Evil Ryu

Evil Ryu (殺意の波動に目覚めたリュウ), abbreviated Satsui Ryu (殺意リュウ) in Street Fighter Zero 3 and in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, or Dark Ryu in the UDON comics, is a playable character in various Street Fighter games beginning with Street Fighter Alpha 2. He was originally introduced in the 1996 Street Fighter Zero manga series authored by Masaomi Nakahira, and later adapted into the Street Fighter games by Capcom.

Appearance
Evil Ryu first appeared as a palette swap of Ryu wearing a black or dark purple gi; in his gaming debut, the Alpha series also gives him a black head band. His skin and hair also become a slightly darker shade. From the SNK vs. Capcom series onward, he has been depicted with red pupils, although some games have his eyes glow entirely red.

Like Akuma, Evil Ryu has a signature kanji that appears when he performs the Raging Demon; in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Capcom vs. SNK 2, the kanji is "destruction" (滅), though it only appears in his endings.

In Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, his design was given an update; he takes on a much more menacing and powerful appearance, with traits taken from Akuma. He now has fangs, his eyes glow, his costume and headband are torn, and his hair is spiked upwards with a reddish tint. His voice is also more demonic, and he also constantly emits a dark red energy during fights.

Most notable of all is a gaping hole burned into his chest, with a similar scar on his back that bears a glowing "heaven" (天) kanji. The scar resembles the effects of being hit up close with Oni's Meido Gohado, and could also be a reference to a scene in the Ryu Final manga, in which Akuma punches through Ryu’s chest in their final battle and almost defeats him.

In Ryu's cameo appearance in Asura's Wrath, it is Asura who gives him the scar after launching him into the moon from Earth and attempts to drive him through with his fist. The scar disappears after he returns to normal.

Personality
In the Street Fighter Alpha games, Evil Ryu is cold and conceited, and is obsessed with fighting in order to prove he is the strongest. In Super Street Fighter IV, he is a more demonic and rage-driven being; while his anger is not mindless, he has purged all traces of his former honorable self. He enjoys absolute power, and lacks any sort of empathy or respect, and despises what he perceives as weakness from all of humanity, such as love, family, justice and vengeance. He is also extremely brutal towards others fighters in general, especially to those that oppose him.

Evil Ryu also refers to himself as heartless and nothing more but a demon, and will seek out and kill any opponent regardless of age and condition. He displays a very dangerous blood thirst and a ritualistic belligerence that almost borders on cannibalism, as seen in many of his prefight and win quotes.

Background

 * See also: Satsui no Hado

In the storyline of the original Street Fighter game, Ryu scarred and defeated Sagat with a single Shoryuken. The Street Fighter Alpha series later retconned this to Ryu losing control of himself by rising up fist first, striking Sagat with the Metsu Shoryuken. During Street Fighter Alpha 2, Ryu finally realized that the Satsui no Hado was the culprit behind his cheap victory over Sagat. Ryu vowed to reject the Satsui no Hado, but it wasn't enough to completely eliminate the Satsui no Hado, as it still resided within him; it was not until the end of Street Fighter IV that Gouken was able to seal it away using the "Power of Nothingness".

Thus, it must be noted that Evil Ryu does not exist as a separate character, though it is naturally possible in some games (such as the home versions of Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001) for the player to include both normal Ryu and Evil Ryu in a battle, sometimes on the same team.

In the home versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3, if the player matches Ryu against Evil Ryu, they have a special pre-match introduction that involves Ryu attacking first with a rushing elbow, and then Evil Ryu counterattacking, suggesting that the battle is taking place inside his mind, representing his struggle to resist the Satsui no Hado.

Street Fighter Alpha 2
Evil Ryu shares his ending with Ryu in the English versions. In the Japanese version, however, the following text scrolls after he is shown defeating Gouki:

"'Ryu defeated Gouki with his blood-soaked fist and then disappeared to whereabouts unknown. Did Ryu embrace the real Satsui no Hadou, or did he succeed Gouki as The Master of the Fist? Only time will tell when we see him again. Will he reach his full potential as a martial artist? Or...'"

Street Fighter Alpha 3
Evil Ryu encounters Sagat during his quest to become the ultimate fighter, and challenges him once again. Sagat told him to look at himself as he lost control of his power, and that he is not the same man he wanted to challenge. Annoyed, Evil Ryu tells him to shut up and fight; after defeating Sagat, he asks why Sagat held back, to which Sagat responds: "Why should I? You are not the Ryu who left a scar on my chest!" He tells Evil Ryu that a warrior wouldn't allow himself to be tempted by a "cheap trick", and that he will wait for his true rival to return and challenge him.

