History Characters / KillLaKillMainCharacters

[[folder:Ryuko Matoi[[spoiler:/Kiryuin]]]]

[[folder:Ryuko Matoi]]

** Another Gainax character she can be considered to be an Expy of is [[Anime/{{FLCL}} Naota Nandaba]]. Both are cynical and snarky {{Only Sane M|an}}en thrown into a WorldGoneMad, and their interactions with the characters in it take them out of their shell. Both also "wear" weapons to activate them (Senketsu requires Ryuko's blood to activate, and Naota is used to replace Canti's missing part). The pubescent issues that Naota deals with are also present in ''Kill La Kill'', with Ryuko having to accept wearing something that makes her bleed to become strong.

* ItsAllAboutMe: She spends most of the series hellbent to avenge her father, and she doesn't really care who she has to beat the crap out of to do so. Also, she often has to think twice before helping someone else. Eventually, her drive for revenge [[spoiler:leads her to a one-woman stand against Ragyo [[IAmAMonster for what she did to her]], uncaring of what Senketsu thinks of her]]. [[SubvertedTrope However, she's not exactly self-centered]], and both Senketsu and Mako help her grow out of this mentality, with the former saying otherwise about her behavior.

* NominalHero: For the first part of the series, she's motivated solely by the death of her father. Even when [[spoiler:Satsuki reveals her plans to Ragyo]], she only agrees to [[spoiler:help her]] because [[spoiler:Ragyo's dragon was the one who did the deed]].

* AProtagonistIsRyu: A rare female example, though the "Ryu" in her name means "stream" rather than "dragon". Other than that, she fits this perfectly with her [[HotBlooded feistiness]] and intense rivalry with [[TheRival Satsuki Kiryuin]] who, ironically, ''does'' have the character for "dragon" in her name. This fits even more considering that her [[FridgeBrilliance rightful name]] is Ryuko [[spoiler:Kiryuin.]]

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Unlike [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl Ryuko]], she immediately and fully embraces her Kamui's revealing form as a symbol of her mastery over its full power. [[spoiler:It is later implied that she has been repressing the feeling of shame from a very young age, possibly to endure sexual abuse from her mother. This is {{lampshaded}} during a seemingly unnecessary scene in episode 16, where Ragyo points out that Satsuki has been resisting her urge to cover herself. Satsuki resists her natural inclination to the point where she even allows her mother to molest her in the bath. She endures without resistance, copious amounts of humiliation and indecent exposure, to avoid the life fibers from consuming her free will. After the life fibers are destroyed, Satsuki dresses modestly on her own accord and is shown to be shy and easily-embarrassed without her ambition.]]

* {{Reluctant Fanservice Girl}}: {{Deconstructed}} [[spoiler:since she is aware that her mother is trying to exploit her modesty to take control of her.]] She appears uncomfortable while waiting at the grand bath and does not dignify Tsumugu with a response after he asks her to get naked. Regardless, she never allows herself to blush from embarrassment [[spoiler:until after Ragyo is killed and she no longer needs to wear Junketsu.]]

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Unlike [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl Ryuko]], she immediately and fully embraces her Kamui's revealing form as a symbol of her mastery over its full power. [[spoiler:It is later implied that she has been repressing the feeling of embarrassment from a very young age, possibly to endure sexual abuse from her mother. Satsuki's speech about pure intentions make more sense later on, considering how she sees her options as either to wear a slutty outfit with grace or let everyone in the world die.]] Completely averted outside of her goal, for she shows a strong dislike of exhibitionism and tries to cover up whenever possible.

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Unlike [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl Ryuko]], she immediately and fully embraces her Kamui's revealing form as a symbol of her mastery over its full power. [[spoiler:It is later implied that she has been repressing the feeling of embarrassment from a very young age, possibly to endure sexual abuse from her mother. Satsuki's speech about pure intentions make more sense later on, considering how she sees her options as either to wear a slutty outfit with grace or let everyone in the world die.]] Outside of her goal, she shows aversion to exhibitionism and tries to cover up whenever possible.

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: Unlike [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl Ryuko]], she immediately and fully embraces her Kamui's revealing form as a symbol of her mastery over its full power.

* CombatStilettos: Gains a pair when activating Senketsu, which replace her sneakers.

* LadySwearsALot: Especially in the dub, where she drops almost every single bit of profanity except for a PrecisionFStrike.

* JapaneseDelinquent: Ryuko's appearance resembles that of a ''sukeban'' or delinquent girl, as seen in her red hair highlight (which evokes [[DelinquentHair dyed hair]]) and heavily personalized pre-Senketsu school uniform (featuring a shortened skirt, a sports jacket and sneakers instead of the regulative skirt, blazer and dress shoes). Also, she has arguably the attitude of one, as she history of picking fights at school since she was very young.

