Rawa
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- For the Zone Fighter monster, see Dragon King.
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You are not prepared, PEASANTS! Long live RAWA THE DRAGON KING!
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„
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— Rawa cultist (GigaBash) |
Rawa (ラワ Rawa) is a bipedal dragon Titan who inhabits Tarabak Island in the 2022 video game GigaBash. First seen in 2009, Rawa overpowered all other opponents on the Island of Tarabak, becoming the dominant Titan in the area and gaining a cult of followers who worshiped him. Although he appears to be of Earthly origin, it is revealed that, as a part of Zargorah, Rawa is technically an alien.[1]
Name
Rawa shares his name with a small Malaysian coral island named for its white doves. His name also plays off of several terms associated with power, royalty, and divinity, namely, the mythological Nāga serpent of Malaysia's Chini Lake, an Indonesian flower market called Rawa Belong, and "Rama" (with the "m" flipped to form a "w" for his name), a title given to the kings in Thailand's Chakri dynasty, based on the warrior prince who is the seventh incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.[3]
Development
Rawa was birthed from the team's desire to put a Southeastern mythological spin on the bipedal reptilian kaiju archetype. Early designs include a much more serpentine body structure, physical wings, the idea of floating, and more. The idea of the monster continually flying was explored a little bit, but it was quickly found that this did not work for a playable character, with problems such as length causing difficulty when an even more traditional Naga design was utilized.
When creating Rawa, several references, including a fire-breathing dragon, a nuclear blast, and Monsterverse Godzilla's nuclear pulse were all used in both the designing and programming process. During the digital creation, Rawa's Ethereal Flame caused some difficulty, with the right solution needing to be found so that the fire did not kill the game's performance, while still retaining what the developers described as a cool look.[3] References used for Rawa's armor include characters from the GARO franchise, while references used for his skin include a Godzilla human armor model created by fan BATZEMO and Arch Belial from Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial.
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!["Notzilla" (prototype Rawa) concept art[4]](https://wikizilla-images.s3.us-east-va.perf.cloud.ovh.us/thumb/d/d3/Rawa_Notzilla.png/95px-Rawa_Notzilla.png)
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Early Rawa concepts -
Rawa development -
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Rawa concept art -
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Rawa S-Class concept art -
!["Notzilla" (prototype Rawa) concept art[4]](https://wikizilla-images.s3.us-east-va.perf.cloud.ovh.us/d/d3/Rawa_Notzilla.png)
Design
According to the ancient murals of Tarabak and even his previous design, Rawa once had a larger serpentine form, prior to his death to Skorak. This may be due to the fact that he is a fractured piece of Zargorah, who also has a serpentine form greater than his saurian form.
In his current, undead form, Rawa instead resembles bipedal theropod-like kaiju from classic tokusatsu, such as Godzilla, combined with the traits of the Phaya Naga of Thai mythology. Rawa sports a large head with big, glowing red eyes, a large horn protruding from the end of his snout, a large maw, and canines with golden rings. He is heavily armored in golden scales, which covers his head and torso, forming his horn, claws, and forked tail. Rawa's S-Class form wreathes him in flame and causes his horn, shoulder spines, and tail to grow further and sharper, with the tips turning a translucent greenish-blue, while his head is enlarged, causing his eyes to appear proportionally smaller. His ventilation-formed wings are also larger with the flames spreading farther and higher in different directions. This form also has Rawa's golden plating cover more of his body, as well as causing a greenish-blue light to shine through the large scales on his chest.
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Old Rawa prototype[5]
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Normal model -
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S-Class model -
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Normal and S-Class model comparison
Personality
The Dragon King is fiercely aggressive, attacking anyone who comes close to his territory. Despite this, Rawa is intelligent and capable enough to somehow strike a deal with some of the people of Tarabak, granting them his protection in return for offerings of Giga Energy, not just mined from below Tarabak Island, but further refined into a royal drink. Overall, he views his worshippers as nothing more but convenient "tools", "pets", and "livestock". On the other hand, his most ardent followers view death from him as a blessing, and would even go through the trouble of resurrecting him when traitors among them called upon Skorak to assassinate the Dragon King.[6] Even so, as with all the tribes of Tarabak, their loyalty has limits, as they, along with the followers of Rohanna and Skorak, ended up quickly forsaking him to unite and worship their "new king" in a timeline where Gorogong beat the three ruling Titans of Tarabak Island in direct battles, thus indicating that, in the absence of underhanded tactics, the people of Tarabak respect and adore strength over true loyalty.
