Richard Buchanan

Richard Buchanen (ブキャナンリチャード Bukyananu Richādu) is Drake Vista's best friend and a student at the Fiore Regal Academy of the Combat Arts and is in his Second Year. He is noted to be, alongside Azuki Isshi, Drake, Elbert Newgate and Jin Terumi one of it's most talented students, and is also the brother of Rihanna Buchanan. After the invasion of the academy done by Yotsuki, Richard had become one of the most prominent members of SENSHI acting as it's de facto leader. He is very well known for his amazing intellect and talent in the magical arts.

After the three years in which SENSHI had graduated from the academy, they had become a prominent, and one of the elite squadrons in the Fiore Royal Military. It was with this that Richard was announced as their strategist and the co-leader alongside Drake by Raimo Vista. He is currently known as the Up-and-Coming Genius (新進気鋭天才 Shinshinkiei Tensai) because of his intellect and rising fame.

Appearance
He takes the appearance of a young teenage man with a fairly lean but muscular build with fair skin and dull gold eyes. He has dark purple hair which is usually seen as quite neat, but messy up by the forehead, with many strands descending towards the eyes, something which Rihanna doesn't like at all. He wears an outfit consisting a black, sleeveless button-up dress shirt with dark beige cargo shorts and high-top sneakers.

After joining the military, Richard's appearance although not drastically changed, has some noticeably different features than he had in the academy. The most prominent of these is his very long hair, which althought the same colour, drapes down to his waist, and is tied into a ponytail, with two bangs framing his face down to his abdomen. This was done by Rihanna's persistence in order to make Richard more 'attractive' and for him to 'get a girl'.

His attire has also changed completely, being reminiscent to a uniform, hand-made completely by Rihanna herself. Stitched with the finest of materals, it is of lustrious quality, although much of the money that came for this was from Richard himself, something he regrets. The outfit consists of a black long-sleeved jacket which has a flared collar and red lining, and goes down below his feet. It has an unusual insignia on the left side of his chest, reminiscent somewhat to the Fiore Royal Military's insignia. The top is left open at the top, revealing a portion of his chest, and is in a jagged pattern instead of being straight as most tops are. Along with this, he wears black fingerless gloves, and under it, a sleeveless purple top like he previously wore. His pants are rather form-fitting and are belted with the same coloured belt as the rest of his attire, where his sword lay resting in his sheathe. Finishing off the attire, he sports a pair of black boots, which are calf-length. Although Richard himself hates the attire, even Azuki has commented that he looks 'strangely appealing'.

If ever going on a mission that is of a covert nature, Rihanna always has another attire waiting for him to dress into. This includes predominantly a siimilar sleeveless, black shirt he wore in his academy days, albeit, this is unbuttoned, with no buttons to have freedom of movement, thus revealing his rather muscular figure. Along with this, he wears form-fitting light blue jeans and black, calf-high boots which he remarks are easy to move in. Finishing the attire off, he wears black, arm-length gloves which are fingerless, and wears a large, beige coat over this which is remarked to help him hide in almost any situation, as it also has an effective hood. However, as a result, Richard has to carry his blade with him at all times, or, if he is with a Requip user such as Azuki or Megan, asks them to store and summon it when necessary. It should be noted that Rihanna purposely designs Richard's attire with a slightly feminine touch, as to bring about his "feminine" side which females supposedly like, in Rihanna's terms anyway.

Personality
As Richard's philosophy indicates, Richard is a male who doesn't desire much in life, all he truly wants is to settle down into a normal life, with a woman and a child or two. This is most reflected in his very mannerisms and overall behaviour, which would normally be one of a stereotypical "hobo" one might say. Richard is absolutely lazy and unmotivated to do many tasks at all, this is mostly present in his academy life, as he was noted to regularly sleep through classes, and found all classes barring the physical classes. Richard was also noted to be regularly pushed by Drake to do many things, despite being unwilling. Also prominent in his personality is his tendency to comment on many things to pass him, he likes to be rather humorous and crack up jokes on a whim at someone's expense barring his own. He rarely is ever seen without a small grin or a slightly bored expression on his face, as one of his personality would normally do. However, Richard, above this, is a cheerful individual who can get along with virtually anybody due to an aura of friendliness that surrounds him.

Richard is also a calm and understanding person, and can be considered the opposite to Drake in terms of temper, rarely angered, Richard will normally be the one to restrain Drake from getting into a fight. This was excessively necessary in the academy, when Drake and Azuki were commonly seen fighting without any restraint as to their behaviour. He is also very modest, and doesn't prefer to boast about his abilities, unless someone is in need of a warning about their own status in comparison to his, as seen against Megan where he, without any restraint, remarked that he was one of the strongest SENSHI members with nobody disagreeing with him. Also very blunt, Richard says things without any sugar coating on them, even when talking to females, he will rarely if ever take upon a different attitude to another woman, barring Rihanna and Azuki of course, as they are the only people that Richard fears, albeit in a comical way.

Richard's best trait however, is his genius and overall patience when conducting any form of strategy, whether it be minor or major. Richard always thinks two steps ahead of another, using his calculative genius combined with his calm nature to easily shift a situation to his advantage. He remarks that he cannot do anything at his full potency without at the least, one of SENSHI to be present, showing another part of his modesty. Richard is also a highly determined individual, who, despite what would one normally think, never gives up regardless of the situation.

Regardless of these positive traits however, Richard can be seen swayed by his emotions when the time arises, and it is up to his crewmates to stop him from going berserk. Richard despises unnecessary cruelty and concepts such as vengeance and torture. He also has an unusual disliking for those who hide their evil nature with black comedy, something he is very easily irritated with.

Relationships
Rihanna Buchanan: The Buchanan siblings are noted for their very dynamic relationship, constantly arguing and belittling each other at every turn, one would think that they absolutely despise one another. Yet, this is definitely not the case. Richard is very aware of what Rihanna is constantly feeling, stemming from their mother's parting, Rihanna has, through her own willpower, become a strong woman and Richard remarks that she even supports him at various times. However, despite Rihanna being the supposed "superior" in their relationship, evident by her being the one bossing Richard around at various turns, Richard is also equally, if not, more supportive of Rihanna than she is of he. At many times in the story, Richard demonstrates her care for Rihanna, showing himself capable of becoming somebody ruthless in order to protect his younger sister. Richard has also shown himself capable of treating Rihanna like a young girl, something which she seems to love, as seen when he gave her a piggy-back ride, Rihanna responded lovingly. Although, he did bring some comedic insult into this, saying she was getting "too heavy", although Rihanna responded with only a laugh and comedic hit, showing that the two siblings have a very mutual understanding to one another. After Rihanna has become a mage, Richard seems to treat her as more of a comrade rather than a sister, although he is capable of treating her in either way dependent on the circumstances, and he respects her power on more than one occasion, and also likes her passion to learn, allowing her to view his battle with Megan Kaiseki with full attention.

SENSHI: Richard, although initially on rather bad terms with the rest of the members of SENSHI, barring Drake, Richard was originally the member who took his own side, preferring not to get involved with the various fights and issues with the organisation, he left everyone to his own devices. Although, he would comment greatly upon the unstable relationship and how if affected the team in general, he would never really act upon it. However, his time increasing with SENSHI, and especially after their first mission and training sessions, that SENSHI needed to become allies, as soon as possible, the worst of these cases being with Drake and Azuki, who constantly battered one another with insults. However, during the semi-final training with Layla Magia, Richard was kept spectator of the matches between teams, Jin and Drake, against Azuki and Elbert. He was kept on the sides to observe and analyse the battle, in which he easily realised that Drake and Azuki were engaging in their own personal conflict, not even bothering to view those surrounding them. However, after Jin's declaration, Richard began to be very hopeful of SENSHI's bonding as friends, which even shocked his comrades and mentor. After this, Richard became the SENSHI's de-facto leader and strategist, something the others agreed upon wholeheartedly it seemed. He was the one who predominantly leaded missions, and used his own cunning to bring about victory to his comrades and himself. He would always interact with the others, and try to keep the mood always bright. However, after Jin's battle against Ragna's subordinate Richard was highly irritated at the events that occurred, and immediately forged a plan of attack to defeat Ragna's subordinates. During this, he treated Jin like an equal and made him equally participate in the plan, despite his injuries. Also, during his battle against Ragna himself with Jin, Elbert and Drake, he carefully planned out the entire battle, using his friend's abilities to their advantage to ultimately defeat Ragna, as if he read their minds without any knowledge. Currently, as their co-leader, Richard and SENSHI are on exceedingly good terms, SENSHI trusts Richard's strategies with blind faith, and know it would normally succeed. Even inside missions, SENSHI is always on the comical, rarely ever being serious unless the mission requires it. Richard is also noted to spar with SENSHI consistently, as seen with his statement that only Drake and Azuki can best him in battle, something nobody disagreed with. Also showing great knowledge about his comrades' emotional state, as seen with him and Azuki, where he openly declared Megan to a battle, a result of how Megan acted to Azuki, showing his care for his allies. He and Drake are also considered the ones who evaluate the possible new additions to SENSHI, without any hesitation or complaint from his comrades in the least.

Drake Vista: Richard is Drake's best friend, being the one who supports him through thick and thin, and trusts him with the handling of SENSHI and even Rihanna without a second thought, Richard and Drake are similar to brothers, if not, are brothers through their own admission. The reason this friendship came about however, was due to Richard's own simple and laidback personality. When Drake and Richard had just begun in the academy, Richard was the only individual who didn't treat Drake as a superior nor was intimidated by his family's reputation, but rather, treated him like he would treat someone of no status. As such, they quickly got along despite their mildly conflicting personalities. Drake, the active and rather brash one, who quickly got into fights and preferred to never be sitting still among everything else. Richard, however, was someone who preferred to lay back and liked to sleep above anything. However, it is these traits that allow them to get along so well and without any complaints. Drake motivates Richard, while Richard restrains Drake. They are the opposites of a magnet, yet, they align together without any hesitation. Layla commented that in the academy's history, the only two in SENSHI who actually partnered in battle were, Richard and Drake. Even inside battle, the two can read each others minds like they were using Telepathy, and despite Drake being reluctant to use Richard's strategies, he does so anyhow. Richard seems to also get along with the House of Vista in general, being rather informal in his interactions with Ruzana and Siata Vista, implying the Vista also know of him greatly.

Equipment


Kongōsho (金剛杵 Vajra) is the name of Richard's katana which he carries. It is of the finest craftsmanship and was said to have been hand-crafted by his grandfather, who passed it down to his father and to him. It is a slender and lustrous blade, which never seems to lose it's radiance. It's hilt is a dark brown, with several ornate kanji on it, reading an unknown message. And it's crossguard is of a golden colour, having an almost flower-like pattern to it. It boasts extreme cutting power, and allows him to channel his darkness through the blade.

Magic and Abilities
Master Magician: Richard is noted for his prowess as a magician, although not near the intellect he possesses, his battle skills are formidable enough to fight on-par with someone such as Drake Vista, using his intellect and formidable magic-set to do so. It should be noted that Drake is rumoured to be on the levels of, if not, surpassing her in battle capabilities. He has shown excellent and devious usage of his magics, combining them with his own physical abilities to prove a deadly combination. As his intellect would suggest, he has shown the ability to not only use multiple different spells in sequences but is able to freely transition one spell into another without any effort. He prefers a technical approach to his battles, rather than charging in, he will use stealth and careful maneuvers in order to defeat an opponent. He uses the magic-set, Mist Magic, Darkness Magic and Hive Magic. Richard commented that the only members of SENSHI that can beat him or fight on-par with him in combat are Drake and Azuki, proving his skill.

Masterful Swordsman: Richard has proven himself repeatedly to be a skilled swordsman. He has shown the necessary skills to face somebody of Jin Terumi's caliber without needing to be repeatedly on the defensive. Although the strength of his strikes are not of exceptional note, his speed in battle is astounding. He commonly uses acrobatic maneuvers such as flips and cartwheels as well as stealth to win a battle.
 * Iaido Mastery: Being taught from an unnamed swordsman, Richard has proven himself astoundingly skilled in Iaido, an art where one draws and sheathes a sword in only one moment. Richard has shown such prowess in this skill that in only moments, he would have defeated an opponent, all while they have been thinking that he has stood still. To do this, he commonly extends the reach of his blade with his Dark Magic, thus causing the damage to be all the more severe. His skill is shown to be such that in his brief duel with Megan Kaiseki, all of Megan's attacks using were rendered absolutely useless when facing Richard's Iaido skills. He had shown himself to be so skilled that he was able to evade every blast created with sheer skill and speed with his sword and imbuing his Darkness Magic into his blade to enhance his capabilities.
 * Defensive Iaido: Adapting to his style, Richard has created a defensive style of Iaido. In precise moments where an opponent is about to land an attack with an armed weapon, he will draw his sword with immense speeds, enough to cause the weapon to be flown backward and re-sheathe it to seem like nothing has happened. Due to the necessary speed of this style, he has to stay still in order to observe and react to another's movements.

Enhanced Speed: Richard's base speed is known to be very fast, almost invisible to the naked eye, he is able to keep up with any opponent easily and rarely ever is overwhelmed in terms of agility. He shows great use of his natural speed, commonly employing acrobatic skills in his fighting in order to confuse an opponent. It should be noted that his entire fighting style, whether it be physical or magical mainly revolves around the usage of his speed. Even when fighting with a blade, his movements seem like a blur, and he has slashed an opponent before they have even realised it. Even Drake comments that his speed can only barely keep up with Richard's, and that is for moving at long distances. Richard has shown himself to effortlessly dodge a barrage of bullets which were moving at high speeds using his deduction to figure out the correct path of action with ease, and in only a few moments, was able to reach Megan and place his blade at her neck.

Enhanced Endurance and Durability: Although his strength is lacking, his stamina and durability are very high. He is capable of sustaining several intense attacks from both opponents and his sister without failing to continue to fight. He has shown himself to sustain injuries from someone such as Ragna without being overwhelmed early on in the battle. Even Drake comments on his unusual resolve.

Genius Intellect: Richard's intellect is nothing short of amazing, as said by Drake and many others, he could easily gain a very high position in the military if he put effort into things, which he never does. Although rather downplayed, his perceptiveness and cunning are nothing to ignore. In only moments, he shows himself to analyse another ability by using misdirection with clones and his discrete magic in order to fully test out the results of an attack. Even in a dire battle, he regularly uses this strategy in order to defeat opponents. In a combat simulation, he was shown to have created a very effective plan by making use of the individual skills his team members had, although, because of lack of experience, two members of his team were nearly defeated by monsters if it weren't for their abilities. As such, he still is in the development stage, although even Tina Amakusa, famed strategist remarks at his growing talent.
 * Expert Tactician: Richard is a tactician of remarkable ability, using his extreme perception to his advantage, he is able to single out the three-four best strategies of countering an opponent's own techniques in only moments. However, the most remarkable part of this is how he singles out the best strategy for that said moment, and how he links it to his next maneuver, always staying at the least one step ahead of his opponent. This is most easily demonstrated against Megan Kaiseki. Richard was able to effortlessly negate the technique she used against him, only taking a few moments to do so.
 * Highly Perceptive Combatant: Richard is a highly perceptive individual, using his skills in judgement to be able to single out the best strategy for a battle, using this to his advantage, he is capable of overwhelming an opponent's technique effortlessly. He can easily read through another's emotional state by reading through their facial expressions and current gestures, using that to his advantage in and outside battle situations.
 * Expert Manipulator:

Mist Magic (霧魔法 Kiri Mahou) is a form of Caster Magic that allows the user to project their magical aura into the air surrounding them to create a mist-like form. As a result, this mist is able to conceal the presence of the user with ease due to being created out of their magical power, thus being the exact same energy signature as themselves, negating a sensor's ability to detect completely. This mist is able to be transformed into several different forms and can be used for a wide range of abilities. It can also easily be used in conjunction with other magic. Richard's ability in this magic is such that he has been able to condense the mist to create a semi-perfect magical duplicate of himself, being able to fool sensors into believing that he is at one location while in actuality, he is somewhere else.

Hive Magic (巣魔法 Su Mahou) is a form of Caster Magic that functions similarly to Telepathy as it allows communication through large distances but is also considered a lower form of Archive. It functions in a similar manner, allowing Richard to communicate with anyone at nearly any distance if the two communicators are acquaintances and have met each other before. This magic is almost a representation of "mental bonding", as through exchanging of thoughts through magic particles is the only way the communicators are able to see and hear each other's thoughts. Other, more deadly applications of this magic include things such as overloading of another's mind, and even creating illusions in the victim's head by projecting images of thoughts such as monsters, black magic, etc.

 (闇の魔法 Yami no Mahou) if a form of Elemental Caster Magic that allows the user to manipulate their magical power in such a way that it embodies the element of darkness and can be used in a variety of manners, ranging from simple blasts to the creation of ghost-like entities to use in a battle situation. Richard, as a result of inheriting his grandfather's own powers, causing his own to be attuned to the darkness. As a result of this, Richard's magical presence is rather dark in comparison to his comrades', and thus, he is fit to be misconceived as a Dark Mage by those who are unaware of his stature in the World of Magic. Richard's skill in Darkness Magic is highly advanced, using his own devious strategies combined with his innate magical potential to create destructive results. Although previously rarely used by Richard, due to his own reluctance, Richard, through his own devious intellect, has figured out a way to implement his Darkness Magic regularly in combat without the need of expressing it into the demonic forms that others are noted to have. Prominent in his mastery over, Richard has shown to regularly utilise this spell in his strategies, misleading an opponent with his own allies' abilities, and then, subsequently defeating them. However, even more prominent than Dark Moment, is his usage of his own spell, The Dark Mantle, a simple spell which allows the user to create and subsequently, channel their darkness into an item, coating in and increasing it's strength. As a result of Darkness Magic having a far larger physical form than most other elemental magic, Richard, when channeling this into his blade, essentially overlaps his blade with another, causing it to gain far more power and endurance than the norm.
 *  (闇刹那 Yami Setsuna) a Darkness Magic spell which allows the user, through expending his own Dark magical energy in a large radius, plunge any form of light that attempts to be visualised, thus causing darkness to be seen all around. Richard, using this spell alongside SENSHI, has shown great ingenuity, capable of misleading an opponent through various sounds in different angles in order to get them to a desired location, then, when deactivating the spell, they can instantly defeat an opponent, barring that they aren't extraordinarily skilled.
 * The Dark Mantle (闇覆い Yami Ooi) is a simple spell in which Richard, through manifesting Darkness by using his own magical power as a catalyst, can channel this said manifested power into an inanimate object of his liking. This spell combines the physical properties of darkness that can be obtained through it's manifestation and combines it to enhance an item's overall strength to explosive levels. Richard uses this on his blade more times than not, and as such, has grown adept at using this spell, being able to instantaneously use it, sometimes without his own knowledge. When used on an item such as a sword, the darkness shrouds the entirety of the blade, and seemingly coats in a substance that primary looks like liquid. However, on more inspection, it is rather solid, and functions as a reinforced blade which can be manipulated by Richard easily, changing the distance and power of the blade to fit his requirement. As shown in his battle with Megan, it is fit to cut through with ease.

Trivia

 * His personality and intellect are mildly based off Shikamaru Nara from Naruto.