Prediction Blog: Ryu Hayabusa vs Strider Hiryu (Ninja Gaiden vs Strider)

 

(Kaiser)

(Kaiser)

(Strunton)

(Serge)

(Ed)

(Round 1 Fight)

(Flip)

(door-kun)

(Mau)

"The way of the martial artist is the way of enduring, surviving and prevailing over all that would destroy him. More than delivering strikes and slashes and deeper in significance than the simple outwitting of an enemy, Ninpō is the way of attaining that which we need while making the world a better place."

Takamatsu Toshitsugu

Introduction

Ninjas. Undeniably one of the coolest things in the world and they’re just as cool in video games as they are in real life. These two iconic ninjas have previously fought before, but now it’s time for them to come out of the shadows once more for a second round to see which of them is the ultimate ninja warrior. Will Ryu Hayabusa get his revenge on the futuristic ninja or is Strider Hiryu still a cut above the modern day ninja?

Background

Ryu Hayabusa

Long ago, a great battle between the Divine Dragons and the Evil Deities raged on, until finally, the Dragons were victorious…but this would only be the beginning of what’s to come. One of the Dragons would fall into the dark forces, and as a result, chaos was born once more. With the other remaining Divine Dragons weakening, they placed all their power into a special weapon,  and their hope into a warrior that will save them from the Evil Deities once more. Those who can wield the legendary sword would be a part of this Dragon Lineage, and one of the last descendants of these dragons is the modern day ninja known as Ryu Hayabusa.

Son of Jo Hayabusa, Ryu would begin his intensive training early on in his life so that he could live up to the Dragon Lineage legacy as well as his ninja clan. His talent, skills and determination made him rise as one of the clan’s most promising ninja and he would even befriend members of the Mugen Tenshin Ninja Clan as well. Ultimately, the day arrived when he would finally be able to put his ninja skills to the test as he would have to fight against the Cult of Nostradamus. From this day onward, Ryu’s ninja way would only grow stronger throughout as he would face many dangerous foes ranging from cult members to demons.

Ryu would soon be able to live up to the legacy of his lineage as he would be worthy of utilizing the Dragon Sword and with the support of many friends, he would drive back the forces of evil that threaten the world he lives in. Ryu would soon run a curios shop alongside his girlfriend Irene but whenever the forces of evil arise, Ryu will rise up to the occasion once more to defeat anyone who stands in his way.

Strider Hiryu

Not much is known about him other than being a young orphan of Asian heritage. Hiryu would enroll himself in the Strider program just like his older sister Mariya. During his training in the program, he would become good friends with Sheena and Cain and with how impressive his skills were during his training, he gained a positive reputation among the other Striders and he would eventually become one himself, finally becoming the assassin known as Strider Hiryu.

However, Mariya would go insane and she began a killing spree on other trainee Striders, which led to Hiryu being assigned the mission to kill his sister and as a last act of self-defense, he struck his sister down. This action weighed on Hiryu’s mind heavily and he quit the Strider program as a result, now living a peaceful life in Mongolia until he was (reluctantly) called into action once more to kill his friend Cain. During the struggle against Cain, Sheena was killed in the midst of their battle, further angering Hiryu and it was revealed to him that Cain was under mind control as part of the “Zain Project”, and that his sister too was under that same influence when she went insane. With this knowledge in his brain, Hiryu set off to put an end to it all.

Hiryu and Cain stormed the location of where Zain Project research was taking place and began to kill those involved in it, where he found out that not only were the Striders supporting this project, but the one behind it all was Matic. The two set off once more and Hiryu was ultimately able to end Matic’s plans once and for all. Or at least that’s one side of the story. The name of “Strider Hiryu” has been used throughout many generations of assassins and installments in the series but the one tying thing that they all have in common is that the name should be feared by those who would dare oppose the path of the man named Strider Hiryu.

Weapons and Equipment

Ryu Hayabusa

Dragon Sword/True Dragon Sword

The main weapon of Ryu Hayabusa. Forged by the Dragons, the Dragon Sword can only be utilized by those who have the blood of the Dragon Gods and it possesses legendary powers. It can resurrect dead people, negate healing factors, devour souls and like many other fictional legendary swords, it’s good at slaying evil. When combined with the Eye of the Dragon, its true power can fully shine through and it also will devour the soul of anyone who is too weak-willed to utilize it.

Melee Weapons

Ryu does not always fight utilizing his Dragon Sword. He is skilled in a variety of other melee weapons as well, to give him a different approach in combat. This can range from nimble weapons like katanas and claws to heavy hitters like greatswords and hammers.

Weapon	Name	Description
	Lunar Staff	A staff that is said to contain the powers of the moon. The weapon has a long reach and at its two ends are two spiked weights that spin when it is being used. During a full moon or new moon, the density of the staff’s shaft will increase.
	Nunchaku	A simple pair of nunchaku used by Ryu to combat foes. It’s the most normal thing in Ryu’s arsenal if that amounts to anything.
	Vigoorian Flail	Think of these like an extreme version of the nunchaku. Instead of blunt sticks, it’s sickles that can cut up anyone trying to get in close.
	War Hammer	A heavy weapon that belongs to Rachel. It’s good at pounding enemies into a flesh pancake or just cutting their limbs off as usual though it is quite heavy and takes some time to wield.
	Dabilahro	This 100-pound behemoth is one of Ryu’s heavy hitters. Its tremendous weight and large size makes for good crowd control against hordes of enemies or large foes. While it has great might, swinging it around takes effort and could leave Ryu open to attacks.
	Kitetsu	A special vampiric sword that feeds on the souls of slain victims. It can also drain the energy from enemies struck by the weapon while replenishing Ryu’s own. Normally, there’s an active vampiric effect that drains Ryu’s energy but this no longer seems to be the case.
	Wooden Sword	It may seem like an ordinary wooden sword at first but in truth, there is untapped potential in this stick. If Ryu’s ever in critical condition, the true power of the Wooden Sword is unleashed as it suddenly gains a massive burst of power, outshining most other weapons in damage output.
	Dragon’s Claw and Tiger’s Fang	A pair of dual katana named after the two opposing beasts that are the dragon and the tiger. These katana are dual wielded by Ryu, allowing for double the slashing.
	Falcon’s Talons	A set of claws and boots that Ryu wears on his hands and feet respectively. There are claws on every part of the talons, which are used to tear foes to chunks.
	Tonfa	A pair of metallic sticks that can be wielded very efficiently, both offensively and defensively. The tonfas can be used to do serious blunt damage to anyone on the receiving end of these weapons.
	Kusari-Gama	A sickle and chain combo weapon in which the sickle is thrown to cut victims from a distance and can be quickly retracted by the chain. It can also be swung around for area control.
	Eclipse Scythe	Its origins tracing back to an overthrown Lycanthrope king who got dumped into a vat of Damascus, the Eclipse Scythe is a very strong weapon that also has a decent attack range with every swing.
	Enma’s Fang	A longsword boasting incredible might with every swing of this blade. It got its namesake after the Japanese underworld king, when a swordsmith found the blade in a treasure vault.
	Blade of the Archfiend	Given to Ryu by Genshin as a sign of respect and as a thank you, this sword contains electric properties and it can be dual wielded with either the Dragon Sword or the Jinran-Maru.
	Jinran-Maru	A sword belonging to Ryu’s good friend, Hayate from the Dead or Alive series. It has the ability to shoot out wind blades and Ryu can even dual wield it with the Blade of the Archfiend.
	Plasma Saber Mk. II	A saber made of highly heated plasma that can cut through things effortlessly. Wait…

