Kiki Cruz

Age: 24
Birthday: December 7
Gender: Female
Birthplace: Japan
Height: 5'4" (163cm)
Weight: 114lbs (52kg)
Blood Type: B
Occupation: Freelance Artist
Hobby: Singing at karaoke bars
Favorite Food: Shrimp Tempura
Forte in Sports: Archery
Likes: Video games, Art, Ring pendant necklace (gift from Kyo), Iori Yagami
Most Hated Thing: Spiders
Fighting Style: Iori Yagami imitation style, Shiranui-ryuu Ninjutsu
Special Abilities: Comedy-Activated super strength (gains super-human strength when it can be used for comedic purposes)

Profile

Kiki lived in Japan up until she was 12 years old. She became friends with Kyo Kusanagi after they met at a local arcade. The two of them played games together after school, and she taught him how to get better at Pac-Man. A few months after this, she and her family moved to the United States. She had forgotten a lot about her time in Japan and her friendship with Kyo as time passed.

Thirteen years later, she's a college student; a stressed and unhappy one at that. Going to college was all her parents' idea, after all. With her lack of passion for academics, Kiki was desperate to find anything to get her away from school. One day, she and her friends watched the '96 KOF tournament together. Seeing Kyo--a guy who never finished high school--winning the tournament, Kiki was inspired to take part in the next one.

She traveled to Japan in hopes of meeting Kyo and asking him to train her. Instead, she ran into Iori Yagami, so she decided to get him to train her. She pestered Iori by challenging him to fights, most of which she lost. Luck was on her side one day: she caught him off-guard and knocked him down with a punch to the gut. From then on, Kiki was Iori's student. She moved in with him in his apartment in Osaka, and the two of them trained together.

After Kyo and Iori's disappearance at the end of the '97 KOF tournament, Kiki set out on finding information about the boys' whereabouts. She managed to beat the information out of a Kyo clone known as Kyo-98. From what he told her, Kiki learned that the original Kyo was held in a laboratory operated by the evil organization NESTS. Realizing she may have to break into a high-security facility, she sought out the help of Mai Shiranui to teach her ninja techniques. To keep Kyo-98 from reporting back to NESTS, Kiki forced him to join her in her training. One year later, she and Kyo-98 rescued Kyo with the help of Iori with whom Kiki reunited at the NESTS laboratory. One heartfelt conversation/argument later, Kiki and Iori started dating. Kiki and Kyo-98 took part in the next few KOF tournaments to assist in taking down NESTS once and for all. During the NESTS infiltration, Kiki stole design documents for a pair of fire-emitting gloves which she used to make her own.

In 2003, Kiki went back to the United States to train with her two best friends Forrest and Kai so they could be a three-man team. A few years later, Iori contacted Kiki about how his powers were stolen by Ash Crimson. Determined to get her boyfriend back to normal, she returned to Japan with Forrest and Kai tagging along. She, along with the KOF participants, defeated Saiki and Those From the Past. After that, Kiki stayed in Japan with Iori and they get married.

Years after the thirteenth KOF tournament, the fourteenth KOF tournament was announced. Kiki, Forrest, and Kai officially get invited to participate this time. When Verse appeared during the final round of the tournament, Kiki and her team helped evacuate spectators from the arena. After dealing with Verse, Iori (unwillingly) let Kiki tag along with him to Hungary to seal away Orochi's soul after it was released from Verse's body.

Unlike the man she learned her fighting techniques from, Kiki's a bubbly and optimistic girl. She tries her best in everything she does and doesn't let her losses get to her. She's kind to her opponents no matter what. She often wishes them good luck and promises a fair fight before every match.