Editing Iori Yagami

The rival of Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami's family descends from the Yasakani, one of the three families who, along with the Kusanagi and the Yata (of which the organizer of the 1996 ''King of Fighters'' tournament, Chizuru Kagura, is a descendant), sealed Orochi away 1,800 years ago, although they later signed a blood pact with the deity out of envy for the Kusanagi clan, thus becoming the Yagami clan, whose purple flames became the sign of their pact. Over the centuries, this envy turned into outright hatred, with Iori constantly obsessing over killing Kyo in duel. Using pyrokinesis to fight, Iori joins the series in ''The King of Fighters '95'' as one of the members of the Rival Team, along with Geese Howard's right-hand Billy Kane and Eiji Kisaragi, a ninja who is out to defeat the Kyokugen martial arts school. Like his ancestors, due to the pact with the Orochi, Iori is susceptible to the Riot of the Blood which, when activated, drives him into a feral and blood-thirsty, but near-irrational state. Iori also features in his own drama CD and as a member in [https://snk.fandom.com/wiki/The_Band_of_Fighters SNK's own character image band], in which he plays the bass guitar.  His hobby as a bassist is also acknowledged in the ''King of Fighters'' canon, and plays part in the motivations of a rival band, CYS, who form the New Faces Team in ''The King of Fighters '97'' as the game's major antagonists. During this game, he eventually teams up with Kyo and Chizuru to confront a freed Orochi and seal him once again.

 

Though not originally from the {{uv|Fatal Fury}} series, Iori made a playable appearance in the Game Boy version of ''Real Bout Fatal Fury Special''. Iori has also appeared in many other games in both playable and non-playable appearances. Of particular note are the games ''{{iw|wikipedia|SNK Gals' Fighters}}'' and ''{{iw|wikipedia|SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy}}'', where Iori wears a woman's dress and face mask and goes under the name Miss X. In the games, the Queen of Fighters tournament is held by Miss X, though everyone immediately realizes she is just Iori in disguise. Later, playable character Kukri creates a pocket dimension where many female SNK characters are transported to. This includes Miss X, who actually becomes a female in this dimension. Her ending sees herself and Kyo reconciling their differences and getting to more friendly terms. Iori then suddenly wakes up in his bed to find he has returned to his original self and it was all a nightmare of his. He then becomes embarrassed for even thinking about such a reality and vows to continue his rivalry.