[OOC || APPLICATION]
Character: Ryu, a.k.a. Fou-Lu, a.k.a. The Yorae Dragon, a.k.a. God-Emperor (a.k.a. Derpdragon?)
Series/Fandom: Breath of Fire IV
Deviance: d1
Age: The first part of him appeared several hundred years before the start of the game, and the other half appeared right at the start of the game. Several hundred years or less than one year old. Take your pick. He looks like he's in his late teens/early twenties, though.
Gender: Male
Species: Dragon/Endless/God
Canon Used: Game canon! Plus a little bit of manga canon for fleshing out, plus a little bit from various official artbooks and things.
Appearance:
Ryu
Fou-Lu
Ryu's hybrid form (Fou-Lu's looks essentially the same besides some very slight color swapping)
Another picture of Ryu's hybrid form in the corner
Aura dragon
Wyvern dragon
Myrmidon dragon
Behemoth (top) and Mutant (bottom) dragons
Kaiser dragon
Astral dragon
Serpent dragon
Tyrant dragon
Infini dragon (no official art that I can find, sob)
Psychology: Ryu has a generally pleasant personality. He doesn't talk very much, unless you start talking to him first, and does have a fun-loving side, as demonstrated by his love of fishing. All this cheerfulness does hide another side of himself. If he's in one of his dragon forms, he's more likely to go berserk and attack things indiscriminately, and the stronger the dragon form the more likely this is. He's still very unsure of his purpose, and mentioning “purpose” to his face might get him to stop and think for a moment, and maybe wonder what he's intended for.
While wandering around during the course of the game, he doesn't have any memories at all, and so doesn't know very much of the world outside of what he's seen directly. His main motivation is more clearly stated in the manga, where he speaks more, and his dreams are shown where he is chasing after an unknown figure (which he later learns is Fou-Lu). He's even asked who this person is and what kind of person it is, and even where this person is, but he just doesn't know. All he knows is that he has to meet this person, because he's “always felt him calling”. Since he doesn't really know who or where this person is, he travels with Nina and Cray to help them find Nina's sister. Nina is a very close friend to Ryu, able to calm him down from even a blind frenzy, but he holds no romantic feelings for her. She likes Cray, and Ryu wouldn't ever want to do something that makes his friends upset.
Emotionally and mentally, he's like a child. He knows the difference between right and wrong in a vague sort of sense - basically, killing people is wrong unless absolutely needed - but doesn't completely understand concepts of appropriateness like “don't peek around the rock when the girls are bathing”, “watch where you put your arm when you fling it out”, and “people get embarrassed/frustrated/flustered/angry when you don't put clothes on”. He rushes into things, even going so far as to jump off a cliff to try to save Nina (and landing face first) because he didn't realize she had wings that she could float down on. Most of his expression is in his body language, so even if he doesn't say that he's, for example, upset or angry or something like that, it's fairly obvious from how he stands, because he doesn't really bother to hide his feelings. He doesn't really see a need to, since lying isn't something the really occurs to him. Tact is also not his strong point, for the same reasons.
He probably doesn't even understand the concept of how babby is formed.
He greatly dislikes science and doctors by the end of his journey, after all the things he's seen science do to people.
After merging with his other half, he becomes a bit more arrogant, and a bit more prone to anger. Extreme anger might get him to start considering someone as worthless - something that he'll regret once he calms down. However, he actually gains more strategic thinking and grows (a bit) less likely to rush into things, as Fou-Lu has much more experience with the world than Ryu does.
Other Skills/Abilities: Ryu has lots of skills and abilities which are gained throughout the game.
Ryu has the ability to turn into dragons, including the Aura, Wyvern, Behemoth, Myrmidion, Mutant, and Kaiser. The Kaiser is the most powerful of these. He doesn't have access to all of them right away, though, but gains them through the course of the game. Ryu has access to many abilities in his dragon forms, ranging across the elements as well as including some healing and revival magic, as well as (eventually) calling on aid from other dragons.