Similar to European dragons of myth, Rawa seems to enjoy hoarding precious metals and materials, such as gold and a Giga Crystal. Due to this, he hates dishonesty the most, which is demonstrated when he kills treasure hunter Captain Garcia for trying to steal a single trinket from him. Rawa is described as having a vengeful streak and perhaps the desire to erase all traces of failure, as he would like to destroy his old skull, which is being used as a shell and weapon by Skorak,[7] and, in 2012, he blew himself up with half of Tokyo after being defeated by Gigaman in one last-ditch attempt to win.
Occasionally, Rawa would leave Tarabak Island to rampage in other areas, feed on Giga Energy, and bring down adversaries that get in his way. Given his significant power over other titans, the Global Titan Defense Initiative (GTDI) speculates that he may be a king of sorts. His imperial dominance is further demonstrated during the "Ascension" event by his calls, which he deliberately used to drive titans in his vicinity, even the normally-peaceful yetis, into rampaging.
Rawa does have a less serious, more comical side, as one of his four taunts, King's Victory, has him do the shē dance that Godzilla performed in Invasion of Astro-Monster.
Origins
Over two billion years ago, there was a "Cosmic Chaos" known as Zargorah, the Devourer of Stars. What exactly became of this primordial being is unknown, though it is believed that it fractured into many splinters, its power split into the Giga Energy that forms the core of the Hollow Earth, embodied and absorbed by many known titans, each animalistic piece instinctually seeking to be whole once more. Zargorah itself got split into two lesser titans,[8] Balzarr the Demon Star space manticore, and the serpent known as Rawa, both beasts only being a few thousand years old, a fraction of the age of their combined form.
Rawa's history with humanity dates back to the first few centuries of human civilization on Tarabak Island. The earliest settlers of the island constantly lived in fear of the various Titans that inhabited the area. This changed with the arrival of Rawa, who proceeded to topple and crush the other giants, for none were able to stand up to the might of the Extinction Dragon. With this, the humans quickly accepted Rawa as their god, and, under his newfound order, the humans were able to establish their civilization.
Despite his great power, due to his age and state, Rawa is still unable to eliminate his two strongest rivals, the floral Queen Rohanna, and the predatory slug known as Skorak, for, if he were to focus on one titan, the other would take advantage and perhaps defeat him. In order to vanquish both foes and reign unopposed over Tarabak Island, the young dragon requires significant amounts of Giga Energy.[9] Thus, in exchange for the Dragon King's protection, all the human settlers of Tarabak had to provide Rawa with Violet Elixir, forcing them to dig up its raw form, Giga Crystals, leaving the miners with purple marks on their skin. Rawa would burn the presenter of the elixir alive if it was made poorly and did not appease him. If he is satisfied, Rawa will allow the presenter to pick one of his previously-shed golden scales, which the tribe believed wearing to be a sort of symbol of loyalty to their king. Furthermore, they set up towers concealed throughout their city, special turrets that, once charged enough by seams in the ground, rise up containing a large Giga Energy orb that can instantly transform any Titan into its S-Class form, giving Rawa convenient access to extra power on demand.
Although many saw death as a gift from Rawa, not everyone is satisfied enough with living under his tyranny, especially due to the aristocrats marking people they dislike as traitors, leveraging Rawa to kill anyone who opposed them. Hence, in a forbidden ritual involving blood mixed with Violet Elixir and poured into a well, some called upon a new ruler to help overthrow the Dragon King, and another titan answered, emerging from beneath the temple to enact revenge.[9] On the 97th year of their festival, Rawa was offered 50 carts worth of Violet Elixir, secretly laced with the toxins of Skorak, who then proceeded to devour him from the inside out, then take the Dragon King's skull as a trophy, using it as a snail-like shell and a weapon ever since.
In the wake of Rawa's death, Tarabak fell into civil war between those who remained loyal to Rawa, and those who flocked to their new overlord, Skorak, while others escaped to the western side of the island, where they encountered the paradise of Queen Rohanna, who they swore loyalty to in exchange for her protection. Rawa's loyal cultists eventually imbued his severed nose horn with Giga Crystals to revive him in an undead, more dinosaur-like form. Rawa has been seeking vengeance and a return to power ever since, and likewise, his followers aim to capture and enslave those who betrayed them and turned to Skorak.