Ranged Weapons

Ryu also has an assortment of ranged weapons that he can use to pick opponents apart from a distance.

Picture	Name	Description
	Throwing Knife	A simple knife that Ryu can throw at enemies with precision.
	Shuriken	The iconic weapon of many ninja. A throwing star can be used to catch people off-guard.
	Incendiary Shuriken	Shurikens resembling kunai that explode after a brief time has passed when their pin has been pulled.
	Windmill Shuriken	A special kind of shuriken that possesses the properties of a boomerang returning back to the thrower.
	Bow	A weapon used to fire out arrows. Ryu has access to three kinds of arrows. A regular Arrow, Exploding Arrows that explode upon impact and the APFSDS Arrows, made of tungsten and can penetrate through thick armors.
	Strong Bow	An even stronger version of the Bow, and can only be used by those with great strength. It can use all the arrows the regular Bow has.
	Fiend’s Bane Bow	A special bow developed by the Hayabusas and made up of high tensile carbon fibers. Its accuracy can match modern sniper rifles and it uses a Two-Pronged Arrow that is designed to tear flesh.
	Spear Gun	A weapon designed to hunt fish and acts like a rifle. It fires out a spear. It’s best suited for underwater purposes.
	Gatling Spear Gun	An OOPArt from 10th Century Europe. It can rapidly fire out exploding spears but due to its design, it’s useless on dry land.
	Howling Cannon	A beefy cannon that fires out powerful flaming projectiles
	Lock-On Bow	A special kind of bow that locks onto targets.

Armlets/Attribute Items

Extra equipment that Ryu can wear, which grants him all sorts of benefits. Whether it’s armlets, Ayane’s ribbons or just something convenient, they all help the ninja adapt and overcome various problems.

Equipment	Name	Effect
	Armlet of the Sun	Enhances the power of all attacks that Ryu can do by 5%.
	Armlet of the Moon	Decreases the damage that Ryu takes by 5%.
	Armlet of Potency	Greatly increases Ryu’s throwing and kicking strength by 40%.
	Armlet of Benediction	Increases Ryu’s gain of Yellow Essence aka money.
	Armlet of Fortune	Increases Ryu’s ki build up and Red Essence absorption.
	Armlet of Tranquility	Slowly heals Ryu every second.
	Armlet of Celerity	Speeds up the time needed to charge up an Ultimate Technique by 20%.
	Band of Power	Greatly increases the power of all of Ryu’s attacks by 15%.
	Band of Protection	Decreases the damage that Ryu takes by 5%.
	Band of Strength	Greatly increases Ryu’s kicking and throwing power by 40%.
	Band of Wealth	Increases Ryu’s gain of Yellow Essence aka money.
	Band of Spirit	Increases Ryu’s ki build up and Red Essence absorption
	Band of Light	Speeds up the time needed to charge an Ultimate Technique by 20%.
	Owl’s Eye	Allows Ryu to see perfectly in the dark.
	Oxygen Tank	Ryu can freely breathe underwater without struggling for air.

Other Tools

Extra tools at Ryu’s disposal that he can utilize for utility purposes.

• Smoke Bombs: Bombs that can be used to create a distraction to make for a quick getaway.

• Grappling Hook: Let’s Ryu cling onto walls and ceilings from a distance

• Elixir of Spiritual Life/Great Spirit Elixir: Heals a small/full amount of health for Ryu

• Elixir of Devil Way/Great Devil Elixir: Replenishes Ryu’s Ki by a small/full amount

• Jewel of the Demon Seal: Increases the power of Ryu’s Ninpo

• Talisman of Rebirth: One time only. Brings Ryu back to life.

Strider Hiryu

Cypher/Falchion

This is the most powerful weapon of a Strider; only given to those who reach the “Special A” rank. It utilizes plasma energy and high voltage to slice through pretty much anything, like ceramic armor as if it were a flimsy wooden board, and it can even slice through other Striders as well. It utilizes electrical energy and gives off discharges to, say, electrocute water, along with it having voltage settings he can alter. He's also skilled enough to throw it like a boomerang.

Cypher Forms

Hiryu can channel his energy into the Cypher so that it can alter its properties, giving it brand new special properties and elements for Hiryu to utilize against foes. This also causes Hiryu’s scarf to change color.

• Reflect Cypher: By coating the Cypher in a special plasma coating, this gives the Cypher the ability to deflect projectiles by swinging at them. While it doesn’t work on much larger projectiles, if Hiryu times it right, he can send projectiles back at the sender.

• Explosive Cypher: The Cypher becomes superheated by Hiryu’s plasma energy and is set ablaze as a result. Every swing of this can set enemies on fire or generate fire blasts when using the Charged Cypher.

• Ultra-Cold Cypher: Hiryu uses his plasma energy to coat the Cypher in cryogenic plasma that is as cold as absolute zero and can freeze enemies with every swing of the blade.

• Magnetic Cypher: Hiryu’s plasma energy adds a magnetic field to the Cypher and this lets it fire out plasma waves that home in on enemies and return to him like a boomerang.

Assorted Tools/Technology

Various tools and technology at Hiryu’s disposal and act as extra resources for the Strider. 

