Shu Shirakawa

Infobox animanga character
color = lightsteelblue
name = Shu Shirakawa
series = Super Robot Wars


caption =
first =
last =
creator =
voiced by = Takehito Koyasu (Japanese)
portrayed by =
nickname =
alias = "Christoph Gran McSord", "Chistoph Zeo Volkruss"
age = 22
gender = Male
species = Human
born =
death =
nationality =
class =
occupation =
title = Herald of Volkruss, ex - 3rd crown prince of Langran, ex-DC(EOTI) reasercher
relatives = Chika (Familiar spirit), Feillord Gran Bilseia (Cousin)
divider = Military History
aux1 name = Affiliation
aux1 = Divine Crusaders (2, 3, Alpha, OG 1/OGs),
Followers of Volkruss (EX, 4, F Final, Masō Kishin: The Lord Of Elemental, Alpha Gaiden, OG 2/OGs/OG Gaiden)
aux2 name = Rank
aux2 = N/A
aux3 name = Units Piloted
aux3 = Granzon (Classic Timeline, Alpha Timeline, Original Generation Timeline)
Neo Granzon(EX, 4, F Final, Lord of Elemental, Alpha Gaiden, OG Gaiden)

Shu Shirakawa is a fictional character from the Super Robot Taisen series of video games, making his first appearance in Super Robot Wars 2. He is usually seen as an enemy character, although he has been known to join the player's side, depending on the scenario.

Appearances

Shu has appeared in the following games:

*Super Robot Wars 2 - Enemy character
*Super Robot Wars 3 - Playable character → Non-playable enemy character
*Super Robot Wars EX - Playable character → Non-playable enemy character
* - Playable character
*Super Robot Wars 4 - Playable character → Non-playable enemy character
*Super Robot Wars F Final - Playable character
* - Non-playable character → Non-playable enemy character → Brief playable character
*Super Robot Wars Alpha - Playable character
*Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden - Non-playable enemy character
* - Non-playable enemy character → Playable character
* - Non-playable character
*Super Robot Wars Original Generations - Non-playable enemy character → Playable character → Non-playable character
*Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden - Playable character → Non-playable enemy character

Theme Music

*"Dark Prison" (Retitled "Man in the Dark" in the English-language version of Original Generation 2) - Default theme in all appearances.
*"Neo Granzon" (Retitled "Armaggedon" in later SRW series, where it is no longer attributed to him) - Used when piloting the Neo Granzon in the Original Timeline

Personality And Traits

Shu Shirakawa conducts himself in an extremely proper manner, but despite this propriety, he is not above condescending his enemies for their weakness. On top of this, Shu is an incredibly intelligent individual, and despite his young age, he has earned a number of PhD's and is a brilliant scientist. Not only that he actually comes from La Gias, where there are only highly developed alchemies and magics, but Shu maanged to adopt himself into the Earth science very quickly and even managed to combine it with alchemies and magics. He also is an excellent alchemist and has high amount of mana even higher than prince Palelord.

Chika, Shu's familiar, is a foulmouthed bird who cares exceptionally much about money. Familiars are generally considered a reflection of their master's subconsciousness, but it is not very likely that this is true in this case. Actually Chika was created when young Christoph was betrayed by his mother, since then Christoph's mental state became extremely unstable and Luozorl had to cut off Christoph's subconsciousness to make it stable again.

History

Shu Shirakawa's past throughout the Original Generation series is deliberately left enigmatic; however, in previous games and the radio dramas for the Alpha series, his earlier life and true origins are revealed in full.

Classic Timeline

Sometime before the war with the Divine Crusaders, Masaki Andoh had his first encounter with Shu on Earth, where Shu had already received his Granzon. Surprisingly to Masaki, Shu was already familiar with the young man, and, more importantly, his Masō Kishin, the Cybuster. He explains that he is not an Earthling, but a citizen of the Langran Kingdom -- one of the nations in the La Gias world, where the Masō Kishin come from. Reminding him that the Earth Federation will be coming to engage Masaki soon, he says that he should return to La Gias immediately.

