Ryu

"The answer lies in the heart of battle."

- Ryu

Ryu (リュウ(隆) Ryū, "Prosperous", "Plentiful", "Abundant") is the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series, first appearing in the original Street Fighter. He is an experienced martial artist who has been training for literally all his life, highly focused on his inner being, aiming to become the strongest he can. He is used by Gojiran.

About Ryu
Ryu is an experienced martial artist that has been training for nearly his entire life. Trained by Gouken through the Shotokan fighting style alongside his friendly rival Ken, Ryu is a serious no-nonsense person and focuses on training, improving himself, fighting others stronger than he is and aim to be the strongest, without giving into the path to be the strongest through destruction.

Early Life
As a very young child, Ryu was orphaned and left with no memories about his parents, and whether they were still alive. He was found and adopted by a man named Gouken who raised Ryu in his secluded dojo and trained Ryu in the ways of his martial arts. Shortly afterwards, Gouken would later train his best friend's spoiled son, Ken Masters. Ken served not only as a sparring partner, but also gave Ryu a friend in the form of a boy his own age. Ryu looked up to Gouken as a father figure, and regards Ken as his best friend and surrogate brother, a relationship which remains to this day.

When Ryu turned 23 years old, Gouken believed that Ryu was ready to travel the world in order to test and hone his martial skills against the best fighters from around the world. With this, Ryu left Gouken's dojo, and headed to fight in the World Warrior tournament.

Street Fighter
Ryu is one of the participants of the World Warrior tournament. After defeating all challengers, Ryu's skills earn him the right to fight its host, Sagat. Sagat nearly beats Ryu into unconsciousness and, thinking he had won, drops his guard to help Ryu up. Ryu, however, is filled with unsatisfaction and feels a need, almost a vengeance to win as he cannot accept this loss, and willingly allows himself to be engulfed by these feelings which reveal to be a taste of the Satsui no Hado, a sinister and deadly art used by Goutetsu and later Akuma that involves the dark secrets of the Anatsuken style. His eyes turn a bright red and his facial features turn stark, bold and aggressive as he is filled with rage, and strikes Sagat with a nearly-fatal Metsu Shoryuken that slashes across his torso, leaving Sagat unconscious and lying down in a pool of his blood. After regaining consciousness and discovering what had happened, Sagat swears vengeance on Ryu.

Street Fighter Alpha series
Ryu leaves Sagat behind and returns to his home, only to find that Gouken, his master and adoptive father, has apparently been murdered. Learning that Akuma had fought and supposedly killed his master, Ryu began to travel the world to find this man. He encounters and fights Akuma on a secluded island known as Gokuentou, and wins; however, Akuma was only testing him, and senses that Ryu has the same powers as he does. He proceeds to tell Ryu about the Satsui no Hado - a power that consumes the practitioners of their shared fighting style, driving them to win even when it means killing the opponent. Akuma then uses his fist to smash the island, leaving Ryu stranded.

Sometime after escaping the island, Ryu battles Ken and loses. Ken realizes Ryu is not himself, as he has been deeply troubled since his last victory over Sagat. Ken gives him his red hairband as a reminder to stay focused, which Ryu was sincerely grateful for. Soon thereafter, a fan of his, named Sakura, comes up and expresses her desire to train under him. Ryu replies that he himself still has much to learn, but allows Sakura to take a picture of him for now.

At some point, Ryu is found by Sagat, who is out for a grudge match. Ryu protests that Sagat hasn't fully recovered from their last bout, but Sagat persists. Ryu lets Sagat win rather than do any further damage, and Sagat leaves. Only later, upon reflection, does Sagat realize that Ryu held back, vowing to fight him again.

When they do have a rematch, however, it is revealed that the troubled desires of the Satsui no Hado has forced itself into Ryu's mind as Ryu was giving into the temptation even though he innately does not want it. Ultimately, he unwillingly allows himself to be engulfed by the Satsui no Hado again, in which he transforms and enters an incomplete state. The incomplete state is a result of his desires to want it and not want it, creating this almost neutral state. He is much stronger, however, and is focused on defeating everyone that dares to attack him as he heads for Sagat, in which Sagat, heads for him.

The two encounter and Sagat easily realizes that Ryu is not the same. Ryu ignores this and is hellbent on defeating Sagat, in which he does so easily, leaving Sagat unconscious. After defeating several more opponents, he encounters Sakura. As Sakura pleads for the real Ryu to come back, he rejects and swiftly defeats her. Finally he encounters M. Bison who powers up to his true potential who surpasses every other fighter Ryu has faced, possibly even Akuma himself and is almost unstoppable. M. Bison told Evil Ryu that he came a long way, but he is only human and cannot resist the evil energy within, and will plunge deeper into the darkness as his power grows. M. Bison considers Evil Ryu powerful enough to be his source of energy; Evil Ryu replies that M. Bison will not succeed, and fights and defeats him by using the Satsui no Hado's accessible full power.

After defeating Bison, Ryu walks alone and faces the powerful demon from the past: Akuma. Akuma feels flustered yet very pleased to see Ryu has now gone into his path. Glad to see that someone can finally challenge him, he challenges him and Ryu accepts the challenge to this similar foe. At the end of their fight, both perform a Shun Goku Satsu and remain standing in the air, and surprisingly, Akuma falls down and is defeated as Ryu wins.

However, Akuma suddenly gets back up and reveals that he wasn't even giving a true effort, stating Ryu as he is now is incomplete and hasn't dug deeper yet, implying that Akuma could still beat him in his base form. To quickly finish him off and see just how much he has accomplished, Akuma transforms into Shin Akuma, using his full power and not holding back. He hits him with multiple attacks, before defeating him instantly with a Misogi.

Akuma walks on his own into a fire and disappears, as Ryu lays on the ground, the Satsui no Hado leaving him.

Street Fighter 2
Sometime after Alpha 3, Ryu recovers in his home and enters the new World Warrior Tournament, Ryu enters to test his skills, and defeats many of the new warriors. He encourages Ken to re-enter as well. During the tournament, he helps Guile, Ken, Chun-Li and Cammy defeat Bison. However, Bison refused Guile's offer to surrender himself to the military before unleashing all of his Psycho Power to commit suicide and it is unknown how far Ryu himself progressed in the tournament, although it is implied he may have lost to Ken. Other sources on the other hand support the idea that he's the tournament winner.

Fights with Akuma
Before Street Fighter 4, Ryu has met and fought Akuma countless times, from scuffles to full on-fights, and lost them all. But he did not lose hope, vouching he would defeat him someday to avenge his master's death.

Street Fighter 4
After the second World Warrior tournament, Ryu continued his journey and wound up in an isolated desert where he trained. Ryu then remembers his argument with Akuma, with Akuma urging Ryu to give in to the Dark Hado or else he will kill him. Ryu then leaves a desert and goes to a bar where he meets a biker. The biker then tells him a story about an American Martial Arts Champion who abandoned his family. Believing it to be Ken, Ryu visits the house of the said champion but is ambushed by C. Viper.

During the fight, Ryu tries to fight off the secret agent but was no match for her. Suddenly, the Delta Red agent Cammy then attempts to ambush C. Viper. However, Cammy was also no match for Viper and Viper then tortures Cammy, in which the Dark Hado then takes over Ryu and engages C. Viper but would easily defeat her. Luckily for Viper, she manages to escape the possessed Ryu. Angered, Ryu then slaughters multiple S.I.N scientists who witnessed the fight until Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, and Sakura arrive to save Ryu and help Cammy.

Sakura would then restrain the possessed Ryu as Ken calls the hospital to help Cammy. Ryu would then regain his consciousness and realize what he has done. After being sent to Ken's mansion, Ryu realizes he is being targeted by S.I.N and its leader Seth for their evil plans. With Guile's plan to infiltrate Seth's cruise ship to incarcerate him, Ryu then tags along, knowing that Seth would be waiting for him. After traveling to the base, Ryu and Ken then dispatch multiple S.I.N thugs before Ryu encounters Seth himself.

Ryu and Seth then engage, with Seth easily overpowering Ryu and giving him his twisted philosophy of power. Ryu then admits that he never understood what power is and that he understands Seth's philosophy fore stating that the power he describes is not what he's after. Seth, unamused, continues beating up Ryu before Ryu awakens a new power and nearly kills Seth with it. Ryu then collapses from this power, and senses it in Ken. A few days later, Ryu and Ken then part ways, with Ryu stating that they will meet again.

Ryu then enters into a new tournament to further master his skills as well as reunite with his longtime friend Ken for another rematch. During his journey, he meets up with Sakura whom he encourages to train harder. Meanwhile Ryu also meets up with Sagat once more; the two fight, and while the result of the fight is unknown, it is implied that Ryu won.

During the final round with the tournament host Seth (actually a copy of him), he defeats him in the S.I.N. headquarters. During and after this battle the building fell around them as Ryu unleashed the Satsui no Hado on the BLECE machine, a weapon of mass destruction developed by S.I.N. that harnessed the energy in the human body.

During this, Sakura - who has been searching for Ryu - finds him and the BLECE machine, and a pulse of energy from it knocks her into a wall. Ryu defends her by unleashing a Shoryuken on the machine, and they leave the building together, the weapon destroyed.

Ryu walks alone by himself, and suddenly encounters Akuma in an ancient temple. In a final battle between them, one to the death to see if Ryu will finally succumb to the Hado, Akuma challenges him and Ryu claims he will defeat Akuma once for all and stop his actions. While Ryu manages to land some hits, as the fight progresses Akuma is easily winning and thrashing Ryu, until Akuma brutally suspends Ryu's body and punches into his chest with all of his Hado power, causing Ryu a pain that hits into his very soul. A blast of blood shoots back from the other side of the impact, as Ryu falls in a pool of his own blood.

Presumed to be dead, in a last act of the will to live, Ryu lets out the last of his energy to unleash the Satsui no Hado as it fully engulfs him violently. The Hado clings to his life and fully heals him as Ryu arises, a torrent of Hado energy swirling and shadowing his whole body as Akuma is met by this. Ryu then screams as the Hado energy spreads everywhere and into the sky as the Heaven kanji is marked in the sky by this, the skies turning a blood red.

Ryu emerges, now in a full and complete Satsui no Hado form just like Akuma. Evil Ryu roars powerfully and stares at Akuma, full of absolute rage, claiming that he has the ultimate power and will utterly destroy him. Akuma, curious, yet somewhat pleased by this accepts the match.

The match is quite deadly as Akuma is surprisingly overwhelmed by Ryu's ferocious rage. His rage is so high that Akuma cannot gauge him, making Ryu almost completely unpredictable to Akuma. Later in the fight, Evil Ryu manages to catch Akuma off guard and begins ruthlessly thrashing him, focused on ending Akuma's life as he punches him with a great deal of his Hado power, sending Akuma into the wall. Weak, Akuma goes full power and enters his Shin form.

