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Reika Fujishima [麗華藤島]
Reika Fujishima is an original character owned by Hikaru Kazushime, and serves as his mascot character. Hikaru considers Reika and himself to be two sides of the same coin, as the character's personality, spirit, and actions greatly reflects his own. "Reika" is also an anagram of "Erika", Hikaru Kazushime's other original character.
Reika (れいか, レイカ, 麗華, pronounced ray-kah) can be read as "Lovely or Beautiful Splendor" and "Companion Flower". Fujishima (藤島) can be read as "Wisteria Island"- the color of the Blue Chinese Wisteria trees were inspiration for her blue hair and general blueish themes, (besides her creator's favorite color being blue). As a 'Companion Flower', Reika is meant to not only be a hero in her own story but be a strong companion in everyone else's as well.
Backstory and Universe
Backstory and Universe
Ancient Origins
Reika originates as a soul of an ancient known as a Hecektra (heh-seck-truh) who is an Aetherborn- a legendary soul created entirely out of Aether, and foretold by the Hecektra to bring balance to the universe as willed by existence itself. She continues to live and reincarnate, but doesn't remember past lives. How this process truly came to be is a mystery.
Sekai no Takara & Beyond
In Hikaru Kazushime's original story (in development) "Sekai no Takara", Reika is a human girl with blue hair (a trait of most of her incarnations) who is aspiring to be a great journalist after her inspiration and hero known as "HK". She eventually finds herself meeting a knight from a parallel world and ventures there to discover the mystery of her birth, and relics known as The Treasures. In the sequel novel that is in development as well, Reika's soul returns to The Aether and finds its way to FFXIV's timeline, where she is the adopted daughter of a Doman merchant house who's island of blue wisterias was destroyed when she was young. Reika follows her destiny to unite the land, and offfically found Azure Infinitum (named after the infinite aether of which everyone's life force comes from and returns to, and of which she unknowingly has infinite access to) and save the world, leading to processes that create her other incarnations.
This has allowed Hikaru to create a personal canon narrative for Reika across many, many titles, as she continues to reincarnate and/or travel to other times, worlds, and dimensions.
Reoccurring Traits & More
Reika's character generally stays as close to the same as possible. Her blue hair, tendency to be a knight or sword and shield wielder, secret love of the color pink despite being especially fond of blue, and her personality that can go from happy-go-lucky and loving to serious and leader-like and regal as needed, is usually constant through her incarnations. Sometimes, depending on the world (to fit some limitations of certain titles), Reika may sometimes be seen with silver hair, to signify her distance from The Aether of planet Etheirys or Earth, or red hair in some incarnations as a defiance, such as her Guild Wars 2 incarnation, who defied her adopted family's royal house. She is usually a human, but may appear as a human-like species as well depending on the time, universe, and world.
Though it is rare, there are incarnations where Reika appears with an anagram of her name as "Erika".
Beginnings As A Website Mascot
Reika began as a simple OC (original character) used by Hikaru and created to represent his original RUN AROUND:NETWORK site and as a personal mascot in his work since 2008. Believing a very Japanese way of commercial Mascot culture, Hikaru felt his original website wouldn't be complete without a character mascot. Reika has been featured on advertisements at conventions in California, for Hikaru's events, and various merchandise.
Incarnations
Since her creation, Reika has gone through several transformations as various artists have made fan-art of her, others have gifted art commissions, and Reika has taken several forms in many video games where Hikaru plays her as his personal character. See some of the most prominent examples below.
FFXIV - Reika Fuji-shima
Within Final Fantasy XIV, Reika was a beloved blue haired Miqo'te guild master and leader of one of the game's longest running and most active community, Azure Infinitum, established in 2014. In her FFXIV lore, she was known to have begun as a maid from Doma who served a wealthy merchant house in her childhood. She ventured to Eorzea following the 7th Umbral Calamity searching for an old friend. After joining a mercenary faction named "Crimson Blades", she found herself at the center of a coup that led her to liberate fellow adventurers from a great conspiracy set to overthrow the land's companies. Reika and her allies founded a free company named Azure Infinitum, and as it grew, helped bring the Dragonsong War to an end, while uniting many factions and then liberating fallen city-state Ala Mhigo. From there Azure Infinitum continued to thrive as Reika and Azure's majesty was host to generations of adventurers and created legions that brought peace to Etheirys and many other worlds. Reika of House Fujishima in future centuries was long remembered as one of the most resilient warriors of light ever known who, with her comrades by her side, changed the world- and the universe- forever.
FFXIV - Reika Fuji-shima
Within Final Fantasy XIV, Reika was a beloved blue haired Miqo'te guild master and leader of one of the game's longest running and most active community, Azure Infinitum, established in 2014. In her FFXIV lore, she was known to have begun as a maid from Doma who served a wealthy merchant house in her childhood. She ventured to Eorzea following the 7th Umbral Calamity searching for an old friend. After joining a mercenary faction named "Crimson Blades", she found herself at the center of a coup that led her to liberate fellow adventurers from a great conspiracy set to overthrow the land's companies. Reika and her allies founded a free company named Azure Infinitum, and as it grew, helped bring the Dragonsong War to an end, while uniting many factions and then liberating fallen city-state Ala Mhigo. From there Azure Infinitum continued to thrive as Reika and Azure's majesty was host to generations of adventurers and created legions that brought peace to Etheirys and many other worlds. Reika of House Fujishima in future centuries was long remembered as one of the most resilient warriors of light ever known who, with her comrades by her side, changed the world- and the universe- forever.
