Raven is a fictional character from Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: Guardian Force.
He is Van Flyheight's main rival.
| Raven | |
 Raven as he appears in Guardian Force. | |
| Appearances | Zoids: Chaotic Century Zoids: Guardian Force |
| Debut | Zoids: Chaotic Century episode 12 |
| Affiliation | Himself / Prozen |
| Age | 14 (Chaotic Century) 18 (Guardian Force) |
| Primary Zoids | Sabre Tiger Geno Saurer Geno Breaker |
| Japanese Name | レイブン (Raven) |
| Voice Actors | Mitsuki Saiga (Japanese) Scott Hendrickson (English) |
Anime Overview
Chaotic Century
Raven first appeared in episode 12 of Chaotic Century, "The Black Organoid". In the episode, an Organoid and a kid had been reported destroying a whole platoon of sleeper Guysaks. Van Flyheight, Fiona and the Organoid Zeke are initially mistaken for the culprits, and are pursued by the Republican Army. Raven, however, rescued them. Van and Fiona followed Raven to a plateau, pressing him for information, which he refused to divulge. Irvine showed up, warning Van that Raven was the one who'd been killing Zoids. Raven announced that he despised Zoids, and his Organoid, Shadow, as well as his Zoid, the Sabre Tiger, step out from behind the plateau. Van then watched in horror as Raven destroyed an entire fleet of Godos which were sent after him. Enraged, Van challenged Raven with his Shield Liger, but lost quickly and easily to Raven's superior skill.
Van and Raven would continue to have skirmishes in several following episodes. The next battle left Zeke in a weakened state. While Van was trying to help Zeke recover, Irvine challenged Raven to a battle with a new weapon but Raven, along Shadow, defeated him with ease as well. He then viewed Major Schubaltz's battle against Captain Herman's Gojulas. Seeing Herman collapsing the Gojulas, Raven denounced Herman's abilities and commented that if he were piolting the Gojulas, no one would have escaped.
During Prozen's invasion, Raven and Van battled again; this time Van finally managed to draw with Raven until he had to leave due to Prozen's invasion. Raven, angry with Van 'running away', tracked down Fiona and Moonbay atop Mt. Osa and he battled Van once again; this time Van won. Raven's loss came about as a result of his Sabre Tiger melting as he recklessly tried to force it through Van's E-shield, which he almost succeed in doing. Following this defeat, Raven deduced that he needed a more powerful Zoid.
Raven would reappear later with his new and more powerful Zoid: the Geno Saurer (initially mistaken by the characters as a Death Saurer). Involved in a conspiracy by Prozen to abduct the crown Prince Rudolph, Raven found that Rudolph was with Van and the two had yet another rematch, which resulted in the destruction of Van's Shield Liger and Zeke's near death experience. Raven would continue to use his Geno Saurer in following episodes to carry out Prozen's bidding: killing mass amounts of Zoids and taking their Cores for use in the Death Saurer revival project.
Raven's final appearance in Chaotic Century was when he fought Van's new Blade Liger. The two battled fiercely, which ended when Van shoved one of the Blade Liger's Laser Blades into the Geno Saurer's mouth, destroying it. Raven escaped a fiery death thanks to the last minute action of his Organoid, Shadow.
Guardian Force
After the destruction of the Geno Saurer, Raven vanished for several years before reappearing in episode 8 of Guardian Force, "Raven". In the episode, Raven appears mentally unhinged (possibly caused by his loss to Van). Appearing to have entered what seemed to be a near-catatonic state, Raven is sullen and unresponsive, wandering about aimlessly, destroying military bases with the help of his Organoid. After breaking into a base and attacking it with a Dark Horn, Raven fought Van and Thomas, and upon seeing Van again, snapped back to his normal state.
Raven later appeared at the end of episode 9, "The Emperor's Holiday", in a new Geno Saurer (this one with red underpaneling instead of purple), and destroy Thomas' Dibison. He would then attack the Guardian Force with his Geno Saurer in the following episode, "Assault of the Mega Monster", where he defeated Van, Irvine and Moonbay despite a plan to increase the power of the Blade Liger's shield.
Raven's Geno Saurer then evolved into the more powerful Geno Breaker in episode 13, "A Monster Awakens". The Geno Breaker would destroy Irvine's Command Wolf and destroy a platoon of Sabre Tigers before retreating. Raven and the Geno Breaker remained a formidable opponent for the Guardian Force afterward - until Shadow's death at the hands of the Death Stinger in episode 23, "The Nightmare". The death of Shadow caused Raven to change, finally realizing how important Zoids were to humans. This created Raven's first emotional outburst in the series, showing how close he allowed Shadow to come.
Guardian Force episode 15, "The Distant Stars", would finally shed light on Raven's backstory. His parents, who were scientists, were studying an Organoid (Ambient), which
A young Raven.
hatched and killed them. Raven was taken in by Dan Flyheight (Van's father) and would've been Van's brother had Dan survived (which is rather ironic, due to their sibling-like rivalry). When Prozen's forces attacked Van's home village, Raven watched Dan Flyheight die at the hands of Prozen, who adopted Raven after the battle. Prozen raised Raven with strict training and care, transforming him into an elite assassin.
Raven's final appearance would be during the final four episodes, where he assisted Van Flyheight in defeating the Death Saurer. He and the newly revived Shadow helped destroy the Death Saurer's shield so that Van could destroy its core. Apparently, he and Van buried the hatchet that day.
