Ryu Hayabusa

Ryu Hayabusa (リュウ・ハヤブサ Ryū Hayabusa) is a super ninja who first appeared in the Ninja Gaiden series of video games on the Nintendo Entertainment System. He would later appear, years later, as a consistent character in the Dead or Alive series, sparking a renewal of the Ninja Gaiden franchise as well. A member of the clan’s head family, Ryu often takes on the leadership responsibilities of the clan and the protection of the Dragon Sword while his father, Jo Hayabusa, trains in the mountains.

Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)
Set two years before the first DOA tournament Ryu is a young Hayabusa ninja taking care of the clan while his father is out training in the mountains. However, while he himself was visiting the Shadow Ninja Clan headed by his uncle, Murai, the Hayabusa clan comes under attack by the greater fiend Doku who was in search of the Dark Dragon Blade. Ryu arrives in time only to watch Kureha be cut down by Doku, and he himself is also cut down soon after. However he is resurrected by the clan’s animal spirit and embarks on a quest of vengeance against Doku in order to get the Dark Dragon Blade back. Learning that the fiends were from the Vigoor Empire Ryu, with assistance from the Mugen Tenshin ninja, Ayane and the renowned blacksmith, Muramasa, infiltrates the nation’s capital and starts a bloodbath of destruction throughout the city as he cuts down not only fiends but ninja of the Black Spider Ninja Clan, who also hoped to obtain the Dark Dragon Blade, and the nation’s military as well. During his rampage he encounters a fiend hunter named Rachel, who was also on a quest for vengeance against the fiends for what they had done to her sister, Alma. Eventually Ryu confronts Doku, this time defeating the spirit-warrior, however he is momentarily cursed by the fiend into turning into a fiend himself. In an effort to rid the curse he confronts the nation’s Emperor, who was also then possessing the Dark Dragon Blade, and destroys him. It was only then revealed that the mastermind behind the entire affair was Murai himself, who sought the power of the fully awakened Dark Dragon Blade. Ryu was forced to kill his uncle and destroyed the blade in order to ensure peace to the world.

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
Six months after the Dark Dragon Blade Incident

Ninja Gaiden 2
Now one year after the Dark Dragon Blade Incident

Ninja Gaiden (NES)
Ryu learns of his father’s death in America at the hands of a ninja during a death duel. Seeking to find answers as to why his father was in America Ryu journeys to the country; finding a note telling him to find an archaeologist named Walter Smith. However before he could find him Ryu was captured and imprisoned by an agent for the Central Intelligence Agency named Irene Lew. Irene, however, later visits him in his cell and hands him a statue before leaving the cell door unlocked for him to escape. Escape he does, finally managing to find Smith who identifies the statue as an artefact involved in resurrecting an ancient demon who was once defeated by a being known as Shinobi.

Dead or Alive 1
Hearing that Kasumi had ran away from her village to seek vengeance for Hayate, Ryu tracked her to the Dead or Alive Tournament where he joined the tournament as a participant in order to keep an eye on her.

Dead or Alive 2
Ryu entered the second DOA tournament in order to confront and defeat the renegade Tengu Gohyakumine Bankotsu-bo. As he progressed through the tournament he encountered Kasumi, Jann Lee and Hayate, who, while having fully recovered physically, had lost his memory and now thought himself as Ein. Eventually Ryu made it to the final match where he confronted and destroyed Gohyakumine Bankotsu-bo however Ryu was too late in preventing the Tengu from altering the world, resulting in a worldwide collapse with a dense cloud covering the sky worldwide.

Dead or Alive 3
During the collapse Genra, a head ninja of the Mugen Tenshin clan, was captured by DOATEC and became a crazed superhuman known as "Omega". DOATEC intended to use the DOA Tournament as a testing ground for Omega’s prowess. Learning of this Ryu attends the third tournament in an effort to defeat him however Hayate, now the 18th leader of the clan, confronts and informs him that Omega’s defeat was the personal business of the Mugen Tenshin clan. Omega would be eventually defeated by Ayane, Genra’s adoptive daughter and pupil.

Dead or Alive 4
Invited to participate in a group offensive Ryu joins Hayate, Kasumi and Ayane to stop DOATEC during the fourth tournament. Ryu and Ayane come across Christie, who was trying to stop the ninjas from destroying the DOATEC Tritower, however her attempt failed and the building fell. Ryu was possibly responsible for the death of Victor Donovan as he tried to escape the building via helicopter.

Personality
Ryu has the demeanor and wisdom of a man far older than himself, due to his prolific lineage and mantle of station as a respected ninja. His exploits have given him an attitude far removed from most others, and he understands things in more abstract and philosophical terms. Much like Gen Fu and Eliot, he adopts a tranquil nature; free flowing most of the time, but unforgiving and crushing when roused. Through the Dead or Alive tournament, he has extricated himself from many of the subplots involving other characters, concentrating instead purely on the larger goals that present themselves.

