Ryuji

"A man from the east had acquired power. Real power--beyond brute strength, or deadly weapons. Beyond technology, or gimmicks... It's the power all humans have, but few learn to harness. It subdues all enemies with the sheer force of its will. When fighters who wield this clash, the battle is epic. They see it in each other, and form a brotherhood. It becomes a test of their souls. Maybe someday we'll be the spectators of such a battle." --Sylvia Christel on Ryuji

Ryuji
kana	龍司
romaji	Ryuuji
Occupation	Seventh rank in the United Assassins Association
Weapon	Beam Katana
Battle Theme	Subuta.2
First appearance	No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (2010)
Voiced by	Robert Wu

Ryuji (龍司, Ryuuji) is a character in No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. He is presumably Japanese, with "Ryuuji" being a common given name rather than surname; his age is unknown. He is the seventh-ranked assassin in the United Assassins Association. Ryuji is a man of few words as he does not speak before or after the battle.

Appearance and Personality

Ryuji-Rank 7

Ryuji is dressed in complete Japanese biker gang attire, along with black tobi shoes and a long tailed jacket with a dragon design, along with a tatsuki rope. His shirt is slightly open, showing off his strong physique and has a kamikaze bandanna around his forehead. He also has two scars across his face that cross, resembling an X, that meet at his mouth. Ryuji's motorcycle has a very personal flair to it, consisiting of a dragon shaped golden ornament on the front, two wing like spoilers on the back and several flags, including Japan's, stranded over it. Like Touchdown's, his cycle has nitros, however he will burn out before moving in any direction and this makes his invulnerable during the mock sumo match, leading to the idea that Ryuji's bike is faster than Touchdown's. The initial script for the game notes that Ryuji is a member of a biker gang.

Ryuji's concept art.

Not much of Ryuji's personality can be seen due to his constant silence. But, it can be seen that he is aggressive and ambitious in fighting. It can also be surmised that he is honorable and respectful of his adversaries and can accept defeat when beaten.

Story

In the first phase of the battle, he fought Travis Touchdown on his own motorcycle in a mock sumo wrestling match. Afterwards, he begins to fight Touchdown with his modified Beam Zanbatou and his ability to summon a giant laser dragon. Once Touchdown defeats him, Travis aimed to presumably honor him. Sylvia, however, appeared and gunned him down claiming the matches are only for the assassins to kill each other and that they "are not a sport."

Powers and Abilities

In addition to his strong motorcycle-riding and nagimaki-wielding skills, Ryuji is capable of summoning a huge electrical dragon to assault his foes. In the cutscenes with Silvia, he was claimed to have obtained power beyond corporeal and material comprehension, it is likely that his mythical dragon is that very power he earned. However, it should also be noted that Sylvia describes it as a power all humans possess but few can harness.

In addition, he seems to possess a considerable degree of durability, like Travis himself, as he was able to endure a piledriver head first into the ground and only lost as a much as a tooth.

Trivia

• The kanji in Ryuji's name literally means "dragon controller".
• In many eastern mythologies, tigers and dragons are considered natural enemies, and are often depicted battling each other in artworks. Hence the battle between Travis (whose Japanese name, reserved wrestling move, and Dark side represent the tiger) and Ryuji (whose name, bike, and abilities represent the dragon) is a very symbolic one. This also explains Travis's desire for honor.
• Ryuji's weapon is based on the naginata, a type of polearm used by samurai. However, the length of the blade suggests that it might be a nagimaki.
• Ryuji shares the same boss music with Matt Helms.
• Ryuji is a bōsōzoku, part of a Japanese biker gang. He wears the stereotypical dress for them- long white coat, bandana, bandage wrap around his lower torso. His bike also has the classic biker look of having been customized to the point of impracticality.
• the x shaped scar that crosses his mouth might be a symbol of the fact that he cannot talk or might very well be the cause of it. However that is not the case. If one listen closer, he says "Come out, Dragon" whenever he summons his dragon.
• Ryuji and Dark Star both have swords that send out energy dragons.
• Sylvia's description of Ryuji's power matches the principle of ki, which is practiced and exercised in various eastern martial arts and philosophies.