Insight into Ryu's past in BoFV

[Ryu 1/9834]

In the other Breath of Fire games you get to see at least some glimpse int o Ryu's past or some aspect of his personal life.

In the first one you find he has a sister, in the second he is an orphan who was brought to the church (or something)

In the third he, as a hatchling dragon, is released from a crystal, is eventually caught and caged then escapes where he then transforms to a toddler and is raised basically by Rei and Teepo.

The fourth...well..I never played that one so I cannot say.

So what about the fifth one? In the many SOL scenes I have unlocked, you get insight into many of the characters such as Nina, Lin, Bosch and so on but nothing on Ryu.
Since Ryu is such a central figure int he game's story, why is there practically nothing on him?

[Kojiro_S ♦]

I think his backstory comes mainly from external sources, like the game manual, official online profile, etc.
I think he was trained by Xeno herself.

[DamascaRamza]

He's a low rank grunt who would have probably had trouble surviving until he was old enough to join the Rangers, outside of him angsting about how hard his life is (Which I wouldn't want any Ryu to do, this isn't Naruto afterall.

[SirWaWa]

He's a low rank grunt who would have probably had trouble surviving until he was old enough to join the Rangers, outside of him angsting about how hard his life is (Which I wouldn't want any Ryu to do, this isn't Naruto afterall.

elaborate since i don't watch naruto

[Myrmidon]

I think he was trained by Xeno herself.

I don´t think Xeno trained him, a woman of her rank wouldn´t deal with such a "low-rank grunt".
Besides, there might be more rangers we haven´t seen in the game. Bosch might also have played a role in his training.

[DamascaRamza]

elaborate since i don't watch naruto

Sasuke whines a lot about how his clan was wiped out by his brother because they planning to rebel, then when Sasuke found out, he went super psycho and wants to murder everyone in his hometown. He still whines about it too. I have friends who watch Naruto, so it's easy to know what happens.

But anyway, back on topic. I'm ok with not knowing anything about BoFDQ Ryu's past, outside of he struggled to survive until he was old enough to be a Ranger, there's not really anything else we could add beyond a hellish life, I'm happier not knowing anything about it.

[Ryu 1/9834]

I don´t think Xeno trained him, a woman of her rank wouldn´t deal with such a "low-rank grunt".

Sorry for the ultra-late reply but I had thought that Zeno did train him and this is why both he and her can use the Deathbringer technique.

But I never recalled Ryu angsting about his life though..maybe I missed something in the gameplay? But yeah..I imagined his survival was in jeopardy being a low standing kid. Actually I assumed that originally his D-Ratio was lower and is what it is now only because he was a ranger and apparently, according to the chick in headquarters lobby, scored well on his missions.

[Pabupabupukapuka]

I think that bit about Zeno training Ryu was part of the official artbook notes? It was a tidbit that ultimately couldn't fit into the game i think.

As for D-Ratios, has not much to do with how well you score on tests or whatever work you put in. It's really latent ability (special abilities or skills, perhaps) as well as probability of linking with a dragon that determines your rank and where you belong. I would also guess intelligence plays into it. If you take note of the high rankers, they display some degree of smarts and possess considerable combat skill. As for Regents, most of them seem to possess some kind of supernatural ability or high combat skill. Vexacion is presumably naturally gifted with sword combat, Deamoned a brawler?, Cupid's a mage as well as Hortensia (telepaths, too apparently... maybe it's the ears...), and Elyon.... who knows what he was before he was Origin. But a high D-Ratio probably doesn't automatically make you a Regent. I would guess you'd have to prove yourself worthy somehow in that case (note: Bosch probably inherited his latent ability from Vexacion, hence the high D-Ratio. he just needed to probe himself worthy).

That being said, I guess Ryu's the kind of person who despite possessing determination, just isn't all that extroardinary in terms of abilities, hence why he apparently could never make it past grunt with his starting D-Ratio.

I wish we knew Lin's D-Ratio.

EDIT: Okay, so I finally found the time to sit down and play Breath of Fire V again with a new file (the farthest I got before giving up on beating it was after the Jezuit stage, but I didn't have a save token handy--which is why I gave up lol). So now, some odd years later and with a better comprehension of the gameplay, I've made it to the Industrial Zone without restarting so far (I sucked so bad the first time I ever played this game, the first time I used SOL was when Bosch was still in the party lol). But anyway, I did notice by paying closer attention to dialog that "scores and reputation" do indeed help to a degree. I was under the impression that Low-D's CAN'T make it past grunt, but now that notion just seems like more of a generalization of how Low-D's are regarded in society. As for actually being able to change your D-Ratio, I initially interpreted that as more of a gameplay mechanic than part of the storyline (mainly because the demeaning dialog toward Ryu as a Low-D is still present even when you've advanced your rank.

[sandywai]

I don´t think Xeno trained him, a woman of her rank wouldn´t deal with such a "low-rank grunt".
Besides, there might be more rangers we haven´t seen in the game. Bosch might also have played a role in his training.

I remember reading that Xeno is indeed Ryu's teacher