Ryūken Ishida

Ryūken Ishida (石田竜弦, Ishida Ryūken) is an Echt Quincy who is the son of Sōken Ishida, twin brother of Riza Ishida, and father of Uryū Ishida. He is the Director of the Karakura Hospital and also known as 'The Last Quincy'; a title contested by his son and now, his sister. Currently he is living in the Ishida House with Kai Takahashi.
==Appearance==
Ryūken Ishida is a middle-aged man of average height and appears quite fit for his age. He normally wears thin, frameless glasses and a plain white suit with a light blue shirt and a tie adorned with Quincy crosses. He has narrow blue eyes, and is fair-skinned with white hair.
When Ryūken was a teenager, he kept his bangs combed over to one side. He also wore more casual clothes, such as a regular jacket, checkered shirt and jeans, rather than suits.
==Personality==
Ryūken has a cold, work-oriented demeanor, and is mainly estranged from his father, twin sister, and son. He openly detests his status as a Quincy on the grounds that it does not enable one to make a proper living, and would rather focus on saving the living instead of the dead. He even goes so far as to state to Riza at Sōken's funeral, which was the last time they spoke, that the Quincy would become extinct once Sōken's generation died out, angering his traditionalist sister. Later on he urged Uryū not to follow in either his Aunt or his Grandfather's footsteps. Despite this, there are Quincy crosses all over his tie, and there are Quincy crosses all over the floors and walls of Ryūken's hospital. He is also closely affiliated with the Takahashi Foundation, a Quincy organization led by his future daughter-in-law Yūki Takahashi and girlfriend Kai Takahashi, that funded the construction of his Hospital. When he was younger, he cared more about the future of the Quincy, which made his sister look up to him and promise to follow in her brother's footsteps. He also put the customs of the Quincy first in his younger years, as well as Kai, Riza, and Masaki's safety. 
His actual feelings towards his son are hard to place. Despite his attitude towards being a Quincy, he helps to restore Uryū's lost Quincy powers on the condition that he never associate himself with Shinigami again, even if they were his friends. To this end, he constructed a secret chamber underneath Karakura Hospital which hides Spiritual Energy. During their fight, Uryū tries to finish the fight with an attack meant to capture rather than kill, perhaps indicating feelings for his father that made him stay a final blow. Thus Ryūken was able to escape and shoot Uryū, but his somewhat tender tone as he talks to his unconscious son suggests that deep down he also loves Uryū. He also knowingly and purposefully went into a special contract with Michio Takahashi, Yūki's father and his best friend, to secure a future for his son. 
Ryūken's relationship with his twin sister is quite strained. Whereas he doesn't find any pleasure in being a Quincy, Riza is quite the opposite, sticking close to the deep rooted ideals their parents taught them. She follows them so closely that she has taken the title of the 'Last Quincy' from her brother, since he's sworn off the traditions and strayed from the 'path.' However, he still fervently claims the title, which causes strife between the siblings. However, Riza would do anything for her brother and the opposite can be said, despite how much they hate each other's ideals and choices in life. 
Ryūken also shares a relationship with Isshin Kurosaki, not unlike that of their children (though seemingly friendlier; Isshin comments that Ryūken never called him "Kurosaki" before in a slightly hurt tone). Their friendship was briefly mentioned when Chad was injured: Isshin told a hospital worker to tell his boss that he needed them and some beds would clear up (though it may have seemed at the time like this was more a threat than a favor).
Ryūken also shares a long standing relationship with Kai Takahashi, being as Sōken Ishida trained the both of them in their youth. Their friendship turned into a romantic relationship and Ryūken almost left everything behind for her. That was ended when Kai was injured by a hollow and lost the ability to have children. This caused Ryūken's mother to convince him to be with Masaki instead, effectively shattering their close relationship. Kai's resentment deepened when Masaki left to be with Isshin and instead of going back to Kai, he chose Kanae Katagiri instead. Kai blamed him for choosing to reproduce to further the Quincy heritage instead of choosing his feelings and was left brokenhearted for years. Riza Ishida, her Quincy rival for many reasons, thinks this may be a cause as to why Ryūken shuns their heritage, because it was their traditions that forced Ryūken against his will to leave the only woman he truly ever loved. It wasn't until Uryū Ishida, his son and Yūki's betrothed, began to date and train that they decided that their loneliness meant more than the trauma they had endured at each other's hands. They've since reconciled and not live together at the Ishida House. 
==History==
Ryūken was introduced to Kanae Katagiri when they were both young children. It was her job, as a mixed-blood Quincy to protect him, a pure blooded Quincy, at all costs. She dedicated her life to him and was always there by his side for the rest of her life. Around the same time Kanae came into his life, Ryūken was introduced to Kai Takahahshi, his future training partner and her older brother Michio Takahashi, a man who would become his best friend until his death. 
Ryūken and Kai grew to care about each other over their childhood and eventually as young teens, began to date. This pleased Sōken since he saw a lot of his own mother in Kai as she was a natural healer and adored the girl, but caused strife with Ryūken's mother, who felt Kai was a bad influence on Ryūken since she smoked, and was generally a rebellious teenaged girl who didn't respect authority. One night Kai had been out with some girlfriends and had been attacked by a hollow. The injury she sustained sent her to the hospital, causing Ryūken to sneak out to visit her against his mother's wishes. When it was revealed she had lost her ability to have children, this hurt Ryūken and in his moment of hurt, his mother convinced him to leave Kai and pushed him towards Masaki Kurosaki, who had just started living in their household since her older sister was to be married. 
Six months after breaking Kai's heart, he walked in on his mother, Riza, and Masaki Kurosaki and informed them that he could hear them yelling from outside. After Riza stormed out and his mother and Masaki left the room, he conversed with Kanae about why Masaki was taken into the Ishida household, and how he thought Masaki wouldn't be happy marrying him. Kanae claimed that he was kind for wanting to marry her out of love but he rebutted this and insisted that if she wasn't happy, then she could not have a positive outlook for the future, and made it clear he was referring to the Quincy future, not their personal future.
When Masaki went to help Isshin Kurosaki, Ryūken tried to stop her, asserting that Quincy are only supposed to come out after Shinigami die in battle and even then a mixed-blood Quincy should be sent and not a pure-blood Quincy. Masaki refused to back down, running off when she sensed an explosion whilst maintaining she would not be able to live with herself if anybody died when she could have done something. He failed in stopping her so he told Kanae to prepare the Reishi armor. However he returned home when he sensed that Masaki was victorious in her battle against White.
The following night, Ryūken greeted Masaki when she returned from school but his mother immediately began to scold her for her actions. He immediately accused Kai, who was there to pick up her brother, of telling his mother to spite him and to destroy his relationship with Masaki, Kai callously revealed that it wasn't her or Riza, but that Kanae had been the snitch. Ryūken then angrily confronted Kanae about Masaki's fight, insisting nothing wrong had happened. However Kanae alerted Ryūken to Masaki's wound and maintained that it would spoil the Quincy bloodline with the infection given to her by the Hollow. He saw the Hollow hole forming on Masaki's chest and, despite his mother and Riza's protests, ran from the mansion with her in his arms to find Kai, who had previously stormed out in anger, to see if she could heal Masaki. A Hollow immediately confronted him but was slain by Isshin and Kai, who both had returned for their own reasons. Now angry, Ryuken accused Isshin of causing Masaki's condition and asked Kai if she could heal Masaki, but was stopped by the appearance of Kisuke Urahara who insisted he could help Masaki.
At the Urahara Shop Ryūken, Kai, and Isshin learned about Hollowfication. Ryūken accused Urahara of lying but knew the choice wasn't his to save Masaki as only a Shinigami could do so which he didn't believe Isshin would do as he had so much to lose from saving her but was surprised by his agreement. After Isshin saved Masaki, Ryūken left the Urahara Shop after a small argument with Kai and ran into Kanae. He informed her of Masaki's state, that he left her with the Shinigami, sent Kai away brokenhearted again, and lamented his inability to protect the Quincy. However, he was rebuked by Kanae who insisted she would be heartbroken if that were true. Ryūken then returned home with her.
 Not long after Masaki had left Ryūken to be with Isshin and Kai disappeared, Kisuke Urahara approached Ryūken with a favor to repay the debt for saving Masaki. After a short disagreement over what that debt truly meant since Masaki ran off with to be with Isshin, Kisuke presented Ryūken with a five year old white haired girl with blue eyes, who favored him in appearance. Kanae Katagiri, Ryūken's fiancé who also tagged along out of boredom, instantly fell in love with the little girl because of her resemblance to Ryūken and virtually begged her future husband to take Kisuke's generous offer. Reluctantly and originally doing so only to stop Kanae's whining, he chose to adopt her into the Ishida House, and renamed her June Ishida. 
