Riku Toiiku

Riku Toiiku
Gender	Male
Race	Lalafell
Clan	Dunesfolk
Citizenship	None
Age	Appearance/Mental: 10-12 /// Active: 2-4 /// Chronological: 7-9
Affiliations	Tatsugawa Family / The Black Shroud Wildlife
Occupation	None
Class	Rogue

Riku Toiiku

Riku is a young, incredibly timid lalafell with a playful curiosity that only shows when he is comfortable. He is feral by nature, especially having spent a large portion of his life in the wilderness. Social customs tend to either confuse him or anger him, depending on how much they contrast with his own ideas of logic. Innuendo and euphemisms are entirely lost on Riku, and any talk about romance or sexuality has little meaning to him. Despite appearing to be incredibly fragile, clumsy and anxious, Riku is a fierce fighter, especially when protecting his friends. Despite his great improvement in confidence when in combat, Riku still abhors killing and will often go to great lengths to keep his opponent alive whilst still completing his objectives, no matter who or what said opponent is.

Riku's time spent in solitude has made him incredibly detached to social life. However, due to his timid nature, and the vast amount of discomfort even one stranger amongst a crowd of friends can bring him, Riku has been known to become clingy and seek more physical comfort from those he is comfortable around. His sensitivity toward social situations is so intense that being the centre of attention for a prolonged period is enough to make him cry.

With a confusing past and even stranger unsolved mysteries, those who seek to uncover the origins of this peculiar lalafell may only find truth that calls into question Riku's entire existence. One thing is for certain - his birth was not on natural terms; and his purpose (long abandoned) was a dark one. Not even Riku knows the secrets to his origins; but a keen observer may find links between this and the interest in Riku that had led to his petrification during the calamity. Beyond that... it would take careful research to illuminate further details. Research that would no doubt require Riku's cooperation.

Theme Tune: Click to listen!

(Title: Traverse the Void) (Composer: Ricky Bennett)

Battle Theme: Click to listen!

(Title: Little Fury) (Composer: Ricky Bennett)

Basic Info

*Pronunciation: ri:ku: ˈtoʊi:ku:

• Age: Appearance/Mental: 10-12 /// Active: 2-4 /// Chronological: 7-9
• Race: Lalafell
• Clan: Dunesfolk
• Gender:Biologically Male, Mentally Androgynous
• Sexuality:Asexual (not attracted to any gender or variation thereof)
• Current Residence: Tatsugawa Residence
• Place of Birth: Unknown
• Relatives: Immediate Family - None / Adoptive Family - The Tatsugawas
• Affiliations: Wildlife of The Black Shroud
• Occupation: None
• Religion/Philosophy: Open-Minded
• Combat Style: Once skilled with the lance, Riku's recent time spent in the wilderness has dulled his discipline, causing him to abandon his Dragoon status for a more wild and feral form of combat. Fast, agile, but physically weak, Riku relies on small, sharp weaponry, his instinct for physics and momentum and his impressive acrobatic skills to defeat any opponent that he wishes.
• The Echo: Although Riku has the power of the Echo, he has never experienced it beyond the ability to understand all languages of speech.
• Status: Riku is currently suffering from amnesia caused by an extended period of time petrified to stone by an unknown mage during the fall of Dalamud. As his memory only dates back to the return of the lost Warriors of Light, having had spent the majority of his time since then in the wilderness, Riku's social ability has diminished somewhat and he has difficulty finding the will to speak in less-than-vital situations or recall etiquette that does not coincide in what he believes is morally obligatory.

Backstory

Origins

THIS SECTION CONTAINS BACKSTORY SPOILERS, SOME OF WHICH RIKU DOES NOT YET KNOW.

In the years prior to the fall of Dalamud, there once existed another Riku Toiiku. He was a Plainsfolk of Garlean origins and son to a mage who dabbled in experimental science and Allagan technology. Born with a life-threatening disease, his life-expectancy was destined to be short, and there seemed to be no medicine that could cure it. His father, Lokiku Toiiku, a Dunesfolk-Plainsfolk cross-breed, simply could not accept this fate, so began to attempt to find a method to cure his son. His answers came in the form of a discovery of Allagan cloning devices - he could simply clone his son and transfer his mind to the new vessel.

