Gouken

Art by julientainmont

History

Gouken studied the art of Ansatsuken under master Goutetsu, together with his younger brother, Akuma (Gouki in Japan). The martial art contains a element of murderous intent, known as the Satsui no Hadou. Gouken worked consciously to remove the Satsui no Hadou from his art, while his brother Akuma fully embraces it. Gouken left to open his own martial art school after Akuma, immersed in the aura of the Satsui no Hadou, killed their master.

Gouken had three students - Dan, Ryu, and Ken. One day, Akuma came to Gouken's school and attacked him using the Raging Demon move called the Shun Goku Satsu.  Gouken appeared to have died from the attack and went into coma, but he was able to remove all emotions from his soul and survived the Raging Demon.

Personality

Gouken is a stoic, calm, and peaceful practitioner of Ansatsuken. He detests the Satsui no Hadou within it, and refused to train Dan Hibiki after accepting him to his school, because he thought that Dan's thirst for revenge will lead him to embrace the Satsui no Hadou.

Gouken is also a humble master, as he treats his former students Ryu and Ken as rivals instead of eternal students who need his continuous tutelage. He believes that he has nothing else to teach Ryu and Ken, and lets them develop into their own formidable warriors.

Mastery 

While Gouken studied the martial art of Ansatsuken under master Goutetsu, he fully rejects the murderous intent or Satsui no Hadou within the art. He created his own version of Ansatsuken without the Satsui no Hadou, and taught it to his students. However, the Satsui no Hadou still lingers within his student Ryu. After surviving the Shun Goku Satsu attack from Akuma by emptying his own soul, Gouken developed the Power of Nothingness, which he used to seal the Satsui no Hadou in Ryu.

Journey

Gouken lives a righteous life, and seeks to promote martial arts as a peaceful endeavour. He rejects the Satsui no Hadou completely and strives to seal and remove it forever from the world. Even as his brother Akuma moved closer to the Satsui no Hadou and killed their master while immersed in it, Gouken is able to avoid the Satsui no Hadou completely.

His martial art has no murderous intent, and he survived the Shun Goku Satsu attack, a strong manifestation of the Satsui no Hadou, by developing an art that is completely opposite to it called the Power of Nothingness. It is his dream to remove the Satsui no Hadou from the world using the Power of Nothingness, and he has passed on the art to Ryu. With Akuma moving ever closer to the Satsui no Hadou and losing his humanity, the greatest challenge for Gouken is to use the Power of Nothingness to stop Akuma and seal off the Satsui no Hadou for good.

Sean

Art by SemperII

History

Sean Matsuda comes from a Brazillian martial arts family led by his paternal grandfather, Kinjiro Matsuda, who is the master of the Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu fighting style. He taught the style to his three grandchildren, including Sean. While his siblings Fabio and Laura inherits their grandfather's style and practise it proudly, Sean has more interest in pursuing the Ansatsuken style of Ken Masters. He is an avid basketball player, and uses a basketball as a weapon in his fights.

Personality

Sean is a lively and hopeful fighter who strives to be as good as Ken. While he may be inexperienced, he abhors weakness, and detests being compared to Dan Hibiki. He can be very focused in his training to be a greater fighter after an embarrassing defeat. Sean is a warrior who never gives up.

Mastery 

Sean started off as a practitioner of Matsuda Jiu-Jitsu but switched to the Ansatsuken style after watching an online course called Masters Online Karate by Ken Masters. He has not formally trained with Ken, and learned all  his Ansatsuken moves by imitation. His techniques are far from perfect, however, with intense focus, he can perform a special Shoryuken super move that can match the strength of Ken's original super move, the Shoryu Reppa.

Journey

Sean comes from the Matsuda Jiu-jitsu martial arts family, but his interest and admiration of Ken brought him in close contact with the murderous art of Ansatsuken.

His knowledge of Ansatsuken is mainly self-taught, and he once challenged Ken but he lost. He was asked by Ken to search for Ryu and challenge him to a fight. Sean lost badly, but being a determined warrior who does not give up easily, he went to intense solitary training for one full year.

After his training, he went to join the US Martial Arts Championship. However, he did not win and Ken told him that he did not train properly and should train harder next time. Ken went on to win the championship and offered him the trophy. Sean refuses, as it is against his pride to just accept a reward that he did not earn. He vows to be a much stronger fighter, and aims to win the trophy using his own strength in the next tournament.

Sakura

Art by Snipetto

History

Sakura Kasugano was a high school girl who admires Ryu and aspires to be a great fighter just like him. She is mostly a self-taught fighter, and has faced strong fighters such as Sagat and Ken. Sakura has an existing rivalry with her once schoolmate, Karin Kanzuki.

