Raven

Raven is a character from Soul Hackers 2.
==Appearances==
*Soul Hackers 2: Major antagonist
==Profile==
Raven is a former member of the Yatagarasu. He was a top-notch Devil Summoner and Arrow's master, but has since retired and is now working at an orphanage. In the past, he was dispatched by Yatagarasu to destroy a village corrupted by demons, and he would end up killing everyone within it. Out of guilt, he stopped using his COMP and was sent by Yatagarasu to work at an orphanage. He is sociable, caring and loves children, and as such always speaks in a calm tone.
As a member of Yatagarasu, Raven would be loyal to their cause. Eventually, Raven would wind up in a job that would demand he take out demons that have taken over a village. Since they possessed their people, Raven was forced to kill all of them, which would include children and adults. Guilt-ridden, he was put off by Yatagarasu and sent to work at an orphanage. In a flashback via Soul Hack, it is shown that at this time, Raven used a large revolver as his COMP.
Raven would have caught himself up in a cycle where he would partake in the grooming of the children to become Devil Summoners for Yatagarasu once they grow up, in spite that the kids aren't forced and may only accept the offer of their own volition. Initially he plans on taking care for the orphanage until he's ordered to stop, but Figue remarks that he has become a good person and truly cares for the kids, and that his choice not to fight was fruitful because of it. In spite of trying to live a fresh life, Raven couldn't get past his guilt. Worse, he would keep it to himself without confiding in anyone.
Having lost faith in his own ability to protect the future, especially against the looming Great One, Raven would eventually fall into despair and would impersonate and assassinate the original Iron Mask, taking charge of the Phantom Society behind the scenes and running his plan of summoning the Great One himself, treating it as an inevitable outcome, but one where he'll have the free will of what to destroy, protecting the children in the process. To do so, he would actively seek all five Covenants under the guide of "Iron Mask." He would steal Iron Mask's research on "Project C," as well as Zenon. As Iron Mask was the holder of one of the Covenants, upon his death, Zenon would absorb it.
Raven would collect the next Covenant by launching an assault on Mangetsu Kuzunoha's research facility and get Mangetsu's assistant killed. Mangetsu, his target as a holder of another Covenant, would hide underground.
Raven would have Zenon murder Ichiro Onda and consume his Covenant, and would later exploit Summoner Ash by having him lure her ex Saizo for his third Covenant, by leaving her in the dark about both his murder plot and the purpose of the Covenants.
Raven would later have Mangetsu Kuzunoha pursued after his hideout was pinpointed to be in the abandoned Central Line, but he would get away in spite of the Phantom Society's raid. He would personally seek him in Subway Line 14 with Zenon and have him murdered, but he would take protective measures against Ringo's alliance: not only had he had Ash stall them for time, he also had Zenon devour Mangetsu's body to ensure he cannot be revived via Soul Hacking. Even with Ringo's team up against him, Zenon would protect both the Iron Mask, the Covenants and himself from any harm, breaking up the opposing team's synergy and forcing them to retreat.
The team would later devise a plan to exploit the weakness of Zenon by infiltrating their hideout on a new moon, but unbeknownst to the party, not only did Zenon evolve beyond his status a demon and nullifying his weakness, but he set up a trap by several Mothmen that would paralyze their movements. To obtain the final Covenant, whose current host is Figue, Iron Mask would shoot Ringo in the leg several times to provoke Figue herself to get out of hiding and give up her Covenant. Figue would agree, but what Iron Mask didn't know is that not only did she set up a dummy version of herself, but she would infect her Covenant with a virus, weaking Zenon's abilities. Worse, even beyond Zenon's death, he discovers that the Covenant of Mangetsu Kuzunoha was also a fake, leaving him as the carrier of only 4 Covenants.
Later, in a rendezvous between the real Raven and Ringo's party, Raven and Arrow, being holders of their own Covenants, would instantly recognize each-other as such, with Arrow discovering that Raven's the mastermind behind the incident, and for Raven, Arrow's the last Covenant holder. In spite of Milady's attempts to assassinate him or hurt the children broken down by Saizo and Ringo, Raven would have the party meet him at the West Shipping District.
thumb|right|250px|The fight against Raven.
There, both Raven and Ringo's party meet face to face to fight one-another, but Figue was greatly opposed to it, enough to disobey orders and risk the safety of herself and her Covenant, by directly intervening between their fight. She would insist that there's still hope for Raven, but he has made his choice to fight, and he, Ringo and the others ignored her pleas. Upon his death, Figue would make a last ditch effort to revive Raven by performing a Soul Hack on him, only for him to decline her second chance, as he has consciously thrown away his beliefs once he's put on the iron mask. With his soul dissipating for good, Figue would be left traumatized by her failure to save him, and would ultimately take up his ideals and objectives, planning to use a universal Soul Hack to create his dream of a peaceful world in his memory.
==Stats==
===Strategy===
Raven begins the fight by summoning Vouivre, Silky, and Power to accompany him. He will alternate between attacking normally, using Dual Shot or Stun Grenade for his turns. Silky will stick to using Bufula and normal Gunfire attacks. Power will frequently use Deathbound for random Heavy Physical damage. Vouivre will attack with Agilao and Demonic gaze, and begin mixing in Concentrate followed by Megido when she gets low on HP. Vouivre can eaily be Poisoned to Raven will not resummon any of the demons once they are defeated.
Once Raven has taken enough damage, he will throw the mask down and the next phase of the fight will begin. If Silky and Power are still alive, they will use Diarama and Luster Candy on Raven once. Vouivre will begin frequently using Concentrate and Megido, even at high HP.
Raven himself will use Accelerate to increase his action count and also activate his Reactive Armor skill. This skill will change his resistances to Resist Physical and Gunfire attacks, along with causing him to repel Fire, Ice, Electricity and Force attacks. This phase also introduces the Purge skill, which deals elemental damage to the whole party of the Fire, Ice, Electricity, or Force element. After using Purge, the corresponding element of Raven's Reactive Armor will chance to a weakness. Striking this weakness allows the party to build the stack for a Sabbath, but also changes the element resistance back to repel that element. Ringo can damage Raven with Physical attacks normally if she has the Phys Pierce upgrades on her COMP and Milady can use Piercer to bypass his resistances. Otherwise, Almighty skills can also be used to damage Raven.
However, if the weaknesses resulting from Purge are ignored, Raven will use the Repair Module skill to not only reset the elements to Repel, but also grant himself the effect of Luster Candy, increasing his Attack, Defense and Aim/Dodge attributes.
Once Raven has about 40-50% of his HP remaining, the final phase of the fight will begin, in which he prepares for a big attack using Overdrive Mode and releases Aurora Blast on his next turn. Aurora Blast deals Heavy Almighty damage to the party and inflicts Debilitate on each of them, lowering their Attack, Defense and Aim/Dodge attributes. He will also add Trinal Shot to his repertoire of available attacks. Raven will then alternate between his attacks with the ocassional Aurora Blast until he is defeated.
==Gallery==
SH2_Raven.png|Close-up of Raven
Soul Hackers 2 Raven Yatagarasu lantern.png|Raven in Arrow's memories.
SH2 BoxArtwork.jpg|Raven on the box art of Soul Hackers 2.
==Trivia==
* Raven's specialty is curry.
==References==
Category:Soul Hackers 2 Characters
Category:Soul Hackers 2 Allies