Riki Ryugasaki

Riki Ryugasaki (Japanese: 龍々崎カケル（りゅうがさき-）, Ryugasaki Kakeru, Kakeru Ryugasaki) is the main protagonist of the Cross Fight B-Daman franchise
He is the primary protagonist of B-Daman Crossfire and one of the 2 deuteragonists (alongside Samuru Shigami) in B-Daman Fireblast. He is the Crossfire Champion, having foiled Rudy Sumeragi and Smash Dragold's planned world conquest with the help of Samuru Shigami, Novu Moru, and Basara Kurochi. He is also one of the B-Masters, being the B-Master of the East, alongside Kamon, Bakuga, and Jenta.
His current B-Daman is Rising Dracyan, after having his Thunder Dracyan upgraded to the Emblem Charge System.
==Appearance==
Riki is an eleven-year-old boy with blue hair and crimson red eyes. His hair is a medium height reaching almost to his neck and has black eyebrows. He wears a large red and white sweater over a white shirt. This sweater is worn short sleeved it includes a hoodie and pockets. Riki also chooses to wear blue elbow pads and a white wristband on his left wrist.
Riki additionally sports orange sweatpants with blue designs that are rolled up to just below his knee. He wears white and red shoes with a blue lace cover on his feet.
==Official Bio==
A B-Shot who belongs to the East Block.
His B-Daman is the power type Thunder Dracyan.
He is a cheerful, modern boy who aspires to become an adventurer.
Originally he did not have much interest in B-Daman, but then he gets his partner, Dracyan, through a chance encounter.
==Personality==
Riki maintains a "never give up" attitude, always wanting to better himself and help others in any way he can. He cares heavily for his friends and is quick to make new ones all the time. When faced with adversity, he is capable of quickly changing his plans to work around them.
Riki is an avid fan of world history and geography, and has aspirations to travel the world visiting various ruins, tombs and geographical features. In terms of historical matters or subjects, he does appear to be quite knowledgeable as well. Not only that, but it seems that Riki also possesses the ability to read ancient text with ease, as it is evidently seen during the course of B-Daman Crossfire, such as when he reads the writing at the gate of the ruins to figure out the way to get in at Episode 10. (Ep. 20 in the Japanese version) His catchphrase is "Mystery..." and has a tendency of saying it after hearing fascinating or mysterious things. After receiving his first B-Daman, Thunder Dracyan, he became a big fan of the Crossfire competition.
Riki's confidence has also changed with the introduction of B-Daman in his life. Prior to receiving Dracyan, Riki was quite timid and shy, and did not like talking to people he did not know. However, as time progressed, Riki came out of his shell and gained a significant amount of confidence when discovering he is the owner of a Legendary Dragon.
==Biography==
===B-Daman Crossfire===
During class, Riki Ryugasaki read a book about ancient mysteries when he should have been listening in class. His teacher confiscated his book subsequently and declined his offer of reading it, with his classmates laughing at him. After school, Riki's friend, Sumi Inaba introduced B-Daman to him with her Lightning Rabbit and asked her to come to Akira Saiga's "Miracle Shoot" B-Daman shop and club. While Sumi participated in a nearby B-Daman tournament, Riki volunteered to help out Akira's shop.
Soon after he went outside to see Sumi's performance in the tournament. Clapping on for her, he noticed some kids discussing a "secret tournament" that was being held again. Riki was curious but dismissed it as nothing more than an urban legend until he heard a voice telling him: "Boy. There are still many things in this world that you know nothing about." Riki turned to see who was talking but only finds a boy with a B-Daman who then leaves.
After the tournament, Akira decided to "pay" Riki by letting him choose any B-Daman in his shop for keeping. After searching, Riki found a B-Daman that seemed as if it was "staring" at him. Akira let Riki have it and revealed its name: Thunder Dracyan. When he received it, he registered his new B-Daman through the B-Net and in an instant, a shock of electricity stormed and transferred a B-Animal into it. Dracyan was complete.
