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| Ryo Sakazaki | |
|---|---|
| Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters character | |
 Promotional artwork for Ryo Sakazaki by Tomohiro Nakata featuring his Art of Fightingdesign and reused in all The King of Fighters games. | |
| First appearance | Art of Fighting (1992) |
| Created by | Hiroshi Matsumoto |
| Voiced by | English Alden Crews (AOF anime)[1]
|
| In-universe information | |
| Fighting style | Kyokugenryu Karate |
| Family | Takuma Sakazaki (father) Yuri Sakazaki (sister) |
| Origin | Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese-American |
Ryo Sakazaki (Japanese: リョウ・サカザキ, Hepburn: Ryō Sakazaki, sometimes written as 坂崎 亮, Sakazaki Ryō) is a video game character developed for the 1992 fighting game Art of Fighting from SNK. His name is most often written in kana, although in some games, kanji is used to write parts of his name. In the series, Ryo is a skilled martial artist who practices his family's fighting style, Kyokugenryu Karate (極限流空手, lit. "Utmost' Limit Style Empty Hand"), taught by his father Takuma before going missing. After his younger sister Yuri goes missing, Ryo and his best friend Robert Garcia go to Southtown find Yuri facing several enemies across the game. While Art of Fighting follows Ryo's journey as a warrior to protect those he loves, he is also a regular character in the crossover series The King of Fighters, in which he participates in fighting tournaments to promote the Kyokugenryu Karate. He also appears in other SNK games such as Buriki One, Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, Neo Geo Battle Coliseum and KOF: Maximum Impact 2 under the alias of "Mr. Karate" (Mr.カラテ, Misutā Karate) with an older fighting form inspired by his father Takuma. Additionally, he stars in manhua adaptations of several series and appears in the anime original video animation version of Art of Fighting.
SNK developer Hiroshi Matsumoto created Ryo as an homage to the Street Fighter characters as the staff who produced the first game in the franchise left Capcom to join SNK to produce other games. Ryo's inclusion in The King of Fighters series was decided immediately by the staff as SNK wanted to employ characters from other series they created so they could fight in crossover games. SNK artist Hiroaki Hashimoto was responsible for his alterego Mr. Karate's design as he wanted to create a new design distinctly different from the original. Multiple voice actors have provided their talent during Ryo's different appearances.
Ryo has been well received by gamers; his character has been highly ranked in several popularity polls conducted by journals. Video game publications have praised and criticized Ryo's character. Although Ryo has been criticized for his similarities to the Street Fighter video games' characters, several reviewers have praised his development in several games from SNK such as his introduction in Fatal Fury Special and The King of Fighters as one of the first crossover characters. His older Mr. Karate alter-ego was also praised for coming across as a more likable character. Ryo served as a model for the development of Dan Hibiki, a joke character in the Street Fighter series.
- ^ a b c "Ryo Sakazaki Voices (Art of Fighting)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
- ^ "『KOF』の女性向け『KOF乙女』発表。友情あり恋愛ありのイケメン格闘家育成ゲーム". dengekionline.com (in Japanese). June 12, 2019. Archived from the original on September 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2019.