Ryu and Ken's rival scene in Street Fighter IV.
A rival is generally a person who competes fiercely with another, either to achieve the same objective or to prove themselves superior.
Street Fighter series[]
Street Fighter Alpha series[]
The rivalry feature first came into play in the Street Fighter Alpha series, where each of the characters had different mid or final bosses. In Street Fighter Alpha 3, there are two rivals in the fifth and ninth stage, with text dialogue before and after the battle, before the character battles either Juli and Juni, Balrog and/or Final Bison.
Street Fighter III series[]
In Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, a rival appeared in the ninth stage as penultimate before the battle with Gill, regardless of text dialogue (unless the character has a text dialogue with Gill).
Street Fighter IV series[]
In the Street Fighter IV series, once the player has defeated six randomly determined fighters in Arcade Mode, they will be then required to face their own character's predetermined rival immediately before the battle with Seth with the words "Now! Fight your rival!" appearing on-screen, usually including a special dialogue before the battle. In Super Street Fighter IV, some characters have two rivals; which one is encountered is determined by whether the player presses all three punches or all three kicks. By default, the first rival is encountered; however if the player presses all three kicks when the "Fight your rival" message appears, they will fight the second rival.
If the player is defeated by the second rival, when they restart they can select to fight the first by pressing all three punches.
Street Fighter X Tekken[]
Ibuki and Rolento are rivals with Tekken's King and Craig Marduk.
Rival battles in this game are similar to those featured in Street Fighter IV, except that they are now between teams of two. When the player chooses an "official" team (i.e. Ryu and Ken) in Arcade Mode, they will fight their rival in their third-to-last battle; with a cutscene prior to the match. Characters that have no official partner will always fight their rival regardless of who their partner is. If the player is using Akuma or Ogre as the lead character, their rival battle will be the final battle instead.
Notable rivalries[]
Ken and Ryu's rivalry intro in Street Fighter Alpha 3.
- Ryu vs. Ken Masters: These two were trained by their master Gouken in the same martial art, though both have developed it in their own unique way. As best friends, they like to constantly test each other in a fight. Unlike many other rivalries, theirs is one of pure oneupsmanship instead of any kind of bad feelings.
- Ryu vs. Sagat: Ryu challenged Sagat in the original World Warrior tournament, but was no match for the King of Muay Thai. Unwillingly succumbing to the Satsui no Hado fully, Ryu, out of rage, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a Metsu Shoryuken which scarred Sagat's chest and knocked him out. Sagat swore revenge and joined Shadaloo for a short time to help him to this end, but the two had gained respect for each other's skills later on, becoming more friendly rivals.
- Guile vs. M. Bison: Guile has hated Bison ever since his best friend Charlie was murdered at the heartless Bison's hand. His obsession with this grudge had almost destroyed his marriage and family. Bison views Guile as a constant thorn in his side.
- Rose vs. M. Bison : Rose has a strong hatred for Bison due to his immoral actions over others. With his Psycho Power being the dark side of Soul Power, she seeks to stop him and to put an end to it.
- Guy vs. Rose : Guy is a friend who respects Rose for wanting to put an end to Bison's evil on the innocent. Due to their differing views and opinions on what they think is right, they will often argue and even fight at times with each other, but will ultimately help one another.
- Chun-Li vs. M. Bison: Chun-Li, like Guile, hates Bison because his company was responsible for the murder of her father. Bison views Chun-Li as a potential threat to Shadaloo who must be destroyed.
- Akuma vs. Ryu/Evil Ryu: Ryu grew to despise Akuma since the latter murdered the former's sensei, Gouken (though it was later revealed that Gouken actually survived the battle), and wanted revenge on Akuma and his freedom from him and the Satsui no Hado. Akuma, for his part, is obsessed with drawing out the Satsui no Hado fully from Ryu in order to have a battle to the death. In Street Fighter IV, Gouken sealed it to help him control it. It is unknown how Akuma responded to this, whether he believed it or not, or if he even knew.
- Yun vs. Yang: These brothers usually fight side-by-side; however, they often spar to see who's better and has gotten stronger, with Yang wishing to surpass his elder twin.
- Charlie Nash vs. M.Bison: This rivalry is fairly simple; Nash despised Shadaloo as a whole for their criminal affairs and Bison simply thought of him as another worthless bug that needed squishing. In Street Fighter Alpha 2, Nash had Bison at his mercy but was shot dead by Bison's getaway helicopter and fell into the waterfall below. Bison never confirmed whether he survived or not, but Charlie was later resurrected thanks to the efforts of the Illuminati in Street Fighter V, who used him as a mindless, vengeful pawn that would stop at nothing to kill Bison in order to eliminate their biggest threat to their plans. When Nash was introduced to the series, his motives for taking down Shadaloo were more heroic then his latest appearance, where he became obsessed with tracking down and killing Bison.
- Necro vs. Twelve: Necro was experimented on to be a prototype for the G-Project, which produced Twelve, and since Necro's escape, Twelve has been assigned to eliminate the evidence.
- Ibuki vs. Makoto: Exactly how this rivalry started is uncertain; however, both girls apparently attend the same high school (along with Elena) and don't get along very well at times, but will still look out for each other.
- Karin Kanzuki vs. Sakura: Karin was undefeated until her loss at Sakura's hands shortly after meeting Ryu, and was determined to re-assert her dominance, but they became friends later on.
- Cody vs. Guy: These two were once part of a trio that saved Metro City from the Mad Gear Gang, but since then Cody has continued to instigate brawls and has been imprisoned for aggravated assault, unable to adjust to the relative peace. He often breaks out of jail and goes on violent rampages. Guy is conflicted about how he should deal with his old friend's troubled ways, and the two now fight head-to-head more often.
