Ryuga

Ryuga is one of the main protagonists (Antagonist in Beyblade: Metal Fusion) that appears in the Metal Saga. Ryuga is the main ultimate rival of Gingka Hagane. He owns the "Forbidden Bey" known as L-Drago. He is currently on a quest with Kenta Yumiya to find the rest of the mystical Legend Bladers. His current Beyblade is L-Drago Destroy F:S and L-Drago Guardian S130MB (manga only).

Ryuga is a former member of the Dark Nebula and was the owner of the Forbidden Bey, Lightning L-Drago 100HF. Ryuga is Gingka's ultimate rival, always ready to challenge when the time comes, and willing to risk anything, even being discovered to be a Legend Blader of the Seasons. Although he despises Bladers like Gingka and Kyoya, he is somewhat of an ally to them, and overall, he has only lost two battles. Because of losing to Rago, This makes Ryuga the #2 Blader in the Metal Saga.

Ryuga has disappeared in Episode 148, giving his Legend Blader role to Kenta. His L-Drago gave Flame Sagittario C145S the ability to evolve into Flash Sagittario 230WD.

Character Design
Ryuga has tannish-peach skin with golden dragon headwear. He has white hair with a red streak at the fringe and he wears his white coat as a cape. He has a golden dragon wrist band on his wrist that holds L-Drago along with a red wrist band on his right wrist. His eyes are normally ruthless and merciless and he usually has a wicked sneer on his face. He wears a black sleeveless shirt with a yellow trim, and black pants with brown boots. His launcher color is white, although he doesn't seem to use it much in Metal Masters due to Meteo L-Drago's spin-stealing abilities.

Personality
Ryuga is portrayed to be pure evil and merciless to his allies or enemies, he loves to attack the Beys of his enemies until the Bey is crushed to pieces. He also enjoys terrorizing other Beybladers and has a power-hungry personality. He hates losing. He is cocky so he thinks he can beat everyone. Although in Blader's Spirit, it is revealed that Ryuga's behavior was caused by Lightning L-Drago's possession over him. However, he still retains a lust for power, as shown by his repeated attempts to control or absorb Nemesis's power, although he's not as hungry for power as before.

In Kenta's Determination, however, he was shown to be caring. He took care of his Bey, waited for Kenta under a tree when he fainted, used L-Drago to light a fire for him and even fed him. He was also shown to have a "sixth sense" which makes him alert to Beys being prepared for launching, to which he quickly launches his to either stop the Blader or ignite a battle.

He seems not to like Julian Konzern and Gravity Destroyer very much because he believes that only 1 bey deserves to spin left, which is his L-Drago.

Also, after being freed from the dark power, he has powerful knowledge about becoming one with a dark beyblade and understanding it, in contrast to his power hungry personality before.

History
He owns the mystical L-Drago, referred to as the, and is Gingka's ultimate rival.

Coincidentally, he keeps his Beyblade on his arm with something shaped like a dragon from the Asian legends. He was a part of the Dark Nebula organization, where he was seriously worshiped by most of the followers like Yu. He turned monstrous in the final battle with Gingka in Blader's Spirit. {C {C Ryuga is the reason Gingka's father, Ryo Hagane, was trapped in a cave, But later was saved by Hokuto, a Beyblader dog. With Dark Nebula, he attacked the town Gingka lived in. After defeating Ryo in a battle with his L-Drago, rocks fell from the volcano ontop of Gingka's father. This is why Gingka used to hate Ryuga. Gingka's father Ryo then turned into his alter-ego, Phoenix with his Bey, Burn Fireblaze 135MS.

Awakening
When Ryuga first appeared in the anime, he is seen inside a capsule in a coma in the Dark Nebula Castle. Gingka and Storm Pegasus' presence in the area allowed him to wake up. Afterward, Gingka challenged him to a Beybattle when he confronted him. They fought on the stadium often used by the Dark Nebula, and with his insulting and taunting comments, Gingka was easily distracted and furious. This caused the event in where he was able to restore Ryuga's power. With his energy more than

100%, he won the battle effortlessly with his final attack from L-Drago, leaving Gingka in shock that he lost to him and that Pegasus was in scratches. He approached Gingka when the WBBA granted Yu's wish to have a tournament called "Battle Bladers". The winner will be able to fight Ryuga and Gingka used this chance to have a re-match. They had a short battle but Ryuga won and told him he won't be able to defeat him. In Battle Bladers, he is often seen spectating at the battles with Doji. He battles Hikaru and Tsubasa and wins. He then approches Doji and uses L-Drago to suck all of his energy due to Doji being concerned that Ryuga won't be all powerful to defeat Gingka, making him think Doji does not think he's powerful alone. In the semi-finals, he battles Kyoya and wins despite Kyoya's determination to beat Ryuga and battle and win against Gingka. With this, Ryuga gets his match to battle Gingka. In the final round, Gingka and Ryuga have their re-match and it takes a turn for the worst for Gingka. During the match L-Drago takes control over Ryuga. However, with Gingka's determination to beat Ryuga and the bond he has with friends, and more importantly, the Blader's Spirit, he was able to defeat Ryuga, thus cracking L-drago, but at a price, as Pegasus had to sacrifice itself to defeat L-Drago once and for all. Then Ryuga picks up the broken L-Drago and walks away.

