Oryo Ryou
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| She's either a heroic dream come true or a villain's worst nightmare! | |
| Oryo Ryou | |
| Player: @mellissandria | |
| Origin: | Scientific Experiment |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Scrapper |
| Security Level: | 50+ |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Ryoko Orkasa |
| Known Aliases: | DemonCaller, Demon Caller Oryo, Oryo Ryouko, Ryoko Smith, Ryoko Kerson, Ryoko Megami, "Rio" |
| Species: | Human (Genetically-Engineered) |
| Age: | estimated to be 22 (appears to be 18) |
| Height: | 5'4 (5'6 in heels) |
| Weight: | Refused to say |
| Eye Color: | Brown/Hazel/Gold |
| Hair Color: | White with silver/white highlights. |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | US Citzen |
| Occupation: | Police investigator based in Steel Canyon. |
| Place of Birth: | Crey's Folly, Bricktown, RI |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI. |
| Marital Status: | single. |
| Known Relatives: | Foster parents Bridget and Kasuhito Megami live in Long Island, NY. Foster 'sister' to Chiyoko "Meg" Megami Thornton aka 'Kami Megami', She's adopted Meg's brood as her own and tries to act as big sister. |
| Known Powers | |
| super reflexes, pyrokinetics, telekinesis. Limited invulnerability (immune to fire, bullets and high heat), some superstrength. | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Possibly some mild telepathic/empathic abilities. Proficient gymnast & melee combatant. | |
| Equipment | |
| Commlink, Blackberry/Cellphone, flexible fireproof body armor, utility belt with medkit. | |
| Was found after fire at Crey Laboratories in the rubble as a child. Has ties to Kami Megami (foster sister) and Mystik Paladin (II)(through his grandfather, Mystik Paladin (I). Currently runs her own detective agency in Steel Canyon. | |
Contents |
Early life/origin
Oryo Ryou started life as an genetic experiment at a Crey Industries laboratory. The longterm purpose was to create a prototype supersoldier who would be able to obey orders, be able to fight any hero on the face of the Earth, and to resist anything thrown at her. As usual, the scientists used genetic material from heroes, usually without their consent. Their powers would vary, as there were several variations, but ideally, they would be invulnerable to all temperatures. As 'candidates' were watched, they were culled if they proved unable to withstand the high heat or prolonged exposure to cold. They were also watched for any sign of a superpower, but culled after rigorous testing to trigger the powers under stress. Some triggered, but were unable to control their powers..they were soon culled, and their genetic material harvested for future testing.
When one of the geneticists' assistants attempted to remove the last remaining child and contact child protective services-she was killed. This trauma caused the child's powers to manifest-and the child caused a fire that destroyed the building, killing five employees. The girl was later able to testify to put the lead geneticists behind bars. Subsequently, the girl, now known as Ryoko, was given a new life and a new name with a family in New York.
Training
During this time, she was brought under the wing of the original Mystik Paladin, who was well known for championing the innocent. As soon as the trial was over, he arranged for her to be adopted by trusted friends, who aided him in training her to first control her powers, then to use them. As she grew older, she was sent overseas for further training in her pyrokinetic abilities, as well as gymnastics and track. Holidays were spent with her foster family (with the elderly Paladin standing in as surrogate grandfather until his death.) It is possible that he believed that Ryoko might be his genetic offspring; this belief was recently confirmed when DNA tests showed that his genetic material was used, along with about 20 others', in creating the girl. (It's apparently because of this belief that she was remembered in his will-she received a generous trust fund, and life tenancy in an apartment condo in Paragon City.)
She was first schooled by tutors, then as she caught up, was sent to schools specializing in superhero training to fine tune her control of her powers. As she grew older, she developed an interest in law enforcement. This made sense, she reasoned, as she was already in training to be a superhero.
She applied for police training at Paragon's police academy, soon distinguishing herself as one of the more promising cadets-she aided with a couple of undercover assignments for the PPD while a student. (Later, she would spend nearly a year masquerading as a high school student at a RI high school, while on loan from the PPD)
The Strummer Incident
In the later weeks of her police academy training, Ryoko was introduced to singer/musician Seth Strummer, by a mutual friend, Arithon Kerson. Arithon had recently arrived in the Paragon, RI area,as the main heir to the Kerson fortune; according to his grandfather's will, he had to live for a year on the Kerson estate. This forced Arithon-and his old band, to find and train a replacement for Arithon, in the short time they had before the next tour. Hence, Seth's presence.
For Ryoko and Seth, it was love at first sight. Seth managed to get her phone number, and they dated for several weeks, before Seth decided to propose, buying a ring for the moment. Ryoko planned to tell Seth she was the masked heroine DemonCaller Oryo, not realizing he was about to put marriage on the table.
Unfortunately, the moment was ruined by a Circle of Thorns coven, who sought to use Ryoko in a ritual as a sacrifice to make the leader of the coven more powerful. Both were taken prisoner. Subsequently, Seth gave his live to disrupt the ritual and save Ryoko's life.
In turn, she became enraged, melting the sword used in the ritual with the heat from her flames, and nearly caused the death of the coven's leader. Only the intervention of Arithon (as Purple Bard) prevented her from committing, what to some, might have been justifiable homicide. She powered down, mercifully, before she could incinerate anything..or anyone else.
Unfortunately, there was a photographer in the area, who had been hoping for pictures of either Kerson or Strummer. The pictures that he took (while hiding in bushes) showed up in the newspapers the next day. From the moment that Seth gave his life to the moment Ryoko powered down, to the moment she was taken to the hospital with Seth, everything was chronicled...and all without her mask-her clothing had burned off during the entire episode.
Subsequently, she managed to graduate from the academy class. By this time, she had taken the name of Ryoko Orkasa - eventually making detective with the PPD.
Current Life in Paragon City
After the 'Strummer incident', Ryoko distanced herself from the Megamis, her adopted parents, for a time. She also stopped wearing a mask..what was the point after her picture had been plastered over every paper in Paragon, as well as every newspaper in the New England region. She's flirted with glasses and visors for various reasons, but always returns to the barefaced look.
She also took a new code name..no longer the caller of demons, she was now herself 'Oryo Ryou' or 'honorable demon spirit'
In her civilian life, she is called Ryoko, or her nickname of Rio. In her super identity, she is still called 'DC' by those who knew her originally as "Demon Caller", or 'Oryo', or much to her irritation, 'Oreo'.
She finally left the PPD after an incident in which she destroyed Detective Martins' desk one time too many..Currently, she is a private investigator, using her old connections as well as her powers in her investigations..She also has been keeping an eye on the Megami Thornton clan since her foster sister, Chiyoko, died. (See "Kami Megami" for further details.)
Oryo is also attached to Vanguard's Earth Defenses.
Powers and limitations
Ryoko is a pyrokintic; this was confirmed by the "Crey" incident when she managed to set fire to an entire laboratory complex. Because of the sudden manifestation, it took her years to control her powers to the point that she can just produce a spark instead of an inferno. She also had to go through years of therapy in order to understand what had happened to her. It's this therapy and training that keeps her from burning up buildings every time she loses her temper.
She can shoot flames from her hands, sometimes at incredible temperatures, as well as manifest a flame sword. She can also levitate herself, apparently without thinking. (She has a bad habit of sitting in midair without being conscious of it.). Because of her levitation, she can also 'fly'. It's not known if she can levitate others besides herself yet.
She can resist psionic attacks for a short time.
She also seems to be invulnerable to flames, perhaps due to her own flame abilities. She is *not* invulnerable to water (although she can make it evaporate), or oxygen deprivation. She can melt ice in a few seconds.
Perhaps due to her intense physical training, she appears to have super reflexes..she's able to fight off several opponents with the ease of a martial artist. She also may be stronger than the average human being - but this has yet to be put to the test.
Her full potential has yet to be tapped.
Stories
(more stories to be added later..)
Miscellaneous
Originally, she was called "Demon Caller Oryo", but the name has been discarded for several reasons.
The major inspiration for this character came from the anime Tenchi Muyo, but obviously she has evolved since then. She does have a parallel version living on Primal Earth, Union Dimension, who is younger, and has had a slightly different background. She is called Oryo, and has a secret identity of a photographer, going by the name Ryoko Phoenix. In this variant, she was actually mentored by the first Mystic Paladin, James Kerson, and never met Seth Strummer. She's also less abrasive than her Virtueverse sister for that reason.
There is also a blaster version of Oryo on Virtueverse, basically the same character, but has a rad(energy)/fire powerset. She's called Oryoko out of game, but is the same character as Oryo Ryou.
(Years later in 2019): With the resurrection of CoH (as CoH Homecoming), Oryo has been rebooted and revamped as a fire/fire/fire blapper, in all her flirty, fiery glory! I thought she hadn't made it to fifty on live, but it would appear I was wrong. Prior to CoH's return, I was working on a novel using the character of Oryo, however, it has yet to be published as of this writing. This variant resides on the Everlasting server.
(If you do feel that you need to use the character of Oryo Ryou in a story, or art, please let me know first.)
Art Credit: Joe DX of the DeviantArt community.
