Ryu

Ryu
Artwork of Ryu from Street Fighter 6
Series	Street Fighter
First Appearance	Street Fighter
Year Created	1987
Created by	Manabu Takemura
Voiced by (English)	Kyle Hebert
Voiced by (Japanese)	Hiroki Takahashi

Ryu (リュウ, "Ryū", written as 隆 in the original Street Fighter) is the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series. He hails from Japan and is highly focused on training and becoming stronger to overcome his opponents. Ryu first appeared in Street Fighter in the arcade and its port called Fighting Street on the TurboGrafx-16, and has most recently appeared in Street Fighter 6 as well as Project X Zone on the Nintendo 3DS, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Personality

Ryu is stoic and quiet. The other characters regard him as detached and even boring. He conflicts directly with his best friend and rival, Ken Masters. Ryu's ultimate goal in life is to become the ultimate fighter in his art, and he travels the world to meet others and train.

Biography

Early Life

As a young child, Ryu was orphaned and adopted by Gouken, who brought the young Ryu to his dojo. There Ryu learned Martial arts alongside Ken, the spoiled-rich son of Gouken's good friend. Once Ryu and Ken reached 23 years of age, they struck out on their own, and went to the World Warrior's Tournament.

Street Fighter Alpha

In the Street Fighter Alpha series, there is an alternative selectable version of Ryu known as "Evil Ryu". Like Akuma, Ryu takes this form when succumbing to the evil intent and becomes more violent. It was not until the international versions of the game, Street Fighter Alpha 2, that Evil Ryu was introduced as a playable secret character. Evil Ryu was originally introduced in a 1996 Street Fighter Zero manga series by Masahiko Nakahira and later adapted in the Street Fighter canon by Capcom. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, a man named M. Bison seeks Ryu to use him as his next host body. The two clash and Ryu emerges victorious, causing Bison to retreat. If Evil Ryu is used, he clashes with Akuma to decide who is the strongest user of Dark Hadou.

Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition

After going to multiple World Warrior tournaments, Ryu enlists in the one given by S.I.N. He joins the tournament mainly to train and meet with his old rivals, including Ken.

During the Tournament he fights many people, including Ken, and when he gets home, he realizes that fighting all of those warriors has made him even stronger, and he looks forward to seeing his friends and Rivals again.

Street Fighter 6

Ryu mentors an unofficial student, Avatar, sharing his Japan adventures and inspirations. Training the Avatar helps him learn smartphone usage and an offensive technique, with Ryu aiming to pass his knowledge on to future generations.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U

Ryu was introduced as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U as a DLC character, released in June 2015. His moveset incorporates primarily Street Fighter IV moves. He is unique in that most of his moves have variations depending on the degree of direction input and he features alternate inputs for his special attacks. Inputing them correctly will be stronger than normal and the Hadouken has the Shakunetsu variation.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Ryu came back as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This time, he always face his opponent in a 1 VS 1 match to fit his playstyle from his original games. Ryu is now joined by Ken Masters, his Echo Fighter.

Attacks

• Neutral Special: Hadouken
• Side Special: Tatsumaki Senpukyaku
• Down Special: Focus Attack
• Up Special: Shoryuken
• Final Smash: Shinkuu Hadouken or Shin Shoryuken, depending on proximity

Other games

Project X Zone

In this game and the sequel, he was paired with Ken Masters.

Trivia

• Ryu is the very first character in Super Smash Bros. to actually come from a fighting game franchise.
• Ryu is the first fighter to have more than one Final Smash in the same game.