Evil Ryu/Pop Culture

This is a list of Evil Ryu's references in general pop culture since his (video game) introduction in Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Street Fighter

• Evil Ryu's win quote in Arcade Mode against C. Viper in Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition references the animated SFIV movie, when C. Viper willingly awakens the darkness inside of him by torturing Cammy to gather information about the Satsui no Hado.
  • His win quote towards Zangief in the same game is a reference to Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation where Evil Ryu tries to fire a Metsu Hadoken at him before he returns back to normal.

Capcom games

• Asura (the main protagonist of Capcom's 3D beat'em up game Asura's Wrath) bears a striking resemblance to Evil Ryu, due to them both having eyes being the same color as their irises, tanned skin, spiky hair and their consistent aggressive face. Unlike Evil Ryu, however, Asura is very compassionate towards his family and humanity, while Evil Ryu is cold-blooded and lacks any sort of empathy or respect for humans.
  • Evil Ryu and Asura would fight against each other in the Asura's Wrath extra DLC episode "Lost Episode 1: Finally Someone Angrier Than Me".

Other video games

• In the pirated versions of The King of Fighters '98 and The King of Fighters '99 for the Sega Mega Drive (as well as the pirated version of The King of Fighters 2000 for the SNES), a similar "Orochi" evil version of Ryu is playable. Though he is unrelated to the actual Evil Ryu, his appearance looks similar.

• Tekken's Devil Jin is similar and often compared to Evil Ryu; both are evil, aggressive and violent manifestations of the series' protagonist possessing supernatural powers and an evil energy. They both also have a "stronger" moveset of their human counterparts.

Movies

• Evil Ryu bears a striking resemblance to Dan Inosanto as his role as Pasqual in Bruce Lee's Game of Death.

Internet

• Evil Ryu also appears in Super Powered Beat Down in the battle with the Green Ranger. Towards the end of the series, how the Green Ranger impaled Evil Ryu on the chest is a nod to his appearance in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.

• Evil Ryu also appeared in the 37th episode of Death Battle where he fought Scorpion from Mortal Kombat in the Netherworld and also in the climax of an episode of One Minute Melee where he fought against Devil Jin from Tekken.