Gaoh Ryuki

**Gaoh Ryuki** (臥 (が) 王 (おう)  龍 (りゅう) 鬼 (き) , *Gaō Ryūki*; *"Ryuki Gaoh"*), also known as **The Dragon King** (龍 (りゅう) 王 (おう) , *Ryū-ō*), is a member of the Kengan matches, not to mention the clone of Shen Wulong and the adopted grandson of Gaoh Mukaku. He was later scouted by Yamashita Kazuo for the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament as a fighter for the Kengan Association. Two years later he entered the Berserker Bowl.

## Appearance

Ryuki is a young man with a muscular build and messy dark brown hair. His most notable feature is his resemblance to Tokita Ohma, with whom he shares his face.

He usually wears a variety of casual clothes, with a pair of fake glasses. When fighting, he sports a pair of black pants.

## Personality

Ryuki's got this weird mix of being all polite and straight-up, ya know? Akiyama, when stackin' him against Ohma, sees that gentleness in Ryuki that Ohma lacked, but there's also this dark side to him, feel me? Probably 'cause he grew up in the Inside, clueless about how the 'outside' world rolls. Like, he totally misread Yamashita Yasuo about Ohma not bein' "with us anymore."

Himuro peeps that Ryuki's got no guilt about offing people, zero remorse, especially when it comes to takin' out Worm members, 'cept when Narushima Koga stepped in. After that, he only grilled Naidan Mönkhbat, a Worm dude, without droppin' him.

Post Kengan Association vs. Purgatory Tournament, he links up with Kiryu Setsuna, they click after Kiryu helps him chill during a mental breakdown over ditchin' Koga and Kazuo, thinkin' he let 'em both down. Kiryu's presence messes with Ryuki, turns him dark, especially when they're doin' street justice with Akoya Seishu and meetin' up a lot. The wild part is, now he's all about killin' in a Kengan match, no second thoughts, thanks to Ohma swoopin' in. He says he figured he lacked the guts to ice an opponent no matter what, brushed off Koga tryna change his mind, callin' it too soft, but not before givin' props to other fighters as legit rivals.

## History

According to Gaoh Mukaku, Ryuki was created as a clone of Shen Wulong, that Mukaku kidnapped when he attacked a cloning facility run by the Worm. Allegedly, Ryuki is the last existing clone of The Connector, since most cloning attempts of him end in failure for an unknown reason. After being taken in, Ryuki was raised in the Inside, and was trained by Gaoh Mukaku, who he refers to as "grandpa." Due to his history with the Worm, at some point his "grandpa" informed him that *they* would try to make contact with him if he entered the Kengan matches.

## Plot

Having infiltrated Katahara Metsudo's mansion, Ryuki was immediately stopped by Nikaido Ren. Trying to explain that he had only come to see Metsudo, Ren ignored his words and attacked him anyway. Knocking Ren down, Metsudo arrived and stopped their scuffled, who asked why he was there. Ryuki introduced himself and then explained that he wanted to enter the Kengan matches. Metsudo then replied that Yamashita Kazuo is the man Ryuki should meet.

Some days later, Ryuki arrived at Yamashita Trading Co. and was immediately attacked by Narushima Koga who mistook him for Tokita Ohma. Effortlessly parrying and then overwhelming Koga, Kazuo's return put a halt to their scuffle. Introducing himself, Ryuki explained that he wanted to enter the Kengan matches, which Kazuo immediately agreed to. Ryuki then began staying at the Yamashita's residence as he had nowhere else to wait.

Two days later, Ryuki participated in his first Kengan match for General Foodstuffs against Utsubuki Kokuro. Beginning the fight at his own pace, Ryuki then began easily parrying Kokuro's blows when the latter went on the offensive. Countering Kokuro and then knocking him back with a strike to the solar plexus, Ryuki began evading Kokuro again when the latter resumed his assault. Getting struck by Kokuro's Stinger, Ryuki returned to his feet, much to Kokuro's shock, and told his opponent he was going to get serious. Getting into a strange stance, he then began avoiding all of Kokuro's strikes before immediately countering when he was struck, knocking Kokuro out cold in a single blow. Getting ready to kill Kokuro, he stopped when Kazuo congratulated him for his victory.

