Ryan Blackwood

Ryan Blackwood (ライアンブラックウッド, Raian Burakkūddo), nicknamed the "Bulletproof Alchemist" (防弾の錬金術師, Bōdan no Renkinjutsushi) and also called the Blackwood Alchemist (烏木の錬金術師, Kokutan no Renkinjutsushi) due to his surname, by those who known him well, is the main protagonist of Ten Tailed Fox's stories. After being taught alchemy at a young age, he became a wandering alchemist from the nation of Arcadia. His goal is to become the world's strongest alchemist and use his power to protect his poor family and his few friends.

Appearance
Considered one of the stronger alchemists of Arcadia, Ryan is depicted as possessing stone cold onyx eyes and spiky blond hair. Ryan is regularly seen with an upbeat and eager persona, always eager for something such as learning a new uses for alchemy or a nice afternoon nap. A trait regularly mentioned that easily angered him was his abnormally tall stature even for his age. In his time before becoming an alchemist as a profession, he wore casual clothes, topped off with a long, fur cape that seems to be covered with skull masks. In his relaxation time, Ryan has been seen to wear a regular tee-shirt, and blue jeans, though when he is working as an alchemists, he wears a long black trench coat, a black bulletproof vest, and shorter hair.

Upon the time he leaves for his journey as a wandering alchemist, he is seen in a white overcoat, similar to the one he wore previously, only this one is stated to be resistant to bullets, just like the vest he wears underneath and has flames along the bottom hem and a Transmutation Circle etched on the back. He also wears a black long-sleeved shirt as well as black pants and shoes.

Personality
Ryan is very pleased with his position, being proud that he is one of elite among Arcadia's alchemists, and is also a proud citizen of South Falls City. He is very respectful to both his allies and his enemies, as he believes that everyone deserves a certain amount of respect. The loyal and dedicated Ryan possesses a dry sense of humor and sarcastic wit and looks up to his friend and cousin, Matthew. One person, who has observed Ryan and Matthew grow up, once said that he could see Matthew's defiance in him, but spoke very highly of him nonetheless. Ryan's alchemy instructor as a young man has often reflected upon Ryan's considerable knowledge and potential. Despite having grown up as a poor kid from the sticks of South Falls, a taboo in that portion of the nation, he was taken under the wing of the leader of the local alchemy faction, Junsui, himself and has managed to become an influential young alchemist in the lives of the town's children. As a young alchemist, Ryan was cynical, though wise beyond his years. His humble and soft-spoken demeanor belied his warrior prowess. Despite his numerous complaints during his initial training, he is also a skilled warrior. In many ways, he represents the strength of the nation of Arcadia: steadfast, selfless, and modest. His later skill at resolving disputes without a single battle would earn him the sobriquet "The Negotiator".

He is friendly and easily gets along with others despite his status as a "tabooed" in his hometown. He also has a special place in his heart for the kids at the daycare in which he works, of whom he is constantly attempting to stick up for or protect from harm no matter the cost to himself. At his first meeting with Junsui, he was both helpful and generous; doing all that he could to help him despite not knowing that Junsui was both a alchemist and a visionary, risking his life to hold off a large amount of local gang members, who had come to kill the alchemists for their "radical views", not even accepting help when Junsui reached his location. Though lovable, he also is one to carry grudges and is sometimes vengeful, but he commonly holds these two traits in check. He also hates being treated unjustly or being wrongly accused. He is fiercely loyal, doing anything to keep those he is close to from harm, at any cost. His only price for this dedication is loyalty in return. His separation from his brother, when he was taken to become an alchemist, was the hardest thing he'd ever done, and it still hurt him for years up until their reunion. Because of his fear of losing even more friends in such a manner, he keeps to himself, fiddling around with his only friends, his brother, and the kids he protects daily.

He is naturally honest and despises lying and deception, and especially hates politics, correctly considering most politicians to be greedy and self-conceited. His real father's continual self-consciousness when it comes to Ryan hurts the boy, who at times wasn't sure whether his father likes him, something his heart craves. Therefore, he turns to a more complimenting, comforting source: Matthew. His yearning to be loved, as well as appreciated, comes out in his devotion to his country, the only place, according to him, that he will ever call home.

Abilities
While a boy of few words, Ryan has shown himself to be an intuitive person. He is easily able to see through a person's demeanor to determine what they are thinking about. While witnessing a battle between an alchemist and a user of Alkahestry, he noted how similar the two techniques were, especially in terms of energy signatures the fighters had locked their techniques in combat. His keen intellect and intuition is later seen in the initial fight with the other alchemists he has come across on his adventure, being able to see through his opponent's cold demeanor and identify thier concern for their own way of life. He was also able to sense a small wavering in Matthew's own emotion after the arrival of his younger brother concerned him.