Return
After his final match up with Gingka, Ryuga did some rigorous training with Lightning L-Drago to to rid himself of the dark bey's control. He eventually figured out that L-Drago's evil was really created by its past owners. These owners were people filled with greed, and hungry for power. Through time, these negative traits formed into the dark power of L-Drago. Ryuga reasoned out that because the dark power was created by humans such as himself, he should be able to overcome it. Through his training he eventually became one with the dark power and both he and L-Drago were reborn. Ryuga returns with Meteo L-Drago, the evolution of Lightning L-Drago and is more of a "teacher" to Tsubasa in order help stop Tsubasa's "dark side." He battles Gingka once more and wins after Gingka's Galaxy Pegasus gets stuck in a hole. Ryuga leaves telling Gingka that he needs to fully master the power of Galaxy Pegasus. He enters Big Bang Bladers to defeat Jack and his Evil Befall. He then appears in Episode 102 to help Gingka destroy the Spiral Core. He also seems to be much calmer than in Metal Fusion.

The Search for the Legend Bladers
Ryuga is seen approaching two guards in Zarkan Island. The guards would not let him in but Ryuga had other reasons. He used the power of Meteo L-Drago to attack the guards. However, a light beam from the Star Frament hit Meteo L-Drago. This caused it to evolve into L-Drago Destroy. The villagers were frightened of L-Drago's power and thus banished Beyblades from their village. L-Dragos power grew much more.

Kyoya and Benkei traveled to a mountain near the large volcano in Zarakn Island. Kyoya spotted none other than Ryuga. Ryuga challenged him to a battle and they took off. The Beys fought and Fang Leone launched L Drago into the air. Ryuga liked his skills but told him he could not win. Ryuga defeated Kyoya as well as Gingka and Yuki. After the battles, he left them to an unknown destination.

Ryuga later partcipated in a Bey Tournament near the Mohenjo-Daro ruins. He battled well enough to see if any Legend Bladers were there and to get himself into the semi-finals but left when he knew there were no such Legend Bladers where he was. Kenta then approached him and asked him to help Gingka's quest to find the Legend Bladers. Ryuga ignored this and left but Kenta followed him. After a long and trackless path through mountains, forests, as well as jungles Ryuga finally agreed to help Gingka on his quest. The next day, he set off as Kenta followed him. He also participated in a Beyster Island he defeated numerous blader including King he seemed to be having a difficult time battling him because of Variares's left mode but he manage to win. Ryuga later battled Chris to prevent him from going to the dark side. As of now, Ryuga is unable to battle because his face bolt for L Drago Destroy is cracked due to the battle with Kenta in the Episode"Sagittario's blow".

Ryuga appears again in Metal Fury episode 137, destroying the match between Johannes and his team versus Zeo, Toby and Benkei.He enters into the ruins, and barges into the middle of Gingka's confrontation with Rago, Pluto, and Doji. He then creates Zeus' Barrier with the other three Bladers of the Seasons, but breaks the barrier after being taunted by Doji. Later, he battles Rago with the other Legendary Bladers. But, after Rago releases Diablo Nemesis' special move, the ruins begin to crumble. Ryuga stays in the ruins while the others escape. Disappointed at being weaker than Rago, Ryuga appears in the end of episode 138 training to become stronger.

In Episode 146, Ryuga appeared at Nemesis' hideout and challenged Rago to a battle. At first, he seemed to be winning, but then, Nemesis started to retaliate. L-Drago was pushed back far, but using all of his energy left, as well as his unwavering Blader's Spirit, Ryuga summoned an Ultimate Spin Move that he put his heart and soul into. However, he still lost badly, being knocked unconscious and getting injuries all over his body by Nemesis' Special Move, Armageddon, and leaving Kenta and the others shocked.

But in Episode 148, Ryuga wakes up to help Kenta battle Rago and Nemesis. Ryuga gives his Legend Blader power to Kenta, even though L-Drago is badly damaged and suddenly, his power rose up by an extreme level. This helped Flame Saggitario evolve into Flash Saggitario. After Ryuga gave up his powers, he disappeared into thin air, yet there is a possibility he could still be alive.

