Riou

	“	Everyone, lend me your strength!	„
		~ Riou

Background

Riou is a young boy from Kyaro Town in Highland, who serves as the silent main protagonist of Suikoden II. Riou was trained by his late foster father Genkaku, alongside older sister Nanami, and childhood best friend Jowy Atreides. Unbeknownst to Riou at the time, he was the Tenkai Star; a beacon who would travel the land, rallying together the 108 Stars of Destiny and change the fate of the world.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Riou’s story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

While still only young men, Riou and Jowy were taken to join the Unicorn Youth Brigade serving under the Highland Army. They and their allies fought well, eventually able to sign a peace treaty with the New State Army and end the war. However, right as they were to be sent home, Riou and Jowy became caught in a staged attack by Highland in order to make it appear as though New State broke their peace agreement. The Unicorn Brigade was massacred, leaving Riou and Jowy as the only survivors. The two jumped off a cliff to safety, where they were separated. Riou ended up right in the hands of the New State Army. Riou was kept prisoner for a time, but he made his new allegiances clear and soon rose the ranks of the New State Army as their commander. Much time passed, and eventually Riou found himself reunited with both Nanami and Jowy once again. Riou and Jowy both obtained half of the Rune of the Beginning, Riou's half being the Bright Shield Rune, which dictated that he was the Tenkai Star fated to change the world. As decided by the opposing nature of the two Runes, however, Jowy betrayed the group and went to rule Highland alongside the diabolical mad prince, Luca Blight. Although Riou felt extremely distraught by Jowy's betrayal, he remained steadfast in fighting for New State's victory. Eventually, his accolades earned himself the place as New State Army's Leader, who his allies proudly rallied behind. This included a young travelling circus performer named Eilie, who developed feelings for Riou. Eventually, Riou's efforts lead him at last to the regicidal new King of Highland, Luca Blight. After a hard-fought battle, Luca was killed, and Highland leadership passed to Jowy. Riou confronted his friend one final time, but refused to fight him. Jowy, heavily repenting for his horrible actions, could not bring himself to kill Riou and instead joined him in hopes to redeem himself. In the conclusion of the game, the Beast Rune, which had fueled the evil of Highland, was finally released and incarnated in the form of an enormous two-headed silver wolf. Riou slew the beast after an incredibly dangerous fight, ending the source of Highland's evil once and for all. With the war finally over and peace returning to the land, Riou, alongside Jowy and Nanami, decided to travel the world.

Statistics

Tier: 9-A, 6-A with Bright Shield Rune's destruction

Name: Riou

Origin: Suikoden II

Sex: Male

Age: 16 years old

Classification: Human, Tenkai Star, Commander, Lord, New State Army Leader

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: Room level (Comparable to his durability), Continent level with Bright Shield Rune's destruction (The Bright Shield Rune is one of The 27 True Runes, the destruction of which release power enough to destroy a continent)

Durability: Room level (Comparable to those who can tank the explosion of Dancing Flames)

Striking Strength: Room Class

Lifting Strength: Athletic Human (Can push large wooden crates without much trouble, which is quite difficult for a regular human)

Travel Speed: Peak Human (Could beat Stallion in a footrace, who prides himself for his incredible speed. Stallion states that he didn't even know humans could move as fast as Riou did), higher with Gale Rune (The Gale Rune increases speed)

Combat Speed: Supersonic, higher with Gale Rune, Massively Hypersonic with Lightning & Thunder Runes (The Lightning and Thunder Runes attack with bolts of lightning, which travel this quickly), Speed of Light with Bright Shield Rune (The Bright Shield Rune gives off and attacks enemies with light)

Reaction Speed: Supersonic (Comparable to Clive, who could casually dodge standard gunfire; the average bullet travels this quickly), higher with Gale Rune (The Gale Rune increases speed)

Stamina: Very High (Despite being a child, Riou can participate in prolonged wars and battles without much trouble. Although he does require sleep between battles, the wars themselves are extremely strenuous and often require for Riou to face incredibly strong foes one after the other. The Bright Shield Rune passively healing Riou allows for him to keep up fighting longer than most regular soldiers)

Range: Standard Melee, Hundreds of Meters with Runes

Intelligence: Genius (Riou is an extremely intelligent fighter and tactician, able to both lead an army and fight hard battles himself, even despite his young age. He's successfully lead wars against extremely aged and intelligent leaders, and has directly faced and defeated people with years to decades of combative experience, such as Luca Blight)

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Powers and Abilities

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Human Achievements (Riou became the Leader of the New State Army), Acrobatics (Can preform large jumps and climb without trouble), Stealth Mastery (Could sneak out of the Mercenary Fortress, and sneak into a Highland Fort), Martial Arts (Riou was trained in martial arts), Weapon Mastery (Riou can proficiently wield his tonfa), Social Influencing (Riou has the power to join people's hearts together), Aura (Can create an aura during Unite Attacks), Afterimage Creation (Leaves afterimages when using Buddy Attack), Non-Physical Interaction (Can harm the Mist Shade, a being made out of mist), Immortality Negation (Type 7; Can kill the undead Bone Dragon)

