Shirogane Ryou

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Revision as of 05:45, 29 April 2008

Shirogane Ryou

Shirogane Ryou (白金 稜) appeared in the very first "episode" of Kokoro back on January 23, 2004. He varies from his counterpart in canon Tokyo Mew Mew in that he is a mage. His personality has also changed somewhat thanks to many things that occurred in Kokoro. Ryou is most known for leading and creating the original Mew Mews.

History

Before Kokoro

Ryou was born in New York City in the United States of America to Jishou and Elizabeth Shirogane. Even as a child, Ryou's life was unordinary. After entering the public school system, it was discovered that he was a child prodigy with an IQ over 180. Ryou tended to be a shy loner during the school day, but was notorious for getting into mischief back at home, fueled by his questions and curiosity about the world. He did, however, have two close childhood friends: Roy Bancroft and Sarah Cohen. The three were their own trio, mirroring the trio that had been created by the boys' fathers with the addition of Max Mizuhara (Noru's father). Together the three would go off on their own adventures with Ryou most often being the one to get them into trouble.

Being an only child, Ryou was naturally spoiled and very close to his parents when they were around, especially to his father whom he greatly admired. After reading his father's research log, Ryou decided that he was going to become a scientist too and began experimenting in the labs on his own. His drive for wanting to know more about science could be credited with finally breaking the ice between Ryou and his father's assistant, Akasaka Keiichiro, as well as starting a friendly rivalry that the two kept between themselves.

When Ryou was ten years old, a fossil his father had been studying in the basement lab came to life and set the house ablaze, supposedly killing both of the boy's parents in the process. After the funeral, he travelled to Tokyo with Keiichiro (now his guardian) to complete his father's research which was the foundation for what became the Mew Project. Cafe Mew Mew was erected to serve as their cover and base of operations. During this time Ryou continued with his schooling, absorbing as much knowledge as he could, but any intention of him returning to the States - or to his family and friends - soon vanished. He decided that reuniting with the others would just be a painful reminder of that loss for both sides, and thus a big mistake.

At about fourteen, the experimental stages of the Mew Project had been completed, but there had yet to be a human test subject to see how the animal DNA would react. Ryou voluntarily became the guinea pig and injected himself with Iriomote Wildcat DNA in the right side of his neck despite Keiichiro's protests. Following the successful completion of the test, Keiichiro was placed in charge of the project, and the two gathered the girls of Tokyo Mew Mew a few months later.

Kokoro Days

After the defeat of Deep Blue, Ryou didn't really have any true goals. The Mew Project continued as more Chimera Anima and aliens appeared, but the encounters began to die down, and that chapter of the Mew Project would come to a close.

Ryou's life took an unexpected turn when Momomiya Ichigo asked him to marry her. Knowing it was most likely a prank of some sort, or the result of sugar high, Ryou agreed to it on account of his unspoken feelings for her. Staging a mock wedding, Ryou saw this as an opportunity to put his feelings on the table, and if they went unnoticed, he could use the entire instance to torment her later. It was soon apparent, however, that something was happening between them.

Furthermore, children began appearing, apparently from the future, claiming to be Ryou's - and others' - offspring. Before this, Ryou had never really taken the idea of parenting seriously. It was one of these children, Shirogane Kyr, and his future daughter, Shirogane Akari, who eventually convinced Ryou to take up the study of magic, explaining that he had the potential to become a time mage. Unbeknownst to Ryou, his own family was actually a magical lineage and had been throughout the generations if not for a certain curse. Prior to this discovery, Ryou had a very negative view towards mages, thinking the practices they lived by to be underhanded and suspicious.

Yet another challenge came to Ryou's life when he discovered through Doctor Andrews that his mother was still alive. A few months later, Ryou discovered that his father had been revived and was living in New York under the name James Beaumont due to amnesia. Eventually the entire family was brought back together, although Ryou has mixed feelings about returning to the sort of life that the rest of his family enjoys, favoring his privacy and independence. He had moved back into the New York mansion with his extended relatives at one point, but he tends to spend most of his time in an apartment in Tokyo with Ichigo where things are more peaceful.

