Ken

Story

On the one hand, Ken is very similar to Ryu. But after they left Master Gouken, their paths became very different. While Ryu follows more traditional methods of self-perfection through martial arts, Ken wants to explore everything this world has to offer. Such an adventurous nature brings the guy a lot of joy. Still, it also leads to unpleasant troubles.

Ken grew up in Japan, but his mother has some American roots. When he was a child, the parents reached a difficult period in their relationships. They were close to divorce, and that strongly affected their boy. Ken dyed his hair blond, connected to bad people, and was almost involved in criminal behavior. The parents managed to prevent the disaster — they restored peace in the family, and Ken abandoned his bad tendencies forever.

A bit later, Ken started his training with Gouken. The boy wasn’t too pleased at first, but then he got the taste for martial arts and started to enjoy growing into a stronger man and a better person.

It was a period when he met Ryu. They trained together, and actually, they lived together. It was the start of a lifelong friendship (and, sure, rivalry). When both were ready, Gouken “graduated” them to the real world. Ryu went to Thailand, where he faced the evil guy, Sagat. Ken decided to travel to the USA.

Ken’s martial art adventure continued. He participated in quite a few tournaments and was pretty successful in them. He felt good and enjoyed life, but meeting Ryu again raised some philosophical questions.

Ryu defeated Sagat and was deep in doubt about a real warrior’s path. Should he use such techniques as the deadly fist of Akuma? Ken had a friendly fight with Ryu, hoping to destroy the doubts of his friend. But eventually, he took some of them for himself. What does it mean for him, Ken, to be a warrior? What is his true path?

Meeting other strong fighters helped Ken find an exceptional goal — fight evil. With Sakura, they battled M. Bison, but Ken became a victim of Bison's hypnosis. For a while, the villain controlled Ken and even forced him to fight Ryu. The good guys sure won, as it usually happens.

After that, Ken took a little break from fighting. He became a husband, and his wife, Eliza, was pregnant. At this point, Ken felt again like he was missing something in his life. Eliza insisted on his new journey to meet Ryu. That adventure included many fights and exciting meetings. It helped the guy a lot — Ken found a balance between his life in modern society and following the ancient tradition of martial arts.

Ken even got a student, Sean. They both participated in the U.S. Martial Arts tournament and even if Ken was somewhat humble, he still won the event a recording number of times.

The business activities of Ken are not that successful. He earns well, but he can be easily deceived. Ken finds himself involved in a criminal plot. The real villain is JP, and Ken has to clear his name and the reputation of his family. Can he handle this task in the events of Street Fighter 6?

Personality

Ken is significantly more lighthearted than his friend Ryu. He is not too obsessed with deep philosophical concerns, even if they hit him really hard sometimes. 

The guy manages to keep a nice balance in his life. He is a really skilled fighter who has reached amazing success in this field. He has a lovely wife and a son — simple family happiness is here to enjoy. And his business brings decent wealth.

In general, Ken is just a nice person you want to be friends with.

But to be honest, there is a dark side too. Ken’s ego is sometimes too big. He is aware of his strengths, and he is proud of them. It leads to arrogance. In some situations, Ken manifests his violent nature, becoming too aggressive toward his opponents.

Playstyle

Like Ryu, Ken is a Shoto character — his moveset covers various aspects while not emphasizing anything specific. He is a good choice for beginners to grasp the general principles of Street Fighter 6. But also, he is pretty good for skilled players too.

Ken’s offensive kit is really effective, so you can apply good pressure with him. He has projectiles to fight from a distance. His Shoryuken is a key anti-air move. Players might be rewarded for using more of a rushdown style with Ken in SF6.

Appearance

The clothes and general appearance of Ken nicely reflect his “modern” approach to martial arts. The guy is stylish, with an obvious love for luxury stuff. This makes him very different from his more ascetic friend, Ryu.

Ken has a nicely-built body that clearly proves his effort in fighting training. The blond hair is a reminder of the bad times at his young age when he almost took the criminal path.