Raven is a character from the anime series Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: Guardian Force, based on TOMY's Zoids model franchise. Voiced by Robert Scott Henrickson in the English dub, he is Van Flyheight's rival. Though his real name is never revealed in the anime, the Zoids: Chaotic Century Manga reveals it to be Joyce Chen.
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Personality
Raven is generally portrayed as being cold towards other people, aloof and anti-social. Cocky, arrogant and snide, he often taunts his opponents during battle, deriding their ability to pilot. Raven hates Zoids, and wishes to destroy them all. 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 a 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 attempts to rip through Van's E-shield, destroying his Zaber Fang in the process, and again when he tries to fire his Geno Saurer's charged particle cannon at point blank range.
Battle Statistics
Chaotic Century
- Close Combat: 35
- Ranged Combat: 10
- Maneuvering: 9
Guardian Force
- Close Combat: 41
- Ranged Combat: 20
- Maneuvering: 11
Zoids
Zaber Fang
Raven's first Zoid was the red Zaber Fang (Saber Tiger in the original Japanese) given to him by Prozen. He would use this Zoid with a high degree of effectiveness, defeating opponent after opponent and allowing the Imperial Army to advance through Republican territory unhindered. Van would face Raven and the Zaber Fang, who would cause Van's first crushing defeat. The Zaber Fang would be destroyed in a battle with Van's Shield Liger at the top of Mount Osa in episode 18, "The Defense of the City", granting Van his first decisive victory over Raven. Detailed statistical information on the Zaber Fang can be read in the main article.
Geno Saurer
Raven's second Zoid would be a Geno Saurer, also given to him by Prozen. Created as a side effect of reviving the Death Saurer, the Geno Saurer is more-or-less a faster, miniaturized derivative of the legendary Zoid. Raven would use this Zoid to carry out Prozen's scheme to kidnap the crown prince Rudolph, and would also destroy Van's Shield Liger. The Geno Saurer would eventually be defeated by Van's new Blade Liger. During Guardian Force, Raven acquired a new Geno Saurer, this one with red underpanelling instead of purple. It would cause significant damage to the Dibison, Command Wolf and Blade Liger before retreating and transforming into a new Zoid...
Geno Breaker
Raven's third and final Zoid was the Geno Breaker, an upgraded version of the Geno Saurer. The Geno Breaker would prove a formidable opponent to the Guardian Force until it was nearly destroyed by the Death Stinger. The Geno Breaker would appear in the final battle against the Ultimate Death Saurer, where it used its Charged Particle Cannon to pierce its energy shield. More detailed information on the Geno Breaker can be read in the full article.
Shadow
Though not technically a Zoid Raven has piloted, Shadow, Raven's Organoid, accompanies him in battle and has numerous special abilities that prove to be very useful. More detailed information can be read in the Organoid article.
Other Zoids
- Berserk Fury Shadow Edge (Manga only)
- Godos
- Dark Horn
Chaotic Century
Raven first appeared in episode 12 of Chaotic Century, "The Black Organoid". In the episode, an Organoid and a kid have been reported destroying a whole platoon of sleeper Guysaks. Van Flyheight and his Organoid Zeke are initially mistaken for the culprits, and are pursued by the Republican Army. Raven, however, rescues them. Van and Fiona follow Raven to a plateau, pressing him for information, which he refuses to divulge. Irvine shows up, and warns Van that Raven is the one who's been killing Zoids. Raven announces that he despises Zoids, and his Organoid, Shadow, as well as his Zoid, the Zaber Fang, step out from behind the plateau. Van watches on in horror as Raven destroys an entire fleet of Godos which were sent after him. Enraged, Van challenges Raven with his Shield Liger, but loses. Van and Raven would continue to have skirmishes in following episodes, until he finally managed to decisively beat Raven in episode 18: The Defense of the City, atop Mt Osa. Raven's loss came about as a result of his own disregard, his Zaber Fang melting as he tried to force it through Van's shield. Raven would reappear in episode 21, "The Charged Particle Gun", in a new 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 would destroy Van's Shield Liger in the next episode, "Farewell to a Friend." 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 Zoid Cores for use in the Death Saurer revival project. Raven's final appearance in Chaotic Century was in episode 33, "The Battle for Survival", where he fought Van's new Blade Liger and lost, surviving 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 42, "Raven". In the episode, Raven appears to have entered a zombie-like trance and wanders about aimlessly destroying military bases with the help of his Organoid. After breaking into a base and attacking it with a Dark Horn, Raven fights Van and Thomas, snapping back to his normal state (apparently triggered by seeing Van). After that, Raven would appear at the end of episode 43, "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 would defeat Van, Irvine and Moonbay despite a plan to increase the power of the Blade Liger's shield. Raven's Geno Saurer would evolve into the more powerful Geno Breaker in episode 47, "A Monster Awakens". The Geno Breaker would kill Irvine's Command Wolf and destroy a platoon of Zaber Fangs before retreating. Raven and the Geno Breaker would remain a formidable opponent for the Guardian Force afterward until Shadow's death at the hands of the Death Stinger in episode 47, "The Nightmare". The death of Shadow would cause Raven to change, finally realizing how important Zoids were to people. GF episode 49, "The Distant Stars", would shed light on Raven's backstory. His parents, who were scientists, were studying an Organoid (Ambient), which hatched and killed them. Raven would be taken in by Dan Flyheight (Van's father). When Prozen's forces attack Van's home village, Raven watches Dan Flyheight die at the hands of Prozen, who adopts 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.
Manga
Raven is basically the same in the manga as the anime episodes. However some of the manga books, or chapters, are different from the anime. For example, in one manga chapter, which has to do with Raven's past, is completely different from the anime in both the setting and the plot. Raven also looks slightly different in the manga from in the anime. The only difference in the manga character is that his hair seems to looks slightly different (more smooth and glossy) from the anime version. In addition to this Raven's tattoo is on the other side of his face and appears to be flipped over. His family is much more detailed in the manga. With him not only having a mother and father but also having a sister and a twin brother! He and his brother grew up in different household, so Raven doesn't really seem to be all that close to his brother. Raven's reason for hating zoids in th manga is also different when compared to the anime. While the reason for him hating zoids in the anime is because Ambient killed his parents; the reason for him hating zoids in the manga is because an actual zoids (not an organoid in the zoid core) killed his family with Raven helpless to stop anything. Not to mention that they way it was revealed was different from the anime show too.
Raven wanted to go with his sister with the ruins excavation team, and transferred the navigation data to his Zoid which is most likely a Godos(Noah).But as soon as the data was transferred Noah went out of control because there was a virus in its data. Raven being powerless to top he zoid as Noah destroyed everything in sight. And then, right before his eyes, killed his parents and his sister.
Trivia
- Raven bears a resemblance to Vega Obscura, a character in Zoids: New Century Zero. Some fans believe that Raven is Vega's ancestor, and that the Berserk Fury is the evolved form of Raven's Geno Breaker, its Organoid System being Shadow. Known as the "Descendant Theory", it is often used in fan fiction to tie the two series together. However, the descendant theory is fanon and has no tangible canonical evidence to support it.
- Raven is arguably one of the more popular characters in the Western Zoids fandom, and is the subject of a lot of fan fiction and fan art. This is generally attributed to Raven's powerful Zoids, piloting ability and the popularity of the anti-hero archetype. Detractors of Chaotic Century and Guardian Force, however, often cite Raven's seeming invincibility as one of the show's primary flaws.
