In this series of essays, I will attempt to cover all of the events in the Street Fighter universe, including story events from the first to the last game, as well as all spin-off events and background stories for all of the characters. In addition, I will discuss the franchise's expanded universe, which includes spin-off games such as Final Fight and Rival Schools.
I’m a big Street Fighter fan and one of the few who really enjoys its lore, even though it’s mainly a competitive fighting game. I think Capcom has the potential to create a large-scale story mode for the next installment, something like the Yakuza games with engaging story quests and cinematic cutscenes. The World Tour was a nice attempt at a unique story mode, but Capcom could take it further next time, adding more depth to the lore while keeping the top-notch competitive gameplay intact.
Let’s begin with some prequel events before diving into the storyline of the first Street Fighter game, released in 1987.
Ryu, our first character, is the most popular and the main protagonist of the entire franchise. Ryu was adopted by Gouken, a martial arts master who trained him to become a fighter. He also took another disciple, Ken Master, who became close friends with Ryu, and they trained together until they were 23, when they completed their training and were ready to embark on their own journey to travel the world and fight the best fighters.
It is critical to understand the histories of Gouken, Akuma, and Goutetsu. Goutetsu trained Gouken and Akuma, who were brothers. Goutetsu was a martial artist who mastered both the "Power of Nothingness" and the "Satsui no Hado." These techniques are similar to "energy powers" in that they control your soul and internal energy, which is analogous to controlling your chakra and is based on yin-yang philosophy and Buddhism. The "Satsui no Hado" is a dark energy force, but Goutsetsu was able to use it without becoming evil, most likely due to his wisdom. Goutetsu taught Gouken the "light energy," also known as the power of nothingness, and he later taught the same technique to his own students, Ryu and Ken. Another technique that Goutetsu taught to his student was the "Shun Goku Satsu," which is Akuma's standard fighting style. However, the standard technique taught was "Ansatsuken," also known as "assassination style," which is the standard fighting style of Ryu, Ken, and their master, Gouken.
However, as the two brothers were finishing their training, Gouken became dissatisfied with the teaching of "Satsui no Hado" because he did not trust the nature of dark energy, so he left Goutetsu and established his own dojo in which he solely focused on teaching and developing the good force technique of "power of nothingness" to his students, while Akuma also left Goutetsu because he wanted to master the dark technique of "Satsui no Hado."
Akuma eventually mastered the dark technique, enabling him to assume the "shin" form. The Shin form is the most extreme use of the dark technique, in which Akuma completely merges with the "Satsui no Hado" power, but the force is so powerful that the user loses control and goes "berserk," killing everyone on their side. Akuma challenged Goutetsu to kill him while he was in the Shin form. After killing his master, he took his signature prayer beads and claimed them as a valuable token. Notably, Akuma sought to demonstrate his mastery to Goutetsu, who died content and proud of his student's accomplishment.
The Gouken Saga
When Gouken opened his own dojo, his first student was Dan, a fighter who wanted to learn Gouken techniques to avenge the death of his father, Go Hibiki, who was killed by Sagat. Dan was revealed to be a goofy and unworthy fighter, and when Gouken discovered that his pupil's motivation was to exact revenge, he rejected him as a student, fearing that his vengeance would lead him down a dark path. Dan would travel the world, attempting to challenge fighters and locate Sagat. He eventually finds and fights Sagat, who regrets killing Dan's father and allows Dan to win and exact his revenge. Dan, on the other hand, does not kill Sagat because he knows his father would not want such vengeance, and he ends his feud with Sagat, satisfied that his revenge has been complete. Dan went on many adventures after that, including dealing with Shadaloo members and Bison, and eventually opened his own dojo, with Sakura, an obsessed Ryu fan, as his first student. Dan was also good friends with Blanka, whom he called by his real name, "Jimmy." Dan then decided to start his own business by mass-producing and selling his own version of the popular Blanka-chan dolls among teenagers, the Saikyo-boy dolls (the Saikyo-style mascot), in order to attract the attention of teenagers all over the world and persuade them to visit his dojo and become Saikyo-style martial artists.
