Ryo Takatsuki

Ryo Takatsuki is a male anime and manga character who features in Project ARMS.

Biography

Ryo Takatsuki (Japanese: 高槻 涼, Hepburn: Takatsuki Ryō) was a Japanese male born in the modern age who was the son of Iwao Takatsuki and Misa Takatsuki. In reality, he was a genetic experiment created by the Bluemen who were looking for a weapon to combat their enemies in the Egrigori. They determined the best weapon to use against their powerful foe was the ARMS but the cybernetic weapons when bonded to normal humans led to horrific results. After extensive research, they determined that humans with a specific genetic profile were able to form a symbiotic relationship with the ARMS. This resulted in an experiment to genetically engineer four children with this genetic sequence with this occurring in the village of Abumisawa. A result was the birth of the boy that became Ryo Takatsuki around 17 years ago. He was bonded with the ARMS that was the Jabberwock but there was a fear that the children would become a target of the Egrigori. As a result, they were given to adoptive parents to care for them with Ryo given to a pair of mercenaries that were known as Iwao and Misa Takatuski. His parents knew that their son would have to combat the Egrigori someway with the pair quietly training Ryo in survival techniques, martial arts and strategy. One day, when he was young he encountered a girl his age named Katsumi Akagi who was grieving for the death of a cat she had found. Takatsuki comforted her and helped in the burial of the animal with respect leading to the two striking a close friendship.

Whilst at school, he witnessed the arrival of a new transfer student named Hayato Shingu who was instantly hostile to Ryo for reasons unknown. This culminated in a fight on the school roof where Hayato revealed a mechanical limb where he tried to kill Takatsuki but stopped when other students arrived at the scene. Afterwards, Ryo came to learn that Katsumi had been kidnapped and believe Hayato was responsible where he confronted him at an abandoned building. Whilst there, they were confronted by a cyborg agent of the Egrigori who was targeting both Ryo and Hayato as both were bearers of ARMS. It was then that Ryo learnt of the mysterious organization known as the Egrigori who were targeting him as one of his arms possessed a powerful cybernetic implant. In addition, he learnt that Hayato's initial enmity with him stemmed from a mistaken belief that Takatsuki was an Egrigori member. After defeating the cyborg, Ryo saved Katsumi and they began to work with Hayato against their common foe. The next morning at school, Ryou and Katsumi discuss the previous day's events. Hayato told them about the destruction of the Abumisawa village where he used to live ten years ago, and how a person called "Keith" killed his family and cut off his left arm. His arm eventually grows back into the mutation Ryou has seen yesterday. They remember Claw saying that there are four ARMS - whatever they are - in total, Ryou and Hayato being the first two. Keith and the people who are after the ARMS children are from an organization called Egrigori. Ryou then told Hayato they had better look for the other two.

Later on, bullies in Ryou's school took an interest in a new transfer student named Takeshi Tomoe because he had changed schools many times. Instead of a tough guy, however, the bullies find a trembling and apologetic boy. It turned out that the reason Takeshi has moved from school to school is because, being a regular target for bullies, his legs which were his ARMS implants moved on their own volition and severely injured the bullies. This time was no different with Ryou and Hayato having sensed Takeshi's presence by way of the vibration in their arms. This caused them to rush in to stop him from injuring the bullies further. Hayato told Ryou to make 'contact' Takeshi with his arm, so he can use it to stop Takeshi's near-uncontrollable legs. It was then revealed that when Takeshi was small he got hit by a truck as he tried to save his sister, Maya. He believed that his monstrous legs were the result of the subsequent surgery. When Ryou and Hayato asked him to join them in their fight against Egrigori, he refused point-blank. However, he later learnt that his sister Maya on her way home came to be kidnapped by a humanoid robot with ties to the Egrigori.

During a meeting with the others on the following day, Hayato suggested that they see his grandfather, Juuzou, who has brought him up after his parents were killed. Their welcome at the old man's house is nothing short of strange, but he does advise them to go to Abumisawa village where Hayato used to live, because it's the birthplace of ARMS. So the three boys - and Al, who wants to avenge Jeff's death - board a bus that goes past the village, only to have the bus hijacked halfway there. The hijackers herd the passengers out of the bus, and Ryou, Hayato and Takeshi take them out in turn. An unexpected passenger turns up: Katsumi, who's been following them without being noticed. There is another passenger in the bus who's also been keeping an eye on the boys - Kabuto Keiichi, a police oficer who gets suspicious because his superior tells him to drop any case involving the three boys. To Hayato's disbelief, Abumisawa village looks normal and inhabited, not abandoned and burned down as he remembers. But the villagers act strangely and refuse to speak to them or answer their questions. They spend the night inside an empty hut. As Hayato looks around for proof that he hasn't dreamed of what happened ten years ago, Al points out to the others that although the village looks populated, one thing is missing: children. Suddenly Ryou's arm activates by itself, and a group of mind-controlled villagers jump out of the darkness to attack them. Everybody hurries out of the hut and Ryou tells Katsumi and Al to hide in a safe place. Meanwhile, Ryou, Hayato and Takeshi run into the Crimson Triad, a trio of cyborgs that Egrigori has sent to capture the boys alive.

