Ryō Kurokiba Husbando

Ryō Kurokiba is a 92nd Tōtsuki Generation Student and Alice Nakiri's aide. He is also the 5th seat of the Elite Ten Council. Ryō is quite tall and has a well-built body. His notable traits include his long, unkempt brownish-black hair and bangs that frame his face and hang just above his chin and his red eyes which have bags around them, giving Ryō a wild appearance overall. For the most part, Ryō's facial appearance makes him appear lazy, slow, and disheveled. However, his facial appearance drastically changes when he ties on his bandana, causing his face to become much sharper and fierce. His new persona is much more intimidating than his standard demeanor. After the Stagiaire, Ryō's bangs have shortened, now hanging above his cheeks. Ryō wears a standard Tōtsuki Uniform, however, he tends to keep his jacket unbuttoned and does not wear the standard tie. He also wears a dark-colored tank top under his uniform. Like Sōma, Ryō has a signature piece of headwear that he wears on occasion. He wears a long, flame-patterned crimson bandana which he wears when he wants to have a more serious, intimidating look. When he is not wearing it, it is tied around his right wrist. His cooking uniform is generally a sleeveless Chinese-styled top. He also wears wristbands. In his youth, much of his traits remained the same, though his hair was much shorter. He still had his trademark bandana but his general outfit was a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, and a white apron whenever he cooked. For the most part, Ryō is normally very slow, lazy, and gloomy. His general demeanor lacks any sort of interest in what is going on around him, but he remains attentive to the needs of Alice. He is not shy to speak his own mind or criticize Alice in this form, but generally will only speak when necessary if he is with anyone but Alice. Because of the bond the two formed in their youth, Ryō is obedient to Alice's requests and protects her from any sort of threats. Many have likened his relationship to her like a dog protecting his master. His speech is formal and simple, but slow. However, Ryō has a much more passionate personality that only emerges once he wears his signature bandana or any sort of tight-fitting headgear, like a swim cap. This new demeanor is much bolder, wilder, and untamed, akin to a wild beast, fittingly called his "Berserk Mode", according to Alice. His facial expressions also become much more savage and can instantly intimidate most with a single glance. His speech is also much more aggressive as he has no qualms as to whom he talks to, even having violent outbursts in an instant. Even in his youth, his "mad dog" persona could intimidate even the most sea-battered sailors and seasoned ruffian cooks into submission. However, if someone were to remove his headband, he would instantly revert to his usual gloomy personality even in mid-sentence. He is well aware of his personality duality. According to Alice, Ryō has a strong drive to win in competitions stemming from his rough childhood where useless chefs would be cast out of the pub he worked in. Ryō considers all kitchens to be a battlefield with the food a chef makes as a representation of their power. He thus loathes bonds between chefs as he believes that such soft feelings weaken a chef's true capabilities. To Ryō, making a consumer submit to the dishes one makes is the only thing important for a chef. As such, he has yet to find an opponent who holds the same fiery spirit he has when he cooks and gets annoyed when an opponent is either too meek or too calm. However, he does show some respect to those who have earned it such as Megumi during their quarterfinal match, despite his initial view of her. Regardless of the state of his personality, Ryō retains his "wild" instincts, which he honed to allow him to be a master of seafood.