Ryūga Dōgai (道外 流牙, Dōgai Ryūga) is the protagonist during the events of The One Who Shines in the Darkness, Gold Storm, Gold Storm Flight, Fang of God, and Heir to Steel Armor. He is a Makai Knight and the current wielder of Garo the Golden Knight within the Ryūga-verse.
During the final battle against the Forbidden Fruit Ryūga uses the sword of Igusu to briefly become a Hagane
Personality[]
Ryūga is a young Makai Knight that inherited the title of Garo the Golden Knight. As the successor of the previous Garo, there are a lot of expectations for him to be strong and worthy to honor the title; such things never mattered to him. Like any young warrior, he's emotional, less disciplined, brash, and frequently bends and/or blatantly breaks rules established by the Makai Order. However, his emotions also make him more compassionate, merciful, and warm towards others.
He originally trained to be Garo for his mother, Priestess Hakana Dōgai. In conjunction with her mission, Ryūga would train under Priest Burai to become Garo while she attempted to restore Garo's lost golden power. Due to the intervention of Tousei Kaneshiro, she was kidnapped and presumed dead by Burai. Ryūga had a deep affection for his mother and was motivated to become Garo to make her happy. Unfortunately, when he finally succeeded as Garo, he was furious to learn of her death shortly after. He was also angry at Burai for not telling him just to complete his training. Acting out of anger and loss, Ryūga abandons his duties and walked away from the order.
Living as a wandering knight, Ryūga independently traveled from one place to another to clear all threats of Horrors before moving on; he lacks subtlety and his handiwork risks public exposure to the Order's rule of secrecy. He had Zaruba with him, but the ring didn't like him and didn't want to form a contract with him, leaving Ryūga to fend for himself. However, he's confident in his abilities as he believes he's strong and his abilities will protect humanity against Horrors. In his personal investigations, he uses his ESP to help detect negative emotions and memories to help him hunt horrors. To honor his mother's memory, he would always erect a small memorial at the best scenic spots to show the beauty of every place he's been. Unknown to him, Burai kept tabs on him as the priest feels responsible for his actions; things would dramatically change after his time at Volcity.
Ryūga answered an Orders Document to Volcity. He was upset Burai summoned him and against following him, but the priest reminded him it was his duty to fight evil and Ryūga reluctantly cooperated. Burai gathered Garo, Flaming Sword Knight Zen, Sky Bow Knight Gai, and Priestess Rian for this special operation, however, the team had friction due to their opposing personalities and motivations. After enduring hardship and finding common ground, Ryūga eventually learned to be a team player and earned everyone's respect. He would have his closure after the past catches up with him.
Eventually, Ryūga and his team learned that a lot of the misfortunes that happened in the past is linked to Tousei Kaneshiro and Zedom. Tousei secretly kidnapped and made Ryūga's mother breed Madō Horrors and killed Rian's father. Ryūga was able to rescue his mother, but it also cost him his sight; he was happy to be reunited with his mother. To cure his blindness, Hakana magically restored Ryūga's eyes at the price of her own. Despite rescuing Hakana, her long-term exposure to Zedom was slowly turning her into a Horror. Wishing to die as a human than a monster, Ryūga ended his mother's suffering. Hakana had the chance to see him become Golden Knight Garo and was happy to know her life's work wasn't in vain and proud of her son. Ryūga also stopped blaming Burai and their relationship was repaired in the final hours of facing Zedom. After vanquishing Zedom, Ryūga found closure with his past and now happily moves forward.
In the events of Gold Storm, Ryūga partnered with Rian and serves Priestess Ryūme in Line City. He has since matured, but he remains passionate, volatile at times, and always looking for food from D Ringo. Despite everyone able to tell Rian's romantic feelings for Ryūga, he wasn't able to tell at all (despite having ESP). He has become compliant in serving the order, taking down any Horror they assign him to seal. Despite being at a better place at life, his experiences from Volcity left its mark. When he discovered someone had distributed dark objects with Inga Gates, he lashed out to those involved and allowed his emotions get the best of him in combat. When Amily trapped Ryūga in her dark mirror in hopes of him consumed by his very inner darkness, he instead learned to accept his weaknesses (with little help of Rian's support). When he overcame his darkness with light and hope, he also embraced the darkness and attained a new ability for his armor: Dark Garo.
By the events of Heir to Steel Armor, Ryūga has greatly matured as a person and knight. He is now patient, not easily swayed by his emotions, and developed leadership abilities; both priests and knights admire him. Thanks to his training with Godou Shirahane, he has learned to hone his senses for critical strikes and mastered the Flash Sword Dance.
