Ren Suzugamori (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadowrevenger) wrote2016-03-02 06:48 pm
shadowrevenger) wrote2016-03-02 06:48 pm
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thefarshore
Player Information
Name: Calai'di
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
calaidi | calaidi@gmail.com
Age: 25
Other Characters: n/a
Character Information
Name: Ren Suzugamori
Canon: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Canon Point: end of 194
Age: 17
History: http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Ren_Suzugamori
The wiki's history section stops at episode 187 because...I don't know why, but the Season 4 section in general is pretty weak so here's a better version:
Not long after saving the world, Aichi came to Ren with an odd request.
After defeating Void-possessed Takuto, Link Joker/Void had implanted a "seed" inside Aichi's body, in an effort to save itself from total destruction. With that seed, Link Joker could then bide its time and slowly gain strength any time Aichi won a cardfight, until it would eventually take over Aichi and try the world domination thing again. However, if someone defeated Aichi, the seed would just move on to that person, so it could never actually be destroyed. Aichi felt that the only way to stop it would be to seal himself away.
He also decided that he would have four of the strongest cardfighters he could find, the Quatre Knights, connected to a set of four seals, which could only be broken if they were defeated in a cardfight and therefore Aichi could only be freed if all four were defeated.
Aichi also meant to erase himself from everyone's memories and keep this whole thing secret from everyone except a select few (the Quatre Knights, Kourin Tatsunagi, and later, Ren and Leon).
Ren was one of Aichi's first choices to be a Quatre Knight. However, Ren turned him down, as he felt there must be a better way to stop Link Joker and he didn't like the idea of keeping all of this secret from Kai. Leon Soryuu, another of Aichi's first choices, also turned Aichi down, and he and Ren both decided to be neutral observers.
Aichi eventually chose Oliver Gaillard, Phillip Neve, Raul Serra, and Rati Curti, and went about sealing himself away. However, both Ren and Leon retained their memories of Aichi and remained informed of the details of his plans.
A few days later, Kai made a visit to Foo Fighter. Somehow, he had also retained his memories of Aichi and thought it likely Ren had also. However, Ren just acted obnoxiously oblivious and got Kai to leave without a real answer.
A few days later, Kai and a couple friends visited Ren again, this time determined to get an answer out of him. Ren continued to act oblivious, but he slipped when Kai brought up the Quatre Knights. Ren finally challenged Kai to a fight, since it was clear Kai wasn't going to just leave.
Throughout the fight, Ren remained tight-lipped and refused to give any straight answers about Aichi, but when Kai won the fight, Ren chose to support him a little and gave him a clue as to where he should look next.
Some time later, Kai and his merry band of mates made their way to Aichi's sanctuary on the moon. While there, they defeated Serra and Gaillard, and themselves got cut down to only Kai and Naoki Ishida. When Gaillard lost, Serra appeared and lock all three of them behind a wall of ice. Turns out, Serra was planning to betray Aichi and take the Link Joker seed for himself the whole time, and with them locked up, Serra was free to deal with the other seals without interference.
Ren and Leon arrived to free Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard from the prison, but they were too late to stop Serra from breaking the seals. However, the group did arrive in time to stop Serra from fighting Aichi; Gaillard fought Serra and won, and Serra was banished back to Earth.
And then there were a couple more fights...and then it was time for Kai and Aichi to fight, maybe knock some sense into Aichi. Before the fight, Aichi expressed his disappointment that Ren and Leon had abandoned their neutral position and laid down a condition for the fight: if he won, then Kai, Naoki, Ren, and Leon would become his new Quatre Knights.
But of course he didn't; Kai won and Kai found another solution to his problem. When the Link Joker seed emerged at the end of the fight to try to latch onto Kai, Aichi's ace Blaster Blade also appeared and cut the seed to pieces. Those pieces embedded themselves in everyone gathered there as well as a few friends on Earth.
Blaster Blade then explained that while it was impossible to destroy Link Joker for good, each of the fragments of the seed was weak and wouldn't be a danger to its host. His sword also imbued the seed pieces with a new property: every time someone with the seed fought someone else who was a decent person, the seed would split and half would go to that person, and eventually Link Joker might learn not to be so bad and Cray might accept than as a new clan.
And so with Link Joker taken care of once and for all, everyone went back to Earth to return to their normal lives, and everyone's memories of Aichi returned.
Personality:
At one point, Kai calls Ren "capricious and delicate", and he would know better than anyone how apt that description is. Ren's core personality is whimsical and carefree to the point that he often seems air-headed and absentminded. In fact, he generally plays up those traits because he knows it's what people expect of him and he finds it amusing; he likes having the choice of being able to act however he wants. Ren generally acts on his whims, living from moment to moment, and changes his temperament at the drop of a hat, though his default mood is fairly chipper and friendly.
However, beneath all the silliness is a person who is actually extremely perceptive, calculating, and manipulative, and Ren often approaches situations far more seriously than his outer persona would suggest. Much of that was honed through years of playing Vanguard and his time under the influence of Psyqualia--and in fact, it's during Vanguard fights that his seriousness most often shines through--but Ren had that potential even when he was younger. Despite his seeming absentmindedness, Ren is quick to pick up on details and connect events and is often one of the first to remark on a situation, though his remarks aren't always helpful.
The manipulation in particular is a large part of his character. Throughout season one, Ren constantly manipulated the people around him to do what he wanted; this was particularly clear with Aichi, whom Ren manipulated into being possessed by Psyqualia multiple times, but Ren did it with others too. Even in season two when Ren was at his least villainous, he had no problem manipulating what he wanted out of others; for instance, by leaving Asaka out of his winning formula for the VF Circuit, because he knew it would only make Asaka work harder.
