Reiji

Reiji (レイジ) is a fictional character of Gundam Build Fighters TV series.

Background
Reiji is a prince of a planet named Arian. One day, he allegedly found a treasure that enabled him to travel between Arian and Earth.

Reiji wears a golden bracelet with a green gem, the latter a Royal token that identifies him as the Crown Prince. He keeps this accessory on him at all times, even during sleep. He gave Sei Iori a similar gem, but whether it holds any significance is unknown.

Personality & Character
Reiji is a mysterious boy who Sei Iori encounters in town. He's overbearing, selfish, quick to anger and lacking in manners. due to being from a different planet, Reiji has shown a naivety with Earth customs, such as comparing Rinko Iori and China Kousaka's breast sizes out loud and taking food he thought was discarded from a shop, solely because it's placed outside. However, he has shown a noble side, helping others in their times of need. Despite him being inconsiderate, he is not totally devoid of social sense, shown when he chatises Mao for the failed date due to Mao being too straightforward, and that Mao should not have gone for the kill by attempting to kiss Misaki right from the start.

Travelling to Earth and Meeting Sei
Reiji is first encountered by Sei Iori. Suddenly, a shop owner comes up, angry that Reiji unintentionally stole bread from his shop. Sei covers for the slip up since Reiji does not have any money, and in gratitude Reiji gives Sei a small pearl and promises that he would repay him and that he would come if he were to wish anything on that stone.

Later, when Sei struggles to beat Sazaki's Gyan, he actually wishes for help on the stone, which led Reiji to appear out of nowhere and take control of the Build Strike's battle cockpit. He shows amazing piloting and battle skills despite never having interacted with a Gunpla Model or taking place in a battle, learning how to pull off highly advanced maneuvers after only fiddling with the controls for seconds, leading Mr. Ral to assume he was a Newtype although at the time he might have just been comparing his skills to the Newtypes of the Gundam verse. After the battle he disappears from the room without a trace, prompting Sei to eagerly run in search of Reiji, the person worthy of piloting his Gunpla.

Having repaid his debt with Sei by protecting the Build Strike from getting taken by Sazaki, Reiji refuses to aid him in winning the Qualification rounds of the Gunpla Battle tournament. He does, however, remains at his home and agrees to assist Sei's mother in the shop and lets Sei keep the Jewel, which the latter had placed on his GP base slot.

He changes his mind after following Sei to school and engaging in battle with Monta Gonda  Tatsuya Yuki barges in the arena and easily defeats a weakened and incomplete Build Strike with his Zaku Amazing. After which he taunts Reiji and Sei into completing the Gundam and avenging their defeat in the Qualifications. After agreeing to work together, Reiji mysteriously disappears in a flash of red light.

Sei later finds him battling in the Shop and forces him to explain how Reiji was able to disappear out of thin air. At the time, Reiji claimed the existence of a kingdom know as Arian, and that he was the prince of said kingdom, having found his way to Earth among a pile of treasure and decided to stick around after enjoying gunpla. Sei does not believe him, mainly because Reiji portrays himself as a kind and loved prince, but also because there are no known planets, other than Earth, with life. He gives up on finding more about Reiji's past and decides to focus on Gunpla.

Tatsuya Yuki never actually battles them in the tournament, having withdrawn before their battle due to unexplained reasons. This leads Reiji to getting disappointed and almost giving up the game. But after Mr. Ral picks him up he met Tatsuya who invited him to an exhibition at the school battle dome. Thanks to the battle both of their gunplas took massive damage, utterly being destroyed and forcing both parties to continue their battle with their respective booster units, which too were later destroyed. Reiji and Sei lost the match again, and since time was too short to have Sei rebuild the Build Strike, they resorted to finishing the Tournament with their spare Gunpla, the Mk II Gundam.