While Ryūga has shown a lot of growth as a person, he's not great with expressing his heart to a woman. Devoting most of his life to becoming a strong warrior, he didn't have a normal childhood and didn't learn much about romance. Because of that, he missed a lot of ques from women that they're interested in him, especially with Rian. It was only during his battle with Jinga (possessing Rian's body) that he finally realized why Rian stayed at his side. Although Ryūga also has feelings for Rian, he's still rough when it comes to reciprocating his feelings for her and Rian has shown patience for him to get things right. Overall, Ryūga is a passionate protector with an awkward heart.
History[]
Early Days & Childhood[]
Very little is known about Ryūga's past. Born to Hakana Dōgai, Ryūga's father was never revealed and Hakana raised her son as a single mom in Japan. In between raising Ryūga, Hakana and Burai worked at the Tower of Heroic Spirits and wanted to restore Garo's golden shine as they feel its power will be needed in the future. Ryūga loved his mother and was fascinated with the Garo armor; he promised his mother that he would become Garo one day and encouraged his mother to restore the armor. Hakana accepted Ryūga's words as a mutual promise as both would devote themselves to Garo for the rest of their lives.
Becoming Garo & The Wandering Knight[]
Hakana would leave Ryūga behind under Burai's care. As she quest to find a means to restore Garo's lost shine, Burai also committed to Hakana's cause and agreed to train Ryūga to become a knight. Burai brought Ryūga to a secluded island where he can train him in private. Burai tasked his partner and tool, Rago, to help train Ryūga. While Burai was involved in Ryūga's training, there were times he had to walk away to handle other matters and entrusted Rago to train and protect the boy. Training was rough as Ryūga suffered many injuries, but Ryūga never gave up and thought about Burai's and Hakana's encouragement to help him press on. Unknown to Ryūga, it was during one of Burai's trips that Ryūga lost his mother without realizing it.
While Ryūga was busy training on the island, Burai joined Hakana in a ritual to attain the seedlings of Zedom as a means to restore Garo's lost shine. It was during that time that Tousei Kaneshiro attacked the party, turned Sonshi into a Madō Horror, and kidnapped Hakana. During the attack, Burai lost consciousness and presumed Hakana died in the ensuing chaos. Burai believed Ryūga's purpose and focus is deeply tied to his mother and if he knew Hakana died, Ryūga would lose focus and motivation to continue his training. Burai decided to break the news to him only when he graduates as a knight.
For the next decade, Ryūga diligently trained until he became an adult. At the Tower of Heroic Spirits, Burai gave Ryūga his final test: defeat Rago and take the mantle of Garo. Ryūga attained the Garo armor right before slaying Rago, making him the new golden knight. Though he defeated Rago to complete his training, Ryūga takes his training partner's fang as a keepsake. Such a moment would be cause for celebration but it wasn't long Burai finally broke the news to Ryūga that Hakana died years ago. Enraged and resentful to only learn about it now, Ryūga was mourned for his mother and no longer respected Burai. Although he has become Garo, he no longer respect Burai and walked away from the order. Ryūga didn't abandon his duties as a knight though as he became a wandering knight; he would slay horrors along in his travels. Ryūga travels across cities to slay Horrors and erecting crude tombs at scenic spots in memory of his mother. Unknown to Ryūga, Burai continues to keep tabs on him.
The One Who Shines in the Darkness[]
Entering Volcity & Crashing A Wedding[]
With horror activity happening in Volcity, Burai formed his own investigative team and sent an Orders Document to summon Ryūga and he answered. Ryūga hitch-hiked a car ride to Volcity and explored the citadel on his own. It was there that he sensed the sadness of the songs coming from one of Volcity's large statues and cried. It was also his first encounter with Rian, not realizing she's a priestess. To Rian's surprise, Ryūga tells her the city is crying. Rian hands Ryūga a handkerchief before disappearing into the crowd. It was while observing a wedding that he sensed the dark intentions of the bride, it's a horror.
Ryūga infiltrated the bride's room and used his lighter to expose the fact she's a horror. The horror spoke to Ryūga in the makai language, but he admits he's not good at it. The bride decides to retaliate and fights for her life at the hallway. Knowing the humans at the reception wouldn't understand what's happening, she barged through the door, pretending to be a victim of a crazed attacker. Ryūga played along and stabbed the bride with his sword in front of everyone. As the bride pleaded for the people around her to help her, Ryūga grabbed her and the two fell out the window. As both fell down the building, the two continued to fight until Ryūga donned his armor and slayed the bride. Ryūga walked away from the scene but didn't escape the attention of Volcity's private security force: SG1.
