Ken Masters
Ken Masters is a video game character created by Capcom. He is from the Street Fighter series of video games, and is seen wearing a red gi. He is 3/4 Japanese and 1/4 American. He has dark hair, which he dyes blonde, and flared black eyebrows.
Originally, he was identical to Ryu in every way: the only way to effectively have two identical characters fight each other in Street Fighter II - The World Warrior was to have one player play as Ryu and the other play as Ken. However, as Street Fighter II' - Champion Edition allowed mirror matches, Ken began deviating somewhat from Ryu - being given a flaming Shouryuu Ken (as well as super combos that are based on the Shouryuu Ken) and as well as various kick moves. By Street Fighter 3, Ken has two Shouryuu Ken Super Arts (Shouryuu Reppa and Shinryuu Ken) and the Shippu-Jinrai Kyaku Super Art.
According to his official biography, Ken was born in America on February 14, 1965. He stands 175 cm and weighs 72 kg. His blood type is B. He enjoys driving and is good at cooking pastas, but dislikes soap operas.
Ken did not participate in the first World Warrior tournament (the events of the original Street Fighter); instead, he fought in (and won) a US Martial Arts tournament that had been previously won by Charlie. Upon returning to his training ground, he witnessed his master's death at the hands of Akuma, and tried to fight him, but lost. After the events of Street Fighter 2, Ken married his girlfriend Eliza (and became Guile's brother-in-law; Eliza is Jane's sister), and they have a son, Mel, by the time of Street Fighter 3.
Before the popularity of Street Fighter II - The World Warrior, Ken Masters was simply known as Ken, without a surname. However, because of the popularity of Street Fighter and Barbie in the United States (Street Fighter being more popular to boys and Barbie to girls), people often mistaked Ken for Barbie's boyfriend Ken Carson - to the point that Mattel sued Capcom over the name. As a result, the last name "Masters" was given. This last name was used in the 1994 Street Fighter movie. Many fans believe that this last name has a hidden meaning (although unrelated to Barbie): Ken Masters is a master of a nonviolent variation of Ansatsu-Ken that is often erroneously referred to as Shotokan Karate.
Related Characters
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