Satsuki Kiryūin/Synopsis

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Villain Overview Synopsis Gallery

The story of Satsuki Kiryūin from Kill la Kill.

Synopsis

Past

Satsuki as a toddler.

Satsuki Kiryūin was born as the first child of Sōchirō and Ragyō Kiryūin, and was, only months after her birth, used as a test subject by her mother to be successful human/Life Fiber hybrid like herself. However, the painful and torturous experiments failed, leading Ragyō to move on, this time planning to have another daughter and using her as her next subject, exposing her while she was still a newborn. However, discovering Ragyō's true nature and determined to save the child, Sōchirō conspired against her. He showed Satsuki a Kamui they had developed called Junketsu, and told her it would be her wedding dress. Soon after, Sōchirō faked the baby's death during experimentation, then ran away with the child to begin a life of seclusion, raising his daughter away from the evil of her mother, while developing a weapon to sever Life Fibers, the Scissor Blades, and the Kamui Senketsu so that his daughter Ryūko may one day destroy her mother and what she had created.

Satsuki as a child.

Satsuki was raised by Ragyō, sent to prestigious schools and trained as a master combatant and leader. During her school years, she used her cold demeanor and tough fighting to gain allies that would eventually become her Elite Four. In kindergarten, she met and befriended Nonon Jakuzure, who she helped toughen up and see the advantage of power and command. During her time in Rinne-Dō Junior High, she met Ira Gamagōri and helped him in his school discipline, while also overpowering him and earning his respect. She met Hōka Inumuta when he playfully hacked into the REVOCS Corporation's computers, and earned the respect of Uzu Sanageyama after besting him in combat. When Ragyō went on to establish Honnōji Academy, Sastsuki was made the Student Council President and a monarch of sorts over the students of the school.

Meeting Ryūko Matoi

Satsuki ruled over the Academy and the surrounding neighborhoods owned by the school with an iron fist, distributing power-granting Goku uniforms to Student Council members and club leaders so they may fight for their school in violent, but managed environments. Her rule and respect went unquestioned and unchallenged until the unexpected arrival of Ryūko Matoi, a transfer student following a lead on the murderer of her father. She wielded a Scissor Blade, a unique weapon capable of severing the Life Fibers in Goku Uniforms, but was unskilled with it. She challenged Satsuki, but was caught off guard when she was attacked and defeated by the Boxing Club President Takaharu Fukuroda. Matoi fled, and Satsuki called a meeting with the Elite Four to discuss what to do about her. The next day, Ryūko returned wearing the Kamui Senketsu, and used it to overpower Fukuroda in a rematch. Ryūko confronts Satsuki, questioning her, but needs to retreat as Senketsu is consuming too much of her blood for another battle.

Satsuki confronting Ryūko.

Ryūko returns for another fight, but is stopped by Tennis Club President Omiko Hakodate. She returns again, and Satsuki watches as she and Hakodate participate in a tennis match/fight that Ryūko wins. Satsuki then confronts Ryūko herself, fighting her with her sharpened Bakuzan. Ryūko is once again forced to retreat due to Satsuki's strength and her own blood loss.

Satsuki, frustrated that her opponent is in possession of a Kamui, breaks her mother's rules and goes to the Kiryūin mansion and steals Junketsu for herself, wearing it to school the next day in preparation for her inevitable fight with Matoi. She and Ryūko face off, but Satsuki easily overpowers Ryūko by not focusing on her Kamui's revealing appearance, but rather the power it provides. By showing no shame, she keeps her mind clear and is able to synchronize with Junketsu and overpower Ryūko. However, from a suggestion from her friend Mako, Ryūko soon ignores her shame and rises to a level of power equal to Satsuki. Ryūko vows to crush Satsuki to get her answers, and Satsuki forfeits the fight, seeing if Ryūko can survive her attempts to get her defeated by another student or thrown out of the school.

Conflict with Ryūko Matoi

Satsuki begins her campaign against Ryūko with the annual "No-Late Day", where any student that does not arrive to class by exactly the time school starts will be expelled and forever removed from the property. Furthermore, the way to school is transformed into a deadly obstacle course. Despite many students being expelled, injured, or killed, Ryūko and Mako make it to class on time.

