Liu Kang vs. Ryu

Liu Kang vs. Ryu is a What-If? episode of Death Battle.

Description
''Mortal Kombat VS Street Fighter! The two original fireball-throwing martial arts heroes of the fighting genre finally throw down! Can Ryu stack up against the Shaolin Monk that saved Earthrealm countless times? ''

Interlude
Wiz: Two of the fighting genre's first heroes, each with iconic moves... but which one will take home the gold?

Boomstick: Liu Kang, the Immortal Champion of Mortal Kombat.

Wiz: And Ryu, the Wandering World Warrior of Street Fighter.

Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick...

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armors, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

Liu Kang
Wiz: Orphaned at a young age, Liu Kang was raised by shaolin monks, hidden deep within China.

Boomstick: Let me guess: he far exceeded their expectations, so he was pretty much in his own rank?

Wiz: In a way, yes. His prowess caught the attention of Lord Raiden, who saw the potential in him to save all of Earthrealm. To that end, he took Liu Kang to be trained under the martial arts legend of Outworld, Bo’ Rai Cho.

'''Boomstick: Yes, that bearded chubby drunk man who vomits and farts on people to attack is the guy who trained Liu Kang. Well years later after completing his training, Raiden enrolled Liu Kang in his secret society the White Lotus, which Raiden created to protect Earthrealm.'''

Wiz: With Shao Kahn’s champions having won nine Mortal Kombat tournaments in a row and just one victory away from conquering their realm, Liu Kang was chosen to defeat Shang Tsung.

Boomstick: And he did.

Wiz: But his fight was far from over. After the tournament, he returned home to find most of his Shaolin brethren murdered by Tarkatan hordes. Seeking to avenge them, he, alongside his best friend Kung Lao, Lord Raiden, and the runaway Lin Kuei warriors Sub-Zero and Smoke, traveled to Outworld.

'''Boomstick: But while participating in a new tournament in Outworld, he came across Shao Kahn’s adopted daughter Kitana and the two began to fall in love. Aww, can you think of a more romantic time to meet than when you’re out on a quest for vengeance?'''

Wiz: And with a princess who was over 10,000 old, no less.

Boomstick: Yeah, who says young guys never hit on older women?

Wiz: That and many other adventures aside, Liu Kang utilizes a large number of martial arts in battle. Jeet Kun Do, Jun Fan, Pao Chui, Karate, Choy Lay Fut, Dragon, and Monkey, all of which employed together in battle has proven to be a match for virtually every opponent he’s ever faced.

'''Boomstick: He’s also utilized a sword and nunchakus, but tends to prefer his fists. Those aren’t his only weapons, though: at long range, he uses Dragon Fire, a powerful dragon-shaped projectile that he shoots from his hands, which can also be aimed low to attack opponents who block high to mid attacks. He can also power these fire blasts even further, turning them into fiery black dragons.'''

Wiz: He can close the distance quickly with his fast-moving Flying Dragon Kick, where he flies straight towards his foe with a powerful kick to the opponent’s torso.

Boomstick: Then there’s his trademark Bicycle Kick, where he kicks the opponent multiple times while in midair, but you can’t take Liu Kang seriously when he’s using it at all.

Liu Kang does his bicycle kick, shouting gibberish.

'''Boomstick: What the hell is he even trying to say? That they have something up in their butt?'''

Wiz: That aside, thanks to his fellow ally Johnny Cage, he also has an even more powerful variant, the Shadow Bicycle Kick, which strikes harder and faster...

'''Boomstick: While somehow leaving behind a red shadow. Guess Cage must’ve taught him how to do that too.'''

Wiz: Then there’s the Dragon Tail, where he performs a cartwheel kick over his opponent, evading attacks and allowing him multiple options upon landing. He also utilizes a parry, which, when struck, allows him to teleport and instantly counter the move with a surprise punch.

'''Boomstick: But while it’s awesome enough to even stop throws and aerial attacks, projectiles and low strikes go right through it. Boy is it picky.'''

Wiz: Finally, as a Shaolin monk, he originally kept to their strict beliefs against murder, but after the first tournament, he just stopped.

Boomstick: So with that, he has plenty of ways to kill a man: incinerating and blowing them up with fire, as well as their own chi, punching right through their chest, and his trademark fatality, turning into a dragon.

Wiz: While the amount of time that he can hold this form is unknown, not only can he use it to bite his opponent in two, but he can even breath fire.

