Ryuichi Tochikura

Ryuichi Tochikura is a character in Danganronpa: Despair Drive, and is a survivor of the Sacrificial Killing Game and a resident of Jabberwock Island. He had the talent of Ultimate Pilot before the Tragedy.

Appearance
Ryuichi is a skinny young man with somewhat messy blond hair. His hair is parted to the right and swept over his eyes, and is just past his head. He has brown eyes and a slight tan, with a bit of a thin physique.

Ryuichi's outfit consists of a white, loosely buttoned collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a brown vest with "今" ("Now") on the back, and brown cargo pants. He has a red tie which is tied improperly around his neck instead of under his collar, grey tennis shoes, and blue goggles that he often wears on his head. Ryuichi also wears brown fingerless gloves.

He also has a vertical scar in the center of his chest from multiple heart surgeries, which isn't particularly easy to notice when he's wearing clothes. This scar doesn't particularly bother him, although he does feel slightly uncomfortable when shirtless due to its presence.

Personality
Ryuichi is very social, outgoing, and a very friendly and charismatic guy all around. Most people find it hard to dislike him due to his positive attitude and unrelenting friendliness, although the fact that he remains positive in some of the worst circumstances imaginable can be rather jarring. Ryuichi spends most of his time around others, being highly extroverted and always ready to help others as best as he can. Some parts of his attitude, such as his tendency to go on long, rambling tangents that quickly stop making sense, can come across as annoying or obnoxious, although it's an undoubtedly genuine friendliness. Ryuichi often lacks common sense, asking questions that are often perceived as stupid or unintentionally rude, although it's clear he doesn't mean any harm by it.

One of Ryuichi's defining traits is the fact that he enjoys thrill-seeking, purposefully getting himself into dangerous and potentially deadly situations. These include standing on the railing of bridges and highways, driving vehicles indoors, wearing roller shoes on the roof of a building, and cannon-balling into a pool despite the fact that he is unable to swim. According to Ryuichi himself, this is due to the fact that he likes to live to the fullest as much as he can, living in the moment. However, a lot of this is really due to a very nihilistic attitude that Ryuichi developed due to his childhood, with the threat of death always hanging over him. Much of his thrill-seeking is even compulsive, with Ryuichi seemingly addicted to the adrenaline he gets out of it.

Ryuichi is also fully aware of his motivations, being surprisingly intelligent and self-aware. He understands himself to an almost alarming degree, and he needs social interaction in order to function. Being alone with his own thoughts is the one thing that truly scares him. While Ryuichi is not suicidal, he doesn't value his own life very much, thinking that it wouldn't be a very big deal if he died, because he knows that what he's doing is going to kill him sooner or later. Ryuichi accepts this, with very little fear of death or dying. However, he is very afraid of his friends dying, because he knows that they haven't made their peace with death like he has.

Ryuichi loves other people, being described as a total social butterfly who hangs out with just about everyone that he can. His charisma, outgoing attitude, and rather handsome appearance have earned him more than a few admirers. However, Ryuichi is also openly asexual, with no desire to engage in any relationships other than strong, but completely platonic ones. Despite his own asexuality, Ryuichi fully supports the relationships of others, even going so far as to appoint himself as a matchmaker and predict the people who are going to be together sooner or later. His social awareness greatly aids him here, as his predictions mainly turn out to be right.

Backstory
Ryuichi's first nine years were about as typical and happy as you could imagine, with loving parents and friends at school. He inherited much from his mother, including his infectious smile and his natural curiosity, and she was described by many as being an angel. However, she died shortly after Ryuichi's ninth birthday, due to tumors multiplying in her heart and causing complete heart failure. The disease that caused her death was revealed to be genetic, and it had likely been passed on to Ryuichi as well.

Due to his newfound disorder, Ryuichi was experimentally operated on multiple times in an attempt to determine whether or not he had the disease, although the results were inconclusive. There was no way of knowing whether he would die from the disease or not, although he was not expected to live past the age of 30 due to it. This caused him to develop a very nihilistic attitude, beginning to accept the possibility of dying, and eventually develop his adrenaline addiction.

Ryuichi's father had turned to alcohol in order to cope with his wife's death and his son's now looming death, quitting his job and staying in the house most of the time. He never hurt anyone around him, he merely drank as much as he could get his hands on, going so far as to lick spilled alcohol off the floor.

Despite the tragedy that had happened in Ryuichi's life, he stayed remarkably positive and social, making many friends at school and eventually dating a girl named Kumiko. Kumiko enjoyed his company, although she became more and more annoyed with him when Ryuichi was uncomfortable with the sexual advances she was making on him. Kumiko eventually lost her patience and forced a kiss on him, sexually assaulting him before she was walked in on by her mother. Kumiko never faced any consequences for this, although she did break up with him shortly after and yell at him for not being interested in her. This caused Ryuichi to question his sexuality, before he realized that he didn't have any kind of interest in anyone.

Hajime Hinata
Hajime is worried about Ryuichi, especially his tendencies to get himself into danger. Despite this, the two of them get along very well, with Ryuichi inviting Hajime along with him. Hajime politely but instantly declines his invitations, as Hajime would rather not die.

Kazuichi Souda
Kazuichi considers Ryuichi to be one of his best friends, and his "bro". The two of them bonded very quickly over their similar skills and interests, although Kazuichi is still somewhat frightened by parts of Ryuichi's personality. Kazuichi alternates between viewing Ryuichi as cool, or borderline suicidal. Despite this, Kazuichi reluctantly has a hand in helping some of Ryuichi's crazier ideas come to life.

