Introduced in Street Fighter Alpha (1995), Dan is consistently portrayed as an overconfident, arrogant and utterly feeble character.

[5][6] Dan also appears in the console versions of Street Fighter IV, entering the tournament in an effort to make his Saikyo-style more popular.

In Super Street Fighter IV, he continues fighting to promote and gain membership into his Saikyo Dojo which has no members at all.

Prior to being released as a playable character for the fifth season of downloadable content in Street Fighter V, he provides descriptions of items that players can purchase from the in-game store, occasionally breaking the fourth wall.

In the game's story, Dan may have won in a certain world martial arts tournament legally off-screen, but is still dissatisfied about still lacking of students in his dojo.

In Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, Dan's story begins with himself looking to expand his Saikyo-ryu school and subsequently chooses Sakura as his student.

[14] Dan is also featured in UDON's Street Fighter series, where he views Sakura as a rival, though he is usually defeated without much effort on her part.

A few issues have revealed that if angered enough he can tap into the Satsui no Hado, but still is not as intimidating as he trips over Sakura's backpack when he tries to use the Raging Demon.

In a deleted scene, Gouken tells Ryu and Ken how he taught Dan in his early days as a sensei but sent him due to wanting to use his training for revenge.

The principal character of this series, Ryo Sakazaki, bore a resemblance in appearance and name to Ryu, as well as other aesthetic similarities to Ken, wearing an orange gi and sporting blonde hair.

The defeated opponent wore an attire similar to Ryo's: an orange karate gi with a torn black shirt underneath and geta sandals; but had long dark hair tied to a ponytail like Robert Garcia, another character from the Art of Fighting series.

[18] When developing Street Fighter IV, executive producer Yoshinori Ono emphasized Dan as a character he strongly wanted to have appear in the game.

[19] In a later interview, he emphasized his desire to have Dan in the game again, citing the then-unveiled inclusion of Sakura Kasugano in home versions as added incentive.

[21][22] Mikel Reparaz of GamesRadar listed Dan as the number one "in-game in-joke" in 2007, on the grounds of his becoming a fan favorite of "overconfident players who want to show their skills.

[24] The site additionally ranked Dan's "Shisso Buraiken" from Street Fighter IV as one of "gaming's most satisfying uppercuts" in 2010, describing it as a "weaksauce version of Ryu's Dragon Punch.

"[33] However, Ryan Clements of IGN called Dan the "most embarrassing character" on the SFIV roster[8] and Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft criticized his English voiceover in the game.