Ryu

Ryu (リュウ(隆), Ryū^?, lit. "Prosperous", "Plentiful", "Abundant") is the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series, first appearing in the original Street Fighter.^[23] He is an experienced martial artist, highly focused on his training, aiming to become the strongest he can.

Biography

Concept

While Ryu draws inspiration from Masutatsu Ōyama and Yoshiji Soeno from Karate Master (Karate Baka Ichidai), his rival Sagat is visually based on Yoshiji Soeno's rival; Reiba.^[24][25] The events of the first Street Fighter as told in Ryu’s backstory entry, pays homage to Karate Master, the fiction based on Masutatsu Ōyama, where he and his students go to Thailand to take on the strongest fighters. More specifically, the last issue, which tells the journey of Ōyama’s student; Yoshiji Soeno, who journey’s to Thailand to face off against the best of Muay Thai.^[26]

Ryu is named after his original creator, Takashi Nishiyama. Early in development he was going to be named Ryūichi (隆一) but they shortned it to Ryu(隆) later on.^[27] The symbol for the first Chinese character used to spell Nishiyama's name "Takashi(隆志)" can also be pronounced "Ryu(隆)".^[28][29]

In Street Fighter, Ryu's fighting stance was similar to that of full-contact karate. However, Ryu was given a different stance in Street Fighter II, which was inspired by Bruce Lee's fighting stance in Enter the Dragon. Akiman made this change as he wanted Ryu to have a stance that wasn't traditional karate.^[30]

Manabu Takemura also played a role in Ryu’s creation. He wanted Ryu to symbolize a true Japanese martial artist (a budōka), while Ken is a typical young man who likes Western culture and wants to become an American. Takemura didn’t like Ryu’s thin physique in the first game, so he made Ryu more muscular so he’d look like a martial artist.^[31] Ryu's hair was longer in the first game, but Akiman didn't find that hair length cool in his sprite, so he gave Ryu shorter hair which then became his default look.^[32] Upon Street Fighter IV, his hair is layered and cut shorter, being evocative of Ippo Makinouchi from the famous sports boxing manga and anime series Hajime no Ippo.

Ryu would receive a redesign in the prototype version of Street Fighter V, where he would come back from training in the mountains after overcoming the Satsui no Hado. He'd also have bruises on his chest and shoulders that looked like embers of the Satsui no Hado.^[33] Although the prototype was scrapped, the design was altered by Kiki and repurposed as a Battle Costume where Ryu’s in the middle of training deep in the mountains.^[34][35]

In order to differentiate Ryu from the younger generation, Ryu would receive a redesign for Street Fighter 6 where Ryu would now give off the atmosphere of being a master.^[36] The team decided to have Ryu resemble his master Gouken, as it's believed Ryu would become more like him as he evolves.^[37] Ryu now wears kasaya (Buddhist robe) and also sandals like Gouken did before his appearance in Street Fighter IV.^[38]

In the early days of most Street Fighter media (such as the Drama CD's), Ryu often had a more "rough and tumble" personality, as well as a bit of a goofy and lighthearted side to him.^[39] He was also shown to be quite irritable when hungry. In his short story in the manga Street Fighter Gaiden, he was shown to be a rather happy individual, a trait common among shounen main characters, such as Son Goku from the Dragon Ball series and Luffy from the One Piece series. Some of these traits are preserved in modern portrayals.

Appearance

Ryu's most recognizable attire consists of a white karate gi with the sleeves torn off, medium length hair, a long red headband, a black martial arts belt and bare feet (a choice he makes of his own, believing it to be more comfortable). In many of his appearances, Ryu carries around a large, white duffel bag containing items important to his travels, such as clothing, plane tickets, passports, and local currency.

In the first Street Fighter, Ryu wore a white headband and red shoes, one of the only times he wears shoes. Over the course of time, he has grown more muscular; his karate gi has grown more tattered, he stops wearing shoes, his gloves have changed from brown to red and his headband has changed from white to red. Most notably, his hair color has darkened over time; his original Street Fighter appearance gave him red hair, brown in Street Fighter Alpha, dark brown in Street Fighter II, and black in Street Fighter III, Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V. In the Street Fighter III series, Ryu’s black hair has a blue tint. The red headband Ryu wears was originally worn by Ken. From Street Fighter IV onwards, the red gloves worn by Ryu have started to bear stylized writing, in the manner of a fictional brand name but also resembling the Fūrinkazan characters on his belt. It became his nostalgia costume in Street Fighter 6. In TEPPEN, his gi shows noticeable wear and tear in places (with the left half of the jacket missing entirely), he has a few bandages wrapped around his arms, and his gloves have some extra padding.

In some official Street Fighter II artwork, Ryu's belt has four kanji emblazoned upon the right end: wind (風, Kaze^?), forest (林, Hayashi^?), fire (火, Hi^?) and mountain (山, Yama^?); these four kanji make up the Fūrinkazan. The same four kanji can be seen on a sign on the left-hand side of Ryu's stage in Street Fighter II, and are also visible on his belt in Street Fighter IV. The four words are based on chapter seven of Sun Tzu's Art of War, which dictates how one should conduct battle: "as fast as the wind, as quiet as the forest, as daring as fire, and immovable as the mountain."

In Street Fighter II V, Ryu wears some casual outfits throughout the episodes; his primary appearance is a white short-sleeve shirt, blue denim jeans and red and white sneakers. He also has a black watch on his left wrist. Ryu is not wearing his red headband and his hair seems to be more spiky in this series. When he wears his white karate gi, he only wears a brown prayer bead bracelet on his left wrist. He is also more tanned than in the games.

His second alternate costume in Street Fighter V consists of only his white karate pants with a black belt to his waist and tatters in the edge of his pants, gray shoulder bands on each side and hand wraps on his hands. He also has a black facial beard.

This outfit later became his main outfit in Street Fighter 6, his handwraps are replaced with brown gloves, his black belt now has white outlines and gained white wraps all over his stomach, and his beard is somewhat less denser. He now wears brown sandals as opposed being barefoot like in previous games. In the second trailer and as a playable character in the game, he gains a large single torn reddish brown tarp-like cloth on the left side which reaches through his right waist and the cloth itself was adorned with a large gold ring to keep themselves attached. The tarp-like cloth that he wears is actually a kasaya to make a near resemblance to the same gi worn by his master Gouken.

During E. Honda's character story, Ryu's black hair was pushed down by the warm water when he was meditating at his bathhouse. By the time he was battling Honda on his bathhouse before he gives him some proper manners after bathing, Ryu wears a white fundoshi without the rear apron and wears a white headband with the sign of red "V" mark at the center instead of his red headband. This also marks the first time to see more of Ryu's bare skin in his revealed appearance as his revealed outfit is the same revealing undergarments currently worn by Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness character, Jin Saotome beneath his main outfit in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes where he burns his clothes to show this outfit during execution of one of his special moves or his own taunt while drying himself with a white towel.

In World Tour of Street Fighter 6, Ryu wears a casual outfit like his anime counterpart in Street Fighter II V where Chun-Li shops him some clothes at the mall due to his problems at the airports from other countries he had traveled in. He wears the white fitted T-shirt, jeans and sneakers from his anime counterpart while wearing a navy blue and pale gold letterman jacket with pink cherry blossom designs at the edge of his jacket. He still wears the red headband on his forehead. This outfit later became his third alternate costume in the game with some minor changes, his jeans appear torn in both knees and the color is dirty white with a black belt around his waist along with a silver rectangular-shaped buckle and his sneakers are replaced with black zori sandals. He wears a white bandanna on his head since his red headband has tied on his left upper arm and was accessorized with white martial arts gloves.

When he participates at the festival, this is where he grows his full beard while wearing his festival outfit. In his fight against Retsu, Ryu wears his white gi and headband from his Alpha appearance but his hair remains black.

Personality

Ryu is a wise, humble, self-deprecating, and respectful individual; which is often juxtaposed against the lighthearted, fiery persona of his childhood friend, Ken. He wanders the world with the desire for complete mastery of his martial art, and takes both his travels and training seriously.^[15] For Ryu, the training and the mastery that comes from the fight are all that he requires for satisfaction, declining the more material trappings of his various accomplishments as a warrior, simply moving on to his next challenge once he is victorious without delay, unless he is offered food or if he wants to converse with his friendly rivals.

Because of this "wandering warrior" persona and also being trained far away from modern-day culture, Ryu often appears distant to others. Despite this, he is a kind, authentic, good-hearted, and demonstrative warrior who readily helps those less fortunate than himself, is protective and gentle towards children, and on rare occasions, shows a sense of humor (albeit a bad one). He also respects his opponents with skills equal to his own and formidable opponents who he is able to beat and is on friendly terms with, he compliments or encourages them to continue training and get stronger, sometimes offering help first hand.

In his non-canon appearances such as the manga adaptation of Street Fighter II, the anime series Street Fighter II V, the UDON Entertainment comics, and as revealed to Marshall Law Street Fighter X Tekken, due to his profession and very active and demanding lifestyle, Ryu will partake in eating large amounts of food if the opportunity presented itself. Ryu is also not a very picky eater, though he generally turns to Japanese staples out of basis.

Ryu is also described as being straightforward, honest and pure, while some consider it a good trait, others view it as a trait that makes him worse than the bad guys.^[40][41][42] This purity does not exactly make him a "hero" in a sense, as he shows no interest in saving the world and only focuses on becoming a true martial artist,^[43] though he will participate in the former if the need arises. There’s also an official setting of Ryu working as a bouncer for gangs and drug dealers, showing that he doesn’t particularly care who he works for so long as it doesn’t intervene with his goal. ^[44] This is also shown in crossovers where Ryu compliments and takes orders from boss characters who are considered evil in their own series. ^[45][46]

There is, however, a dark side to Ryu: His drive to improve himself, no matter the difficulty, risks developing into a drive to win and to be the best at any cost. This darker drive is fed by (and in turn feeds) the Satsui no Hado within his soul, an influence which Ryu must constantly fight to suppress from killing (at least until the time of Street Fighter III). In times when his inner darkness threatens to overcome his humanity, Ryu relies on his friends and rivals - primarily Ken, Gouken, Sagat, and Sakura - to keep him grounded and help him overcome out of it.

By the time of Street Fighter III and Street Fighter 6, despite being socially maladapted^[47], Ryu is somewhat more friendly yet still very quiet and reserved, much like his master Gouken. Ryu's favorite type of women are ones who look good in the spring of Japan.^[48] Outside of martial arts, Ryu also takes interest in learning other cultures and histories in whatever country he's in during his training.^[49]

Character Relationships

Over his many travels, Ryu has made many allies and friends, but he also has a few enemies, including his dark half. Ken, Sagat, Gouken and Sakura are characters with high importance who’s actions influence Ryu and vice versa:

Friends/Allies

Ken

Ken is Ryu's best friend from his childhood, as the two have trained in the same art of Ansatsuken for a long time. They share a very close bond with each other and will help out each other no matter the cost. Both of them have also trained together under Gouken. One can see that they care for each other and never quarrel. Ken’s able to notice when Ryu isn’t in the right state of mind as shown in the Alpha series, where Ken gave him his red headband in order for Ryu to stay focused and not lose his way. And then in Street Fighter V where he tells Hinagiku that only he will show up alone, and encourages Ryu to continue his training before facing Shadoloo.

Although Ryu spends his time training, Ken will go as far as inviting him to his wedding and Ryu will answer the call (seen in Ken's ending in Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix) and also invite him to the Japanese hot springs (in Street Fighter III: New Generation/2nd Impact).^[50][51] In Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind , Ken always assumed that Ryu found him trivial since he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, whilst Ryu is an orphan who at the time lost the man who adopted him.^[52] In contrast to this, Ryu believed Ken was the only one he can reach out to when it comes to his internal struggle with the Satsui no Hado. Ken also gets annoyed when multiple people ask where Ryu is, making it seem like Ken is Ryu’s personal assistant. ^[53] The two usually greet each other by exchanging fist bumps, usually before starting a friendly sparring match. In 3rd Strike, it's revealed that Ryu has won more fights between him and Ken, a fact that Ken is bummed out about.^[54]

Gouken

Gouken is Ryu's master who raised him since he was a boy. During Gouken's absence, Ryu returns to Suzaku Castle to visit Gouken's grave, once every year.^[19][55] Ryu also views him as a father and was inspired by him to become a martial artist. He gave Ryu a matching set of prayer beads but Ryu doesn't wear them, as it affects his mobility.^[56]

Sagat

Sagat is one of Ryu's most respected rivals. At first, Sagat had a grudge against Ryu for stripping away his pride as a warrior. Later on, though, Sagat began to respect Ryu for his brave will and sportsmanship, and the two have become great rivals afterwards.^[25][57]

It is because of Ryu that Sagat was able to overcome his encounter with the Satsui no Hado; this is also where he realizes that the Ryu that stripped him of his pride from way back was troubled by this dark influence, further motivating himself for self-improvement, and gaining more respect for his rival.

Chun-Li

Chun-Li and Ryu have mutual respect towards each other as fighters. Years after A Shadow Falls, they remain close friends. Chun-Li even took Ryu shopping in Japan to help him buy some new clothes so his usual attire won’t cause any commotions at airports, as seen in Ryu’s World Tour Mode.

