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Ryu Hayabusa VS Strider Hiryu is the 28th episode of Death Battle, featuring Ryu Hayabusa from the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series and Strider Hiryu from the Strider series in a battle between deadly video game ninjas.
Interlude
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Wiz: Ninjitsu. Originally created by farmers to kill their oppressive samurai lords, the ninja has become one of the deadliest killers in history.
Boomstick: Like Ryu Hayabusa, the ultimate Dragon Ninja.
Wiz: And Strider Hiryu, the high-tech mercenary.
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Ryu Hayabusa
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Wiz: His name literally meaning Dragon Falcon, Ryu Hayabusa was born in the Dragon-lineage legacy and trained in the ways of the ninja from the moment he could crawl.
Boomstick: How are you supposed to keep a baby in their crib when they can freakin' back-flip out of it?
Wiz: A prodigy in the art of combat, Ryu far exceeded his clan's expectations. When he turned 18, he donned the traditional blue garb...
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The Night of Lukifell/Act 5-3 Arrangement - Ninja Gaiden (NES) by Vurez
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Wiz: ...then single-handedly defeated both the criminal Cult of Nostradomis and the army of Emperor Garuda.
Boomstick: And that was before his father gave him the Dragon Sword, a single-edged katana carved from the fang of a dragon which, when combined with the mystical eye of the dragon, becomes a divine blade of ultimate power.
Wiz: It also has one serious security system. If someone other than a strong-willed Hayabusa attempts to wield it, the true Dragon Sword will feed on and eventually devour their soul.
Boomstick: I need that kind of tech for my car! Teach those damn caddy-smashing raptors a lesson.
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Wiz: In addition, Ryu has an enormous arsenal of various weaponry, including the Lunar Staff, Falcon´s Talons, a Kusari-gana, basically a chain sickle, numerous types of shurikens, bombs, bows, etc. etc., and the Eclipse Scythe, a weapon forged by werewolves and quenched in the blood of living human beings. Because some people just have to do things the hard way.
Boomstick: (cough) The badass way, Wiz. And if that wasn't enough, he's also a magician! But instead of pulling rabbits out of a hat, it's a fire dragon!
Wiz: Uh, no, though that would make one impressive party trick.
Wiz: Ryu channels the energies of his unusually strong spirit for mystical techniques called Ninpo.
Boomstick: Well, this "ninpo-gician" can summon fireballs, create a fighting shadow of himself, blow shit up with his own version of the Torn Sky Blast, and even seems to be able to teleport short distances— What the fuck, did he just turn into a bird?!
Wiz: Ryu's spirit is so unnaturally strong he can manipulate that spiritual energy to perform supernatural feats, like... the bird thing, and surviving fatal wounds. Granted, this pseudo-healing factor requires a lot of time, rest, and meditation to pull off.
Hayabusa falls from the sky, grabs onto an armed goon, then lands while stabbing him. Ryu then removes his sword from the goon's body, splattering it.
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Boomstick: Ryu is fast enough to deflect automatic fire, tough enough to land a 300-meter drop, and has developed a ninja sense, which anticipates danger. Like when a chick asks if she looks fat in a new outfit.
Wiz: And despite mastering the ninja art of stealth, he tends to just rush in, swords swinging. Every. Single. Time.
Boomstick: Hehey, whatever works. He's destroyed entire armies of fiends and demons, killed the Dark Dragon, twice somehow, won the second Dead Or Alive tournament, avenged his father's death and finally annihilated the Devil himself, all just to get himself laid.
Ryu: Such selfish arrogance... I cannot allow this!
Strider Hiryu
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A brief montage of Strider plays.
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Wiz: His name literally meaning Flying Dragon, Hiryu was orphaned at a very young age. He was put through the intense Strider program, a training school for high-tech ninja mercenaries.
Boomstick: It's so hard to find a good cyber-ninja school these days.
Wiz: Seems whoever put him there made the right choice.
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Wiz: Hiryu far exceeded his teachers' expectations and soon became the youngest student in the organization's history to reach the highest rank of Special A-Class Strider.
Boomstick: What does that mean? Well, even a C-Class Strider has the strength and skill of a whole team of special forces, so just imagine what a Special A-Class Strider can do. Oh wait, you don't have to 'cause we're here to tell you about it!
Wiz: After reaching this remarkable rank, Hiryu was sent on a mission to kill a rogue Strider, who just so happened to be his own sister.
Boomstick: Naturally, pissed off at the Striders manipulating him and his sister, he immediately retired... after killing her, of course.
