in the endings of 2003 and XI.

Fighting Style
Her fighting style is very soft, with moves that resemble traditional Japanese dancing.

Music

 * Fairy - The King of Fighters '96, '98
 * Sacredness ~ Fairy - The King of Fighters 2003
 * Afro Culture (Spiritual Tribal Groove Mix) - K.O.F. Dance Trax

Voice Actors

 * Akiko Saito - King of Fighters '96 ~ 2000
 * Yukiko Sugawa - King of Fighters 2003
 * Maki Terakado - King of Fighters movie (Japanese voice)

Live Action Actors

 * Francoise Yip - King of Fighters movie

Game Appearances

 * The King of Fighters '96
 * The King of Fighters '97
 * The King of Fighters '98
 * The King of Fighters R-1
 * The King of Fighters: Kyo
 * The King of Fighters '99: Evolution - As a Striker
 * The King of Fighters: Battle de Paradise - as a Striker
 * The King of Fighters 2000 - As a Striker for Mai
 * The King of Fighters 2003

Mobile Appearances

 * Days of Memories (second title) - unplayable

Cameo Appearances

 * The King of Fighters XI - Talks with Shingo in his team's backstory
 * The King of Fighters XII - Talks with Benimaru during his profile story; in-text cameo in win quotes
 * The King of Fighters XIII - Talks with Benimaru during Ash's story, talks with Iori in his team's story
 * KOF Sky Stage - in-text cameo; mentioned repeatedly
 * The King of Fighters '94: Rebout - Background cameo
 * The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match - Japan High School background cameo
 * SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos - Cameo in Goenitz's ending
 * The King of Fighters (pachinko)
 * The King of Fighters 2