Ryu Street Fighter 6 Complete Guide – Moves, Backstory & Pro Play Guide

Ryu in Street Fighter is one of the most recognisable characters in the whole of gaming. He’s arguably the most iconic fighting game character of all time.

Is there still much of a reason to go with the character over the rest of the roster though?

There’s still a lot going for Ryu, with a polished moveset that is based on pure fighting game fundamentals.

Ryu Street Fighter

Source: Capcom

Coming into Street Fighter 6, Ryu is a great character to jump into. This is everything you need to know about the character and how they handle in the latest version of Street Fighter.

Ryu Street Fighter Key Info and Backstory

  • Height – 5.9”
  • Weight – 187 Lbs
  • First Appearance – Street Fighter

The Ryu Street Fighter lore has built up quite a bit over all of the games. As one of the most recognizable characters, he’s shown up in loads of SF titles, Fortnite, and even Fall Guys. His backstory in Street Fighter is a big part of why he’s such a relatable protagonist.

In the beginning, he was an orphan with no memories of where he came from. He was adopted and raised by Gouken, practising martial arts and becoming much more skilled. With his training complete at 23, Ryu sets out to fight the strongest people which led him to the first World Tournament.

Over the years there have been many more developments for Ryu Street Fighter lore. Like an evil Ryu taking over. At his core, he’s still a great simple character though, a martial artist striving to be the best. Ryu has been around since the original Street Fighter and has basically been the protagonist in Street Fighter 2.

Ryu Street Fighter Stats

Ryu Street Fighter

Source: Capcom

  • Life Points – 10000
  • Forward Walk Speed – 4.7
  • Backward Walk Speed – 3.2
  • Forward Dash Speed – 19
  • Backward Dash Speed – 23
  • Forward Dash Distance – 125.208
  • Backward Dash Distance 92.300
  • Back Jump Speed – 4+38+3
  • Neutral Jump Speed – 4+39+3
  • Forward Jump Speed – 4+38+3
  • Forward Jump Distance – 190
  • Backward Jump Distance – 152

Ryu Street Fighter 6 Moveset

Ryu is one of the more basic fighter characters in his moveset. As the protagonist, he’s fairly evenly balanced without major downsides. He has a focus on martial arts but with some fantastical special moves.

Ryu-Normals

Normals

  • Light Punch (5LP) – 300 Damage, Chains into 5lp, 2LP, 2LK
  • Medium Punch (5MP) – 600 Damage
  • Heavy Punch (5HP) – 800 Damage, forces a stand on hit
  • Standing Light Kick (5LK) – 300 Damage, Combos into Specials
  • Medium Kick (5MK) – 700 Damage
  • Heavy Kick (5HK) – 900 Damage, whiffs on crouching opponents and puts airborne into juggle state

Crouching Normals

  • Light Punch (2LP) – 300 Damage, chains into 5LP, 2LP, and 2LK
  • Medium Punch (2MP) – 700 Damage
  • Heavy Punch (2HP) – 900 Damage, forces stand on hit
  • Light Kick (2LK) – 200 Damage, chains into 5LP, 2LP, and 2LK
  • Medium Kick (2MK) – 500 Damage, 20% damage scaling to next hit in combos
  • Heavy Kick (2HK) – 900 Damage

Jumping Normals

  • Light Punch (j.LP) – 300 Damage
  • Medium Punch (j.MP) – 350+350, two hits
  • Heavy Punch (j.HP) – 800 Damage
  • Light Kick (j.LK) – 300 Damage
  • Medium Kick (j.MK) – 500 Damage
  • Heavy Kick (j.HK) – 500 Damage

Command Normals

  •  Collarbone Breaker (6MP) – 300*300, 2 hits
  • Solar Plexus Strike (6HP) – 400+400, 2 hits
  • Short Uppercut (4HP) – 800 Damage
  • Whirlwind Kick (6HK) – 800 Damage
  • Axe kick (4HK) – 400+400 Damage, 2 hits

Target Combos

  • High Double Strike (5HP-HK) – 800*1000, 2 hits
  • Fuwa Tripe Strike (5MP-LK-HK) – 300+600+720
    Throws
  • Forward Throw (LPLK) – 1200 Damage
  • Back Throw (4LPLK) – 1200 Damage

Ryu is a great character for beginners in Street Fighter 6 but can be taken further if you want to be break down into Ryu Street Fighter combos and more complicated ways to play.

Shinku Tatsumaki Senpukyaku - Tornado Kick

Shinku Tatsumaki Senpukyaku – Tornado Kick

Drive Moves

  • Impact (HPHK) – 800 Damage
  • Reversal (6HPHK) – 500 Damage
  • Parry (MPMK)
  • Rush (66) – Covers 187.8-381.2 distance

Special Moves

  • Denjin Charge (22P) – Powers up next move
  • Hadoken (236P) – 600 Damage, 1 hit projectile
  • Denjin Charge Hadoken (236P) – 400+400, 2 hits
  • Shoryuken (623P) – 1100 Damage
  • Tatsumaki Senpu-kyaku (214K) – 800 Damage
  • Aerial Tatsumaki Senpu-kyaku (j.214K) – 900 Damage
  • High Blade Kick (236K) – 1000 Damage
  • Hashogeki (214P) – 700 Damage

Super Arts

  • Shinku Hadoken (236236P) – 400×5
  • Shin Hashogeki (214214P) – 2600
  • Shin Shoryuken (236236K) – 4000

As the protagonist of Street Fighter, he’s maybe the baseline character in the franchise and in a lot of fighting games. That even carries over to other appearances, like his hand-to-hand moves as a Smash Bros character.

Ryu Street Fighter

Source: Capcom

Best Pro Ryu Players in Street Fighter

If you‘re looking to improve as a Ryu player, the best Pros are a great place to start. Looking at how they play Ryu can give some vital insight into how the character performs at the highest level. While the game hasn’t been released just yet, there are some pros who have done big things with Ryu in past Street Fighter games.

Here are some of the top Ryu pros from previous games to look out for in Street Fighter 6.

  • JUNINHO-RAS
  • JimmY
  • Uzura
  • Sekiganryu
  • Urienbelievers
  • Fujii
  • Daigo

There’s no guarantee these players will be picking Ryu over all Street Fighter 6 characters once the game releases, but they’ve been a good example of how you can elevate one of the more basic characters to a high level in the past.

Ryu Street Fighter 6 Costumes

We’re not going to know all of the Street Fighter 6 Ryu outfits until we get to the Street Fighter 6 release date. However, a few have been unveiled so far. There are going to be some cool alternative costumes like a classic design skin for Ryu in Street Fighter based on the fourth game in the series.

Ryu Street Fighter

Source: Capcom

FAQ

How old is Ryu in Street Fighter 6?

Ryu’s age in Street Fighter 6 is a bit complicated since the characters haven’t exactly aged in real-time. His original date of birth was July 21st, 1964.

That would make him nearly 60 years old in Street Fighter 6! It’s possible that Capcom move that birth date forward a bit though.

What is Ryu’s last name?

Ryu doesn’t have an official last name. He has never been given one, with his name simply being “Ryu”. Although, the various Street Fighter movies have given him some, such as hoshi. The upcoming Street Fighter movie might give him another name too.

What does Ryu shout?

Ryu shouts shoryuken when performing that move! A lot of his other moves have similar exclamations, with Ryu calling his punches as he does them. It’s a trope you’ll find all over the more fantastical martial arts media and a common feature in fighting anime for characters to exclaim the move name as it happens.