Zyro Kurogane

Zyro Kurogane (Japanese: 黒銀ゼロ, Kurogane Zero), also called the Blader of Fire, is the main protagonist of the anime and manga series, Beyblade: Shogun Steel. He fights fiercely with his Beyblade Samurai Ifrit W145CF.

He later becomes the Neo Battle Bladers Champion as well as being famous as the new No. 1 Blader in Japan by becoming stronger against strong opponents like Dragon Emperor Sakyo Kurayami and DNA member Kira Hayama.

Seven years before the events of Beyblade: Shogun Steel, Zyro witnessed the last battle with the No. 1 Blader in the World, Gingka Hagane triumphing against the God of Destruction, Nemesis. Although Zyro was very little at the time, he has admired Gingka ever since and vowed to be just like him one day. Soon enough, Gingka would give Zyro his future Beyblade, Samurai Ifraid W145CF. Zero was young at the time, and did not understand the power his Beyblade would contain. However, what he did know, is that he would be grateful for his role model and would meet him again.

At present, Zero is older and is an expert Blader. He still has the vow to meet Gingka Hagane again one day and challenge him to a battle, to become the Blader of tomorrow. What Zyro doesn't know, is that Beyblade entered a new era; into the Zero-G. Zyro will put his full potential and dreams of meeting Gingka into his Beyblading because he does not want to back down, not now, not ever.

As of the previous Japanese episode, Zyro has succeeded in reaching his main goals: He meets former No.1 Blader Gingka Hagane for a second time and battled with him. He later becomes the new Champion Blader in the world. Now, he starts training for the next World Championships.

Manga
Zyro has large and spiky black hair with a flaming orange-red highlight. With a pale-white skin tone, Zyro has big spiked, black eyebrows and dark blue eyes. In attire, Zyro wears a dark blue leather jacket with collars lining at his neck with lime-green zippers on them; along with two circular lime-green details, and spiky grey endings.

With this, Zyro wears a grey shirt with a white belt supported by a lime-green design. While having dark-red long skinny-jeans with spiked endings as well. Lastly, Zyro wears purple shoes with orange-red, hot-rod highlights on them.

As a young child though, Zyro had a different appearance. Being small with smaller hair and a different attire. Wearing an open jacket with buttons and finger-less gloves; and a tee-shirt underneath; along with shorts and small shoes.

Anime
Compared to the manga, Zyro has the overall same general design; despite a few differences. Zyro's skin is not pale and has more of a skin tone. He has brighter blue eyes along with this. Zyro's jacket is an indigo-blue instead of purple with flaming hot-rod designs in place of the yellow ones. Zyro's sleeve zippers are now golden and has darker brown gloves.

Zyro's belt is remotely unchanged except for more golden details for the yellow variants. His pants are a darker red with golden leg zippers. Lastly, Zyro's shoes have a brighter scorching highlight, and an overall black replacing the manga's purple.

Personality
Zyro Kurogane is enthusiastic, extremely determined, and a character full of endeavor. As an advanced Blader, he dreams of fighting to the top, in order to be with the likes of his idol. Even if there is something new to him, Zyro is up-and-ready for it. Seeing as how he fearlessly challenged Shinobu to a Beybattle; with no question. Although Zyro does lose on occasions, he does not get depressed or grope about it; just happy to have battled.

He is known to greatly keep his word, as in the manga, Zyro waged his belongings (his robe clothing) if he lost, which he did. Zyro's also not very social, possibly because of his single-handed focus on his current aspiration to meet and battle, Gingka Hagane.

History
As a young boy, Zyro Kurogane was a witness among with many others, who saw the epic battle between the Legendary Blader and No. 1 Blader in the world, Gingka Hagane and the God of Destruction, Nemesis. In the climax of it all, Zyro gazed at Gingka use his whole power and force to ultimately, destroy Nemesis and save the entire world from a would-be apocalypse.

