Ken Masters (Character)

	Ken Masters
Home Stage	Battle Harbor
Standard Special	Hadoken
Side Special	Tatsumaki Senpukyaku
Up Special	Shoryuken
Down Special	Focus Attack
Final Smash	Shippu Jinraikyakyu / Shinryuken
Extra Skill	Violent Ken
Franchise	Street Fighter
Game of Origin	Street Fighter
Release Date of Origin	August 30th, 1987
Other Appearances	Street Fighter 6
	SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium
	Street Fighter X Tekken
Submitted By:	Zantok

Character Info[]

Ken is the longtime friend and eternal rival to Ryu. The two of them both studied under Master Gouken. When their training was complete Ken traveled to the United States and competed in many martial artists tournaments and won most of them. It was there that he met his eventual wife, Eliza, who just so happens to be Guile’s sister-in-law. After Ryu triumphed over Sagat in Thailand, Ken returned to Japan so that he could test himself against his friend. After winning, Ken could tell that Ryu was troubled by his battle with Sagat and so he gave Ryu his headband as a reminder of their fight and to always keep fighting to find the answer to what it means to be a true fighter.

General Information[]

Entrance[]

Ken will walk out from a cloud of obscuring mist and get into his fighting stance as he says, “I’m ready for ya! Bring it on!”

Kirby Hat[]

Kirby will have Ken’s blonde hair atop his head as well as a set of Ken’s eyebrows over his eyes.

Taunts[]

Up Taunt: Ken will face the screen and say, “Yeah!” as he flashes a thumbs up.

Down Taunt: Ken will beckon forwards with his hand as he says, “Bring it on!”

Side Taunt: Ken will bump his fists together before pointing forwards with one fist and saying, “Get serious!”

Victory Poses[]

The camera will pan around from Ken’s side before focusing on his front. As this occurs Ken will run his hand through his hair before giving a thumbs up to the camera saying, “I did it!”
Ken will quickly punch twice off to the side and follow up with a roundhouse kick before raising his arm into the air as if for victory. While he does this Ken will say, “Challenge me after some practice.”
~ Ken will perform two kick attacks (the first being the Nata Otoshi Geri followed by the Oosoto Mawashi Geri) and then make a beckoning motion with his hand as he says, “I knew I’d win! Hah!”

Moveset[]

Standard Special[]

Hadoken: Ken will place his hands together and thrust them forwards as he launches a blast of blue ki, like a big fireball, that flies toward. This Hadoken attack deals a low amount of damage and knockback, but has a low chance to cause opponents to trip. By inputting the classic Street Fighter input ↓ ↘ → + Attack/Special/Side Taunt, Ken is able to fire out a slightly stronger version of his Hadoken. This Hadoken is a tad larger and deals 1.25x the normal amount of damage.

Side Special[]

Tatsumaki Senpukyaku: Ken will jump forward and propel himself through the air with a spinning crescent kick. Compared to Ryu’s version of this move, Ken can actually hit opponents multiple times and drag them forwards through the whole attack if they started out with a low enough damage percent. However Ken’s version of this attack deals less damage overall, even if it can hit opponent’s multiple times as well as less knockback. By inputting the classic Street Fighter input ↓ ↙ ← + Attack/Special/Side Taunt, each hit of this attack will deal 1.16x damage instead of the usual amount as well as carry Ken slightly further forward.

Up Special[]

Shoryuken: Ken will leap up into the air with a rising uppercut attack. Compared to Ryu this attack will inflict less knockback but hit with a more horizontal angle. Additionally this move inflicts more damage the further into the move an opponent is hit. Ken’s Shoryuken can also hit multiple times depending on how long the input was held. A quick tap makes the attack only hit once, while a slower tap will make it hit twice. If the input is held for a moment then it will become a Heavy Shoryuken which is a flaming variant of the move that can hit three times. By inputting the classic Street Fighter input → ↓ ↘ + Attack/Special/Side Taunt, the attack will inflict 1.2x damage and allow Ken to rise slightly higher into the air.

