Ryo Sakazaki
Ryo Sakazaki is a character introduced in the 1992 fighting game Art of Fighting developed by SNK. In the Art of Fighting series, Ryo is depicted as a skilled martial artist who practices his family's fighting style, Kyokugenryu Karate, taught by his father Takuma. After his younger sister Yuri disappears, Ryo and his best friend Robert Garcia search South Town to find her, facing several opponents along the way. While the series follows Ryo's journey as a protector of those he loves, he also regularly appears in the crossover series The King of Fighters, in which he participates in fighting tournaments to promote the Kyokugenryu Karate. He also appears in other SNK games as an older fighter named Mr. Karate influenced by his father Takuma. Additionally, he features in several manga adaptations and appears in the anime OVA adaptation of Art of Fighting.
SNK developers Hiroshi Matsumoto and Takashi Nishiyama created Ryo as a homage to Ryu; the team that produced the first game in the franchise left Capcom to join SNK to produce other games. Ryo's inclusion in The King of Fighters series was decided immediately by the staff as the company wanted to employ characters from its other series in crossover games. SNK artist Hiroaki Hashimoto was responsible for his alter-ego Mr. Karate's design as he wanted to create a new design distinctly different from the original. Multiple voice actors have portrayed Ryo throughout his different appearances.
Video game publications have both praised and criticized Ryo's character. Although Ryo has been criticized for his similarities to the Street Fighter characters, several reviewers have praised his development in several SNK games such as his introduction in Fatal Fury Special and The King of Fighters as one of the first crossover characters. Ryo served as a model for the development of Dan Hibiki, a joke character in the Street Fighter series due to similar designs.
Creation
Ryo Sakazaki was created by Hiroshi Matsumoto and Takashi Nishiyama as an homage to the Capcom character Ryu because during the release of the game, some members from the original Street Fighter video game from Capcom moved to SNK. Artist Shinkiro has said he had no problems with designing Ryo because he related to drawing poor characters in contrast to drawing the other lead Robert Garcia whose depiction as wealthy was more of a problem. The similarities between Ryo and Ryu are addressed in the SNK vs. Capcom crossover games where they often interact.SNK staff member Youichiro Soeda said that Ryo and Robert's debut was unique to other games based on the company because the story did not focus on fighting tournaments but instead on the duo's quest to save Yuri Sakazaki. Matsumoto has stated that Ryo's and Robert's story are appealing to people thanks to its presentation in cutscenes in contrast to other games that were given animated or printed adaptations that explored the narrative more.
In the planning stage of Fatal Fury Special, another SNK fighting game, bringing Ryo to the installment was elaborated by planner planner Yasuyuki Oda; He believes Ryo fits the cast due to how the franchise borrowed Desperation Moves from Art of Fighting and how it revolutionized the idea of the crossover concept that would conceptualize The King of Fighters. However, as Ryo was announced at the Tokyo Game Show, Oda found such an unpredicted reveal awkward; Fatal Fury Special had several issues at launch in every single console and unlocking Ryo as a hidden boss was too challenging. In some games starting from Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, Ryo goes by the nickname of "Mr. Karate". Artist Falcoon says this was a reference to how Ryo managed to defeat his father Takuma Sakazaki and thus became worthy of that title. Writer Akihiko Ureshino originally aimed to give Ryo a bigger role in the Fatal Fury series where he would fight a revived Geese Howard but was rejected by members from editorial Shinseisha. The concept would have been villain Geese reviving and an aged Ryo settles things with him.
Ryo was first voiced by Masaki Usui. Starting in 2016 with The King of Fighters XIV, Usui was replaced by Daiki Takakura who wanted to promote his character's appearances. Takakura believes his role as Ryo is important because the character appeared on multiple generations of consoles and he wanted to keep its traditional style despite having a different voice. For the otome game, The King of Fighters: For Girls, Subaru Kimura voices the character. Alden Crews voiced Ryo in the English dub of the anime special.
Portrayal and design
The character was modeled after American actor Patrick Swayze. Often dealing with his school in Art of Fighting and The King of Fighters, by the time of Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Ryo is still in his position as the head of Kyokugen-ryu karate, and he retreats to the mountains to train. Ureshino claims the goal is not to reach the goal of being the strongest, but rather he is the type who wants to keep getting stronger, even if it is just a little at a time. As a result, Ureshino describes Ryo as a man who will find it difficult in modern society and never marries his love interest King. The developers added that The King of Fighters '94 was created with the idea of having Ryo fighting against Terry Bogard, the lead character of the Fatal Fury series. Ryo and Yuri do not tend to be unable to get involved in the main story and end up in comical roles in contrast to the more serious style from Art of Fighting. In regards to the masked Mr. Karate from the spin-off Maximum Impact 2, Ureshino decided to give him the age of 49, making him the oldest character of the title.Ryo's appearance changes among games. He is normally blonde, and wears a vermilion or orange gi first tailored by her. Beneath the orange gi, he wears a black shirt, which was omitted in Art of Fighting 2. He keeps wearing his original Art of Fighting design in both Fatal Fury Special and all The King of Fighters games. Ryo's redesign as middle-aged was created by SNK artist Hiroaki Hashimoto who oversaw the character designs in Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition and Buriki One as he disliked the original look. The biggest change was Ryo's clothes, which featured more black and give him more facial hair symbolizing his older age. Hiroaki believed that black clothing made Ryo's face stand out. Changing the design of a central and popular SNK character was risky, but Hiroaki's seniors gave him freedom with the stipulation that the design should look cool. He is specifically written to be 32 years old because "he is physically and mentally accomplished as a fighter".
