Yukyu Riko

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Yukyu Riko
Name
Japanese Name	ユーキュ • りこう
Romanized Name	Yūkyū Rikō
Official English Name	Rikō Yūkyū
Aliases	Kuroihitsuji (黒い羊; literally meaning "Black Sheep")
Statistics
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Age	41
Status	Deceased
Height	6'3" (195 cm)
Weight	189Ibs. (86 kg)
Status
Residence	Shogi Kingdom ‡
Affiliation	Marines
Occupation	Admiral of the Marines Chief Petty Officer (Promoted) Seaman Recruit (Promoted)
Relatives	Gina ♥
Portrayal
Debut Roleplay	A Life Well Lived
Japanese VA	Ai Fairouz
English VA	Arryn Zech
Theme Song	Stand Tall In My Place
Devil Fruit
Japanese Name	Nama Nama no Mi
English Name	Life-Life Fruit
Meaning	Life; Living
Type	Paramecia

Yukyu Riko, also known by her alias of "Kuroihitsuji", was a former Admiral and Instructor of the Marines. Renowned for her skills in teaching, she spent most of her time mentoring her many students - many of whom would grow to become highly skilled Marines in their own right.

A proponent of "Preserving Justice", Riko would sadly pass away during the War of Empires, entrusting her will to her many pupils.

Appearance

Riko had a massive mane of black hair, which earned her her alias as an Admiral. She didn't often wear the official uniform and coat many of her peers were known for, preferring instead a simple black and red Kimono that better suited her aesthetic. She carried a Daishō set of swords at her left hip. When prepared for battle, she often added arm and leg bracers to her usual outfit.

When she joined the Marines in her early teens, Rikō refused to wear most of her uniform. She only wore a traditional hat and pants, covering her upper half with a sleeveless tank top. She also wrapped bandages around her arms, and carried exclusively one sword.

Due to overusing her Devil Fruit just prior to her death, Riko's mane grew white as snow in her final moments.

Personality

Due to her Devil Fruit feeding off of her lifespan to function, Riko assigned an immense worth to life. She believed that rules and regulations imposed by others must be looked at with suspicion, as while a lack of rules makes man an animal, too many make it a slave. She was extremely free-spirited and often disregarded regulations she did not enjoy or support, but she nonetheless had an enormous appreciation rate with the common Marine due to her motherly attitude and forgiving approach to command.

A strict mentor, Riko treated her pupils like they were her own children. She knew each of them personally and took the time to establish a long-lasting relationship. She placed an enormous amount of emphasis on "Leaving behind a Legacy", intending to let her will continue past her death by entrusting it to her pupils. While she encouraged them to learn from her due to her seniority, she nonetheless encouraged them not to blindly agree with her and her philosophy, saying that even if their views disagreed, she would still be proud of having mentored them as long as they stood by their ideals.

Riko followed "Preserving Justice", a type of Justice that placed emphasis on protecting the common man and minimizing civilian casualties over capturing Pirates and criminals. For her, every life was sacred, and thus a Marine's ultimate duty is to save as many of them as possible in the moment, only focusing on the future once they have secured the present.

In her youth, Riko was rebellious and rambunctious, habitually disrespecting her superiors and not even hesitating to attack them if she felt disrespected. She was capable of respecting them, however - just not in the traditional way that was demanded of her. She already did place great value on the preservation of life, putting down the foundation behind what would become her personal form of justice.

Riko often used "sanitized" method of swearing (i.e. "For Hell's Sake", "Cheese 'n Crackers"), even in her more unruly years.

Riko preferred straightforward methods of combat, due to the user being able to use them as a base to adapt to any opponent mid-fight instead of relying on a polarizing gimmick. This led to her not training to use Rokushiki as many of her peers would have. This also related to her preference for the more down-to-earth Busoshoku Haki over the more complex Kenbunshoku Haki.

Relationships

Family

Gina

Riko trained under Gina during her early years as a Marine. The two were initially off to a fairly rocky start, with Riko initially even attempting to kill her mentor when she mocked her, but her bravery impressed Gina enough to make the then-Seaman Recruit her personal apprentice.

Over time, the two became closer, spending a long time on Little Garden to train. As she braved the island's many threats with Gina's guidance, Riko came to outright admire the stronger Marine's strength, both literal and of personality, eventually even coming to see her as a model, and a mother figure.

Marines

Riko had a very high approval rate among the rank-and-file Marines, as she allowed those under her command great freedom to act and dress beyond what protocol would allow. Her laid-back and protective attitude towards her troops combined with her relaxed approach to command to make her a beloved commander by many of her subordinates, especially when compared to her more ruthless colleagues.

Pupils

Riko was a strict, but calm and patient mentor to each and every one of her pupils. She took the time to know them beyond a professional relationship, coming to care for them as if they were her own children.

Nagi

Riko and Nagi were very close, establishing a mother-daughter relationship after the Admiral saved her from the slave ring she had been born into. Nagi, much like her late mentor, is also a follower of Preserving Justice, showing the effect Riko had on her.

Others

Indra

According to Indra, Riko supported his dream of becoming a Dragonslayer and named his swordsmanship style.

Powers and Abilities

As a Marine Admiral, Riko was considered one of the World Government's Strongest Military Powers (最高戦力, Saikō Senryoku), one of the individually strongest fighters the Government can deploy. As such, she possessed both enormous personal power and skill, and a large say in how the Organization as a whole deployed. She also had the ability to invoke a Buster Call on any island she deemed to be a threat, though she never once in her career used said power.

