Character Bio: Ragna the Bloodedge, the more badass Badguy.

by Sonata Xero on Jul.05, 2009, under Games

Alright, since daily updates for BlazBlue were impossible at the time, I decided to go ahead and do them after the game, but add in some strategies and tips for newer players. So today we start off with Ragna the Bloodedge.

ragna

Name: Ragna the Bloodedge

Nickname: The Grim Reaper

Height: 185cm

Weight: 78kg

Birthplace: Unknown

Hobby: Cooking (especially good at barbecue)

Likes/Important to him: His silver ring

Dislikes: Ghosts and the Control System

Eye color: Has heterochromia, with a green eye and a red eye. (Syke note: NEEDS MOAR DESU)

Tier Listing: B+

Theme: Rebellion, Under Heaven Destruction (vs. Jin), and White Requiem (vs. Rachel)

Seiyuu: Tomokazu Sugita

English VA: Patrick Seitz

The main protagonist of BlazBlue, also known as the Grim Reaper, is more of a rebel antihero, who destroyed several branches of the NOL and caused the NOL itself to label him as a wanted criminal and place a large bounty on his head, the largest on a single person ever. It has been interesting to note that he possesses a powerful form of Armagus called the Azure Grimoire, which causes those after his bounty to also be after his grimoire. His ultimate goal is to destroy the Library for reasons unknown. Ragna is also heavily implied to be the reincarnation of the Black Beast.

Being the Sol Badguy of BlazBlue, Ragna is a simple character to learn on the surface, but difficult to master for various reasons. Bringing in one of the smallest health pools in the game at a meager 10,000 coupled with a low defense rating, Ragna relies heavily on his Soul Eater drive ability as well as a good pressure game. Ragna is also surprisingly fast and combos with a great deal of ease, not to mention he hits pretty hard when he does hit you. To further increase his power, he has Blood Kain, which increases the power, size, and health absorption of all Soul Eater abilities at the cost of slowly losing his own health while using Blood Kain. Beyond this, Ragna is great for punishing characters that are careless with their moves.

As with every character, Ragna has some weaknesses. First off, he lacks any form of a projectile, so characters that can spam do give him a bit of trouble. On top of that, he has low defense and a small health pool, meaning that you can’t afford to take hits. His third drive ability, Devoured by Darkness, is only usable in Blood Kain, meaning you need 100% on your heat gauge, not to mention that it’s incredibly hard to land and if you do, your opponent will usually be dead by then, nulling the point of absorbing all the health it takes.

While I’m sure we’ll all miss Sol Badguy, Ragna is shaping up to do nicely for the new players. A usable install, some interesting moves, and an appealing background story make Ragna live up to the main protagonist name quite well. He’s a prick, he’s easy to anger, and he has some hilarious moments. Of course, he and Jin can’t seem to get along at all due to an incident in their early childhood, where Jin cuts off Ragna’s arm. To confirm, they are biological brothers and Ragna’s last name is not Kisaragi, as many people have been confused about that.

If you plan on using Ragna, be prepared to deal with all sorts of hell from the projectile characters. Jin in particular is known for spamming his ice surfboard to constantly rack up damage on you, and Noel loves to use her Chain Revolver combos to lock you into a combo you can’t escape. The main thing to do against these characters is wait for an opening to punish them, and then unleash all hell on them. They might survive the beating, but they’ll think twice about using their projectiles in such a manner again. In most situations, you want to constantly be near your opponent and wailing on them, as Ragna is a rushdown character with the ability to gain health from most of his specials and drive attacks. This is especially true when you use Blood Kain, as it increases the hitbox of all Soul Eater moves, the damage, as well as the health drain, making a Blood Kain Ragna even deadlier to take hits from than Hakumen. More likely than not, you’ll be overwhelmed when you play as Ragna for the first few times, whether you’re a beginner or not. Take some time to get to know him, and never give up because you can’t win.

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