Ryu is a wizard!

Either that or my hasty photoshopping has made it appear so. That is all.

Call it magic or chi or whatever it's all based on the same mystic energy bullshit.

Now that we've settled the fact that Ryu is INDEED A WIZARD we can get to the important issues:

Ryu vs. Gandalf all out throwdown no holds barred deathmatch????

Its a force push, I agree with Vinny...was he the one making the argument that he wasn't a wizard?

There is only one way to test this. You need to show Ryu something fucked up and if he then responds "I'm a wizard, and that looks fucked up." then we've got confirmation.

@demoskinos:

You, sir, have clearly not played Project X Zone.

Ryu is a Muscle Wizard

I'm a wizard, and that's fucked up.

Ryu is a grown ass man.

And that's fucked up.

Wizards draw their power from supernatural or occult forces. Ryu draws his power from physical training and inner strength.

In D3 there is a Wizard and a Monk. Which one do you think has more in common with Ryu?

agreed

Is it the wizard? Cause they both cast fireballs and the monk doesn't.

For some weird reason, this made me think I should watch all 8 harry potter movies on my new tv in one sitting. Oh yeahhhhhhhh

@naru_joe93: No you shouldn't. Thats a horrible idea. I marathoned them with some friends before going to see deathly hallows pt 1. There is nothing more in my life that I regret than that. I guess I should also note that I don't really like the HP movies, but even more so after that event.

I always heard as a kid he was a cheap fireball spamming bitch.

@naru_joe93: I was about to say that marathoning such a lengthy and uneven-in-quality series is unwise, but I just bought the Nightmare on Elm Street box set (which I plan on marathoning, of course... and that includes the five or six hours of featurettes), so I have no room to talk, haha.

Even less room considering I'm eyeing that Friday the 13th box set as we speak... oh god, somebody help me.

Well I LOVE the harry potter movies (except for the order of the phoenix... If there was one book that needed 2 films it was that one) and I have attempted a marathon before, but didnt do it straight; I ended up watching 3 in one day, then watching the rest over a week period. Almost definitely wont do a straight marathon, but I like thinking about the attempt.

Alright... im throwing gas on this fire. Are there actual wizards in the Street Fighter universe? In the Final Fight series? Even in Darkstalkers? I'm not aware of any in specific - though I could be wrong.

Yeah, there ARE mystics. Dhalsim is a monk. Gen (maybe?) could be considered a mystic. I suppose that Rose could be too... though that would also mean that Bison is too? But I dont see any wizards around here.

Since there aren't any wizards... why CANT Ryu be one? Whats with the hate? What if Ryu WANTS to be a wizard?

@naru_joe93: sagat got his powers through the scar ryu gave him on his chest, like harry potter.

What's the difference between a wizard and a mage?

He can do magic fireballs and is known to walk around wearing either sandals or barefoot. Meets my criteria.

A wizard is an old mage, got it.

You say wizard, I say wizard. Let's call the whole thing off.

Wizard is as wizard does.

Ryu is a man child refusing to grow up and get a real job.

He's not even a wizard.

Hadoken - lit. wave fist or surge fist

If his ability to manifest his own inner energy in to a fiery projection makes him a wizard, does that mean we could all be wizards if we did enough Tai Chi?

Also, if Ryu is a wizard, that means Dan Hibiki is a wizard.

The problem I see is where you draw the line between what in Street Fighter would constitute wizardly powers. Throwing fat energy projectiles seems more obvious, sure. But is Ryu's shoryuken a wizard's ability? If not, is Ken's magical because his fierce shoryu is ablaze? Is Zangief a wizard with his green hand/banishing flat? Is his spinning pile driver gravity magic? Is Blanka a wizard? Are electric eels wizards? What about a character like Makoto? Is the forward momentum on her hayate dashing strikes magical? Is Dudley a street magician, pulling roses out of thin air? Is Balrog a normal man that fights wizards all day? Or is he also a wizard? You could easily argue that his turn around punches avoid fireballs by slipping them, but his headbutts make the fireballs pass through him like some kind of phantom. Does that make him a wizard?

To get in where Vinny was headed with D&D, the v3.5 monk class has an externalized Ki Strike that totally could be interpreted as hadouken and shoryuken. So he's TOTALLY A MONK, and not a wizard.

I feel like calling Ryu a wizard is like calling Spiderman a manga. I would certainly consider the Hadouken a form of magic, so if you were to call him a mage, then sure. He's just a mage in some sort of spiritual eastern school of magic. Wizards are old and have beards and have staves and shit though.

Indeed.

Chi or Ki is an internal force that is projected outwards while mana is an external force focused through a conduit or caster. I don't know why this is so hard to understand.

As proof I give the realm of Ravenloft in D&D there magic is all fucked up and casters have trouble using spells while monks have no issue with powers case closed.

and elves are Ninjas.

Ryu is to Gandalf as Dan is to Rincewind.

Ryu is a wizard, and he fucks shit up.

The differences between various practitioners is fuzzy as every fictional world has different takes on what each word means. Many of you guys are probably drawing from DND or some shit. I'm going to draw from The Dresden Files books, which are really really REALLY fucking good books about a wizard private eye. You should read them. Anyway, in Dresden Files a Wizard is a practitioner of sufficient magical strength, talent and flexibility. The top 10% maybe of those who can use magic. A sorcerer is someone whose magic is limited to destruction. Smaller talents may be able to learn to do a few spells, even pretty tricky ones, but they'd never be called wizards because that implies flexibility. I'd reckon Ryu is something like that. Capable of a few feats of magic. I would reckon magic isn't the way he thought about it as he learned it, but it's still totally magic.

Two other side notes, drawing power and tools. One in Dresden Files it is said magic comes from life. One can draw upon their emotions or external power sources, either can work. Two, tools. In Dresden Files these are often called props. It is said that magic does not need props however people do. It's easier to have complex concepts encapsulated by intricate objects generally than it is to keep everything consciously in mind as you fling magic. It's not needed, but it helps a lot.

This is of course one interpretation of magic from one universe. Maybe you disagree.

Bullshit. The difference between a Wizard and Chi based stuff is the external internal element. Wizards draw power from other sources, siphoning off magical energies from a variety of other worldy dimensions. Chi based attacks are all power drawn from within yourself.

Guile is a biblical judge cus his energy blast power comes from his hair, much like Samson.

Dhalsim's D&D prestige class is Hellfire Warlock, and that's fucked up.

First post makes him look like crazy homeless person.

He totally is. He's a homeless man that wanders barefoot all over the world, looking to pick fights. I bet he smells.

I don't know if I'd call Ryu a wizard, but that fireball is definitely a form of magic.

@tblockkiller:

Nah man, real jobs are for chumps.