Is Ryuga a POORLY WRITTEN character? (Beyblade Metal Fusion)

What I think the problem most people had regarding his character was more to do with his personality than anything else. As everyone knows, in Metal Fusion he's arrogant, selfish, sadistic, and cold-hearted, and in Metal Masters he's much calmer, intelligent, and he's willing to assist others (albeit only on his own time and if it benefits him in some way), all while retaining some of his arrogance, just much mellower. When we get to Metal Fury, his personality is sort of a combination of Fusion and Masters, he's still arrogant, but he's very intelligent, he's calm most of the time and only gets truly upset when he sees Doji again. One thing about him that people don't really take note of is that unlike characters like Bakugo in MHA, he almost never insults anyone. He calls Kenta a waterboy, Tsubasa a chicken, and Jack a pet bird, but notice that he never insulted opponents he considers strong, such as Kyoya and Gingka. Personality aside, he actually has good morals. In Masters, he mentors Tsubasa and Gingka, and assists in destroying the Spiral Core before it cause any damage. In Fury, he mentors Kyoya and Gingka during his battles with them, and later Kenta when he starts following him, he also stays with Kenta while he's unconscious after collapsing and it's implied he looked for him after the boat sank on Beyster Island. All of which is a big step forward from leaving Ryo and Gingka to die in a collapsing volcano, letting Reiji torture Yu, and stealing the energy from countless bladers, including Doji.

Bro he is the best written character in whole beyblade. He became the most hated blader to most loved blader in the show

Why Ryuga did help people in Metal Masters, arguably it wasn't out of selflessness. With Tsubasa, he might've sympathized with him, but considering he's also the one who essentially gave him that power, I think it all comes down to his regret of being overtaken by the Dark Power in the first place and his helping Tsubasa defeat the Dark Power is just him putting an end to L-Drago's dark power once for all, to erase his past mistake and redeem himself. He also helped GanGanGalaxy simply because he's just against Ziggurat's whole deal and would rather foil their plans altogether, including winning the World Championships. But it was still done because of his own reasons. His helping Gingka master the Pegasus however is pretty much somewhat of a sentiment to how Gingka is Ryuga's biggest rival, and it would suck if his biggest rival was this weak. Ryuga essentially wanted to have satisfaction in crushing Gingka but to do so, Gingka had to give everything he had, but he couldn't do so at the time as he hadn't mastered Galaxy Pegasus yet. All in all, all of Ryuga's acts of "kindness" just go back to Ryuga having his own agenda. So while his being power-hungry again in Metal Fury does feel like a regress, it actually makes perfect sense for Ryuga to not pick any side as Ryuga was never into such BS in the first place. After being done with Dark Nebula, Ryuga just started to live his life for himself and become stronger for himself alone. Ryuga was always challenging himself to his limits and overcoming them no matter what. Ryuga essentially felt indestructible but he still wanted to get even stronger as that's his life goal: to be the strongest, but he can't do that if he won't stop pushing or otherwise other Bladers will get ahead of him. Ryuga's whole deal was always stealing power from others. That's his main thing, he steals the power of others and uses it as his own. That was always the case for him and L-Drago. And because of that and him also not really caring about anyone in the world, of course, he decided to go solo against Nemesis and steal his power as that way, he would essentially achieve his goal forever as after absorbing Nemesis, his power would be so off-the-charts that no one would ever dream of overcoming him. Not even the dark power itself. At first, Ryuga also took Nemesis for granted, but once he got defeated the first time, it was a matter of his pride, and helt he had to face Nemesis on his own because just not overcoming something would go against his entire philosophy and point of living. Ultimately Ryuga's fatal flaw was that he could never imagine the possibility of actual failure. He felt he always had to succeed. Ironically if he would take an L this one time, he actually would still manage to be considered unstoppable. But instead, he was stopped by trying to take Nemesis on his own. Ryuga really said that he would become the most powerful Blader in the world or would die trying.

