Capcom normally keeps things pretty traditional when it comes to Street Fighter’s classic roster. Characters like Ryu and Chun-Li have barely changed since their debuts in the ’80s and ’90s respectively. But Ken, well, Ken is now different.
![Street Fighter’s Ken Has Been Redesigned](https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/10/1333619045086406034.jpg?quality=75?quality=75)
Finally taking the chance to make him more than just a palette-swapped Ryu, Ken now has a whole new look, with a new hairstyle and new threads.
It’s… interesting. On the one hand, some might think Ken probably deserves his own style! But on the other, that duality with Ryu was a big part of who both characters really were. And with Ryu keeping his traditional look for Street Fighter V, it’s weird seeing the two go at it.
![Street Fighter’s Ken Has Been Redesigned](https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/10/1333619045144202386.jpg?quality=75?quality=75)
Comments
58 responses to “Street Fighter’s Ken Has Been Redesigned”
No, sir. I don’t like it.
Thank you, Mr. Horse.
I’m Ren Höek, ace reporter.
like everything overall?
I dig his costume, he basically unsleeved his gi revealing an undershirt. Adds to his too kool for skool character.
his moves are a breath of fresh air.
face and hairstyle tho? yeeesh…
I like the costume. The face and hair are really awful though. Like…so bad, it ruins the whole character.
It’s an early build of Ken. His face and hair are unfinished. You can tell when in select screen against another character, the complete difference in polish and missing textures.
It’s unimportant. The base mechanics – his movements and playstyle is what is getting priority right now.
His underarmor and gi suits his direction for this game. He’s a rich pretty boy who loves to show off and has a very aggressive fighting style.
His character model is just unfinished.
There will be alternative skins, costumes, and traditional classic outfits to choose later on; As paid dlc of course (going by capcom terrible history).
I still prefer longest hair Ken from Alpha/Zero
Wattaguy *swoon*
I don’t dig the SFV look, but looking back at his SF4 look, which is garbage, SVV is an improvement for him.
Definitely wish he’d go back to his Alpha days of long hair. I think that was his most iconic look.
…And also *swoon*
Also, the top he’s wearing looks kind of… Chinese? Like a man’s version of Chun-li’s top?
I agree nothing beats Alpha Ken. Hopefully they add that as secondary costume or classic dlc like in Mortal Kombat X
Is it just me or does Ken look almost like claymation?
the whole art style has that sort of feel.
A little. It’s much more obvious on Ken.
Looks like crap. Stopped playing since sf4 came out and mvsc3. Both were ruined.
To a degree, but Ken’s hair looks like plasticine.
That’s racist.
That’s claycist. [fixed]
His fringe/front hair bits looks like two sloppy bananas
This cracked me up 😀
nope
I’m digging it. Ken was starting to look a little generic anyway, I think. Actually wish they’d redo Ryu as well. Never dug SFIV Ryu. His face and hair made him look too….. square? Like too macho or something. Always thought of Ryu as a little more slight being Japanese and all – I liked his Alpha iterations the most.
….. I thought this article was about ken. Where is he?
Shrug. Ken can do what he wants, it’s not like anyone ever plays that 2nd-fiddle wannabe anyway. Not when the REAL man Ryu is available.
You misspelled Akuma
Pussies can’t even Satsui no Hado
I’m a big sloppy vagina, been playing Street Fighter for 20 years & I still have trouble pulling off moves
I don’t see how that’s really……oh, you meant “fight”. Carry on.
I main Ken and I think he looks awesome! So pumped to play this!
i main ken and this disappoints me.
Why? And lol… Not like fighting game players to not like stuff
well, ive been playing streetfighter ever since it was an arcade machine and Ken was always in the same outfit with the same hair. streetfighter 2, 3, 4, alpha, streetfighter vs xmen, capcom vs marvel, capcom vs snk, etc etc etc
so for them to turn around all of a sudden and change not only his outfit but his hair too, seems like a bit of a middle finger to the Ken fans.
obviously this is my opinion, but im sure i speak for at least a few Ken fans out there.
