Ray Kon



Raymond "Ray" Kon (original version: Kon Rei) is a character from the Anime and Manga series Beyblade. He is a member of the Bladebreakers and his Beyblade is Driger.

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

Beyblade 2000


In the anime, Ray is first introduced during the Regional BBA Qualifier before his match with Tyson. At the time, 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 Holy 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. Dickinson, inviting him and Kai to join the new team called the Bladebreakers.

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 as a means to justify his leaving of his home village. In the battle against Mariah in the Asian tournament he is torn between 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 issue's 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.

Ray's Beyblades in this season were Driger Slash & Driger Fang.

Beyblade V-Force
Generally, Ray is shown in a similar light as to how he is portrayed in Season 1, although in 2002, 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. In the 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 aides Kai in his battle against Dunga after Joseph joined the fray. Despite an audacious battle, Ray successfully reclaims Driger. This battle is somewhat different in the manga as he and Tyson are teamed up against all the Saint Shields luckily they prevail with a combined attack known as Tornado Vulcan Claw.

Ray uses three Beyblades in the second season: Driger Fang, Driger Vulcan, and Driger Vulcan 2.

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 not having confidence in his Beyblading ability. In G-Revolution however, he is shown as being confident, almost to the point of being cocky. It is this that causes him to lose some of his matches. During this series, he leaves the Bladebreakers to help form the White Tiger X team, partnering up with his former teammate's.

Ray uses three Beyblades in this season: Driger Vulcan 2, Driger Gatling, and Driger Metal Slash.

Beyblade & Bit Beast
Ray's Beyblade is enchanted by the Bit-Beast Driger--a sacred white tiger spirit worshipped by the White Tiger Tribe ("Fang Tribe" in the manga series). Ray is the one of a long line of guardian whose passion for Beyblades deemed him worty to possess and guard over Driger. With it's power, Ray develops a battle style which emphasizes swifness and accuracy, inventing special moves such the Tiger Claw, Tiger Fang, Vulcan Claw, Gatling Claw (Maximum), and the Thunder Slash.

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

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

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 Beyblade: V-Force.

Mariah: Ray and Mariah were born and raised in the same mountain village in China, and grew up together alongside Gary, Kevin and Mariah's older brother 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 lost forever. After the White Tigers reconcile with Ray, he later rejoins in G-Revolution. At the end of the manga Ray and Mariah have a daughter together. But in the anime they're just teammates.

Salima: They both want to have fair fights, since Tyson was also considering breaking the rules to protect their bit-beasts.

Trivia

 * In V-Force, Ray's appearance looks more human, unlike the first and third seasons, when he looks more like a cat, especially his eyes.
 * 金李, Japanese: Kon Rei, Chinese Pinyin: Jīn Lǐ ("Kon" 金 is the ideogram of gold, and the ideogram for his name, Rei 李 or more accurately レイ in Chinese means plum).
 * His age in the manga and in the Japanese version is 12 in Beyblade, 13 in V-Force and 14 in G-Revolution. In the US version he's 14-16.
 * His parents are unknown, but he has an uncle named Stanley who is a chef in a restaurant in Paris. In the manga, he marries Mariah and they have a daughter named Rin (Ling). Taking this into consideration, Ray would now have a wife, a daughter, a brother-in-law (Lee) and a grandfather-in-law since Mariah's family would also be his in the manga.
 * In the Japanese versions, his given name is often written in katakana as "レイ."(Re-i)
 * Ray, like Mariah, have many fans.
 * He bears a striking resemblance to Vanitas from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.
 * In every new season, Ray has lost his first match.

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