Ryu Hayabusa
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Ryu Hayabusa (リュウ・ハヤブサ, Ryū Hayabusa) is a fictional video game character who stars in the Ninja Gaiden series of video games and appears in the Dead or Alive fighting game series, all developed by Team Ninja, a part of publisher Tecmo.
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 outlook on life 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, much akin to water; 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's 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 DOA tournaments, himself defeating the rogue Tengu, Bankotsu, in single combat during the second tournament. Ryu has befriended several people from the DOA tournaments, notably Jann Lee, who he shares a mutual respect with. Ryu is also responsible for slaying Tengu. He can be probably the most useful tag team partner in tag team mode.
In Ninja Gaiden, Ryu is acquianted with female protagonist 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). He's also the main hero of Ninja Gaiden.
Game history
Ryu first appeared in the Ninja Gaiden beat 'em up arcade game in 1988. In that same year, Ninja Gaiden was released on the NES (Famicom, in Japan) and the Sega Master System, though these versions, being more centered around platformer-style gameplay, bore little resemblance to the original arcade game. Two NES sequels, Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, followed in 1990 and 1991 to complete the trilogy. Also in 1991, Ninja Gaiden Shadow was released on the Game Boy. Ryu's next few appearances were as a playable fighter in the Dead or Alive series, which saw releases on the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360 platforms, as well as in arcades.
There is no story to the original arcade version of Ninja Gaiden, except that Ryu and an unnamed red ninja sidekick who serves as the second player were beating up their foes throughout America. Ryu's story commences in Ninja Gaiden for the NES, when he receives a letter from his father, who has departed to fight a life or death duel. Players are left to guess as the story progresses throughout the game, as the young Hayabusa goes on his quest for revenge and to uncover the truth behind his father's disappearance. This was followed by the next two games of the trilogy, which have mysterious introductions that unfolded in a similar manner. In Ninja Gaiden II, players are introduced to a new villain who wields the Dark Sword of Chaos. In Ninja Gaiden III, Ryu Hayabusa is framed for killing his girlfriend.
Eventually, Ryu moved from Ninja Gaiden to Tecmo's Dead or Alive series. Taking place chronologically years after his exploits in the Ninja Gaiden series, he adopts a new, sleeker look. His story is fleshed out more, as a new ninja clan is introduced, several other supporting characters, and a new, serpentine plot that he finds himself intertwined in. He has been a participant in every DOA tournament, canonically winning the second tournament by killing Tengu. His cohorts have claimed the other contests.
Finally, after the long wait, Ryu returned to Ninja Gaiden for Xbox, in a 3D action game with deep gameplay. The story deviates from the original NES Ninja Gaiden Trilogy by a few small changes, but is still connected to the Dead or Alive series. This game could almost fit as a prequel to the original trilogy. The prologue explains the Mythos of the Dragon Lineage who sided with the Dragons against the Evil Deities and the Tribes, and how they slew the Dark Dragon. The Dragons are described as god-like, benevolent creatures with metallic bones, teeth and claws, created by the Deity of Creation to counter the Evil Deities. The prologue includes a brief history of the two Dragon Swords. The first is the Dark Dragon Blade, carved out of the bone of the legendary Dark Dragon that betrayed his brethren out of jealousy and thirst for power, joining the Evil Deities. This blade consumes evil, charging as more evil is committed in its vicinity. As a result, the weapon turns its wielder into the devil incarnate. The second sword is the Dragon Sword, carved from the fang of the Dragon, and bequeathed the Dragon Lineage from generation to generation, and finally to Ryu Hayabusa. It is the same sword used by Ryu in the NES Ninja Gaiden trilogy.
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja Gaiden
Ryu received a letter from his father, Ken Hayabusa, that he had a duel to the death with another ninja. Ryu prepared a keepsake sword from his father, the Dragon Sword, in search of his father. During his adventure, he met up with Irene Lew and reunited with his father. However, Ken was killed by the man he had a duel with, Jaquio. Ryu avenged his father's death by killing Jaquio and also the Demon God.
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
A new enemy named Ashtar, also known as the Emperor of Darkness, had an evil plan to rule the world. Ryu set out for a new adventure and met up with Irene again. Ashtar kidnapped Irene and lure Ryu. Ashtar wielded the Dark Sword of Chaos that was made from the bones of the Demon God Ryu slayed in the first game. Later, Jaquio was resurrected and this time, he carried the Dark Sword. Ryu defeated him and destroyed him again when the Sword of Chaos consumed him.
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Ryu's Doppleganger assassinated Irene and framed the original Ryu. During his adventure, Ryu finds out that Irene was still alive but it was later that the doppleganger is a BIO-NOID and the guy that sent him is Irene's boss, Foster. At first, the doppleganger defeated Ryu but Ryu returned the favor by defeating him. Unexpectedly, Foster was betrayed and killed by his co-worker, Clancy. Ryu and Irene then found out that Clancy had evil intentions and challenged Ryu. Ryu defeated him and he and Irene escaped from the crumbling Castle Rock Fortress.
