Ryu Hayabusa

Ryu Hayabusa (Japanese: リュウ・ハヤブサ/隼 龍, Hepburn: Hayabusa Ryū) is a fictional character and the protagonist of Koei Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden action game series, debuting in two 1988 video games for the arcade games and the Nintendo Entertainment System. Ryu is a human-dragon hybrid who wields an ancestral weapon called the Dragon Sword, and is the leader of the Hayabusa Ninja Clan. Ryu was created by Hideo Yoshizawa and designed by Masato Kato who wanted to create an action game where the player uses an unique take on the concept of ninja based on how the Western audience saw the concept behind them as superheroes. In 2004, game designer Tomonobu Itagaki created a new Ninja Gaiden where Ryu carries the same characterization but with a more modern appearance in 3D environments. He has also appeared in multiple spin-offs and an original video animation adaptation. Outside Ninja Gaiden, Ryu has also appeared as a player character in the Dead or Alive fighting game franchise by Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja where he serves as the protagonist in Dead or Alive 2 and one of the staple characters of the series, having appeared in every main series entry. Ryu is featured on official series merchandise as well as in the feature film DOA: Dead or Alive, and has made many crossover appearances in other games. He has received favorable reception from critics and audiences, and is considered to be one of the most iconic examples of a ninja character in video games as handful of critics have ranked him as the most iconic ninja in gaming. The character received negative response for his weaker traits seen in Ninja Gaiden 3 as well as his lack of screetime in the latest installment, Ninja Gaiden 4, where the new character Yakumo takes the role of...