Guile

Guile greatly respects Ryu and vice-versa. It is noted that they are friends since Ryu and Guile have eaten Nattō and they get along very well.^[58] In the November 1st, 2018 issue of Weekly Famitsu, Ryu and Guile had a section where they talk about their private lives and their impressions of each other. Ryu tells Guile that he was dissatisfied with being treated as a wanderer with no money despite having a fixed address, living a normal life when off and having the money to fly to different countries. Guile, on the other hand, was astonished.

Sakura

Sakura is Ryu's fan and a close friend of his. She has always tried to get Ryu to train her in hopes of becoming a better fighter. While Ryu does not believe that he is ready to take her as a student, they will sometimes have a match to see her improvement in fighting. Like Ken, she’s willing to put her own well-being on the line to help Ryu as shown in Street Fighter Alpha 3 where she was willing to fight M. Bison to protect Ryu and again in Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind where she stops Ryu who was under the influence of the Satsui no Hado from killing someone. When Ryu heard that Sakura was in trouble from Karin, he immediately made his way to Kasugano Residence, to see if she’s alright. After sparring with her, he was able to tell that her worries about the future helped her mature. Thanks to her, he learns about the strength of life, where instead of having students, he should have children to create new bonds in life.

Goutetsu

Ryu remembers Goutetsu when looking back at his childhood. He used to watch Goutetsu, Gouken and Akuma train with each other.^[59]

Dhalsim

Ryu respects Dhalsim enough to ask for his help in Street Fighter V. Dhalsim's advice allowed Ryu to overcome the Satsui no Hado in favor of the Power of Nothingness.^[60]

Fei Long

Fei Long and Ryu share mutual respect towards each other.^[61]

El Fuerte

Ryu is not picky when it comes to food, but El Fuerte's cooking is so bad not even Ryu can tolerate it. Despite this fact, Ryu respects El Fuerte as a martial artist.^[62]

Sean

Being Ken's student, Sean is a friend of Ryu.

Oro

Despite Oro's eccentric and comical nature clashing with Ryu's stoic personality, both fighters respect each other nonetheless due to Oro's mastery of Senjutsu. Oro believes that one day Ryu will not only become the next master of Senjutsu but also strong enough to fight the latter with both hands, but only after 15 years of intense training. On the other hand, Ryu hasn't shown any interest in becoming Oro's student or learning Senjutsu.^[63]

Rose

Rose and Ryu met during the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Nash

Ryu and Charlie both respect each other's skills after they fought in China.

Alex

Alex considers Ryu as his ultimate rival, after losing to him in 3rd Strike. They engage in a fight with a currently unknown outcome.

Cammy

Cammy has a strong admiration for Ryu due to his great strength, fighting skills and heroic traits. In Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind, Cammy intervened when C. Viper ambushed Ryu. After C. Viper tortures Cammy, the Dark Hado takes over Ryu.

Hokuto

Ryu befriends and stays with Hokuto for a long period of time in the Street Fighter EX continuity. When Ryu is in Japan he'd visit Hokuto to train with her. Hokuto yearns for Ryu as he reminds her of her brother.^[64] At one point, she wondered if Ryu really was her older brother.^[65]

Rashid

TBA

Luke

TBA

Enemies

M. Bison

One of Ryu's mortal enemies, Bison has repeatedly tried to capture Ryu in hopes of using him as a host body or brainwash him into being a member of Shadaloo. Due to Ryu having the Satsui no Hado sealed in him, this is part of M. Bison's plan to control that dark power for himself. Ultimately, it is Ryu who is the one to finally defeat Bison once and for all.

Seth

In Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind Seth wanted to capture Ryu so he can use the Satsui no Hado for his own purpose. It's established that Ryu and Seth have different philosophies on power and on how to acquire it. The two would clash with Ryu emerging the winner.

Akuma

Akuma is one of Ryu's most hated enemies, as he was the one who tried to kill his master, Gouken. Akuma also attempts to lure Ryu into succumbing to the Satsui no Hado, therefore casting aside his humanity, in hopes of finally finding a worthy opponent for the ultimate fight to the death that he seeks. Ryu knows this is a trap of temptation planned by Akuma, as Ryu has tried his best to find a way to get rid of the Satsui no Hado while refusing to succumb to that kind of power. However, their rivalry during the events in Street Fighter V has gradually turned into one of mutual respect, after Ryu fully rejects the Satsui no Hado in favor of the Power of Nothingness. Though they still continue to fight with these clashing ideologies, they both respect each other's paths.

Upon learning that the Avatar encounters Akuma and felt fear upon their encounter with him, Ryu helps the Avatar to train them on overcoming their fear during their rematch against Akuma.

Kage

Kage is the physical manifestation of Ryu's Satsui no Hado after Ryu expelled the power from his body. Kage himself now seeks to fight and defeat Ryu in order to show and prove to the latter that he's nothing without him. Ryu sees him as nothing more than the same as his former other half.

Necalli

Necalli is an ancient spirit that wants to devour Ryu's soul as part of a prophecy. Necalli constantly attacks Ryu during A Shadow Falls until he is finally beaten by Ryu.

Poverty & Ryu

In addition to the character setting of "Wandering Fighter", Ryu, who has a distinctive appearance of "always barefoot and dressed in a gi" (after "Street Fighter II"), gives the player the (somewhat notorious) impression that "there is no money to buy clothes". In Ryu's Street Fighter Alpha 3 bio it says that he's unemployed.^[19] Then there's official illustrations drawn by Capcom from development materials, artbooks, and trading cards, such as where Ryu is using a laundromat washing machine to wash his gi with only his underwear on.

SHOEI, the director of Capcom's design department, said that he doesn't remember making Ryu poor and having no money, as this clashes with Ryu travelling the world.^[66] Kinu Nishimura also reveals that Ryu has a passport and that she remembers what Akiman said when it came to Ryu's daily life. He told her that Ryu usually does high paying but dangerous things such as acting as a bouncer or muscleman for gangsters, and basically bets on himself in street fights when he runs out of money.^[44] Ryu working as gang muscle was also adapted in Masahiko Nakahira's manga for Street Fighter Alpha, where Birdie hires Ryu as a bouncer for drug transactions. In the Q & A section of Capcom's public relations magazine "Club Capcom," there was an answer from Ryu where he states that he also works a day laborer for physical labor.^[67]Ryu considers these jobs as an extension of his training.^[68][69]

In a conversation with Guile published in the November 1, 2018 issue of "Weekly Famitsu", Ryu tells Guile that he has a fixed address, living a normal life when off, and having enough money to fly. Ryu's house also appears in the Street Fighter ZERO3 Drama Album where Vega calls Ryu to tell him that he’s kidnapped Sakura.^[70] It's implied that Ryu lives in Tokyo as it's not only described as being Ryu's hometown but in the Drama CD, Ryu heads to Haneda Yamamoto by foot to confront Vega and other members of Shadaloo.^[50]

In Street Fighter 6, it's revealed that all the money Ryu earns from tournament winnings, guest appearances and solving local crises goes onto the black card Ken gave him. It's also revealed that Ryu is wealthy and that he has enough money to last for the rest of his life.^[71][72] Ken also forced a smartphone onto him so he could easily get in touch with him and Chun-Li bought Ryu clothes so he wouldn't cause a commotion when going to airports.^[73][74] Ryu has an in-game title called "Secretly Rich?".

Story

Early Life

Pre-Street Fighter

As a very young child, Ryu was orphaned and left with no memories of his parents, and whether they were still alive. He remembers being entrusted to a priest at an unknown temple.^[75] He was then found and adopted by a man named Gouken who raised Ryu in his secluded dojo and trained Ryu in the ways of his martial arts. Ryu used to watch Gouken, Goutetsu and Akuma train with each other.^[59] Sometime afterwards, Gouken would later train his best friend's spoiled son, Ken Masters. Ken served not only as a sparring partner, but also gave Ryu a friend in the form of a boy his own age. Ryu looked up to Gouken as a father figure, and regards Ken as his best friend and surrogate brother, a relationship which remains to this day.

When Ryu turned 23 years old, Gouken believed that Ryu was ready to travel the world in order to test and hone his martial skills against the best fighters from around the world.^[5] After Ryu and Ken's training was complete, Ken casually asks Ryu which of the two will be the most famous martial artist first. While Ken goes to USA, Ryu travels to Thailand alone, in order to face Sagat the Emperor of Muay Thai which is said to be the strongest martial art. ^[26]

Journey to Thailand

Main article: Street Fighter

When Ryu arrived in Thailand, he knew he couldn't just challenge Sagat as an unknown fighter, so Ryu created a plan to put Sagat in a situation where he can't refuse his challenge.^[76] By defeating many Muay Thai fighters, he believed it'll eventually reach Sagat's ears. If successful, Sagat will show himself in order to defend Muay Thai's honor.^[77] Ryu defeats 20 Muay Thai users, and yells at the fighters how allowing a stranger to tarnish Muay Thai's reputation is an embarrassment, Sagat heard Ryu and his fighting spirit burned. He told Ryu that he'll show him real Muay Thai, and the two would clash.^[78] Ryu, however, defeats Sagat with a nearly-fatal Shoryuken^{[79][80][81][23]} that not only knocks Sagat unconscious, but also marks his chest with a great scar. After regaining consciousness and discovering what had happened, Sagat swears vengeance on Ryu.^[82][57]

Beginning the Battles Against Akuma and Bison

Main article: Street Fighter Alpha series

Ryu leaves Sagat behind and spends the next few months training travelling to various location pondering the question "What is the meaning of anything in life?".^[83][84] By defeating Sagat who was once declared to be the strongest man in the world, that would make Ryu the strongest which means that he fulfilled his life’s greatest purpose. Ryu refused to believe he achieved his goal so soon and continued his training, learning new moves in the process.^[85] He encounters and fights Akuma on a secluded island known as Gokuentou, and wins; however, Akuma was only testing him, and senses that Ryu has the same powers as he does. He proceeds to tell Ryu about the Satsui no Hado - a power that consumes the practitioners of their shared fighting style, driving them to win even when it means killing the opponent. Akuma then uses his fist to smash the island with a single punch, leaving Ryu stranded.^[84]

Sometime after escaping the island, Ken finds Ryu. He asks Ken what it means to be a true fighter, he wonders if he should use the same fist he used to defeat Sagat or the one Akuma uses to murder people. Ken sees that Ryu's gone back to his usual bad habit of overthinking things and fights him as an attempt to wake him up.^[86] After defeating Ryu, Ken realizes he has been deeply troubled since his last victory over Sagat. He reminds Ryu to keep fighting in order to find the answer and gives him his red hairband and that whenever he feels lost, he should use it as a reminder of their fight and to keep fighting to find the answer. Ryu happily takes the headband and they both go their separate ways.^[87] Soon thereafter, a fan of his, named Sakura, comes up and expresses her desire to train under him. Ryu replies that he himself still has much to learn, but allows Sakura to take a picture of him for now.

At some point, Ryu is found by Sagat, who is out for a grudge match. Ryu protests that Sagat hasn't fully recovered from their last bout, but Sagat persists. Ryu lets Sagat win rather than do any further damage, and Sagat leaves. Only later, upon reflection, does Sagat realize that Ryu held back, vowing to fight him again.^[88]

Ryu continues to be troubled by what Akuma had told him, compounded by his encounter with Rose, who has intricate ties to M. Bison. She tells him that he cannot defeat Bison unless he fights him at the cost of his soul. True to form, when Ryu confronts Bison, he is defeated despite putting up a valiant fight. Bison takes the semi-conscious Ryu and begins brainwashing him, using the revelation that the Satsui no Hado - the dark power Ryu struggles to avoid using - is akin to Bison's own Psycho Power.

This scene is interrupted by the entrance of Sagat, Ken, and Sakura, each of them having followed Ryu for their own reasons. While Ken and Sakura distract Bison, Sagat fights the brainwashed Ryu, quickly noticing the effects Bison's brainwashing has had on him. At Sagat's urging, Ryu comes to his senses to confront and defeat Bison, destroying him temporarily.

The World Warrior Tournament and Bison's Return

Main article: Street Fighter II series

Ryu enters the World Warrior tournament to test his skills, and defeats many of the new warriors. Unbeknownst to Ryu, the tournament was organized by Shadaloo with the sole intent on retrieving his body.^[89] Ryu sends a letter to Ken which rekindles Ken’s fighting spirit.^[90] It is unknown how far Ryu himself progressed in the tournament, only in the English translation of Street Fighter: Eternal Challenge is it implied he may have lost to Ken. However, Ken's promise to Eliza doesn't exist in any other source or the original text of Eternal Challenge. In Street Fighter II: Complete File, it states that Ryu defeated Ken and M. Bison. In Gamest 255 (1999) it mentions Ryu avoiding M. Bison's flaming remnants after his body was destroyed by Akuma hinting that Ryu made to the finals.^[91]

Based on various endings and supplementary material it can be concluded that Ryu defeated Zangief and Blanka during the tournament.^[92] In the semi-finals, Ryu would defeat Sagat, who now respects Ryu's prowess, no longer harboring resentment.^[93][14] In the finals, Ryu would battle M. Bison.^[94]

In Street Fighter IV: Aftermath it shows Ryu helping Guile, Ken, Chun-Li and Cammy defeat Bison. However, Bison refused Guile's offer to surrender himself to the military before unleashing all of his Psycho Power to commit suicide. The animation being canon is unknown as Capcom hasn't mentioned it in other media. Capcom reprinted the All About Street Fighter books for the 30th Anniversary Collection that mentions Akuma defeating M. Bison. Capcom revisits Akuma killing M. Bison in SFV where Akuma's SFII ending is the only one that shows M. Bison being killed, along with SFV April Fools 2019. Currently there's no official winner of the tournament and what happens during and after the tournament is unknown.^[95]

In his HD Remix ending, he shortly leaves the tournament after he wins against Bison, and revisits his master's grave to tell about his victory and the experiences he had with the other fighters. Ryu then states that the ultimate battle is out there waiting for him and departs, stating that the fight is everything.

