Yuri Sakazaki

Yuri Sakazaki
Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters character
Yuri Sakazaki in The King of Fighters 2000
First game	Art of Fighting (1992)
Voiced by (English)	Veronica Taylor (Art of Fighting anime)
Voiced by (Japanese)	Harumi Ikoma (AOF) Kaori Horie (since AOF2-KOFXIII) Ai Kakuma (KOFXIV) Ayumi Hamasaki (Art of Fighting anime) Sakura Tange (drama CD)
Fictional profile
Birthplace	Japan
Fighting style	Kyokugen Karate

Yuri Sakazaki (ユリ・サカザキ, Yuri Sakazaki^?, sometimes written as 坂崎 ゆり Sakazaki Yuri) is a fictional character from SNK's Art of Fighting series of fighting games. She first appears in the original Art of Fighting being kidnapped by Mr. Big, a criminal from the city of South Town. The players, Yuri's brother Ryo and his friend Robert Garcia spend the game searching for her. In the sequel, Yuri appears for the first time as a playable character, having been trained by her father Takuma in the art of the Kyokugen Karate. Yuri has also starred in the anime adaptation from Art of Fighting, in which she reprises her role from the first game.

She has appeared in most games from The King of Fighters series, with the notable exception of the non-canon The King of Fighters XII, participating in the annual tournaments from each title. She initially starts in the Women Fighters Team (composed entirely of women), but she later moves to the Art of Fighting Team along with her family. She was also featured in the SNK vs. Capcom crossover series as well as in SNK Gals' Fighters.

Yuri was created to be a spoiled by her older brother Ryo Sakazaki. Although she was given a tragic past due to her mother's death and her father's disappearance, she was still an upbeat character. For the character voices, they used all pro or semi-pro voice actors. Yuri and King were done by the same person. Once it was announced Yuri would be a playable character in Art of Fighting 2, the staff behind The King of Fighters '94 wanted her to be as part of the cast. She replaced the character Big Bear from King's team due to memory issues. Afterwards, the team added Mai Shiranui to the team and form the Women's Team. Yuri's designer said the character had some bosom animation but not as much as Mai. She also spent much work on Yuri's calves.