Gouken took in Ryu as his pupil and later also welcomed Ken Masters, the son of a
close friend, as his second student. While training the boys, Akuma appeared and challenged his brother Gouken to a fight, which Akuma lost. After Ryu and Ken completed their training and set out on their own journeys, M. Bison visited Gouken seeking knowledge of the Ansatsuken technique. Although Bison defeated him, Gouken refused to reveal its secrets, prompting Bison to leave and pursue Ryu and Ken, hoping one of
them would demonstrate the true power of Ansatsuken. Afterwards, Akuma challenges Gouken again and defeats him, leaving him for dead, but he was actually left in a deep coma for quite some time. Ryu and Ken believed their master had died and buried him in a graveyard.
After two years in a coma, Gouken awoke to discover his students needed his guidance. He entered the S.I.N. tournament during the events of Street Fighter 4 and found Ryu struggling to control his “Satsui no Hado.” Gouken helped Ryu seal away the dark power so he wouldn’t have to suffer from it again. Soon after, Akuma appeared, furious that Gouken had done this, believing it robbed him of the chance to face Ryu in a deadly battle. Realizing the power used was the extraordinary Power of Nothingness, Akuma challenged Gouken to another rematch, with Ryu’s fate on the line, as Gen watched in awe. The fight’s outcome remains unknown, but both brothers survived, and Ryu didn’t go to Akuma—implying Gouken may have won. Later, when Ryu and Ken invited Gouken to stay, he told them they were grown men who no longer needed a master.
Ryu and Ken's journeys—the events of Street Fighter 1
Ryu is the main protagonist of the game, as he’s the character who canonically won the tournament and became the champion against Sagat. I’m going to start by talking about Ken’s journey to the US, and then focus on the main event with Ryu’s journey to Thailand, where he joined the World Fighting Tournament hosted by Sagat. I’ll explain as much as possible about the backstories of all the characters Ryu faced in the tournament.
Ken grew up in Japan with his Japanese father and Japanese-American mother. His parents were often busy and at odds, neglecting him and leading him to become a rebellious, irresponsible teenager who dyed his hair blonde in reaction to his poor parenting. To instill humility and discipline, his father, who was a rich hotel tycoon, sent him to train with his old friend Gouken. Under Gouken’s guidance, Ken learned valuable lessons, respected him as a master, and formed a close friendship with Ryu. In 1987, Ryu (age 23) and Ken (age 22) completed their 10-year training and embarked on a warrior's journey to become the "strongest fighter." Ken decides to move to the United States, while Ryu travels through Thailand. Ken won several tournaments in the United States before meeting and fighting Ryu, who had previously defeated US fighters Joe and Mike in the World Tournament. Ken ultimately lost the fight to Ryu.
Ryu enters the World Tournament, where he must defeat the best fighters from various countries in order to improve his reputation and face Sagat, the former world champion and tournament host. Ryu faces nine fighters before his final fight with Sagat. There is no official chronological order for how Ryu defeats each fighter, as the first game allows the player to simply choose which fighters to fight, and after defeating them all, he unlocks the final fight with Sagat. Before we get into the final fight, I'll go over each fighter's background as shown on the official Street Fighter fandom page.
Let's start with the Japan region, which includes two fighters, Retsu and Geki.
Retsu was indefinitely excommunicated from his temple for using forbidden techniques. Hoping to restore his and his temple’s honor, he entered the World Tournament but was defeated by Ryu. In the UDON comics, Retsu is portrayed as a friend of Ryu’s master, Gouken, and served as an assistant at his dojo for a time. He even helped Gouken search for Akuma, traveling through villages to gather information, eventually learning that Akuma had become an evil fighter killing people. Retsu advised Gouken to forget about him. After the first World Tournament, Retsu became friends with Ryu and even fought him when Ryu was under the influence of his darker side, only to be saved by Gouken, who purged the dark force from Ryu. In Street Fighter 6, Retsu can be found at Genbu Temple, Ryu’s place for meditation and training, and also makes trips to Metro City for sweets and shopping.
