Well, he's in every BOF game, but the first 2 referred to him as the "Hero" by default, at least in North America (not so sure about Japan...but then again, remember the US version of BOF-1 was handled by Square, so it got the Woolsey treatment). Anyways, he's Ryu.

I have to ask which is the coolest, but I can't do it as a poll. Why? Because there are TWO DISTINCT CATEGORIES that we need to look at. Both, the coolest in appearence (either box-art or ingame, it doesn't matter much to me) and the coolest in terms of dragon abilities. And while I'm at it, which Ryu is the WORST in those categories? Ok, maybe I shouldn't have the worst abilities, just in case everyone agrees...but I'm sure someone out there will disagree, so...

I may as well get the ball rolling, I've only PLAYED the first two, but I've seen stuff about the other three...

Coolest Ryu:
Appearence: Breath of Fire 1...I just think he is. Kind of like the tunic and cloak wearing warrior thing.
Abilities: Probably BOF 3 or 4

Worst Ryu:
Appearence: Probably BOF2....just looks cheesy
Abilities: Again number 2, his "dragon" spells are just that...spells. Sure, they're powerful, but you kind of feel a bit let down. In fact it seems more like he summons them than becomes them. I guess the "dishonrable mention" probably goes to BOF5....the whole D-Meter thing makes me sick.

~Ra'akone

I never liked his "adult" form in 3 on the overworld. He still looked like a stunted midget. I probably liked BOF 3's abilities best, just because there were so many types, but 4 had its moments, since each dragon felt like an individual character.

No comment on DQ, but I will say that BOF is all about changing into a dragon when a normal battle makes you snap, not punishing you for wwanting to smite your enemies.

Coolest was Ryu from Breath of Fire 2 for me..
I dunno there was something really *cool* about him. I liked how he looked. The artwork was amazin', too. =) The sword on his back, lol. His style jus' says' cool!! And what he went through.. was really something to me.

Worse: I don't even wanna use the word worse. It's jus'.. outta all the Ryu's of Breath of Fire.. I thought the third one was lamest. Not his battle skills. I don't question that. It's jus' he failed to impress me. To do anything *cool*. I didn't like his artwork at all. His clothing, looked sssooooo tight on him, too.

(Now so you know I'm not bein' biased or anything. I praise Ryu BoF3, for his battle skills. I admit he is the best of all of them. That wise. And ONLY that. At least to me. =))

Coolest Ryu was the one on 5..
Out of all of then, he showed more emotion and he wasn't born as a dragon like the other Ryus. Even the style was off, but his attitude was all badass after his encouter with the BioCorp sciencist.

Abilities: Bof3 cause you got to love the Dragon Gene system.

Worst goes to the 2 Ryu...just too chessy.

Out of all the Ryu's I say 4 has the looks. He's a ponytail, and wears some basic cloths, actually I think he looks like a re-vamped version the BoF 2 Ryu but thats just me. Everthing else good, however goes to the BoF3 Ryu ^^

You may say that I'm odd but hey, my opinion ^^;; I think the best looking would be from BoF III, the looks goes well with the abilities somehow, then again I might have a different impression now that I haven't touched it for years. The worst looking? *points at BoFV's Ryu* He looks like he's trying to be indiana johnes xD

for me the coolest is the one from bof3 in terms of abilities and appearance.... i like him very much when he throws his sword at the ground then he starts charging! then he shouts very loud and very cool....what a DRAMATIC SCENE!!!!!!!!!

My favorite is definately and without question, the one from BOF3. I love the fact that he changes from a kid to an adult. That is the coolest part. The way he performs his dragon skills and othe magic skills are all so cool

The coolest Ryu has to be the one from DQ. Alot more character driven than the other Ryu's. He had a real purpose. I loved BoF 4 but Ryu doesn't really say a whole lot, you could pretty much replace him with any other hero template and get the same result. In BoF DQ, his resolve to save Nina and reach the surface, even to the point of death, really drives the game along.

In my opinion Ryu from Breath of Fire 3 was the coolest he looked cool and when he changed into a dragon he looked cool even as a whelp lol. The Breath of Fire 4 Ryu i would have to say was 2nd coolest but I didn't like the fact that he didn't become the dragon but more controled them.

He was kinda both there were dragon forms whic he turned into and Dragons which he could call upon. I really need to pull that game out again

Best RYU Appearance: Breath of Fire 1 - The cloak and tunic were awesome. His expression in the artwork was classic. His sprite wasn't half bad, either.

Best RYU Abilities: Breath of Fire 4 - I don't know why, but I like the finality of only having a few forms to use, though I do agree that there could have been a few more. Breath of Fire 1 came close, but the only thing you can to in those forms is attack (no special attacks).