Ryou's done a lot of soul-searching during the past few years. He still remains very aloof and looks at things in a serious and oftentimes critical manner, but he has also opened up more to people and new ways of thinking, not the lease of these magic which he has finally credited to his prior fear of thunderstorms.

At Hoshizen Academy Ryou maintains decent grades and has been participating in a few senior activities even though he will not formally graduate until he has completed his final two classes at the end of the summer. Ryou was recently summoned by the DDS to lend his knowledge and help solve a murder mystery from a few years ago. After that case came to a close, Ryou recruited Gamu to pose as a maid waitress to help him solve a more recent crime. This interest in murders worried Kyr and the other mages because they feared that Ryou had found out about Kyr's trial a year earlier. The truth is that Ryou had already been told about it, but didn't put the pieces together until after Kyr posted on his livejournal worrying that he had discovered it. Ryou has also uncovered why he was afraid of thunderstorms. Apparently there was an accident when he was still a small child that triggered his magic for the first time. Because Ryou knew nothing about it, the magic went out of control, and ever since Ryou associated his fear with storms rather than his own ability. This might also explain why he didn't trust the mages at first or accept the existence of magic so many years later, although in his heart he knew. No details about the event have been revealed yet.

In the fall he plans to begin graduate school at Tokyo University in its genetics program.

Kokoro Draft Future

As was seen in Kisa's timeline, Ryou went on to marry Ichigo and the two remained in the cafe, giving birth to Shirogane Kisa, Masume and Ami in that timeline. His future counterpart is described frequently as a "bishie" (i.e. bishounen). He became a biology professor at Tokyo University and apparently retained his knowledge as a time mage.

Other-Worldly Counterparts

Ryou exists in many dimensions, although his outer person and history varies somewhat in each.

• American Mew Mew: In this dimension, the accident never occured, so Ryou Elijah Shirogane was able to grow up at his own pace back in New York with his parents and a little brother, Shirogane Shuugo whom he is highly protective of. He tends to be carefree and generally friendly, although he can be somewhat sarcastic at times. AMM!Ryou is more experienced in magic than Kokoro's Ryou, and seems to take to it with ease, but he has alluded to not being the genius that his counterpart is; he is also not quite as tall. He has been called "Sunshine" as a reference to his bright personality. Apparently he doesn't get along very well with Akasaka Keiichiro. He is romantically linked to Midorikawa Retasu whom he has a huge crush on.
• Chrono Mew Mew: Here Ryou married Midorikawa Retasu, and together they had three children: Shirogane Kyr, Takeru, and Razuberri. The professor is noted to be "hot" according to the Kokoro girls. He is a time sage and prefers a quiet life with his family.
• Fairy Mew Mew: Ryou was married to Momomiya Ichigo. The children were Anzu and Sugar. Unlike his other counterparts, Fairy's Ryou was injected with normal housecat DNA. He has no magical abilities, and is often seen engaging in childish arguments with his wife or just simply trying to avoid the insanity that goes on in the cafe.
• Mini Mew Mew: The Shirogane family moved to Tokyo in this dimension, where Ryou and his little sister, Kumo are still children. His magical abilities are largely undeveloped, save for his ability to travel between dimensions. He has a magic-based attack using his "Book O' Science" to read his enemies to sleep.
• Mirror Mew Mew: Like in Chrono Mew Mew, Ryou was married to Midorikawa Retasu. He had two children (Kyr and Mushi) this time. In this dimension his parents are alive and well. Shirogane Shuugo also exists here. As with most of his other counterparts, Mirror's Ryou has magical ability.

Personality

Ryou is complicated. Rarely (if ever) is he straight-forward. He seems to be a distant and moody individual who takes everything seriously and prefers to keep his distance. He is somewhat possessive of people, however, and can easily become jealous. Behind his usually calm facade, he tends to worry about people and places blame and guilt on himself.

