Riou

Overview

CS

Gallery

Riou
Japanese	リオウ
Romaji	Riou
Portrait
Sprite
Appears in	Suikoden II Genso Suikogaiden Vol. 1 Genso Suikogaiden Vol. 2
Star	Tenkai Star (Chief Star of Heaven)
Voice Actor
Voice (JP)	Oda Hisafumi (Suikoden II Drama CD)
Voice (US)	Jack Merluzzi (Super bomberman r online)
Profile
Other Names	Manga Adaptation: Tao
Aliases	None
Status	Alive (SI, II, V) Unborn (SIV, T) Unknown (SIII)
Origin	Kyaro
Born	???
Age	??? (Dunan Unification War)
Relatives	Genkaku (foster father) Nanami (adopted sister)
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Runes	Bright Shield Rune (permanently attached) Rune of Beginning* *if alternate ending is chosen
Position	• New State Army (leader) • Commander • Wanderer

	Riou
	"Everyone, lend me your strength!"

Riou is a recurring character in the Suikoden series. He is the hero in Suikoden II, and is the silent protagonist and Tenkai Star of that game. He also makes cameo appearances in both Genso Suikogaiden Vol. 1 and Genso Suikogaiden Vol. 2.

Profile

Background

Riou is a soldier of the Highland Army's Unicorn Youth Brigade and 16 years old at the beginning of Suikoden II. He wields a tonfa and becomes the bearer of the Bright Shield Rune.

Appearance

Riou is a young man with short brown hair (black in his in-game sprite appearance) with fringes on both sides and two upward fringes is in the center of his head. He wears a red and white sleeveless Chinese garb with a yellow scarf on his neck and a light blue obi that tucks on his garb, black capris and brown battle boots. He also wears a circlet on his forehead and wears light blue and brown gloves. His weapon of choice is a pair of Tonfas.

As a child during flashbacks, Riou wore a red long sleeve Chinese garb, black capris and sandals. This appearance will be seen again which was now worn by Ko from Banner Village.

Personality

Like Tir McDohl in the first Suikoden, Riou is also an outright, rebellious, calm and serious person, and he is determined to fight against Highland as the leader of the Allied Army. He cares for his step-sister, Nanami, as well as his best friend, Jowy. Nanami keeps telling Riou to give up on his fight as New State Army leader because she claimed that she doesn't want to see Riou and Jowy fighting each other.

During the conflict in the Dunan Unification War, Riou didn't want to stop fighting against his enemies but having conflicts with his best friend, Jowy, due to their destiny with their true runes that attached in their right hands. When Gorudo and his men fatally injures his step-sister, Riou shows his anger towards them and also shows his grief when his step-sister faints due to her fatal injuries sustained by them.

In the best ending, after constantly refusing to fight Jowy in a duel to the death, Riou heals Jowy back to health using the power of the Bright Shield Rune. If Jowy dies, he becomes the bearer of the Rune of Beginning as a whole.

He also befriends Tir after they team up in defeating the Poison Moth with their combined true runes as well as their unite attacks that proves them more powerful. They also share their role as the silent protagonist.

In the manga, Riou is a big-eater, for him every food is good, he likes to daydream and never prejudices anyone.

Story

As a child, Riou had been left as an orphan by wars and he and Nanami were adopted by a hero named Genkaku. He grew up in a small Highland town called Kyaro, and eventually became friends with Jowy Atreides. Along with Nanami, they would train under Genkaku to become strong fighters. Riou and Jowy went on to join the Unicorn Youth Brigade.

When the Youth Brigade was slaughtered by Luca Blight as an instigator for war, Riou ended up separated from Jowy and was captured by a band of mercenaries under the command of Viktor. Jowy attempted to rescue him after ending up in Toto Village by sneaking into the Mercenary Fortress, but the boys were both caught. After several attempts, they managed to finally escape and reached their hometown, Kyaro, where they reunited with Nanami. Their reunion was fleeting as Riou and Jowy were arrested soon afterwards by their former captain Rowd. They were rescued by Viktor and Flik, and the boys and Nanami escaped from Highland and aided Viktor by recruiting more mercenaries.

