Akiyama Ryō

Akiyama Ryō (秋山 遼) is the main character of Digimon Adventure video games.

Appearance
Ryō has is a young boy with lightly tanned skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. During the first game and Our War Game movie, he wears white shoes with blue accents, olive green pants with a brown belt, and a brown golf shirt with white stripes and gray stripe near the collar. He also carries an orange bag with his name written on its strap. In Digimon Adventure 02 he wears a short purple shirt and white gloves.

Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer and Cathode Tamer
Ryō lives with his parents in Odaiba. On December 31, 1999, he is in a chatroom discussion in his father's computer about the Odaiba incident in August. Suddenly, a power failure happens, and Agumon appears in the computer screen, saying that Taichi and Yamato were captured and begs for his help. A Digivice comes out of the computer screen and Agumon asks Ryō to touch it. Although he doesn't understand what's going on, he touches the device, and a light drags him into the Digital World. In the Digital World, Agumon tries to explain to Ryō that time was reverted, but is interrupted by an attacking Kuwagamon and Betamon.

After Agumon defeats both, Ryō and Agumon go to Gennai's house where Gennai tells Ryō about Millenniummon's origins, and how he reverted time and ressurected Devimon, Etemon, Vamdemon, and Piemon. Agumon suggests he and Ryō start defeating the nearby less powerful enemies before taking directly on Millenniummon, and build an army. Ryō starts his journey by defeating the Digimon in a nearby cave and opening an obstacle. He then fights until clearing the next obstacle, and fights Devimon. After defeating Devimon, he rescues Mimi and Palmon, and Kōshirō and Tentomon. The two Chosen Children return to the Real World while Palmon and Tentomon join him.

Soon after, Gennai builds a teleporter so that Ryō can go to Server Continent and fight the remaining evil Digimon. Arriving in Server Continent, Ryō meets PicoDevimon, who tells him he'll never defeat Etemon. Ryō fights in all nearby dungeons, eventually clearing the path to Etemon. After defeting Etemon, Ryō rescues Sora and Piyomon, and Takeru and Patamon. Sora and Takeru return to the Real World, while Piyomon and Patamon join him. Ryō continues on his path clearing the following dungeons, and opens his path to Vamdemon. After defeating him, Ryō rescues Hikari and Tailmon, Jō and Gomamon and Yamato and Gabumon. Hikari, Jō, and Yamato return to the Real World, while Tailmon, Gomamon, and Gabumon join Ryō. Ryō continues through the path open by Vamdemon's defeat, and clears all the following dungeons, opening his path to Piemon.

After defeating Piedmon, Ryō opens a path to the last dungeon, where he must once again fight Devimon, Etemon, Vamdemon, and Piemon. After defeating all four, he fights either Mugendramon or Chimairamon. Following that, he fights Millenniummon, and after defeating him he finally rescues Taichi. Ryō remembers Agumon was never his Partner, and neither were the other Digimon with him. He tells goodbye to Tai and the DigiDestined's Digimon, but Agumon and Ryō promise to see each other again.

Back in the Real World, Ryō's mother finds him asleep in front of the computer, and finds it weird that the machine is on despite the blackout. Ryō's father arrives, and the three go see the New Year, while the parents notice their son's growth.

Digimon Adventure: Our War Game
On March 4, 2000, Ryō appears to be in Turkey, where he watches Taichi, Agumon, Yamato and Gabumon battle against Diablomon.

Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers
Ryō visits Ken in his room, where they witness Diablomon's defeat by Omegamon on the Internet, when V-mon suddenly appears from the computer with a D-3 for Ryō. There is another Diablomon loose in the Digital World, and Ryō was called in to defeat it. Ken followed along, only to be left behind in Primary Village with Taichi and Agumon to wait for Ryō's return. The Diablomon, hiding out where Devimon used as his base, was easily defeated with just V-mon's strength. Millenniumon showed up soon after to reveal that he was waiting for Ryō and that the Diablomon was simply a lure used to draw Ryō back into the Digital World. He blew up the mountain, and in doing so, ripped the Digital World into two.

Later, Gennai and Picklemon set up a Reload Machine that would allow Ryō and Ken to contact each other and share items. Ryō had to follow on Ken's path and jump ahead to another dungeon to clear. After many battles, Ryō eventually arrived at Millenniumon's floating continent. Millenniumon chuckled and said that he could not be defeated by just one power. The key to his power cannot be unraveled, and the door will never be opened. He then disappeared, and a single locked door turned up outside of Primary Village. The key to the locked door was the completed Digimental of Desire, which only reacted to Ryō.

