Iori Yagami
From Canonwars
Iori Yagami (insert awesome kanji here) is from the Video Game series King of Fighters. He was born March 25th, making him an Aries. He's distant, quiet, and a bastard. His one goal in life is to kill Kyo Kusanagi, the longtime rival of the Yagami clan. Even though their two clans have been at war since the fall of the Orochi, Iori claims that his personal intentions have nothing to do with the war that their two clans have waged for over a hundred years. He abhors violence, but will destroy anyone or anything that stands in his way. Because of his childhood, Iori has very high respect for those he considers "strong," but will otherwise brush off accusations, insults and compliments from those he considers the opposite. He doesn't feel much aside from the driving need to kill those he wishes. Because of his "curse," Iori is considered quite dangerous, when provoked he is a force to be reckoned with; otherwise he's a pretty docile when he's not killing Kyo. He has the power of the Black Flame, cursed by the Orochi.
One of the most noticable things about Iori is his striking appearance. Aside from his red hair, he's dark skinned and tall, always wearing a black vest with a sliver of crescent moon on the back. The tails of his shirt hang loose, and the cuffs at his wrist hang open. The red leather pants that he wears are tied together at the knee by a belt. Both his appearance and his presence can be easily spotted in a crowd. When not killing Kyo, stalking Kyo, or being possessed by Orochi, Iori plays the guitar and eats meat.
He is brought into Canonwars at the end of the 2003 tournament, inwhich Chizuru's powers are stolen by Ash Crimson. Thus, Iori has two goals in mind, the first is killing Kyo, the second is stopping Ash Crimson.
Iorichan is played by Roni at riotofblood, his play by is Yamashita Tomohisa.
Orochi
To understand the King of Fighter's version of the Orochi legend, it's pretty vital to get a gist of the ancient Japanese legend. The "Legend of the Orochi," which is one of the—if not the—oldest myths in Japan; if anything, it's also one of the most famous. "Orochi" is a snake, short for "Yamata no Orochi." It's slain by Susanoo (one of the Japanese Gods) after his fall from Heaven. Sometimes the Orochi is depicted as a snake, some say it's more of a dragon, but whatever it is, it has eight heads and is described as both massive and terrible. (Some say it has seven, and is depicted as smaller.)
In myth, it demanded virgin sacrifice and tribute. Susanoo slaughters Orochi because of Kushinada, one of the maiden sacrifices that he falls in love with. Susanoo proceeds to feed the Orochi, giving it food and sake. It eventually gets intoxicated falls asleep, and he goes about cutting off all of its heads. In its tail, he finds Kusanagi, the legendary "Grass Cutting Sword" which has a whole other myth of its own. It's one of the three treasures of Yamato and is referenced in Kyo Kusanagi's last name.
In the King of Fighter's version of the Orochi legend, both Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami are descendants of two clans that lived in 1200 CE: the Kusanagi clan, and the Yasakani clan, both of these clans used flames as their powers, which were orange. In order to protect Kushinada, they weakend the Orochi with their sacred flames, and handed over the job of sealing the creature to the Yata clan. The Yasakani clan were eventually seduced by Orochi, and were given powers beyond that of the Kusanagi. It's hard to say whether or not they desired more power, or if they were jealous of the Kusanagi; but in the end, they were given God-like powers. In return for the gift from the Orochi, the women that bore children in the Yasakani clan died in childbirth, their heirs died young, and their new flames, were excruiatingly painful to wield and turned black. They changed their names from "Yasakani" to "Yagami." From then on, the Kusanagi declared war on the Yagami.
It is theorized that Iori holds the Magatama, one of the three ancient treasures in Japan. While Kyo bears the last name of the sword Kusanagi—Iori's former last name, Yasakani, is the name of Japan's ancient jewel, the "Yasakani no Magatama," and is said to be the source of Iori's power.
Image Songs
- Radiohead - I Am A Wicked Child
- Modest Mouse - Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive/Negative)
