Riful

Riful was Claymore No. 1 of the first all-female generation. She was the youngest warrior in the Organization's annals to reach the pinnacle of her abilities and awaken. She then became the Abyssal One of the West, also known as "Riful of the West" and "Empress Riful." She lived in the western region of Lautrec with her consort, Dauf. She was depicted as being near-invincible, though she was later overpowered by Priscilla.

Etymology
"Riful" is derived from the Japanese transliteraton "Rifuru" (リフル, pronounced "ri-fu-ru").

"Riful" is probably derived from "rifle," meaning "to plunder." "Rifle" is an early 14th-century term (implied in rifling), from the Old French word rifler, meaning "strip, plunder," literally "to graze, scratch," probably from a Germanic source (compare with the Old English word geriflian, meaning "to wrinkle," the Old High German word riffilon "to tear by rubbing," and the Old Norse word rifa, meaning "to tear, break"). This is probably in reference to her ability to break apart into strips.

Appearance
In her human form, Riful appeared as an adolescent girl with long, dark brown hair.

In her awakened form, Riful had glowing, pupil-less red eyes and retained a feminine humanoid form, composed of green ribbon-like strips. Her lower body was an immense mass of such strips that vaguely resembled a ballgown. The strips themselves were incredibly resilient and capable of lashing out at high speeds to ensnare or impale her opponents. The humanoid portion of Riful's form was a deception, as her enemies would tend to attack that area in the assumption that her vital organs were located there. In actuality, that portion contained no vital areas whatsoever.

Personality
Riful almost always appeared whimsical and child-like, often acting polite and cheerful even when threatening someone with a torturous death. From time to time, however, Riful would also exhibit anger and frustration, especially when made to look foolish in front of others. Despite being tough on him, Riful seemed to truly care for Dauf's well-being. She showed hints of sadism in the torture of Jean, Katea and the rest of their team and seemingly enjoyed watching Dauf impale them with his yoki rods.

Abilities
Riful's body was made up of dark green "strips of metal," which she could sprout from just about any part of her body. Durable enough for protection and sharp enough as weapons, these fleshy ribbons allowed her to quickly lash out and stab or ensnare enemies at a relatively long range and from any direction she chose, making this ability very versatile in use.

Riful possessed a massive amount of yoki and a talent for yoki suppression. She was skilled at masking it, making it difficult for her presence to be detected. She could also manipulate it enough to be able to mislead others into believing that her yoki was that of only an average Awakened Being.

Despite her massive size, Riful displayed incredible speed and could seemingly disappear within the blink of an eye.

First Encounter with Clare
In Hanel, a dying Raquel told Clare about her Awakened Being Hunting Party being captured by their quarry. Clare, then, set out to rescue the party, abandoning her original quest to find Raki for the meantime.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned castle on Mount Zakol, Dauf tortured Jean and Katea, trying to force them to awaken. When Katea awakened and failed to impress Riful, Riful ordered Dauf to kill her while Jean looked in horror.

When Clare arrived at the "Witch's Maw," Riful noted her low yoki. She told Dauf that the intruder was useless and that he could just dispose of her. Clare got captured by Dauf, but was later saved by Galatea. Galatea tried to leave with Clare, but Dauf caused the entrance to collapse. Dauf and Galatea clash, the high-ranking Claymore initially gaining the upper hand. However, Riful appeared and caused the tide of the battle to change by informing Dauf on how to overcome Galatea's ability. Galatea, then, ordered Clare to get Jean while she held off Dauf.

Clare successfully retrieved Jean, and in the ensuing battle, Dauf is overwhelmed by the three Claymores. Just as Jean was about to decapitate Dauf, Riful intervened, ending the fight. She decided she wanted to recruit the three to her army, but left them time in order to get stronger before turning them into her awakened allies. Riful also suggested that the only way to beat Isley was for the three to join her.

She later appeared before Isley after Luciela's defeat, warning him to not expand into her territory. It was then she realised that there was something amiss regarding the story of Isley defeating Priscilla. She noted that Priscilla was much stronger than either Isley or herself. This was one of the few times where she showed real anger.

After Seven Years
Riful has changed her focus to acquiring of Claymores skilled at sensing and manipulating yoki. She attempted to recruit Audrey and Rachel, but Clare, Miria, Helen and Deneve intervened. She seemed pleased to see Clare was still alive and even asked how Jean and Galatea were. She seemed slightly upset to hear of the death of Jean.

Afterwards, Riful managed to capture Renee. She took Renee to her new base and ordered Dauf tear off her limbs. Riful told her she would let her re-attach her limbs and let her go if she did as ordered. Riful, then, showed Renee the merged bodies of Rafaela and Luciela and asked Renee to use yoki manipulation to make them awaken. Renee asked Riful what she would do if the creature turned out to be stronger than her, to which Riful cheerily replied that she would kill it before it awakened completely.