'''Boomstick: A dragon that breathes fire? Wow, that’s so mind-blowing, Wizard.'''

Wiz: Well how about the fact that he breaks the fourth wall of his own universe by summoning arcade cabinets of Mortal Kombat from thin air to crush his foes?

'''Boomstick: You got me there, Wiz. You got me there. Liu Kang’s resume is beyond impressive. Besides just beating Shang Tsung every single time, he’s taken on both four-armed Shokan warriors 1-on-1, the ninja made of a thousand souls Ermac, and even the hellspawn ninja Scorpion and proved victorious.'''

Wiz: But his greatest accomplishments of all are saving Earthrealm from Outworld’s invasion, and defeating Shao Kahn, as well as the former Elder God Shinnok.

'''Boomstick: This guy, a human being, defeated not one, but two gods. Seriously, what can stop this guy?'''

Wiz: Well during one fateful battle with Shang Tsung, he was struck from behind by his new partner Quan Chi, whose assistance finally allowed the soul-stealing sorcerer to kill the thorn in his side.

Boomstick: Freakin’ cheater.

Wiz: But like you said Boomstick, Liu Kang is still just a human being, so he is not invincible. To top it off, as if getting overpowered by the two sorcerers wasn’t bad enough, Raiden... after being reincarnated after failing to stop Onaga... dug up Liu Kang’s body and reanimated it, leaving his soul unable to reunite with his body as it went on an unstoppable rampage, killing an untold number of Shaolin Monks.

Boomstick: Ah, good ol’ sacrificing others for the greater good.

Wiz: And when Raiden reset the timeline and multiple events led Liu Kang to believe Raiden had gone mad, the two battled and the thunder god prevailed.

Boomstick: Still that’s only two losses in his record, one of which was a 2-on-1 brought about by the Deadly Alliance cheating.

Wiz: There’s no denying that Liu Kang was and still remains the undisputed champion of Mortal Kombat.

''Liu Kang: For Kung Lao... the Shaolin... and Earthrealm!''

Ryu
Boomstick: The karate hobo returns.

Wiz: Left with no memory of his parents, he was raised by the martial artist Gouken. He trained alongside him and his sparring partner Ken Masters in Gouken’s variant of ansatsuken, removing the original killing intent of the style.

'''Boomstick: At the age of 23, he left the dojo and entered the World Warrior Tournament, defeating everyone in his way until he fought the Muai Tai fighter Sagat. Ryu was about to lose the whole thing until he gave in to the Satsui No Hado, leaving Sagat a nice big scar on his chest and nearly killing the guy.'''

Wiz: From there, Ryu swore never to give in to the Surge of Murderous Intent ever again. But when he returned home, he found Gouken murdered, and went after his killer, Akuma.

Boomstick: Ken Master already tried to avenge his master and was knocked out cold, but Ryu held his own against Gouken’s younger brother, who has since then tried convincing him to give in to the Satsui no Hado.

Wiz: To join the Dark Side of the Force.

'''Boomstick: Whatever. Well his arsenal starts with his trademark hadouken, which, despite being called a fireball, actually isn’t. It’s made of his own willpower and energy.'''

Wiz: The shoryuken is an uppercut that strikes with enough force to knock foes into the air and the tatsumaki senpukyaku is a spin kick that allows him to hover over the ground towards his foes.

Boomstick: And those three moves were pretty much all he had until he learned the diarrhea joke kick...

Wiz: Joudan Sokutogeri! A powerful step kick strong enough to bounce his foes off walls.

'''Boomstick: But don't forget his super arts. Like the shinku hadouken, which is like a regular hadouken, but shinku.'''

Wiz: *sigh* It utilizes much more energy than the standard hadouken, as does the denjin hadouken, which combines the hard-hitting power of the hadouken with electricity. It can be charged for greater damage, but this can leave Ryu vulnerable, as well as allow his opponent time to evade and counter it.

'''Boomstick: Then there's the shinku tatsu... the spin kick thing, which gives an even bigger finger to gravity by not only having him spin in the air, but is strong enough to pull people towards him like some kind of human tornado.'''

Wiz: But even those don't hit as hard as Ryu's most bone-cracking move...

Ryu uses the shin shoryuken, getting a KO.

'''Boomstick: The Shin Shoryuken is easily one of Ryu's most powerful techniques. Not only was this the very move that scarred Sagat, but it's a guaranteed knockout that few can withstand.'''