Captain Enhō and SG1 forces came and tried to arrest Ryūga with their guns and stun weapons, but Ryūga's training allowed him to escape capture on rooftop. Enho was the only person that managed to catch up with Ryūga and attempted to question him at gun point. Undaunted by the pistol, Ryūga jumped and escaped capture. Ryūga managed to make it to the pier and tried to rest when he saw a holographic projection of the news. It appears his entire escapade in crashing the wedding was never mentioned. It was while resting that he wondered why didn't the bride tried to devour any of the humans. It was then that the bride's bouquet revealed itself as the horror's true body and tried to bite Ryūga. Burai arrived and saw what was happening and had Rago save Ryūga and devoured the bouquet. It was then the rest of knights (Takeru Jakuzure and Aguri Kusugami) appeared to voice their disapproval of Ryūga. Still angry over what Burai did, when Ryūga realized the orders document came from Burai, he slashed the letter to show his refusal to follow his command. Burai reminded Ryūga of his duty as a knight to save the innocent, causing Ryūga to reluctantly stay.
Finding himself facing Madō Horrors, Ryuga sees visions of his mother whenever hit by golden shock waves and emitted by the Madō Horrors' wounds that cause the Garo armor to momentarily regain its golden appearance as brief as the pain associated with it. While learning that they are behind the Horror residence of Volcity, Ryuga unwittingly gives the Kaneshiro Group enough evidence of his actions to create propaganda portraying him as a serial killer and placing a ¥300,000,000 bounty on his head. However, Ryuga resolves the matter by going through with a meticulously elaborated plan to confirm Rivera's identity as a Madō Horror, retrieve a piece of material off of her for developing a Madō Horror Detector while faking his death at the Vol TV station.
After his confrontation with Hyena, Ryuga makes a grave marker for his mother on the cliff overlooking the Volcity with Rian's help. Though his mind is racing with thoughts of Volcity and the mystery of his armor's connections to them, Ryuga reaches the conclusion that destroying the Madō Horrors is the only way to obtain answers. After the revelation that Tousei is responsible for the Horrors in Volcity, learning that he is human, Ryuga is once more portrayed as a terrorist along with the rest of his group. Though he evades Tousei's attempt to make him into a Madō Horror, Ryuga ends up being blinded by Sonshi with the Garoken thrown into the lobby of Tousei's office where it remained. Despite extremely unfavorable odds due to his blindness and placed in solitary confinement, Ryuga escapes the SG1 prison and with timely aid from his fellow Knights, retrieves the Garoken. Soon after, finally acknowledged by Zaruba as they form a contract, Ryuga is reunited with his mother and learns that she was used by Tousei to sire Madō Horrors who are revealed to hold her memories. After Hakana gives up her own eyesight to restore his, Ryuga races off to the Hill of Zedom's Arm to save Rian, and finally kill Enhō through the combined efforts of him and Rian. After killing Enhō, hearing the last traces of the woman's humanity through her necklace, Ryuga vows to never have another innocent be sired as a Madō Horror.
In a bid to stop Zedom's resurrection, the group head for the slowly crumbling Hill of Zedom's Head and Ryuga knows right from the start that Burai intends to sacrifice himself. He eventually thanks Burai for all the priest has done for him, before heading to fight Sonshi and defeating him with the aid of his friends. With the Garo armor finally regains its brilliance, forced to kill his mother to spare her from becoming a Horror, Ryuga battles Zedom. During the fight, as the Horror attempts to consume him, Ryuga tells Zedom that the eyes he gained from his mother are a symbol of hope and future before he and the Makai Knights destroy him. With Volcity saved, Ryuga parts ways with his friends to not only build a grave marker for his mother in the Makai Priest ruins but also deal with Tousei since he is now a Horror. After Rian kills Tousei in his stead, Ryuga accepts her request for her to join him in his southward journey.
Gold Storm[]
At a seedy bar, Rian awaits for Ryūga to join her in their mutual hunt for a horror, Murado. While waiting for him, two thieves tricked Rian into lowering her guard and they took her Makai Gun, giving it to Murado and well compensated for their troubles. Murado, taking the identity of a local gang boss, prepares to overwhelm Rian in superior numbers, but Ryūga arrived to join the fight. Still confident in his numbers, Murado told his gang to attack.
With her gun and bullets scattered throughout the floor, Ryūga created a shock wave that lifted the gun and bullets in mid-air, allowing Rian to regain her gun and loaded a bullet into the chamber. Once all her other bullets aligned in a straight pattern, she fired her gun, where she ignited all her rounds and Ryūga guided the magical bullets to kill all the other horror henchmen. With only Murado left, he attempts to flee, but Ryūga gives chase. It was outside that Murado revealed his true Horror form, but was shocked to discover Golden Knight Garo is before him with his radiant golden shine back (it was known to many dark forces that the legendary armor lost its radiant powers). Ryūga made quick work of Murado and slew him, however, upon releasing the armor, the knight experienced great pain. Ryūga has been actively using his armor to slay Horrors for some time, causing a massive buildup of Jaki (Dark Energies); Zaruba warns the armor must be purified or it will devour Ryūga. To remedy the problem, Rian suggests they head to Line City to meet a famous powerful priestess, Priestess Ryūme.