After June had been accepted into the family, Ryūken married Kanae and soon afrer she gave birth to their son, Uryū Ishida. However, six years before Uryū and Ichigo Kurosaki became friends, Kanae collapsed on the same day that Masaki was killed, 17th June and died 3 months later, leaving Ryūken a widower like Isshin. After Kanae's death, Ryūken performed an autopsy on her corpse for an extended period of time despite his son's pleas for him to stop.
==Equipment==
Quincy Cross: Ryūken's Quincy Cross is in the shape of a pentacle just like Uryū's current one. However, Uryū's original Quincy Cross was shaped differently from Ryūken's. Instead, it was in the form of a regular cross with the circle shape behind the Pentacle still present.
Seele Schneider: Ryūken keeps a stash of Seele Schneider in a hidden storage room under Karakura Hospital.
Reishi Heisō (霊子兵装, Spirit Particle War-Garb; Viz "Spirit Armor"): Armor which Ryūken wore when preparing to save Masaki. It includes a large bow and a staff hung across the wearer's back with a chain.
==Powers & Abilities==
Master Archer: As the last male heir to the Echt Quincy, Ryūken possesses all the skill of the previous generation. His skill in archery is to the point where he can fire an arrow with only a single hand, as well as being able to shoot a target behind someone without harming anything but the target. He is also precise enough to be able to easily hit an area 19 mm to the right of the heart. It's disputed who is the better archer: Ryūken, or his future daughter-in-law and one of Japan's Master Archers, Yuki. 
Reishi Manipulation: As a Quincy he primarily absorbs spiritual energy from the atmosphere, and combines it with his own spiritual energy to form weapons. He has an easier time collecting this energy in environments with higher concentrations of Reishi such as in Soul Society or Hueco Mundo.
*Hirenkyaku Practitioner: Ryūken is capable of using this Quincy high-speed technique.
Spiritual Awareness: As a Quincy, Ryūken can sense Hollows at a significant distance.
Great Spiritual Power: Ryūken has displayed a great amount of spiritual energy. According to Ryūken his powers are quite different from the feeble ones his son lost during the Ryoka Invasion. He inherited all of the powers and techniques from the previous generation, his father, Sōken Ishida, and therefore was given the title of "Last Quincy."
Keen Intellect: In terms of intellect, Ryūken is a very intuitive and perceptive man. Much to Uryū's dismay, Ryūken has repeatedly demonstrated that he can easily see through his son's tactics. When Uryū left to aid Ichigo and Sado in rescuing Orihime Inoue, Ryūken immediately determined what his son was doing without even looking at the note his son left.
===Spirit Weapon===
Heilig Bogen (神聖弓 (ハイリッヒ・ボーグン), Hairihhi Bōgun; German for "Holy Bow", Japanese for "Sacred Bow"): Like most traditionalist Quincy, Ryūken uses a bow as his primary weapon, but unlike his son, Ryūken is capable of willfully changing its size and can fire multiple shots at once. His bow is white, rather than blue. 
*Heilig Pfeil (神聖滅矢 (ハイリッヒ・プファイル), Hairihhi Pufairu; German for "Holy Arrow," Japanese for "Sacred Destruction Arrows"): By further condensing Reishi, Ryūken is capable of forming spiritual arrows. With his new bow, Ryūken fires Heilig Pfeil which are more arrow-like in appearance, including a noticeable arrowhead, shaft, and fins on the end shaped like a Quincy Zeichen similar to Uryū's.
:*Klavier (クラヴィーア), Kuravīa; German for "Piano"): Ryūken fires a multitude of arrows one-handed in rapid succession.
==Last Quincy Status==
Ryūken is able to use many Quincy techniques and items to augment his abilities, including presumably high-level techniques, which are rare in comparison to his son. This is caused by the fact that regardless of his personal wishes and intent, he has inherited all Quincy abilities and techniques from his father, Sōken; after his passing, he has claimed the title of the Last Quincy. Apparently he is now using the same, or a similar, pentacle to Sōken's, although whether this has something to do with the title of Last Quincy remains to be seen. Yūki Takahashi seems to think Ryūken may claim this title to deter Uryū from getting himself into situations that could get him killed, and to piss his sister off, who also claims the title since she is too, an Echt Quincy. Kai Takahashi, on the other hand, and a fellow Echt Quincy like Ryūken, thinks he purposefully took on the title because he still believes in the traditions of the Quincy, even after he'd previously scorned himself from them, and has faith the next generation will be the generation to further the bloodline. 
==Navigation==
Category:Bleach/Characters