Riki

Riki (, Riki) is a playable character in Xenoblade Chronicles. He is the Heropon of Frontier Village and accompanies Shulk and the others throughout their journey. Kino and Nene are adopted children of him and his wife Oka.

Appearance and personality
Riki is a middle-aged orange Nopon with pinkish highlights at the ends of his hair and fingers and a large X-shaped scar across his belly. His main appearance comprises a purple and cyan vest with a pink and yellow necktie, in addition to a brown and red holster on his back used to hold his weapon.

Riki is a very two-sided character. Most of the time he presents a very childish outlook and personality, including but not limited to: loudly boasting about his battle prowess, quickly hopping topics of discussion, describing the party as "Heropon and sidekicks", referring to weak and dead creatures (including himself) as hungry or sleepy, taking phrases and idioms literally, and thanking himself for contributing more than he actually did in any given situation. Conversely, he has a hidden wisdom of interpersonal relationships, cares deeply about his friends (even if he has a very loose definition of "friend"), and knows when his antics are uncalled for.

Story arc
A group of five adventurers enters Frontier Village: Shulk, Reyn, Dunban, Sharla, and Melia. There is a Telethia on the loose in Makna Forest, and it is Melia's job to kill it, with the other four pledging their aid for it. The village's chief, Dunga, decides to provide them with a guide in the form of this year's legendary Heropon. The reveal ceremony begins: Riki falls from the higher levels of the village, hits Reyn in the face, and chaos ensues. Once things are calmed down, Riki introduces himself and requests/demands that the others gather some equipment for him. They then set off to find the Telethia. As they leave, the Homs ask why Riki was chosen to be the Heropon. Riki first says that the chief picked him by using his instinct and seer powers, but when pressed, admits that he is not skilled or special: he just has a huge debt to the village, and accomplishing things as Heropon is his ticket to work it off.

Riki's forest-dweller instinct leads them to a huge ether crystal deposit where the Telethia is found. They do battle, and Riki doesn't accomplish much, aside from perhaps being a distraction. He gets knocked out and misses the creature's destruction entirely, before getting up and complaining that it's over. Upon returning to the village, he takes all the credit, which the Homs tolerate. Dungan then declares a new prophechy that says Riki must join them on the rest of their travels. Riki immediately sees that this is just a way to be rid of him, but he gets convinced to go along with it by his family, which the party is surprised to see that he has (they thought he was a young loner, not a married father of eleven).

Riki has little influence for a while afterward. His next major scene is after the party has found themselves split up on the Fallen Arm, Riki being with Dunban and Melia. Riki notices that Melia is tired, but knows she will never admit it, so he pretends to be tired in order to force the group to stop and rest. Dunban has this figured out and gently ribs Riki for having lied about being tired. Riki has also noticed that Dunban is unhappy, which Dunban explains: he is anxious about Shulk and Fiora, and the relationship between them. Riki mistakes Dunban as a father for a moment, sharing similar experiences as a father himself.

The Heropon disappears into the background again for a long time, and only reappears once more, immediately after the death of Melia's brother Kallian. Riki is the only one other than Melia who heard Kallian's parting words, giving Melia much relief that she was not simply imagining it.

Despite his lack of contribution to the plot, Riki remains active the entire time, shouting his support many times while often flapping around in the background (and not always in panic). Riki always support friends, even if he not really part of situation. Heropon is bestest!

Riki is briefly seen at the end of Future Connected.

Lore

 * A Nopon at the Pollen Works in Frontier Village says that prior to becoming Heropon, Riki used to work the Pollen Works wheel.
 * According to the Heart-to-Heart At The Pollen Works, Riki dislikes eating Red Pollen Orbs, saying that they make his stomach go "thump thump."
 * After the battle with Lorithea and in the Heart-to-Heart In Ose Tower, Riki is implied to have the ability to hear ghosts.
 * Riki's first time seeing a Mechon was during the fight on Prison Island. (Heart-to-Heart: A Heropon's Perspective)
 * Riki is implied to have a crush on Melia in the Heart-to-Heart Flowers of Eryth Sea.
 * Riki's debt to Frontier Village is "same as 20,000 fish eggs" (Heart-to-Heart: Riki's Crazy Crystal Plan
 * Riki once made Oka a flower crown as a gift. (Quiet Moment: A Love for Flowers)
 * Riki made Kino's weapon, inspired by Sharla's ether rifle. (Quiet Moment: Dadapon's Gift

As a party member
While presented as ineffective in plot, Riki is a formidable foe in battle. He has an even mix of physical and ether attacks, access to a lot of buffs and debuffs, and the most HP of any party member. This makes him fit well as almost any role. However, while he can do almost anything, he is also not the best at any one thing.

As a boss
Riki appears in the This Year's Heropon Challenge Battle in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 as the single foe of wave 12.

As a Smash Bros. guest
Aside from a cameo in Shulk's Final Smash, Riki has several notable roles in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Assist Trophy
The is an item that summons a random character to aid the user. Riki is one of the available characters. When summoned, he uses three or four arts from a list of six before vanishing. Like most Assist Trophies, he cannot be attacked. The arts he may use are:
 * Yoink! - gravitates items towards Riki.
 * Happy Happy - boosts the knockback dealt by all characters, friend or foe.
 * Roly-Poly - causes nearby opponents to trip.
 * You Can Do It - heals nearby characters, friend or foe.
 * Freezinate - freezes nearby enemies.
 * Bedtime - puts nearby opponents to sleep.

Smash Tour item
is a party mode in SSB4 where players simultaneously move around a board to collect items and characters to use in occasional battles. Riki is one of the items; when used, he lets the user grab items up to two spaces away.

Master Spirit
s are the main focus of the mode, which are fought to gain them as collectibles that can be used in later battles. Riki is a Master Spirit, which means that instead of being equippable in battles, he runs a Dojo that teaches the "Strategist" style to spirits. Spirits with this style give the user improved special move damage, at the expense of damage for all other attacks.

Trivia

 * On April Fools Day 2015, SmashWiki renamed itself to SmashRiki. The Main Page and Riki's article were changed to fit Riki's style.
 * Riki's Japanese voice actor, Yuki Kaeda, also voices Vanea in Japanese.
 * A template for making a Riki plush appears in Xenoblade: The Secret File.
 * An accessory called the Legendary Biter appears in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 behind the Forgotten Trick Gate in Maktha Wildwood that resembles Riki's default weapon, the Hunter Biter.

Gallery
Riki