Worst RYU Appearance: To be honest, Breath of Fire 2. It wasn't that it was bad, it just had the lowest score. I actually didn't mind Futuristic Ranger Ryu in BoF5, just most of the game that went along with him.

Worst RYU Abilities: I want to say Breath of Fire 2 (use all the AP, one attack, W.Fruits which restore AP cause damage), but Dragon Quarter is worse. One dragon form, truly limited use, restrictions even flood over into WALKING!!! Not to mention the very idea that the dragon power, which was more innocent and less dangerous to the other games' Ryus, are burning the life out of Dragon Quarter's draconic hero.

Everyone seems to hate the fact that the dragon power slowly kills Ryu in 5, but I think it's appropriate. In all four previous games, Ryu was of the Dragon clan, it was in his blood, his birthright. In 5, he's a normal human, given the power of dragons, and without an MP (or AP) limitation. It's going to burn him out, because he isn't capable of containing the power of a dragon god! Besides, have you seen what happens if you fill the gauge so he dies? A new-born dragon bursts out from within him! It just makes sense to me that he should be limited in using that power, and of course the meter fills even while walking, the dragon inside him is still growing.

Anyway, my favorite Ryu, appearance-wise, is from 2. Power-wise, 5. I mean, even with the limitations on how much he can use it, he's INVINCIBLE while in dragon form (at least, I've never seen an enemy do damage to him in his dragon form), and can multiply his own strength by as much as 10 times, before unleashing some of the most brutal attacks of any Ryu. I've had him deal over 54,000 damage on a single hit! No other Ryu can come close to matching that! Ryu from 1 would be second for power, his dragon form never drained MP per round, full-healed him when he transformed into a dragon, and the dragon breath was the normal attack, no MP cost.

Worst Ryu, appearance-wise would have to be 4, power-wise 2. I don't like the art style for 4 at all. As for 2, his dragon forms were one-shots, which didn't do full damage unless his MP was full, otherwise it was a percentage of his current MP/ max MP which was the percentage of full damage he dealt.

I don't get this word "cheesy"? An american movie about family movies is cheesy but I don't think his look in 2 was cheesy. I liked his look in 4, the little ponytail and spikey hair looked pretty cool and he didn't stand out with stupid clothing.

The worst look was child Ryu in 2...

Best?
Appearance: Bof 1 Ryu was so much more adventurous looking.
Abilities: I would say Bof3 because of the cool genes, but I'm going to go with Bof1 Ryu because you could transform into dragons way more times in one battle, and there were some cool dragons.

Worse?
Appearance: Bof 5 was pretty... uninspiring.
Abilities: Bof2 had the worse dragon abilities... it was more like a summon, and it sucked up ALL the AP...

I'd hafta say in appearence, either adult BoF3 or BoF 4 (now if you could include fou lu he'd win hands down). in dragon form it would hafta be 3, Kaiser Dragon would have to be the coolest dragon in the series.

best
appearance=5, DQ. it was the most matching and metro of all the looks.
ablilities=4

worst
appeareance=4. the vagabond look from 3 was bad. the crappy look in 4 was worse
abilities=5. if you use them, they will kill you. it has to be the worst concept in video game history.

Well I'd have to say the best would have to be for me...
BoF 1 : The best Hero is a Sprite with a sword.
BoF 4 : I don't know why, but just seemed to have borrowed the one from BoF 3.

The best abilities is of course
BoF 3 : Just can't argue with Focus + Aura and his grunts
BoF 2 : 100% AP = 1 attack = no thanks

I'm gonna add another one...
BoF 3 : Best looking Dragon Transformations, and that added sound for each type of dragon... yes~
BoF 5 : "I'm a freak!" Is what he screams when he says it.

Best Appearance:
1 - His cloak and tunic seemed to fit him well, and his battle sprite wasn't half-bad.

Worst Appearance:
4 - Ryu in BoF4 seemed kind of... cheesy.

Best Abilities:
1 - I liked the fact that Ryu stayed as a dragon until either the battle ended, you reverted, or Ryu died.

Worst Abilities:
2 - It costs all AP to "summon" a dragon once, and if you don't have full AP when casting it, it does minimal damage.

1-Ryu5!!*_*
2-ryu4
3-ryu3
4-ryu1
5-ryu2
hm.....that's all...(by the way if Nina tries to take my Ryu5 away i'm going to kill her!!!)

My favorite one is probably the BoF 3 Ryu, although the BoF 4 Ryu was pretty wicked too.. his sword was so much cooler in 4. But for 3, it was when casting magic, changing into a dragon (four was a little too dramatic for my liking..) and the fact that he wore a white jacket lol. White jackets are the best ever.

talkin' about Ryu, in actitude, Breath of Fire 4, in appearance, Breath of Fire 3, Magic: Breath of Fire 3...
Breath of Fire 1 was nice.... but breath of fire 5... I THINK IS A REALLY #####