At Line City, Ryūga thought it was strange that a famous priestess would be hidden within the concrete jungle of a city; Rian couldn’t help find Ryūga being a simpleton that a priestess would merely stay within the confines of a forest and a shrine (how it was done in the old days). It was while using a Madō Compass that the two encountered the makai couple, D Ringo and Yukihime, selling kebabs as a side business. D Ringo encouraged them to join him, but the two ignored him and continued their search for Ryūme. It was while lost around a pier that the duo heard the voice of an old woman and a gateway opened that they would meet Ryūme.
In a sealed subway station, the duo meets Ryūme and Ryūga was surprised to see a youthful-looking girl as the voice suggested to Ryūga they were expecting a very old woman. The two guards that protect Ryūme explained her priestly powers are so great that she has stopped aging. A playful spirit, Ryūme decided to take a more girlish voice to fit her youthful image. Knowing the reason why the duo had arrived, Ryūme took the Garo armor and used her powers to form the armor into a golden sphere, where all the Jaki will be expelled; it will take over a day to complete the process. Ryūme encouraged the two to head out to explore the town.
Curious as to why they are able to enjoy themselves so freely, it was discovered that Ryūme has the power to neutralize all dark energies within the city limits. Using her magical powers, she’s able to create a monthly shock wave that can prevent the formation of any dark gates, essentially purifying the entire city from dark spiritual influence. Ryūga was genuinely impressed by her powers, however, it left Rian feeling a bit down as she wants to be a great support to Garo, but feels her abilities are lacking. However, the conversation was cut short as the two enjoyed the kebab specials from D Ringo.
In an abandoned facility, several priests watch over a dangerous object: the hand of Demon Beast Degol. Being an indestructible object of great evil, the priests have taken it to be sealed and guarded by priests until Agō intervened. Desiring the dark item for himself, Agō killed all the priests but encountered Rian and Ryūga. The two fought, but the battle was a draw and the duo returned to Ryūme to report recent events; Ryūga kept a fragment of Agō as a clue.
At the hidden shrine, Ryūme explained that Degol’s hand can’t be destroyed by any known means; the hand was taken to her city limits, where her powers can prevent the dark influence of Degol from awakening. It was there that Rian realized that Agō intends to use the hand for terrible destructive reasons. For now, the duo continues to keep tabs on the developing situation as Garo has yet to be fully purified. The duo decided to split up to investigate matters.
Ryūga was at D Ringo’s spot when he realized that the circular symbol drawn on his truck is actually the same fragment he got from Agō. Realizing Ryūga would seek answers, D Ringo takes Ryūga to his private quarters, to review a Mado Tome that explains the origins of Agō and Sōtatsu. Rian later made it back to D Ringo’s spot, where she found the surviving thief (she encountered earlier) just stealing a woman’s purse. Angered by his actions, Rian gave the thief a beating until Ryūga stopped her from beating him down. Surprised by Rian’s actions, she explained the thief steals precious things from people without a thought and helped Murado against them. However, Ryūga reminded her that he’s still a human being.
It wasn’t long that Zaruba detected a disturbance in the energy flow of the city. Agō found Ryūme’s hidden shrine and defeated her; he plans to use her body to overwhelm Line City with Jaki to help revive Degol to wipe out the city (eliminating the Horror’s food source). D Ringo knew where this was happening and he gave the duo a ride on his food truck over to the site to rescue Ryūme. To increase their odds of victory, D Ringo offered the two his small collection of Makai wares, from weapons, armor, and enchanted items. Armed with new magical gear, Ryūga and Rian rush to take on Agō.
At the secret dome location, Ryūga and Rian faced Agō, attempting to negotiate Ryūme’s freedom. However, despite both opposing parties sharing the same dream of having a Horror-free world, their solution to the problem was vastly different and Agō battled Ryūga while Rian freed Ryūme. Thanks to D Ringo’s magical forearm armor, Ryūga was able to take the brunt of Agō’s sword attacks. Agō then tried to use his enlarged saber to smash Ryūga, but the ceiling got in the way and the two fought on top of his giant sword instead.
Agō flew away with his built-in rockets, but Ryūga pursued with his enchanted flight gear. Taking the battle on a busy highway, the two continued to fight, exposing civilians to danger. Ryūga tried to reason with Agō, telling him that what his creator wished for, what they wished for, wouldn’t result in humanity’s destruction. While reflecting his maker’s smile upon his final days, Degol awakened. Sensing Agō’s desire to destroy humanity, Degol told Agō they should unite to achieve that goal. Despite Agō’s power, Degol absorbed Agō and revived himself in the form of a cursed spirit beast. Ryūme was present at the scene and realized the purification process to Garo finally ended; she returned Ryūga his armor but enhanced as Garo Sho (flight).