Down Special[]

Focus Attack: Ken will take a moment to focus as he emits a blanky inky aura around his leg. Once the moment is over, Ken will strike out with a spinning kick. This move has some limited armor to it and can resist being interrupted from attacks that deal below 7-14% damage during the focusing. Additionally Ken will take half damage from attacks during this time. This move can be performed more quickly by just tapping the input instead of holding it for any charge, but doing so will inflict less damage and launch opponents away at a lower angle.

Final Smash[]

Like Ryu, Ken has two different Final Smashes and which one gets activated will depend on how far away he is from his opponent.

Shippu Jinraikyakyu - When within melee range, Ken will use Shippu Jinraikyakyu which is a series of furious kick attacks followed by a series of hurricane kicks. If the initial hit misses then Ken will start out only performing the first series of kicks. If another opponent ends up getting hit by these kicks Ken will continue with the hurricane kicks, but if no opponent gets damaged the attack will end with the first set.

Shinryuken - When at any other range, Ken will perform Shinryuken which is an uppercut attack that creates a giant pillar of flames that stretches up far above Ken. During this move the player will have the opportunity to mash either the Attack or Special button to inflict extra damage to any opponents who are hit by Shinryuken’s flames.

Extra Skill[]

Violent Ken: The old Psycho Powered brainwashing courtesy of M. Bison takes hold of Ken’s mind as he gives in to a violent rage. When Ken enters this rage his running speed and knockback output will greatly increase for a short time. However the trade-off is that Ken will in turn take extra knockback against himself when hit by attacks. This makes this an Extra Skill that must be activated only at the right time. Ken will not have access to this Extra Skill at the start of the match and must earn it by filling up a meter overtime as he is hurt by enemy attacks. Hazards and indirect attacks like explosions won’t increase this meter, only attacks that actually come from an opposing fighter. Once the meter has filled up all the way (when Ken has taken roughly 50% damage), Ken will be able to activate this Extra Skill. Upon activation, a purple aura will cover Ken’s arms as his hair becomes more unruly and a rage-filled look takes over his face. Eating Food or otherwise healing Ken of damage will not lower this Extra Skill’s meter. Once this Extra Skill has run out, Ken will take a moment to shake himself out of the brainwashing and resume his normal fighting stance and stats.

Unique Traits[]

When Ken is facing only a single opponent, he will always turn himself around so that he faces in their direction.

In addition to all of his Special Moves, Ken possesses two unique Command Inputs that only he can use.

Nata Otoshi Geri - By pressing a command input of → ↘ ↓ + Attack, Ken will perform a swiping crescent kick that hits twice and launching himself into the air. While not always guaranteed, this attack can allow for Ken to make followup attacks with his normal attacks. Additionally, this move can be canceled after the first hit into Ken’s Inazuma Kick held Neutral Attack which deals a fair amount of shield damage.

Oosoto Mawashi Geri - By pressing a command input of ← ↙ ↓ ↘ → + Attack, Ken will perform an outward roundhouse kick. Like with Nata Otoshi Geri, this move can be canceled by holding down the attack button and causing Ken to perform the Inazuma Kick instead.

Alternate Costumes[]

Default
Strong – Ken will wear a gray gi resembling his “Strong” alt from Super Street Fighter II Turbo and his alt from Street Fighter II: Champion Edition.
Fierce - Ken wll wear a blue gi with purple gloves resembling his “Fierce” alt from Super Street Fighter II Turbo and his default color in Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting.
Jab - Ken will wear a white gi resembling his “Jab” alt from Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Short - Ken will wear a green gi with purple gloves and belt resembling his “Short” alt from Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Start Button - Ken will wear a yellow gi resembling his “Start Button” alt from Super Street Fighter II Turbo while also being reminiscent of the outfit worn by Sean Matsuda.
Forward - Ken will wear a cyan gi resembling his “Forward” alt from Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Fierce+Short - Ken will wear a black gi with red belt resembling his “Fierce+Short” alt from Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact. This also resembles Violent Ken’s alt in SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos and his fifth alt in Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers.
Punch (Auto) – Ken will wear an orange gi with orange gloves resembling his “Punch (Auto)” alt from Street Fighter Alpha 2.
Kick (Auto) – Ken will wear a purple gi with orange gloves resembling his “Kick (Auto)” alt from Street Fighter Alpha 2.