Ryu (SSB4)

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Ryu in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Street Fighter
Availability	Downloadable
Final Smash	Shin Shoryuken / Shinku Hadoken

“	Here Comes A New Challenger! Ryu	”
—Introduction tagline

Ryu (リュウ, Ryū) is a playable character and newcomer in Super Smash Bros. 4 as the fourth downloadable character. First leaked through datamining of the 1.0.6 update, Ryu would ultimately be revealed as DLC, and was released alongside Lucas and Roy on June 14th, 2015. Ryu is one of the four third party characters in the game along with Sega's Sonic, Bandai Namco's Pac-Man, and Capcom's Mega Man and was the fourth third party character to be revealed in the game.

Like in Street Fighter IV and its update versions, Ryu is voiced by Hiroki Takahashi in Japanese and Kyle Hebert in English.

Attributes

Ryu's controls are unique in the Smash series, and attempt to emulate the control scheme of his home series: the strength of his attacks depend on how long the attack button is pressed (tap for a weak attack, and hold for a strong attack), and his neutral, side and up special moves can be inputted using half- and quarter-circles plus either attack button for stronger variations. Generally, his tapped tilts are good at chaining with one another due to their low knockback and speed, which gives him a unique combo-based damage racking ability which works by keeping opponents in hitstun before knocking opponents away by ending any combo chain with a finisher (typically a held tilt attack or inputted special move), similar to the combos in his home series. Additionally, all of Ryu's special attacks (sans his down special) gain benefit from using his unique button inputs, as they do more damage and knockback or have additional effects when done with inputs compared to just with the special button, making mastery of his button inputs imperative if the player wishes to deal higher damage and knockback at all times, especially since they can also be used as a reliable finisher for his tilt combo chains.

Ryu's moveset hence rewards players who know how to reliably use his special inputs and chain them together, and he excels at grounded combos that overwhelm opponents with quick, low knockback attacks that can be mixed up with his multiple special moves.

Moveset

Normal Attacks

• Neutral - Tap is a jab, a cross, and a hook. Hold is a roundhouse.
• Dash - Performs a leaping sidekick. Based off of his original jumping medium and heavy kick in the Street Fighter Alpha/Zero games.

Tilt Attacks

• Side - Tap is a forward kick. Hold is the Collarbone Breaker, an overhead punch; it can break shields and hits twice.
• Up - Tap is an upward elbow. Hold is an uppercut.
• Down - Tap version is a quick kick. Hold is a stronger kick that can be cancelled into a Special Move.

Smash Attacks

• Side - Joudan Sokutogeri (上段足刀蹴り, "High-Level Leg Blade Kick"): Performs a side-stepping kick. The tip of his foot is a Sweet spot.
• Up - Ryu's crouching uppercut. The attack comes out fairly quick, and his low profile makes it excellent for beating aerial attacks.
• Down - Ryu does a sweeping kick along the ground. Unlike most down smashes, it only hits in front of him.

Air Attacks

• Neutral - Ryu does a downward punch that functions like a Sex Kick.
• Front - The classic flying kick; his foot has strong launch power, while his upper leg is for shield breaking.
• Back - Ryu does a roundhouse kick behind him.
• Up - Ryu does an uppercut that deals two hits.
• Down - Ryu does a strong downward punch that meteor smashes at a diagonal angle.

Throw

• Pummel - Ryu knees the opponent.
• Front - Throws the opponent straight forward.
• Back - Ryu does a somersault and kicks the opponent backward.
• Up - Ryu performs an ax kick that sends his opponent upwards while kicking anyone in front of him as the leg comes down.
• Down - Ryu attacks with his elbow against the opponent downward.

Ryu's special moves

Neutral special	Hadoken
Side special	Tatsumaki Senpukyaku
Up special	Shoryuken
Down special	Focus Attack
Final Smash	Shin Shoryuken / Shinku Hadoken

Taunts

• Turns away from the camera and tightens his headband, while stating "Come on!"
• Ryu holds his fist forwards, and declares "Talk is cheap!"
• Stomps on the ground and grunts while in the Ansatsuken fighter's pose.

Idle Poses

• Adjusts his gloves.
• Wriggles the fingers on both hands, then crosses his arms and pumps them.

