Ryuko Matoi

"“This is a keepsake from my father. And this Scissor Blade was left behind by the person who murdered him! Now, you're going to tell me who this Scissor Blade belongs to... Satsuki Kiryūin!”""—Ryūko in Episode 1."

Ryūko Matoi (Japanese: 纏 流子 Matoi Ryūko?) is the daughter of Isshin Matoi and the main protagonist of the beloved anime and manga, Kill la Kill. She transferred to Honnōji Academy searching for the twin of her red Scissor Blade and the person who used it to murder her father.

Why She Rocks

 * 1) Ryūko has a nice simple personality: fierce, stubborn, and doesn't let anybody tell her what to think and how to act.
 * 2) She fears very little, which is demonstrated when she directly and disrespectfully addresses Satsuki Kiryūin, demanding that her questions be answered, and when she fights Takaharu Fukuroda even though she is clearly overpowered.
 * 3) She shows fierce determination in finding her father's killer. Her stubbornness was taken up to ridiculous levels when she managed to free herself from Ragyō's mind control by merely punching herself.
 * 4) Character Development. Initially, all that she cares about is using Senketsu to get her revenge, everyone and everything else be damned. After she interacts with Mako, who loves her deeply, and Senketsu, who is nearly permanently killed while serving her, she begins caring about others.
 * 5) All her voice actors did phenomenal jobs portraying her and fit her reserved, softspoken personality, especially her Japanese and English voices: Ami Koshimizu and Erica Mendez.
 * 6) She eventually forgoes her revenge altogether and instead focuses on protecting the things that are important to her.
 * 7) *A good example of this is when she eventually decides against killing both Nui and Ragyo.
 * 8) She's just as badass as any male Studio Gainax protagonist and cements this in her intro: she's first seen drifting around with a mysterious case on her back, strolling into town and purchasing, then chomping down on a lemon, before Mataro and his gang decide robbing her would be a good idea.
 * 9) Despite fearlessly challenging Satsuki in front of all of Honnouji Academy and chopping through her goons without any fear of pain, she acts like a complete crybaby when her teacher is about to draw blood from her, and for good reason: establishing her Badass Adorable character by contrasting her brash attitude towards combat with a fear of a mundane medical tool.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While she is an incredibly good person at heart, her goals and motivation have little to do with actual heroism, more accidental.
 * 2) She is a deeply scarred, aggressive girl who will not sacrifice her own goals for the sake of others, which at the beginning, are limited to avenging her father in a roaring rampage of rage.