So have I. Been maining Ken since ’91. I remember when he didn’t even have a step kick or an axe kick. And they changed heaps of stuff since then.
I definitely think he looks different, the face in particular, but I don’t mind. I’m gonna wait and see.
I like his new design, and his play style looks even more aggressive than he already was compared to Ryu, colour me interested.
He’s still a palette swapped Ryu. He’s just using a different palette now.
His moves still look more or less identical apart from his supers and ultras.
thats not ken, thats an imposter. f*ck you capcom. dumbasses.
Noooooooooooooooooo
Looks interesting. BUt still not as good as City Hunter,
City Hunter!
I dont mind it at all. Actually, it does remind me of Paul Phoenix’s costume from Tekken4.
And for those that dont like it, dont worry, Kens “Traditional” Costume will be available……as DLC…
I think what’s more important here is the identity of the mystery face at the end..
I feel it’ll be the new New Zealander character they’ve been hinting at. He doesn’t appear to look like any other character previously in the series (unless Dee Jay went and got facial tattoos and stopped smiling constantly).
God damn, who thought that was a good idea?
RIP classic Ken, you’ll always be my fav.
Looks like I’m going back to Ryu and Akuma..
You’re not going to play your favourite char because you don’t like his clothes? Srsly?
Clothes maketh the man 😉
Ken & Ryu had the same sensei, so obviously their fighting styles should be the same, and they should be clothed similarly too. Unless there’s something in the SF lore that gives good reason to change Ken like this, then they’ve F’ed it in the A…
Could you be anymore dramatic? They’ve changed his clothes, so what? He had what, 7 different outfits in SF4? There will be others.
Blows my mind how cosmetic changes get people saying how it’s completely ruined, before they’ve even played the game.
He looks like an asian male with blonde hair. Not caucasian male.
Reminds me of Jackie Chain (Bruce Lean) for some reason.
He’s actually part Asian, part American. His father was American, while his mother was Japanese.
Like!!!
Who’s that guy at the end? Has a big tatooed face or something. Vega without the mask? Or Necro or something?
Naw man Vega’s all about keeping his face clean & pretty, hence the mask.
Maybe Honda?
We’ll see Alpha Ken and all the original costumes as on-disc DLC guaranteed.
It has to be E. Honda, surely. Look at these stills:
http://i.imgur.com/MpX4UXA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dSTOLg6.png
The face paint is similar and the hair is the right colour. I had a skim over a full list of SF characters since I haven’t played any since SF2 and none of the other characters are a visual match. Could be a new character, I suppose.
Looks like it was a new character after all: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/07/brand-new-street-fighter-character-shown-off-at-evo/
Didn’t notice Ken – I was too preoccupied with the royal foot guards playing in a brass band around the oddly positioned phone box. Huh?
I want to know what’s going on in the poster in the top left (as seen here). Is he shitting himself? Are his balls hanging out and covered in filth?
And for that matter, did you notice the two blue signs just behind the green clock pillar both say “Platform 1 to 1 only” and point in opposite directions? There’s all kinds of strangeness in this scene.
It’s all about the hair. The fluro colour and lack of texture is what makes it look so bad.
Someone posted this as a comment on the SF Facebook page… Check out the difference it makes.
http://i62.tinypic.com/2d6r3o0.jpg
Wow, absolutely right. It looks better as a more normal colour. Makes his skin tone look dark af though.
What Ken looks like doesn’t matter, he’s one costume DLC pack away (which Capcom has confirmed is happening, incidentally) from looking exactly like he always has. What matters to me is the difference in gameplay Plunkett’s either ignoring or ignorant of.
The changes to his hurricane kick, what appears to be a new dive kick attack and the use of an impressive dash cancel as his V-Skill makes him a far more tangibly offensive character than the difference between he and Ryu in the past; more variation between what SF players refer to as the shoto characters is something they have and always will clamor for, and it’s good to see that Capcom is delivering.
Are you kidding? Of course it matters 😛
Lumbersexual http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/09/street-fighter-vs-bearded-ryu-is-the-hottest-ryu/
That guy can’t even be called Ken.
That’s Dan #2!
Yeah, I went there.