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Wiz: Hiryu wields a deadly light sword Cypher named Falchion. It generates a blade of high voltage plasma energy which can slice through almost anything. Today, plasma cutters can reach temperatures over 2 million degrees Celsius, cutting through steel and other metals with ease.
Boomstick: It's basically a super-long, extending lightsaber.
Wiz: Well, kind of. It's a sword with a plasma aura that leaves a trail of death. It can also fire plasma arrows and counter projectiles.
Boomstick: All with an incredibly satisfying ching sound.
Strider swings Cypher.
Boomstick: That's the one.
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Burning Force - Namco X Capcom by Yuzo Koshiro
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Wiz: Apart from the Cypher, Hiryu wields a large arsenal of sci-fi gear and weaponry, including the Varga: a teleporting device. He uses his medical tech to heal wounds, the climb sickles to, well, climb, the jump trick to... jump higher.
Boomstick: I guess they don't have a thesaurus at the ninja school. He also has a device that can cause earthquakes, shoot fire, and launch big balls of electricity.
Wiz: And last, but not least, he has three types of cybernetic drones at his back and call. Option A are twin satellite bots which shield Hiryu and shoot wave after wave of deadly laserdiscs.
Boomstick: Option B is a Robo-Panther. It's like a giant death-cat that doesn't need a litter box or scratch the shit out of your furniture.
Wiz: Finally, Option C is a robotic hawk with bladed wings and oversized grenades.
Boomstick: Argh, I hate birds! Now they have grenades.
Wiz: Hiryu's speed and agility are off the charts. Fortunate, since he also doesn't seem to ever use his ninja stealth skills. He's even fast enough to dodge shadow tag bullets: highly advanced ammunition designed to track supersonic targets, like Striders. Basically, anti-aircraft rounds for people.
Boomstick: He's also strong enough to slice clean through the human body... with a karate chop!!!
Wiz: Hiryu has somehow been in retirement for over 2,000 years; likely because of the advanced medicine of the future. Yet despite distancing himself from the Strider program,
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Wiz: He has been pulled out of retirement more times than John McClane.
Boomstick: He's fought dinosaurs and giant robots, destroyed a moon-sized space station, and is so badass he considers huge flying warships mere toys. He even slew the magical creator of the world... twice. Apparently, God is no match for this future ninja.
Strider Hiryu: There's no escape! Legion!
Hiryu summons an army of robotic animals to defeat Akuma.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 announcer: HYPER COMBO K.O.!!!
Strider Hiryu: No place for amateurs.
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: But first, it's time for another ad from Glu— Oh wait, it's actually a new ad! Go Lumosity!
Wiz and Boomstick read out an advertisement for Lumosity.
Boomstick: But first, IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLE!!!
Death Battle
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Alma Saves Rachel - Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) by Ryuichi Nitta
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An armed soldier stands in a building under construction as both Hayabusa and Hiryu appear and kill him with a slash from their swords.
Soldier: (Wilhelm scream)
Hayabusa and Strider then jump back into a fighting pose.
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Alma Awakened - Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) by Ryuichi Nitta
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Ryu jumps backward and throws three shurikens at Hiryu but misses as he slides under them and ambushes Ryu, slashing him towards a wall. Hayabusa bounces off the wall and hits Hiryu with his True Dragon Sword and causes him to fall down. Ryu bears down on Hiryu with his sword several times, and then Hiryu cartwheels over Hayabusa. Hiryu slashes at Ryu, but he blocks it and throws a Boomerang Shuriken at Hiryu, who cartwheels over him again.
Hiryu dodges the Shuriken flying past him and jumps over, starts slashing at Ryu multiple times, and after cartwheeling over him again, slices the flying Shuriken in half. Hayabusa slashes at Hiryu multiple times with the Dragon Sword and successfully kicks him into the wall. Hiryu bounces off the wall, but Ryu catches him in midair and pile drives Hiryu into the ground.
Ryu pulls out his Eclipse Scythe. He attempts to kill Hiryu with it but Hiryu teleports out of the way, and cleanly removes the scythe´s blade with his Cypher. Hayabusa jumps back and pulls out a Whip Chain. He swings it, and throws it at Hiryu with precision, but Hiryu decimates it into two dozen embers of metal with a combo of slashes. Ryu charges his Ninpo and an ethereal shadow of himself appears. The two continuously attack Hiryu with their swords until Hiryu summons his satellite drones.
Strider Hiryu: Back off!
As the satellite bots fire their laserdiscs, Ryu jumps forward, dodging them, and destroys the drones with a well-aimed shuriken.