The next time Masaki and Shu's paths would cross in a significant way would be under much more shocking circumstances. Masaki had already let it be known to his friends in La Gias that he could not trust Shu, and his feelings were validated when Shu, in the Granzon, launched an attack on the capital of Langran. Here, he renounced his royal bloodline and a declaration of war on the Langran Kingdom. He also renounced his original name, Cristoph Gran McSord, saying that if he must use the Cristoph name, the name Cristoph Zeo Volkruss may suit him better. As it is, he preferred the name Shu Shirakawa.

In a rage, Masaki launched in the Cybuster to meet Shu head-on; Shu, unimpressed with Masaki's hotheadedness, says he will show him just what kind of power the Granzon has compared to the Cybuster's. Masaki attacked Shu, and to his shock, didn't even scratch the paint of Shu's machine. Shu proclaims that that was what he was trying to tell Masaki: that it is useless to even try and fight back, since the Masō Kishin are not even close to being in the same league as the Granzon. To demonstrate this, Shu used one of the Granzon's weapons to damage the Cybuster. He criticized Masaki's lack of power, and told him that if he wishes to live, he will unlock Cybuster's true potential here and now. He went on to explain that the Granzon shares the same technology used by the Divine Crusaders' Armored Modules, Extra-Over Technology -- the extraterrestrial technology gathered from Meteor-3. He added that an alien force will eventually attack Earth, and the Granzon is the only machine powerful enough right now to withstand their weaponry. Furthermore, he warns Masaki that unless he can realize his Masō Kishin's full potential, his chances of being able to fight them are nonexistent.

Masaki prepared for a counterattack, but was pulled off the battlefield when it was clear he could not sufficiently fight back. He was forced to watch Shu duel with -- and quickly defeat -- Zeoroot, his father figure, killing him with very little effort. Shu says that all humans die quickly, and that death is equal for all living things. Masaki yells "I won't forgive you, Shu!"; it is for this reason that Masaki despises him. However, Shu was forced to retreat, when he realized that Zeoroot has been able to damage the Warp Shield of the Granzon. In a rematch with Shu, perhaps due in part to his desperation, Masaki was possessed by Cyfis (the guardian spirit of Cybuster) and was able to seriously damage the Granzon.

When the capitol of Langran was destroyed by the forces of the Shutedonias Alliance (another nation of La Gias), Shu and Masaki met once more. Despite the way that it looked to Masaki, Shu was not responsible for this attack, adding that he knew Masaki wouldn't believe anything he said. Realizing that Masaki would want his revenge, Shu went on to say that he had business to attend to on Earth. Masaki went back to Earth to track down Shu and make him pay.

The Divine Crusaders War

Shu collaborated with Bian Zoldark, who staged a coup towards the Earth Federation with his faction, the Divine Crusaders. The first obstacle facing him in this situation, however, was the weak-willed Earth Federation government, which saw fit to surrender to the alien threat, before they could begin their assault. Finding the secret meeting to sign their declaration of surrender in Antarctica, Shu used the Granzon to level the building and end the proceedings, before they could even begin. To the Earth's armed forces, this was seen as an act of terrorism; and it is at this place that Shu is reunited by Masaki. Meanwhile, various factions, that would become the Londo Bell, began rescuing prisoners of the Divine Crusaders, and amassing power to topple Bian. When Bian is defeated, Shu's intention, which was the same as Bian's, was revealed: to prepare the Earth's forces enough to face the upcoming extraterrestrial threat. Shu vanished into obscurity, afterwards.

The Inspectors

Eventually, Bian's prediction came true and the Earth Federation finds themselves under attack by the Inspectors. Shu eventually came out of hiding and joins forces with the Londo Bell to defeat the Inspectors, successfully defeating the child-like tyrant, Wendolo. After Wendolo's defeat, however, Shu revealed his true intent -- he wished to challenge himself and become stronger by fighting and killing his enemies-turned-allies. To accomplish this, he unlocked the cursed power of the God of Destruction, Volkruss, transforming his Granzon into an even more devastating machine, the Neo Granzon. With this newfound power, he intended on destroying the Earth -- knowing that this impetus was necessary to push the Londo Bell to its full power, this is later known as "Ragnarok". In this final battle, the combined might of the Londo Bell prevailed, and Shu's machine was destroyed, his last words indicating that he was proud of the Londo Bell and their ability to defeat even the Neo Granzon. He died with no regrets.

