Ajimaph Raki

"Ajimaph's tagline in his Toushin Digest profile."

- I'll do it all for my sister!

About
Ajimaph Raki is a hot-blooded competitor in the Toushin Tournament and a secondary character in Toushin Toshi III.

Born in the city of Rockearth, Ajimaph lived a relatively happy life with his parents, a pair of public officials, and older sister. Six months prior to the events of Toushin Toshi III, Ajimaph's parents were targeted by the criminal syndicate that controlled Rockearth from the shadows and killed in a massive conflict. While official statements reported their deaths to have been accidental, both Ajimaph and his sister knew the truth of the incident and fled the city to evade further attacks from the organization. The crime group followed the two wherever they went, forcing Ajimaph to fend off their attacks to protect his sister.

Over time, Ajimaph grew frustrated with his transient life as a fugitive and declared that he would take part in the Toushin Tournament to become a Toushin, intending to use the authority bestowed by the title to live proudly without fear of being attacked. Ajimaph asked his sister to serve as his partner in the tournament, but only managed to gain her permission to do so after agreeing to sign a contract pledging to sell his organs to raise the funds needed to pay off the 30,000 GOLD penalty fee in the event that he lost.

During the events of Toushin Toshi III, Ajimaph and his sister traveled to Toushin City to register in the Toushin Tournament. Due to the large number of applicants, the tournament implemented a qualifying challenge that asked the potential competitors to collect 30 Sand Lances from defeated Monsters in the nearby Qualifying Labyrinth, with the first 30 that succeeded in doing so being granted the right to participate. Determined to win, Ajimaph hastily charged through the labyrinth attacking whatever monsters he encountered to quickly gain as many sand lances as possible. While doing this, he mistakenly attacked Nacht Ragnard, another young man taking part in the competition, who became angered by his carelessness. Rather than admit his mistake, Ajimaph instead accused Nacht of having been too quiet to clearly identify himself as a Human, which caused a squabble to erupt between the two that only ended after each remembered the time pressure they were under.

Following a frantic two days of work, Ajimaph was narrowly able to acquire the sand lances needed to become an official participant in the tournament. He was assigned his first match on the second day of the competition, against the veteran Adventurer Yamato Matsumoto. In preparation for the fight, he began exploring the Mabil Labyrinth to train and quickly succeeded in gaining the certification sticker needed to advance deeper into the dungeon. On his way out of the labyrinth after obtaining the sticker, Ajimaph crossed paths once more with Nacht, who had also succeeded in passing the qualifying round. Though the two maintained their animosity from their previous encounter, they also acknowledged the other's skill in having been declared formal competitors in the tournament, causing them to develop a small amount of mutual respect for each other.

On the day of his first match, Ajimaph entered the Mabil Labyrinth to perform last minute training before his fight. To his great irritation, the new floor he had unlocked was filled with large bags of garbage that obstructed his path and made it difficult to move around. Just as he began to fear that he would not be able to leave the labyrinth before his match was scheduled to start, he ran into Nacht once more, who reminded him that he could instantly teleport out of it using his tournament-issued Return Bonsai. Taking Nacht's advice, Ajimaph escaped from the dungeon in time to face Matsumoto in the coliseum. The fight proved to be an orthodox test of strength and endurance, with Ajimaph managing to strike Matsumoto unconscious before getting knocked out himself and emerging victorious. His performance received little fanfare when covered by the Toushin Digest, with its host Kuri dismissing it as "boring".

After his victory in the first round, Ajimaph was assigned to face Namil Hamsand, a talented female swordfighter, in the second. While Namil had shown herself to be a powerful foe during her first match, Ajimaph had little concern for the fight and chose to instead focus his attention toward his excitement at getting to sleep with her after winning. This ego proved to be his undoing when the day of the fight arrived, where he was taken by surprise after Namil revealed herself to also be a skilled practitioner of the Magic Arts and conjured a mass of vines to constrict around him. Unable to move while wrapped in the vines, Ajimaph was defeated with ease and eliminated from the tournament. As per his agreement with his sister, he had one of his organs harvested and sold on the black market to pay his penalty fee without requiring her to spend three years working as a servant inside of Toushin City.

Rather than leave the city after getting eliminated, Ajimaph continued to delve deeper into Mabil Labyrinth to train in preparation for entering the tournament the next year. No longer able to root for himself, he decided to spend the remainder of the tournament cheering on Nacht, who had managed to pass the second round and was arranged to face Namil in the third. While Nacht succeeded in defeating Namil, he was ultimately unable to become its champion, forcing him too to begin looking toward the next year's tournament for a second chance.