Tool/Tech	Name	Description
	Blue Dragon Headquarters	Hiryu's headquarters, and where he may teleport to different places in the world, analyze message disks, and check passwords. Once there you simply have to select the location and teleport there, but this must be registered through a Disk first (so no teleporting just anywhere). Hiryu also returns here whenever he uses Warp.
	Boots	Special footwear that Hiryu can equip to gain various effects. Magnet Boots allows Hiryu to climb on walls and the ceiling when applicable. Aqua Boots allow Hiryu to walk on water and Attack Boots allow Hiryu to kick and kill enemies by sliding into them. All Boot effects stack on top of each other, making it very handy.
	Climbing Sickle	A sickle that Hiryu uses to scale walls and ceilings. He’s strong enough to scale these walls one handed with the sickle. It also makes for an impromptu weapon if ever needed.
	Glider	This mechanical Marvel is how he travels around. It's capable of infiltrating enemy bases and even flying to and from outer space
	Throwing Knives	Knives that can be thrown to attack from a distance. Hiryu used 3 of these against Cain.
	Kunai	Sharp projectiles that Hiryu can throw at enemies. The kunai can be enhanced by whatever the current Cypher form is. Reflect can bounce off of surfaces and enemies, Explosive becomes timed explosives, Ultra-Cold freezes enemies and Magnetic fly into the nearest enemy.
	Plasma Capacitors	These devices store plasma energy and allows Hiryu to do a variety of things such as enhancing slide kicks, allow double jumping and to perform the Plasma Catapult technique. There is 1 on the arm that acts as a gauntlet and 2 smaller ones on the boots.

Options

Hiryu can pick up these bionic allies during his travels, but taking damage will make them go away except for the Hawk. They are also health point based, meaning taking damage equates to losing a bot.

• Dipodal Saucer - This bipedal mushroom robot will fire electric blasts in whatever direction Hiryu swings his Cypher, and follows him to bash into enemies whilst moving.

• Terapodal Robot-Panther - This replaces the bots after you get more than 2 of them, and can only help for a limited time before returning the Saucers, with the same damage rules applying

• Hawk Robot - This robot does severe damage to enemies, despite it not moving around much. It circles the air to Attack enemies, and disappears a short time later regardless of if you are hit or not. They can also drop bombs on top of foes.

Power-Ups

Hiryu has access to plenty of power ups to further enhance his fighting capabilities.

Icon	Name	Description
	Cypher	Extends the Cypher’s attacking range.
	Saber	Increases the attack power of the Cypher.
	Energy Capsules/Attack Energy	Restores energy to Hiryu so he can utilize his tricks. Capsules restore a small amount while Energy restores enough to use a Trick.
	“Hi” Kanji Mark	Hiryu heals up by a small amount.
	“Hiryu” Kanji Mark	Fully heals Hiryu to top condition.
	Bunshin	For at least 15 seconds, Hiryu becomes temporarily invincible, leaving behind afterimages as well. These afterimages also imitate Hiryu’s actions, effectively giving him more attacking power. Hiryu claims he can hold this state for 30 seconds.
	Boost	Allows Hiryu to tap into his Boost Mode. 5 of these can be stocked up.

Skills and Abilities

Ryu Hayabusa

Superhuman Strength and Agility

Ryu has shown many cases of his physical capabilities, mostly likely due to his intense training and his heritage. He can bisect people like it's nothing, dodge gunfire, take hits from monsters much larger than him and he’s got no issues in fighting foes who tower over him.

Martial Arts

Ryu is a natural at fighting with his bare hands. He specializes in a martial art referred to as Hayabusa Style Ninjutsu and he’s actually a master at it. Hayabusa is even diligent enough to study other martial arts so that he can refine and hone his own skills. He’s even a regular participant in the Dead or Alive tournaments.

Ninpo Arts

Ryu has access to several Ninpo arts that have a variety of different effects, depending on the ones he utilizes. Ryu has mastered these arts and is even capable of using them underwater. Some of these Ninpo make use of Ki in order to be used, while some do not.

Picture	Name	Description
	Art of the Fire Wheels	A flaming shield that surrounds Ryu, protecting him from enemies trying to get in close. He can also use this to entrap enemies in flames.
	Art of the Flying Fire Wheel	Similar to a regular Fire Wheel, but Ryu tosses it upwards to hit enemies flying above
	Art of the Flame Phoenix	An upgraded form of the Fire Wheels art but replaces fire with the spirits of phoenixes who use holy flames to guard Ryu. The duration can be shortened as the phoenixes take damage.
	Art of the True Inferno	A perfect version of Ryu’s Inferno. The original had Ryu use telekinetic powers to create literal fire dragons and send them out to attack. The perfect version has Ryu turn into a flame dragon that swallows its victims.
	Art of the Ice Storm	Ryu generates an icy whirlwind that freezes anyone caught in it as he can skewer them with ice shards controlled by his mind. The ice is cold enough to put out flames.
	Art of the Hurricane	Ryu generates a devastating twister that he can control with his mind.
	Art of the Wind Blades	Ryu makes waves of vacuum that he can send out in the direction he swings his arms that can cut enemies to pieces or tear their limbs.
	Art of Vacuum Wave	A variant of the Wind Blades art where the blades are shot upwards and downwards and can go through solid objects.
	Art of the Inazuma	Ryu manipulates and amps his own bioelectricity to shoot out blasts of lightning from his hands.
	Art of Divine Life	Ryu focuses his ki into healing his spiritual energy.
	Art of the Piercing Void	Ryu focuses his telekinesis by centripetal vibrations in either his ki focal point or lower dantian. It then forms the energy using gravitational waves propagated by his spirit, resulting in a black hole. The black hole has time-space fluctuations and it sucks anything in its wake, instantly destroying them.
	Time Stop	Ryu can stop time for 5 seconds, allowing him to do basically anything in that timeframe.
	Doppelganger	Ryu creates a tangible shadow clone of himself that can assist him in fighting. Up to 2 clones can be active at a time. These clones can also use Ninpo techniques.
	Sword Extension Wave	Ryu’s sword slashes now have an extended range, allowing him to cut enemies from a farther distance than usual by producing a vacuum wave.
	Flying Jump	Allows Ryu to do a large jump. The jump can go past full volcano heights and he even used it to fight 3 jets once.
	Flying Earth Platforms	Ryu uses his telekinesis to manipulate the earth to generate platforms for him to stand on. He’s skilled enough to also have backup platforms save him if he’s knocked off his current one and he’s used them to fight off giant foes.
	Blink	Ryu can instantaneously dash distances in a fight, leaving behind smoke or leaves.
	Teleport	Ryu can teleport long distances and typically uses it for travel. He can even teleport with others.
	Wall Cling/Climb	Ryu uses his bioelectricity to cling onto walls and ceilings, being able to freely scale them.
	Kunai Climb	A variant of Wall Cling where Ryu decides to use kunai to scale walls, in place of his regular
	Falcon Dive	Ryu ambushes enemies by jumping off a high place and diving into them.
	Heal	Ryu focuses his energy to heal the wounds of others.
	Hayabusa Spirit	Ryu’s spirit can resurrect him if he ever falls in battle though it can take a while before he’s back to normal.
	Transformation	Ryu can turn into the spirit of the Falcon.
	Cicada Surge	A short ranged teleport move. This is actually exclusive to the Hayabusas.
	Ultimate Ninpo	An ultimate ninpo technique in which casters all recite an incantation and open up a portal where a giant wave of energy comes crashing down, creating a large explosion.
	Blood of the Ryujin	Ryu has the blood of the 12 Dragons flowing within him and it grants him high potential to receive superhuman and spiritual abilities. Even just a single drop of this blood is sought out for as others have used it for resurrection and cloning.
	Gessen Goryu Ha	Ryu hits an opponent a few times, sending them up into the air and charges up an energy blast that he sends out as his foe begins to fall down, blasting them away.
	Art of Substitution	A substitution technique in which Ryu makes an illusion with a log that will fight in his place, with the same capabilities as him.

