Ryu

Ryu is a video game player character created by Capcom, the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series. Having premiered in the first Street Fighter in 1987, Ryu appears as the lead character from the game along with his best friend Ken Masters participating in the Street Fighter tournament. Further games from the series show Ryu to be highly focused on his training, aiming to become the strongest he can. However, his powers also attract several criminals who want to use him for their plans. In some games, Ryu has an alternate form known as Evil Ryu. "Ryu with the surge of murderous intent awakened", abbreviated Satsui Ryu in Street Fighter Zero 3).

Ryu has been the lead character of the Street Fighter series since the first game and has appeared in crossovers involving the franchise. He is also featured in manga from the series, anime adaptations and the 1994 live-action film.

Street Fighter series
Ryu debuted in the first Street Fighter as the primary playable character in the game, with his best friend, rival and sparring partner Ken Masters serving as the second player's character. Both compete in the tournament depicted in the game in order to test their strength against the tournament ' s champion, Sagat.

His next appearance was in 1991's Street Fighter II. Set several years after Ryu defeated Sagat in the first tournament, Ryu participates in a second tournament. In his ending in the game, Ryu wins the tournament, but does not stay for the ceremony, already seeking his next challenge.

Ryu ' s backstory, along with those of other Street Fighter characters, would be explored in the subsequent Street Fighter Alpha prequel series. The first game, Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (1995), features Ryu confronting Sagat as his last opponent in a rematch following their first fight. Street Fighter Alpha 2 (1996) depicts Ryu on a quest to confront Akuma, his master ' s brother and enemy. After their match, Akuma reveals that Ryu possesses the "Evil Intent", lit. "Surge of Murderous Intent", sometimes translated as the "Dark Hadou") within him, the same power Akuma uses. In the Street Fighter Alpha series, there is an alternate selectable version of Ryu known as "Evil Ryu". Similarly to Akuma, Ryu takes this form when succumbing to the evil intent, and becomes more violent. It was not until the international versions of the game, Street Fighter Alpha 2, that Evil Ryu was introduced as a secret character in the games. In Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998), Ryu is sought by M. Bison, who seeks to use him as his next host body.

Ryu and Ken would return in Street Fighter III (1997) and its updates. While Ryu ' s motivation in the game and rivalry with Ken would remain the same, he was also shown getting acquainted with several of the new characters featured in the game. Ryu appears in Street Fighter IV, which takes place after Street Fighter II but before Street Fighter III. A new appearance of Evil Ryu in a Street Fighter game was confirmed in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition by a teaser trailer, and later confirmed as a secret boss and playable character by leaked video footage.

Ryu has appeared in spin-offs related to the main Street Fighter series such as the Street Fighter EX series produced by Arika. Byron Mann portrays the character in separately produced arcade and console games based on the American film of the series, both titled Street Fighter: The Movie, where he wears Ryu's characteristic white karate gi and red headband.

Other games
The character has also been featured in Capcom's inter-company crossovers such as the Marvel vs. Capcom series, the SNK vs. Capcom series, Namco x Capcom and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars. Some games of the SNK vs. Capcom series also include Evil Ryu as an unlockable character. In Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, Ryu has the ability to change his moveset to the ones from Ken or Akuma while fighting. He also appears in Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, a puzzle video game featuring super deformed characters along with the sequel, Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, which is instead a fighting game. Ryu is one of the first fighters to appear as a playable fighter in the crossover fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken, and is also seen in the Tekken X Street Fighter poster along with Jin Kazama.

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams features Ryu as an unlockable costume swap for the game's protagonist Soki. Although his incarnation there is much slimmer, this change is merely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay. Ryu also has a cameo appearance in the shooting game Varth: Operation Thunderstorm. He was also planned to appear in the now-cancelled game Mega Man Universe. A Ryu-inspired costume for players to use in Sony's LittleBigplanet was released in 2008 as downloadable content for the title.