Iori Yagami/Move List

Iori Yagami

Story

Move List

Gallery

Quotes

Trivia

Overview

Iori is a notoriously offensive Rushdown Character with powerful simple combos that can lead into vortex situations off of guaranteed hard knockdowns, though players would need to be careful as failing to master Iori would prevent using him to his full potential due to his laggy attacks and slow walking movement can easily lead him being punished for misuse of his tools.

Iori is surprisingly an avid zoning-type character, as his Yami Barai gives him an advantage in keep-away due to the movement styles in KOF. Even then, his powerful 127 Shiki Aoihana is his main meterless-combo-finisher tool that rewards him with said hard knockdowns, and makes his small combos extremely rewarding as he can continuously loop simple bread-n-butters into Aoihana to keep racking up damage not as affected by scaling, and even resulting in a quick stun to push his offense even further; this can be true if Iori has meter to expend for a super cancel (such as into his trademark Ya Otome).

Though in order to find opportunities to connect with such combos, an Iori player has to overcome the huddles of his lack of strong high-low mixups (his grounded overheads are lacking in speed with notable wind-up and his famed Kuzukaze throw has startup), and his laggier attacks which give him issues with applying safe pressure.

His most popular command normal, Ge-Shiki Yuri Ori, is a backwards kick that is meant only for crossing up making Iori unique in this aspect. In most games as of KOF '98, Iori can use it in a backdash for a quick getaway. From there, Iori conned the discovery of certain midair attacks being available during a backdash.

Due to Iori losing his flames at the hands of Ash Crimson during the climax of The King of Fighters XI, his moveset had been revamped for The King of Fighters XII and The King of Fighters XIII. His flameless fighting style appears somewhat faster (albeit less mobile) in KOF XII and KOF XIII; his combos seem to have become easier to chain with a slightly higher priority, on top of a far more practical tools in a quicker overhead in Ge-Shiki Kui and a damaging-side-swapping-juggle throw in the form of 203 Shiki Tsuchi Tsubaki.

Despite this, his lack of projectiles and limited multi-input offense without Aoihana revolves around being far more meter-reliant for both his Power and HD gauges in order to maximize his combo damage.

His old moveset returns as a separate version of Iori, titled "Iori who has recovered his Flames", or "EX Iori" in the console update Arcade "Climax" version of KOF XIII, which saw nerfs to some of his classic elements (such as his Aoihana being laggy on recovery more than before).

Starting with KOF XIV, he returns back to his Flame based moveset, while also containing elements of his Flameless moveset.

In Million Arthur: Arcana Blood, Iori's moves is a combination of his classic and Flameless XIII incarnations, with the added ability to perform air dashes and a few other new additions, such as the ability to perform the 311 Tsumakushi in midair.

