Strider Raiga (ストライダー雷牙, meaning Thunder Fang) is a minor character introduced in the 2014 Strider, as part of the "Fallen Striders" costume/alternate color set.
Raiga was a B-Rank Strider within the organization, and the twin brother of Strider Kuga. Like his brother and fellow B-Rank agent Shinden, Raiga wielded a Plasma Sword as his weapon of choice.[1]
Both Raiga and Kuga were known within the Striders for their team work, performing breathtaking combination attacks to subdue their targets[1]. In contrast to his brother's more calm nature, Raiga was a much more aggressive man. When they worked together, Raiga had the tendency to drag his brother along as he took the lead in battle.[1]
Raiga wore bright yellow chest armor and chaps over a blue-ish under armor, leggings and a white mask. He carried the first kanji of his name, "rai" (雷, thunder) as his personal emblem.
Story
Strider (2014)
Raiga was one of the 11 agents who infiltrated Kazakh City previous to Hiryu, carrying the mission to assassinate Grandmaster Meio. Raiga and his brother Kuga infiltrated Kazakh City together, and were eventually faced by Grandmaster Meio's personal assassins, the Winds. In the confrontation, they were unable to overcome the sisters' own combination attacks and both were eliminated in the end.[1]
Design Notes
Raiga's costume color scheme (yellow/blue) is indirectly stated to be based off the color scheme of Marvel's Wolverine[2], possibly as a nod to Hiryu's appearances in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. The scheme is also the reverse of his brother's, who wears a blue armor over a yellow under suit.
The pronunciation of Raiga's name is similar to the katakana spelling of "Liger" (ライガー), a hybrid born from a lion and a tigress. Coincidentally, the name of his brother Kuga approximates the katakana spelling of another large feline, the cougar.