HD Remix also has Ryu appear in Ken's ending, where he is featured in a somewhat blurry photo with Guile wearing a tuxedo but still wearing his red headband. This is the first time in the game series Ryu is seen wearing anything other than his gi.

S.I.N Tournament and Battle Against Seth

Main article: Street Fighter IV series

After the World Warrior tournament, Ryu continued his journey and wound up in an isolated desert where he trained. Ryu then remembers his argument with Akuma, with Akuma urging Ryu to give in to the Dark Hado or else he will kill him. Ryu then leaves a desert and goes to a bar where he meets a biker. The biker then tells him a story about an American Martial Arts Champion who abandoned his family. Believing it to be Ken, Ryu visits the house of the said champion but is ambushed by C. Viper.

Suddenly, the Delta Red agent Cammy then attempts to ambush C. Viper. However, Cammy was also no match for Viper and Viper then tortures Cammy, in which the Dark Hado then takes over Ryu and engages C. Viper but would easily defeat her. Luckily for Viper, she manages to escape the possessed Ryu. Angered, Ryu then slaughters multiple S.I.N scientists who witnessed the fight until Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, and Sakura arrive to save Ryu and help Cammy.

Sakura would then restrain the possessed Ryu as Ken calls the hospital to help Cammy. Ryu would then regain his consciousness and realize what he has done. After being sent to Ken's mansion, Ryu realizes he is being targeted by S.I.N and its leader Seth for their evil plans. With Guile's plan to infiltrate Seth's cruise ship to incarcerate him, Ryu then tags along, knowing that Seth would be waiting for him. After traveling to the base, Ryu and Ken then dispatch multiple S.I.N thugs before Ryu encounters Seth himself.

Ryu and Seth then engage, with Seth easily overpowering Ryu and giving him his twisted philosophy of power. Ryu then admits that he never understood what power is and that he understands Seth's philosophy fore stating that the power he describes is not what he's after. Seth, unamused, continues beating him up before Ryu awakens a new power and nearly kills Seth with it. Ryu then collapses from this power, and senses it in Ken. A few days later, Ryu and Ken then part ways, with Ryu stating that they will meet again.

Ryu then enters into a new tournament to further master his skills as well as reunite with his longtime friend Ken for another rematch. During his journey, he meets up with Sakura whom he encourages to train harder. Meanwhile Ryu also meets up with Sagat once more; the two fight, and while the result of the fight is unknown, it is implied that Ryu won.

During the final round with the tournament host Seth (actually a copy of him), he defeats him in the S.I.N. headquarters. During and after this battle the building fell around them as Ryu unleashed the Satsui no Hado on the BLECE machine, a weapon of mass destruction developed by S.I.N. that harnessed the energy in the human body.^[96]

During this, Sakura - who has been searching for Ryu - finds him and the BLECE machine, and a pulse of energy from it knocks her into a wall. Ryu defends her by unleashing a Shoryuken on the machine, and they leave the building together, the weapon destroyed.^[97]

He then encounters Gouken, who has in fact survived his last battle with Akuma, and Gouken uses the "Power of Nothingness" to seal the Satsui no Hado which is eating at Ryu, knocking him unconscious.^[98] Akuma then arrives on the scene to challenge his brother for a death duel, the winner of which will claim "the cub" (meaning Ryu).^[99] The outcome of the duel is unknown but, since Ryu is later seen free of Dark Hado's influence, it is very likely that either Gouken won or the battle ended in a draw (possibly interrupted).

Later, Ryu and Ken chase their long-lost master along a cliff face, with Ken wanting Gouken to stick around while Ryu wishes him well. Afterwards, he and Ken are walking through the desert while Rufus mocks them on his motorcycle, though it later breaks down and he is left pushing it while Ryu and Ken drive by (in Ken's jeep). Ryu later bids Sakura farewell as she, Dan and Blanka leave for home on a cruise ship. Sometime later, having decided that his battles have made him stronger, he meets a now-older Sakura. What happens next is unknown,^[100] although Gouken might have taught Ryu the Shin Shoryuken and Denjin Hadoken at some point before Street Fighter III.

Final Battle With Shadaloo

Main article: Street Fighter V series

Story

Prologue - 'Finding True Strength' - In his dream, he is fighting against his evil self, claiming to him that the power to kill will make him stronger, which Ryu ultimately rejects it. Gouken is in a sparring match during the incident. Ryu charges himself in the Satsui no Hado and attempts to hit his master with a single Hadoken. It explodes in a flash of light. Ryu wakes up from his dream with Gouken telling him that the Satsui no Hado almost consumed him.

Rashid and Azam find Ryu, introducing himself as a hero who travels the world. Gouken questions Rashid why he comes to see Ryu. Rashid states he wants to challenge Ryu in a match which is to test his mettle. Ryu doesn't immediately get up to fight, worrying about the Satsui no Hado, which confuses Rashid and has Gouken questioning him why he didn't do it, citing Ryu's quote "The answer lies in the heart of battle". Ryu eventually gets up and spars with Rashid, resulting in a victory. Rashid learns from the fight about himself. He thanks Ryu for the lesson and leaves. Ryu decides that he should leave, too, and better understand his power. Gouken tells Ryu to meet Ken, who has been concerned about him.

Ryu and Ken finally meet in Brazil. Ken was told by Gouken about Ryu's struggles with the Satsui no Hado and thinks a good match can solve it, so they fight. Afterwards, Ryu still worries about the Satsui no Hado. Ken reassures Ryu that if Ryu falls over to the dark side, he'll take him down and stop it. Ken tells Ryu to just relax and fight.

Ryu goes to China and gets ambushed by a Shadaloo soldier. Nash comes in and takes down the soldier. Nash expected to see Ryu, which triggers a bit of Satsui no Hado within him. Nash says they have to fight so he can understand the power and know its limits. The fight ultimately ends in a draw. Nash is surprised by the power, having it surpass his expectations. Ryu tells him that he tries to suppress the power and struggles with it, but has decided to not let it take him over, which Nash respects. Ryu thanks him for the fight and Nash leaves.

Other Prologue Appearances:

• Ken
• Rashid
• Laura
• Alex
• Akuma
• Sakura
• Kage
• E. Honda

Ryu appears in his Alpha appearance during Ken's flashback from his prologue story where he loses to Ken in the events of Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Ryu appears in Rashid's prologue story as a counterpart of his prologue story, showing the full result of the fight.

In Laura's prologue story, Ryu was challenged by Laura who is seeking to fight worthy opponents and became thrilled about the Satsui no Hado he utilizes in the fight.

A simulation version of Ryu (in his Alpha appearance) appears in Alex's prologue story and scars Alex from his right cheek before the latter takes him down.

Ryu appears in Akuma's prologue story. Akuma challenges him in a fight in a battle between the light and the darkness which is both the Satsui no Hado and the Mu no Ken. Akuma defeats Ryu, who tells him that he had walked into the path of the demon to which Ryu makes him answer his question while on the ground. Akuma tells him that they will cross paths someday and he will confront him at the end of his journey.

In Sakura's character story which takes place after A Shadow Falls and his sparring match with Ken, Karin mentioned about Ryu when he participates along with the rest of the fighters in the final assault against Shadaloo after her sparring match against Sakura. Ryu was later sent by Karin to deal with Sakura's problems when Sakura had bumped into him leading both to a fight. Sakura defeats Ryu and became amused that her fighting skills and abilities have improved and also watch her blushed in embarrassment after an awkward situation between them when they talked about strength.

He also appears in Kage’s character story, taking place sometime after the defeat of M. Bison and Ryu vanquishing the Satsui no Hado. He is shown meditating while Kage defeats Sagat and Akuma (with the two knowing that Kage is not the actual Ryu) when Kage arrives to attempt to get Ryu to accept him since he defeated the opponents he claimed Ryu wanted to defeat. Ryu replies that he cannot deny him, but he doesn't accept that he is the actual Ryu, also stating he is not going to fight Kage. Kage, calling Ryu a coward, attacks him by force. Taking this on top of Suzaku Castle, Ryu tells Kage that he is not trying to win Kage over and is not trying to lose either. Even after Ryu loses to Kage, Ryu tells Kage that if he wants to possess Ryu, he may. Kage angrily yells out on why Ryu isn’t afraid of him. Ryu replies that if Kage wants to exist, he can exist, and if Kage wants to leave, he can leave, also stating that Ryu will do whatever he chooses to. Kage replies by asking if Ryu thinks he is stronger than him, but before Kage can finish, he is struck by an unseen force, and Kage screams one final time as he finally vanishes for good, and Ryu is relieved; the one who tormented him has finally been defeated.

Ryu appears in E. Honda's character story where he was meditating at his bathhouse while being drenched with warm water only for E. Honda to scold him leading both of them to fight and he loses. Honda gives Ryu some proper advice by relaxing at the tub which he became much more relaxed.

A Shadow Falls

Ryu meets with Dhalsim, training Mahesh, and says he is still struggling with the Satsui no Hado and needs help. They decide to have a spar. After the spar, Dhalsim tells him that suppressing the power will eventually lead to the power consuming him. He tells him that he needs to face the Hado and conquer it. Necalli drops down from above, looking to consume fighters' souls. Dhalsim defends Mahesh while Ryu fights Necalli. Necalli overpowers Ryu, which almost triggers his dark power. Dhalsim takes Ryu's punch, proclaiming that he can't let the Hado take him over. Dhalsim fights off Necalli. Ryu notices a Black Moon veering over and blocking the sun, which gives him visions of M. Bison. Necalli eventually melts away temporarily. He is told about Necalli by Dhalsim, telling him that Necalli is an ancient being that consumes warriors' souls and only appears when many warriors are needed in a crisis. Ryu concludes that the world is in crisis because of the Black Moons.

After overcoming the Hado and defeating Necalli, Ryu finally joins up with Ken, Chun-Li and Karin as they team up to make a final assault against Shadaloo. As Chun-Li defeats F.A.N.G. while rescuing Li-Fen, Ryu finally faces off against Bison, who is ready to challenge him, and Ryu states that his strength was to push forward and he is ready to fight him. After an epic long battle, Bison isn't giving up yet, until Ryu hits him with a Hadoken, infused with the Power of Nothingness, seemingly hinting at Ryu's mastery of the power and a sublimation of the Satsui no Hado. Bison's body begins to crack as it dissipates in a flash of light, defeating the madman. As the base is about to destroyed, Ryu, Guile, Chun-Li and Li-Fen escape; Chun-Li is slow to catch up, so Ryu uses his Denjin Hadoken to stop the fires from the explosion.

After the incident, Ryu is meditating as Ken visits him for the second time. He challenges him for a friendly sparring match as he tells Ryu to prove if he already found his answer. Ryu is able to defeat Ken as Ken also manages to knock Ryu's red headband. As it falls on the ground, Ryu realizes that he already found the answer to his true strength. As he gets his headband, Ken is happy to see his friend has grown, and Ryu also says that he still needs his headband for the battle. The two are later seen having a friendly fist bump with each other.

World Warrior Tournament And Battle Against The Illuminati

Main article: Street Fighter III

At the age of 33, Ryu continues his travelling day to day with the aim of becoming a true martial artist.^[7] Since Ken is now the father of a child, their relationship has deteriorated, and after a long time from being home in Japan, he is summoned to a hot spring inn, where Ken wishes to meet him and introduce him to his new student.^{[50][51][101][8]}Ryu, Ken, and Sean later spectate a WWCA title match between Zangief and Hogen. After being hit by Zangief's Double Lariat, Hogen went on a rampage while returning to the ring and picked up a chair and threw at a woman in the crowd, Ryu deflected the chair and Sean knocked him out to avoid injury to the audience. ^[102][103]

Ryu enters the World Warrior tournament to further advance his fighting abilities. Ryu later fights against Sean who has been asked by Ken to fight him. Ryu easily defeats him from time to time with just a single Hadoken as he noticed his actions.

A year later, Ryu meets up with Ken for a friendly match in the latter's storyline, from which he emerges the victor.^[9] At some point, he encounters Alex, whom he solidly defeats. Ryu encourages the young wrestler to continue honing his abilities against strong opponents. Fascinated by Ryu's skill and determined to become stronger, Alex soon sets out to find Ryu for a rematch. In Oro's ending, Ryu is shown training but is unaware of Oro's presence as he only heard his voice.^[104]

In his ending, Ryu is under a waterfall practicing his mind and body. He mumbles about the meaning of a true warrior, why he needs to be strong and reminisces his youthful days. A single leaf falls over him and he crushes the leaf with his left hand. Ryu believes that as long as his strong opponents and some fierce battles will excite him, he will possess the strength to move even one of his fingers and decides to keep on fighting.

