Ryu

Ryu
File:Ryu TvC.jpg Official artwork of Ryu from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars.
Universe	Street Fighter
Debut	Street Fighter (1987)
Smash Bros. appearances	SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Ultra Street Fighter IV (2014)
Console/platform of origin	Arcade
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Earth
Voice actor	Kyle Hebert
Japanese voice actor	Hiroki Takahashi
Article on Wikipedia	Ryu (Street Fighter)

Ryu (リュウ, Ryū) is the main character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games by Capcom, and one of that company's most famous mascots alongside Mega Man. He was first leaked as a downloadable content character for Super Smash Bros. 4 through datamining of the 1.0.6 update, and was confirmed on June 14, 2015.

Character description

Ryu is considered to be the "main character" of the Street Fighter series. He is a practitioner of the Ansatsuken (Assassin's Fist) martial arts. Appearing in all Street Fighter games, Ryu's moveset is designed to be simple and beginner friendly, with a projectile and an anti-air move. Over the years, due to his simple playstyle, he has received many clones, including Ken and Akuma.

Orphaned at a young age, Ryu was raised and trained by the Ansatsuken master Gouken. Gouken would later take on a second pupil, Ken Masters. Ryu and Ken became best friends and rivals as they trained together and eventually left Gouken's dojo. After leaving, Ryu entered the first World Warrior tournament, hosted by Sagat, the self-proclaimed King of Muay Thai. Ryu advanced through the tournament, and eventually came face to face with Sagat himself. The older Sagat nearly bested Ryu, but was defeated when Ryu was overcome with the desire to win, and thus opened himself to the Satsui no Hadou (the Surge of Murderous Intent). This gave Ryu a second wind, and he took Sagat out with a powered up Shoryuken, which would leave a large scar across Sagat's chest.

Around this time, Gouken was murdered by his brother, Akuma. Learning of the murder, Ryu traveled the world to search for Akuma. Upon confronting each other on a Japanese island, Akuma tried to persuade Ryu to give into the Satsui no Hadou as he had done. Ryu refused, and Akuma destroyed the island, leaving Ryu stranded. Ryu then sparred with Ken, who realized that his friend was not himself, and gave Ryu his red headband as a reminder to stay focused. Ryu was also approached by a young fan of his named Sakura Kasugano, who asked him to take her on as a pupil. Ryu declined, believing he had much to learn himself. Ryu also had a rematch with Sagat, which he quietly threw, since Sagat had still not fully recovered from their last fight. When Sagat learned this, he vowed to fight Ryu again.

Two years later, Ryu was kidnapped by M. Bison of the Shadaloo syndicate. Bison wished to learn the secret of the Satsui no Hadou, and brainwashed Ryu. Ken, Sakura, and Sagat arrived to rescue Ryu, and Sagat fought him once again. Sagat managed to restore Ryu to his senses, and he defeated Bison.

Ryu entered the second World Warrior tournament, this time hosted by a revived M. Bison and his Shadaloo henchmen Balrog, Vega, and Sagat, in order to test his strength against new challengers: Chun-Li, Guile, E. Honda, Zangief, Dhalsim, Blanka, Cammy, Fei-Long, T. Hawk, and Dee Jay. It is not known how far Ryu advanced in the tournament, but his ending shows him winning the tournament, and quietly leaving before the awards ceremony in order to get back to training. Later Street Fighter II editions also feature Ryu visiting Gouken's grave in his ending. Adaptations in other media depict Ryu advancing to the end of the tournament, but his fight with Bison is interrupted by the arrival of Akuma, who kills Bison and challenges Ryu to another duel.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Ryu as he appears in Super Smash Bros. 4

Ryu appears as downloadable content in Super Smash Bros. 4, being the first newcomer and third-party character with that distinction. He is also the second Capcom character to be introduced to Smash, the other being Mega Man. His design is based on his appearance in Capcom's upcoming entry, Street Fighter V.

Trivia

• With Ryu's release, Capcom is the first and currently only third party to have more than one playable character in Smash, the first Capcom character being Mega Man.
• Coincidentally, the release date of Ryu in SSB4, June 14th, is the birthday of his English voice actor, Kyle Hebert.
• Ryu is the first Smash Bros. character to originate from a traditional 2D fighting game.
• Super Smash Bros. 4 is Ryu's fifth appearance in a crossover fighting game series after the Marvel vs. Capcom series, the SNK vs. Capcom series, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, and Street Fighter X Tekken.
• Ryu's English voice actor, Kyle Hebert, previously portrayed Wario in the Super Smash Bros. based web series, There Will Be Brawl.
• Ryu is the only third-party character (and by extension, company mascot) to never crossover with Mario outside of the Super Smash Bros. series. Despite this, both Ryu and Mario have had crossovers with the other's universe.
• Ryu appears in the "Worlds Unite" Crossover Series along with Mega Man, Sonic, Chun Li, Ken and Gulie.