Raven

Raven is a major antagonist in Stellar Blade. She is both an Andro-Eidos and Alpha Naytiba, a subspecies of the Naytibas, appearing as a boss in both forms.

Biography[]

"Raven was a member of the 2nd Airborne Squad. She left information to other squads through Legacies.

She was the first to uncover the 'truth', but she was overwhelmed with madness and confusion after learning this harsh 'truth'.

The Elder Naytiba was salvation itself for the confused Raven. After learning the truth from the Elder Naytiba, she was set with determination. She took an oath to stand by the Elder's side until the very end.

But despite her dedication, the Elder Naytiba chose EVE as the savior of the new humankind. Raven, unable to accept this fact, destroys Xion and slaughters its people to mock EVE."

"This horrifying monster is the unidentified Naytiba that took Tachy's life. Unlike other Naytibas, it doesn't just act on instinct; it despises Mother Sphere and bears a great hatred against the Airborne Squad members. It is unclear how or why it can behave like that, but understanding it won't change anything."

Raven, as part of the 2nd Airborne Squad, arrived to Earth at an unmentioned time before EVE's 7th Airborne Squad did. However, the distance from their arrivals seems to be greater than that of the one between EVE's and Lily's squads, as Adam appears to have been working with her for some time before shifting course to have EVE be the savior rather than just killing all future Airborne Squads. After she discovered the truth about the Naytibas being the former true humans from Earth, Andro-Eidos being created by Mother Sphere to replace them, and the war that Mother Sphere initiated, Raven slowly went insane. As the rest of her Squad was dead, she only had the Elder Naytiba to confide in, who showed her a path forward. She vowed to be loyal to him, only to be betrayed again as EVE became chosen to succeed humanity and stop Mother Sphere. Realizing that she had nothing and no one, she eventually became a revenge-hungry chaotic being, feeding into the animalistic nature of her Naytiba form. Initially introduced as an "Unidentified Naytiba", Raven's Naytiba form, seemingly given to her by the Elder Naytiba, is the embodiment of rage, delivering brutal attacks fueled by pure, unfiltered emotion. It is while in this form that she launched an attack on Xion. However, despite it all, she is still devoted to the Elder Naytiba and wanting his approval fighting EVE one last time in her original form in an attempt to get it.

Characteristics[]

Personality[]

At first, Raven is shown to be cool and collected in her Legacies as she discovers the truth about the Naytibas, Earth, and Mother Sphere. She seemingly is good at looking at past records and logs, interpreting them, and deducing hidden facts while maintaining a clear head. However, after she discovers the truth, Raven becomes disillusioned due to her realizing that everything she knew was a lie. As the rest of her Squad was dead, she had no one to confide in going insane until she met the Elder Naytiba who promised to work with her to fight against Mother Sphere, giving her a renewed purpose as she seemingly allowed herself to turn into the Unidentified Naytiba. However, when he chose EVE as the savior of the new humankind, Raven's mind finally snaps and lashes out at EVE.

Appearance[]

Raven is a woman with long black hair and a pale complexion. She wears the Raven Suit, a skin-tight bodysuit somewhat similar to EVE's but with a blue and white color scheme and silver accessories. She also has a cutout and a clear window on her chest.

In her Naytiba form, accurate to her name, resembles a large, black, raven-like harpy creature with a gold mask, black feather-like hair, and four black wings. One finger on each of her hands has evolved into a sickle-styled appendage, and her legs resemble a bird's in structure with spikes on her thighs.

Powers and abilities[]

Raven appears to be one of the best swordswomen out of any Airborne Squad, not only being well-adept with her sword Cryo Blade but also combining it with her teleportation abilities. Using Cryo Blade, she can use almost every ability that EVE can, including her Beta Skill "Shockwave" and Burst Skill "Tempest". Raven can counter EVE's Blink ability with her own, demonstrating her quick reaction time and skill with her blade. She can also send waves of chill from a distance or unleash extensive combos up close, one of which culminates in an "Omnislash"-style finisher.

In her Naytiba form, she attacks fast and hard with extensive combo strings and various tricks up her sleeve. She can teleport by transforming into multiple smaller ravens and summon swarms of ravens that slowly fire from different angles. She can also seemingly somewhat control the Contamination, sending puddles of it out from under EVE. She is also extremely agile in this form, flying in the air and dive-bombing into EVE along with dashing at her at high speeds. When cornered, she summons three orbs surrounded by ravens that will instantly kill EVE if not shot down.

Other Appearances[]

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE[]

Raven appears in a collaboration between Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE. In the collaboration event, Raven is transported to the world of NIKKE, where she forms a temporary alliance with Com on its journey for revenge against the Ark, and briefly encounters Scarlet and her team. After learning the whereabouts of a Rapture called the Gatekeeper from Com, she hunts it down and battles it, as destroying it will allow her to return to her own world. Aided by the Nikke trio from before, she successfully destroys the Gatekeeper. When the Nikkes mentions having encountered Adam, and Scarlet notes that EVE was with him, Raven flies into a rage and attacks her in a frenzy, demanding to know where EVE is. However, before she can learn anything, she is enveloped in a golden light and transported back to her own world.

Trivia[]

Raven's Naytiba form is most likely based on the animal from which she got her name, as this form greatly resembles a raven-like harpy with a black body and wings.
Raven is classified as an Alpha Naytiba, despite not originally being a Naytiba.
Raven was the one to corrupt Tachy with an Alpha Core after Tachy's initial death since Orcal explained that the Elder Naytiba didn't corrupt her and Adam apologizes to EVE about the situation after explaining that Raven had her own agenda. It is possible that Raven corrupted Tachy after killing her in order to bring about more destruction to Xion and Earth in her fit of rage or to prove to Adam that she was superior to EVE.
Raven's Suit, which she was presumably assigned before her defection, is different than the both versions of the 2nd Squad's planetary diving suit that EVE acquires. This is similar to EVE's default planetary diving suit being of a different design than that other the other 7th Airborne Squad members that land on the beach.