Ryou makes a fairly good leader, since he is responsible, stubborn, and looked up to by a handful of people. He remains confident about his appearance and scientific genius, but has a tendency to question everything else. Ryou tries to be strong and self-sufficient, but deep down he relies on other people and their acceptance. Recently the blond had been able to better communicate his emotions and understand others. He has become more mischievous and can joke around more freely, though his jokes are not always easy to get. He apparently has the type of "charisma" that attracts females and animals to him, so sometimes he has to give them the slip in order to have time to himself. At the same time, however, it's that charisma that allows him to manipulate people that get too smitten with him. Not that he does it on purpose, but he does enjoy the occasional trick every once in a while.

At times he can be very kind and generous - he may try to boost the morale of others or just offer advice. He will also stick up for others on occasion. Ryou likes keeping his feelings to himself and will only open up to people if he thinks they can be trusted.

Being a genius, Ryou will easily become bored or even appear lazy when he doesn't feel he is being challenged. This will sometimes cause him to complicate matters by creating problems from something small.

As with most members of his family, Ryou's a pretty horrible liar. He can't even manage a convincing fake smile half the time.

Relationships

Family

Initially Ryou was really only close to his nuclear family (his parents and the family dog), but as time went on it became obvious to everyone that the Shirogane family was an extensive one. He generally gets along okay with them when they do interract, though he's well aware that not all of them approve of his behavior and lifestyle. Despite this, he's still willing to make attempts to gain their favor (an example being his vain attempt to teach Fuyuki to cook). Though Ryou is an only child in this dimension, he does have siblings in others. These are Shirogane Shuugo, Ryou's cheerful little brother in both the American Mew Mew and Mirror Mew Mew dimensions, and the sensitive Shirogane Kumo, his younger sister from the Mini Mew Mew dimension. Ryou has additionally been introduced to many of his own future children from various worlds and timelines. Though they are rarely (if ever) mentioned, Ryou does visit his mother's family occasionally.

Friends

As stated, Ryou's childhood friends were Sarah Cohen and Roy Bancroft. Roy has addressed himself as Ryou's best friend on a number of occasions, so that Ryou has come to again associate him with that title, although he was rebuked for doing so once. Ryou also had a very close bond with his guardian, Akasaka Keiichiro, before he went off to continue his archaeological studies. Though he has lots of support, Ryou isn't exactly an open book when it comes to his relationships. He's fairly tolerant of everyone and cares about them a great deal more than it seems, having said that his relationships with others are very important to him. He relies heavily on people like Gamu and his girlfriend for sorting through and talking over his problems and insecurities. He even revealed once that he was open to the idea of having Hoshizen Daisuke as a "brother-in-law". In short, he tends to take on an older brother role with a lot of people, thinking that it's his responsibility to watch out for them. On the flip side, this could also explain why he becomes awkward around his family because that's when his role becomes reversed.

Lovelife

• Sarah Cohen is one of Ryou's childhood friends. When they were little, Ryou and Sarah made a promise to one day get married and considered themselves "boyfriend and girlfriend". After the accident and Ryou's departure, Sarah decided to leave New York in order to search for him. Sarah eventually stumbled upon the cafe, but by that time Ryou had moved on. When Sarah expressed that she still had feelings for Ryou, he began to question his own feelings, but was convinced that the person he really loved was Ichigo. Sarah remains a very close friend to Ryou and a very important person in his life.

• Though the road has been a rocky one, Momomiya Ichigo is the person Ryou loves and cares about the most. Ryou began to develop feelings for her around the time the Mew Mews were beginning to come together, though he eventually realized that she was in love with Aoyama Masaya and had resigned to keeping said feelings to himself. However, things began to gradually change, and soon enough he found his own affections being returned after the couple broke up and following several months of misadventures. Ryou and Ichigo are known to have a history full of petty arguments, however, as of late things have been fairly smooth sailing with them actually developing a happy relationship behind the scenes. Of course, this does not stop Ryou from teasing her and making her angry every so often. It's also a very bad idea to let them play party games alone, as they will use the opportunity to torment one another. Though Ryou has expressed a strong desire to marry her for real this time, some people, including Kyr and Ryou's own father, are not too thrilled about the union. Ryou seems to respect Ichigo for thinking about others' feelings before her own.