During the Dunan Unification War, Riou and Jowy were approached by the strategist Apple, who intended to approach Viktor and provide him information concerning the plans of the Highland Kingdom. After recruiting Tsai and witnessing the insanity of Luca Blight, Riou and Jowy joined the New State Army. After Jowy assassinated Lady Anabelle at Muse, and left the New State Army to join the Highland Army, Riou, Nanami and Pilika escaped to South Window via Coronet where they meet again with Eilie, Rina and Bolgan.

Following the defeat of Abomination, the former North Window Castle became Dunan Castle and officially turned out as a base of operation for the New State Army. Riou became the leader of the New State Army after defeating Solon Jhee. He soon found that he had no other choice than to fight against Jowy after he married Jillia Blight and became de facto the Commander-in-Chief of the Highland Kingdom's army. Both young men ended up inheriting half of the Rune of Beginning, and must end the war before their friendship is torn apart forever.

In the middle of the game playthrough you could attain an immediate ending:

• Coward ending: Agree with Nanami's advice to abandon everything he had fought for and live a peaceful life away from the war.

Post-Dunan Unification War

Depending on the ending and/or the player's choice:

• Alternate ending: The player chooses to fight Jowy and defeats him. Jowy dies and Riou becomes the bearer of the Rune of Beginning.
• Country (good) ending: The player says yes when Shu asks him to become the Dunan Republic's President. In the credits an image of Jowy waiting by the falls will be shown indicating there is a battle still left unfinished.
• Canon (best) ending: Keep defending in the battle with Jowy at the Tenzan Pass and the Bright Shield Rune will heal him. Shu meets up with you and tells you Nanami is alive. Riou and Jowy will then reunite with Nanami in Kyaro and travel the world.

Role in the Game

• Suikoden II

• Recruitment
• Combat
• War Battles
• Investigations
• Suggestion Box
• Cook-Off Introduction

As the main protagonist of Suikoden II, Riou is recruited at the beginning of the game, and cannot be removed from the party.

• Overall
• Weapon Growth
• Runes
• Max Lv. Status
• Equipment
• Unite Attacks

Riou is a fantastic character with above average stats in all categories. He has several powerful Unite Attacks in the game and his Bright Shield Rune is one of the most powerful and useful runes in the game with its diverse functions as both an offensive and defensive rune. A close inspection of his stats show that Riou's stats favor melee stats, but his well-rounded affinity and extra rune slots make him quite diverse for player customization.

Weapon Type: Tonfas
Weapon Range: M
Weapon Starting Level: 1

Weapon Growth
Name	Twin Fang					Twin Heaven Fang							Twin Destiny Fang
Level	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Strength	5	6	8	11	14	18	35	42	49	58	68	79	92	127	148	170

• Attached
• Recommended

• Head - Gained at Lv. 40
• Right Hand - Bright Shield Rune (Permanent, Story Event)
• Left Hand - Gained at Lv. 25
• Weapon - No rune attached.

Riou has all-around great stats and can be customized for magic or melee. For a melee set-up, a combination of a Double Beat Rune, Double Strike Rune, Killer Rune, or even a Fury Rune will work wonders for him. For a mage set-up, Riou is one of the few characters who can equip a Blue Gate Rune, and he has a high affinity with the Resurrection Rune. The Bright Shield Rune is literally all the party needs for healing although the Forgiver Sign spell is a powerful damaging move too. Riou is a perfect candidate for the Friendship Rune to be embedded on his weapon. Attaching a Fire Sealing Rune to him is very useful in the battle against Luca Blight, because the attack of Luca Blight usually uses the element of fire. If the player has a lot of potch, the player can embed a Technique Rune for Riou.