So Lokiku got to work in repairing and modifying the devices so that they would operate alongside Garlean equipment. Determining the disease of his son to be dependent on Plainsfolk genes, Lokiku set about using his knowledge of Allagan artefacts to modify the genetic code of the clone body so that the Dunesfolk traits that made up a quarter of his son's DNA wound be prevalent. From here, the cloning operation began, creating the being that was destined to assume the name of Lokiku's son. During the time it took for the clone to mature at an accelerated rate, the Garlean military caught wind of the experiments and were determined to use the outcome as a means to test the viability of using Lokiku and his laboratory to create further clones for military purposes. It was then that tragedy struck - the original Riku Toiiku was unable to hold on to life long enough for the cloning process to complete. And with the Empire demanding his findings, Lokiku had no choice but to continue work on his new creation. Filled with grief-stricken madness, Lokiku named the newly-matured clone after his son. Upon his bosses' instructions, he began implanting false memories into the lalafell in order to make it susceptible to obedience and have the pre-knowledge of combat capability. It was from this procedure that the Riku Toiiku who would come to adventure across Eorzea was born.

Before the clone could reach full maturity, however, a mysterious elezen mage stepped in. Claiming to be able to see the future, he saw the threat of this technology falling into Garlean hands. And thus, he destroyed the lab as thoroughly as he could. Taking the new Riku - who had only matured to the state of a pre-teen child - from the hands of Lokiku and hiding him in Eorzea, the elezen had begun the first chapter of Riku's wakeful life. Watching from a distance as the child first awakened, the elezen mage knew that one day he would have to return to once again rescue the unfortunate Dunesfolk. Even if it was in order to task Riku with delivering a single sword to the Order of the Twin adders, it was important that he would save the child after the rebirth of the realm. Every little gear in a machine has its own importance, after all; and if not for Riku delivering this weapon personally, the future that the mage envisioned would never come to pass.

Before Meteor

Riku believed that his arrival in Eorzea was down to travelling the world as a wanderer, a journey beginning in a distant forested land where Riku supposedly grew up after the early death of his parents. In truth, none of these memories in fact happened. Riku's arrival was as much shrouded in mystery from himself and the rest of Eorzea as his origins were.

Gridania was the city Riku first chose as residence. He found the forest to be a comforting presence, and the people of the Gridania to be suitably attuned to nature. Although like any stranger, Riku was not received warmly, he soon found his place amongst the people there as a lancer, working alongside but not for the Wood Wailers.

Riku's first trip to Ul'dah introduced him to an adventurer organisation known as Corvus Cinis. It was there that he found his first occupation. And so Riku moved to their headquarters to reside with his new friends, especially a lalafell girl named Miyuki Tatsugawa.

Riku's life began to take on more meaning as he was trained in the art of dragoon combat by a Coerthan knight, as well as being recruited into the Order of the Twin Adder, of which he eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant. He fought hard during the Garlean invasions, finding wrestling with his emotions more difficult than battling the enemy infantry.

Eventually, Riku's skills at combat met their match when he was tasked with defeating a mysterious Garlean mage and scientist hiding out in Mor Dhona. Riku was consequently petrified to stone for five years.

A Realm Reborn

Stripped of his memories, Riku was returned to flesh by another mage, who claimed to be able to see the future up to the point of his death - every possible future - and thus aspired to subtly influence events to achieve the best possible future by the time of his eviction from life. Riku was a small part of this mage's plan, and so was restored to once more traverse the continent of Eorzea. Feral yet well spoken, naïve yet wise, weak yet skillful, Riku resumed his self-proclaimed purpose of protecting Eorzea, whilst simultaneously battling with feelings related to his new-found knowledge of his birth. Information that he was advised to tell only the few he trusted explicitly.

A short time after Riku had been restored, he found himself returning to Coerthas, where he was recognised by his former trainer. Though Riku returned to his duties, he found it difficult to adapt to an old life that he had forgotten, and so chose to leave that life behind him.

After coming to conflict with civilised customs, Riku spent around a year or so living in the wilderness. This year drastically changed the manner in which he carried himself; from a timid, depressed, but dutiful warrior to a more uncivilised individual favouring more erratic styles of combat.

