Ganryu

Ganryu is a character from the Tekken games.

Ganryu was a talented rikishi whose strength and talent in the ring allowed him to become the youngest fighter ever to reach the rank of ōzeki. While having the talent to easily reach the rank of yokozuna, it was Ganryu's lifestyle outside of the ring that was to be his downfall, as his arrogant attitude and illicit gambling habit led to him being dishonorably discharged from the sport. Still determined to prove himself to be the strongest fighter in the world, Ganryu entered a new tournament to prove his strength - the King of Iron Fist Tournament. While unsuccessful in winning the tournament, losing to Yoshimitsuand having his ill-gotten gains seized by the ninja, his talent was recognized by one Kazuya Mishima who, upon winning the tournament and seizing control of the Mishima Zaibatsu, appointed Ganryu as a bodyguard. One of Ganryu's tasks in this role was to find the young Native American, Michelle Chang, and seize an amulet in her possession. Not only was Ganryu unsuccessful in obtaining the amulet, but he fell in love with his target. His affection was unreciprocated, however, leading a rejected Ganryu to turn his back on his life of crime and move to Hawaii to open a sumo stable of his own.

Ganryu happily lived his new life for over twenty years, until his attention was caught by a competitor of the fourth King of Iron Fist tournament - a young woman named Julia Chang, adoptive daughter and spitting image of her mother, Michelle. His love rekindled, Ganryu entered the fifth tournament with hopes of obtaining the disc of forest restoration research data sought by Julia in the hope of winning her heart and making her his beloved wife. While he was successful in finding the data and giving it to Julia, his love once again went unrequited. This led a dejected Ganryu to return to Hawaii and indulge another passion of his, food and cookery, and he opened a restaurant called "Chanko Paradise". However, the restaurant was not the success he had hoped, and Ganryu fell on financial difficulties. Upon learning of a sixth tournament, Ganryu entered in the hopes of winning the prize money to fund his restaurant. Ganryu failed to win the tournament and, as he did not return for the seventh tournament, the fate of him, and his restaurant, remain unknown.

Appearance
Ganryu is a tall, imposing figure, well built with the large stature and muscles befitting of a rikishi. Ganryu wears his hair in a chonmage topknot, as is the tradition in his sport, and has a visible birthmark or scar on his forehead.

Ganryu's most recognizable outfit is his traditional rikishi attire, which consists of a mawashi and bandages wrapped around his wrists and ankles. Ganryu has also worn a white yukata fastened with a blue belt, as well as robes and shorts of other designs and colors, and a more formal outfit of a long black shirt worn over grey hakama pants with white tabi and geta sandals.

Personality
Ganryu is a very proud and passionate man, and full of confidence. In his younger years, this caused problems for him, as his arrogance in the ring led to his dismissal from the sport of sumo. Ganryu was also very materialistic, with his greed for wealth leading him into a bad gambling habit. As he grew older, however, he matured and turned his back on illegal activities and developed a stronger moral compass, after which he tried to make a more honest living while standing up and fighting for what he thought to be the greater good. Ganryu also shows more respect for his fellow competitors and an awareness of risks, whereas his overconfident and impetuous younger self had little respect for his rivals, although he is still short of patience for those he feels does not show him mutual respect. As well as being big of stature, Ganryu is also big of heart, and his romantic side led to an infatuation with Michelle Chang and, later, her daughter Julia, a love which was to go unacknowledged and unreciprocated. Despite his honorable side, his feelings towards Michelle and Julia have resulted in a peverse nature that has fluctuated within Ganryu.

Abilities
Ganryu started out as a Jack "clone character", slow and powerful, with some additional moves of his own, mainly consisting of heavy strikes, pop-ups and rapid slaps. Since his return in Tekken 5, his moveset has been expanded greatly.

While not being the fastest of characters, Ganryu is balanced, flexible and surprisingly agile, allowing for some pretty deceptive low attacks and surprising tactics. His pokes hit hard and are pretty safe, and he's got several short string combos that can be used effectively. His speed, while slightly faster than Jack's level, is still below average.

Fighting Style
Ganryu fights using Sumo Wrestling. Sumo is an ancient and popular sport in Japan in which a Rikishi is to force (or throw) his opponent outside a circular ring, or force them to touch the ground using a body part that isn't their feet. Although Sumo itself is not strictly a fighting style of sorts, it is still classified as a martial art and has played a large influence in the development of modern Japanese martial arts, specifically Judo.

Trivia

 * The kanji for Ganryu's name individually mean: "rock" (gan); "dragon" (ryū).
 * While Katsuhiro Harada's favorite Tekken character is Heihachi Mishima, sometimes he'll answer that it is Ganryu out of pity (because he is the least popular character in the series).
 * Ganryu is one of only two Japanese characters (the other being Miharu Hirano) who is currently not connected to either the Mishimas, Kazamas or the Manji Clan.
 * Ganryu is the only person who worked for Kazuya Mishima in Tekken 2 that does not work for him in Tekken 6.
 * Ganryu bears a striking resemblance to E. Honda from the Street Fighter series, Taka-Arashi from the Virtua Fighter series and Akatsuki-Maru from Buriki One, but this is mainly due to the archetypal outfit and haircut worn by many Sumos in fiction, along with a similar set of eyebrows & loincloth (mawashi).