Ryu.

Ryu senses a great evil and returns t his dojo to pay his respects to Master Gouken. However a strange power is building up inside of Ryu one that he is increasingly aware of - he has the Dark Hadou inside of him. This is an important turning point for him, will he be strong enough to tame the Dark Hadou or will he swallowed up in its power like the warrior Akuma.

Chun-li.

Chun-li is looking for her father, and she believes that the crime organisation Shadowlaw will be able to answer her questions. She meets up with Ryu after seeing him defeat a gang of criminals near the port. Between them they begin to work out that there may be a link between Shadowlaw and the Dark Hadou that is engulfing Ryu.

Ken.

Ken has also sense a great power source and returns to pay his respects to his former master. Him and Ryu are surprised to see Shun, Ryu's long lost brother turn up. Together they train together for a street fighting tournament. Ryu refuses to fight as he is unable to contain the Dark Hadou, instead he makes a pact with Ken stating that if he gets consumed by the evil that Ken will kill him, reluctantly Ken agree's.

Sakura.

Sakura is a young girl like any other, until she witnesses Ryu deafeat a group of criminals by using martial arts. From that point on she vows she must find him, and train to be just like him. However she is still young and manages to get herself into a street fight, she uses Ryu's techniques but is unable to land any attack. Fortunately Ken arrives to rescue her. He gives her some valuable advice and asks her to look inside her soul and ask the question 'why must we fight?'.