Appearance

Stature

Riku is a small lalafell boy appearing to be around ten to twelve years old. His skinny body seems unlikely to be that of a warrior, but what he lacks in muscle, he makes up for with skill, agility and knowledge of momentum.

Facial Features

Riku has ginger-coloured hair, kept semi-tidy on account of efforts by the Tatsugawa family to keep his personal grooming in check. Riku's heterochromic eyes are a stark contrast of a deep purple and a calming spring green. His features borderline on handsome, only prevented from reaching that classification by strongly child-like features. A band of dense freckles covers the area over his nose. Riku appears to have a red mark on his face, almost like a tattoo, but appearing to appear as if it was part of his natural skin, rather than being an addition. This tattoo was not present prior to the calamity and seems to be magical in property.

Bodily Features

Riku's skin is incredibly pale, and appears to glow when light hits it. For some reason, he seems almost immune to sunburn, despite his skin colouration and poor heat tolerance. Riku's skin is also prone to turning pinkish hues, as is most visible in the colour of his cheeks. The tips of his toes, fingers and the soles and palms of his feet and hands are also slightly more pink than the rest of his body.

Riku has one distinctive scar across his left breast from an unknown incident. The scar has still not fully healed, hinting at just how deep the original wound was. Other than that, despite the odd cuts and bruises from time spent in combat or playing in the wilderness, his body is generally undamaged.

In the past, many residents of Eorzea could claim to have seen the entirety of his body on account of Riku's naturist tendencies. He has since calmed down a lot in this area, howwever.

Personality

Riku is an incredibly timid boy. The slightest scare can easily set him off in panic, and he will often hide away from strangers. Despite being solitary, he will seek protection from his friends when in social discomfort. Although Riku is used to being alone and does not like spending too much time in the company of others, the comfort offered by a close friend is something he likes to seek out when he returns home after a day of adventuring. Riku has a feral view on the world, despite being incredibly protective of everything and everyone. Despite this, however, Riku has a wise side to his personality and a large vocabulary that despite consisting of a great number of words is absent of some of the less literal colloquialisms and ideas of the civilised world. Riku's wisdom is mostly revolved around his own moral views, with which he can easily inspire fallen warriors to reclaim their blades and resume fighting for the good of the people.

Sexuality

Having spent most of his life alone in the wilderness, Riku has no notion of romance or any knowledge of sexual desire. Perhaps influenced by such facts, Riku is an asexual boy, meaning he is not attracted to either gender. He does, however, have the capability to love someone very intensely in a platonic manner, as he has shown by his quite deep platonic relationship with his adoptive sister Miyuki.

Alignment

Riku is a neutral-good individual. Almost all of his efforts go toward aiding those in need, and he has little thought for himself, except when he has nothing else to do. Although he respects and obeys laws, if such a rule were to contrast with his sense of morality, he would happily disregard it.

Motivations

The main motivation for any action Riku performs is the well-being and safety of other individuals - especially his friends. However, there are also a number of items that he will personality work to possess. Such items are mostly specific foods he has a fondness for, and include tea, raw meat, raw fish and milk. As well as all of this, Riku would happily take any excuse to explore new lands.

Fears

Being a timid and jumpy individual, Riku has a significant list of personal fears. Firstly, he can often become panicked when confronted with a crowd of people. As well as this, he is easily intimidated by an individual's appearance, should they look frightening to him. Thirdly, Riku is scared of strangers and will even often stop talking in the middle of a sentence should a stranger walk into the room. Riku is also rather jumpy, andd is frightened by even the slightest of sudden noises or movements. Finally, the last of Riku's most prominent fears is his disliking of social attention. He has been known to burst into tears after prolonged attention by too many individuals.

Demeanour

As well as being excessively timid, Riku is also incredibly curious. He has often been accused of being nosey and enjoys examining strange new artefacts. This curiosity is usually accompanied by a playfulness that often causes others to regret allowing him access to rare treasures. Riku enjoys climbing, playing with animals, and even playing with toys in a manner a child half his age would. Despite his shyness, Riku is very friendly and does not anger easily. He never holds a grudge, although his trust for an individual can sharply drop if said individual teases him or acts in a manner he finds inhumane or unfair.