The Egrigori scientists in the village are shocked when the programs they were working on esd interrupted. The culprit turnrf out to be Dr. Mary Karz, one of their own members. She had secretly been planning to rebel against what she perceived as Egrigori's inhuman plans. While Officer Kabuto are looking after Katsumi and Al, the three boys are fighting against the Crimson Triad: Ryou against Gasheru, Hayato against Face, and Takeshi against Bee. Ryou came to use the mutation and adaptation power of his ARMS, Jabberwock, to defeat Gashure. Arriving at the village church, the boys and Katsumi meet Dr. Karz. She introduces herself, and takes them to a secret laboratory, saying she will show them the truth behind their existence. Meanwhile Keith and Egrigori troops are heading for Abumisawa village. Dr. Karz says that seventeen years ago four babies were born from the ARMS experiment in the laboratory. This experiment, combining ARMS with human genes to create extraordinary powers, has been conducted by Bluemen, an anti-Egrigori organization. The person in charge was Shinguu Shuuichirou, the man Hayato has known as his father. This jolts Ryou into thinking about the true identities of the people he called his parents if they were not his biological mother and father. Egrigori troops proceeded to bomb the village in order to remove any trace of its existence. Dr. Karz told Ryou and the others to take refuge in the church. Ryou decides to try saving what can be saved, with Hayato and Takeshi going after him. Before he leaves, Katsumi kissed him and said after he returned that she would tell him something important. Meanwhile, all the scientists died in the resultant bombings made by the Egrigori forces. Bee and Gashure were shooting at Keith's troops, because they could not stand innocent people being shot at, but they are themselves killed. Hayato, frustrated, yells that this was just like 10 years ago. Katsumi who had been staying in the church came to see Ryou coming through the window. She then ran out to meet him when one of the helicopters shot and the churchyard was enveloped in flames. Ryou, paralyzed with grief, hears the voice of Jabberwock and slowly transformed into a hideous creature. Jabberwock goes on a rampage and destroys the Egrigori helicopters one by one. He manages to graze Keith on the cheek before all the helicopters fly away and Ryou reverts to his normal self. Ryou was so devastated by Katsumi's death that he did not come home and lived instead in an old abandoned building instead.

At school, he feels guilty when a girl asks him if he knows anything about Katsumi. Suddenly his ARMS vibrates, and he runs out of the classroom. Hayato and Takeshi, also feeling the vibration, follow him, feeling it's now their turn to help him. Several ARMS-equipped Egrigori thugs were waiting for Ryou at the old building. They pick on him, to which he responds by changing into Jabberwock and attacking them. He almost drops one of them off the top of the building when Hayato and Takeshi arrive. They try to talk him out of it, but it was the memory of Katsumi that really brought Ryou back. He came to sit on a riverbank thinking of his ARMS just when a girl appeared behind him. Upon looking at her, Ryou came to see that she had the exact same face as Katsumi. She was actually Kuruma Kei who was the fourth ARMS that was also known as the Queen of Hearts and that she was also a member of Bluemen. Since the ARMS children were going against Egrigori, she challenged them into a fight to see which one will be the leader of their group. Hayato flatly refused to get involved, baldly stating that Bluemen were the cause of all their troubles. Suddenly. the ARMS of all three boys broke out which prevented them from being able to leave. Kei then attacked Hayato and Takeshi with uncanny speed and accuracy, reading their movements correctly. This was due to the ARMS in her eyes, which enabled her to have stronger and more accurate vision than the average human. Much to Ryou's astonishment, Jabberwock reacted to Kei by lashing out at her and being angered at her attempts to control him. She was unable to evade it due to the ARMs being outside of even Ryou's control making his movements unreadable. Before his mutated right arm could hit Kei, Ryou managed to stop it by jabbing it at his left hand thus barely saving Kei's life. It was then that Kei revealded that she had information on Katsumi. The three ARMs boys were then taken to the Bluemen HQ, which was located in a building masquerading as a pharmaceutical company. To the boys' surprise, they are warmly welcomed by the Bluemen members who acted like long-lost friends. Li Chunyan was the the Bluemen chief scientist who showed them data obtained a week ago that shows that Katsumi might still be alive. The Bluemen leader meanwhile was a mysterious man called Blue who said that their purpose was to stop Egrigori from doing more damage. Ryou, Hayato and Takeshi came to refuse Bluemen's offer to cooperate, because after the Abumisawa massacre they did not want to sacrifice any more lives.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, he resembled an average male in his late teens with short dark-brown spiky hair and often wore a t-shirt along with jeans.

