Editing Ken Masters (section)

===Development===
[[File:David Matranga (52814179687).jpg|thumb|left|David Matranga voices Ken in ''Street Fighter 6''.]]
In ''Street Fighter II'', Ken and Ryu were originally going to be Y.S.'s characters; however, he ended up taking over in the early stages. Okano remembers making the dot patterns for the Shoryuken and the Hadoken special moves first. After that, he moved away from game design and created a design room for the illustrations and manuals. Akiman recalls having drafts for most characters except Ken and Ryu. Y.S. eventually finished the characters. From there, the first move he made was the Hadoken. Ryu and Ken "are the so-called standard characters in the" game, and since they were coming from the first ''Street Fighter'' game, they could have the other characters be "weirdos". He gave them a stoic feel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column/132595?lang=en|publisher=Capcom|title=Street Fighter II Developer's Interview|access-date=September 14, 2024}}</ref> Numerous spinoff products were made as well during the game's popularity: when Capcom licensed [[Hasbro]] to produce a line of [[action figure]]s, Ken was given the surname "Masters" to avoid trademark conflict with [[Mattel]]'s [[Ken (doll)|Ken dolls]]. The full name Ken Masters was used in the animated ''[[Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie|Street Fighter II]]'' movie and in the ''[[Street Fighter II V]]'' series before being canonized in the video games with ''Street Fighter Alpha 2''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.redbull.com/es-es/30-curiosidades-street-fighter-30-aniversario|title=30 años de Street Fighter II - 30 datos sobre el mítico juego de lucha|website=Redbull|access-date=September 14, 2024}}</ref>

Producer Yoshiki Okamoto noted that Ken ended up being far more powerful than Ryu in ''Street Fighter II'' despite having the same special moves. During testing locations, Capcom noticed the North American player had more victories. Although the staff had to say in interviews that the duo were equals, there was a cheat that made Ken stronger. This was due to a mechanic called Core. The way special moves were performed in 1991 gave characters a fragment of time they were more vulnerable. Because Capcom realized the mistake cause by Core, they removed it from the video game except Ryu. This was caused by a difference in the formation of the Shoryuken that left Ryu altered whereas Ken kept strong enough to perform two special moves in a row. This resulted in Ken being the stronger of the Karate duo.<ref name="designs">{{cite web|url=https://www.vidaextra.com/cultura/fin-debate-ken-mejor-que-ryu-street-fighter-ii|publisher=Capcom|title=Street Fighter II Developer's Interview|date=14 May 2024 |access-date=September 14, 2024}}</ref> Despite being an aggressive character, Ken is unnotable for aerial combat, making him weaker to Dhalsim, Sagat and Guile in this occasion. He becomes more offensive with the ''Alpha'' series.<ref name="book">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWY9DwAAQBAJ&dq=street+fighter+alpha+ken&pg=PA159 |title=Undisputed Street Fighter: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective |publisher=Dynamite Entertainment |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5241-0466-5 |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=13 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313150531/https://books.google.com/books?id=NWY9DwAAQBAJ&q=Noritaka+Funamizu+akuma&pg=PA245#v=snippet&q=Noritaka%20Funamizu%20akuma&f=false |url-status=live |page=159}}</ref>

The first decision when making the prequel ''Street Fighter Alpha'' was keeping Ken, Ryu and Chun-Li. Capcom did not want to end up with just Japanese and Asian characters. As much as we could, they wanted to think in terms of creating a good balance, with all sorts of different skin colors. The secret of ''Street Fighter Alpha'' is the Ryu and Ken vs. Bison team up mode, where if word did not get out, we figured we would just stay silent. However, the staff spoiled it. While they found such idea fun, it eventually became a troublesome mode. This eventually inspired more team up fights involving characters who wear opposing colors like Ryu and Ken.<ref name="alpha">{{cite web|url=https://itsfantastic.moe/all-about-street-fighter-alpha-developer-interview/|title=All About Street Fighter Alpha – Developer Interview|website=Its Fantastic Moe|date=12 February 2021 |access-date=September 14, 2024}}</ref> Yasuda disliked the handling of Ryu and Ken as old characters, resulting in the creation of Sakura Kasugano as a response to a younger, cooler fighter that contrast the others especially in outfits.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NWY9DwAAQBAJ&dq=ken+masters+undisputed+street+fighter&pg=PA18 |title=Undisputed Street Fighter: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective |publisher=Dynamite Entertainment |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-5241-0466-5 |access-date=20 October 2020 |archive-date=13 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240313150531/https://books.google.com/books?id=NWY9DwAAQBAJ&q=Noritaka+Funamizu+akuma&pg=PA245#v=snippet&q=Noritaka%20Funamizu%20akuma&f=false |url-status=live |page=41}}</ref> 

In both ''SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos'' and ''Street Fighter II'', game designers created an alternate persona called "Violent Ken" with stronger moves than the regular Ken Masters. Despite similarities with Ryu's evil persona caused by not being able to control his dark powers, Violent Ken is the result of the villain [[M. Bison]] manipulating Ken with his Psycho Power. This exploits Ken's hidden side including fears or hatred, most notably his inferiority complex over Ryu and starts wielding purple flames alongside all of his attacks. Eventually, Ken recovers his original persona when seeing his best friend's red bandana which is a present the character gives him in ''Street Fighter Alpha 2''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://game.capcom.com/cfn/sfv/column-130246.html|title=洗脳されたケン|website=Capcom|language=Japanese|access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref> Though Ken did not undergo several changes in ''Street Fighter IV'', he and Ryu Rufus were meant to be have an acrobatic bald slender black male wearing a ''gi'' named "King Cobra", meant to be a more, the character became Rufus.<ref>{{cite video game|title=Street Fighter IV |developer=Dimps/Capcom |publisher=Capcom |date=2008-07-18 |platform=Arcade |level=Character gallery, p. 204}}</ref> [[Reuben Langdon]] voiced Ken in ''Street Fighter IV'', ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' and ''Street Fighter V''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.qoo-app.com/en/post/118925/street-fighter-6-game-modes-trailer|title=Street Fighter 6 Unveils Returning Characters, New Game Modes, and CBT on October 7!|website=News Qoo App|date=15 September 2022 |access-date=September 14, 2024}}</ref> [[David Matranga]] took over in ''Street Fighter 6'', feeling responsibility for it as a result of the series' popularity. He also regarded Ken as iconic based on how he gets the chance to yell his attack's names which required lessons of screaming and grunting.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uKUmMBtLJI|title=It's Interview Time with David Matranga!|via=[[YouTube]]|work=It's Recording Media Time|access-date=September 27, 2024}}</ref> 

The character's inclusion in the [[SNK]] fighting game ''[[Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves]]'' over Ryu was done because producer [[Yasuyuki Oda]] said in the ''Capcom vs. SNK'' crossover games, Ken's character was often promoted alongside [[Terry Bogard]], who originated in ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' in contrast to Ryu who instead is marketed alongside [[Kyo Kusanagi]] who originated in ''[[The King of Fighters '94]]''. This reasoning was also done with fellow character Chun-li who tends to be promoted alongside [[Mai Shiranui]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.famitsu.com/article/202409/19376|title=『餓狼伝説 City of the Wolves』小田泰之氏インタビュー。『スト6』からリュウではなくケンを選んだ理由、今後の参戦が希望されるキャラ、『カプエス』の可能性など今後の展望に【TGS2024】|website=Famitsu|access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref>