Dragon Shiryū

Dragon Su

, also known as Shiryu is a bronze saint of Dragon. He is considered the most mature of the five heroes, and thus the wisest. As the Bronze Saint of the Dragon constellation, Shiryu dons the emerald Dragon Bronze Cloth, a jewel among the Clothes due to its legendary defense properties.

Concept and creation
As Masami Kurumada uses the revered Osamu Tezuka's Star System technique, (a stable cast of characters which play a different or similar role in the author's various works, sometimes with the same personality and sometimes with an entirely new one), he designed Shiryu's appearance very similarly to that of Shadow Jun, a character in the successful Ring ni Kakero, a manga that Kurumada wrote and drew years before Saint Seiya, and that he considers his favorite creation. Also, Shiryu's appearance is almost identical to Azusa Ranmaru, from the work Kurumada authored before Saint Seiya, Otoko Zaka.

Personality and appearence
Out of all five main characters, Shiryū is known as the calmest and most collected. His sheer physical strength is the greatest of the Bronze Saints, with the possible exception of Phoenix Ikki. This is reflected in his ability to win numerous battles without his Dragon Cloth. Shiryū was trained at the Lushan Five Ancient Peaks in China, where he learned to reverse the waterfall's flow with his techniques and obtained the Dragon Bronze Cloth. His mentor was the Libra Gold Saint, Libra Dōko.

Shiryū sports a large tattoo-like image of a green and white dragon on his back. However, it is said in the manga and the anime that it is not a tattoo but is connected to his guardian dragon star and only appears as his Cosmo is rising. Whenever his life is in danger, the tattoo-like image begins to fade away—once it completely vanishes, it is a sign that Shiryu's Cosmo is nearing zero, and Shiryu himself is nearing death.

Early years
Little is known about Shiryu's childhood but at some point he was adopted by Mitsumasa Kido and under the care of the Graad Foundation, he was trained with 99 other orphans. After a few years there was eventually a raffle that would reveal where each of the 100 children would be sent to receive further training in order to earn an cloth and become a saint.

In Shiryu's drawing of the raffle, he was sent to train at the Five Ancient Peaks of Lushan, China, where he would be trained by the Gold Saint Dohko. Also known as the Old Master. After six years of intense training, Shiryu finally managed to pass the final test of reversing the waterfall of the Five Peaks and earn the Dragon Cloth.

Galaxian Wars
Shiryu returns to Japan to participate in the Galaxian Wars, having as his first opponent be Pegasus Seiya. At the start of the fight he is visited by a girl, Shunrei, who brings the news that the old master was dying. Shiryu attempts to end the battle as quickly as possible to return to the Old Master but Seiya even after receiving his attacks continued to rise to his feet. The fight goes on with Shiryu standing out. The strength of his fists is was strong enough to damage Pegasus Armor and the shield of dragon armor blocks Pegasus Meteor attacks. Seiya, however, manages to change turn the tide of the fight by tricking Shiryu into destroying the Dragon Armor fist and shield.

As the fight progressed Seiya discovered an weak point in Shiryu's signature technique which leaves his heart exposed for a millisecond and attacks him causing his heart to stop. The image of dragon that appears on Shiryu's back began to disappear and he is considered dead. However, Seiya managed to strike a blow to his back, striking his heart from behind to start it again thus saving Shiryu's life.

Black Saints Arc
At the hospital, Shiryu reveals to Seiya his suspicions of someone watching the fights, an enemy - which is confirmed to be Phoenix Ikki, who accompanied by Black Knights, steals the Sagittarius Cloth. Battles take place and the Bronze Knights retrieve some parts of the armor. Because the Pegasus and Dragon Cloths were damaged, Shiryu ventures off to get them repaired but makes a short stop in China to visit his master.

When arriving at Lushan's Five Old Peaks to see his master, Dohko initially advises him not to go but after seeing his determination, decides to warn his student to walk in a straight line once reaching the cemetery of cloths. In Jamiel, Shiryu discovers the Cloth Cemetery, which posses hundreds of skeletons wearing damaged armor. The skeletons rises up to attack and prevent Shiryu from proceeding. Remembering the Old Master's advice, he defeats the Skeletons while continuing to walk in a straight line. Upon arriving at the palace, Shiryu is greeted by Kiki who the Knight initially thinks is Mu. Soon after, Mu appears and explains that the Bronze Armor were dead and needed to take Shiryu's life to resurrect them. Shiryu owing his life to Seiya and realizing that without the cloths they'd would be dead anyways, he slits his wrist allow the cloths to receive his blood. Commending Shiryu's strong resolve to sacrifice his life for the sake of the cloths and his friends, Mu stops the bleeding and tends to Shiryu's wounds, saving his life.