Gingka Hagane
Being one of Gingka's ultimate rivals; the other being Kyoya, Gingka and Ryuga have been rivals from the start. At first, Gingka has shown a deep hatred to Ryuga for stealing the Forbidden Bey, Lightning L-Drago from his village that was in a volcano and thought him responsible for trapping his father during Dark Nebula's raid at Koma Village. Although defeating Gingka on numerous times, Gingka finally defeated him and the power of L-Drago that was controlling him was let out, leaving Ryuga to be. Although Gingka and Ryuga do not completely hate each other, they are not friends but rivals. Sometimes, Ryuga can be an ally to Gingka where as in Metal Fusion his ultimate goal was to absorb all of Gingka's and Pegasus' power, but overall, he is Gingka's ultimate rival.

Kenta Yumiya
Although Ryuga and Kenta have not made much, if not any interaction in Metal Fusion and Metal Masters, where Ryuga never even notices Kenta, they have made some sort of relationship in Metal Fury. As Kenta went following Ryuga in order to convince Ryuga to help Gingka to find the rest of the Legendary Bladers, traveling from mountains to jungles. Kenta would not give up and soon enough, finally convinced him. Although Kenta is somewhat scared of Ryuga's actions, such as his "sixth-sense" they have developed a friendship. In episode 134, Ryuga says to Kenta that he had never taken Kenta seriously.

Kenta cared about Ryuga as he helped Ryuga to not give into Nemesis' dark power and was concerned for him when he was trapped in the temple's rubble of Diablo Nemesis' "Armageddon" Special Spin Move. He was also worried for Ryuga during his rematch with Rago, and was the first to run inside when he saw Nemesis battling L-Drago. He then saw Ryuga being smashed backwards from Armageddon. He ran to Ryuga only to find him unconcious and severely injured, and was shocked by the fact that he was dangerously close to death.

Ryuga trusted Kenta so much that he gave him his Legend Blader power to defeat Nemesis, causing Flame Sagittario to evolve into Flash Sagittario.

Doji
Doji and Ryuga have been partners ever since they were in the Dark Nebula organization. They worked hand-in-hand and would do anything to search for Forbidden Bey, Gingka Hagane, and strong Bladers so Ryuga could defeat them and absorb their energy. Despite the fact that Doji did everything for Ryuga,he would soon steal Doji's energy through L-Drago in the semi-finals of Battle Bladers, because Ryuga thought that Doji kept giving him strong Bladers for Ryuga to get the energy as Doji thought he wasn't strong enough. Doji claimed he didn't but Ryuga ignored this and took his energy without mercy, destroying Dark Wolf in the process and ending their relationship forever.

After Doji's return in Metal Fury, Doji taunted and made fun of Ryuga about how he was used as a mere tool to help Nemesis take over the world.

Ryuto
In the manga, Ryuga is Ryuto's long-lost older brother, but they are never seen together in the anime.

Battles
Losing in only two battles and three times having no outcome, Ryuga is the strongest blader in the anime. But Rago stole his position.

Beyblades

 * L Drago 105F: Ryuga's first Beyblade in the manga.


 * Lightning L-Drago 100HF: Ryuga's second Beyblade in the manga (first in the anime). Lightning L-Drago 100HF is an Attack-Type Beyblade and the only Bey that spins to the left other than Gravity Destroyer and Variares. It is also known as The Forbidden Bey.


 * Meteo L-Drago LW105LF: Ryuga's third Beyblade in the manga (second in the anime) and the evolved form of Lightning L-Drago.It does not only steal's spin in the cartoon ,but in reality.


 * L-Drago Destroy F:S: Ryuga's fourth beyblade in the manga (third in the anime) which is the evolved form of Meteo L-Drago after getting hit by The Star Fragment. It disintigrated in Episode 148: An Inherited Light, due to donating its Legend Blader power to Kenta's Flame Sagittario. It was slightly destroyed enough to let Ryuga not have access to L-Drago.


 * L-Drago Guardian S130MB: Ryuga's fifth beyblade in the manga. L-Drago Guardian S130MB is a Defense-Type that does not appears in the anime.


 * is the Beast inside Ryuga's Beyblade. It resembles a chinese dragon, usually engulfed in flames. In Lightning L-Drago, the dragon is purple and can split into three dragons or form a three headed dragon. As the bey evolves, however, the purple dragon is replaced with a single headed, flaming red-coloured chinese dragon.

Lightning L-Drago

 * Dragon Emperor - Soaring Bite Strike: Ryuga's first finishing move, it is referred to as a "Dark Move".


 * Dragon Emperor - Soaring Destruction : Ryuga's second move in the anime. It is referred to as a "Dark Move". (Ryuga use it when he was under the control of L-Drago).

Meteo L-Drago

 * Dragon Emperor - Supreme Flight: Ryuga's third special move in the anime. Ryuga first used this move in Beyblade: Metal Masters.

