Ken Masters (Street Fighter)

Ken Masters is one of the main characters from the Street Fighter series.
== Charactah Account ==
The son of a wealthy family, Ken Masters is the former training partner and friendly rival of Ryu, who uses the same special techniques (specializing in the Shoryuken or "Dragon Punch"). After completing his martial art training from Gouken (and learning humility and the meaning of hard work in the process), Ken moved back to his native America and won the U.S. Martial Arts Tournament, where he met his girlfriend Eliza. He eventually marries her by the end of Street Fighter II. In IV, he hesitates joining the new tournament, but Eliza encourages him to do so, stating that he'll be back before their baby's birth. After the events of IV his son Mel is born, and in Street Fighter III Ken (reluctantly) takes Sean as his apprentice and begins training his son Mel in his style of martial arts.
While Ryu is the more serious and stoic of the two, Ken is the complete opposite - stylish, unorthodox and unpredictable, as well as being much more violent and aggressive than Ryu. He is an alpha male with a giant ego and constantly reminds his opponents about his greatness. While he can be brash, egotistical, and arrogant at times, his heart is pure. He is generally kind, friendly, a good person, and very easygoing which led him into starting a family of his own. He never backs down from a fight no matter how difficult it looks.
== Appearance ==
=== Anime ===
* Street Fighter Alpha: Generations
* Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie
* Street Fighter II: Return to the Fujiwara Capital
* Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
* Street Fighter II: The Animated Series
* Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind
=== Cartoons ===
* Street Fighter: The Animated Series
=== Comics ===
* Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers
* Worlds Unite
=== Manga ===
* Street Fighter Alpha
* Street Fighter Gaiden
* Street Fighter II: Ryu
* Street Fighter III RYU FINAL
* Street Fighter: Sakura Gives it Her Best!
* Street Fighter: The Novel Where Strength Lies
=== Video Games ===
* Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2
* Bloody Rage
* Brawlhalla
* Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium
* Capcom Arcade Hits Volume 1
* Capcom Arcade Stadium
* Capcom Classics Collection
* Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded
* Capcom Classics Collection: Volume 2
* Capcom Digital Collection
* Capcom Fighting Collection
* Capcom Fighting Evolution
* Capcom Super League Online
* Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium
* Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000
* Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro
* Combo Crew
* Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition
* Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
* Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
* Marvel vs. Capcom 3
* Marvel vs. Capcom Origins
* Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
* Monster Strike
* Namco X Capcom
* NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol.1
* Pocket Fighter
* Project X Zone
* Project X Zone 2
* Puzzle Fighter
* SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash 2 Expand Edition
* SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
* Sonic Gems Collection
* Street Fighter
* Street Fighter 6
* Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
* Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight
* Street Fighter Alpha
* Street Fighter Alpha 2
* Street Fighter Alpha 3
* Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX
* Street Fighter Alpha Anthology
* Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams
* Street Fighter Collection
* Street Fighter Collection 2
* Street Fighter Duel
* Street Fighter EX
* Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha
* Street Fighter EX2
* Street Fighter EX2 Plus
* Street Fighter EX3
* Street Fighter II
* Street Fighter II Pinball
* Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting
* Street Fighter II': Champion Edition
* Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
* Street Fighter III
* Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact
* Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
* Street Fighter III: Double Impact
* Street Fighter III: New Generation
* Street Fighter IV
* Street Fighter IV Champion Edition
* Street Fighter IV Volt
* Street Fighter IV: Arena
* Street Fighter Series
* Street Fighter V
* Street Fighter X All Capcom
* Street Fighter X Tekken
* Street Fighter: Puzzle Spirits
* Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
* Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
* Super Puzzle Fighter II X: For Matching Service
* Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U
* Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
* Super Street Fighter II
* Super Street Fighter II Turbo
* Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
* Super Street Fighter II: The Tournament Battle
* Super Street Fighter II: Turbo Revival
* Super Street Fighter IV
* Super Street Fighter IV: Pachislot Edition
* SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom
* Teppen
* The Battle Cats
* Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
* Ultra Street Fighter IV
* X-Men vs. Street Fighter
* We Love Golf!
== Trivia ==
* Ken has been playable in every installment of Street Fighter, much like Ryu (a distinction that is unique to them), both main series and spinoff. However, Ken is not playable in a few crossover titles, such as Capcom Fighting Evolution, both versions of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worldsand the updated "Ultimate" version. He is also not playable in Super Smash Bros. 4, as Ryu is the only playable Street Fighter character (Ken's theme is able to be selected to play on Ryu's stage). This is likely due to a desire not to take up many spaces in their rosters with overly similar characters. He does, however, appear as an "Echo Fighter" in the sequel.
* Ryu can use Ken's moveset in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes via Mode Change.