The Elder Scrolls Online - Reika Fujishima
A silver-haired, short female Nord who fights for the Ebonheart Pact. Reika began her journey on Nirn by waking up in Morrowind while being tasked by the goddess Azura to join local Ashlanders to help quell a rebellion that threatened Morrowind. After becoming a champion of Vivec, she ventured to nearby lands seeking adventure and followed wherever her heart guided her. Her silver hair represents her form when she is most distant from The Aether of Etheirys in the Realm of Light seen in Square Enix franchises. As Nirn exists within The Mundus which is a pocket universe altogether, Reika's connection to the Aether is weakened, hence her lack of blue, but her soul as a Hecektra and Aetherborn is strong enough to empower her to complete great feats of strength and resilience suitable to a legendary heroine.
Following her early days of adventure, Reika founded a guild named "Azure Infinitum", and together with fellow adventures went on to assist the factions of the land. As Azure began to rise, entities from another world from other Azure factions in time and space, began crossing interdimensional gates to begin allying and joining Azure Infinitum affairs. Joined by her Hand from across the universe, Reika and the Hand established Infinitum Hall in the Psijic realm, as Azure began to prosper and unite across Tamriel.
The Elder Scrolls Online (Alternative) Reika Fujishima
In an incredibly rare occurrence, Reika's soul reincarnated in an alternative timeline in Tamriel. As a short female Nord born into the Ebonheart Pact, Reika began her journey as a newly recruited Pact soldier roped into the affairs of the Molaag Bal/Coldharbour invasion. After joining forces with an unlikely band of heroes, Reika founded a guild named "Azure Infinitum', and together with fellow guildmates adventured on to assist the Daggerfall Covenant, the Aldmeri Dominion, and brought peace and stability to Tamriel, while continuing to adventure as Azure prospers. As Nirn exists within The Mundus, another universe, Reika's connection to the Aether of Etheirys is weakened, as seen in her brown-colored hair, though her Hecektra soul still burns within, giving her the power to combat powerful foes and overcome many challenges, becoming a legendary heroine.
Following her early days of adventure, Reika founded a guild named "Azure Infinitum", and together with fellow adventures went on to assist the factions of the land. As Azure began to rise, entities from another world from other Azure factions in time and space, began crossing interdimensional gates to begin allying and joining Azure Infinitum affairs. Joined by her Hand from across the universe, Reika and the Hand established Infinitum Hall in the lush Daggerfall region of Northwestern Tamriel, as Azure began to prosper and unite across the land.
Monster Hunter - Hikaru Kazushime (Reika Fujishima)
Monster Hunter - Hikaru Kazushime (Reika Fujishima)
In Monster Hunter games, she is a blue haired and blue armored amnesiac female human novice hunter who unites with Azure Infinitum explorers who've come through portals from FFXIV's Eorzea during an interdimensional Azure expeditionary operation. During this chapter in her soul's tale of reincarnations, Reika and Azure successfully defended the New World expedition and made stable ground for the world's explorers and settlers to build on the new continent. Though dormant for many years, Reika returns with many adventure-hearted Azure souls, returning the Azure clan to further exploration of the continent's wilds after receiving a mysterious note that signifies that adventures in that realm are not yet finished.
Destiny 2 - Hikaru Kazushime (Reika Fujishima)
Born on a universal plane that hosts a future parallel Earth, Reika is a Titan class human Guardian who was inspired to serve humanity's forces following The Red War. Growing up in The Last City, Reika took on the nickname "Hikaru" (which means Shining in Japanese) after discovering that she was blessed as a child to use Light- a form of Aether. Earth's Aether however is nothing like Etheirys', and as most of the planet's life has depleted, it is very scarce. Reika credits her ability to use Light to The Traveler who bestows Light to Guardians, though how or why she obtained the ability in her youth is a mystery. Reika frequently dreams about The Traveler. Her dreams shed haunting details of beings from beyond this universe gifting heroes with blessings of light, and feels some otherworldly connection with The Traveler because of this. Her first major assignment as a Guardian sent her to investigate Earth's moon, where she found an ancient structure capable of extracting souls. Her blessing of Light shielded her, as she discovered that the solar system is far from alone. Reika continues to use her callsign "Hikaru", her nickname from childhood, which came about during her time serving in Earth's Security Forces just before becoming a Gaurdian.
