| By BlackMonkey | Part of the The Avatar Rhythm continuity. |
| WARNING: This character page contains various major and minor spoilers for The Avatar Rhythm. If you have not read The Avatar Rhythm and wish to at some point, do not read this page. |
| "After 18 years in a palace of ice, watching my brothers and sister Waterbend, growing better and better, impressing my parents, I grew bored of waiting. I needed to be 30 to join the military, and 20 to start training. I had no friends. Royalty was just something to make you lazy and careless. So I left the Water Tribe. And I don't want that to happen again." |
| — Shirou talking to Akata in The Fire Nomad |
Shirou is a main character of The Avatar Rhythm Series.
History[]
Early Life[]
Shirou was born as in the Northern Water Tribe as Chief Riku's third son, and the only non-bender of his eventual four other siblings. When Shirou was 1 year old, his grandfather Kaito was accidentally killed by Avatar Mikio in The Great Battle of Omashu. Before that, Kaito ran the Dry Warriors, a militaristic organization for non-bending teenagers like Shirou. But when Kaito died, The Dry Warriors disbanded.
Because of this, his talents were nothing compared to his Waterbending siblings, and he grew up being the overshadowed and singled out child of the Chief of the Water Tribe. When Shirou heard about what happened to his grandfather, he founded a deep hatred for the Avatar - the one thing that put him in the state he was.
When Shirou was 19, his grudge had driven him to the point that he wanted to kill the next Avatar - and that idea eventually formed into a genuine plan. He knew that the next Avatar was from the Fire Nation, and strategically ran away from the Northern Water Tribe.
Fire Nation[]
Shirou arrived at the Fire Nation, and he soon became friends with Hotaru, a teenage girl of Royal Chaldera City, who he showed a particular fondness for. When he learned how to induce the Avatar State and break the Avatar Cycle at Everburn Academy, he took his lesson the wrong way and formed a plan with Hotaru to hunt down and kill the Avatar. But on the day he met her to make the final preparations for the attack, he unwillingly found out that Hotaru was the Avatar, and was driven into an internal insanity. He tried visiting Taro, but the Fire Lord's advice was overwhelmingly wise, and he chose the easy way out, ambushing Hotaru. The Avatar easily won their duel, and blew Shirou off the Fire Nation Capital, and he barely escaped being destroyed.
On the way back to Royal Chaldera City, Shirou stopped at a small inn at Fire Lily Village, and through the walls he overheard a conspiracy to overthrow the Fire Lord, lead by Goro. The plot included an Agni-Kai match to the death between Taro and Hotaru, and in order to save the nation, he had to save the Avatar.
Eventually, Shirou got back to Royal Chaldera City, but it was too late, and Goro's plan was already underway. While Taro and Hotaru dueled to the death, Shirou ambushed Goro and attacked him, revealing to the Fire Nation the governor's crime.
Afterwards, Shirou was recognized as a hero, but still harbored a deep hatred for Hotaru, who almost immediately leaves to the Western Air Temple to learn Airbending. After living two and a half peaceful months in the Fire Nation, Shirou eventually grew annoyed at becoming royalty, and decided to continue his hunt for the Avatar, setting sail for the Western Air Temple.
Air Nomads[]
After being washed up on the shores of an Air Nomad island, Shirou met Shinji and allied with him, and they set off to the Western Air Temple. Shinji agreed to kill Hotaru as long as Shirou protected him from the Quadrination Bandits, and they slowly became friends after saving a small Air Nomad village from the Venomsprout, collecting one of the toxic plants for themselves.
When sailing towards the Western Air Temple, The Procession found weapons on their boat while they passed their Western Headquarters, resulting in being imprisoned. Shirou and Shinji successfully escaped the base, but in order to do so he had to dump eleven hundred of The Procession's gold coins into the ocean, becoming their enemy, narrowly escaping.
Afterwards, while hiking through a large island, Takumi saved them from being attacked by a Gemsbok Bull, and invited the duo to his village. They grew a strong friendship, but it was quickly ended when The Quadrination Bandits ambushed them, and Shirou and Shinji had to leave.
