Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo/Ken

Introduction

Ryu's training partner, Ken, has developed his own style of moves and variations since his clone days of Street Fighter II: World Warrior. In ST, he can be a very tough character to beat if played right with the tools he has and the right mindset.

Color Options

Jab	Strong	Fierce	Start	Old
Short	Forward	RoundHouse	Hold	Old Alternative

--Born2SPD

Move Analysis

Ground Normals

• Close Standing Jab:

Damage	4
Stun	0-5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		2	4	5

Ken performs an elbow smash in front and above his head. Fast start-up anti-air up close, with just OK priority.

• Far Standing Jab:

Damage	4
Stun	0-5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	Yes
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		2	4	4	1
Simplified		2	4	5

Rapid-fire Jab that has very good priority (Ken's arm is completely invulnerable) but just acceptable reach and very low damage.

• Crouching Jab:

Damage	4
Stun	0-5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	Yes
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		2	4	4	1
Simplified		2	4	5

Rapid-fire ducking Jab with OK reach and very good priority. Ken's arm is completely invincible.

• Close Standing Strong:

Damage	19
Stun	5-11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		1	2	2	6	4	3	4
Simplified		3		2	17

Ken performs a hook. This move has a not very good recovery, so try canceling it into some special such as the hadouKen to avoid punishment.

• Far Standing Strong:

Damage	19
Stun	5-11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		1	2	4	3	3	1
Simplified		3		4	7

Ken performs a straight punch. This move has very good recovery, reach and priority. Works as anti-air against some moves, but notice Ken's body moves forward a bit, so you need some room to use it correctly. Ken's whole arm is invincible in this attack.

• Crouching Strong:

Damage	19
Stun	5-11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		1	2	4	3	3	1
Simplified		3		4	7

Ken does a crouching straight. Good damage, stun, recovery and priority. Ken's whole arm is completely invincible.

• Close Standing Fierce:

Damage	24
Stun	3-9/10-15
Stun Timer	40/80
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		3	2	6	10	13
Simplified		3	8		23

Ken does a close upper. Good priority anti-air if the enemy is on top of you, and if he is close it can be canceled into any special attack for a basic but damaging combo. Bad recovery.

• Far Standing Fierce:

Damage	24
Stun	10-15
Stun Timer	80
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		3	2	6	10	12	1
Simplified		5		6	23

Similar to far.strong, but with higher damage and longer reach, but the head hitbox moves forward just as much and the recovery is hideous. This move can not be canceled into specials, so make sure it hits or you will pay the price.

• Crouching Fierce:

Damage	24/19
Stun	3-9/10-15
Stun Timer	40/80
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		3	3	8	10	12	1
Simplified		3	11		23

Uppercut from crouching position. It does good damage and has a deceptively long horizontal reach, but just average to low priority and quite long recovery. This move is unsafe on block or hit and is mainly used in combos or as close-up anti-air. Favor standing Fierce if you can for the latter.

• Close Standing Short:

Damage	11
Stun	0-5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	Yes
Special Cancel	No
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		2	3	2	4	3	1
Simplified		5		2	8

Ken performs a low kick that can be canceled into a far Short or crouching Short. This move must be blocked low.

• Far Standing Short:

Damage	11?
Stun	?-?
Stun Timer	?
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Super Cancel	No
Frame Count		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Simplified		?			?	?

Like the Close version, but without Cancels and worst priority. Hits low as well.

• Crouching Short:

Damage	4
Stun	0-5
Stun Timer	40
Chain Cancel	Yes
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		3	4	4	1
Simplified		3	4	5

Rapid fire crouching low kick. Mediocre priority but good reach.

• Close Standing Forward:

Damage	?
Stun	?-?
Stun Timer	?
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Super Cancel	No
Frame Count		?	?	?	?	?
Simplified		?		?	?

Has same vertical priority from Old Shotos cl.Rh but worst horizontal priority. OK for anti air up close.

• Far Standing Forward:

Damage	19
Stun	5-11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Super Cancel	No
Frame Count		3	4	8	6	1
Simplified		7		8	7

High side kick with good priority, but very slow start-up. Good anti-air if you can hit the button early enough.

