Ryu (Street Fighter)

Ryu (リュウ, 隆 in Japanese) is a video game character created by Capcom, and is the protagonist of the majority of the games in the Street Fighter series. As the protagonist and default character of Street Fighter and Street Fighter II (as well as many sequels and spin-offs), Ryu is the archetypical fighting game protagonist, and he has provided the basis for many other fighting game characters.

Appearance

Ryu's basic appearance throughout the series, as shown in Street Fighter II, has him with brown hair, a red headband, a white gi and a black belt. When Ryu first appeared in the original Street Fighter, Ryu still had his gi, but he wore a white headband, had red hair, and wore red slippers. In the Street Fighter Alpha series, Ryu now has auburn hair, but still has the white headband, which hearkens back to his appearance in the first Street Fighter. Canonically, Ryu would not receive the red headband until getting it after a sparring session with his friend and rival Ken Masters. It was originally used by Ken as a hairtie by during the Alpha series. In Street Fighter III, Ryu's look is mostly identical to his SFII look, except that he now has black hair. This makes him the only character in the Street Fighter series whose hair color changes periodically. Ryu's gi is also tattered and torn on the sleeves, indicating years of wear and tear.

Ryu also carries around a duffle bag wherever he goes which contains important items such as plane tickets, passports, and the currency of the country he is in. However, Ryu doesn't seem to carry a change of clothes in the duffle bag.

Story

Ryu is a Japanese stock character, the wandering warrior: a person whose life is entirely devoted to spiritual perfection through the art of the fist. He does not care about winning or losing so much as the moment of the fight and the opportunity for spiritual advancement.

Ryu is loosely based on a real-life karate practitioner, the late Yoshiji Soeno, nicknamed "the Tiger of Kyokushin", and founder of Shidokan Karate. In the 1970s, Soeno was the only warrior with the courage to challenge Reiba, the strongest Thai kickboxer in the world, and dubbed the "Dark Lord of Muay Thai."

Video game storyline

Pre-Street Fighter

Ryu was an orphaned child, with no knowledge of who his biological parents were or if they are still alive. When Ryu was a young child, he was adopted by a man named Gouken and began living with him as well as learning the mysterious Asatsuken style of Karate. Gouken would later get the bratty son of his best friend, Ken Masters, not only as a sparring partner for Ryu, but to also give Ryu some company since Gouken was the only person Ryu had seen in a long time due to the seclusion of Gouken's dojo. Ryu looked up to Gouken as a father figure during his early years and Ken as sort of a brother. When Ryu was about 18 years old, Gouken thought that Ryu was ready to travel the world in order to test his skills against the best fighters in the world. With this, Ryu left Gouken and Ken, and headed to fight in the first World Warrior tournament.

Street Fighter

In Street Fighter, Ryu is one of the participants of the World Warrior tournament. After defeating all challengers, his skills earn him the right to fight its host, Sagat. Despite nearly losing against the Muay Thai master, Ryu secures a difficult victory, and is crowned champion.

Later games elaborate on the final battle between Ryu and Sagat. In this version of the battle, Sagat nearly beats Ryu into unconsciousness. So sure is he that he had won the fight that he offers the reeling Ryu a hand to his feet. Ryu, however, having such a strong desire to win, allows himself to be engulfed by the Satsui no Hadou and he strikes Sagat with a nearly-fatal Metsu Shoryuken that it 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.

Street Fighter Alpha

In the Street Fighter Alpha series, Ryu leaves Sagat behind and returns to his home only to find Gouken, his master and adoptive father, has been murdered. Learning that Akuma had fought and killed his adopted father, Ryu began to travel the world to find this man.

He encounters and fights Akuma on a secluded island, but Akuma was only testing him. He senses that Ryu has the same powers as he does, and tells Ryu about the Satsui no Hadou - a power that consumes the practitioners of their shared fighting style, driving them to win even when it means killing the opponent. Ryu refuses to unleash this power within, and Akuma uses his to smash the island, leaving Ryu stranded.

Sometime after escaping the island, Ryu battles Ken and loses. Ken realizes Ryu is not himself and has been deeply troubled since his last victory over Sagat. He gives him his red hairband as a reminder to stay focused, which Ryu was sincerely grateful for. 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 and swears to make him accept her eventually.

Ryu continues to be troubled by what Akuma had told him, compounded by the 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 Hadou - 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 challenges the brainwashed Ryu. (Different versions of this story coexist; in one version, Sagat is offered this battle as an enticement to stay with Shadoloo.) Sagat quickly notices the effects Bison's brainwashing have had on Ryu, and, at Sagat's urging, Ryu comes to his senses and helps Ken and Sakura force Bison to retreat.

Street Fighter II and III

During the World Warrior tournament, Ryu enters to test his skills, and easily defeats many of the new warriors. It is widely believed that he lost to Ken in this tournament as Ken stated he wouldn't marry Eliza until he won a decisive victory over Ryu. Ken marries Eliza after winning the fight.

Years later, Ryu enters the third Street Fighter tournament to further advance his fighting abilities. He defeats Hugo, but with a considerable amount of difficulty. The seemingly unstoppable Hugo puts on a grand fight and even withstands a direct Shin Shoryuken. Ryu loses to Oro, but the hermit was so impressed that he takes an interest in Ryu and begins to train the young warrior. During the events of "Third Strike", Ryu and Ken have another sparring match and Ryu comes out as the victor. Ryu was then challenged by Alex who won the SF3 tournament. Ryu won and said that he would want to fight him again.

Udon Street Fighter comic

In the Street Fighter comic book by Udon Studios, the writers take quite a few jabs at Ryu's aloofness. In that comic, he is unable to use the Internet, and when Ken gets him an e-mail address, he chooses boringryu@capcommunications.com with the password kenrulz for him. When Ken and Eliza shoot their wedding pictures with him as the best man, Ryu forgets to put on his shoes.

Evil Ryu

Evil Ryu

In the Street Fighter Alpha and SNK vs. series, there is a selectable version of Ryu called Evil Ryu (literally it's Satsui no Hadou ni Mezameta Ryu). He is the version of Ryu should he succumb to Satsui no Hadou, and depicts Ryu's struggle to resist the urge. Gameplay-wise, Evil Ryu has more powerful attacks than the original, strikes faster and possesses some of the attacks of Akuma (such as the Shun Goku Satsu). The only time Evil Ryu actually appears in Street Fighter canon is at the end of the first World Warrior tournament. According to the Street Fighter Alpha series, Sagat, the defending champion, crushed Ryu, and then extended his hand to help Ryu up after thinking that he had won. Ryu was so consumed with the desire to win that he gave into the Satsui no Hadou ("Evil Intent" in the American version) and executed a Metsu Shoryuken, scarring Sagat's chest and his pride.

Since then, Evil Ryu has occasionally appeared in various Capcom games featuring Ryu. Nevertheless, Evil Ryu does not exist as a separate character and is only an alternate version of Ryu. Despite the brief brash and/or temptation from the Satsui no Hadou, canonically, Ryu rejected the Satsui no Hadou, and has made mass innovations to Gouken's style which helped him bring Gouken-Ryuu Ansatsuken up to par with Evil Ryu by Street Fighter III.

Like Akuma, Evil Ryu has a signature symbol that appears when he performs the Shun Goku Satsu. Evil Ryu has had two different symbols: In Alpha 3, his symbol was Satsu, for "Murder," though it only appears in his ending, not during gameplay, and in Capcom vs SNK 2, the symbol was Metsu for "Destruction."

Alternate stories

Byron Mann as Ryu Hoshi in the live movie.

Street Fighter' motion picture

In the live action movie adaption of the games, Ryu (given the non-canonical last name of Hoshi) and Ken are two con artists who love to take money from rich crime lords through their schemes. This time, however, they unwittingly become entangled in the war to free the country of Shadaloo. Col. William F. Guile approaches Ryu and Ken shortly after they get caught and arrested in a Allied Nations internment camp and offers a plan that would ensure both men's freedom and safety out of the country.

The plan was to stage a jailbreak in order to gain the trust of Sagat (who was also in the camp and was in fact arrested along with Ryu, Ken, and Vega). The plan was to also "kill" Guile in order to make M. Bison think he won the war. While the plan works at first, suspicions about Ryu and Ken's loyalty to either side puts a damper on the plans. Ryu and Ken eventually help Guile and the Allied Nations to overthrow M. Bison and free the country, but decide that they would be better off staying in Shadaloo until they help get the nation back on its feet.

Street Fighter TV series

Ryu also appears in the American animated TV series Street Fighter. His story in this TV 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, is still a con man, as well as Ken, but despite this, he is still dedicated to his training. He is a member of the group "Street Fighter", a group of international crime fighters, once again led by Colonel William Guile. He also clashes with Akuma in one episode and both he and Ken were involved in an episode loosely based on the video game Final Fight.

Fighting Style

Both Ryu and Ken are practitioners of an extremely violent martial art, or ansatsuken (Japanese: 暗殺拳 murderous/assassin's fist), which incorporated the most violent techniques from a blend of four styles of martial arts, alongside a mysterious sure-killing technique called Shun Goku Satsu. Both Ryu and Ken learned their art from Gouken, who vowed to teach a less violent variation of the art created by his master Goutetsu which does not include the discipline's life-threatening techniques such as the Shun Goku Satsu.

While Ryu and Ken follow the same martial arts discipline, as the Street Fighter series evolved, the differences between the two characters was portrayed by their attacks: Ryu focused on technique while Ken opted for stylish unpredictability.

Ryu's normal attacks are slightly slower than Ken's, albeit straightforward. His special moves are more focused; Ryu inflicts damage with individual strikes rather than combinations. His Shoryuken does only one hit, so Ryu can effectively use this move at full power against airborne opponents, although Ken's is still much stronger since he follows the Shoryuu principle. Ryu can dodge projectiles at the start of his Tatsu Maki Senpuu Kyaku maneuver and knocks an opponent down with one hit.

Ryu focuses more on the Hadou principle of Goutetsu-style Ansatsuken, which translates to him being very skilled with his usage of ki - Ryu has the most concentrated Hadouken amongst all "non-lethal" Goutetsu-style Asatsuken users, and only the "lethal style" Goutetsu-style Ansatsuken user, Akuma, can match and/or surpass Ryu's Hadouken in both gauge and concentrate in certain instances. Ryu is the only student of Gouken's style of Goutetsu-style Ansatsuken capable of using the Shakunetsu Hadouken with the greatest of care—ensuring that the surge still burns bright with flames, but won't result in immolation.

Ryu and Ken's duality is comparable with two real-life philosophical approaches to karate, and Japanese martial arts in general. Do and Jitsu, or The path/way, and method/technique. One is more for personal development (See judo) and the other is more for practical application (see jujitsu).

Gameplay

Ryu is the quintessential "basic" character in fighting games, with a lackluster, yet intuitive array of punches and kicks, and very basic special moves. This simplicty makes Ryu a favorite for beginner and intermediate players. Ryu is available in every single Street Fighter game, allowing players familiar with previous Street Fighter games to begin playing immediately, without having to worry about learning how to use a new character, however, there are a few tweaks in his moveset.

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. When giving his quote at the end of the fight, however, they are the same no matter which "mode."

Techniques

Special moves

Hadouken
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku
Shoryuken
Shakunetsu Hadouken
Joudan Sokutou Geri
Hadou no Kamae

Super Arts

Shinkuu Hadouken
Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku
Shin Shoryuken
Denjin Hadouken
Metsu Shoryuken

Actors

Ryu is voiced by Katashi Ishizuka or Toshiyuki Morikawa in many of the games he appears in. In some of the Alpha games and in the first two Street Fighter III games, he is voiced by Wataru Takagi. In Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, his voice is done by Toru Ohkawa. He was portrayed by Byron Mann in the 1994 movie adaption of the game.

Trivia

*Capcom USA called Ryu's fighting style "Shotokan" despite bearing little resemblance to the style. Although there is no basis in fact for this claim, Ryu and other characters who use similar styles (such as Ken and Akuma) are still called "shotos" by fans. Any character that plays the same way as any of the three mentioned, as in they have comparable movesets and attacks, have been affectionately referred to as "shotoclones."
*Ryu's stage in most of the games in the series is known as Suzaku Castle. Gouken is buried there and Ryu travels back to it once a year.
*A famous win quote of Ryu's in the English version of Street Fighter II was "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." Sheng Long in Chinese means "Rising Dragon", but the phrase was accidentally not translated in the American version. Many thought that this was the name of Ryu and Ken's mentor and Electronic Gaming Monthly used this misperception to make a hoax character by the same name, and this in turn would eventually inspire Capcom to make Akuma.
*Ryu appears in Namco x Capcom. In the game, he joins forces with Jin Kazama of Tekken and Ken.
*During the Japanese release of the original Street Fighter, Ryu's name was spelled with the kanji 隆 (lit. prosperity). However, in Street Fighter II and every game released afterwards, this was discontinued in favor of spelling his name in katakana, making his name easily legible to younger Japanese people.
*In some official Street Fighter II artwork, Ryu's belt has kanji emblazoned upon it. The four kanji written are kaze (wind), mori (forest), hi (fire) and yama (mountain); these four kanji make up the fuurinkazan, the motto of Takeda Shingen, a warlord in feudal Japan. The four words are based on chapter seven of Sun Tzu's Art of War, though it can be summarized as "Swift as the Wind, Silent as a Forest, Fierce as Fire and Immovable as a Mountain":

"In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed. Whether to concentrate or to divide your troops, must be decided by circumstances. Let your rapidity be that of the wind, your compactness that of the forest. In raiding and plundering be like fire, in immovability like a mountain. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, strike like a thunderbolt."
*Cyber Hero, from one of Capcom's games, Gotcha Force, is based heavily off of Ryu. His Hero Shot is a direct mimic of a Hadouken, the Hero Spin a travelling version of a Shinkuu Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku, and his Hero Beam is lifted right from the Shinkuu Hadouken. He also has a victory pose and a biography very similar to Ryu's.
*One of Ryu's win quotes in Capcom vs. SNK 2 is "What strength! I won't forget there are many people like you all over the world!" This is a reference to the original Street Fighter. This is a variation of the quote spoken by the CPU opponents when defeated, in which in the original Street Fighter the quote was "What strength! But don't forget there are many guys like you, all over the world."
*Ryu appears as the boss character in the online fighting game American Dad! vs Family Guy: Kung Fu, used to promote the release of American Dad!: Season 1 on DVD. He initially fights you on Sagat's stage from SF2. His fatality is a modified Shouryu Reppa, although this move actually belongs to Ken.
*Ryu appeared in Robot Chicken to defeat a lazy office worker who claimed "the report is due Thursday" when in fact the report was due Wednesday.

References

*Tiamat's Street Fighter Plot FAQ on GameFAQs.