Ryos

***Bolt Bringer***

## Appearance

Ryos is a tough guy. A fighter, a badass. No nonsense, he cares about punching things, hard. His full moniker is “Boltbringer Ryos,” and as such he is very lightning-themed, including his signature robot, the ION-121. The devices on his arms are torn off and repurposed pieces an Intel robot, and now used to give himself powerful punches and some thunderous abilities in hand-to-hand combat.

## Background

Only weak pilots use the protection of nations. Ryos is a powerful and fiercely independent mercenary who notoriously excels at his profession. As intelligent as he strong, he specializes in precise, brutal tactics. His robots have the ability to steal energy or destroy, depending on if the target is needed alive or dead. He looks for the strongest opponents and hardest jobs, and believes he can easily crush anyone who stands up to him. He sometimes fights robots without robots of his own, just for kicks.

Ryos was born with the ability to control energy and can take energy from enemy robots. He is fiercely independent and prefers to work alone, and his mercenary ways led to him being put as the #1 most wanted on the Sector Authority’s list of international criminals. During the latter parts of the Five Nations War, Ryos meets Poppet and in an unlikely twist, proceeds to serve as her guardian and mentor.

On an assignment from a mysterious entity, Ryos and his new assistant attack the Great States' Western border, and in doing so, face off with Gamound. The Sector Authority officer Stell shows up soon after and the conflict erupts into days of chaos. After being beaten by a combination of Stell's resources and Gamound's wit, Ryos was about to give in to capture. However, Poppet inadvertently wakes up the ELL-GEL-ION, forming from numerous pieces of their destroyed robots. This new robot goes on a rampage, bewildering all involved.

The duo use the destructive distraction to escape.

## Robots and Abilities

Ryos is the pilot of ION-121, ION-5000, and the ELL-GEL-ION (Berserker Mode).

The Hercules beetle-inspired ION-121 is outfitted with a long-range lightning spear and overclocked electrical weapons, along with thicker armor than normal on an Intel Class robot. Ryos has his robots customized by professionals, from parts he personally brings back from the battlefield.

His Commander Ability is "**Showdown**", which gives his robots Reroll 1 if they target an enemy robot which has no allies within 3 spaces of itself. This ability is useful to take out lone robots and forces the opponent to be mindful of leaving their robots without backup. With that in mind, robots capable of area of affect attacks are indirectly made more useful against opponents who are mindful of Ryos' ability.

## Team Building with Ryos

Ryos is one of eight Commanders who came with a pre-built team in the AEGIS Core Box.

This team is centered energy draining your opponent with IONs and IPPLs, while also having strong conventional attacks via ARK-100 and GEL-100. Overall it's a standard aggressive team that will try and outpace the opponent on resources.

## Trivia

* Ryos is in part based on Kazuma the Shell Bullet from *Scryed.* His arm devices were based on the PS1 game *Silent Bomber.* This was more apparent in the concept art.
* Ryos and Poppet's final character designs were created by Daniel Olsen, and only loosely based on the given concept sketches.
* Ryos was added to the game along with Poppet when AEGIS was planned to be released as two boxes under Greenbrier Games, with the intention being that both boxes had enough material for four players.
* At their inception, their role in the overall story was unclear. At some point they became secondary villains, behind Etwal, and a unique father-daughter renegade pair, and fit into the central Five Nations War plot very neatly.
* Ryos's favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip.
* Ryos is among the oldest characters in the game, at 46. Only Sheriden and Nolan are older.