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Ryo Sanada / Sanada Ryo

Picture 1

Age
14 (TV series)
16 (Gaiden)
17 (Kikoutei and Message)
Birthday
August 15, 1973
Astrological Sign
Leo
Birthplace
Yamanashi
Height
165 cm/5'4.9" (TV series)
176 cm/5'9.2" (Message)
Weight
57 kg/125 lbs. 11 oz. (TV series)
62 kg/136 lbs. 11 oz. (Message)
Yoroi/Armor
Virtue
Jin/Righteousness/Virtue
Element
Fire
First Appearance
"Target: Metropolitan Tokyo"/"Shadowland"

Ryo Sanada (真田遼 Sanada Ryō) is the leader of the Ronin Warriors. He is known as Ryo of the Wildfire (Rekka no Ryo in the Japanese version). Ryo is the warrior of fire. He is also the holder of the legendary White Armor of Inferno (the Kikoutei in the Japanese version).

Ryo is voiced by Matt Hill in Ronin Warriors, Takeshi Kusao in Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, and Hermes Barolli in Samurai Warriors.

Appearance[]

Ryo has black hair and blue eyes. During the TV series, he wears a red sweater with a white collar, blue jeans, and sneakers.

He wears a tuxedo for his birthday party at the start of Gaiden. For the rest of Gaiden, he wears a white t-shirt over a soft purple long sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers.

In Legend of the Inferno Armor, he starts off in the same outfit as he wore in New York until his shirts are torn by Mukala. In the final scenes, he's changed into the Milkball shirt Kento was wearing earlier.

In Message, he wears a purple-gray short sleeved shirt, light colored pants, and dark shoes. Ryo's Wildfire armor is red, and his Inferno armor is white.

During the first season, his hair nearly reaches his shoulder blades. For the remainder of the series, his hair gradually gets shorter.

Personality[]

Ryo has a big heart. He is often very cheerful and lively. However, he does have a stubborn streak and a tendency to be impatient. He can't stand seeing his friends hurt in any way and will place their safety before his own. His favorite sport is soccer. He loves hiking, the arcade game "Moguru Tataki", and bird watching. He does not like lukewarm baths, being interviewed, and flavored ice. Ryo shows indifference to fashion, and he feels extremely awkward in social situations.

Biography[]

Family History[]

The Sanada family was actually a famous ninja clan. Ryo's father was the heir, but he left the family because he felt their ways were too strict. Due to this, Ryo has never met his father's side of the family.

Early History[]

Ryo5

Little Ryo and White Blaze

Ryo's mother passed away when he was very little. His father is a professional wildlife photographer, who is usually away on long assignments. Fortunately for Ryo, he has a bank account set up by his father to cover living expenses but is stated to also reside with his maternal grandparents. Ryo has lived in a log cabin for most of his life, but it is very far away from the city, and he has to walk nine miles every day just to get to school.

It was White Blaze who chose Ryo to don one of the mystical armors. The two first saw each other when Ryo was four, and then again when he was seven, and a final time when he was ten. It was winter before the tiger finally lead the Ancient One to Ryo to begin his training.

Plot[]

The War with Talpa[]

Gaiden[]

At the start of the arc, Ryo celebrates his birthday with his friends. During the party, he sees a news report detailing murders that happened in New York City with the assailant holding a description relating to The Armor of Halo. He later tried to secretly travel to the states to figure out what was going on but is caught by Cye and Kento. They reveal they knew of Sage receiving an invitation from a university to verify his family crest on a sword. Nearing the end of their flight, the plane is suddenly attacked, and Ryo notices an evil spirit responsible for the attack and causing the plane to make an emergency landing.

After making it to the city, the three meet with Mia, Yuli, and Rowen at a restaurant in Chinatown owned by Kento's Uncle Chin. It was there that a teenage girl, Runa, would charge into the restaurant attempting to attack Rowen with the claim that she had seen him murder someone. Ryo was able to stop her but allowed her to escape on the belief that she was mixed-up about what was going on.

The next day, Ryo and Cye catch up to Rowen and Kento when they are caught in a fight with the possessed Halo armor. While under fire from helicopters, they split up and manage to escape. As he hides with an injured Rowen, Ryo is surprised to see Runa managed to follow and locate them. She apologizes for her earlier mistake of attacking Rowen and helps them get to a safer area where she helped tend to Rowen's wound and explain part of her situation.

Later the following day, Runa finds Ryo when he is out and explains her involvement with the situation taking place and begs him to allow her to join them. Although Ryo is reluctant to let her tag along for fear of her safety, he ultimately allows her to join them in their journey to Los Angeles. After a small fight against Shikaisen's henchmen, the Ronin's fall into a trap laid out for them in order for Shikaisen and the Mad Scientist to try to understand and obtain the other armors. When Runa was fatally wounded, Ryo and the others were able to break free.

In his grief and anger at Runa's passing, Ryo calls for the Inferno armor and puts an end to Shikaisen. Before heading home, Ryo and the others return to New York to pay their respects to Runa by tossing flowers into the river.

