Iori x Kyo
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Iori Yagami x Kyo Kusanagi |
| Alternative name(s): | JPN Pairing Name/s: 京庵 (Kyouiori), きょういおり (Kyouiori) ENG Pairing Name/s: Iori x Kyo, uncommonly known as KyoRi |
| Gender category: | Boys' Love; M/M; Yaoi; Slash |
| Fandom: | The King of Fighters |
| Canonical?: | Fanon |
| Prevalence: | Juggernaut Coupling |
| Archives: | IorixKyo Fanfic Archive |
| Other: | n/a |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Iori x Kyo, also known as Kyouiori and KyoRi, is a Juggernaut pairing (coupling in Japanese) within The King of Fighters fandom. The ship is between Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami, both prominent characters. Kyo is the protagonist of KOF, debuting in the first game of the series and appearing in all subsequent releases. Iori is his sworn rival, debuting in the second game of the series. It has been shipped since Iori's introduction in 1995 as KOF's most popular M/M ship by a large margin in Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and English-speaking circles. This ship is so well-known that the people at SNK themselves have joked about it in official material throughout the years, though its chances at actually becoming canon are nonexistent.
Common Tropes
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Fits them to a T. Both posses their clans' treasured sacred flames, which they can summon at will, and these clans do not see eye-to-eye. Although some interpretations by fans have the clans' leaders accept Iori x Kyo, others do not.
- Orochi Blood Pact Curse: Hundreds of years prior to KOF, Iori's family made a pact with the evil spirit known as Orochi at the expense of each Yagami heir dying young, or otherwise during childbirth if applicable. Iori's been shown coughing up blood in order to use more powerful moves against opponents. Kyo often acts as someone who can care for Iori when this becomes too much for him to handle in Iori x Kyo fic. Riot of the Blood is related to this and sets off when Orochi's spirit is near Iori.
- Concave and Convex: Kyo is optimistic and outgoing while Iori is deadpan and brutish. They even have obvious sun, (Kusanagi symbol,) and moon, (Yagami symbol,) dichotomy.
- Hobby Sharing: Both Kyo and Iori have known hobbies and likes. Fanworks very often have them bond over these specific things.
- Kyo: Motorcycle driving, poetry (bad poetry, canonically,) ice hockey, playing guitar.
- Iori: Playing bass guitar, singing, (related, his favorite genre is jazz,) cats.
- Enemyslash: Both consider one another rivals. Although they may team up to defeat evil, (mainly Orochi, alongside Chizuru Kagura to form the Sacred Treasures,) these alliances never last too long.
Overall, angst is more common than fluff for these two.
Iori x Kyo Fandom
Japanese-speaking
Many works of manga, fanart and fanfic for Iori x Kyo can be found on Pixiv and Twitter, to name a few.
In terms of Doujinshi Circles, there are too many Iori x Kyo doujinshi creators to count. Here is a small sampling:
- AZURE
- Black Bean Cheetahs (黒豆チーターズ)
- ANTHURIUM AM
- Shinjuku Tango (新宿タンゴ)
- DEAD ZONE-491
- Royal Game (ルーガル・ガメ夫)
- RAINBOW SHERBET COMPANY
- Majunia Kanno Party (まじゅにあ甘納党)
- MIKADO-XX
Spanish-speaking
Many works of Spanish-language fancomics, fanart and fanfic for Iori x Kyo can be found on Facebook, FanFiction.Net, Archive of Our Own, Instagram and Twitter, among other websites. Miauneko is a prominent fan, with her well-regarded Iori x Kyo fics and translation work for otherwise Japanese-only KOF material. She runs KOF Archive[1], a multi-lingual Facebook page with over 3.4k followers as of December 2023.
English-speaking
Some Spanish-language fanworks may have English translations. Similar to Miauneko, RinoaDestiny is also prominent fan for her well-regarded Iori x Kyo fics.
Example/Notable Fanac
Fancommunities/Fanevents
- KOF Archive
- Kyo-VS-Iori-FanClub, Kusanagi VS Yagami clan !, a club on DeviantArt for both Iori x Kyo and Iori & Kyo.
- IoriPairing, Every pairing of Iori Yagami, a club on DeviantArt for all pairings featuring Iori.
- Yuuhi-to-Tsuki, Iori x Kyo Rocks, a club on DeviantArt.
Fan Fic
- Forsaken Memories by miauneko, most favorited fic for KOF on Archive of Our Own. Iori has lost his memories, but there's something he'll never forget. Twenty-five chapters long, completed, and written in Spanish.
- Anchor by RinoaDestiny. Kyo and Iori navigate the start of their new relationship together. One of the most favorited fics for KOF on Archive of Our Own. Work-in-progress and written in English.
Fan Animation
- Iori Yagami sings and annoys Kyo (Neogeo Dj station live) by Helsic. Finally is done!!! This is Iori's heart song that was a skit played in the Neo Geo Dj station! it's quite funny and I wanted to animate it! This official media pokes fun at Iori x Kyo's popularity. Iori is voiced by Kunihiko Yasui here.
Archives
- IorixKyo Fanfic Archive[2], an archive of many Iori x Kyo and Geese x Billy fics by miauneko. As of 2023, it is still actively maintained.