LavisFiend
Smash Lord
It would seem this is destiny for me to write this support thread. I own the replica of the Dragon Sword in real life, I have Hayabusa in my sig, Ninja Gaiden happens to be one of my favorite games, and there is not a single support thread (and if they were, they were not big enough) to garner the respect he deserves. It is because of this, that this thread is crafted to give you knowledge about the kickass ninja and where I believe he stands (from a logical standpoint) concerning Brawl.
History
Ryu Hayabusa stars in the franchise "Ninja Gaiden." The name "Hayabusa" is more than just a name, it's a title of significance, worn proudly by those who have graduated the Hayabusa Ninja School. Ironically, Ryu's father, Ken Hayabusa, is the leader of the Hayabusa Ninja School.
Ryu got his start in 1988 through an arcade styled beat em up aptly named, "Ninja Gaiden." In that same year however, we see Ninja Gaiden appear on the NES and the SEGA Master System. Two NES sequels were created from the original Ninja Gaiden: Ninja Gaiden II: Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Sword of Doom. These three games comprised the trilogy (minus Ninja Gaiden Shadow which did not have any real relevance to the three games), and tied it up quite nicely.
However, Ryu did not stop there. He continued to grow as he would soon make appearances in the DOA series, as well as begin to reemerge into the next gen through the very franchise that made him famous, Ninja Gaiden. The games, Ninja Gaiden, Ninja Gaiden Black, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma are all virtually the same game with the later versions acting as expansions upon the original XBOX title Ninja Gaiden. The story for the XBOX version of Ninja Gaiden acts as a prequel to the original trilogy, with some minor ties to his DOA storyline. The new game to appear on DS, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, Is said to be completly different from the XBOX games, and it will follow a new storyline that takes place 6 months after the events from the XBOX titles.
GAME TIMELINE
For your viewing pleasure, I went through the liberty of putting the games in order, and what systems they appeared on. I left the DOA games out of the chronology, as they did not affect his storyline anything great, as he appeared as a mere cameo with very loose connections with some of the DOA girls.
Ninja Gaiden-Arcade
Ninja Gaiden-NES/SEGA
Ninja Gaiden II: Dark Sword of Chaos-NES
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom-NES
Ninja Gaiden-XBOX
Ninja Gaiden Black-XBOX
Ninja Gaiden Sigma-XBOX360/PS3
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword-DS
Moveset
I am quite sure Mr. Sakurai and the other amazing individuals at Sora inc. can surely create a far more better moveset than I could ever hope of pulling off, but I am going to try. Ninja Gaiden was a game all about vicious combos and crazy maneuvars that helped him stand out, and I am going to try to capture that.
A: Horizontal swipe
AA: Vertical swipe
AAA: Overhead double-handed swipe (great knockback)
HoldA: Ryu sheaths his sword and begins to flail his nunchucks. You CAN walk while doing this, but it is slow, and if you jump or duck, you quit the flailing.
>A: Torso plunge (Ryu drives his sword in a skewer-like blow)
^A: Jumping uppercut (Self-explantory)
vA: Watch your toes! (Ryu takes out a large broadsword and swings it around him at shin level.)
<A: Rear-Torso plunge (without turning around, Ryu drives his sword behind him, aimed at the torso obviously)
Running A: Butterfly kick (graceful kick capable of multi-hit.)
Nair: Aerial roundhouse kick
Fair: Fan slice (Ryu takes out his broadsword and flips, the sword rotating around him)
Bair: Elbow (thunderous knockback. Can you say, zOMG AERIAL KNEE?
Dair: Crown cleaver (Ryu falls straight down, his sword pointed straight down. Think Links Dair)
Uair: Swipe (upward sword swipe; nothing special)
Grab: grabs them by their throat
Fthrow: Cave-in chest (Ryu holds them steady and fires his fist into their stomach)
Dthrow: Pin (Ryu throws them down and raises his foot real high up, sending it down on their spine.)
Bthrow: Backfist (Ryu throws them behind him, sending a back fist against their head)
UThrow: Soccer kick (Ryu hurls the victim in the air and follows them upwards to deliver a high-arched kick.)
B: Incediary Shurikens (Much like Sheik's needles, 'cept they explode.)
>B: Staff (Ryu takes out his staff. Once it is out, you can perform combos with it)
VB: Smoke bomb (makes invisible for a few seconds and disorients the person who steps in it by not allowing them to attack for a couple seconds. Very laggy move)
^B: Vigorian Flail (a grappling hook somewhat, but if you were to stick an edge hog, the momentum sends THEM down, and you up. Also works like a traditional grappling hook.
<B: Arrow hop ( Ryu makes one large hop backwards firing three arrows quickly at the oppenent.
Taunt: Messes with his sash
FS: Fiend Transformation (Transforms into his fiend form. Attacks become twice as strong, Speed doubles as well. Effects last up to around 15-20 seconds)
Reasoning
Many people have a strong belief on Sonic, Mario, Megaman, etc. taking up the remaining few slots for Brawl. This is very likely, as I believe it to be so myself. However, it would be foolish to count out Ryu because he dosen't seem "worthy" enough. Go back to the timeline for a minute. Ninja Gaiden as a series, had utter dominance as a Nintendo title, but the series truly got famous for when it was revived on Xbox. However, the three Xbox titles are really just the same game, as the later versions of Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox acted as expansions upon the original. The franchise's newest title is reappearing back on Nintendo, as it is more of a personal goal for Team Ninja Developer Tomonobu Itagaki, (The main reason it coming to the DS is because of his daughter.) Although it is a personal reason, it dosen't change the fact that Ninja Gaiden is coming back to it's Nintendo roots.
His chances of making it into Brawl however are slim on account of people assuming that the remaining 1-2 slots (as noone knows the set number of 3rd party roster slots) will be going to the more deserving icons from Capcom and Sega as they have shown a large contribution to Nintendo as of late. this is not wrong to assume such a thing, it makes perfect sense, but you can't be so quick to judge that Team Ninja won't get any representation, as it could very well happen.
Stupid Arguments
"HE CAN'T BE IN BRAWL CUZ HE ALL MATURE AND WHAT NOT!"
Snake is a mature character. Logic Fails.
"HE WOULD HAVE NO MOVES CAUSE ALL HIS MOVES KILL PEOPLE IN DUH GAMEZ!"
-_-; Every videogame character kills their enemies in some way or fashion. Some deaths are just cleaner than others.
"Ninja Gaiden AIN'T POPULAR ENOUGH!"
*Laugh
Yea, it sure ain't popular. Mmmhmm, k, well, then explain to me how they can release the same game, and can afford to tweak few things, add a few chapters, and a couple of weapons, and still sell millions? Ninja Gaiden is insanely popular.
"THE GAME IS TOO HARD!"
Because you suck.
"Sakurai DOSEN'T LYKE NINJA GAIDEN!"
Cause you would know what goes on in Sakurai's mind correct?
"BUT HE WOULD BE A CLONE OF ____!"
Oh for the love of-
His whole game is combat-oriented. He would be perfectly unique. Saying he is a clone because he has a sword is like saying Bill Cosby likes Digimon because Pokemon and Digimon are virtually the same thing, but are not at all.
FINAL WORDS
I just wanna say thanks for taking a moment of your time to read this. I had some fun making this support thread, and I hope you had fun reading what I had to offer. For being good little boys and girls, here's a cookie.
COOKIE
Have a nice day!