I think Ryuga displayed a good rapport with Kenta. But when faced with the expectations of being the best and his own insecurities as a blader, especially when egged on by Doji, his behaviour therein was reasonable. He definitely got overconfident because he was so much more powerful than the rest of the legendary bladers, and assumed Nemesis was the same which ended badly, but in the end he kept his promise to Kenta. Ryuga really didn’t understand the threat of Nemesis. This isn’t a contradiction to his character. It’s another dimension to it. He was seemingly reserved in Metal Masters because there was no real competition for him, no power to obtain. In Fury, he was given a boost in power in addition to the prospect of knowing that he can get even more by beasting legendary bladers or even Nemesis, so he got overconfident. He didn’t anticipate that Nemesis' ability to steal far surpassed his or even the dark power that he once had. And with his pride damaged, he went and participated in a winless fight. While he and Kenta had short thing going, he temporarily discarded that friendship when met with ultimate power which he sought from the offset. When he realised that it’s not a power that one man can have, it was too late. But in an effort to help everyone, he ultimately gave his power away which contrasts with his ability to steal from Beyblades. I think he had a good arc.

Ryuga in metal fury is actually really good character. I feel like he didn't exactly care about star fragments and legendary bladers but he didnt want anyone to suprass him because of his ego and pride wich resulted in him getting killed at the end. He always cared about power and i think he doesnt need to be a good hearted character. He was always alone and all he cared about is being the strongest and when he learned about star fragments he wanted it all for himself because of his own greed. in metal masters he barely got any screen time so we cant exactly tell if he really became good or is still deep inside greedy for power. At the very end he showed that there really is something that inspires him to become better and that is Kenta who he really cared about deep inside. Unfortunately, it was too late for ryuga to redeem himself so he just gave all the powers he has left to the first person he ever really cared about besides himself. He is by far the best written character in the series imo. Also, awesome stuff man keep it up :)

I don't think you can compare Ryuga assisting against the spiral force and battling Rago as the same thing. Because Ryuga is someone who's always looking for strong opponents so that he can crush them to assert his dominance as the strongest blader ever, so of course he'd fight this supposed Rago, who's to be considered the strongest blader. Whereas the spiral force is well, just a man made thing. So I think it's completely within his character to actually battle Rago instead of helping the others help beat him, because he felt that this was a strong opponent worth fighting.

I have been puzzled by Ryuga’s character regression in Fury since I first watched it. However, I think I might have thought of a possible explanation. The explanation: The Dark Power in L Drago Destructor Let me explain In Masters, Ryuga made it clear that both he and Meteor do not and no longer can use the Dark power. However, when Meteor turns into Destructor, L Drago is capable of using the Dark power again which Ryuga uses a couple times. Fusion showed that Lightning’s dark power can influence its users negatively. Perhaps when Meteor evolved to Destructor and reacquired the Dark power, it once again influenced Ryuga to be more greedy which is part of what the Dark power is made of. However Ryuga was able to master the Dark power fully, unlike in Fusion, as he does state so to Kenya which is why he doesn’t fully act like his old self. Nevertheless, because he has Dark power again, it began to corrupt him once again but to a lesser extent. It becomes worse when he finally believes Gingka and co about Nemesis and the legendary bladers as the greed from the dark power made him have a desire to absorb all of their powers, something the Ryuga from Masters would likely not have done. Although it was never confirmed, I think it might have been implied when Nemesis was nearly revived. Kenta once again begs Ryuga to help Gingka and co, and he brings up the risk of him falling under the control of Nemesis just like with Lightning. Ryuga refuses again and states that he has already mastered the dark power. It could just be me, but I feel this might be the writers way of implying that the dark power is what was causing him to act so differently. Especially since this would be the first time he directly acknowledges that he has the Dark power again, after constantly saying he no longer has any need for it in Masters. If L Drago Destructor never reacquired the Dark Power and could only absorb with the spin stealing rubber, Ryuga might have joined Gingka and co. Of course, this is all just a theory…………a Bey theory Show less