The form is gradually going in Akuma's favor due to his Shin form being too strong for Evil Ryu. However, Evil Ryu starts going less with rage and actually using strategy, managing to outsmart Akuma and begins shockingly beating him back with new abilities. As Shin Akuma is pushed back, he is filled with more rage, knowing that at this point he must defeat and destroy Ryu at all costs. Not bothering to continue to his Shin form, Akuma undergoes a powerful transformation that triples his bulk, body and muscle mass and turns his body blue with white hair. He becomes truly demonic as he merges with the Satsui no Hado, accessing his ultimate form and becoming Oni, losing all of his sanity.

Evil Ryu feels slightly intimidated by this, not having felt such a great power like this before. Nonetheless, he accepts the challenge. Unfortunately, Oni is simply too powerful for Evil Ryu to gauge and even think on as Oni is quickly finishing Ryu in just a few moves, and with his new brutal finishers, not even giving enough time for Ryu to recover. After doing an aerial Shun Goku Satsu, he quickly grabs his body and performs the Tenchi Sokaigen, officially defeating him. Ryu drops to the temple and rolls onto the ground, defeated by him.

As Oni looks at him and laughs, he prepares to destroy Ryu and the entire world, but a mysterious warrior appears. This is Gouken, who survived through the Power of Nothingness. As Ryu's Hado power begins to fade, Gouken sees his student and completely rids him of the power, sealing it with his new power. Ryu's eyes barely open and sees Gouken, uttering his name in surprise as Gouken faces Oni, who is happy to see him. Ryu's eyes shut as he did not witness the battle, nor did the audience.

Later, Ryu and Ken discover the existence of their master and chase their long-lost master along a cliff face, with Ken wanting Gouken to stick around while Ryu wishes him well. Afterwards, he and Ken are walking through the desert while Rufus mocks them on his motorcycle, though it later breaks down and he is left pushing it while Ryu and Ken drives by (in Ken's jeep). Ryu later bids Sakura farewell as she, Dan and Blanka leave for home on a cruise ship. Some time later, having decided that his battles have made him stronger, he meets a now-older Sakura. What happens next is unknown, although Gouken might have taught Ryu the Shin Shoryuken and Denjin Hadoken at some point before Street Fighter III.

Street Fighter 5
In his dream, he is fighting against his evil self, claiming to him that the power to kill will make him stronger, which Ryu ultimately rejects it. Gouken is in a sparring match during the incident. Ryu charges himself in the Satsui no Hado and attempts to hit his master with a single Hadoken. It explodes in a flash of light. Ryu wakes up from his dream with Gouken telling him that the Satsui no Hado almost consumed him.

Rashid and Azam find Ryu, introducing himself as a hero who travels the world. Gouken questions Rashid why he comes to see Ryu. Rashid states he wants to challenge Ryu in a match which is to test his mettle. Ryu doesn't immediately get up to fight, worrying about the Satsui no Hado, which confuses Rashid and has Gouken questioning him why he didn't do it, citing Ryu's quote "The answer lies in the heart of battle". Ryu eventually gets up and spars with Rashid, resulting in a victory. Rashid learns from the fight about himself. He thanks Ryu for the lesson and leaves. Ryu decides that he should leave, too, and better understand his power. Gouken tells Ryu to meet Ken, who has been concerned about him.

Ryu and Ken finally meet in Brazil. Ken was told by Gouken about Ryu's struggles with the Satsui no Hado and thinks a good match can solve it, so they fight. Afterwards, Ryu still worries about the Satsui no Hado. Ken reassures Ryu that if Ryu falls over to the dark side, he'll take him down and stop it. Ken tells Ryu to just relax and fight.

Ryu goes to China and gets ambushed by a Shadaloo soldier. Nash comes in and takes down the soldier. Nash expected to see Ryu, which triggers a bit of Satsui no Hado within him. Nash says they have to fight so he can understand the power and know its limits. The fight ultimately ends in a draw. Nash is surprised by the power, having it surpass his expectations. Ryu tells him that he tries to suppress the power and struggles with it, but has decided to not let it take him over, which Nash respects. Ryu thanks him for the fight and Nash leaves.

Ryu meets with Dhalsim, training Mahesh, and says he is still struggling with the Satsui no Hado and needs help. They decide to have a spar. After the spar, Dhalsim tells him that suppressing the power will eventually lead to the power consuming him. He tells him that he needs to face the Hado and conquer it. Necalli drops down from above, looking to consume fighters' souls. Dhalsim defends Mahesh while Ryu fights Necalli. Necalli overpowers Ryu, which almost triggers his dark power. Dhalsim takes Ryu's punch, proclaiming that he can't let the Hado take him over. Dhalsim fights off Necalli. Ryu notices a Black Moon veering over and blocking the sun, which gives him visions of M. Bison. Necalli eventually melts away temporarily. He is told about Necalli by Dhalsim, telling him that Necalli is an ancient being that consumes warriors' souls and only appears when many warriors are needed in a crisis. Ryu concludes that the world is in crisis because of the Black Moons.