• While Ryou had fallen for Ichigo, Midorikawa Retasu had developed a strong crush on Ryou during the same time. Ryou made many attempts to be kind and help the shy girl find confidence in herself as well as inner strength, however he had failed to realize that Retasu's friendship with him had the potential to become anything more. Before she could confess her love for him, Ichigo had already proposed. Though this has caused many hard feelings between Ryou and others, Ryou did appologize quite sincerely for his inability to notice this, and also for not being able to see Retasu as more than a friend. This misunderstanding is largely responsible for his strained relationship with Kyr.

• Following one of their fights, Ryou ended up injecting Kiki Reikaira, or Gamu, with cat DNA, much to her utter horror, but later devised an antidote to return her to normal. While he ran her off once after discovering she was in love with him, he seems to have accepted that she doesn't have any place else to go. The two share a number of similar fears and beliefs, but he has made it clear that his true loyalties lie with Ichigo, and that he can only consider Gamu as a good friend. Despite his lack of romantic interest in her, he takes most opportunities that arise to flirt with her just to see her blush.

• He is adored by both RAz and the Ryou Shirogane Love Corporation. He tries to only acknowledge that the former one of the two exists.

Profile

• Name Translation: "Ryou"- majesty, "Shiro"- white, "Gane"- gold, money (together the two roughly mean platinum)
• Alias: Spark[y], Poptart/Pops, Mr. Ryou, [O]Niichan/-san/-sama, Ryou-kun, Ryler, Shirogane-senpai, "you muffin", "punk", NiiNii, Blondie
• Signature Colors: Black and red
• Age: 19 (his age ignores the missing year)
• Birthday: October 13th, 1988
• Zodiac: Libra/Rooster (based on personality)
• Grade: n/a; he goes to Hoshizen Academy
• Hair Color: Blond
• Eye Color: Aquamarine blue
• Height: 5 feet 9 inches
• Weight: 154 lbs
• I.Q.: 180
• Likes: His family/friends, technology/science (genetics/molecular biology, astronomy, caves), snow, cats, reading, surfing/snowboarding, dance/music, museums, magic
• Dislikes: Insanity/chaos, when people have no confidence in themselves, fangirls/fanboys, being misunderstood/rejected/teased, being asked too many questions
• Fears: Closed-in elevators
• Allergies: Bee stings (all kinds)
• Has trouble with: Being honest, keeping secrets, controlling his curiosity
• Talents: Melodramatic speeches, imitating a few other characters' voices, can wiggle his nose, etc.
• Favorite foods: Pancakes with syrup, chocolate
• Least favorite foods: Anything too spicy (namely Mexican food; he prefers his food somewhat bland)
• Favorite beverage: Chocolate milk, green tea, water
• Blood Type: A
• Injection Mark: The standard Mew symbol (like Ichigo's) on the right side of his neck
• Animal: Iriomote Wildcat

• Appearance: Ryou's pretty tall (his height is mostly in his legs, so he is not so tall seated). He has a slightly tanned complexion, but overall has the appearance of your average American teenager. Ryou has switched to a button-up cotton version of his usual black vest and wrist bands as opposed to arm bands, along with boots, to give off a more casual and less "punkish" impression. Additionally, his "wedding band" is on his left ring finger (though he's not officially married). Other accessories are pretty much worn on-and-off, and his style of clothing will switch back and forth. He usually wears darker colors, red, black, or white/gray. Ryou's far-sighted, and his vision seems to be getting worse, so he's seen wearing glasses more frequently in the evenings, though he ditches them whenever possible or wears contacts instead. He recently gave his collar to Ichigo, so he goes nowadays without it. There hasn't been much of a commotion about his mark, so he doesn't bother hiding it.

Alto

Alto (アルト) is Ryou's basic gijinka form. This transformation occurs at will and has a duration of five minutes. A transformation longer than this will result in Ryou becoming stuck as a cat permanently unless the effects are undone by a gijinka mage. As Alto, a small gray kitten, Ryou dones a green bandana. Alto once had a crooked tail as a result of the incomplete fusion (a genetic mutation). Alto's main weapons are his teeth, claws, and increased mobility. Ryou cannot perform magic in this form.