The King of Fighters series

	Name	Command Input	Description	Appears In
Throws	Sakahagi	or + (KOF XIV onwards)	Iori digs his nails into his opponent's stomach, then claws upwards, launching them.	All appearances
		or + or [KOF '95 - KOF XIII]
	Saka Sakahagi	or +	Iori moves behind his opponent, digs his nails into their back, then claws upwards, launching them.	KOF '96 - 2003
	Kanyarai	or +	Iori lifts his opponent by their neck, then slams them down behind him.	KOF XIV onwards
Command Moves	Ge-Shiki Yumebiki (Initial hit) (Follow-up hit)	+ ・ [KOF '95]	Iori swipes at his opponent with his rear hand. The follow up then does a quick jab.	KOF '95, KOF '97 onwards
		+ ・ [KOF '97 onwards]
	Ge-Shiki Goufu In "Shinigami"	+ [KOF '95]	Iori steps forward for an axe kick with his leading leg.	KOF '95, KOF '97 - XI, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori), KOF XIV onwards
		+ [KOF '97 onwards]
	Ge-Shiki Yuri Ori	+ [KOF '95]	Iori kicks behind himself.	KOF '95, KOF '97 - XI, KOF XIII onwards
		+ [KOF '97 onwards]
	Ge-Shiki Kui	+	Iori swings his front arm down for a hammer punch.	KOF XII - XIII (as regular Iori)
	Gaishiki Lunar Rebellion	+	Iori rushes forward and claws his opponent's legs with his right hand.	KOF MI series
Stylish Moves	Stylish Move 1	・・・ + ・ +	Iori jabs his opponent twice with his right hand, claws upward with his left, claws across with his right, then does a shoulder charge.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 2	・・・ + ・	Iori jabs his opponent twice with his right hand, claws upward with his left, claws across with his right, then does a back spin kick.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 3	・・・ + ・	Iori jabs his opponent twice with his right hand, claws upward with his left, claws across with his right, then blows his opponent up with purple flames.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 4	・・・	Iori jabs his opponent twice with his right hand, claws upward with his left, then blows his opponent up with purple flames.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 5	・・ +	Iori kicks his opponent's shins twice with alternating legs, then kicks high.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 6	・・	Iori kicks his opponent's shins, does a back spin kick, then does a mid-level roundhouse.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 7	+ ・ +	Iori does a Ge-Shiki Goufu In "Shinigami" into a high kick.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 8	+ ・ +	Iori does a Ge-Shiki Goufu In "Shinigami" into a low sweep kick.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 9	+ ・・	Iori does a low kick into a back spin kick, then a mid-level roundhouse.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 10	+ ・・ +	Iori does a low kick into a back spin kick, then a reverse sweep kick.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 11	+ ・・	Iori does a low kick into a back spin kick, then blows his opponent up with purple flames.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 12	+ ・ +	Iori does a low kick, then feints a back spin kick.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 13	・・	Iori does a Ge-Shiki Yumebiki, then claws upwards.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 14	・・ +	Iori does a Ge-Shiki Yumebiki, then does an elbow strike.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 15	・・ +	Iori does a Ge-Shiki Yumebiki, then does a low sweep kick.
	Stylish Move 16	・・	Iori does a Ge-Shiki Yumebiki, then blows his opponent up with purple flames.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 17	・ + ・ +	Iori swipes at his opponent twice, then trips his opponent with his arm.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 18	・ + ・ +	Iori swipes overhead, kicks his opponent's shins, then does a crescent kick.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 19	・ +	Iori swipes overhead, then upwards, launching his opponent.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 20	+ ・	Iori does a Gaishiki Lunar Rebellion, then blows his opponent up with purple flames.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 21	+ ・・ +	Iori bashes his opponent overhead, does a shoulder charge, then backhands his opponent's middle.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 22	+ ・・	Iori bashes his opponent overhead, does a shoulder charge, then blows his opponent up with purple flames.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 23	・ + ・ +	Iori does 2 back spin kicks, then does a low sweep.	KOF MI series
	Stylish Move 24	・・	Iori does a back spin kick, claws upwards, then does a jumping kick.	KOF MI series
Special Moves	108 Shiki Yami Barai (Regular version) ver.	+ or ( OK)	Iori throws a purple fiery projectile that runs across the floor.	KOF '95 - XI, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori), KOF XIV onwards
	100 Shiki Oniyaki	+ or ( OK)	Iori jumps with his arms out, shrouded in purple flames.	KOF '95 - XI, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori), KOF XIV onwards
	127 Shiki Aoihana ver.	+ or [x3] ( OK)	Iori strikes his opponent with his rear hand, then his front, and finishes with a double axe-handle punch (regular) or an upward claw ( ver. in KOF MI series, , as of KOF XIV).	KOF '95 - XI, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori), KOF XIV onwards
	212 Shiki Kototsuki In; Dash 212 Shiki Kototsuki In; Grab	+ or ( OK)	Iori runs at his opponent, grabs them by their head, then slams them to the floor and makes a purple fiery explosion.	KOF '95 - XI, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori), KOF XIV onwards
	Kuzukaze; On whiff On hit	or + (KOF '95)	Iori grabs his opponent, then throws them behind him while they're still on their feet.	KOF '95, KOF '97 - XI, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori), KOF XIV onwards
		+ or (KOF '97 onwards; OK)
	311 Shiki Tsumakushi	+ or ( OK)	Iori hops and take a big flaming swipe downward.	KOF '98-'99, KOF 2002 UM, XIV onwards
	104 Shiki Nueuchi	+ or ( OK)	Iori does an upward claw attack that extends from his hand; does one hit, while does two. The version does more hits, and has faster start-up and full invincibility. Removed in XIV.	KOF XII - KOF XIII
	401 Shiki Shougetsu	+ or ( OK)	Iori performs a claw attack that launches the opponent. The version hits once, while the version hits twice. The EX version has invincibility at start-up and knocks the opponent into the air slightly.	KOF XII - XIII
	129 Shiki Akegarasu	+ or ( OK)	Iori dashes forwards and performs a clawing attack. The EX version has invincibility at start-up and does an extra hit.	KOF XII - XIII
	203 Shiki Tsuchi Tsubaki	+ or ( OK)	Iori grabs his opponent by their neck, then slams them hard onto the ground in which they bounce into the air (switching sides) for a possible combo followup. The EX version launches the enemy higher in the air.	KOF XII - XIII
Super Special Moves	Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome (Startup Dash shown)	+ or ( OK, KOF '95 - '96; version only in '96)	Iori dashes across the screen and, if he hits the opponent, he performs a flurry of claws and scratches ending off in a blast of purple flames (most appearances), or as a cross-claw attack (XII - XIII, as regular Iori). The version ends off in a blast of purple flames (KOF '99 - 2001; XIII, as EX Iori, XIV - XV), going into blood rage and totally massacring his opponent (KOF '96 - KOF '98, KOF '98 UM, 2002, Neowave, 2002 UM) or as a cross-claw attack (XII - XIII, as regular Iori)..	All appearances
		+ or ( OK, KOF '97 onwards)
	Ura 316 Shiki Saika	+ during Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome (KOF 2001 - KOF 2003, KOF XIII)	Iori claws downward then upwards, then ends it with an angled pillar of flames in front of him. Performing it outside of Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome causes Iori to only call the angled flame pillar by itself.	KOF 2001 - 2003, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori), KOF XIV onwards
		+ or (KOF XI, KOF XIII [As Flames Iori])
		+ during Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome (KOF XV)
	Ura 108 Shiki Ya Sakazuki	+ or ( OK; KOF '98)	Iori throws a projectile that skims the ground and ends with a pillar of fire with a big splash at the bottom.	KOF '97 - '98 & '98 UM, KOF 2003
	Ura 311 Shiki Saku Tsumagushi	+ or ( OK, only in KOF '99)	Iori jumps forward with a claw attack, forcefully hitting the opponent into ground, then he grabs them by the neck, and spins in the air ending with flame explosion.	KOF '99, KOF 2002 UM
	Ura 1207 Shiki Yami Sogi (裏千弐百七式（うらせんにひゃくしちしき）・闇削（やみそ）ぎ; Reverse Method 327: Darkness Parer)	+ or	Iori throws fireballs at the opponent's feet, launching them, and then finishes with a big pillar of flames hitting his foe midair.	KOF 2000, KOF XIII (as Flames Iori)
	Ura 1018 Shiki Yashiori	+ ( OK, OK)	Iori throws a barrage of sparking purple flames at his opponent.	KOF XIV onwards
MAX2	Ura 1029 Shiki Homura Hotogi	+	Iori prepares for a brief moment, with the screen turning red, then quickly leaps across the whole stage grabbing the opponent by the face, and hits them with pillar of flames.	KOF 2002, Neowave & 2002 UM
Leader Super Special Moves	Sanjingi no Ni	+ (KOF 2003)	Iori slams his opponent into the ground, then grabs them by the collar, and surrounds himself and his opponent in a pillar or energy; initially purple, it turns orange and ends in an explosion.	KOF 2003 - XI
		+ (KOF XI)
Neo Max/Climax Super Special Moves	Kin 1218 Shiki Yatagarasu	+	Iori drags his hand on the ground then proceeds to do a huge claw slash to his opponent with a bloody, shadowy background.	KOF XIII - XIV
	Ura 1131 Shiki Hozuki	+	Iori rushes at his opponent while in blood rage, then slams them to the floor with one hand in a circular motion, imbuing the Yagami Clan symbol above him. He then burns them with a pillar of flames while screaming.	KOF XV