After fighting and defeating several more opponents, Evil Ryu faces M. Bison at his true potential. Bison told Evil Ryu that he came a long way, but he is only human and cannot resist the evil energy within, and will plunge deeper into the darkness as his power grows. Bison considers Evil Ryu powerful enough to be his source of energy; Evil Ryu replies that Bison will not succeed, and fights and defeats him.

Evil Ryu then travels to Shin Akuma's location. Both fighters used the Shun Goku Satsu on each other, and the attacks canceled out, saving both of their souls. Evil Ryu asks Shin Akuma that if he knows what lies ahead and what this evil energy will bring; Akuma simply replies that "words do not have any meaning to us..." and told him to satisfy his rage and anger and attack him, claiming that only the winner will know the truth.

Upon finally defeating Shin Akuma, Evil Ryu is temporarily dazed, believing that he had become a true martial artist to experience this incredible power. As he hunched over and clutched his chest, Ryu screamed in excitement and experienced a flashback of him using the fated Metsu Shoryuken against Sagat in black and white. Claiming his fist is stained with "the blood of death", his eyes became red and his chest expanded as he screamed again.

The last scene in his Story Mode shows Evil Ryu with his back turned, while looking at his fallen opponents such as Akuma and M. Bison, as he screams in excitement one last time. As he approaches Akuma's stage, deeming himself "the supreme master of the fist", the "destruction" (滅) kanji appears on the back of his gi. His final words of the storyline are "Where...? Where can I find the one who can defeat me?!"

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
In his intro, he is shown in the middle of nowhere, lying down. As he regains consciousness, he has been fully engulfed by the Satsui no Hado, which grants him incredible power. He then sets out, saying that the ultimate power has awakened within him.

In his ending, his actions have attracted the attention of Shadaloo and M. Bison, and two grunts intercept him with firearms, saying that M. Bison has summoned him. He pays them no heed and growls in rage, causing the grunts to panic, and murders them before they can react. As they lay on the ground, he says that he is not sated, that his Hado craves more blood and violence - something he claims nothing less than a fight to the death can quench.

In Street Fighter IV, Evil Ryu appears in Akuma's intro as a vision during his meditation in a remote location in a cave.

SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
Evil Ryu appears as the final boss of the game. After being captured and stored in a pod where his power is forcibly awakened, he runs wild following Bison and Geese's defeat.

Capcom vs. SNK 2
Evil Ryu's ending text after the last battle displays as follows:

"'Ryu's Evil Energy slowly disappears.... What should he do now? Look for another battle? Look for help from his friends? What will become of Ryu....'"

SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash games
Evil Ryu appears as a collectible character card.

Marvel vs. Capcom series
In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Evil Ryu appears as Ryu's 6th color scheme, and is more akin to his Capcom vs. SNK appearance, featuring pale skin instead of the usual beet red.

Asura's Wrath
Evil Ryu appears as the second and final opponent of the Asura's Wrath extra DLC episode "Lost Episode 1: Finally Someone Angrier Than Me", and is referred to as "Hatred Incarnate". After Asura changes into his six arms form, uppercuts Ryu into the moon and attempts to drive him through the chest with his fist, the Satsui no Hado awakens, causing Ryu to transform into a demonic being. The previous SSFIV combat style used in the first part of the episode switches to the traditional one used for the game.

Evil Ryu retains all of his moves from SSFIV, but they are significantly modified for the style of this game, allowing a seemingly more accurate portrayal of his power (i.e. larger Hadokens); his Metsu Hadoken, now an energy beam, is much stronger than most boss attacks in the game, and he uses it if he receives too many mantra shots from Asura. His Messatsu Goshoryu lifts Asura way higher if the first two punches land, and the final punch strikes Asura so hard it unlevels the part of the moon Augus previously leveled in the story of the game.

During the battle, he also receives an uppercut from the demigod's six arms, struggles in a headbutt contest and receives a very painful Atomic Drop on his tail bone. The battle ends when both Asura and Evil Ryu attempt the Raging Demon on one another, and it ends in a draw, exhausting Ryu's Satsui no Hado, and returning both fighters to normal.

Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind
Evil Ryu appears during the scene with Ryu in the desert for a split second in response to Akuma's speech about talking lives and getting stronger. He appears later on, just after C. Viper finishes mauling Cammy in front of Ryu's eyes in order to awaken him. He is then taken over by the Satsui no Hado and loses control of his actions, and he begins fighting C. Viper, who had underestimated the dangerous power of the Satsui no Hado and states that he was too powerful to be captured in his current state.

