Top 10 Most Powerful Street Fighter Characters:
(according to lore, not gameplay)
With Evo 2015 finished and Street Fighter V along the way it seems a fun time to assess the entire series and see who is the strongest. This is only taking the games into account, because if you include all other forms of media, it becomes contradictory and non-canon. Win quotes and individual storylines help give a vague overview. Casual players might not understand that Street Fighter III is currently the latest game in the official timeline and Street Fighter IV actually takes place between II and III so keep that in mind.
10. Ryu
Most people who are unfamiliar with the entire series might assume Ryu to be the strongest since he's the main character. Ryu is never depicted as the strongest, but it is often implied that he has the highest ceiling and greatest potential. I don't think Ryu will ever be depicted as the most powerful because the story will always be that Ryu has greater challenges to overcome. Nonetheless, as it stands now, Ryu is an extremely powerful fighter. The 5th most powerful character says that Ryu gave him a good fight in Street Fighter IV and by the end of Street Fighter III, Ryu has learned techniques unique to the 2nd most powerful fighter.
9. Urien
Seen only in Street Fighter III, Urien is 4th place's younger brother and has many of his abilities and strives to be as powerful but falls significant short. However, compared to the other characters, he is quite high on the roster as he underwent much of the same training and genetic modifications as the 4th place character.
8. Vega/M. Bison/Dictator
Due to translation errors, I'll refer to this guy as Dictator, which Americans and Japanese agree to be a common ground method of acknowledging this character. He's the main bad guy in Street Fighter II and the Zero/Alpha series. With his vicious use of psycho power he's held the title of strongest bad guy for quite some time. By the end of Street Fighter II, he is greatly outclassed by number 3 on the list.
7. Gen
In Street Fighter Zero 2, Gen was able to challenge number 3 on the list and give a good fight but because Gen was terminally ill, the match was forfeited due to it being an unfair fight. Gen was able to survive number 3's deathblow, making him extremely powerful even while ill. In Street Fighter IV he is still depicted as extremely powerful but more or less serves as a witness to the events in Street Fighter IV and doesn't strive to be at the top.
In his prime Gen may be one of the most powerful characters in Street Fighter. He knew Chun Li's father and may have also trained her with his quick hands move being similar to Chun Li's hyakuretsukyaku move. Yun and Yang share Gen's moves and since Gen is friends with Lee, who is related to Yun and Yang, it's possible he trained them as well. Gen has helped train 3 highly formidable fighters, making him a true master.
6. Guy
As the current grandmaster of Bushinryu ninjitsu with unfathomable skill, Guy is near the top. In the events of Final Fight, Guy helps Cody and Mike Haggar defeat one of the most ruthless gangs ever. Many of these gang members are seen in Street Fighter rosters, meaning that Guy is capable of taking on several characters at once and still come out on top.
Ridding an entire ciy of nearly all crime isn't good enough. Guy has also taken out Dictator in Street Fighter Zero and rescues Rose from him in Street Fighter IV. Guy also acts as a sparring partner for Ryu, testing his skill.
5. Cody
While Guy helped save an entire city purely for the sake of doing good, Cody developed a bloodlust and desire to fight. At the end of Final Fight, Cody just walks away from his girlfriend looking for another fight and Guy punches him to wake some sense into him, telling him to spend time with his girlfriend. This bloodlust gets Cody in trouble and arrested, although Cody presumably willingly lets himself get arrested so he can fight in prison.
Cody is depicted as being able to easily punch through a brick wall and during the events of Street Fighter, he breaks out of prison several times to find better opponents. Cody willingly leaves the handcuffs on so his opponents can give him a greater challenge. Some of the wiser and most powerful Street Fighter characters can sense that Cody is intentionally holding back in the fight. Cody mentions the other opponents are "boring the crap out of me" in battle.
Cody is an anti-hero and his love of fighting in any location makes him a street fighter personified.
4. Gill
The main antagonist of Street Fighter III did lose to our 3rd place character in battle, but due to his unique and almost immortal resurrection ability, he survived the battle. He has angelic and demi-god like abilities and displays them in battle. Due to his immense power he has a cult who worships him as their messiah.
3. Gouki/Akuma
I'll refer to this character by his Japanese translation. In his absolute prime, Gouki is nearly an unstoppable force. He outclasses all other final bosses throughout the series. His American name is Akuma, which means Devil.
He openly acknowledges very few characters as being suitable opponents. Number 2 and 1 on the list, Cody, and Gen. He sees great potential in Ryu and believes Ryu to be the only candidate who can eventually surpass him. Because of this he wants Ryu to succumb to the same evil force (Satsui no Hado) as him and has a vested interest in Ryu.
Gouki is a morally ambiguous character with a very strict fighting code. He spares Gen in a death match and does not attempt to kill weaker characters, but is quite open and willing to use killing moves on opponents he finds worthy. He is the most fearsome character in Street Fighter.
2. Gouken
Ryu and Ken's master is no doubt near the top. Before Street Fighter IV, Gouken lost to Gouki in battle. Although Gouki performed his fatal Shun Goku Satsu move on him, Gouken enters a calm meditative state and lived. Gouken joins Gen and Gill as one of the few survivors of this technique. Ryu and Ken believe Gouken to be dead but eventually find out he is alive and are told to move on with their lives and that they no longer need a master.
The Kanji on Gouken's gi says "Mu" which translates to "oblivion" or "nothingness." Gouken completely embraces this as he fights with an absolutely clear mind that transcends ordinary consciousness.
At the end of Street Fighter IV, Gouken faces off against Gouki once more with Ryu's future at stake. Gouki wants to force Ryu to give into his evil potential and fight as his equal, while Gouken plans to seal this evil for good and allow Ryu to continue on his own enlightened path. Gouken emerges victorious since Ryu is seen adopting some of Gouken's moves in Street Fighter III, proving Gouken to be the superior fighter.
1. Oro
Like Cody who purposely fights with handcuffs on, Oro also handicaps himself by tying one arm back and fighting one handed. Even with this handicap, Oro defeats the most powerful characters in Street Fighter.
Oro is a hermit who is estimated to be well over 100 years old, although his exact birthday is unknown. Very little is known about him other than the fact he has obtained absolute mastery over his body to be able to live so long and be so powerful. He also possesses a healthy libido at his age and finds Ibuki to be cute.
Aside from his complete mastery over his body, his mind is razor sharp as he possesses telekinetic ability and is able to withstand inhuman environmental pressures with his mental discipline. This allows him to live in and survive in any location on the planet. Oro's stage is in Brazil so he is likely currently residing there.
Because Oro merely tests Gouki by fighting with one hand and we can assume Gouken fights to the best of his ability against Gouki to emerge victorious, it can be safely inferred that Oro is more powerful than Gouken. Oro is the single most powerful character to ever grace the Street Fighter roster.
Notable characters......
Ken - Ken is depicted as Ryu's rival and it is possible he was stronger than Ryu in Street Fighter II since his ending has him getting married and in Street Fighter III he is married with a kid. He now appears less dedicated than Ryu and more settled down in his family life. He is still an extremely skilled fighter.
Sagat - He is the 2nd to last boss in Street Fighter II and eventually leaves Dictator's evil organization to further his own fighting prowess. He is usually seen as barely losing to Ryu in all their matches.
Nash - He taught Guile his greatest techniques. He is able to use just one hand to throw out Sonic Booms, while Guile needs to use both. He is presumed dead at the hands of Dictator but he appears to be a character in Street Fighter V and Abel also seems aware that he is still alive in Street Fighter IV. Surviving Dictator's murderous intent and being superior to Guile puts Nash at a fairly high tier.
Juri - She is able to take on both Chun Li and Cammy at the same time and toy with them. Chun Li boasts being the strongest woman in the world during Street Fighter II, but in Street Fighter IV Juri is definitely far beyond Chun Li and has the audacity to challenge Dictator to lead his criminal organization.
Rose and Dhalsim - Although never shown to be incredible fighters, both characters are highly spiritual and have immense supernatural ability and wisdom far beyond most other characters.