As his true balanced self, this generally takes the form of his outwardly cheerful and absentminded personality. While that is and always has been a key part of his personality, Ren will play it up or down to suit his needs. When Kai came to him to ask about Aichi's disappearance, Ren deliberately acted as "normal" as possible, almost obnoxiously so, by never giving a straight answer to any questions, either by answering vaguely or ignoring the questions entirely. He does something similar when he's trying to get information himself, by asking questions in a way he thinks will cause the other person to give up more information than they really mean to.
While some people can see right through him, either because they know him too well (Kai, Tetsu, Leon) or because they have a similar personality themselves (Suiko), his act does manage to fool most people. Although this has lead a few people to wonder if he's really any good at Vanguard, because he seems too silly to actually play well.
Tetsu, Ren's oldest friend, had this to say about him (and Kai): "...they both hate anything crooked, and they both stick to the decisions they've made. And also, they value their friends more than anything." Ren showcases those traits throughout the series, even as a villain. Most of Ren's nastiness and manipulation in season one is a direct result of his determination to prove to Kai, and later Aichi, that he'd made the right decision and Kai was wrong. Not to mention, the reason he'd been so desperate to improve at Vanguard and then embraced Psyqualia so completely was for the sake of his friends and their chances at the national tournament. One reason he hated Kai for leaving was that it seemed like Kai was abandoning his friends and didn't appreciate Ren's efforts to help them.
However, at no time does Ren better show off those traits than when he stood at the front lines of the fight against Link Joker. More than once, he stated that he was willing to put his life on the line in order to save his friends from Reverse, and he seemed personally offended that they had ever been Reversed at all. He was also offended at the idea that his friends might not want his help, or that they felt he didn't value them, because there is almost nothing else in the world he values more. This was also at the heart of his decision not to become a Quatre Knight--which involved sealing away a friend and betraying another by keeping it secret--as well as his determination not to aid Kai either--because doing so would also mean betraying a friend.
He eventually does help Kai, but only because he feels that helping Kai will lead to helping Aichi without having to seal anyone away and that's a good enough compromise for him to justify it. He was also the first to speak up and volunteer when Kai asked who would be willing to take on the Link Joker seed instead of Aichi.
Ren's dislike of "anything crooked" also shows itself anytime Void makes an appearance. While Ren does state more than once that he's not really the type to go out and save the world or that he doesn't care if the fate of the world is riding on his fights, he's still the one who ends up at the forefront of the battle. His was the group that made their way to Void-possessed Leon first to stop him (although he did let Kai handle that), and when Ren got to the main fight with Link Joker, he made his way straight to Void-possessed Takuto to stop him.
That said, Ren's statements about himself make it clear he doesn't consider himself a hero or even a great person. Oh, Ren has plenty of self-esteem and confidence in himself and his abilities, but he did some bad things because of Psyqualia and he's very aware of it. His methods of dealing with it are by making fun of himself (re: saving the world, "we're not really into that kind of thing") and teasing his friends about it (making himself exude power like "that Ren" and dressing up in his old clothes), and again, through his outwardly cheery persona which is similar to how he was before Psyqualia--methods which give him control of how it's brought up or allow him to avoid it.
But when someone else directly brings up the fact that he used to be a villain and he has the option of being one again, Ren is visibly disturbed and contemptuous of the idea, states shortly that he doesn't need it, and quickly moves on. Even later when Ren does end up Reversed, although he accepts it and only seems glad he could have such a good fight with Kai, he puts off drawing his last damage point as long as possible, going through the motions even though he knew there was no way for him to avoid losing.
Ren has good reason to be wary of the lure of power. While Psyqualia is a useful power, it comes with a heavy cost--Psyqualia warps the personality of the person using it and brings their most negative traits right to the forefront. Under Psyqualia's influence, Ren became arrogant, condescending, and cruel. He saw no value in anyone weaker than himself, living by the motto "The powerless fall into despair and those with power get all the glory." He had no problem kicking Asaka off the team because she lost once, despite her otherwise flawless record, and eventually even rejected the idea of friendship entirely. Psyqualia also brought out a mean streak that had him mercilessly mocking other people and teams, saying that they were wasting their time by even thinking they might be on his level, as well as a thirst for power that went beyond the Vanguard arena.
In short, he was a terrible person. However, as Aichi put it with his own warped self, those traits were always in there; Ren always had the potential to be power-hungry and spiteful. And those traits didn't go away when Ren lost his Psyqualia or gained a Psyqualia that didn't have that effect; those traits were there and they were always going to be there. In fact, Ren still sometimes slips during a fight, most notably when he was fighting Reversed Kai and he came very close to reverting back, close enough that it worried Aichi. He also has very little patience for anyone who angers him and wastes his time (with villain speeches) and will often be short with them or his mocking condescension will shine through.
However, the experience was overall good for him. While Ren was perfectly capable of being serious before Psyqualia, his Psyqualia dialed back his silliness quite a bit (though not completely) and kept him in more of a serious mood most of the time. He either got used to it or learned from the experience, because while he does act more like his old self now, it's still toned down a bit and there are situations where he generally acts more seriously than not, like Vanguard fights. Kai mentioned at one point that prior to Psyqualia, Ren's odd behavior was on display even during Vanguard fights, but now it's generally only there during a fight if he's deliberately playing it up.