Resurrection

His death was shortlived, however, as his body and soul were brought from the void back to La Gias, summoned by a dark priest of Volkruss, Luozorl Zoran Loiel, but not his past memories. His plan was to use Shu to summon the true Volkruss and throw La Gias into chaos. Shu, unhappy from being used by Luozorl, quickly rebelled, and even defeated Volkruss itself, alongside his former enemies.

The Guests and Afterwards

Shu was later seen wandering on the surface world of Earth, when the Londo Bell faced the Zuvorg Alliance emissaries, calling themselves the Guests. He would eventually join forces with them again to drive away the Guests. In the second half of Super Robot Wars Gaiden, Shu and Masaki confronted a resurrected Luozorl, who caught Shu through brainwashing, and turned him against Masaki. Masaki helped Shu break free from Luozorl's control and together, they slew the mad priest. Afterwards, both settled with their differences and it is assumed that they somewhat become friends.

Alpha Timeline

Because the Divine Crusaders were not an enemy force in Alpha, Shu acted as a background ally for much of Alpha, only joining the Londo Bell at the end, when they prepared for their showdown with the leader of the Aerogaters, Laodecia Judecca Gozzo. His role in Alpha Gaiden was also limited to a short number of episodes, but much more significant. In the chaos surrounding the aftermath of the war with the Aerogaters and the activation of the Aegis Plan, Shu, with Saphine Grace and Monica Gran Bilseir in tow, arrived on Earth in front of the grounded Macross battleship, declaring that he must provide a sufficient number of sacrifices on the surface to resurrect a certain something in La Gias. In addition, he felt a compulsion to bring about an end to the forces trying to divert the wheel of balance in the universe, the Londo Bell, and doom the Earth to its one true destiny: destruction.

Rightfully angered by his proclamations, the Londo Bell engaged Shu in his Neo Granzon and even managed to badly damage it, however, the result of which was a rip in time and space that threw the Londo Bell centuries into the future, one where they failed to activate the Aegis Plan, bringing about an apocalyptic world.

When the Londo Bell returned to their original timeline, Shu was there for one more challenge, intending (as in the Classic Timeline) to destroy the Earth, and provide the souls required for Volkruss' resurrection, with Ragnarok. In a hard-fought battle, the Londo Bell overcame the Neo Granzon a second time, destroying the monstrous machine for good. Shu died without regrets, realizing that it was simply his time to be destroyed, as part of the universal cycle of life.

Original Generation Timeline

Shu first appears in Antarctica and attempted to wipe out the SRX Team with the Granzon, along with the base, only to be stopped by Masaki's arrival. Afterwards, his story generally stayed the same with the Classic Timeline version of the Divine Crusaders War.

In the war with the Inspectors, Shu was generally inactive, only appearing at unexpected times, such as rescuing Ratsel Feinschmeker from the assault of the Inspectors' Aguija and Mekibos. He is not seen afterwards.

In Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden, Shu first shows up during the Bartoll uprising, and much to Masaki's chargin, he helped him defeating Kyle Bean and his Mironga. His whereabouts were unknown afterwards, but he showed up again to help the Cry Wolves squadron, Axel Almer and Einst Alchemie, to drive away the newly, risen Einst threat and the homunculi of Duminuss, Tiz. Shu later shows up for the last time in the Swordian Fortress and helps the Earth Federation Army defeat Duminuss and the Dark Brain.

After the Dark Brain's defeat, however, just as in the Classic Timeline, Shu betrays his allies and attempts to execute Ragnarok once more, with the Neo Granzon. He is shortly defeated and killed.

Trivia

* Perhaps not coincidentally, Shu and Masaki are voiced by Takehito Koyasu and Hikaru Midorikawa, a pair who often portray rival characters in various animated series, such as Zechs Merquise and Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing, Zelgadis Greywords and Rezo from Slayers, and Tamahome and Hotohori from Fushigi Yūgi.