As a child, Yuri's
father (Takuma) dedicated more time
training Ryo to be next family heir rather
than raising Yuri. When she was six years old, her mother died in a tragic car
accident. Sensing his family was being targeted, their father leaves in order to
protect them. With the loss of both parents, Yuri became fearful and heavily
dependent on Ryo for the rest of their childhood. When she first met Robert,
she didn't trust him but eventually warmed up to him and the two eventually
started dating.
When she was 17, Yuri
was kidnapped by Mr. Big
on Geese Howard's
orders, as part of a ploy to blackmail her father. After Ryo and Robert heard of
her abduction, they searched Southtown to find her whereabouts and rescue her.
While held hostage, she found out the identity of Mr. Karate. When Ryo defeated
her captors, she revealed it to her brother and the family was reunited. In
order to protect herself in the future, Takuma finally taught her martial arts.
Yuri, now confident in her fighting abilities, decides to enter the King of
fighters tournament, but is denied to enter by her brother. She defies him and
enters with King and Mai.
It isn't until the 1996 tournament that they finally form a team together to
represent the prestige of Kyokugenryu to the world. She is forced to join when
Takuma gives her an ultimatum to either enter with Ryo or leave the house.
After the King of
Fighters '99, Yuri wanted to once again show her independence. She begged King
to take her place for the year and joined the Women's Team. In 2001, Robert
revealed to the family that his family business is in trouble. They decide to
enter together to win the prize money and help Robert's situation. Since 2001,
Yuri has been a regular for the Art of Fighting team alongside Ryo and Robert.
In The King of Fighters XI, Yuri found a rival in the form of Malin.
She stunned her father with her whimsical haircut before KOF XIII and was upset
by her family's eccentric reactions. Since the rising skill of martial artists
in the tournaments outclasses her basic training, Robert informed her of her
brother and father's wishes to quit for her own safety. Optimistic in her
attempts to improve herself, however, she teams with Mai and King for the newest
tournament.

OTHER
APPEARANCES:
King
of Fighters '94, King of Fighters '94 Rebout,
King of Fighters '95,
King
of Fighters '96,
King of Fighters '97,
King
of Fighters '98,
King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match, King of Fighters
'99,
King of Fighters 2000,
King
of Fighters 2001,
King of Fighters
2002,
King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match,
King of Fighters 2003,
King
of Fighters XI, King of Fighters XIII, King
of Fighters XIV, King of Fighters:
Neowave, King of Fighters:
Maximum Impact, King
of Fighters: Maximum Impact MANIAX, King
of Fighters: Maximum Impact 2, KOF:
MI Regulation A, Capcom VS
SNK, Capcom VS SNK: Pro, Capcom
VS SNK 2, Card Fighters Clash,
Card
Fighters Clash 2, Card
Fighters Clash DS, SNK VS Capcom:
Match of the
Millennium,
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy
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Page Updated:
Dec. 27th, 2018
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I think SNK set out
to create a "female Ryu" when
they created Yuri... in fact, a few of her classic moves (like her spinning hurricane kick) seem to "make fun of" Ryu's
fighting style. Yuri may be part of the reason why Capcom later answered with Dan
Hibiki, as he performs
quite a few taunts from the AOF protagonists (including Yuri's famous
"thumbs up" pose). Ahhh... how I miss the
90's.
I have to admit, back when I first played KOF games (97-98), I didn't
like Yuri at all. She just seemed boring to me at the time, but she's actually
grown on me... partly because she has evolved quite a bit over the years. Yuri
has always offered her own unique brand of "Sakazaki karate," which
isn't nearly as serious as Ryo's, Robert's or Takuma's. Her older appearance
also wasn't much to look at (I wasn't a fan of her old school 2D sprite).
However, her post 2000 "higher socks look" and cuter proportions did a
lot for her visually, I think. Most importantly, her fighting style was fleshed
out quite a bit in the later generation of KOF / crossover games, which
helped her design a lot. Her latest appearance in
KOF XIII is probably her best yet. She looks too damn cute in KOF XIII...
and her new animations suit her so well. I also like her CVS / CVS2
sprite quite a bit.
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Fighting
Style / Moveset |
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Personality
/ Charisma |
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Outfit(s)
/ Appearance |
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Effectiveness
in series |
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Overall
Score |
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