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Ryu
リュウ Ryuu
BoFIV Ryu Artwork
Portrait RyuIVFace1 Sprite
Occupation
Drifter
Affinity
Fire
Birthday
May 1st
Height
172cm (5'8")
Weight
65.4 kg (144.2 lbs)
Action
Sword Slash
Weapon
Swords
Voice actor
Kappei Yamaguchi
I II III IV V VI
Main article: Ryu

Ryu is a character in Breath of Fire IV. He is a member of the Endless, summoned to the world by an imperfect spell performed by the Fou Empire.

Role in Breath of Fire IV[]

Ryu was discovered by Nina, lying with no clothing and unconscious in the middle of a crater in the Eastern Continent. He possesses a Dragon's Eye which allows him to both transform into a dragon form and summon other dragons.[1] Ryu has lost his memories and has no idea of who he is or where he comes from. He decides to join Nina in her search for her sister, Elina. Ryu protects Nina at several key moments during their travels, for example when the party first encounters Rasso. The player eventually learns from an elderly traveling minstrel, that Ryu is indeed a dragon in temporary human form. However, the party members are kept in the dark about this until later in the game.

After reuniting with Cray, Ryu's Dragon Eye causes Ryu, Nina and Cray to have a dream of finding where Nina's sister is, only for it to end just after a certain point (this is believed to be foreshadowing of a later event), Ershin points out that it was Ryu's Dragon Eye that showed them the vision.

As their journey progresses, Ryu learns more and more about himself and eventually discovers that he is one of the endless, a tribe of immortal extra-dimensional entities often described as gods. However, his true self was divided into two as a result of the process that summoned him into his present dimension. In time, he will need to rejoin with his other half, who is the first emperor, Fou-Lu. As Ryu travels to the imperial capital of Chedo to face Fou-Lu, he calls upon the help of the various dragon gods that inhabit the earth to share their power with him so that he may become strong enough to defeat Fou-Lu, and become the dominant half of the Yorae Dragon. He eventually succeeds and decides that the world does not need gods. He uses his powers to send all the gods back to the worlds from which they came.

It is interesting to note that this version of Ryu seems to talk to others during some of the game's story scenes, noted by his mouth moving and gesturing with his hands, though no text dialogue accompanies his speech. In some cases, people respond to him, while in others they seem to ignore the fact he was trying to communicate.

In Battle[]

Ryu is fairly well-balanced in human form, with decent stats for each parameter. This version of Ryu is very much like the first incarnation of the series when it comes to a skill list. He learns no magic or special abilities whatsoever from leveling up, unlike his allies, and this means the player needs to round out his list with moves learned from either Masters or monsters. Otherwise, all he can do is attack with his weapon or evoke one of the dragon gods for assistance (though the evocation system doesn't come into play until much later in the story). This limits his standard combat utility as it is not necessary to transform into dragon form for every battle and is only a waste of his AP. Ryu possesses an advanced affinity toward fire, causing him to take half damage from that element, but an additional 50% from water. Also, underscoring them being opposite halves, any skill Ryu learns will also be known to Fou-Lu and vice-versa.

Abilities[]

As a result of his Dragon's Eye[1], Ryu has the ability to summon dragons and to transform into one. These grants him access to unique breath attacks and other moves. The dragon forms he adopts can automatically upgrade themselves depending on the number of in-game points that the player receives throughout their journey. Game points are displayed when any character other than Ryu is selected in the Status portion of the menu screen.

Dragon Upgrade Gem
Aura None None
Kaiser None None
Wyvern Weyr Fire
Myrmidon Knight Wind
Behemoth Mammoth Earth
Mutant Punk Flawed

Stats[]