As a teenager, he could not remember much of his childhood beyond having an accident whereby he was treated by doctors. Since that time, he noted that his right hand recovered faster than the rest of his body but never thought much about the reason behind that remarkable healing.

Takatsuki was a kind hearted, polite and friendly young man, proclaiming on many occasions his hate of killing people due to his high regard for human life and free will, Ryo stands by these principles and thus fights with them in mind with everything he has. His kindness is evident of the fact of him frequently helping those weaker and more vulnerable than himself

He had a high regard for human life and free will.

Ryo tended to calmly analyses any new situation and figured out the best solution. He was an excellent leader, tactician and combatant whom due to his wits managed to survive being hunted by the Egrigori.

Despite his training, he nonetheless disliked killing and only did so if it was necessary. He had a high regard for human life and free will with him fighting for them.

Within his mind, there resided the personality of his ARMS which was Jabberwock. The monstrous entity considered itself a demon that delighted in destroying all those that opposed it. Jabberwock considered itself a demon and a god of destruction that that hated the world. This stemmed from the part of Alice that felt nothing but hatred for mankind for the pain she experienced in her life. After her absorption into Azazel, this translated into the hate filled entity that became the Jabberwock. It frequently offered Ryo power n order to destroy his enemies and avenge the deaths of his loved ones. Initially, this was an attempt by Jabberwock to take control over the host body so that he could go on a rampage. Its AI is extremely violent and unstable; the Jabberwock is the embodiment of Black Alice's hatred - for most of the series its transformed state is simply an engine of destruction, though it eventually submits to Ryo's will. It can feed off Ryo's anger and vice versa, allowing them to synchronize much more easily than Hayato, Takeshi or Kei. In time, it developed an understanding with Ryo after he vowed to accept Jabberwock as part of himself. This led to the entity deciding to pledge himself to Takatsuki and even turning against Dark Alice.

Whilst growing up, he was raised by Iwao Takatsuki and Misa Takatsuki who were former mercenaries that actually adopted him. In preparation in fighting the Egrigori, they quietly trained him in survival techniques, martial arts, and strategy.

During his childhood, one of his neighbours was a young girl his age named Katsumi Akagi (赤木 カツミ) who also became one of his classmates at school. Ryo cares a great deal about his childhood friend Katsumi. When Katsumi was small, she doubted that God existed because a cat she has saved later got hit by a car and died. Ryou though told her God is everywhere, and he helped her bury the cat with this being the start of their friendship. She was shown as being a very kind and compassionate who was also extremely strong willed, and had no problems telling people when they were behaving as idiots.

Powers and abilities

From his parents, he underwent extensive military style training that was designed to help him in times of danger. They were responsible for training him in survival techniques, martial arts, and strategy. However, Takatsuki never realised the significance of this in his childhood and simply thought that his parents simply wanted him to have an extensive workout regimen.

He was genetically engineered from birth to be able to bond with an ARM with him being given the Jabberwock (ジャバーウォック, Jabāu~okku). It was constructed from a sentient metal and nanomachines that were in his right arm. Typically, it camouflaged itself making it appear as a normal arm but was able to transform at will. The ARM was noted to respond to other ARMS whereby it experienced vibrations that at times was uncontrollable causing Ryo's right arm to react violently. These were referred to as sympathetic vibrations as the machine limb reacted to another of its kind. Though embedded in his right arm, the ARM actually spread across his entire body allowing him to achieve a full body transformation. It was able to adapt to the needs of the user allowing it to form new abilities over time. Initially, it manifest as the right arm limb of Takasuki which transformed into a reddish monstrous claw giving him incredible strength and the ability to rend through most objects. A key advantage of Jabberwock was that it was designed as an anti-ARMS weapon with its claws able to deactivate nanomachines. As a result, its attacks were able to deal permanent damage to Azazel-derived nanomachines which did not heal from attacks by Jabberwock.