Wiz: In fact, the only combatant that could even keep fighting after being hit by it was the massive fighter Hugo.

'''Boomstick: That guy is huge. So how about that Evil Ryu, Wizard?'''

Wiz: After the World Warrior Tournament hosted by S.I.N., Gouken miraculously returned back to life and sealed away the Satsui no Hado within Ryu. By the time he was facing the New Generation of Fighters, Ryu was no longer in any danger of losing himself to the Dark Hado.

Boomstick: Aww, talk about getting nerfed.

Wiz: Losing the dark hado was far from a downgrade. He is now just as powerful as Evil Ryu while still retaining complete control. And by detaching himself from all emotion, he wields a power greater than the surge of killing intent; the Power of Nothingness.

Boomstick: Why not just call it the white-eyed glowy state?

Wiz: With it, he attains greater control over his body, hyperawareness of the universe, boosts his strength and speed, and even grants near-invincibility, both physically and spiritually, to attacks.

'''Boomstick: And it even can be used to survive the soul-destroying Instant Hell Murder, which I’m still totally naming my first kid after, just like Gouken did to separate his body from his soul. Is he even alive during Street Fighter III?'''

Wiz: Who knows? Ryu’s resume includes defeating such fighters as the boxer Dudley, the massive wrestler Hugo, the genetically super-powered Seth, and even M. Bison.

'''Boomstick: Not to mention he’s strong enough to lift boulders right over his head and even survived getting impaled right through the chest by Akuma. Did he even go the hospital after that?'''

Wiz: And while Ryu never took on the near god-like being Gill, he did fight Alex, the wrestler who had managed to not only faced Gill, but also defeated him. Not only did Ryu win against Alex, but he did so soundly.

'''Boomstick: But as always, Ryu’s far from perfect. Despite giving both Akuma and Oro a good fight, he has yet to defeat either of them, and while he is a master martial artist, he isn’t exactly the brightest bulb.'''

Wiz: But the wandering world warrior has more than proven himself as one of gaming’s greatest fighters.

Ryu smiles and bumps Ken's fist.

Ken: Let's go!

Ryu: Hooh!

Nkstjoa
Liu Kang is meditating at the Wu Shi Academy when he senses that someone is approaching him. Ryu wanders towards Liu Kang, carrying his duffel bag over his shoulder.

(*Cues Street Fighter X Tekken - Street Fighter Rivals Theme 2*)

Liu Kang then gets up and turns to face him.

Liu Kang: Show me what you can do.

Liu Kang waits as Ryu puts down his duffel bag.

Ryu: After this battle is over...

Ryu tightens his gloves.

Ryu: I can continue my journey.

Liu Kang: I am ready.

The two get into their fighting stances.

Ryu: Show me your strength.

FIGHT!

Both Liu Kang and Ryu punch at the same time, blocking the other’s blow. The two then unleash a flurry of punches and kicks, perfectly countering each other until both launch a hadouken and dragon fire at close range. The two projectiles collide, knocking the two back. Ryu gets into a defensive position as Liu Kang lunges toward him with dragon tail. Ryu blocks the kicks, but Liu Kang follows up with a low kick, catching him off-guard. Liu Kang grabs onto Ryu and proceeds to punch him in the chest multiple times, but Ryu grabs him, turns him around, and performs an overhead throw, sending him to the ground.

Ryu then punches the ground, but Liu Kang rolls out of the way and fires another blast at him. Ryu quickly counters with yet another hadouken and then the two engage in a projectile war, firing projectile after projectile at the other until Liu Kang uses the low dragon fire, which goes right under the hadouken and strikes Ryu’s feet. Liu Kang follows up with the bicycle kick, kicking Ryu’s face multiple times before unleashing a short combo and grabbing him. He tosses Ryu into the air and sends a fireball after him to end the match, but Ryu fires a hadouken while in the air just in time, stopping it. Ryu lands and the two run towards each other. Liu Kang comes flying at Ryu with the flying dragon kick just as Ryu steps forward to perform the joudan sokutogeri. The two kicks collide, knocking the two back once again. Liu Kang looks over at his opponent, who has twice countered his move.

''Liu Kang: You’re good. Show me more.''

Liu Kang comes at Ryu with the dragon tail, which Ryu once again blocks, but after performing a flip kick which is also blocked, he is left exposed. Ryu shoryukens Liu Kang into the air, sending the two into the air where Ryu follows up with a tatsumaki senpukyaka, keeping Liu Kang in the air until it concludes. Sent crashing into the ground, Liu Kang quickly gets up as Ryu comes in quick to unleash a combo. Liu Kang blocks the blows up until he notices Ryu going for a punch towards his ribs, so he quickly gets into his parry stance. In an instant, Ryu strikes, only to find Liu Kang has suddenly vanished. Then he is suddenly struck from behind by Liu Kang, who, as Ryu falls to his knees, runs towards Ryu, grabs his shoulders, and leaps over him while kicking him in the face, grounding him.

Liu Kang puts his hands together and Ryu looks over in curiosity, then he looks down at his shadow and up at the sky, realizing something was falling towards him. He rolls out of the way and sees that the object was a Mortal Kombat arcade cabinet. He doesn’t think about it too long, for he sees another shadow below his feet and runs out of the way of another arcade cabinet, this time for MK2. He continues running, seeing two more shadows in front of him, swiftly dodging the MK3 and UMK3 arcade cabinets. Ryu stops for a moment

Ryu: Is that all you got?

Suddenly, Ryu looks up and sees another Mortal Kombat arcade cabinet falling toward him at a high rate of speed. He puts up his hands, catching what turns out to be an arcade cabinet for MK4 while still managing to keep his footing, then throws it toward Liu Kang, who sees it coming and jumps over it. But during that, Ryu begins spinning in place in an aerial spin kick rapidly, beginning the shinku tatsumaki senpuyaku. Liu Kang, who was in the air, is suddenly helplessly flung towards Ryu, but then Liu Kang positions himself for his bicycle kick. As he finally reaches Ryu, their two kicks clash at a rapid speed until both their attacks dissipate at the same time. The two then land the ground as Liu Kang once again looks over at Ryu.

Liu Kang: I am impressed.

Liu Kang uses the flying dragon kick, which Ryu blocks with his hand, and then he strikes at Liu Kang multiple times before striking him with a low punch. He goes for the joudan sokutogeri, but Liu Kang uses his parry once more to avoid it. Ryu turns around and is on the defensive when he sees Liu Kang emerge from the ground with an uppercut. Not only does Ryu manage to successfully block it, but he also grabs a hold of Liu Kang as he descends and throws him over. Liu Kang gets up, catching Ryu off-guard for a small combo, but Ryu reverses it into a combo of his own. Liu Kang once again uses his counter, but Ryu anticipates it and strikes Liu Kang with a close-range hadouken. He follows up with some hard-hitting strikes before unleashing the shin shoryuken on Liu Kang.

''Ryu: Sho... ryu.. ken!''

Liu Kang is knocked him into the air and tumbles to the ground afterward. He gets up, but is dizzied, so Ryu decides to use it to his advantage and charges for a more powerful hadouken.

Ryu: Shinku...

During this, Liu Kang manages to shake it off and then charges at his opponent. Ryu sees this, but keeps the course.

Ryu: Hadouken!

As Liu Kang is about to run into the shinku hadouken, he carwheel kicks over it, striking Ryu, then uppercuts him into the air. As he begins descending, Liu Kang does another carwheel kick, keeping Ryu in the air long enough to uppercut him once more. After doing this, he carwheel kicks Ryu one more time, then strikes Ryu’s jaw directly with his fist, then with a kick to the jaw when he descends. His opponent still in the air even after all of that, Liu Kang shadow bicycle kicks upward toward Ryu to move him further upward before flipping, emitting fire from his fist and spinning in place, striking him multiple times. He ends the combo with a fireball, knocking Ryu to the ground, but before landing to the ground himself, Liu Kang charges, and then launches a black dragon blast at Ryu, who shouts in pain.

Liu Kang sees Ryu lying on the ground, injured, but still alive after the blow, and puts his hands together. Ryu is shocked to see Liu Kang transforming into a dragon, but then his disbelief quickly subsides as he tries to get up and focuses his mind. The dragon’s head flies toward Ryu and goes for a bite.

(*Cues Street Fighter IV - Akuma vs. Ryu*)

But Ryu had stopped it himself, his eyes glowing white and with an aura across his body, for he was wielding the Power of Nothingness. The dragon’s head moves back and repeatedly attempts to bite Ryu, who redirects the blows with either or both of his hands at once. The dragon finally aims true and Ryu is forced to stop it with both hands, though he still holds his position, with the ground beneath him cracking. He has one of his hands let go of the dragon’s jaw for just a moment and punches it, knocking it to the side. Not even dazed by the blow, the dragon quickly goes for another bite, managing to catch Ryu in his mouth. Ryu is holding up the dragon’s top jaw as one of his feet stands in its mouth and the other on one of its teeth. Finally, Ryu lets go of its jaws and gets into a crouching position, to which the dragon closes its jaw. But in that instant...

''Ryu: SHO... RYU... SHORYUKEN!!!''

Ryu unleashes a shin shoryuken, which knocks the entire dragon back, who then falls to its side as Ryu lands back onto the ground. Ryu charges toward the dragon at a fast speed, so the dragon retaliates by shooting quick bursts of fire at him. Ryu dodges them swiftly, going left to right while continuing his approach. Another burst of fire goes toward Ryu, who this time stops it with a hadouken. Knowing a small burst of fire was now useless, the dragon prepares for a more powerful burst of flame while Ryu begins charging a more powerful hadouken. Finally, the dragon fires a large column of flame, which moves fast. Ryu begins charging his hadouken with electricity.

Ryu: Denjin...

Then he is enveloped in the flame. The dragon doesn’t stop and keeps firing flames, but then...

Ryu: HADOUKEN!

A large column of ki energy infused with electricity goes right through the fire, striking the dragon, who roars as everything goes white.

After the Power of Nothingness dissipates, Ryu falls to his hands and knees from exhaustion and looks over at his opponent, who has reverted back from his dragon form, but appears burnt by the denjin hadouken. Liu Kang begins getting up, though slowly due to some pain from the burns, and sees his fatigued opponent. He begins to channel fire through his right hand and once on his feet he runs toward Ryu. Ryu sees this and tries to move, though he can only do so slowly, only managing to stand on one foot and knee. He sees Liu Kang approaching and with no chance of dodging it in his condition, Ryu waits for his opponent. Having finally closed the distance, Liu Kang drives his fist toward Ryu’s head.

The gory impact of the punch is heard, as well as a painful cry from Ryu. Drops of blood spatter onto Liu Kang and his fist is drenched in blood...

But then he sees that his punch had penetrated through Ryu's chest and back, not his head. Ryu had gotten onto his feet, preventing the fatal strike to his head that would’ve occurred otherwise. Immediately after, Ryu grabs Liu Kang’s head with both hands and breaks his neck.

Liu Kang’s lifeless body starts to fall over, though his arm is still stuck in Ryu’s chest. Ryu forces his arm out, finally allowing Liu Kang’s body to land onto the ground.

Ryu: That was a good fight.

Ryu falls to the ground himself, but is still alive despite the blow.

K.O.!

Liu Kang’s lifeless body lies on the ground while a bandaged Ryu gets up. Shang Tsung attempts walking towards Liu Kang, likely to steal his soul, but Ryu turns toward him. Frightened, Shang Tsung runs away.

Results
Boomstick: There are close calls and then there’s walking home with a souvenir hole in your chest.

Wiz: Right, Boomstick. This fight was incredibly close. While Liu Kang had accomplished far more than Ryu and defeating Shao Kahn and Shinnok proved his skills, he was still just flesh and bone.

'''Boomstick: Not to mention Ryu had the perfect counter to virtually all of Liu Kang’s attacks. Even the parry wasn’t too much of a threat, considering Ryu’s fought opponents with parries before.'''

Wiz: Liu Kang did have the more varied fighting style, but Ryu’s experience in martial arts prepared him for those it consist of and his ansatsuken style was more than valuable in a fight to the death.

'''Boomstick: And while Liu Kang’s dragon form seemed like it would be too much for Ryu, the Power of Nothingness allowed him to fight back. Also, before you point out that Liu Kang has defeated Scorpion, keep in mind the hellfire ninja has never once sent him to the Netherrealm during their fights, so it’s pretty likely he wouldn’t have stood a chance otherwise.'''

Wiz: And even with Liu Kang’s survival experience being more brutal, Ryu has survived seemingly fatal blows before and could still carry on with the fight. And with the Satsui no Hado within him sealed away for good, Ryu was free to put his full concentration on the fight, giving him the calm mind he needed to conquer the Mortal Kombat champion.

Boomstick: Liu Kang gave a hole new meaning to close match, but then Ryu snapped.

Wiz: The winner is Ryu.



Who would you be rooting for? Liu Kang Ryu