Sometime after the battle, Gingka Hagane decided to give young Zyro a Beyblade. He told Zyro to train with this Bey, so to one day, become even stronger than he himself, Gingka Hagane is.

Zyro took the Beyblade with gratitude but would not understand the immense power it would hold until later on. Since then as Zero took into adolescence, he took a vow to become the next No. 1 Blader after Gingka Hagane and to one day, meet him once again and battle him in order to show, he is the next best.

Gathering the Gang
Arriving late for a tourney, present-day Zyro Kurogane makes his mark at the "Metal Bey City Beypark Battle Royale" where he has already collected over 95 consecutive battle wins and just needs 5 more to obtain 100. After a short series of easy battles for Zyro, he successfully obtained 100 wins, getting him closer to his vow to becomes the next No. 1 with his own, the 'Samurai Ifrit W145CF'. After a short reflection on this, Zero leaves for some eager-to-be training.

Although as he arrived there, he wanted to find the best there, where after meeting with a fellow Blader, he was told the best was known as Shinobu Hiryūin. Shinobu was said to be at Beypark and Zyro took off in a flash to there. There, he found various battles going on, in a BeyStadium he's never laid eyes on before.

They were the Zero-G Stadiums, stadiums that sway around as the Beys in it move, giving more of a challenge. Zyro Kurogane decided he would be next in line although seven others were there first. He told the seven he would let them go if he battled all of them head-on and they all agreed. The Bladers startled Zyro and did give somewhat of a challenge, but he did not give up and easily beat all of them.

Zyro then asked everyone in Beypark where Shinobu Hiryūin was and suddenly, Shinobu appeared. Known as the "Invincible Salamander", Shinobu challenged Zyro to a battle, to show him what happens to those who disturb the way of battles in Beypark. Zyro happily agreed and they got down to battle.

After launching, the two were in a fierce fight. Shinobu was taking the lead, while Zyro was taking difficulty from Shinobu's own Bey, the 'Ninja Salamander SW145SD'. With hits so often, Zyro's Samurai Ifrit couldn't take it. Zyro commanded Samurai Ifrit to soar the sky and dash back down to strike Salamander, but was trapped and as a result, Shinobu took this as a lead and gave it a knockout. Zyro later left and entered a burger-shop, owned by Benkei Hanawa.

There, Benkei found Zero saddened and asks what was the matter, with Zyro telling him of his loss and his vow to be the next best. Too depressed, Benkei gave Zero some burgers to help him, telling him that Gingka Hagane loved burgers. After eating the burgers, Zyro continued to tell Benkei of his wanting to be better than Gingka and defeat Shinobu. Benkei was interested by his story and decided to help him out; being in that same place before. A fellow Beymechanic who Zero previously met named Maru also volunteered to help Zyro as well.

Intensive training soon followed, with various exercises performed in order to help Zero's stamina, strength, and stability. After two harsh days of training, Zyro ran into a young Blader named 'Eight Unabara' during an exercise.

Eight ridiculed Zyro, much to his dismay and Eight took off on his skateboard. After startling Maru, Zyro decided he has all the training he needed to have a re-match with Shinobu.

Leaving to the Beypark, Maru and Zyro suddenly found none other than Eight in a battle. Eight successfully won the battle with ease, and then took a black marker and drew "stars" on his opponent's face. As soon as the opponent ran away in terror, Zyro challenged Eight to a battle, condemning all the things he did as terrible and quite "brat-like". Eight casually agreed and showed off his Bey, Pirate Orochi 145D for their soon-to-be battle.

They took off in their battle, putting up a good fight in all their might. Zero however, was having difficulty with Eight's Pirate Orochi as it skid across the Stadium but then finally stayed in the center. Orochi took control of the Zero-G Stadium, but Ifrit later turned tables and causes massive swaying of it. Zyro took this in his opportunity as blazes of flames burst out of Zyro's hands and launched a Special move, one where Ifrit's beast appeared and knocked-out Orochi, with Zyro winning.