Even during her early years, Rikō held considerable potential, which flourished under Gina's instruction. She went from a Seaman Recruit to a Chief Petty Officer in just six months, all while she was a teenager. In slightly over a year and a half of training on Little Garden, her power skyrocketed to the point where she was able to defeat the strongest dinosaurs on the island, the four Apexes, whom Gina had trained since birth to be able to use Haki.

Physical Abilities

Riko had enormous reserves of physical strength, speed and resilience, befitting a woman of her rank. Training specifically to not rely on her Devil Fruit due to its dire consequences, she developed a body honed to physical perfection.

Even as a Chief Petty Officer, Riko's strength was considerable. She was able to damage a massive boulder with repeated punches and crack a smaller one with just a finger without having the training required to use Shigan - though, in both cases, it came with varying degrees of bodily harm to herself. After additional training strengthened her body, she became capable of creating large craters with each hit and breach the highly resilient skin of a dinosaur.

Swordsmanship

Riko was a master swordswoman, using a single blade at a time with devastating effectiveness. When using her Katana, she used the devastating power of the Strong Blade school, while her Wakizashi allowed her to more effectively use the swiftness and precision of the Gentle Blade school. Even as a teenager, her sheer deadliness with a sword allowed her to cut through the Apex of the Seas' highly resilient body.

Devil Fruit

Riko's ace in the hole was her Devil Fruit, the Paramecia-type Nama Nama no Mi. It allowed her to massively empower her own physical abilities by consuming weeks, months or even years of her own lifespan, with the more time she sacrificed resulting in proportionally greater power. This allowed her, through enormous self-sacrifice, to push herself beyond her natural limits, allowing her to even the playing field even with the few opponents stronger than her.

Haki

As a Marine Admiral, Riko was able to use Haki. She was able to use both of its most basic types to tremendous effectiveness.

Busoshoku Haki

By far the type she was most skilled in employing, Riko was an incredibly adept user of Busoshoku Haki, using it to bolster her already outstanding attack power and resilience. As am Admiral, she had mastered the ability's advanced applications, being able to both emit her Haki outward and use it to destroy items and enemies from within.

Techniques

• Sasori no Bantoge (サソリの万刺, Literally meaning "Scorpio's Ten Thousand Stings"^?): Pulling out a handful of her hair, Riko infuses them with her Haki to harden them and launches them forward like needles. Her first usage of the technique was highly painful to its victim, the Apex of the Seas, but did not actually cause serious damage. As an Admiral, each Haki-infused hair had enormous piercing power. This technique's name is based on that of the Zodiac constellation of Scorpius.

Kenbunshoku Haki

Riko was a skilled user of Kenbunshoku Haki, having mastered its ability to sense emotions and malicious intent alike. She was less proficient in it than in Busoshoku Haki, but retained enough competence to teach others effectively.

Equipment

Riko wielded at least three swords in her career. Her first weapon was a Katana, which was broken during her fight against Little Garden's Apex of the Skies. Some time later, she took to using a Daishō set composed of the Katana Fuhen Kadai and the Wakizashi Mugentei Hikari, which became her weapons of choice.

After her death, Fuhen Kadai is now used as a marker for Riko's grave, while Mugentei Hikari would come to be owned by Al Khalifa Ain, one of her pupils.

Voice of All Things

Riko was one of the very few people endowed with the ability to hear the Voice of All Things, with her especially having been able to hear it since birth. This ability, however, initially made her shallow and superficial, as she was simply able to understand everyone around her immediately at a glance, thus not bothering to look further inward. After starting her training with Gina, she would learn to better control the ability, being able to turn it off whereas before it was constantly active.

History

Past

At some point, Riko was born in the Shogi Kingdom. She seemed to have had a fairly unpleasant childhood to say the least, as some of her earliest memories are of someone talking down on her and, until Gina showed her affection, she never felt a genuine hug.

When she was around fourteen years old, Riko abandoned Shogi and enlisted into the Marines, being assigned to Gina's unit at G-23.

A Life Well Lived Arc

Main article: A Life Well Lived

Trivia

• Riko's full name translates to "Undying Duty".
• Of the Admirals who died during the War of Empires, Riko held the position for the longest amount of time.
• The following information has been revealed about Riko:
  • Favorite Food: Yakitori.
  • Least Favorite Food: Lamb Shanks.
  • Favorite Drink: Protein Shake.
  • Animal Resemblance: Sheep.
  • Specific Color: Black.
  • Specific Smell: Sweat and flower perfume.
  • Favorite Island & Season: Summer on a Spring Island.
  • Bath Agenda: Once every day.
  • Inner Thoughts: Pupils, Pupils, Training, Job, Yakitori
  • Real-life Nationality & Career: Japanese - High School Teacher
  • Hobbies: Knife Throwing; Playing Billiards; Playing Poker; Cooking
  • Favorite Sport: Baseball
  • Childhood Dream: To become an Admiral (Achieved)
  • Humor Level: 9
  • First Crush: Redacted
  • Sleep Schedule: From 12AM to 8AM
  • Oddest Sleeping Spot: Using a ship's sail as a hammock.
  • Representative Number: 79 (Can be read as Yu-kyu)
  • Educational Level: High School; Dropped out to enlist in the Marines
  • First Job: Marine Seaman Recruit
  • Hidden Talent: Rigging the deck in Poker
  • Best Sense: Hearing
  • Regrets: Nothing (At the time of her death)
  • Family Position: Mother