Kei

* Human
* AS

**Kei**, also known as the **Dragon** *(Ryū)*, is the deuteragonist of the movie *"Belle"*.

## Information

Inside "U", Kei takes on the form of a Dragon, a notorious creature disrupting the balance inside the world of "U" through his aggressive behavior. Despite holding the record for consecutive wins in the material arts arena, he is known to fight dirty and ruin the matches by attacking until his opponent's data is broken down in its entirety. This expresses through freezing an enemy after being repeatedly struck by the Dragon's swift claws. The only people who have managed to beat him in a fight were able to do so due to him suddenly discontinuing the match, appearing to be distracted. Because of his immense power, he is being chased down by the Justices, a group of corps inside "U" that aim to keep the balance within the virtual space. By dismantling his online presence, they aim to get rid of the Dragon for good, though even in high numbers do not seem to stand a chance against him. While the majority of the userbase within "U" hates the Dragon, he is incredibly popular with young kids, including the Angel, his only friend in "U".

The Dragon lives in a concealed castle inside "U", which lies hidden away from plain sight and is protected by the virtual world's AIs that purposefully mislead anyone who wishes to find the castle. These AIs act as the Dragon's servants, referring to him as "Master". The castle serves as a safe haven for both him and the Angel.

Although the Dragon appears bad-tempered and aggressive on the outside, his rough behavior serves as a defense mechanism, unable to trust strangers that butt into his business. In reality, he is a gentle and caring soul who looks out for his little brother, whom he wishes to protect from any harm. Used to only mistreatment, he does not like being touched or looked at, and seems afraid of emotional intimacy, only allowing Belle to hold him after slowly gaining his trust.

In real life, Kei is a third-year middle school (9th grade) student that is part of a family consisting of his father, his younger brother Tomo, and himself. While their father paints them as a happy family on the outside, both brothers are victims of emotional and physical abuse endured by their only parent. Kei frequently protects his younger brother from abuse and takes his father's beating in Tomo's place, resulting in the bruises on his body that can be seen on his cape while inside "U". The anger and hurt endured by these events turns into the raw strength and motivation to fight inside the virtual world.

## Appearance

Kei is a skinny teenage boy with a dark tan and light brown eyes. His black hair, which reaches down to his neck at the back, is brushed to cover his left eye. He wears a loose black shirt, black pants, and black shoes.

As the Dragon, he has a large build, long messy black hair, long white horns on his head, a long dragon-like face with a muted blue mouth and nose, and yellow eyes. In all of his outfits, he wears a long cape with colourful bruises on the back.

## Relationships

#### Tomo

Tomo is Kei's younger brother, who looks up to him as his hero and protector. To shield his little brother from harm, Kei gets in between Tomo and their father, taking the physical abuse instead. As a loving big brother, he looks out for Tomo and comforts him whenever he gets upset. Inside U, the two stay together at his castle, shielded from all harm.

#### Justin

Whenever his father lashes out at his younger brother, Kei shields Tomo from harm by taking the abuse himself. This causes further disdain to his father, who expects Kei to know better at his age, going as far as to tell him to disappear as a disobedient son who is no good to him.

#### Kei’s Mother

Kei’s Mother died 7 months prior to the events of the movie from an unclear cause. Kei seems to miss her dearly, having her as the wallpaper on his phone. This photo also exists as a portrait inside his castle in "U". However, the image has been shattered by the mark of a punch and debris of furniture can be seen around where her portrait is kept, which may suggest that Kei's grief expresses itself through uncontrolled aggression, similar to how his pain fuels his physical strength.

## Trivia

* He takes his origin from the character of the Beast from the tale *Beauty and the Beast*.
* Despite being the deuteragonist, he has limited screen time.