- Akuma vs. Gen: Both men seek worthy opponents for the ultimate death match, and although it initially looked like they had found them in each other, Akuma abandoned the conflict when it transpired that Gen's motivation was that he was already dying of leukemia and left him.
- Cammy vs. M. Bison: Cammy was once known as Killer Bee, a modified clone using Bison's DNA as a base and was originally planned to eventually serve as a replacement body for Bison once his current one became unusable. However, she developed independent thought and rebelled against him.
- El Fuerte vs. Zangief: Zangief and El Fuerte meet in Street Fighter IV, with Zangief introducing himself as "The Red Cyclone". El Fuerte introduced himself as the "Hurricane of the Gulf of Mexico". Zangief made a comeback, wanting to "see if a Hurricane can beat a Cyclone!".
- Hakan vs. E. Honda: Hakan and Honda meet in Street Fighter IV, with Honda believes that sumo is the best technique in the world, while Hakan believes that Turkish wrestling is the best. Honda made a comeback, wanting to put their opinions to the test. In Ultra Street Fighter IV it is implied through a poster at the Half-Pipe that Hakan eventually gives sumo a try.
- Ken vs. Rufus: This is a rivalry of Rufus' design; angered that Ken, instead of himself, is recognized as the greatest karate martial artist in the U.S., Rufus sets out to confront him. Ken, for his part, finds Rufus' bullishness amusing and enjoys fighting him.
- Abel vs. Guile: Upon seeing that Abel recognized his Sonic Boom attack, Guile demanded to know where and when he had seen it and who had seen doing it. When Abel proved reluctant to speak so freely to a stranger that could well and truly be a spy, the two fought. It is unknown who won but the two have become allies and friends since then. Guile later learns that the man who saved Abel's life before the events of Super Street Fighter IV was his best friend, Charlie Nash.
- Chun-Li vs. C. Viper: Viper, ostensibly a member of the criminal organization S.I.N., is one of many that Chun-Li doggedly pursues for Interpol and press her with questions about whomever her employer is. What Chun-Li doesn't know is that Viper is actually a double agent for the CIA working to take S.I.N. down. However, Viper cannot break her cover, and so Chun-Li continues to believe her to be an enemy.
- Cammy vs. C. Viper: Similarly to the above, Cammy also believes Viper to be a criminal and also pursues her in her duties for Delta Red.
- Seth vs. Abel: These two were created in the same Shadaloo project, and were originally intended to be mindless servants of M. Bison. However, Abel escaped somehow and developed amnesia in the process. For some reason, Seth resents Abel and when they meet again, Abel wants answers about his past. It is later revealed that Abel was one of many replacement bodies for Bison, in the same vein as Seth.
- Juri vs. M. Bison: Bison also earns hatred from Juri after his company murders her parents and lost her left eye at a young age. Juri seeks to destroy him and even would go as far as to literally follow the "eye for an eye" mentality in her win quote against him in SFV.
- Cammy vs. Juri: Juri and Cammy have a mutual contempt for each other. Cammy bears a grudge against Juri for what she did to her "sisters", the Dolls. Juri maintains that Cammy is sinful because of what she did in the past, before she lost her memory. Juri also tried to murder Cammy (as well as Juni) by throwing them off her plane, but did not expect them to survive and their fall to be broken by the soft snow.
- Dudley vs. Balrog: Balrog is the personification of everything that Dudley hates in life (disonored, rude and a dirty fighter) and due to this doesn't truly recognize him as a boxer. Balrog, on the other hand, sees Dudley as a wimp and refuse to believe that Dudley is the English Champion of Boxing.
- Urien vs. Gill: Both of them are brothers and have long since been involved in the Illuminati since birth in participation of their Presidency screening and advanced enhancement training program, but Urien has long stood in the shadow of Gill. Desiring to surpass his brother with an utmost and nearly psychotic hatred as he attains the ranks of President and Emperor, Gill is not ignorant of his brother's jealousy either and will also put him out of his misery should he act to rebel against his "master".
- Oro vs. Akuma: Both of them have attained a great level of strength, power, and notoriety amongst the fighting world through different methods- One as the result of ascetic practice in solitude, becoming the master of Senjutsu, with the other steeped in path of carnal malevolence through mortal combat, being the master of the Satsui no Hado. Both masters of their respective styles do not meet eye to eye with another; Oro finds Akuma still immature and rather disturbingly aggressive, while Akuma finds Oro to be too restrained and a bumbling silly old man to be a master martial artist.
- Alex vs. Hugo: Although yet has to be established between the both of them, the two face off against each other in a fierce staredown, the both of them being heavyweight wrestlers, of a clash of stoutness versus bulk. It's also a reference to Wrestlemania III, since Alex is inspired on Hulk Hogan, and Hugo (and his whole Andore family) are based on André The Giant.
In addition to these, the original Street Fighter IV included rivalry videos for the following rivalries which have not yet had a Rival Battle in any game:
- Akuma/Oni vs. Gouken: Brothers who onced studied the same Ansatsuken art under their great master Goutetsu, they have clashed over the direction the art should take, and later over the fate of Ryu and his Satsui no Hado.
- Seth vs. M. Bison: Seth, created to be another replacement body for Bison, has developed independent thought and rebelled against him to take over the planet, taking over Bison's S.I.N. division, while Bison recuperated from Akuma's attack from the second World Warrior tournament. Bison came out of his stasis capsule early just to deal with this threat, despite having a body that was weaker then his first and second body.
List of rival battles[]
- See the list of rival battles.