Shiryu

Shiryu of the Rain is one of the Ten Titanic Captains of the Blackbeard Pirates, as captain of the Second Ship.

He was originally introduced as the ex-Head Jailer of Impel Down, who had himself been imprisoned on Level 6 death row for his excessive, murderous violence against prisoners. When temporarily released to help Magellan quell the prison riot caused by Monkey D. Luffy and Marshall D. Teach coming to Impel Down, he chose to go against what he was ordered and instead assist the Blackbeard Pirates, ultimately deciding to join them.

Appearance
Shiryu is a tan man of notable height, at 3.4 meters comparable to his now-captain Teach. He has a long face with a wide-bridged nose, a full-lipped mouth seen perpetually smoking a big cigar, and a wide, jutting, flat-ended chin.

When imprisoned, Shiryu was allowed to keep his Head Jailer uniform rather than forced into prisoner garb. He had the typical officer's peaked cap with a dark-blue crown and black, low-set visor, plus a red cap band holding a frontal badge of the winged, crowned Impel Down insignia. Below, he wore what resembled a white aviator cap, the earflaps containing built-in hearing aids of sorts, consisting of perforated rings surrounding diaphragms. Below he donned a dark-blue, double-breasted trench coat that was below knee-length, ten-buttoned in gold, and with a buttoned collar bearing a red patch of the aforesaid insignia (but only the symbol) on each wing (all gold-trimmed). On Each upper arm was a red brassard with, again, said insignia, which was further borne as a buckle by the light-brown belt present for the coat. Additionally, Shiryu wore brown, color-matching gloves and boots, below elbow and knee length respectively, and dark-green pants tucked into the latter. Further part of his uniform, draped on his shoulders like a cape, was a white overcoat with the kanji goku (獄) for "prison" emblazoned on the back. It had fringeless epaulettes consisting of red, gold-bordered rectangles marked by golden X's next to single gold buttons. The coat's sleeves were plain, lacking turned-out cuffs. In a flashback, Shiryu was seen having (as seems a trademark for high-ranking Impel Down staff) a pair of black, bat-like wing attachments on his upper back, which were no longer present by the time of his prison release.

After the two-year timeskip, Shiryu has remained in his Jailer uniform, with but minor adjustments made to it. These are a color change for the coat—while initially the same white as prior in the anime, it later becomes a light gray with white trim (and in the manga is full black)—plus the epaulettes have gained a golden fringe. Every prior inclusion of the Impel Down symbol has been replaced with a plain Jolly Roger skull, though on the cap and belt buckle, the wings and crown remain.

Personality
My apologies...

Shiryu is a bloodthirsty psychopath who seems to enjoy killing people any time he can. He used to exploit his Head Jailer privileges extensively to massacre many prisoners within the walls of Impel Down, just for sheer pleasure, justifying his acts by reasoning that none would care if he disposed of "trash". He further had no qualms about cutting down his ex-subordinates, starting to do so right after being released from prison and initially giving a sarcastic apology after the fact.

Shiryu is fond of his blade and seems to relish testing it against others, even if they are far below his level. He is also shown taking personal care in maintaining his sword.

Generally, Shiryu tends to keep a calm, cool-headed demeanor even in tense or unexpected situations, his relaxed smile rarely leaving his face. His cautious side is shown by his warning the Blackbeard Pirates not to underestimate Magellan or when lecturing them on how they should have prepared themselves more properly for the New World.

By nature, Shiryu appears rather deceitful and treasonous, shown first by his offering to help Magellan fight for the prison if released, only to betray his former superior immediately and wreak havoc, killing his ex-subordinates mercilessly (although under the knowledge that his death sentence was only postponed, not retracted, giving him little choice outside of betrayal to escape it). While having since become a fairly loyal member of the Blackbeard Pirates, he originally voiced (in a joking manner) an intent to leave the crew if Blackbeard failed to obtain Whitebeard's power, showing a propensity to mistrust and doubt those who have yet to earn his respect; after Blackbeard's success however, Shiryu remarked on how joining him was a good decision. Still, Blackbeard himself made note of Shiryu's supposed shadiness after the timeskip, comparing him in that regard to Kuzan; Jesus Burgess, however, declared that while Kuzan was untrustworthy due to his former Marine background, Shiryu was not because of his cruelty.

