Chizuru Kagura

Chizuru Kagura is one of the most important characters in The King of Fighters. She first appeared in KOF '96, and has subsequently been a playable character throughout most of the series. She was created in the image of Anime and Manga Yohko Shiraki, from the manga series "Tomorrow's Joe".

Date of Birth: June 26, 22 years old
Height: 1.69 cm
Weight: 52 Kg
Blood Type: AB
Family/Relationships: Maki Kagura (sister, deceased), Kusanagi (creation)
Occupation: Owner of Kagura Enterprises, protector of the Orochi seal, sponsor of the KOF '96, '97 and 2003 tournaments
Likes: His sparrow "Chi-chan"
Hates: Injustice
Hobbies: Sleeping, motorcycle racing
Favorite Food: Spicy Foods
Sports he Masters: Motorcycling
Measurements: 85cm, 57cm, 84cm
Fighting Style: Yata Martial Arts

Chizuru is between 20 and 24 years old, and is later the same age as her deceased sister. She wears a white long-sleeved blouse with brownish-red stripes, black pants, black shoes, and has two white earrings with a headband on her head. When purifying anyone with Orochi bloodlines, she wears the same outfit, but her pants change to a red Chinese skirt with a white leaf banner.

Orochi Saga:

Chizuru belongs to the Yata clan, she is the guardian in charge of guarding the Orochi seal, they along with the Kusanagi family and the Yasakani family (later called Yagami) were in charge of sealing the Orochi power eighteen hundred years ago. Her real surname is Yata, which represents the clan that has the purpose of guarding one of the three sacred objects that kept the power of Yamatono Orochi sealed. They hide behind the surname Kagura so that no one knows who they really are, their role in this story is much more transcendental than that of Kusanagi or Yagami.

In her first appearance, in KOF'96, she is the organizer of the event, with the purpose of gathering the descendants of the families that sealed the evil power of Orochi, since it will be reborn very soon. The following year, in KOF '97, Kasumi Todoh does not participate, so Chizuru takes her place, along with Mai Shiranui and King, promising to take care of Jean (King's younger brother). Meanwhile, Chizuru finds out that Orochi had been reborn in the body of a participant in the tournament and what he seeks is revenge on humanity. Together with Kyo, from the Kusanagi Clan and Iori, from the Yagami Clan (or Yasakani) they manage to seal the evil Orochi again. After that, she decides to leave the tournament, because she believes that her appearance is no longer necessary and returns to her temple where she will be for a long time.

NESTS Saga:

Chizuru has made minor appearances in the NESTS Saga, only having two appearances as a secret striker in The King of Fighters '99: Evolution and then as Mai's striker in KOF 2000. It is believed that she was going to enter with the Hero Team, but it is most likely that she had decided not to attend the previous tournaments.

Ash Saga:

In KOF 2003 Chizuru returns as the organizer of the tournament, along with her twin sister, Maki Kagura, of whom she was only an illusion of the Yata Mirror.

At first, after facing three teams, it is seen that Chizuru calls for Kusanagi since apparently he is actually a product of her Yata Clan magic. Then she stops Mukai, a member of Those of the Past and herald of Orochi, who weakens the Orochi seal. At that moment, Ash Crimson enters, defeats Chizuru and steals her powers, leaving her unconscious. Kyo swears revenge on Ash and he threatens the 3 that Iori is next on his list.

Shingo Yabuki enters KOF XI at Chizuru's request. It is later revealed that Chizuru was under mind control by a mysterious puppeteer from the distant land, Botan, also causing Maki to appear during the finals. The same is also true for Rose Bernstein. She keeps in touch with current events and Ash's movements by talking to Benimaru Nikaido. During the KOF XIII tournament, Chizuru attends as a spectator alongside Shingo and regains her powers after the events of the tournament.

KOF XIV:

During the end of the Esaka Team, after Verse's defeat; Chizuru meets with Iori Yagami and Kyo Kusanagi upon realizing that Verse left essences of other characters in the past. One of them was Orochi who is about to break free with an incomplete body. Likewise, the three of them prepare to attack and destroy Orochi once and for all.

His reappearance was later confirmed in The King of Fighters XV alongside Kyo and Iori, once again forming the Sacred Treasures Team.

Chizuru is apparently the most calm in the group of Orochi Guardians, and is also the one who keeps the balance between Kyo and Iori. Everyone rumored that Chizuru died at the end of the Orochi Saga but that was not the case: she reappeared in the Ash Saga, fulfilling an important role, since she is one of Ash Crimson's main targets, apart from Kyo and Iori. Having to see her sister being killed in front of her made Chizuru take that trauma and focus on sealing Orochi, becoming very serious. However, after Orochi was sealed she began to relax thanks to Mai, King and King's younger brother, Jean.

In combat, Chizuru uses the Yata Mirror that makes a reflection of herself, either to attack or deceive the opponent, her combat style is very peculiar since it is a combination of her own attacks with techniques from the Kusanagi and Yagami Clan, she also uses the mirror as an illusion being very effective in long-distance and short-term attacks. It is recommended to have a strategy when fighting her (at least in hard mode) since many of her skills or special powers take a lot of life. She also has the ability to temporarily nullify the opponent's powers by hitting them with a sphere of light.

Divination - As a priestess, she can predict some future events. She can also learn the history of a person with such power.

Mirror Image - Chizuru can create copies of herself. The copies when created can only move, attack, and disappear. With little effort Chizuru can make the copies attack more than once or create more than one copy.

Reflector: Chizuru can reflect projectiles.

Energy Manipulation - Chizuru can use energy to send it towards distant enemies.

Sealing Power - Chizuru can seal her enemy's powers for a few moments.

Shadow Creation: Chizuru can use the power of the Yata Mirror to create shadows of living or dead beings. She used this power to create Kusanagi, a shadow of Kyo, and a shadow of her own sister Maki.

Seal - Being from the Yata Heritage, Chizuru can use her powers to seal Orochi in another dimension.

Telepathy - Using the Yata Mirror, Chizuru can speak into other people's minds. She can also temporarily possess people for similar purposes.

Teleportation - While Chizuru's ability to disappear and reappear elsewhere is not mentioned, Ash gains these abilities after having her powers stolen.

Motorcycle Riding - Chizuru is an avid motorcycle rider, and rides motorcycles as a hobby.