Shiryu is, like the other four main characters, an orphan that was adopt by the Big Foundation Kido in order to train and become a Saint. He never knew parents or folks. He is the only one who really doesn't mention any folks. Hyoga for example is always screaming for his mother. Shun and Ikki are brothers and in Hades's saga there are one mention about their mother, who should gave to Shun a pendant with the sentence: "Yours forever". And Seiya has his old sister Sêika. Shiryu's case is different. He didn't have anyone in the world. He always was the most calm orphan, hiding inside him a great combat spirit and a big force and wisdom. Tatsumi never hurted him while he was in the Kido Foundation. I really don't know why. There isn't a motive for that. Maybe they feared him? Well. When Shiryu was eight years old, he was sent to Rosan, in the Old Five Pics . There he knew the Old Master, Ohko and Shunrei. It was his first contact with a real family. Shunrei was the Old Master's adoptive granddaughter and like Shiryu was an orphan. The Old Master was mysterious (he hid his true identity, the Golden Libra Saint), but was good and wise. Ohko was there to train too and get the Dragon Cloth, like Shiryu, but he was opposite of Shiryu. While Shiryu trained like his Master told him to (meditating, reading and training in trees), Ohko always fighted with other people. One day Old Master told Ohko to go away from there. The boy promised to Shiryu he would return to fight against him. The trainnement continued. Shiryu learned how to control his body; how he could be like a plant in the wind, like a stone in the snow, and like a dragon in the waterfall. The last prove to Shiryu receive the Dragon Cloth was to reverse the waterfall's flow. It's obviously that Shiryu didn't have success in his first trials, but in the right time he did the water that was falling rise in the form of a beautiful dragon. So he became the Dragon Saint. Then, Old Master send him to Japan, in order to test his abilities in the Galactic War. Shunrei went with him to there. In that time, Shiryu was too much overproud of his power, and to learn a good lesson, he got like first opponent, just SEIYA! In my opinion, this was the best fight of the anime! During the fight we can see how powerful is the Dragon Cloth, with the most powerful Shield of the world. But Seiya always has a solution to the insoluble, so he made Shiryu attack his own Shield with his right hand, and finished with the Glorious Dragon Cloth. At the middle of the battle, Shunrei lies to Shiryu that Old Master was dieing.( It was order from Old Master!) Then the things start to stay difficult to him... Seiya discovers the only weak point in the attack "Rosan Shoryu Ha"( this point is the right fist of the dragon's tattoo that appears in Shiryu's coast, when his COSMOS was in the maximum level, and corresponds to Shiryu's heart, if seen in his chest. In millesimal of seconds, when he is going to use his attack, he leaves that point disprotected because he concentrate all his mind in the violent attack). Shiryu became an vulnerable opponent without his Cloth and when he's going to use the last attack in Seiya, he is hurted at the same time. Shiryu falls dead out of the arena and Seiya falls fainted at the other side. In tears, Shunrei asks to Seiya who was being taken to the hospital to save Shiryu, because Old Master had told her that a man who the heart had being stooped by a Saint can go back to life if this same Saint gives him the same attack in the other side of the body. In Shiryu's case it should be in the Dragon's right fist. Seiya decides to listen Shunrei and saves Shiryu. After the battle, Shiryu was thinking in come back with Shunrei to Rosan, but Ikki arrives and the battle against the Black Saints change his plans. The two Cloths, Pegasus and Dragon was too dandified and Shiryu goes to Jamiel with them to find a man called Mu, who was the only person that could restore their Cloths. There, after almost die fighting with the spirits of the Saints who died in the way to Mu's castle, Shiryu knows Mu and the little boy Kiki. Mu explains to the Dragon Saint that he only cans restore that Cloth with a half of blood of a man's body. Shiryu knew that Seiya would die in the battle against the Black Saints without his Cloth, so he cut his fists and gave his own blood to the Cloths revive. Mu decides to save him because he was giving his life for a friend and closed the wounds in Shiryu's fists. When he wake up, Shiryu went to Japan where the Bronze Saints were already fighting with the Black Saints. (Kiki had taken the Pegasus Cloth to Seiya). There, Shiryu fights with the Black Dragon and win the battle after much blood... During the story, Shiryu's friendship with the other Saint became stronger and he starts to fight thinking in his friends and Saori (they discover that she was Athena). In the battle against the Silver Saint Perseus Argon, Shiryu blinds himself to win the Medusa's Shield and save Seiya and Shun who had became stone when they looked to Argon's Shield. Then, without his vision, he came back to Rosan, where he stays some time and Shunrei takes care of him, trying to make he loves the life again, but Shiryu was loosing day after day his life will... But then Ohko came back and fighted with Shiryu, and so he understand that he should live for Shunrei and his friends who were waiting for him in Japan. But the Tiger fighter died in this fight. After this battle, Shiryu came back to his normal life! At the same time, Seiya goes to Jamiel to find a cure to his friend's eyes and asks to Kiki takes to Shiryu the Water of Life, a miraculous water that he found there in a mountain. In China, Shiryu drinks the water but nothing happen. Old Master says that the Water of Life only would work when his COSMOS were in the most powerful level. I this same day, Death Mask appears and says that the Master of Sanctuary had send him to kill Dohko, one of the Golden Saints. Shiryu fights with him, but the battle is interrupted by Jamiel's Mu, or better, Aries Mu. Cancer runs away but promises to fight with Shiryu in Sanctuary. Then, during the Battle in Twelve temples, when Shiryu is with his friends fighting with the Golden Saints, he fights against Death Mask again, but Shunrei's prays help him to kill the cruel Saint. In Libra's house, I think that Shiryu was wonderful when he was demonstrating Libra Weapons, that Old Master had sent to Temple to he save Hyoga who was froze by Aquarius Kamus. And then, in Capricorn Temple, Shiryu kill himself to take with him the Golden Saint Shura, but the Capricorn Saint believes that Saori is Athena and saves Shiryu, sending him again to the Earth ( well, Shiryu had taken both to the space...) When this battle was solved and the Sanctuary was free from Ares, they thought the problem was solved. But a hero's life never stop and Polaris Hilda was soon dominated by Poseidon. The Saints had to go to Asgard to fight with the God Warriors. Shiryu fighted with Fenrir Épsilon, who has a complex personality and Shiryu had to teach him how the people should live with the bad things that always happens in their lives...The second God Warrior that Shiryu fight was the most cruel and betrayed of his friends, Albehiri Delta, who had won Seiya and Hyoga...Just Shiryu could win him!!! At the end, the Dragon had to fight with the most powerful Hilda's Warrior, Siegfried Alpha. It was Shiryu who discovered his weak point and showed it to Seiya, who took care of the real end of the fighter. Unfortunately, when always appears to be solved (Hilda was safe, and Saori, who almost froze in the Asgard's sea, too), Poseidon resolves to take Athena to his world and the Saints had to fight with him under the water. There, Shiryu fighted with the Poseidon's General Krishita of Krisaor, and finish blinded again. At the end of the anime, Shiryu recovers his vision with Athena's help, but in manga he continues blinded until Hades's saga, when during one of the fights he came back to see. Well, to finish, here is the original Shiryu and Shunrei's profile, created by Masami Kurumada: