Ryu (/riˈuː/ ⓘ; Japanese: リュウ, Hepburn: Ryū) is a character and the protagonist of Capcom's Street Fighter series.[6] Introduced in Street Fighter (1987), Ryu appears as the game's lead character alongside his best friend and friendly rival Ken Masters. Other games in the series show Ryu's training and dedication to be the strongest fighter he can be, befriending new fighters. Unable to control his dark nature, Ryu develops two alter egos: Evil Ryu (殺意の波動に目覚めたリュウ, Satsui no Hadō ni Mezameta Ryū, lit. "Ryu with the surge of murderous intent awakened", abbreviated Satsui Ryu in Street Fighter Alpha 3), and Kage-naru mono (影ナル者, lit. "Shadowed One") or simply Kage (影, lit. "Shadow"). Mastering the dark nature is Ryu's main objective in order to become stronger. Ryu has appeared as a playable character in several crossover games involving the franchise, including the Marvel vs. Capcom series, SNK vs. Capcom, Project X Zone, and the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He has also appeared in manga and anime adaptations, as well as the 1994 live-action film.
Ryu was created by game designer Takashi Nishiyama, who was inspired by the martial artist Mas Oyama while designing the character. For his second appearance, Ryu's design changed from a young fighter to a skilled karate practitioner. However, because of issues in the making of Street Fighter II, he possessed a major weakness within the cast. For the next titles, Ryu's fighting style was modified, so he had different skills, with Evil Ryu and Kage possessing more diverse moves. Multiple Japanese and English actors have voiced him. While his appearance remained mostly intact, Street Fighter 6 gave Ryu a major redesign in reference to his master Gouken.
A pop culture icon, Ryu has become one of the most iconic fighting game characters ever, inspiring several other fighters though his alter egos while his friendship and rivalry with Ken was praised for how different they develop despite being nearly the same in their introducitons. The character also received mixed responses for recycling an archetype of the corrupted protagonist in the form of Evil Ryu and Kage. He also became iconic in Street Fighter 6 due to his new design which attracted people due to his appeal.