Personality

Sakura is a very outgoing and jolly fighter, and always seek to improve herself as a fighter. She does not shy from challenging stronger fighters, and treats every match as a learning experience. Sakura is deeply respectful of her opponents, and one day aspires to be as strong as Ryu.

Mastery

Sakura fights by imitation of Ryu's style of Ansatsuken. She has never received formal training in the art, but is very talented in copying Ryu's techniques of Hadouken, Shoryuken, and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Her versions of those moves are not as refined as Ryu's of Ken's, but they are powerful enough to make her a formidable warrior. She hopes to one day be under the direct tutelage of Ryu, so she can truly master his art of Ansatsuken.

Journey

Sakura has fought many warriors during her high school days, especially her schoolmate Karin who always challenges her to be a stronger fighter. She has developed a life-long friendship with Karin as she pursues the shadow of Ryu. After graduation from high school and working part time in an arcade, she is still searching for her future, and contemplating starting a family. However, she continues to look up to Ryu as mentor and inspiration. Sakura's future is uncertain, and she may develop a relationship with Ryu beyond what she has experienced so far.

Dan

Art by shinbond-zero

History

Dan Hibiki's father, Go Hibiki was a talented martial artist who challenged a great many warriors. However, when he was fighting against the Muay Thai King Sagat, Go was killed in battle. This created a resentment in Dan's heart, and he vowed to avenge his father by killing Sagat. He once studied under the legendary master of Ansatsuken, Gouken, who is also the master of Ryu and Ken.

Personality

Dan is a very confident fighter who likes to show off, and he excels in taunting his opponents. He created his own fighting style called the Saikyo-Ryu, which means the Strongest Style. He is usually extremely arrogant and does not fear his opponents even though they may be stronger than him. He never hesitates to taunt those who dare to challenge him to a fight.

Mastery

Dan's own self-proclaimed strongest fighting style, Saikyo-Ryu, is a mixture of his late father's martial art with amateur Ansatsuken techniques he learned from Gouken, and Muay Thai, the martial art of Sagat - the man who killed his father. It is his hope that by combining the different martial arts, he would have created an unrivaled martial art system that could help him defeat Sagat, his father's killer. It is his dream that Saikyo-Ryu would be the world's greatest martial art, but he has yet to prove it by defeating every strong fighter out there.

Journey

The assassin's fist Ansatsuken is a component of Dan's Saikyo-Ryu style, but he only understands it at a surface level, and never truly mastered it. His former master Gouken refused to teach him the complete Ansatsuken martial art, since Dan had a deep hatred in his heart to kill Sagat. Gouken feared that Dan's vengeful heart may eventually lead him to the path of no return of fully embracing the Satsui no Hadou.

Dan's one goal in life was to avenge his father by killing Sagat. However, when he finally had the chance to fight Sagat, the Muay Thai King threw the match and let Dan win out of guilt of killing his father. Sagat's life was him for the taking, but Dan did not kill him because he thought that his father would not have wished for his son to kill Sagat in this way. Otherwise, Dan would forever be known as a murderer and merciless killer.

Dan is now completely focused on promoting his Saikyo-Ryu fighting style to the world, hoping to get students to enroll in his self-proclaimed strongest martial art school.

Akuma

Art by houssamtamaoui

History

Akuma (Gouki in Japan) first appeared in Street Fighter II, where he killed the villain M. Bison (Vega in Japan) with his signature move, the Shun Goku Satsu (Raging Demon). He studied the martial art of Ansatsuken under Goutetsu, together with his older brother Gouken who is the master of Ryu and Ken. Akuma has always been more attracted to the darker side of Ansatsuken, embracing the Satsui no Hadou more that his brother Gouken. He truly believes in the power of the Satsui no Hadou, and challenged his brother to a duel to the death.

Ryu and Ken witnessed their master's supposed death from the Shun Goku Satsu technique by Akuma. Seeing the two young warriors as weak and immature, he left them to mourn their master as he went on a path to become the world's strongest warrior.

Personality

Akuma has an insatiable lust for power and does not shy away from the murderous intent of the Satsui no Hadou. The more he taps into it, the more powerful he becomes. He only has one goal - to become the true master of the fist, the absolute strongest warrior of them all, even if it means becoming an emotionless, merciless demon.

Mastery 

Akuma is highly interested in the power of the Satsui no Hadou, and is the world's best known practitioner of the extremely fatal murderous intent. He can harness the power of the Satsui no Hadou at will, and not even the notorious villain M. Bison can match Akuma's strength with his great Psycho Power.

