Ryuuji characterization thoughts.

[fickle]

While going through my old entries, I realized that I'd done this for Yami no Malik but never Ryuuji. So, here goes with my attempt to take a look at the world's favorite green-eyed gamer, canon versus fanon interpretations, RPability and some ideas from other people. (Please note, I'm talking about the manga version, not the anime. If you need an explanation of how they're different, read this post for a basic summary or the comments for a more detailed run-through.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ryuuji or YGO. I don't claim these views are 100% right and the only way to look at him. The following is just a listing of popular and rare fanon theories and my take on them, supported by scans from the manga and logical extrapolation.

Eyeliner/Tattoo/Scar:

One of the things that's oddest about Ryuuji's looks is the streak of black eyeliner he has under his left eye. Popular fandom theories are as follow:

1. It's eyeliner as a style thing (found in fics about anime!Duke).
2. It's eyeliner to cover up a scar (found in fics and my personal favorite theory).
3. It's a scar (originally encountered in an RP with sakata), her thoughts explained a little further here.)
4. It's a tattoo (mentioned in a story by 9tails).
5. It's a tattoo his father made him get to mar Ryuuji's perfect looks (discussed in this entry by cairnsy).

The last theory is one that I would have never thought of on my own, but there's a certain logic to it, especially when you consider how it mimics the clown look of his father's mask. And his father is definitely bastard enough to make him have done. The tattoo-versus-eyeliner theory is also backed up by the fact that Ryuuji, even when sleeping, has the streak in place, not smudged or smeared in the least.

However, that could also be due to really strong/waterproof eyeliner? I don't know. I might be tempted to split the two and make it a tattoo covering up a scar in the future since I like the idea of Ryuuji turning something ugly into something pretty but at the same time, I also like the idea of him reapplying it every morning after a shower. Like a little permanent reminder of how his life has changed and how he can't get hurt any longer -- with a tattoo, you don't have the constant reminder. You go in, you're hurt, it heals, over and done with.

Wristlets:

Ryuuji also wears wristlets 24/7. Just like for the eyeliner, there are a couple of different theories behind it:

1. It's a style thing (found in fics about anime!Duke).
2. Ryuuji's a cutter and has bandages under the wristlets (found in fics about manga!Ryuuji).
3. They're actually secretly concealing wristblades (my favorite theory).
4. They cover up scars from a failed suicide attempt (more in this entry by cairnsy).
5. They cover scars caused by bloodmagic (found in fics about manga!Ryuuji).

The cutter thing bugs me personally because what we see of Ryuuji is an extrovert-introvert split whose behavior adapts depending on his company, who is ruthless, efficient, occasionally cruel, chivalrous and charismatic. He strikes me as too focused on being happy to secretly angst and cut himself; he isn't the type to allow himself to be lost for long. His life has had a purpose since he was born.

At the same time, I'm willing to semi-believe the failed suicide attempt theory, because that's a fairly decisive move to make, it's one way out of a situation that he can't escape otherwise -- though, cairnsy, fifteen, really?! I always thought he was sixteen when he ran into Yugi's pack -- and considering his father has no problem using a whip on him, Ryuuji ought to have a high enough pain tolerance that the thought of how much it would hurt might not bother him.

I'll fully buy into the scars-from-bloodmagic theory, and I heart the secret weapons theory because after all, they're positioned in the exact right place, Ryuuji was brought up by an Evil Clown and wristblades are a sneaky weapon and he's sneaky. Personally, I don't RP/write Ryuuji as having scars under the wristlets but I would think it makes sense for him to hide something ugly under something pretty, again like with the eyeliner-scar theory.

Education/Work:

In this page from the manga, Ryuuji's father says that he raised and educated Ryuuji himself. There are a couple of ways you can take that:

1. Ryuuji was fully home-schooled and that Domino was the first school he attended (logical conclusion from that page).
2. Ryuuji's father taught him magic but Ryuuji went to normal school for the rest of it (found in fics about manga!Ryuuji).
3. Ryuuji was partly home-schooled, but also attended normal schools to keep his social interaction skills up to par.

Ryuuji is a very successful game designer as made obvious in that page, where sales of the games are limited on the first day to make sure they don't get stockpiled, meaning that D.D.D isn't the first game he invented. Therefore, it's possible that he was academically and magically home-schooled to make sure he'd be able to juggle his schedule well enough to make sure that he'd have time to keep inventing games.

Abuse:

Anyone who's read the manga knows that Ryuuji was physically abused, thanks to Mr. Psycho Clown Daddy who walked around with a whip and couldn't take even the slightest failure on Ryuuji's part. Theories about that fall into the following categories:

1. The abuse was only physical (found in fics where the author is idiot enough to think that you can get hit by a parent without feeling any emotional backlash).
2. The abuse was physical and mental (found in fics, RPs, canon and favored by cairnsy, ego_chan and myself).
3. The abuse was physical, sexual and mental (found in the occasional fic).

