Shiryu

Shiryuu of the Rain (雨のシリュウ, Ame no Shiryū) was a Chief Jailer of Impel Down until he was imprisoned for his excessive violence towards the prisoners. During the riot caused by Monkey D. Luffy and Marshall D. Teach, he was temporarily freed to deal with the latter. However, instead of dealing with the pirate, Shiryuu aided him and decided to join his crew.

Appearance
In a flashback, Shiryuu was seen to have strap on devil-like wings similar to Magellan's and Hannyabal's, along with an officer's hat that has ear-flaps on the sides, and maroon gloves. He usually has the bill of his hat rather low. The strap-on wings are not present by the time he was released from his cell. He is a rather large man, as tall as Blackbeard. He also possesses a prominent chin. While imprisoned, he was allowed to keep his uniform rather than wearing the prisoners' striped shirt. He also wears a long jacket over it, draped over like a cape. The kanji on the back of his jacket reads Goku (獄), which means "prison". Shiryuu is usually seen smoking a cigar.

The sword that Shiryuu wields is long (possibly a nodachi) and has a square guard. It has a white sheath, and dark in the middle portion.

Personality
Shiryuu is extremely sadistic and seems to enjoy killing people any time he can. He massacred many prisoners within the walls of Impel Down. He also struck down his subordinates right after being released from prison, while giving a sarcastic apology. He also likes to test his blade against others, even if they are far below his level of power.

Shiryuu is apparently very deceitful and treasonous, as he offered to help Magellan fight for the prison if released, but instead betrayed his former superior and wreaked havoc and killed many subordinates.

Shiryuu also believes that the Shichibukai are just pirates. Despite this, he was willing to aid the Blackbeard Pirates and even becoming one himself. Shiryuu believes in fate; believing that it was fate that brought Blackbeard to him, and that fate told him to join the crew. He recently showed that he does not care much about personal details; when asked by Fleet Admiral Sengoku about what happened to Magellan; he told him to find out for himself. He has also shown himself to be very irritated and aggravated by the Blackbeard Pirates for not preparing themselves properly for the New World.

Abilities and Powers
As the former Chief Guard of Impel Down, Shiryuu had command over lower ranking employees of the fortress. However, due to him abusing the power of his station, he was stripped of his rank and privileges.

His strength is also said to be comparable to the Chief Warden Magellan. However, since Magellan's work hours are limited by his diarrhea, Shiryuu is considered more dangerous. Despite this, Magellan was still able to suppress Shiryuu and place him in a cell in Level 6.

Shiryuu is a master swordsman and is extremely proficient with a sword. Once released from his death row cell, Shiryuu was given his sword back and killed his fellow Impel Down officers in a split second. He has shown himself to possess immense superhuman endurance; this is best demonstrated by taking a direct hit from Sengoku's shockwave in his buddha form, being sent a great distance, and then getting up with only a small amount of trouble.

Past
Though the guards of Impel Down have permission to kill prisoners for security reasons, Shiryuu heavily abused that privilege by killing many prisoners for his own pleasure. When confronted by Magellan, Shiryuu's abuse of his privilege was revealed and he was deemed to be a menace. For that, he was sentenced to death and put on death row in Level 6. As Level 6 prisoners' crimes are deemed too dangerous or embarrassing to be made public, Shiryuu'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 knock out gas to capture Monkey D. Luffy, Emporio Ivankov and Inazuma, Shiryuu informs them that they had escaped, along with Jinbe and Crocodile, stating that Impel Down has gone downhill without him. He tells the jailers to pass 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 Shiryuu to fight against the unwelcome Shichibukai, adding that Shiryuu's sentence has merely been postponed, and that he will not receive anymore chances. However, the moment he was given back his sword, he attacked the jailers who were sent to release him. He then departed up the Levels to meet with the Blackbeard Pirates.



He is later seen at Level 1, confronting Blackbeard and his crew, much to the shock of the guards who were defending against the intruding crew. What happened during their encounter is currently unknown, but the Blackbeard Pirates somehow managed to bypass him and enter Level 4.

Later, Shiryuu, seemingly unharmed from his encounter with Blackbeard, is seen slaughtering the guards, destroying the monitor room, disabling the giant Den Den Mushi that was 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 is.

A while after the Blackbeard Pirates' encounter with Magellan, Shiryuu came and saved them with an antidote, stating they would have died if it weren't for him. Blackbeard apparently invited Shiryuu to join his crew before and repeated his offer after Shiryuu saved them. Shiryuu accepted, due to fate and the fact he was waiting for a man of Blackbeard's stature, and the alternative is being sentenced to death, as he stated himself. Shiryuu is finally seen again when he came with Blackbeard to Marineford.

Marineford arc
Shiryuu is spotted along with the other members of the Blackbeard Pirates on the execution platform where they were watching the events unfold on the battlefield. Currently, he and the others came to Marineford because they wanted to witness Whitebeard's death. When Sengoku demands to know what happened to Magellan and Impel Down, Shiryuu replies by telling him to find out himself as he is now with Blackbeard. When Whitebeard manages to injure Blackbeard, despite the latter canceling out the Devil Fruit power of the former, Shiryuu participates 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, Shiryuu vocally states 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 takes control over the former powers of Whitebeard, he wants to shake Marineford to its core, making it sink. As Sengoku would not allow this to happen, he angrily transforms into his Buddha form. Then, creating a giant shockwave; he blasts away all the Blackbeard Pirates, except for the captain. It seems he doesn't have too much damage, as he was able stand up quite easily. He leaves with the rest of the crew when the Red-Haired Pirates come on the scene.

Post-War arc
Blackbeard makes his move in the New World, taking out Jewelry Bonney in the process. While the crew is seen bickering amongst each other, Shiryuu scolds the crew for being unprepared for the hardships of the New World. 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 alerts Teach that the battleship has arrived, but not for trade because Akainu is on board. Knowing that the trade won't happen, the Blackbeard Pirates flee, leaving Bonney behind to be arrested.

Major Battles

 * Shiryuu vs. unnamed, faceless Impel Down prisoners (more of a massacre than a battle)
 * Shiryuu vs. Magellan (past battle, unseen, was locked up in Level 6)
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Edward Newgate
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Fleet Admiral Sengoku
 * Blackbeard Pirates vs. Bonney Pirates

Trivia

 * Shiryuu shares his appearance with Yasunori Kato, the villain from the 80s novel and movie Teito Monogatari. Many other characters from anime and video games have been based on the same design, including M. Bison (known as Vega in Japan) from Street Fighter 2, and Washizaki from Riki-Oh. The design has been reused and referenced so often it is impossible to determine which character, if any, was the actual inspiration without confirmation from Oda himself.
 * Shiryuu's name could be a reference to real life Chinese pirate Zheng Zhilong which, translated into Japanese, is Tei Shiryū. This however, remains unconfirmed by Oda.

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