Resistance to:

Fire Manipulation (Can withstand Fire Rune attacks without serious burning), Precognition (Type 1, 2, 4, & 5; As the Tenkai Star, the one tasked with gathering the Stars of Destiny, Riou has a fate and future that cannot be seen, of which Riou has many possible futures and several strands of fate)

Obtains the Bright Shield Rune, which grants:

Fate Manipulation (Holds the power to alter fate), Light Manipulation (The Bright Shield Rune gives off light. Shining Light attacks all enemies with light), Healing (Passively heals anyone in the vicinity of the Rune holder. Great Blessing heals 70 HP to all allies. Battle Oath heals 300 HP to all allies. Forgiver Sign heals 2000 HP to all allies), Berserk Mode (Battle Oath causes for the target allies to get into a berserk state), Status Effect Inducement (Battle Oath makes targeted allies become Berserk), Statistics Amplification & Rage Power (The Berserk status raises offensive capabilities by 50%), Fusionism (Can combine with the Black Sword Rune to become the Rune of the Beginning), Resistance to Curse Manipulation (Protected Riou from the Blue Moon Curse)

Magic, Healing (The Earth Rune heals 3 HP during combat), Statistics Amplification (The Earth Rune increases defense of the holder by 5. Clay Guardian increases the defense of one ally), Earth Manipulation (Via Earthquake), Resistance to Magic (Canopy Defense repels magic for one turn)

Magic, Damage Boost (The Fire Rune increases damage by 25% when embedded in a weapon), Fire Manipulation (Via Flaming Arrows, Fire Wall, and Dancing Flames), Explosion Manipulation (Via Explosion)

Magic, Damage Boost (The Lightning Rune increases damage by 25% when embedded in a weapon), Electricity Manipulation (Via Angry Blow, Thunder Runner, Bolt of Wrath, and Thor Shot)

Magic, Healing (The Water Rune heals 5 HP during combat. Kindness Drops fully heals one ally. Kindness Rain heals 300 HP to all allies), Magic Negation (Silent Lake negates all magic usage for three turns), Air Manipulation (Protect Mist creates mist), Water Manipulation (Silent Lake creates water), Resistance to Magic (Protect Mist grants all allies 20% higher resistance to magic)

Magic, Sleep Manipulation (Wind of Sleep puts enemies to sleep), Healing (Healing Wind fully heals one ally), Air Manipulation (Via The Shredding), Attack Reflection (Storm Warning reflects spells back on the caster), possible Resistance to Magic (The Wind Rune has a 5% chance of repelling magic)

Magic, Light Manipulation (The Resurrection Rune contains light magic), Damage Boost (Scolding deals double damage to undead enemies; Charm Arrow does the same), Resurrection (Yell revives an ally), Healing (Scream heals all party members)

Magic, Death Manipulation (Finger of Death instantly kills one enemy. Final Bell instantly kills an entire row of enemies), Healing (Soul Steal restores health equal to the amount dealt to a foe), Darkness Manipulation (Via Black Shadow)

Magic, Summoning (The Blue Gate Rune summons monsters from another world to attack enemies)

Magic, BFR (Type 1; Ready! forcefully teleports one enemy out of battle. Go! forcefully teleports all enemies out of battle), Teleportation (Set! teleports objects above a foe's head to fall on them and deal damage)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Mother Earth Rune increases defense by 15 points. Guardian Earth increases defense and magic defense for all allies), Healing (The Mother Earth Rune recovers 5 HP to the user), Earth Manipulation (Via Earthquake), Resistance to Magic (Canopy Defense repels one magic spell cast on the group)

Magic, Damage Boost (The Rage Rune increases damage by 50% when embedded in a weapon), Fire Manipulation (Via Fire Wall, Dancing Flames, and Final Flame), Explosion Manipulation (Via Explosion)

Magic, Damage Boost (The Lightning Rune increases damage by 50% when embedded in a weapon), Electricity Manipulation (Via Thunder Runner, Bolt of Wrath, Thor Shot, and Thunder Storm)

Magic, Healing (The Flowing Rune heals 15 HP during combat. Kindness Rain heals 300 HP to all allies. Mother Ocean restores one ally to full HP), Magic Negation (Silent Lake negates all magic usage for three turns), Air Manipulation (Protect Mist creates mist), Water Manipulation (Silent Lake creates water), Resistance to Magic (Protect Mist grants all allies 20% higher resistance to magic)

Magic, Healing (Healing Wind fully heals one ally), Air Manipulation (Via The Shredding), Attack Reflection (Storm Warning reflects spells back on the caster), possible Resistance to Magic (The Cyclone Rune has a 15% chance of repelling magic)

Magic, Status Effect Inducement & Statistics Amplification (The Alert Rune makes the user Alert, which raises magical capabilities by 50%)

Magic, Resistance to Status Effect Inducement (The Balance Rune prevents the user from being Unbalanced)

