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Ryu (リュウ, Ryū, written as 隆 in the original Street Fighter)listen is a video game character created by Capcom, and is the main character in the Street Fighter series. Ryu is the archetypal fighting game protagonist, and he has provided the basis for many other fighting game characters. Ryu has been the lead character of the Street Fighter series since the first game and has appeared in crossovers involving the franchise.

History

Street Fighter series

Often incorrectly pronounced Rai-yu (as the result of anglicized pronunciation), the correct version is Ree-oo. Ryu debuted in the first Street Fighter as the primary playable character in the game, with his best friend, rival and sparring partner Ken serving as the second player's character. In this incarnation, Ryu has red hair and wears a tattered white karate gi with a white hachimaki and red slippers. Also, a constant trait in his design is the Fūrinkazan (風林火山) kanji (meaning Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain), battle standard of the historical japanese military leader Takeda Shingen, embroidered into his obi, simulating Karate Dan degrees. The connection of Takeda's standard to the character can be found in its philosophical meaning : Swift as the Wind, Silent as a Forest, Fierce as Fire and Immovable as a Mountain, traits that serious practitioners of martial arts often pursue to achieve.

Ryu can't get a credit card.

He and his rival Ken (who both trained under the same master, a character later established to be Gouken) compete in the tournament depicted in the game in order to test their strength against the tournament's champion Sagat.

His next appearance was in Template:Vgy's Street Fighter II, which features an older looking Ryu with brown hair and a red hachimaki. He also fought barefooted this time. Set several years after Ryu defeated Sagat in the first tournament (with Sagat bearing a chest scar from his defeat by Ryu's Dragon Punch), Ryu participates in a second tournament, inviting his old friend Ken to compete against him. In his ending in the game, Ryu wins the tournament against Sagat and M. Bison, but does not stay for the ceremony, already seeking his next challenge. This ending defines Ryu's characterization as a "wandering warrior".

Ryu's backstory, along with those of other Street Fighter characters, would be explored in the subsequent Street Fighter Alpha prequel series. Set between the original Street Fighter and the Street Fighter II games, the Alpha series features a young Ryu much like the one depicted in the original Street Fighter with light red hair and a white hachimaki.

The first game, Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (Template:Vgy), features Ryu confronting Sagat as his last opponent in a rematch following their first fight. Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Template:Vgy)) depicts Ryu on a quest to confront Akuma, his master's brother and enemy. After their match, Akuma reveals that Ryu possesses the "evil intent" or "Satsui no Hadou" within him, the same power Akuma uses. An alternate version of Ryu using this power is featured in the game as hidden character (see Evil Ryu). In Ken's ending, Ryu is shown receiving the red headband he wears in Street Fighter II as a gift from Ken (a concept previously used in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie). In Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Template:Vgy), Ryu is sought by Bison, who seeks to use Ryu as his next host body. With the help of Sagat and Sakura, Ryu is able to defeat Bison and fend him off until he is ultimately destroyed by Guile and Charlie (it is explained that Bison had a new host body constructed for himself prior to Street Fighter II).

Ryu and Ken would return in Street Fighter III Template:Vgy, with a new character named Alex serves as the new lead character. It was followed by Street Fighter III 2nd Impact and Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. While Ryu's motivation in the game and rivalry with Ken would remain the same, he also shown getting acquainted with several of the new characters featured in the game, such as becoming a tag partner for Hugo in 2nd Impact or Oro's pupil in 3rd Strike.

Ryu appears in Street Fighter IV.

Other games

Ryu has appeared in spinoffs related to the main Street Fighter series such as the Street Fighter: The Movie game (where he appears in digitized form, played by Byron Mann) and in the Street Fighter EX sub-series produced by Arika (an early attempt to adapt the Street Fighter in 3D). The character has also been featured in Capcom's inter-company crossovers such as the Marvel vs. Capcom series, the SNK vs. Capcom series, Namco x Capcom and the recently released Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

Evil Ryu

In the Street Fighter Alpha series, there is a selectable version of Ryu known as Evil Ryu (殺意の波動に目覚めたリュウ, Satsui no Hadō ni Mezameta Ryū, lit. "The surge of murderous intent awakened in Ryu", abbreviated Satsui Ryu in Street Fighter Zero 3). The concept of Ryu succumbing to the "Evil Intent" (殺意の波動, Satsui no Hadō, lit. "Surge of Murderous Intent", translated as the "Dark Hadou" in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, the "Killer Wave" in SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium and the "Murder Wave" in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos), the same power used by his nemesis Akuma, was first explored in the Street Fighter Alpha manga authored by Masahiko Nakahira. Ryu's ending in Street Fighter Zero 2 further suggested this possibility in the games. But it wasn't until the American and European version of the game, Street Fighter Alpha 2 (and its subsequent revision in Japan, Zero 2 Alpha) that Evil Ryu was introduced as a secret character in the games.

