Kage (Evil Ryu) often shows up towards the end of the Street Fighter game’s DLC releases
Eviler Ryu, better known as Kage (Shadow) made his debut in Street Fighter 5 in late 2018, infamously showing up in advance of Capcom actually announcing him. He’s the embodiment of the Satsui No Hado that Ryu was able to exorcise, making him the first canonical version of Evil Ryu we’ve ever seen in Street Fighter.
According to Street Fighter 6’s director, Takayuki Nakayama, Kage is said to have disappeared in his story in the prior game, and can no longer exist because Ryu finally overcame the Dark Hado, but… given that this is the world of Street Fighter, you never know who will resurface, after all, Gen seemingly died previously, but is still alive and well.
“Kage is supposed to have disappeared in his story in Street Fighter 5,” Nakayama wrote on X. “Kage can no longer exist because Ryu overcame the ‘Satsui no Hado’. But the funny thing is you never know what will happen,” Street Fighter 6’s director said.
Since the non-canonical version of Evil Ryu was first made playable in 1996 in Street Fighter Alpha 2, he’s become one of the most popular characters in the entire franchise, consistently appearing around the top of the popularity charts in Street Fighter 5, and being a very common character in the Street Fighter 4 tournament scene.
Being based on the franchise’s poster boy certainly doesn’t hurt his approval rating, either.
Given his global popularity and the fact that he’d have to be added as a DLC, e.g. purchasable character, means Capcom has plenty of incentive to add this fighter into the game at some point, as he’d likely end up as a very popular fighter once again, and lead to increased sales to help support Street Fighter 6.
Evil Ryu was one of the final characters added to Street Fighter 4, back when he was officially unveiled in 2010, and was added in Season 4 of the prior game, with Street Fighter 5 wrapping up all of its DLC releases in Season 5.
As such, if we see Kage/Evil Ryu return as a DLC combatant, it’s likely he’ll be added towards the end of Street Fighter 6’s lifespan, like he was in the last two games.
Source: Event Hubs