Ryu finally joins up with Ken, Chun-Li and Karin as they team up to make a final assault against Shadaloo. As Chun-Li defeats F.A.N.G. while rescuing Li-Fen, Ryu finally faces off Bison, who is ready to challenge him, and Ryu states that his strength was to push foward and he is ready to fight him. After an epic long battle, Bison isn't giving up yet, until Ryu hits him with a Hadoken, infused with the Power of Nothingness, seemingly hinting at Ryu's mastery of the power and a sublimation of the Satsui No Hado. Bison's body begins to crack as it dissipates in a flash of light, defeating the madman. As the base is about to destroyed, Ryu, Guile, Chun-Li and Li-Fen escape; Chun-Li is slow to catch up, so Ryu uses his Denjin Hadoken to stop the fires from the explosion.

After the incident, Ryu is meditating as Ken visits him for the second time. He challenges him for a friendly sparring match as he tells Ryu to prove if he already found his answer. Ryu is able to defeat Ken as Ken also manages to knock Ryu's red headband. As it falls on the ground, Ryu realizes that he already found his answer of his true strength. As he gets his headband, Ken is happy to see his friend has grown, and Ryu also says that he still needs his headband for the battle. The two are later seen having a friendly fist bump with each other.

When Ryu travels alone in a dark plain, he discovers his long-time foe Akuma. As a familiarity and slight fear strikes him, the two face each other and have some talk about their lives, but nonetheless, Akuma is frustrated that he has rejected the Hado and will fight to see if he's gotten any stronger without it.

Ryu and Akuma duel, and Ryu is surprisingly keeping up as Akuma notes he has gotten stronger and better. However. Akuma raises the stakes and decides to reveal more of his power as he quickly defeats Ryu. Before Ryu succumbs to defeat however, he decides to access the opposite of the Hado known as the Power of Nothingness, transforming into said form. Ryu is engulfed in its energy as he faces Akuma. The upgrade allows Ryu to fight Akuma head-on as the two remain neck-and-neckand Akuma is forced to use all his power in his base form to challenge against it. Using his full power in his base form, he quickly catches Ryu off-guard and takes him down with a few moves, before defeating him.

Instead of killing him, Akuma looks off to the distance and questions that if there is anyone that can face him anymore. Ryu, smiling while laying on the ground, asks questions to Akuma, claiming that his fists will continue to communicate with Akuma on opposite ends. Akuma then flees, letting fate determine when those two will meet again.

Street Fighter 3
Years later, Ryu enters the third World Warrior tournament to further advance his fighting abilities. His most notable fight during the tournament is against Hugo, who is able to withstand his Shin Shoryuken and hold his own. He continues his travels afterward, meeting Oro along the way. Ryu ends up being defeated by Oro who likes him to be his successor. He was later seen in Oro's ending, being trained by him but Ryu is unaware of Oro's presence as he only heard his voice.

Shortly after the tournament, Ryu meets up with Ken for a friendly match in the latter's storyline, from which he emerges the victor. Ryu later fights against Sean who has been asked by Ken to fight him. Ryu easily defeats him from time to time with just a single Hadoken as he noticed his actions. Ryu also serves as Hugo's pro-wrestling tag-team partner for a brief period of time before moving on, also shown in Hugo's storyline.

At some point, he encounters Alex, whom he solidly defeats. Ryu encourages the young wrestler to continue honing his abilities against strong opponents. Fascinated by Ryu's skill and determined to become stronger, Alex soon sets out to find Ryu for a rematch.

In his ending, Ryu is under a waterfall practicing his mind and body. He mumbles about the meaning of a true warrior, why he needs to be strong and reminisces his youthful days. A single leaf falls over him and he crushes the leaf with his left hand. Ryu believes that as long as his strong opponents and some fierce battles will excite him, he will possess the strength to move even one of his fingers and decides to keep on fighting.

Personality
Ryu is a silent, meek, humble, submissive, self-deprecating, and respectful individual; which is often juxtaposed against the light-hearted, fiery persona of his childhood friend, Ken. He wanders the world with the desire for complete mastery of his martial art, and takes both his travels and training seriously. For Ryu, the training and the mastery that comes from the fight are all that he requires for satisfaction, declining the more material trappings of his various accomplishments as a warrior, simply moving on to his next challenge once he is victorious without delay, unless he is offered food or if he wants to converse with his friendly rivals. Though he does not actively seek the role of a hero, he possesses a strong sense of justice as well; protecting the innocent against the predations of bullies and tyrants is the one of the few things that Ryu will prioritize over a satisfying fight.

Because of this "wandering warrior" persona and also being trained far away from modern-day culture, Ryu often appears detached to others. Despite this, he is a kind, authentic, good-hearted, and demonstrative warrior who readily helps those less fortunate than himself, is protective and gentle towards children, and on rare occasions, shows a sense of humor (albeit a bad one). He also respects others with skills equal to his own; in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, he seems to hold superheroes like Captain America, Spider-Man, Cyclops, and Wolverine in high respect. To those who he is able to beat and is on friendly terms with, he compliments or encourages them to continue training and get stronger, sometimes offering help first hand (e.g. Dan).

In his appearances in the manga adaptation of Street Fighter II, the anime series Street Fighter II V and the UDON Entertainment comics, Ryu would intake large amounts of food if the opportunity presented itself.

There is, however, a dark side to Ryu: His drive to improve himself, no matter the difficulty, risks developing into a drive to win and to be the best at any cost. This darker drive is fed by (and in turn feeds) the Satsui no Hado within his soul, an influence which Ryu must constantly fight to suppress from killing (at least until the time of Street Fighter III). In times when his inner darkness threatens to overcome his humanity, Ryu relies on his friends and rivals - primarily Ken, Gouken, Chun-Li, Sagat, and Sakura - to keep him grounded and help him overcome out of it.

