Ryu is the main protagonist of the Street Fighter series, first appearing in the original Street Fighter. He is an experienced martial artist, highly focused on his training, aiming to become the strongest he can.

While Ryu draws inspiration from Masutatsu Ōyama and Yoshiji Soeno from Karate Master (Karate Baka Ichidai), his rival Sagat is visually based on Yoshiji Soeno’s rival; Reiba. The events of the first Street Fighter as told in Ryu’s backstory entry, pays homage to Karate Master, the fiction based on Masutatsu Ōyama, where he and his students go to Thailand to take on the strongest fighters. More specifically, the last issue, which tells the journey of Ōyama’s student; Yoshiji Soeno, who journey’s to Thailand to face off against the best of Muay Thai.