Ruach Ganeden
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Ruach GanEden (commonly misspelled Ruaf Guneden) is a fictional villain from the Japanese crossover video game Super Robot Wars Alpha 3: To the End of the Galaxy (henceforth Alpha 3) by Banpresto.
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[edit] Appearance
Ruach GanEden has the appearance of a young boy of about ten years old. He has platinum blonde hair, fair skin and golden eyes. While full-body illustrations of him have yet to be seen, his portraits in Alpha 3 show that he wears light green armor (more ceremonial than protective, as it does not cover his chest), and a silver diadem. A thin band of green metal floats above his head.
[edit] Who is he?
Ruach GanEden is the apparent ruler of the Ze Balmary Empire, the major antagonist body in some of the Super Robot Wars games. The Ze Balmary Empire played its most important role in the SRW Alpha Timeline (aka the Alphaverse).
Ruach is the official holder of the Spirit Emperor (Japanese 霊帝/Reitei) title and is thus revered by the Balmarians as a god. The Spirit Emperor is believed to be the direct representative (one might say avatar) of Zphiroude, the supreme Balmarian deity. This imperial cult can be seen as similar to those that appear in Japanese and Roman culture.
As the Spirit Emperor and a Psychodriver, Ruach GanEden has the sole right and ability to pilot the Geber GanEden, Balmar's angelic mechanical guardian. It is later discovered that as long as a powerful Psychodriver is inside the GanEden's core block, the machine can be commanded by anyone.
[edit] History
When the original Spirit Emperor, Augustus, left his throne 500 years before the beginning of Alpha 3, he chose Ruach as his replacement. Ruach was biologically altered to extend his lifespan for this reason. However, his altered physiology caused his psychic abilities to become highly unstable. He required sustenance in the form of human sacrifice (Balmarians are genetically identical to humans from Earth, having been descended from the same ancestor race), which fed him the psyche of the sacrificial victims. An entire line of priestesses was chosen for the sole purpose of being sacrificed to Ruach, and in Alpha 3, the next in the sacrificial line was Princess Armana Tichvah.
As Augustus festered into Keisar Ephes, Ruach ruled on the Balmarian imperial throne as his puppet. Ruach was selfish, apathetic, and egotistical (possibly due to the influence of his master, Keisar Ephes), characteristics which incited Prime Minister Shivah Gozzo to plot to overthrow him.
[edit] In Game
Ruach is one of the major bosses that appear throughout Alpha 3, fighting the protagonists in the Geber GanEden. Despite having 300,000 HP, Ruach is said to be an easy opponent.
What Ruach lacks in terms of power he makes up for in his stunning attack animations. The Geber Ganeden's finishing move, Catch The Sun, is a spectacular sight. Players of the game have often said that Catch The Sun appears far more impressive than the Nashim Ganeden's counterpart, Follow The Sun.
[edit] Ruach Meets His End
Upon his defeat in Alpha 3, Ruach retreats into the vast underground chapel beneath Balmar's capital city. Having been physically and psychically exhausted by his defeat, Ruach easily succumbs to a physical beating courtesy of Shivah Gozzo himself. Shivah then gains control of the Geber Ganeden by kidnapping the Psychodriver Irui GanEden, core of the Earth-based Nashim GanEden, and using her as the Geber GanEden's core as he battles the protagonists.
[edit] Trivia
- Ruach Ganeden, like many other Balmarian names, is Hebrew in origin. Ruach means "air," "breath" or "spirit" (these terms are used interchangeably in Hebrew), while Gan Eden is the Hebrew name for the Garden of Eden.
- Ruach's battle BGM is entitled "TWIN ICON." The same previously appeared as the Nashim GanEden's BGM in Super Robot Wars Alpha 2. It might be noted that the Geber and Nashim GanEden are essentially twins, which might explain the reason behind the title.
- The voice actress behind Ruach is Minami Takayama (高山みなみ). In Japanese games and anime, it is not uncommon for young male characters to be voiced by women. Well-known examples are Quatre Raberba Winner and Shinji Ikari, who were voiced by Ai Orikasa and Megumi Ogata, respectively.
- Ruach GanEden and Nashim GanEden's strongest attacks ("Catch the Sun" and "Follow the Sun" respectively) are possibly references to the tokusatsu series Sun Vulcan. Both lines came from the series' theme song, and the three heroes were codenamed Eagle, Shark and Panther, which also happen to be the animals the three guardians of both GanEdens were based on.