Street Fighter 6

Ever training, this martial artist seeks true strength. Well-mannered and sincere, Ryu travels the globe in search of worthy opponents. Having overcome the Satsui no Hado, he now seeks yet greater heights.^[15][16]

Arcade Mode

• Transcript

Ryu: The Path

Ryu introduces himself and recounts his past journey and encounters with great friends and foes in search for "true strength". He first recalls Ken, who was his fellow disciple under the same master and whom Ryu considers his greatest friend and rival. Then Guile, Chun-Li, and Dhalsim, virtuous fellow fighters who have saved him during trying times. Ryu then recalls his enemies (both former and present), namely Retsu, Sagat, Akuma, and M. Bison, as well as the dark side of himself, whose pose a challenge for him to overcome. Having liberated himself from the influence of the Satsui no Hado and enjoys a peace of mind, Ryu choose to continue his quest for "true strength", in search for those "stronger than [himself]".

Some time later, Luke approaches Ryu at the Genbu Temple and ask him for a fight. Ryu replies by asking Luke about the purpose of the fight he wanted. As Luke is confused by Ryu's answer, Ryu elaborates that he is asking for the "purpose" of the fight, that what Luke is trying to achieve and the reason why he wanted to fight. Luke struggled a bit for an answer, admitting that he haven't thought about this before. Luke then finally comes up with an answer that he wanted to find and have a fight with someone who is stronger than him. Feeling that Luke's fighting spirit resonates with his younger days, Ryu agrees for a match.

After the match in which Ryu emerged victorious, Ryu leaves before Luke could have take a picture with him. Luke could only takes a picture of his back as he leaves, though he later comes to a conclusion that the picture which resembles Ryu during his early years "ain't so bad".

Rashid: Where the Wind Takes Me

World Tour

Reticent Preacher. Master of the Fist. The Pursuit of Perfection. (寡黙な説教者。 拳のマスター。 完璧の追求。, Kamokuna sekkyō-sha. Ken no masutā. Kanpeki no tsuikyū.^?)

"It's too soon for praise. You and I both still have a long way to go. (褒めるのはまだ早い。 あなたと私にはまだ長い道のりがあります。, Homeru no wa mada hayai. Anata to watashiniha mada nagai michinori ga arimasu.^?)"

—Ryu's advice after completing training & achieving Mastery

After training abroad, Ryu returns to Japan to train at Genbu Temple.^[105] The priest who lets Ryu train at the temple invited him to a festival where he has to carry a portable shrine.^[106] While training at Genbu Temple fighters such as Luke and Lily came to visit with the intention of fighting him.^[107] Ryu's heard about Ken's situation from an acquaintance but chooses not to get involved as he understands that Ken has his reasons for not getting in touch.^[108] Ryu tells the Avatar that he intends to stay in Japan for the time being.^[105]

Following the Avatar's encounter with Akuma and a still alive, yet amnesiac M. Bison, Ryu (as well as Luke) helps them how to overcome their fear against Akuma's fearful presence, and is one of the fighters who knew M. Bison until their last encounter against him in A Shadow Falls event.

Crossover appearances

SNK vs. Capcom series

Ryu has appeared as a playable character in every installment of the SNK vs. Capcom series. His personality is depicted as having a slightly sarcastic demeanor to some foes, but is praised by a few other characters.

SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium

Ryu aims to be a "true fighter" who's not ruled by wealth and fame. Naturally, he wasn't interested in the prize money for the tournament. However, the Satsui no Hado which slept in him shook him. He could feel the soul of a powerful enemy he has not yet seen, so he enters the tournament to test his abilities and meet someone stronger than him.^[109] In this game his rival is Kyo Kusanagi who enters the tournament to fight Ryu.^[110]

Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001

Ryu enters the million dollar tournament hosted by the Garcia Financial Clique and the Masters Foundation. The only SNK characters who are already aware of Ryu's abilities are Kyo Kusanagi and Rugal Bernstein. While Kyo learned of Ryu through his father, Rugal heard rumors of Ryu's victory over Sagat.^[111] Ryu has good chemistry with Haohmaru^[112], Joe Higashi^[113][114] and Kim Kaphwan^[115][116] in various winquotes, while Geese Howard show's interest in Ryu and intends to make him his subordinate.^[45][117]

SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos

His ending has two variations, both his, and an extended version seen when the game is cleared with Red Arremer. In Ryu's ending, he states that his experiences tell that there are plenty more worthy opponents in the world, and Ryu sets out once again in his journey. In the extended version, after Ryu's statement, an extra scene is shown with Akuma observing Ryu from a long distance, stating that he will continue to monitor his progress.

Marvel vs. Capcom series

X-Men vs. Street Fighter

Ryu is a playable character in X-Men vs. Street Fighter and appears in Wolverine's ending.

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

Ryu is a playable character in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. When Ryu was asked by Captain America and other superheroes if he wanted to join the Avengers, he told them that he must continue to follow his own path to mastery. The others respect his wish and bade him their luck on his adventures.

Marvel vs. Capcom series

Ryu appeared as a playable character in the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds/Ultimate

In his ending, Ryu is shown to continue his journey in search for strong challengers. This leads him to a confrontation with Iron Fist, and Wolverine in a team-up with the X-Men against Doctor Doom, he appears in the expansion released later the same year, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. In Ultimate, Ryu's ending was changed to show that Iron Fist chose him to be his successor to the Iron Fist legacy. Ryu is shown using the mystic arts of K'un-Lun to fight off Akuma, stating it is the perfect counter and alternative to the Satsui no Hado.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite

Ryu appears playable character in the Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. In the Story mode, unlike the Street Fighter V, Marvel villain Thanos actually uses a gauntlet-like device from Abel City's technology in order to take Ryu's Satsui no Hado and use it to get revenge on Jedah Dohma and Death for deceiving him. Thanks to Thanos, Ryu is freed from the Dark Hadō curse he endured.

Namco's X series

Namco × Capcom

Ryu is a main character in Namco X Capcom as a central character.

Project × Zone

Ryu is a playable character in Project X Zone as he, Juri, Jin Kazama and KOS-MOS are a target for Seth who wanted to use his Satsui no Hado, Juri's Feng Shui Engine, Jin's Devil Gene and KOS-MOS' Vector technology for his own purposes.

Project × Zone 2

Ryu is a playable character in Project X Zone 2, alongside Ken (as a Pair Unit). They join the party midway into the story while following a robotic version of Axel Stone from a martial arts tournament in New York to an area where the party find themselves cornered by M. Bison and Juri.

Ryu's role in the story is somewhat important; Bison, having taken an interest in Ryu's Satsui no Hado (along with Kazuya's and Jin's Devil Gene), often crosses paths with the party in Ryu's pursuit. Although Bison doesn't find an opportunity to capture Ryu and the Satsui no Hado, he manages to brainwash Ken instead later on, forcing Ryu and Ken to fight. Ryu uses the power summoned by the Satsui no Hado to beat the Psycho Power out of Ken using a Metsu Hadoken, freeing Ken and allowing the two to return to the party; despite being non-canon, this is one of the very few instances where Ryu is shown to be able to control the Satsui no Hado at will.

Street Fighter X Tekken

Ryu appears in Street Fighter X Tekken, with Ken as his tag partner. In their ending, Ryu begins to succumb to the Satsui no Hado as the Pandora's box is about to open. As the blinding light disappears, Ryu is nowhere to be found. Only his red headband was left on the ground, which Ken picks up as he wonders where he disappeared to.

Ryu's text ending suggests that two things could have happened when he vanished: that he either succumbed to Pandora's power and disappeared with it, or he sacrificed himself to protect the world from the box. There is no certain answer given, but it suggests that Ryu will not be gone for too long.

Their Tekken rivals are Kazuya Mishima and Nina Williams.

Other Crossovers

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

Ryu appeared playable in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, along with Chun-Li and Alex.

Rival Schools: United By Fate

Ryu is briefly seen in Sakura's ending.

Asura's Wrath

In Capcom's 3D beat 'em up game, Asura's Wrath, Ryu appears in a special post-launch DLC mode for the game as a boss opponent with the player using the eponymous character in the "Lost Episodes" series. The story starts with Ryu being suddenly warped to Asura's world through a dimensional rip and is suddenly challenged by the god wherein he is challenged to two 1-round matches in the vein of Super Street Fighter IV. In between matches however, Ryu will switch Ultras. The player character, Asura, uses a Burst gauge much like in his native gameplay. The battle draws to a close when Asura uppercuts Ryu straight off of the Earth and lands on the moon, inadvertently bringing about Evil Ryu. The episode ends when Akuma also manages to appear, wanting to challenge Asura personally.

Street Fighter × Mega Man

Ryu is one of the bosses of Street Fighter × Mega Man. His stage is designed after an old Japanese castle. The background where the player battles him is reminiscent of that of Ryu's original arena in Street Fighter II.

Rockman X DiVE

Ryu is the playable character released on the event Rockman X DiVE × Street Fighter V.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Ryu appears as a downloadable content character in the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.^[118] He comes with an arena based on his classic Suzaku Castle stage from Street Fighter II. His appearance marks the first time a Super Smash Bros. game has two third-party characters from the same company, as fellow Capcom hero Mega Man is also playable. Ryu is also the first DLC third-party character in the Super Smash Bros. series as well as the only character to have two Final Smash attacks when in possession of a Smash Ball (explained below).

Ryu's Special attacks consist of his usual signature moves (the Hadoken, Shoryuken, Tatsumaki Senpu Kyaku, and a Focus Attack) as well as some of his standard basic moves. Much like his home series, each of Ryu's attacks has three levels based on his light, medium and heavy attacks: performing the attacks with a simple button tap (like most other characters in the game) is the weakest, but good for combos, while holding the button for a second makes the attack slightly stronger, and slamming the button and D-pad in the desired direction will do the most damage. Using the directional commands from the Street Fighter series (as opposed to the standard Smash Bros. input) will give Ryu an even more enhanced version of the attacks, and also allows him to do the Shakunetsu Hadoken.

His normal moveset uses his normals, but features different attacks based on either tapping or holding down the attack button, has his Collarbone Breaker as his standard side attack and has his Joudan Sokutogeri as his forward Smash. He is essentially a truly combo-oriented character who can be played either like a traditional Smash Bros. character or a Street Fighter one. For his Final Smash attacks, he uses either the Shinku Hadoken if the enemy is in the air or far away, or the Shin Shoryuken if the opponent is on the ground in front of him.

Blood Brothers 2

Ryu, M. Bison and Chun-Li appear in DeNA’s mobile RPG, Blood Brothers 2.^[119]

Taisen Net Gimmick: Capcom & Psikyo All Stars

Ryu is the first opponent in the Capcom course.

Japan Sumo Cup: Yokozuna vs. Street Fighter

Ryu is an unlockable playable character and one of the first opponents.

Granblue Fantasy

Ryu is a playable character in the 2015 seasonal event Granblue Fighter Ultra, he returns in the 2016 event Granblue Fighter V^[120]

Shadowverse

Ryu, Chun-Li, M. Bison, Karin, Juri, Vega, and Cammy all appear as Leaders for the classes in Shadowverse. Ryu is an optional leader for Dragoncraft decks.^[121]

American Dad vs. Family Guy Kung-Fu II

Ryu is a playable guest character in this game. His stage is Sagat's stage from Street Fighter II.

Power Rangers Legacy Wars

Ryu is a playable character in this game. As Rita Repulsa's hold on the Morphin Grid stretches across multiverses, Ryu senses the disturbance too late before he, along with his allies and enemies, are sucked into the Grid, pitted against warriors from the Power Rangers multiverse.

On July 19th, 2018, a new update was released that gave Ryu a second form, becoming the Ryu Ranger. As the Ryu Ranger, Ryu's amazing abilities are amplified through his newly-forged connection to the Morphin Grid via the Crimson Hawk Power Coin. The Jodan Sanrengeki delivers a one-two punch before delivering a powerful kick. The Sokuto Rush allows Ryu to deliver a dashing kick that can blow back his opponents. The Hadoken is now red and yellow and bears a hawk-like image and the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku has been modified into the basic Tatsumaki, trapping opponents in a whirlwind kick. His Shoryuken has been left untouched. The Hadoken and Tatsumaki also has super attack variants - the Taka Tatsumaki increases Ryu's reach with the Tatsumaki while the Taka Hadoken has Ryu fire a larger fireball with the form of a hawk, which can strike and lift up an opponent for extra damage.

In December 2018, a tie-in movie was released called Power Rangers Legacy Wars - Street Fighter Showdown. In it, Ryu and Chun-Li are recruited by Tommy Oliver/Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger and Gia Moran/Megaforce Yellow Ranger in battling M. Bison and rescuing the warrior Ninjor. To do this, Ryu accepts the Crimson Hawk Power Coin, created by Ninjor before his capture, and uses its power to become the Ryu Ranger.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Ryu returns as a fighter alongside Ken as a newcomer. Ryu's normals are adjusted to include proximity variants that are special cancellable and more combo-friendly, and now always faces his opponent in 1v1 matches.

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

Returning to the "Crimson Hawk Ranger" identity first seen in Legacy Wars, Ryu was added to Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid on May 25, 2021 as paid downloadable content, alongside Chun-Li.

Comics

Street Fighter II manga

Ryu has been training in with his best friend Ken under Gouken to become a better fighter. One night, Cho, a friend of Ken, tells them the dangers of Shadaloo, it's leader Bison, their works of evil and corruption and a special serum know as DOLL they developed.