His normal costume for the Maximum Impact series is the same as the martial arts uniform he has worn in Art of Fighting, The King of Fighters and Fatal Fury Special. There is a change of mood concerning his "Color F" reminiscent of Haohmaru from Samurai Shodown. Regarding his "Color G~H", his refined sense is shown through his braided hat, ruler, and mountain ascetic style. For the "Mr. Karate" incarnation of Ryo, his Normal has been given a tengu mask, which is reminiscent of his father Takuma. With his "Another" incarnation there is a stylish change of clothing based on his Wild Ambition look. The color combination of his shirt is standard, but there is also a version just like his "Color E" with a design on his back. "Color G" appears as a style that brings to mind the clothing of Robert. In the 2016 game The King of Fighters XIV a costume depicting Ryo's appearance in Wild Ambition was originally supposed to appear as one of the DLC alternate costumes but was debunked.
Gameplay
Ryo's fighting style is known as the Kyokugenryu Karate which he practices with Robert and his family. He earns the nickname, "The Invincible Dragon" because of his remarkable use of his fighting style. Ryo's basic move is the projectile Ko-Ou Ken which frequently appears differently in several games. Game designer Nobuyuki Kuroki joined SNK and to oversee his animations in the third game of the series as he claims always admired previous works.For The King of Fighters '94, the developers had difficulty balancing Ryo and Robert against the other characters and aimed to do so without removing any of their special moves. However, Ryo was said to be one of the game's strongest characters. From The King of Fighters '96 onwards, Tiago Oviedo Frosi noted Ryo imitates Oyama's fighting pose while also borrowing elements from the Wadō-ryū karate created by Hironori Ōtsuka who was inspired by the Shotokan as well as the Jujutsu. The developers for The King of Fighters XIII wanted to distance Ryo's style from those of Robert Garcia and Takuma Sakazaki since both employ the same techniques. Ryo's moves were designed to show his strength. His moves leave him open which resulted in the designers balancing his character by creating a stronger version of his Tiger Fist for easier combos. His "Neo Max" move, the strongest type of move in the game, has the image of being One Blow Guaranteed Kill, so his moves were finalized without difficulty. TheGamer noted his appearance in The King of Fighters XV abandoned his KOF '96 stance from previous games in favor of his original Art of Fighting look, resulting in a bigger muscle tone as a result.
In Buriki One, Ryo's gameplay was developed to convey a sense of realism alongside the rest of the cast to the point he cannot perform projectile maneuvers. In his other appearances as Mr. Karate, Ryo uses both his original moves as well as Takuma's.
Appearances
In video games
In the first Art of Fighting, Ryo and his best friend Robert Garcia go on a mission to save the former's sister, Yuri, who was kidnapped by Mr. Big, a local criminal mastermind. The two martial artists manage to confront Mr. Big, leading him to a karate dojo where a masked man challenges the two to a fight. When Ryo prevails, Yuri appears to stop Ryo and reveals that the masked man is their father, Takuma. In the second game, Art of Fighting 2, Takuma reveals that the mafia overlord Geese Howard turned him into an assassin. With the Sakazaki family reunited, they, along with Robert, are focused on exacting their revenge on Geese and providing justice to those Geese had wronged. While entering into Geese's tournament, The King of Fighters, Ryo defeats Geese who manages to escape with help from his assistants. In Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior, Ryo acts as a supporting character to Robert, as the game focuses on Robert and Yuri's worldwide search for their missing friend. In his ending, Ryo expressed approval of Robert and Yuri's apparent relationship.Ryo also appears as a guest character in Fatal Fury Special, an updated version of Fatal Fury 2. He appears as a hidden opponent at the end of the single-player mode and is a playable character in the home versions. In the PlayStation version of Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, Ryo uses the title of "Mr. Karate", as an aged and more powerful version of the character. In Garou: Mark of the Wolves he is mentioned indirectly by his student, Marco Rodrigues and he later makes an appearance in Marco's ending in Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves.
Ryo is a member of the Art of Fighting Team in The King of Fighters series in his young form from Art of Fighting. Despite multiple changes to the team roster, Ryo remains a core member, seeking to promote his karate. Across the series, Ryo develops a close friendship with his former foe, Muay Thai fighter King, which his family supports. The spin-off games King of Fighters R-1 and King of Fighters R-2 feature Ryo as part of the South Town Team. He also appears in the spin-off The King of Fighters Kyo, in which he helps the main character Kyo Kusanagi find his girlfriend Yuki. The spin-off games KOF: Maximum Impact and Maximum Impact 2 also feature Ryo as a playable character with the latter also featuring an elder version of his "Mr. Karate" persona as a hidden character. He is present in the mobile phone games The King of Fighters All Star and Kimi wa Hero with the latter as his older "Mr. Karate" persona, and in his regular persona in the otome game King of Fighters for Girls. The KOF Chronicles mobile game features Ryo. He is also playable in The Rhythm Of Fighters and The King of Fighters Online. He again appears in his two personas in the mobile game The King of Fighters '98 Unlimited Match Online.
Ryo is also a central character in the 1999 game Buriki One in his older persona and fights in a grappling tournament, employing regular karate as his fighting style in the World Grapple Tournament. In NeoGeo Battle Coliseum, Ryo goes by the name "2nd Mr. Karate", while his look is the one used for Buriki One. He also stars in the crossover video games SNK vs. Capcom in his classic look. Despite not being playable in SNK Gals' Fighters and SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, he appears in Yuri's endings. His appearance serves as a chibi costume for Nintendo's fighting game Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.