Ragyō Kiryūin

"Anyone who dares oppose me—no, the Life Fibers—will suffer the same fate!"

- Ragyō gloats after defeating Satsuki and taking Junketsu for herself

Ragyō Kiryūin is the true main antagonist of Kill la Kill. She was the wife of Sōichirō Kiryūin, the mother of Satsuki Kiryūin and Ryūko Matoi, Revocs Corporation's CEO and a chair of Honnōji Academy's board of directors.

Appearance
Ragyō's most prominent feature is her resplendent multi-colored hair with a silver color on top. She has a very attractive and authoritarian appearance, and is at all times flaunting glamorous dresses. She seems to be quite tall as well. Much like her oldest daughter, Ragyō is often accompanied by a blinding light that shines from behind her.

She also has seven scars on her back that greatly resemble the stars emblazoned in Goku Uniforms. The origin of these scars is unknown, but they are likely a result of her fusion with Life Fibers.

Personality
Ragyō is a character bathed in luxury and it shows in her overall presentation and attitude. She is vain and proud, and boasts her power and status abundantly. According to Rei Hōōmaru, her character and morals are at the very least questionable.

Like Satsuki Kiryūin, Ragyō is strangely willing to indulge the whims of her inferiors, and is quite personable with those loyal to her, and is similarly ruthless towards her enemies. However, she is individualistically treacherous and sadistic, brutalizing and maniacally taunting Satsuki and Ryūko, and tearing Ryūko's heart out simply to make a point. She enjoys domination and control, lusting for power over the world in order to give it to the Life Fibers.

Her cruelty and arrogance has shown to be even more sinister, as she has been shown fondling (and even sexually assaulting) Satsuki and Ryūko, as well as herself in Episode 23. All of this may be done because she merely enjoys dominating someone or something.

She was shown to have an unbreakable will (a trait she apparently passed on to Satsuki and Ryūko) and a strong devotion to the Life Fibers, having actively given her human soul to them. As a result, she had absolutely no regard for human life, including her own, going as far as using her infant daughters as test subjects for potentially fatal experiments, and eventually committing suicide rather than accepting defeat after Ryūko kills all the earthly Life Fibers.

In her final moments, despite having failed, she believes that the Life Fibers will eventually return to Earth, and despite Ryūko's counterpoint that humans will remain human (and therefore remain capable of defeating them), Ragyō remains undeterred and even smirks before pulling out and crushing her own heart, dissipating into nothingness.

History
When the Primordial Life Fiber went into hibernation, it became the duty of the Kiryūin family to keep it safe, with it being a rule that only the elder of the family would be allowed to witness it's awakening. Many years before the events of the series, Ragyō took over this task and ended up becoming the clan's elder who would witness it's awakening. She planned to use the Life Fibers to take over the world. At some point in the civil war, she saved Rei Hōōmaru, an African child whose hometown was caught up in a civil war. Sometime later, Ragyō met Sōichirō Kiryūin, and then married to him. After that, she gave birth to their first child, Satsuki, who later became the first failed test subject of fusing Life Fibers. She then took another attempt on her second newborn child, but when the experiment failed again, she disposed of the baby, at which point Sōichirō discovered her true nature. Sometime after this, she created Nui Harime from an artificial Life Fiber womb, and raised her into a loyal servant. About six months before the beginning of the series, she ordered Nui to assassinate Sōichirō (now named Isshin Matoi) and to steal his latest invention, the Scissor Blades.

Ragyō first appeared in Episode 6, where she was seen contacting Satsuki from her office.

Powers & Abilities

 * Life Fibers Manipulation
 * Superhuman Physical Prowess - Ragyō's physiology has been enhanced with Life Fibers. Because of this, she has superhuman strength, speed, reflexes and durability, enough to physically overpower two Kamui-wearing opponents, Ryūko Matoi and Satsuki Kiryūin with relative ease, even though both had substantially developed their Kamui and Life Fiber-based powers. She was also able to break Satsuki's blade, Bakuzan, a blade developed to sever Life Fibers with her bare fist.
 * Regeneration - Due to the power of Life Fibers dwelling inside of her body, Ragyō can regenerate any wound inflicted on her almost instantly, even being decapitated at the hands of her daughter Satsuki. The exception to this is if she is cut by either the Bakuzan or the Scissor Blades from two different directions.
 * Mental Refitting (い), also known as Mind Stitching - By sewing Life Fibers known as Marionette Threads into the brains of her victims, Ragyō can bend anyone to do her bidding. An exception to this power is Ryūko's. She has been able to break free of Ragyō's control, possibly because of the Life Fibers implanted into her body.
 * Life Fiber Restoration - Ragyō was also capable of recreating Nui's arms by sewing new Life Fibers into them. Although she noted they were not as good as her original ones.
 * Flight - Much like her daughters, Ragyō is capable of flying at high speeds, although she does not require the use of a Kamui to do so.
 * Life Fiber Swords - During the battle against her daughters, Ragyō wielded a pair of giant, sewing needle-like swords, which according to her were made from ultra-hardened Life Fibers produced by the Original Life Fiber, that can sever Life Fibers and which served as the basis for the development of the Bakuzan and Scissor Blades. She also demonstrated the ability to alter their form, shaping them into a pair of spiked, tree branch-like blades.