Enhanced Senses

Ryu also has senses that are beyond that of a normal man, most likely due to his intense training as a ninja. For example, he was able to spot an enemy ninja hiding in the dark with just his eyes and immediately threw a knife to his throat. Ryu was able to spot people from afar.

Telekinesis

Ryu can move things with his mind. He also employs telekinesis in some of his Ninpo Arts to control where he wants to attack.

Telepathy

Ryu has shown that he can communicate with others using his mind and from a distance.

Strider Hiryu

Taijutsu

Hiryu is an adept master of the martial art known as Taijutsu. This martial art primarily focuses on unarmed combat and takes elements from Karate, Judo, Kenpo and Aikido.

Enhanced Eyesight

As a Mongolian Nomad in the Manga, Hiryu has incredible eyesight. He managed to spot an airplane in the distance, along with reading words and symbols on it.

Life Force Control

Hiryu could break free from extreme pain paralysis due to sheer willpower alone. Watch out Ryu, cuz this ninja also has unbreakable determination.

Combat Skills

Several techniques that Hiryu can use in combat for attacking or evading enemy attacks.

• Acceleration Jump - After running down a steep slope and bouncing off, Hiryu can jump farther than normal.

• Big Jump - After running down a large incline, Hiryu can make an equally large jump.

• Cartwheel Jump/Rotating Jump Kick - After quickly turning the opposite way to jump, Hiryu flips in that direction, damaging enemies on the way down.

• Slide - A slide for getting under projectiles and damaging enemies whilst doing so.

• Triangle Jump - Hiryu can bounce off walls with this, going in the opposite direction.

• Plasma Arrow - Hiryu can charge up the energy on his Cypher and release a plasma energy projectile from it.

• Savage Slash - Hiryu performs a series of quick slashes all around his body.

• Charged Cypher - Hiryu can charge up his energy and release to perform a mighty Cypher slash that has a farther reach than the normal slash.

• Down Strike - Hiryu will perform an attack that sends him straight down, creating a shockwave on impact.

• Plasma Catapult - Hiryu uses some of the plasma stored in his capacitors and can do a mid-air dash with it to evade traps. The plasma trail it leaves behind can be enhanced depending on the active Cypher form. Reflect will deflect enemy projectiles, Explosive will damage enemies, Ultra-Cold freezes enemies in place and Magnetic stuns while making bullets attracted to them.

Hyper Combos

A series of attacks that essentially serve as Hiryu’s ultimate options of attack.

• Ouroboros - Hiryu summons out 2 Dipodal Saucers, surrounding him as a sort of shield. These saucers can also fire out ring lasers and Hiryu can throw them forward as an extra attack, doing more damage than usual at the cost of losing the saucers.

• Legion - Hiryu calls forth a legion of Robot Panthers and Hawk Robots to try and run the enemy over with an entire swarm of mechanical mates.

• Ragnarok - Hiryu dashes forth and grabs the enemy. If successful, he tosses them upwards and slashes at them several times along with his afterimages before finishing off with a final attack that sends them even higher before they crash down onto the ground.

• Brionac - An aerial move where Hiryu performs a series of omni-directional slashes in quick succession. An upgraded version of his Savage Slash move, essentially.

Power Tricks

Special abilities that Hiryu can utilize. These tricks have offensive and defensive purposes and rely on Hiryu’s energy supply to cast. He can refill his energy with Energy Balls/Pellets but if he’s low on energy, he cannot utilize these tricks.

Trick	Name	Description
	Fire	Shoots a fire bullet toward the enemy.
	Medical	Heals Hiryu by a small amount.
	Spark	Fires out an electric ball that rolls along the ground.
	Jump	Temporarily enables Hiryu to jump really high.
	Warp	Hiryu can use this to instantly warp back to Blue Dragon Base.
	Ground	Attacks all enemies nearby by generating an earthquake.
	Medical 2	Heals Hiryu by a good amount.
	Spark Ball	Throws out a much stronger ball of electricity that also rolls along the ground.
	Medical 3	Heals Hiryu by a significant amount.

Boost Mode

Hiryu can temporarily amp up his Cypher to shoot out plasma waves with every swing of the blade. These plasma waves home in on the nearest enemies and can pass through terrain.

Charge Mode

Hiryu amps himself up to perceive everything around him in slow motion, making it easier to hit enemies. During this state, Hiryu’s attack power and range are doubled. This state lasts for about 5 seconds.

Feats

Ryu Hayabusa

Overall

• Defeated Jaquio, Clancy, Bucky, BIO-NOID Doppelganger, Genshin, Vazdah and the Dark Dragon

• Saved the world on many occasions

• Participates in several Dead or Alive tournaments, and is one of its strongest participants

• Won the 2nd Dead or Alive tournament

• Hailed as one of the greatest Ninja

• Friends with Kasumi, Hayate and Ayane

• His mission is so hardcore it made the Angry Video Game Nerd give up

Strength

• Can slice and behead people and monsters casually

• Destroyed the Dark Dragon Blade with a single swing, a sword of equal power to the True Dragon Sword

• Can pick up and wield the Dabilahro, which weighs 100 lbs.