Geki, a traditional ninja assassin, utilizes shurikens, a talon claw, and teleportation techniques. He entered the tournament with the intention of killing his archenemy, Gen, his Chinese assassin counterpart, but he lost to Ryu. Even though no official information is available, it is believed that Geki was the one who taught Vega the ninjutsu technique, as well as Ibuki. After losing to Ryu in the world tournament, Geki retired and was succeeded by Geki 2 in Street Fighter 5. Geki 2 wields a
Ninjatō sword instead of claws like the first one.
Next, we move on to China, where two fighters, Lee and Gen, join the tournament.
The first fighter is Lee, who participated in the tournament hoping to revive the popularity of Kung Fu, but failed after losing to Ryu. There isn’t much known about him, except that he’s the uncle of Yun and Yang, the twin Chinese fighters introduced in Street Fighter 3, and that Chun-Li probably knows him. In the Udon comics, Lee challenges Fei Long (a Bruce Lee-inspired character), accusing him of being just an actor, but Fei Long easily defeats him. He also appears in the Alpha series (set between SF1 and SF2), where he battles Sakura and Fei Long. After that, he becomes semi-retired, running a real estate agency while continuing to train in the art of the Drunken Fist.
The next one is Gen, a Chinese martial artist and assassin known as "The Devil of Hong Kong." Gen has a long history in the Street Fighter events. He entered the tournament and was targeted by Geki, his Japanese counterpart and archrival, but failed to kill him as both were defeated by Ryu. Six months after the tournament, during the Alpha series events, Gen was diagnosed with leukemia and decided to retire to run his restaurant. However, he was constantly attacked by old foes who wanted him dead. Eventually, he decided that dying as a fighter was more honorable and began his journey again to seek worthy opponents around the world. He battled several Shadaloo members and even had an epic fight with Akuma, in which he lost. Akuma, realizing his opponent was sick and not fighting at full potential, spared his life.
Gen was also a friend of Chun Li's father, who passed away from Shadaloo. In Street Fighter 4, he feels guilty for not being able to protect his best friend because he was sick and too weak, but he decides to enter the S.I.N. tournament to protect Chun Li. He saved Chun Li when the SIN base was destroyed but refused to tell her what happened to her father, and then walked away and abandoned her. Gen was also involved in the fight between the revived Gouken and Akuma over Ryu's soul. In Street Fighter 5, Gen fought Akuma again and lost, telling him that he would never reach the path of divinity and humanity. Akuma defeats him and tells him that he has no desire to become divine but rather to master the path of the demon.
The next region is England, where two fighters, Birdie and Eagle, have joined the tournament.
Birdie was a former wrestler who turned to crime after his career ended. He suffered from anemia (iron deficiency), which gave him a pale complexion. Hoping to win prize money to fund his cure, he entered the tournament alongside Eagle, but both lost to Ryu. He eventually cured his anemia when the newly wealthy noble family that employed Eagle agreed to help, restoring plenty of iron to his system. During the Alpha series events, Birdie joined Shadaloo with plans to betray Bison and steal the psycho power for himself, but failed. Later, he worked for Karin’s private estate family business. He also played a small role in the final battle against Shadaloo, assisting other fighters in destroying their base and defeat Bison forever.
Eagle works as as a bodyguard for wealthy noble families in England. He entered the tournament after being tasked by noble families to challenge Geki and eventually defeat Sagat, the current champion. Ultimately, he loses to Ryu alongside Birdie, but he assists Birdie in finding money for his cure, and both become local legends. In the Alpha series events, he discovers Sagat, who was working for Shadaloo, and fights and defeats him. He also helps Guile save Charlie and destroy the
Psycho Drive.
Now we’re heading to the USA, where two fighters, Joe and Mike, are taking part in the tournament.
