Player Name: Marie O'Hare

Appearance: Standing at 5'1" and typically covering herself with sweaters and slacks, Marie would have an easy time fading into the background if not for her long, frizzy, bright orange-red hair. Black, rectangular-framed glasses and a smattering of freckles add more defining features to her otherwise plain face, which her round, dark brown eyes don't stand out much from.

Nationality: Canadian

Age: 25

Personality: A shy wallflower on the surface, the kind of girl who hid her developing body with sweaters and stayed home during "Kick a Ginger Day" during high school. But with the anonymity of the internet, through which she can connect with people she became friends with through games, she is able to express her inner fire and be the excitable, outspoken woman she wishes she had the confidence to be around people in person. In truth, this "hidden" side isn't too hard to bring out; all it takes is the right combination of discussion topic and initiation on someone else's part to drag this girl out of her shell even when talking face-to-face.

Backstory: The daughter of two very supportive parents, she was introduced to video games through her father, who enjoyed them as one of his primary hobbies. In her teens, she was attracted to the Rift Warriors series, during the later end of the eighth entry's lifetime in particular, after being exposed to its community online, which seemed full of fun and supportive people. She found herself drawn to the character Queen Morag, since playing as her gave her a great rush of power and confidence. She would go on to get a pretty high online ranking through Rift Warriors IX's lifetime, putting her fast learning skills to use in exploring the ins and outs of the game's mechanics and data. It wasn't until the announcement of Rift Warriors X's unique choice of release platform and structure that encourages offline local play that she decided to take after Morag and begin attending tournaments, albeit with her face fully hidden and always going by her console handle ForTheRedQueen, in order to strengthen her in-person communication abilities and to try to form a friend circle she could meet with regularly in-person. Applying that learning ability to picking the brains of better players whenever possible and getting as much feedback on her play style as she could, the result was framed by commentators as a rookie's rocket launch to stand with the best of the games competitive players.

Rift Warrior Character: Queen Morag

Rift Warrior Appearance: Standing at 5'11" and adorned with long, raven hair often seen blowing in the wind, Morag cuts a stunning figure when posing dynamically during rallying speeches. Her grey plate armor hides a toned, muscular body, while the rod-supported skirt of black fabric hiding her greaves helps reinforce her femininity. The leer of her narrow black eyes strikes fear into the hearts of her enemies, while a scar running from her right cheek to the edge of the left side of her jaw reminds them why that fear is justified. She even makes a point of not putting her black lipstick over the scarred sections of her lips to make it clear she isn't ashamed of any wound sustained in battle.

Debut: Rift Warriors VI, in which she had the role of the two phase final boss of the arcade mode. She was also playable in the same title, with her super armor naturally less powerful despite her attacks being just as slow, and without access to the second phase form.

Rift Warrior Backstory: The queen of a kingdom of little renown that existed in 8th Century England, the tail end of what is often known as the Dark Ages. Have grown in a time of constant strife and unmet needs, Morag grew into a stern, charismatic, and ferocious woman and warrior, wresting rulership of her kingdom by force in a bloody coup in which she herself claimed the previous king's head, and went on to provide for her subjects by taking from other kingdoms. It was fresh after one such conquest that not only herself, but her army and her castle were pulled into the Rift. After being bestowed power by The Messenger, she vowed to conquer the world of the Rift, with the ultimate goal of uniting as many warriors as would fight by her side to defeat not only The Messenger, but also whoever it was that the so-called "Messenger" was meant to be relaying the messages of.

Rift Warrior Powers: Morag was granted the ability to open portals between her own location and any she'd previously been to. She utilizes this power to summon soldiers and knights from her army to herself, as well as teleport herself around her opponents. She also retains the martial abilities she obtained through her own life, possessing the strength and skill to wield a heavy halberd for close quarters combat. This halberd has a banner wrapped around the shaft, which conceals a war horn also strapped to the shaft.