While Shiryu believes that the Seven Warlords of the Sea are just pirates, claiming "once a pirate, always a pirate" when the Impel Down staff referred to Blackbeard as a traitor, he was fully willing to aid the Blackbeard Pirates (especially since doing so enabled his liberation) and even become a member himself, thus seeming to lack a disdain for the nature of piracy in itself. Further, Shiryu (like most of his current comrades) is a fatalist, believing that it was fate that brought Blackbeard to him, and that fate told him to join the crew.

Shiryu also does not seem to care much about personal details, especially if pertaining to relations he cut off; when asked by Fleet Admiral Sengoku about what happened to Magellan, he told him to find out for himself. Still, be they jailers or pirates, Shiryu seems to have a strict disposition toward his associates, shown, again, by his annoyance for his then-new pirate comrades not doing proper preparations for the New World.

Shiryu seems to like smoking, as when he was let out of his prison cell, the first thing he wanted was a lighter for his cigar. On top of that, he is revealed to have a perverted side, with Oda stating that he would use his new Devil Fruit powers to spy on women's baths (like the power's previous user).

Abilities and Powers
As former Head Jailer of Impel Down, Shiryu held one of the highest ranks in the fortress. He commanded comparable respect to the Chief Warden himself until his abuse of power led to him being stripped of his post and privileges. After the timeskip, Shiryu has become one of Blackbeard's "Ten Titanic Captains" that personally guard the Emperor, gaining great authority in the crew as captain of its second ship.

Combat-wise, Shiryu is attested to be very powerful, not least by his new standing in an Emperor's crew.

During his time in Impel Down, Shiryu was said to be equal in strength to the Warden himself, Magellan, and since the latter's bowel issues restricted his active time in the prison, Shiryu was deemed to be more dangerous. According to Ivankov, Impel Down was impregnable under the joint protection of Shiryu and Magellan, and had Shiryu been still on duty rather than imprisoned, Luffy and Bentham would not have been able to break as far down into the prison as they had. Magellan was even willing to entrust Shiryu on his own with handling the adversarial presence of Blackbeard (at the time a Warlord of the Sea) and his crew in the prison. Prior, the Chief Warden had deemed Shiryu himself such a menace as to place him in Level 6 where only the most powerful, dangerous criminals are held. All of this being more impressive by the fact that Shiryu had not yet eaten a Devil Fruit.

Physical Abilities
Shiryu is shown to have formidable speed, seen with him cutting down several Impel Down jailers in a split second. In terms of endurance, alongside the rest of the Blackbeard crew, he was able to take a quake shockwave from Whitebeard (albeit an indirect hit) and later a direct hit from Sengoku's shockwave in his Daibutsu form, being sent back a great distance and then getting up with little trouble.

Stealth Master
Shiryu has shown great stealth capabilities even before acquiring Devil Fruit powers. When planning to defect to the Blackbeard Pirates, Shiryu could infiltrate Impel Down's monitor room completely undetected, sneak past the extremely high security to destroy all communication devices present, and even sneak up on a security guard reporting to Magellan and kill him without being noticed.

After gaining his invisibility powers, Shiryu's stealth prowess increased, enabling him to perform several sneak attacks on Gecko Moria and his zombies without the former knowing what happened until Shiryu revealed himself.

Swordsmanship
Shiryu is extremely proficient in wielding his sword, having used it to kill many Impel Down prisoners on mere whims. When his sword was returned to him after his long-term imprisonment, Shiryu immediately killed several of his ex-subordinates in a split second, demonstrating great precision and dexterity in his swordsmanship.

Devil Fruit


Shiryu has the powers of the Suke Suke no Mi, a Paramecia-class Devil Fruit allowing him to turn himself and whatever he is holding invisible. He acquired the ability soon after his crew had murdered its previous user, Absalom. With it, he is able to cut opponents without being spotted, taking them by surprise. He personally holds the power in high regard in terms of usefulness.