In terms of gameplay, Evil Ryu has more powerful attacks than his normal counterpart, strikes faster, and possesses some of the attacks of Akuma (such as the Shun Goku Satsu).

Like Akuma, Evil Ryu has a signature symbol that appears when he performs the Shun Goku Satsu. Evil Ryu has had three different symbols: In Alpha 3, his symbol was Satsu, for "Murder" (殺) , though it only appears in his ending, not during gameplay, and in Capcom vs SNK 2, the symbol was Metsu (滅) for "Destruction." In Street Fighter EX Plus he also appears to have the same sign as Akuma, which is "Ten", for "Sky/Heaven" (天).

In Street Fighter Alpha 3, if the player matches normal Ryu against Evil Ryu, they have a special pre-match introduction in which normal Ryu attacks Evil Ryu with a rushing elbow which Evil Ryu parries, and then normal Ryu blocks as his "evil counterpart" pushes him away.

Fighting style

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Ryu is the quintessential "basic" character in fighting games with an intuitive array of punches and kicks, and very basic special moves. This simplicity makes Ryu a favorite for beginner and intermediate players. Ryu is available in nearly every Street Fighter game, allowing players familiar with previous Street Fighter games to begin playing immediately, without having to worry about learning how to use a new character, however, there are a few tweaks in his moveset which vary depending on the game. Both Ryu and Ken are practitioners of a nameless martial art style, which incorporated the most violent techniques from a blend of four styles of martial arts, alongside a mysterious technique called Shun Goku Satsu. Both Ryu and Ken learned their art from Gouken, who vowed to teach a non-lethal variation of the original art taught by his master Goutetsu which does not include the discipline's life-threatening techniques such as the Shun Goku Satsu. In the Street Fighter Alpha anime movie, Ryu's master Gouken mentions the fact that his style, and therefore his disciples', was used in previous eras as a style to kill, although Gouken himself practiced its non-lethal form as well as it was the form he taught to Ryu and Ken.

While Ryu and Ken follow the same martial arts discipline, as the Street Fighter series evolved, the differences between the two characters was portrayed by their attacks: Ryu focused on technique while Ken opted for stylish unpredictability. Ryu's normal attacks are slightly slower than Ken's, albeit straightforward. His special moves are more focused; Ryu inflicts damage with individual strikes rather than combinations. His Shōryū-ken (昇龍拳, "Rising Dragon Fist") does only one hit, so Ryu can effectively use this move at full power against airborne opponents. Ryu focuses more on the Hadou principle of his style, which translates to him being very skilled with his usage of ki - Ryu has the most concentrated Hadōken (波動拳, "Surge Fist") amongst all users. In addition, Ryu has mastered the Tatsumaki-Senpū kyaku (竜巻旋風脚, "Tornado Whirlwind Kick"), a powerful kick performed in mid-air. Ryu's version knocks down the opponent in one hit, while Ken's hits multiple times. Ryu has been given special moves in various games, in addition to his standard ones, among those, Jōdan Sokutō Geri (上段足刀蹴り, "High Side Kick"), a fast side kick only available to him in the iterations of Street Fighter III.

Ryu's super moves also differ from those used by Ken and other practitioners of their style. These are: Shinkū Hadōken (真空波動拳, "Vacuum Surge Fist"), a powered-up, multi-hit variant of his standard Hadōken, the Shinkū Tatsumaki-Senpū Kyaku (真空竜巻旋風脚, "Vacuum Tornado Whirlwind Kick"), a stationary variant of the normal move, but much faster, stronger and hitting multiple times, Shin Shōryū-ken (真・昇龍拳, "True Rising Dragon Fist"), an extremely powerful version of the standard Shōryū-ken, to date Ryu's most powerful super move. In addition, in Street Fighter III, Ryu mastered the Denjin Hadōken (電刃波動拳, " Thunder god's Surge Fist"), a very fast, unblockable electrified variation of the Hadōken, which has the ability to stun the opponent. In the same way as his standard moves, Ryu has been given additional super moves that are available only in specific games.

Ryu has a unique ability in Marvel vs. Capcom, where he is able to change his fighting style (and outfit), to those of Ken and Akuma (to compensate for the lack of the two characters in the game). When giving his quote at the end of the fight, however, they are the same no matter which "mode" he's in.

