Video games, especially competitive ones, love using the concept of rivals as a mechanical or narrative trope. It’s a concept most recognizable in the Pokémon games (with the original introducing Professor Oak’s grandson Blue as your competitor), but it also crops up in fighting games all the time. Scorpion and Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat, Kazuya Mishima and his murderous father Heihachi from Tekken — fighting game rivalries even transcend company lines, like how Marvel vs Capcom 3 pitted Deadpool against Devil May Cry’s Dante as the ultimate battle between wise-cracking, fourth-wall-breaking mercenaries with a love for swords and firearms.
But there’s one particular rivalry that stands above the rest in fighting game history, in part due to how long it’s lasted. When the original Street Fighter hit arcades in 1987, it introduced the world to Ryu and Ken Masters: two expert martial artists trained under the same master, who took different paths in life only to be brought back together by the World Fighting Tournament. The upcoming Street Fighter movie appears to mostly be drawing inspiration from the beloved and game-changing Street Fighter 2, but one thing that’s clear is that the relationship between Ken and Ryu will be front and center no matter what.