By the time of Street Fighter III, Ryu is somewhat more friendly; while still very quiet and reserved, but is willing to greet people with a smile and some kind advice, very much like his master Gouken.

Appearance
Ryu's most recognizable attire consists of a white karate gi with the sleeves torn off, medium length hair, a long red headband, a black martial arts belt and bare feet (a choice he makes of his own, believing it to be more comfortable). In many of his appearances, Ryu carries around a large, white duffel bag containing items important to his travels, such as clothing, plane tickets, passports, and local currency.

In the first Street Fighter, Ryu wore a white headband and red shoes. Over the course of time, he has grown taller and more muscular; his karate gi has grown more tattered, his gloves have changed from brown to red and his headband has changed from white to red. Most notably, his hair color has darkened over time; his original Street Fighter appearance gave him red hair, brown in Street Fighter Alpha, dark brown in Street Fighter II, and black in Street Fighter III, Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V. The red headband Ryu wears was originally worn by Ken. Ryu gave his white headband to Sakura before getting his red headband. From Street Fighter IV onwards, the red gloves worn by Ryu have started to bear stylized writing, which resembles the Fūrinkazan characters on his belt.

In some official Street Fighter II artwork, Ryu's belt has four kanji emblazoned upon the right end: wind (風 Kaze?), forest(林 Hayashi?), fire (火 Hi?) and mountain (山 Yama?); these four kanji make up the Fūrinkazan. The same four kanji can be seen on a sign on the left-hand side of Ryu's stage in Street Fighter II, and are also visible on his belt in Street Fighter IV. The four words are based on chapter seven of Sun Tzu's Art of War, which dictates how one should conduct battle: "as fast as the wind, as quiet as the forest, as daring as fire, and immovable as the mountain."

In Street Fighter II V, Ryu wears some casual outfits throughout the episodes; his primary appearance is a white short sleeve shirt, blue denim jeans and red and white sneakers. He also has a black watch on his left wrist. Ryu is not wearing his red headband. When he wears his white karate gi, he only wears brown prayer bead bracelet on his left wrist. He is also more tanned than in the games.

His second alternate costume in Street Fighter V consist of only his white karate pants with a black belt to his waist and tatters in the edge of his pants, gray shoulder bands in each sides and hand wraps on his hands. He also has a black facial beard.

Ken
Ken is Ryu's best friend from his childhood, as the two have trained in the same art of Ansatsuken for a long time. They share a very close bond to each other and will help out each other no matter the cost. Both of them have also trained together under Gouken. One can see that they care for each other and never quarrel. Although Ryu spends his time training, Ken will go as far as inviting him to his wedding and Ryu will answer the call (seen in Ken's ending in Street Fighter II). The two usually greet each other by exchanging fist bumps, usually before starting a friendly sparring match.

Guile
Guile greatly respects Ryu and vice-versa. It is noted that they are friends since Ryu and Guile have eaten Natoo and they get along very well.

Chun-Li
Chun-Li deeply admires Ryu for his strong determination and will to never give up in his fights and goals. Ryu seems to respect Chun-Li as well for her great fighting abilities.

Cammy
Cammy has a strong admiration for Ryu due to his great strength, fighting skills and heroic traits. They share a common enemy, M.Bison, against who they have worked together several times.

Dan
Despite Dan's faults and behavior, Ryu does consider him a friend.

Oro
While Ryu is weirded out by his eccentric personality, he still respects him as a master martial artist.

Sakura
Sakura is Ryu's fan and a close friend of his. She has always tried to get Ryu to train her in hopes of becoming a better fighter. While Ryu does not believe that he is ready to take her as a student, they will sometimes have a match to see her improvement in fighting. Chun-Li comments in her win quote in SSIV that she chases after Ryu.

Fei Long
Fei Long and Ryu share a mutual respect.

Sean
Being Ken's student, Sean is a friend of Ryu. Ryu and Sean usually engage in sparring to improve Sean's beginner skills.

Gouken
Gouken is Ryu's master who raised him since he was a boy. Ryu also views him as a father and was inspired by him to become a martial artist.

Hugo
Ryu is impressed by Hugo's ability to withstand his Shin Souryuken and became his tag team partner for a while.

Rose
Rose is a close friend of Ryu. Like himself, she detests the Satsui no Hado too, and will often help him to overcome its influence.

Nash
Ryu and Charlie both respect each others skill after they fought in China.

Sagat
Sagat is one of Ryu's most respected rivals, as he was the one to bring out the Satsui no Hado out of him during the first World Warrior Tournament. At first, Sagat had a grudge against Ryu for stripping away his pride as a warrior. Later on, though, Sagat began to respect Ryu for his brave will and sportsmanship, and the two have become great rivals afterwards.

Gen
Having encountered him during his time as a restaurant operator, he became fascinated with Ryu. Gen would eventually test Ryu's strength in combat and held him in high regard.

Elena
Ryu and Elena respects each other's fighting style and have respect for each other.

Dhalsim
In Street Fighter V Dhalsim mentors Ryu in his attempts to control the Satsui No Hado and defended him from Necalli.

Birdie
Ryu first encountered Birdie during the first world warrior tournament and has fought against him sporadically over time. He becomes an uneasy ally during a raid on Shadaloo's base in Street Fighter V, despite Birdie formerly working for Shadaloo.