Speaking of Ren's behavior during fights, Ren loves Vanguard fights and he especially loves fights against an opponent that is a serious challenge, and it definitely shows. His statement about not caring about the fate of the world was probably genuine at the time, because at the time he was fighting a Kai who was stronger than ever and he was absolutely thrilled; he really didn't care about anything else. He also has more fun with a fight the more dangerous it gets and the more he gets backed into corners; any time it looks like he might be in genuine danger of losing and being Reversed, he only gets more into it. Though that isn't only true of Vanguard fights; in any situation, Ren's eagerness and interest directly corresponds with how dangerous and intriguing it's become.
Ren especially enjoys being in a difficult situation and beating it. Specifically, he says there would be "no greater pleasure in the world" than beating Reverse Kai, whom he deems his strongest and most worthy opponent. Though in general, Ren enjoys fighting Kai more than he does anyone else.
Overall, what Ren values most is freedom--his freedom to do what he likes when he likes, in particular. This was the general theme of his episodes of fighting against Reverse; each of his opponents was trying to make him conform to a certain image they had of him: with Suiko it was the Ren who pursued power at any cost and fell to the dark side, with Asaka it was a Ren who would be her toy and only ever look at her, with Tetsu it was a Ren who actually took his position as a top-class fighter serious and would stand as king over all others. In every case, Ren was irritated by the idea of being controlled and having his future dictated for him, and he fought just as hard against those ideas as he did to save his friends.
In the end, Ren says he hates deciding things beforehand and he wants to always be free, and his actions throughout the show reflect that. Most of the time (when the fate of his friends isn't at stake), Ren just acts on his whims and does whatever he likes, even if that means taking a nap with his cat during club time instead of being a responsible club president and actually being there on time. (Ren doesn't handle responsibility well unless it's responsibility he's placed on himself, and this is the biggest reason why.)
Abilities:
Psyqualia
This is one of the main supernatural powers in CFV. It's a bit convoluted and vague and Ren's relationship with it is complicated, so...here we go.
The Vanguard card game is centered around lore about the planet Cray, a distant world inhabited by squabbling clans of various creatures. When a Vanguard fight starts, the two players appear on Cray as spirits and have the ability to call or possess members of their respective clans to fight for them in the game. When a player is hit by too many attacks, their spirit must leave Cray and they lose the game.
For the most part, this is just a cute story to get you invested in the game. however, it turns out that Cray is actually a real place. The first time it's mentioned, it's said that the real Cray is slowly being consumed by a destructive, nihilistic force called Void. The various clans disagreed on how best to deal with Void and eventually rallied behind two clans in particular, who would duke it out to decide whose idea to follow. One of those clans was Ren's while the other was Aichi Sendou's.
Psyqualia is stated to be an ability which synchronizes a Vanguard fighter with his actual units on Cray, in order for that fighter to help decide Cray's future. It seems to take a lot of energy to use, so it doesn't come upon a fight all at once, giving the fighter time to adjust to using it without fainting every time. This also means it has a few "levels" to it:
1. at the lowest and simplest level, Psyqualia acts as a sort of guide, showing the fighter things like how best to build their deck, what plays to make in a fight to ensure victory, what cards are next in the deck, and so on. This is often described and shown as literally talking with the cards or "hearing the voices of the cards"
(It's magical top-decking. Basically.)
2. the fighter can see an extremely vivid "image" of Cray. This has always been shown as seeing the key card that will win the fight.
3. actually being a spirit on Cray/having an extremely vivid image of being a spirit on Cray
4. dragging other people with into your extremely vivid image of being spirits on Cray
5. and at the highest level, actual possession of your unit & synchronization with the fight on Cray. At this level, the fighters feel any attack they deliver or receive. (however, this only happens when two people with Psyqualia are fighting each other and have it active)
Other things Psyqualia can do:
-One person using Psyqualia can drag another who has it into see what he's seeing (this is somewhat different from #4 above because it doesn't have to be intentional and it might only be the "image of victory" vision).
-Fighters with Psyqualia can call out to each other through their units (at one point, Ren directs Aichi to walk across half a city through their shared Blaster Dark cards)
-Fighters with Psyqualia can sense when another of them is using it, and they can even track each other down that way. They can also tap into it at a low enough level that it allows other users to sense it without actually using any of the above abilities.
-Psyqualia can help suppress the effects of Reverse (Void's special brainwashing power), although this is shown to be extremely difficult and can even endanger the fighter's life
Ren had and regularly used his Psyqualia for at least two years, so he became extremely proficient at using it (in fact, his scenes are mostly what are referenced above). Even after he briefly lost it and lost all memory of it, he could use it easily when he got it back.
That said, once he has his memory of it back, his attitude toward it is decidedly negative and the most he ever does with it is exude power to make his fellow Psyqualia fighters nervous. It not a power he'll use willy-nilly as of his pull-point.
IN GAME LIMITATION: any of Psyqualia's abilities that involve being on Cray will instead be limited to a hallucination of being on Cray. Because obviously Ren shouldn't be sending anyone's mind to another planet like that.
Other Supernatural
-Ren can see cards glow when they're in the hands of an "interesting" fighter. Such fighters include himself, Kai, Aichi, and Tetsu. This is an ability he's shown as having before getting Psyqualia.
-Ren has an extremely accurate knack for picking out fighters who have to potential to be excellent players. This is probably related to seeing glowing cards, but that was never stated.
-Ren has a fragment of the Link Joker seed. Which doesn't mean a whole lot, because it only splits and spreads through Vanguard fights, and it's too small to gain enough power to affect its host, but it's there.
