Ryūko Matoi

## 纏 流子 / まとい りゅうこ

### Uniform

Kamui Senketsu (former, deceased)Kamui Junketsu (formerly, while brainwashed by Ragyō)

## • Personal information•

### Family

Satsuki Kiryūin (elder sister)Ragyō Kiryūin (mother, deceased)Sōichirō Kiryūin (father, deceased)

### Allies

Senketsu (deceased)Mankanshoku FamilyAikurō MikisugiTsumugu KinagaseSatsuki KiryūinStudent Council

### Enemies

Nui Harime (deceased)Ragyō Kiryūin (deceased)

## • First appearance•

### Manga

Chapter 1

"*This is a keepsake from my father. And this Scissor Blade was left behind by the person who murdered him! Now, you're going to tell me who this Scissor Blade belongs to... **Satsuki Kiryūin!***”
—**Ryūko** in Episode 1. **Ryūko Matoi** (纏 流子 ***Matoi Ryūko*** ) is the daughter of Isshin Matoi and the main protagonist of *Kill la Kill*. She transferred to Honnōji Academy searching for the twin of her red Scissor Blade and the person who used it to murder her father.

It is later revealed that she had supposedly died after a failed experiment to fuse her with Life Fibers and that she is the younger daughter of Ragyō Kiryūin and sister of Satsuki Kiryūin.

## Appearance

**Ryūko** is a seventeen year-old girl of medium height and mid-length black hair with a single left-swept red highlight on her bangs. Her blue eyes have peculiar gear-shaped pupils with eight grooves around the edges. Her outfit coming into the series is a simple white shirt with a red ribbon tie, a black miniskirt, white sneakers, and a black & white jacket with rolled up sleeves. During her childhood, she wore a red collared shirt with a white skirt and white shoes.

Her clothing is later replaced by Senketsu, a living navy blue sailor uniform. Her shirt (Senketsu's upper jaw) is a crop top with mid-length sleeves that bares her midriff. Her sailor-style collar with red stripes is tied by a multicolored scarf that also serves as Senketsu's left "eye." Senketsu's right eye is covered by a black "eyepatch" with an X-shaped scratch over it (perhaps emulating her father's right eyepatch). Her skirt (Senketsu's lower jaw) is held up by suspenders attached to a belt. Aikurō Mikisugi later provides her with a Seki Tekkō (赤手甲, lit. "Red Gauntlet"), a red, finger-less, left-handed glove with a built-in syringe designed for **Ryūko** to conveniently draw blood and feed it to Senketsu.

**Ryūko's** appearance changes further when using Life Fiber Synchronize with Senketsu. Her hair becomes even more feathery and is accented with vibrant red undertones and horn-like clips. Senketsu himself also undergoes a significant change in appearance after Synchronization; his "eyes" extend into wing-shaped crests jutting out from **Ryūko's** shoulders and his upper and lower parts transform into a black, skimpy suit of armor with red stripes. The top section of the armor covers **Ryūko's** neck, lower-jaw, arms, and upper breasts, and possesses a red, triangular ventilation grill centered on **Ryūko's** upper back. The top armor piece is connected to her skirt by three red strings (two in front, one in back), leaving everything between the underside of her breasts and her waist exposed. Her legs are also covered with thigh-height, high-heeled boots.

When **Ryūko** wears Senketsu Kisaragi, Senketsu's eyepatch is broken, revealing his hidden eye, his color scheme changes to reddish orange and yellow, the head piece becomes more elaborate like a rabbit's ears, yellow energy bands form a skirt that looks like jaws around **Ryūko's** waist and her hair becomes blond.

## Personality

**Ryūko** has a relatively simple personality: fierce and stubborn. She fears little, which is demonstrated when she directly and disrespectfully addresses Satsuki Kiryūin, demanding that her questions be answered, and when she fights Takaharu Fukuroda even though she is clearly overpowered. Later on she is shown to be quite embarrassed when she is forced to fight in Senketsu's very revealing alternate form, though she overcomes her embarrassment in Episode 3 showing that while she is not afraid of fighting to her death, she is somewhat self-conscious.

She shows fierce determination in finding her father's killer. Her stubbornness was taken up to ridiculous levels when she managed to free herself from Ragyō's mind control by merely punching herself. This same episode, however, has one of few demonstrations of shock on her part, when Ragyō defeats Satsuki, rips out **Ryūko's** heart and reveals to be her mother.

When **Ryūko** is brainwashed after being forced to put on Junketsu by Ragyō, her personality changes to be wild and sadistic, destroying everything around her without reason. After she is freed she goes back to her usual personality, but is somewhat calmer and more mature. She also makes peace with Satsuki and is able to fight with her as a comrade, but is still having trouble recognizing her as her sister. Although, after Satsuki catches her when she is falling back to earth and welcomes her home warmly, **Ryūko** replies by calling her "sis."