Initially, it was a powerful hand to hand weapon that could elongate, transform into a shield, and exhibited a limited ability to move on its own to protect Ryo, focused in his right arm. Originally, as a precursor to Ryo losing control of himself and transforming into the Jabberwock, he had learned to control the activation of this ability. It manifests around his head, with the nanomachines becoming visible across his face, as well as his hair and mouth changing to resemble the Jabberwock's. During particularly tough fights when Ryo needs his strength enhanced beyond its normal limits, his ARMS nano-machines begin to spread throughout his entire body. The nano-machines significantly reinforce his body structure making him more resistant to injury, accelerates his regeneration, and amplifies his strength, speed, and endurance far beyond what they normally are. Ryo has also shown that the partial transformation gives him a significant resistance to toxic materials and poisons. The first use of this ability in combat takes place shortly after the incident at Abumisawa village when Ryo is cornered in an abandoned building by some Egrigori cyborgs and he dispatches them with ease. However, during this time he was extremely mentally unstable so it is unclear if he was willingly using this ability or allowing the Jabberwock to feed on his anger and hatred. The first intentional use of this ability happens during the second battle at Gallows Bell while Ryo is fighting against Stinger.

The Jabberwock's ultimate form was that of a hulking demonic humanoid containing nothing but pure rage and destructive force. Takatsuki learned to control the activation of this ability in order to achieve a partial transformation state. During particularly difficult fights, his ARMS nano-machines begin to spread throughout his entire body. The nano-machines significantly reinforced his body structure making him more resistant to injury, accelerated his regeneration, and amplified his strength, speed, and endurance far beyond the norm. Ryo had also shown that the partial transformation gives him a significant resistance to toxic materials and poisons. Jabberwock showed the ability to increase the temperature of its body by thousands of degrees. This allowed it to breath fire, create flaming shockwaves simply by waving its hand, and essentially acted as a shield by vaporizing bullets and other munitions in midair before they could even touch his body.

When needed, the Jabberwock could manifest a pair of thrusters on its back giving him the ability to fly. He seems to be able to keep himself aloft and charge ahead in a single direction.

Jabberwock could manifest compressed air cannons on his arms which could use available material around him which was consumed and fired at enemies. Raw materials like concrete or metal were converted into crude bullets and fired them with compressed air at extreme speeds. These blasts were highly destructive and able to severely damage as well as disable personal combat cyborgs. During a full transformation, matter did not have to be consumed to create bullets as the Jabberwock was able to create them internally.

One of the most dangerous abilities for another ARMS user was the fact that the Jabberwock possessed an Anti-ARMS virus. The claws of the Jabberwock contained a virus which permanently killed the nanomachines of other ARMS in a very localized area around the point of contact. This stopped any and all ARMS regeneration in all forms. It could only be transmitted to another ARMS by direct physical contact. The nano-machine virus does not appear to be dependant on the Jabberwock itself to be potent as Iwao Takatsuki comes into possession of a claw that had become broken off from the Jabberwock and the nano-virus was still potent and feared by those it was used against.

Dr. Samuel Tillinghast stated that the Jabberwock could create large quantities of anti-matter and this ability could lead to the destruction of the entire world. Though this ability currently takes too much power to use under normal circumstances. This ability is also the only one shown thus far that can severely and permanently damage another ARMS unit without the use of a nanovirus. During the fight with Keith Silver in Gallows Bell the Jabberwock absorbed all the energy from Keith's most powerful laser blast and used it to create anti-matter which he used to create a massive explosion that wiped out most of Gallows Bell, dealt severe damage to Keith Silver, and created a powerful EM pulse that disabled all local electronics including Egrigori's top of the line cyborgs. In issue 11 it was stated by Dr. Samuel Tillinghast that the Jabberwock can create large quantities of anti-matter and this ability could lead to the destruction of the entire world. Though this ability currently takes too much power to use under normal circumstances. This ability is also the only one shown thus far that can severely and permanently damage another ARMS unit without the use of a nanovirus. When the ability was first used in Gallows Bell the antimatter was shot through Keith Silver's shoulder before detonating in the city. The sheer amount of damage done to Silver took him out of commission for an extremely long period of time despite the regenerative properties of his ARMS unit as he was recovering at Area 51. When he finally does reappear it is revealed that the damage to his body was so profound that his arm was permanently stuck in its transformed state and his shoulder appeared to be badly misshapen and had several limiter devices implanted in it. Interestingly enough, after being roused from dormancy by the resurrected White Alice, the Jabberwock no longer seems to be burdened with the energy production limitation of its anti-matter ability. Shortly after resurrection the Jabberwock is seen gleefully holding two fistfuls of antimatter, ready to be hurled at the modulated ARMS troopers that it it facing.

Notes

• Ryo Takatsuki was created by Ryōji Minagawa and featured in the setting of Project ARMS.

In other media

Television

• In Project ARMS, Ryo Takatsuki appeared in the setting of the anime television series adaptation where he was voiced by Japanese actor Nobutoshi Kanna and by English actor Kirby Morrow in the dub.

Appearances

• Project ARMS:

External Links

• Project ARMS Wiki Entry

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