He is Hayate's best friend and an ally of Kasumi and Ayane. He and his ninja brethren have been direct players in the defeat of every major threat in the D.O.A. tournaments, himself defeating the rogue Tengu in single combat during the second tournament. Ryu has befriended several people from the DOA tournaments, notably Jann Lee, with whom he shares a mutual respect.

In Ninja Gaiden, Ryu is acquainted with female protagonists like Rachel and Irene. On the other hand, Ryu has been betrayed by some of his allies such as Foster (NG III: The Ancient Ship of Doom) and Murai (NG Xbox & PS3).

Kasumi
As a family friend Ryu is a good friend to Kasumi as he watches over her and tries to protect her from harm during Hayate’s recovery/absence. Her strong-willed nature does prove to make this difficult at times however, such as when she entered the DOA tournament, forcing Ryu to also enter if he was to continue keeping an eye on her.

Hayate
Ryu and Hayate are good friends. They are both at the same rank and both are intelligent. Ryu is very over protective to his friends, so he also watches Hayate too. In Dead or Alive 3, Ryu decides to destroy Genra to keep Hayate safe, but Hayate refuses and fights him.

Ayane
Ryu and Ayane have worked together on two separate occasions; five if counting the Tengu affair in the second DOA tournament, the Omega affair and the Mugen Tenshin clan’s attack on DOATEC. Since the Dark Dragon Blade affair the two have seemed to have formed a friendly working relationship, with each recognizing the other’s skills and capabilities.

Irene Lew
Irene is Ryu's wife. During the Ninja Gaiden series on the NES she used to be a CIA operative, but she and Ryu fell in love in the end. As chronicled after the Ninja Ryukenden OVA, the two married and run an antique shop together.

Momiji
Momiji is the last of the Hayabusa Clan's shrine maidens, and is also Ryu's student. A prodigy in the Ninja Arts, Momiji has grown to be an exceptional kunoichi in her own right. She looks up to her master with pride, and Ryu is equally proud of his disciple and sister-in-arms.

Jann Lee
Though Ryu has befriended several people from the DOA tournaments, Jann Lee is notable since the Tengu incident onwards due to their gradual recognition and respect for each other’s abilities despite Jann being a civilian.

DOA
Ryu is generally considered a top-tier character, both due to canon and game play. His reaction, execution time, and throws are all above-average, making him a balanced character, and his mix-up game is excellent. Additionally, Hayabusa's Izuna-Otoshi combo throw is one of the most effective in the game, garnering an average 80 points of damage. His mix-ups and "surprise" (like his Asuka-Gaeshi) attacks keep many players guessing which angle or height he will strike from.

Musical Themes
The below themes are played during matches against Ryu Hayabusa or playing as Ryu Hayabusa:
 * Blade of "Ryu" - Dead or Alive
 * The Shooted - Dead or Alive 2
 * Look Ahead - Dead or Alive 3
 * Hunter's Moon - Dead or Alive 4

Ninja Gaiden OVA
Ryu appears as the main character in the 1991 OVA, Ninja Gaiden. He is voiced by voiced Keiichi Nanba. In the movie, Irene is kidnapped and Ryu goes to save her. He kills many demons until he faces Professor Bucky-Wise, the villain of the movie who becomes a demon himself, and kills him.

He does not wear a ninja-mask in either film but wears a bandanna instead.

DOA: Dead or Alive
Ryu's character appears in the DOA: Dead or Alive movie. He is portrayed by Kane Kosugi, where he performs a role similar to the games. In the movie, Ryu is shown as faithful friend to Kasumi and Hayate. He breaks the news of Hayate's supposed death to Kasumi and begs her not to leave the village. After she does so he follows her and after a breif confrotation on the plane Kasumi accepts his help. He fights Elliot early on and wins. Near the end of the movie he encounters Bayman trying to leave the island with the money and fights him. He is the only male character who makes it to the semi-finals. The others are characters that made semi-finals are Kasumi, Tina and Christie. Coincidentally, his other notable role is also a black-schemed ninja, Jiraiya/Ninja Black of the Japanese series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.

Outfit Usages
The style of Ryu’s Hayabusa ninja outfit appears as an unlockable SPARTAN armour type in Halo 3, known as "Hayabusa". Used in multiplayer the armour is unlocked by collecting all hidden skulls in the single player campaign mode. Furthermore, if the 49 game achievements are completed a replica of the Dragon Sword can be obtained however it cannot be used as a weapon, only acting as an addition to the armour.

Trivia

 * Ryu's name translates as "Dragon" in Japanese.
 * Ryu appeared in Dead Fantasy V, arriving in time to save Kasumi during her extended battle with the Kasumi X clones. He was accompanied by Momiji.
 * In Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 one of Ryu's alternate costumes pays homage to Chaun Shiryu from the Dynasty Warriors franchise.
 * Tomonobu Itagaki ensured that those players selecting the Ninja Dog difficulty in Ninja Gaiden BLACK would be subjected to gentle mockery by the game; players on this difficulty setting would have Ryu demerited from Master Ninja to a station below Ayane. Ayane would then offer help in the way of stat increasing equipment, and the games' title screen would change from an image of Ryu to an image of Ayane.

Endings
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