Ryuusei Date

Template:Infobox character

Ryusei Date (リュウセイ・ダテ) is a fictional character in the Super Robot Wars series. In all timelines, he is the pilot of R-1 and the main pilot for both the SRX and its descendant, the SRX Altered Banpreios (only in Alpha timeline), and is joined by fellow pilots Raidiese F. Branstein, Aya Kobayashi and her sister, Mai Kobayashi.

Appearances

Super Robot Wars games appearances

Shin Super Robot Wars - Playable character
Super Robot Spirits - Playable character
Real Robot Final Attack - Playable character
Real Robot Battle Line - Playable character
Super Hero Operations - Playable character
Super Robot Wars α - Playable character
Super Robot Wars α Gaiden - Playable character
Super Robot Wars α III - Playable character
Super Robot Wars Original Generation - Protagonist (Ryusei route) or playable character (Kyosuke route)
Super Robot Wars Original Generation 2 - Playable character
Super Robot Wars OG Original Generations - Protagonist (Ryusei route in Divine Wars episode) or playable character
Super Robot Wars OG Gaiden - Playable character
Another Century's Episode R - Playable Character
Super Robot Wars OG II - Playable character
Super Robot Wars OG The Moon Dwellers - Playable character

Super Robot Wars animated appearances

Other games appearances

Another Century's Episode R - Playable Character

Theme Music

Everywhere You Go - Default theme in all appearances.
Variable Formation - Used when he, Rai and Aya perform "Formation R" combination attack.
Soul of Steel (鋼の魂, Hagane no Tamashii) - Used when piloting the SRX.
Battle God of Steel (鋼の戦神, Hagane no Senshin) - Used when piloting Banpreios.

Personality and Traits

At 18-years old, Ryusei Date is an extremely hot-blooded young individual. A mecha otaku, Ryusei is heavily into mobile machines, specifically those of the super robot type. When he receives his R-1, he was disappointed at the fact that it was a real robot, but was surprised at the specifications of the SRX, where it is classified as a super. Ryusei has an odd habit of naming certain attacks, and often shouts them aloud when performing them, á la classic super robot pilots. He abbreviates some of the SRX's and Banpreios' attacks with the words "Tenjou Tenga", literally meaning "Heaven and Earth".

Before joining the SRX Team, Ryusei was a childhood friend with Kusuha Mizuha. Though she initially developed a crush on him, Ryusei didn't return the same feelings, either due to his obsession with mecha, or because he simply didn't share them. He does show some support for the relationship she develops with Brooklyn Luckfield, however. His relationship with the rest of the female cast of Original Generation is still in question, but it seems he is exceptionally close with Latune Subbota and Aya's sister, Mai. While he doesn't show much interest in women, he usually says that mechs with feminine shapes and appearances, like Lune Zoldark's Valsione, Lamia Loveless' Angelg or Virtual-ON's Fei-Yen the Knight, are cute or sexy.

Ryusei proves influential to the women he is close with. Both Latune and Mai have begun imitating his otaku nature in attempt to garner his attention, though this has yet to produce any significant results.

History

Ryusei's unnamed father was a police officer, but was killed in the line of duty. His mother, Yukiko Date, spent her time at the local hospital, for unknown reasons. Rather than continuing his life with an education, Ryusei enters the Burning PT National Tournament, in hopes of winning the grand prize money and accommodating his mother's hospital bills. Meanwhile, Earth Federation Army Major Ingram Prisken was scouting him, and decides to recruit him for the SRX Team, due to Ryusei's unique psychokinesis/psychic abilities that earn him classification as a Psychodriver. Ryusei agrees, but only if Yukiko was sent to a military hospital and treated for her illness. After given the initial rank of Master Sergeant, he meets up with fellow SRX Team members Aya Kobayashi and Raidiese F. Branstein and begins his training as a pilot. Although he begins poorly, he develops his piloting skills exceptionally, while also maturing in the way he thinks, after realizing that he is, after all, fighting in a real war, and not in some simulated battle.

In Super Robot Wars Original Generation: Divine Wars, Tenzan Nakajima actually faces Ryusei in the finals of the Burning PT National Tournament and wins with ease. However, in the Original Generation games, Tenzan withdrew from the tournament, and Ryusei ends up becoming champion. Regardless, he gets recruited into the military on both instances, with the stipulation that the army covers his mother's hospital bills.

In the course of Original Generation, Ryusei comes across other extraordinary pilots, and forms brief rivalries with such pilots as Kyosuke Nanbu of the ATX Team and Tenzan Nakajima of the Divine Crusaders. After Ingram defects to the Aerogaters, Ryusei is promoted to Second Lieutenant, prompting him to discover why his former commander had betrayed him and his team. For the rest of Original Generation, Ryusei has already become a formidable and recognized pilot, due to his involvement in the war. When the Aerogaters and Divine Crusaders are defeated, he serves as test pilot for new experimental units, such as the R-Blade, and uses it briefly in the events of Original Generation 2. He rejoins his SRX Team members when the Neo Divine Crusaders begins their revolt and once again pilots the SRX.

In the 3rd Super Robot Wars Alpha storyline, the SRX was destroyed by Hazal Gozzo and his Vayikra. In the process, team captain Aya was taken captive by Balmarian forces. Without the SRX machine, Ryusei pilots the R-Blade Custom until the upgraded SRX is completed. When it arrives, he christens it "Banpreios" and along with Rai and Mai, sets about to rescue Aya from the Balmarians alongside the Alpha Numbers.

Trivia

Everywhere You Go is an extended version of Banpresto's eyecatch, because Ryusei is the pilot of Banpresto's mascot, the SRX.