Retsu
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BIO:

Retsu is a master of Shorinji Kempo. Just before the first World Warrior tournament, Retsu was indefinitely suspended from his temple for being involved in too many fights. He participated in the first world warrior tournament and was defeated by Ryu.

While Retsu hasn't made an appearance in a Street Fighter title since his debut, he plays a role in the back story of several characters of the main storyline. Retsu is an a old friend of Gouken's and is suggested to have been present at the dojo during Ryu's and Ken's training. In the UDON comics, Retsu is seen sparring with Ryu and is almost beaten to death when Ryu goes into the Satsui no Hado, but Gouken stops him. Retsu also defeated Dan at some point (likely before Dan was kicked out of the dojo). In the original Street Fighter, Retsu is the first opponent the player faces.
 
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ORIGIN:
Street Fighter

 
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OTHER APPEARANCES:
Card Fighters Clash, Card Fighters Clash 2

 


Page Updated:  Sep. 15th, 2021

The original old geezer of Street Fighter (besides Gen) has gone missing since his original debut (outside of his cameo in CardFighters Clash). Hmm, maybe Retsu retired after getting his ass handed to him in the first tournament... or maybe he was just too "boring" of a design for Capcom to concentrate on. One of the Capcom artists did draw a cool artwork of Retsu during the SFA era (above). I wonder if Retsu was planned to return in SFA at some point and then the idea was scrapped? Or maybe the art was just a comical promo for Dan (more likely).

No doubt Street Fighter contains way more exciting designs over Retsu, which is probably the main reason Capcom never brought him back. However, the fact that Retsu has been absent from the series so long almost makes him interesting now... heh. In fairness, Retsu does get some automatic cool points for being part of Gouken's dojo. If they did it right, I'm sure Capcom could create a badass "next-gen" Retsu in a future title. Or maybe Namco will use him in Tekken X SF? Seems like a good fit, and that would turn some heads. :)

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