Shortly after, Uzu requests that Satsuki allow him to personally take on Ryūko. Satsuki agrees, and the next day, Ryūko and Uzu battle. Uzu at first has the upper hand, but is defeated when Ryūko outsmarts him and destroys his Goku Uniform. Satsuki dismisses Uzu, but he, in a desperate attempt to regain her respect, has Sewing Club President Shirō Iori sew his eyes shut so he will not rely on them in battle. Satsuki respects his bold move and allows him to fight again, and this time he defeats Ryūko, and she is forced to flee.

When Ryūko discovers that Club Presidents receive better housing and Goku Uniforms, she and Mako start the Fighting Club, with Mako as president. Mako's family is raised into luxury and soon become obsessed and dependent on it. Seeing an opportunity, Satsuki gives Mako a two-star Goku Uniform and tells her to defeat Ryūko to keep her luxurious lifestyle. Drunk off of fortune, Mako agrees and battles Ryūko, but realizes her error and disbands the club, sending Mako's family back to the slums, but preserving their bonds. Satsuki later meets with the Elite Four stating that by sending multitudes of Club Presidents after Ryūko, they are using her to purge the weaker clubs that may stand in the way of the Academy's conquest for world domination.

Satsuki announcing the Naturals Election.

In an attempt to provide a stronger Student Council and maybe flush Ryūko out, Satsuki declares a new election system, where, after a week of fighting allowed among students, a few will rise to the top as her new elite. This causes mass fighting and chaos, but Ryūko and the Elite Four make it to the Sudden Death Runoff Election, where Ryūko must fight her way through the Elite Four to rise in ranks and finally get to Satsuki. As Satsuki looks on, she first battles Gamagōri in a difficult battle that she barely wins. She then fights Hōka Inumuta, and easily defeats him. Her next opponent is Nonon Jakuzure, who proves to be a much more difficult opponent than her past ones. During the fight, when Ryūko thinks she has the upper hand, she breaks away from the arena and goes directly for Satsuki, but is stopped and turned around by Nonon. After a long fight, Ryūko finally manages to defeat Nonon and move on to her last fight: a rematch with Uzu. However, as the battle begins, the match is suddenly interrupted by Nui Harime, the Grand Couturier of the Kiryūin-owned company REVOCS. Nui destroys Uzu's Uniform in one blow, surprising even Satsuki. Satsuki asks what Nui's business is there, but they are interrupted by Ryūko, who states that she does not care who she has to fight to get to Satsuki. Satsuki agrees to let her fight Nui, and drinks tea while watching, realizing Nui's presence means her mother has interfered.

However, as the fight between Ryūko and Nui begins, Nui reveals that she has the other Scissor Blade, and that she killed Ryūko's father. Ryūko enters a rage and looses control of her Kamui, transforming the both of them into a wrathful, violent monster with no restraint or remorse. She fights Nui while constantly loosing blood and causing massive damage to the Academy. Satsuki dons Junketsu in an attempt to stop her rampage, but Ryūko is eventually saved by Mako, who snaps her out of her mindless form and flees with her unconscious body away from the Academy. Satsuki uses the past few events as learning experiences, and decides that the students and Goku Uniforms are ready to take on the other schools, beginning Honnōji Academy's hegemonic quest.

Tri-City Schools Raid Trip

Satsuki prepares for the Tri-City Schools Raid Trip.

Using data collected by Hōka, the Elite Four's Goku Uniforms are remade and Satsuki begins mobilizing students as military forces to participate in the Tri-City Schools Raid Trip, where her student armies will spread to three rival schools in Ōsaka, Kyoto, and Kōbe. Before leaving, she surveys the slums and finds Ryūko and Senketsu attacked by Nui. Ryūko falls, and Senketsu is cut to pieces by Nui. Nui prepares to kill Ryūko, but Satsuki drives her off and steals all of the pieces of Senketsu, proceeding to distribute them to her armies so they may sew them on and make them more powerful. However, she missed a piece, and Senketsu survived. Ryūko decided to go to each of the places where the schools were fighting to take back each piece and sew Seketsu back together. However, unbeknownst to her, Satsuki kept a major piece and wore it as a trophy item of sorts.

Satsuki verses Ryūko.

