Ray Kon

Raymond "Ray" Kon (金李 Kon Rei) is one of the deuteragonists from the Original Series, consisting of Beyblade, Beyblade: V-Force and Beyblade: G-Revolution. He is a member of the G-Revolutions and White Tiger X. His Bit-Beast and Beyblade is Driger - one of the 4 Sacred Bit-Beasts. He first appeared in the "Beyblade Fighting Tournament" as just "Rei" in August 2000, though appeared in the manga in mid-late 2000.

Appearance
Ray has long black hair that is bound in a white wrap, golden eyes with cat-like pupils and wears Hong Kong-styled clothing.

In V-Force, Ray's appearance seems to have changed a bit. His eyes change from gold to copper. His muscles are also more defined and slender.

In G-Revolution, Ray's eyes revert to their golden color, and he seems to be more "cat-ish" than in the previous two seasons. He has a flexible, lean build - the results of his intense training with White Tigers.

Personality
Ray is generally depicted as 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.

During his first introduction, 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. Throughout the first season, Ray is looked to for advice about battles. 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 emphasized in the Asian tournament, used by him as a means to justify his leaving of his home village without explaination after getting Driger. This brought him at conflict with Lee, who had the opposite view and believed mastering the techniques known were more important then learning new ones.

In V-Force, Ray is shown in a similar light as to how he is portrayed in the first season but now he is much more critical of his performance.

In G-Revolution, Ray is portrayed in very differently than he was in the other two seasons. In the previous two, he was shown as being a polite young man, but not having confidence in his beyblading ability. After losing and being taunted by Jin of the Gale, he seems to become insecure and overconfident. It is this that causes him to lose some of his matches. However, he does justify this with his frustration over his concern that he is not good enough to fight Tyson. However, he seems to become more like the previous kind-hearted and level-headed person he was in the previous series as the series progress.

In the manga, he is more self-centered and only battles when he thinks the opponent is worth his time. Otherwise, he sleeps and eats a lot. He later grows more into the type of person he is in the anime and cares about his team.

Tyson Granger
Despite being on the same team their relationship can get quite rocky and at times both have different points of view. There are even instances when they beyblade against each other to prove their point. Despite this they always seem to find one way or another to resolve the matter and become friends again.

Kai Hiwatari
Ray seems to be the closest person Kai can call a "friend", they are closest in age of the Bladebreakers and are shown to share a certain respect, concern and admiration between themselves. They are also the most similar out of the 4 Bladebreakers and are often seen training with each other in the anime. This friendship becomes particularly evident in Beyblade: V-Force. However, it is shown in other series, for example when Kai visits Balkov Abbey unannounced, Ray is the 1st to realize Kai is gone and becomes concerned enough to try and find him.

Max Tate
Max and Ray seem to get along fairly well, especially in G-Revolution when they seem to share an understanding about wanting to defeat Tyson and share a calm personality. They seem to be the most level headed two of the Bladebreakers.

Kenny
Ray and the chief seem to have an initial bond as Kenny has with the rest of the Bladebreakers, even battling Kevin to try and get his disk back.

Mariah
Ray and Mariah were born and raised in the same mountain village in China, and grew up together alongside Gary, Kevin and Lee, becoming life-long friends. It was from Ray that Mariah first learned how to beyblade, and as time went on, their loyalty to each other led to early stages of friendship. However, this was dashed by Ray's desertion. Mariah however refused to believe Ray was a traitor and her feelings for him were still there. Kai seems to believe Ray returns these feelings as he remarks that he should not let his feelings for Mariah stand in the way during there first official battle and that "how can we be sure that Ray won’t forget whose side he’s on when Mariah gazes into his eyes?" . Afterwards the White Tigers reconcile with Ray, he also later rejoins them in Beyblade: G-Revolution. Their friendship becomes even stronger. Mariah becomes Ray's wife in the manga and the two have a daughter named Rin.

Lee
Ray's best friend. The two of them had a falling out when Ray left their village after receiving Driger, but their friendship was mended after their battle in the Asian Tournament. He later becomes his brother-in-law when Ray marries Mariah.

Stan Kon
Ray's uncle and only known blood relative. He works in a Chinese restaurant in France, run by Oliver's dad.