Following an incident at Avatar Aang's grave, Shirou and Shinji were pursued by The Quadrination Bandits again at a certain black market, and this time only escaped through the encounter of a mysterious Air Nomad who gave them access to Nun Gate, which they fled to. At Nun Gate they were told that the sky bison which usually gave rides to The Western Air Temple had its saddle stolen, and they were told to retrieve it. During the trek, he saved Shinji's life climbing a cliff, and when they reached the top, they were greeted by a nun who revealed to them that the whole endeavor was a test of teamwork, and they were granted passage to The Western Air Temple.
After arriving, Shirou agreed to recruit the Air Nomad armies to defend themselves from The Quadrination Bandits if Shinji killed Hotaru, and he met with Sora do discuss the matter. But when she revealed that the Air Nomads had no military of any kind, he was shocked, and leaked the info that he was trying to kill Hotaru. Sora taught him about peace, and tried being realistic to him. He listened, but lied to Shinji so Hotaru would be killed anyway. When they faced the Avatar though, Shirou felt too guilty to kill her, and allowed Gephel, who had arrived at the temple with the other Quadrination Bandits, to attack them. Hotaru saved them from a horrible demise, only under the condition that Shirou would tell her everything that was going on, which he did. When they returned to the temple, The Procession had arrived, and him and Shinji tried escaping. On the way, Shirou admitted that he had lied to him about the Air Nomad's armies, and Shinji felt betrayed, turning on his friend, resulting with a four way duel with Hotaru and Kyong, in which the duo finally ran from, hiding stowaway on The Procession's airship.
Northern Water Tribe[]
When The Procession's airship was headed towards the North Pole and got ready to dock, Shirou and Shinji made an escape and barely made it out of the vehicle alive, almost destroying it in the process.
Once the duo makes it out alive, they camp out far away in a tundra cave, trying to stay alive in the cold, cooking sickening makeshift meals to stay alive, such as seaweed tea and fried sea prunes. In an attempt to make money, Shirou brings Shinji to the Ice Water Pub to gamble, but ends up losing The Venomsprout to Asaki after she leaks information on The Polar Revolution.
Annoyed with Shirou, Shinji forces him to go back to the palace and confront his family. When they go, however, Shirou finds the old Dry Warrior clubhouse, now Kaito's grave, and is struck with pain and flashbacks. He hears his grandfather's words from the heavens above, "Do what is right", and says that he's ashamed of himself and forgetting Kaito and the Avatar, and states that he needs to battle Hotaru again.
Personality[]
Shirou has a deep personality, mostly serious. He holds a great hate for the Avatar, and brings up rough tales of his childhood in general conversation. Although he is very set on his goals, Shirou does appreciate life, and reveals to show mercy to some others, usually when Shinji thinks otherwise. Shirou occasionally jokes around, usually only around friends, and is shown to have clever, humorous solutions to dangerous problems. He feels more free with The Polar Revolution than with family, and loves to be on his own and not be under others' control.
Abilities[]
Swordsmanship[]
Shirou is a great swordsman, and his skills have helped him out of various dangerous situations. Originally only a user of knives, Shirou's weapons gradually grew bigger, as he started using a short sword to attack Hotaru for the first time. He had a full sized sword by the The Air Saga, and got a new one in The Black Market, which he stole from The Quadrination Bandit's weapon supplier.
Martial Arts[]
After joining and training with The Polar Revolution, Shirou developed a certain extent of martial art skills, as seen most vividly in Tax Day when he had to take out a whole army of The Procession's, especially when he lost his sword and had to fight Markale almost empty-handed.
Agility[]
In many times Shirou has shown to have great agility, as shown in The Heat of the Moment when he fully leaps over two Procession members heads. Shirou is also a great runner, as seen in The Procession, The Airbender, and The Black Market.
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- In Japanese, Shirou means "Fourth son", although strangely, Shirou is the third son of Chief Riku. BlackMonkey must have been half asleep while picking names for the main characters of his story.
See more
For the collective works of the author, go here.
| The Avatar Rhythm Characters | |
|---|---|
| Asaki - Hotaru - Markale - Shinji - Shirou - Takumi | |