One year later, Ajimaph once again applied to compete in the Toushin Tournament, gaining his sister's permission to use her as his partner after signing an esoteric contract of her own design. While he passed the qualifying round without issue, he was defeated by an unknown opponent during his first formal match and eliminated even earlier than he had been the previous year. To his shock, his sister revealed that the contract she had made him sign stipulated that he would pay off his penalty fee without needing her to work as a servant, and attempted to have him sell another one of his organs to gain the necessary money. Unwilling to lose another organ, Ajimaph instead payed the fee by taking out a high-interest loan from a group of dubious moneylenders that could be worked off in installments. Ajimaph turned to petty theft to pay off his massive debt, and began wandering Mabil Labyrinth mugging any tournament competitors he encountered for their valuables.

While searching Mabil Labyrinth for targets, Ajimaph was reunited with Nacht, who had also entered the tournament and advanced to its third round. Though he initially attempted to rob Nacht of his possessions, Ajimaph stopped and explained his circumstances after recognizing him. Nacht was sympathetic to Ajimaph's situation but insisted that he find another means of gaining money other than stealing, eventually persuading him to only take money from monsters he encountered in the labyrinth. With a new goal set for himself, Ajimaph continued to explore the labyrinth in search of an effective means to acquire the money he needed from fighting monsters, encountering Nacht many more times along the way.

Ajimaph's travels eventually led him to Haniwa Village 77, a settlement that could only be entered by haniwa and followers of the Haniwa Temple. For the sake of moving deeper into the labyrinth, Ajimaph willingly converted his faith to become a Haniwa Crusader, granting him access to the legendary Hanny Flash technique and much higher resistance to magical attacks in the process. Ajimaph encouraged Nacht to also become a Haniwa Crusader, but was turned down due to Nacht fearing that doing so could permanently damage his relationship with Remedia Kalar.

Ajimaph is not seen again after Nacht wins the Toushin Tournament and made a Toushin, leaving it a mystery as to whether he was able to pay off his outstanding loan. Despite this, he continues to talk about becoming a Toushin even during his later encounters with Nacht, suggesting that he intends to enter the tournament for a third time in the future.

Personality and Appearance
Ajimaph is a young man with a lean build, gray eyes, bright red hair styled into several upward-facing spikes, and a matching set of large bright red eyebrows. He sports a small but prominent scar on his forehead and is described as being "rough-looking" during his first meeting with Nacht Ragnard. Ajimaph's clothing consists of dark red plate armor worn over a black tunic along with a pair of red boots of a similar color to his armor.

Ajimaph is a brash and aggressive individual with a naturally competitive spirit that leads him to quickly form rivalries with others. He is incredibly enthusiastic at almost all times, with Nacht describing him as being "pointlessly hot-blooded" for his tendency to never speak in a register lower than a shout. He also possesses a great deal of pride and confidence, to the point of shamelessly declaring himself to be the destined champion of the Toushin Tournament before so much as officially qualifying to participate in it. This short-sighted egotism often proves to be his undoing during critical moments, such as when he was defeated by Namil Hamsand in the second round of the tournament as a result of wasting his time before their match fantasizing about getting to have his way with her rather than preparing. Despite these somewhat unsavory personality traits, Ajimaph is a fundamentally goodhearted person who rarely holds grudges and can easily develop a sense of respect for the very same people he instigates conflict with, making him surprisingly pleasant to be around.

Contrary to his reckless demeanor, Ajimaph is consistently shown to be impressively observant. Despite lacking any particular knowledge of Enchanted weaponry, he was able to recognize Nacht's Sword as an exceptional item from a glance; an evaluation that is otherwise only made by experts in the field. He further displayed this perceptiveness throughout his time traversing Mabil Labyrinth, where he was routinely able to accurately determine the special mechanics of each floor he found himself on and offer sound advice on how to navigate them to Nacht. Ajimaph also understands the great risk that comes with challenging a Summon Door enough to make a personal vow to never attempt to open one until he is recognized as a Toushin, demonstrating a level of caution and restraint that he does not otherwise appear to possess.

Ajimaph is known for having a near-slavish devotion to his unseen older sister, and was motivated to enter the Toushin Tournament primarily as a means of protecting her from the criminal syndicate that has pursued them since the deaths of their parents. While Ajimaph frequently brings up his sister in conversation, he is incapable of articulating what exactly her character is, describing her with the contradictory adjectives of "brutal and ferocious, kind and pretty, and a little bit of a crybaby" all at once. Perhaps due to their family's association with organized crime, Ajimaph's sister is suggested to be rather cruel and unscrupulous, agreeing to act as his partner in the tournament only under the condition that he sell one of his organs to prevent her from having to work off the penalty fee should he lose and encouraging him to take out a loan from a group of untrustworthy moneylenders after he showed reluctance to do so a second time. Ajimaph is not troubled by this behavior and even shows slight eagerness at the thought of being scolded by his sister, a sentiment which somewhat disturbs Nacht.