Afterwards, Zyro told Eight of the great fight they had, whereas Eight was heavily disappointed he lost, whilst simultaneously admitting that Zyro was a great and powerful Blader. He later ran off, after Maru drew on his face with black marker, whining to return and be more stronger.

Soon after a one-day tournament, Zyro found himself in another match with the first person he had lost to: Shinobu. Now more stronger than before, he fought with all his might against Shinobu. Zyro gave so much strength and his wanting for winning created his first Special move: Burning Upper. It severely beat the opposing Ninja Salamander SW145SD with Zero taking the win.

Upon another of Benkei's rigorous training sessions, Zyro Kurogane was challenged to a Beybattle by the older sibling of Eight Unabara: Kite Unabara. Zyro defeated Kite and his Guardian Leviathan 160SB but was offered a rematch. Although Zyro accepted, there was a catch, Kite's Beyblade was a Synchrom combo between his own, Guardian Leviathan 160SB and his young brother's Pirate Orochi 145D. The battle was much harder on Zyro than the last, due to Synchro so as a result, Zyro was defeated again.

The next day, Zyro and the gang visited the WBBA headquarters to gather information on Synchrom. After speaking to Tsubasa Otori and Madoka Amano, he and Shinobu learned that their Beyblades, Samurai Ifrit W145CF and Ninja Salamander SW145SD are Synchrom-compatible with one-another.

They later attended a tag-team tournament that Shinobu entered. Shinobu proves to the obvious victor of the tournament, but is overshadowed when Ren Kurenai, a female Blader appears. Like Shinobu, Ren is able to defeat all of her opponents as well as her partner. Yet in her last battle, she uses her own version of Zyro's Burning Upper Special move. Much to Zyro's anger, he decides to take part in a Beybattle with this new Blader.

In their battle, it was very hard on Zero's part. Mostly due to Ren Kurenai commanding her Beyblade, Thief Phoenix E230GCF to mimic all of Zyro's Samurai Ifrit W145CF moves. Even when put through his own Special move, Zyro stood through and won the battle, thanks to using his Special move once again.

After that battle, Zyro decides to partner up with Shinobu in a Synchrom rematch against Kite and Eight. Synchroming their Beys to become Salamander Ifrit W145CF against Orochi Leviathan 160SB. The end result of the battle showed Zyro and Shinobu coming out victorious with their Beys, thanks to their team-work and more importantly, friendship.

Soon enough, the Unabara Brothers and Ren decided to join Zyro's group of himself, Maru, Shinobu, and Benkei.

Friendly Training
More events followed, with yet another session of training held by Benkei lead to a match between Ren and the new mysterious Blader, Takanosuke Shishiya, who had owned the Archer Gryph C145S.

Another event happened, Zyro and the gang went to the Midsummer Beach, where it was empty, and encountered a mysterious sea monster who was a human named Gen Kikura in disguise. Kite wanted to show his strength, but the battle was just a sleepout. Zyro decided to battle Gen, and a downward attack finished Kraken. An event had happened when he battled Akuya and his gang. He struggled at first but used Burning Upper to beat all of them. He laters find Shinobu losing to Sakyo. After the match, Zyro challenges Sakyo to a battle and the showdown ends with him losing due to a KO, but vows to defeat him.

Bladers of Earth
After the loss with Sakyo, Zyro battled against Yoshio, a blader who owns 'Bandid Goreim DF145BS' and defeated Eight and Kite before him, in order to avenge Kite. He defeats him, which angers the older Unabara brother to battle him for the right to face Kira Hayama. Zyro defeats Kite and is allowed to challenge the Earth Blader.

Later when he faces Kira, they have a synchrom battle where 'Salamander Ifrit W145CF' is defeated by Kira and Yoshio's synchrom bey 'Goreim Begirados SR200BWD'.