Day at the Inn
Reiji and Sei won a stay on a Inn near the beach. During his stay at the Beach he told Sei he had never swam in a sea with Salty Water. Later, he and [Mao Yasaka] tag teamed to protect the Inn from being bought out defeating an Apsalus III built by Tatsuzo, a Land Shark.

World Tournament Preliminaries
Having been victors at the qualification rounds, Reiji went with Sei's family, China and Mr. Ral to the beach as part of their winning prize. There, he discovers the sea water is actually salty, something that is true in possibly every beach in Earth, tough Reiji points out he has been to a Beach, but without salty waters. This somehow supports an ongoing theory of Mr. Ral that Reiji might live in a colony (Again, there is no way of telling if Ral was joking or was being serious, though it is possibly both).

Reiji enters the World Tournament with Sei, where he develops a friendly rival relationship with Aila Jyrkiäinen of team Nemesis due to their shared love over food. Neither aware of the other status as competitor in the tournament although both acknowledge their Gunplas as worthy opponents. Sei and Reiji's improved Star Build Strike draws the attention of Nils Nielsen who had formerly met them in a girls tournament and Luang Dallara, the Thai competitor who seeks out to eliminate them from early in the tournament. He also met Yuki under the new Alias Meijin Kawaguchi.

In the second match (Survivor Battle Royal) survival tournament Reiji and Sai formed an aliance with Mao Yasaka and Ricardo Fellini while attempting to protect Fellini's Wing Gundam from a bunch of competitors whose girlfriends the Italian Competitor had stolen, Ricardo being a player who helped Reiji get familiar with the Gundam Battle controls through a series of battles in Ral's secret fighting society club.

Their Success at destroying a party of superior number exposes Reiji's face to the CEO of PPSE, Mashita, who correctly assumes's Reiji to be the crown prince of Arian. This causes the CEO to panic, which in turn made Mashita target Sei and Reiji's Gunpla in order to get them out of the competition.

Unaware of being targeted by the tournament sponsor Reiji and Sei had to deal with a programmed Mega Size Zaku, which took the combined efforts of Reiji, Mao, Fellini, Nils and Kawaguchi to defeat. Following that Baker, PPSE CEO's PA rigged the matches so that the two had to fight Luang Dallara in a baseball field with only a glove as weapon but this plan was foiled by Reiji's injured arm, Dallara's integrity and Sei's RG System.

Reiji competed in fourth round target match (rifle shooting) using his backup gunpla (the MK-II) with assistance from Sei, he was able to win the fifth round Tamarie contest. On the sixth round (3-on-3 battle) Mao Yasaka assisted their victory by disabling the opposing gunplas with his X-Maoh's Satellite Cannon.

Mashita almost succeeded in eliminating the threat by assigning a Gunpla Mafia Assassin (C) to capture and destroy the Strike during the seventh round race. The destruction of the gunpla was averted by the interference of Mr. Ral, who confronted C and Sei's use of the RG system to escape, however they were unable to finish the race (having lost their boost while the Argentine Brothers kept theirs and ended the race) and were thus bumped to 17th place, one less than the number of finalists.

Having recognised C, Mr. Ral warns the boys about their targeting. Sei then remembers the Mega Zaku (whom PPSE had implanted as a Bonus Trap in the Battle Royal) had also focused it's attacks on them. This motivates Reiji to barge into the Chairman's mansion and confront Mashita, to the horror of the latter. During their talk Mashita recognises Reiji's bracelet, eliminating any doubts the CEO had about Reiji not being the Crown Prince of Arian. However, since Reiji did not recognise Mashita, he was able to excuse himself from the tampering suspicion.

Following that incident Mashita admits to Baker (and to Nils Nielsen, who was spying on them) that, should Reiji remember who Mashita is. Both the CEO and the secret of Plavsky Particles will be endangered. Apparently, the CEO opts out of interfering with the eight qualification match, possibly to prevent further provocation on Reiji since the latter seems more concerned with ensuring the integrity of their fights.