L-Drago Destroy

 * Dragon Emperor - Strong Supreme Soaring: Ryuga's fourth special move, Ryuga first used this move in Beyblade: Metal Fury.

Quotes

 * "I'll say it a thousand times, your father couldn't cut it!"
 * "I can't remember anyone taking so many of my direct hits without completely collapsing, I give you credit for that!"
 * "I don't get the joke!"
 * "L-Drago!"
 * "Playtimes Over!"
 * "More power for L-Drago!"
 * "Roar louder, L-Drago!"
 * "Meteo L-Drago!"
 * "Time to finish this!"
 * "This is pathetic."
 * "You call that children's magic show the Dark Power? Don't make me laugh!"
 * "That being said, I have gotten my hands on a new power, that makes the old Dark Force look like a toddler throwing a tantrum."
 * "Once upon a time, a star fell from the sky, my friends."
 * "Kenta!"
 * "L-Drago isn't satisfyed yet. He needs more!"
 * "You will die"-Ryuga to Kenta (In episode 134)

Trivia

 * Ryuga literally means "dragon fang" in Japanese.
 * His voice is identical to Hairedee and Cycloid from Bakugan Battle Brawlers.
 * According to the Ryuga costume from Spirit Halloween, Ryuga's last name is Sama, which means "like" or "in the manner of". In actuality, Sama is an honorific used at the end of names in Japanese like San, or Sensei. In this case, the term Sama is used only for people of great honour, such as royalty.
 * Like Ryuga's, many members of the Dark Nebula Organization have a streak of hair a different color than the rest of their hair.
 * It is possible that Ryuga owned a generic Beyblade before he obtained L-Drago/Lightning L-Drago.
 * He, along with Doji are the only people from Beyblade: Metal Fusion who did not show up on the final picture of Blader's Spirit.
 * Ryuga is the second person to have his Beyblade's Beast change, after Reiji.
 * Ryuga is the first Blader to control Lightning L-Drago without facing the same deathly fate as the previous owners.
 * Ryuga and L-Drago are considered to be Number One because Nemesis's own power is weaker than L-Drago's power.
 * Ryuga is considered the strongest Blader in the Beyblade anime, having only lost two battles and three with no outcome.
 * He and Ryuto share a similar appearance by their hair style, eyes and their skin color.
 * It is speculated that Ryuga and Ryuto have some sort of relation to each other, because they strongly resemble each other; They both use Beyblades based on dragons, and they both have Special Moves that involve "orbs of energy" coming out of their hands.
 * Its seems that Ryuga has some difficulties in battling King with his Variares in Left-Spin.
 * For example, when King changes hair and gains momentum,Variares begins to take control.When L-Drago pushes Variares back, the tip changes. Also, Variares shields the attack from L-Drago.
 * As King unleashed his Special Move, it almost looked like Ryuga was going to lose
 * During the Battle Bladers Tournament, between his battle with Kyoya and Gingka, he also beat Benkei.
 * Ryuga is Ryuto's older brother. It is said in the Strongest Omega Dragonis magazine.
 * Kyoya and Ryuga are the only Legend Bladers that doesn't use a 3-Segment Launcher.
 * Ryuga killed Doji once again in Beyblade Metal Fury Episode 45 or 46. His new Ultimate Special Spin Move was so strong it knocked Doji off a platform near the beystadium. Doji seemingly dies but it isn't clear if he really did.
 * Ryuto and Ryuga are very similar (being brothers), but since Ryuto acts like a good person, we can view Ryuga as his counterpart.
 * Ryuga is believed to have died in Episode 148 of Metal Fury giving his Legendary Power to Kenta. However, this has not been confirmed yet.
 * His L-Drago gave Flame Sagittario C145S the strength to evolve into Flash Sagittario 230WD.
 * Ryuga's supposed last name, "Sama" some-what makes sense due to the fact that Sama can be used as a surname for a Sensei. Ryuga had been Kenta's Sensei during most of Metal Fury, which can give sense to his "last name".
 * Ryuga, King and Julian are the 3 people in anime who have left spinning beys.
 * Ryuga's Beyblade, L-Drago, is made to steal spin from right spinning beys.
 * Ryuga has the second most dark bey ever, first being Diablo Nemesis..
 * He has only lost 2 battles, once in Metal Fusion against Gingka and to Rago in Metal Fury which is fatal, so he is considered the strongest blader in the Metal Saga.
 * He along with Stoica from Bakugan Gaundalian Invaders both have 2 loses.
 * After Ryuga is knocked unconcious by Armageddon, Ryuga was groaning. This could of showed that he was hurt badly, and that he was almost dead.
 * Ryuga almost dies after Rago defeats him and knocks him out.

Gallery
For a full gallery of images of Ryuga, see Ryuga/Gallery.