At the end of the battle, Raven leaves with Reese, a female Ancient Zoidian like Fiona whom he had been seen with throughout the series. He, at first, couldn't stand her and hated her until later in the series when she helped him come to terms with his past and the death of Shadow. Apparently they grew feelings for each other towards the end.
Manga Overview
Raven and Shadow as they appear in the manga.
While Raven's general character and appearance are quite similar in the manga, both his backstory and eventual fate differ progressively from the anime as the series enfolds.
Also note that the US translation of the manga features "flipped" art so as to be read from left to right - Raven's face markings thus appear to have swapped sides, but as originally drawn match the anime.
In his first appearance, Raven is cocky and brash much like his anime counterpart, fusing Shadow with his Sabre Tiger to fight Van, though he fully knew that it would kill the Zoid afterward. After Van and Zeke defeat edhim using their Command Wolf's suicide attack (the 'Ragnarok Fang'), he retreated to reappear in the Geno Saurer arc. In seeking to take away the city's protective generator Zoid, Raven revealed some of his reasoning behind hating Zoids: he saw humankind as far too dependent on them, though he refused to expand on why even as Van defeated him with a newly-evolved Blade Liger and the help of the city Zoid. Seeing how important it was to the residents, Raven left with a simple promise: there would be no more needless destruction of Zoids from then on - he was only out to kill Van.
Raven's final showing is at the end of the story. Newly-equipped with the Berserk Fury Shadow Edge (a black-colored variation with a number of angled blade wings in place of the Buster Claws), he sought to make good his vow to kill Van again. Van, meanwhile, had acquired a Liger Zero, and with the help of Raven's estranged twin brother, Donnie Chen, equipped it with a manga-unique (and also flight-capable) CAS known as 'Liger Zero Caesar the King'.
The BFSE and LZCK clashed, and the battle became a violent standstill until Fiona intervened, letting Van and Zeke enter Raven's mind, where they finally learn the true source of his hatred. Back when he was young, he and his family kept a small Zoid named Noah (which appears to have been a Godos). Eager to follow them and help out with their work, he transferred navigation data over to the Zoid to bring him to their workplace. Something went wrong, the data got corrupted - and young Raven was forced to watch, helpless behind the controls, as the berserk Zoid killed his entire family. His secrets revealed and anger with Van spent after a bit of dreamworld fisticuffs, the Shadow Edge shut down.
The story finishes rather abruptly with the two rivals having made peace - what becomes of them afterward is unknown, though there is some expansion in the (Japanese-only) unofficial comics on creator Michiro Ueyama's site.
Personality
Raven is generally portrayed as being cold towards other people, aloof, and anti-social. Cocky, arrogant, and snide, he often taunted his opponents during battle, deriding their ability to pilot. Raven hates Zoids and wishes to destroy them all (though by the end of the series he showed that he couldn't live without his Organoid, Shadow). He has no respect for authority, obeying only Prozen. An elite assassin trained by Prozen himself, he is depicted as a very challenging opponent, and consistently poses a huge threat to Van and his friends throughout the series.
However, he is also quick to anger, and when the odds are not in his favor, Raven drops his arrogant facade and is portrayed as being reckless, making mistakes in his desperation that could endanger himself and his Zoid. This is especially evident when he attempted to rip through Van's E-shield, destroying his Sabre Tiger in the process, and again when he tried to fire his Geno Saurer's Charged Particle Gun at point blank range.
Ability as a Zoid Pilot
The first Zoid Raven piloted was a red Sabre Tiger. He used this Zoid for quite some time and had a high degree of effectiveness. He suffered first defeat to Van after he smashed his Sabre Tiger into Van's Shield Liger's Shield. After the loss of his red Zoid, Raven was given a Geno Saurer, and was able to beat Van, and almost killed him in the proccess. He later lost it in the last battle with Van. In Guardian Force, he was given a new Geno Saurer, which later evolved into the newer Geno Breaker, and uses it till the end of the series, ultimately seeing use alongside his old rival, Van.
Other Zoids Raven piloted are the Berserk Fury Shadow Edge (manga only - created when Shadow fused with the Fury), Godos, and a Dark Horn.
Relationships
Raven has the following relationships with these people:
- Van: When Raven and Van first met (in both the manga and anime adaptations), the two become enemies. As the series progressed, the two engaged in a series of bitter fights. However, near the end (in both versions) they seem to develop a mutual-respect towards the other, and eventually became friends.
- Shadow: Shadow obeys Raven's every command without question, and aids him by combining with different Zoids to enhance their potential. Though at first Raven seems heartless towards his Organoid, later on in the series, he realizes that he can't cope without Shadow.
- Prozen: Under Prozen's command, Raven is allowed to do anything he wishes in the Imperial army. Although the two do not share a close bond, Prozen acted as Raven's mentor. In the anime, Prozen gave Raven a chance to tame Shadow. Towards the end of Guardian Force, however, Raven discovers he was just a pawn in Prozen's plans, and turns on him.
- Reese: Their first encounter made each of them rather hostile towards the other. However, near the end of the series, they seem to overcome their original feelings and develop a bond.
- Hiltz: He despises Hiltz for he was aware that Hiltz would do anything to decimate everything but trying to interrupt the fight between Raven and Van, that resulted Shadow's demise.
- Others: Raven often frowns down upon others because their skills were weak compared to his.
Trivia
- Vega Obscura, a character in Zoids: New Century Zero, has a striking resemblance to Raven. Aside from the look of the two characters, they are complete opposites.
- Although Raven's real name is never revealed in the anime, the original manga version of Chaotic Century reveals it to be Joyce Chen.