• Can take out armored helicopters

• Can draw and fire an arrow so hard it flies out causing a sonic boom

• Parries the Goddess’ sword strikes

• Ryu’s Izuna Drop creates a massive explosion 

• Art of the Piercing Void creates a black hole - (69 exatons - 15 yottatons)

Speed

• Escapes a small explosion [03:50]

• Can move faster than the eye can see in multiple occasions

• Jumps out of a moving high speed train just before it collides

• Can dodge helicopter missiles

• Can dodge electricity blasts

• Can dodge machine gun fire and tank shells

• Can dodge Alexei while he’s turned into lightning

• Can swing his sword in tandem with cloud-to-ground lightning - (Mach 158 to 166)

• Swings his sword in tandem with lasers - (6.75c) (Debatable)

Durability

• Fell off a building and through windows while fighting Bucky [42:35]

• Got stabbed in the shoulder [41:05]

• Tanks Nuclear Armadillo blowing up in his face and creating a large explosion

• Can withstand attacks from the possessed Statue of Liberty

• Blocks sword strikes from the Goddess without sustaining any damage

• Can be knocked into obstacles and thrown off high places

Strider Hiryu

Overall

• Is a Special-A Class Strider, the highest possible rank

• Is also the youngest person to reach the rank of Special-A Class Strider

• Defeated his elder sister Mariya while she was under the mind control of Zain, who was the first woman to ever reach A-Rank

• Defeated Grandmaster Meio and Zain

• Master of disguise and infiltration

• Single handedly defeated communism numerous times

Strength

• Sliced a man’s arm off with his bare hands

• Casually slices through armored soldiers

• Has destroyed multiple Gravitrons

• Destroyed the Zain supercomputer, which collapsed a skyscraper as a result

• Sliced a massive robot gorilla to shreds 

• Can destroy tanks 

Speed

• Runs so fast he disappears from eyesight and creates a sonic boom (At least Mach 1)

• Moves fast enough to cause afterimages

• Dodges airship shells 

• Dodges gunfire from tanks and helicopters 

• Deflects a barrage of bullets

• Fast enough to dodge the automatic anti-aircraft gunfire from the Shadow Tag Bullets

• Flew from the Third Moon to Earth in a couple of minutes

• While only has knife, he can beat gun

• Hiryu can perceive and dodge lasers from Laser Turrets (0.55c - 9c)

• He can slash in tandem with beams called light (199.44c) (Check before the verdicts)

Durability

• Often tanks bullets and missiles

• Survives the the Balrog Battleship exploding (660 tons of TNT)

• Rides Meio’s corpse while it fell from orbit with no damage

• Hardcore btw

Scaling

Ryu Hayabusa

Fiends

Ryu has bested and slain the Fiends before. Whether they be the undead, monsters or literal deities, Ryu has always come out on top when battling them and thus we can scale Ryu to the best they have to offer.

• Alexei creates a storm that covers New York - (4.32 to 42.74 megatons of TNT)

• Vazdah’s death creates an explosion that engulfs the peak of Mt. Fuji - (180 kilotons of TNT)

• Alma blows up the top of a palace with an energy beam

• Zedonius’s death caused an explosion that destroyed a clock tower

• Volf can summon winds and create a large storm all over the Aqua Capital - (1.4 megatons of TNT)

Tengu

The Tengu are a group of yokai that love to terrorize humans. Ryu Hayabusa has actually defeated Bankotsubo and Nyotengu in battle before, which means he should be comparable to them, and other weather deities.

• Bankotsubo changes the weather on a wide scale, creating a storm and dispersing it with a stomp  - (48 gigatons and 45 teratons of TNT)

• A fight between Fujin and Raijin creates a week-long typhoon - (244 kilotons to 23 gigatons of TNT)

• Nyotengu debatably weakened said typhoon into an extratropical cyclone - (1 gigaton of TNT)

Vigoor, Gurdu and other deities

(yes, we know this isn’t Vigoor, shush)

The Divine Dragons and Evil Deities have fought in battle in the past before with the Dragons winning. When the Dark Dragon surfaced along with the Deities, they had managed to overwhelm the Divine Dragons this go around, and the first Hayabusa was able to defeat the Dark Dragon. Ryu himself was able to defeat the Dark Dragon that had overwhelmed the Divine Dragons in the past, thanks to the power of the True Dragon Sword. Ryu possessing Divine Dragon blood and with Vazdah also being a possible reincarnation of Vigoor, we can scale Ryu to the feats of the deities, with the True Dragon Sword.

• Gurdu created the Ninja Gaiden universe (Universal, duh)

• The Gods of Evil have the power to wipe out humanity in an instant [0:16] - (183 to 646 petatons of TNT)

• Vigoor is stated to have dried the seas (829 petatons of TNT)

• Vigoor caused “endless solar eclipses” (18 exatons of TNT)

• Vigoor is also stated to have burned down all of existence beyond the concept of time in his fight with Gurdu  (Universal, likely Immeasurable)

• The four deities reshaped the universe that Vigoor destroyed (Universal)

Yaiba

Yaiba, my loathed. This psychotic ninja was actually killed by Ryu before in a previous encounter. Later, when he’s brought back to life and given cybernetic enhancements he fares much better but Ryu is still able to hold his own against him. We can assume that the two ninja would be comparable to one another, although one clearly has the better games…

• Yaiba survives getting hit by Del Gonzo’s meteors

• Survived Ryu Izuna Dropping him from a large distance and causing a large explosion

• Bloodlust Mode Yaiba moves so fast that the blood he spills appears frozen in mid-air (Mach 940 - 0.01c)

Zack

While it is natural to scale Ryu to other fighters in the Dead or Alive verse, you were probably expecting stuff from Kasumi or Hayate but surprisingly, it’s Zack who has some of the most impressive showings here. Given Ryu’s reputation and skill however, we can naturally scale him to Zack.

• Zack survives Zack Island’s destruction twice

Warriors Orochi (Debatable)

Ryu was brought to the world of Warriors Orochi when he fell through a space-time hole made by Orochi, while on a mission. The events of Warriors Orochi 3 take place before Ninja Gaiden 3 but after Dead or Alive 4. Ryu is among one of the many heroes that can fight against Orochi and he even kills him in WO3, meaning we can scale him to a plethora of feats done in the game’s series. Since other Koei Tecmo heroes that share the same universe as Ryu appear in the game with similarly justified backgrounds, it’s hard but possible to argue it’s a canon crossover for Ninja Gaiden.

• Orochi’s scythe was used by Zeus to create the Ouroboros Bracelets

• Zeus’s staff can create lightning which is stated to destroy the universe - (Universal)

• Orochi X is stated to create the World Tree Yggdrasil, that can end every world (At least Universal)

• Loki planned to let the World Tree Yggdrasil destroy an alternate universe (Universal)

Strider Hiryu

Grandmaster Meio

The deceptive mastermind that serves as the main antagonist in almost every installment of the Strider games. Hiryu has defeated him directly several times throughout the series history, meaning he should scale to the Grandmaster’s feats.

