Iron Face Chouryuu, also referred to as Iron Face Zhang Liao, is a major antagonist in episodes 7 and 8 of Gosei Sentai Dairanger. He was the original Ryuuranger as well as the father of Ryo before defecting to the Gorma Tribe and betraying his teammates.
History[]
Past[]
6000 years ago, Chouryuu was the original Ryuuranger and led the Dairangers against the Gorma Tribe. However, drawn by the promise of power from Archbishop Saw, Chouryuu defected to the Gorma and lured his teammates into a trap that resulted in their deaths, becoming Saw's right-hand.
Many years after conflict between the Gorma and Dai had ended, Chouryuu met a woman and fell in love with her, marrying her and have two children named Ryo and Yoko. While Chouryuu initially stayed to raise the children, when he was called back to the Gorma to assist them in their reignited conquest, Chouryuu faked his death and returned to them, taking with him a photo of his wife and children.
Present[]
After several failures by the Gorma Triumvirate to defeat the Dairangers, Zhang Liao arrived with Archbishop saw to assist the Triumvirate in their fight against them, much to their reluctance. Chouryuu was sent by Saw on a mission to kill Master Kaku, during which he faces four of the Dairangers and brutally defeats all of them, taking Daigo, Kazu and Rin prisoner while sending Shoji to deliver a message to Kaku telling him to meet him at 3 o'clock or he would kill the other three Dairangers.
Kaku arrived on time to confront Chouryuu and the two face off. However, Ryo, blaming himself for not being there to assist his teammates, also arrives and attempts to free the other Dairangers. After beating down Kaku, Chouryuu turns his attention to Ryo. Ryo transforms and attempts to fight Chouryuu but Chouryuu swiftly defeats him and prepares to kill him, only to stop when Kaku reveals Ryo is his son.
Disturbed by the fact that he almost killed his son, Chouryuu silently exits the scene.
Chouryuu later approaches Ryo as his son is coming to grips with the revelation, tossing his photo of their family beside him. Chouryou tells Ryo that the Gorma will soon control the world and attempts to convince Ryo to defect from the Dairangers to the Gorma. However, Ryo adamantly refuses the offer, causing Chouryou to tell him that the next time they meet, they will be enemies before turning around to leave. Before he walks away however, Ryo asks how someone who betrayed his allies for evil could fall in love and get married. Guilty and unsure of how to answer, Chouryou simply walks away without saying anything, leaving behind their family photo to float into the river below.
After returning to the Gorma base, Chouryuu was punished by Saw for hesitating to kill his son. Saw then attacks the city to lure out the Dairangers and transports them all to the first plane of Hell. Saw then declares he will kill the Dairangers in Chouryou's place, summoning Chouryuu to watch as he kills them. The Dairangers attempt to use Chi Bomber on him, but Saw easily defeats them. As Saw begins to torture Ryo and Ryo pleads for his father's help, Chouryuu turns away unable to watch.
However, hearing his son's cries for help, Chouryou shouts Ryo's name and attacks Saw, slashing him several times. Though wounded, Saw retaliates by spewing flame breath at Chouryuu. As Chouryuu falls to the ground fatally wounded, Ryo rushes to his father's side, removing his mask to look at his father's face. Chouryou then tells Ryo that, even though he became a traitor, he could never give up his love for Ryo's mother and asks his son for forgiveness as Ryo cries. The spirits of the past four Dairangers then appear and Chouryuu asks them for forgiveness as well, which they give him. Chouryuu then turns to Ryo and informs him that the La-La Bells have great power but that, due to his betrayal, his team never got a chance to use them. As Chouryuu looks at his son's face for a final time, his body fades away and Chouryuu departs to the afterlife to be reunited with his old teammates.
Trivia[]
- Choryuu is an obvious homage to Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise, being a black-armored warrior who was once a hero who turned evil to obtain more power and is the father of the main protagonist.
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 Villains
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Gorma Tribe Others | ||