Why pick ryu over ken?

[my butt is erect]

This is a vague quick comparison between the two. I'm lacking a lot of info I'm sure as I haven't really researched it. What else is there to say? Really I'm actually asking. Why pick ryu over ken?

Ryu:
- slower moving, right?
- better fireballs. Speed and damage, right?
- can get a charge for hadoukens/short range blast thing. Is this really not almost useless? If you're close and charge it during a knockdown aren't you just gonna lose chance for oki? It also had the audacity to not allow you to hold more than 1 charge. It's so honest.
- shorter combos (not that is is really a plus once you're comfortable?)

From my beginner/intermediate perspective I really can't figure out how ryu is more worth playing than ken. For reference I have two characters in plat and just picked up ryu who is nearing plat.

[CrimsonZako]

There's objectively no point in picking Ryu over Ken. In other words, people just pick Ryu because he's Ryu.

[Doc Holiday]

Because to me, liking a character takes precedence over how strong they are. I like Ryu cause he is calm, determined, stoic, focused, noble. That's enough reason to pick Ryu over Ken to me. Plus I just prefer the more reactive style play of Ryu instead of the more agression and pressure style of Ken.

Now if your only worry is winning and your online Rank, then yeah, no reason to pick Ryu over Ken. Actually, there's little reason to pick anyone over Ken if that's the case...

[breast milk🥛]

Why pick anyone over Ken? Kuz sometimes it’s fun to break out of the mold

[zabloing]

Solid, reliable bread-and-butter character.

[Tsaalyo]

Why pick anyone other than who's objectively, when you crunch the numbers in Excel and run sims a thousand times each, the numerically best character until the next balancing patch?

Because you want to. Because videogames are meant to be fun.

[my butt is erect]

Originally posted by zabloing:

Solid, reliable bread-and-butter character.

And ken isn't?

[🌎Earth]

Originally posted by Doc Holiday:

Because to me, liking a character takes precedence over how strong they are. I like Ryu cause he is calm, determined, stoic, focused, noble. That's enough reason to pick Ryu over Ken to me. Plus I just prefer the more reactive style play of Ryu instead of the more agression and pressure style of Ken.

exactly why I play Ryu.

[my butt is erect]

Originally posted by Tsaalyo:

Why pick anyone other than who's objectively, when you crunch the numbers in Excel and run sims a thousand times each, the numerically best character until the next balancing patch?

Because you want to. Because videogames are meant to be fun.

You make it sound like a simple calculation.

Though "because ryu is cool" and such is really not what I'm trying to find from this topic.

[stun]

Ryu normals all have considerably better hitboxes. Standout example is sHP, which is an infinitely better neutral tool than ken's.
Ryu's airnormals are the best in the game.
Ryu combos do more damage (due to sHK and bHP and donkeykick).
Ryu's DP is a lot more consistent.

Incidentally, ryu's OD fireball is worse (because it knocks down).
Cornercarry and move(driverush) speed are overwhelmingly valuable in this game though so ken is probably still better.

[iRaged]

Originally posted by Poongoolie:

This is a vague quick comparison between the two. I'm lacking a lot of info I'm sure as I haven't really researched it. What else is there to say? Really I'm actually asking. Why pick ryu over ken?

Ryu:
- slower moving, right?
- better fireballs. Speed and damage, right?
- can get a charge for hadoukens/short range blast thing. Is this really not almost useless? If you're close and charge it during a knockdown aren't you just gonna lose chance for oki? It also had the audacity to not allow you to hold more than 1 charge. It's so honest.
- shorter combos (not that is is really a plus once you're comfortable?)

From my beginner/intermediate perspective I really can't figure out how ryu is more worth playing than ken. For reference I have two characters in plat and just picked up ryu who is nearing plat.

You pick Ryu over Ken if you want people to actually respect you.

[Spardacus]

Because some people play the game just to have fun, and if they have fun with Ryu then why not picking him, neither you or them gonna win the Capcom pro tour anyway.

[my butt is erect]

Originally posted by Spardacus:

Because some people play the game just to have fun, and if they have fun with Ryu then why not picking him, neither you or them gonna win the Capcom pro tour anyway.

Agreed I play the game to have fun. And trying to win a competition against someone else is fun. So why would I pick ryu.

[my butt is erect]

Originally posted by stun:

Ryu normals all have considerably better hitboxes. Standout example is sHP, which is an infinitely better neutral tool than ken's.
Ryu's airnormals are the best in the game.
Ryu combos do more damage (due to sHK and bHP and donkeykick).
Ryu's DP is a lot more consistent.

Incidentally, ryu's OD fireball is worse (because it knocks down).
Cornercarry and move(driverush) speed are overwhelmingly valuable in this game though so ken is probably still better.

Finally an actual answer. lol.

Are you saying basically the shape of ryu's air attacks are good? That heavy kick is definitely super long and hurts. And the others fast.

I did notice feeling very slow drive rushing towards someone, coming from maining chunli.

[Cooper 🇵🇷]

i think ryu is more fun that ken i love donkey kick and the denjin stuff

[Danny DeVito with a Gun]

- slower moving, right?
Their walkspeeds are the exact same but Ken's drive rush is much faster yeah

- better fireballs. Speed and damage, right?
Ryu's fireballs are better suited for zoning and he can use light fireball as a meaty in certain setups. Ken's EX fireball is much better though because he can DR behind it and get a full combo if it hits

- can get a charge for hadoukens/short range blast thing. Is this really not almost useless? If you're close and charge it during a knockdown aren't you just gonna lose chance for oki? It also had the audacity to not allow you to hold more than 1 charge. It's so honest.
Denjin charge would feel better if it was tied to only one button. In a vacuum it's okay but Ryu is better off taking the oki instead of charging most of the time

- shorter combos (not that is is really a plus once you're comfortable?)
Ryu's combos are indeed easier but Ken isn't a hard character at all

From a competitive standpoint, no there isn't much reason to play Ryu over Ken/Luke/Guile depending on your playstyle. I think Luke and Ryu have more overlap in their gameplans than Ken and Ryu do but that's just me. Personally, I find Ryu more fun because he fits how I like to play more than Ken does. He also does perfectly fine in ranked so I don't care about playing a "worse" character that much. In a competitive setting though, I'm sooner gonna play Guile