Joe was once the unbeaten, undisputed kickboxing champion of the United States, on track to compete in the Pan-American Fighting Championship. However, his ambitions and fame crumbled due to violent outbursts and financial troubles, leading him to life on the run. In 1987, he entered the World Fighting Tournament, hosted by fellow champion Sagat, believing that winning could turn his life around. Competing in the USA Division alongside Mike, both he and the boxer ultimately lost to Ryu. Now free from his outlaw days, Joe takes part in indie wrestling tournaments under the persona “Super Star.”
Mike was a convicted felon who committed armed robbery in 1977, serving under 10 years in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, known as “Big Mac.” Midway through his sentence, he dedicated all his free time to learning, practicing, and training to become a heavyweight boxer.
After his release in early 1987, he sought out street fights to raise money for the poor while also giving back to his community by teaching kids how to box. A bigger chance came when the World Fighting Tournament, hosted by Sagat, was announced. Believing victory could make him rich and famous, Mike entered the USA Division alongside Joe, but both he and the kickboxer lost to Ryu.
He cares deeply for his family and shares a close bond with his sister, who is five years younger than him.
Okay, now we are going to the final destination, Thailand, in which Ryu will face Sagat as the final boss.
Adon is the first fighter. Adon was born into a poor family, where his father and other fighters attempted to defeat the former Muay Thai champion,
Nuakan, who is known as the "Emperor of Muay Thai" and the best fighter. Nuakan defeated all of the fighters, including his father, but a teenager named Sagat defeated him and became the "Emperor of Muay Thai" at the age of 16. Later, Adon became a student of Sagat and was inspired to outperform his own master and become the "Emperor of Muay Thai" himself. When Sagat hosted the world tournament, Adon learned that Ryu had defeated all ten fighters in the world, as well as all of the Muay Thai experts, so he challenged him, but Ryu defeated him.
Sagat was a worthy fighter since a young age. He competed in his first tournament at the age of 15, where he faced Dan's father, Go Hibiki, who killed him due to his anger while fighting. As I previously stated, years later, Dan sought vengeance for his father's death and challenged Sagat, who was feeling guilty about killing Dan's father, allowing Dan to win and complete his revenge. Dan, on the other hand, realized that revenge was not what his father would have wanted and was able to resolve his disagreement with Sagat following the fight.
One year later, at the age of 16, Sagat defeated Nuakan, the previous Muay Thai champion, to become the next champion, earning the title of "Emperor of Muay Thai." Three years later, he took on Adon as his pupil, who was inspired to become the next champion after defeating his own master.
One day, word spread that Ryu, a young martial artist, had defeated 20 Muay Thai practitioners. Sagat accepts Ryu's challenge to defend Muay Thai honor. Ryu, on the other hand, defeats Sagat with a nearly fatal Shoryuken, inflicting serious injuries and leaving a massive scar across his chest. Sagat swore vengeance on Ryu.
After the tournament, Sagat left the Thai fighting scene and began training alone. However, due to the shock of losing for the first time, his training included venting his rage on a tree. A few months later, Sagat cleared his mind of any hesitation and replaced it with anger and hatred, giving birth to Tiger Blow, a move that would counter Shoryuken. Six months later, during the events of the Alpha series, Sagat joined Shadaloo with the intention of finding Ryu and exacting revenge for losing his title to him.
Ryu began to wonder if the tournament, in which he was crowned champion, marked the end of his journey. By defeating Sagat, who was once declared to be the strongest man in the world, Ryu achieved his life's ultimate goal. Ryu refused to believe he had accomplished his goal so quickly and continued to train, learning new moves in the process. Ryu will face new challenges during the Alpha Series Events, which will be discussed in this essay.
This wraps up part 1, which covered the basic events of Street Fighter 1. In the next part, the series will dive deeper into the lore, exploring the events of the Alpha Series and Street Fighter 2. This will introduce major new characters and delve into the origins of Shadaloo, the main evil organization in the Street Fighter universe.
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