Unknowing to them, Shadaloo has been tracking them, they begin to attack Ryu and Ken, Ryu was able to defeat Sagat, but could not find Ken or Cho, he went to find Gouken, only to find Gouken on the floor and dead, Ryu had also believed that Cho and Ken were killed by Shadaloo.

At some point, he goes to the Island known as Shad which is hosting a tournament by Shadaloo, on the island, he meets Cho's girlfriend Po-Lin and her younger brother Wong-Mei, he tells that he was a friend of Cho and about the night Shadaloo attacked them, he tells then Cho was murdered by them. At some point, he finds out Ken was alive, but was unaware that he was being brainwashed by Bison under the serem of DOLL.

He attacks him with his Shoryuken, Ryu falls to the ground as he is being covered in cement by the brainwashed Ken, however, Ryu's hand was still able to move and he was able to break through the cement, and finds Chun-Li about to be stabbed by a member of Shadaloo in a medical bed. Ryu saves her by attacking the Shadaloo member, and goes to follow Ken to find out where Bison was.

Ryu went to fight Bison after Ken was defeated by him, as he fought against Bison, the police had surrounded the Island bringing Bison to justice, he was able to overcome Bison's attacks, telling him that he is not a murderer who enjoys reeking havoc like him.

Ryu sets on another journey to prove his skills, before he leaves, he tells Ken, Po-Lin and Wong-Mei that they will meet again someday, now that Cho has been avenged and Shadaloo is no longer a danger to Po-Lin and Wong-Mei, he feels pride at what he did, knowing that they will be safe.

At some point later, he goes to a strange island, he sees a darker-counterpart of himself as it tries to attack him, he eventually comes across Ken, Chun-Li, and Guile, each of them were on their own adventure for their own personal reason, they all were fighting a darker-counterpart of themselves, now knowing they were on no normal island.

They eventually come across Bison and his Henchman (as they too have had the same situation like the others), they had no choice but to work together in order to escape this island alive, they come across their darker-counterparts (each of them out to destroy their normal-counterparts).

As they fight for their lives, Ryu hits a steaming pipe that eventually causes a chain reaction for the Island to sink into the sea, they find their boat and leave the island, Bison and his men escape into their own ship, letting them know that the battle to stop him from taking over the world is far from over.

Street Fighter Alpha manga

Ryu is still under training as he performs a forbidden version of the Shoryuken, he told his master that he came up with this move under a waterfall, knowing the potential dangers of the Satsui no Hado, Gouken told him to never use that move no matter what.

At some point, he fights against Birdie and eventually meets Sagat, he is overpowered by Sagat and gets possessed by the Satsui no Hado, defeating Sagat with ease, fearing the dangerous effects of this power, Ryu did not think it would be wise to get into any fights, he goes to work for Birdie as a bodyguard, he finds out that the police has surrounded the ship.

Ryu took a bullet for Birdie as he was about to be shot in the legs, as bullets had entered in Ryu's chest, he felt the Satsui no Hado awaken as the bullets burst out of his chest, he tells everybody to run as he is transforming into a demon, as he transforms, he jumps from a ship to another one with a hurricane kick, destroying a part of it.

Ryu starts to attack the police who shot him as they tried to defend themselves with their gun, only for him dodge their bullets, as he tries to attack the cop, he holds back the attack (Ryu's mind is trying to regain his control), as he fights against the cops, he comes across Chun-Li and Birdie, who are seeking to help him overcome the Satsui no Hado, he overpowers them with ease, but regains his control back before he could finish off Chun-Li.

At Interpol H.Q. many cops had asked questions about that he showed, he told them about the Satsui no Hado and his first exposer to it at the first Street Fighter tournament, Chun-Li told him that somebody has been after him, she tells him about Shadaloo and how he could help Interpol find Bison, Ryu agreed to help them, at some point, he goes into a sewer (as Shadaloo members have been using it as a place to travel for unknown reasons), Rose gets to him in a hurry and tells him that she knows about his situation with his inner conflict with the Satsui no Hado and tells him to go to the U.S.A. karate tournament to see two men in red as they are the key to helping him with the Satsui no Hado.

He watches Ken win the battle against Dan as he notices Ken using the Shoryuken as a finishing move against his opponents in the tournament, after the tournament was finished, he asked Ken the reason for why did he used the Shoryuken, telling him how dangerous that particular move was, he tells Ken that the Satsui no Hado can take over a person when they are close to being murdered and searching for the ultimate battle to the point when it can even cost that person their life, he tells Ken that he wants to fight him in a battle where he may get killed (thinking it is the only way he can overcome the Satsui no Hado), as they fight, Ken used the Shoryuken on Ryu which knocks him near the sea.

Ryu tells Ken that he has no idea what it is like to be possessed by the Satsui no Hado and losing control, Ken told that he would have to kill Ryu if he ever lost himself entirely to the Satsui no Hado, he tells Ryu that it was their master who had agreed to this choice, Ryu used the Shoryuken on Ken as he himself used the same move as well on Ryu, he could not help Ryu overcome the Satsui no Hado and gave him his hairband, at some point, they meet Charlie, who is also involved with taking out Shadaloo and tells them that the ninja known as Guy has been searching for the base of Shadaloo and its boss because of many attacks of many people that were all related to Shadaloo.

Charlie and Chun-Li were planing to get info on their next plain as they found out that Shadaloo has been setting up a tournament as a means to control people on an Island, as they made their way to the island, they see brutal members of Shadaloo violently hurting innocent fighters who were going to the tournament for many reasons, they see a brainwashed Cammy violently attack Dan, Ryu wanted to stop this Chaos before this fight gets lethal, but Chun-Li held him back, as she regretfully told him and Ken that they cannot help him.

Sakura Ganbaru!

Having previously been seen in flashbacks, Ryu appears in the second and final volume of Sakura Ganbaru!, which follows Sakura in her quest to become a street fighter as well as meet and challenge Ryu to a fight. At the area around Suzaku Castle in Japan, Sakura finds Ryu and shed tears of joy, much to his confusion. Sakura proceeded to challenge him to a fight, which Ryu promptly accepted. Ryu held back for some time, but upon realizing Sakura's true strength, started to go all out. In the end, they promised to meet again and, as Ryu started to leave, Sakura took a photograph to have something to remember him by.

Years later, Sakura, now a P.E. teacher in her old school, is greeted by Ryu and Ken, fulfilling the promise Ryu and Sakura made earlier. The story ends with Ryu challenging Sakura to a street fight, and moving in to trade the first blows.

Street Fighter III: Ryu Final

This story takes place several years after the events of the Street Fighter Alpha manga. In here, Ryu seeks to become what is known as "a true fighter". He works hard in his training, but still can't find the answer on his own. One day, during a sparring match with his friend Ken, Ryu is soundly defeated by his rival, with the latter revealing that he discovered the secret to becoming a true fighter shortly after having defeated Gill. From this point on in the story, Ryu decides to travel throughout the world to find out exactly how to become a true fighter. In his travels, Ryu meets Oro, who guides him through various battles against the likes of Hugo, Yun, Yang, Dudley and even his old rival Sagat. After having defeated all of these opponents, Ryu rendezvous back in Japan with Ken, where the two fight one more time. It is then decided that the winner of their fight (Ryu) will avenge the death of the master Gouken against the likes of Akuma. Ryu and Akuma face-off, with Ryu taking a severe beating at first, at one point getting impaled through the chest by one of Akuma's punches. In the end, however, Ryu's power of good overcomes Akuma's Satsui no Hadou, and in the end, Akuma is vanquished, never to return again. Fast forward to a few weeks after the fight, where Ken arranges a match between Ryu and Alex (who is also seeking to become a true fighter), and it is here where our story ends, with the hero Ryu challenging Alex to a fight.

Street Fighter Gaiden

Ryu appears in the manga paying his respects to his teacher.

UDON comics

Ryu is an orphan boy who is raised by a martial arts master named "Gouken" in the mountains of Japan after he was saved by Gouken from a burning store that Akuma started when Ryu's mother was killed. Throughout his childhood, Gouken teaches Ryu the virtues of honor, respect of life, and compassion as a person and a warrior. To train to be the best he could be, but not to ever forsake his humanity for victory and power, a battle which Ryu is constantly fighting within his own mind and spirit. During a training exercise with Gouken's friend Retsu, the young Ryu loses control of his inhibitions after losing a sparring match, succumbing to the evil possession of the Satsui no Hado and savagely attacking Retsu with a ferocious punch that knocks him off his feet. Ryu would have continued assaulting Retsu if not for Gouken restraining his pupil. Later on another boy joins him at Gouken's dojo: Ken Masters, the son of a wealthy American businessman who sent him overseas to learn mental discipline under Gouken's teachings. The two train closely as friends to develop their own unique approaches to Gouken's teachings; Ryu keeping his style-focused and devout to the way he was taught and Ken adding his own creative and unpredictable spin to the form.

As Ryu reaches adulthood, he decides to travel out from the temple (by this point Ken had also left Gouken's dojo to become the United States martial arts champion) and continue his training on his own by traveling the world to find strong warriors to test his strength against. These travels eventually bring him to the World Warrior tournament, an unsanctioned martial arts competition that draws the most worthy fighters the world over to compete to fight the champion, the Muay Thai King Sagat. Ryu successfully advances to the finals of the competition but is bested in the concluding battle. Following the bout, his darker instincts once again manifest and he delivers a Metsu Shoryuken against Sagat, leaving a massive gash across the fighter's chest. From the shadows, M.Bison, the leader of Shadaloo, watches the match, taking notice of Ryu's dark power.

Upon returning from Thailand to Japan, Ryu is horrified to find that his master had been murdered, the calling card being a large "Sky (Ten)" symbol being painted in Gouken's blood in the temple wall. Ryu, burning with rage, and a desire for revenge, goes to Ken, now living in San Francisco with his fiancee, Eliza.

He tells Ken that their Master was killed by an unknown person, only for Ken to be shocked by this news, he lets Ryu stay with him in his house, that night, they were being watched on footage by a Shadaloo assassin, as they return home for a dinner at night, he has a dream about the time he first saw Akuma all those years ago, Gouken defeated him, but refused to take his life, Akuma leaves them both, telling Gouken he will regret not killing him, Ryu wakes up from his dream, thinking to himself that Akuma might have something to do with the murder since he had the same symbol on his back.

He tells Ken that he needs his help to try and find Akuma in Japan, he goes with Ryu in his Jet, the next morning, they went to visit the temple they trained in, unknown to them, they were still being followed by Shadaloo, that night, Ryu begins to have a nightmare as he is losing control of himself, and brutally beating Ken. As he throws him near a wall, he then performs a Metsu Hadoken and blowing up the top of the temple, he wakes up in fear and finds out that he did make a hole through the wall, he starts to ponder that something is wrong with him.

He is visited by Sagat the next day, telling him that Bison wants to turn him into a slave of Shadaloo by controlling his mind, and tells Ryu to leave the temple, as he and Ken go to a shrine while waiting for Interpol agents to help them. The sky begins to turn red as Akuma comes from the forest.

He tells Akuma that he murdered his own brother, Akuma told him that Gouken was just an opponent who was beneath him, he told Ryu that Gouken was unfit to teach, and was unable to devote him completely to perfection, in rage by his words, Ryu and Ken attack him, Akuma dodges both of their attacks with his Ashura Senku and throws both Ryu and Ken into the air.

As Ryu watches Ken get thrown into a dojo, he rushes to Akuma for combo attacks and performs a Hadoken at him, Sakura sees the chaos behind the tree, and go to attack Akuma, only for her to get hit by him in a ruthless manner as she hits a tree and getting knocked out, Ryu gets angry at the fact that Akuma would attack a teenager in a ruthless fashion, Akuma told him that he could learn from her.

Akuma gets the upper hand as he uses combo attacks on him. Ryu gets possessed by the Satsui no Hado and goes for an attack that he dodges but leaves a hole in the ground. Akuma senses the Dark Hado flowing within him, and tells Ryu that he will be worthy to face him and to seek him out in the next Street Fighter tournament, and to embrace the dark power and proving to him that he did not spare him his life in vain, he knocks out Ryu and leaves.

Ryu starts to awaken for the ground and sees Ken helping Sakura and her friend, Ryu told him that he needs to find him at the Street Fighter tournament when he is worthy of him, Ryu desired to travel around the world to increase his strength in order to defeat Akuma and avenge Gouken.

He tells Ken that he cannot let Shadaloo stop him from his goal, he eventually finds out that Ken is going to be a father, and knows that he himself must continue on this journey on his own, he is later found by Sakura, who wanted to come as well.

Archie Comics crossover

Ryu, along with other Capcom and Sega characters appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog/Mega Man crossover comic, Worlds Unite.

Ryu helps out in aiding Sonic, Mega Man, and X in the battle against Sigma and his army from trying to take over the worlds of both Capcom and Sega. He is eventually fought by Sigma after gaining a boost in power and had a hard time fighting him. Although Sigma was defeated by Sonic in his super form with Mega Man's help, the portals that lead to everyone's homeworlds were starting to fade away.

Thanks to Pane's plan from stopping Sigma in a different timeline in a portal, everyone was returned back to their own respective homeworlds with no memory of their fight against Sigma.

Street Fighter X G.I. Joe

Ryu appears in the mini crossover comic Street Fighter X G.I. Joe, where he forms a good relationship with a young woman named Jinx who is a member of G.I. Joe.

Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers

Ryu appears in the comic crossover of Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers.

Capcom vs Kengan Ashura

Ryu appears alongside many other Street Fighter characters in the extra chapters, "Showdown", at the ends of Volumes 9 and 10 of the Kengan Ashura manga.

In the chapters, Ryu is chosen by the "Capcom Association" to face Tokita Ohma of the Kengan Association in a battle to determine which association was stronger. Briefly prior to entering the arena, Ryu talks with the "Fang of Metsudo" who asks him which one would be fighting, but Ryu merely avoids the question and states he fights for the power to win rather than the power to destroy.

In their fight, despite initially seeming to match Ohma blow-for-blow, Ryu was taken down after having his Metsu Shoryuken redirected and getting punched in the chest. However, this merely caused the Dark Hado to awaken within him, bringing forth Evil Ryu. Quickly overwhelming Ohma in his augmented state, Evil Ryu floors his opponent after hitting him with a point-blank Metsu Hadoken. Acknowledging that his opponent still had more left, Ohma returns to his feet after taking out an "advance". With Ohma racing towards him, Evil Ryu then launched another Metsu Hadoken but Ohma skilfully avoided it and launched a flurry of hits before knocking out Ryu for good.

Ohma then woke up alongside his manager Yamashita Kazuo, realising his encounter with Ryu had only been a dream.

Street Fighter: The Novel Where Strength Lies

The first chapter focuses on Ryu Vs. Akuma. At first, Akuma has the upper hand against Ryu and uses Shun Goku Satsu. The attack devastates Ryu who's now on the verge of death until he awakens his own Satsui no Hado and then overwhelms Akuma. He tells Ryu to kill him so he can take up the mantle of the true Satsui no Hado user for good. Despite Ryu being under the influence of the Satsui no Hado, the lessons he learned from Gouken, that involves understanding and respecting opponents through battle, holds him back from killing Akuma. Akuma mocks Ryu for being weak then transforms into Oni and then uses Meido Gohado on Ryu which corrupts Ryu's ki, so much that he turns into Evil Ryu who then goes on a rampage beating fighters to near death across the world.

Evil Ryu's rampage would push Ken and Sagat into action. While Ken tries to stop Evil Ryu, Sagat would confront M. Bison who he believed was behind Ryu succumbing to the Hado. Eventually, Gouken heard about Ryu attacking other fighters and waits at the Old Temple. Since this was where Gouken trained Ryu and Ken he knew Ryu would return to this spot one day, even if his mind is clouded by the Satsui no Hado. Evil Ryu shows up and was at first stunned to see his master alive, but the Satsui no Hado prevented any more emotion to surface as that’s secondary to defeating Gouken.

During the fight Evil Ryu lands a Shun Goku Satsu, but Gouken survives and continuous to fight with the injuries. The damage limited Gouken’s attack options, so he resorted to Shin Shoryuken instead which K.O’s Evil Ryu. Even though Evil Ryu was down, the Satsui no Hado forced the body to continue to fight, and was about to land the finishing blow on Gouken until Ryu overcomes the Satsui no Hado and reverts back to his normal self. The scene ends with a teary-eyed reunion with his master.

Live-Action Films

Street Fighter

In the live-action movie adaptation of the games, Ryu's place as the main character of the series is replaced by Guile as the military leader of the Allied Nations Shadaloo branch. Ryu (with the last name of Hoshi), along with Ken, are two American con artists who make a living by scamming blood money off of wealthy crime lords through their schemes and pick-pocketing. This time, however, they unwittingly become entangled in the war to free the country of Shadaloo.

Unlike in the games, comics and animes, Ryu is the most inaccurate representation in every aspect of the character in the film, having most of his appearance being similar to that of Fei Long, the only character whom the filmmakers rejected for being "too generic". Ryu is no more than a simple street fighter with no secretly tapped abilities. Instead of preparing for battle by donning his signature red hachimaki (headband), Ryu just simply takes his jacket or shirt off in a similar fashion to Bruce Lee, and the only visual representation of what may be the Hadoken is during a side-story fight with Vega nearing the climax to the film. It is represented by the screen flashing for a brief moment as Ryu screams with his hands in the traditional Hadoken stance. In that regard, it is shown in the film that Vega, not Sagat, is Ryu's rival.

The only similar trait of his games, comics and animes counterparts, despite being a con artist, Ryu still has undying commitment and honor for what he does. This was clearly proven when he was in a quarrelling disagreement with Ken during the final battle at Shadaloo fortress, despite them both promised Guile they'll help save the hostages, after the AN forces arrive, Ken carelessly believes that they can take over finding the hostages instead of him and Ryu and desires to leave, since Ken personally is so used to being a con artist he doesn't want to change that, however, Ryu being honor bound chooses to stay and continue to find the hostages, which Ken then decides to leave on his own while wanting to find something he finds worthwhile, like money or treasure only for his own benefit, with Ryu complying that he already found something worthwhile, like doing the right things and fighting to protect and help others, unlike Ken who was too self-centered to understand. After Ryu was ambushed then outmatched by Vega and Sagat, who wants to settle the score, Ken, who saw everything from a security screen while trying to find a way to escape the fortress with a golden buddha statue he found at Bison's chamber, returned to help Ryu even the odds. After Ryu defeated Vega while Ken defeats Sagat, Ken who had a change of heart, gives the golden statue to Sagat as he owes him and claims that he would've become the latter if he hadn't met him. In the end, they both helped the other fighters free and guide the hostages to safety and escaped the exploding fortress. When they all got reunited with Guile, Ken and Ryu offered their help to restore the country.

His name is pronounced "Rai-you" instead of its traditional and more accurately pronounced "Ree-you" (due to Ken's actor having trouble with Japanese fluency and pronunciations). His name is pronounced correctly only twice out of the 14+ times it is spoken; once by M. Bison when ordering that he and Ken be given clean clothing after they are welcomed into the Shadaloo base, and once by Guile when commanding Chun-Li and Balrog to find Ryu and Ken during the final battle.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

While Ryu doesn't make a physical appearance in the film, he is mentioned by Gen at the end as a potential recruit for the Order of the Web. It is said that he is a powerful competitor at a "Street Fighter Tournament". As Chun Li rejects the invitation to Sagat's tournament, Gen enters and them loses to Ryu according to the game's lore.

Street Fighter: Legacy

Jon Foo played Ryu in Street Fighter: Legacy, which was co-directed by Joey Ansah and Owen Trevor.

Street Fighter x Tekken: The Devil Within

Daniel Southworth portrayed Ryu in the short film Street Fighter x Tekken: The Devil Within.

Power Rangers Legacy Wars - Street Fighter Showdown

Peter Jang played Ryu in Power Rangers: Legacy Wars - Street Fighter Showdown, he reprised the role from Super Power Beat Down. In the short, Ryu morphed into Ryu Ranger.

TV series

Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist

Ryu appears along with Ken and Gouken in Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist portrayed by Mike Moh. Ryu was found as a young boy wandering in the forest near Gouken's dojo, unable or unwilling to speak, and was brought to Gouken to be raised. Usually emotionally closed off due to whatever traumatic experience led him to wander the forest, Ryu spontaneously taps into the Satsui no Hado during a bout with Ken; Gouken sends both students away to travel the world in the hopes of keeping Akuma from finding Ryu. A minor story about the origins of Ryu's theme is included.

Street Fighter: Resurrection

Moh reprised his role as Ryu in Street Fighter: Resurrection.

Street Fighter: World Warrior

Moh will reprise his role as Ryu in the second season, Street Fighter: World Warrior

Animations and movies

Street Fighter

His story in the western animated series is basically a loose combination of the two stories in the games and in the live-action film. Ryu, once again given the last name of Hoshi and replaced by Guile as the main character, is still a con man, as well as Ken, but despite this, he is still dedicated to his training. Unlike the film, Ryu has a rivalry with Sagat. During Fei Long's episode, Ryu has a cousin named Sachi who is being held captive along with her friend at Bison's hands before Guile and his group rescues them.

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

Ryu trained with his best friend Ken as a teenager, rescuing him when the latter almost falls into a pit. Sometime after their training, Ryu said his farewells to Ken as he leaves in order to become a master of Ansatsuken. A few years later, Ryu battles against Sagat on a dark and stormy night; unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by a Shadoloo Drone. As the two appeared to be evenly matched, Sagat began to overpower Ryu, and went for a finishing blow; Ryu then charged up and unleashed a powerful Shoruken that catches Sagat in midair and floors him, leaving him scarred. Ryu then finally defeated Sagat with a Hadoken.

Sometime after the battle, Ryu is at a tournament in Hong Kong, where he is hassled by everyone around him without apparent reason. He is forced into the tournament ring, where he quickly defeats his cocky opponent with a headbutt to the face. This is enough to impress one of the spectators - Fei Long, who entered the ring to test Ryu. Upon Ryu's victory, Fei Long began to tell him about the terrorist company known as Shadaloo and the man who had recently joined them - Sagat.

Ryu ponders Sagat's fall from grace as he travels to India, where he watches a match between Dhalsim and E. Honda. The former suddenly sensed an unknown power coming from Ryu, occupying him long enough for Honda to get the upper hand. Dhalsim loses interest in the fight, however, and quits, still keen on learning of Ryu's power.

As Ryu left, a young girl accidentally bumped into him; he then picked up a spilled milk bottle and, taking responsibility for it, gave her some money from his bag. When the girl returns and tries to give him his change, however, she was attacked by a group of thugs, prompting Ryu to retaliate and defeat them. As the goons were arrested, an officer informed Ryu that they were Shadaloo members. Ryu then checks on the little girl, who is in better condition, and tells her to keep the change; E. Honda claims half of the money, and then offers Ryu a chance to train with him.

While the two train in Thailand, they are met by Guile via helicopter; the military officer tells them that Ken has been kidnapped by Bison. At this point, the Shadaloo mastermind, who was actually tracking them the entire time, arrives in his jet, accompanied by a brainwashed Ken. As Ryu is attacked by his friend-turned-foe, he refuses to fight back, causing Ken to fight back against bison's influence. Sensing this, Bison teleports behind Ken and tosses him off the side of the mountain.

Bison then impedes Ryu's rescue attempt, belittling his morality and compassion and claiming that Ken may not even be alive. As the enraged Ryu then attacks, Bison tries to recruit him to Shadaloo, desiring to use his power to take over the world, but Ryu adamantly refuses despite the fighting slowly turning in the dictator's favor. Out of nowhere, Ken reappears and joins Ryu in the fight against Bison; the duo are able to weaken him and defeat him with a combined Hadoken, reducing Bison to a sphere of Psycho Power which is then hit by his Shadaloo jet, causing it to explode.

Sometime later, Ryu says his goodbyes to Ken once more as he prepares to leave to another adventure, but he is surprised by the reappearance of Bison, who attempt to run Ryu down with a truck. The film ends with Ryu charging towards him.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation

Ryu is still contemplating the death of his master, Gouken from Akuma while at the same time experiencing trouble with the Dark Hadou, an evil energy which Gouken's brother, Akuma, who casted away his humanity in order to become stronger long ago, while in the city, Ryu fights off a few agents working for Shadaloo who were doing crimes for Saddler, gaining the attention of an Interpol agent Chun-Li, who does some background research and realizes Ryu is the fighter who defeated Sagat, the Muay Thai Champion. also catching sight of Ryu Sakura, who becomes fascinated with Ryu and vows to track him down and become his student.

At some point, he is visited by Rose who tells him about his possible dark future and a meeting with a person that will cause him an inner conflict, before she can finish, she senses a person coming among them, she teleports away, Ryu had come across Ken who was coming to pay his respects and to visit him, as Ken goes to get water, Ryu feels his body in pain as he has visions of Akuma, he questions on what is wrong with him, a part of a forest is destroyed by his dark ki as he falls to the ground, after he awakens, he meets Shun who claims to be his younger brother.

Ryu asked if their father was also not alive like their mother, Shun was about to answer his question, but hesitated, Ken himself was also interested in this question also asked him about their father, Ryu had told Ken not to worry about that for the time being, the next night, Ryu feels very strange as the Satsui no Hado begins to rise inside him again and takes over him, Ken senses something sinister as he finds Ryu gone, Ken follows the dark power coming from outside as he sees Ryu who is possessed by the Satsui no Hado, Ken breaks him from the influence as he returns to normal, as Shun hears something strange from outside and sees Ryu looking tired, Ryu told him to stay back due to the Satsui no Hado corrupting him.

He is asked by Ken about why did the Satsui no Hado start to awaken inside of him, Ryu himself did not know why as well, so he told Ken to free him from this power one day if he is completely consumed by it's evil, the next day, he, Ken, and Shun are traveling in Tokyo to a Street Fighter Tournament that was being hosted throughout Asia, as Ryu and Shun travel there through the streets of Tokyo, they come across a group of thugs who tried to attack them, although Ryu was able to take a few of them out, Shun was brutally going to far.

Street Fighter Alpha: Generations

Ryu is traveling to Japan to revisit the dojo that he was raised in, he is however stopped by a woman who was watering plants. She asked him about where he was going, and he told her that he was going to pay his respects to his master. As he remembered how the dojo has change, he has a dream about Akuma. Thinking that Akuma has come to fight him, Ryu started to get into a fighting pose.