Alex
Alex considers Ryu as his ultimate rival, after being momentarily caught off guard by his attacks. They engage in a fight with a currently unknown outcome.

Jin Kazama
Ryu has a positive relationship with Jin from Namco's Tekken series, as both fighters have an evil power they seek to overcome.

Hulk
Ryu has a teacher-pupil relationship with Hulk from Marvel's The Incredible Hulk series, as both men have a issues with their darker versions under control by now.

Juri
While they have little interaction, Juri is especially attracted to Ryu's strength and power, and very much enjoys fighting the Ansatsuken style and even berates Ryu for trying to find a purpose in fighting, saying he should live for the pleasure of it. Upon fighting Evil Ryu, Juri gets "overly excited" saying if Ryu keeps glaring at her like that, she'll start getting "frisky". Despite her attraction, Juri dislikes Satsui no Hado, saying it's too abhorrent even for her. Despite their shared interests in fighting, Ryu and Juri don't really mesh.

Kazuya Mishima
Because of the Tekken character's truly evil nature and complete embracement of the Devil Gene power, Kazuya is a great rival of Ryu. Despite their opposing personalities and their clashes in Street Fighter x Tekken and Namco x Capcom, Ryu and Kazuya occasionally team up in Project x Zone 2, so it can be assume that there is a neutral relationship between the two protagonists of the two series.

M. Bison
One of Ryu's mortal enemies, Bison has repeatedly tried to capture Ryu in hopes of using him as a host body or brainwash him into being a member of Shadaloo. Due to Ryu having the Satsui no Hado sealed in him, this is part of M. Bison's plan to control that dark power for himself. Ultimately, it is Ryu who is the one to finally defeat Bison once and for all.

Seth
One of Ryu's greatest enemies, Ryu despises Seth and vice versa due to their different philosophies on power and on how to acquire it.

Gill
Gill is one of Ryu's enemies. Ryu finds Gill to be no better than Bison due to his actions and the lengths he has gone to achieve them.

Akuma
Akuma is one of Ryu's most hated enemies, as he was the one who tried to kill his master, Gouken. Akuma also attempts to lure Ryu into succumbing to the Satsui no Hado, therefore casting aside his humanity, in hopes of finally finding a worthy opponent for the ultimate fight to the death that he seeks. Ryu knows this is a trap of temptation planned by Akuma, as Ryu has tried his best to find a way to get rid of the Satsui no Hado while refusing to succumb to that kind of power.

Evil Ryu
Ryu is aware of how dangerous his other half is and tries his best to keep him under control.

Adon
Adon seeks to defeat Ryu, to prove he has surpassed Sagat.

Necalli
Necalli is an ancient spirit that wants to devour Ryu's soul as part of a prophecy. Necalli constantly attacks Ryu during A Shadow Falls until he is finally beaten by Ryu.

Fighting Style
Ryu's fighting style is generally referred to as Shotokan, despite the relative lack of resemblance to the real-life martial art (except for some of his normal attacks). His take on the style focuses on powerful singular strikes that usually knock the foe down, and is centered around his trademark attack Hadoken, a ball of energy.

Powers and Abilities
Ryu= Ryu Once Ryu fully taps into the Mu No Ken, or Power of Nothingness, he transforms into a state where he is engulfed by the Mu No Ken entirely. He can act without being attached to emotions or thought, free of fear, anger, pride, ego, to draw upon the contents of one's heart intuitively without obstacle and hesitation, and to be aware of the world and to know one's place and meaning within its vastness, to flow with all of creation without the need of worry, desire, and doubt.
 * Shotokan - A form of martial arts, Ryu is very experienced in this art and has thus mastered it and continues to train and use it. His personal use of Shotokan involves doing powerful singular strikes and usage of his energy.
 * Supernatural Strength - Ryu possesses great strength, able to lift and destroy battleships and small islands at top strength.
 * Supernatural Speed - Ryu possesses great speed, able to travel at supersonic speeds.
 * Ki manipulation - Ryu has full control and mastery over ki or life-force manipulation, using the power of his own life force to make into his own power.
 * Electrokinetic Ki manipulation - Ryu has full control and mastery over electrical ki.
 * Pyrokinetic Ki manipulation - Ryu has some control over fiery ki.
 * Photokinetic Ki manipulation - Ryu has some control over light ki.
 * Aerokinetic Ki manipulation - Ryu has some control over wind-like ki.
 * Mu no Ken Ki manipulation - A form of ki within the Mu no Ken power, Ryu can access some of this energy in his natural state.
 * Supernatural Stamina - Ryu can fight for several days without getting tired.
 * Enhanced Durability - Ryu is quite durable.
 * High Intelligence - Ryu is very knowledgeable in the world of martial arts and is willing to use complex strategies and study his opponent.
 * -|Mu no Ken= Mu no Ken Ryu

Ryu's eyes become white while glowing with an intense light blue, while his body is outlined in a light blue aura with black sparkles that expand to the outside of his aura. His outer aura is a blazing white and light blue as his body is constantly emitting light blue energy.
 * Mu no Ken-enhanced Shotokan - Ryu implements his knowledge of the Mu no Ken's energy into his Shotokan fighting style.
 * Supernatural Strength - Ryu's peak strength increases, able to lift or destroy large islands.
 * Supernatural Speed - Ryu's peak speed increases, able to travel at hypersonic speeds and even beyond.
 * Mu no Ken Ki manipulation - Ryu's ki purely morphs into the Mu no Ken's energy.
 * Supernatural Stamina - Ryu's stamina drastically increases in this state, able to fight for several weeks and possibly beyond.
 * Supernatural Durability - Ryu's durability increases, able to withstand toxins and extreme temperatures, corrosives, punctures, and concussions among other things.
 * Supernatural Intelligence - With the Mu no Ken's wisdom, his intelligence drastically increases within the art of battle.

