Ray Kon

Ray Kon, known in the Japanese version as Rei Kon (金李, Japanese: Kon Rei, Chinese Pinyin: Jīn Lǐ), is a fictional character from the anime and manga series of Beyblade. In the anime, he is voiced by Daniel DeSanto in the US/UK version, whilst voiced by Aya Hisakawa in the Japanese version. In the Japanese versions, his given name is often written in katakana as "レイ."

It is fair to assume that Ray is one of the more popular characters of the anime/manga, furthered only by Kai. There are many likely reasons as to why this may be true. Firstly, Ray is generally referred to as a bishonen character. Because of this, he has a large female fanbase, both in and out of the series.

He is generally shown as to be calm and open minded. In fact, many comparatives can be made between his personality and Yin and Yang, which he appropriately wears the symbol of, the Taijitu. The forces of Yin and Yang are generally described as opposite but complementary forces, and the same can be said about him. He can be calm and collected, but also a fierce competitor. These two qualities can be referred to as opposites, but they are not absolute in their differences, and the same can be said about Yin and Yang. Furthermore, the forces of Yin and Yang are interdependent, meaning that they cannot exist without their counterpart. This can also be compared to Ray's personality. His whole nature seems to be similar in principal to this metaphysical concept.

First season (Beyblade)

Ray is first introduced to the show in episode 6, named Dragoon Storm. In this episode, he is portrayed as a powerful and confident competitor. However, some may say that he is shown as overconfident in some aspects, especially before the battle against Tyson had even begun. In the first battle, Ray easily, and almost effortlessly destroys Tyson's blade using his bit beast Driger's Tiger Claw attack. The following battle, Ray becomes somewhat cocky about his ability, and ends up losing the 2nd round to Tyson. Ray forfeits the final, deciding battle, saying that he had no more to prove. After the final round of the Tournament, between Tyson and Kai, Ray approaches Tyson, along with Max and Mr. Dickenson, inviting him and Kai to join the new BBA team called the Blade Breakers.

Throughout the first season, Ray is looked to for advice about battles, in much a similar way Kai is. He is generally revered as a kind hearted, polite individual, who is very welcoming when meeting new people. He is also shown as being very open minded, especially about Beyblading techniques. This is emphasised in the Asian tournament, used as a means to justify his leaving of his home village. It is also shown in this season that he has a uncle who is head chef at a restaurant in Paris, which is owned by Olivers' Dad. It is also shown that he works as a waiter in a restaurant in Hong Kong for extra cash. This has led to an opinion of him loving to cook. He also loves cats

Attacks

• Tiger Claw (Driger Slash)
• Tiger Fang (Driger Fang)

Second season (Beyblade V-Force)

Generally, Ray is shown in a similar light as to how he is portrayed in season 1, although in V-Force, he is much more critical of his performance.

A good example of Ray's kind hearted nature is shown in V-Force, in the battle against Salima and Cyber Driger. During this battle, Salima becomes somewhat hypocritical towards her original philosophies towards beyblading. Because of this, Ray spends most of the battle trying to convince her that using Cyber Driger has tainted her beliefs.

Ray uses three beyblades in the second season--Driger Fang, Driger Vulcan, and Driger Vulcan 2.

Attacks

• Vulcan Claw (Driger Vulcan)
• Vulcan Power Claw (Driger Vulcan 2)

Third season (Beyblade G-Revolution)

In this series, Ray is portrayed in a very different way from the other two series. In the previous two, he was shown as being a polite young man, but unconfident in his beyblading ability. In G-Revolution however, he is shown as being confident, almost to the point of being cocky. During this series, He leaves the Bladebreakers to help form the White Tigers X team.

Ray loses many matches in G-Revolution, but this could be put down to emphasis on plot. This means that Ray could have been used as a 'standard' or 'example' character of senses. For example, in V-Force, Ray loses against Joeseph. This could be construed as attempt to 'hype' the power of Joeseph, essentially making him appear as a larger threat to the team in the series.

Attacks Driger Gatling, Driger MS

• "Gatling Claw"
• "Gatling Claw Maximum"
• "Thunder Claw"
• "Lightning Claw"

Relationships

Kai Hiwatari: Kai and Ray are closest in age of the Bladebreakers and are shown to share a certain respect, concern and admiration. This is particularly evident in V-Force and the idea that their relationship runs deeper than friendship has garnered a large fanbase on this ground.

Mariah (Mao): Ray and Mariah are from the same village. The battle between Ray and Mariah in series 1 shows that there are feelings between them, but whether these are romantic or not is debatable. At the end of the manga, though, Ray and Mariah are married with a daughter, Ling (Rin).

Salima: Ray appears to show interest in Salima from the moment they meet and more so when she tries to protect him and his team from the plans of Team Psykick. In their final match Rei seems more concerned about her safety than his own, until Kai convinces him that she is completely under the influence of her cyber-bitbeast. After having defeated her, Ray tries to stop her from going back to her team, and when Kane later fights Tyson, Ray tries to protect Salima from the fast disintegrating building. While Salima apparently returns this interest at first, she is wholly focused on Kane and his safety towards the end of the Team Psykick arc, and largely ignores Rei's attention.

References

Ray likes eating enchiladas and katnip