Yuki (KOF)

Yuki (ユキ Yuki) is a secondary character in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters videogame series; she was first introduced in the The King of Fighters '97 and The King of Fighters: Kyo games. She is a normal school girl as well as Kyo Kusanagi's love interest.

Yuki's voice actress is Tomoko Kojima. She was chosen for the CD, radio dramas and the spin-off, King of Fighters: Kyo RPG game. She only had a single line in the KoF' 97 game: "Matteru kara ne, Kyo!" ("I'll wait for you, Kyo!"). She appears as a playable fighter in the hand-held game, SNK Gals' Fighters.

Creation Process
Originally, Yuki was not meant to be conceptualized, since her first mention ever in the KoF story was in Kyo's profile as one of his most cherished possessions. Her addition to his profile was added by one of the programmers mostly as a joke since Kyo was more popular with female gamers (some of them being yaoi fans) than male ones. By 1996 and 1997, Yuki began to have cameos in several official illustrations alongside Kyo and his teammates, drawn by the series' main illustrator at the time, Shinkiro. Her character persona became more fleshed out in the spin-off manga, The King of Fighters: Kyo, illustrated by mangaka Masato Natsumoto. A video game based on the manga was also created during the comic's publication, revealing another shade to her character. Since then, she began to appear as a recognizable character in officially sponsored fan dōjinshi.

On June 15, 1997, SNK held an open audition for Yuki's seiyu for her cameo in KOF '97, hoping to also use her in future drama CDs and other merchandise. A total of 1,534 young women participated, 400 of them being fans of the series and 16 of them also named Yuki. The development team for the game and the series' voice director were the judges and they asked the ladies to improvise their lines. Seiyū from the series were also there to open the ceremonies and to announce the progression of the event, with Kunihiko Yasui, Monster Maezuka, Yukina Kurisu (Athena's seiyu at the time), and Masahiro Nonaka there to inspire participants. Yuki's seiyu, Tomoko Kojima, was chosen out of the four finalists. Following her voice debut in The King of Fighters '97, Yuki went on to appear on the now defunct radio programs, Neo Chupi and Neo Geo DJ Station, and continues to be mentioned in Kyo's back story to select games. By this point, what started as a joke on Kyo's popularity had, in SNK's words, grown "from a one-dimensional filler to a full-fledged character".

The King of Fighters 95, 96 and KoF: Kyo
Yuki is the last descendant of Kushinada, the only one of the legendary maidens from Izumo that was saved from being sacrificed to Orochi by the Kusanagi, Yasakani and Yata clans. She, however, was unaware of this fact until at least The King of Fighters '96, having lived her whole life as a normal schoolgirl until she met Kyo Kusanagi, gained his friendship and later his love.

According to KoF: Kyo, Yuki didn't even know about the existence of the KoF tournament until she, Kyo, Athena Asamiya and Sie Kensou (who had followed Athena to confront her over Kyo) are approached by Iori Yagami not too far from their school. At one point, tired of Iori's no-nonsense attitude and fearing that other people may get hurt, Yuki hurls herself in between Iori and Kyo, telling him to leave the school grounds since Kyo doesn't want to fight him right then. Iori grabs Yuki by the neck and asks Kyo if he considers him as the type who'd injure a defenseless civilian, and then releases her. Later, he leaves without fighting Kyo. Yuki is quite disturbed upon the deal, as well as disappointed on Kyo since she resents being left behind in the KoF trials.

As Kyo loses his Kusanagi powers and distances himself from his friends prior to the KoF'97 tournament, Kyo's childhood friend and mentor Goro Daimon introduces Yuki and her friend Sanae to one of his students, Maeta, who has had a crush on Yuki from quite a while ago. Maeta defeats Kyo in an unofficial judo match organized by Daimon, gaining a date with Yuki as a prize. After speaking to Sanae, Yuki goes out with Maeta despite her discomfort at being seen as a trophy of sorts; in the middle of the date, when she's gonna tell Maeta that she only sees him as a friend, she's kidnapped by a masked man in a motorcycle, who is somehow familiar to her.

The man ties Yuki up to a lamp post's top and challenges Kyo, who has followed him along with Benimaru Nikaido, Athena and Kensou. During the fight, Kyo progressively starts to be consumed by the Orochi aura, becoming a darker and more evil version of himself. However, the taunts from the stranger (whom Yuki recognizes as Saisyu Kusanagi, Kyo's father) finally get through him, and Kyo goes back to his senses. Saisyu then cuts the rope and Yuki falls from the post's top, and Kyo catches her in time as he realizes that the Kusanagi flame was given to his clan to protect people, and specially their loved ones. Almost immediately after this, Kyo fully gets his powers back.

The King of Fighters 97
From then on, Yuki remains as a constant but background-ish character in the KoF:Kyo manga and games as well as the other KoF games, until The King of Fighters '97. Yuki is kidnapped sometime during the KoF: Kyo games, but after Kyo tracks her down through several countries with the help of his fellow fighters, she's rescued and taken back to Japan by Chizuru Kagura. The next time, she's not so lucky; in her way to the last date she'd have with Kyo prior to KoF 97, Yashiro Nanakase and his teammates Chris and Shermie (whom she briefly met some time ago in a TV station) manage to get a hold on her.

As Kyo, Goro, Benimaru and other fighters make their way in the tournament, Yuki is held hostage by the Orochi clan, and through her captors she learns more about her heritage and role in the whole story... and that she's gonna be killed in the ritual to bring Orochi back into the world. However, before this takes place, Kyo, Iori and Chizuru arrive to the scene and are told about this too. Kyo is enraged after he learns that Yuki is gonna be sacrificed, and this gives him an extra boost to take on the newly-awakened Orochi, augmented after the spirit of the Yasakani clan briefly talks to him and, along with begging him to seal Orochi along with Iori, entrusts him with the last Kushinada's protection. Kyo doesn't say anything, but he obeys the Yasakani spirit's orders and seals Orochi; his last thoughts before losing consciousness are of a smiling Yuki, who says she'll wait for him to come home.

In the epilogue of the King of Fighters: Kyo game, the recently-rescued Yuki tends to Kyo once he wakes up along with Shingo Yabuki and Chizuru Kagura.

Now
Despite fan theories suggesting otherwise, Yuki is still alive and well. She was saved by Iori from NESTS' minions in his prequel storyline to KoF 2000 and was mentioned again in the background story for Japan Team in KoF 2001. Additionally, Kyo tries to keep in touch with her during his stay in America in the Maximum Impact series. She'll most likely remain in the background since the Heralds in KoF 2003/XI aren't proper Heralds of Orochi; they're after Orochi's power and intend to give it to their own master, not to awaken Orochi himself.

Personality
Personality-wise, Yuki is pretty much the 'girl next door' type; she's quite of a smartass and has very limited patience towards Kyo, who in return treats her more as a sister than a proper girlfriend. They squabble rather frequently over petty things, but are still extremely loyal to each other if need arises. When Athena Asamiya transfers to their school to see Kyo's powers with her own eyes after being defeated by him in KoF' 95, Yuki does show some degree of jealousy and treats Athena as a child for a while, but become fast friends.

Powers
None known.

Skills

 * Jumping: Yuki is very proficient with high-jumping.

Fighting Style
Yuki does not fight. Although she appears on SNK Gals' Fighters as a hidden character (this is not considered canon). She fights with her bag and uses her jumping skills as well. Her fighting style resembles that of Kisarah Westfield, but Yuki's appearance was several years before Neo Geo Battle Coliseum, where Kisarah first used a bag to fight.

Music
None known.

Game Appearances

 * SNK Gals' Fighters