Context
Orochi was the Big Bad™ at the end of a four-year saga told in King of Fighters brawling video games.
He has but one canon appearance, but it is a mighty one.
He’s a literal demon god bestowing incredible powers — and bloodthirsty madness — to his cursed bloodline.
He’s one of the very few bosses in a fighting game who doesn’t have combat moves as such. He relies on his great demonic power instead.
Advertisement
Background
- Real Name: Orochi.
- Known Relatives: Gaia (creator), Chris (host), Mizuchi (clone in a non-canon story). Known descendants of the same bloodline include: Leona Heidern, Iori Yagami, Ryuji Yamazaki, Yashiro Nanakase, Shermie, Vice, Mature, possibly Ash Crimson, and a whole slew of unnamed NPCs.
- Group Affiliation: Orochi bloodline.
- Base of Operations: Another dimension.
- Height: 6’8″ (2,03m). Weight: 62 lbs. (28 Kg.).
- Eyes: Blue. Hair: White.
Background notes
These vitals are taken from Muzichi’s bio, a non-canon clone of Orochi. This character never got an official bio as its existence was supposed to be a big storyline reveal for the player to get to.
Yes before you mention it – height and weight are a bit odd… One can only assume that he keeps the original weight of his host and that mystical powers keep him in the fight…
Powers & Abilities
He’s a demon god created by Gaia herself to wipe out an exceedingly destructive humanity.
As such he has a whole slew of abilities. Some are obvious in action, others are stated in his bio and background.
His biggest power is to grant his descendents and bloodline a bunch of crazy abilities. In DC Heroes TTRPG terms these include Claws, Stretch, Flame Projection, Lightning, Earth Control, Air Control, and superhuman strength.
Aside from that he:
- Has a ton of elemental control powers.
- Can manipulate both dark matter and light.
- Can just casually float around.
- Oh, and he can steal your soul. There’s that too.
Video
Some vintage gameplay featuring Orochi.
History
Once upon a time, the primeval goddess Gaia created a powerful and malevolent entity. It seems that this being was responsible for nothingness, and was tasked with keeping Gaia’s creations in check should they grow out of control.
At first this job meant acting as a cosmic grounds keeper. He only needed to do the occasional pruning and maintenance. In its ample free time, the entity learned how to control and manipulate the energies of Gaia’s other creations.
But once humanity appeared, the job became far more difficult. They learned to organize, use tools, control fire, build cities, and wage war.
Mankind grew far too destructive to the rest of creation, and nearly uncontrollable. Humans had to go.
194 CE
The groundskeeper, now calling himself the Orochi, set in motion its plan. But he was opposed by:
Clearly, the plan to wipe out humanity started in Japan.
After a long and bloody battle, the red flames of the Kusanagi downed the Orochi. Yata mysticism then sealed the entity away.
Humanity could finally breathe a heavy sigh of relief. It seemed that it would no longer have to fear such a destructive force.
Adνеrtisеmеnt
854 CE
Over time, the allies of the Kusanagi grew to resent them. The defenders fielded by the Yagami Clan had seen the heaviest losses during the battle with the Orochi, but the Kusanagi assaulters had taken most of the credit.
This allowed the Kusanagi to grow into a powerful and prestigious clan. But the Yagami felt sidelined as mere servants who assisted during the battle.
Bitter and jealous, they came to consider harnessing the power of the Orochi to restore their clan to glory.
Orochi was more than happy to help. Although most of his power had been sealed away, he still could reach out by proxy. Thus he imbued the Yagami bloodline with powerful purple flames.
It was a Faustian bargain, as this power shortened their lives. And wielding the flames caused them great pain.
War never changes
The Kusanagi considered this an unforgivable betrayal, and went to war. They won – their red flames didn’t have as many drawbacks as the Orochi purple flame, and they had had far more time to master it.
As they set about slaughtering each other, Orochi watched with glee. But this was merely the first step in its plan.
The Yagami Clan wasn’t entirely wiped out. Their few remaining members scattered to the wind, and passed the Orochi cursed flame power to their descendants.
1986
The seal holding the Orochi at bay weakened over time. It eventually was thin enough to let through four heavenly kings, Orochi’s heralds.
Goenitz, the king of wind, was the oldest and most powerful. He was chosen to start the project.
Goenitz first implanted Orochi’s seed into Chris, an innocent Swedish newborn. Then the wind king murdered the head of the Yata clan, to insure that his master couldn’t be sealed yet again.
King of Fighters ‘95
Rugal Bernstein, an evil cartel lord and perhaps the most powerful fighter on earth, had been defeated by Kyo Kusanagi and his team. Looking for more power, he investigated the Orochi and stumbled upon Goenitz.