In the last qualification round (single battle), Reiji and Sei's Star Build Strike duels against Italian Champion's Ricardo Fellini XXXG-01Wf Wing Gundam Fenice. A long time ally of the pair. Even though Fellini was already qualified, and thus had the option to surrender the match in order to promote Reiji (whom Ricardo treated as a pupil) and spare his Gunpla from damage, he instead chooses to go all out in the match at the cost of extensive damage to both Gunplas (Much like the battle with Tatsuya which disabled the Full Package). The Match ended in a draw with both Gunplas disabled at the same time, however Reiji and Sei got two points (out of the assumed four points given to the winner of the match) which enabled them to reach the sixteenth position for the finals.

Break period before the Finals
Reiji and Sei argued after Sei refused to let Reiji assist him in rebuilding the GAT-X105B/ST Star Build Strike as Reiji had no experience building Gunplas. He decided to prove Sei wrong by crafting one on his own. At the Shop he met Takeshi Iori, Sei's father, under disguise. Takeshi selects a GPB-X80 Beginning Gundam for him to build and picks a Command Gundam for Aila, who had been spying on them.

Reiji, under strict coaching from Takeshi, was able to build a fairly high quality model despite it being his first attempt. He decided to test it in battle against the Store AI since Aila refused to battle (claiming not to know how to). Unknown to him, Mafia Member C had hijacked the system and input his Hell Zeong Galaxy Gunpla to fight and destroy Reiji's Gunpla (not caring that this would have amounted to nothing as far as his contract with PPSE went).

The damage done to Reiji's Beginning Gundam led the young pilot to understand Sei's own feelings towards protecting the integrity of the Build Strike, and the amount of time and effort needed to build and maintain a unit as high as that of Sei's. Reiji's Gunpla would have been destroyed had it not been for Aila's interference in the battle. They fought exceptionally well together and totalled C's machine. After which Reiji and Aila held hands and he questioned her about her ability, to which she denied having previous experience in fighting.

Reiji later presented his Gunpla to Sei, Mr. Ral and China. He admitted to having help, showing the clippers he had been given by Takeshi, which Sei recognised as being his father's.

Semi-Finals
Reiji and Sei arrive at the arena (late), to see the semi-final matchups. After arriving, they notice that their next opponent will be Yasaka Maoh. Maoh immediately greets them, warning them of their imminent defeat at his hands. Reiji and Sei spend the day preparing the Star Build Strike for the battle, and Reiji explaining that Maoh is simply afraid of losing. After Maoh returns to the arena ready to fight, the battlecommences. Maoh immediately opens fire upon the Star Build Strike with its' hyper satellite cannon. Sei is shocked at how quickly, the satellite cannon can fire a success shot. The second shot manages to destroy the absorb shield, therefore limiting the fighting strength of the Star Build Strike. Reiji immediately notices that Maoh is no longer distraught by the fear of losing, and is now completely emmerced in the battle itself. After a quick exchange which results in the destruction of the hyper satellite cannon, as well as minor damage to the star build strike, the final standoff commences. Mao combines his solar system, with power from the satellite system in order to create a large beam saber ( Maoh Sword). Reiji activates the RG system, and uses the Build Knuckle to effectively counter the mega particles of the Maoh Sword. The build knuckle proves victorious and pushes through Maoh's attack, destroying the Gundam X Moah in a large flash.

After the battle, Sei and Reiji rest by the side of the arena after the match. While talking they notice the next battle has already ended. After rushing over to see the result, they witness Luang Dallara in a shocked state. It appeared that the Ronaldo brothers had beaten him in record breaking time, and Reiji stood there in awe of how easily a top contendor fell.

Reiji is also present to watch the match between Mejin Kawaguchi and the Ronaldo brothers. Throughout the match, Reiji is surprised at how well the Ronaldo brother were fighting against Mejin's Kampfer Amazing. He is even shocked when the Kamper Amazing is damaged and is close to losing. Reiji is however relieved to see Mejin pull a comeback by using amazing strategy and timing.

