Raijin (Final Fantasy VIII)

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Raijin
(雷神, Raijin?)
Enemy appearances	Boss
Other appearances	Opera Omnia Record Keeper All other appearances
Biographical information
Home	Balamb Garden
Age	18
Affiliation	SeeD
Occupation	Disciplinary committee
Physical description
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Dark brown
Gameplay details
Type	Boss
Behind the scenes information
Designer	Tetsuya Nomura

Hey, jus' like Fujin said, ya know!? We're with Seifer. Always have, always will.

Raijin

Raijin is a character from Final Fantasy VIII. He plays the role of Seifer's lackey and is fought against as a boss. He, Fujin, and their leader Seifer, make up the Balamb Garden disciplinary committee.

Profile

Appearance

Raijin is a muscular, dark-skinned 18 year-old with short black hair and dark brown eyes. He wears a blue vest and long, baggy black pants tied with a red belt and black boots. He has white bands around his forearms and wears a large yellow beaded necklace.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Raijin wears a modern outfit as opposed to his primary outfit in the original and appears similar to a hip hopper. He wears an orange tank top with black designs on his shoulders, black trousers with two red linings and a number 8 embedded at the left side and yellow and white sneakers with black soles. He also wears blue bands with white outlines and wears a chain necklace with a lightning pendant rather than his yellow beaded necklace.

Personality

Fujin tends to kick him when he talks out of line or does something stupid, which is often. He also is fond of insects, as he has checked out several books on the subject from the Balamb Garden library. He tends to add "ya know?" (simply "ya" (や) in the Japanese version) to the end of his sentences.

Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. (Skip section)

Raijin and Fujin at Galbadia Garden.

Raijin is enrolled at Balamb Garden where he, Fujin and Seifer form the Balamb Garden disciplinary committee. Rarely seen apart, the three usually bully their fellow students through punishment and detention. Their friendship is such that, when Seifer breaks out of the disciplinary room and goes rogue, Fujin and Raijin embark to find him despite the Garden already sending Quistis to do just that. Headmaster Cid instructs Fujin and Raijin to deliver new orders for Squall's party to Galbadia Garden's Headmaster.

Raijin during the Balamb Garden riot.

At Galbadia Garden, they do as they were asked and run across Squall Leonhart who informs the pair that Seifer has been executed for actions against the Galbadian president, but the two don't believe Seifer would go down so easily. The two are next seen back in Balamb Garden and help Squall evacuate the students because of the missile threat.

After that, the pair go missing and it is unknown when they reunite with Seifer but, as Seifer has become Sorceress Edea's Knight, Fujin and Raijin become generals of the Galbadian army to support him. Assisting in the search for Ellone the two encounter Squall again in Balamb Town during a Galbadian-induced lock-down whereupon Squall defeats them, but lets them leave peacefully.

Raijin encounters Squall as he invades the Lunatic Pandora.

Fujin and Raijin are once again encountered in Galbadia Garden during the Battle of the Gardens, but choose not to fight Squall and his friends. Some time afterward, after Sorceress Edea's defeat, the two once again assist Seifer as he embarks on resurrecting the Lunatic Pandora.

However, even as they do, the two begin to admit that Seifer is no longer the friend they once knew, and when Squall once again arrives to stop the three, they allow Squall to confront Seifer where Fujin makes an emotional plea for him to stop what he is doing. In response, Seifer claims it is too late to go back, and wishes them a good life, before he fights Squall one last time.

After Squall and his party go into the future to defeat Ultimecia, Fujin and Raijin fish at Balamb together with Seifer who has returned to being the friend they remember him being. Raijin is the only one who catches a fish, angering Seifer, who has caught nothing. Fujin, however, boots Raijin into the sea, which makes Seifer laugh.

Spoilers end here.

Gameplay

Boss

Main article: Raijin (boss)

Raijin is fought three times. The first and second battle, however, use the same stats, albeit he uses only one attack in the first battle, he attacks with a battle staff.

Claiming "I don't hit girls, ya know?", Raijin will refuse to attack if there is only a single female character left standing in the player's party during battle. However, he will hit her if he is alone against her.

Triple Triad

Fujin, Raijin Card
	Element	none
	Refine	1 refines into 1 X-Potion
	Drop	n/a
	Card	Jelleye, Iron Giant
Level 6 (Boss Card)	Win	Grease Monkey in Fishermans Horizon, Cid Kramer, Laguna Loire

Other appearances

Main article: Raijin other appearances

Raijin has appeared in the following games throughout the Final Fantasy series:

• PocketStation memorycard icons as a cameo.
• Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
• Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character and an enemy boss.
• Final Fantasy Record Keeper as an enemy boss and a playable character.
• Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a card.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances

Raijin has made guest appearances in the following non-Final Fantasy games:

• Kingdom Hearts as a non-player character.

Gallery

Artwork of the "disciplinary committee".

Fujin and Raijin Sketch work.

Fujin and Raijin's kanji.

Captain Raijin awoken from his secret sleeping spot.

Raijin during the Battle of the Gardens.

Raijin in the ending.

Raijin showing off a fish he caught.

Fujin kicking Raijin.

Raijin's weapon.

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Raijin is the Japanese thunder god. In Chinese Buddhism, a legend states that Fujin and Raijin were both originally evil demons who opposed Buddha. They were captured in battle with Buddha's army of heaven, and have worked as gods since then.

Trivia

The books Raijin has borrowed.

• Goodbye, Pupurun tells the story of the small sprite Pupurun rendered into the language of humans. Originally it was part of the Balamb Garden Library's collection of books, Raijin borrowed it and never returned it, as can be seen on the Balamb Garden Study Panel. Its sequel, We Meet Again, Pupurun, was not as successful as the first work, being an obligatory production with poor content.
• Raijin, along with Fujin, was initially designed to appear in Final Fantasy VII, however, the inclusion of the Turks saw their presence unnecessary and they were shelved until Final Fantasy VIII.
• In-game, the insignia on Raijin's shoulder guard is the kanji for thunder, but in FMVs, it reads the self-invented kanji for Raijin's name.
• Raijin's weapon design is similar to that of Aerith Gainsborough's Guard Stick in Final Fantasy VII.