Once it opened, Ryō, Ken, and their digimon were absorbed in darkness and taken to Millenniumon's world: a barren wasteland with a gigantic metallic sphere hovering over it. The sphere was Millenniumon's castle. Millenniumon welcomed Ryō warmly to the world created from his mind. To Ken, his voice dropped coldly as he said that everything that happened there happened also within him. Ken's power is limited there. Then he turned again to Ryō, chuckled, and invited them to challenge him, even though they trembled in despair. The battle that ensued destroyed Millenniumon's body, even as he laughed in his defeat. With Millenniumon's defeat, the Digital World, Taichi and Agumon returned to their normal states. Then Millenniumon returned only to disperse his Dark Spores. Ken shoved Ryō out of the way of one, only to get it instead of Ryō. Millenniumon's spirit chuckled. He can never die, he said, and as Ryō's power is eternal, so is his. He then disappeared.

Digimon Adventure 02: D-1 Tamers
A few days after the events in Tag Tamers, Ken was still sick in bed and being nursed by Ryō. Ken pointed Ryō to his computer, saying that there was something Ryō should see on it, and Ryō found a page leading to a quiz for potential participants in something called the D-1 Tournament. Curious, Ryō began answering it. With each question, it became increasingly clear that the quiz was rigged in such a way that he would be the only one to know all the answers. He then turned to Ken asking what that was about, but Ken had no idea. As no real answer was forthcoming, Ryō went on to finish up the quiz. Once one of the four Harmonious Ones was chosen, the shadow of that particular Harmonious One abducted him from Ken's room in the real world.

Ryō was then dropped off in the Digital World and told by Picklemon that they need Ryō's power again. Understandably skeptical, as he was only called to the Digital World when Millenniumon was on the rampage, he asked why. The Harmonious Ones that ruled over the Digital World called a tournament, Picklemon replied. Gennai added that other children were called in to participate and urged Ryō to go to the arena.

Once there, a group of unknown tamers, gathered around to bully Ryō. One said that he expected better of someone who defeated Millenniumon. Another asked whether Ryō can remain undefeated. Unwilling to stand up for himself, Ryō said nothing as the other tamers closed in. Before a brawl could commence, Picklemon appeared to break it up, said that the tournament was to find the greatest tamer and that they should all get along better than this, and sent Ryō back to Gennai. At Gennai's house, Ken greeted him from Gennai's monitor. Gennai set it up so that Ken could still communicate with Ryō through the computer and D-Terminal, since Ken was still sick and thus stuck in the real world. ToyAgumon turned up just then to announce that the Harmonious Ones would address them all.

The Harmonious Ones introduced himself and explained that the other three Harmonious Ones became evil and were preparing to defeat the good one, before going on to their individual plots to eliminate each other so that only one could rule the Digital World. The child that would win the tournament would be declared the strongest and chosen to partner up with that Harmonious One to bring his brethren to their senses. Picklemon then explained the tournament and that it was in five stages. The competitors were to train before tackling each stage. After Wormmon, Agumon, and Veemon offered their aid, Ryō trained and went on through each stage and dungeon that opened afterwards. Grade 5 was headed by Kōshirō, Grade 4 by Wallace, Grade 3 by Mimi (who asked Ryō to go out with her on a date after the tournament was over), Grade 2 by Yamato, and Grade 1 by Taichi. Ken offered advice and suggestions through the D-Terminal.

For the first three stages, nothing really eventful happened. It's afterwards that things went along a downward spiral: the Digimon Graveyard dungeon required Ryō to sacrifice a digimon so he could escape. After Ryō won the final grade, Taichi revealed that although neither of them knew it originally, the D-1 Tournament was a hoax. Ryō had already been selected to win anyway, it was all training so that Ryō would be strong enough to take on Moon-Millenniumon, the bodiless spirit form of Millenniumon, and no one else could defeat the crystal moon beast of death. Even as the other Chosen Children apologized for deceiving him, Ryō remained silent and closed off against them. Nonetheless, Ryō marches on through the final practice dungeon before being sent to Moon-Millenniumon's floating island.

This time, Millenniumon's lair is in a crystal tower on the floating island. Moon-Millenniumon said that he had been waiting for Ryō, he had revived to challenge Ryō again, and no Digimon is a threat to him anymore. Not even the Holy Beasts can defeat him. But Ryō is different, he said, for Ryō is the only random element that makes the impossible possible. After his defeat, Moon-Millenniumon reveals that he and Ryō are Yin and Yang, that one cannot die without the other. If he was defeated, so was Ryō. He invited Ryō to fly with him through the worlds of time, and the floating island exploded.

Legacy
As of the end of D-1 Tamers, Ryō was considered dead in the Digimon Adventure universe. Despite constant searches, he was never found and everyone but Ken gave up hope.

Trivia

 * Akiyama (秋山) is a Japanese surname meaning "autumn mountain", while Ryō (遼) is a Japanese boy's name meaning "distant".