Calliope Rose, she/her, currently on a quest to modernize all of the character pages on the CvS2 wiki.
Ryu
Story:
Ryu is the main character of the Street Fighter series, as well as THE fighting game character. He is a traveling martial artist who strives to test himself against strong opponents. Ryu is a practitioner of the Ansatsuken fighting style, alongside his best friend and rival Ken Masters. Strong and silent, Ryu's greatest pleasure in life is combat. He takes his training very seriously, even the basics. Occasionally, an evil power known as the Satsui no Hado threatens to overcome him, manipulating his desire for improvement into a desire for victory at any cost. Regardless, Ryu continues to train himself and travel the world, so that he may become the greatest version of himself that he can be.
Gameplay:
Often you'll hear certain types of characters referred to as "shotos". These tend to be the simple, fundamental, and easy characters that can excel at any level. Ryu is the original shoto, and likely the purest one you can ever play. His control of neutral is stellar, with multiple great pokes, two fireballs, and a powerful anti-air. His main super, Shinkuu Hadouken, is a powerful utility super that allows him to punish fireballs or end combos with great damage. He can alter his air momentum with his Air Tatsu specials to keep his approach a bit ambiguous. His defense with his invincible Shoryuken is powerful, since he can deny pressure that isn't gapless. Even his rushdown is solid, though it is likely his weakest point. He has an overhead, a crossup, good hop normals, a solid low confirm, and of course two grabs.
While Ryu doesn't truly have many weaknesses, his main weakness is that his strengths aren't excelling in their categories. He does everything well, but nothing perfectly, and requires you to make intelligent decisions and make solid gameplans. Ryu rewards consistency, and without it his strengths will falter. He does still have weaknesses, mainly that his preferred ender for knockdowns and damage requires a standing opponent meaning his knockdowns are a bit harder to find. Otherwise, Ryu is a simple and solid character that rewards you for being a good player.
Ryu is the original shoto, and a great all-rounder who struggles to excel in any specific area. Ryu's best Grooves are C-Groove and N-Groove.
Pros
Cons
Shoto: Very versatile toolkit allows him to easily work in most situations
Neutral Focused: Simple "footsies" based gameplan makes him easy and rewarding to learn
Easy: Generally very easy, with very few truly difficult things to learn
Versatile Super: A useful and reliable super with Shinkuu Hadouken
Groove Friendly: Useful to some extent in every Groove
Baseline Tools: Solid damage output, simple zoning and neutral, and solid defense, Ryu has everything you would want on a basic level
Jack-of-all-Trades: While he does do well in most categories, he isn't Sagat. He doesn't entirely excel in any category besides neutral
Mixup: His mixup potential is lackluster, he does have access to a simple mixup with his standing overhead and his normal throw but they lead to very little reward
Situational Enders: His preferred meterless combo ender whiffs on crouchers, so he tends to want to end in a super which he doesn't always have
Profile
Stats and Vitals
Health (R2): 14400 Stun: 70 Dash Length: 15 Frames Dash Type: Slide Run Speed: 8.2 Roll Distance: 140 Pixels Roll Duration: 27f Wakeup Speed (Compared to Ryu): 0 Frames
Colors
Groove Selection
C-Groove is one of the most popular Grooves for Ryu. It fits him perfectly, giving him consistent access to his useful supers, multiple levels of super to more efficiently manage meter, and rolls to use for RC Hadoukens. His dash is solid, though he can't corpse hop due to it being grounded for the full duration. Airblock helps to alleviate the issue of having an average jump arc, and Air Tatsu is still great for altering his trajectory. If he finds himself stuck in a long pressure string or blocking a Custom Combo, Alpha Counter can help escape that.
The weaknesses of C-Ryu more come from the inherent weaknesses of C-Groove. Level 2 supers are the X-Factor of this Groove, and while Ryu uses it great, it's all that it can really offer him. It lacks the mobility of N-Groove and K-Groove, and without hop, Ryu isn't nearly as scary on offense. His reliance on standard footsies and zoning is amplified in this Groove. C-Ryu has to be ready to react to offense, and poke into a damaging super combo.
C-Ryu is great if you're coming from Street Fighter and want someone familiar to play. He's a standard character with enough options to let you play and have fun, and requires very little optimization.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Level 2 Combo: Level 2 Shinku Hadouken combos into Heavy Tatsu consistently, making for a damaging combo that allows Ryu to save some meter for later, or cash out with a double Shinku combo
Varied Options: C-Ryu has access to a decent amount of the mechanics of CvS2, like rolls, guard cancels, any of his supers, and a unique option in airblock
Low Mobility: C-Groove has no hop or run, and while Ryu does have a solid dash, it doesn't compare to runs ability to quickly and safely move forward while threatening pokes
Offense Issues: Without hop and run, Ryu is forced to rely on his standard offense. His overhead is slow and low reward, ending his turn even on hit, and his throws are just decent
A-Groove Ryu is not as good
placeholder overview
Normal Moves
Far Normals
5LP
Far Jab Far Light Punch 5LP / Far LP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Far
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Placeholder
5MP
Far Strong Far Medium Punch 5MP / Far MP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Far
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Placeholder
5HP
Far Fierce Far Heavy Punch 5HP / Far HP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Far
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Placeholder
5LK
Far Short Far Light Kick 5LK / Far LK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Far
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Placeholder
5MK
Far Forward Far Medium Kick 5MK / Far MK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
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Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Far
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Placeholder
5HK
Far Roundhouse Far Heavy Kick 5HK / Far HK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Far
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Placeholder
Close Standing Normals
clLP
Close Jab Close Light Punch cl.LP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Close
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Placeholder
clMP
Close Strong cl.MP
Version
Damage
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Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Close
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Placeholder
clHP
Close Fierce Close Heavy Punch cl.HP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Close
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Placeholder
clLK
Close Short Close Light Kick cl.LK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Close
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Placeholder
clMK
Close Forward Close Medium Kick cl.MK
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Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Close
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Placeholder
clHK
Close Roundhouse Close Heavy Kick cl.HK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Close
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Placeholder
Crouching Normals
2LP
Crouch Jab Crouching Light Punch 2LP / cr.LP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
+
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Placeholder
2MP
Crouch Strong Crouching Medium Punch 2MP / cr.MP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
+
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Placeholder
2HP
Crouch Fierce Crouching Heavy Punch 2HP / cr.HP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
+
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Placeholder
2LK
Crouch Short Crouching Light Kick 2LK / cr.LK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
+
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Placeholder
2MK
Crouch Forward Crouching Medium Kick 2MK / cr.MK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
+
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Placeholder
2HK
Crouch Roundhouse Crouching Heavy Kick 2HK / cr.HK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
+
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Jumping Normals
j.LP
Jump Jab Jumping Light Punch j.LP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
//+
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Placeholder
j.MP
Jump Strong Jumping Medium Punch j.MP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
//+
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Placeholder
j.HP
Jump Fierce Jumping Heavy Punch j.HP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
//+
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Placeholder
j.LK
Jump Short Jumping Light Kick j.LK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
//+
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Placeholder
j.MK
Jump Forward Jumping Medium Kick j.MK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
//+
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Placeholder
j.HK
Jump Roundhouse Jumping Heavy Kick j.HK
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
//+
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Placeholder
Command Normals
X
Generic Command Generic Name Generic Input
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
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Placeholder
Throws
X
Generic Throw Name Punch Throw Near Opponent, 4/6HP
Version
Damage
Stun
Cancel
Guard
Parry
Startup
Active
Recovery
Total
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Invul
Close /+
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Placeholder
X
Generic Throw Name Kick Throw Near Opponent, 4/6HK
