Ryu

## Introduction

**Ryu** is the lead protagonist and one of the main characters of the **Street Fighter** series of fighting games. Ryu has made an appearance in every Street Fighter game, as well as in almost every crossover fighting game to feature Capcom characters. The Street Fighter franchise also features manga and anime that feature Ryu as the main protagonist.

## Personality

Ryu is usually a silent, humble, and serious individual. Due both to this "wandering warrior" persona and being raised far away from modern-day culture, Ryu often appears boring or detached from others. Deep down, he is a kind and good-hearted person who, on rare occasions, shows a sense of ~~bad~~ humor. 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.

## Appearance

Ryu's most recognizable attire consists of a tattered, white Taekwondo gi with the sleeves torn off, medium length hair, a long red headband, a black martial arts belt and bare feet. 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.

### Muscles

Glimpses of bulky biceps and muscled pecs are seen through his Taekwondo gi and occasionally, his well-toned abs are visible. A braving fighter like Ryu deserves the powerful musculature, hardened by though training.

## Gameplay & Style

Centered around his trademark **Hadoken**, Ryu's gameplay style focuses on powerful singular strikes that usually knock his foe down. is available in every single *Street Fighter* game as the quintessential "basic" character of the series: an all-around fighter with an intuitive array of punches and kicks and basic special moves that are easy to pick up. Though this simplicity grants a lot of offensive mobility, it hampers his combo ability quite a bit, and renders him fairly predictable against more advanced players. Another disadvantage of Ryu's attacks are its relatively slow speed.

### Hadoken

The Hadoken is an attack that originated in the Street Fighter game series. As Ryu's trademark move, the basic type of Hadoken is a surging punch in which a fighter's willpower is utilized to focus energy into and through the palms. As the palms are thrust outwards towards the target, a surging energy wave is expelled that results in a punching force traveling through the air in the opponent's direction.

## Trivia

* The Hadoken is sometimes referred to as a Fire Ball, despite the handful of times the attack produced any flames.
* Ryu is 175cm tall, and weighs 85 kilograms. His birthday is July 2nd, his birthplace Japan.
* Though he continues to wander the world to become a stronger warrior through training and sportsmanship of the fight, he plans to hold a dojo like his teacher when his wanderings are over.
* Ryu may utilize the **Power of Pandora** to boost his muscle power beyond superhuman levels, with certain drawbacks such as extreme exhaustion of his body after the duration expires or the pain he can experience during transformation.
* In Street Fighter X Tekken, Ryu can use power-ups called gems on his body to enhance his performance in the ring. Gems can give him bonus stats such as power, endurance and strength.

## Gallery

Ryu from *UDON* ComicsBy free-lance Illustrator *Jo Chen*Fron *Marvel vs. Capcom 3*From *Street Fighter: Third Strike*From *Street Fighter: Third Strike*From *Street Fighter Online*From *Street Fighter X Tekken*Ryu's Promo ArtworkArtwork from *Street Fighter V*Ryu in Pixels