Shiryu eventually reunites with the other bronze saints just as the Black Dragon saint challenged Andromeda Shun. While Shun gives Shiryu an warning of an hidden dragon before rushing off to help Seiya. The Black Dragon saint retreats to the shadows, forcing Shiryu to do the same but the voice of the black saint as well as his attacks come from different directions. Shiryu soon comes to the realization that there are two Black Dragon saints, one of them blind and making use of the darkness. Even after getting rid of the blind black dragon saint, the fight still proves difficult for Shiryu whom had lost a great deal of blood to repair the cloths of Pegasus and Dragon. Shiryu discards his armor at great risk to his own life, strikes the black saint with Rozan Shō Ryū Ha technique to defeat him. However, much to his shock the black saint survives the attack and is seemingly preparing to kill the dragon saint but instead had strikes a central vital point on that stops hemorrhaging thus saving Shiryu's life. Shortly after, the black saint collapses.

Eventually the Bronze Knights confront Ikki who defeats them all with the exception of Seiya. Shiryu, even unconscious, assists the Pegasus Knight by lending him, his indestructible shield, enabling Seiya to win. At the conclusion of the battle there is an Earthquakes shakes Mount Fuji. Ikki disappears, but Shiryu, Seiya, Hyoga and Shun, as well as the Black Knights, are saved by Mu.

Silver Saint Arc
Shiryu appears next to Hyoga and Shun just as Ikki faced Cerberus Dante and Perseus Algol. Ikki decides to leave. Shun and Hyoga are defeated by Algol who turns them both into stone. Shiryu faces then face the Silver Knight with some difficulty in being incapable of looking at directly at him. Shiryu covers his eyes with a headband, but ultimately ends up having his left arm petrified. As a last resort, Shiryu pierces his own eyes to avoid the effects of the Perseus's Shield and is thus able to eventually defeat Algol resulting in his friends being freed from the being petrified.

Shiryu undergoes a medical examination in which he is informed that he would never see again. Shiryu then returns to Lushan's Five Ancient Peaks, facing difficulties even with Shunrei's assistance in adjusting to his new condition. Shortly after arriving, Cancer Deathmask is sent by the Grand Pope to eliminate the Old Master, who is protected by Dragon Shiryu. Deathmask is attacked by the Dragon's Kick, which is defended by a single finger of the Golden Knight, who laughs at the Bronze Knight's strength before throwing him into the depths of Lushan Waterfall. Deathmask who demonstrates the advantage he posses in the fight, attacks Shiryu from all sides at light speed. Dohko's concern for his student grows exponentially realizing that Deathmask had intended to use his ultimate technique to send Shiryu's soul to the underworld. Aries Mu suddenly appears to intervene in the fight, saving both Dohko and Shiryu. Deathmask decides to leave knowing the great disadvantage of facing two Gold Saints. During his departure he tells the dragon saint that he would be waiting for his temple of the sanctuary to accept his challenge. Shortly after, Dohko reveals that he did nothing to defend Shiryu because he was testing him to see if the Dragon Knight was ready to face the Gold saints.

Poseidon Arc
With Athena kidnapped by Poseidon, the saints invade the Undersea Fortress Atlantis to save her, aiming to destroy the seven pillars of the seven oceans, as well as defeat the Marine Generals that protect them.

Shiryu's first battle is against Chrysaor Krishna, who fights with a spear of great destructive power. Shiryu challenges Krishna to break his shield. General Marina accepts, and in one blow easily cuts through both Shiryu's shield and body. The Dragon Knight tries to destroy the spear, but ends up only injuring his hands. Krishna does not kill Shiryu, preferring to let his blood drain until he dies. Left completely helpless, Shiryu receives the aid of the Capricorn Shura's spirit whom tells him that the spear is no rival to the holy sword Excalibur inhabited his right arm.

With renewed spirits, Shiryu gets back in the fight. Krishna admires the Bronze Knight's bravery and decides to kill him quickly to honor him as a warrior. This time, however, the spear is blocked by the shield as the Dragon cloth shines golden. Shiryu attempts, a second time, to destroy the spear, but fails. Shiryu then chooses to discard his armor, focusing entirely on offense. Surrendering body and soul, his cosmos reaches its apex, manifesting Excalibur that destroys not only the spear but also the Chrysaor Scale. Even unarmed, Krishna was still a dangerous rival, creating an powerful barrier though Shiryu still does not surrender and proceeds to manifest Excalibur a second time, succeeds in defeating Krishna by cutting all seven of his Chakra Points at once but at the expense of sight. Kiki appears with the Libra Cloth, and using the sword, Shiryu destroys the pillar. After this done, Shiryu goes to the Poseidon Temple, wearing the Libra Armor, joining Seiya and Hyoga, both wearing the armor of Sagittarius and Aquarius.

Shiryu joins forces with Seiya and Hyoga, miraculous managing to neutralize Poseidon temporarily. Even though the distraction lasted for a short time, the Knights are able to rescue Athena from the Main Breadwinner. In the end, they manage to destroy the Main Pillar, defeat Poseidon and seal his soul within an vase.

