Miyuki Tezuka

Kamen Rider Raia (仮面ライダーライア, Kamen Raidā Raia?) is a fictional character in the tokusatsu production Kamen Rider Ryuki. He is one of the 13 Kamen Riders the series revolves around. His true identity is Miyuki Tezuka and is portrayed by Hassei Takano, who later portrayed Ichimonji Hayato/Kamen Rider 2 in the movie Kamen Rider the First. This also makes him one of the few actors to play two different Riders in two different series/movies.

Kamen Rider Raia's name and appearance are derived from the Latin word "Raia", which is used in the scientific terms for Rajiformes & Raja, the genuses that relates to Rays and Skates.

Fictional character biography
Tezuka is a very accurate fortune-teller that believes in predestination. He fights to stop the Rider war and change their fates, similar to Shinji, Kamen Rider Ryuki. Tezuka is among the few honorable and noble Riders in the series. Though he was given the left Survive card, he gave it to Kamen Rider Knight, even though that could have made him stronger. Tezuka was not the original deck holder that was chosen to become a Rider. The real chosen one was Yuichi Saito (斉藤 雄一, Saitō Yūichi?), an excellent pianist and dear friend to Tezuka, who had lost his ability to play when a mugger (later revealed to be Takeshi Asakura) broke his hands and ruined his ability to play. Had Yuichi chosen to fight and win, Kanzaki would restore his hands. Yuichi refused, and as such was eaten by the monster Guldthunder. Tezuka later contracted Evildiver and became a Rider to avenge him.

While at a square performing Coin Fortune Telling, Tezuka notices Ren and reads his future before revealing himself as a rider. Though he overpowered Knight but not intent on dealing the deathblow, Raia is shocked with Knight's suicidal counterattack. But after the fight, Tezuka tells Ren that he can not win the Rider War because of the doubt in his heart. Tezuka later meets Shinji, who also intends to stop the fighting among the Riders.

Raia died in the TV series during a fight against Ouja. When Ouja performed his Final Advent against Ryuki, Raia pushed him out of the way and took the attack instead. He died shortly afterwards due to his wounds. Being a very accurate fortune teller, he probably knew that Ryuki is better off being the one to stop the Rider war while Knight was better off with the Survive card. After Shiro restored time to its proper course after Yui's death, Tezuka was given a second chance in life with no memory of being a Rider and was seen doing tarot readings on the corner of the street.

Tezuka's role in the 13 Riders special was slightly altered from the TV series. He was friends with Ren and had once loved Eri Aikawa, Ren's girlfriend. Though he became a Rider to help Aikawa, he still felt that the war between the Riders should be stopped. During the special, he was killed by Kamen Rider Verde and Kamen Rider Knight was the one to pushed Ryuki out of the way to take Verde's Final Vent.

Note
In a concept drawing, they depicted Yuichi Saito as Kamen Rider Blue if he had contracted Guldthunder, instead of being eaten by him. Coincidentally, this same monster is modeled after a phoenix. When the main writers heard about the initial ideas, they scrapped the idea to bring that Rider into the series, since another Rider, Kamen Rider Odin, would inevitably have contract with a different phoenix-type monster, Goldphoenix.

Specifications
Alter Ego: Miyuki Tezuka

* Sight: ~10km

* Hearing: ~10km radius

* Speed: 72km/h

* High jump: 40m

* Punch: 200 Attack Points

* Kick: 300 Attack Points

Raia is a melee-based fighter. Using his Evil Visor (エビルバイザー, Ebiru Baizā?) mounted on the left forearm of the Rider as a small shield. Raia can use his Swing Vent to summon a whip. Alternately, he can use his Copy Vent which can copy a opponent’s weapon. His Final Vent Hide Venom (ハイドベノン, Haido Benon?) allows him to ride on Evildiver's back and ram into a opponent

Contract Monster
Evildiver (エビルダイバー, Ebirudaibā?): Modeled after a ray, Evildiver was originally the contract Monster of Kamen Rider Raia. It later came into the possession of Kamen Rider Ohja and, together with Venosnaker and Metalgelas, became one of the building blocks of the composite Monster Genocider. In the concept art, Evildiver had a Survive Form called Exodiver that never appeared in the series.

* Length: 2.00m

* Weight: 30kg

Advent Cards
Advent: Summons Evildiver  AP: 4000

Swing Vent: Conjures Evil Whip   AP: 2000

Copy Vent: Conjures copy of a opponent's weapon

Final Vent:Execute Hide Venom     AP: 5000

Survive Shippu (Left Wing): Upgrades Raia to Survive Form. Never used.