After he merges with Fou-Lu, he also has access to the Astral, Serpent, Behemoth, and Tyrant dragon forms, with the Tyrant being the most powerful of those. He also has the Infini/Yorae dragon form, but he's never actually used that form in-game unless you count the Bad End(ing).
Also yes those dragons can fly. However, all of them, besides the Infini/Yorae form, are only seen as full dragons during breath attacks or other such cutscenes. All the rest of the time Ryu is just in his hybrid form.
Maintaining a dragon form comes with an initial ability point (basically mana) cost, and an additional deduction each turn. Also if a dragon form is reduced to no health, he automatically transforms back to human, and can either keep fighting that way or change to another dragon form. The forms can have their health replenished by using a particular (rare) item, gaining it back slowly by walking around, or by resting at an inn or at camp.
In game mechanics terms, he can't learn magic in his human form at all, only “skills” which are, for some reason, different from magic. Go figure. He learns skills from studying monsters, learning from masters, or transferring them from other party members.
Ryu is skilled with a sword... and as far as weapons go, that's pretty much it. He does have the “Dragon's Eye”, which occasionally grants him with prophetic dreams, and a innate ability with animals, letting him tame things that aren't normally tamed (though if they're very wild he wouldn't be able to). He can also sense (vaguely) where Fou-Lu is in his reality, though nowhere specific, just a direction at the most, as well as if another Endless is approaching.
Also, until the (good) end(ing) of the game, he's technically immortal.
Fou-Lu can make an energy sword with his hand, though, which is just badass, so Rule of Cool could quite possibly say that Ryu can do this too, post-merger.
Other Weaknesses: As far as physical/magical weaknesses, he really doesn't have that many. He can take a lot of punishment in his dragon forms to a varying degree, but is a lot more physically vulnerable in his human form (usually - some of his dragon forms actually have fewer hit points than his human form). Also if he runs out of AP with no items around, he can't transform or use (most) skills, so he has to rely on pure physical strength until he rests at an inn or at camp.
History: To understand Ryu, one must understand first a bit of the history of Fou-Lu. Fou-Lu was an emperor, the first of the Fou Empire, and he ruled with strength and an iron fist. It is said that before he died and was laid to rest in his tomb hundreds of years ago, he predicted his own resurrection.
Ryu was “born” when the great Fou Empire found a way to summon dragons, though it was imperfect. One such dragon was the Yorae Dragon, and Ryu was one half of this great dragon, sent through time separate from his other half. The other half was Fou-Lu, still sleeping.
Ryu attacked a sandflier in the desert by accident, and then was found by Nina, one of the people riding the sandflier. Nina and Cray (the other person on the sandflier) were searching for Nina's sister Elina. Ryu had no memory of who he was or where he came from, and didn't even have any clothes on at first. He joined Nina (after finding some clothes) in finding parts for her sandflier while Cray stayed with the craft so it wasn't stolen.
Nina and Ryu headed to the city of Sarai, where they were told where they could find the parts. However, Nina was harassed by a member of the Imperial Army, and Ryu attacked them in order to get them to leave her alone. They escaped Sarai, picked up parts in Sandflier Valley (but not the right ones), and went to a town called Chamba, where they were escorted through the poisoned city by a mysterious person in armor named Ershin. Around this time Ryu gained his ability to shift into dragon form.
The three reunited with Cray, and after a strange shared dream from Ryu, they went off to search for Elina more. They ended up in the town of Synesta. During this time Fou-Lu had awakened and was searching for Ryu. The party left Synesta and went to the border town of Kyojin, where they were captured by the Imperials and were returned to Windia, where they were guarded by a mercenary named Scias, and had an audience with the king, Nina's father. They were told to seek the Wind Dragon, and after they freed Cray from where he was being held, they found the dragon. The Wind Dragon told them of Ryu's dragon heritage and warned them that there would be grave danger if he and Fou-Lu were to meet.
The group then traveled to the village of Chek, where the Abbess confirmed that Ryu was indeed a dragon, and explained a little more about what that meant. They were informed that Ershin was also a dragon, and the incomplete summoning had trapped her in the armor. Ershin's spirit was transferred to a medium, and the group sought the advice of the dragons, who told Ryu to find their human forms around the world and they would give him power to help him stand a chance against Fou-Lu if the two should meet. They moved to an Imperial town on the western border, and were captured. Ryu fought against the Imperial forces, lost control of himself, and transformed into the Kaiser Dragon, his most powerful dragon form. Nina calmed him down, and they were joined by an Imperial officer named Ursula.
The group boarded a ship and made their way to a small island, and then to an Imperial town. They found some refugees under attack from Fou-Lu's guard dog, Won-Qu. They reached a temple, and found that it was thick with hex poison and had structures resembling human organs. At the top they found Elina, and realized that the entire building was attached to her lower body. Cray stabbed her with a magical knife to put her out of her misery and vowed to get revenge on the ones who had done this to her.
Around this time, Fou-Lu arrived at the palace of the current Fu Empire's emperor and killed him. Ryu and his friends rushed to the palace to confront Fou-Lu, and the two fought, with Ryu eventually winning. They merged, with Ryu being the dominant mind, and the group headed off to try and clean up the messes that Fou-Lu had made. The rest of the dragons disappeared from the world, deciding to leave humanity's fate in the hands of humanity.
And then Ryu was a mortal.
Canon Point: Just after the group leaves Chek for the first time.
Reality Description: World map.
Ryu's reality is a world that was aided by the summoning of Endless from another realm to help shape it. The west is essentially the equivalent of feudal Japan/China/Asia, and the east is the equivalent of medieval Europe. Magic is very possible in this world, and the level of technology is partially aided by magic, but it's still essentially at feudal/medieval levels.
The Eastern Kingdoms and the Fou Empire have been fighting each other since before the Fou Empire was even really fully formed. There have been numerous peace treaties, but they've been broken every time.
The (mortal) inhabitants of the world range from basically normal humans to creatures that are basically anthropomorphic animals, as well as a vast array of monsters.
Races of the world include:
The Endless - beings from another realm that were summoned to the one the game takes place in, they're also called dragons and are worshipped as gods.
The Wing Clan - a race that used to be able to soar through the sky freely, though now their wings have degenerated and they can't fly for very long. Their body weight is also less than that of the average human's of an equivalent size.
The Grass Runners - a race of beast-people, though it's not really so much of a “race” as a category since it encompasses all sorts of beast-like people. They are very physically strong.
The Sea People - the history of this clan is unclear, but they are known for their strong pragmatism and business expertise.
The Pabu-Pabu - a race that is very small and lives on islands in the sea. Their language and culture are markedly different than the other races to the point of near unintelligibility, and they don't seem to have originated from a summoned Endless like the other races.
The Faeries - they live in a dream world that's partially outside the real world and is inaccessible to regular people without help. The lifespan of a faerie is about ten years, but it's always reborn in the same place due to the world of dreams being cut off so much from the outside world.
The Earth-Eating Clan - this clan has an appearance similar to moles, and are good at digging and working as mercenaries and in places that would be hostile to other races due to their great strength.
The Shell Clan - an armadillo-like clan encased in tough shells. They are farmers and spend their entire lives in the same place.
The Creeping Clan - a frog-like clan, they are cheerful and also narcissistic. They enjoy the arts and “specialized pursuits”, and many of them are seen around the world as merchants.
Important NPCS (besides Ryu and Fou-Lu):
Nina - Princess of Wyndia, looking for her lost sister, is in love with Cray (the last bit was added in the English version only), has wings
Cray - Chief of the Worens, bffs with Nina's sister Elina (and also in love with Elina), a kick-ass anthro
Ershin/Deis - Purifier (someone who removes the Hex), actually an Endless trapped in armor due to a botched summoning
Scias - Mercenary, has a stutter/drinking problem (depending on which translation you play), assigned to watch Nina and Ryu after they were captured, also a kick-ass anthro
Ursula - a general in the Imperial army, yet another kick-ass anthro
Elina - Nina's missing sister, captured by the Imperial army
Yuna - Minister of Thaumaturgy for the Empire, all-around creepy scientist guy who likes to mess around with Endless stuff for his own benefit
Did you read the rules? Yes. :|