You know, I’m something of a Street Fighter fan myself. Thus when Capcom announced Street Fighter 6 with a tantalising trailer that reveals very little other than the rippling muscles, bulging veins, and wiggling toes of its fighters, Luke and Ryu, I was elated. Ryu has fortunately retained his glorious ‘Hot Ryu’ look from Street Fighter 5, his face full of bearded goodness, but this delightful news has been overshadowed by how unnaturally wide and broad the fighter has become. His torso now spans the width of a flat-screen televisi💙on, while his head resembles a delicately placed pellet on his broad, herculean shoulders.
But Ryu hasn’t always looked this, well, brawny. His first appearance in the original Street Fighter, released in 1987, was small, soft and squishy in comparison. This could be down to the fact the graphics at that time were unable to render the♋🤡 refined tendons that hold onto Ryu’s huge pectoral muscles, but Ryu was also street fighting thugs who were significantly larger than him.
Here’s a look at our 𒐪beefy boy Ryu oꦐver the years, as he evolves from a soft, fledgling fighter into buff world warrior.
1987: (The original) Street Fighter
In the original Street Fighter, Ryu has none of those well-defined muscles yet, nor is he as expansive as he ღis in his latest iteration. He’s roughly human-sized, and looks like a young but malnourished lad. Yet some of the trademark attire can be found here, such as his white gi and red gloves. Curiously, his hair is also red, and his headband is white. We also do not have the luxury of seeing his toes, because he wore red sparring shoes.
1991: Street Fighter 2 series
Here’s the most quintessential look of Ryu yet: his appearance in the Street Fighter 2 is one that would largely remain unchanged, aside from the size of his ever-growing arms and chest. Ryu has ditched his crimson red hair from the first game and dyed it dark brown—honestly, it’s an odd decision for a man whose sole obsession in life is to be the best fighter in the world, so much so that he couldn’t fix the seams of his gi properly. His chest, however, has definitely become a tad wider and defined than the first,ꦬ but nothing like an Ubermensch just yet. His eyebrows are flourishing. He also took off his red shoes.
His portrait also seem to have changed across the various iterations across the series, evolving from somewhat unsure to a decidedly m♔ore resolute expression:
Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior
Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition, Street Fighter 2: Turbo
Super Street Fighter 2, Ultra Street Fighter 2, Hyper Street Fighter 2
Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo HD Remix
1995: Street Fighter Alpha series
This is by far my favourite look of Ryu so far; my man seemed to have lost some of his robust mu♈scles for a leaner look, which is probably chalked up to the fact that the Alpha series is a prequel to the millions of confusingly named Street Fighter 2 games. Ryu’s looks are a lot more anime-inspired and less intense, probably because he hasn’t suffered the agony of loss that many times yet.
His hair is also a blend of red and br𓂃own—he probably couldn’t upkeep the hair colour ജfrequently in between rounds of sparring. Ryu’s white headband is also back from the first game, so chronologically he has been wearing the white one for a couple of years till it was soiled. Probably from hair dye.
Street Fighter Alpha: Warrior’s Dreams
Street Fighter Alpha 2
Street Fighter Alpha 3
1996: Street Fighter EX series
Stree𒁏t Fighter EX was one of the stranger looking games in the Street Fighter universe, with the fighters depicted as distinctly blockish, 3D polygon figures. Ryu’s portrait, however, looks appropriately enraged, even though his attire barely evolved from the days of Street Fighter 2.
1997: Street Fighter 3 series
Ryu’s back in arguably the best Street Fighter games in the series. Older and wiser, he has ditched his old white head♓band for a red one, cut his hair slightly shorter, and dyed it to be a darker shade of brown. Ryu didn’t bulk up significantly, but his unwavering look had only intensified.
Street Fighter 3: Next Generation, Street Fighter 3: 2nd Impact
Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike
2008: Street Fighter 4 series
Street Fighter 4 was released a good 11 years after Street Fighter 3, so it makes sense that the fighters—and by extension, Ryu—had a huge graphical upgrade since then. Ryu’s packing some serious guns in his arms, alon💫g with disproportionately sized and impeccably defined muscles. His head, however, is still regular sized, so perhaps he hasn’t been seriously pumping his body with steroids. You can also definitely see his toes, each individually rendered with utmost precision.
2016: Street Fighter 5 series
The latest Street Fighter series features Ryu at his beefiest yet. Unlike his buddy Ken, Ryu is pretty conversative🌳 when it comes to his street fighting fashion; he still uses his red headband and gloves, while wearing a tattered white gi. That said, Street Fighter 5 also introduces to us the world’s first bearded (and incredibly magnificent) Ryu, while adding several inches to his ever expanding shoulders. Street Fighter 4’s Ryu may have a rectangle-shaped body, but Street Fighter 5’s Ryu has a Dorito-shaped body.
Which brings us to…
????: Street Fighter 6 series
W🔯ell at least Ryu’s now. Maybe his red shoes will make a comeback someday.
