Evil Ryu

"All will fail. No matter who stands against me."

- Evil Ryu

"Violence is who I am! (心の臓止めてくれる！)"

- Evil Ryu (Street Fighter IV series)

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 the Street Fighter IV series, 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 Masahiko 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 featured a slightly dark 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 and Super Combo Finishes.

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 gi, gloves, 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 aura 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 attempting to impale him 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 murderous-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 murder any opponent in a fight, regardless of their 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 rivals and ending with Ryu in the English versions. In the Japanese version, Evil Ryu makes a direct threat at Sakura telling her that she was in his way and will show no mercy, and with Akuma, Evil Ryu acknowledges Akuma as his master's enemy, and Akuma taunts him, refering to him as a boy and a beginner, and wonders if Ryu believes his own Satsui no Hado was a match for him. 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
"There is an evil energy that causes absolute destruction... Ryu agonizes, knowing that he cannot control his power. Will he still become a master, or will his journey end in ruin?"

- Evil Ryu's profile in Street Fighter Alpha 3

"One possessed of an evil spirit will fight out of pride until their dying day."

- Retsu from Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation

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. M. 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. M. Bison considers Evil Ryu powerful enough to be his source of energy; Evil Ryu replies that M. 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, including and M. Bison. He screams in excitement one last time and approaches the location of Akuma's stage, deeming himself "the supreme master of the fist". As the "destruction" (滅) kanji appears on the back of his gi, Evil Ryu's final words of the storyline ("Where...? Where can I find the one who can defeat me?!") reveal that his 'downfall' is complete, and he has now taken on Akuma's original burden.

In the Game Boy Advance version of Street Fighter Alpha 3, Evil Ryu has an alternate ending if he lost to Shin Akuma. Shin Akuma states that while he fought well, he was no match for the Raging Demon, and that he is the embodiment of pure evil. This ending is only present in the aforementioned version.

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

In his intro for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, 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 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.

Street Fighter EX
In his ending in the first Street Fighter EX, Evil Ryu challenges Akuma, who willingly accepts his challenge. In Street Fighter EX3, his ending mentions him letting out a blood-chilling scream, and that no one knows if that was the sign of Ryu's last bit of humanity fading away, or if it was a cry for help.

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 M. Bison and Geese's defeat. Evil Ryu is referred to as, "The Creature", by both M. Bison and Geese, who panic when the capsule containing him explodes, leaving the player's team to deal with Evil Ryu himself, and it is not known what happens to Evil Ryu after the battle.

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 Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, when Ryu uses the Akuma style on the "Complete Change Ryu" mode, he is very similar to Evil Ryu in both physical aspect and fighting style.

In Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Evil Ryu appears as Ryu's 6th color scheme, and is more akin to his Capcom vs. SNK version, featuring red-tinted skin.

Namco × Capcom
Evil Ryu appears in this game upon succumbing to the Satsui no Hado after much persistence from Akuma and M. Bison's Psycho Power evolving to higher levels of power. He departs from his allies in search of blood, desiring no less than pure violence where it may exist.

His evil form remains in the story until both the events of Rose's soul being cleansed from the mind control of Black Valkyrie and Ken performing the Shin Shoryuken on him in hopes to "awaken" him, of which he himself uses on M. Bison to disrupt the Psycho Power's stability, making him vulnerable from then on.

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 Alpha manga
In this continuity, Evil Ryu appears after he is shot in his chest accidentally by an officer, he begins to go on a killing spree and tries to murder every single person on a ship. Many cops try to kill him with machine guns and pistols, realizing that he is not human and a very dangerous individual, though they stand no chance against him, as he simply just dodges every bullet by using his Ashura Senku to move fast. He is held back by Birdie and Chun-Li, however, he begins to overpower them with ease, as they stood no chance against his fighting skills. They try to reason with him, as he refuses to listen to them and fights them relentlessly; he then tries to murder Chun-Li with a Shoryuken, only to be held back by Birdie, who tells her to stop him at any means before he kills more people. After he nearly beats Birdie to death, he attempts to murder a weakened Chun-Li with a Metsu Shoryuken before he holds back as fragments of Ryu's will resurfaces, and returns back to normal. Tired, he falls to the ground and shortly afterwards is taken into custody in order to gather more information about his Satsui no Hado.

Street Fighter III: Ryu Final
Although Evil Ryu does not appear in Ryu Final, he is referenced by Akuma during his fight with Ryu.

UDON comics
Evil Ryu does not directly appear in the original Street Fighter comics by Udon, but instead acts as a dark "shadow" for Ryu's internal struggle with the Satsui no Hado. In issue #0, a metaphorical fight between Ryu and his darker side is portrayed to characterize Ryu's battle within his mind and on certain occasions (such as during the end of the first World Warrior tournament in issue #1's backup story or during his battle with Akuma in issue #6) Ryu succumbs to the Satsui no Hado's influence and begins using more lethal versions of his art. However, Ryu never fully becomes Evil Ryu during the comic series as he is against the darker aspects of the power since it involves killing.

Evil Ryu does however appear in volume two of the Super Street Fighter comic series, after absorbing the Satsui no Hado from Sakura and Akuma's Hadoken.

He transforms into Evil Ryu and fights Oni, they are found by Gill who is in interested in this power, he engages them in battle, he tells Evil Ryu that he is seeking the salvation of the world, he supressess the Satsui no Hado in Ryu, which in turns him back into his normal state, he tells Ryu that there will be a time when he will be a great use to his world when the time comes as he and his younger brother leave into a helicopter while Gill flies by using his elemental powers to create ice wings behind his back.

In the Unlimited series, Ryu's hold on the Satsui no Hado has become even harder due to absorbing Sakura and Akuma's Satsui no Hado as he now has vesions him murdering his friends and looking less human and more like a demon.