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Ryu lands and fires a high-speed wave of arrows. Hiryu dodges the arrows. Ryu prepares to fire an arrow with a bomb attached to it, but Hiryu´s plasma Cypher destroys Ryu´s bow. Hiryu charges at Ryu and slashes but misses as Ryu teleports. Ryu appears behind him and prepares his Torn Sky Blast. Hiryu is hit by the blast and is sent to another room. Hayabusa tries to stab Hiryu in the neck, but he jumps over and uses his sickles to climb the wall, dodging the first attack and slashing at the second. Both ninjas attack each other, doing fight combos as they fly up the building. Strider Hiryu is knocked upward, seemingly the last person hit.
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Alma Awakened - Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) by Ryuichi Nitta
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Then Hiryu uses his medical tech to heal as Ryu Hayabusa heals with his ninpo. Then both prepare to fire their blasts and when they connect, it causes a small explosion, knocking both backwards. Hiryu is pushed back further and is about to summon his robotic animals.
Strider Hiryu: There's no escape! Legion!
As his robotic animals charge at Ryu, Hayabusa destroys them all with a single combo. He attacks but Hiryu jumps out of the way and fires his Cypher´s plasma arrows. Ryu flips past them and jumps on a crane. Hiryu flies up the same crane as Ryu throws several fireballs at him.
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Chapter Clear - Ninja Gaiden (Xbox) by Ryuichi Nitta
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Hiryu disperses them by swinging his sword. Ryu jumps on top of the crane after him.
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Orchestral Compilation - Ninja Gaiden (NES) by Rayena
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Both ninjas stand, staring at each other, then both run towards each other, jumping forward, and swinging their swords once.
They both land on the ground. There are a few seconds of silence until Hayabusa is wounded, bleeding.
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Beasts - Strider (Arcade) by Junko Tamiya
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Strider Hiryu: Time to end this! Ragnarok!
Strider Hiryu charges at Ryu at super-fast speeds with the Varga, then pile drives Hayabusa straight through the roof and keeps going through all of its stories to the base of the skyscraper. The deed done, Strider Hiryu vanishes.
As one of Hiryu's hawks drops a grenade on Ryu, Strider Hiryu leaves the building using his glider.
Results
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Theme of Strider Hiryu - Marvel vs. Capcom by Masato Kouda
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Boomstick: Ragnar-owned!
Wiz: This fight was very close, and Ryu's ninpo was certainly a match for Hiryu's gadgets.
Boomstick: But Ryu's enormous arsenal was useless against the Cypher.
Wiz: The only weapon that can stand up to the Cypher was his True Dragon Sword, but even then, while it can cut through people like butter, Hiryu does the same with his bare hands.
Boomstick: This guy can make a wicked sandwich. Also while Ryu can deflect automatic fire, Strider can dodge personalized anti-aircraft bullets.
Wiz: If you consider the differences in speed, this means Hiryu is at least 43% faster. Ultimately, Hiryu surpasses Ryu in strength, speed, and weaponry.
Boomstick: Looks like Strider just floored Hayabusa.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Strider Hiryu.
Trivia
Production
- The connections between Ryu Hayabusa and Strider Hiryu are that they are both iconic video-game ninjas known for their unique arsenal as well as their ability to shred through entire armies single-handedly. Both also have "Ryu" in their names and appeared in games released in 1988 known for being notoriously difficult. Additionally, both became staple characters in popular fighting games (Dead or Alive and Marvel vs. Capcom, respectively).
- This is also a battle of opposites, as Ryu's arsenal is mostly magic in origin, whereas Hiryu's weapons are technology-based.
- Starting with this episode, the "Winner" card now says "WINNER" instead of the winning combatants' name.
Easter Eggs
- The Wilhelm Scream can be heard when the armed soldier is sliced by Ryu and Hiryu.
- Near the end of the fight, Ryu and Hiryu reenact the famous Ninja Gaiden intro, in which Ryu's father and another ninja charge towards each other before leaping into the air and attacking.
Other
- This is the third Video Game VS Anime/Manga-themed episode, after Vegeta VS Shadow and Pikachu VS Blanka, and with the next eight being Kirby VS Majin Buu, Guts VS Nightmare, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Mega Man VS Astro Boy, Pokémon VS Digimon, Lucario VS Renamon, Shadow VS Ryuko, and Guts VS Dimitri.
- This is the second time the Anime/Manga character wins, after Vegeta VS Shadow, and with the next four being Guts VS Nightmare, Hercule Satan VS Dan Hibiki, Mega Man VS Astro Boy, and Pokémon VS Digimon.