30 years of Street Fighter, 30 Days of Characters; #20

After 30 years it's tough to improve on perfection. When Street Fighter came out there were only two playable characters, Ken or Ryu. There was very little separating the characters. Aside from a change of color the characters were identical. Even their special attacks were exactly the same. Capcom was wise enough to realize that western audiences might not want to play a game without some representation. Ken was pandering to the US audience and it worked. Every studio following in the footprints of Capcom had to make a fighter to represent the USA. But if he was just like Ryu then what was it that made Ken so appealing? The two would develop their own identity over the next 30 years.

In the history of Street Fighter nothing stayed the same, not even Ken and Ryu. The first changes were subtle, just in appearance really. This was a detail often overlooked in their character designs. Costumes told a story and Ken's version of the gi was subtly different from Ryu's. It wasn't just the color that made him stand out. Ken's pant and gi top were hemmed by comparison Ryu's were torn. Ken's image was that of clean-cut martial arts superstar. We saw him grow up, win championships, marry his long-time girlfriend Eliza and even have a child in the various sequels and prequels. Ken projected success in his personal and professional life. His moves in Street Fighter evolved to distinguish him from Ryu. In the Street Fighter Zero / Alpha series there was greater attention paid to the special attacks they could perform. Ken's dragon punch became synonymous with fire. His burning dragon punch moved vertically instead of horizontally. His version of the hurricane kick also traveled higher and had a burning effect. Ryu's version of the super attacks were not as flashy but instead focused on stripped down power.

As the series grew in popularity so did Ken. He wasn't seen as solely a token USA character but just a great character to play with. Capcom made sure to give him and Ryu more distance as the franchise was resurrected with Street Fighter IV. The changes kept coming and he got a radical makeover in Street Fighter V. His look and his moves had stirred up some strong feelings in the community. They felt that the designers were steering Ken away from the elements that kept him consistently great. In the end they learned to embrace the change. I'm glad that Ken has been around for 30 years and I hope to live long enough to see him celebrate another 30. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!