Rigardo

Rigardo was Claymore No. 2 of Isley's generation. Even though he was assigned the ranking of Number Two, he simply would not accept that Isley held the position as No. 1, telling him he would not acknowledge being referred to as No. 2, as long as he and Isley had not crossed swords once.

Upon Awakening and being defeated by Isley in combat, Rigardo became second in command to his Awakened Being army and was the male's strongest and most efficient hand. He died during the battle of Pieta, killed by a Half-Awakened Clare.

Etymology
"Rigardo" (Rigald or Rigaldo in some translations) is a transliteration of the Japanese "Rigarudo" (リガルド).

"Rigardo" may have been derived from "Ricardo," a Hispanic variant of "Richard," a masculine proper name, from the Middle English Rycharde, from the Old French Richard, from the Old High German Ricohard, from the Proto-Germanic words rik meaning "ruler" and harthu meaning "hard." One of the most popular names introduced by the Normans. This may also be a reference to King Richard I of England who's nickname was Richard the Lionheart referencing both his Awakened Form & nickname.

His nickname is "Silver-Eyed Lion King" in most translations. In Scene 56, Isley mocked Rigardo's strength and hard-headedness, calling him 銀眼の獅子王, Gin gan no shishiō, Literally meaning: The One True Silver-Eyed Lion King. Rigardo disliked it for obvious reasons, as Isley was deriding him for not being able to defeat him and take the title of King.

Human
Rigardo appeared as a young man with dark hair that fell over pale silver eyes. While at first glance his lifeless eyes could make him look blind, upon closer inspection he does indeed have pupils. He is also tall, standing taller than even female Claymore's, and dresses in intricate armor and clothes, hinting he cares for his appearance.

Awakened Form
His Awakened form resembled a silver-eyed, humanoid lion creature with a wolfs' elongated snout and was 3 m in height.

Personality
Perhaps due to his past training as a Claymore before Awakening, Rigardo appears to have features void of expression. This is a facade, as Isley reveals that he has witnessed a hidden, berserker-like side to Rigardo's personality that only shows up in battle, "Once your fuse has been lit, there's no stopping you" (Anime) which also made Rigardo the most bloodthirsty of all those in his army.

The male is also shown to be hard-headed and confident to the point of ignorance and defeat. When Isley became No. 1, Rigardo refused to acknowledge his superiority until the two had crossed swords and Isley had defeated him in battle. Rigardo also had a strong sense of honor, as upon being defeated by Isley, became loyal to him completely. This did not mean that the male liked Isley, but he didn't conspire against the Abyssal in the North and obeyed all orders from him.

During the battle of Pieta, we see Rigardo chastise and mock the Claymore's as they fight for their lives. He shows no remorse in killing them, or even over the deaths of the Awakened Being's, and complains about being inconvenienced over their deaths and especially when weaker Claymore's try to intervene his fight with Meria. Rigardo becomes blood-thirsty when facing a worthy opponent, and is so sure of his power that he ignored Helen and Clare when they tried to protect Meria. It was only until Clare had chopped off his arm that he turned his attention to her, and it was also this ignorance and self-confidence that lost him his arm as well.

Abilities
Despite being far smaller in stature than the average Awakened Being, Rigardo had correspondingly superior speed and agility in battle. His speed easily outmatched that of Miria, one of the fastest Claymores of her generation, and his greater Yoki allowed him to maintain it without tiring. His strength was not to be taken lightly, either, as Rigardo was seen destroying buildings during this fight as well. He was also ranked higher then Dauf when the two were Claymore's, despite Dauf's monstrous strength.

For long-range and surprise attacks, Rigardo was able to extend his claws at high speed, much the same way Yoma and other Awakened Beings hyperextended their fingers. His control over this skill was so great he could bend and change the trajectory of his elongated claws, allowing him to strike opponents above or behind him and can fire his claws at high speed. In contrast to his offensive capability, Rigardo was lacking in regenerative powers, and could not regenerate lost limbs quickly.

In a way, Rigaldo's assult was a show of how powerful the half-awakened (Miria, Jean and Claire) had become. Of all the single digits who Rigaldo attacked, only Jean was able to stand against him for more that a few minutes. The other three, Veronica, Undine, and Flora (who is technically higher in rank than Jean) were all killed instantly. Miria, the strongest captain and half-awakened was able to stand against him for a while, before Claire, another half awakend nearly awakened and stepped in.

Past and Early Life
Rigardo was Claymore No. 2 of the first generation also known as Isley's generation—a time when male warriors were still being created. After Awakening and getting defeated by Isley, he joined the latter's army to take control of the northern lands. Even after more than seventy-eight generations of being an Awakened Being, Rigardo still remembers everything about his life as a Claymore and his battle with Isley.

History
In Extra Scene 3 set sometime between Priscilla's Awakening and the Northern Campaign, Rigardo was sent by Isley to stop Priscilla. Isley, who underestimated Priscilla's Yoki, didn't realize how powerful she was. Rigardo fought Priscilla and was soundly defeated. Isley, then, came to battle Priscilla himself. Rigardo comments that Priscilla's Yoki seemed limitless.

Northern Campaign
During the Northern Campaign, Rigardo was dispatched to kill off the twenty-four Claymores sent against Isley's army after Isley did not want to lose anymore Awakened Beings. He deduced Miria's tactic of dividing the warriors into teams and began by eliminating the five team captains, who were also the strongest Claymores present.

Of the five (Miria, Flora, Jean, Veronica, and Undine), at the very end, Miria was the only captain to survive his assault. Jean was mortally wounded, while the other three were killed instantly. He intentionally ignored the weaker members in favor of focusing solely on the captains, which let Clare exclusively awaken her legs in order to keep up with Rigardo's immense speed which was shown when Miria had to abuse her Phantom Mirage in order to keep up with him. At first, Clare's boost in speed to save Miria had miraculously managed to attain such stupendous speed that even Rigardo had lost track for a moment and thus lost his right arm. After that, Rigardo began to pay more attention to Clare. She then realized that she was going to need more speed and eventually awakened completely in order to kill Rigardo with all of her strength. Upon his death Rigardo adds a remark in which alludes that Clare's resolve as warrior is laudable.

Isley
Although he did not get along with Isley, he worked for him and Priscilla during the Northern Campaign, having been defeated by both.

Clare
During the Northern Campaign, when he mortally wounded Jean and split Flora down the middle, Clare kept attacking him trying to avenge her friends and protect Miria, but he easily blocked all of her attacks and continued to taunt her, calling her a "weakling" or "small fry". When she forced her legs to awaken to prevent him from beheading Miria, he commented on her decision: "If anything I have to give you credit for originality." Upon realizing she could not fully control her awakened legs he taunted her again by calling her weak, but he was shocked to discover that she learned to control her abnormal speed in mere minutes, and he claimed that he had not fought that hard in ages, alluding to his battle with Isley. He began sensing the adrenaline from the "boiling blood" he had longed for and made it his personal mission to kill Clare. When she gained the upper hand and dealt a series of killing blows, he reflected on their fight and how she was much better than he had anticipated, and his last thoughts before being dismembered were "she's amazing!" or "how magnificent!" (from the manga and various subtitle choices)