Fatal Fury series

	Name	Command Input	Description	Appears In
Throws	Sakahagi	or + or	Iori digs his nails into his opponent's stomach, then claws upwards, launching them.	RBFF (Game Boy only)
Special Moves	108 Shiki Yami Barai	+	Iori throws a purple fiery projectile that runs across the floor.	RBFF (Game Boy only)
	100 Shiki Oniyaki	+	Iori jumps with his arms out, shrouded in purple flames.	RBFF (Game Boy only)
	127 Shiki Aoihana	+ ・	Iori strikes his opponent with his rear hand, then his front, and finishes with a double axe-handle punch (regular) or an upward claw (EX, as of KOF XIV).	RBFF (Game Boy only)
	212 Shiki Kototsuki In	+	Iori runs at his opponent, grabs them by their head, then slams them to the floor and makes a purple fiery explosion.	RBFF (Game Boy only)
	Kuzukaze	+	Iori grabs his opponent, then throws them behind him while they're still on their feet.	RBFF (Game Boy only)
Super Special Moves	Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome	+	Iori dashes across the screen and, if he hits the opponent, he performs a flurry of claws and scratches ending off in a blast of purple flames.	RBFF (Game Boy only)
	MAX Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome	+	Iori dashes across the screen and, if he hits the opponent, he performs a flurry of claws and scratches ending off in a blast of purple flames, going into blood rage and totally massacring his opponent.	RBFF (Game Boy only)
	Ura 108 Shiki Ya Sakazuki	+	Iori throws a projectile that skims the ground and ends with a pillar of fire with a big splash at the bottom.	RBFF (Game Boy only)