• Meio’s defeat causes the Third Moon to explode in Strider 2 - (50.11 petatons of TNT) (See Before the Verdicts)

• Meio planned to turn the planet into a black hole (1.8 MegaFOE) (Debatable)

Strider's Enemies

As part of Hiryu’s missions, several enemies consistently stand in his way to challenge him to a fight. Hiryu has consistently been able to defeat them in battle, so it would make sense that he’d be superior to them

• The Kuniang can leave afterimages behind

• The Kuniang can also generate plasma on a similar level to Hiryu’s Cypher

• Solo’s explosives can damage the Gravitron

• Solo can damage people by ramming into them with his jetpack

Strider Program

As the program's strongest operative, Hiryu should no doubt be compared to its other members, as he is the Highest Rank for a reason.

• A single C-Rank Strider has the strength of a well trained special forces team

• An A-Rank Strider dodged/outran machine gun fire

• Strider Cain was able to move his head to dodge Cypher’s Plasma Arrows and protect himself from fatal damage

• Strider Hien is a Special A-Rank Strider who’s rumored (in lore) to be responsible for the sabotage that led to the extermination of Striders, further implying how Hiryu upscales from all these feats.

The other Striders with codename “Hiryu”

For starters, there is a debate over whether the Hiryu in Strider 2 is the same one or an incarnation of the original, primarily stemming from the game's backstory which sets the game 2000 years after the original, and Grandmaster Meio's last words in the ending wondering if he is the same man who defeated him back then and if he has "come to finish what he didn't". A common assumption is that Hiryu has lived over 2,000 years old. It feels a bit silly to believe that, but Strider 2’s Strider Hiryu could be and not be our Strider Hiryu. We will give a look at the 3 closer to official explanations about this:

1. The Strider Hiryu Visual Chronicle artwork, released in 2014 as part of the Strider Hiryu Special-A Class Limited Edition, states the Strider 2’s Hiryu carries the same codename as the original, implying they are two different people, but there’s a problem with this artbook. It blatantly gives false information about Meio, also mentioning he is a different person. Looking into the game’s cutscenes in Japanese, we can clearly see this isn’t the case, since he remembers Hiryu. His line also wouldn’t make any sense if he wasn’t way too similar to Hiryu to begin with. On one hand it’s the closest to an official response from CAPCOM about this situation, but since it gives us wrong info, it’s a bit questionable to buy this notion right off the bat.

2. The director of the 2014 reboot states in an interview that Hiryu was a clone in that sequel. This interview happened in 2013, about 8 months before the artbook’s release, which is funny when the director doesn’t agree with an artbook released for his own game. That being said, he doesn’t seem to know that Strider 2 take’s 2000 years later instead of a 1000, but that could be just a bad way of saying “thousands” in general. 

3. Marvel VS Capcom: Infinite, released some years later than both claims, has direct quotes from Hiryu and Meio implying that they are in a reincarnation cycle, or something close to that. Although it’s a crossover game and not canon to the events of Strider, it’s just a simple lore drop, so maybe that’s a valid answer.

Either way, since both iterations fought the same guy, the scaling chain gets blatant regardless of the answer we may have. That’s also the reason we gave some of Strider 2’s Hiryu arsenal for Hiryu.

For Zeku, these previous claims can also create some confusion. Considering that in his written backstory in the book "How to make CAPCOM fighting characters" (these scans are incomplete) described Zeku as the "1st generation Strider Hiryu", and the classic 1989 Hiryu is referred to as Zeku's "third generation", it could imply they are part of a succeeding line that may include the passing of the codename "Hiryu" (or his grandson idk), but considering Hiryu’s line in MvC:I, it could also imply they are the same person reincarnated. Either way, since they never fought the same people, besides some possible timeline inconsistencies that could be argued with this information, all of Zeku’s feats and scaling are going to be listed as debatable, since it could be problematic to assume it as a blatant truth. On another viewpoint tho, depending on what you believe to be Hiryu’s situation (meaning they could be the same person), and considering Hiryu is from a future generation and has the same codename, one could argue he’s capable of doing the same feats as Zeku, cuz after all, both are the Special A-Class Rank Strider Hiryus.

Strider 2’s Hiryu

• Defeated Strider Hien and Grandmaster Meio

• Survives the explosion from the Third Moon generated by slashing Meio (50.11 petatons) (Debatable, see Before the Verdict)

Zeku, 1st Gen Hiryu (Debatable)

He doesn’t have anything noticeable that is worth mentioning, since he should scale to other SF characters who are able to do this:

• Ryu’s energy is used to charge the Psycho Drive, which destroys a city (33.1 megatons - 1.1 gigatons)

• Ryu survives being on the island Akuma destroys with a single strike (119 megatons)

• Chun-Li’s Kikosho vaporizes large portions of land (3 - 432 kilotons)

• E. Honda destroys a meteor (961 megatons)

• Mike Haggar pile drives through the planet (10.4 petatons) 

• M. Bison’s Psycho Crusher tags a satellite laser (Mach 1166 - 1% SoL)

Weaknesses

Ryu Hayabusa

While Ryu is an incredibly impressive swordsman, he isn’t invincible. His Ki reserves, with which he needs to perform Ninpo spells is finite, and charging those spells requires time. That, combined with his method of healing, gives any opponent he has an opening for attack.

Also, the existence of Yaiba as a game. What the heck, Koei Tecmo.

Strider Hiryu

Even a ninja as cool and collected as Hiryu has his flaws. He requires energy to perform his Tricks and he’s unable to use them if he does not have sufficient energy for them. A lot of his power ups are also one-use and temporary, meaning he has to try and make the most of what he’s got. His Options can also be easily disposed of by a good hit, which would leave Hiryu with a lot less options.

Art Section

(Luka - commissions open)

Before the Verdict

Uni Ryu? Immeasurable Ryu??? 

Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly if you have been following Ninja Gaiden versus discussions for long enough), Ryu has means to scale to a good few solid universal AP feats, and a possible infinite/immeasurable speed one. Let’s discuss them.

First off, we have Gurdu. Gurdu, the first deity of the Ninja Gaiden/DoA universe, is stated to “give birth to all elements, and provide them with order and function” amidst a sea of “pure nothingness”. This feat can easily be interpreted as the creation of the physical universe, as it follows the usual pattern of a creator deity shaping our reality into being from pure nothing found in many mythologies and religions.

