Iori Yagami

Iori Yagami (八神 庵, Yagami Iori?) is a character from the SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series that first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team. He is an iconic character of the series, and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Iori is a central character to the series' plot, and the initial enemy and eventual rival of Kyo Kusanagi. He was created specifically to become Kyo's rival as his name and abilities were designed to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend. The designers ended up liking him so much that they take care how his character is developed along the series.

Iori is the heir of the Yagami clan, who wield pyrokinetic powers and sealed the Orochi demon along with the Kusanagi and Yata clans. However, after betraying the Kusanagi clan, the Yagami are cursed by Orochi giving them powers that cause all members to die young. The character harbors hatred against the other clans, but later becomes obsessed to kill their heir Kyo. Due to that, Iori sometimes helps him in order to have the opportunity to have a final fight against him. Aside from the main series, Iori appears in several other media series such as spin-offs and crossover video games, and comic adaptations of the series.

Video games reviewers have praised the character as one of the most powerful characters from the series. Reviewers also noted Iori as one of the best characters from the games, labeling him as a veteran character and praising his appearance as one of the best creations of SNK. Within Gamest's 1997 Heroes Collection, Iori was voted as the staff's first favorite character. A variety of collectibles based on Iori's likeness have been created, including key chains and figurines.