Raz

Raz is a Shocktrooper Leader from Valkyria Chronicles 4 and one of the main protagonists.

Appearance
Coming soon

History
Raz was born in Hafen, a city in Gallia where he grew up alongside Claude Wallace, Kai Schulen, Leena Schulen and Riley Miller. Being a Darcsen, he grew up in the slums alongside Kai Schulen and Leena Schulen which made the parents disapprove of his friendship with Claude and Riley who were both part of well-to-do families, with this eating away at Raz. As a result of this, their lives took them in different directions with Raz joining a group of delinquents to help vent his frustration and made him constantly bully Claude as a result, picking on him for being weak, with one particular incident ending with Raz beating Claude so badly he ended up in hospital.

Raz and Kai joined the Edinburgh army when concerns over their homeland being attacked were raised, both being some of the first members of Squad E as a result. When Squad E was officially commissioned, they were assigned a Squad leader. To Raz's shock, Claude was the new leader having graduated from military school as valedictorian.

Raz refused to listen to Claude, still viewing him as 'Scaredy-Claude' and insisting that his cowardice would get them all killed. With encouragement from Kai, Raz eventually agreed to Claude's challenge to get Squad E to all pass the Ranger Corps training. Despite wanting to be in the Ranger Corps, Raz could not bring himself to listen to Claude's commands, running off on his own and ignoring his orders. Claude eventually used Raz's recklessness to the team's advantage, getting Raz to help perform a pincer movement which prevented Raz from being overwhelmed but also appealing to his own sense of bravado. Impressed, Raz admitted that Claude might know what he was doing and their friendship rekindled.

At a later date, Kai went off on a secret mission, coming back as a changed man, wanting to leave the army in order to put an end to the war himself but putting a doppelganger in his place to prevent the army from pursuing him as a deserter. Raz and Claude eventually relent and agree to help with this, but Kai's replacement is his sister Leena who is quite clearly female. To convince the higher ups, 'Kai' must show off his sniper skills, something he was well known for. Worried she wouldn't be able to hit the targets and land Kai in hot water, Raz and Claude hide themselves in the training grounds and take down the targets themselves. It is later revealed that the sights on the sniper rifle the new Kai was given were broken, and upon recieving a fixed sniper rifle she's an even better shot than the original Kai, having joined Hafen's town watch as a sniper since the boys left for the army.

Raz often teases Kai, making passes at her and getting into arguments and fights with her as their personalities clash a lot, they fight over rations a lot and Raz openly using Kai's original name rather than her mission's name. In battle he often rushes off and it's Kai's sniping that prevents him from getting killed in battle.

Raz's cockiness and declaration that he's an invincible soldier often lands Squad E in hot water as he will rush into a fight even when stealth is a far better option. When doing this gets Kai shot by an enemy sniper, Raz begins to panic and realise his actions have consequences. He protects Kai from enemies whilst the rest of Squad E come to their rescue, unable to forgive himself for putting her in harms way.

After the battle of Siegval, Raz and the others get aboard the Centurion, a huge ship capable of crossing land and ice fields. He and the navy aboard do not get on at first, and they constantly get into fist fights as a result.

After dropping some refugees off, Raz notices Kai is under severe pressure and gives her a hug, letting her know that whatever it is she's blaming herself for, he'll have her back and protect her. He then proceeds to confess his feelings for her. Kai requests some time to think about her response, to which Raz agrees.

Later Kai returns his feelings after revealing that she had been leaking info to her brother who had joined the Imperial Army and that's why they were being traced. She feels immense guilt, and Raz states even if he has to fight the original Kai to protect her he will.

After both the Centurion's sister ships are destroyed and Squad E manage to defeat both Crymaria and Walz, the Centurion is caught in a ragnite net trap by Kai and Squad E are given an hour to either surrender or they will be killed. Raz has utter belief that Claude will come up with a plan and goes to talk to him.

Claude has indeed come up with a plan, but it's a suicide mission as the Centurion will need to charge forward and will have to abandon the soldiers who shut down the generators. Claude is not happy to give the order to anyone, much less the man he sees as his best friend. Raz agrees he is the only one who has the skill and aggression to pull this off, and tells Claude it's an honour for him to go out in such a hero's way. Claude still hesitates, but Raz insists Claude gives him the order. With regret, Claude does so and Raz salutes with a smile, completing the mission with another Squad E soldier, making his way to the generator, taking out the guards and shutting it down.

Kai finds out that they're leaving Raz behind and breaks radio silence to tearfully talk with him. Kai promises she'll come back to save him, but Raz states he messed up, having been shot in the rampage and laments he's not so invincible. Raz says his farewells and tells Claude he made the right call and he needs to continue the mission to save Gallia. Claude and Kai both break down in tears as they hear an Imperial squad arrive. Raz's last words are cockily asking the enemy for a light for his cigerette as he is killed.

Claude refuses to hesitate ever again and promises to end the war for Raz.

Trivia

 * In the DLC, Squad E meets Squad 7. Raz naturally takes a dislike to Rosie who is incredibly racist towards Darcsens(this mission taking place before her character growth in the original game) and also thinks he's an idiot. Largo is also not keen on Raz at first, but more due to his recklessness and arrogance showcasing a lack of experience.
 * After completing Valkyria Chronicles 4, the player can visit the Cenotaph, and with the right DCT funds can revive any dead soldiers, even from storybased deaths. Raz's revival comes with a caveat however; The player must complete the 'Beneath the Frost' skirmish on hard. After which watching the Chapter 13 episode "Smells like Dad" will revive Raz to be used again.
 * Raz's death is a detriment to the player for the following chapters as being a leader he gives an additional Command Point when on the field allowing for one more turn for the player.