Raika

"Only a 1% chance of failure, huh? On the battlefield, that 1% could mean life or death. We're gonna crush ya with all our might!"

—Raika, Mega Man Battle Network 4

Raika (ライカ, Raika) is a character from the Mega Man Battle Network series. He is 13 years old^[1] and Commander of the 13th Net Unit of the Sharo Army ,^[2] as well as being the operator of SearchMan.EXE.

Appearance

Raika has blue eyes, teal hair and teal eyebrows. He wears a red cap, dark green shirt, a brown belt, yellow tie, dark green pants, white gloves and brown boots. His dark green coat has a red collar, brown hems on each sleeves and a red band with SearchMan's emblem on it.

Personality

Raika is known for his aloof and stern demeanor, often making blunt statements on things he isn't fond of. Even though Raika stresses following orders, he is often the character to find error in an order, suggest a better plan, and even disobey orders, which embarrasses him.

Game history

Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun

Raika first shows up in the final rounds of the Red Sun Tournament. He spied on Lan and confronted him to say that he was weak and would be defeated easily. Lan grows enraged and attempts to punch him, but Raika easily brushes him off. Then after Lan defeats Nebula NetNavis in the Undernet, Raika declares that after watching him battle, there was a 99% chance of victory. However, he is still defeated by Lan (with MegaMan gaining Search Soul) and returns to Sharo after revealing that the reason he came was to demonstrate Sharo's military power, which he failed to accomplish.

Mega Man Battle Network 5: Team ProtoMan

Raika joins Team ProtoMan. He is the counterpart of Higsby, because SearchMan (as his name implies) can search Dark Panels, similar to NumberMan. He is about to help Team ProtoMan get through a wall blocking access to liberating the End area when he gets called, because a criminal Navi he was looking for was spotted. He and SearchMan corner the Navi, but a Nebula Navi disguised as MegaMan attacks SearchMan and causes Raika to battle Lan when they meet up again. After they reconcile and delete the real culprits, Raika and SearchMan help liberate End Area. He is then mind controlled by the SoulNet Comp and battles Lan and MegaMan in ACDC, but is returned to normal after the SoulComp is defeated. He joins Team ProtoMan in infiltrating Nebula's base and returns to Sharo after the mission is successful.

PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS ABOUT MATERIAL THAT HAS NOT BEEN LOCALIZED OR DUBBED OUTSIDE OF JAPAN OR OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES, AND USES THE ORIGINAL TERMS AND NAMES.

Rockman.EXE Legend of Network

Raika appears in the Chapter 4 as the bodyguard for an important Sharo millionaire, Mr. Abramo, who is taking a world trip with his wife for their honeymoon. In their travels, they stop in Nihon.

When he escorts Mr. and Mrs. Abramo to Densan Shrine, he has a headache and asked Netto to escort Mrs. Abramo's Navi the shrine's Cyberworld.

Afterwards, on the airplane ride back to Sharo, the plane had a malfunction and Raika, Netto, and Sherrice sent their Navis to the Cyberworld to fix it. After succeeding in fixing the plane, SearchMan was infected with the Trojan from a Navi and Raika lost control of him. Rockman was able to defeat SearchMan and Raika regained control. He then leaves Nihon and returns to Sharo to file his report.

In Chapter 6, Raika makes a call to Netto and helps him discover that Sherrice and RideMan are the ones behind the controlled Navis.

In Chapter 7 and 8, Raika returned to Nihon with the Sharo Network Army to help chase down Reverse. Then later helped escort Enzan, Netto, and Sherrice to Sink Island for their big battle against Nobody.

END OF UNLOCALIZED MATERIAL.

Anime

Main article: Raika (anime)

In the anime, Raika is a NetSaver that joins up with Lan and Chaud in the fight against Dr. Regal and the Darkloids. He continues to fight the multiple threats against Earth afterwards. Raika is an expert fencer, can ride a snowmobile, and pilot a fighter jet.

Raika has a more prominent role in the anime than in the games. He acts as the third member of a trio with Lan and Chaud.

Manga

MegaMan NT Warrior

This section requires expansion.

Etymology

It is possible that he is named after Laika, the Russian space dog that died a few hours after launch due to overheating.

Gallery

Raika in Battle Network 5 DS's intro.

Digital art of Raika in Battle Network 5 DS's intro.

Rockman EXE Team's Intranet webpage image featuring Raika.

Concept art of Raika.

Digital concept art.

Raika's anime design sheet #1.

Raika's anime design sheet #2.

Raika in the MegaMan NT Warrior manga.

Raika in a Battle Story MegaMan NT Warrior one shot.

Trivia

• Raika has been studying in a military school since childhood. When an order to dispatch arises, their class is immediately cancelled and have them go to the battlefield.^[3]
• Apparently he can get a motorcycle license despite being under 16, due to his privileges as a soldier.^[4]
• His name has been officially romanized in Japanese material as “Raika”,^[5][6] but in early years the romanization of “Laika” has been spread across the fandom. Possibly due to it being closer to his speculated name origin, Laika the Soviet space dog.

References