Magic, Social Influencing (The Champion's Rune prevents weak enemies from approaching the user)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Counter Rune increases the user's chance of performing a counterattack)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Double-Beat Rune allows for the user to attack tiwce in a row, but doubles the damage of a foe's counterattack)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Double-Strike Rune multiplies the power of damage given and received by 1.5x)

Magic, Healing (The Draining Rune restores HP when the user delivers a critical hit)

Magic, Damage Boost (The holder of the Fire Sealing Rune receives double damage from water attacks), Resistance to Fire Manipulation (The Fire Sealing Rune makes the user immune to all fire attacks)

Magic, Social Influencing (The Firefly Rune causes all enemies to attack the holder)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Fortune Rune doubles the experience value gained from defeating enemies)

Magic, Berserk Mode (The Fury Rune causes for the holder to always be in a berserk state), Status Effect Inducement (The holder of the Fury Rune becomes Berserk), Statistics Amplification & Rage Power (The Berserk status raises offensive capabilities by 50%)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Gale Rune increases speed by 1.5x)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Hazy Rune increases evasion rate by 50%)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Killer Rune increases the rate of critical hits)

Magic, possible Healing (The Nymph Rune has a chance of restoring 150 HP to one random ally)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Prosperity Rune doubles the amount of money gained from winning battles or stealing)

Magic, Social Influencing (The Skunk Rune makes enemies attack the holder after everyone else)

Magic, Healing & Regeneration (Low; The Sunbeam Rune gradully restores the user's health by 15 HP every turn)

Magic, Berserk Mode (The Violence Rune puts the user into a berserk state), Status Effect Inducement (The holder of the Violence Rune becomes Berserk), Statistics Amplification & Rage Power (The Violence Rune multiplies power by 3x after activation)

Magic, Sleep Manipulation (The wielder of the Waking Rune starts the battle asleep), Berserk Mode (When the wielder of the Waking Rune wakes up, they are put into a berserk state), Status Effect Inducement (The holder of the Waking Rune becomes Berserk), Statistics Amplification & Rage Power (The Berserk status raises offensive capabilities by 50%)

Magic, Statistics Amplification & Power Nullification (The Wall Rune doubles defense, but prevents the user from using any attacks)

Magic, Statistics Reduction & Statistics Amplification (The Warrior Rune halves defense in order to boost power)

Magic, Statistics Reduction & Statistics Amplification (The Warrior Rune halves magic defense in order to boost magic power)

Magic, Limited Life Absorption (The Banshee Rune drains HP from an ally)

Magic, Status Effect Transferal (The Chimera Rune transfers a negative status effect to another party member)

Magic, Healing (The Sylph Rune heals the HP of allies, though at the cost of the user's own HP)

Magic, possible Status Effect Inducement (The Down Rune has a 30% chance of inflicting Unbalance on a foe)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Exertion Rune raises the user's attack power every six turns)

Magic, Damage Boost (When the Fire Lizard Rune is equipped, it increases damage by 50%, at the cost of inflicting damage to the wielder)

Magic, Damage Boost (The Friendship Rune increases attack power by the number of recruits obtained)

Magic, Statistics Reduction (The Hunter Rune reduces hit chances to 5%, and makes all damage do 1 HP), Statistics Amplification (A successful attack while holding the Hunter Rune gives a 100% chance that the enemy will drop an item)

Magic, Damage Boost (The Kindness Rune increases the user's damage by 1 point for every hour that they've been active in the party)

Magic, Statistics Reduction (The Magic Drain Rune reduces the chance to hit enemies by 15%), Statistics Amplification (The Magic Drain Rune restores magic after striking an enemy)

Magic, possible Poison Manipulation & Status Effect Inducement (The Poison Rune has a 40% chance to inflict Poison on the target)

Magic, possible Status Effect Inducement (The Silence Rune has a 20% chance to inflict Silence on the target)

Magic, possible Status Effect Inducement (The Sleep Rune has a 20% chance to inflict Sleep on the target)

Magic, Statistics Amplification (The Technique Rune gives a 40% chance of stealing money from a target)

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Standard Equipment

Tonfa, Bright Shield Rune, Runes, Medicine

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Notable Techniques

Unite Attacks

• Buddy Attack: With Jowy Atreides. Riou and Jowy circle the opponents at incredible speed, before stopping to flourish their weapons. They then dash forwards with a powerful attack, trading sides.
• Family Attack: With Nanami. Riou and Nanami attack the foe in unison, leaving bright flashes with every strike. The attack leaves Nanami unbalanced.
• Leisure Attack: With Nanami. While Riou attacks the opponents, Nanami cheers him on from the sides. It's less powerful than the Family Attack, but doesn't leave Nanami unbalanced.
• Copycat Attack: With Hoi. Riou and Hoi leap forwards, with Riou attacking the foe normally while Hoi falls flat on his face.
• Double Leader Attack: With Tir McDohl. Riou and Tir team up to attack every single opponent until they're all damaged.

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Other

Weaknesses: None notable.

Battle Records

None

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