Ryan

****Ryan**** is a purple tank engine on the North Western Railway. He is one of the main protagonists of The Sudric Legends.

## History

When **Ryan** first came to Sodor, he was sent to work on Thomas' branch line while the latter was helping to build a new branchline from Arlesburgh to Harwick. **Ryan** later went to work at the construction yard, but lit the fuse on a truck full of dynamite and was chased by Thomas while he tried to dispose of it. **Ryan** later helped Thomas stop Sailor John by derailing Captain Calles' Pirate Ship. **Ryan** explained everything to Sir Topham Hatt and then began working on the Harwick Branch line with Daisy.

Daisy took advantage of **Ryan** many times by making him do her work. **Ryan** also discovered Judy and Jerome at Knapford, became involved with drama between Harvey and Daisy, and listened to the latter complain during Christmas.

## Role in Plot

### Magic Railroad Arc

On December 31st, 2015, **Ryan** arrived at Knapford Station to take a passenger train. Thomas was talking about Ryan behind his back when he arrived, making Ryan cross, but he laughed and left as Philip crashed into Thomas. Ryan took his passengers around the island, but eventually he went off of a bridge and crashed into Gordon. The latter was cross with him, but Ryan thought it was the start of a beautiful friendship. The two of them sat in the ravine under the bridge for hours and witnessed many strange things until Gordon decided that they could escape if they just believed. Ryan thought Gordon had cracked, but he was proven wrong when Gordon jumped back onto the rails. Ryan did the same, and then the two raced off to adventure. The two then stumbled upon the Magic Buffers, and Gordon shoved Ryan into them moments before running in himself.

After travelling through the buffers, Ryan and Gordon found themselves in The Magic Railroad. They traveled through the bizarre world and came across Defectors and more buffers. After travelling through the next set of buffers, Ryan and Gordon were captured and thrown into a prison. Inside, they met Defector, a defect. After a few moments, the trio managed to break out of the prison, defeat some guards, steal some guns, and enter the Fake Control Room. After they realized it was a fake, the trio entered the Beast Layer and had to sneak past The Beast in order to continue their journey to find the way out.

After travelling through Box Canyon, Ryan, Gordon, and Defect arrived at The Minis Sanctuary. There, Defect talked to The Guardian, while Ryan observed the Minis with Gordon. Ryan then laid eyes on a black Mini that looked like a ninja, and decided to adopt him, calling him Ninja Buddy. Now in a group of four, Ryan travelled through the Magic Railroad and encountered King Lowercase and his Zealots. Defect attacked the king, and moments later the group escaped. Ryan and the others met No Name at The Library. The latter tried to help the group escape, but was injured while using his warping power.  King Lowercase also attacked Defect, and the group found themselves in a tight situation. Ryan escaped with the others to a warehouse to lay low for a while. Defect told Ryan, Gordon, and Ninja Buddy his backstory, and then set out to set things right. Off-screen, Defect gave Ryan a map that would show him the way out.

Ryan, Gordon, and Ninja Buddy left to escape the Magic Railroad. While resting, Ryan looked through a window and saw Defect being executed in the Execution Grounds. Ryan, sad and frustrated, became motivated by his friend's death and declared that he wouldn't leave without a fight. He ran through the Magic Railroad with Gordon and Ninja Buddy, fighting off diesels and destroying buildings. The group nearly escaped, but they were stopped by King Lowercase. Ryan then shot him with a Mini Cannon and defeated him. Trucks full of treasure then presented themselves, and the trio were then able to escape. After travelling through more buffers, they landed back on Sodor on January 1st, 2016. The group found themselves at an old shed and decided to make it their new home.

### The Great Filler Race

Ryan and Gordon entered a race held on Sodor. He lost the race and crashed along with most of the other participants. Later, he was frustrated that Ninja Buddy went into Toby's Disco Shed.

### Unwanted Guests Arc

Ryan and Ninja Buddy began moving into their new home. Once Gordon returned from the Great Railway Show, the trio headed to the Waste Dump to dispose of belongings they no longer needed. (Off-screen, Ryan found a sword here) Once the trio returned home, they found a letter from a mysterious sender asking them to meet them at The Container Yard. Ryan went to the yard with Gordon and Ninja Buddy, but they were knocked out with a tanker of gas disguised as a tanker of lemonade.

Ryan woke up with Gordon in a strange location the next day and were brought to the sender, who turned out to be an engine resembling Duck, who even had the exact same name as him. Duck wanted Ninja Buddy so he could study him and offered whatever the two wanted in exchange for him, but they turned down the offer. Ryan was furious and he took back Ninja Buddy. Ninja Buddy and Gordon escaped while Ryan blew up Duck's base. After meeting up with his friends outside, Ryan fought Duck with the Mini Cannon. After that didn't work, Ryan charged at Duck with an intent to kill, but Gordon stopped them and proposed a compromise.

The group made their way to the magic buffers where Ryan shoved Duck through them as revenge for abducting them. Relieved, Ryan returned home. A few days later, Duck came to Gordon and Ryan's Shed, but this time he had been transformed into a mini. Ryan declared that they were now a family of four. Butch complained about the shed gaining more inhabitants, to which Ryan and Gordon responded by yelling at him, asking why he was even there, but before the tow truck could answer, Billy, Charlie, Jenkins, and Sheila entered the shed and cause severe damage to both the building and its current occupants.