• Crouching Forward:

Damage	19
Stun	5-11
Stun Timer	60
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		1	2	6	4	4	1
Simplified		3		6	9

Crouching side kick. This move has good reach and recovery, but is has projected vulnerable hitboxes before it becomes active. It is an important tool when closing the gap on the enemy and trying to push him into the corner as it can be canceled into HadouKens. It is also used in bread and butter combos.

• Close/Far Standing Roundhouse:

Damage	?	File:Ken strh1.png	File:Ken strh2.png	File:Ken strh3.png	File:Ken strh4.png	File:Ken strh5.png	File:Ken strh6.png	File:Ken strh7.png	File:Ken strh8.png	File:Ken strh9.png
Stun	?-?
Stun Timer	?
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	No
Super Cancel	No
Frame Count		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Simplified		?				?	?

• Crouching Roundhouse:

Damage	22
Stun	6-10
Stun Timer	130
Chain Cancel	No
Special Cancel	Yes
Super Cancel	Yes
Frame Count		3	6	6	8	11
Simplified		3	6	25

Ken's sweep kick. This move generates a fast knockdown if it hits. It has good range and the priority is such that it beats or trades with a number of moves. The recovery, however, is very long, so good players will try to bait this move so as to punish it afterward. This can be canceled into HadouKens so you can push the enemy towards his corner or ShoKenKens and Short tatsus for super meter.

Special Moves

Hadouken aka Fireball (qcf + P)- Speed depends on the strength of the punch. O.Ken has slower Jab fireball and faster Fierce fireball, which makes O.Ken a better FB trap character than his new version.

Shoryuken aka Dragon Punch (DP + P) - Only Jab DP can go through fireballs. Jab DP does 1 hit, strong does 2, and fierce does 3. Note that strong and fierce DPs won't knock down if only the first hit connects. O.Ken has full invincibility on the way up for all of his DPs as opposed to N.Ken's invincibility during the early frames.

Hurricane Kick (qcb + K) - Can be done in air. He spins more depending on the strength of the button.

Inside Crescent (qcf + K) - A fast high hitting kick. Good for jump in combos, since comboing a FB with Ken is hard in ST and this funky kick will combo easily off of low short or forward.

Outside Crescent (f, df, d + K) - A two-hit kick that gives Ken a lot of frame advantage if blocked/hit but has slow startup. Hits crouching characters.

Roundhouse (hcf + K) - His old far standing Roundhouse became this move with less active hitting frames. Not very useful for anything really.

Super Combo

Shoryureppa (qcf x 2 + P) - His double-Shoryuken super. Note that this super is invincible until he's on the way down from the second DP. It seems he has very little landing recovery frames, so a throw or a DP on landing can catch an unsuspecting opponent (if you're allowed to land in the first place). As one of the oddities of ST, Ken cannot use his super for a reversal attack. If you input the super at the reversal timing you'll get your last special move instead.

The Basics

Anti-air

Ken has a perfectly good invincible anti-air (Shoryuken), but sometimes that's not enough for certain situations. Be smart with them and use effective anti-air options for each situation.

*When the opponent jumps at you honestly.

-Jab DP

-Super (this does about 3 hits max and will do more damage than a Jab DP)

-Stand far forward (just decent, use it like you would with Ryu's s.RH)

-hcf+kick (this looks like his old stand far RH, time it well since it doesn't last very long)

-c.Fierce (be aware that it could trade with the opponent's normals)

*When the opponent jumps at you and decides to stick out a move that would reach, but is still far enough away to cause a Jab DP to whiff.

-Stand far Strong (this will beat most any jumping attack at the tip of the punch if the other person sticks out on the way down, and it's safe if they decide not to stick out anything since you pull back your arm really quickly. It's the safest option but beware against Sagat's RH since his legs are really long and s.Strong won't beat it.)

-Super (It travels far forward and will hit them regardless. It's the best option with no guessing involved.)

-Early forward j.RH (Jump at the opponent and kick them before they press their attack)

-Jab DP (If the opponent stuck something out it works, but if they didn't, the DP whiffs and you eat a combo)

-c.RH (If the opponent stuck something out you get hit in the head but that's usually about it, if they didn't stick something out you sweep the opponent clean)

*Against cross up jumps

-Jab DP (You'll need to perform this with a modified command to get it to face the other way. When they are going over your head, do f,df,d,db+Jab and it'll turn Ken around and hit them clean in the back.)

