Raiden Mei/Story

Raiden Mei is the beautiful and demure daughter of the prominent Raiden Ryoma. Combined with her mastery of Bushido and Itto-ryu, this makes her a true incarnation of silk hiding steel. She attends St. Freya Academy alongside Kiana and Bronya. Although she holds tremendous power within her, she refuses to use it... except when dire circumstances bring it forth.
==Appearance==
Mei is most easily recognized by her thigh-length black hair(depicted as indigo or purple in game/artwork) with long strands framing her face and bangs covering her forehead(akin to a "hime cut.") She keeps half of it tied up in a ponytail and decorates it with pins or other ornaments. She is the tallest of the Valkyries, standing several centimeters taller than even her instructor and superior captain, Murata Himeko. Due to her many years of practicing and teaching swordsmanship, she has a curvy yet toned physique.
==Personality==
In spite of the distance and isolation she was subjected to by others due to being a member of a disgraced, well-known family, Mei is incredibly compassionate and known for her gentleness. She deeply cherishes the bonds she forms and has been shown to be fiercely protective of those she holds dear. 
While at St. Freya, Mei was an excellent student who not only studied diligently on her own, but who would also help to make sure her classmates were prepared. Her cooking is so notoriously good that fights have broken out over who gets a slice of her delicious cake.
After the events at Nagazora, Mei's personality took a sharp turn as she shut herself off emotionally, becoming cold, dismissive, blunt, and even confrontational at times. But the truth was that she felt great sorrow and depression beneath the weight of her choices, believing it was who she had to become in order to protect the one most dear to her. Nevertheless, Mei never truly lost her compassionate side, and eventually matured into someone who was much more open with both herself and with others, while maintaining a hardened conviction that mirrored her strength.
Mei has also shown a keen, investigative side, her intelligence shining through in piecing together otherwise vague and often contradictory information. 
==History==
===Before the 3rd Honkai War===
Raiden Mei was born on April 13, 1997, in Nagazora City, Japan to Raiden Ryoma, the CEO of the electronic company and Anti-Entropy subsidiary ME Corp,Second Eruption, Chapter 21 and her unnamed mother. Thanks to Raiden Ryoma's position with ME Corp, the Raiden clan enjoyed great wealth and prestige. Mei was an only childChapter XVI and her mother passed away in 1999 due to cancer, leaving her to be raised alone by her father,Chapter XVI who she rarely got to see due to his busy work schedule.Chapter XXIV
Although her upbringing was strict, never even having a pet,Elysian Realm Chapter 3, Into the Deep 4 Mei had a close bond with her father and treasured the time they spent together. She studied the Raiden clan's personal styleElysian Realm, Soldier's Memory 10 of Hokushin-Itto-ryu kenjutsu under his tutelage. Mei was a child prodigy and thrived in these lessons, attaining the highest levels of mastery and understanding of the sword arts.Shadow Dash Dorm Chibi During their lessons together, Mei's father also offered her encouragement and advice when she doubted herself and instilled in her mental fortitude and the ability to withstand and learn from adversity. He hoped the spirit and skills she attained from studying kendo would prove useful to her in the future.Raiden Mei Birthday CG, 2021
In 2004, Mei was abducted by a terrorist organization. After the experience, she underwent treatment for mental trauma at a private institution within ME Corp for three years. Years later, Mei enrolled in Chiba Academy, a school in Nagazora City famous for the wealth of its students, at about sixteen years of age. Although many of her peers wished to become close to her due to her wealth and the prestige of the Raiden family name, Mei struggled to make friends. One of the few people she was close with was her chauffeur, who drove her to and from school in a black limousine every day. He made a point of talking to her in the car, inquiring how school was and telling her about her father's work.
On November 16, 2013, Mei's father was arrested on charges of massive economic fraud and thrown into prison. Although in actuality Raiden Ryoma was innocent and the victim of charges fabricated by his Anti-Entropy rival Cocolia,Chapter IV his arrest had a devastating impact on Mei. The few friends she was able to make at Chiba Academy ostracized her, while other students who coveted her family's wealth attempted to use the situation to grow close to her. She quickly came to believe that nobody truly cared about her, only the Raiden family name. Unable to trust anyone after losing her father and so-called "friends," Mei distanced herself from other people. Although it brought some respite to the pain in her heart, she lived in complete isolation until the day of the 3rd Honkai Eruption.
Not long after the arrest of Raiden Ryoma, a student named Kiana Kaslana enrolled in Chiba Academy. Although they did not meet while attending school together, she would soon become Mei's best friend and the most important person in her life.Chapter XXVII
=== 3rd Honkai War ===
One day, Mei suddenly awakened as the third Herrscher, titled the "Herrscher of Thunder," and effectively launched the third Honkai War. The honkai energy she produced quickly corrupted everything around her, causing everyone in the school and city to mutate into rampaging zombies. The only one immune was Kiana (because she had a high Honkai energy adaptabiity due to her secretly being the second Herrscher), who fought the third Herrscher on the school rooftop to return Mei to normal. While Kiana was completely outmatched, the third Herrscher took an interest in her and, in the end, willingly relinquished control back to Mei. 