In 1960, professor Petyr Faust joined his student Doug Chapman and treasure hunters led by Captain Garcia on an expedition to Tarabak, where they got to encounter the various tribes in the area and learn of their history and culture. At some point, while staying with Skorak cultists, the tribe was raided by another, the followers of Rawa, who sent the cultists (and Doug, who has been indoctrinated) to the mines in the lower caverns, while reeducating the rest, speaking highly of their ruler and proclaiming that he will one day rise again to dominate all. Rawa's followers spared the other foreigners on the promise that they spread word of their king's return to the outside world. Captain Garcia was subsequently forced to present Rawa Violet Elixir for stealing one of his golden trinkets, with the Dragon King executing him at once with his flames. After they left the island (but not without hearing one last ominous roar of dominance from the Dragon King), Petyr Faust wrote the book "The Lost World of Tarabak" to document his experience, thus somewhat fulfilling the terms of his release. Although Rohanna and Skorak were both considered sighted in this endeavor, Rawa, who was barely seen in the darkness of his cavern, was not, with the GTDI tracking him for many years, his elusive nature only indirectly studied via Southeast Asian artworks resembling him (thus implying his excursions beyond the island of Tarabak). It was not until 2009 that he would be officially sighted by the organization, which recorded him as "Titan A-001".
History
- GigaBash (2022) - Microsoft Windows, Sony PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
GigaBash
Legend of Luana Island
As a submarine transported a Giga Crystal dangerously close to Tarabak Island, a large object was spotted on the sonar, heading straight toward the sub. Above the surface, Rawa breached with the craft crushed in his jaws. Rawa then snatched the crystal, swimming back to Tarabak Island and leaving the wreckage and crew to float in the ocean.
As Gorogong entered his lair, Rawa emerged from behind a waterfall, stopping in front of his hoard of gold and the Giga Crystal to breath an Ethereal Flame into the sky in challenge. Gorogong and Rawa then engaged in battle. Later on, Rawa, realizing he was losing, crunched the Giga Crystal between his jaws and used the energy to transform into his S-Class form. The two battled again until Gorogong absorbed enough energy to perform his own S-Class transformation, eventually coming out on top when he punched Rawa in the chest and swung him around by his tail, then jumped into the air and smashed his fists down onto Rawa, creating a massive explosion and defeating the Dragon King.
Woolley's Misadventures
As Woolley traveled through several different locations, he wandered past Gigaman shooting Rawa in the chest to defend a city. On his way back to Siberia, he passed by Rawa and Gigaman again, who were exhausted from their fight.
The Knight in Lighting Armor
While journeying through Tarabak Island to get to its Hollow Earth passage, Gigaman tells Yuuki Otoma (the pilot of Thundatross) the tumultous history of Tarabak Island, and the king its people worship. As he narrates the struggle for power that defined the island since the beginning of its civilization, murals depicting Rawa's death and his murderer's rise to power are shown. Shortly after, Gigaman and Skorak were forced to do battle with Rawa's usurper, Skorak.
A Legend Reborn
The story begins by finally revealing in full the events that befell Tokyo in 2012. Rawa rampaged through the city, approaching the OtomaTEC headquarters. Gigaman intercepted the Extinction Dragon and defeated him. However, as the hero was being interviewed by news reporters, Rawa used up all his remaining energy to enact "Decimate: Supernova", razing half the city in a single blast, leaving no trace of himself behind. This battle led to the death of Megumi Otoma, wife of Dr. Kazuo Otoma and mother of the young Yuuki Otoma, who would eventually pilot Thundatross. Due to his failure, Gigaman abruptly retired after 30 years of defending Japan, forcing the country to depend on the GTDI for protection, essentially being forced under the control of the organization with Rawa as the indirect cause.
In 2021, when the newly-returned Gigaman and the newly-constructed Thundatross let Gorogong escape with his Giga Crystal, Rawa, having somehow returned from his self destruction nine years earlier, faced the volcanic ape on Tarabak Island and defeated him, consuming the Giga Crystal for a boost in power. With this, Rawa flew all over the world, causing all the titans in his vicinity to rampage and battle due to his roars, from the Kongkretes of Palekana Port to an "onslaught" in Yefan City, China (consisting of Rohanna, Skorak, three yetis, Zyva, and Balzarr). Gaya, the entity that merged with Sho to give him the power to become Gigaman many years ago, states that this event is "Ascension", where Rawa forces pandemonium across Earth, with the victors becoming stronger due to their absorption of the Giga Energy of defeated titans. Gigaman and Thundatross are forced to halt their pursuit of him in order to deal with the berserk titans he left in his wake, with R.O.J.A.K. coming to their aid. Throughout the story, it is implied that Gigaman is simply looking for every excuse he can to avoid battling Rawa again, with Gaya steeling his resolve to face his greatest failure.