Ryuga’s actions in Metal Fury were necessary for Kenta’s development… Ryuga was NEVER the type to work with a team so him being the one missing piece to the puzzle and them having to go above and beyond to get his cooperation was perfect for how the story went. He’s always considered himself the strongest, his goal was to beat every legendary blader and when he found out about Nemesis, he wanted to prove once again no one was above him. They couldn’t have written him any better imo.

i agree with a lot of the points you're making but i also think what the goal of metal fury was, was to show that although ryuga has evolved as a person, he still fundamentally is not a good person, he's morally questionable even in metal masters, he's still selfish and power hungry juxtapose that onto the fact that there's no one who can pose a meaningful threat to him anymore post metal masters, he discards what's reasonable in order to fulfill what almost seems to be his life goal, to fight a blader who can put him on the edge. Ryuga mentions how Zeo's way of fighting is boring and is completely out of lock step for what Ryuga considers to be a true bey battle, where two opponents clash head on to overwhelm the other. This philosophy along with those previously aforementioned negative traits that he still holds onto are ultimately his own undoing. He probably knew in the battle with Nemesis that he could lose, but he refused to let anyone spit on the name of the Dragon Emperor, that pride was also his undoing.

Ryuga I personally feel was also just a victim of the jobber effect in Metal Fury He was shown and established to be the strongest by miles, even compared to Gingka and Kyoya who used to be the only 2 that could ever challenge him. Even the other legendary bladers that did fight him got cooked (King, Chris, Kenta, etc) And then we got Rago, who we knew nothing about except that he was the one to wield Diablo Nemesis, the God Of Destruction beyblade and was hyped up throughout metal fury to be the big bad. So in order to showcase and establish his power, they had him battle Ryuga 1v1 and Ryuga not only lost, he lost *horribly*, and even then he still put up a better fight on his own than all the legendary bladers did when they jumped Rago. Him fulfilling his promise to Kenta and giving him his power at the last minute felt like a cop out to give the good guys a way to win. All for nothing! Because in the end, they just redid what happened in metal fusion, where Gingka gets all the power of all the beys in the world to beat Rago and destroy Nemesis for good. So what was the point of it all anyway if Gingka once again, does it all on his own? A much better anime ending that would've stayed true to Ryuga's character, would've been for him to yes, lose to Rago, but wake up and instead of giving his power to Kenta, he recovers and in fact realize, that he has to team up with Gingka to beat Nemesis and in the final battle, they both get half of the power of world's bey's and a side by side shot of Pegasus and L-Drago ramming into Nemesis would've been gold And then at the end, Ryuga and L-Drago vanish due to overexertion.

Though I wouldn't call him a poorly written, his personality in Fury mildly irked me, it was like he reverted to his Fusion self with his arrogance and cockiness (it was more of a combo of his Fusion and Masters personalities), and regardless of how powerful he is, it's something that should've been put aside to help save the world. And this next point isn't against Ryuga but more of a personal gripe, as thrilling as he is to watch and he always steals the spotlight, the fanboyism for him can get tiring sometimes Actually, Ryuga's a prime example of where I love the character but despise the fanbase

I do think Ryuga calling out Ziggurat greed is much different from his own. Dr Ziggurat’s greed comes from making as much money as possible from blading which shows when Ziggurat doesn’t even care who he sells the spiral force to, which is why Ryuga hates Dr. Ziggurat. Ryuga’s greed comes from becoming the strongest blader in the world and it doesn’t matter how he does it to obtain his goal which is why he tries to steal all of the star fragments once he learns about Nemesis which could be potential threat for his title of the strongest blader in the world. Ultimately Ryuga’s downfall has always been his pride and greed which go hand and hand as Ryuga will do absolutely anything to become the strongest blader that being stealing the star fragment and Ryuga’s extreme training.

I think the problem was the writers just didn't know what direction to take ryuga after metal masters. Shame too, cause I felt that metal masters held some serious character growth for him.