Victory Fanfare

A techno remix of Street Fighter II Victory Theme.

Victory Poses

• Slings his bag over his shoulder while saying "The journey has just begun".
• Winds back and does a pose with his right fist facing the camera, saying "Give it your all!". The pose is identical to his Street Fighter IV win animation.
• Punches two times before doing a victorious uppercut, while saying "Your range is one fist short".

Alternate costumes

Reveal Trailer

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Trophies

Ryu

Ryu visits from the Street Fighter series! Ryu’s fighting style is based on karate, but he’s mixed in some other martial arts to make his own unique style. In Smash, he will perform either weak or strong attacks depending on if you press or hold down the buttons. His special attacks also have three power levels!

Unknown

Ryu (Alt.)

Ryu’s Focus Attack move lets him withstand a blow and then counterattack.The longer you hold it, the longer your enemies will be stunned if you hit them. If it hits a standing enemy, the enemy will become defenseless. When that happens, cancel your Focus Attack and unleash a sick combo!

Ryu's down special, Focus Attack, allows him to withstand a single attack and then unleash a counter. The longer you hold the button, the longer a standing enemy will be stunned if you hit them. An enemy in the air will fall slowly, defenceless. When that happens, cancel the Focus Attack and go for the knock-out!

Shin Shoryuken

Use this attack when Ryu is far away from an enemy to unleash a Shinku Hadoken that penetrates through the stage. But if you use it when Ryu is close to an enemy, he’ll unleash a Shin Shoryuken uppercut attack. When it hits, Ryu will follow up with his other fist and launch the opponent up, up, and away!

Unknown

• 

  Classic (Wii U)

• 

  Alt. (Wii U)

• 

  Shin Shoryuken

Gallery

• 

  Splash art

• 

  Artwork of Ryu from the official site.

• Ryu Luigi Shin Shoryuken.gif

  Shin Shoryuken used on Luigi on Suzaku Castle.

• 
• 

  Focus Attack.

• 

  Shinku Hadoken.

• 

  Shoryuken.

• 
• 

  Collarbone Breaker.

• 

  Shin Shoryuken.

• 
• 

  Shakunetsu Hadoken.

• 

  Joudan Sokutogeri.

Trivia

A screenshot taken from the English site on the top, and the Japanese site on the bottom.

• Ryu is the first and currently only DLC character to be a newcomer, and so far the only third party character to be a DLC character.
• Ryu is the first and only character in the entire series with two Final Smashes.
• Ryu's poster artwork is illustrated by AKIMAN, the character designer for Street Fighter II. It is also a direct imitation of a piece of promotional art for that game.
• Ryu is the only newcomer whose splash art features his name after his tagline.
• Ryu's trailer shows him using the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku and Shoryuken while being pushed by Mario's F.L.U.D.D. This references Ryu's ending from Street Fighter II where he trains by continually performing Shoryukens under a waterfall.
• The beginning of Ryu's reveal trailer is a remake of the intro to Super Street Fighter II.
• Ryu is the first character to originate from another 2D fighting game series.
• Ryu is the only fighter in the series who can perform special moves without ever using the special button; he can perform them using only the standard attack button, thanks to his unique button inputs.
• All of Ryu's attacks make the sound effects from Street Fighter II if landed. His shield also makes a unique sound if hit. When Ryu does a perfect shield, he performs a parry animation from Street Fighter III, complete with the accompanying sound effect.
  • This also applies to the copy ability Kirby obtains from Ryu.
• Ryu's "Challenger Approaching" image on the official website says "HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!" instead of the usual "WARNING! CHALLENGER APPROACHING!". Interestingly, this is done in English even on the Japanese site, where "参戦！！" is normally used.
• Ryu has very little air friction, which makes him retain his aerial momentum even after the control stick is released, and causes him to change direction in the air somewhat slowly. This is possibly a nod to jumps in the Street Fighter franchise, which follow an arc and cannot be made to change direction once done.
• The mobile version of Ryu's page on the official website is in Japanese no matter what language is set, likely due to a glitch.
• The kanji written on Ryu's obi say "風林火山", a Japanese expression meaning something along the lines of "As fast as the wind, as quiet as a forest, as daring as fire, and as immovable as a mountain." These same kanji appear on the signs along Suzaku Castle.