The day after his first match, Akiyama Kaede taught both him and Koga how the Kengan Association currently worked. Just then Himuro Ryo and Kaneda Suekichi appeared, saying they would also help with Ryuki and Koga's education. After Himuro struck Koga for his attitude, Ryuki attacked, but Himuro effortlessly stopped his technique. With Himuro asking him why he went to kill Kokuro, Ryuki replied with unnervingly blunt honesty. Himuro then said he'd turn Ryuki and Koga into first-rate fighters, but Ryuki openly declined. Sometime later, Himuro sat Ryuki down and had a conversation with him.

Yamashita then took Ryuki to go and train with Koga at the SJPW gym. Once there, a bored Ryuki told Koga that he was wasting his time there. Irking Jose Kanzaki with his blasé attitude, the wrestler then challenged Ryuki to get in the ring. Ryuki reluctantly got in, and the two traded a few blows before Sekibayashi Jun ended it. Later that evening, seeing Koga training hard, Ryuki came in and played a footwork-based training game of tag with him to teach Koga a lesson, winning tag 89 times out of 90. After watching a horror movie with Kazuo, Ryuki would later realize that that loss against Koga was a sign that he had to keep up the pace.

The next weekend, Ryuki faced off against Yurikawa Taiju in his second Kengan match. He won in a relatively brief bout, only to realize that Taiju had easily countered his Earth-Crouching Dragon. While watching Nitoku fight Yuzaki Mumon, Ryuki asked Kaede about the rules regarding killing in the Kengan matches, noticing that Yuzaki was aiming to kill Nitoku. Shortly after the fight, Mumon later accosted Ryuki. Realizing he was a fake as well, Ryuki killed him and left the scene.

Koga took Ryuki to the mall to get some new clothes with the two spending the day shopping and eating. With their day over, a grateful Ryuki thanked Koga for hanging out with him as he'd never hung out with a friend before. A few days later, Ryuki killed an infiltrator of the Worm. Ryuki's killing spree had been taken notice of by Akoya Seishu, who had unsuccessfully tailed him after the latter found the corpse of another Worm.

Traveling to see a Purgatory match with Kazuo and Koga, Ryuki casually asked what kind of gladiator was Jose, with the wrestler revealing he was an A-lister. Three of Purgatory's fighters suddenly confronted them, including Yumigahama Hikaru, the Ex-Sixth Fang of Metsudo. Hikaru antagonized Jose and sucker-punched Koga in the liver, which provoked Jose and nearly provoked Ryuki. The next day, while on the river shore, Ryuki mentally noted that he might have to break his "promise" to his grandpa.

Two days before his next Kengan match, knowing that another Worm was tailing him, Ryuki lured him into an alleyway before informing him that he would die. Not long afterward, making good on his promise, Koga arrived and looked at the scene in shock. With the two ready to eat at Imperial Beef Garden, Ryuki happily tucked into some grilled beef while a visibly uncomfortable Koga pressed him about the scene he has witnessed earlier. Ryuki responded that he killed him and explained why. His answer shocked Koga enough to cause him to leave. Oblivious as to why Koga was in such a rush, Ryuki continued eating.

On his third Kengan match, Ryuki got ready to face Akoya. Before their match, Ryuki was unnerved by Akoya's death-like nature. Ryuki took the first initiative with their fight kicking off, but Akoya continuously blocked his Earth-Crouching Dragon. With Akoya telling him to use his other techniques, Ryuki complied with Air Rending, another Gaoh Style technique which Akoya narrowly managed to mitigate. With this, Akoya went on the offensive with his first strike redirected by Weeping Willow. However, Akoya blocked the follow-up and eventually floored Ryuki before relentlessly pummelling him. With Ryuki readying to kill him with another Gaoh Style technique, he hesitated after remembering Koga's words about killing, allowing Akoya to land a crushing blow and continued whaling on him until he was forcefully restrained by Metsudo's Bodyguards.

With the fight over and Akoya victorious, he asked Ryuki why he hesitated. After hearing Ryuki's answer, Akoya left. After his fight, Koga conversed with Ryuki about why he hesitated. Ryuki mused on Koga's words before about killing people, revealing something had felt off since then and wondered if he was going crazy. That evening, Ryuki received a post-fight examination due to his injuries before being ruled as well enough.

Sometime later, Ryuki was present for the Kengan match between Lihito and Mokichi Robinson, watching as Lihito achieved victory. He noted that Lihito was still training.

Three months later, Ryuki visited Jose in the hospital with Koga. After, they talked about how the tournament had been pushed back by a month. Ryuki was doing shopping with Yamashita Yasuo when the Worm attacked Yamashita and Koga. When he learned what happened to Koga and Kazuo, Ryuki could only stand at Koga's operating theatre in nervousness and simmering fury.

Ryuki was visiting Koga in the hospital when the two finally met Tokita Ohma, alive and accompanied by Kazuo. Despite being their first encounter, Gaoh felt a way of familiarity, as if he'd known Ohma for a long time. When Ohma thanked Koga for protecting Yamashita but told him he'd replace him against Purgatory, Ryuki became enraged at his response. He was on the verge of assaulting Ohma, only to be halted by the sudden presence of Kure Raian (who Ryuki didn't notice being present in the room). With Raian remarking that Koga's injuries and training meant nothing against the underground's real beasts, Koga told Ryuki to let it be. Ryuki could only stare at Ohma walking away from the hospital, his rage threatening to boil up again.

On the day of departure for Mt. Godslayer, Ryuki was approached on the plane by Akoya. Ryuki ignored him, still in a relatively foul mood after what had happened in the hospital. After the first round of the competition, Ryuki tried to cheer Kaolan Wongsawat up. During the third match, Koga joined him at their gate.

During the fifth match of the competition, he was baited by Naidan Mönkhbat to enter the ring upon showing Ryuki his Worm tattoo. On the ring, he asked Naidan what he knew about the Worm, but upon realizing Naidan won't tell him anything, he prepared to fight. As the fight started, Ryuki attacks were parried and countered by Naidan, who proved to be stronger than Ryuki thought. As their fight continued, Ryuki found his attacks either tanked or countered by Naidan. During a conversation mid-fight, Ryuki was overwhelmed by a sense of rage upon hearing Naidan inquiry of his grandfather's integrity, the resulting assault allowing Ryuki to land a finally land a solid hit on the Hawk of Ordos.

Despite his newfound ferocity, Naidan's Eye in the Sky technique kept him from doing further damage. Naidan then grabbed Ryuki and gave him one final warning to go all out. Naidan mused that he would kill Kazuo and Koga to finally reawaken Ryuki's killing intent, which set Ryuki off. The resulting speed Ryuki achieved surpassed Naidan's Eye. No longer holding back, Ryuki went all out in his assault, gouging out one of Naidan's eyes and laying down a massive onslaught at the downed Hawk. Ignoring the referee's words, Naidan suddenly grabbed Ryuki by the throat, utterly ecstatic at the display shown by "The Omega."

In the climax of their match, Naidan mounted Ryuki and strangled him, threatening to kill him unless he did the same. Recalling the promise he made to his grandfather Mukaku, Ryuki ultimately stabbed Naidan in the neck with his thumb, to everyone's shock. Overjoyed, Naidan proceeded to use Khüch one last time to accelerate the fatal blow. Collapsing next to Ryuki, he lauded and declared Ryuki a "Connector," dying in his friend Liu Dongcheng's arms, who ran up to the arena.

With Ryuki disqualified and teary-eyed at the events, Koga and Kazuo approached Ryuki to check on him before being stopped by an enraged Dongcheng. After the other Kengan fighters protected him, Koga and Kazuo helped him back up. Ryuki spent the entirety of the sixth match of the tournament alone in a hallway, brooding over his actions. He was then suddenly approached by Kiryu Setsuna, who lamented to have lost his "loved one". While expressing his grief for his own actions to Setsuna, Ryuki was irritated by Setsuna's comparition bertween the two of them. Then, when Setsuna asked him if he was "prepared to walk through hell for his loved one", Ryuki could only react in shock.

## Power & Abilities

Ryuki is an agile and powerful fighter. Ryuki had the upper hand with Nikaido Ren in their brief altercation, and was able to block and parry everything Koga threw at him in another.

In his battle against Utsubuki Kokuro, Ryuki kept Kokuro from landing blows and could dodge Kokuro's kick from close point-blank range while countering him. In his victory over Yurikawa Taiju, a powerful fighter in his own right, both Adam Dudley and Imai Cosmo noted that Ryuki trounced him.

His movements and speed as also remarkable since he's able to attack his opponent so quickly that the human eye can't follow him, and he was proven able to surpass prediction-based techniques like Naidan Mönkhbat's Eye of the Sky.

Gaoh Ryuki is an very intelligent and a quick learner being able to use the Koei Style in combat after two weeks of training with Kiryu Setsuna, when it took one year for Kiryu learn Rakshasa's Palm, and eight years normally for anyone else.

However, Ryuki's greatest strength lies in his tenacity. Even if beaten to a pulp, Ryuki's laser focus of "going for the kill" means he won't quit until he or other person's dead.

### Gaoh Style

An older martial art that Ryuki learned from his grandpa, Mukaku. Historically known as a martial art for "cowards," its essence lies in "surprise attacks," with some of its techniques assumed to have worked better with weapons, such as small blades, rather than being entirely effective on its own.

### Koei Style

Through the tutelage of Kiryu, Ryuki had been taught the Koei Style and its two techniques. **Blink** greatly complements the Gaoh Style by making the user's opponent unable to predict their enemy's movement, which in turn sets up the best conditions for "surprise attacks". As a result, thanks to the Koei Style, Ryuki can fully utilize the Gaoh Style even in a Kengan match.

## Etymology

* **Gaoh** (臥 (が) 王 (おう) ) literally means "Prostrating King".
* **Ryuki** (龍 (りゅう) 鬼 (き) ) uses the kanji for "dragon", and "demon", respectively. Literally, it means "Demonic Dragon".

## Notes & Trivia

* Upon first encountering Ryuki, Katahara Metsudo insighted that Ryuki had killed quite a number of people. This was later confirmed to be true.
* Ryuki is currently studying how to read and write Japanese, and his favorite food is anything tasty.
* Ryuki is a person of interest to different people, seen as a kindred spirit by multiple fighters.
	+ Akoya Seishu believes that, with Ryuki acknowledging that killing isn't always the answer, he could become a "comrade" in his pursuit of justice. For what reason specifically is yet to be known.
	+ Kanoh Agito had noted that Ryuki was reminiscent of himself when he was younger: oblivious to social norms and had violence as his only response.
	+ Kiryu Setsuna compared Ryuki to himself, to the point of indentifying himself in Ryuki as someone who made countless mistakes and lost his loved one.
* It was implied that Shen Wulong is the genetic template of Ohma and Ryuki. Chapter 178 of *Omega* even has the Super faction speculate on this matter. This is later confirmed to be true.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chapter 6 (Omega)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Gaoh Ryuki's profile
3. ↑ Chapter 178 (Omega)
4. ↑ *1 win against Utsubuki Kokuro in a Kengan match(Ch8)
1 win against Yurikawa Taiju in a Kengan match(Ch20)
2 wins in the Berserker Bowl against Chiba Takayuki (Ch166)and Ushiroda Takero(Ch167)
1 win against Adam Dudley in the Berserker Bowl Championships(Ch182)*
5. ↑ *1 loss against Akoya Seishu in a Kengan match(Ch39)
1 loss to Naidan Mönkhbat in the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament due to the "No Kill" rule*(Ch87)
1 loss to Tokeshi Kota in the Berserker Bowl(Ch164)
6. ↑ *1 loss against Narushima Koga in the Berserker Bowl*
7. ↑ Chapter 213 (Omega)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Chapter 1 (Omega)
9. ↑ Chapter 83 (Omega)
10. ↑ Chapter 86 (Omega)
11. ↑ Chapter 33 (Omega)
12. ↑ Chapter 3 (Omega)
13. ↑ Chapter 7 (Omega)
14. ↑ Chapter 20 (Omega)
15. ↑ Chapter 38 (Omega)
16. ↑ Chapter 166 (Omega)
17. ↑ Chapter 10 (Omega)
18. ↑ Chapter 34 (Omega)
19. ↑ Chapter 39 (Omega)
20. ↑ Chapter 93 (Omega)
21. ↑ Chapter 103 (Omega)