Two months later, Ryan remodels their shed and gives Gordon a tour. Moments later, the Culdee Fell engines arrive, wanting to stay in the vacancy rooms. Once they entered the shed, Gordon asks what their story is, and the engines tell him. Ryan and Gordon allow them to stay, but moments later the Culdee Fell engines begin destroying the house, so Gordon and Ryan decide that they need to get rid of them.

Ryan wakes Gordon up early one morning and they plot for hours on how to get rid of their guests, but neither can come up with any good ideas. The next day, Ryan tries to calm Gordon down, but nearly gets shot by Godred when he goes to get the mail. After this, Ryan takes a train to the waste dump after a dispute with Gordon, who was left alone with the purple freaks. When Ryan returns, he finds his shed in a mess. Stepney, Arthur, and Rocky are cleaning up, so Ryan asks them where Gordon was. Stepney tells him he went to the Blue Mountain Quarry with his train in exchange for cleaning up. Ryan is furious when Gordon returns later that day, but the latter has brought a new machine back with him. Ryan is sceptical, but the machine works well, so well that it sends Gordon flying backwards and knocks Ryan, as well as several trees, onto the ground. It blasts a hole through a brick wall and Ryan wants nothing to do with it. Gordon points the weapon at him and Ryan threatens that he'll do something to Gordon if he doesn't get rid of it by the time he gets back from the store.

Ryan then returns to the shed and takes Duck, Ninja Buddy, and the Culdee Fell engines to the Vicarstown Shopping District. After everyone went inside, Ryan asks Duck if he wants to come in, but the latter declines. Inside, Ryan buys food from Bulgy and thanks him, but after the bus makes a rude remark, Ryan is rude in return. After this, he meets up with Wilfred and Ernest. Ernest is buying cheese, which Ryan tells him that Gordon needs, as it is his "time of the month cheese." Not long after this, the ground begins to shake like and Ryan panics, thinking it is an earthquake. Ryan is glad when it ends a few moments later, but the Vicarstown Shopping District is a mess. He then witnesses Godred die for the umpteenth time.

Much later, Ryan casually returns to the shed and Gordon angrily asks where he was, but the purple engine explains the supposed earthquake. Ernest butts in with the cheese, but Ryan tells Gordon to ignore him, because he has good news. Ryan is cut off though, as Eric enters and begins explaining that they're all in great danger, describing a wretched beast. Gordon is offended that someone would speak of Greg like that and Ryan jumps back in shock as he notices the large red engine next to Gordon. Ryan asks who he is and when he got there and Greg says he has been there the whole time, and is surprised that Ryan doesn't remember him. Ryan is confused, but quickly gets back to the main conversation and asks what the danger Eric was referring to was. Eric says the beast is Duck, but after Alaric returns with amnesia, the situation is diffused and Gordon asks Ryan what his good news is. Ryan tells Gordon that he knows how to get rid of the Culdee Fell engines. Gordon pounces on him angrily, thinking it's a joke, but Ryan nervously tells him it wasn't and tells Ninja Buddy to go get "the stuff". Ninja Buddy leaves and returns with a truck full of lettuce. Ryan buffers up to it, yells at the purple weirdos, and tells them that if they want it, they can go get it. Ryan shoves the truck through the door in the back of the shed and the Culdee Fell engines, who are now in a primal-instinct-like mode, chase after it. Gordon watches in disbelief and says he guesses its over with before asking Ryan where the door leads. Ryan tells him it's for him to know and for Gordon to hope to god he never finds out.

## Personality

Ryan is an affable engine, who goes out of his way to be kind and is concerned when he sees others in trouble. Ryan would like to be a hero, but he’s not actually as brave as he wishes he was and has a tendency to panic a little in the face of danger. It does not put him off trying, though. Ryan is direct and sincere, but he has a good sense of humour too and is not above making a joke at his own expense.

## Abilities

* **Experience with firearms** - Ryan is shown to be extremely capable of handling firearms, as he's shown hitting his targets with pinpoint accuracy twice. The first being a zealot who was fighting Gordon. The second being when he fired the mini cannon at King Lowercase.
* ***Believing*** - Ryan is able to re-rail himself by believing, something he learned from Gordon.

## Equipment

* **Mini Cannon** - A cannon used to shoot out minis like bullets which explode on impact, Ryan is the only character so far to be seen using it.
* **Stolen guns** - Ryan, Gordon and Defect steal guns from the magic railroad zealots, Ryan uses one to kill a guard before he can attack Gordon.
* **Sword** - Ryan has an old long sword that he found at the waste dump.
* **Buzzsaw** - Ryan carries around a large circular saw which he used to free Defect from his imprisonment.

## Appearances

### **Episodes**

* **Magic Railroad Arc** - A New Beginning, A New World, Despair and Defect
* **The Great Filler Race**
* **Unwanted Guests Arc** - The Twat in the Hat, Fifty Shades of Purple, Operation #800080 and Gordon
* **South Eastern Railway Arc** - Ryan's New Friend and Braving the Lion's Den

### **Specials**

* **ZERO**
* **Sudric Legends 89**

### **Web Videos**

* **2018** - The Stories
* **2021** - Prepping for the New Year

## Trivia

* Ryan is so far the only character to appear in every episode of the series.
* Ryan gained a headlamp in Fifty Shades of Purple.
* Ryatron 12 originally wanted a custom Ryan model to be used in the series due to the official Wooden Ryan being a repainted Thomas, however, due to how much damage the model would receive during the series this idea was cancelled.