Ryo Sakazaki

Ryo in Bleach the King of Fighters A15 (2019).

### Family/Relatives

Takuma Sakazaki (father), Ronnet Sakazaki (mother, deceased), Yuri Sakazaki (younger sister)

### Likes

The motorcycle he restored himself, Tatsumaki (horse he received), His friend and sister (*BKOF2ndMIX*)

### Hobbies

D.I.Y. carpentry, growing vegetables at home

### Favorite food

Rice cakes (mochi), fermented soybeans (nattō)

### Fighting style

Kyokugenryu Karate

*In this character name, his name is typically written in Katakana due to shared heritage, living and being prominent abroad, despite being born in Japan.*
**Ryo Sakazaki** (リョウ・サカザキ, *Ryō Sakazaki*) is the main protagonist in ***Art of Fighting series***. He has appeared in every ***Art of Fighting*** and ***The King of Fighters*** game. He forms the first half of the Japanese series' namesake as "**The Invincible Dragon**" (無敵の龍, *Muteki no Ryū*).

## Personality

Ryo is very serious about fighting and is loyal to his friends and family. Martial arts are his life, and his primary motivation is to train hard, improve both himself and his students, and to promote the Kyokugenryu style. He has been given discipline through his Karate training by his father, Takuma. He treats Robert as his rival, but they are best friends. He is a little old fashioned and blunt, which sometimes alienates him from his trendier sister and stylish rival. He's also admits to not being very smart or talented but he believes that these are obstacles for him to overcome. Compared to Yuri and Robert's ideology on training, Ryo believes he can attain greatness in his art through hard work and experience. Having raised both himself and Yuri during their childhood, he struggles with his own wishes to protect his sister and his own wishes to see her grow up. He accepts her growing maturity with bittersweet acquiescence.

Ryo has an interesting relationship with King. Formerly enemies, Ryo has gained great respect for her fighting prowess, and he has made several attempts to recruit her to the Kyokugen dojo as an instructor. King has thus far refused all of his invitations, but she has joined the Kyokugen team for a few of the KOF tournaments. King herself seems to have developed a romantic attraction to Ryo after he contributed to her brother's recovery in *Art of Fighting 2*. She tends to flush, smile, and act flustered in Ryo's presence. There is a long running joke in the games where Ryo will compliment King, and she will blush, thinking he is about to ask her out, just to get yet another invite to join Kyokugenryu.

## Powers

* **Gather chi:** Ryo can gather ki from Gaia, the Mother earth.
* **Energy Projectile:** Ryo can fire the Kouken and Haoh Shou Kouken blast normally.
* **Multiple Attacks:** Ryo can channel his ki energy into his arms to deliver multiple punches at a very fast ratio.

## Skills

* **Auto Mechanic:** Ryo has restored a motorcycle to running condition, suggesting he has sufficient knowledge of the inner workings of it.
* **Carpentry:** Due to being engaged in DIY works, and being presumably skilled in it.
* **Farming:** Ryo has successfully grown vegetables in his backyard, indicating he is gifted with a 'green thumb' or an ability to cultivate plants.

## Fighting style

Ryo was taught to be the "tiger" of Kyokugenryu Karate, ironic since his nickname calls him the dragon. In *Buriki One*, he seems to use ordinary Karate. His main strength relies on his fierce punching attacks, which is closer to his father's style. His (in)famous Tenchi Haou Ken (Heaven & Earth Supreme Sparkle Fist) is a good result of this type of style as such a punch often was able to automatically put opponents in stun upon impact, despite the low damage it did compared to other DM's (*KOF XIII* amps this up with a stronger version of this technique as his Neo Max).

His *Art of Fighting* and *KOF* incarnations tend to differ from one another such as his fighting stance. His Kohou (Tiger Roar) often either faces towards the screen (*KOF*) or the background (*Art of Fighting*). In *KOF '96* onwards, his signature Ko'ou Ken (Tiger Sparkle Fist) turned into a close range attack afterwards though his Capcom crossovers beg to differ.

During the NESTS Saga, Ryo adds defensive touches to his style. His Joudan and Gedan Uke (High-Level and Low-Level Reception) parrying command normals enable him to shave off attacks and press the offensive as Ryo is able to cancel into attacks should he block via this method. Both of these types of parries are based on traditional types of basic blocking seen in most martial arts dojos. His Joudan Uke however, has varied in terms of animation, ranging from a rushing cover block or an outward single arm block depending on the game; and in *KOF XIII*, his Gedan Uke also gets a change in animation.

## References

1. ↑ Official character profile from *KOF Maximum Impact Regulation "A"*
2. ↑ Official character profile from *KOF XII*