Capcom Delves into Ken's New Appearance

So, Capcom is doing some funny things with Street Fighter V. They’re making it a sort of free-to-play experience, where you can unlock new fighters, stages, and outfits via an in-game currency. A lot of the characters have new costumes, new stories to tell, and new directions to go. There’s sexy Ryu, Cammy with her hair down, and… then there’s Ken.

What exactly is going on with Ken?

From screenshots, we already know he was getting a new look--working that ‘dark and edgey remake as imagined by a sexually frustrated teenager’ angle--but we didn’t know why. Had something happened between games? Was he possessed? Or was he just sick of being Luigi to Ryu’s Mario? Turns out, it might be the latter of the options--at least, if we’re going to take Capcom’s opinion on the matter.

Which we are.

In a video interview with IGN, Capcom brand manager Mike Lunn explains that the change came from a desire internally to make Ken more distinct from Ryu, moving them away from their historical position as mere pallet-swaps of one another. Thus, he’s sporting a new look (which he calls ‘good’), a new style, and even new gameplay. How he’ll be different from his old training buddy Ryu has yet to be seen, but I look forward to finding out!

So. There’s that. That’s nice, right?