Ronin Warriors - The Armor

The Armor

When Talpa was defeated in a previous attempt to conquer the human world, his spirit was sent to the Netherworld, but his armor, which was charged with demonic power, somehow remained behind. In order to prevent Talpa from returning to the human world, The Ancient diffused it into nine separate suits of armor.

In the original Japanese version, each set of armor is infused with one of the Confucian, or Bushido, Virtues: Jin (Righteousness), Gi (Justice), Rei (Courtesy), Chi (Intellect), Shin (Faith), Chuu (Loyalty), Tei (Obedience), Kou (Reverence for elders), and Nin (Tolerance). Two of these were changed for the American version: Chi became Inochi (Life), and Rei became Chi. Kou is translated as Piety, and Nin as Serenity.

The nine sets of armor have a number of special properties and they can be put on in an instant by calling out the name of the armor and its associated Virtue. For example, Ryo dons his Wildfire armor by calling out "Armor of Wildfire, Dao Jin!" In the Japanese version, the command used to summon the armor is "Busou (armor name)!"

In the English version, the Ronins say the phrase "Dao" followed by their kanji when they are calling their armors. For instance, Ryo would say "Dao Jin!". Literally translated, it would mean "The way of Virtue." It, therefore, becomes an appropriate description of Ryo himself, since by calling the armor, he is following the path of virtue. "Dao" was taken from the native Chinese religion of "Daoism". Also, if Ryo were to say Busou Rekka ("rekka" being the Japanese word for "wildfire"), the literal translation would be "To Arms, Wildfire!" or "Arm Wildfire!"

The armor also enhances physical strength and endurance, for example increasing lower-body strength to allow the wearer to run at high speed and jump great distances or allowing the user to ignore harsh environmental conditions such as lack of air, or extremes of heat and pressure. Each set of armor also has a unique fighting technique, typically referred to as hissatsu waza (必殺技), which would mean something like "Finishing Move" in English. It is later revealed that the power of the armor is known as Dandouryoku (弾動力). Dandou is the Japanese word for the science of ballistics and ryoku is the word for "power" or "strength". Nasti then comments that the power of the "white armor" should probably be called Choudandou (超弾動). This literally means "Super Ballistic" or "Ultra Ballistic". When Ryou is in the Solar Armor (輝煌帝, Kikoutei) his technique then becomes Choudendou Souenzan (超弾動双炎斬), the "Ultra Ballistic Twin Flame Slash". Each of the five Troopers becomes capable of enhancing their techniques in this way eventually.

Each of the five Ronin armor sets (Wildfire, Torrent, Hardrock, Strata, and Halo) have elemental affinities: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Light. Each armor can draw power from its respective element to give the wearer a power boost.

The four Warlord armor sets each have an affinity for one of the seasons: Cruelty with Spring, Illusion with Summer, Venom with Autumn, and Corruption with Winter. Each set also represent a different animal: Cruelty is an Ogre, Illusion is a Spider, Venom is a Snake, and Corruption is a Jackal or Wolf.