Satsuki and Uzu travel to Ōsaka, where they battle the mad Kaneo Takarada. After seemingly winning, Ryūko appears, having already been to the other battles and retrieved all but one piece of Senketsu: the glove that Ryuko uses to trigger her synchronization, the one Satsuki wears. Ryūko fights Satsuki to regain it, but their battle is interrupted by the arrival of the anti-Life Fiber organization known as Nudist Beach. Satsuki reveals that on top of her conquest of the other schools, the Tri-City Schools Raid Trip was intended to draw out and destroy the rebellion. The Elite Four fight Nudist Beach, and Satsuki continues her battle with Ryūko, who has managed to synchronize without the last piece. She takes it from Satsuki, completing Senketsu, and battles Satsuki in an epic fight that eventually leads to a draw. As Nonon destroys the Nudist Beach base, Satsuki withdraws her and her armies back to Honnōji Academy.

Satsuki molested by Ragyō.

Arriving back to her mansion, and hoping to rest and reinvigorate after her tiresome campaign and battles, Satsuki meets with her mother, who instructs her to bathe with her. After sexually molesting Satsuki in what she called a "ritual", Ragyō takes Satsuki down below the manor and shows her the Original Life Fiber, which she plans to unleash onto the world. She orders Satsuki to organize a festival at Honnōji Academy to celebrate her arrival there and as a way to distribute Life Fibers and her new COVERS all around the world.

Betrayal

Satsuki betraying Ragyō.

Satsuki and the Elite Four travel back to Honnōji Academy, where they organize the Great Culture and Sport Festival, which is a cover for Ragyō's plan to unleash Life Fibers and COVERS throughout the city. Ryūko and the others arrive after the ceremony begins, and Ragyō unleashes her creations, which begin devouring everyone in the audience. However, just as things begin to seem bleak, Satsuki suddenly stabs Ragyō through the chest, pins her to a wall, and announces to the world her rebellion against Ragyō and REVOCS, explaining that her taking orders from Ragyō were simply to bide time for the ideal time to strike, and that she helped build Honnōji Academy to overthrow and defeat her mother and her evil company.

The rebellion begun, the Elite Four battle Nui as Satsuki proclaims her motive: revenge for her treatment both as a child and as a teenager, revenge for her father who she felt Ragyō had stolen from her, and revenge for the baby sister she thought dead. Ragyō is freed by Rei Hōōmaru, and she uses brainwashing Mind Stitching to control many of Satsuki's students and make them turn on her. Ragyō then proceeds to take control of Ryūko, causing her to fight Satsuki. Ryūko breaks free, and goes and fights Nui. Satsuki battles her mother and even slices off her head, but Ragyō simply regenerates and puts herself back together, being a human/Life Fiber hybrid. Ragyō then beats Satsuki mercilessly, tears Junketsu off of her and takes it for herself, breaks Bakuzan, and throws her into the walls of the arena. Ragyō then attacks Ryūko and pulls her heart out, revealing it to be covered in Life Fibers, meaning Ryūko is Satsuki's long-lost little sister that she had presumed deceased. In a last attempt, Satsuki activates an explosion that allows all of the heroes not devoured by COVERS to escape, but is captured herself.

Satsuki's humiliating imprisonment and torture.

The Elite Four and the remaining students of the Academy join Nudist Beach, and battle the COVERS that have overtaken their city for a month. During that time, Satsuki is kept naked and chained up in a cage, where she is taunted and molested daily by Ragyō. However, when Nudist Beach and Ryūko attack the Academy and provide a distraction, Satsuki escapes by using her false toenails, which are made of the same material as Bakuzan, to cut herself free and acrobatically battle her way through COVERS to escape. She escpaes through the Academy's back door and is surrounded by COVERS, but is saved by the Elite Four, given covering, and taken to the Nudist Beach's ship, the S.S. Naked Sun.

Redemption

Satsuki forced to wear Senketsu.

