Ryu

## **Background**

The central protagonist of the first book. He is portrayed as the typical bull headed, cocky, and mostly selfish archetype. Raised primarily by his mother until the age of 5 until the village of Nan'Te was destroyed by the Black and Red Wyrmlords. After this, he was raised by a mercenary named Ganyu for the next 16 years. He is later given combat training; his upbringing not being the most loving at this point adding to his other cold nature towards others.

Upon reaching 21 years of age he joins the Warrior's Guild in hopes of finding clues as to the whereabouts of the Black Wyrmlord, so that he may exact his vengeance upon him. Before this, however, he is given the weapon Dresera to help him in this endeavor, a sword that is capable of cutting through dragon hide with ease. To Ryu's surprise, the weapon contains some manner of spirit within it that, at times, will warn him of certain dangers, if not outright scolds him for his brutish behavior.

He is childhood friends with Sacreia, and had feelings for her he did not quite understand until later. At which point was far too late for him to return to her, as he had already involved himself with his Nerokois companion, Yoli.  Ryu has a leader mentality, and those that encounter him usually believe he is capable of great things, so much so that they join in on his journey, feeling as if their own goals can be met at the same time.

As a human half dragon, he is easily passed off as being *normal* by others, as he does not possess the glowing eyes that other half dragons possess.

## **Appearance**

Ryu stands at 6'4, a lean muscular build, a gruff, if not scowl like demeanor that never seems to leave his face. His hair is black, short, slicked back just a bit to where the tips jut upwards almost like spikes. He is fair skinned, if not a bit on the pale side, with a six-o-clock shadow that never seems to leave him, and dark eyes(At the end of the first book, it is revealed his eyes were scarlet)

He dons a black exoskeleton armor whose thickness far exceeds those of others, primarily in his left hand and forearm. Due to this, his defenses are quite high, if not the highest of all characters. The armor in question is black, with thick plate like ventral scales that run down from his neck expanding as it reaches his chest and narrows down upon reaching his waist; it has a chitinous appearance elsewhere, like a hard carapace with countless small spikes and scales. Upon his shoulders are thicker masses of the material which form spiked pauldrons with enormous protrusions that bend inward toward his head. His fingers and toes are claw tipped, his elbows and knees possessing spikes that jut from the exoskeleton.

## **Personality**

Boorish, crude, egotistical and cocky. He often holds himself in higher regard than most, in the sense that he's stronger than they are, which is for the most part true. He's a sore loser, often times resorting to violent reactions upon losing a game.

He is caring, and affectionate to those he holds dear, even though it is not shown often. He cares little for the wellbeing of others he doesn't know, oftentimes leading to other characters acting as some manner of moral bridge to force him to help others in need. He does not see himself as a hero, nor does he care to be labeled one.

## **Trivia**

* Ryu was designed after Guts/Gattsu, the protagonist from the anime/manga Berserk.
* Despite his otherwise brutish and uncaring nature, he does seem to exhibit empathy for others, mostly half dragons like himself.
* He tends to use his weapon in one hand, despite it being meant for two. As the weapon does not possess weight for him, he is able to swing and carry it in just one, while using his other in defense.
* He is skilled in many forms of combat and weapons, but is terrible at unarmed combat and bows.
* He and Ryujin share the same appearance, save for the hair and eye coloration.
* He and Seraiya are distantly related.