Goenitz swatted Rugal aside and plucked one of his eyes out. But Bernstein kept coming. Intrigued by his tenacity, Goenitz imbued the crime lord with a small portion of the Orochi power.
This was in part out of boredom and curiosity. But mostly because Kyo was the heir to the Kusanagi Clan, and thus their common enemy.
Goenitz.
King of Fighters ‘96
Chizuru Kagura held the 1996 tournament. She sought worthy fighters to oppose the Orochi forces, and secretly was the heir of the Yata Clan.
She therefore assisted Kyo and his team when Goenitz suddenly attacked. They vanquished the wind king before he could gather enough energy to release his master.
King of Fighters ’97
The Orochi was now able to influence the tournament directly. His agents were the New Face team – seemingly a rock band who entered the tournament for daft reasons:
- To promote their band, CYS. It was named after the members – Chris, Yashiro Nanase, Shermie.
- To get revenge on Iori Yagami for defeating them in a battle of the bands.
All three CYS performers were members of the Orochi bloodline, but were blissfully unaware of it. Perhaps it was Orochi’s influence from the Shadows that had guided them all along.
However, the New Face team washed out early in the competition.
Advertisement
Riot of the blood
Towards the end of the tournament, the Orochi could manifest more directly. He triggered the Riot of the Blood in its descendants, including:
- Leona Heidern.
- Ryuji Yamazaki.
- The New Face Team.
- Iori Yagami.
They therefore all went on a rampage, slaughtering everyone around them.
However, Iori overcame this bloodlust and allied with Kyo and Chizuru. Now that the heirs of the three clans were reunited, they could defeat the demon after a furious battle.
But Orochi couldn’t be killed. It could only be temporarily sealed away, and will likely return to wreak havoc on humanity once again.
Neo Geo Battle Colosseum
Orochi’s clone Mizuchi appeared in this non-canon game, as one of the fighters. That’s about it.
The game hinted that his unholy possession of another host was too much for the host body to control. So he basically self-destructed or… maybe he didn’t. This game wasn’t big on story.
The New Face team unknowingly were the three remaining Heavenly Kings of Orochi.
Description
Orochi goes shirtless with some white dress slacks and business shoes.
He has a huge eight-pointed starburst sun tattoo on his chest and a lot of tattooed rings on his arms and neck.
He also, befitting of a pompous super villain casually floats off the ground.
There is an odd shimmering effect on his lower body, as if he’s under water.
Personality
He wants to destroy humanity for our many transgressions.
Unlike with the previous, megalomaniacal villains SNK tried to paint a picture of a levelheaded cosmic being that just decided with cold hard logic that we had to go.
Not the prettiest picture, but as anyone who’s spent any amount of time on Twitter can attest that maybe he had a point.
Quotes
“From the broken cocoon the butterfly dances away.”
“Life is fleeting…”
“Now, return to nothing.”
“Nothing is greater than I am.”
“I am one with Gaia.”
DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Orochi
| Dex: 08 | Str: 07 | Bod: 06 |
| Int: 08 | Wil: 08 | Min: 12 |
| Inf: 12 | Aur: 12 | Spi: 13 |
| Init: 032 | HP: 150 |
Powers:
Adrenaline Surge: 06, Attraction/Repulsion: 06, Bestow: 12, Claws: 08, Energy Blast: 05, Flight: 02, Laser beam: 07, Personality Transfer: 12, Spirit Blast: 12, Telekinesis: 04, Telepathy: 06, Teleport: 02
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Attraction/Repulsion is attraction only and Contingent Upon Spirit Blast. If he can drag an opponent to him, he will execute a move where he pulls out an opponent’s soul and crushes it. In KoF games this move does 100% damage which is impressive and downright unfair even by final boss standards.
- Laser is Indirect (he shoots from the sky) and can have area effect if he uses it with Adrenaline Surge or spends Hero Points on it.
- Personality Transfer only works on his descendants where he will totally possess them and essentially reincarnate as himself. It also requires a blood sacrifice or epic proportions. Yashiro Nanase and Shermie killed themselves and the rest of the present Orochi opened up a whole orgy of violence while he inhabited Chris and resurrected himself.
Skills:
None demonstrated although Occultist is entirely possible.
Advantages:
Schtick (Stance Assessment).
Connections:
Orochi descendents (High).
Drawbacks:
Arch Nemesis (Kusanagi and Yata Clans and later Iori), Creepy Appearance.
Motivation:
Nihilist.
Occupation:
Agent of Gaia.
Wealth:
N.A.?
Design notes
Powers are highly speculative. Basically, he has the towering final boss status going on and supposedly has all of the above, but quite a bit of them are not clearly demonstrated.
Source of Character: King of Fighters.
Helper(s): SNK Fandom.
Writeup completed on the 31st of August, 2021.