Back كن ماسترز Arabic Ken Masters DIQ Ken Masters Spanish Ken Masters Finnish Ken Masters French Ken Masters ID Ken Masters Italian ケン・マスターズ Japanese 켄 마스터즈 Korean Ken (Street Fighter) Dutch
| Ken Masters | |
|---|---|
| Street Fighter character | |
.png) Ken Masters in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (1999) | |
| First game | Street Fighter (1987) |
| Created by | Takashi Nishiyama |
| Designed by | Shoei Okano (Street Fighter II)[1] |
| Portrayed by | Damian Chapa (Street Fighter film, game) Christian Howard (Street Fighter: Legacy, Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist) |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Fighting style | Shotokan, Kyokushin, Kickboxing, Taekwondo[3][4] |
| Origin | United States |
| Nationality | American[a] |
Ken Masters (Japanese: ケン・マスターズ, Hepburn: Ken Masutāzu) is a character in Capcom's Street Fighter fighting game series. The character was first introduced in the 1987 title Street Fighter as an alternate fighter to Ryu. While Ken and Ryu are devoted to testing their power, Ken instead focuses on developing a family with his spouse Elisa. Ken becomes a mainstay in the following Street Fighter games. An alternate brainwashed version of him, Violent Ken (暴力的なケン), has also been featured in a few of his appearances. Ken's presence is in several sequels to the Street Fighter series in addition to its related media. He has also made crossover appearances in Namco × Capcom, Project X Zone, and Super Smash Bros.
Capcom designer Takashi Nishiyama created Ken when developing the first Street Fighter game. However, due to budget problems, Ken could only use Ryu's moves, which later resulted in their characterization as friendly rivals and fellow students of Gouken. Shoei Okano eventually redesigned the character in later games. Seeking to make the character more unique, Capcom redesigned Ken's red gi in Street Fighter V and Street Fighter 6, though the latter resulted in changing his entire character depicting his life as less stable.
Despite being recognized as a clone of Ryu, Ken develops a more social life rather than devoting his life to his training like Ryu. Their similarities inspired the term Shotokans in other fighting games besides Street Fighter. The evolution of his gameplay and design has been popular among gamers for becoming more unique. However, some critics were critical of his role in Street Fighter 6, which was significantly changed due to the sudden increase in depression resulting from losing his family.
- ^ "Street Fighter II Developer's Interview | Guests | Activity Reports". Archived from the original on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2018-11-24.
- ^ Vincent Tong [@VincentTong007] (October 3, 2017). "I voiced Ryu & Ken for CAPCOM's Puzzle Fighter! So pumped that's it's out! Download it now! #capcom #voice #voiceover #yvr" (Tweet). Retrieved August 25, 2018 – via Twitter.
- ^ Studio Bent Stuff. All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Games. p. 345.
- ^ "Street Fighter III 2nd Impact" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 5, 1998.
空手をベースにした独自の格闘技を使う。(Uses an original martial art based on Karate and Judo.)
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