Other/Non-Supernatural
-Even without Psyqualia, Ren is one of the top Vanguard fighters in the world. Kai states that Ren has a talent for intuitively understanding the special properties of any deck he might pick up, and that is indeed a talent Ren shows repeatedly. He has an extensive knowledge of the game and seeks to expand that knowledge whenever he can. With his own deck, Ren has such confidence and uses it so skillfully that it often looks as though he still is using Psyqualia.
-Ren is a good strategist and he's extremely perceptive. He notices details and connects events with ease, and he can quickly see through a situation and devise the best way to deal with it.
-He is an excellent actor when he wants to be, and he does fairly good impressions too.
-It's implied that Ren is a pretty decent cook.
Strengths:
-amiable
-loyal
-quick-witted
-gallant
-manipulative
Weaknesses:
-flighty
-intensely competitive
-selfish
-stubborn
-callous
God/Shinki: God
Why?: Ren's usual approach to any form of responsibility is to just pass it on to Tetsu, so having to be responsible for something, even if it's something as small as his shinki's welfare, without that crutch would be a good experience for him. He's capable of it, he just needs a little push to actually do it. And while he actually wouldn't be a bad fit as a shinki either, he would probably end up blighting the hell out of any god who had him.
Top 3 Choices: Inanna, Eris, and Caer Ibormeith
God Type: Ren is very much a "does what he wants" kind of person. If living up to his past life seems interesting, he'll do it, and if doing his own thing seems like more fun, he'll do that too. He will feel a small amount of obligation to actually do his job and help people who ask, because he's not heartless, but it will be on his terms and that small amount of obligation may not always be enough to get him off his butt. The prayers he's most likely to answer are ones that seem challenging or uniquely interesting in some way, or involve someone who seems lost or misguided. Since...he's been there. And it was bad.
Two things Ren will take seriously are taking care of his shinki, since that's a more personal responsibility than a few random humans' wishes, and the threat of the ayakashi--because that's going to remind him a little too much of Void/Reverse. Ren might say he doesn't care about saving the world, but he's a filthy liar.
Power: http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_Mimicry
Writing Sample
Sample:
Ren slumped heavily in his brand new office chair and absently kicked against the ground to spin himself around. It wasn't as comfortable as the one he used to have. but he'd obtained it all by himself, so maybe that was okay. Tetsu would have been proud of him, and Ren always liked it when Tetsu was proud of him. Even if he rarely made any real effect to earn that praise.
Tetsu would have been proud of a lot of what he'd been doing here.
Ren slowly came to a stop in just the right position to stare out a nearby window. The sky was cloudy and dark today, and he smiled very slightly at how appropriate that felt right now.
He missed Tetsu. And Asaka, for that matter. Ever since he had met them, he had rarely spent more than a couple days away from their company, much less several weeks. He had always been able to count on one of them being there, even when he hadn't deserved such faithful company. He did like that his shinki could fill that role for them, but it wasn't the same. His shinki wasn't Tetsu.
Not that he ever wanted his shinki to be Tetsu. Or rather, he didn't want Tetsu or Asaka or anyone else to be his shinki...or anyone else's, for that matter. That would be awful, seeing them like that and knowing that they had died somehow and couldn't remember anything of who they were, or who he was. He missed them, but he didn't miss them that much.
But they weren't the only ones he missed either.
Ren pulled out his deck as he shifted until he was sideways in his seat. He started kicking one of his legs to start spinning himself again as he slipped the top card of of the deck case to stare at it for a moment.
"You probably miss Blaster Blade too, don't you?" he murmured. "He was only free from Link Joker for a few minutes before we woke up here. You probably didn't even get to see him..."
Ren felt only a vague sense of agreement that might have only been his imagination from the version of Blaster Dark in his fingers, but that was all right. He didn't have to hear their voices to know his units could hear him. Not anymore.
He really did miss Aichi. At least, he missed knowing that Aichi was there for him to fight whenever he wanted, even if he didn't always take advantage of that. He missed knowing Aichi was in the world. That had certainly been part of why had hadn't wanted to seal Aichi away in the first place. The world was better off with Aichi in it.
And if there was anyone who was suited to being a god, it was Sendou Aichi.
Ren closed his eyes as he imagined Aichi as some kind of brilliant god of light and goodness and self-sacrifice, something that was the opposite of Ren's darkness and selfishness, the way he always had been...of course, the only image he could settle on was Aichi as Blaster Blade or Gancelot, but of course that was why they suited him so perfectly.
And Kai...Ren 's fingers trembled as he tried not to want desperately to see Kai again. Kai could be a fierce god of war that no one would want to cross, or maybe fire, with the way he and his deck blazed so brightly. And Leon would of course be a god of wind, though Ren could almost hear Leon chastising him for even suggesting it. Leon's sense of humor was abysmal at the best of times.
He had to open his eyes again because that plus the spinning chair was making him dizzy. And then as the doorway passed in front of him, he saw the highly unamused figure of his new constant companion waiting there for him. Probably because...he promised they would go out and do their jobs today and then had come in here and gotten distracted.
Ren slouched even further in his chair for all of one more revolution, then he sighed and waved that he would be coming as he started trying to disentangle himself from the chair. Tetsu would be proud of how responsible he had been lately, but that didn't mean he liked it or that it came easy to him.
He did pause for one more moment to look over Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss" again. And then he slipped the card back into with the rest of his deck and tucked his deck away again.
"I'm sure we'll see them again. Someday."