Evil & Former Forms
Ryu's evil forms consist of the Satsui no Hado, a form of ki that is rooted in the darker aspects of the natural human instinct (including the desire to survive, trample, and impose over opposition), and on a metaphysical level, the natural occurrence and manifestation of loss, decline, and destruction. It is rooted within the true arts of the Shotokan and Anatsuken styles and will reach out to those who desire to be the best through the way of destruction and become the ultimate warrior. Ryu has encountered it many times but it was fully sealed out of him by his master Gouken through his Mu no Ken, making Ryu purified of its evil.

Red-eyed Evil Ryu= Red-eyed Evil Ryu This state was accessed when Ryu lost against Sagat for the first time. He was overcome with the inability to accept his lost and became obsessed to win, letting the newfound Satsui no Hado energy give him a taste of its power, resulting in this state as he quickly finished off Sagat with a Metsu Shoryuken.

In this state, Ryu remains almost exactly the same but his eyes are a dark or bright red, while his facial features appear much more stark and aggressive, as his muscle tone is more defined as well. He develops fangs. Ryu completely loses himself as he is obsessed to win in the quickest way possible.

The state does not last long, but it did not last long for Ryu because he realized what he had done, while Akuma kept the state after killing Goutetsu.
 * Shotokan Fighting Style - Ryu still knows the Shotokan fighting style.
 * Supernatural Strength - Although Ryu has reached this level of power, back then his power increased dramatically to the point of almost reaching his peak strength in his current state.
 * Supernatural Speed - Although Ryu has reached this level of speed, back then his speed increased dramatically to the point of almost reaching his peak speed in his current state.
 * Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu had very little access to the Satsui no Hado's energy.
 * Pyrokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu had very little access to the Hado's fiery energy.
 * Electrokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu had very little access to the Hado's electric energy.
 * Supernatural Stamina - His stamina dramatically decreases as a part of the power increase, only able to fight on for 10 seconds or slightly more.
 * Enhanced Durability - His durability remains the same.
 * Enhanced Intelligence - His intelligence remains the same.

"To be the strongest warrior means to be the last one standing!"
 * -|Evil Ryu (Incomplete)= Evil Ryu (Incomplete)

- Evil Ryu (Incomplete)

This form of Evil Ryu is the result of Ryu giving into the Satsui no Hado, but not completely. He still has, but very few of his consciousness left. As such it results in this incomplete state.

Within this form, Ryu's skin darkens much more, almost brown while his hair reddens slightly. His eyes become a dark red while his gi blackens. His fangs return as his facial features remain stark and aggressive, and his muscle mass is increased and his muscle tone is more defined.

This incomplete state represents some of the good of Ryu still being present. While in this, Ryu is obsessed with the desire to survive and win against all odds and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal, even his own allies. His hatred for Akuma is much stronger but does not express it until he encounters Akuma himself. He is not, however, willing to kill or destroy anyone, representing the good in Ryu stopping those desires.


 * Satsui no Hado-enhanced Shotokan Fighting Style - Ryu still knows the Shotokan fighting style but it is now enhanced with the Hado's dark energy as Ryu's knowledge meshes with the Hado, birthing the true dark arts of the Shotokan style.
 * Supernatural Strength - Although Ryu has reached this level of power, back then his power increased dramatically to the point of equaling his peak strength in his current state.
 * Supernatural Speed - Although Ryu has reached this level of speed, back then his speed increased dramatically to the point of equaling his peak speed in his current state.
 * Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu can control the Satsui no Hado's energy.
 * Pyrokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu had some control to the Hado's fiery energy.
 * Electrokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu has full control over the Hado's electrical energy.
 * Aerokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu has some control over the Hado's wind-like energy.
 * Supernatural Stamina - His stamina increases, able to fight on for a week.
 * Enhanced Durability - His durability also increases, able to withstand some toxins and extreme temperatures, corrosives, punctures, and concussions among other things.
 * Enhanced Intelligence - His intelligence mostly remains the same.

"Violence... is who I am!!"
 * -|Evil Ryu= Evil Ryu

- Evil Ryu

This form of Evil Ryu is Evil Ryu's true and final form. After being nearly killed by Akuma through a single punch through his chest, the Hado clinged to his life and healed him and engulfed him completely into this state, the equal to Akuma's own base form.

Within this form, Ryu undergoes a terrifying and demonic change in appearance. His hair spikes up and turns into a bright red, while his skin darkens to a dark brown, just like Akuma. His eyes are black while his scelra is a bright red. His eyes can also glow an entire orange, flaming red. His eyes also possess a feint red eyeshadow. All of his teeth become fangs and his gi turns completely black, while the upper part of his gi is partially torn and reveals the healed crater-like hole in his chest. A scar similar to the Heaven kanji appears on his back as well.