## History

**Ryūko's** mother is initially presumed to have died after she was born and her relationship with her father, Isshin Matoi, was strained and distant. **Ryūko** spent her early childhood living in the dorms of Ox Elementary School as her father focused solely on his studies. A lack of guidance and being bullied by others, **Ryūko** became a juvenile delinquent, constantly getting into fights and even going so far as to join a gang. Six months before enrolling at Honnōji Academyshe received a message from her father and returned to her home only to find him bleeding to death with a red Scissor Blade plunged into his chest. Isshin told her up front that if she wanted to live a peaceful life, that she should get up and walk away, but if she wanted to 'fight' in his place she should take the blade, for as long as she had it she would surely be able to find his killer. Before Isshin could provide **Ryūko** with further information she caught sight of a shadowy female figure out of the corner of her eye wielding the other half of the Scissor Blade. **Ryūko** dashed outside the house but was unable to apprehend the fleeing woman. Before she could get back in an explosive device of some kind detonated and lit the house ablaze. **Ryūko** watched in horror, screaming for her father, but to no avail. Vowing revenge **Ryūko** became a wandering vagrant looking for clues behind the killer's identity and whereabouts.

## Weakness

Take her hearth out and rip it out from her chest cavity.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Natural Abilities:**
	+ **Super-human power**: **Ryūko's** strength, speed, and abilities far surpass that of an ordinary human. From the start **Ryūko** was able to take on multiple One-Star students by herself, without the need to wear Senketsu, as seen in episode 1. She became much stronger throughout the series, both on her own and in her synchronization with Senketsu. Even while wearing a scarf with only Senketsu's eye sewn to it, she was still able to defeat numerous students with new Goku uniforms enhanced by fragments of Senketsu with ease while riding on a motorbike. Her power has increases further when she comes to terms with her true nature as a life-fiber hybrid and thus stops thinking of herself within the bounds of human limitations. In her rage at finding out she is not human she was able to destroy multiple COVERS and free the humans therein with one swing of her scissor blade in episode 20, and also sliced several buildings apart from afar with one blow, all without Senketsu.
	+ **Life Fibers infusion:** **Ryūko** is revealed as Ragyō Kiryūin's second child whose body had been infused with Life Fibers, despite it being perceived as a failure by Ragyō then. It is likely that her incredible potential and her natural ability to synchronize with Life Fibers was a result of this. **Ryūko** has also demonstrated resilience and superhuman healing on par with Ragyō herself. An example of this is shown when her heart is pulled out her chest by Ragyō; the heart is simply drawn back into **Ryūko's** body automatically and the wound seals itself.

### Former Powers and Abilities

* **Scissor Blade** (片太刀鋏 *Katatachi Basami*?) – **Ryūko's** signature weapon is one half of a giant pair of scissors, which she wields as a one-handed, single-edged longsword. The blade is capable of cutting Life Fibers, which are otherwise indestructible. **Ryūko** alternatively uses it as a makeshift tennis racket during her match against Omiko Hakodate. She obtains the second half of the Scissor Blade after snatching it from Nui Harime in Episode 22.
	+ **Decapitation Mode** (武滾流猛怒 *Buttagiru Mōdo*?) – While using Life Fibers Synchronize, **Ryūko** can mechanically extend her Scissor Blade into a two-handed sword. Not only is the blade's length doubled in this form, but its strength increases exponentially and is able to slice far beyond its normal range. This ability is frequently used in preparation for a Fiber Lost.

* **Kamui Senketsu** (神衣鮮血?)
	+ **Life Fibers Synchronize** (人衣一体 *Jin'i Ittai*?)
	+ **Fiber Lost** (戦維喪失 *Sen'i Sōshitsu*?) – After **Ryūko** defeats her opponent, she destroys their Goku Uniform, allowing Senketsu to absorb the uniform's Life Fibers, adding them to his own power. The Banshi is always the last one to go. "戦維"(*sen'i*) is a compound word of 戦意 (fighting spirit, *sen'i*) and 繊維 (fiber, *sen'i*).
	+ **True Life Fibers Synchronize** – After **Ryūko** invades the Great Culture and Sports Festival and fights Nui once more, her original Life Fiber Synchronize evolves thanks to her own self-improvement and she becomes completely one with Senketsu. In this state, Senketsu glows with intense power and they reach levels of strength and speed that easily overpower Nui Harime. After the final battle against Ragyō and Shinra-Kōketsu, Senketsu manages to send **Ryūko** back to Earth before he disintegrates completely.

* **Kamui Junketsu** (神衣純潔?)
	+ **Life Fiber Override** (人衣圧倒 *Jin'i Attō*?) - **Ryūko** is forced to put on Junketsu by Ragyō, which alters her memories, making **Ryūko** believe that she had been raised lovingly by Ragyō her whole life. As **Ryūko** is a human fused with Life Fibers, Ragyō believes that **Ryūko**, unlike Satsuki, is able to draw out its maximum power. Its appearance varies from Satsuki's version in that **Ryūko's** chest is covered, while she wears a hakama on her lower body. The back parts of her hair are now colored blue, although she retains the red highlight on her fringe. After Mako and Senketsu's final efforts to free her, **Ryūko** returns to her former self and rips apart Junketsu.