Neo Battle Bladers
In the beginning of the Neo Battle Bladers tournament, Zyro and the others decide to enter it and may be able to defeat the DNA members like Kira and Yoshio. Before the tournament, he is anxious to enter and battles Shinobu before the next day. During the tournament, he easily defeats random bladers until he faces a new opponent he recognized — Sakyo, the Dragon Emperor — who was revealed to have entered as well. Before he gets a chance to challenge Sakyo, he is challenged by another blader also entered in the tournament, Spike Bourne, and his beyblade Thief Zirago WA130HF. At first Spike seems to be outpowering Zyro but Zyro is able to harness his power and defeat Spike with a special move, moving on to the top eight of the tournament along with Shinobu, Kite, Yoshio, Kira, Takanosuke, Sakyo and Captain Arrow.

His first opponent in the quarter-finals is Takanosuke Shishiya whom he will battle for the first time. During their battle, both competitors were equal until Zyro used a finishing Burning Upper to defeat Archer Gryph. His second opponent in the semi-finals is the Dragon Emperor himself, Sakyo Kurayami, whom is ready to defeat him as well. Using the bonds of his friends from past battles, Zyro finally gained the upper win and defeated Dragooon himself, entering the finals.

After seeing the sight of his best friend and rival Shinobu defeated at the hands of elite DNA member Kira Hayama and the Emperor of Destruction bey, Gladiator Bahamdia SP230GF, Zyro does some strong training for his upcoming battle with Kira. But his anger and rage causes him to go overboard as he destroys things that he imagines Bahamdia's beast. He was stopped by Samurai Pegasis who was used by the No. 1 Blader in the World and Legendary Blader of Autumn, Gingka Hagane, which surprised him in seeing his idol after seven years.

During their battle, Gingka tells Zyro not to use anger and hatred, but to use the power of his friends in order to win, and then is lent Gingka's as well, who wishes him good luck. Zyro is ready for the Neo Battle Bladers finale.

Zyro battles Kira at the Neo Battle Bladers finals, but is seen getting knocked out. But since he is using what Gingka had taught him yesterday, Zyro dosen't give up. In the final clash, with all the strengths of his training, he uses the spirits of his friends and their Beyblade's Beasts (Salamander, Orochi, Leviathan, and Phoenix) to create the ultimate Special Move, Burning Tornado Fire, which destroys Gladiator Bahamdia's rotation, thus making Zyro the winner of Neo Battle Bladers and the newest No. 1 Blader in the world.

Later after the final battle, Zyro begins a new battle with his friend and rival Shinobu, who is now fully healed from his injuries, as he and his friends begin their next step toward the new Beyblade World Championships and start their battle that ends the series.

Beyblades

 * Zeros Generic Beyblade.pngPre-Samurai Ifrit - Prior to owning Samurai Ifrit, Zyro owned a generic Beyblade before it, in his youth. This Beyblade appeared to have a Face stating "Training" written in Japanese characters, and a triangular "Clear Wheel" with patches or rather, locks on each side. Also with a "Metal Wheel" with swirled designs covering the gaps created by its "Clear Wheel". It is unknown if it used a Track and Bottom, or a 4D Bottom.


 * Samurai Ifrit W145CF — Zero's current Beyblade. A Beyblade of Zyro-G based on the mythical Ifrit and likewise, being of fire origin.


 * Saramanda Ifraid W145CF or Salamander Ifrit SW145SD — A Synchrom creation between Zyro's Samurai Ifrit W145CF and Shinobu's Ninja Salamander SW145SD.

Samurai Ifraid's beast is depicted as a samurai-armoured ifrit in scorching, blazing fire wielding a sword of flames. It has a trail of fire coming out from the back of its samurai helmet. Its armour is a bright-red with blue or black details around. There is a sword-holder around its waist meant to hold the fiery sword. It also has vicious horns, glowing white eyes, and sharp nails on its hands.