After being rescued, Satsuki relaxes and drinks tea to restore her strength. However, her rest does not last long, as Ryūko is captured by Ragyō and Nui, who use Mind Stitching and their own manipulation to rape Ryūko and alter her memories, making her believe she is loyal to REVOCS and Ragyō. After putting on Junketsu and going mad, Ryūko attacks the S.S. Naked Sun and tries to kill everyone on board. Satsuki makes an uneasy alliance with Senketsu, and the two join forces to fight the brainwashed Ryūko. She fights a difficult battle, but is overwhelmed and soundly defeated by Ryūko. The Elite Four try to help, but are held off by Nui. Despite falling, Satsuki manages to cut a small opening into Ryūko, allowing Senketsu and Mako to go in and fix her memories back to normal. Ryūko frees herself from Junketsu, puts on Senketsu, and cuts off Nui's arms.

As Nui flees, Satsuki meets with Ryūko. Satsuki apologizes for everything she's done, and admits that her methods were extreme and her actions villainous. She offers Ryūko the opportunity to punch her in the face to prove her sincerity, and, after a few failed attempts due to the overprotective Elite Four, Ryūko takes her up on the offer. However, Ryūko cannot bring herself to do it, and forgives Satsuki. A small celebration is held to commemorate the alliance between the Student Council and Nudist Beach, and Iori manages to modify Junketsu with a mixture of Satsuki's blood, Ryūko's blood, and Life Fibers from Senketsu to make it completely compatible with Satsuki, allowing her the same level of power as Ryūko.

Final Battle

Ryūko and Satsuki, allied at last.

Satsuki and Ryūko synchronize with their respective Kamui and head off to fight Ragyō and the Original Life Fiber. The two battle their mother, but she proves to be too powerful. In a trick plan by Ryūko, Satsuki lets Ragyō hit and seemingly kill Ryūko, then distract her while Ryūko regenerates and attacks the Original Life Fiber. Using the S.S. Naked Sun as a massive ripper, Mako and the others manage to help and cut the Original Life Fiber in half. However, Nui completes Ragyō's new Kamui, Shinra-Kōketsu, and she puts it on. Satsuki and Ryūko go in to destroy her once and for all.

Satsuki and the others confront Ragyō.

Ragyō utilizes the power of Shinra-Kōketsu to paralyze everyone's Kamuis and Goku Uniforms, then resurrects the Original Life Fiber. In an impressive resistance, Ryūko and Senketsu manage to break free of their paralysis and attack, but are defeated. Ragyō attempts to fuse Satsuki and the others into the Original Life Fiber, but Senketsu attacks and manages to end everyone's paralysis. Ryūko and Satsuki attack, and are able to cripple Ragyō. The Elite Four manage to destroy the device intended to spread the Original Life Fiber across the globe, seemingly beating the enemy. However, Ragyō has Nui kill herself and use her Life Fibers to bond with the Original Life Fiber, which then bonds with her to heal her and allow her to travel into space and try and use the REVOCS satellite to complete her mission. Satsuki and the others give up their Uniforms and Junketsu to power Senketsu and allow him and Ryūko to travel up to space and absorb the power of Shinra-Kōketsu, ridding the world of Life Fibers and eventually defeating Ragyō, who kills herself. Seketsu sacrifices himself so that Ryūko may safely get back to Earth, and Satsuki is one of the people who helps catch her little sister re-entering from orbit.

Graduation

Ryūko, Satsuki, and Mako.

The battle won and Ragyō dead, Satsuki cuts her hair short and starts a new life with Mako and her sister, who she has now fully accepted and loves. She decommissions Honnōji Academy and retires as Student Council President. She has friendly brawls with Uzu, but tries to forget her violent lifestyle.

However, as Satsuki is trying to figure out what to do with her life, she is ambushed and captured by a doppelganger. The clone goes in her place for the Academy's Graduation Ceremony, along with clones of the Elite Four, and attack the students and try to disrupt the graduation. The real Satsuki is kept restrained in the school's engine room by Rei Hōōmaru, who wants revenge for the fall of REVOCS and the death of its leader. Satsuki tries to reason with her, telling her that she is no longer a fighter and will spare her, but Rei wants none of it. Rei uses Satsuki to active the Final Defense Apparatus, a giant robot that attacks the school. Mako and Ryūko manage to bring down the robot and the clones, then free Satsuki.

After Satsuki spares Rei's life again, Rei finally has a change of heart and ends her revenge. Satsuki then cuts her hair short again and has the students give one last salute to Honnōji Academy before moving on to go with Ryūko to Rinne High School in Kanagawa.