Ken and Sakura suddenly arrived on the scene by car, which then distracted Evil Ryu, allowing C. Viper the chance to retreat back to the S.I.N. HQ via her jet boots by leaping off a cliff. However, Evil Ryu ignored Ken's pleas to stop, and began destroying S.I.N equipment and chasing down the personnel down relentlessly. Two of the remaining agents begin firing at Evil Ryu with their handguns, only for their bullets to bounce off him, causing them to panic and run; one of the fleeing agents falls, and sees Evil Ryu quickly approaching him. Sakura grabs Evil Ryu by the arm from behind, and tries to push him back; he raises his arm to attack Sakura, but stops as he gazes at her face, and then reverts back to normal and collapses to his knees, staring in a slightly catatonic state as he was realizing what he was about to do next.

Gameplay and fighting style
Evil Ryu's moveset combines elements of the original Ryu and Akuma, such as Ryu's simplistic and slightly slow inputs with Akuma's strong combo and power potential, which generally leans slightly towards the former due to the presence of his unique normal attacks (though he also has the latter's Ashura Senku. While he generally strikes stronger and faster, his attacks still come out a bit slower than Akuma's, and their long startup requires the player to maintain a constant rhythm of attacks. Evil Ryu's main strength is the potential to constantly pin the opponent with fierce attacks, and he can deal immense damage with his Target Combos if the opponent makes a mistake. However, his low stamina, while slightly higher than Akuma's, does not allow much room for error.

In Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Evil Ryu has an updated moveset that is much closer to Akuma's, including his command normals, and adds a new special attack called the Ryusokyaku. Additionally, as a boss character in Arcade Edition, Evil Ryu has the ability to cancel into his Ashura Senku from any of his normal or special attacks, as well as being able to cancel most of his moves into the Raging Demon. This makes it very dangerous to attack him up close.

Super/Ultra Combos
Evil Ryu's Super Combos are also a mixutre of Ryu and Akuma's; among his Super Combos is the Raging Demon, which is naturally identical to Akuma's, though it has lower priority and can easily be beaten. In his appearances in the Alpha series, he uses Ryu's Shinku Hadoken and Shinku Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, as well as Akuma's Messatsu Gou Shouryuu and Shun Goku Satsu (with the latter being a 'hidden' Level 3 Super Combo).

In his latest appearance, his first Ultra Combo, the Metsu Hadoken, is functionally the same as Ryu's, though it can now be charged. His second Ultra Combo is the Messatsu-Goshoryu, which works as it did in previous appearances, and now adds an additional attack if the combo connects properly.

Quotes

 * See Evil Ryu/Quotes.

Stage Theme
  

Trivia

 * Evil Ryu's final boss in Street Fighter Alpha 3 marks the only instance in the game where M. Bison does not serve as the final boss.
 * Ryu's tenth color in the Street Fighter IV series and the default X-ISM colour in Street Fighter Alpha 3 resembles a lighter-colored version of Evil Ryu.
 * Evil Ryu's winquote towards Zangief refences the movie Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, where he fires a Metsu Hadoken at him when he was under the influence of the Satsui no Hado.
 * Evil Ryu's win quote in Arcade Mode against C. Viper in Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition references the animated movie Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind, when C. Viper willingly awakens the darkness inside of him by torturing Cammy to gather information on the Satsui no Hado.
 * Evil Ryu bears a striking resemblance to Dan Inosanto as his role as Pasqual in Robert Clouse's Game of Death.
 * Evil Ryu bears a striking resemblance to the Asura's Wrath character Asura, due to them both having eyes being the same color as their irises, tanned skin, spiky hair and their consistent aggressive face, but unlike Evil Ryu, Asura is very compassionate towards his family and humanity and is a Demi-God, while Evil Ryu is a cold-blooded Demon.
 * Evil Ryu's voice strongly resembles that of Vegeta from the Dragon Ball Z anime series. Coincidentally, Kyle Herbert voiced Gohan in the same series alongside Chris Sabat, Vegeta's English voice actor.
 * In the Sega Mega Drive pirate games King of Fighters '98 and King of Fighters '99 (as well as the also pirated King of Fighters 2000 for the SNES) a similar "Orochi" evil version of Ryu is playable. Though he is unrelated to the actual Evil Ryu, he looks similar. Ryu99.jpg
 * In the Gameboy Advance version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, Evil Ryu has an alternate ending if he lose to Shin Akuma. Shin Akuma states that while he fought well, he was no match for the Raging Demon. This ending is only present in the aforementioned version.