Raijin

Rai is a Final Fantasy character in Kingdom Hearts II. Based on the character Raijin, he, like Seifer and Fuu originated from Final Fantasy VIII.

The muscle of the "Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee," Rai isn't terribly bright, but that's not too much of an impediment since his main role in the gang is to toss his considerable weight around. He's got the infamous habit of ending sentences in "y'know", which is joked about in Jiminy's Journal.

Journal Entries

Kingdom Hearts II

Final Fantasy VIII

One of Seifer's followers... y'know?

Rai tends to get carried away -- and truth be told, he feels like he can't hold a candle to Fuu.

Story

In contrast to Fuu, Rai apparently has a loud and brash personality, often ending his lines with "y' know?". He, along with Seifer and Fuu formed the "Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee". He takes a relatively similar role in Kingdom Hearts II, as he did in Final Fantasy VIII, serving as one of Seifer's followers. His role is very minor, and plays only one key part of the story, as mentioned below. Otherwise, he only acts as support for Seifer and Fuu.

Later, during Roxas's summer assignment, Rai played a comical role where he counted the stair steps incorrectly.

Appearance

Rai's appearance, like most Final Fantasy characters in the Kingdom Hearts universe, was altered from his original in-game appearance. As with Seifer and Fuu, Rai now appears several years younger than he did in Final Fantasy VIII. He has tan skin and short black hair, somewhat shorter than his original appearance, albeit with longer sideburns. For his age he is tall and very muscular. His clothes now consist of an orange tank top and baggy dark sweatpants over wide shoes, giving him the look of a basketball player. Around his neck, he wears a thunderbolt necklace as an homage to his name's origin and his magical attributes in his original game. His orange tank top also sports two thunderbolts on the upper back near the arms. The number 8 on his pants may also reference the Final Fantasy game he appeared in.

Etymology

File:Rai (Art).jpg

Tetsuya Nomura's artwork for Rai.

Raijin is the Japanese thunder god, which fits, because Raijin used thunder-based attacks, and any thunder attacks to him heal him.

In Chinese Buddhism, a legend states that Fujin and Raijin were both originally evil demons who opposed Buddha. They were captured in battle with Buddha's army of heaven, and have worked as gods since then.

Trivia

• Rai is voiced by Kazuya Nakai, who also did Wakka in both the original Kingdom Hearts and the character's original game, Final Fantasy X.
• In the Simulated Twilight Town, both Rai and Fuu are seen in their "battle poses" from Final Fantasy VIII when several Nobodies attack, though neither have their weapons.