Playstyle: Morag is defined by slow, high damage normals that do not combo into one another, her summonable soldiers, her teleport, and her status as one of the handful of characters on the roster to make use of Rift Warriors' unique super armor mechanics. The super armor in Rift Warriors works on a hit point system that gives each character that uses it a specific amount of points of damage that this armor is good for, which slowly recovers while not receiving or blocking attacks, and after being broken, refills immediately once the character returns to neutral. Morag is among the few that has more super armor points than the most high damage single hit in the game, meaning at full armor she can always tank through at least one hit before being staggered. However, most of her attacks are slow enough that most of the roster are plus on trade, and though the super armor prevents her animations from being interrupted, she still suffers a moment of hitstop which can give even some slower attacks enough time to block after. She does have one quick normal, a forward toe kick, but it does abysmal damage and, like the rest of her normals, does not combo into anything.

In order to land attacks and avoid just being a punching bag that tries to hit back every so often, Morag players need to make use of her stellar mix-up game to keep opposing players guessing, which is where her summons and teleport come into play. In addition to summoning soldiers next to herself, she can also set up a lingering portal with a down->up+button or up->down+button charge input and use it as an anchor to summon soldiers from or teleport to, which disappears after it is used. Only one summon can be present on screen at a time. The same one can't be summoned until after it retreats back through its portal, while a different one will interrupt the one currently present and force the current summon to retreat. Her summons include:

• A shortsword wielding soldier who does quick attacks once summoned, up to three times for a total of five hits if his attacks land or are blocked, then retreats. If struck by Morag, will tuck into a somersault with sword extended and fly forward across the screen, retreating once leaving the screen. If summoned from an aerial lingering portal, will perform an overhead aerial while dropping down, then follow up with an upward launch as it jumps retreats. Spending meter will allow the soldier to perform his full combo regardless of if it whiffs, and will make the full combo true since there's no delay to confirm the hit.
• A bow wielding soldier who will lob three arrows which hit overhead at close, mid, and long range, then retreats. The arrows take a moment to travel, allowing Morag to reposition and attempt to capitalize on the opponent's option. The arrows can also hit aerial opponents during their arc, and cover a decent horizontal range as they spread out. If struck by Morag, will fire off three more arrows simultaneously that travel straight and fan out upward. If summoned from an aerial lingering portal, will perform three successive shots aimed below back, below center, and below front, then retreat. Spending meter will call a crossbow wielding soldier who fires a bolt that travels straight forward and hits low, and will fire a second low hitting bolt if struck by Morag, or will fire a bolt directly at the opposing character if summoned from an aerial lingering portal.
• A spear and tower shield wielding soldier who stands where he is summoned with shield raised, blocking attacks from the front and preventing characters who aren't Morag from moving past. If shield is struck, will thrust once with spear. If struck from behind, will charge forward with spear, then retreat once offscreen. If summoned from an aerial lingering portal, will fall to the ground and assume normal behavior, facing whichever direction the opponent is in. Spending meter will call two soldiers, one standing on the shoulders of the other, making the formation able to reach jumping opponents. This soldier will only retreat when a different summon is used.
• A lance wielding cavalry knight who charges forward across the screen as a constant hitbox, then retreats once offscreen. If struck by Morag, the horse will kick backward and strike Morag back, doing damage and sending her flying backward to the edge of her side of the screen if it breaks her super armor, then retreat. If summoned from an aerial lingering portal, will drop down with a knockdown hitbox under the horse. If this lands, the horse will trample the opponent for a few extra hits before retreating. If it misses, the lance wielder will perform a circular swing of his lance while the horse turns around before retreating. Spending meter will cause the charge's hitbox to be multi-hit, allowing it to corner carry the opponent, or If summoned from an aerial lingering portal, will cause the horse to perform the trample regardless of if the drop hitbox whiffs, and follow up with the circular lance swing.
• A sword and shield wielding knight. This can only be summoned using a super, and is exempt from the normal summon limitations: it can be used in conjunction with the other summons, stays out until either its time limit is reached or its hp runs out, and will always be summoned where Morag is standing. It has its own, fairly limited moveset, ai, and super armor points and moves independently of Morag, and can't be struck by her. Its attacks are slightly faster, but do less damage than Morag's.

