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Ruka Gojou 「五浄 流河 Gojō Ruka」 is a minor antagonist of the Nanbaka Web Manga and anime. He is a former guard of building 5 of Nanba Prison and is currently an inmate imprisoned in the Gogyousan Underground Prison.[1]
Appearance[]
Ruka is a slim, fair-skinned man who stands at average height. He possesses long, straight teal hair with dark blue highlights, styled with the bangs fanned out to the side resembling fins and two long strands framing his face, with the rest separated into four strands reaching past his thighs. He has purple eyes with gold rings around the pupil, adorned with thick teal eyeshadow and prominent lower lashes. His nails are teal.
Despite no longer being a guard,[2] Ruka wears a slightly modified version of the standard Nanba Prison guard uniform consisting of teal and dark blue shawl worn around his shoulders and decorated with a hexagonal pattern resembling scales. His hat is decorated with three gold, hexagonal accessories and, Instead of the standard red belt, he wears a dark blue belt tied into a bow in the middle and decorated with pale blue beads. He wears a necklace comprised of large, dark blue beads resembling Buddhist prayer beads, and a pair of dark blue boots decorated with a gold diamond pattern.
Personality[]
Ruka's sadistic personality
Ruka has a calm and composed exterior but is also bold and sadistic, seeming to find entertainment in tormenting and punishing those who get in his way.[3] He is highly persistent and aggressive in his attempts to take down his opponents but rarely fights with his full strength straight away, indicating a certain amount of pridefulness and arrogance. He is rather manipulative, willing to take control of former coworkers in order to meet his ends, and states that he enjoys learning other people’s secrets despite having no other interest in those around him.[4]
Ruka is characterized by his idolization of Enki Gokuu, believing himself to be closer to him than anyone. He adores him to the point of imitating his mannerisms in the hopes of bonding to him, including repeatedly insisting that no one will understand what's on his mind. He holds the belief that everything Enki does must be right, including the act of murder; this has resulted in him attempting to kill to meet his ends with no hesitation, justifying his illegal actions by stating that Enki is a murderer as well. According to Kiji Mitsuba, this is because Ruka, like many residents of building five, has a habit of acting without thinking.[5]
Ruka frets about his makeup during an intense situation
Despite claiming to be dissimilar to his rival Kiji, Ruka shares many traits with the supervisor to the point where many see no difference between them.[6] An example of this is that he is a remarkably arrogant individual who takes an immense amount of pride in his appearance, often worrying about it during serious situations;[7] during battle, he habitually opts for waterproof makeup so that he can come into contact with water without ruining it, indicating his vanity.[8] In addition, he once considers betraying Enki in exchange for some high-quality makeup. He also shares Kiji's short-temperdness and bossiness, being quite demanding of others and quickly losing his temper when he isn't taken seriously[9] or if his appearance isn't up to his standards.[10]
Background[]
Ruka was originally a guard who worked in building five of Nanba Prison.[11] There, he harboured a great admiration for Enki and wished to serve as his deputy, becoming highly jealous when Samon Gokuu was chosen for the position instead of him.[12] At some point after Enki's arrest, Ruka too was arrested for an unspecified crime and imprisoned in the Gogyou San underground prison.
Plot[]
Ruka in building five's water garden
Assisted by Inori Hakkai, Ruka escapes from the Gogyou San underground prison alongside Enki Gokuu.[13] On the surface, he gets involved in some violence against some guards trying to subdue them, damaging building five’s water garden where he then waits in the water for Samon Gokuu. When Samon arrives, he taunts him and states that he doesn’t deserve to be the supervisor in Enki’s place.[14] After Samon is defeated and the escaped convicts plan their next move, Ruka notices Rokuriki overhearing their conversation.
