The King Of Fighters basically has two focuses. Terry and the Wolves which is what started it all and flames. The flames referres to the character created for the tournament when it became its own game. This post will hopefully explain it this and others pillars I see of KOF.
We will start Kyo the first flame user of the series. He gets his pyrokensis from the Kusniagi sword. Kyo for the most part uses his family traditional style with his own modifications. This lends to Kyo strength as compared to the other flame wielders in the series as he is to be the most creative. Which is why he changes his moves around for the most part. You can see his modification and Kenpo influence in 97 when he took his punch strings and the legendary move final showdown.
The thing is the sword only gives its power to the direct line which gets a little tricky with Shingo. Shingo is a distant relative of Kyo so he is not able to use the flame. Yet in prologues he has been stated to at least admit flames. Yet in game we have no seen him use flames yet.
Something that changed since Mugen players says now is the time and most edits having using some flame. Shingo lake of flames can be said to go with him being kyo student and having incomplete moves.
K is also where this gets complicated. Since he gets his power from the flame that was inserted into his right hand it makes the direct lien hard to follow. The best I can think of is the flame links K to Kyo and thus to the sword. This makes him a half brother is my best estimate.
While Shingo has trouble getting a flame K problem is how much control he has. The glove he wears is supposed to help keep control yet we have seen the glove come and him not having any trouble controlling it or feeling Kyo anger has problem as Kyo rage is translated into the flame for K to deal with. There is also the question of will this stay the same if K power grows he will basically have to have it spread at some point. For fighting style k fights with Bruce jeet klung do inspired moves along with teleportation on top of the flames.
A side note here is that both kyo and K have both in manga wielded normal flames and Oriochi. Kyo through rage was allowed to and K had both Kyo and Iori give him 7o% of there combined powers. On top of that he was using it in the kof 2003 graphic novel.
Next is Oriochi which is the strongest flame in terms of raw strength and power. Yet it comes with a price of ones life being shortened. For those who can tap into its power it is something.
Next we have the Oriochi flame which is wielded in the game true story by two people. Iori and Chris.
Iori is just like Kyo in his flames from a sacred treasure and thus had flames the same as his rival. This changed when one of his family member pledge to the Oriochi. Which is why at the end of XIII Iori flame came back when he got the jewel from Ash.
The flames offer him more blunt power at the coast of his life but they also have some strange properties such as holding someone in place. The flame also seem have a strange effect when at full power as when Iori uses neomax from XIII or climax in XIV the back ground goes red. The thing is though the flames were treated for Iori to conquer or master at the beginning of the Ash saga which is why in his leader SDM you see his trinity 2 pillar go from purple the color of the Oriochi flames to red. I believe it was to show he was mastering the power.
Iori fights on instinct making him more animal like. You can see this when he tears and slashes his enemies. Something that only increases when he goes berserk. Since he doesn’t need gloves like K and Kyo he seems to have somewhat control over his flames.
Chris power of flames is basically displayed as Kyo on overdrive. If you don’t understand we see Chris have move similar to Kyo but they hit harder and more such as an uppercut that comes up twice. Another proof of this is that Chris has a super where he powers up like Kyo for the serpent wave aka Oriochinagi but instead of just a powerful one way. He hits come like a boss.
As compared to Iori it is hard to say who is stronger since his strongest point is being a vessel for the Oriochi. So in terms of raw power we don’t know at this point. How Strong Chris is on his own at full power. But the fact he was suggest for the vessel might lend it self to him being the strongest. Out of the born families.
Next is the Colorful Flames or Dark Flames. This is basically Saiki bloodline and so far only consist of him and Ash.
Ash Crimson
Ash Crimson is the wielder of the green flame having a passive personality it is hard to understand his objective until he makes his move. Something that is reflected in his fighting style. Ash fights baiting the opponent or waiting for an opening. Thus his charged fighting style which slowly grew on fans from a Street Fighter 3 Remy copy into something of his own was formed. Basically Ash is the one you never knew what he is thinking which was shown through his entire arc.
Ash Green flames have similar property to others where they will burn you but they also posses other properties. Ash was able to gain Iori and Chizuru abilities from getting there scared treasure from them. He did so through them without having to get it from there homes where the treasures were kept. It is unknown if he can jus take people ability but he did do this. Not just to them but to Saiki as well.
Saiki
Saiki is Ash ancestor possessing immense power. We see him in KOF XIII who want to rule the world with the powers of Gaia which he can gain using a ritual that involves the Oriochi. Something that went wrong when Ash betrayed him.
is fighting style is the same as Ash without charging but includes teleporting. He uses a dark flame in human form when in his alternate form he uses dark energy and matter which can allow him to hold someone in place as well as lock you down as he teleports and just punches you in the face. In this for we also see him warp reality as he transforms.
Saiki and Ash both share one thing it is hard to gauge there true power. Ash fights constantly holding back and from what I have seen he was never tested in the series since he avoided fighting with the bosses. He took away Iori Oriochi flames while he was in blood riot. But with him being in that state of attacking mercilessly and being more feral than normal played to Ash natural fighting style of attacking at the right moment.
Saiki is in the same bout as even with him in his transformation he might not have been fighting at full power. Plus it is hard to say if he gives those under him some of his power. With both having a tendency to look down on there opponent it is hard to gauge there true power even with Dark Ash. Yes Saiki is using his true power but he runs out of time before anyone can stop him. But it is the top form of them which shows to control as they stopped time and powerful dark flames.
There are off shots missing from this such as Kyo dad, Kula whose powers are reversed engerniered from Kyo flames. Krizlaid a clone based on K with Kyo flames and other warriors. k49 and Nameless. The thing is Kula uses ice, Krizlaid doesn’t uses flames that much and we barely see Kyo dad. In this I wanted to focus on the flame users we have seen and have played a big role in the heroes of the game as KOF has focused so heavily on them. With that said I hope this help those who are curious about the characters.
As always thank you for reading.