Furthermore, we have Vigoor, Gurdu’s counterpart of pure evil and chaos, born from the Hatred that formed from the void that preceded creation. Vigoor is stated to have entered a conflict with Gurdu and started to devour his territory, causing a fight with massively destructive effects that burn down all of existence itself, ignoring the concept of time, leading the world (obviously universe in context, as they burned down existence) to the same shapeless chaos that it was born from before Gurdu. Pretty clear cut universal feat. Their fight caused such cosmic scale destruction that existence itself burned down and everything went back to the way it was before Gurdu created it, meaning the conflict resulted in the destruction of the universe. Since the fight caused the destruction of the universe, ignoring the very concept of time, it would obviously mean they would have to be moving and attacking while ignoring the concept of time, resulting in speeds that would eclipse any measurable speed feat, meaning they would be able to tap into infinite or immeasurable speed. 

Right after his defeat, Gurdu’s body is split into four deities, which “shaped the world back into form", essentially rebuilding the universe that Vigoor destroyed, another universal feat. This counts 3 in total from the lore of Ninja Gaiden 2 alone, making cosmic levels of power and speed consistent.

Mind you, while the texts do use “the world” instead of “the universe”, it is very clear Gurdu is the creator of the universe, not just the planet. There are mentions of the earth splitting and solar eclipses, but in context, the higher scale interpretations are much more well founded. Vigoor’s fight with Gurdu is stated to cause “all of existence” to burn down and be destroyed, so it’s unlikely they’d only be referring to our planet. VS Battle Wiki suggests the high end for Ninja Gaiden is planet level, but looking into the lore better, it is very clear that the cosmic destruction and creation feats present in the story are blatantly referring to the entire cosmos and not just our planet. Even then, if you really want to not believe it for unknown reasons, the speed feats aren’t reducible or can be argued against.

It is also important to note that none of the enemies in the actual games are Vigoor, but either representatives of his ideology or beings that possess his power. Directly confronting Vigoor isn’t necessary to scale to his feats nonetheless, which leads us to the question: why does Ryu actually scale to this?

The reason why Ryu would scale to any of this is fairly straightforward. The 13 Dragons born from the deity known as “The Serpent” waged war against Vigoor and eventually defeated him, banishing him to “the ends of the world”, meaning they scale to his levels of power and speed as they are able to fight and defeat him. The Dark Dragon, formerly one of the 13, plunged the Earth into darkness, forcing the remaining dragons to create the Dragon Sword, a weapon “inhabited by the very essence of the powers of the Dragons”. The sword was used to defeat the Dark Dragon, making the scaling pretty blatant. The Dark Dragon was later resurrected, and Ryu engaged in combat with him, and defeated it again with the Dragon Sword, obviously matching his speed and tanking attacks from him. It’s important to note that it is stated that, when holding the Dragon Sword, Ryu’s body “courses with unfathomable power”, giving more evidence that Ryu should scale to all of the previously cited feats physically.

“Laser” Feats 

Regarding Hiryu’s light timing examples, this will clear up some things on the two examples: the lasers from Strider Arcade and Strider 2014. In the former’s case, it moves in a straight line and is called light in a guidebook…but it still has some contradictory properties. It bounces off every surface, and explodes while doing so to boot. While legitimate lasers bounce off reflective surfaces like mirrors, metal walls and doors don't really fall into that criteria, and exploding at all is a big no-no for most lasers. We decided to label it as debatable, so it's up to you to decide if it's okay, according to your own standards for lasers.

This isn't the case, however, with the lasers in Strider’s 2014 game. These follow a lot of the standard laser requirements and don't break any rules, unlike the arcade version did. They travel in a straight continuous beam, burn and not explode on contact, and come from a technological source that is officially labeled a laser (レーザー砲台 = Laser Battery). Thus, these should be fine to use, and land between 0.55 - 9 × FTL as a result, solidly.

Ryu’s laser feat in Ninja Gaiden 3 for the NES is dubious as well, as it is an energy beam that bounces on the floor that isn't really stated as a laser anywhere. Make of it what you will.

Third Moon Explosions

(pretend this is the Third Moon)

One matter that you may be curious about is scaling Hiryu to the explosions of the totally-not a Death Star rip-off Third Moon. In that case? Well, it has some problems. For one thing these are pretty much always due to chain reactions or tech failing that Hiryu has nothing to do with, and all of the times he destroys it end with him escaping…except potentially one. At the end of Strider 2, upon the Mission Complete sign and Meio's death, the Third Moon explodes, and you could potentially say Hiryu tanked it. The issue with that is, well, Hiryu’s not an idiot. There is no logical reason he would stay on an exploding space station meaning his ability to tank it relies on pretty shaky evidence as opposed to him just leaving the imminent danger. This feat’s dubious, but you can still argue it one way or the other.

Note that scaling Hiryu to the gravity devices that power the many versions of the Third Moon is not very logical either, as they are always destroyed by Hiryu simply slashing away at the core. It would make no sense for the metal to have durability equal to the energy required to lift the thing from the surface of the planet to space, or for the attacks the core throws at you to scale to that in any way, as there’s no correlation between them. 

Oh, and to add salt to the wound, perspective makes it practically impossible to figure out the real size of the Third Moon based on Earth’s curvature, so the current assumed size is a highball. Yeah…

Is Ultra-Cold Cypher a valid durability negation weapon?

The Ultra-Cold Cypher form for Hiryu is stated to have temperatures of absolute zero (that’s -273.15°C) and we can see that it is capable of freezing things, but the important part is if it actually can be used as an argument for durability negation and the answer is no. Simply having something stated to be at absolute zero temperatures is not enough for it to be considered durability negation, it has to be capable of lowering the target’s temperature to those temperatures for it to be legit. In Strider Hiryu’s case, the Ultra-Cold Cypher has never been stated to lower a target’s temperatures to that of absolute zero nor are there other properties being displayed that would suggest absolute zero, as can be shown in the fact that the enemies don't actually get frozen from the inside like real absolute zero would make them, as the Cypher merely encases them in a thick block of ice, which they can easily break free from. Thus we cannot accept the Ultra-Cold Cypher as a valid method of durability negation.

Verdict

Stats

Let’s start with attack potency. There’s no cutting around it that Ryu eclipses Hiryu in this category, no matter what ends you want to try and argue for the Strider. Hiryu’s feat of surviving the Balrog explosion gets a result of 660 tons of TNT and there’s plenty of people he can scale to which would get him to up to 50 petatons of TNT, assuming he survived the Third Moon exploding… which in itself is dubious, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt here. Ryu’s Art of the Piercing Void can get as low as 69 exatons however, already making him hundreds of times stronger than Hiryu and that’s assuming he even survived the explosion at all. At their absolute highest, we can compare both of them to their biggest foes. Hiryu can be scaled to Grandmaster Meio, who had plans to turn the planet into a black hole. While we do not know how Meio intended to do this, let’s be extremely generous and assume he was going to make a planet sized black hole with his own physical power. The amount of energy required to accomplish such a task is 1.8 MegaFOE, which is mighty impressive…but Hayabusa can be scaled to both Gurdu and Vigoor, both of which have accomplished feats on a universal scale and many leagues stronger than Meio’s black hole, while also requiring far less assumptions and reaches. On a similar note, even if we were to give Hiryu scaling to Street Fighter, Ryu would in turn get feats from the Warriors Orochi games, which also has several claims of universal levels of power. No matter what ends you want to utilize, Ryu will always be several times stronger than Strider.