Garo was able to fight on equal terms with Degol, but Horror is highly formidable. It was while blocking Degol’s claw-strike that Ryūga tried to tell Agō that he’ll help him achieve his dream. After hearing Ryūga’s words, Sōtatsu’s spirit came to tell Agō to entrust their failed dream to Garo and for Agō to finally rest after a lifetime of battling against evil. Agō deactivated himself, but not before giving Garo a major advantage. Agō gave his giant saber to Garo, allowing Ryūga to enhance the weapon with Garo’s golden powers and smite Degol; he was finally destroyed. In the aftermath, all that was left of Agō was a coin-sized object, in the form of Sōtatsu’s insignia.
With the battle over, Rian and Ryūga reported to Ryūme. It was there that Ryūme also enhanced Zaruba with a knight helmet. Zaruba himself was wondering why he got a cover on and Ryūga hilariously thought it was a way to shut him up. Ryūme laughed and said the mask gives her the ability to sense them whenever they’re in danger; she offers her aid if they’re ever in danger. Grateful for the gift, the two left to new hunting grounds. It was while walking, the two encountered D Ringo and both parties wished each other well before parting ways. While walking to other parts, Rian was irritated why didn’t Ryūga asked D Ringo for a ride; he thought it was the priest’s job as she said she wants to support Garo. However, Rian reminded Ryūga she wanted to be a great priest like Ryūga's mother, not become his mother. The two continued to walk on their journey, passing right by Agō’s resting place.
Gold Storm Flight[]
After the events of Gold Storm, Ryūga and Rian now serve Ryūme to protect Line City. Ryūme's original method of cleansing the city from the darkness has been ruined because of Agō. Now the duo must patrol the city to protect people. While walking with Rian, the duo noticed a red beam flying across the skyline and investigated. Ryūga intervened and gained the dagger. With the help of Ryūme, the duo learned about Radan and went to investigate the original hidden tomb, now exposed. Radan is long gone, however, there was a rise in horror activity and two had to respond.
Unknown to Ryūga, a dark couple has been creating Horror gateways within objects throughout the city. By "accidentally" dropping parcel around the city, unfortunate victims touch the objects and become possessed by Horrors. Rian and Ryuga eventually tracked the source and befriended Beast Body Knight Giga, Daigo Akizuki, during their quest. Unknown to both parties, a pair of stealthy priests were also at play.
Gald and Haruna are young priests, charged with the mission of sealing Radan. Gald has been aware of the two parties, but remain hidden until the time was right. It was when Ryūga and Rian had a battle with Jinga and Amily that Gald appeared. While fighting in a warehouse, Gald finally made his move and regained both daggers and reformed them back into the Hōken Sword and escaped. With the dark couple at play, Rian and Ryuga had to trust Gald's motives are for good and attempted to defeat the dark couple. Unfortunately, they were highly formidable and they were forced to retreat.
Gald would later get himself captured, but not before giving away the Hōken Sword to Ryūga and cluing his location to his sister. Haruna would entrust Garo to help her rescue her brother. Despite having a strong distrust over Makai Knights, both Rian and Ryuga helped soften his position as the siblings realized they needed to work with Garo's team to fulfill their duty to seal Radan. With the teaming of Gald, Haruna, D Ringo, Daigo, Ryūme, and Rian, Ryuga plans to take Jinga head-on at his secret HQ.
Team Garo managed to battle through all of Amily's dark magical defenses and Horrors to face the dark couple. It was while having the upper-hand in superior numbers that Radan activated itself. Because the item is bonded with Jinga, the dark crystal enhanced his powers and allowed him to flee, taking Rian as a hostage. The whole team eventually found Jinga and attempted to end things, but Ryuga was sucked into the Amily's dark mirror, where the item would strip away his spirit and kill him with his own darkness. Unexpectedly, Ryuga overcame his darkness and it also enhanced Garo with a new form: Dark Garo. A darkened form that allows temporary flight. Ryuga successfully defeated Jinga, but not before Radan was activated and Jinga transferred his spirit into Rian.
Now taking the body of Rian, Jinga uses her body as a hostage against Ryuga. It was through Jinga that Ryuga found out that Rian is in love with him and wants to start a new life with him. Ryuga thanked Jinga for informing him and he managed to knock out Rian's body and taken Rian back to Ryūme in attempts to exorcise Jinga out of her. However, Amily appeared and recovered Jinga's spirit into her own body, making the couple a single entity; Rian was safe. Jinga would battle Daigo and critically injured him before fleeing.