Renee managed to convince Riful to let her reattach her legs as she couldn't concentrate. However, Riful became impatient when Renee took too long regenerating her legs and tried to hurry her along. She was interrupted by Dauf awakening in the castle to fight Clare. She left Renee to scold Dauf, warning her not to try and escape. Riful began to fight with Clare but sensed Renee's yoki disappearing. She ordered Dauf to go after her but when he failed, she went after Renee herself, vowing to mince the Claymore to shreds for making a fool of her. Soon after, Rafaela and Luciela awakened, causing a large explosion of yoki.

She turned back to her human form and seemed shocked at that the new Awakened Being's power kept increasing. She told Dauf that her chances of beating it were at 50-50, but would lessen as time went by. Dauf convinced her not to fight it and she decided that they should retreat. They were then surrounded by Abyss Feeders, who manage to rip off Riful's left arm. She used her hair to impale their heads but one managed to bite off the right side of her head. Riful commented that they were the first to do such damage to her and that she would make them regret having such durable bodies. Alicia and Beth arrived shortly after and told Riful that she was the next target they were to eliminate.

Encounter with Alicia, Beth, and Priscilla
Riful awakened and began to battle an awakened Alicia but was unable to keep up with her. Alicia's arms were easily able to slice trough Riful's body. Riful had to order Dauf to attack Beth, who she knew was performing soul link with Alicia, to try and give her an advantage. This worked, slowing down Alicia's movements, but only for a short time. The battle was interrupted when the new Awakened Being began firing projectiles. The projectiles injured Dauf, causing Riful to reach out to him. However, Riful herself got pierced by several projectiles in the process.

Dut to the confusion, Riful managed to escape, reverting to her human form and dragging the injured Dauf to safety. The Abyss Feeders quickly caught up and surrounded them. One Abyss Feeder managed to bite off one of Riful's arms. Too exhausted to regenerate, Riful focused on eliminating as many as she could but was soon overwhelmed. Beth, however, had been hit by a projectile at this time, causing an awakened Alicia to indiscriminately attack the remaining Abyss Feeders. Alicia, reverted to her human form, reversing the soul link as Beth awakened. She engaged in battle with Riful and removed two more of the Abyssal One's limbs, causing the Riful to weep in anger at being defeated by "this fellow."

Just then, Riful realized that soul link was starting to fail and that Alicia was having difficulty maintaining Beth's consciousness. Despite knowing that Alicia was vulnerable and having Dauf shout at her to finish her, Riful didn't move. She sensed the yoki of the person Beth was fighting and knew immediately it was Priscilla. Alicia left Riful and Dauf in order to help her sister while Riful continued to "watch" from the sidelines.

The battle didn't last long, with Priscilla killing both Alicia and Beth in quick succession. Riful was stunned, incapable of believing such a powerful creature could exist and warned Dauf to run away as fast as he can. He refused and immediately thereafter, the two were confronted by Priscilla herself. When Dauf stubbornly threatened Priscilla, she effortlessly ripped his body to pieces. Angered, Riful retaliated, only to have Priscilla punch her right hand through Riful's spine and shooting spikes within Riful's body.

Riful is confirmed dead, since Helen and Deneve have found her severely mutilated corpse when it was thrown by Dauf.

Clare
During their first encounter, Riful was impressed by Clare's tenacity, so much so that she offered Clare the chance to become one of her allies in her struggle against Isley. As such, she allowed Clare to go free in hopes of her becoming stronger. Seven years later, the two encountered each other again with Riful exchanging pleasantries as though speaking to an old friend, though her intention was to use Clare's yoki sensing as a means to awaken the fused Luciela-Rafaela. In the end, when Clare manipulated her into revealing information and then managed to escape her clutches, Riful had nothing but contempt for the Claymore.

Dauf
Though she found Dauf to be an embarrassment to the point where she even mocked him for his dimwittedness, Riful accepted him as her lover on the grounds that he was the only one who could "accept her without breaking." As such, even when her life was in danger, she would not abandon him despite his own insistence.

Isley and Priscilla
For much of the series, Isley served as her main rival in the power struggle for the land. It was Isley's move to conquer the South that caused Riful to respond in kind, searching for strong Claymores for her own Awakened Being army. Ultimately, Isley came up triumphant as Riful was caught unaware by his trump card—Priscilla. In the end, it was Priscilla who ended her life, seven years after Isley's invasion.

The Destroyer
While searching for a means to fight against the Isley/Priscilla alliance, Riful stumbled upon the fused bodies of Rafaela and Luciela. During the seven years, Riful searched for a way to awaken the fused sisters, resorting to finding Claymores with high proficiency in yoki perception. Ultimately, the fused sisters awakened in the form of The Destroyer, a being with power greater than of an Abyssal One.

Behind the Scenes

 * Riful's Japanese voice actress is Nina Mizuki and her English voice actress is Brittney Karbowski.