Riful

"My goal isn't your death. I will just torture you, make you Awaken and then make you my friends!"

- Riful of the West to Clare

Riful was an unranked warrior of Isley's generation (the first generation) and 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.

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.

Claymore


As a Claymore, Riful wore the typical Claymore uniform. She was very short compared to other warriors, presumably because of her younger age. Just like most other Claymores, she had the traits of possessing a pair of silver eyes and blonde hair. Her hair was that of a medium length which surpass her shoulders and reach her upper torso. Riful possesses the appearance of a young teen girl during her time as a Claymore and her body appears to be somewhat of a frail-built like.

Awakened Being
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 ball gown. 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. In her human form, Riful appeared as an adolescent girl with long, dark brown hair.

Image Gallery

Personality
Riful almost always appeared whimsical and child-like, often acting polite and cheerful even when threatening someone with a torturous death. She also expresses hints of sadism in the torture of Claymores, but all for the purpose of making friends or mustering aid against enemies. From time to time, however, Riful would also exhibit anger, especially when she was fooled by Renee. When faced with imminent death, she even shed tears. Despite being tough on Dauf, Riful seemed to truly care for Dauf's well-being.

Riful is also quite perceptive and intelligent. She easily unpuzzles other's power level, skills, and talents.

Abilities
As an Awakened Being (technically an Abyssal One), Riful's body consists of thousands of fleshy strips of ribbons. These ribbons are Riful's main form of offense and defense; sharp enough to pierce through most and durable enough to protect her from attacks, these ribbons are highly versatile in their use. In addition, Riful appears to be capable of controlling her size and retroactively relocate where her internal organs are located to protect herself from attacks. Most enemies will assume that the humanoid part of her Awakened form would ensconce her vital and weak parts but in reality, that area ultimately serves as a decoy and would contain nothing.

Riful also possesses 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.

As a Warrior, Riful was noted to be a once in a generation prodigy. She had the needed power, skill, and ability to quickly graduate from being a trainee at an incredibly young age, impressing the Organization and was thus justly given the ranking of Number 1 during her generation before she had even reached her full potential.

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, postponing 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 Dauf, Riful ordered Dauf to kill her while Jean looked on 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 fended off Dauf.

Clare successfully retrieved Jean, and in the ensuing battle, Dauf is overwhelmed by the three Claymores. Just as Jean was about to eradicate 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 states 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 realized 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 expressed true ire.

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, though she seemed slightly upset to hear of the death of Jean.

Afterwards, Riful was in need of a defensive warrior who excels in perception and managed to capture the "Eyes" of the Organization at the time, Renee. She took Renee to her new base and ordered Dauf tear off her limbs, though 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 (in spite of Renee being a defensive type warrior) and tried to hurry her along. She was interrupted by Dauf entering his awakened form in the castle to fight Clare. She left Renee to scold Dauf, warning the warrior 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 deceiving and make a fool out 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 because of its swerving behaviour. 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 entered her Awakened form and began to battle an Awakened Alicia but was unable to keep up with her. Alicia's arms were easily able to slice through 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.

Due to the confusion, Riful managed to escape, reverting to her human form and dragging the injured Dauf to safety, but the Abyss Feeders quickly caught up and surrounded them. One Abyss Feeder managed to bite off one of Riful's arms, and, 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 sliced off her remaining arm and one of her legs, causing 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 shoot 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.



After Priscilla readily killed both Alicia and Beth in quick succession, Riful was stunned, incapable of comprehending that 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.

Helen and Deneve later find her severely mutilated upper body, and she is assumed dead.

Another Who Surpasses the Abyssal Ones
Much later, an animated lower body is seen ambling aimlessly towards Priscilla's location. Ribbons similar to Riful's erupt from it and begins to form a humanoid shape. The surviving Awakened Beings in Rabona quickly felt the Yoki that was emanating from the new being, noting how it was similar to Riful's but somehow different.

The Being, who is shown to be similar to Riful in stature, appearance and abilities, is next seen confronting Priscilla herself, proclaiming its hatred for her. Priscilla grasps the being by the head but is punched away with incredible force, surprising the observing Awakened Beings. The Being begins to shoot rods similar to Dauf's projectiles, and then protects herself from Priscilla's own projectiles with her ribbon-like hair, similar to Riful's own. The Awakened Beings note that the being was like Priscilla - that she was also one who surpassed the Abyssal Ones.

Engaging in a fierce battle with Priscilla, the Being began to gain the upper hand by absorbing her opponent's attacks. It appeared to the onlookers that the being was an even match for Priscilla after she was shown drawing power from the remnants of the Destroyer. After it looked like the battle had been decided when the Being punctured Priscilla's head, Priscilla calmly brushed aside her attacks and transformed. The ensuing battle was ephemeral before the human formed claymore-wielding Priscilla dispatched her foe.

Presumably, the being that emerged from Riful's corpse was unprecedented, but it can be assumed that it is somehow related to Riful and her lover, Dauf, due to the similarities in its appearance, abilities and hatred of Priscilla, their murderer. Perhaps the culmination of Riful and Dauf fusing together.

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 and resentment 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." Thus implying they make love in their awakened forms. 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 accordingly; 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.

Rigardo
Apparently Riful has met him when she was a Claymore, but there are no indications if they had a relationship to begin with.

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. Later on, half of a similar looking body appeared, leaving off some speculations that she is still alive.