Rief

Rief (クラウン Kuraun) is a playable character of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. He is a Mercury Adept who is described as a knowledgeable researcher traveling with Kraden, a scholar of Alchemy who acts as Rief's mentor. Rief joins Matthew, Tyrell, and Karis after their first encounter with Blados. Rief's mother is Mia, Nowell is his sister, and Amiti is his second cousin.

released on the day of the E3 2010 trailer and floor demo indicated the existence of a party member named "Crown," but Crown was first shown in playable form in a trailer released on the the Japanese Wii Trailer Channel on August 18th, 2010. "Crown" was presumed to be his name for all versions of Dark Dawn until a trailer posted on an Amazon.com product page for the North American version of the game showed his U.S. name to be Rief.

Rief's gender was not clear to fans even after later trailers were posted because, in addition to an androgynous appearance and masculine name, Rief's Golden Sun-style "squeak-voice" in cut scenes is a high-pitched one normally reserved for female characters and NPCs, including Dark Dawn's own Chalis. Nonetheless, a similar voice was used for certain young boy NPCs, such as Justin.

As a playable character
Like Mia in Golden Sun, Rief joins the party at Level 10 and is initially equipped with a Wooden Stick, Travel Vest, Padded Gloves and Circlet; he also comes with an herb, antidote, and Elixir in his inventory. Reif has one Mercury Djiin Set onto him (Sleet). He also inherits the role of the residential healer of the group.

Statistical comparison
Rief inherits Mia's statistics and choices of equipment. Like his mother, he has low Agility and Attack, but he has a Luck stat of five points, a number shared only with Mia, Sheba and Himi.

Classes
The following classes are available to Rief:


 * Mono-Elemental: Water Seer class series
 * Dual-Elemental (Full): Hermit class series, Pilgrim (Mercury) class series, Seer (Mercury) class series
 * Dual-Elemental (Partial): Swordsman (Mars) class series, Swordsman (Venus) class series
 * Tri-Elemental (Full): Ranger class series, White Mage class series, Medium class series
 * Tri-Elemental (Partial): Dragoon class series

Personality
Rief is a well-travelled youth, and according to Tyrell, a bookworm, so people often defer to him in intellectual matters, as well as finding their way around southern Angara, as he has been there in the past. He is shown to be a consummate gentleman throughout the adventure (he suggests that the group take Ryu Kou and Hou Ju home and doesn't like to see Sveta approach the switch for the Apollo Lens as she's been exposed to too much light). At the end, he explodes into a deep rage when Arcanus is revealed by Kraden to be Alex, so it's likely he was told about Alex by either his mother (who was his teacher) or Kraden.

Trivia

 * Rief's French name, Robin, is the same as Isaac's name in the Japanese version.
 * Rief is the first male Adept who has Psynergy in his base class that can heal the entire party.

Quotes

 * In Konpa Cave:
 * Kraden: "Now, what ARE you doing up there, Rief?"
 * Rief: "Nowell made me scout out the route to the north tunnel. I know better than to disagree with her!"


 * Rief: (To Blados) "You again?! Stop this nonsense! Why are you tormenting us?"


 * Rief: (To Matthew's group) "So, may I take it that you're all right with me traveling with you? I would suggest that we head to that town!"


 * At Harapa:
 * Karis: "Well, if this is the City of Ruins, there must be something old around here somewhere..."
 * Rief: "I...guess so."
 * Matthew: "???"
 * Tyrell: "You don't sound like such a know-it-all, all of a sudden."


 * Rief: "Kraden has taught us that it's crucial to never misuse our powers. Psynergy is a gift. But if you were the sort of people who abuse that gift... Well, I hate to say it, but we'd have to part ways."
 * Karis: "You don't need to worry about that, Rief. We've got discipline...mostly. It's natural to want to show off Psynergy. But controlling Psynergy means controlling our minds. We've got to maintain discipline."
 * Tyrell: "Yeah, and by 'we,' you mean me, right?! But I'm NOT weak, Karis!"
 * Rief: "You, weak? Of course not! Any son of the Warriors of Vale can surely become a true master!"


 * In Kaocho Palace:
 * Rief: (To one of the Tuaparang soldiers) "Get away from us, villain!"


 * In Ayuthay:
 * Rief: (About Amiti's mother and mysterious father) "A secret romance! It sounds like something from a fairy tale!"


 * Rief: "A member of the royal family, joining our party? That is quite a surprising development."


 * Rief: "But it's rather fun, isn't it? Having new members? Good things keep coming to us!"


 * At Passaj (second visit):
 * Rief: "Princes, queens, gemstones... What a royal mystery!"


 * At Harapa Ruins:
 * Rief: "This stone is... Eeeeep!"
 * Tyrell: "Eep?! This stone is eep? What kind of talk is that for a brainy kid like you, Rief?"


 * In Teppe Ruins:
 * Tyrell: (In response to Sveta admitting she followed them through the ruins) "I knew it! She's a... a spy or something!"
 * Rief: "Yes, Tyrell. This is where she just volunteers that she's a spy."


 * Rief: "That Sveta cuts an intriguing figure, eh?"


 * Rief: "It will be good to see Kraden again."
 * Tyrell: "Yeah, IF the geezer actually made it there."
 * Karis: "Tyrell, there's no need to be rude!"
 * Rief: "Ahem. If Kraden said he will meet us, he WILL find a way to meet us."
 * Sveta: "Where was this geezer person coming from to reach Belinsk?"
 * Rief: "What, you too, Sveta?"


 * Rief: "It IS an exciting opportunity to learn, isn't it? I'm practically tingling with anticipation!"


 * In Phantasmal Bog:
 * Rief: "Where did this insane maze and its horrible lizard-monster come from?!"


 * Rief: "I hate lizards..."


 * In Kolima Forest:
 * Rief: "Astonishing... To meet a holy tree in the...flesh?"


 * Rief: "Shall we sally forth, then?"


 * At Kolima Junction:
 * Rief: (To Ryu Kou and Hou Zan) "Not exactly an equal partnership: you two and a glove with the five of us and our Psynergy."


 * At Talon Peak:
 * Ryu Kou: "If I were to smash this orb, the release of energy would be the end of us all."
 * Rief: "You wouldn't dare. If you did, your sister's life would be forfeit."


 * Ryu Kou: "I hope none of you takes this personally. It really is just about saving my sister, you know."
 * Rief: "I'm going to make you regret this."


 * In Belinsk Ruins:
 * Rief: "It would appear we're at the cusp of reaching the tower's core."


 * Rief: "Don't do it, Ryu Kou. We made a promise to Laurel. We can't break our word and activate this machine."
 * Ryu Kou: "Correction: YOU made a promise to Laurel. I didn't promise anything to anyone."
 * Rief: "But we have to take her warning seriously. And doesn't this place feel...different than the other ruins?" (If Matthew responds with cheer) "We can't just rush into this. Think about the defenses and Laurel's warning. Danger is afoot."


 * Rief: (To the Tuaparang commanders, after they express that they considered helping Matthew's party down to the Alchemy Dynamo) "I wouldn't trust you to lace my shoes."


 * Karis: "If Arcanus needed to hurry out of here, we should be escaping too."
 * Rief: "Agreed. If the all-powerful Arcanus is worried, we should get out of here posthaste."


 * In Belinsk:
 * Rief: "Leave it to Kraden to develop an explanation while running from hordes of monsters..."


 * Rief: (Upon seeing Briggs' death) "If we hadn't kept him waiting... If we'd gotten here sooner, he might have lived to grow old."


 * Tyrell: (Sometime after Briggs' death) "Brrr! It just keeps getting colder! How is it this cold in the summer? I can't wait to get back in the cabin."
 * Rief: "Quit complaining. It's disrespectful."


 * In Yamata:
 * Rief: (After Kraden compares Tyrell to his carrier pigeon) "With all due respect, sir, we have more important things to do than listen to you bait Tyrell."


 * In Tonfon:
 * Rief: "Sorry to bother you, Kraden, but something has been troubling me."
 * Kraden: "Oh? What is that?"
 * Rief: "Why didn't Nowell come with you to Belinsk?"
 * Kraden: "I was wondering when you'd get around to asking me that."
 * Rief: "With everything that's happened, and all the peril and whatnot..."
 * Kraden: "Of course. She slipped your mind."
 * Rief: "I am ashamed though. She IS my sister..."
 * Kraden: "Well, I suspect she's a touch distracted herself...but by love rather than peril."
 * Rief: "Nowell is in love?! With whom?"
 * Kraden: "Captain Piers."


 * Rief: "Piers is a powerful Adept, so she'll have a fine tutor...but... they just sailed off together?"
 * Kraden: "Piers is one of the most capable sailors in the world. I'm sure no harm will befall her."
 * Rief: "I had no idea... But I'm glad she didn't get tangled up in all this. She was always the lucky one."
 * Kraden: "Hmm... I wonder if you won't eventually think the opposite..."
 * Rief: "Why? Where are they sailing to?"


 * At Iceberg Outpost:
 * Rief: "While the Umbra Gear is certainly important, shouldn't we get our guests back to Sana first?"
 * Kraden: "Ever the gentleman, Rief! Yes, let's get them back to Tonfon immediately."


 * At Tonfon (second visit):
 * Rief: (Based on Kraden's unwillingness for the time being to tell the adepts who Arcanus probably really is) "Ah... If he is kin to one of us, it might prove painful to one or all if we have to fight him..."


 * At the Apollo Lens:
 * Kraden: (Steps forward to address Arcanus) "Hello, Alex."
 * Rief: "Alex?! The Mercury Clan's traitor? My mother's betrayer? THAT Alex?!"


 * Blados: (To Alex) "You traveled with the old man? Does that make you one of the "Warriors of Vale"?"
 * Rief: "No! Alex was NOT one of the Warriors of Vale. He was a power-mongering schemer. He'll probably betray you lot as well. I don't think he's ever honored a vow or promise."


 * Rief: (To Sveta, who has decided to put herself on the line to activate the Apollo Lens) "I wish I could go in your place. I don't like making you take the risk-it feels ungentlemanly."


 * Rief: (Thinking) "If this is beyond Matthew, it's certainly beyond me. I've never felt so hopeless."

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn's encyclopedia entry for Rief:

This Water Adept has traveled the world with his teacher, Kraden, studying Alchemy and other traces of the ancient world. Rief is the son of Mia, a Water Adept who traveled with the Warriors of Vale.

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