Stats
Lvl HP AP CP Pwr Def Agl Int Info
1 230 6 3 10 10 8 7 Starting level
2 254 7 3 11 11 10 8
3 284 9 3 13 13 11 10
4 306 12 3 14 15 14 12
5 346 14 4 16 16 16 14
6 378 16 4 19 18 17 15
7 407 20 4 21 19 20 17
8 438 23 4 23 21 23 18
9 475 26 4 26 23 25 20
10 526 35 5 31 26 30 25
11 555 39 5 34 27 33 28
12 586 42 7 36 29 37 30
13 635 42 7 37 32 40 34
14 682 45 7 41 34 42 37
15 732 49 7 43 37 46 39
16 777 54 8 46 41 48 43
17 819 58 8 50 43 51 46
18 866 63 8 53 44 54 51
19 914 68 9 55 47 56 54
20 966 80 10 62 51 62 60
21 1001 86 10 66 53 66 64
22 1050 91 10 69 56 71 67
23 1100 96 10 75 60 74 72
24 1145 103 11 78 62 77 75
25 1191 108 11 80 65 82 79
26 1238 112 11 84 69 84 83
27 1286 120 12 89 73 87 86
28 1336 126 12 92 78 92 89
29 1371 131 12 96 81 96 93
30 1434 142 14 103 88 102 100
31 1481 149 14 107 93 105 103
32 1531 155 14 110 97 109 107
33 1576 161 14 116 100 112 111
34 1622 164 15 120 103 115 116
35 1674 169 15 125 108 119 119
36 1722 177 15 128 112 124 123
37 1772 185 16 135 118 129 125
38 1825 192 16 139 122 133 130
39 1877 199 16 145 126 136 134
40 1960 212 19 156 133 142 140
41 2022 220 19 162 138 146 145
42 2088 228 19 167 144 151 149
43 2160 232 20 174 148 155 154
44 2233 235 20 178 156 158 160
45 2304 245 20 181 162 162 165
46 2386 252 21 189 167 167 168
47 2450 262 21 194 171 173 173
48 2530 270 21 202 178 177 179
49 2608 278 21 209 184 181 184
50 2706 293 23 221 194 188 193
51 2778 302 23 229 200 193 197
52 2844 309 24 235 204 197 202
53 2897 312 24 239 208 200 208
54 2958 318 24 246 213 204 212
55 3010 325 24 250 217 207 217
56 3057 327 25 253 223 209 220
57 3095 330 25 258 227 211 224
58 3137 335 25 260 230 214 226
59 3171 338 25 264 232 217 228
60 3227 347 27 269 236 221 231
61 3265 349 27 271 238 223 232
62 3295 350 27 272 241 226 234
63 3327 351 27 273 243 229 237
64 3365 351 27 275 244 230 238
65 3400 353 28 278 245 233 240
66 3432 354 28 279 247 234 241
67 3462 354 28 280 250 236 242
68 3490 356 28 282 252 237 242
69 3512 356 28 283 253 238 244
70 3538 362 29 287 256 240 246
71 3561 364 29 288 257 240 247
72 3582 364 29 288 258 241 248
73 3606 365 29 289 260 241 249
74 3626 366 30 291 262 242 249
75 3645 368 30 292 263 242 249
76 3662 369 30 293 265 243 249
77 3682 370 30 293 265 243 250
78 3700 370 30 294 266 244 250
79 3714 371 30 294 267 245 250
80 3730 376 31 297 270 247 251
81 3742 378 31 297 271 247 251
82 3755 379 31 298 271 247 252
83 3769 379 31 298 271 248 253
84 3781 379 32 298 272 249 253
85 3792 383 32 299 272 249 254
86 3802 385 32 300 272 250 255
87 3811 388 32 300 273 251 255
88 3819 389 32 300 274 251 255
89 3827 390 33 301 274 252 256
90 3839 396 33 301 275 252 257
91 3846 399 33 301 275 252 258
92 3852 400 33 302 275 252 258
93 3860 400 33 302 276 252 259
94 3865 402 34 302 276 253 260
95 3871 402 34 302 276 254 260
96 3875 403 34 303 276 254 260
97 3881 404 34 303 277 254 261
98 3885 404 34 304 277 254 262
99 3892 409 35 304 278 254 263

Trivia[]

  • Upon transforming into a god Ryu's clothes color becomes ligher and his hair becomes radiant gold, not unlike his namesake's Kaiser transformation in BoF III.
  • Ryu and Fou Lu's Meditate Dragon Forms designed are based off the Warrior Dragon Form from BoF III.
  • While the game never goes into exactly what the Dragon's Eye does for Ryu, the manga adaptation explains that it gives Ryu limited ability to see the future as well as the ability to see through Fou Lu's eyes. The game manual states that it grants Ryu the power to transform into a dragon.
  • In his in-game appearance, the white shirt that he wears is a tank top instead of the ripped sleeve shirt with red trim.
  • In the opening cutscene of the game Ryu's eyes appear to be purple, while both in-game and original art show them as blue.

Gallery[]

3 artwork
Screenshots
Playable Characters
Ryu · Nina · Ershin · Cray · Scias · Ursula · Fou-Lu
Masters
Rwolf · Stoll · Una · Njomo · Momo · Abbess · Marlok · Kryrik · Gyosil · Lyta · Kahn · Bunyan
Endless
Deis · Ch'o Ryong · Hae Ryong · Ni Ryong · P'ung Ryong · Sa Ryong · Su Ryong
Non-Playable Characters
A-tur · Beyd · Elina · Mami · Morley · Rasso · Rhem · Rhun · Soniel · Ventriloquist · Won-qu · Yohm · Yuna
Bosses
Kham · Joh · Skulfish · Maman · Kahn · Khafu · Ymechaf · Sparrow · Fantam · Papan · Marl · Ight · Angler · Glebe · Kahbo · Kamyu · Won-qu · I · II · A-tur · Dragonne · Fou-Lu · Astral · Tyrant · Infini
Locations
Ahm Fen · Aqueduct · Astana · Castle · Causeway · Chamba · Chedo · Checkpoint · Chek · Chiqua · Cove · Dam · En Jhou · Fane · Hut · Hideout · Ice Peak · Kasq Woods · Koshka · Kurok · Kwanso · Kyoin · Kyria · Ludia · Lyp · Mount Giga · Mount Glom · Mount Ryft · Mount Yogy · Mukto · North Chamba · Pabpab · Pauk · Plains · Pung'tap · River · Saldine · Sanctum · Sarai · Shan River · Shikk · Shrine · Shyde · Sinchon · Soma · Sonne · Synesta · Tomb · Valley · Wharf · Woods · Worent · Wychwood · Wyndia
Tribes
Dirt-Eating Clan · Endless · Faeries · Grassrunners · Highlanders · Humans · Pabpab · Wolba · Woren
Archive
Abilities · Accessories · Armor · Enemies · Items · Weapons
  1. 1.0 1.1 Breath of Fire IV game manual. Capcom Co., Ltd. p. 5
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