Shiryu

Shiryū of the Rain (雨のシリュウ) was a Chief Jailer of Impel Down until he was imprisoned for his excessive violence towards the prisoners. Due to the riot caused by Monkey D. Luffy and the arrival of Marshall D. Teach, he was temporarily freed to help quell the riot. However, instead of dealing with the pirates, Shiryū aided Teach and ultimately decided to join his crew.

Appearance
In a flashback, Shiryū was seen to have strap on devil-like wings similar to Magellan's and Hannyabal's, along with a black officer's hat with a red stripe that has white 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 white, yellow, and black jacket over it, draped over like a cape. The kanji on the back of his jacket reads Goku (獄), which means "prison". Shiryū is usually seen smoking a cigar.

The sword that Shiryū wields has a long blade with a square guard. Half of its sheath is white, while the other half is red.

Personality
My apologies... Shiryū 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. He is also completely calm and cool-headed, even in tense and unexpected situations. He also smart, because he tells Blackbeard Pirates not to underestimate Magellan and he tells them that they should have prepared themselves properly for the New World.

Shiryū 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, killing many subordinates.

He's also a smoker. When he got out jail to help Magellan, the first thing he wanted was a lighter to smoke his cigar.

Shiryū also believes that the Shichibukai are just pirates. Despite this, he was willing to aid the Blackbeard Pirates and even became one himself. Shiryū believes in fate; believing that it was fate that brought Blackbeard to him, and that fate told him to join the crew. He has shown 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 appears to have a very strict disposition towards those around him, be they jailors or pirates, and 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, Shiryū 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 equal to the Chief Warden Magellan. However, since Magellan's work hours are limited by his diarrhea, Shiryū was considered more dangerous. Despite this, Magellan was still able to suppress Shiryū and place him in a cell in Level 6. He has shown himself to possess superhuman endurance; this is best demonstrated by taking a direct hit from Sengoku's shock wave in his Daibutsu form, being sent a great distance, and then getting up with only a small amount of trouble.

Weapon
Shiryū is a master swordsman and is extremely proficient with a specific type of sword, the nodachi. Once released from his death row cell, Shiryū was given his nodachi back and killed his fellow Impel Down officers in a split second.

Past
Though the guards of Impel Down have permission to kill prisoners for security reasons, Shiryū heavily abused that privilege by killing many prisoners for his own pleasure. When confronted by Magellan, Shiryū'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, Shiryū's crimes were not heard of by most prisoners, despite their brutality.

Imprisonment and Freedom in Impel Down


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, Shiryū 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 Shiryū to fight against the unwelcome Shichibukai, adding that Shiryū'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 Teach 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, Shiryū, 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, Shiryū came and saved them with an antidote, stating they would have died if it weren't for him. Blackbeard apparently invited Shiryū to join his crew before and repeated his offer after Shiryū saved them. Shiryū 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. Shiryū is finally seen again when he came with Blackbeard to Marineford.

Marineford Arc
Shiryū 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. 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, Shiryū replies by telling him to find out himself as he is now with Blackbeard. Their conversation was cut short when Whitebeard attacked, but the entire crew escaped unscathed.

When Whitebeard manages to injure Blackbeard, despite the latter canceling out the Devil Fruit power of the former, Shiryū 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, Shiryū 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 Hair 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, Shiryū 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 deal won't happen, the Blackbeard Pirates flee, leaving Bonney behind to be arrested.

Major Battles

 * Shiryū vs. unnamed, faceless Impel Down prisoners (more of a massacre than a battle)
 * Shiryū 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

 * Shiryū 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.
 * Shiryū's name resembles that of the real life Chinese pirate Zheng Zhilong which, translated into Japanese, is Tei Shiryū.

Site Navigation
Shiryū