In Siberia, Rawa finally encountered the ultimate victor of the chaos he caused and his unwitting pawn, Balzarr. Both power-hungry titans, having reached their S-Class forms, tore at each other, and, in their intense duel, merged in an explosive fusion that brought about their original, combined form, Zargorah. As Gigaman, who further strengthened his bond with Gaya to upgrade Gigaman into Gaya Gigaman, faced the fusion monster alone, Zargorah proceeded to absorb the Earth's Giga Core to assume his greater serpentine form. Upon his defeat due to the combined efforts of Gaya Gigaman, Thundatross, and R.O.J.A.K., Zargorah began firing his beams into the Giga Core nested in his chest, though Gaya Gigaman contained the blast of his attempted self-destruction. Admitting that he was not able to save Yuuki's mother then, Gigaman says that she would nevertheless be proud of the boy for becoming the hero he is now, and thanks Yuuki for having saved him, before taking the primordial Devourer of Stars with him in a flash of light. In his final sacrificial act, the Giga Core was stabilized as both the legendary hero and the ancient titan sunk to the depths of the Earth, leaving the fates of Gaya, Sho, Rawa, and Balzarr unknown.
Abilities
Physical abilities
Rawa sports immense physical prowess, being able to maul and charge his enemies with great strength. His sharp horn and forked tail are believed to be powerful enough to slash foes in half, being composed of the same golden plating that protects his body from damage. Rawa frequently molts and sheds these scales, though he only lets others have them with his approval, and otherwise kills those who try to take them without his permission. This golden armor, which he shares with Balzarr, was speculated to be proof of their "celestial connection", a concept eventually proven true when samples revealed that both the aforementioned beasts are related in the sense that they are the fractured parts of a greater titan, Zargorah.
One stated disadvantage of Rawa is his agility, as he is rated 2/5 in that aspect on the official website of Passion Republic Games, and this is supported by his profile and documents, which state that he is fortunately slow. However, compared to Thundatross (who is rated 3/5 in agility), and other titans in the game like Skorak, Godzilla, Destoroyah, King Ghidorah, Gamera, and Zargorah, Rawa appears to be faster and not as heavy in default movement. With both of their specials (Boost Slash for Thundatross, Imperial Charge for Rawa), Thundatross does not need to charge up, can cover more distance, and even change direction, thus making the mecha truly more agile, though Rawa, once he charges, is faster in terms of raw speed.
Intelligence and Dominance
On the official website of Passion Republic Games, Rawa is rated 5/5 in terms of dominance as supported by his victories over lesser titans, but only 2/5 in terms of intelligence. However, Rawa does show a degree of cunning. With his roar alone, Rawa is able to drive titans in his vicinity berserk, even the peaceful yetis. His plan is to force chaos through an event known as the "Ascension", essentially let the other titans fight for power, with a victor absorbing the Giga Energy of the weakened and fallen so that, in the end, Rawa only needs to defeat a single titan in order to gain all the Giga Energy that the unwitting pawn accumulated and concentrated in themselves. With his plan a success, Rawa ends up attacking his "collector", the equally power-hungry space manticore Balzarr, though their duel ended up causing them to fuse together back into a single being, their original form, Zargorah, who may have been the true mastermind behind his own return. Unlike Balzarr, who only instinctually following "Ascension", likely with no higher understanding of what it entails beyond fulfilling his own predatory urges, Rawa deliberately planned Ascension out.[10]
Triphibiousness
Rawa has shown mastery of movement on land, in the water, and in the air, using his Ethereal Flame for the latter. Rawa flying with his Ethereal Flame (when using his charged special in the air, or when using the taunt "Thrusters Engaged") is likely a reference to Godzilla's atomic breath-powered flight in Godzilla vs. Hedorah.
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Rawa swimming underwater
Ethereal Flame
The destructive aspect that earned Rawa the moniker "Extinction Dragon" is his ability to produce a light greenish-blue Ethereal Flame which he can wreathe his horn and tail with for explosive strikes, blast opponents with directly from his jaws, summon as a pillar from the ground (an attack known as "Ethereal Stream"), or even use for flight and for propelling himself at great speeds (the latter being an attack known as "Imperial Charge") by venting them from specialized shoulder orifices to form "wings" of fire. According to GigaBash writer Gerald Yong, this fire does not produce heat like normal combustion (though the term "burned" is still used to describe its effects), for it instead disintegrates molecules from existence rather than altering their structure.[11] Given its nature, the Ethereal Flame is not a beam, and therefore cannot be used for beam clashes. With enough energy, Rawa can use what is called an Extinction Beam, a massive cone of Ethereal Flame that gradually thins into an unfathomably powerful, focused beam that vaporizes both enemies and cities alike in a single strike. As with all beam-based ultimates in the game, this attack cannot beam clash, as it would overpower all of the other Titan's normal beams.[12] The attack is similar to the 2016 Godzilla's atomic breath, starting as a wide blast of fire gradually focused into a very narrow beam.