There is only one person he fears who can overcome him despite not possessing the power of the Satsui no Hadou - Ryu. A student of his brother Gouken, the young warrior Ryu has tremendous potential in the way of the Satsui no Hadou, and Akuma is always concerned that Ryu may fully embrace it and surpass his strength. Akuma wants to prove that he is the world's strongest warrior, and could not wait for Ryu to fully embrace the Satsui no Hadou, and then defeat him in battle.

Journey

Akuma only desires strength, and all his life he has been searching for true power in the murderous intent of the Satsui no Hadou. Every time he taps deeper into the Satsui no Hadou, a piece of his humanity is lost. Akuma is in danger of losing his humanity while using the Satsui no Hadou to become the strongest warrior in the world.

After years of training and immersing in the Satsui no Hadou, he is able to attain the status of Shinjin, the godlike human. If he delves further into the Satsui no Hadou, he will lose all of his humanity and become Oni, a true demon.

Ken

Art by dnabat

History

Ken was introduced as Ryu's martial arts buddy in the first Street Fighter game released in 1987. His moves are similar to Ryu's, centred on the Hadouken, Shoryuken, and Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku. Ken is the heir to the wealthy Masters Corporation in the United States of America, and is happily married to Eliza. Together, they have a son named Mel.

Personality

Ken is a more relaxed and flamboyant warrior compared to Ryu, but he has a strong drive towards success in the martial arts. Ken is Ryu's eternal rival, and he regularly challenges Ryu to friendly bouts to push himself to the limit. The only person he really wants to defeat in life is Ryu. Ken does have a family, and he needs to juggle his time between fighting Ryu and being together with his wife and son.

Mastery 

During his childhood, Ken was sent by his father to study the martial arts of Ansatsuken under master Gouken, together with Ryu. Ken has been training with Ryu since they were young, and has gained considerable mastery of Ansatsuken. Compared to Ryu, Ken has a more fiery personality, and this translates to his mastery of the flaming Shoryuken and Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku.

Journey

Ken was born in a wealthy family, and he would not have to live a hard life if not for his father who sent him to train in the martial arts under Gouken since his childhood. He engaged in hard labour and endured rigorous martial arts training (together with Ryu) under Gouken. Perhaps his father did not want his son to be a rich spoiled brat who does not understand the meaning of life and hard work. Ken has grown to be a loving husband and father, and perhaps one day he will be the benevolent and compassionate chairman of the Master Corporation, leading an effort to make positive contributions to society.

Ken still has to work on the strength on his mental constitution, since he was once under the mind control of the villain M. Bison (Vega in Japan), and became the psycho-powered Violent Ken. While under the mind control of M. Bison, he was asked to kill his longtime partner and rival Ryu, only snapping out of it in the last second before he gave Ryu a fatal blow. His brotherly friendship with Ryu was the main factor that returned him to humanity, and broke the mind control of M. Bison.

Ryu

Art by dnabat

History

Ryu was introduced to the world in the very first Street Fighter game, released in 1987. He is the hero and main character of the Street Fighter series, and has appeared in all Street Fighter games ever since. He is the very first Shoto character, and has inspired numerous clones in other fighting games, including Street Fighter itself. His signature moves are the Hadouken (Fireball), Shoryuken (Rising Dragon Fist), and Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku (Hurricane Kick).

Personality

Ryu is a lone warrior who always strive to improve himself. His motto is to get stronger, and he travels around the world to meet and challenge other fighters. He has a healthy rivalry with his fellow martial arts student Ken, who never hesitate to challenge him to a fight.

Mastery 

Ryu is a student of the Ansatsuken (Assassin's Fist) under the tutelage of his master Gouken. He is tremendously talented  in the Ansatsuken, however, he has to overcome the Satsui no Hadou (murderous intent) within him that threatens to take over his mind and body. If it happens, Ryu will be transformed into an evil demonic creature who kills without mercy.

Journey

Ryu was once overtaken by the Satsui no Hadou for a brief moment when he fought Sagat in the first World Warrior Tournament (Street Fighter 1987). This left a scar on Sagat's chest, and he vows to challenge Ryu to a fight to prove that he is the better fighter. Ryu regrets that he briefly succumbed to the evil killing intent, and trains hard every day to expel the Satsui no Hadou from his body.

After years of training, he was able to expel the Satsui no Hadou from his body. Even though it was expelled, the Satsui no Hadou within Ryu did not go away completely. Instead, it manifests itself in a physical form called Kage (Shadow). Perhaps Ryu has to defeat Kage to completely eliminate the killing intent that was expelled from his body.