Ryo Sakazaki

Ryo Sakazaki
Official artwork of Ryo Sakazaki from The King of Fighters XIII.
Universe	Art of Fighting
Debut	Art of Fighting (1992)
Smash Bros. appearances	Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	The King of Fighters XV (2022)
Console/platform of origin	Neo Geo MVS
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Japan
Created by	Hiroshi Matsumoto
Article on Wikipedia	Ryo Sakazaki

Ryo Sakazaki (リョウ・サカザキ, Ryo Sakazaki) is the main character from the fighting game series Art of Fighting. He regularly appears in The King of Fighters series.

Origin

The introduction of Art of Fighting, with Ryo fighting Jack Turner.

Ryo first appears in Art of Fighting, where he sets off to fight Mr. Big to save his sister Yuri. However, as he does so, he is led to a mysterious man known as Mr. Karate. After beating him, it is revealed that Mr. Karate was his and Yuri's father, Takuma Sakazaki and that he was being coerced by Geese Howard into being his muscle in Southtown, having arranged Yuri's kidnapping to force his cooperation. Ryo, his family, and his best friend Robert Garcia then proceed to search for and fight Geese. After failing to kill Geese in Art of Fighting 2 (which leads up to the events of the original Fatal Fury), Ryo's role is reduced to a supporting role to Robert in Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior, as the latter leaves for the fictional Mexican town of Glasshill without warning, in order to help his childhood friend Freia Lawrence. Ryo's playable appearances after this are mostly in The King of Fighters series, often teaming up with Robert, Yuri, and/or Takuma, as part of the Art of Fighting Team. In The King of Fighters series, he mostly joins the tournaments to get funds for his family's dojo, whose business expands to include a restaurant as of The King of Fighters XIV.

Though not originally from the Fatal Fury series, Ryo made secret playable appearances in two of its games, Fatal Fury Special and Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, the latter of which sees him succeeding his father as Mr. Karate.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Ryo as both a Mii Costume and background character.

As a costume

Ryo appears as one of Round 4's DLC Mii costumes. He is a costume for Mii Brawler. When Ryo's Mii Costume is being demonstrated, he is shown jumping off Wario's bike on Omega Figure-8 Circuit, referencing cutscenes from the original Art of Fighting (which, incidentally, are a popular meme in Japan). He is also shown performing Flashing Mach Punch and Onslaught, which resemble his Zanretsuken and Ryuko Ranbu moves. The appearance of King K. Rool using his forward aerial attack in Mii Fighter Costumes #4 trailer is a reference to Jack Turner's Super Drop Kick from the Art of Fighting series.

As a background character

Ryo makes a cameo on the King of Fighters Stadium. He can appear at random, but will always appear if the music for the match is either ART of FIGHT - Art of Fighting or Art of Fighting Ver.230000000.0 - FATAL FURY SPECIAL.

Spirit

Ryo appears as an Ace class spirit. In his spirit battle, he is represented by a Mii Brawler. Prior to the version 8.0.0 update, this Mii Brawler approximated Ryo's design using the Fighter Uniform and the Isaac Wig; however, from version 8.0.0 onward, the Mii Brawler will use the Ryo DLC costume itself if it has been purchased.

No.	Image	Name	Type	Class	Slots	Base	Max	Base	Max	Base	Max	Ability	Series
1,361		Ryo Sakazaki		★★★	3	2881	8647	1593	4781	1178	3534	Fist Attack ↑	Art of Fighting Series

Other

Ryo was one of the characters who tried to take the Smash invitation in Terry's reveal trailer. During his scene, he rushes forward and tries to grab the letter by using the animation of his Super Desperation Move, Ryuko Ranbu, but misses as it flies away. He also cameos in Terry's promotional artwork.

Gallery

• 

  Ryo's appearance in Terry's reveal trailer (spritework from The King of Fighters '96).

• 

  Ryo's cameo in Terry's illustration.

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	リョウ・サカザキ, Ryo Sakazaki
English	Ryo Sakazaki
French	Ryo Sakazaki
German	Ryo Sakazaki
Spanish	Ryo Sakazaki
Italian	Ryo Sakazaki
Chinese (Simplified)	坂崎亮
Chinese (Traditional)	坂崎獠
Korean	료 사카자키, Ryo Sakazaki
Dutch	Ryo Sakazaki
Russian	Рё Саказаки

Trivia

• Interestingly, Ryo's spirit artwork and appearance on the King of Fighters Stadium depicts his original appearance in the Art of Fighting series with a mullet, but the Mii wig based off him is based on his later appearances in The King of Fighters with shorter hair.
• In a screenshot posted by Masahiro Sakurai on Twitter celebrating the anniversary of the original Art of Fighting, an earlier version of the Ryo outfit can be seen sporting a completely different design. Instead of being based on Ryo's design from Art of Fighting 3 to The King of Fighters XIII, Ryo's design from The King of Fighters XIV and onward is used instead.

External links

• Article on SNK Wiki.