Ryo Sakazaki

Ryo Sakazaki
Official artwork of Ryo Sakazaki from The King of Fighters XIII.
Universe	Art of Fighting
Debut	Art of Fighting (1992)
Smash Bros. appearances	Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	The King of Fighters for Girls (2019)
Console/platform of origin	Neo Geo MVS
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Japan
Created by	Takashi Nishiyama
Article on Wikipedia	Ryo Sakazaki

Ryo Sakazaki (リョウ・サカザキ, Ryo Sakazaki) is the main character from the fighting game series Art of Fighting. He regularly appears in The King of Fighters series.

Origin

The introduction of Art of Fighting, with Ryo fighting Jack Turner.

Ryo first appears in Art of Fighting, where he sets off to fight Mr. Big to save his sister Yuri. However, as he does so, he is led to a mysterious man known as Mr. Karate. After beating him, it is revealed that Mr. Karate was his and Yuri's father, Takuma Sakazaki and that he was being coerced by Geese Howard into being his muscle in Southtown, having arranged Yuri's kidnapping to force his cooperation. Ryo, his family, and his best friend Robert Garcia then proceed to search for and fight Geese. After failing to kill Geese in Art of Fighting 2 (which leads up to the events of the original Fatal Fury), Ryo's role is reduced to a supporting role to Robert in Art of Fighting 3: The Path of the Warrior, as the latter leaves for the fictional Mexican town of Glasshill without warning, in order to help his childhood friend Freia Lawrence. Ryo's playable appearances after this are mostly in The King of Fighters series, often teaming up with Robert, Yuri, and/or Takuma, as part of the Art of Fighting Team. In The King of Fighters series, he mostly joins the tournaments to get funds for his family's dojo.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Ryo was one of the characters who tried to take the Smash invitation in Terry's trailer. During his scene, he rushes forwards and tries to grab the letter, but it flies away.

Ryo as both a Mii Costume and background character.

As a costume

Ryo appears as one of Round 4's DLC Mii costumes. He is a costume for Mii Brawler.

As a background character

Ryo makes a cameo on the King of Fighters Stadium.

As a spirit

Ryo appears as an Ace class spirit.

No.	Image	Name	Type	Class	Slot	Ability	Series
1,361		Ryo Sakazaki		★★★	3	Fist Attack ↑	Art of Fighting Series

Trivia

• When Ryo's Mii Costume is being demonstrated, he is shown jumping off Wario's bike on Omega Mario Circuit, referencing cutscenes from the original Art of Fighting (which, incidentally, are a popular meme in Japan). He is also shown performing Flashing Mach Punch and Onslaught, which resemble his Zanretsuken and Ryuuko Ranbu moves.
• Though not originally from the Fatal Fury series, Ryo made secret playable appearances in two of its games, Fatal Fury Special and Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition, the latter of which sees him succeeding his father as Mr. Karate.
• The appearance of King K. Rool using his forward aerial attack in Mii Fighter Costumes #4 trailer is a reference to Jack Turner's Super Drop Kick from the Art of Fighting series.
• Interestingly, Ryo's spirit artwork and appearance on the King of Fighters Stadium depicts his original appearance in the Art of Fighting series with a mullet, but the Mii wig based off him is based on his later appearances in The King of Fighters with shorter hair.

External Links

• Article on SNK Wiki.