Ryu

Ryu is a video game character created by Capcom, the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series.

Premiering in the first Street Fighter, Ryu appears as the lead character from the game along with his best friend Ken participating in the Street Fighter tournament. Further games from the series show Ryu to be highly focused on his training, aiming to become the strongest he can. However, his powers also attract several criminals who want to use him for their plans.

Ryu has been the lead character of the Street Fighter series since the first game and has appeared in crossovers involving the franchise. He is also featured in manga from the series, anime adaptations and the 1994 live-action film.

In the first Street Fighter game, Ryu has red hair and wears a tattered white karate gi with a white hachimaki (headband) and red gloves. Also, a constant trait in his design is the Fūrinkazan kanji motif (meaning Wind, Wood, Fire, Mountain), battle standard of the historical Japanese military leader Takeda Shingen, embroidered into his obi, simulating Karate Dan degrees. In Street Fighter II Ryu is shown to be older, with brown hair and a red hachimaki. He also fights barefooted this time. The Alpha series features a Ryu much like the one depicted in the original Street Fighter, with light red hair and a white hachimaki. In the Street Fighter III games, Ryu has black hair and facial stubble to show his growth in age. Street Fighter IV, story wise, is set between Street Fighter II and Street Fighter 3 and so Ryu has a more mature look than he does in Street Fighter II but still not as aged looking as in Street Fighter 3.

Because he was the only playable character in the original Street Fighter, Ryu's designer, Manabu Takemura, wanted to make him easy to identify with. In Street Fighter II, the character was selected for inclusion due to his presence in the first game, symbolizing the concept of a Japanese martial artist. As the series progressed, the design was made more muscular to coincide with the concept, while his white gi, considered his most defining character by the development team, was meant to let viewers know he was "a karate master at first sight".

Both Ryu and Ken are practitioners of a nameless martial art rooted as an assassination style.[3] Both Ryu and Ken learned their art from Gouken, who refined the style as a purely combative non-killing style. Since the SNES version of Street Fighter II, Ryu's fighting style has been referred as "Shotokan" in the English localization of the games' instruction manuals and related literature.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. His Shōryū-ken (昇龍拳?, "Rising Dragon Fist") does only one hit, so Ryu can effectively use this move at full power against airborne opponents. Ryu focuses more on the Hadou principle of his style, which translates to him being very skilled with his usage of ki - Ryu has the most concentrated Hadōken (波動拳?, "Surge Fist") amongst all users. In addition, Ryu has mastered the Tatsumaki-Senpū kyaku (竜巻旋風脚?, "Tornado Whirlwind Kick"), a powerful kick performed in mid-air. Ryu has been given special moves in various games, among those, Jōdan Sokutō Geri (上段足刀蹴り?, "High Side Kick"), a fast side kick only available to him in the iterations of Street Fighter III.His enhanced moves are: Shinkū Hadōken (真空波動拳?, "Vacuum Surge Fist"), a powered-up variant of his standard Hadōken, the Shinkū Tatsumaki-Senpū Kyaku (真空竜巻旋風脚?, "Vacuum Tornado Whirlwind Kick"), a stationary variant of the normal move, but much faster, stronger and hitting multiple times, Shin Shōryū-ken (真・昇龍拳?, "True Rising Dragon Fist"), a powerful version of the standard Shōryū-ken. In addition, in Street Fighter III, Ryu masters the Denjin Hadōken (電刃波動拳?, " Thunder Blade Surge Fist"), fast electrified variation of the Hadōken, which has the ability to stun the opponent. In Street Fighter IV, Ryu gains the Metsu Hadōken (滅波動拳?, "Destructive Surge Fist"), an incredibly powerful enhanced Shinkū Hadōken, as his Ultra Combo.In the Street Fighter Alpha series, there is a selectable version of Ryu known as Evil Ryu (殺意の波動に目覚めたリュウ, Satsui no Hadō ni Mezameta Ryū?, lit. "The surge of murderous intent awakened in Ryu", abbreviated Satsui Ryu in Street Fighter Zero 3). The concept of Ryu succumbing to the "Evil Intent" (殺意の波動, Satsui no Hadō?, lit. "Surge of Murderous Intent", sometimes translated as the "Dark Hadou"), the same power used by his nemesis Akuma, was first explored in the Street Fighter Alpha manga authored by Masahiko Nakahira. It was not until the international versions of the game, Street Fighter Alpha 2, that Evil Ryu was introduced as a secret character in the games. Evil Ryu wears a dark grey gi and possesses a faint red glow in his eyes.In terms of gameplay, Evil Ryu has more powerful attacks than his normal counterpart, strikes faster, and possesses some of the attacks of Akuma (such as the Messatsu Gō Shōryū, Ashura Senkū, and Shun Goku Satsu). Like Akuma, Evil Ryu has a signature symbol that appears when he performs the Shun Goku Satsu. Evil Ryu has had three different symbols: In Alpha 3 and in Capcom vs SNK 2, the symbol was Metsu (滅) for "Destruction." In Street Fighter EX Plus he also appears to have the same sign as Akuma, which is "Ten", for "Sky/Heaven" (天).Signs of the Satsui no Hado first appeared when Ryu defeated Sagat, when Ryu gave Sagat a 'Metsu Shoryuken' causing that scar on Sagat's chest. Ryu's thoughts faded into anger thus tapping this dark surge of energy into his Shoryuken. Proof of this is found in Street Fighter Alpha 3, when Ryu does the special Metsu Shoryuken as a Super K.O., his victory pose is similar to Evil Ryu's. His back is turned.