Street Fighter × G.I. Joe
Evil Ryu makes an appearence in the crossover story after Ryu is fought by Jinx but former turns back to normal before he transformed completely into his evil form.

Street Fighter II V
Though not explicitly called as such, an incarnation similar to Evil Ryu appears in Street Fighter II V. This form is brought about by one of Shadowloo's cyber chips being implanted into his forehead in order to control his mind, rather than having glowing white or red eyes, his eyes are pink (this is likely due to the cyber chips being powered by Psycho Power). As shown on one of the brainwave monitors, his mind is shown to be in a state of constant heightened aggression and is unable to use the Hadouken until manually ordered from a console to calm down.

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation
Evil Ryu appears shortly after training in a temple at night as he has thoughts about Akuma killing Gouken by ripping his hand though him, the Satsui no Hado starts to corrupt him as he comes to his master’s grave stone and once again starts to have thoughts of Akuma coming to him, the Satsui no Hado from his body begins to level a part of the forest and Gouken’s gravestone, leaving him unconscious on the ground. After finding out about Shun, Ryu starts to feel the emergence of the Satsui no Hado awaking inside him, he is then possessed by it and walks outside, Ken begins to feel the dark power coming from the outside, and discovers that the dark power is coming from Ryu. As Ken calls out to him, Ryu begins to attack Ken, Ken then realizes that that the dark power that he is sensing is the Satsui no Hado, as Ryu tries to attack him once again, Ken punches him, breaking Ryu from its possession over him.

That night, Ryu told Ken that if he cannot break from the Satsui no Hado’s influence, he must stop him from killing other people. The next day, Shun is fighting against Zangief, and he starts fall to the Satsui no Hado, this event causes Ryu to be influenced by Shun’s own Satsui no Hado, as shun begins to lose against Zangief as he holds him in a bear hug, Ryu breaks free of Shun’s influence over him, he starts to fight against Zangief on his own. Shun’s own Satsui no Hado awakens inside him and starts to influence Ryu’s own Satsui no Hado, turning into Evil Ryu, he starts to perform a Metsu Hadoken, as he is just about to fire it against Zangief, Ken calls out to him, Ryu breaks out of it, he throws his Hadoken at the top of the building, the impact of the attack is so powerful, it begins to level and destroy the entire top of the building. When Ryu asks Shun about how he learned that power, Shun reveals that their father was using the Dark Hado too. Before Ryu could get more answers, a cyborg attacks him in order to gain more data. As Shun takes a hit for Ryu, he becomes angry, and the Satsui no Hado starts waking up inside, as Evil Ryu fires a Hadoken at the cyborg, its whole body is completely destroyed. Ryu slowly begins to wonder if he will end up like Akuma. Later on, he is visited by Rose, she tells him that Shun needs help, and Ryu must keep on going. He then travels to Akuma’s island in order to get some answers, he is then influenced by Akuma’s Satsui no Hado, turning him to Evil Ryu. As Akuma comes near Ryu, he askes Akuma if he has a family, Akuma told him that he walks alone. Evil Ryu appears after he sees Ken being beaten by a cyborg. He turns into Evil Ryu. After freeing Shun, he fights Sadler who had gained all data from all of the other fighters he kidnapped. As Ryu fires another Metsu Hadoken, he is retained by Rose. After Sadler performs a Hadoken at Evil Ryu, Ryu breaks free of the Satsui no Hado once and for all, and destroys Sadler with his own Hadoken.

Street Fighter Alpha: Generations
Evil Ryu appears when Ryu desperately decides to discard the meaning of a true warrior as he is put into a dire situation by Akuma, as many spirits of other warriors come to see his fight against Akuma. He starts to attack Akuma by kicking him in the leg, twisting his foot on it for further injury, but Akuma goes back on the offensive, and he is then punched in the face by Akuma and is slammed down. Akuma told him that the Satsui no Hado is the true call of a fighter, declaring that he was right, and that Ryu who now stands before him, proved his point.

Evil Ryu then tries to perform a Raging Demon on Akuma, only to be stopped by a flower, he breaks out of the Satsui no Hado’s influence over him, and realizes that the flower is showing an image of Fukka.

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 his power. 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 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.

Evil Ryu's play style in general is meant to be a full-on offensive fighter, with only the Ashura Senku to get him out of a tight spot, but nothing to make use for defensive play unlike other characters like Guile, who can make use of both attack and defense. His low stamina seems to hint at his lack of defensive options, and Evil Ryu's movement speed is a bit slow, which can hinder him if a careless player is caught in a combo.

In Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Evil Ryu has an updated moveset that is much closer to Akuma's, including his unique attacks, and adds a new special move 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 mixture 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-Goshoryu 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.

Pop Culture
Evil Ryu/Pop Culture

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 (aside from Bison himself, whose final boss is Ryu).


 * 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.
 * In Arcade Mode of Ultra/Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Evil Ryu makes a nod to Bison in a sense when he makes a first attack, he shouts "Yes! Yes!" in a sadistic tone. The said line was said by Bison from the eighth episode of the animated series.


 * Bullets are inferior to Evil Ryu.


 * Evil Ryu's third color in the Street Fighter IV series is a nod to his original appearance in the first Street Fighter.
 * If Evil Ryu loses to Shin Akuma in the Final Battle mode of the PSP version of ​Street Fighter Alpha 3​, parts of Birdie's ending text will play instead of the usual bad ending text.


 * Though Evil Ryu and Ryu are the same character, the former being a What-If version of the latter, they have a special fighting intro sequence if pitched against each other in Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Gallery
Evil Ryu/Gallery

Sprites
Evil Ryu/Sprites