Skills
Ray's Beyblade is enchanted by the Bit-Beast Driger — a sacred White Tiger spirit worshiped by the White Tiger Tribe ("Fang Tribe" in the manga series).

Ray is the one of a long line of guardians whose passion for Beyblades deemed him worthy to possess and guard over Driger. He succeeded Lee, who was expected to inherit the White Tiger. He specialises in speed attacks and is capable of hitting other Blades quickly with a session of attacks.

With Driger's power, Ray develops a battle style which emphasizes swiftness and accuracy, inventing special moves such the Tiger Claw, Tiger Fang, Vulcan Claw, Gatling Claw (Maximum), and the Thunder Slash.

His skills also caught the attention of BEGA and he was even offered a chance to join BEGA League by Mystel and become its 5th member (the position eventually going to Brooklyn), though he took Tyson's side on the matter of Beyblade and re-joined the BBA.

Rai is a difficult blader at times to use in the GBA games. He focuses on special and speed, allowing him to attack often, but not as powerful as some others hitting his foes Beyblades. However, while he is able to hit a foe's Beyblade often with his most powerful moves, the price he pays is in strength, being unable to deal the damage to match his frequency of special move rate. To top it off, outside of the special moves selection his blade moves around the dish fast but again, lack the strength with each knock to keep going. As such, there is a risk he ends up ranked the weakest of the 4 bladers, despite the fact that this role is supposed to be fulfilled by Max in these games, and relies on special attacks to win.

Other
Outside of Beyblade, he is a good cook.

He is also into martial arts.

Ray even seems to have skills in basketball, as he was able to outshine Hilary in a game with some locals in New York.

Beyblades
Like his teammates, Ray's Bey/Bit-Beast is named after and based on one of the Four Saint Beasts in Chinese mythology; Driger is modeled after Bai Hu the White Tiger of the West and the Japanese name is "Byakko".

When Driger was added, he continued the tradition of naming things after the "dragon" and this is where "Dr" comes from. The "iger" comes from "tiger", which Driger is. It also a reference to the "Tiger Force" Battalion unit in WW2.

Spin Gear

 * Driger S - Tiger Claw
 * Driger F - Tiger Fang

Magnacore System

 * Driger V - Vulcan Claw
 * Driger V2 - Vulcan Power Claw

Engine Gear

 * Driger G - Gatling Claw, Gatling Claw Maximum

Hard Metal System

 * Driger MS - Thunder Slash

Burst System

 * Driger S Heavy Fusion

Beyblade: 2000
In episode 4, Ray makes his first appearance. He is talking to the chairman of the BBA, Mr. Dickenson, who has high expectations for Ray in the Beyblade Main Event regional qualifying tournament for the Beyblade Battle Tournament. Ray assures Mr. Dickenson that he has nothing to worry about since he knows what to do.

In the first battle, Ray easily, and almost effortlessly destroys Tyson's Blade using his Bit-Beast Driger's Tiger Claw attack. In the following battle however he ends up losing to Tyson. Ray forfeits the final, deciding battle, saying that he had no more to prove and is impressed by Tyson's talent. 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 team called the Bladebreakers - which Ray already agreed to join previously.

In the battle against Mariah in the Asian tournament, he is torn between the loyalty to his new team and his former one. After the battle between Tyson and Lee, Ray chooses to fight once again in order to settle the score once and for all, the battle between him and Ray is furious but Ray prevails as the victor and issues between him and his former team are resolved.

It is also shown in this season that he has an uncle who is the head chef at a restaurant in Paris, which is owned by Oliver's 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.

In the Russian Tournament, Ray faces his most brutal confrontation yet being inflicted with many injuries by Bryan's blade, getting attacked directly by Bryan's Bit-Beast Falborg. Luckily, Driger manages to save Ray, and defeat Bryan. However, after the battle Driger vanished and Ray had to be sent to the hospital because of his injuries. Soon Driger returns to him after Tyson's battle with Tala.

Beyblade: V-Force
After the Bladebreakers went their separate ways, Ray returned to his hometown to teach kids Beyblading. While he was there, he met and was defeated by a mysterious cloaked boy, who turned out to be Joseph of the Saint Shields. Eventually, Ray came back to the Bladebreakers with the rest of the team to face Team Psykick.

During his battle against Salima and Cyber Driger, 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.

In a battle against Dunga, he loses Driger for the second time, causing him to worry and lose his self confidence. When the group faces off against the Saint Shields for the last time, Ray aids Kai in his battle against Dunga after Joseph joined the fray. In the audacious battle, Ray successfully reclaims Driger and he and Kai defeat Dunga and Joseph.

In the World Championships, Ray teams up with Kai, and together they make it to the semi-finals against Zeo and Gordo. Ray manages to tie with Gordo, but he and Kai are eliminated when Zeo defeats Kai.

Beyblade: G-Revolution
During this series, he leaves the Bladebreakers to help form the White Tiger X team, partnering up with his longtime friends and former teammates Lee, Mariah, Kevin and Gary.

After the World Tournament, Ray and his team meet and befriend Mystel, one of BEGA's best bladers who tells them about the new league that replaced the BBA. Upon hearing from Mystel that Tyson has joined BEGA, everyone has a hard time believing it, especially Ray. As a result, Ray leaves the White Tiger X again and goes with Mystel to find out what's really going on.

Upon discovering the truth about BEGA, and that Boris is behind it, he rejoins the BBA Revolution (renamed G Revolutions) to defeat BEGA.

Quotes

 * "What is it?" [Ray looks at the buffet table and gasps at seeing Takao standing on the table eating like a pig]
 * "I'm no expert at table manners, but something tells me that's not how your supposed to eat in a fancy restaurant! Unbelievable!"
 * "For goodness sake, Tyson, use a fork!"
 * "Tyson, how did I do? Did I beat him?"
 * "Give me 100%"
 * "No!" (in shock)
 * "Always a pleasure talking with you, Kai."
 * (to Mariah) "I am not coming back to you."
 * "Isn't it strange how the memories are? Even such a long time ago?"
 * "Me too. But, some how it all came back to me."
 * "No, not at all. It'll just take a whole lot of practice to get the hang of it."
 * "Don't worry, Mariah. I'll be there to help you."
 * "This totally reminds me of the time when we were young."
 * "Do you remember how happy we were then? I gave you your first Beyblade lesson and you were always bugging me to teach you more."
 * "Gotta keep it together. Come on!"
 * "Ugh..."
 * "Thanks, Mariah."
 * "Kai!"
 * "I wish you good luck in the finals."
 * "Huh...Lee?"
 * "No!"
 * "No wait! Don't pull me out! I endured Bryan's wind attack, so I can, endure the next assault as well. I gotta, keep going. I'm winning this match. Bryan only thinks he is. Step back guys, trust me!"
 * "Tiger Claw Attack!"
 * "Feel the power of White Tiger X, Kai!"
 * "Exactly! When we lost battles before, it only affected us. If we lose this battle with Boris and BEGA, the entire sport of Beyblading will suffer."
 * Tao: "You're confusing your Beyblades. Spin first with your hearts,..." Ray: "...and not your heads. Tao said that. He also said don't think so much, which has always been easy for him."


 * "If this is revenge for Kai's win, Tyson's sunk."
 * "Some things never change."

Trivia

 * In every new season, Ray has lost his first match.
 * Ray's final battles at the end of each season winds up being one of the three possible outcomes: he won his battle against Bryan in the first season, he tied his battle against Gordo in V-Force, and he lost his battle against Crusher in G-Revolution.
 * According to Wikipedia, Ray's Japanese name, if read in Pinyin, becomes Jin Li.
 * His height is 5'2" inches.
 * Every Beyblade Ray has owned has lost in their last battle before getting a new upgrade. Driger S with Tryhorn, Driger F with Vanishing Moot, Driger V with Vortex Ape, Driger V2 with Metal Driger, Driger G with Dragoon GT and Driger MS with Gigars
 * Baihu Xiao, a DNA Blader is a Shogun Steel counterpart of Ray, except that he doesn't wear a headband like Ray does.
 * Ray is the only member of the BBA team to never have a parental figure shown. This does not include his uncle in the anime.

Gallery
For a full gallery of images of Ray, see Ray Kon/Gallery.

Ray Kon Ray Kon Ray Kon Rei Kon