In a final showdown, Team Garo attempts to take on the dark couple and attempts to stop Radan from being fully activated, but it failed. Jinga managed to recover enough of his powers to create a new body for Amily and the couple resumed their schemes. Radan revealed itself as a giant dark wizard-like golem that absorbs all life force and unleashes Horrors with every step it takes. The team knew that Amily is the power source for the behemoth and Rian managed to defeat Amily to power down the fortress. Jinga would kill his own wife and then forcefully make Rian the new power source for Radan and began sucking the life force away from the citizens of Line City while shooting large ballistics at the city. Fortunately, D Ringo used a powerful magical guitar, linked with Agō's surviving medallion, to protect all incoming fire.
Rian was unwilling to become a pawn of Jinga's destruction and she self-destructed the orb that contained her, blasting her inflamed body away. Enraged what had just happened, Ryuga reacted with his armor and the life force around him. Suddenly, the life force that Radan absorbed now sided with Ryuga and formed a giant version of Garo. Ryuga used all his might to successfully defeat Radan and then slew Jinga, ending the dark threat. Gald used the Hōken Sword to seal Radan and send it to the Makai realm, where it was destroyed. However, Rian died to save everyone. At first mourning for her death, everyone realized the life force energies that were drained earlier were returning back to the lands and some of it touched Rian. The drops of life force revived Rian and the two happily were together again. In the aftermath, Ryuga and Rian continued on their journey as protectors under Ryūme.
Makai Tales[]
Rian decides to employ the help of a vagrant to help her collect the celestial energies of the moon. In order to protect Ryūga from jaki (darkness) build-up, Rian had a metal fang charged with the moon's power to help Ryūga ward off darkness while fighting Horrors. When she finished, she joined back with Ryūga after he defeated a Horror. Touched she would through the trouble of helping him, he wanted to express his feelings for her. Rian can sense Ryūga's hesitation and insisted him to be more direct about his feelings. Ryūga agreed and swears to be more open and the two walked off for their next mission.
Fang of God[]
Continuing after the events of Gold Storm and Makai Tales, Ryūga and Rian continues to serve Ryūme at Line City. Ryūme summoned the duo to investigate Aguri for helping an unknown priestess (Banbi) take Takeru's (Zen) armor. Reunited with Takeru, the trio are tasked to recover the Zen armor and also clarify Aguri's actions.
Their investigation leads the trio to a warehouse that's a horror den. Demon Beast Boel faced Ryūga and Takeru and the fight was difficult as Boel turned into his demonic form. Ryūga tried to don his armor to settle the fight, but Banbi arrived and stole Garo as well. Aguri arrived and attempted to stop Banbi, but his affections for her prevented him from causing any harm against her. Ryūga, Aguri, and Takeru are reunited for the first time since Volcity and all three are without their armors. The horrors want to devour Ryūga specifically as there's a legend amongst horrors that whoever devours Garo shall gain great power. Just as the horrors were about to attack, Rian arrived and activated her teleportation cube. The four emergency teleported into a go-kart ring and it gave everyone a chance to catch up and hear Aguri's explanation. It's there that Aguri explained his reasons for helping Banbi, but also underestimated her need for more armor to bring back her fallen Judo. With a full understanding of what's happening, the original quartet teams up again to regain their armors. At D-Ringo's shop, the four are using D-Ringo's place to reconnoiter their situation while looking for any useful tools at their disposal. It was while using one of D-Ringo's sensor tools that they discovered the Fang of God. As D-Ringo spoke about the myth behind how to bring forth the Fang of God, Ryūme appeared to verify the myth is very real. To successfully bring forth the ark, the ritual requires a large collective of horrors and a fallen knight to power the ark to the moon. Ryūme joins the four to stop Banbi's resurrection ritual on top of thwarting Rinza's plans.
In an underground sewer, Banbi prepares to bring back her beloved Judo for the day. Using a surviving lock of hair from Judo and the three armors she'd stolen, she could bring Judo back. The team found Banbi, but it was too late. A legion of Horrors held the knights long enough for Banbi to bring her beloved Judo, but she resurrected Jinga instead. To her shock and dismay, she didn't understand what happened. Rinza revealed she secretly switched out Judo's lock of hair with the fallen Jinga, saying that Judo was too weak of a fallen knight to realize the ark; she brought back Jinga instead.
Brought back into the living, Jinga returned confused as he doesn't have all his memories and found himself fighting both Horrors and Makai forces alike. Jinga's strength is even greater than before as he single-handedly held off Ryūga’s team and escaped with Banbi. Banbi would die in Jinga’s arms but he reanimated her as a shadow of Amily. He later chose a commercial building and sacrificed Boel to help jumpstart the formation of the Fang of God ark. Ryūga and his team found the building and launched an assault in an attempt to stop Jinga and the arc.