## Relationship

### Senketsu

At first, **Ryūko** was embarrassed to wear Senketsu due to the rather revealing appearance of his transformed state. However, she understands later on that the only way to be able to use Senketsu to his full potential is to wear him proudly and be open to him. **Ryūko** cares for Senketsu and considers him a dear friend, even to the point of saying that if Senketsu were to be taken from her they would have to pry him from her cold dead fingers. She was also very concerned when Senketsu was being washed very roughly by Mako's mother. Originally, she decided never to wear Senketsu anymore because she feels that she is a Life Fibers monster herself. After coming to her senses and separating herself from Junketsu, she has rekindled her bond with Senketsu.

### Aikurō Mikisugi

While **Ryūko** does not yet seem to trust him completely, Aikurō seems determined to help her uncover the truth behind her father's murder. He is also constantly watching her fight from behind the scenes, always on high alert should something go wrong. He is shown to be especially concerned about Senketsu's fast evolution. When in **Ryūko's** presence, he has a tendency to show off his well built body. This flusters her and makes her uncomfortable. Aikuro has notably shown hesitation in any case of disposing of **Ryūko** as suggested by Tsumugu Kinagase, even when **Ryūko** lost control and was consumed by her Kamui, hesitating in shooting her and alerting her berserked form to his presence.

### Mako Mankanshoku

After **Ryūko** enrolled into the academy, Mako quickly became attached to her. At first, **Ryūko** felt slightly uncomfortable by Mako's excessive attachment, but with time the two grew to care a lot for each other and quickly became best friends. Mako is always cheering for **Ryūko** during her fights, and, as Senketsu cleverly noted, is the key to get **Ryūko** to relax.

### Satsuki Kiryūin

**Ryūko** and Satsuki have a strong mutual hatred initially, mostly due to Satsuki withholding information about her father's murder. While they seem to respect each other a bit more after their fight in Osaka in episode 16, her hatred for Satsuki is challenged near the end of episode 17, when Satsuki reveals her coup d'etat behind her mother's back in order to take revenge for her father and baby sister, thought to have been disposed of after a failed attempt to fuse her with Life Fibers. When it is revealed that **Ryūko** is actually that sister but had actually survived and successfully fused with Life Fibers, by episode 22, **Ryūko** and Satsuki have come to good terms with each other and team up to defeat Ragyō and the original Life Fiber. Eventually, **Ryūko** and Satsuki fully accept each other as sisters and are shown to love each other, much to the confusion and heartwarming of the rest of the cast.

### Nui Harime

**Ryūko** has a strong hatred towards Nui, especially due to her being the killer of her father. **Ryūko** was especially angry to see her, which eventually causes her blood to boil so much that she made Senketsu go Berserk. In Episode 13, however, **Ryūko** instead fears of seeing Nui again due to her fear of going into another rampage, which might lead to her death. In Episode 22, after being released from being brainwashed, **Ryūko** cuts off Nui's arms and absorbs its Life Fibers, which leads to Nui losing her cutesy demeanor and swearing revenge. In addition, by this point her hatred toward Nui had cooled into more of an annoyance, which maddens Nui even more as she had previously thrived on **Ryūko's** hatred of her and makes her hateful toward **Ryūko** now.

### Ragyō Kiryūin

Head of the Revocs Corporation and Satsuki's mother. When they finally meet in Episode 17, **Ryūko** scorns her for her self boasting. This disdain, however, turns into seething rage when she learns not only that Ragyō is her mother, but that she has been fused with Life Fibers as a baby at her very hands. After Ragyō's defeat, though, **Ryūko** does show some consideration for her, and attempts to get her to surrender peacefully but Ragyō chooses to pull out her own heart and would rather commit suicide instead of returning to Earth with **Ryūko**.

### Junketsu

In Episode 20, **Ryūko** fell victim to Ragyō's trap and was "worn" by Junketsu, Satsuki's former Kamui. While being worn by Junketsu, **Ryūko's** personality underwent a complete reversal: she became battle-crazed and bloodthirsty, turning against her own allies. Additionally, her strength and speed increased dramatically. After the mental control was dispelled, **Ryūko** felt furious and disgusted for having been forced to wear Junketsu, promptly and forcibly tearing it off.

## Memorable quotes

“*I finally get it now. I need to get naked. Putting on a Kamui means becoming one with you! It means you becoming one with me! That's what it means to master wearing you! Isn't that right, Senketsu?!*”
 —**Ryūko** finally accepts Senketsu

“*Blow it out your ass, bitch! It's gonna take a hell of a lot more than you to stop me!"*

—**Ryūko's** response during her fight against Nonon Jakuzure

“*Are you kidding?! That freakin' hurt! But I guess I had it coming after acting like such a dumbass!*”

—**Ryūko**, after she forcibly tears off Junketsu