-s.fierce (if you weren't knocked down when the opponent tried a cross up on you, you can shoot them down on the way up with a close stand fierce)

Ground Pokes/Footsies

Pokes
Ken's best pokes are c.Short, c.Forward, c.Strong and s.Roundhouse. For close up pokes c.Strong and c.Short are best, since you gain frame advantage from those two, and for ranges where c.RH won't reach, s.RH is good, but be careful since the move is a bit laggy and can be bad news if whiffed.

Footsie tools
c.Short, c.Forward, and c.Roundhouse are the best for footsies. Usually it consists of several c.Shorts into either c.Forward or c.RH into a fireball.

Advanced Strategy

Knee Bash Mix-Ups

This is one nasty mofo of a throw. Not only does it do good damage, it offers you the chance to mixup and go for something else afterward. Here are some options:

• Walk up, c.Short x2, hit confirm to super.
• Walk underneath the opponent, combo. (Go for s.HP xx Jab DP as you recover quickly in case the opponent blocks).
• Jump in Jab XX Hurricane. When you land you get another mixup, you can go for knee bash, Dragon Punch, tick throw, c.Forward into Dragon, sweep XX fireball. Loads of stuff.
• Tick throw (e.g. crouching short into Knee Bash)
• Jab Dragon (If you think the opponent will try to tech out of another Knee Bash attempt)
• Jump over cross-up j.Forward.
• c.Forward/sweep into fireball.
• Walk underneath, c.Forward/sweep into fireball.
• Nothing at all (If you have conditioned them with a lot of follow-up tick throws, they may well try to reversal, so do nothing, wait for them to land from their reversal move and then combo them).

Safe jump Jab after Knee Bash throw

(From the Yoga Book Hyper, translated by NKI) "If you jump immediately after the Knee Bash throw, it can be a safe jump depending on who your opponent is. It is extremely useful against Ryu, Boxer and Dee Jay, so you definitely want to use it against them. All you have to do is hold up/towards as the throw is finishing. As soon as you're airborne, hit Jab and it will be a meaty on the landing opponent."

Note from NKI: It's only a safe jump against Boxer, and DeeJay's Forward and RH upkicks. (DeeJay can hit Ken with reversal Short upkicks, but not Forward or RH.)

Connecting jump Jab to Hurricane Kick

This is another tricky piece of execution with Ken. You can combo his jumping Jab into any Hurricane Kick (HK is best). This is particularly good after a Knee Bash. The best way to do it is to do a QCB and then at back press Jab followed by HK very quickly. (Or do the Jab at down-back).

"Juice Kick"

Ken's air Hurricane in ST is really nasty and there are several different variations on it. One of the best is known as the "Juice Kick." This is when you do an air hurricane almost immediately after jumping toward the opponent. If you do it right, Ken's arc of travel will be REALLY low to the ground. This almost has the effect of a Dhalsim-style teleport, but you hit at the same time! This is really good against Sagat; if you sense he is going to throw a Low Tiger, you can Juice Kick and connect with his limbs before he recovers!

Button-Release Hadouken

Check this article from Nohoho's blog.

Built-in Shoryuken

Check this article from Nohoho's blog.

Walking Dragon Punch

(From the Yoga Book Hyper, translated by NKI) "Equally as important as well-timed fireballs is the walking DP. That is, walking towards the opponent, and when you get close, doing a Jab DP. If the opponent sticks out a move to try to stop you from walking forward, not only will pretty much every move lose to the DP, but they also get knocked down, so you can continue to pressure them as they get up. Of course if you whiff the DP, the opponent can punish it, but because they'll be scared of that DP, it's pretty easy to close the gap just by walking towards them. You want to keep the pressure on the opponent."