The next episode features Nils Neilson battling an unkown pilot, who uses a custom Gundam Virtue. They watch in amazement, as the Sengoku Astray easily cuts through the Virtue's beam barrage and wins the battle. Later during the day, Reiji goes to meet Nils Neilson upon his request. Nils was looking to find out the secret of the plavsky particles, and offered to withdraw from the match if Sei or Reiji gave him an answer. Sei was easily angered when Nils called Gunpla Battle "kids playing with toys", and Reiji backed him up. The next day, Reiji prepares to face off with Nils. The match is set on a castle field, with Reiji rushing into battle. Nils easily cuts through his beam shot, but this was anticipated by Sei. The Star Build Strike immediately sheds its' booser, beam rifle, beam sabers and absorb shield to decrease its' weight. Finding all of their weapons useless, Reiji instantly activates the RG system and the Build Knuckle. They engage in close quarters combat with the Sengoku Astray. Although Nils seems overly confident as usual, he is shocked to see his Samurai Swords destroyed by the build knuckle. As Reiji attacks once again, Nils activates his famed Particle Fa Jin and destroys the Build Strike's right arm instantly. However, this was not without a cost, as the Sengoku Astray also lost its' right arm. The two machines attack each other once again, but a stalemate is once again the result. Before Reiji can proceed to attack again, the match is halted to give both fighters a chance to repair their Gunpla. Before the time runs out, Sei manages to fix the Star Build Strike and it launches into battle once again against the Sengoku Astray. This time, by putting instant glue on the Build Strike's right arm, Sei managed to make the Particle Fa Jin useless. In an intense exchange, both machines attack for the last time, this time with the Star Build Strike using perfect timing to finally defeat the Sengoku Astray. The episode ends with Reiji and Nils shaking hands.

While Ricardo Fellini is preparing for his match against Team Nemesis, Reiji is shown relaxing in his room. Sei, Nils, and Maoh are all present while Nils is trying to hypnotize Sei. They realize that much time has passed and rush to the arena, to try and catch the remainder of Fellini's fight. They arrive just in time to witness Fellini fall against the Quebeley Papillon. Reiji is surprised to see how badly damaged the Wing Gundam Fenice is, and how the Quebeley is hardly scratched. They watch in awe as Fellini tries to self-destruct as a last resort option. After he abandons this plan, the Quebeley is seen repeatedly stabbing the Fenice with its' lance. Reiji quickly rushes into the battle with his Beginning Gundam. In rage of Aila's actions, Reiji attacks the Quebeley, but with no success. The beginning gundam is crippled and defeated, when the Quebeley Papillon responds in self-defence, with an unkown move. Reiji stands shocked for a moment as he faces his defeat. He then rushes to confront Team Nemesis for their actions, but is immediately halted when he sees Aila with her broken helmet, revealing her true identity.

Trivia

 * While he is far more emotional, his attitude, lack of tact and lack of human socialization (such as barging into the CEO of PPSE after beating up all his guards) seems to resemble the child soldier archetype as exemplified by Setsuna F. Seiei and Heero Yuy, since both tend to give answers that is too straight forward and other characters don't tend to agree with.
 * While piloting, Reiji seems to take excitement in fighting other opponents and beating them similar to Hallelujah Haptism though in a different manner where the super soldier slowly tortured and mocked his opponents until they were killed, Reiji just destroyed their mobile suits and shows signs of respect to strong fighters.
 * Due to his skill as a pilot, Reiji is often confused to be a newtype but it is unconfirmed by anyone. He also seems to bear some similar piloting skills to main characters from other Gundam series like Amuro Ray, Setsuna F. Seiei, and Kira Yamato, who at the beginning relied more on offense instead of defense.

According to Ep 15, his stats are of Follow:
 * Attack accuracy: 94%
 * Attack evasion: 57%
 * Attack blocking: 81%
 * Ground battle rating: A-
 * Aerial/Space battle rating: A+