The machine provided directions for the upcoming "tournament" which Riki followed to. Once there, he found a girl entering it with her B-Daman. Riki scanned Thunder Dracyan for entrance and found himself in a dark room filled with B-Shots playing in tournaments. Whilst Riki was at quiet as possible, a voice startled him that apparently originated from Dracyan. He told Riki how these B-Shots are playing "Crossfire", long believed to be an "urban legend". Though it is very real, he proposes he and Riki to work together in Crossfire which only made Riki yell as he was frightened.
===B-Daman Fireblast===
Riki makes his returning appearance in , battling Kamon Day behind a mask previously worn in the first season. He and his Thunder Dracyan teach Kamon how to play Vertigo Spin (Break Ball in Japanese) as well as assist Kamon in regaining his ability to use the Emblem Charge. He also appears in the following episode, talking about his travels around the world. He teaches the lone wolf Ken Ogami the Vertigo Spin game type as well, and lectures him on how he needs to lighten up and learn to enjoy B-Daman. At the end of the episode, he sets sail for his next destination.
Riki returns again in with his new Rising Dracyan. He participates in the B-Master Battle tournament, demonstrating his new Dracyan's upgraded Rising Overdrive eCharge Shot to score enough points to advance to the next round.
In , it is revealed that himself, Kamon, Basara, Samuru, Ken and Simon have all advanced to the Semi-Finals. He battles against Basara and Ken in a Vertigo Spin match to decide who will advance to the Finals. After demonstrating Dracyan's Double Emblem Charge, Riki emerges victorious and proceeds to the Finals, with Kamon as his opponent.
In , Riki battles Kamon in the final match, which features the Meteor Bomber game. Riki pulls off to a quick lead, but Kamon quickly returns with an equalizer. In the next episode, due to unforeseen circumstances involving the Grand B-Master, Roma Day, Kamon becomes overwhelmed with darkness, blinding his judgment. As a result, Riki is blasted with a darkened Emblem Charge from Drive Garuburn, sending him flying backwards and losing the match. He wakes up in the infirmary and joins the others in escaping the wrath of the Master Guardians.
He reappears in , where he obtains a new Version-Up Part from Rory Takakura, the Magnum Arm. After using it in a three-player game of Vertigo Spin, he challenges Kamon to a rematch. The agreements; If Riki loses, he starts working for Roma, and if Kamon loses, he becomes free from the darkness. He later wins this battle in and restores Kamon back to his former self. Kamon promotes him to Eastern B-Master following this.
==Trivia==
*Riki is the only B-Daman protagonist to not have red hair, having blue hair instead.
*His hair and personality are similar to Aichi Sendou from the Cardfight!! Vanguard anime, who was timid when first introduced and eventually become more confident upon coming into contact with their series' main focus.
*His family name, "Ryugasaki", literally means "dragon's fang point" which compliments his first B-Daman being a Dragon Type and one of the Legendary Dragons. His kanji name is also looked at Ryoma Sakamoto's kanji name.
*He can be considered to be B-Daman-counterpart of Tyson Granger from Beyblade Original series.
**The same can be said with him being a B-Daman-counterpart to Valt Aoi from Beyblade Burst. Both of them have blue hair, having a similar colour palette and the two being/representing the third generation of their respective franchise. 
*His given name, "Kakeru", could mean the Japanese adverb "to soar" or "to fly" as well as the phrase "to put (one's life) on the line". All together, his Japanese name could mean "I'd put my life on the line for this dragon".
**He shares his Japanese given name (Kakeru) with a minor character from Super B-Daman.
*He shares the same English voice actress (Mona Marshall aka Mikie Morgan) with Bull Borgnine from Battle B-Daman.
*It is likely that Riki doesn't like vegetables, as it is shown that he only took the meat Skewers and complains to Dracyan that he has already ate a vegetable yesterday. (Shown on B-Daman Fireblast Episode 0)
==Gallery==
Category:Male Characters
Category:Protagonists