Lord of Lords Ryu Knight

In a world where a giant sword stands upon a land full of adventure and magic, a world called Earth Tear. This is the story of heroes who journeyed tirelessly across Earth Tear!

Ha-ou Daikei or Lord of Lords Ryu Knight is an anime produced in The Nineties, airing in 52 episodes from 1994-1995. It takes place in the mythical world of Earth Tear where, far off in the distance, a giant sword can be seen thrust into the very land itself. Legend has it that whoever journeys to the Earth Blade will become the greatest warrior alive and one of the many warriors to take up this quest is the young aspiring knight, Adeu the Sonic.

Life is not easy for the idealistic young warrior who, in his very first appearance, gets all of his money suckered out of him by a pair of street urchins. The world is closer to a post-apocalyptic, Fist of the North Star-esque land than the standard fantasy medieval setting in parts, and people are consistently terrorised by outlaws riding powerful mecha called Solids. Fortunately, Adeu has a secret weapon of his own: one of the legendary Ryu, which outclasses any Solid in combat power, the Ryu Knight, Zephyr. With Zephyr at his side Adeu is almost unstoppable but the challenge has only just begun.

Eventually he is joined by Paffy, a princess and an apprentice mage who is on a journey to strengthen her powers. Accompanying her are Sarutobi, a ninja who acts as her bodyguard, and one of her own retainers, a priest named Izumi. Together the four battle against the evil that infests Earth Tear and draw ever closer to their ultimate goal - the Earth Blade itself.

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Here's some tropes from the Ethos of Chivalry!:

• Achilles Heel: Solids, ryus, and dooms require mystical energy called mist surrounding them constantly to absorb and used as fuel; this makes them useless in tight spaces such as caves without mist tanks.
• Amulet of Concentrated Awesome: The Spirit Stones.
• Big Good: White Dragon near the end of the series.
• Black Knight: Galden
• Calling Your Attacks: Everyone save for Katze and Hittel do this.
• Cannon Fodder: Standard solids in a nutshell
• Catch Phrase: Here's one lesson from the Ethos of Chivalry!
• Complete Monster: General Rigel at the last quarter of the series Although thanks to Gesshin he does not last long.
• Evil Counterpart: Dark Knight Steru to the Ryu Knight Zephyr.
• Eye Scream: Whenever Galden summons Steru, he pulls the Mist Tarot out of the "eye" on his armor and it seems to cause him some degree of pain.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief:
  • Fighters: Adeu, Gratches, Gesshin
  • Mages: Paffy, Izumi
  • Thieves: Sarutobi, Katze, Hittel
• Five-Man Band
  • The Hero: Adeu
  • The Lancer: Sarutobi
  • The Big Guy: Izumi
  • The Smart Guy: Also Izumi, being the group's Genius Bruiser
  • The Chick: Paffy or Katze
• The Gunslinger: Hittel
• Heel Face Turn: At the very last moment, Galden, and the previously corrupted Steru turns into a Knight in Shining Armor.
• Heroes Prefer Swords
• Heroic BSOD: When Paffy realises that the man she was betrothed to has effectively sold her country to the enemy, she almost completely loses her faith in humanity. Fortunately Adeu is able to step in before it goes that far.
• Idiot Hero: Adeu, so very, very much.
• Improbable Aiming Skills
• It May Help You on Your Quest: Ryu Knight Zephyr, although significantly more useful than the typical examples of this trope, was just a card when Adeu got it handed to him. He was quickly disabused of that notion, though.
• Kill'Em All: The last few episodes can be accurately summed up as "in this episode, somebody dies". Except when it's subverted at the very last moment for some Big Damn Heroes action.
• Kill It with Fire: Paffy's trademark Honoun spell and also her reaction to any slimy or scaly creatures the party comes across.
• Magic Knight: Galden, somewhat justified since it is revealed by Idoro that he is half helldragon.
• Man Behind the Man: Idoro was manipulating Galden the whole time to prepare the way for the real villains of the show.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Subverted because save for Adeu and his Zephyr everyone gets their upgrades late in the series especially for poor Sarutobi.
• Mind Control: Adia attempts this on Galden by using a special ruby on Steru.
• Ninja: Sarutobi
• Our Dragons Are Different: The second half of the series reveals the helldragon tribe, the primary antagonists of the series that are said to have been spawned by their god(Meditto)'s sword and act as alien invaders with highly advanced technology. Later in the series it is revealed that some of them resemble humans to pilot dooms (their Humongous Mecha).
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: Gratches
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: Hagu Hagu, the show's mascot.
• Samurai: Gesshin
• Super Robot Wars: Appears in the Super Robot-only NEO.
• Shock and Awe
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Katze is the cowardly, money-grubbing weapons merchant who has a keen eye for details. Hittel is the Humanoid Typhoon in elf form. Together they are one impressive team.
• To Be a Master: Adeu's whole reason for travelling.
• Took a Level In Badass: Derringer when Hittel is riding it instead of Katze.
• The Undead: At one point Idoro summons an army of skeletal warriors and dragons to kidnap a few of the main characters, even her flying fortress is castle support on top of a giant whale skeleton.