The Legend of the Inferno[]

Message[]

Armor and Powers[]

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Ryo with no helmet

Ryo received his armor one year before the TV series began. A group of poachers started a forest fire in order to lure out their game but ended up getting trapped themselves. Ryo desired to stop the fire and save everyone, including the poachers (despite the fact that they threatened to shoot him when he tried to stand up to them). The kanji for "Jin" appeared on his forehead and he somehow managed to absorb the flames. The fire created the under gear for the Wildfire armor.

Ryo18

The White Armor

The Wildfire armor draws power from any fire source. His primary weapons consist of twin katanas, the Swords of Wildfire (or Rekka Ken), that are sheathed on his back. His special attack is the "Sōen-Zan" (双炎斬, literally "Twin Flame Slash", "Flare Up Now" in the TV series English dub and "Fury of Wildfire" in the OAVs English Dub), which resembles a long vertical beam of fire.

Ryo is also able to don the White Armor of Inferno, which is formed from the energies and virtues from the other four Ronin and/or Warlord armors. The armor holds great power, but a drawback is that it drains the Ronin's until they learn how to control it. When wearing the White Armor, Ryo calls upon the Swords of Fervor (or Gou Retsu Ken) in battle. His special attack in the Inferno armor is the "Sen Ko Zan" ("Rage of Inferno in English dub), the same as that of the Wildfire armor, but much more powerful. Before gaining the Swords of Fervor, Ryo wields the Wildfire Armor swords, but the power of the Inferno Armor is too strong for the swords, and they become damaged after fighting Saranbo and later break after their first encounter with Lord Saber-Stryke. He later repairs them by tossing them in Mount Fuji.

Relationships[]

Ronin Warriors[]

  • Kento of Hardrock: Ryo sometimes shares Kento's desire to act before thinking. While Ryo is aware that Kento can sometimes be impulsive, he does admire how Kento tends to be optimistic.

The Dynasty[]

  • Talpa: As leader figures, the two have been designated as main rivals to one another.

Family[]

  • Parents: Ryo's mother died when he was still young. His relationship with his father is thought to be on healthy terms despite that his father is often away on photography trips.
  • Grandparents: Ryo's maternal grandparents. Because of the situation with his parents, Ryo lives with his grandparents in the country.

Others[]

  • Mia: Ryo views Mia as one of his closest and most reliable friends. He often goes to her when he needs help with anything relating to their armors or the evil forces he and the other Ronin's face.
  • Yuli: Besides Mia, Ryo is the closest to the young boy, acting as an older brother figure to him. In return, Yuli practically hero-worships Ryo. While Ryo can get frustrated by Yuli at times, he owes his life to him more than once. An example of this is when Ryo nearly sacrifices himself to destroy Talpa and Yuli's desire to save Ryo causes the Jewel of Life to send a blast of energy that pulls Ryo to safety. Ryo acknowledges this, thanking Yuli for saving him afterwards. An example of his frustration is when Yuli wishes to join them in their attack on Talpa's castle, but Ryo refuses due to the danger and goes too far. He later apologizes for his behavior. When Ryo is absorbed by Talpa and unexpectedly returns to don the Inferno Armor, Yuli never gives up and states he knew Ryo would return.
  • Runa: An American teen he meets when searching for Sage in New York. Originally, he thought of her as a potential threat due to her behavior toward Rowen from thinking he was a murderer. When things were cleared up, Ryo learned how vulnerable and desperate she was to bring her brother's killer to justice and allowed her to join them. Through this time together, they quickly bonded and appear to develop feelings for one another. According to Sunrise, had she survived, then there was a possible chance that she and Ryo would have developed deeper feelings for one another.

Gallery[]

Ryo of the Wildfire Image Gallery

Trivia[]

  • Ryo plays center forward on his soccer team.
  • In the English dub, Ryo's name is pronounced "Rye-oh" in the TV series but is changed back to the Japanese pronunciation of "Ree-oh" for the OVAs.
  • The name "Sanada" likely came from Sanada Yukimura, a real samurai who died in 1615. He is frequently depicted as wearing red armor and was widely considered a hero. The crest on Ryo's armor is actually a slightly stylized version the family symbol of the Takeda clan.
    • Coincidentally, Takeshi Kusao, Ryo's Japanese voice actor, eventually voices Koei's portrayal of Yukimura from the video game series Samurai Warriors/Sengoku Musou.
  • In a Newtype poll, Ryo ranked #17 for the top 30 most popular male anime character from the 1980s.
  • Ryo is the only character in the series to be seen having a full transformation to his armor since episode 8.
  • A common misunderstanding many fanfic writers have about Ryo is that he is an orphan.
    • His mother passed away when he was young.
    • His father is still alive, but his job keeps him away for extended periods of time.
    • His grandparents on both sides are still alive. He lives with his maternal grandparents, and he has never met his paternal grandparents.

See also[]

Citation[]

  • Theria.net, Yoroiden Temple
  • Newtype's Top 30 Male and Female Characters of Each Decade". Newtype (in Japanese) (Kadokawa Shoten). March 2010.
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