Appearance:

Biography: Ryu first appears in the beginning of the game as a Dragon Whelp sleeping in a giant chrysm crystal in Dauna Mines when two miners, Mogu and Gary, blow it apart with dynamite. This causes Ryu to wake up and the miners are startled by finding a Dragon Whelp in the giant crystal, and in fear attack him. From here Ryu goes on attacking several miners but is finally stopped when a voice yells out in his head, and in this moment the miners knock him out and cage him. As they are transporting him he wakes up and shakes the cage off, and lands in Cedar Woods where he is rescued by Rei. He takes him home way out in the middle of the woods where Teepo also lives and they head to McNeil Village to get Ryu some clothes. Teepo is somehow able to learn Ryu's name before he even tells him what it is, and like Ryu he was abandoned in the forest alone. Rei and Teepo take Ryu along with them to make some money thieving on Yraall Road, but stop when they notice Bunyan heading down the road.
After being caught by Bunyan, Rei is sent off to kill the monster Nue on Mt. Glaus, and so Ryu and Teepo head off after him and meet up in an old hut on the mountain. There they battle the Nue and follow it to its den to finish it, and by doing so they end up bringing a plentiful harvest and peace to the village, and for the first time the villagers see them as heroes.
Afterwards, the team is separated at McNeil Manor, after they had agreed to steal the return the mayor's money to the farmers. Ryu and Teepo, after having to fight several ghosts of McNeil's past relatives, joins up with Rei and get the money and spread it to the villagers. This attracts unwanted attention however, and the Crime organization becomes aware of the team's actions. After they hear of this from Bunyan they run back home and find it up in flames, and Balio and Sunder reveal themselves and try to kill them. Ryu wakes up in Bunyan's house and despite Bunyan saying he found no one else, he heads off to Wyndia to see if Rei and Teepo headed the same direction.
While crossing Mt. Myrneg he bumps into Balio and Sunder again, who stab him in hopes of killing him. In doing so however they cause Ryu to transform back into the Dragon Whelp again, and the two get the idea to turn him over to the King of Wyndia in hopes of presenting Ryu as an evil threat to get a reward. But when they reveal the thing in the cage Ryu has already reverted back to his human form, and the King imprisons all three as con artists. Just when things looked grim the King's daughter, Princess Nina, came down to try and free him but she gets tricked by Balio and Sunder and gets kidnapped. Ryu breaks out and chases after them and through fighting them saves Nina. They escape the graveyard and Ryu learns that Teepo was in Wyndia but chased out to Eygnock Road. Upon arrival though they are once again captured by Balio and Sunder.
They escape again and flee into Mt. Boumore and eventually meet and befriend Momo and Peco, who join at their respective locations (Tower and Dump), only to be captured again. Nina suggests that they let your party enter the Contest of Champions to gain their freedom. However Ryu loses the Contest in the final round to Garr who sets the party free as his prize. Balio and Sunder, in anger of having been betrayed and having their prisoners escape yet again, fuse together to form the Stallion, and attacks the party. Garr intervenes, and together they finally defeat the brothers.
Garr tells Ryu that if he wishes to learn about his Brood heritage he should head to Angel Tower in the Urkan Region.
They finally make it to Angel Tower, and once they reach the burial ground in there Garr asks the rest of the party to wait upstairs so he and Ryu can continue ahead. Inside are gravestones with the names of the 4 Guardians and a number below them. Garr tells Ryu and the number signifies the number of Brood they have killed and attacks Ryu, the last known surviving Brood. Ryu easily defeats him, and ends up transforming into a giant Kaiser Dragon and flies off, with Garr telling everyone that Ryu had died.
Several years go by, and a Dragon Whelp can be seen running around Dauna Mines again. Garr subdues it, and it transform into a much older Ryu. Garr leaves him some clothes and says Ryu can kill him at any time if he chooses, but he spares him. Garr wants to take Ryu to talk to God, to learn why he had to slaughter the Brood when they never even fought back, since if they had Garr would have easily been defeated just like Ryu defeated him in Angel Tower. As they try to leave Dauna Mines a dead Brood's spirit known as the Dragon Zombie appears and beckons Ryu to help him slay Garr. Ryu refuses and he attacks them both, eventually being overpowered and defeated by them.
The 2 head down Ogre Road and are attached by a man eating tiger, who later escapes once they hurt it enough, heading towards Cedar Woods. Ryu decides to check it out, and upon visiting his old burned down home he confirms his suspicions; the man eating tiger was none other than Rei. Rei has the power to transform into the Weretiger, and is happy to see that Ryu had survived that terrible night. He still vows revenge against the people who killed Teepo and broke up his family and heads to McNeil Village, viciously attacking Loki before running off. Ryu and Garr go to McNeil Manor and reunite with Nina, who is with several Wyndian guards that are hauling away Mayor McNeil. She talks with them and decides to accompany them in taking down this organization.
As the team's objective turn into finding God, Ryu learns that he needs to find Guardian Gaist. They head to a small town called Cliff and find Gaist, who challenges Ryu to a 1 on 1 fight to see for himself the true power of the Brood that God feared. By defeating him, Ryu releases the seal that imprisons Deis. She then bestows upon Ryu the prana, a third eye that will show him the path to God.
Eventually the team discovers Dragnier. Here they learn more about the history of Ryu's people from the elder Jono. In a battle where he couldn't use his Brood powers, Ryu fought and defeated Jono. In doing so he gained the full power of the Brood, and set off to confront Myria.
From Dragnier they go through The Factory and come upon the Desert of Death, and after several days of walking and fighting Manmo, Nina passes out from heat exhaustion. She is saved when Ryu sacrifices the Radka to feed Nina the nutrient rich meat it possesses, but from here there is no turning back as the Radka was their last resort to getting back to safety.
After finding the lost town of Caer Xhan in the depth of the desert, they enter Eden and find none other than Teepo there, who had no interest in no one else but Ryu, a fellow Brood. When Ryu refuses to give in to Myria, he sends him into a dream world where he meets the rest of his party members. Refusing to let himself be defeated by Arwan, Ryu slays him to exit the dream. Seeing that he won't give in to Myria's reason, Teepo transforms into the Dragon Lord and does battle with the party. After being brutally killed off, Teepo says all he ever wished for was to have lived peacefully with Rei and Ryu, and leaves behind a keycard that leads to Myria. They finally reach her and, after hearing what she has to say she gives Ryu two choices; be like Teepo and live here with her forever to keep the world safe, or refuse and live for yourself. Ryu refuses her offer, not willing to lose a part of his very being, and Myria transforms into a scary looking giant lizard, attacking the party.
With Myria destroyed, her station collapses, and the team escapes to the desert. Ryu is seen having survived the fall with Nina, Rei, Momo, and (presumably) Peco and Honey.