Talents

Riku has a potential talent in the fields of mathematics and physics, having an affinity with numbers and calculations. As well as this, he could become a musical prodigy and has a pleasant singing voice. Also, Riku is a skilled swordsman and lancer with a moderate knowledge of arcany. His combat style is often based about his acrobatic and athletic ability which he has built up over the years of surviving in the wild. His perceptive ability is also above average from time spent in dangerous places. His hearing is particularly sensitive, but his eyesight is also above average. However, oddly, he has never had a particularly good sense of smell.

Riku does have some major weaknesses on the other hand. Firstly, he is incredibly clumsy, and has been known to quite often break or drop fragile objects. This means that he is unsuitable for crafting and has difficulty with even the basics of crafting chores. He also has little to no knowledge about geography and finds human geography especially difficult to grasp, particularly when it comes to the commercial aspects. His ability with natural geography is quite decent however, due to the sciences involved, but when it comes to mapping, using maps, and following his sense of direction, Riku is at a major disadvantage. He has an absolutely terrible sense of direction and can easily get lost in a place, even if he has been living there for a while. Generally he has more difficulty with this in cities rather than forests and plains.

Despite Riku's skill with weaponry and his agility, the child has poor physical strength, even for one of his age.

Riku has recently taken to learning basic arcany, mostly through enjoyment of the mathematical aspects, but also through the large quantity of healing magics. Riku has an especially personalised form of the cure spell with which he channels his own willpower and emotions to calm or cheer up those whom he uses his magic on.

Musical Talents

Riku was once musically gifted and is skilled in a variety of music instruments. Since he lost his memories, most of these skills have been forgotten. Riku also has a pleasant singing voice, and the ability to almost perfectly stay in tune to a song even without a backing melody to guide him. Despite how his voice sounds untrained and lacks the usual flourishes and effects professionals are known to include in their vocals, Riku's voice has much potential.

Interests

Riku enjoys cold weather and darkness rather alot. His poor heat tolerance gives him a disliking to hot weather, and he often feels safer at night, when less people are awake and the air becomes quiet and still. He also prefers quiet, natural environments to loud, busy cities. As well as this, Riku has a particular fondness for large rodents, having spent a lot of time sleeping alongside them and becoming friends with various marmot families. This drives him to feel great distaste for anyone he discovers killing them for reasons other than survival.

Riku has a huge dislike for impoliteness in general, especially rude behaviour, bad manners and vulgarity - although he can rarely tell when the latter is being performed due to his naïveté. he also dislikes prejudice and unfairness, and holds little respect for those who treat others harshly. When such treatment falls upon him, Riku can often get upset easily and start crying.

Hobbies

Riku's main hobbies include studying physics and mathematics, learning to play music, studying arcany, exploring the wilderness, climbing trees and petting marmots. He also enjoys being one with nature, although has learned to refrain from doing so in cities.

Additional Features

Intelligence

Riku is very intelligent but also incredibly naïve. He is quick to believe another's word due to his gullibility and has difficulty telling lies. Despite how easily he can fall for a trick, Riku is slow to trust anyone. He does, however, have a strong sense of logic.

Wisdom

Despite poor common sense and social skills, Riku has surprising wisdom in a few specific areas of thought. He is especially good at motivating warriors on account of his strong sense of purpose and duty.

Emotions

Riku's usual emotional state is that of timidness and nervousness. However, when comfortable, the boy can become rather calm and friendly. His feelings can be easily hurt, on the other hand, and so if pushed he may quickly break down in tears. On rare occasions he has been known to get angry when those he cares about are threatened.

Voice

Riku's voice is soft and quiet. It is also somewhat high-pitched without being unpleasant. His voice has a childish tone to it that makes him sound even younger than he already is, even by lalafell vocal standards.

Relationships

Adoptive Family

Miyuki Tatsugawa: Riku's big sister, Miyuki is the person with whom Riku has the closest relationship. There are no physical or mental boundaries between them, as they have possibly the closest platonic relationship in all of Eorzea. Miyuki's name was the only thought that survived his petrification, as if it guided him back to consciousness. Despite her being his sister, Riku sees Miyuki as his guardian.

Friends

Trelna Milna: A male lalafell about the same age as Riku, their first post-meteor encounter involved Riku wandering Thanalan entirely naked without a care what onlookers thought. Due to exposure to this, Trelna was eventually persuaded by Riku to appreciate the naturist take on life. Riku and Trelna fast became friends since.

