Capcom designer Takashi Nishiyama created Ken's character as he became Street Fighter director when coming up ideas with a project.

Ken and Ryu's other two techniques from the first Street Fighter game, Shoryuken (昇龍拳, Shōryūken) and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku (竜巻旋風脚) were inspired by actual martial arts moves, which were exaggerated for the character.

[12] Producer Yoshiki Okamoto noted that Ken ended up being far more powerful than Ryu in Street Fighter II despite having the same special moves.

The secret of Street Fighter Alpha is the Ryu and Ken vs. Bison team up mode, where if word did not get out, we figured we would just stay silent.

[15] Yasuda disliked the handling of Ryu and Ken as old characters, resulting in the creation of Sakura Kasugano as a response to a younger, cooler fighter that contrast the others especially in outfits.

The secret of Street Fighter Alpha is the Ryu and Ken vs. Bison team up mode, where if word did not get out, we figured we would just stay silent.

[15] For Street Fighter III, Capcom, had planned to add more moves for Ken, but his special was already qualified as Shoryuken so strong, he kind of became a "one-trick pony character".

Ken's gi top now hangs around his waist and he wears a black v-neck training shirt with several red linings in its place.

Takayuki Nakayama and art director Kaname Fujioka addressed this change in the character claimed that with every installment Ken's life became more stable and wanted to create a reason.

The 2017 update Ultra Street Fighter II adds a stronger labeled "Violent Ken" in Japan-as an alternate playable character.

[28] Street Fighter Alpha 3 takes place after the events in the first two games has Ken becoming a brainwashed boss controlled by the villain M. Bison should the player use Ryu and then be saved.

[29] In Ken's story mode, the fighter starts suffering an inferiority complex over Ryu but after fighting his fan Sakura Kasugano he gets over it thanks to her spirit.

[32] In the sequel Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Ken's ending involves him winning a fighting tournament and celebrating it with his family and Sean.

[37] Ken also appears playable in the larger Street Fighter V story mode where he is recruited by Chun-Li's forces to take down Bison's group when Mel was two years old.

In the game's World Tour mode, the player can find Ken working at a construction site while keeping a low profile.

The Japanese version of the game starred an original character named Kevin Straker, a cyborg policeman who fought against alien creatures in the future.

In the series, Ken and Ryu travel across the world to become stronger, learning to use the Hado energy while training with Dhalsim which attracts Bison in this portrayal.

[60] The 2005 OVA Street Fighter Alpha: Generations features a similar storyline but Ken plays a minor role in comparison.

[61] Damian Chapa portrayed Ken in the 1994 Street Fighter movie, where he and Ryu (played by Byron Mann) are traveling con artists who steal money from wealthy crime bosses/lords and drug kingpins though various schemes such as selling modified toy guns.

[70] GamePro said Ken and Ryu were the most notable palette swapped characters,[71] with GamesRadar writer Tyler Wilde noted they have their own development.

[74] In "“You Must Defeat Shen Long To Stand A Chance”: Street Fighter, Race, Play, and Player", Nicholas R. Ware from Bowling Green State University said Ken was Ryu's American counterpart due to their mulitple similarities with Akuma instead being the darker one.

However, both Ryu and Ken were noted by the writer to be nearly identical when it comes to gameplay in early installments of the Street Fighter franchise and only stand out due to their visual differences.

The narrativge of Street Fighter IV would however explain this as the new character Gouken is revealed to be their mentor and he also uses variations of their three common special moves.

[78] In a humor article by GameSpy, the Super Street Fighter II Turbo version of Ken was mentioned to have become unbalanced to the point he was the strongest character from the cast.

[80][81] Similarly, Dave Cook from Now Gamer called him and Tekken's Eddy Gordo one of the most hated characters from their franchises due to their overpowered moves.

[84] In, "Os reis da luta: representações do karate nos jogos digitais" Tiago Oviedo Frosi from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul wrote that Gichin Funakoshi's "Shōtōkan" is the most practiced style of Karate in the world, this was the style chosen to characterize most of the Street Fighter characters including Ken.

[88] The resulted in gags where Ryu prioritized his free time into helping his best friend and that Ken was in so poor shape that he could barely perform his own techniques according to the media.

Capcom's reveal that Ken's divorce was true resulted in Kotaku noting that fans were correct with the action of making so many memes.

[92] Daigo Umehara's Ken parried Chun-Li's multihit Super Art II move,[93] within six of sixty frames of the impact animation – about a tenth of a second.

Umehara did so, and went on to counter a final kick of Chun-Li in mid-air before launching a 12-hit combo, capped by Ken's Super Art III.