He woke up from the nightmare, realizing that it was just a dream. He is later on tested by a monk would saw his fighting potential. Ryu eventually loses the match against the monk, which was impressed by him and invited him to dinner at his own home. As they ate, the monk told Ryu about Akuma, and Ryu told him that he saw Akuma when he was still a child. As the talk continued, Ryu saw the same woman that he witnessed from before.

At some point, he came across Sakura who was looking for him. Ryu was asked by Sakura to have a match with her, he did so in hopes of improving himself. After the match, Sakura thanked him for it. Feeling that he was ready to face Akuma for his wrongdoings, Ryu is told by the monk where to find him. When he finally sees Akuma and begins to challenge him, as they fought, Ryu realizes his skills are not going well against Akuma. He then starts to fail into the influence of the Satsui no Hado and attacks Akuma, as he begins to perform the Raging Demon. He is then stopped by a flower which reminds him of Fuka. Akuma told him that he has lost his desire to be powerful due to the love that he has for his master, Ryu told him that it has made him powerful. Akuma then attacked him, but Ryu is able to block it with his own ki, which begins to purify him of his Satsui no Hado, and giving back some of Akuma's humanity. The movie ends as Ryu continues to travel around the world.

Street Fighter II V

Here, Ryu appears as a tanned 17 year-old spiky-haired goofball who wears emerald wrist-beads as a "good luck charm" instead of his usual red hachimaki and gloves. He travels with Ken for the early part of the series, and has yet to learn the Hadoken as part of his original fighting style, which takes having to manifest ki-force by waving his hands in a circular motion and then charging the energy before shooting it. After being trounced in a bar fight with Guile, he and Ken decide to travel the world, teaming up with Chun-Li. In the climax of the anime, Ryu is the one who defeated Bison who eventually learns more of his techniques such as Shoryuken and the Tatsumaki before he finishes him off with a single Hadoken. At the end of the anime, Ryu leaves by ship as he departs from America to Japan. Unlike his game counterpart, Ryu has blood relatives in the anime which he has a younger sister named Rinko and an unnamed grandfather. Some of his attacks from his fighting style throughout the anime are not yet learned in each episode until he masters Hadoken at Dhalsim's tutelage and later both his Whirlwind Hurricane Kick and his Rising Dragon Punch during the climax fight against Bison after Ken unleashes his own Shoryuken.

Drama CD's

Street Fighter II Drama CD Chun-Li Flying Legend

Ryu flies to America to meet Ken at a Hamburger Shop^[39], but gets caught up in the feud between Chun-Li and Vega.

Street Fighter EX Drama CD

Ryu is a supporting character in the Drama CD. He spends the entire story staying at Hokuto's dojo.

Street Fighter ZERO3 Drama Album

The story starts with Ryu fighting someone in a street fight with Sakura cheering him on. After winning, R. Mika challenges him, at first, he wasn’t interested but after R. Mika attacks he fought back and beat her using Shinku Tatsumaki. He then heads home. Later that night, Ryu receives a phone call from Vega who has kidnapped Sakura and tells Ryu to head to Haneda Airport if he wants to secure Sakura’s safety.

While heading to the airport, R. Mika shows up again for a rematch but Ryu tells her that he doesn’t have time as saving Sakura is his main priority. He then arrives at Haneda Aiport and confronts Vega, but before getting to Vega he had to fight a number of Shadaloo soldiers that were easily dispatched after using two Hadoken’s. Ryu fights and defeats Vega who then tells Ryu that Sakura was sent to M. Bison. By holding Sakura hostage, Ryu will come to save her which saves M. Bison the trouble looking for him. Ryu gets on the private plane Vega intended to escape on, and forced the Shadaloo pilot to fly him to M. Bison.

During the flight, Ryu bumps into R. Mika again who followed Ryu to help save Sakura. Once they arrive, they were ambushed by Blanka, however R. Mika quickly delt with him. The two cross paths with Karin and Shibasaki who are also heading towards M. Bison’s castle via Shibasaki’s car. As soon as Ryu, R. Mika and Karin enter the castle M. Bison’s guards show up to overwhelm them with numbers. R. Mika tells Ryu and Karin to keep going as she stays behind to fight the Shadaloo guards. Ryu and Karin run through the castle while calling out to Sakura, then suddenly Balrog appears and delivers a punch to Ryu face that sends him back. Ryu and Karin struggled against Balrog’s hard punches and reflexes but Ryu got the rhythm of Balrog’s punches and beat him with a combo. Immediately after, M. Bison arrives and overwhelms Ryu and Karin despite being outnumbered. Ryu tells Karin to go look for Sakura while he deals with M. Bison.

After a long fight, Ryu uses Shinku Hadoken to defeat M. Bison. Before he could leave M. Bison laughs and tells Ryu that it’s too early to rejoice as the last Psycho Drive is located underneath the castle. M. Bison activates the Psycho Drive and disappears, causing Ryu to go looking for him but was stopped by Sakura who told Ryu to run away. Ryu tells Sakura he needs to find the Psycho Drive and destroy it. Karin tells Ryu not to worry as the Psycho Drive will explode. M. Bison stunned by what happened to his Psycho Drive which self-destructs in front of him. Sakura sees Ryu in the distance and calls out to him. The Drama CD ends with Sakura wanting to fight evenly with Ryu someday, and she’ll keep chasing him until she can be as strong as he is.

Cameos

Wreck-It Ralph

Ryu makes three cameo appearances in Disney's 52nd Animated film, Wreck-It Ralph, with Kyle Hebert reprising his voice role in the film. First, a 16-bit Ryu and Ken notice that the arcade is closed and decide to take a break and head off to the Tapper bar. Later, a computer-animated Ryu can be spotted as one of the customers the Root Beer Tapper has to serve. Then, Ryu can be seen passing by Ralph for a couple of seconds as Ralph is looking for a medal. Finally, he is seen in the credits in the car-breaking bonus stage alongside Wreck-It Ralph.

Ironically, in the Japanese version of the movie, he is voiced by Taketora, the current Japanese voice actor of Akuma.

Other appearances

Street Fighter EX series

Background

After having defeated Sagat in the original Street Fighter tournament, Ryu's first official tournament ever, Ryu wondered about the strange sensation that overcame him in the final moments of the battle. Unsatisfied with the loss of control over his own emotions, he began to think long and hard about what it meant to be a fighter. He wandered around Asia, training in solitude, and encountering a few fighters. He heard about the EX tournament, and wondered if he was truly disciplined enough to enter another tournament.

Shortly before making his decision, he met another roaming fighter. He was mild-mannered, and seemed to be just as troubled as Ryu. His name was Kairi, and Ryu suggested that they spar. They sparred for a long period of time, and Ryu began to feel enthusiastic about the chance to compete again. Ryu thanked Kairi for the sparring session and suggested that Kairi consider entering the tournament as well, in hopes that they might be able to face off for real.

When Ryu arrived at the tournament, he watched every match that he could, and remained as focused and disciplined as ever throughout his own fights. Between one of his matches, he sensed a presence approach him. He turned around to gaze into the red eyes of a man in a dark gi and equally red hair. Ryu demanded to know what he wanted. The man paused, examining Ryu as if sizing him up. He let out a sigh of disappointment, and announced that his name was Akuma, he killed Ryu's master, and Ryu was not ready to confront him. Without giving Ryu a chance to respond, he disappeared almost as quickly as he came.

Overcome with anger at the thought of his master's murder, he was filled with rage and began to seek Akuma's whereabouts. But before he could leave the arena, he was confronted by the tournament's host, M. Bison. Bison wanted to know if Ryu would like to join his Shadaloo army. Ryu had no interest in joining anyone's army and simply wished to pursue Akuma. Bison would not permit his refusal or his exit. With anger in his heart and no alternative, he attacked Bison with ferocity. Bison, intrigued by the young fighter's rising energy levels, teased and inflicted pain on the fighter to encourage a reaction. It did not take long for Ryu's murderous intent to overtake him, and soon Ryu was more monster than fighter.

Bison halted the match, and promised this altered Ryu that if Ryu accepted Bison's offer, he would have the opportunity to destroy the man who killed his master. Fueled by anger and revenge, Ryu accepted. Bison decided to test Ryu's resolve, and knew that the man Ryu was assigned to fight next was the man he trained with as a boy for many years and who he considered to be his one true friend, Ken.

Ken was enthusiastic about the opportunity to fight against his best friend and rival Ryu, but when he stepped in the ring, he noticed immediately that Ryu was not himself, and that he was possessed by some anger that overtook his mind. Ken tried to snap Ryu out of it, but nothing Ken tried would work. Eventually Ken announced that he would no longer fight Ryu, but Ryu continued to press his attack. With every strike, Ken shouted to Ryu in an effort to wake him up. Over a period of time, memories of Ken flooded Ryu's mind, and he slowly returned to normal.

Realizing what had happened, he apologized to Ken, and was ashamed of himself for losing control over his mind. Ken forgave him, but before they could enjoy their reunion, M. Bison appeared. Disgusted with Ryu's lack of commitment, he decided to destroy both of the fighters. They attacked Bison in unison and succeeded in beating Bison into submission. Just as the match seemed to be over, Chun-Li and Guile burst into the arena, and Bison pressed a switch that caused him to disappear below the floor.

Ryu had gained a better understanding of the power that lay within him, and decided to train harder to keep it under control. He joined the second EX tournament, where he was able to rematch Sagat. He did not win the bout, but he considered it a success because he did not tap into Satsui no Hadou in order to beat Sagat. When the third tournament was announced, Ken quickly contacted Ryu and asked him to be his partner. He accepted, but not before the little school girl name Sakura that he met in the first tournament begged him to be her partner instead. Sorry to disappoint the little girl, he accepted Ken's offer.

Endings

Street Fighter EX

The eternal challenger, Ryu. Will his battle ever end? Will his challenge last through all eternity?
What is he searching for? Will he... "I just need to meet a man who is stronger than I am."

Street Fighter EX Plus α

"I shall never rest as long as the fight vibrates within my mind." Ryu's journey continues with no end in sight... The Path of the True Warrior. Will he find an "answer" at the end of the road...? He continues walking, believing in his own fist. The road he seeks is still a long way to go.

Street Fighter EX2

Ryu realized that he needed to overcome himself and forge his mind with true strength.
Returning to the old mountain home where he trained together with Ken and their mutual master, Ryu began his training all over again from a fundamental principle, forbidding himself from using the special moves he has learned.
Ryu strengthens himself with such a humble method, believing that it will someday guide him to the end of the fight and reveal the answer he has been seeking.
Tomorrow's Ryu could be you.

Street Fighter EX2 Plus

Ryu was there, under the moonlight. He raises his own fist to the heavens.
"What should I grasp?"
The wind flows. Until the moment the answer he is looking for is found.

Street Fighter EX3

Ryu has always chosen the road less traveled on his quest for the ultimate challenge. And as he walks away he can only think of the most recent events of his life, 'What is the purpose? What is the point? How many more challenges must I overcome before I can feel like I have accomplished my goal? Maybe there is no answer, and that is the point...

Street Fighter EX3 (in team with Sagat)

Sagat collapsed in front of Ryu. Ryu when knew that won by a heartbeat. If Sagat had been an instant faster, Ryu would have been defeated. But that didn't happen... And now Ryu knows that the journey must begin to find a new rival...

Street Fighter EX3 (in team with Sakura)

Watching the sun setting, Sakura untied the band around her head and thinks to herself, "I failed to tell him what I feel for him, again..." As the band in her hands shakes in the wind, she recalls the fight with Ryu, "You can be a good fighter without my help... I will come to see you when the time comes" "Umm... But I don't like to wait!" Suddenly Sakura starts to run...

Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game

Ryu has a secret love for Chun Li, but he tries to forget it in order to devote more of their training. In this game's backstory, Ryu was originally trained in Karate by his mother, who taught him the basics and then enrolled him in Gouken's dojo.^[122]

Gameplay

Fighting style

Ryu's fighting style is generally referred to as Shotokan, despite the relative lack of resemblance to the real-life martial art. His normal attacks however, seem to resemble the martial art somewhat, especially with some aspects of Hapkido via the in-depth names of his normals in most Japanese sources. His take on the unnamed Ansatsuken style added with his own take on Shotokan, focuses on powerful singular strikes that usually knock the foe down, and is centered around his trademark Hadoken.

Moveset

Ryu is available in every single Street Fighter game as the quintessential "basic" character of the series: an all-around fighter with an intuitive array of punches and kicks and basic special moves that are easy to pick up. Though this simplicity grants a lot of offensive mobility, it hampers his combo ability quite a bit, especially when compared to characters such as Ken, and renders him fairly predictable against more advanced players.

Many of his attacks are reliable if a bit slow, and they are generally safe (or at least neutral) on block. The relative lack of changes to his moves compared to various other characters make him a solid choice for learning a given game's ins and outs. With fairly 'straightforward', easy-to-use moves at his disposal, he can even become a viable option in high-level play in the hands of a player able to read their opponent well.

Ryu's fighting style is also known to be similar to how he works in the games; a reliable tool-set that barely changes bit by bit each time. It is often in Ryu's nature to stick to the fundamentals, playing to his more consistent techniques he's refined throughout the years, and often seeks to master while tweaking it by small bits. This categorizes him in the "boring, but practical" group of things, but his knowledge of all of his basic techniques makes him confident in any fight.

