#fear can be an ugly thing and ryuzo paid an irreedemable price for it

[ornstein]

Really well-thought out analysis. Looking at him through the lense of a wolf makes the Khan an elaborate tamer that knew how to threaten his men and Ryuzo's integrity as a leader. But the latter is what I believe made him yield. He became a lap dog at the service of the enemy, and in exchange had his men free of restraints, hunting the Ghost down and going as far as to attempt property damage and assaulting innocent people (and who knows what more unspeakable crimes they committed). With no rules to defy them, Ryuzo was powerless at the Khan's feet, licking his hand for a few scraps.

It's interesting because his name derives from the kanji for Ryu, which means dragon and noble, and he was indeed noble, if not noble-born, but of extraordinary heart (imagine the lenghts of his loyalty to Jin hadn't their relationship gone so sour), but even the most virtuous of dragons can turn into the most base of creatures when famished and oppressed. In the end, can you really blame him?

so we all know the explicit sakai deer imagery, right? despite stags being associated with kazumasa, deer are still an appropriate symbol for jin as well (fast, silent, peaceful rather than predatory by nature but still capable of killing). since jin = deer, what would ryuzo best be represented by? maybe there's some textual hint, or hidden dialogue that we could go off of? maybe it's not explicit, but-

yeah, no. the game literally awards you this trophy right after you recruit him. the only way i think they could get more explicit with the shady wolf analogy is by calling the trophy "the big bad wolf", or "wolf in sheep's clothing".

ryuzo - passionate, unpredictable, violent ryuzo - being compared to a wolf is fitting, even more so when you consider the trophy refers to multiple wolves, meaning the straw hats. he was taken in by them, an unruly, masterless group, and he became their leader. despite betraying jin, he doesn't lack loyalty entirely; he only remains loyal to those he views as family after they took him in following the tournament.

his primary motivations in the narrative are staying fed, and providing for his family. he doesn't care about playing nice, or fighting clean, or lessening collateral damage. if his belly is full and his family is fed, none of that matters, and i can't think of a more apt description of that mentality than wolfish.