Guild Wars 2 - Reika Fujishima
Born on the world "Tyria", across the cosmos, Reika is a guardian class knight of humanity's kingdom, "Divinity's Reach" She was raised among noble houses since her birth since her step-family discovered her as a mysterious blue-haired orphaned babe, left in the throne room. Tired of the aristocratic life shared by her noble step-sisters, after growing up teased for her natural blue hair, Reika dyes her hair red in rebellion and joins the infantry just before a Centaur raid. After defending local farms, she was commended and invited to a royal banquet where she learned of a sinister plot to overthrow the leaders of humanity. This led her on a long journey to bring balance to the world, and to becoming a legendary heroine in the process. Proudly sporting her crimson hair as a symbol of her rebellion that ignited her journey, she yet keeps an affinity for the color blue, and yearns to seek the truth behind the mystery of her birth.
Star Wars: The Old Republic - Erika Sheppard
A long time ago, n the Realm of Light, on a star far, far, away, a mysterious female Jedi cadet appeared on the beautiful world of Tython named Erika. Raised by Jedi at the temple, Erika learned of her own special ability to manipulate, control, and be in balance with a power known as The Force- known elsewhere as The Aether. Being a Hecektra incarnation in galactic proximity to an Aether Wellspring meant she was strong in The Force and her own Aether, which made her a prime candidate to become a powerful Jedi Knight, and defender of The Republic. As Flesh Raiders grew to threaten her home on Tython, Erika completed her training, and brought peace to her home before adventuring onward. Erika maintains an affinity for the color blue for reasons only her soul understands.
Phantasy Star Online 2: NGS - Reika Fujishima
Among the ARKS adventurers exploring the planet Halpha, a mysterious and enigmatic blue-haired girl with feline ears appeared among the crowd of rising settlers and explorers. Forging an alliance of factionless ARKS members, known as "Azure Infinitum", Reika began to organize regular expeditions and hunts for fellow ARKS members looking to assist the global ARKS agenda and defeat the D.O.L.L.s, mysterious beings plaguing the planet. As time progressed, travelers appeared through interdimensional gates from other Azure factions across time and space, and joined the Azure Infinitum Alliance on Halpha in their adventures and campaigns against the forces threatening the planet.
Final Fantasy XI Erikasheppard
In the age of Vana'diel, an Bastokan adventurer with an adventurous heart named Erika Shepard, began to follow the footsteps of her legendary father, Paladin Shinnosuke. Perplexed by the mystery of her father's disappearance, her journey begins after finding evidence of his death in The Crystal War, 100 years prior. Finding the information grossly inconsistent to her father's career and age, she begins to look for clues surrounding the various cavernous maws found across the world, and begins an unforgettable adventure.
Lord of the Rings Online - Reikafujishima
Erika, a well-read, studious farm girl of Gondor, finds herself in service to a kind and local lord who gives her the chance of a lifetime to become a knight against their region's traditions. After returning from skirmishes with rising goblin raids on local villages, Erika is awarded and sent as an envoy of Gondor for diplomacy missions in Rohan. Erika's journey from there would see her soul ignite once again, to rise as a hero and become a major force in bringing peace to Middle Earth.
A long time ago, n the Realm of Light, on a star far, far, away, a mysterious female Jedi cadet appeared on the beautiful world of Tython named Erika. Raised by Jedi at the temple, Erika learned of her own special ability to manipulate, control, and be in balance with a power known as The Force- known elsewhere as The Aether. Being a Hecektra incarnation in galactic proximity to an Aether Wellspring meant she was strong in The Force and her own Aether, which made her a prime candidate to become a powerful Jedi Knight, and defender of The Republic. As Flesh Raiders grew to threaten her home on Tython, Erika completed her training, and brought peace to her home before adventuring onward. Erika maintains an affinity for the color blue for reasons only her soul understands.
Phantasy Star Online 2: NGS - Reika Fujishima
Among the ARKS adventurers exploring the planet Halpha, a mysterious and enigmatic blue-haired girl with feline ears appeared among the crowd of rising settlers and explorers. Forging an alliance of factionless ARKS members, known as "Azure Infinitum", Reika began to organize regular expeditions and hunts for fellow ARKS members looking to assist the global ARKS agenda and defeat the D.O.L.L.s, mysterious beings plaguing the planet. As time progressed, travelers appeared through interdimensional gates from other Azure factions across time and space, and joined the Azure Infinitum Alliance on Halpha in their adventures and campaigns against the forces threatening the planet.
Final Fantasy XI Erikasheppard
In the age of Vana'diel, an Bastokan adventurer with an adventurous heart named Erika Shepard, began to follow the footsteps of her legendary father, Paladin Shinnosuke. Perplexed by the mystery of her father's disappearance, her journey begins after finding evidence of his death in The Crystal War, 100 years prior. Finding the information grossly inconsistent to her father's career and age, she begins to look for clues surrounding the various cavernous maws found across the world, and begins an unforgettable adventure.
Lord of the Rings Online - Reikafujishima
Erika, a well-read, studious farm girl of Gondor, finds herself in service to a kind and local lord who gives her the chance of a lifetime to become a knight against their region's traditions. After returning from skirmishes with rising goblin raids on local villages, Erika is awarded and sent as an envoy of Gondor for diplomacy missions in Rohan. Erika's journey from there would see her soul ignite once again, to rise as a hero and become a major force in bringing peace to Middle Earth.