Weapons


Shiryu's weapon of choice is a nodachi called Raiu, qualified as a Meito. It had been confiscated from him due to his imprisonment in Level 6 but was returned to him when he was released to deal with Blackbeard.

Past
Though the guards of Impel Down have permission to kill prisoners for security reasons, Shiryu heavily abused that privilege by killing many prisoners for his own pleasure. When confronted by Magellan, Shiryu's abuse of his privilege was revealed, and he was deemed to be a menace. For that, he was sentenced to death and placed in a cell on Level 6. As Level 6 prisoners' crimes are deemed too dangerous or embarrassing to be made public, Shiryu's crimes were not heard of by most prisoners, despite their brutality.

Impel Down Arc


When the jailers reached Level 6 after their failed attempt to flood the floor with knockout gas to capture Monkey D. Luffy, Emporio Ivankov, and Inazuma, Shiryu informed them that they had escaped, along with Jinbe and Crocodile, stating that Impel Down had gone downhill without him. He told the jailers to pass the word to Magellan that he would be willing to lend him a hand fighting against the escapees. Magellan, after hearing about the Blackbeard Pirates' intrusion into Impel Down, reluctantly agreed to release Shiryu to fight against the unwelcome Warlord of the Sea, adding that Shiryu's sentence had merely been postponed and that he would not receive anymore chances. However, the moment he was given back his sword, he attacked the jailers who were sent to release him.



He was later seen at Level 1, speaking to Teach and his crew, much to the shock of the guards who were defending against the intruding crew. Blackbeard invited him to join his crew, but Shiryu apparently left the Blackbeard Pirates to their own devices.

Later, Shiryu was seen slaughtering the guards present in the monitor room and destroying it, disabling the giant Den Den Mushi responsible for visual reception, and severing all contact lines to the outside of the prison, while stating that he did not want Magellan to come down to where he was.

A while after the Blackbeard Pirates' encounter with Magellan, Shiryu came and with an antidote saved them from their poisoning, stating that they would have died if he had not helped them. Blackbeard once again invited Shiryu into his crew. Shiryu accepted the offer, saying that he was waiting for a man of Blackbeard's stature, and the alternative was being sentenced to death. With Shiryu on their side, the Blackbeard Pirates made their way to Level 6 where Blackbeard had the inmates fight each other and later took the survivors to join his crew before leaving the prison.

Marineford Arc
Shiryu was seen again when he came with Blackbeard to Marineford. He was spotted along with the other members of the Blackbeard Pirates on the execution platform where they were watching the events unfold on the battlefield. He and the others came to Marineford because they wanted to witness Whitebeard's death. When Sengoku demanded to know what happened to Magellan and Impel Down, Shiryu replied by telling him to find out himself as he had joined Blackbeard. Their conversation was cut short when Whitebeard attacked, but the entire crew escaped unscathed.



When Whitebeard managed to injure Blackbeard, despite the latter canceling out the Devil Fruit power of the former, Shiryu participated in attacking Whitebeard along with the rest of the Blackbeard Pirates, slashing him with his sword. After Whitebeard died, he and the rest of the crew proceeded to aid Teach in assimilating Whitebeard's Devil Fruit power by covering the two pirates in a dark blanket. Despite Teach emerging successful, Shiryu vocally stated beforehand that there was a chance that Blackbeard could fail, musing whether or not the crew would go on or go about their separate ways if that happened. As Blackbeard took control over the former powers of Whitebeard, he wanted to shake Marineford to its core, making it sink.



As Sengoku would not allow this to happen, he angrily transformed into his Buddha form and attacked the Blackbeard Pirates with a giant shock wave. He blasted away all the Blackbeard Pirates, except for the captain. It seemed that he did not receive too much damage, as he was able stand up quite easily. He left with the rest of the crew when the Red Hair Pirates came to Marineford to end the war.

