Ryu (Street Fighter)

Ryu
Street Fighter character
Ryu in Project X Zone 2 performing the Hadoken
First gameStreet Fighter (1987)
Created byTakashi Nishiyama
Designed byManabu Takemura (Street Fighter)
Shoei Okano (Street Fighter II)[1]
Portrayed by
Voiced byHiroki Takahashi (2008–present, Japanese)[2]
Kyle Hebert (2009–present, English)[2]
Others (Games)
Others (Film, Japanese)
Others (Film, English)
In-universe information
Fighting styleKyokushin, Shotokan, Kempo, Taekwondo, Judo[4][5]
Origin
Nationality

Ryu (/riˈuː/ ⓘ; Japanese: リュウ, Hepburn: Ryū) is a character and the protagonist of Capcom's Street Fighter series.[6] Introduced in Street Fighter (1987), Ryu appears as the game's lead character alongside his best friend and friendly rival Ken Masters. Other games in the series show Ryu's training and dedication to be the strongest fighter he can be, befriending new fighters. Unable to control his dark nature, Ryu develops two alter egos: Evil Ryu (殺意の波動に目覚めたリュウ, Satsui no Hadō ni Mezameta Ryū, lit. "Ryu with the surge of murderous intent awakened", abbreviated Satsui Ryu in Street Fighter Alpha 3), and Kage-naru mono (影ナル者, lit. "Shadowed One") or simply Kage (影, lit. "Shadow"). Mastering the dark nature is Ryu's main objective in order to become stronger. Ryu has appeared as a playable character in several crossover games involving the franchise, including the Marvel vs. Capcom series, SNK vs. Capcom, Project X Zone, and the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He has also appeared in manga and anime adaptations, as well as the 1994 live-action film.

Ryu was created by game designer Takashi Nishiyama, who was inspired by the martial artist Mas Oyama while designing the character. For his second appearance, Ryu's design changed from a young fighter to a skilled karate practitioner. However, because of issues in the making of Street Fighter II, he possessed a major weakness within the cast. For the next titles, Ryu's fighting style was modified, so he had different skills, with Evil Ryu and Kage possessing more diverse moves. Multiple Japanese and English actors have voiced him. While his appearance remained mostly intact, Street Fighter 6 gave Ryu a major redesign in reference to his master Gouken.

A pop culture icon, Ryu has become one of the most iconic fighting game characters ever, inspiring several other fighters though his alter egos while his friendship and rivalry with Ken was praised for how different they develop despite being nearly the same in their introducitons. The character also received mixed responses for recycling an archetype of the corrupted protagonist in the form of Evil Ryu and Kage. He also became iconic in Street Fighter 6 due to his new design which attracted people due to his sex appeal.

  1. ^ "Street Fighter II Developer's Interview | Guests | Activity Reports". Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Ryu Voices (Street Fighter)". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2024. A green check mark means that an individual has been verified by a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of the credits of a title, together with the list of voice actors and the characters they play or other credible sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  3. ^ Vincent Tong [@VincentTong007] (3 October 2017). "I voiced Ryu & Ken for CAPCOM's Puzzle Fighter! So pumped that's it's out! Download it now! #capcom #voice #voiceover #yvr" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 August 2018 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Street Fighter III 2nd Impact (wayback)" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 5 December 1998. 空手をベースにした独自の格闘技を使う。(Uses unique martial arts based on karate.)
  5. ^ Studio Bent Stuff. All About Capcom Head-to-Head Marvel vs Capcom 3: Taekwondo+Shotokan+Judo Fighting Games. p. 345.
  6. ^ "Street Fighter IV: Return of the World Warriors", Game Informer 178 (February 2008): 90.