In the speed department, Hiryu actually has the edge here at first. He can dodge lasers from Laser Turrets, which can get results from 0.55c to 9c. Hayabusa could reach about 7c (6.75c to be more precise) from swinging his sword in tandem with Clancy’s laser but that’d still be lower than what Hiryu could get from the turrets at his highest ends. However, given that we can scale Ryu to the Dark Dragon and the Evil Deities, this means that Ryu could get speeds that reach the Immeasurable range, making him quite literally infinitely faster than Hiryu at his best.

Overall, while Strider has some good feats, Ryu makes him pale in comparison with both low ends and high ends in AP, while in speed they are almost relative with lower ends for Ryu, at his highest Ryu is infinitely above Strider.

Arsenal & Abilities

In terms of their arsenal and abilities, both ninja are capable of creating extra copies of themselves to help them fight, both can scale and climb walls and can harness some elements but after that, it begins to tip towards Ryu’s favor. Ryu has far more weapons and tools to utilize in comparison to Hiryu’s and his Ninpo Arts are far more numerous and powerful than the Power Tricks. To Hiryu’s credit, the Cypher is an incredibly versatile weapon that can have extra properties added to it, making it a very dangerous weapon. Reflect Cypher could send Ryu’s projectiles back at him and Magnetic Cypher can send out plasma waves that can home in on him and the Bunshin power-up can also help Hiryu hang in there thanks to its temporary invincibility but that’s when he starts to lose the edge. First of all, while the extreme heat of the Plasma Cypher could be argued to bypass durability, Ryu has withstood volcano temperatures and every other enemy he fights can tank his superheated plasma blade, meaning it’s unlikely to affect him, removing one of Strider’s only ways to bypass the AP edge. In addition, Ryu has several Ninpo that Hiryu has no answer to like the Time Stop, which would give him more than enough time to deal a killing blow. The Dragon Sword also has the capabilities to negate healing factors and devour souls, meaning not only would Hiryu’s healing methods be nullified, but his soul would be devoured as well. Both the Doppelganger and Substitution Ninpo give Ryu extra men to fight alongside him to help match against Hiryu’s Bunshin, and they’re all capable of doing the same things Ryu can do such as Ninpo. Ryu also has complete dominance in terms of area of effect damage with certain Ninpo techniques like Art of the Piercing Void and Ultimate Ninpo. Combined with the fact his Doppelgangers can also replicate these techniques, it becomes very difficult for Hiryu to avoid such an onslaught of attacks. Even if Strider Hiryu were to somehow kill Ryu, the Talisman of Rebirth would immediately resurrect him, giving the Dragon Ninja a second chance to finish the job. Overall, Ryu’s large and varied arsenal and deadly abilities give him the advantage when it comes to arsenal and abilities.

Tertiary Factors

Both ninjas have shown many great accomplishments in their careers. Ryu has been training since he was young, fought many evils and is a regular participant in the Dead or Alive tournaments even winning the 2nd tournament. Hiryu survived the Strider program’s hellish training, is a Special A Class Strider and is the youngest Strider to achieve such a high rank, has fought against the likes of Meio’s army several times and he’s even a taijutsu master. It can be a bit difficult to say who has the edge in this category as both of them have been shown to be quite experienced in the field and share a lot of characteristics such as being skilled swordmen and masters of stealth.

Summary

Ryu Hayabusa

“You are not a murderer. You’re not exactly a hero, either. Guess that’s what it means to be a ninja.”

Advantages:

• Leagues stronger and tougher

• Faster with high end feats…

• Has much more hax and weapons Hiryu has no counter to, like his time stops

• Wields several AOE attacks and methods of cloning to counter Hiryu’s greater support

• Is much more mobile with his teleporting to and from wherever he wants, whereas Hiryu can't utilize teleportation that way

• The True Dragon Sword can shut off Hiryu’s healing items and absorb his soul

• Can easily resurrect in the unlikely event Hiryu is victorious

• Just as skilled and experienced

• Ninja Gaiden 2 (Xbox)

• Beats Naruto in a fight fr fr

Disadvantages:

• …but is slower with low end feats

• Has a numbers disadvantage

• Birds

• Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z

• Franchise is dead 

Strider Hiryu

“Could you be? Are you that Hiryu? The one who appeared to me over two thousand years ago, before I took this world? Are you going to finish what you couldn’t back then?”

Advantages:

• Faster when using low-tier feats

• Has more on-hand support

• Wields a few of the same Powers, like stat boosts, healing, and elemental techniques…

• Just as skilled and experienced

• Didn't lose to Naruto in a DBX

Disadvantages

• Vastly weaker no matter what end you use

• Far slower with high-ends for Ryu

• Durability negation methods don’t work on Ryu

• …but Ryu has far more and better powers then these

• Outclassed in AOE 

• Far less mobile

• No counters to True Dragon Sword

• Gorillas

• Strider Returns

• Franchise is dead

Conclusion

In the end, Ryu simply outclasses Strider in almost every way. While Strider’s number advantage is helpful, it can only really buy a bit of time when combined with Ryu’s far better hax and overwhelming stat advantage in comparison, especially considering Ryu has his own counters to said numbers advantage and counters almost every single other thing Hiryu has. While both have about even experience and skill, Ryu’s other advantages are just far too great for them to really give Hiryu any significant edge in comparison, especially with Ryu’s resurrection ensuring that even if Hiryu were able to kill him, he would come back anyways.

While Strider Hiryu was a well trained, powerful ninja, in the end, his story was a mere gaiden when compared to the Modern-Day Ninja.

The winner is Ryu Hayabusa.

Tally

Ryu Hayabusa (8) - Strunton, Kaiser, door-kun, Ed, Mau, Mikha'el/Migue, Round 1 Fight, Viviota

Strider Hiryu (2) - Flip (pity vote, I read the english translated part of his manga in my 13s on LSCM before it shut down, but it has an spirit successor, the Strider Citadel), Serge (pity vote)