Ryūme was injured from the fight and pulled back while the rest of the team scattered and fought their way to the top of the building. The horrors were devouring and killing people throughout the building and even erected a magical barrier to prevent civilians from escaping. With the help of Ryūme, the high priestess fired a powerful blast that took down the barrier. The four helped civilians escape by protecting them against horrors and sending them off to safety while battling to the top to face Jinga.
The knights encountered Rinza and battled against her in her demon beast form without armor. Aguri had Takeru and Ryūga hold off Rinza as he used his glasses and arrow to snipe through Rinza's chest. The three successfully defeated Rinza, but she wasn't completely defeated and retreated. The knights made it to Rian's location (after she defeated Amily) and Aguri mourned for Banbi's fate. To add salt to the wound, Jinga vaporized Banbi's body. The three knights were ready to face Jinga, but the fallen knight wanted a challenge and he had the magical blade that sealed away the trio's armors. He destroyed the blade, returning Garo, Gai, and Zen to their respective knights for a real fight. At the same time, the ark was ready and it rocked towards the moon.
As the ark heads towards the moon, the four charge to attack Jinga. However, Jinga used his powers to repel all of them. Due to the unique magical nature of the ark, pockets of time and space were affected and Takeru, Aguri, and Rian were stuck in a slow time bubble. Ryūga was the only one that wasn't affected and fought Jinga. The battle was relatively on equal terms until Rinza appeared. Taking advantage of a dimensional pocket, Rinza restrained both Jinga and Ryūga, revealing her true plans. Rinza's true plan the whole time was to bring Messiah into the mortal world. However, in order to bring the mother of horrors into the mortal realm would require a vast amount of power. Rinza planned to take advantage of both Jinga and the Ark's power to create a gateway to return Messiah into the Mortal Realm. Unfortunately, Jinga already saw through her plan. He overpowered his restraints and killed Rinza. Jinga remarked that he never cared about being a Horror King; he only cared to have a good fight.
As Garo battled against Jinga, the rest of the team freed themselves from the time bubble. Jinga at one point had the upper-hand, stabbing his sword into Ryūga's hand. However, Ryūga surprised Jinga in his moment of triumph and pushed Jinga away and made a critical blow. The ark itself made it near the moon and transformed itself into a multi-panel cube. Rian used the teleportation cube to get to Garo. The rest of the heroes rejoined Garo to see him finish off Jinga. With Jinga defeated, the ark couldn't complete the absorption process nor hold on to its form; the ark broke apart. The four laughed and smiled as they survived their encounter with Jinga as they drifted downwards back to Earth.
In the aftermath, Rian gave Aguri a surviving pendant that belonged to Banbi. Aguri was surprised to see the pendant in Banbi's possession as he gave it to her a long time ago. Rian was curious about Aguri's feelings for Banbi and asked did he loved Banbi. However, Aguri denied it, saying it wasn't your kind of romantic love for Banbi. Takeru scoffed, believing Aguri couldn't bring himself to admit his feelings for Banbi. Ryūga declared to Rian that he'll keep being Garo and Rian reacted with a degree of disappointment as she wanted him to declare his feelings for her. Takeru mocked the two and said the two should admit their feelings. When it was time to go, Takeru and Aguri bid the duo farewell and resumed their normal duties.
Heir to Steel Armor[]
After the events of Fang of God, Ryūga parted ways with Rian and Ryūme to embark on a personal journey in a bid to train himself and become a stronger Knight in process. It was while traveling that he encountered Godou Shirahane (Zango). Impressed by his Flash Sword Dance technique, Ryūga convinced Godou to teach him the technique. While training, Godou told Ryūga that he believed both his son (Souma Shirahane) and Garo represented hope. After mastering Flash Sword Dance, the two would part ways but not before Godou entrusting Ryūga to look after Souma. Unknown to Ryūga, this would be his final encounter with Godou as the Knight vanished without a trace.
Three years has passed since the mysterious disappearance of Godou and Ryūga still continued his journey. After defeating the Horror, Chaurus, Koyori revealed herself to Ryūga with an invitation to Creacity to help the city's Makai Order branch in taking on the Gate of Destruction. Remembering it to be the very thing Godou investigated during their meeting three years back, Ryūga accepted the invitation and the two set out to Creacity to meet Priestess Mutsugi. While on their way, Ryūga inquired her about their circumstances so far when Regrege after a businessman whose boss he just devoured until he and Koyori intervened. The Horror escaped only to be cut down by a young title-less Makai Knight who then told the latest Garo not to interfere, all while ignoring Koyori who attempted to explain things. It was when Koyori told the confused Ryūga that said knight was Souma Shirahane, whom Ryūga correctly deduced to be Godou's son. Mutsugi appeared soon after and briefed Ryūga on their situation before bringing in the others at their base.
At their home base, Ryūga would meet the Knights of Agora, Souma, Koyori, and Mutsugi to discuss about the situation happen in Creacity.
