A master of...
Silently, THEN STRIKE! That's Eiji's job. unless you and he have a grudge to settle. Then he'll meet you face to face, and attempt to leave you without one. This ninja guy makes his debut (and final KOF fighter appearence) in '95 with Iori and Billy (just too slick a team). Perhaps one of the most coveted of SNK characters at the tome, he did go out with a bang. I personally want him back... NOW! He has since then been seen observing many a KOF match and even shows up in '98 just before Billy and Iori fight a little match!
You see, Eiji had a grudge to settle. He decided to go straight through to the end of the matter and thus began his quest for Sakazaki blood. Since the Sakazaki's were know for Kyokugen, Eiji was out to smite anything of the ol' KKG for that matter. He wandered around searching and searching and searching and was thus led to the King Of Fighters '95 tournament where not one, but three Kyokugen warriors were participating. Excellent!
Well now, Eiji was taught the arts of Kisaragi Ninja style when he was very young, so that his emotions would develop along side his training, thus resuting in his having slim to nothing on the emotion factor. There was basically nothing for him to do, so he lived for carrying out Kisaragi whims (I mean, he IS a kisaragi himself). But there was one problem that the Kisaragi's had not solved, the problem labled as The Sakazaki's. The Kisaragi's had been at a little mini-war with the Sakazaki's (Kusanagi vs Yagami style) and it drug on and on for years. Finally, without really settling the score, the Sakazaki's kind of stepped back and modernized with the times. The Kisaragi's do not like unfinished business and would pester the Sakazaki's now and then very heavily. The Kisaragi's were still into the ancient styles etc. and the Kyokugen had moved on and didn't really care about the fued (a la Kusanagi vs Yagami) so when a Kisaragi would show up for trouble, it was a down right pisser. This is part of the reason Takuma left Japan, to avoid the Kisaragi's.
Eiji was surprised to find the fued suddenly ending, I mean, there's nothing like a good family fued to win the prize money. Eiji would not have it (if i'm condemned, so are they) and sought out, himself to Kill the Sakazaki's. He was trained with their deaths in his mind anyway. Now he can teleport, move REAL fast, and even use his hands like knives. Well America's the place and Eiji probably picked up the Yellow pages and looked up most-dramatic-crime-ridden-city and found Southtown, so he set off for there. This was Art Of Fighting 2 times. Finding no one at the dojo, he continued his search, constantly returning to the dojo to check it out and see if there were any Kugens at all. Bad luck Eiji.
A man, however, did notice his interests. Of course it's Geese, so Billy is set out to find ol' Eiji. At the mention of being teammates for the KOF '95, Eiji is not interested, he has nothing to do with such worthless trifles, what? The sakazaki's are in it? Four of them? Eiji was in in a flash, and now all they needed was a third, and another Rival-of-a-main-character showed up, thus forming Eiji's team. Eiji did not care for hs team, and had even planned to kill them once the tournament was over, for they could only be nuisances. He never got his chance at the Sakazaki's (actually the team didn't accomplish much, as all their enemies accidentaly avoided them). Eiji, now leaving the tourney since he has no use for it, comes across Billy, and then Iori. Iori, as we know, proceeds to smite Eiji and Billy, leaving them for dead. Luckily Eiji was evil and automaticlly gets to survive! Whew!
You can tell that Eiji was raised with the Sakazaki's in mind by watching how he fights. He's got projectile dissipaters, reflectors, and even a BIG projectile that comes out quicker than the Haoh Sho Ko Ken. He was definetaly bred for Sakazaki Blood.
It's unconfirmed how Eiji actually feels toward Iori. Is Iori now on the top of his hit-list? I don't know, after lifetimes worth of work...He does, however, want to get his revenge, and naturally he's sought out to do it (Shoulda tried in '98, that would have been cool). Strangely, his mutual hatred for Iori with Billy has led them to at least be able to stand each other. Hey, if that's what a beating does. Billy is probably the only person Eiji will stand next to without intent to kill, and that's good. Not many can do that. i believe Eiji thinks that Yuri is an immature nuisance, (seriously, not just because I think that), he thinks Takuma is old, so he's past (still wants him dead), he thinks Robert is just some outsider. Therefor, naturally, he wants Ryo. no one better than to match himself with a man who is thought to be one of THE strongest and most dedicated in the world. Eiji sees the Kyokugen promise in Ryo. All the more fun to stop it. Watch your back Ryo, even though Eiji wants to fight you fair and square. I have heard that Eiji has some thing for Mai. But probably not. Either way, the Shiranui's and Kisaragi's were enemies. (Would you be friends with a group of assassins? Me too, so I can learn all the stuff, but the storyline needs spice so...).
Playing Eiji? Yes, it's time to get out the old '95 game and mess around a bit. If you want to cheat, and you have KOF '95 for the Olaystation, use Eiji and put your specials on the top four buttons, making you TOO invincible (Steel Wave Slasher at will). There's nothing special about his DM. All or nothing, move it or lose it, just a quick dash. The kasumi Geri protects both front and air. In the front, it doesn't knock down, so sick to the banishing chi fist, or Ki Ko Ho. That'll get them down. Mix his "teleport Lucky Vision" style Move with bone cutters, since the animations are so much alike, it will fool an opponent a bit. Just use the teleport in general to change strategy and get on different ground. The reflector comes out slo, but lasts a while. It also knocks down. It's very good to stop dashing opponents and even some jumping ones. The Stalion Kick is something to combo more than anything else. A bit undirected but it does go over projectile's. It's hard to do though in the '95 style of thing. The Steel Wave Slasher is a BIG wave of chi that cuts through almost anything. It comes out almost 2x faster than a haoh Sho Ko Ken, so it can be used as a normal projectile. Yikes and all that rut. The reason Eiji probably hasn't returned is because SNK hasn't figured out a way to tone him down to the new KOF '96 style without totally changing him to a completely new character. Better find a way.
-Sho Reppadan-
Eiji: "So many enemies. So much to do. So much fun."
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