Acquaintances

Seseriku Viviriku: A fallen warrior whom Riku had persuaded not to give up on his purpose, Sese is a male lalafell swordsman of the Immortal Flames. Riku had to quickly overcome his fears and timid nature in order to stop this fallen warrior from descending into the oblivion of self-doubt.

Myxie Tryxle: A Scholar whom Riku had escorted into battle, she seemed smart and well-versed in arcany. Riku views her as a potential ally after he accompanied her to Behemoth's Dominion to witness a battle between members of Corvus Cinis.

Alothia Starkwood: Another individual from Riku's forgotten past, the moment Riku had heard her name, he seemed to find it familiar on account of his strong connection with the Miqo'te woman who once looked after him during his time residing in Ul'dah before the calamity. Although he does not remember her, he feels some strange importance with her, and so aided in her recovery from the events at Behemoth's Dominion through use of a mentally-calming curative spell, with which he drove her nightmares away. After speaking with her, Riku is finding himself diverting from his usual travels to and from Coerthas to visit her, so that he may learn more of his past.

Lainseworth Ravencraft: A lalafell Riku has now met multiple times. Riku has determined he is a friend of Lenana.

Enemies

Lenana Milna: An old friend to Riku, Lenana was once one of those he trusted the most. However, after a falling out, Riku decided that Lenana did not value his friendship to the extent he expected. Not long after, Riku forwent the customs of civilisation to live in the wilderness amongst the wild animals. After months passed in this state, Lenana's apparent lack of interest or care in his actions led him to believe she could not be trusted to be a friend. In fact, he felt betrayed by the fact she had not even tried to contact him. Believing her to be cold and 'civilised' (which to Riku is a negative thing), Riku now believes Lenana to be an enemy.

Animal Companions

Tymrii: A Coeurl that was captured and held by criminals in the black shroud as part of an illegal circus, Riku rescued the beast a short time after his own release from petrification. Although Riku is not Tymrii's master, the Coeurl allows Riku to ride upon its back to wherever he pleases.

Arthur: (deceased) Riku's former chocobo, Arthur went missing somewhere around the time of his petrification and is presumed dead.

Rumours

La Noscea

"The Tatsugawa boy? Aye, queer kid, he be. Walkin' around in armour like some sorta 'ero. Kid like that gonna get 'urt doin' things like that."

Thanalan

"You mean that strange boy always walking around the desert naked? Sometimes I've seen him acting like a wild animal. He's not normal, I tell ye."

The Black Shroud

"I'm seen him passing through - on the back of a Coeurl, no less."

"He used to be a lieutenant for the Order of the Twin Adders. Been missing for five years, though. Odd, he doesn't seem to have aged a bit. Sure, lalafell don't seem to age much, but... they still grow into adulthood. There's something queer about him..."

Coerthas

"Some say he was a dragoon. Though others deny any such thing. Went missing for five years, I've heard. I reckon it's all just a joke circulating amongst the knights."

OOC Information

• Most lalafell hate cold temperatures, whereas Riku for some reason loves them. This is due to numerous things, including personal preferences.
• Riku is completely asexual (in terms of sexuality, not biology). His relationship with Miyuki is completely platonic, even though it often does not appear as so.
• Riku's skill with combat, including the use of lances and small blades, makes him a combatant at the same level as some of the more skillful people in Eorzea. He still has room to improve, however, but can still be placed among the elite. As well as this, Riku also has some skill with hand-to-hand combat, but due to his physical strength, is unsuitable for the role. He does, however, incorporate some of the hand-to-hand style in his rogue-style combat.
• To other Lalafell, Riku is very obviously young. Not only is he small, but his facial features and his mannerisms are child-like. He clearly looks under twelve years of age. To non-Lalafell, however, it may be difficult to determine his age as Lalafell often look child-like to the other races. Riku is certainly a young Lalafell, though, going by his personality. His height might even make him appear as a child to those who have spent more time around Lalafell or are perceptive enough to notice his height, given that where Riku would be a foot or more shorter than an adult if he were Hyur, the difference is much smaller between Lalafell, as they are a small race in the first place with a seemingly short growth period.