Ninja Gaiden XBOX
The Dark Dragon Blade was stolen by the evil black samurai Doku and the Fiends and Ryu was on a journey in search of it. As he proceeded, he met the Fiend Hunter Rachel. He was observed by Gamov and a mysterious associate of his. Ryu also came across with Rachel's twin sister Alma, who was morphed into a Fiend. Eventually, Alma saved Rachel from Doku and Doku was defeated by Hayabusa. Ryu defeated the Vigoor Emperor and the Fiends and retrieved the evil blade. Ryu and Rachel came across two "observers" but Gamov was betrayed and killed by his own associate who was wielding the Dark Dragon Blade. The masked one was later revealed to be an ally of Hayabusa, Murai. Murai then betrayed him and challenged him. Despite wielding the evil blade, Murai was defeated and Ryu destroyed the blade. He then left Rachel with no further comment and brought back the Dragon Eye he got to the grave.
Dead or Alive
Before Dead or Alive
Ryu had some adventures with his love interest Irene Lew and eventually became the leader of his father's clan. He's also a good friend of the Mugen Tenshin ninja Hayate and became acquianted with his friend's clan.
Dead or Alive
One day, Ryu heard that his friend's sister Kasumi disappeared. He also heard that she joined the DOA Tournament so he joined the tournament as well.
Dead or Alive 2
Ryu joined the 2nd DOA Tournament because he was informed by his own clan that a creature from the another dimension named Tengu joined the tournament to create chaos in the world. Eventually, Ryu came across his lost friend Hayate (as Ein and was still suffering from a memory loss) and defeated him, restoring his memory back. Ryu then defeated Tengu to save the world from his evil plot, winning the 2nd DOA Tournament.
Dead or Alive 3
Genra was captured by DOATEC and became a superhuman known as Omega. In the tournament, Hayabusa defeats Hayate in a friendly match, who became the 18th leader of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan after recovering from a memory loss. In his CG ending, he receives a letter from an unknown ninja.
Dead or Alive 4
Ryu joined Hayate, Kasumi and Ayane to stop DOATEC. Ryu and Ayane came across with Christie, who was trying to stop the ninjas from destroying the DOATEC Tritower. Ryu told Ayane to leave and defeated Christie. In his CG ending, He destroyed three DOATEC special aircrafts and one of them could have Donovan inside of it when Hayabusa shot the wind torn sky blast at it before disappearing in the night.
Movie appearances
DOA: Dead or Alive
He is portrayed by Kane Kosugi in DOA: Dead or Alive where he performs a role similar to the games. He is shown as faithful friend to Kasumi and Hayate. His fights are against Eliot and Bayman both of whom are defeated. He is the only male character who makes it to the semi-finals (the others are Kasumi, Tina Armstrong and Christie).
Ninja Gaiden the anime
Ryu is the main character in Ninja Gaiden the anime. After Irene is kidnapped, Ryu goes to save her. After killing many demons he faces Professor Bucky-Wise, the villain of the movie who becomes a demon himself, and kills him.
He does not don a ninja-mask in either film but wears a bandana instead.
Gameplay
Dead or Alive
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, and increasing with environmental hazards such as walls and cliffs. It's also the second hardest move to perform in the game, next to Hayate's Raijin. His mix-ups and "surprise" (like his Asuka-Gaeshi) attacks keep many players guessing which angle or height he will strike from.
Ninja Gaiden
Ryu can make several advance combos with almost every weapon. In Ninja Gaiden XBOX, almost every weapon have some hidden combos that are not listed in the game, mostly on the Dragon Sword. Ryu is also good when it comes to projectile weapons. He can throw shurikens and incendiary shurikens even while in mid-air. He can perform several powerful ninpo techniques as well. In Ninja Gaiden Sigma, he can now shoot arrows while in mid-air, dual-wield weapons and fight while on the top of water and while performing the Water Run Technique.
Trivia
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- Hayabusa is Hayate's best friend and Kasumi's friend (not love interest). In Ninja Gaiden, he's Ayane's master. He is the only ninja who is not blood-related to them.
- He has a friendly rivalry with Jann Lee.
- Each Japanese word of the name 'Ryu Hayabusa' can be translated to English; 'Ryu' means dragon and 'Hayabusa' means peregrined falcon.
- Some of Hayabusa's Ninja Gaiden moves are similar to those of Dante's. In some video game website forums such as the forums of Gamespot, IGN and 1up, few users compared Ryu to some action game characters like Dante and even Master Chief. Ryu's clothes, along with Kasumi's, can be unlocked in the Nintendo Wii game Super Swing Golf.