Abilities[]
- Makai Knight Training: Ryūga is a trained Makai Knight; he's highly skilled in martial arts and hunting down Horrors. His training appears to include honing his Qi to further improve his combat abilities, attaining inner balance, and learn how to channel it into objects such as his restored Garoken to unveil and/or hurl its shurikens.
- Parkour: He's a skilled acrobat as he is able to leap tall bounds and jump across buildings while doing flips mid-air.
- Music: Ryūga has show skill in both singing & playing the electric guitar.
- Extra Sensory Perception (ESP): Ryūga has extra-sensory empathic abilities. By touching objects that had physical contact with other beings, humans and/or Horrors alike, he can sense their emotions, intentions, memories, and past conversations to reveal the truth. He can confirm if a person (or entity) is good or bad, truthful or dishonest, and uncover certain past events. However, his ESP is limited to objects and not living beings. Because of that, Ryūga can't touch someone to authenticate their truthfulness nor intentions unless it's something they left an imprint behind. After the events of Volcity, he seemingly lost or stopped using this kind of ESP. By the events of Creacity though, Ryūga developed a higher sensitivity sensing dark energy as he can detect a horror as good as Zaruba.
- Flash Sword: It's an instant kill technique that he learned from Godou Shirahane.
Equipment[]
Ryūga throwing shuriken
Magical Forearm Shield
- Garoken (牙狼剣, Garōken, Fanged Wolf Sword) & Shuriken: When the armor lost its shine, the sword also changed color. From a red grip and red scabbard, it changed into white. After the armor's shine was restored, it returned to its original red form. However, the scabbard has since been modified with an extra layer of black covering in a diamond pattern, containing 3 shurikens. Whenever Ryūga needs to use them, he holds the scabbard and channel his Qi into shuriken holding mechanism within to unveil the shurikens and hurling them upon intended targets.
- Garo Flight Armor: The enhanced version of Garo, after Priestess Ryūme cleansed the armor of its darkness, it was permanently enhanced into Garo Sho (flight). Ryūga initially summons it by swinging his Makai Blade in a circle overhead to form the dimensional rift from which the armor equips on his body in a matter of seconds, but after the armor is given its Flight upgrade, he revises the summoning ritual by first sheathing then unsheathing his Makai Blade before drawing the circle.
Flight Pelt
- Zaruba: His Madōgu.
- Forearm Shield: Given to Ryūga by D Ringo, it's a leather forearm armor, enchanted with magical energy to repel powerful physical attacks.
- Flight Pelts: Resembling two smaller brushes attached to a pelt, it gives the user temporary flight.
- Makai Blade: During the final battle against the Forbidden Fruit Ryūga was given Igusu's sword by Souma to keep fighting.
- Hagane: As a result of using the Dark Flash Sword Dance Ryūga was unable to call on Garo for the final push against the Forbidden Fruit and was lent the Hagane used by Igusu.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[] |
Enemies[]
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Appearances[]
| Ryūga Dōgai Appearances |
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Gallery[]
.jpg "Ryuga Hagane (Temp).jpg (623 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Both Ryuga and León Luis, the protagonist of Garo, Honoo no Kokuin appear to share similar fighting stances, holding their blade against the outside of their opposite hand.
- Also, Ryuga, along with León, is one of the only Golden Knights throughout the series, that does not wear a white coat, instead opting for a black coat (though León later dons a white coat which represents his maturity and noble mindset).
- Both Ryuga and León share similar pain by the loss of their representative mothers, causing the both of them of being unworthy of being Garo before regaining its true form.
- Ryuga is the only Garo to have gone through a major hairstyle change throughout his multiple appearances, going from a spiked back style to a more reserved pushed downward style. Perhaps to represent his growth and changes in personality.
- Ryuga is the only Wielder of the Golden Armor to have obtained not only 2 upgrades to the original Golden armor on his own but to have those upgrades be permanent and appear more than once.
- Ryuga's actor, Wataru Kuriyama has said to be a fan of the original Garo series, and was hoping to be able to emulate Kouga in his role of Ryuga, however during production he was told to be nothing like Kouga and instead be able to smile.
- It has been established that Ryūga has ESP and can sense feelings and memories by touching objects a user interacted with, but after The One Who Shines in the Darkness, his ESP abilities was seemingly phased out as he never used it in subsequent stories.
- It must be noted that Ryūga's frequent use of ESP at the time was to get around the fact that he still had yet to prove himself before Zaruba while hunting Horrors. Now that he has the Madōgu on his side, Ryūga can carry out his duty at his fullest and therefore doesn't have to solely rely on ESP in doing so.
- Ryuga has the distinction of wielding both a Titled Armor & (very briefly) a Hagane. Raiga Saejima has been seen with both the Garo Armor & a Hagane albeit in separate timelines.
References[]