From this sequence of events, I think it's pretty obvious that Ryuuji's father is a manipulative mindfucking bastard, since not only does he lash Ryuuji twice with the whip within a short space of time, but he also guilt-trips Ryuuji by showing his 'war wounds' and saying that Ryuuji is the only one whom he can rely on. That's enough to have Ryuuji apologizing for having failed his father, when his failure was nothing more than losing a normal game of chance which allowed him to scout out his opponent's abilities anyway.

Sexual, you can make a case for it by saying that Ryuuji looks nothing like his father and therefore can be taken to resemble his dead mother and also, for someone as hideously deformed as Ryuuji's father is, having such a beautiful son must be torture. The fact that Ryuuji's androgynous probably counts against him there, and the touchy-feelyness of his father also gets used as evidence that his father sexually abused him.

Personally, I dislike that theory for the simple reason that c'mon, the kid is physically abused, mentally fucked over, got guilt/perfectionist complexes, and seriously, how much more trauma does he need? I'd really rather not debate it -- since there's no hard canon evidence in favor of it like there is with the physical/mental abuse, I'm not interested in reading further into the lines to figure out if it's implied or not.

Right. That's it for now. If I do a second part, I'll look into magical training, attitude, intelligence, sexuality and personality quirks.

Comments

[a-white-rain.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. I should write more YGO fic.

Personally, I bet the manga-ka hated his dad. Because ARE THERE ANY GOOD FATHERS?

[ryuutchi.livejournal.com]

I'm going to stick to my happy, gay anime!Otogi, thanks. Eyeliner, vests and STYLE, yo. I like my boys cheerful (except Seto, but his surliness is part of his charm...)

[sakata.livejournal.com]

I favored the scar?

Personally, I used several different 'eyeliner' theories based on -who- I was RPing Otogi across from.
Regular Malik got plain eyeliner because both I and Malik's player were emphasizing their egos. Makeup would get smudged during sex, and of course Otogi being meticulous about reapplying it. Incidentally I use this in the multi-verse RPG where I play in because that Otogi is more secure and really doesn't need to have daddy issues of teh angst. So he fucks around, cleans up afterwards, and has a makeup-free face with his hair loose, showing an openess not seen under all the accessories.

Yami no Bakura got the backstory of a scar hidden under makeup. But what set that apart from your aforementioned theory was that Otogi gave himself the scar in a moment of guilt and anger - attempting to mutilate himself so he was less beutiful as it were. Of course the logs to that particular RP were lost two years ago, so I'm not entirely clear about the exact details, but essentially it became Otogi's dark secret which appealed to the darker nature of Bakura. Their relationship became one of bloodplay and control, of which really beautiful artwork was inspired between Bakura's mun and myself.

You and I only played once, so I assume from that you got the favor of it being a scar. And since you gave me Yami no Malik, I gave you the most sadistic backstory I could that would appeal to your character.

[ego-chan.livejournal.com]

ME~~~!!!!! *fangirls self*

*clears throat and continues*

Ryuuji's eyeliner does not mess up when he sleeps, but, neither does his hair. Were the hell is this guy buying his hair-gel and make-up? Awe-some strong, I think. The Yuugioh world sells awesome beauty products. *so jealous*

I wrote a ficcu once where he kept the arm thingies on because they messed up his tanline. (Nope, it's not published, but in my old harddrive.) ^^;; But seriously, I've never considered them otherwise. xD I mean, unless one of the important points of my ficcu was that he had tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists or something, then I would not even bring them up. And I never wrote that because, like you, he's just not seeming the type to me to want to kill himself. Maybe later in life, but not in the time leading up to when we first see him.

<3 = secret weapon holding. It makes me loff!lol. xD

And dammit, now I wanna write a Ryuuji ficcu again. It's all your fault. TwT Maybe I will, since my beta is taking forever with the chapter I just sent her for my Bleach ficcu. xD I need to reread all my old Ryuuji ficcu's first. I remember when all I ever did write were Ryuuji ficcus. xD

[lunarwhirl.livejournal.com]

Personally, I like the whole tattoo theory--after all, Ryuuji's father has more than proven himself to be a downright twisted son of a bitch, and he may have done it to Ryuuji with the (possibly hollow) threat of marring his face further when/if he ever loses, so as to make Ryuuji further resemble his father and remind him of what he's fighting for. Of course, the "just regular eyeliner" and "covering up a scar" thing works for me, too; I'm not picky.

I also like the "blood-magic scars" thing, because I'm weird. Again, Ryuuji's father has him twisted into something (that is, at the least, mentally unstable) terrible, so Ryuuji might think nothing of carving runes or whatever into his flesh to work a spell. But the wrist-blade theory (which I never thought about :x) works--he IS a celebrity, and being that he doesn't keep any body guards around him, he must have some other way of defending himself.

... Yeah. He was home-schooled all the way. XD

I mostly go by the physical/mental/emotional abuse, but I can see where the sexual abuse comes from. Ryuuji is absolutely gorgeous, and his father is hideous. Not only that, but, for example, in some of your fics about Ryuuji, there are mentions of Ryuuji being willing to use his sexuality in very unhealthy ways (drugs, manipulation, etc). Maybe he got that way by "virtue" of his father? I'd personally like to see a well thought out fic (even though it would be extremely squicky, even if there were only mere mentions of it) about it.

And for my part, I would love to see a part two. XD