Ryo Sakazaki

## Personal Info

Birthdate: August 2, 1957

Birthplace: Japan

Height: 5’10 ½ (179)

Weight: 165 (75)

Blood Type: O

Job: Dojo Master

Style: Kyokugenryu Karate

## History

Ryo is the son of Takuma Sakazaki and Ronnet Sakazaki and
the older brother of Yuri Sakazaki. As Ryo was deemed to be Takuma's successor,
he began his martial arts training at an early age. His father instilled him
with the difficult principle of self-reliance, where a person's own strength
can form their worth in the world. He eventually gained a sparring partner and
friend when Robert Garcia was admitted into the dojo.

On Ryo's 10th birthday, his mother died in a tragic car
accident. His father left their home and left Ryo to take care of Yuri. Ryo did
this by partaking in construction work and tirelessly strived to defend his
family's dojo. Remembering his father's lessons during his training, he also
took up street fighting. At first, he did poorly but, after many years of
persistence, he eventually established himself as a fearsome and renowned fighter.

### Fist of the Dragon and Tiger

In the first FDT, Yuri is kidnapped by Mr. Big, a local
criminal mastermind of the dangerous city, Southtown on behalf of Geese Howard.
During his journey, he met a bouncer named King, who guides them to Mr. Big's
location. With Robert and King's help, Ryo confronts and defeats the kingpin.
His pursuit for Mr. Big leads him to a karate dojo where a mysterious man
challenges him. When Ryo prevailed, he threatens to finish Mr. Karate unless he
told them information about Yuri's safety. Before he deals the final blow, Yuri
reveals the man's identity as their father. After eleven years of separation,
the whole family is reunited.

Before the events of the second game, Ryo went to the
mountains for training. He received an invite for a King of Fighters tournament
and accepted it to test his strength. When he reaches the finals, the
tournament's host, Geese Howard, expresses his desires to recruit Ryo into his
services. Ryo refuses and subsequently fight him atop his office in Geese Tower, and defeats him with tremendous effort. Unfortunately, Geese manages to
escape and later reenacts the beginning of the Legend of the Hungry Wolf story.

Ryo's role in the following game was reduced to being a
supporting character for Robert. In his ending for the game, he hands his
sister a ticket for Robert's flight back home and wishes the best for both of
them. Additionally, he gains another rival named Kasumi Todoh, who is later
mentioned in The King of Fighters series.

Presumably, after the FDT series ended, Takuma
retired from fighting and entrusts the Kyokugenryu dojos to Ryo. At least two
dojos are in operation, one near Southtown and one is later entrusted to Ryo's
student, Marco Rodriguez. This is supported by the fact that Ryo takes over the
Mr. Karate mantle that his father once held in Wild Ambition and Buriki One.

King of Fighters

The appearance of Ryo in Legend of the Hungry Wolf Special as a secret
final boss was perhaps inspiration to SNK's most notable fighting game series,
The King of Fighters. Indeed, much of the appeal of the first KOF game, The
King of Fighters '94, was that characters from Fist of the Dragon and Tiger and Legend of the Hungry Wolf could fight alongside and against each other. Many details were originally
retconned to allow the characters of FDT and LHW look around
the same age though it's currently accepted that the KoF timeline is separate
from their respective series. Although both protagonists would only play
supporting roles in the series, Ryo and Terry share a friendly rivalry with one
another. This is sometimes implied through special intros, official art, and
game openings in select KOF titles.

Throughout the series, the Kyokugen style is depicted as a
struggling family business, funded almost entirely by prize money earned from
KOF and Robert's vast wealth. Each year, at the conclusion of KOF, the Kyokugen
dojo would often have many applicants due to the strong performance of the
team. Despite their hard fought success, most of these applicants would later
quit, due to either the strenuous training regime or mysterious people who
appear and trash the dojo. The family manages to keep two gyms running, one in
South Town and a second in Mexico.

Ryo usually teams up with Robert, Yuri, or Takuma to
continue spreading the fame of the Kyokugen style. He usually tries his best to
keep his sister away from the tournaments and relents to his father's demands.
In The King of Fighters 2000, he welcomed King into the team, even through his
best friend's protests. Takuma apparently noticed (and somewhat mistook) the
respect the young fighters had for one another and presses his wishes for her
to join whenever the time calls for it. In The King of Fighters XI, Ryo
indicates that Marco is currently a green belt

## Music

The Horse and I (FDT 2)

Get High (FDT 3)

Fist of Dragon and Tiger Ver.2300000000.0 (Legend of the
Hungry Wolf Special)

Fist of Dragon and Tiger (KOF 94)

Trembling Male Spirit (KOF 95)

Praying Mantis (KOF 96)

Art of Fight (KOF 98)

Dragon Tiger (KOF 99)

Beauty and the Beast (KOF 00, 02)

Fight to the Limit (KOF 01)

Kyoku-gen (KOF 03)

After a Long Absence (KOF 11, 13)

Kyokugen Training: Mountain Seclusion (KOF 13)

Art of Fight: Dragon, Tiger and Wing (KOF 02 Unlimited Match)

Dragon Rising in the Night Sky (Days of Memory)

## Powers

Gather Chi

Energy Projectile

Multi-Attack