Other
Anything Else?: Not that I can think of! Thank you for putting up with this big, long thing!
Name: Calai'di
Contact:
Age: 25
Other Characters: n/a
Character Information
Name: Ren Suzugamori
Canon: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Canon Point: end of 194
Age: 17
History: http://cardfight.wikia.com/wiki/Ren_Suzugamori
The wiki's history section stops at episode 187 because...I don't know why, but the Season 4 section in general is pretty weak so here's a better version:
Not long after saving the world, Aichi came to Ren with an odd request.
After defeating Void-possessed Takuto, Link Joker/Void had implanted a "seed" inside Aichi's body, in an effort to save itself from total destruction. With that seed, Link Joker could then bide its time and slowly gain strength any time Aichi won a cardfight, until it would eventually take over Aichi and try the world domination thing again. However, if someone defeated Aichi, the seed would just move on to that person, so it could never actually be destroyed. Aichi felt that the only way to stop it would be to seal himself away.
He also decided that he would have four of the strongest cardfighters he could find, the Quatre Knights, connected to a set of four seals, which could only be broken if they were defeated in a cardfight and therefore Aichi could only be freed if all four were defeated.
Aichi also meant to erase himself from everyone's memories and keep this whole thing secret from everyone except a select few (the Quatre Knights, Kourin Tatsunagi, and later, Ren and Leon).
Ren was one of Aichi's first choices to be a Quatre Knight. However, Ren turned him down, as he felt there must be a better way to stop Link Joker and he didn't like the idea of keeping all of this secret from Kai. Leon Soryuu, another of Aichi's first choices, also turned Aichi down, and he and Ren both decided to be neutral observers.
Aichi eventually chose Oliver Gaillard, Phillip Neve, Raul Serra, and Rati Curti, and went about sealing himself away. However, both Ren and Leon retained their memories of Aichi and remained informed of the details of his plans.
A few days later, Kai made a visit to Foo Fighter. Somehow, he had also retained his memories of Aichi and thought it likely Ren had also. However, Ren just acted obnoxiously oblivious and got Kai to leave without a real answer.
A few days later, Kai and a couple friends visited Ren again, this time determined to get an answer out of him. Ren continued to act oblivious, but he slipped when Kai brought up the Quatre Knights. Ren finally challenged Kai to a fight, since it was clear Kai wasn't going to just leave.
Throughout the fight, Ren remained tight-lipped and refused to give any straight answers about Aichi, but when Kai won the fight, Ren chose to support him a little and gave him a clue as to where he should look next.
Some time later, Kai and his merry band of mates made their way to Aichi's sanctuary on the moon. While there, they defeated Serra and Gaillard, and themselves got cut down to only Kai and Naoki Ishida. When Gaillard lost, Serra appeared and lock all three of them behind a wall of ice. Turns out, Serra was planning to betray Aichi and take the Link Joker seed for himself the whole time, and with them locked up, Serra was free to deal with the other seals without interference.
Ren and Leon arrived to free Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard from the prison, but they were too late to stop Serra from breaking the seals. However, the group did arrive in time to stop Serra from fighting Aichi; Gaillard fought Serra and won, and Serra was banished back to Earth.
And then there were a couple more fights...and then it was time for Kai and Aichi to fight, maybe knock some sense into Aichi. Before the fight, Aichi expressed his disappointment that Ren and Leon had abandoned their neutral position and laid down a condition for the fight: if he won, then Kai, Naoki, Ren, and Leon would become his new Quatre Knights.
But of course he didn't; Kai won and Kai found another solution to his problem. When the Link Joker seed emerged at the end of the fight to try to latch onto Kai, Aichi's ace Blaster Blade also appeared and cut the seed to pieces. Those pieces embedded themselves in everyone gathered there as well as a few friends on Earth.
Blaster Blade then explained that while it was impossible to destroy Link Joker for good, each of the fragments of the seed was weak and wouldn't be a danger to its host. His sword also imbued the seed pieces with a new property: every time someone with the seed fought someone else who was a decent person, the seed would split and half would go to that person, and eventually Link Joker might learn not to be so bad and Cray might accept than as a new clan.
And so with Link Joker taken care of once and for all, everyone went back to Earth to return to their normal lives, and everyone's memories of Aichi returned.
Personality:
At one point, Kai calls Ren "capricious and delicate", and he would know better than anyone how apt that description is. Ren's core personality is whimsical and carefree to the point that he often seems air-headed and absentminded. In fact, he generally plays up those traits because he knows it's what people expect of him and he finds it amusing; he likes having the choice of being able to act however he wants. Ren generally acts on his whims, living from moment to moment, and changes his temperament at the drop of a hat, though his default mood is fairly chipper and friendly.
However, beneath all the silliness is a person who is actually extremely perceptive, calculating, and manipulative, and Ren often approaches situations far more seriously than his outer persona would suggest. Much of that was honed through years of playing Vanguard and his time under the influence of Psyqualia--and in fact, it's during Vanguard fights that his seriousness most often shines through--but Ren had that potential even when he was younger. Despite his seeming absentmindedness, Ren is quick to pick up on details and connect events and is often one of the first to remark on a situation, though his remarks aren't always helpful.
The manipulation in particular is a large part of his character. Throughout season one, Ren constantly manipulated the people around him to do what he wanted; this was particularly clear with Aichi, whom Ren manipulated into being possessed by Psyqualia multiple times, but Ren did it with others too. Even in season two when Ren was at his least villainous, he had no problem manipulating what he wanted out of others; for instance, by leaving Asaka out of his winning formula for the VF Circuit, because he knew it would only make Asaka work harder.