While he is only a teenager and later became an alchemist during the initial days after the war crisis of Arcadia began to rise, Ryan showed himself to be a highly resilient kid, as shown from his ability to safely break free from binding techniques and withstand an assault from large scale alchemy unleashed by superior alchemists, some of whom are members of the military. After learning the basics of his alchemy powers, Ryan's physical durability is strengthened to the point he can continue fighting effectively even after receiving many injuries and can survive attacks that would easily kill normal human. Junsui himself once stated that Ryan was a monster in this regard.

Combat Alchemy
Ryan has etched a Transmutation Circle into each of his palms, leaving them as a scar on his hands. Because of this, he does not have to consume time drawing a Transmutation Circle and can instead simply clap his hands together and use Alchemy this way, even if he is wearing his usual black gloves over his palms. He also wears a coat with a larger Transmutation Circle sewed onto it's back, though this one appears to be a Human Transmutation Circle. This quick access to a Transmutation Circle, as well as the fact that they are permanently engraved into his hands, makes his transmutations both instantaneous and incredibly versatile, allowing him to use alchemy to its fullest potential in direct combat.

His favorite form of alchemy seems to be creating an electric current within his hands which he can use to electrocute his foes with enough voltage to kill a grown man or short out a taser weapon. He has also shown the ability to use alchemy to manipulate his surroundings, creating things such as a shield out of the earth beneath him, manipulating a nearby water source as a form of attack, or even transforming metal and other earthen substances into weapons. He has shown to craft katana-like swords or even spears when transmutating. It should be noted that this is the method in which he creates his specialized knifes and sometimes, his steel wire.

Ryan's alchemy has also been shown to have healing properties. As long as he has one of his hands, he can heal minor wounds with ease. Though it is illegal, he does have the skill, like all alchemists, to create gold out of other stone-like substances. He will only break this rule if the situation absolutely demands it and if he knows he can get away with it at the same time.

Martial Arts
As the student of a military trained alchemist, he is required to be highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat, which he had been training in ever since he first began training to be an alchemist at a young age. He is most likely the most proficient hand-to-hand combatant out of all of the current alchemists in southern Arcadia, being able to fight evenly, and gain the upper hand, against his mentor, Junsui who is a Major in the military. He can sufficiently block and attack others and is hard to actively lay a hand on unless he allows it.

Even while unarmed, Ryan possesses a remarkable amount of strength, being capable of destroying large objects with a single alchemy-enhanced punch. Ryan is strong enough to break a large water pipe in two and swing it like a bat. He was even able to battle a very large wolf with his bare fists, a remarkable feat. His strength is further enhanced with his use of the techniques of alchemy, allowing him to take on those bigger them himself with relative ease as a single punch was shown able to knock the same giant wolf down with this power. His strength also becomes great enough to block incoming attacks and techniques from military alchemists.

Swordsman
Ryan was trained by Junsui Kirei in the arts of swordsmanship. Through him, Ryan inherited a rich tradition of swordsman training. Ryan's style features elements of many different swordsmanship styles, making him outstandingly talented, even at his young age. Ryan is well versed in the classic Japanese swordsmanship combat styles, like Otsu (落つ, To smash). Otsu is an aggressive style that focuses on physical strength and sweeping strokes, taking the defensive principles of standard sword-fighting, the style practiced by regular swordsman, and converting them to offensive moves. With Lucas's exceptionally high skill with alchemy and personal skill, he has learned and applied Otsu much more quickly and effectively than any other alchemist in South Falls.

Research
In the modern age, there is only one known alchemist who still studies the elixir of Panacea; Ryan Blackwood. He is motivated by his sickly cousin, Matthew, who is suffering from a terminal illness.

In his studies, he has found out more about Panacea than any other alchemist in recorded history. For one, he has discovered the specific Transmutation Circle used to create the elixir, but he fears using it, not sure of what the price or Equivalent Exchange for such an object would be. He is currently studying that very thing.

Behind the Scenes
Ryan's appearance is based on Minato Namikaze from Naruto, though his martial arts skills is based off of Hei from Darker than Black.

Trivia

 * The original name of the character was Lucius Madison, shortened to Lucus, but I began to staunchly dislike the name, so I gave him my first name and, what I believed to be, a cool English surname.