Post-War Arc


Blackbeard made his move in the New World, taking out Jewelry Bonney in the process. While the crew was seen bickering amongst each other, Shiryu scolded the crew for being unprepared for the hardships of the New World. The Blackbeard Pirates' raft was brought close to the point of destruction, due to Sanjuan Wolf's size, and they seemingly got in contact with the Marines to trade Bonney for a battleship. Van Augur alerted Teach that the battleship had arrived but not for trade because Akainu was on board. Knowing that the deal would not happen, the Blackbeard Pirates fled, leaving Bonney behind to be arrested.

During the Timeskip
One year after the war at Marineford, the Blackbeard Pirates fought against the remnants of the Whitebeard Pirates and ultimately won.

At some point, the Blackbeard Pirates expanded and Shiryu became one of the Ten Titanic Captains, leading the second ship of the fleet.

The Blackbeard Pirates used their captain's knowledge of Whitebeard's former territory to conquer it. After Blackbeard became an Emperor, the Blackbeard Pirates started hunting down powerful Devil Fruit users in order to absorb their abilities.

Zou Arc


After Doflamingo's defeat, the Blackbeard Pirates stopped by Dressrosa but were unable to find Burgess. At a certain sea in the New World, Shiryu and Laffitte were contacted by Burgess via Den Den Mushi. Burgess informed them that he stowed away on a ship that led him to the revolutionaries' base on Baltigo, and had fallen unconscious because of severe injuries inflicted by Sabo. He then told them to inform Teach and get the Blackbeard Pirates to attack the island. The Blackbeard Pirates later attacked Baltigo, and the island was destroyed by the time the Marines and Cipher Pol arrived, but the Revolutionary Army was able to escape. However, the Blackbeard Pirates fled after briefly clashing with Cipher Pol and the Marines.

Levely Arc
After the events at Totto Land, he was seen listening to his admiral's comments about Luffy being too soon to be called an Emperor.

Wano Country Arc
Sometime after Absalom arrived at Blackbeard's island Beehive, he was killed and Shiryu gained his Suke Suke no Mi. When Moria and his zombie army went on a rampage on the island a few days later, Shiryu struck Moria from behind before revealing himself.

Major Battles

 * Shiryu vs. Magellan (unseen)
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Magellan (unseen)
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Edward Newgate
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Fleet Admiral Sengoku
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Bonney Pirates
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Whitebeard Pirates (under Marco) (unseen, during timeskip)
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Revolutionary Army (unseen)
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Cipher Pol & Marines (unseen)

Playable Appearances

 * One Py Berry Match
 * One Piece Treasure Cruise
 * One Piece Bon! Bon! Journey!!
 * One Piece Bounty Rush

Support Appearances

 * One Piece: Gigant Battle
 * One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World
 * One Piece: Burning Blood
 * One Piece: Great Pirate Colosseum

Non-Playable Appearances

 * One Piece Thousand Storm

Translation and Dub Issues
In Chapter 595, Shiryu's name was romanized as "Shiliew". This spelling is also used at the One Piece Exhibition and Vivre Card - One Piece Visual Dictionary. However, in Chapter 925, it was romanized as "Shiryu".

Trivia

 * The sarcastic apology Shiryu gave to the guards he cut down, "Kiri-sute gomen" (斬捨て御免), is an old Japanese expression for a samurai's right to strike down an individual of lower class who compromised their honor. In modern days, the term is still used as an advance apology of sorts, with the subtle humor in offering what amounts to an unsympathetic apology.
 * Shiryu's favorite food is rare beef steak.
 * The Cover Page for Chapter 1031 depicts Shiryu along with many other "right-hand men" of several infamous groups; specifically Zoro, Bepo, Rayleigh, Beckman, King, Katakuri, Killer, Marco, and Sabo. This seems to suggest that, after joining his crew, Shiryu has become Teach's right-hand man. However, Oda stated that not all of them are official right-hands like Zoro and Bepo; they are simply the second strongest members of their groups, meaning that Shiryu is the second strongest member of the Blackbeard Pirates after Blackbeard, and the role of right-hand man is more likely to be Laffitte since he assumes the role of chief of staff like Sabo.

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