Afterward, Kiana and Mei made their way through the post-apocalyptic city, fighting through hordes of zombies and other monsters created by the honkai energy. On their way, the two met Bronya Zaychik, who had been sent by Cocolia to capture the third Herrscher, but ended up joining the group instead. However, while recuperating, they were attacked by a powerful monster that gravely wounded Kiana, causing Mei to fall into despair and the third Herrscher to once again seize control. After disposing of the monster, though, she was attacked by the Hyperion; a battleship from Schicksal, who were intending to kill her and end the Honkai War. Murata Himeko fought the Herrscher, but was outmatched. It was only when Kiana regained consciousness and absorbed the third Herrscher's honkai energy that she was stopped and the Honkai War came to an end. 
In the aftermath, Mei and Kiana were taken to St. Freya Academy, with Bronya joining later after she was found stowing away on the Hyperion. Mei was locked in a cell where Himeko confronted her and told her that Kiana had fully recovered from her injuries. Relieved, Mei gave Schicksal permission to do whatever they wanted to her, even kill her. However, this disgusted Himeko, who instead proposed to train her to control her power. When Mei claimed that her inability to control the third Herrscher made her a threat, Himeko assured her that a bomb would be placed on her heart in case anything went awry. Afterward, Mei happily reunited with Kiana and Bronya, and all three transferred to St. Freya Academy.
==Story==
===Chapter I===
Himeko deploys the B-rank Valkyries Kiana, Mei, and Bronya, to make their way to a battleship Selene found flying in the monitored airspace close to Sapphire. Mei gets into her position and is soon joined by Kiana. While investigating the outside of the ship, the two end up facing against an Emperor-class Honkai Beast that Kiana briefly encountered before. The beast proves itself to pose quite a challenge and overpowers the two. Kiana collapses as Mei gives into the 3rd Herrscher's persona which defeats the beast, which causes Mei to collapse from exhaustion. Kiana regains her consciousness soon after Bronya finds them on the aft and decides to piggy-back Mei inside as Bronya hacks their way way into the ship.
Mei wakes up on their way to the main control room, but is in a far from perfect condition. Bronya hacks into mechs stationed inside the ship to make their travel easier, but they get accidentally destroyed by Kiana. Nonetheless, they gain the access to Selene's database where Bronya notices a mysterious letter addressed to Kiana and reads it out loud. The letter states that the ship now belongs to Kiana and wants her to find 4 missing "keys" so that she can "rule the world". Unaware of anyone who would be rich enough to give Kiana a ship, the Valkyries decide to investigate this matter after returning to St. Freya High. However, on their way back Bronya loses control of her brain chip and has to be subdued by the weakened Mei and Kiana.
===Chapter II===
Upon arriving at St. Freya and handing over the ship for investigations and repairs, Mei returns to her normal school life and begins studying for the annual Valkyrie Examination, going to library for additional books and attending remedials. A day before the exam, she finds Kiana slacking off in library together with Bronya. Annoyed that her best friend isn't trying hard enough to improve, she reminds Kiana that she might get demoted to D-rank Valkyrie if she fails the exam and forces her to go to a training plaza.
On the day of the exam, she notices Kiana is in a bad mood. Kiana's been having vague nightmares recently, but remembers Mei leaving her. Mei promises to cook for Kiana once the exams are over to cheer her up. The two complete the first round of the exam together and go separate ways for the rest of them. During the last round, a training device goes out of control and spawns sim Ganesha in front of Kiana. Mei together with Bronya rush to help Kiana defeat the beast. They're dismissed once the situation's dealt with and everyone's confirmed to have no injures. Kiana, Bronya, and Mei go about their way until Kiana gets trapped in a dream by Herrscher of the Void and starts sleepwalking towards Selene. Mei follows her tracks and holds Kiana in her arms as she wakes up on the ship.
===Chapter III===
Mei and her friends arrive at the Oceania Branch, in New Zealand to retrieve Gem of Desire, one of three immensely powerful Herrscher Cores. The research program conducted by Schicksal had failed and the gem was kept in Oceania Branch ever since. She eventually arrives to the location indicated by the sensors, but doesn't find anything, until Bronya pointed out vital readings of a girl on a wheelchair nearby. Mei believes her to be a victim left behind, only to have Himeko point out that she is the target, Wendy, and is being used as a container to house the gem. Mei strongly believes that the Gem should have been taken out and that Wendy shouldn't be confined to a wheelchair, and that leaving the core inside of her just to stabilize the core is evil.
On the way back to the battleship, Mei notices Bronya is kinder than usual today when conversing with Wendy and points it out. Apparently it was due to Wendy being under similar circumstances as Bronya. 
After Wendy awakens as a Herrscher and is on the run, Mei is determined that she and her friends can restore her back to her previous state. They have 30 minutes left to save Wendy before the arrival of the S-rank Valkyrie, Durandal. Theresa buys time by airing Durandal's location on a public channel and baiting Anti-Entropy. 
Mei and her friends try to convince Wendy to come back with them, but she leaves anyway after telling them to stop following her. Later, Theresa's deception is found out by Durandal and Mei tells her off for lying. Mei and the other girls come up with excuses to fool Durandal and eventually go with Kiana's idea to tell her that Anti-Entropy was on vacation nearby and happened to cross paths with her. 
==Trivia==
*Her height, weight, birthday and some other details are available in the official manga.Mihoyo, St. Freya High, chapter 1, Jun 2020. Available online (direct), fetched Oct 2021.
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==References==
Category:Honkai Impact 3 Wiki
pl:Raiden Mei/Fabuła