* {{Reluctant Fanservice Girl}}: {{Defied}} [[spoiler:since she is aware that her mother is trying to exploit her modesty to take control of her.]] She appears uncomfortable while waiting at the grand bath and does not dignify Tsumugu with a response after he asks her to get naked, but she never allows herself to blush from embarrassment [[spoiler:until after Ragyō; is killed and she no longer needs to wear Junketsu.]]

* {{Reluctant Fanservice Girl}}: Defied [[spoiler:since she is aware that her mother is trying to exploit her modesty to take control of her.]] She appears uncomfortable while waiting at the grand bath and does not dignify Tsumugu with a response after he asks her to get naked, but she rarely allows herself to blush [[spoiler:until after Ragyō is killed and she no longer needs to wear Junketsu.]]

* JapaneseDelinquent: Ryuko's appearance resembles that of a ''sukeban'' or delinquent girl, as seen in her red hair highlight (which evokes [[DelinquentHair dyed hair]]) and heavily personalized pre-Senketsu school uniform (featuring a shortened skirt, a sports jacket and sneakers instead of the regulative skirt, cardigan and traditional dress shoes). Also, she has arguably the attitude of one, as she history of picking fights at school since she was very young.

* JapaneseDelinquent: Ryuko has the appearance and attitude of one, and she has a history of picking fights at school since she was very young.

* HolyBacklight: Every time she steps on top of the school, her mere existence can shoot out beams of light rays fiercer than the sun, and blinds all who are below her into submission. Her mother apparently [[InTheBlood can do the same]], but with a rainbow spectrum. Apparently, it is symbolic of her willpower: [[spoiler: In the OVA, when Satsuki is despondent after having accomplished her life's goal, she loses the ability to do this, and when she regains her determination, she gets it back.]]

** Ragyo takes control of Ryuko's mind using her Mind-Stitching ability and makes her attack Satsuki in episode 18 but Ryuko is able to break free by using [[spoiler:the [[ChekovsGun red highlight in her hair]]]] to cut the Life Fibers controlling her.

* TykeBomb: Averted. While [[spoiler:Ragyo had meant to turn her into this by implanting her with Life Fibers as a baby, Isshin managed to fake her death and sneak her away. In a more heroic version, it’s implied that Isshin was raising her to be able to fight Ragyo, as evidenced by his creation of anti-Life Fibers weapons and by informing his organization, Nudist Beach of her existence. Mikisugi even tells her at one point that she and Senketsu were created to stop Ragyo. Predictably, she does not take this news very well]].

* WallRun: She can run up vertical surfaces without activating Senketsu, as demonstrated at the end of the Naturals Election.

* UnscrupulousHero: Despite claiming she's only out to avenge her father, she isn't willing to leave a helpless student behind, as seen in episodes 4 and 13. [[spoiler:[[ExploitedTrope Of course, said students pretty much screwed her over...]]]]

* HighPressureBlood: Bear in mind, though, [[OverDrawnAtTheBloodBank she also has enough blood]] to rival [[Manga/OnePiece Roronoa Zoro]].

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Via the romaji of her name, one would either put a circumflex over the "u" in her given name, or write it as "Ryuuko". Few English subs manage to do the latter however.

** Satsuki considers Ryuko to be this.
** Sanageyama also sees her as this, outright proclaiming he refuses to die until he gets even with her.

* AntiHero: While she is a good person at heart, her goals and motivation have little to do with heroism. She is a deeply scarred, aggressive girl who will not sacrifice her own goals for the sake of others. She will help those she cares for but doesn't really care much about the rest, though she starts to grow out of this mindset later in the series.

* FragileSpeedster: Her speed is top-notch, but her defenses are quite low, evidenced by the fact that she takes damage from attacks coming from three-star Goku uniforms, which are considerably weaker than a Kamui, and the fact that Junketsu can pierce through Senketsu's defense.

** Another Gainax character she can be considered to be an Expy of is [[Anime/{{FLCL}} Naota Nandaba]]. Both are cynical and snarky {{Only Sane M|an}}en thrown into a WorldGoneMad, and their interactions with the characters in it take them out of their shell. Both also "wear" weapons to activate them (Senketsu requires Ryuko's blood to activate, and Naota is used to replace Canti's missing part).

** To [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Simon the Digger]]. Both of their [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman respective]] [[HumongousMecha powers]] are connected to [[EmpathicWeapon their mental state]], they both [[TookALevelInBadass take exponential levels in badassery]] throughout the story, and their adventures allow them to [[CharacterDevelopment grow as people]]. Physically, they both also sport dark hair with some type of red incorporated in, goggles, in Simon's case and a different-colored strand of hair in Ryuko's. Additionally, the final fights in both series result in [[spoiler:Ryuko and Simon losing someone very close and as a direct result of defeating the antagonist.]]