Ruka captures Jyugo
Later, Ruka appears before Jyugo, Uno, Honey, and Trois and states that he will punish them for breaking out and causing trouble. Their unwelcome attitude towards him angers him further and he summons Daisen Youriki and Daisen Kokoriki, who are possessed with attack charms, to defeat them.[15] He is then distracted by Kiji who he has imprisoned, mocking him as he demands to be released. He then reveals that Kiji’s inmates are among the ones being chased by the guards, who are currently being defeated by Trois. Catching up with them, Ruka realizes that Jyugo is vital to the group’s plans and captures him, demanding to know what they are after;[16] he threatens to kill Jyugo if they don’t obey, justifying his actions by claiming that Enki would have done the same. However, he is soon attacked from behind by Trois, allowing his captives to escape while he complains.[17]
After a while, Ruka orders Youriki and Kokoriki to kill Jyugo; as they attempt to do so, Ruka prevents Uno from rescuing him. Becoming annoyed with his interference, he tries to kill him but his blade is somehow destroyed, much to his confusion.[18] As he is distracted by Trois, Honey saves Jyugo and Uno and Ruka dives under a nearby pool to hide from them;[19] however, his hiding place is discovered and Trois blows it up with a grenade, much to his annoyance. As he questions how they found him, he notices Honey’s thread tied around his wrist and promptly dives back into the water to untie them. However, it turns out to have been a mere decoy and Honey pulls him back up regardless, managing to trap him with floor panels alongside Youriki and Kokoriki. Becoming angry, Ruka destroys the floor panels with his Bashosen and vows to kill the inmates.[20]
Ruka activates his Bashosen
Ruka attacks his opponents with his Bashosen, but they block it by creating a rock barrier with Honey’s thread. Remarking upon their persistence, Ruka destroys the said barrier and Trois’s subsequent grenade attacks while Uno and Jyugo retreat. As Ruka is about to kill Honey and Trois, Jyugo returns and attacks him with his blades.[21] Recognizing him as the monster that Enki had been wanting to dispose of, Ruka resolves to kill Jyugo himself in the hopes of understanding him better. He tries to kill Jyugo with his wind, only for Jyugo to cut through it with his blades, knocking him into the water. He emerges again a while later, growing increasingly angry and aiming more powerful wind at Jyugo who seems unable to cut through it. However, Jyugo manages to absorb the wind into his blade and amplify the power back at Ruka, knocking him back into the water.[22]
Despite his apparent defeat, Ruka appears once again and prevents Uno from escaping further using chains,[23] from which he eventually escapes. As Youriki and Kokoriki appear and wonder who to apprehend, Ruka intimidates them into ignoring him and chasing the rest of the inmates.[24] Sometime later, he ends up fighting Trois under the water until the latter seduces him, stealing his keys while he’s distracted.[25]
Ruka is defeated by Kiji
Later, Ruka emerges from the water and berates Uno and Honey for stealing his keys, only to panic upon realizing that Kiji has escaped. When asked about his motives, Ruka responds that they wouldn’t understand which leads Kiji to compare him to Enki. Ruka claims that he understands Enki greatly and has grown close to him, asserting that he was right to commit murder. This causes Kiji to hit him and tell him that he shouldn’t aim for Enki, with Ruka eventually conceding before examining his fading makeup in Kiji’s mirror. Following this, he admits that he never believed Enki to have been a murderer and simply wanted him to return to building five.[26]
Following his defeat, Ruka is forced to follow Kiji to the surface where they encounter Inori in the midst of betraying Enki. As he criticizes Inori, the latter remains unresponsive and tells Ruka to take responsibility for his own actions.[27]
Trivia[]
- Ruka's name contains the Kanji for "flow" (流) and "river" (河). His surname, Gojou, contains the Kanji for "five" (五) and "pure" (浄).
- Ruka's name is a reference to Sha Wujing, the river ogre from Journey of the West.
- Ruka is commonly called a Kappa, which is likely due to his ability to swim and control water.
- Ruka's hobbies include swimming and collecting dishes.
- In the web manga, Ruka's hair contains dark blue streaks. In the anime, however, it is plain teal.
References[]
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 74
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 95
- ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 74
- ↑ Nabaka web manga chapter 94
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 106
- ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 93
- ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 106
- ↑ Nanbaka web angs chapter 105
- ↑ Nanbaka web manga chapter 93
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 106
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 74
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 106
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 74
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 76
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 93
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 94
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 95
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 96
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 97
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 98
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 99
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 100
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 101
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 102
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 103
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 106
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 112