Ajimaph shares a mutual rivalry with his fellow Toushin Tournament participant Nacht Ragnard, with both expressing outspoken irritation at the other's personality within seconds of their first meeting. The two are able to find conflict between themselves in even the most inane of conversations and will quite literally butt their heads together in anger when sufficiently riled. Though ostensibly hostile, these squabbles are in fact a reflection of the innate bond of friendship that exists between the pair. Nacht admits in the company of his own thoughts to feeling more comfortable when around Ajimaph due to the lack of other similarly aged competitors in the tournament, and reacts with shock and slight disappointment after learning of his elimination. Similarly, Ajimaph elects to cheer on Nacht in the tournament after he himself is removed from it, championing his rival to win in his place. This unspoken respect can also be felt in how carefully both Ajimaph and Nacht take the opinions of one another into consideration when making decisions, most prominently seen when Ajimaph resolves to abandon robbing other tournament competitors after being discouraged from doing so by Nacht.

Abilities
Ajimaph is a swordsman of considerable ability relative to his youth. While he is never directly seen participating in battle, he was able to defeat the veteran adventurer Yamato Matsumoto in combat during his first year competing in the Toushin Tournament despite being younger and much less experienced, implying that he is quite powerful. This fighting ability was further suggested throughout his encounters with Nacht in Mabil Labyrinth, where he showed no problem navigating the dungeon's deepest and most dangerous floors even after getting eliminated from the tournament. Despite his presumed strength, Ajimaph is also made out to be somewhat lacking in technique, with his fight against Matsumoto consisting of little more than the two striking at each other until one of them collapsed and his fight with Namil Hamsand ending in his loss after she used magic to immobilize him. While his straightforward fighting style earned him some support from the Toushin Digest host Slasher, who was eager to finally provide commentary for a conventional battle, it largely made him unpopular with spectators, with Slasher's co-host Kuri in particular disparagingly describing him as a "totally boring run-of-the-mill warrior".

During his second year participating in the Toushin Tournament, Ajimaph acquired the powers of a Haniwa Crusader after agreeing to follow the doctrines of the Haniwa Temple. As a Haniwa Crusader, he gained the ability to perform the Hanny Flash, the signature attack of all haniwa, as well as a substantial increase to his body's natural magic resistance. Though Ajimaph describes becoming a Haniwa Crusader as being very beneficial to him in battle, he only attained the class and its powers after he had already been eliminated from the tournament, leaving it somewhat of a mystery as to how much the class actually improved his abilities.

Trivia

 * Ajimaph is extremely fond of the costumed superhero genre, and shows childish excitement about getting to watch the "Haniwa Squadron Hanny Rangers" stage show.
 * According to Orion, Ajimaph's character designer, Ajimaph was designed to be a character who "seems like he should be your rival, but isn't."
 * Ajimaph, along with his counterpart Ambassador Bloomers, was added to Toushin Toshi III's story fairly late into its production as a character Nacht could speak with in dungeons for "flavor". He proved to be unexpectedly popular with the development staff, with Imam, one of the game's lead scenario writers, admitting that he would have likely been made into an opponent during the second year of the tournament had he been created earlier.
 * Ajimaph's name is possibly intended to reference Dr. Ajimaph, the cartoon alter ego of famed mangaka Hideo Azuma that appears in several of his works.
 * Ajimaph becoming a Haniwa Crusader references Toushin Toshi III's predecessor game Toushin Toshi II, in which the protagonist Seed Cashima is also given the option to become one. Nacht's fear that becoming a Haniwa Crusader would make him hated by Kalar everywhere further references Toushin Toushi II, as changing into the class prevents Seed from being able to meet and befriend Craia Kalar.
 * Ajimaph is mentioned to be from the Free City of Rockearth in his profile on the Toushin Toshi III website. This is notably the only explicit instance of a country from the Rance Series other than JAPAN being mentioned within a game in the Toushin Toshi Series, with all other references deliberately using ambiguous language. While not referred to by name, the criminal organization responsible for the deaths of Ajimaph's parents is implied to be the DX Association, the crime syndicate that controls Rockearth in the Rance games.
 * During one of their arguments, Nacht refers to Ajimaph as a "hot-blooded red fox" while Ajimaph refers to Nacht as a "useless green raccoon". Along with more generally referencing the folkloric rivalry between the Youkai the Kitsune and Tanuki, the colors assigned to each animal match those used in two flavors of the Maruchan brand of instant ramen, which encourage consumers to favor one over the other as part of their marketing.