Saint Seiya (1986), Saint Seiya: Next Dimension (sequel after Hades)
Sometime after defeating Hades in the Elysian Fields, Shiryu returned to China, where he lived peacefully with Shunrei and their adopted son Shoryu as a farmer. Hyoga visited him in search of Lushan and tried to convince him to help Seiya, but failed due to Shiryu wanting to live a peacful life with his family. Angel Toma comes to the Five Peaks in search of Hyoga but see Shiryu instead. Toma gets angry at Shiryu for being a coward and feels bad for Hyoga to think Shiryu was his friend. He attacks the saint, who does not react and is thrown into a large waterfall where Dragon Cloth was sealed. When the angel leaves, Shiryu has a change of heart abd decides to take his cloth and go fight for Seiya once again, leaving his family behind while carrying a cane that belonged to his late Old Master. Later, Shiryu arrives at Artemis' Temple to aid Hyoga with his battle against Toma. Along with Cygnus Hyoga, they pass the time portal of the god Chronos, to arrive in the past to aid Athena. Shiryu rushes to the seventh house of the zodiac, in the Eighteenth Century, where he meets his teacher Libra Dohko (young). After struggling against him, Dohko proclaims Shiryu as future gold saint of Libra. Then he makes it past the seventh house, to reach and protect Athena.

Saint Seiya Omega
Main Article: Libra Shiryū (Omega)

List of opponents
In the original manga, Shiryu won 58% of his battles.

Techniques and abilities
During his training in Lushan, Shiryu had awakened his Cosmo and learned many fighting styles as well as fundamental wisdom from his master, Libra Dohko. During the Sanctuary Arc, Shiryu awakens the 7th sense in his fight against Cancer Deathmask. He awoke the 8th sense during the Hades Arc.

Rozan Shō Ryū Ha (廬山昇龍覇, lit. Lushan Rising Dragon Lord): Shiryu intensifies his cosmos and gives an upward blow be it punch or kick. The upward release of energy is comparable to the image of a majestic dragon rising towards the sky. A breath and drag violently hitting the opponent rose into the air with the image of a dragon devouring the opponent; Sometimes the attack is not completely vertical as when it slightly rotates around it's prey. Unlike the techniques of the other Bronze Saints, Shiryu's Rising Dragon does have one weakness—while performing the move, his heart will be left open for a millisecond. Only three people in the series have noted this: his master Libra Dohko, Bronze Saint Pegasus Seiya, and Gold Saint Capricorn Shura. When fighting Shura, Shiryu used this weakness as a decoy to lure Shura to attack his heart, then Shiryu was able to hurt Shura successfully.

Rozan Ryū Hi Shō (廬山龍飛翔, lit. Lushan Dragon Soar: An attack similar to Rozan Sho Ryu Ha, but in a horizontal forward rather than upward.

Rozan Hyaku Ryū Ha (廬山百龍覇, lit. Lushan One Hundred Dragon Lords): Shiryu learned it from watching his master Dokho's battle, even though he was blind at that moment. Dokho told Shiryu that his kindness was his disadvantage but at the same time his advantage. As well as removing any regret, Shiryu transcended the heart weakness of Rozan Rising Dragon Force. Standing with legs apart and the palms of his hands facing the opponent, he erupts his cosmos as intensely as possible while throwing a horde of 100 Dragons towards the enemy who is destroyed by the devouring dragons.

Rozan Kō Ryū Ha(廬山亢龍覇, lit. Lushan High Dragon Lord): Shiryu burns his Cosmos to the limit before capturing his opponent from behind and pushing the limit of Rozan Shō Ryū Ha creating the Rozan Kō Ryū Ha, the upward force launching Shiryu, carrying his target, into the skies. The two continue to climb until their bodies are incinerated and pulverized by the friction of the atmosphere. A suicide move intending to take the user's opponent with them to death, the Rozan Kō Ryū Ha is known as a forbidden technique to Shiryu.

Excalibur (聖剣 (エクスカリバー), Ekusukaribā): After defeating Capricorn Shura, Shiryu is entrusted with the Gold Saint's legendary technique Excalibur. Rather than a physical blade, Excalibur is a deadly Cosmo focused with precise sharpness on Shiryu's right arm. Although Shiryu's version of the sword was not as defined as Shura's (Shiryu's Excalibur lies only in his right arm, while Shura's can be unleashed from any of his limbs), the Dragon later refined it to the point of rivaling Shura's and used it to cut the unbreakable golden spear of Chrysaor Krishna, the powerful Mariner General, during the Poseidon Chapter.

The axe technique of Specter Minotaurus Gordon defeated Shiryu's Excalibur however, Shiryu used his fists from then on.

Cloths and accesory
Main Article:  Dragon Cloth

Main Article: Dragon Shield

Reception
In Japan, Shiryu is the most popular character in Saint Seiya, ranking 1st in the main characters poll of the five Bronze Saints.