Rayden Sharpola

"Rayden Sharpola. Mr. Player, flirts with every female in the Garden... including me"

--Stella, Misc. Sessions on Awakening.

Personality
Rayden is a chronic workaholic. He would rather spend more time working than sleeping. This is based on his need for material security which was a side-effect of his impoverished life as a child. He believes the only way to be truly secure is to earn lots and lots of gil while he's still young and able-bodied.

Rayden prides himself on being smooth talker. So far he has been fairly successful in persuading people to see his way. And even though he is so blatantly flirty, some silly girls still get drawn to him inadvertently. Which makes his strut a little cockier and him that little bit full of himself. (He just needs someone to put him in his place. >D)

He is also easily bored, his attention span shorter than average. However whenever he is in a silent mood it means he is either observing and indulging in deeper thoughts other than the next date or meal.

History
Rayden was the only child of his parents, and from he was born, they lived in a small apartment in Balamb. When he was a kid, Rayden had a hard time growing up. He was always hungry, as his parents were both jobless. At rare times his gambler father would engage in some odd jobs but the gil earned was more often than not wasted away on lost bets and the occasional beer. Rayden's mother was perpetually missing from the house as the sight of her broken-down "apartment", useless husband and puny kid sickened her. On the day Rayden reached ten she left the house for good taking every single gil with her.

This forced his father to buck up but Rayden decided the money his father earned was barely enough to feed the cockroaches. He answered to the recruitment call from Balamb Garden, as Garden was a renowned military institution and he would never go wrong as a SeeD.

Once he was enrolled, Rayden set his heart on being the best so that he could be picked for more missions, and secure a better pay. So it was no surprise that he jumped at the chance to be on the Awakening Team.

Up until he was 18, Rayden had a deep prejudice against girls because his mother had left him. He thought that all girls would betray him eventually one day and that they were either after his looks or his gil (which he had saved a lot by that time).

But a girl named Clarice changed that. She was a Cadet two years his junior and he had saved her from a T-Rex attack once in the Training Centre. After the incident, Rayden always saw her hanging around him (not daring to approach him as he was notorious for girl-hating) but dismissed her off because of his prejudice. But even someone made of ice would melt with her devotion and soon Rayden was touched too. She taught him that not all females were like his mother, and she taught him what it was like to be in love and dream of a future with someone else.

Unfortunately, Clarice contracted an incurable disease which she hid from Rayden. He did not even get to see her the last time, as he had been away on mission for months not knowing what was happening to his sweetheart.

From then on, he flirted outrageously, but was never in a serious relationship again.

In his own words...

"The one I truly love is no longer here; it doesn't really matter who I'm with now cos I'm seeing her through them."

Story Involvement
Rayden originally joined Team Trinity at the start of the search for Rhirawen's Ruby. He stayed with them all the way down to the end and stood with the entire team agaisnt Sorceress Adel.

He had a short fling with Stella Artos after Adel was dead. After a failed set of missions Team Trinity was split apart and those assigned to other Gardens returned to them. She broke up with him shortly after.

Combat Details
Devil's Cutlery

Rayden has a set of giant fork and knife that can spear and slice through the toughest of adamantine shells and other hard solids. On their own each is a deadly weapon but together Rayden can cut up his enemy into bite-sized portions if he so desired.

There is also a button on each of them that allows the cutlery to become red with heat and roast the opponent but it cannot be used too long as the heat travels to Rayden's skin as well.

When unused he keeps them sheathed behind his back.

When Rayden first became a SeeD at Balamb Garden, he had all sorts of weapon training but couldn't decide on a suitable one. So on a streak of inspired thought he figured that since he does eating best of all, his weapon(s) would have something to do with his favorite past time.

He travelled all the way to Timber to find the best weapons forger and of course all over the Galbadia Continent to find the special "ingredients" that was required to make the unique weapon. He takes extremely good care of them cos he knows that it would be hard to replace them.

Guardian Force
Aradnialla - A spider spirit GF that sometimes takes on the appearance of an enchantress.

Guardian Force’s attack: Black Widow's Kiss

Aradnialla is summoned when Rayden kisses the large spider on his necklace. When she appears, she first spews spider webs on the enemies, afflicting them with slow status.

Her fangs are lethally sharp and her poisonous spit afflicts pain on whomever/whatever she attacks.

Before Aradnialla morphs into enchantress mode, the spiders on Rayden's necklace will start to light up. Only if all three are lighted up will she gain the power to morph. Whomever she kisses (selected at random) is afflicted with curse.

The side-effects is that the longer Aradnialla is outside, the more she sucks energy from Rayden. But after she returns to his mind the energy is gradually given back to him again.

Aradnialla has schizophrenia. She can be vicious spider or gentle lady in a manner of seconds. But Rayden thinks that if he can handle her mood changes, he can handle any other girls.