Special Moves

 * Shooting Star Crash: (Japanese: シューティングスタークラッシュ) Zyro's first Special Move, first used and seen in The Dawn of a New Era!. The move is very reminiscent of Gingka Hagane's first one, Pegasus Starblast Attack. With the same concept, Zero commands Ifrit to take the skies and start dashing down to "crash" the opponent and deplete their spin completely. They even contain "star" in their names. This may be because it was Gingka who gave Zero, Samurai Ifrit.
 * Burning Upper: (Japanese: アッパーバーニング) Zero Kurogane's second Special move, first used and seen in the manga's first chapter. It consists of Samurai Ifrit dashing towards its opponent in a trail of fire while submerged in blazing flames. Samurai Ifrit uses the "double-contact" of its CF Bottom and charges at its opponent with fire all around, resulting in an explosion.
 * Burning Tornado Fire: Zyro's third and ultimate Special Move first seen in The Spirit's Blow!. Using the spirits of Shinobu, Kite, Eight, and Ren's beyblade beasts, Ifrit's Beast is able to slash at the opponent using a fiery tornado that explodes.

Synchrom Special Moves

 * Super Burning Upper: The same as Burning Upper, except with the added power of Synchrom with Ninja Salamander SW145SD.
 * Diving Crash: Salamander Ifrit second synchrom move used in Fierce Fight! The Synchrom Battle.

Trivia

 * All major characters that own attack type beys all have "Kur" as the beginning part of their last name. e.g Zero, Sakyo, Ren. Kurogane is Japanese for "black steel".
 * This is quite fitting, seeing as how Gingka's last name, "Hagane", is Japanese for "steel".
 * Zyro is the first main protagonist to not use a rubber tip on any of his beyblades.
 * The flaming highlight on Zero's hair, belt, and shoes are a reference to the creature, his Beyblade, Samurai Ifraid is based on; the Ifrit which is associated with fire.
 * Zero primarily has black hair, another reference to "Kurogane".
 * D.M. Fighter Honoo, a manga created by Takafumi Adachi has the main character, Honoo, bear similar design traits with Zero.
 * Zero does share similar design traits with Ozuma from Beyblade: V-Force.
 * At the "Beyblade 2012 Japan Championship 2012" held in Japan, the winners received an autographed whiteboard sketch of Zero.
 * It was revealed in the manga's first chapter that Zero's favourite BeyStadium is the Attack Type BeyStadium.
 * Zero's seiyū, Nobuhiko Okamoto, was also the seiyū for Teru Saotome from Beyblade: Metal Fusion.
 * This also makes him the first Beyblade protagonist to have a male seiyū.
 * Zero has some things in common with Tyson Granger of the Original series.
 * He has lost his first Beybattle against his rival, Shinobu Hiryūin, as Tyson lost his against Kai Hiwatari.
 * He trains physically, just like Tyson does with kendo.
 * As it seems if you notice that on the collar part of his jacket he has a flaming sphere design that relates to Ifraid on the left side, just like Gingka's headband as he had a wing of pegasis on the left side in the first two seasons of the Metal Saga before getting the second wing on the right side in metal fury. We can expect that as the series goes on Zero will get a second flaming sphere design on the right side as well.
 * Zero is similar to Sora in being obsessed with training to defeat Gingka.
 * He is similar to Gingka Hagane in battle results in the first season: They both always win, unless something happens to stop this. Zero's "excuses" for losing: lossed to Shinobu because he did not know how to use the Zero G stadium correctly, lossed to Kite Unabara because of the suprise of Synchrom, lossed to Sakyo with a self K.O, and lost to Kira cause of the stadium.
 * It is said he can be seen in the crowd in the battle: Galaxy Pegasus VS Hades Kerbecs.
 * Of the entire Shogun Steel (Zero-G) series, Zyro has had three Special Moves and two Synchrom Special Moves shared with his rival, Shinobu, making it five.