Ryūra

"You really think you can defeat the Four War Gods? Don't make me laugh!"

was a fierce warrior and the leader of the demon band known as the Four War Gods (Shitōshin). Many years ago, Ryūra and his comrades invaded the legendary island Hōraijima and caused much destruction. In desperation, the island's priestess, Lady Kanade, sealed the Four War Gods' spheres of power inside a jeweled comb box and hid it inside the Cauldron of Resonance. Without their powers, the Four War Gods were forced to remain on the island until they could retrieve the comb box.

Eventually, the Four War Gods initiated a plan that would allow them to regain their original power by using a cloned priestess. During the course of executing this plan, however, the Four War Gods were opposed by many opponents, among them the half-demon Inuyasha.

Invasion of Hōraijima
Many ages ago, the island of Hōraijima was a sanctuary for humans and demons alike. The two groups existed in harmony for many years and intermingled, giving rise to a sizable population of hanyō. The existence of a hanyō community earned contempt from demons, so to protect themselves, the people of Hōraijima created the powerful Cauldron of Resonance, which generated a time barrier that separated Hōraijima from the outside world. However, every 50 years the time barrier weakened, and the island reappeared, rendering it vulnerable to raids by demons. The Four War Gods were among the many demons which despised the people of Hōraijima, and one day decided to attack the island during its brief vulnerable period and annihilate the inhabitants.[1]

The humans and demons of Hōraijima were no match for the Four War Gods, among whom was the demon Kyōra. The village became engulfed in flame and many villagers fell in battle. However, Ryura and the other War Gods had neglected to kill the island priestess, Kanade. Lady Kanade was quite powerful, but not even she could defeat the combined power of the Four War Gods. In desperation, Lady Kanade was able to seal away the power spheres which granted the four demons their immense power inside a jeweled comb box. With this accomplished, Kanade leapt inside the Cauldron of Resonance, putting the box beyond the reach of any of the Four War Gods. With the island already conquered, Ryūra and the others established themselves temporarily on Hōraijima, until they could find a solution to their missing powers.[1] In time, the Four War Gods discovered that by throwing live half-demons into the Cauldron of Resonance, they could retrieve a portion of their powers trapped inside. In order to survive, the War Gods corrupted the Cauldron with their demonic energy and put their mark on each of the island's half-demons and established a powerful demonic barrier around the island. Anyone who carried the mark would be unable to pass outside the barrier. In this way, the Four War Gods were able to keep the half-demons enslaved, sacrificing them one by one whenever their powers needed rejuvenation. Nevertheless, this was a temporary solution at best, since the War Gods could never retrieve their full powers; furthermore, if they left the island, they would slowly fade away from a lack of demonic energy and die. In order to stay alive, the Four War Gods would have to remain on the island, where they could retain access to the Cauldron. But, due to the slowing effect of the time barrier, the Four War Gods could minimize the amount of power they lost, meaning that they would only need to sacrifice a half-demon whenever the barrier itself weakened (e.g. every 50 years). Nevertheless, until they could retrieve the jeweled comb box from within the Cauldron, the Shitōshin would be trapped on the island forever.[1]

Personality
Taking the assumed role of leader of the Shitōshin, Ryūra is extremely confident in his own powers, as well as the powers of his three comrades. Arrogant and sadistic, he enjoys causing suffering whenever the opportunity arises, going out of his way to slaughter the half-demons on Horai Island before leaving. Much like his 'brother' Kyōra, Ryūra seeks powerful opponents to battle. He expresses his disappointment in Inuyasha for not being as strong as he had hoped, finding him weak and unchallenging. Ryūra, like most powerful demons, despises half demons, including them among the ranks of humans, branding them as weak and mundane compared to the superior powers of the Four War Gods. He, along with the other three war gods in their combined form, are ultimately defeated by this assumption of weakness in half-demons.

Powers and Abilities


Ryura has the ability to control wind and thunder, though it's unknown if he has this ability on his own, or if it is because he wields the weapons Wind Blade & Thunder Blade. He is seen multiple times conjuring storm clouds, blasting his enemies away with bolts of lightning, in a very similar fashion to Hiten. When he confronts the half-demons on Horai Island, he displays the ability to simply whisk his opponents away if they are a nuisance, showing off his wind powers.

Trivia

 * Ryūra is one of the four antagonists created especially for InuYasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island. Each of the Four War Gods is based on one of the Four Sacred Animals of Chinese mythology and astronomy, a common motif in anime and manga. Of the four animals/constellations that make up the group, Ryūra represents the Azure Dragon of the East, known in Japanese as Seiryū. The dragon arm formations on his shoulders, his ability to manipulate the weather, and the shape of the energy discharged by his power sphere upon his death, all reflect this.
 * Coincidentally, Seiryū is one of the demon ninjas under Hoshiyomi. Each of these four ninjas have, like the Four War Gods, an affiliation with one of the Four Sacred Animals. Seiryū has many reptilian features and mannerisms which signify his affiliation with the Azure Dragon, besides his name. However, he appears to be more snake or lizard-like, and has no obvious connections with a dragon, unlike Ryūra.
 * Similar to Menōmaru, the style of dressed employed by the three humanoid members of the Shitōshin is very Chinese in appearance, and does not reflect any Japanese influences. This reflects the Chinese origins of the Hōrai Island myth, known in China as Mount Penglai.
 * Ryūra's Japanese seiyū also provides the voice for Hiten, the eldest of the Thunder Brothers. It is worth noting that both characters have long, braided ponytails, red eyes, and use lightning-based attacks.
 * He also has some similarities to Bankotsu. Both are the leaders of a murderous group that care for each other and in a way, are all united in a final fight with Inuyasha; Bankotsu took the shards of all the Band of Seven into himself and Ryūra and the other Four War Gods combined into a single form.