* When fought as a CPU opponent in some games, particularly Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter EX, Ken will occasionally do a light Shoryuken, followed by a medium one as soon as he lands, and then a strong one. This AI behavior has remained consistent in most of his appearances.
* Ken is one of the eleven playable Street Fighter characters who are married or in a romantic relationship.
* In Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, if Ken defeats Sean, he would say to him "You must defeat Ryu to stand a chance!" This is based on Ryu's infamously mistranslated win quote ("You must defeat my Shoryuken/Sheng Long in order to stand a chance!").
* In the SFIII Q&A from Gamest's SFIII Fanbook, when asked if he's still entering fighting competitions after having a son and moving to the west coast, Ken confirms that he's not been able to after Mel's birth. But he'll make an exception if Ryu participates.
* When asked if Ken will make Mel into a martial artist, Ken says it's up to Mel. Ken also mentions in the interview that seeing Sean reminds him of himself when he was young.
* In the Street Fighter III games, Ken seems to break the fourth wall in one of his quotes against Hugo or Gillin Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact ("It's losers like you that make this game boring!").
* Ken's birthday is on St. Valentine's Day.
** Ken shares his birthday with Kolin and Natsu Ayuhara.
* Though born in the United States, Ken is actually only one quarter Anglo-American and three quarters Japanese. This is justified as his father was also likely born in the States but is half Japanese.
** A misconception seen from western Street Fighter fans is that Ken's Japanese heritage was a retcon in order to dilute his American side. In reality Ken always had a Japanese descent, as evident by the fact his name is spelled in kanji (拳) in the Street Fighter's flyer and Ken being listed as Japanese alongside Ryu and Retsu. In Street Fighter II, it states that he’s born and raised in Japan and that he’s ¼ American since his maternal grandfather is American. He then moved to the USA to continue his training and that USA is his mother’s homeland. Manabu Takemura confirms that Ken represents a typical young man who likes American culture and wants to become an American. And in ALL ABOUT Street Fighter III The Characters, the first sentence under the 家族/family section says 日本出身 (nihon shusshin).
* Ken's stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2 has cameos by several other Capcom characters, including those from the Darkstalkers series and Captain Commando from the arcade game of the same name.
* In SNK vs. Capcom: SvC Chaos, as Violent Ken, his battle stance in his intro is similar to Akuma's and Evil Ryu's; however, he turns clockwise instead of counterclockwise.
* Ken's win quote against Lei Wulong in Street Fighter × Tekken is based on Lei resembling Jackie Chan.
* 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. Had that been the case, then the move could have been similar to the Tenmakujinkyaku or Senpukyaku.
** Ironically, some of Ken's kick-based moves would later involve fire.
* Ryu & Ken's fighting style have gone through many changes over the course of the series. In the original Street Fighter, Ryu & Ken were genius martial artists who learned martial arts from an early age and created their own martial arts style. This would carry over to SFA3 where Ryu adopts various techniques from karate, jūdō and taekwondo to create his own style.However, in Ryu's SFIII bio it states that he uses martial arts based on karate.It wasn't until SFIV where Ryu & Ken's fighting style became a "martial art rooted as an art of assassination".
* In Street Fighter: Resurrection, Ken's birthyear is mistakenly listed as 1966 while his official (former) birthyear is 1965.
* Street Fighter II suggests that Ken is from or around Detroit, Michigan as that location shows up on the map when he is selected as an opponent.
* Some fans have pointed out that Ken's theme sounds similar to the Cheap Trick song "Mighty Wings" from Top Gun. Street Fighter II composer Yoko Shimomura stated in an interview: "I have heard people say that and I watched the movie before I composed the song, so I can't deny I may have been inspired subconsciously. But I didn't go into it thinking, 'OK I'm gonna make this song sound like Mighty Wings.'".
** It was also stated that Ken's theme was originally going to be Guile's. This would make sense, as Guile is in the US Air Force, like the characters in Top Gun.
* Ken's first alternate costume in Street Fighter IV is the costume for King Cobra, a character that was scrapped in favor of Rufus.
* The part in Ken's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal trailer where he is seen flirting with Zelda, could be a reference to his Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix ending, where Ken was seen flirting with a female character who wasn't Eliza.
* In Street Fighter V, Ken has a downloadable costume in the form of Dante's clothes from Devil May Cry 4.
** Additionally, holding a button combination after equipping Ken in the Dante costume unlocks the Devil Arm Gilgamesh as part of the Dante costume for the match.
** Coincidentally, both Ken and Dante are voiced by Reuben Langdon.
== Gallery ==
File:Ken Masters (Street Fighter) Render 01.png
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File:Ken Masters (Street Fighter) Fan Art 01.png
== External Links ==
* Ken Masters at Street Fighter Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:Street Fighter