Another notable weakness tends to be Ryu's lack of physical range, making it difficult for him to safely poke out other characters with footsies due to the range of his normals, often forcing him to rely on zoning with his Hadoken or to use his slow-startup Senpukyaku command normal to approach and stuff attacks. However, in later games, this problem seems to be mitigated, especially in games where he's aged and in most of his current 3D appearances.

Ryu seems to retain his role as the balanced fighter in Street Fighter V and Street Fighter 6, and his fighting stats reflect this;

Techniques

Ryu's standard special attacks are the Hadoken, generally referred to as the Fireball; the Shoryuken, or Dragon Punch; and the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku or Hurricane Kick. In later versions of Street Fighter II, Ryu is able to perform the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku in the air, and gains the ability to use a more powerful Hadoken that is an actual fireball.

In the Alpha series, he has a tactic known as the Hado no Kamae, a false Hadoken stance designed for fooling the opponent. In the Street Fighter III series, Ryu gains the Joudan Sokutogeri, a powerful side kick that shoves opponents away with great force.

In the Street Fighter EX series, his Tatsumaki Senpukyaku is replaced with a flying kick attack which can be done in succession by inputting the same command twice or three times. In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, he gains the Ren Hadoken (a compact Hadoken which can be rapid fired 5 times), the Baku Hadoken (an exploding Hadoken that causes the opponent to wall bounce), and the Hado Shoryuken (a Shoryuken infused with a Hadoken that hits 2-4 times).

In Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, Ryu's special attacks take on electrical properties when his Shoryuken are embedded with electricity, and feature the fewest and least drastic costume changes in the game (as he only equipped with a single blue boxing glove and a geta sandals to either knock his opponent or taking his opponent down in a powerful assault). He also has a Mighty Combo called the Reppuu Jinrai Shou, a multi-hitting punch combo that ends with a Shoryuken. His other Mighty Combo is a powerful Shinku Tatsumaki as he was embedded with a thunderstorm during execution. He also retains his Shinku Hadoken serving as one of his Mighty Combos.

In Street Fighter V, Ryu retains most of his moves in the previous games. His first V-Skill is the Mind's Eye where Ryu can parry all of his opponent's attacks and his second V-Skill is the Thrust Strike where he utilizes a powerful left heavy punch towards the opponent. His first V-Trigger is the Denjin Renki where Ryu powers himself up as both of his fists are embedded with electricity as he can shoot his Hadoken in electric properties and can stun his opponent with his Shoryuken in electric damage and his second V-Trigger is the Kakko Fubatsu where Ryu amplifies both punches and kicks using wind based properties and enables him to counter his/her opponent using the Isshin where his punches are now embedded with energy blasts.

Super Combos

Many of Ryu's Super Combos are more powerful versions of his normal moves. His trademark Shinku Hadoken is a five-hit Hadoken, and the first Super Combo in the series. The Shin Shoryuken is a close-range high-powered uppercut, and the Shinku Tatsumaki Senpukyaku is a multi-hitting kick.

In Street Fighter III, Ryu can use the Denjin Hadoken Super Art, a ball of pure energy that can be charged to deal more damage, hits and stun damage. The Shinku Tatsumaki Senpukyaku is now his EX Tatsumaki.

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). In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ryu gains the ability to temporarily enhance his fighting power through a Hyper Combo called Hado Kakusei which not only increases his speed by 15%, but also upgrades his other Hyper Combos as well.

In Street Fighter V, Ryu's Shinku Hadoken serves as his Critical Art while his Denjin Hadoken also serves as his second Critical Art when his Denjin Renki V-Trigger was activated.

Subpages

Gallery

Ryu/Gallery

Quotes

Ryu/Quotes

Sprites

Ryu/Sprites

Popular culture

Ryu/Pop Culture

Music

Video

Street Fighter II - Ryu Ending

X-Men vs. Street Fighter - Ryu Ending

Street Fighter V - Ryu Arcade Mode (HARD)

Street Fighter 4 Ryu Prologue HD

Ultra Street Fighter 4 Prologue Ryu

(Super) Street Fighter IV (AE) - Ryu's Rival Cutscene English Ver. (1080p)

Super Street Fighter IV AE - Ryu's Alternate Rival Cutscene English Ver. (1080p)

Street Fighter 4 Ryu's Ending

SSF4 Story - Ryu's Ending

SFXT - Ken Ryu Intro Cinematic

Street Fighter X Tekken - Ryu & Ken's Rival Cutscene English Ver. (1080p)

SFXT - Ken Ryu Ending Cinematic

Street Fighter V - Ryu Story Mode!

Trivia

• Ryu and Chun-Li have made the most crossover appearances out of the entire Street Fighter roster, Ryu appearing in all crossover fighting game to date involving the series (not including guest appearances by Street Fighter characters in non-crossover projects).
  • Ryu and Ken, conversely, are the only two characters who have been in every Street Fighter installment.
  • Ryu actually makes a small comical jab at his multiple crossover appearances throughout the years in his introduction in the first "Lost Episode" of Asura's Wrath, saying that it's "not the first time [he's] been sent to a strange land".
• Although initially easily subjected to M. Bison's will, Ryu is one of only two people to deal him a defeat in one on one direct combat (the other being Charlie Nash).

• According to some of his Street Fighter IV win quotes, Ryu can afford shoes, but prefers walking barefoot (possibly for comfort).
  • In UDON's comics, while tutoring and helping Sakura, Ryu brushes upon this matter as well, saying that traveling barefoot is helpful in building one's character.
  • Furthermore, in the English version of Street Fighter X Tekken, his win quote against Guy reveals that he considers the idea of rethinking his stance on shoes.

• Ryu references the original Street Fighter game in one of his win quotes in Capcom vs. SNK 2 ("What strength! I won't forget that there are many like you all over the world!").

• Ryu is one of three characters whose stage doesn't have an audience until the Alpha series (along with Akuma and Evil Ryu).

• Ryu's never-ending quest and desire to become a stronger warrior by batting worthy opponents is likely inspired by Goku from the Dragon Ball series. His usage of the Hadoken also shares inspiration from the Kamehameha from said franchise.

• Ryu and Ken's fighting style have gone through many changes over the course of the series. In the original Street Fighter, Ryu & Ken were genius martial artists who learned martial arts from an early age and created their own martial arts style.^[123] A year later, Ryu was called a Master of fighting karate (ケンカ空手の達人 Kenka karate no tatsujin) in the introduction video for Fighting Street.^[20]
  • In SFA3 Ryu adopts various techniques from karate, jūdō and taekwondo to create his own style.^[124]However, in Ryu's SFIII bio it states that he uses martial arts based on karate.^[21]It wasn't until SFIV where Ryu and Ken's fighting style became a "martial art rooted as an art of assassination".^[2]

• Ryu cut off the sleeves of his dōgi to better throw punches, and because he remembered how inconvenient it was when he was grabbed there.^[19][125]

• Ryu's 6th color in Street Fighter IV bears a resemblance to his attire in the Alpha series.

• In the Japanese version of the Capcom arcade quiz game Quiz and Dragons, Ryu's full name is given as Ryu Takegami (武神 隆, Takegami Ryū^?), though this has never been referenced in any other media and it is unlikely Capcom considers this his full name officially.^[126]
• Ryu shares the same birthday as T. Hawk.
  • Ryu also shares the same birthday (and year, shown in the Super NES manual for SFII) with former Capcom artist, Akira (Akiman) Yasuda.

• In the SFIII Q&A from Gamest's SFIII Fanbook, when asked what type of woman he likes, Ryu's response is "Women who look good in spring in Japan"^[48]
  • One question asks if Ryu would open a dojo once he retires. The response is that he might think about opening a dojo but he has no intention of raising a successor.^[127]
  • The book also states that the rucksack he carries contains spare clothes he can change into. And that Ryu is 33 years old as SFIII takes place in 1997.^[7]

• Evil Ryu's win quote to Rose in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition is almost the same as Ryu's win quote to her in Street Fighter IV.

• In the original Street Fighter, there's unused audio in the game files for a "Fire Kick", along with unused graphics that suggest Ryu and Ken were planned to have a fourth special move. Had it been implemented, it would have been a standard jump kick with fire covering the user's foot, similar to the Senpukyaku or Tenmakujinkyaku.^[128]

• According to Yoshinori Ono, Ryu suffers from arachnophobia (fear of spiders), a subject matter emphasized in his introduction quote against Spider-Man in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and its updated version.

• In Street Fighter: Resurrection, Ryu's date of birth is listed as "Unknown" when his official birthdate is July 21, 1964.

• His premium school costume in Street Fighter V has a minor resemblance to Daigo's outfit from his wild form in the Rival Schools series.

• Ryu has the most character connections out of the playable characters, making allies and enemies than any fighter which makes Ryu the most well known from allies and enemies alike.

• According to his win quote against El Fuerte, Ryu has no food preferences when he's hungry. He will eat whatever is available to him.^[129]
  • In Street Fighter 6, he says that El Fuerte's cooking wasn't good.^[62]
  • Ryu usually prepares his own meals at his lodgings. He once shared his soba noodles with villagers overseas.^[130]
• The end of the story A Shadow Falls possibly marks the first time chronologically in the games that Ryu is not seen with his red headband since he first got it.

• Ryu's theme can be heard in Sakura's vocal theme song, "I Want You to Know".

• In artwork for Capcom Friendly Club, Ryu can be seen reading Masutatsu Ōyama's book called “Mas Ōyama’s straight punch attack” (マス大山の正拳一撃 Mas Ōyama no seiken ichigeki), it was the last work of Ōyama published in April 1994, the same month of his death. It's a collection of 99 Q&A from his previous books.
  • Ichigeki (一撃) which translates to “one attack” is Ōyama’s ideal way of winning a fight. Ryu follows this same mindset as he'd go onto create Kaze no Kobushi, a straight punch attack.

• If Ryu and Ken are paired with Leon S Kennedy in Project X Zone 2, Ken will ask Leon to take fighting more seriously which leads to Leon trying to perform a Hadoken and Shoryuken. Ryu thought that Leon was really going to fire a real Hadoken. This is a nod to the fact that Ryu was voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa who currently voices Leon.^[131]
  • Dante from Devil May Cry is not only voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa but also has access to Ryu's moves when equiped with Beowulf, Gilgamesh and Balrog.

• Ryu’s Power Ranger form from Power Rangers Legacy Wars, Ryu Ranger, is similar in name to Ryo’s Ranger form from Gosei Sentai Dairanger. The Ranger costume design is a mashup of the White Ranger, parts of Ryu’s regular outfit, the Green Ranger, and Red Hawk (who also goes under the name Ryu) from Choujin Sentai Jetman.

• Ryu often trains near remote waterfalls. He doesn't seem to know why so many people visit when he's there.^[132]

• Ryu can speak in many languages. The first phrases he learns in any country are: "Looking for a match?" and "Where can I get something to eat?".^[133]

See also

• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter
• Ryu's moves in the Street Fighter II series
• Ryu's moves in Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter: The Movie (the arcade version)
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter: The Movie (the console version)
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter Alpha 3
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
• Ryu's moves in Capcom vs. SNK 2
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter EX plus α
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter EX2 Plus
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter EX3
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter IV
• Ryu's moves in Super Street Fighter IV
• Ryu's moves in Ultra Street Fighter IV
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter X Tekken
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter V
• Ryu's moves in Street Fighter 6

External links

• Ryu (Street Fighter) on the Heroes wiki.

• Ryu on the Power Rangers wiki.
• Ryu on the Marvel vs Capcom Wiki
• Ryu on the Super Smash Bros. Wiki
• Ryu on the Project X Zone Wiki

References

Street Fighter series Playable Characters
Main Series
		Ken · Ryu
	The World Warrior	Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Zangief
	Champion Edition	Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
	Super	Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
	Super Turbo	Akuma
	Ultra	Violent Ken
	Alpha	Adon · Birdie · Charlie Nash · Dan · Guy · Rose · Sodom
	Alpha 2	Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Shin Akuma
	Alpha 3	Cody · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika
	Alpha 3 Upper	Eagle · Maki
	Alpha 3 MAX	Ingrid
	New Generation	Alex · Dudley · Elena · Ibuki Necro · Oro · Sean · Yang · Yun
	2nd Impact	Gill · Hugo · Urien
	3rd Strike	Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve
	IV	Abel · C. Viper · El Fuerte · Gouken · Rufus · Seth
	Super	Hakan · Juri
	Arcade Edition	Oni
	Ultra	Decapre · Poison
	V	F.A.N.G · Laura · Necalli · Rashid
	Season 2	Abigail · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
	Season 3	Falke · G
	Season 4	Kage · Lucia
	Season 5	Akira · Eleven · Luke
	6	Jamie · JP · Kimberly · Lily · Manon · Marisa
	Year 1	A.K.I.
	Year 2	Mai (Guest) · Terry (Guest)
Spin-offs
		Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber · Sawada
		Cyborg
	EX	Allen · Blair · C. Jack · Darun · D. Dark Hokuto · Kairi · Pullum · Skullomania
	EX Plus	Bloody Hokuto · Cycloid-β · Cycloid-γ · Garuda
	EX2	Hayate · Nanase · Shadowgeist · Sharon
	EX2 Plus	Area · V. Rosso
	EX3	Ace · Bison II
	MSHvSF	Cyber-Akuma · Dark Sakura · Mech-Zangief · Shadow
	MvC	Shadow Lady
		Shin