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu
Ryuichi is very good at exasperating Fuyuhiko, irritating him for fun and the thrill of it. However, Fuyuhiko worries nonstop about Ryuichi's safety, especially the fact that he's the only person on the island with an actual vehicle license. Despite Ryuichi's love for messing with Fuyuhiko, Ryuichi knows when to stop.

Akane Owari
Akane and Ryuichi almost resemble a couple to people on the outside, as they spend the most time together, doing things that the others perceive as stupid or dangerous for fun. However, Akane doesn't understand Ryuichi's nihilism or motivations, thinking simply that he's doing it for fun like she is. They are also the two who are responsible for taking care of Peanut Butter, as no one else wants to be anywhere near him.

Sonia Nevermind
Ryuichi enjoys spending time with Sonia, finding her very fun to hang out with. They have similar passion and enthusiasm, with Ryuichi even starting to imitate Sonia's habit of saying "hella". He is incredibly respectful towards her, and his treatment of her much more as a friend than a princess is something that Sonia appreciates quite a bit.

Mikan Tsumiki
Mikan has developed an affection for Ryuichi due to the fact that he's so nice to her, although he doesn't seem to be aware of its likely romantic nature. He also is unaware of some of her more disturbing tendencies and behavior, trusting her and Tomoe with his life regardless. This faith caused Mikan to become incredibly attached to Ryuichi.

Usagi Eguchi
Similarly to Hajime, Ryuichi is a good friend of Usagi's, and his habits tend to cause her to worry about him, albeit to a lesser degree. Usagi finds Ryuichi to be a very fun person, often going along with his ideas, despite how much she regrets it later.

Yotsuba Murasaki
Ryuichi thinks of Yotsuba as being uptight, although he still enjoys her company. Yotsuba doesn't quite know how she should interact with Ryuichi, especially because she's not used to having friends, especially ones that are so loud and happy. She tends to default to snapping at him because she's not quite sure how to express herself otherwise, although Ryuichi seems to sense that she's not really angry at him.

Honoka Shiozawa
Ryuichi is one of Honoka's closest friends, the two of them often hanging out with Kazuichi and think about how best to build the hypothetical rocket that Kazuichi dreams of. While Ryuichi is definitely a third wheel, he is very aware of this, and doesn't mind at all. Honoka is easily the one willing to try dangerous things with Ryuichi, while Kazuichi just sits back and panics. Despite the fact that he's lacking in common sense, Honoka finds Ryuichi very fun.

Takuro Nagata
Takuro isn't exactly the most social of people, although he tries his best to humor Ryuichi and attempts to hang out with him. However, the concept of actually doing something dangerous with Ryuichi scares Takuro to the point that he often tries to avoid the former, because he has trouble telling Ryuichi no.

Tomoe Asaka
Despite Tomoe's usual antisocial nature, Ryuichi is one of the few people that she can't bring herself to dislike. She actually finds him to be rather cute in a puppy way, petting his hair and touching his face a little bit. Ryuichi doesn't mind this that much, finding it very preferable to being on her bad side.

Ryuunosuke Tochikura
Ryuunosuke is one of the few people that Ryuichi is much more serious around, especially due to Ryuunosuke's neverending worries about the health of his son, and the fact that until recently, Ryuunosuke believed that his son had died in the Tragedy. Ryuichi seems to quietly understand this, showing that he's much more perceptive and intelligent than he really lets on most of the time.

Nozomi Asaka
Nozomi opened up wounds for Ryuichi the first time he saw her, due to her strong resemblance to Kumiko, which caused him to initially panic upon seeing her. However, he quickly got over it, and while there's still significant strain on him when it comes to her, Ryuichi tries his hardest to forget and to treat her like he would anyone else.

Quotes

 * "Heeeeyyyyyy!"
 * "Wanna fly? Because the second I get out of here, I gotta show you my plane!"
 * "It's super cool and it's pretty fast but I don't really fly as fast as it can go because my dad isn't really happy about that but I found it in a lot actually I don't really own it I just kinda borrowed it we couldn't really afford a plane so I asked if I could borrow this little passenger plane and Hope's Peak kinda helped me get permission t-"
 * "Hella bitchin'!"
 * "Can I drive this inside? It says it's all-terrain."
 * "Whoa! Is that one of those little grocery store rides or something?"
 * "...I can't joke about that."
 * "It's something I've always wondered. You always wake up before you die in a dream, right...does that mean that the people who have near-death experiences are more awake?"
 * "I hate the smell of alcohol. I smell it way too much."
 * "Sometimes I just have to tell myself...'just another day'. And I do this every day. I don't know what comes after that day or why I should care, but it's how I've lived for over twelve years."
 * "Honestly, I don't know how my dad would live without me. I don't think he would, if I'm being honest."
 * "Look at me gooooooooooo! Eeheeeeheeeee!"
 * "I just...I really like having fun. I can't not do it, you know?"
 * "The world doesn't care, and it never has. But that's not a bad thing! Everything that matters is going on right now, and I can't miss it!"
 * "...Honestly, I'm not afraid to die. I've dealt with that possibility for such a long time."
 * "Sh-shit. I don't...I can't do it anymore, can I? I can't pretend to be happy anymore, can I? Everything's fucked up, and nothing I do is going to change it. I don't know why I'm bothering."
 * "I gave up a long time ago. I just convinced myself that I hadn't, I guess."
 * "...I'm alive?"
 * "I am alive. I really am. It hurts, but it means that I'm living! I'm in pain, and I'm alive, I'm so alive right now!"