Character Statistics
HP		827
*MP
		LVL 1	9
		LVL 2	6
		LVL 3	3
		LVL 4	2
LVL	99	ATK	205
EX	999	DEF	149
STR	200	PDF	150
SKL	216	MDF	163
MAG	158	SPD	197
EVA		LUC	215

• Default
• Recommended
• Type

Default Equipment
Helmet	Bandana
Armor	Robe
Shield	[none]
Other 1	Medicine (x6)
Other 2	Gloves
Other 3	Boots

Recommended Equipment
Helmet	Wind Hat
Armor	Master Garb
Shield	[none]
Other 1	Magic Ring
Other 2	Winged Boots
Other 3	Power Gloves

Riou can perform the following Unite Attacks:

• Buddy Attack with Jowy
• Family Attack with Nanami
• Leisure Attack with Nanami
• Copycat Attack with Hoi
• Double Leader Attack with Tir

• Overall
• Skills
• Wounded Quote
• Death Quote

Riou is an Infantry Unit with 8 ATK 9 DEF.

Unlike other characters seen with soldiers with swords and bows or cast magic, Riou fights his opponents with his tonfas. Starting from the third war, he can use the Bright Shield Rune, which heals all of his allies in a cross formation once. When his unit is joined a character having the Cavalry ability, Riou is seen riding a white horse to fight the soldiers.

Since Riou is the main protagonist, the game ends in a game over if he gets defeated, prompting the player to restart/reload the game.

• Bright Shield (x1) - Heals allies in a 3-panel range.

"..." *

*_{Present in the game's coding, but not used.}

"..." *

*_{Present in the game's coding, but not used.}

Riou is the one paying Richmond for the investigations.

All the letters are received and read by Riou.

Riou cannot be a judge, since he is the one helping Hai Yo.

Cameo Appearance

• Super Bomberman R Online - Riou appears as a playable bomber character.

Trivia

• Riou is tied with Razro for being the protagonist of the two game installments.
• He is tied with Tir McDohl and Razro as the most recurring Tenkai Stars in the series; all being present in 3 Suikoden games.
• If the player stay idle while in the World Map, he will perform various actions after some time, such as training with his tonfas, sitting down to eat, or even sleep.
• He is named Tao in the manga adaptation of the game.
• In his profile for the remastered version of the game, his name became Hero instead of Riou. This name is later shared with Tir McDohl.
• He is tied with Prince Freyjadour Falenas for most Unite Attacks from a Main Character, with both having a total of 4 each in their respective games.
  • He also shares another peculiar characteristic with the Prince; both are the only protagonists who can flirt with some female characters in the dialog options.
• Razro's weapon growth in the English localization of Suikoden IV and Suikoden Tactics share the same names as Riou's weapon growth; Twin Fang, Twin Heaven Fang, and Twin Destiny Fang.
• While performing the unite attack with Jowy, they are spinning in a blue aura before striking the enemy. In the boss fight against Gorudo, the blue aura is changed to purple.
• His hair in-game sprite was black, while in his CGI, his hair was brown. His adopted sister, Nanami, was the same but in opposite.
• His basic attacks are equivalent to Tracy from the Battle Arena Toshinden series, and both characters share the same tonfa weapons to attack. He attacks with his tonfas by two hits in a spinning blow. In Tracy's case, she is able to shoot explosives tasers with her tonfas and pulling combo to the enemy with her special attacks, soul bombs and her desperation move.
  • He can spin one of his tonfas after beating some bosses, resembling Tracy's older twin sister, Rachael, who also spins both of her double-sided tonfas as her win animation.
• His starting money in Suikoden II is 200 potch.
• He is said to speak with an unusual accent according to a woman in Muse.
• His name has several meanings:
  • He is of French Origin and meaning "someone who lived near a stream "
  • He is of British origin and means "He who supports the world "
  • His name in Chinese, "日欧", means "Japan and Europe".
  • His name is also mistaken as Riou Genkaku by some fans, since he was adopted by Genkaku himself.