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 Last Blade series of fighting games. SNK illustrator, Shiroi Eiji, takes his namesake the white palette of Eiji from 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.

Art of Fighting
Eiji is an assassin ninja from the feared and respected Kisaragi clan. He had been taught the killing arts of the Kisaragi since childhood, and he also became an expert in psychokinetic transportation, as a descendant of Zantetsu he also uses the Nagare(流）and Kage(影) twin ninja daggers. His school is the sworn enemy of both the Sakazaki clan and Kyokugenryu Karate. Eiji is a mercenary, willing to kill for anyone so long as they pay well. However though he was a villain in AoF2, there was no indication he was ever a member of Mr. Big's syndicate.

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. However Jin Fu-Ha is looking for him.

The King of Fighters
In The King of Fighters '95 Eiji decided to end the rivalry between his and the Sakazaki families by killing the Sakazaki Family (Ryo, Yuri and Takuma). Having traveled to Southtown to perform this task, he found no one in their dojo, instead there he learned of the King of Fighters tournament, in which the Sakazaki clan was participating. After hearing rumours spread town wide that Billy Kane, Geese Howard's personal bodyguard was looking for some team-mates for his team for the next tournament. Eiji saw in this a perfect opportunity to fulfill his desire and joined Kane's team for the tournament.

Eiji's team failed to reach the finals of the 1995 tournament and he was unable to get a 'clear shot' at the Sakazaki family. While about to escape and go search for them on his own, Iori Yagami appeared in front of Eiji and Billy Kane and brutally beat them, nearly killing them both.

Eiji did not appear as a playable, or story, character in King of Fighters game again until The King of Fighters XI. He did not even appear in KoF 98, which included almost everyone from '94 to '97 in a 'dream team' style line-up. This has been explained by stating that while trying to join the tournaments in the ten years between appearances, he was repeatedly rejected due to his extremely violent actions.

Eiji returned in The King of Fighters XI continuing his vendetta against Kyokugenryu practitioners and the Sakazaki family in particular, and now seeking additional vengeance against Iori. He is joined by Kasumi Todoh (another rival of Kyokugenryu Karate, but not to the extreme of Eiji), and Malin (who appears to have some hostility towards Yuri Sakazaki due to her remarks about Malin's fighting style). It is unclear if Eiji wanted to enter to kill the Sakazaki family or Iori in this tournament.

Personality
Eiji is a ruthless assassin, incapable of remorse or emotional attachment as he fights - human life appears to mean nothing to him. He is skilled at fighting multiple enemies at once. Eiji, possibly due to his few appearances, has been fleshed out very little beyond his hatred/rivalry of the Sakazaki family and his more recent vengeance against Iori. His past has yet to be revealed. Ironically, Eiji will often be played for comic relief, though this seems to be par for the course with Art of Fighting characters.

Many Western players believed Eiji to be secretly in love with popular character Mai Shiranui because the US version of his Art of Fighting 2 ending implies such a thing (despite the series being set 15 years before the Fatal Fury series) The Japanese version makes no such implication. Capitalizing on this fact, Eiji should be included in the cast of Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture taking the role at last assigned to Hauer.

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 with this.

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 unnarmed 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