Since the SNES version of Street Fighter II, Ryu's fighting style has been referred as "Shotokan" in the English localization of the games' instruction manuals and related literature, despite the fact that the term not being used in the Japanese versions or in the games themselves. Capcom USA has since insisted upon Ryu's (and by extrapolation Ken Masters and Akuma's) fighting style be referred to as Shotokan in various media, such as UDON's comic series.

Cultural impact

In other media

In the same way Ryu is the lead character for most of the Street Fighter games, he is also featured as the protagonist of all Japanese animated productions based on the franchise. In the 1994 film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Ryu becomes the target of Bison's organization Shadowlaw after one of Shadowlaw's monitor cyborgs detects that Ryu has a fighting potential of 3,600 (whereas the average fighter is above 2,000). Bison captures Ken and brainwashes him, forcing Ryu to fight his former friend. In the movie, Ryu's red headband is revealed in a flashback to be a gift from Ken, an idea which would be reused for Street Fighter Alpha 2. He was voiced by Kōjirō Shimizu in the Japanese version and Skip Stellrecht in the English dub.

Ryu was played by Byron Mann in the 1994 film version of Street Fighter, where Guile is the lead character. Ryu (given the surname "Hoshi"), and Ken are traveling con artists who steal money from rich crime lords through schemes such as selling modified toy guns. He and Ken eventually work with Guile to infiltrate Bison's headquarters. Mann also portrayed the character in two separately produced video games based on the film, both titled Street Fighter: The Movie, where he wears Ryu's characteristic white karate gi and red headband.

The premise of the 1995 Japanese TV series Street Fighter II V centers around a young Ryu and Ken, who travel the world to improve their martial art skills by challenging other Street Fighters. The series' depiction of Ryu differs from his video game counterpart, as he has spiked black hair and lacks his trademark headband, wearing a set of beads on his right wrist instead, which is given to him by a female friend during the first episode. He is usually dressed casually, but wears his white karate gi for some episodes. He was voiced Kōji Tsujitani in the Japanese version and once again by Skip Stellrecht in the English dub.

The American Street Fighter animated series, which also debuted in 1995, follows a loose combination of the depictions of Ryu in the live action movie and in the games. Ryu, once again given the last name of Hoshi, is once again a traveling con artist, paired, as ever, with Ken, but like in the games, he is also dedicated to his training. Originally, Ryu and Ken were supporting characters in the series, but later episodes focus around the duo, adapting backstories from the game into the series. He was voiced in the series by Tony Lung.

The 1999 original video animation Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation centers around Ryu's inner conflict with the Dark Hadou, as seen in the Street Fighter Alpha manga and games. The 2005 OVA Street Fighter Alpha: Generations features a similar storyline, but is unrelated to the previous Alpha anime. The story of Generations establishes Akuma (or Gouki, as he retains his Japanese name in the English dub) as Ryu's father.

Promotion and merchandise

A Ryu-inspired costume for players to use in Sony's LittleBigPlanet was released on December 12th of 2008 as downloadable content for the title.

Critial reception

IGN ranked Ryu first in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article, stating "Ryu is a testament to the virtue of simplicity in character design. White gi, dark gloves, red headband for a little touch of color, and that is it. It's rare, when you think about it, to see too many fancy pieces go into the making of an icon". GameDaily listed him at number two in their "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" article, stating "He always seeks a bigger challenge, and that determination makes him one of our favorites"; in a later character profile article for Ryu, they stated "Ryu is a formidable fighter that gets the job done...Bottom line, you can't go wrong with Street Fighter's most iconic character." He additionally ranked number seventy-one on UGO.com's "Top 100 Heroes of All Time" article.

References

1. "Street Fighter IV: Return of the World Warriors," GameInformer 178 (February 2008): 90.
2. Acevedo, Jay (2008-12-12). Weekly Playstation Store Update - December 12. Game Focus. Retrieved on 2008-12-18
3. IGN's Top 5 Street Fighter Characters Ryu's entry at number one.
4. Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-11-13
5. Workman, Robert. Street Fighter IV Character Profile: Ryu. GameDaily. Retrieved on 2008-12-22
6. Top 100 Heroes of All Time. UGO.com. Retrieved on 2008-12-13

Bibliography

• Studio Bent Stuff (2000). All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Game 1987-2000. A.A. Game History Series (Vol. 1) (in Japanese). Dempa Publications, Inc. ISBN 4885546761. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Monthly Arcadia Editorial Staff (2008). STREET FIGHTER IV MASTER GUIDE 拳の書. エンターブレインムック ARCADIA EXTRA VOL. 69 (in Japanese). Enterbrain. ISBN 4757745133. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Template:Major Street Fighter Characters

• Street Fighter characters
• Fictional karateka
• Fictional martial artists
• Fictional orphans