I agree with you man 100%, Ryuga is in no way a poorly written character. He made a lot of mistakes but who doesn’t. Human beings are not perfect. That just the way it is

I don't think Ryuga necessarily regressed as a character, I think he remained consistent with where he left off in Metal Masters. He went from a villain to a lone anti-hero type, not caring to choose a side or be under the control of anyone or anything again. He strove to achieve ultimate power, not out of greed like the lightning L-drago days, but out of a desire to never be beneath anyone else and to maximize his potential. While he probably should have helped the team against Nemesis sooner, he wanted to put his strength to the test against a literal god to prove himself as the ultimate blader. Even though he lost the battle, he helped the othere in the end to win the war. I only wish we got to see him when he was older like Gingka, i feel like he eventually would've surpassed Nemesis' power

Ryuga has always been prideful about being the strongest blader in the world and him helping the legendary bladers against Nemesis would prove to him that he was never the strongest in the world and always need the legendary bladers for help. The big difference between the spiral force and Rago is that Rago was actually blader well the spiral force was man made event so I don’t think it is character inconsistency in that regard of Ryuga helping with spiral force incident.

I would not say he's poorly written. People say that him chasing power again in Metal Fury went against his character development/arc but I would disagree. First of all, when he first met Zigarad, the topic of Doji and the Dark Nebula was immediately brought up, as Zigarad implied that Ryuga was a failure for failing to control the Dark Power and branded Spiral Force as the "successful alternative" to Ryuga and the Dark Nebula organization. Because of this, Ryuga had a genuine hatred for Hades Inc. from the beginning and did everything he could (including helping Gingka and the rest in his own subtle way) to destroy and humiliate Hades Inc. He reacted differently towards Nemesis because, at first, Nemesis was still developing in power. Because Nemesis's power and threat weren't well-known at the time and he didn't know the people behind Nemesis (which happened to include Doji), Ryuga just genuinely believed that he could easily take down Nemesis the same way he dismantled Zigarad and Hades. I think his character also shows that "once a villain, always a villain." Even though he redeemed himself in Metal Masters, I think his joining Gingka in the beginning to help defeat Nemesis would have made even less sense. Ryuga is the same man who once marched onto Gingka's village, stole L-Drage (nearly killing his father in the process), and used L-Drago to put dozens of people, including most of Gingka's friends, into a coma. These mere facts show that Ryuga and Gingka could never get along like that. Ryuga will always be the villain. With the introduction of the new star fragments, it's clear He definitely missed the joy of playing the villain. I think that's also why he ended up sacrificing his power to Kenta: he knows he will always have evil intentions deep inside of him and his ego ultimately cost him. He couldn't trust himself anymore with his power so he give it to someone that will only use it for good. Mb for the rant I just relapsed on Beyblade again after like a decade LOL

the only reason why ryuga helped w the twisted tempo situation was bc he didnt like them niggas. he hated every blader that had anything to do with that entire organization. in fury, the only connection he really has to ginka and kyoya is that their legendary bladers. and why should he care? ryuga knows he’s by far the strongest blader so he wants to test his strength by HIMSELF. thats how he always lived (other than his time w kenta) ryuga didnt go backwards, fury is by far the best we’ve seen of him. plus, how would u react if u got pulled up on by your literal opps, beat they ass with ZERO DIFFICULTY, and had to listen to them beg for your help? u probably wouldnt care about what they say either. the only blader ryuga respects is kenta and thats coz he EARNED his respect

nah his character development was amazing

I dont think he really regressed in season 3. Ryuga has always helped but only in situations that interested him. He battled Jack because he was promised a battle when his bey was done. He helps against Hades inc. because of their connection to dark nebula. Even with tsubasa ryuga told him info but thats it he leaves and never checks in on him.Ryuga just wanted to see who else had the dark power and never pays tsubasa any more attention. Ryuga has never gone out if his way to do something that doesnt make him stronger. Why would he join Gingka group when he's stronger than them and could defeat everyone by himself and become stronger. Another way of beating Nemesis would be just bring all the legendary bladers to Ryuga let him absorb their power. Then the only way to revive nemesis is to somehow beat Ryuga.