Street Fighter EX/Characters/Ken

Click here for more information about Ken's other fighting game appearances.

Ken has little more motivation to join the Street Fighter EX tournaments than his pure love of fighting, and the chance of being pitted against his best friend and rival Ryu in combat. After returning to the United States for the first time since he left as a child to begin his training in Japan, he has been an unstoppable force in the American fighting circuit, although he never earned the opportunity to fight the reigning champion, Allen Snider. Much to Ken's delight, it turned out that he would get such an opportunity in the first round of the first EX tournament.

The match turned out to be a bit of a let down for Ken, achieving an easy victory over Allen, who used a variant form of Ken's own fighting style. Astounded by the ferocity of Ken's attacks, Allen was overwhelmed and asked where Ken trained. Ken informed him of his life in Japan, and from that point on, Allen vowed to travel all over the world to become not only America's greatest fighter, but the world's as well.

Ken advanced several rounds in the tournament until he got what he had wished for: a match with Ryu. When the match started, Ryu didn't seem overly thrilled to see Ken. In fact, Ken wasn't sure if Ryu knew who he was at all. As the match progressed, Ken realized that Ryu was not himself, and his technique had changed. Ken stopped fighting Ryu and refused to strike back, insisting that Ryu regain his senses. Struggling against Ryu, Ken held his ground and the sight of Ken struggling caused Ryu to snap back to his former self. When Ryu returned to normal, the sound of laughter could be heard. They both turned to face the man that had cause Ryu to lose his mind, M. Bison.

Together, they launched an attack on him that sent M. Bison reeling. Right about that time, Guile and Chun-Li burst through the door together, but Bison hit a switch that allowed him to escape capture. Ryu thanked Ken for his efforts and said that he needed to travel more to better understand himself and the Satsui no Hadou inside him. Ken understood. They had a friendly rematch in the second tournament, and entered the third tournament as partners.