Iori Yagami - Conception and Creation

Conception and Creation

A main objective planned for The King of Fighters '95 was to properly introduce Iori as Kyo's rival. Creators have stated Iori's personality and other aspects to his character "broke the mold for characters in fighting games at that time" commenting on his phrases and moves as unique. Like Kyo, several aspects of Iori, including his surname and abilities, were designed to relate him with the Yamata no Orochi legend, which was the inspiration for the plot. After observing initial location testing for King of Fighters '95, several staff members predicted that Iori would be popular on his release. One of them was happy to see that in an event for The King of Fighters XIII done on March 25, 2010, several fans reminded him that it was Iori's birthday according to his official profile. Iori is a berserker due to the Orochi demon blood within him. This version of him, officially named "Orochi Iori", is hinted to exist before its debut in The King of Fighters '97 as one of the game's mid bosses. This form of Iori was specifically designed to easily over power other characters. Series' flagship director, Toyohisa Tanabe, states that the staff was initially reluctant to add this version of Iori to the series' roster—worried about fans' reactions—but did so to add more impact to the Orochi saga's climax. He was particularly pleased to see surprised reactions from female fans to this form during KOF '97's location testing. Another minor development to his character was his change of "most valued possession/valued treasure" information. A girlfriend was also listed more than once, specifically in The King of Fighters '95, The King of Fighters '99, and The King of Fighters 2000. However, starting in The King of Fighters 2001 and every entry onwards, the space is listed as "None". The SNK staff commented that it is curious how he does not have a girlfriend anymore.

During the early development stages of The King of Fighters '99, SNK planned to exclude Iori and Kyo to the game, as the story's focus was meant to center on the new protagonist, K'. However, they retracted this decision because of the popularity of the characters. Iori's repeated appearances in the series is due to the marketers and main planners' insistence to add him, Kyo, and other SNK regulars in every game—making it a challenge to decide the story for each title. Because of his popularity amongst fans, some of the main designers for the series have stated that he is "difficult to draw for". Illustrator Shinkiro thought Iori as one of the series' most wild characters because of his hairstyle with similar sentiments being made by Last Blade illustrator, Tonko. Additionally, KOF: Maximum Impact producer, Falcoon, stated that attempting to change an "untouchable" design such as Iori's put him under severe pressure. He stated that designing Iori's alternate design that appears in the Maximum Impact series almost felt "unforgivable", as he felt unsure of fans' reaction to the change.

In The King of Fighters XIII, Iori's gameplay mechanics were modified to be a close range fighter. Despite losing his flaming techniques, he was given brutal moves using his nails to emphasize the character's ferociousness. His strongest technique in the game, "Forbidden 1218 Shiki: Yatagarasu" (禁千弐百拾八式・八咫烏?), is a new move that focuses on violent combos and serves as a references to the character's ending from The King of Fighters '96 in which he brutally murders his teammates. Iori's 10th color scheme in the game matches his classic outfit's scheme and during development of the game, details were added to increase the similarities. The ending from the character in the ending was also pointed by developers to be something to look forward to. His version featuring his classic techniques was designed with the intention of not surpassing the current Iori so that players would choose the fighting style they prefer in the game. This was further emphasized in the console version from The King of Fighters XIII where the Iori not using flaming techniques had his moveset adjusted for better balancing.