The difference between Ryu and Ken in EVERY Street Fighter Game!!

Fun Fact: both Ryu and Ken are actually inspired by real-life Karatekas. Ryu was inspired by Mas Oyama,the founder of Kyokushin Karate. Like Ryu,he also spend time on a reclusive mountain,training for 18 months and then travelled all over Japan,challenging famous Karate champions and Masters to full-contact sparring matches.He was known for wearing an old,wore down white Gi just like Ryu in these matches.The dude is a legend,who influenced even Bruce Lee (both believed in full-contact sparring under real conditions) and there are a shitload of movies,books and even mangas based on his life. And Ken is based on Joe Lewis,the legendary US full-contact Karate and Kickbox champion. The guy was a former Marine who learned Karate while serving in Okinawa,where he earned his black belt in 7 months! Undefeated champion,friend of Bruce Lee and he had a rivalry with Chuck Norris going on.(Chuck actually chickened out when Joe challenged him to a full-contact fight) He was known for wearing a red Karate Gi like Ken. Oh and Sagat is also based on a real-life,legendary Muay Thai champion, Sagat Petchyindee is his name. He's retired now and runs a Muay Thai academy in Thailand, where he trains young fighters.

A lot of people think that Ken is an English name. It's actually means "Fist" in Japanese and Ryu means "Dragon". That's why they share the same move with their names in it " Sho -RyuKen " The Dragon Fist

We always preferred Ken when we were kids because his moves felt flashier. Capcom took that difference and ran with it, increasing the separation between the two characters to where Ryu was generally selected by people with a balanced or defensive playstyle and Ken was chosen for aggressive/rush-down play.

RYU always felt stronger and slower to me where as Ken always felt faster with better agility. Even the way they move around feels felt that way for me from the start.

Ken has a girlfriend and a bunch of fans on a yacht cheering him on. Ryu lives alone in a dojo in the mountains eating Ramen Noodles and watching anime.

Ryu sleeps in a racecar bed, Ken sleeps in a big bed with his wife.

When they took away Ken's roundhouse kick I was devastated, it was one of my favorite to use against jumpers to knock them back along with a dragon punch

I have always noticed Ryu is stronger, but Ken has way more of the technique and flashier moves as the series progress.

BRO. I love how Ryu and Ken do a fist bump before fighting in the older games

People disrespecting Ryu in the comments yes some see ken as more “successful” but Ryu has dedicated his life to self improvement and self discovery. Gotta respect him.

I've always personally like Ken more. Has a swag to him. They eventually gave him his own fighting style which is dope.

I still think it's so interesting that back in the day the thought of two players using the same character was sacrilege, thus Ryu and Ken were born as a way of allowing 2 people to play as the same style character

Ryu is living the life he wants Ken is living the life he wants Both of them are cool

Too bad they don't have the characters physically interact anymore during the intro sequences. It would be nice to have Ken put Ryu in a headlock again. It was a good way to show both their differences in personality, and the brotherly bond that they have.

3:55 that flame animation honestly looks so good, im impressed

Ryu's character was partly inspired by a real Korean-Japanese fighter named Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate. There's a great Korean martial arts movie about him called, Fighter in the Wind (2004). Highly recommend.

7:44 I mastered that technique in real life

Ryu: Speaks about the road of fighting Ken: Speaks about funny fire

Since the early games has such subtle changes, you missed one key change. From CE Ken’s DP has more horizontal movement than Ryu’s and in ST it’s more noticeable.

By the last game, it seems pretty apparent that Ken is doing sport or Kyokushin karate and ryu is sticking with traditional Okinawa karate. Hence Ken’s using kaiten doumawashi, while Ryu uses deflections and otsuki.