Mage Information

• Element: Time (teal aura)

Though he has some ranged magic spells, Ryou prefers a fast-paced fight at close range, using his staff as-is until he gets a feel for his enemy's fighting style. His magic isn't very powerful, so he works best when he isn't fighting alone.

Weapon

• Spirit Luminary: Named after Ryou's previous staves, it is a yellow-gold colored staff made from a substance called "Am Mon" (mango (color)/spirit) from the Magical World. It has a fairly simple handle topped by one slightly folded wing that cradles "Spiritus" A smaller stone is caged into the staff about a foot beneath the wing, "Lumens". This was Ryou's first properly comissioned staff, which he worked on together with Kazeno Hikari's father, Seiji. Because a staff is supposed to possess some of the user's spirit, Ryou was asked to carve into it a quotation which he took from E.M. Forster: "One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life." which is written in partial English cursive and partial old Kanji so that only someone learned in both languages can read it easily. The quote is really just for Ryou's own benefit so he will remember to be more open to people.

• Spiritus: Originally part of a staff-ring called "Ignited Spirit". Being a garnet, it is said to aid in strength and healing. They have also been rumored to cure depression.
• Lumens: Originally part of the "Winged Luminary" staff. An aqua aura quartz is a synthetic stone, meaning it doesn't exist this way in nature, but is heated to become this color along with vaporized gold. It is said to help relieve built up stress and to aid with intuition and sensitivity. Like garnet, it is a healing stone. Ryou purchased this stone because he felt it reflected his personality.

Abilities

• Galaxy Transport: Ryou can teleport himself and a handful of others to other locations within Kokoro or to other dimensions if he knows the correct coordinates. Overusing this technique, however, drains him of energy quickly and often results in making his head swim for some time afterwards. This ability is used outside of battle.
• Hearten: Ryou channels most of his magical energy from his heart, so if he is feeling particularly happy, his attacks will be stronger and more accurate. If he's depressed or tired, the opposite will happen (ie. Dishearten).
• Telepathy: Ryou came to know of this mage ability by accident which allows him to share thoughts with those he shares a close mutual bond with. So far this ability is limited to Shuugo, Kyr, Forte (sort of), and his parents. He did manage to send his thoughts to Shinga Shikari when she was on sugar high once, though.
• Spiritual Borrow: Not yet available.

Signature Attacks

• Holy Judgment: (Given by Kyr) After casting a spell ("So that I may protect those dear to me, O Heaven, answer this prayer. Holy Judgment!"), beams of holy light will rain down from the heavens around the field. Because the beams hit the ground randomly, the attack has fairly low accuracy.
• Acceleration: A spell that increases the speed of all party members during battle.
• Meditation: By remaining still and concentrating on his body, the user can recover some lost energy (HP/MP) and regain focus; it cannot heal physical wounds or status effects. Can be used outside of battle.
• Retribution: A spell which requires a great deal of energy. After chanting ("At the end of the age, to those whose merits deserve it, let mercy come. Accept your fate and blame none other than yourself for your own transgressions! Retribution!"), both the caster and the opponent(s) have damage dealt to them based on their history. If an opponent is particularly wicked, they'll take on a substantial amount of damage, however, if they're a good person, they might not take very much damage at all.

[ Visit here for a list of previously used spells.]

Unison Attacks

• ___ Era: Combines Ryou's Acceleration with any basic elemental attack to allow spells of that element to strike more quickly (ie. decreased casting time) until another Unison Attack is performed by either side or the battle is over.
• Shine Aqua: Combines Zachary's "Gifted Miracle" with Ryou's "Holy Judgment". The falling snow melts and becomes a rain of light that can temporarily blind and disorient opponents while healing both parties.

Stats

• Strengths: Speed/Agility
• Average: Recovery/Focus/Mentality
• Weaknesses: Defense/Offense/Technique

Trivia

• A counterpart of Ryou from SPARCK appears in alleyWAY as Royal Sterling.
• Incidentally, "Stardust Breaker" (also credited as Soul Punisher) is a lethal attack used by Gogeta in the 12th Dragonball Z movie, The Rebirth of Fusion.
• Ryou was once in a kissing bet with Gamu. Adding to Ryou's kissing list was at one point a running gag.