As his true balanced self, this generally takes the form of his outwardly cheerful and absentminded personality. While that is and always has been a key part of his personality, Ren will play it up or down to suit his needs. When Kai came to him to ask about Aichi's disappearance, Ren deliberately acted as "normal" as possible, almost obnoxiously so, by never giving a straight answer to any questions, either by answering vaguely or ignoring the questions entirely. He does something similar when he's trying to get information himself, by asking questions in a way he thinks will cause the other person to give up more information than they really mean to.
While some people can see right through him, either because they know him too well (Kai, Tetsu, Leon) or because they have a similar personality themselves (Suiko), his act does manage to fool most people. Although this has lead a few people to wonder if he's really any good at Vanguard, because he seems too silly to actually play well.
Tetsu, Ren's oldest friend, had this to say about him (and Kai): "...they both hate anything crooked, and they both stick to the decisions they've made. And also, they value their friends more than anything." Ren showcases those traits throughout the series, even as a villain. Most of Ren's nastiness and manipulation in season one is a direct result of his determination to prove to Kai, and later Aichi, that he'd made the right decision and Kai was wrong. Not to mention, the reason he'd been so desperate to improve at Vanguard and then embraced Psyqualia so completely was for the sake of his friends and their chances at the national tournament. One reason he hated Kai for leaving was that it seemed like Kai was abandoning his friends and didn't appreciate Ren's efforts to help them.
However, at no time does Ren better show off those traits than when he stood at the front lines of the fight against Link Joker. More than once, he stated that he was willing to put his life on the line in order to save his friends from Reverse, and he seemed personally offended that they had ever been Reversed at all. He was also offended at the idea that his friends might not want his help, or that they felt he didn't value them, because there is almost nothing else in the world he values more. This was also at the heart of his decision not to become a Quatre Knight--which involved sealing away a friend and betraying another by keeping it secret--as well as his determination not to aid Kai either--because doing so would also mean betraying a friend.
He eventually does help Kai, but only because he feels that helping Kai will lead to helping Aichi without having to seal anyone away and that's a good enough compromise for him to justify it. He was also the first to speak up and volunteer when Kai asked who would be willing to take on the Link Joker seed instead of Aichi.
Ren's dislike of "anything crooked" also shows itself anytime Void makes an appearance. While Ren does state more than once that he's not really the type to go out and save the world or that he doesn't care if the fate of the world is riding on his fights, he's still the one who ends up at the forefront of the battle. His was the group that made their way to Void-possessed Leon first to stop him (although he did let Kai handle that), and when Ren got to the main fight with Link Joker, he made his way straight to Void-possessed Takuto to stop him.
That said, Ren's statements about himself make it clear he doesn't consider himself a hero or even a great person. Oh, Ren has plenty of self-esteem and confidence in himself and his abilities, but he did some bad things because of Psyqualia and he's very aware of it. His methods of dealing with it are by making fun of himself (re: saving the world, "we're not really into that kind of thing") and teasing his friends about it (making himself exude power like "that Ren" and dressing up in his old clothes), and again, through his outwardly cheery persona which is similar to how he was before Psyqualia--methods which give him control of how it's brought up or allow him to avoid it.
But when someone else directly brings up the fact that he used to be a villain and he has the option of being one again, Ren is visibly disturbed and contemptuous of the idea, states shortly that he doesn't need it, and quickly moves on. Even later when Ren does end up Reversed, although he accepts it and only seems glad he could have such a good fight with Kai, he puts off drawing his last damage point as long as possible, going through the motions even though he knew there was no way for him to avoid losing.
Ren has good reason to be wary of the lure of power. While Psyqualia is a useful power, it comes with a heavy cost--Psyqualia warps the personality of the person using it and brings their most negative traits right to the forefront. Under Psyqualia's influence, Ren became arrogant, condescending, and cruel. He saw no value in anyone weaker than himself, living by the motto "The powerless fall into despair and those with power get all the glory." He had no problem kicking Asaka off the team because she lost once, despite her otherwise flawless record, and eventually even rejected the idea of friendship entirely. Psyqualia also brought out a mean streak that had him mercilessly mocking other people and teams, saying that they were wasting their time by even thinking they might be on his level, as well as a thirst for power that went beyond the Vanguard arena.
In short, he was a terrible person. However, as Aichi put it with his own warped self, those traits were always in there; Ren always had the potential to be power-hungry and spiteful. And those traits didn't go away when Ren lost his Psyqualia or gained a Psyqualia that didn't have that effect; those traits were there and they were always going to be there. In fact, Ren still sometimes slips during a fight, most notably when he was fighting Reversed Kai and he came very close to reverting back, close enough that it worried Aichi. He also has very little patience for anyone who angers him and wastes his time (with villain speeches) and will often be short with them or his mocking condescension will shine through.
However, the experience was overall good for him. While Ren was perfectly capable of being serious before Psyqualia, his Psyqualia dialed back his silliness quite a bit (though not completely) and kept him in more of a serious mood most of the time. He either got used to it or learned from the experience, because while he does act more like his old self now, it's still toned down a bit and there are situations where he generally acts more seriously than not, like Vanguard fights. Kai mentioned at one point that prior to Psyqualia, Ren's odd behavior was on display even during Vanguard fights, but now it's generally only there during a fight if he's deliberately playing it up.