Psychic Dragon Punches

Ken's DP is one of the best moves in ST. It comes out quickly, has mad priority and recovers really fast. Only O. Ken has a better DP style move in this game. You can therefore exploit the assets of the DP to use "Psychic" style tactics to beat pokes and throw attempts to really head-fuck your opponent. The use of Psychic DP's is matchup-dependent, but you can DP through Dhalsim's long limbs, a Shoto's sweep or you can clip an opponent throwing a fireball on startup and pass through the fireball or trade. AI won't expand on this, but take a look at any high-level N. Ken player (particularly Japanese players Ani-Ken and M.Tsun) and you will see lots of uses of this technique.

Fireball Trap

On top of this Ken also has the classic Fireball trap, although in comparison to Sagat and Ryu, Ken's version is weak. At the right ranges, if you throw a Jab fireball and it gets blocked, then you can throw a Fierce fireball for free which the opponent will have no choice but to block. The Jab fireball also travels pretty slowly, allowing you to advance towards the opponent. If they jump over your fireball, anti-air them with one of the methods above, or if they are jumping from far away, sweep them as they land and cancel into a fireball in case they land safely. Mix-up your fireballs when applying pressure from afar and be wary of Ken's recovery on his Fierce fireball, you're asking to be jumped at if you throw this at the wrong time. Be wary when fighting characters like Guile, Sagat and Ryu, whose faster-traveling projectiles will wear you down gradually in a fireball war.

Combos

Ken doesn't have a dizzy combo that consistently works against every character in the game, but he has pretty buff combos that dizzy depending on your luck.

• Cross up j.Forward, c.Strong, c.Forward XX qcf+K will dizzy almost always, but it only works against fat characters like Guile, Sim or 'Gief. Against normal characters, switch the c.Forward with c.Short and it still combos. It only works against standing characters.

• Cross up j.Forward, c.Short XX qcf+K (hold K to get the overhead), c.RH. This combo also only works against standing fat characters, but this combo is one of the most fancy combos you can pull off in real matches.

• Jump/Crossup j.Forward, s.Fierce XX DP+Jab. Although it may not dizzy a lot, this combo usually takes off about 40%-50% of the opponent's life.

j.Forward/Fierce/RH, c.Forward XX qcf+K. This is the standard 3-hit combo. Easy to land with good enough damage against standing characters (missed FB is a good occasion to use this combo) from a non-crossup jump attack.

j.Jab/Fierce XX air Hurricane Kick, s./c.RH. You may be able to switch out the RH at the end with a c.Short XX qcf+K for a 4-hit combo against fat characters. Has to be standing. The air Hurricane Kick gives you a lot of frame advantage so a walk-up throw is also a viable strategy here, especially since N.Ken's forward throw is so good.

Crossup j.Forward, c.Short x2 XX Super. This is the most powerful combo that Ken has and is very easy to execute once you get the hang of it. For this combo to work you need to press Short+any punch for the Super since rapid-fire shorts cannot be canceled normally, but rapid cancel does allow this combo to work with just 1 added button press for the Super. Do it slowly, as if pressing another rapid fire short instead of the ordinary cancel timing. Note that this combo doesn't work 9 times out of 10 against a standing Chun even if executed perfectly, because Chun is too skinny and the first hit of the Super will completely whiff and give her the opportunity to block the rest.

Frame Data

Normals

Grounded normals have an inherent one-frame input latency when compared to all other moves, including jumps and walking. You can still block during that extra latency frame, so it is not really part of the moves' start-up frames.

Close punches
2 - 4 - 5
3 - 2 - 17
3 - 2 - 6 - 23 (the second active part cannot be comboed into from the first part)

Close kicks
5 - 2 - 8
7 - 8 - 11

Far standing punches
2 - 4 - 5
3 - 4 - 7
5 - 6 - 23

Far standing kicks
5 - 4 - 9
7 - 8 - 7
8 - 5 - 21 (the second active part cannot be comboed into from the first part)

Crouching punches
2 - 4 - 5
3 - 4 - 7
3 - 3 - 8 - 23

Crouching kicks
3 - 4 - 5
3 - 6 - 9
3 - 6 - 25

The recovery of jumping attacks is variable: the characters only recover after they land.

Neutral jumping punches
2 - (active until landing)
4 - 20
4 - 20

Neutral jumping kicks
3 - 40
5 - 13
2 - 4 - 4

Match-ups