By overloading his body with Giga Energy, Rawa can release a powerful explosive pulse of flame known as "Decimate". As a last resort, he can use all of his remaining life energy to enact the attack's more potent form, "Decimate: Supernova". In 2012, Rawa obliterated half of Tokyo with this single blast after having lost to Gigaman. However, nine years after that, Rawa was able to return from that in order to enact his plan on causing the "Ascension" event, either because of his undead state, or because he is somehow revived once more by his cult.
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Rawa firing his Extinction Beam -
Rawa's initial firing of the Extinction Beam -
The Extinction Beam focusing -
The Extinction Beam fully focusing -
Rawa charging his Supernova -
Rawa using Decimate: Supernova
S-Class form
As with most Titans, Rawa can collect Giga Energy from the environment, or, even more preferably by damaging and defeating other Titans. After gathering a sufficient amount of Giga Energy, Rawa achieves peak power to grow to massive proportions, gaining great power and enhanced abilities, as his horn, shoulder spines, and tail turn translucent, revealing the green energy within. Once a Titan grows to its S-Class form, it can resist all but the strongest blows and environmental hazards, like ultimate attacks, strikes from another S-Class titan, military sound cannons (which can even stun them), and explosive storage tanks and gas stations. As with all Titans, Rawa can only maintain his S-Class form as long as he has a reserve of Giga Energy.
Gallery
Achievements
| # | Achievement | Description | |
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| 20 | Let Them Fight |  |
Spectate a 4 CPU match. |
| 27 | Taste Your Own Medicine |  |
Defeat Skorak with his own shell. |
| 29 | Zero-sum Game |  |
As Rawa, use Decimate: Supernova to win a match.[note 1] |
Icons
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Killfeed Icon -
Character Selection Icon
Subspecies
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The Dragon King -
Firestorm -
Blizzard -
Jade Serpent -
Orochi -
Holotail -
Uwabambi -
Eclipse -
Napal -
Wu Long
Roar
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Videos
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Trivia
- One of Rawa's subspecies, "Wu Long", pays homage to some colorations of Nagas in mythology, as well as giving him a similar scale pattern. Another subspecies is named "Orochi", after Yamata no Orochi.
- For some time, it was ambiguous as to whether Rawa is a relative of the deceased, serpentine "Dragon King" that shares his title, or is in fact the same Dragon King as referenced in the ancient lore of Tarabak Island. Gerald Yong, GigaBash's former writer, eventually confirmed that Rawa and the Dragon King killed by Skorak (who now wears his old skull) is one and the same individual, with Rawa's form having changed due to his revival.[13][7]
- Given how Skorak's skull is larger than Rawa's current head (matching his body size), it means that Rawa was either larger in ancient times, or he was in his S-class state by the time he died. If it is the latter, it is possible that he was slain by Skorak using his ultimate (Poison Deluge, an attack that involves spewing acid over a large area) inside of him to devour him, which is fitting given how Rawa's elixir was tainted by Skorak's toxins, and ultimates are one of the few things in-game that can damage an S-class titan without the enemy also assuming their S-class form.
- Because of his assassination in ancient times and his self-destruction in 2012, Rawa is one of only two titans in the game seen dead onscreen. The other is Zyva, as many of them are killed in story mode (Project P.P.J.U.R.A.S, A Knight in Lightning Armor, and A Legend Reborn), and even in the launch trailers of the Mighty and GAMERA -Rebirth- DLCs.
- Zargorah, along with his componant Rawa, shares similarities with King Ghidorah, another golden draconian kaiju. Like the Monsterverse version of King Ghidorah, Rawa used his dominant calls to his drive titans all over the world into a frenzy, with only living titans on his same level being able to resist him (Godzilla, Mothra, and Kong for King Ghidorah, Gigaman for Rawa due to the presence of Gaya).[14] Just as that version of King Ghidorah was labeled a "living extinction event", Rawa's immense power earned him the nickname "Extinction Dragon". While battling the space manticore Balzarr to take all the energy he accumulated, Rawa ended up inadvertently fusing with him to form Zargorah, the "Devourer of Stars", a primordial planet-destroying being similar to the 2018 King Ghidorah, "The Planet Eater". Lastly, just like most versions of King Ghidorah, Zargorah is an extraterrestrial entity, with Rawa, being a component of him, also considered as an alien by the game's current writer.[1]
Notes
- ↑ To earn the "Zero-sum Game" achievement, Rawa does not need to charge himself up to the point of self-destruction. He only needs to defeat an enemy via the normal "Decimate" pulse attack.
References
This is a list of references for Rawa. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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