Speaking of Ren's behavior during fights, Ren loves Vanguard fights and he especially loves fights against an opponent that is a serious challenge, and it definitely shows. His statement about not caring about the fate of the world was probably genuine at the time, because at the time he was fighting a Kai who was stronger than ever and he was absolutely thrilled; he really didn't care about anything else. He also has more fun with a fight the more dangerous it gets and the more he gets backed into corners; any time it looks like he might be in genuine danger of losing and being Reversed, he only gets more into it. Though that isn't only true of Vanguard fights; in any situation, Ren's eagerness and interest directly corresponds with how dangerous and intriguing it's become.
Ren especially enjoys being in a difficult situation and beating it. Specifically, he says there would be "no greater pleasure in the world" than beating Reverse Kai, whom he deems his strongest and most worthy opponent. Though in general, Ren enjoys fighting Kai more than he does anyone else.
Overall, what Ren values most is freedom--his freedom to do what he likes when he likes, in particular. This was the general theme of his episodes of fighting against Reverse; each of his opponents was trying to make him conform to a certain image they had of him: with Suiko it was the Ren who pursued power at any cost and fell to the dark side, with Asaka it was a Ren who would be her toy and only ever look at her, with Tetsu it was a Ren who actually took his position as a top-class fighter serious and would stand as king over all others. In every case, Ren was irritated by the idea of being controlled and having his future dictated for him, and he fought just as hard against those ideas as he did to save his friends.
In the end, Ren says he hates deciding things beforehand and he wants to always be free, and his actions throughout the show reflect that. Most of the time (when the fate of his friends isn't at stake), Ren just acts on his whims and does whatever he likes, even if that means taking a nap with his cat during club time instead of being a responsible club president and actually being there on time. (Ren doesn't handle responsibility well unless it's responsibility he's placed on himself, and this is the biggest reason why.)
Abilities:
Psyqualia
This is one of the main supernatural powers in CFV. It's a bit convoluted and vague and Ren's relationship with it is complicated, so...here we go.
The Vanguard card game is centered around lore about the planet Cray, a distant world inhabited by squabbling clans of various creatures. When a Vanguard fight starts, the two players appear on Cray as spirits and have the ability to call or possess members of their respective clans to fight for them in the game. When a player is hit by too many attacks, their spirit must leave Cray and they lose the game.
For the most part, this is just a cute story to get you invested in the game. however, it turns out that Cray is actually a real place. The first time it's mentioned, it's said that the real Cray is slowly being consumed by a destructive, nihilistic force called Void. The various clans disagreed on how best to deal with Void and eventually rallied behind two clans in particular, who would duke it out to decide whose idea to follow. One of those clans was Ren's while the other was Aichi Sendou's.
Psyqualia is stated to be an ability which synchronizes a Vanguard fighter with his actual units on Cray, in order for that fighter to help decide Cray's future. It seems to take a lot of energy to use, so it doesn't come upon a fight all at once, giving the fighter time to adjust to using it without fainting every time. This also means it has a few "levels" to it:
1. at the lowest and simplest level, Psyqualia acts as a sort of guide, showing the fighter things like how best to build their deck, what plays to make in a fight to ensure victory, what cards are next in the deck, and so on. This is often described and shown as literally talking with the cards or "hearing the voices of the cards"
(It's magical top-decking. Basically.)
2. the fighter can see an extremely vivid "image" of Cray. This has always been shown as seeing the key card that will win the fight.
3. actually being a spirit on Cray/having an extremely vivid image of being a spirit on Cray
4. dragging other people with into your extremely vivid image of being spirits on Cray
5. and at the highest level, actual possession of your unit & synchronization with the fight on Cray. At this level, the fighters feel any attack they deliver or receive. (however, this only happens when two people with Psyqualia are fighting each other and have it active)
Other things Psyqualia can do:
-One person using Psyqualia can drag another who has it into see what he's seeing (this is somewhat different from #4 above because it doesn't have to be intentional and it might only be the "image of victory" vision).
-Fighters with Psyqualia can call out to each other through their units (at one point, Ren directs Aichi to walk across half a city through their shared Blaster Dark cards)
-Fighters with Psyqualia can sense when another of them is using it, and they can even track each other down that way. They can also tap into it at a low enough level that it allows other users to sense it without actually using any of the above abilities.
-Psyqualia can help suppress the effects of Reverse (Void's special brainwashing power), although this is shown to be extremely difficult and can even endanger the fighter's life
Ren had and regularly used his Psyqualia for at least two years, so he became extremely proficient at using it (in fact, his scenes are mostly what are referenced above). Even after he briefly lost it and lost all memory of it, he could use it easily when he got it back.
That said, once he has his memory of it back, his attitude toward it is decidedly negative and the most he ever does with it is exude power to make his fellow Psyqualia fighters nervous. It not a power he'll use willy-nilly as of his pull-point.
IN GAME LIMITATION: any of Psyqualia's abilities that involve being on Cray will instead be limited to a hallucination of being on Cray. Because obviously Ren shouldn't be sending anyone's mind to another planet like that.
Other Supernatural
-Ren can see cards glow when they're in the hands of an "interesting" fighter. Such fighters include himself, Kai, Aichi, and Tetsu. This is an ability he's shown as having before getting Psyqualia.
-Ren has an extremely accurate knack for picking out fighters who have to potential to be excellent players. This is probably related to seeing glowing cards, but that was never stated.
-Ren has a fragment of the Link Joker seed. Which doesn't mean a whole lot, because it only splits and spreads through Vanguard fights, and it's too small to gain enough power to affect its host, but it's there.
