The Stranger

> *"You of all people! Why would you hesitate? It made me think. I like it. It gives me hope." -The Voice*
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**Rider**, also referred to as **The Stranger**, is one of the protagonists and player characters of Furi.

## Appearance

Rider appears as a tall, fairly muscular individual. He has flowing white hair, that is mainly focused on the back of his head and reaches his shoulders, he also has two straight bangs from the two furthest points of his hairline and blue eyes. His outfit consists of a red cape that sometimes covers his mouth, a form-fitting black armor suit that covers his entire body. Sometimes, it glows with neon lights (with blue being the most common neon light). He also wears grey baggy pants that end at his knees, and he is barefoot. His pants have a belt, which holsters his gun and sword.

The glow of his suit changes on certain conditions. It glows blue normally, green when he heals, and gold/yellow when he's boosted during Close Quarters Combat.

## Personality

Rider seems to lack any personality, and at first seems to lack empathy. Throughout the game he stays completely silent - with the exception of occasional grunts of exertion when performing a four-hit combo - and makes no more than subtle facial expressions. The only instances where Rider shows any explicit semblance of emotion is when he hesitates to deliver the killing blow to The Song, and (depending on player decision) when he chooses to defect from and fight The Star, where he will angrily scowl at her upon her declaring hostility upon Rider.

Though initially Rider is highly aggressive, he gradually becomes more passive as the game continues, waiting to see what his enemy will do before drawing his weapon. He is frequently contacted by The Voice, a fellow prisoner, though he rarely reacts to whatever he says.

## Story

***Important plot details below! Read at your own risk.***

The first time the player sees Rider, he is being tortured and held captive by The Chain. As The Chain leaves, the mysterious bunny masked prisoner The Voice frees him and tells him to kill his jailor for his freedom. As Rider proceeds down the prison, killing all Guardians in his way, he begins to learn things about his past. In particular, Rider learns that he's being held with such high security because he's done "some bad things" in the Free World, becoming very apparent when The Scale refers to him as his "creator".

Rider shows hesitation before dealing the killing blow to The Song, causing The Voice to say that it gave him "hope".

Upon finally killing every Guardian who stood in his way, Rider and The Voice were free to leave. On reaching the Free World, Rider realized that his very presence corrupted the ground around him, withering plants and blackening dirt. Realizing that he is a being that never did belong in the Free World, Rider locates a metal suit in a tower, and flies it skyward, aboard a large Mothership who addresses him as "Rider". The Mothership asks him if the planet is fit for assimilation.

If Rider answers yes, a cutscene plays of The Voice and his daughter watching Riders land on the planet, laying waste to everything as credits roll.

If Rider answers no, he turns his guns on the Mothership, eventually destroying it and saving the Free World from assimilation. As it dies, the Mothership tells Rider that he can't prevent this forever. Credits then roll with The Voice enjoying the view, and leaving.

## Fight

Rider has a fairly limited moveset. He has a short dash that can be charged to extend the distance and avoid attacks, a sword he uses to attack either in a 4-hit combo or a charged slash, and a pistol that either fires automatic shots or a charged shot.

Defensively, Rider can utilize a parry that turns him towards the boss and, when timed correctly, blocks all damage from an incoming attack while restoring 1 health (half of a bar).

### Movement

*"Maximum speed: 73km/h." -The Burst's AI*

* **Dash**: Press the [Dash] button to dash forward, or towards the movement direction..
* **Charge Dash**: Press and hold the [Dash] button to dash a significantly further distance.

### Sword

* **Combo Slash**: 2 damage per hit, with the fourth slash dealing 4 damage and knocking down the opponent.
	+ Waiting too long between slashes will allow the boss to block subsequent slashes.
	+ Some phases only permit a certain number of hits before blocking.
* **Charge Slash**: 4 damage, with the full charge charge causing an **Opening**.
	+ When an opening occurs, an orange circle appears below the boss while they play a staggered animation. Attacking the boss during this state will play a short sequence of The Rider attacking the boss.
	+ Waiting too long without attacking will cause the opening to disappear.
* **Boost**: +8 damage, only in **Close Quarters Combat** phase.
	+ Push the right stick in any direction, or hold the right mouse button. This ability replaces the gun during this phase.
	+ Getting hit while boosting or while boosted will remove this state.
* **Parry**: Press the [Parry] button to parry attacks, and grant a brief period of invincibility.
	+ Parrying only lasts a short time, and failing the timing can cause The Rider to get hit.
	+ Parrying a melee attack will restore one health.
	+ Parrying a projectile will cause the projectile to get launched towards the enemy. If multiple projectiles are within the small range, all projectiles will get reflected (such as during The Line's fight).
* **Perfect Parry**: Parrying within a very small time window of the attack will cause an **Opening**.

### Gun

*"Range: 200 m. Capacity: maximum." -The Burst's AI*

* While in **Close Quarters Combat**. the gun is replaced by **Boost**.
* **Automatic Shots**: 1 damage per hit
* **Charge Shots**: A half charge does 4 damage, while a full charge deals 10 damage and knocks down the opponent.
* Projectiles can be fired at to be eliminated.
	+ Green projectiles turn into healing orbs with a triangle in the middle, which will heal The Rider.
	+ Golden projectiles with expanding circles are unable to be destroyed.

### Grabs

* During some attacks, bosses will put The Rider into a grab QTE. To escape, the left and right input must be pressed one after the other in quick succession until completion. Failing will cause The Rider to take additional damage.

## Flight Suit Fight

During the fight with **The Star**, the Rider uses the Flight Suit to fight against it. The Rider no longer uses his saber and gun, instead using the laser gun on the suit as his source of damage.

### Movement

* **Dash:** Press the Dash button to dash.

### Gun

* **Automatic Shots**: ? damage per hit.
* **Laser**: Deals continuous damage in a straight line. This ability replaces the **Charge Shot**.

### Flight Suit

* **Parry**: Behaves the same as the non-flight suit.

## Trivia

* Rider's cape does not appear to be his own. As seen in the cutscene leading up to the fight with The Star, the Rider clones do not wear capes. This could suggest he acquired it, possibly from fighting a previous foe not seen in the game.
* Judging from the equipment of the other Riders that we see, the Rider's composite saber and laser pistol are not his own weapons, which also explains why he discards them once he regains his original equipment at the end. Despite his apparent mastery of the sword and pistol, Rider may have only touched those weapons for the first time when the Voice drops them in front of him after freeing him from his shackles at the start of the game, which only hints at the scope of instinctive martial abilities possessed by the Riders.
* Rider's heart beats at an abnormally low 8 BPM (beats-per-minute) according to one of The Burst's drones.
* The length of his hair compared to the Rider clones being stored in stasis suggests the length of time that he has been active after being sent out by The Star.
* The Rider makes grunts of exertion exclusively in the PS4 release.