| Ken Masters | |
|---|---|
| Street Fighter character | |
.png) Ken Masters in Street Fighter III: Third Strike | |
| First game | Street Fighter (1987) |
| Created by | Takashi Nishiyama |
| Designed by | Shoei Okano (Street Fighter II)[1] |
| Portrayed by | Damian Chapa (Street Fighter film, game) Christian Howard (Street Fighter: Legacy, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist) |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Fighting style | Shotokan, Kyokushin, Kickboxing, Taekwondo[3][4] |
| Origin | United States |
| Nationality | American[a] |
Ken Masters (Japanese: ケン・マスターズ, Hepburn: Ken Masutāzu) is a character in Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series.[5] The character was first introduced in the 1987 title Street Fighter as an alternate fighter to Ryu. While Ken and Ryu are devoted to testing their power against many different fighters as older more experienced fighters in Street Fighter II, Ken instead ends his story developing a family with his girlfriend Elisa. Ken still keeps appearing in the following games, including the Street Fighter Alpha younger fighter or the spin-off Street Fighter EX. An alternate brainwashed version of Ken has also appeared as a boss character in a few of his appearances. The character has been featured in several sequels to Street Fighter as well as adaptations based on the games. He has also made cross-over appearances in Namco × Capcom, Project X Zone and Super Smash Bros.
Ken's character was created by Capcom designer Takashi Nishiyama as he developed Street Fighter he was planning to create the fighting games as his underlings like planner Hiroshi Matsumoto were fans of martial arts. Due to budget reasons, Ken was one of the few characters and only could use Ryu's moves which resulted in their characterization of rivals and fellow students of Gouken. Shoei Okano eventually redesigned the character in later games. Seeking to make the character more original, Capcom redesigned Ken's orange gi in Street Fighter V and Street Fighter 6 though the latter resulted in changing his entire character life to avoid making his life less stable.
Despite being famous as a clone of Ryu, Ken develops a more social life rather than devoting his life to his training like Ryu. Their similarities inspired the term Shotokans in other fighting games besides Street Fighter when creating characters. The evolution of his gameplay and design was popular among gamers for becoming more original. However, his role in Street Fighter 6 was the subject of comic relief due to the sudden increase of depression now that his character lost his family after several installments filled with light-hearted moments.
- ^ "Street Fighter II Developer's Interview | Guests | Activity Reports". Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
- ^ Vincent Tong [@VincentTong007] (October 3, 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 August 25, 2018 – via Twitter.
- ^ Studio Bent Stuff. All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Games. p. 345.
- ^ "Street Fighter III 2nd Impact" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 5, 1998.
空手をベースにした独自の格闘技を使う。(Uses an original martial art based on Karate and Judo.)
- ^ "Street Fighter IV: Return of the World Warriors", Game Informer 178 (February 2008): 90.
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