Other/Non-Supernatural
-Even without Psyqualia, Ren is one of the top Vanguard fighters in the world. Kai states that Ren has a talent for intuitively understanding the special properties of any deck he might pick up, and that is indeed a talent Ren shows repeatedly. He has an extensive knowledge of the game and seeks to expand that knowledge whenever he can. With his own deck, Ren has such confidence and uses it so skillfully that it often looks as though he still is using Psyqualia.
-Ren is a good strategist and he's extremely perceptive. He notices details and connects events with ease, and he can quickly see through a situation and devise the best way to deal with it.
-He is an excellent actor when he wants to be, and he does fairly good impressions too.
-It's implied that Ren is a pretty decent cook.
Strengths:
-amiable
-loyal
-quick-witted
-gallant
-manipulative
Weaknesses:
-flighty
-intensely competitive
-selfish
-stubborn
-callous
God/Shinki: God
Why?: Ren's usual approach to any form of responsibility is to just pass it on to Tetsu, so having to be responsible for something, even if it's something as small as his shinki's welfare, without that crutch would be a good experience for him. He's capable of it, he just needs a little push to actually do it. And while he actually wouldn't be a bad fit as a shinki either, he would probably end up blighting the hell out of any god who had him.
Top 3 Choices: Inanna, Eris, and Caer Ibormeith
God Type: Ren is very much a "does what he wants" kind of person. If living up to his past life seems interesting, he'll do it, and if doing his own thing seems like more fun, he'll do that too. He will feel a small amount of obligation to actually do his job and help people who ask, because he's not heartless, but it will be on his terms and that small amount of obligation may not always be enough to get him off his butt. The prayers he's most likely to answer are ones that seem challenging or uniquely interesting in some way, or involve someone who seems lost or misguided. Since...he's been there. And it was bad.
Two things Ren will take seriously are taking care of his shinki, since that's a more personal responsibility than a few random humans' wishes, and the threat of the ayakashi--because that's going to remind him a little too much of Void/Reverse. Ren might say he doesn't care about saving the world, but he's a filthy liar.
Power: http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_Mimicry
Writing Sample
Sample:
Ren slumped heavily in his brand new office chair and absently kicked against the ground to spin himself around. It wasn't as comfortable as the one he used to have. but he'd obtained it all by himself, so maybe that was okay. Tetsu would have been proud of him, and Ren always liked it when Tetsu was proud of him. Even if he rarely made any real effect to earn that praise.
Tetsu would have been proud of a lot of what he'd been doing here.
Ren slowly came to a stop in just the right position to stare out a nearby window. The sky was cloudy and dark today, and he smiled very slightly at how appropriate that felt right now.
He missed Tetsu. And Asaka, for that matter. Ever since he had met them, he had rarely spent more than a couple days away from their company, much less several weeks. He had always been able to count on one of them being there, even when he hadn't deserved such faithful company. He did like that his shinki could fill that role for them, but it wasn't the same. His shinki wasn't Tetsu.
Not that he ever wanted his shinki to be Tetsu. Or rather, he didn't want Tetsu or Asaka or anyone else to be his shinki...or anyone else's, for that matter. That would be awful, seeing them like that and knowing that they had died somehow and couldn't remember anything of who they were, or who he was. He missed them, but he didn't miss them that much.
But they weren't the only ones he missed either.
Ren pulled out his deck as he shifted until he was sideways in his seat. He started kicking one of his legs to start spinning himself again as he slipped the top card of of the deck case to stare at it for a moment.
"You probably miss Blaster Blade too, don't you?" he murmured. "He was only free from Link Joker for a few minutes before we woke up here. You probably didn't even get to see him..."
Ren felt only a vague sense of agreement that might have only been his imagination from the version of Blaster Dark in his fingers, but that was all right. He didn't have to hear their voices to know his units could hear him. Not anymore.
He really did miss Aichi. At least, he missed knowing that Aichi was there for him to fight whenever he wanted, even if he didn't always take advantage of that. He missed knowing Aichi was in the world. That had certainly been part of why had hadn't wanted to seal Aichi away in the first place. The world was better off with Aichi in it.
And if there was anyone who was suited to being a god, it was Sendou Aichi.
Ren closed his eyes as he imagined Aichi as some kind of brilliant god of light and goodness and self-sacrifice, something that was the opposite of Ren's darkness and selfishness, the way he always had been...of course, the only image he could settle on was Aichi as Blaster Blade or Gancelot, but of course that was why they suited him so perfectly.
And Kai...Ren 's fingers trembled as he tried not to want desperately to see Kai again. Kai could be a fierce god of war that no one would want to cross, or maybe fire, with the way he and his deck blazed so brightly. And Leon would of course be a god of wind, though Ren could almost hear Leon chastising him for even suggesting it. Leon's sense of humor was abysmal at the best of times.
He had to open his eyes again because that plus the spinning chair was making him dizzy. And then as the doorway passed in front of him, he saw the highly unamused figure of his new constant companion waiting there for him. Probably because...he promised they would go out and do their jobs today and then had come in here and gotten distracted.
Ren slouched even further in his chair for all of one more revolution, then he sighed and waved that he would be coming as he started trying to disentangle himself from the chair. Tetsu would be proud of how responsible he had been lately, but that didn't mean he liked it or that it came easy to him.
He did pause for one more moment to look over Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss" again. And then he slipped the card back into with the rest of his deck and tucked his deck away again.
"I'm sure we'll see them again. Someday."
Other
Anything Else?: Not that I can think of! Thank you for putting up with this big, long thing!