Ryou Bakura
Bakura...... Ryou......
Do you think Ryou knows what is happening when Bakura takes over his body?
Is he cognizant that it is his body being used to try to kill his closest friends?
Does he watch behind eyes, unable to stop things that tear out his heart?
Or in silence does he wait....for a chance to rid himself of the clinging parasite?
-Putting psychology class to use-
Ryou is a quiet boy.....the first sign of a deranged mind. You know the phrase: 'It's always the quiet ones'? Well this fits Ryou like a glove. He is the perfect example of the classic 'shy boy'. Quiet, he makes friends very slowly and painfully, it takes him an extremely long time to open up to them, and still he doesn't feel comfortable sharing any personal secrets. He also has a hard time with the ladies, never forming an attachment though many follow him around and would be extremely happy if he was to show interest in one of them. One can imagine he would be the sort of guy who blushes, stammers and edges away from an interested girl, breaking away in relief from the pressure.
On the other hand Bakura is the complete opposite, or so it seems. On the outside Bakura is cruel and violent, opposite of the calm, quiet and peaceful Ryou. He has no problem expressing his hate and is probably often filled with rage. One can only imagine what feelings prompted him to slam his hand down on the tower of that toy castle with a deranged look in his eyes. Yet for all his problems, which probably would lead him to a mental hospital, Bakura is extremely intelligent. He would have to be to lurk for many years...biding his time waiting for the chance to finally steal the millennium items. When he chance comes he takes it with perfection. Even though his plans are thwarted by Yami, he is not set back and only continues with single minded intent, finally placing a piece of his soul in the Puzzle...who knows what extra powers he has already gained with the Eye.
They seem extremely different, as different as two people can be, don't they. yet underneath lurks something different. When asked who is most like the other, it seems impossible Bakura could ever be warm and loving, so instead we turn to Ryou and his tendencies....how much hidden under that mask could be like Bakura? How easily would he be influenced by that stronger controlling presence?
You know that thing that happens when prisoners start identifying with their captors? Especially when those captors are strong controlling, violent and threaten their lives. That sounds like it could easily happen to Ryou. Poor Ryou, to identify with a insane murder like that, but it's not unheard of.
It seems to me that Bakura takes over Ryou very easily, totally controlling him whenever he wants. That probably means that Ryou has no control over him whatsoever, aside from the power of harming himself. Of course, as Bakura has told Yami, he would never let any harm come to Ryou...because he wants an unharmed body you see. But we don't want Ryou doing anything drastic or violent to injure himself just to get rid of Bakura.
This is interesting...
"One interesting thing about the millennium ring is that it seems to refuse to leave Bakura’s side. A few times Bakura tried to throw his ring away but it always return back on his neck. Some people think that perhaps the real Bakura subconsciously doesn't wish anyone else to suffer what he goes through. However I have another theory. Bakura is a lonely person. He might have friends like Yugi, Tea, Tristan and Joey but as much as we hate to admit it, the truth they were never really close friend with Bakura. He doesn’t have friends that truly understand him. In away, as long as Bakura has the ring he would never be truly alone because of Yami Bakura. So perhaps Bakura keeps the ring because he felt lonely." (http://oritranslation.blogspot.com/ March 26. 2003)