Ryūko Matoi (纏まとい 流りゅう子こ, Matoi Ryūko?) is the main protagonist of Kill la Kill. She transferred to Honnōji Academy searching for the twin of her red Scissor Blade and the person who used the weapon to murder her father, Isshin Matoi.
It is later revealed that Ryūko is the daughter of Sōichirō and Ragyō Kiryūin and the younger sister of Satsuki. Ryūko had supposedly died as a baby after Ragyō had attempted to fuse her body with Life Fibers, which was declared a failed experiment by Ragyō herself; however, Ragyō's experiment would later be revealed to be a success. Ryūko was later saved by her father, with her father faking her death and raising her under the alias of Isshin Matoi until his death at the hands of Nui Harime. Six months after Isshin's death, Ryūko transferred to Honnōji Academy.
Ryūko has a relatively simple personality: fierce and stubborn. She fears little - she directly and disrespectfully addresses Satsuki Kiryūin, demanding that her questions be answered, and when she fights Takaharu Fukuroda even though she is clearly overpowered. Later on, she is shown to be quite embarrassed when forced to fight in Senketsu's very revealing alternate form, though she overcomes her embarrassment in Episode 3. Whilst she is not afraid of fighting to her death, she is somewhat self-conscious.
Ryūko is generally confident once she adjusts to using Senketsu. She's willing to try all sorts of unconventional and inventive methods to defeat opponents, seen in her battles with the Elite Four. Her confidence does occasionally backfire, as shown when she underestimates Uzu shortly after his eyes are sewn shut.
Even though most of the time she is seen stubborn and fierce, sometimes she can be calm, polite, content and warmly flattered. This is mostly seen when eating with the Mankanshoku family and Episode 7. She admires the way Mako's mother makes food and has kind manners. She later tells Senketsu how fun dinner was with them because of how her mother died when she was young and her dad sent her to a boarding school, never knowing how a family dinner was like. Her flattery is highlighted in Episode 1 when Mataro tried to steal Ryuko's wallet and mug her. She was cool with the intention of fighting, criticizing how street punking doesn't work for him and how goofy his gang was. After defeating them, she lets it slide by not fighting people who can't fight back. This is also seen with most opponents she faces when she often states the obvious.
She shows fierce determination in finding her father's killer. Her stubbornness was taken up to ridiculous levels when she managed to free herself from Ragyō's mind control by merely punching herself. This same episode, however, has one of few demonstrations of shock on her part, when Ragyō defeats Satsuki, rips out Ryūko's heart and reveals to be her mother.