SNK vs. Capcom series

	Name	Command Input	Description	Appears In
Throws	Sakahagi	or +	Iori digs his nails into his opponent's stomach, then claws upwards, launching them.	All appearances
	Saka Sakahagi	or +	Iori moves behind his opponent, digs his nails into their back, then claws upwards, launching them.	All appearances
Command Moves	Ge-Shiki Goufu In "Shinigami"	+	Iori steps forward for an axe kick with his leading leg.	All appearances
	Ge-Shiki Yuri Ori	+	Iori kicks behind himself.	All appearances
Special Moves	108 Shiki Yami Barai	+	Iori throws a purple fiery projectile that runs across the floor.	All appearances
	100 Shiki Oniyaki	+	Iori jumps with his arms out, shrouded in purple flames.	All appearances
	127 Shiki Aoihana	+	Iori strikes his opponent with his rear hand, then his front, and finishes with a double axe-handle punch.	All appearances
	212 Shiki Kototsuki In	+	Iori runs at his opponent, grabs them by their head, then slams them to the floor and makes a purple fiery explosion.	All appearances
	Kuzukaze	+	Iori grabs his opponent, then throws them behind him while they're still on their feet.	All appearances
Super Special Moves	Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome; Level 1 Level 2 Level 3	+	Iori dashes across the screen and, if he hits the opponent, he performs a flurry of claws and scratches ending off in a blast of purple flames.	All appearances
	Ura 108 Shiki Ya Sakazuki	+ ( OK)	Iori throws a projectile that skims the ground and ends with a pillar of fire with a big splash at the bottom. The Level 3 version can stun opponents for a short time.	CVS & CVS2

Neo Geo Battle Coliseum

	Name	Command Input	Description	Appears In
Throws	Sakahagi	or +	Iori digs his nails into his opponent's stomach, then claws upwards, launching them.	NGBC
Command Moves	Ge-Shiki Yumebiki	+ ・	Iori swipes at his opponent with his rear hand. The follow up then does a quick jab.	NGBC
	Ge-Shiki Goufu In "Shinigami"	+	Iori steps forward for an axe kick with his leading leg.	NGBC
	Ge-Shiki Yuri Ori	+	Iori kicks behind himself.	NGBC
Special Moves	108 Shiki Yami Barai	+ or	Iori throws a purple fiery projectile that runs across the floor.	NGBC
	100 Shiki Oniyaki	+ or	Iori jumps with his arms out, shrouded in purple flames.	NGBC
	127 Shiki Aoihana	+ or [x3]	Iori strikes his opponent with his rear hand, then his front, and finishes with a double axe-handle punch.	NGBC
	212 Shiki Kototsuki In	+ or	Iori runs at his opponent, grabs them by their head, then slams them to the floor and makes a purple fiery explosion.	NGBC
	Kuzukaze	+ or	Iori grabs his opponent, then throws them behind him while they're still on their feet.	NGBC
Super Special Moves	Kin 1211 Shiki Ya Otome	+ or	Iori dashes across the screen and, if he hits the opponent, he performs a flurry of claws and scratches ending off in a blast of purple flames.	NGBC
	Ura 108 Shiki Ya Sakazuki	+ or ( OK)	Iori throws a projectile that skims the ground and ends with a pillar of fire with a big splash at the bottom.	NGBC
	Chi no Bousou (血（ち）の暴走（ぼうそう）; lit Rampage of Blood)	+	Iori jumps at his opponent, then claws his opponent 3 times.	NGBC
A/D Assault	Sanjingi no Ni	+	Iori prepares for a brief moment, with the screen turning red, then quickly leaps across the whole stage grabbing the opponent by the face, and hits them with pillar of flames.	NGBC

Million Arthur: Arcana Blood

To be added soon...

Trivia

• Iori's Sanjingi no Ni move is based upon the canon ending of The King of Fighters '97, in which the special edit-only Team Sacred Treasures seals Orochi.
• Kuzukaze used to be a normal kick throw in KOF 95 that throws the enemy to the opposite direction. From 96 onwards, it is now a command throw that does not knock down the enemy, and the Saka Saka-Hagi takes its place as the kick throw.
• Depending on his appearances, the Saka Saka-Hagi will have him turn around and slip behind the enemy before the aforementioned throw, or he'll instantly switch sides (whose animation looks rather rough) with the enemy while the animation plays.

References

• https://www.snk-corp.co.jp/us/games/kof-xiv/command/pdf/cl_004_iori.pdf