Former Powers and Abilities

 * Kamui Junketsu
 * Life Fiber Override - After donning Junketsu, Ragyō is able to activate Life Fiber Override, transforming the Kamui into a variation of Satsuki's Life Fiber Override form and increasing Ragyō's strength exponentially. Unlike her daughter Satsuki, Ragyō is able to draw out the Kamui's full power, due to being a Life Fiber hybrid. With the full power of Junketsu, Ragyō was able to easily move behind Ryūko, stab her through her chest with her bare hand and pull out her heart (despite Ryūko using True Life Fiber Synchronize at the time).
 * Shinra-Kōketsu
 * Life Fibers Domination - The ultimate Life Fiber uniform, designed specifically for Ragyō's use by Nui Harime. Its full power can only be activated by absorbing a second person to use as a host (in this case, Rei Hōōmaru). In terms of power, the Koketsu is the most powerful Life-Fiber based clothing, far surpassing the power of other Kamui and Goku Uniform. Even when absorbed by an empowered Senketsu, its power was so massive that it caused the Kamui to start deteriorating from the stress of it.
 * Absolute Domination - Shinra-Koketsu's main ability, it allows Ragyō to dominate other Life Fiber based clothing such as Goku Uniforms and Kamuis, neutralizing their powers and transformations and leaving their users physically paralyzed. However both Ryūko and Senketsu are individually immune to this power due to their status as human/Life Fiber hybrids. This ability also acts as a trigger for the creation of the Celestial Cocoon Seed Planet, also known as the Cocoon Sphere Genesis or Starseed Cocoon Sphere, by working as an activation signal to all the dormant Life Fibers present in the REVOCS clothing. When active, this ability makes Ragyō immune to being harmed by Life Fiber-based weapons such as the combined Scissor Blades. However this ability appears to require a sacrifice, preferably a human one, to be used to its full potential - Ragyō was able to immobilize everyone except Ryūko and Senketsu with Rei absorbed, but was unable to affect any of the Goku Uniform users after absorbing Nui.
 * Enhanced Physical Prowess - Using Shinra-Koketsu, Ragyō's various powers are even stronger than before. Her endurance is nigh-endless, even without Absolute Domination active; she was unfazed by having a hole drilled through her chest by Senketsu and then being cut into pieces by both her daughters wielding the Scissor Blades, an act that should be fatal for Life Fiber-based lifeforms. Her massive physical strength is also increased enough to shatter both of Satsuki's Bakuzan blades with just the grip of her hands.
 * Shapeshifting - Like other Kamuis and high-level Goku Uniforms, Shinra-Koketsu can alter its form for combat and support. It has a set of fragmented pieces on its back that resemble butterfly wings with the same eye pattern present on other Kamui, that Ragyō can alter into drill-like malleable blades. She could also alter the sleeves of Koketsu into the same kind of blades. After absorbing Nui, Ragyō was able to alter the bottom part of her outfit into a set of detachable booster rockets in order to travel to the REVOCS satellite.
 * Second Form - By casting away the last remnants of her humanity, Ragyō draws even more power from Shinra-Koketsu, undergoing a transformation. In this form, the chest part of the outfit becomes more form-fitting like a corset, the hood of the dress disappears, and Ragyō's hair is styled as a pair of horns, giving her a much more demonic appearance. In this form her power is even greater than before, enough to overwhelm Ryūko and Senketsu in their Senketsu Kisaragi form.

Sōichirō Kiryūin
While they initially loved each other, Sōichirō left Ragyō after she conducted her heinous experiments on their daughters, went into hiding and started working against Revocs by founding Nudist Beach, creating Senketsu and forging the Scissor Blades. The lack of love appears to have been mutual, as Ragyō had no problem sending Nui Harime to murder him once she caught wind of his plans.

Satsuki Kiryūin
She is Ragyō's eldest daughter, and they share a complicated relationship. Ragyō exposed Satsuki to Life Fibers in an experiment to attempt to heighten the infant's resistance to them, but when the experiment failed, Ragyō decided instead to use Satsuki as a tool for COVERS. Ragyō also sexually abuses her, and it is implied that Satsuki has endured this for years. Despite her abuse and obvious feelings of superiority, Ragyō takes visible pride in Satsuki's own success, and is genuinely surprised when she betrays her, but has no qualms with taking her captive, putting her in a cage, stripping her naked and abusing her further.

Ryūko Matoi
Ryūko is Ragyō's younger daughter who was presumed dead after a supposedly failed experiment to fuse her body with Life Fibers. After realizing the experiment's success, Ragyō lured Ryūko to Honnōji Academy in order to trap her with help of Nui. The plan succeeded, so Nui and Ragyō managed to force Ryūko to wear Junketsu, brainwashing her in the process and making her attack Nudist Beach and the Student Council.

Nui Harime
Nui assists Ragyō with her plan, although she says that she does what she wants on her own whim. Nui, however, was created by Ragyō in an artificial Life Fiber womb, presumably after having believed that she failed at fusing her newborn daughter with Life Fibers. Over the course of the series, it appears that Ragyō sees Nui as the daughter her biological offspring failed to become, with the Grand Couturier returning her feelings, and Nui seems to be one of the few people who Ragyō cares anything for.

Rei Hōōmaru
As a Revocs Corporation officer and Ragyō's personal secretary, Rei has shown to be fiercely dedicated to Ragyō and her insane ambitions. Rei has even gone so far as to risk her own life to defend Ragyō from physical harm.

Memorable quotes
"Now, which of you will adorn my body today?"

- Ragyō addressing her many dresses

"Ryūko Matoi… don't you see? Your body is one with the Life Fibers, like mine. I thought you were dead, but now I know; You are my daughter!"

- Ragyō reveals herself to be Ryūko's mother after tearing out the latter's heart

"Poor Nui. The Life Fibers in your body were just too powerful. They kept you from having the chance to experience wearing a Kamui of your own. But now you can wear something better: the ultimate dress that is the Primordial Life Fiber!"

- Ragyō, as she absorbs the fusion of Nui and the Original Life Fiber

"Dearest Nui… I will take it from here."

- Ragyō, wearing Shinra-Koketsu, prepares to blast into space with the added power of Nui and the Original Life Fiber