Ryu's personality completely changes. He is violent, lusting for violence and bloodshed while even more determined to win against all the odds. He revels in destruction and murder and believes everything must be destroyed in his path and all around him. He has no empathy, sympathy or compassion for anything anymore. His anger is absolutely furious, and although it is not mindless he has lost everything that was him before he became engulfed in the Hado. He has no respects for others and loves absolute power, and despises what he perceives as weakness from all of humanity, such as love, family, justice and vengeance. He is also extremely brutal towards other fighters in general, especially to those that oppose him.

Evil Ryu also refers to himself as heartless and nothing more but a demon, and will seek out and murder any opponent in a fight, regardless of their age and condition. He displays a very dangerous blood thirst and a ritualistic belligerence that almost borders on cannibalism, as seen in many of his prefight and win quotes.
 * Satsui no Hado-enhanced Shotokan Fighting Style - Ryu still knows the Shotokan fighting style but it is now enhanced with the Hado's dark energy as Ryu's knowledge meshes with the Hado, birthing the true dark arts of the Shotokan style.
 * Supernatural Strength - Ryu's strength has increased so much that he is capable fo destroying entire continents at will, and possibly even planets.
 * Supernatural Speed - Ryu's speed has dramatically increased, so much that he can travel at hypersonic speeds and beyond.
 * Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu has full control over the Satsui no Hado's energy.
 * Pyrokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu had some control to the Hado's fiery energy.
 * Electrokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu has full control over the Hado's electrical energy.
 * Aerokinetic Hado Ki manipulation - Ryu has some control over the Hado's wind-like energy.
 * Supernatural Stamina - His stamina increases, able to fight on for weeks.
 * Supernatural Durability - His durability also increases, able to withstand toxins and extreme temperatures, corrosives, punctures, and concussions among other things.
 * Enhanced Intelligence - His intelligence mostly remains the same.

Other forms
Pandora-Infused= Pandora Ryu Ryu once used the Pandora's power to experiment with it. He immediately transformed into this form using the Pandora's power. He left it afterwards, deeming he does not need this power.

Ryu's body undergoes drastic changes. His skin turns completely black while his gi remains white, while his belt and headband turns purple, his eyes red, hair white and tribal markings of the Pandora appearing on his arms.
 * Shotokan Fighting Style - Ryu still keeps the Shotokan fighting style.
 * Supernatural Strength - Ryu strength increases.
 * Supernatural Speed - Ryu's speed increases.
 * Pandora Ergokinesis - Ryu is granted access to the Pandora's power.

Trivia

 * Ryu and Chun-Li have made the most crossover appearances out of the entire Street Fighter roster, Ryu appearing in all crossover fighting game to date involving the series (not including guest appearances by Street Fighter characters in non-crossover projects).
 * Ryu and Ken, conversely, are the only two characters who have been in every Street Fighter installment.
 * Ryu actually makes a small comical jab at his multiple crossover appearances throughout the years in his introduction in the first "Lost Episode" of Asura's Wrath, saying that it's "not the first time [he's] been sent to a strange land".


 * Although initially easily subjected to M. Bison's will, Ryu is one of only two people to deal him a defeat in one on one direct combat (the other being Charlie Nash).


 * According to some of his Street Fighter IV win quotes, Ryu can afford shoes, but prefers walking barefoot (possibly for comfort).
 * In UDON's comics, while tutoring and helping [akura, Ryu brushes upon this matter as well, saying that traveling barefoot is helpful in building one's character.
 * Furthermore, in his Street Fighter X Tekken win quote against Guy, he considers the idea of rethinking his stance on shoes.


 * Ryu shares his name with the main protagonist of the Breath of Fire series of RPG games and the Ryu Hayabusa of the Ninja Gaiden series and a major character of the Dead or Alive series.


 * Ryu references the original Street Fighter game in one of his win quotes in Capcom vs. SNK 2 ("What strength! I won't forget that there are many like you all over the world!").


 * Ryu is one of three characters whose stage doesn't have an audience until the Street Fighter Alpha series series (along with Akuma and Evil Ryu).


 * Ryu's 6th color in Street Fighter IV bears a resemblance to his attire in the Alpha series.


 * Ryu shares the same birthday as T. Hawk.
 * Ryu also shares the same birthday (and year, shown in the SNES manual for SFII) with former Capcom artist, Akira Yasuda|Akira (Akiman) Yasuda.


 * Evil Ryu's winquote to Rose in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition is almost the same as Ryu's winquote to her in Street Fighter IV.


 * In the original Street Fighter, there's unused audio in the game files for a "Fire Kick", along with unused graphics that suggest Ryu and Ken were planned to have a fourth special move.


 * According to Yoshinori Ono, Ryu suffers from arachnophobia (fear of spiders), a subject matter emphasized in his introduction quote against Spider-Man in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and its updated version.
 * In Street Fighter: Resurrection, Ryu's date of birth is listed as "Unknown" when his official birthdate is July 21, 1964.


 * His premium school costume in Street Fighter V has a minor resemblance to Daigo Kazama's outfit from his wild form in the Rival Schools series.


 * According to his win quote against El Fuerte, Ryu has no food preferences. He will eat whatever is available to him.
 * The end of the story A Shadow Falls possibly marks the first time chronologically in the games that Ryu is not seen with his red headband since he first got it.
 * This is an outside reference to Street Fighter, but it has been mentioned that Ryu has a F-Zero counterpart; he has a character named Ryu Suzaki (Rick Wheeler, American name), the main protagonist of the anime F-Zero GP Legend, as well as the GBA game of the same name, and its sequel F-Zero Climax.