Baron Volnos "Ox" Ryo was the head of the Ryo Syndicate after the Despot War. He was married to the Je'daii Kora Ryo and was the father of Je'daii Tasha Ryo.
Volnos Ryo's father was the ruler of the Ryo Syndicate, one of the Nine Houses that ruled Shikaakwa. However, Volnos was the second of three brothers, so he never expected to lead. Wealthy as he was, he traveled and studied on the settled worlds in the Tython system. He gained the nickname "Ox" and became a champion of the Ryo Syndicate. Eventually, his younger brother, Hawk Ryo, introduced him to fellow Je'daii Kora. Ox and Kora married and had a daughter, Tasha, who would spend most of her life trying to please both her Je'daii Temple Master mother and her crimelord father.
When his father and older brother were killed in the Despot War by Queen Hadiya, Ox became the new Baron of Clan Ryo, a role he felt unprepared for. One of the first things he did as the new Baron of his clan was to pledge allegiance to the Despot Queen in order to avoid his father and brother's fate, who had refused to do so. However, his apparent loyalty to Hadiya served to hide his true agenda: revenge for the death of his relatives. To achieve his goal, Ryo arranged for the assassination of Hadiya at the hands of Je'daii Daegen Lok.
His marriage to Kora would eventually deteriorate over time, with Ox spending most of his leisure time with his mistresses at the Ryo Fortress while his wife and his daughter were training in the ways of the Force on Tython. By Shikaakwan laws, Ox and Kora were still married, but by the Je'daii laws and customs, she ended their marriage, so revolted was she by the man her husband had become. Furthermore, they often argued over him wanting their daughter to join him, as Kora was afraid that Tasha would get corrupted like her father. As far as she was concerned, their daughter was a Je'daii, not the heir of a crime lord.