| This article is about the clone of Rika that appears exclusively in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei. For other pages titled Rika Furude, see the disambiguation page. |
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This article is about a character in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei. |
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 This article or section contains untagged major spoilers for all of the original Higurashi When They Cry story and possibly the console-exclusive arcs. Readers who have not completed the story are advised not to proceed further. |
Tsukuyami Rika (ツクヤミ梨花), known in the game files as Rika: Hanyuu Fusion (梨花：羽入合体 Rika: Hanyū Gattai), or "Witch of Despair" Rika Furude (【絶望の魔女】古手梨花 "Zetsubou no Majo" Furude Rika) for her playable version, is a tsukuyami clone of Rika Furude created by the mysterious antagonist that appears in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei. It has been masquerading as the original Rika and fuses together with a tsukuyami clone of Hanyuu as the boss of the main story Part 1, Chapter 8.
Appearance[]
The fake Rika initially appears identical to the original Rika. In her fused form, she keeps Rika's blue hair but now has cracked horns like the original Hanyuu; differing in how her horns end in a red tip similar to the horns on other tsukuyami, with other red spikes orbiting around her.
She wears a similar shrine maiden outfit as Hanyuu except her sleeves flare out like fire. She also has glowing red eyes.
Personality[]
As a clone of the original Rika, the fake copies her mannerisms perfectly, including both her childish and adult voices. Once she is found out, she starts acting more like a mature woman. She recognizes the evil of her actions, but due to all the suffering from her apparent memories, she doesn't care anymore, having lost any hope in the future and believing she can only draw happiness from tragedies.
Abilities[]
The fake Rika is able to rewrite people's memories and control villagers in the terminal stages of Hinamizawa Syndrome, which she claims is as a result of her being the queen carrier.
Background[]
Rika Furude who once had escaped from 83 was somehow killed and started looping through new tragedies. During these loops, she met Hanyuu again, but eventually she notice Hanyuu had disappeared and was replaced by an inpostor. However, once she confronted the impostor, Rika herself was eliminated and replaced by a Tsukuyami that took her form. The fake Rika took her place and seemed to share many of the same memories as the real Rika. The fake seems to think she is the real Rika, mentioning that after escaping from June 1983 her friends were all killed by monsters shortly afterwards.
Fed up with looping through Fragments, the fake Rika sought to destroy the new world she ended up in by causing most villagers to go crazy and rewriting the memories of a few others.
Story[]
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei[]
Main Story[]
At some point shortly before the Watanagashi Festival, Rika disappears and her position is taken by a construct with false memories, who masquarades as the original for most of the story, causing trouble by rewriting the memories of people like Mion.
After the Watanagashi, villagers start going crazy and attacking each other due to the fake's doing. She's collecting Fragments and making them larger by taking those infected with Hinamizawa Syndrome and infecting them again. The main cast determines that Rika was responsible for this tragedy and confront her, still believing her to be the real Rika. They try to help "Rika" when she expresses her anguish over being forced to relive June 1983 and despair about her efforts to break out of loops being pointless, but she fuses with the fake Hanyuu and attacks the group.
Eventually, Kazuho Kimiyoshi deals a fatal blow against her, briefly despairing about killing "Rika". However, she dissipates and leaves nothing behind. The real Hanyuu then appears and explains the real Rika had been taken to another world, warning the group to escape since the tsukuyami have already begun devouring this world.
"Dark Awakening" Satoko Houjou[]
Satoko reminisces about her first meeting with Tsukuyami Rika, where her memories pointing out oddities around the time she switched places with the real Rika were erased. She also believes Tsukuyami Rika was behind her sickness during Watanagashi in order to keep her from remembering the memory alteration. After the events of Higurashi Outsiders, Satoko, now in "Dark Awakening", comes face to face with Tsukuyami Rika once more, and this time easily eliminates her by herself.