By using her various summons in addition to her teleport, which is set to the backward->forward+button and forward->backward+button charge inputs, a skilled Morag player can catch enemies in pincer attacks or capitalize off forcing them to block specific attacks, while dancing in and out of the opponent's effective range. Her teleport behavior changes based on her distance from her opponent, as well as the presence of a lingering portal. Back->forward will teleport Morag to close range in front of the opponent at mid-long range, close range behind the opponent at close range, and if a lingering portal exists anywhere in front of her, she'll teleport to it. Forward->back will teleport her half a screen away from the opponent at close range, mid range behind the opponent at mid-long range, and if a lingering portal exists behind her, she'll teleport to it.

One of her forward normals can be held. Normally it's a forward thrust with the tip of her halberd, but if the button is held, she'll instead thrust it through a portal, causing it to hit behind the opponent. It can also be made to hit in front, above, or below the opponent by holding a different direction after pressing the button. An existing lingering portal will supersede all these options, but this normal has the unique property of being the only option Morag has that interacts with the lingering portal but does not close it after the interaction is finished.

Other:

• Queen Morag's taunt in the game allows the player to play the war horn on her halberd like a regular instrument a la Big Band in Skullgirls.
• The second phase of Morag's boss fight in Rift Warriors VI consists of her summoning a large platoon of soldiers, which stack up and combine to form the torso, arms, and head of a giant warrior wielding dual swords. The player would be tasked with avoiding the unblockable but slow sword swings, and using the shields of off-balance soldiers after each attack to jump to the head where Morag stood to cause damage. This form then became playable from Rift Warriors VII and onward as a secret secondary ultimate activated by using her taunt to sound the war horn in a specific way. It's treated more as an Easter Egg by most players because of how hard it is to actually land hits while it's active, though some clever players can still make good use of it since each attack can be delayed and aimed at a different spot for a maximum of three seconds.

Player Name: Ren Kline

Nationalities: Japanese & U.S. American

Age: 21

Personality: Ren is the quiet type. He's antisocial and suffers from chronic clinical depression. He has a tendency to overanalyze, and is a meticulous perfectionist. He has a proclivity towards sesquipedalian diction, and gets disappointed when he is forced to dumb it down. He spends a lot of time online, watching shows, reading novels, and playing games as both a form of escapism and, depending on the type of content, an attempt to feel something. Competition is one of the few things that can consistently get his heart racing, as well as one of the few forms of social interactions he enjoys and actively seeks out. He likes playing with all kinds of players, and will often switch to characters he has less experience with as a handicap to level the playing field. Unfortunately, he's done this often enough to improvise good combos for every character and now plays all of them at a fairly competent level.

Backstory: Ren's mother is Japanese and his father is American. They married, lived in the U.S. for a while, had Ren, moved to Japan for a while, had a fight, with Ren and his father moving back to the U.S. for a while, made up, moved back to Japan for a while, and eventually split up for good, with Ren bouncing back and forth since. He's always been an only child, though over time he came to grow more distant from his parents as they each, at least in his perception, prioritized their own problems over him. Ren is bilingual and has gone to school in both America and Japan. He hasn't made many friends at either place, and the few friendships he has made generally don't survive him moving away every year. He can't decide where he wants to live, and can't figure out how to make enough money to move out in the first place. His parents both work their own jobs, both keep unsubtly hinting that they want him to live near them, and both keep making promises they can't fulfill. For the last couple of years, he's been unemployed, withdrawn, and hasn't spoken much with either of his parents.

Enter Rift Warriors. It's a long-running franchise, and he's played the games since he was a kid. However, it wasn't until recent years, especially in Rift Warriors VII through IX did he really get into the series on a competitive level. He won his local tournaments often enough that he gained the confidence to try participating in bigger tournaments, and he was certainly no stranger to travel. By Rift Warriors VIII, he was a well-recognized player, and he managed to win his first nationals towards the tail end of VIII's competitive popularity. When Rift Warriors IX came around, he shot up the rankings, and is now regarded by many as the best Rift Warriors player around.


Rift Warriors Character: Aster Wilde

Debut: Rift Warriors V, though he's been a part of the lore since Rift Warriors II, mentioned in passing as the half-brother of another character who's been in since the first Rift Warriors.

Playstyle: Contrary to appearances, Aster is a sticky rushdown character with a strong neutral game. Although most of his attacks utilize his guns, and he doesn't have any ammo system to hold him back, his bullets slow down unnaturally quickly, in a linear fashion, becoming barely reactable at a medium range and relatively easy to avoid at long distances. Nonetheless, the bullets still project a huge zone of threat, are nigh impossible to react to at close to medium ranges, can lead into combos or blockstrings, and are very hard to whiff punish since they have hardly any startup and end lag. He can also spend meter to have them maintain their speed, letting him play like a true zoner for a limited time. It doesn't really matter where you are; when up against Aster, you need to be prepared for him to flash step in and shoot you. His movement is quite excellent, allowing him to relatively consistently convert bullet hits into combos, which generally require his shorter ranged melee attacks for good damage. Ever since the jump from 2d to 3d in Rift Warriors X, where his weird acrobatic kicks were replaced by freeform player input, he's considered a somewhat high skill floor character, due to the execution demands of following up on his medium and long distance attacks.

In addition to simply firing bullets, his gun is capable of unleashing short range blasts, a translation of the muzzle flashes coming out of his guns that he had for melee attacks in the previous games. They're an important combo tool, though they complicate player input further in that choosing between them is a manual process rather than controlled by player thought.

His backwards action dive, where he leaps backwards while shooting above him, is generally considered one of the best anti-airs in the game, since it has a huge disjoint and can lead into a full combo with some meter. His flash-jump lets him do the opposite, appearing in the air (turned around, perfect for crossing up opponents) and firing off a series of bullets whose kickback somehow keeps him airborne, allowing him to drift forward to follow up for a combo or backwards to avoid retaliation as the bullet salvo juggles opponents or keeps them in block stun.

Finally, he also has demon magic, which only manifests in game in one of his supers to summon flaming chains around opponents that "drag them off to hell" (for apparently only a second before they fall from the sky somehow) and in his taunts to establish demon contracts, which are usually more fun little gimmicks than a viable tactic. Essentially, he can offer his opponent a magic contract, tossing it at them. It's unblockable, pretty fast, and doesn't change speed like his bullets, giving it slightly more effective range, though locking him in an animation if it hits such so that it has little use as a zoning tool. If it hits the opponent, it unfurls and hovers before them, prompting them to accept or deny the contract. He can also spend a hefty amount of meter to force them to accept the contract. Once accepted, a gameplay restriction is placed on both players, such as "no jumping" or "no supers". Naturally, he has ways of cheating all of the contracts, such as flash-jumps not counting as jumps, or being able to spend meter outside of supers on things like faster bullets. All but the newest of players know to decline his contracts, but then again most Aster players don't even bother using them because of that.

In terms of weaknesses, his biggest one is that he doesn't have a lot of defensive options besides his backwards dive, which itself is punishable if predicted. He has no meterless reversal, and he's rather meter-hungry, having to choose between dumping it into combo damage, neutral game control, or using it to cover for mistakes.

Aster's Backstory: Aster is a half-demon hitman and bounty hunter living in a near-future pseudo-apocalypse brought on by climate catastrophe coupled with the aftermath of world war 3. His demon father was summoned by an unknown (dead) group of humans, and went on to manipulate certain characters and NPCs into conflict. Only about 1/4th of the original human population remains in his time.

Aster makes a living hunting down persons of interest and the many war criminals that fell through the cracks. His primary, if not only goal, seems to be to make a lot of money. He's superhuman, possessing great strength, (how much is never shown) capable of moving faster than the eye can see, (flash step trope) and has inherited the ability to use "demon magic" from his father. (which is vaguely defined besides the use of demon contracts) He is canonically an edgy, over the top, devil-may-cry-esque badass.

Aster's Powers: Aster was given the ability to control minds, though it's been shown to be short of absolute control in the lore, working best when its target is unaware, and has little impact on gameplay, besides forcing people to accept demon contracts. In the tutorial of Rift Warriors VI, he teaches his half brother, who had lost his memory, how to play the game with it, and calls his own ability "usually useless" in a fight.