Raychel, the Vermilion Destroyer (also referred to as Mighty No. 0), is a mysterious robot in Mighty No. 9 who serves as the main rival to Beck.

Appearance

RAY's color scheme is mainly black and red. Her outward thighs, hand, and arm cannon are a vermilion color, with her arm cannon having black and yellow triangles. Her helmet is also vermilion, having pointed ends and a light green center that resembles a brain. She also has lime green cables resembling hair. Her shoulder joints are red spheres. Her upper torso is a combination of vermilion and green, with two yellow circles. Her lower torso is black, with the right side resembling a mouth. Separating her torso from her legs are red fins. Her boots are mostly white, being red near the bottom. Her boots are also slightly heeled. Her left hand has clawed black digits and blades along her arm, while her arm cannon has four spikes than can extend into blades. Finally, she has a red cloak constructed of Xels.

Synopsis

RAY’s origins remain shrouded in mystery, with only hints pointing to her creation by Dr. White. Abandoned and deteriorating, she survives by feeding on the Xels of other robots, a necessity that prevents her body from disintegrating. The mechanics of her survival confuse her, and when her Xel reserves run low, she experiences agonizing distress. Observing Beck’s ability to absorb Xels, she perceives him as a fellow “predator.”

Driven by a desperate need for answers, RAY hunts for Dr. White, believing he holds the key to her existence and affliction. However, to reach him, she must first defeat the Mighty Numbers. Her presence is first acknowledged when she infiltrates an abandoned Cherry Dynamics lab, attempting to hack into SANDA Technologies’ system.

Over time, RAY begins to recognize the Mighty Numbers as her siblings and recalls Dr. White’s real name, “Bill.” His reaction suggests a deeper connection—he claims to know her true identity, implying she was a failed prototype created between Trinity and Pyrogen, possessing a similar Xel-absorbing ability to Trinity. The circumstances of her reactivation remain unclear, though she may have been revived by Trinity after Gregory Graham awakened her.

After battling and defeating eight of the Mighty Numbers, RAY challenges Trinity but collapses after their fight. On Dr. White’s orders, Beck rescues her, attempting to purge her deteriorating condition. Following this, a transport crew is assigned to take her to Sanda Technologies for further care. However, as her decay resurfaces, she awakens in a fit of desperation, releasing a massive energy surge that destroys the transport and injures three workers. Having seemingly lost her memories once more, she resumes her search for Dr. White, unaware of what had just transpired. Dr. White grimly estimates that her failing state has left her with only 12 hours of life remaining.

In Mighty Gunvolt Burst, it is revealed that RAY somehow survived beyond this timeframe, likely by absorbing additional Xels to replace what Beck had cleansed. Stricken with amnesia, she enters Dr. White’s VR world in a final attempt to locate him. Her search proves futile, and her decaying health and fractured mind ultimately destroy what remains of her identity. As her Berserk form fully manifests, it eradicates the remnants of her former self, taking complete control. What becomes of RAY beyond this point remains unknown.

Abilities

Despite her deteriorating state, RAY possesses formidable strength, effortlessly overwhelming most of her siblings. She fights with razor-sharp claws, slashing through opponents with relentless precision, and absorbs Xels by dashing—mirroring Beck’s ability.

Like Beck’s ReXelection, RAY can harness Xels from defeated Mighty Numbers to transform. These adaptations, known as Variation Codes, modify her right arm, granting her specialized attributes based on her fallen foes:

• Variation Code: Pyrogen
• Variation Code: Cryosphere
• Variation Code: Dynatron
• Variation Code: Seismic
• Variation Code: Battalion
• Variation Code: Aviator
• Variation Code: Brandish
• Variation Code: Countershade

Beyond her Xel-based transformations, RAY wields two distinct offensive techniques:

• Claw Shot – In Mighty Gunvolt Burst, she can detach and launch her buster arm as a projectile. While dealing high damage, its slow speed and limited range demand precise use.
• Collapse RAY – A devastating laser cannon unleashed from her mouth in her Berserk form. Stretching across the screen, this attack is exclusive to her boss battle in Mighty No. 9 and can also be used in Mighty Gunvolt Burst, though in the latter, it comes at a cost—draining her own health with each use.

Development

On October 14, 2014, The Mighty No. 9 Kickstarter had its 75th update which contained a riveting teaser of a future (potential) DLC containing a new character. Within the teaser, it seemed to show what appeared to be a malicious being. It stood in front of a surprised Beck while surrounded by fallen Mighty Numbers, who were shown to have holes around their bodies.^[1]

Many fans were quick to speculate that this new character was the rumored "Mighty No. 0", however, when the character was presented as such, the Mighty No. 9 Twitter pointed out that "it is NOT Mighty No. 0... but a different entity".^[2] The identity of this new character was an absolute mystery until the 77th update, when her name and back story were revealed.^[3] Within this new information, it was said that this entity, RAY, was to serve as Beck's rival.

On April 28, 2015, it was revealed that RAY's DLC (An "Abandoned Lab" Stage, a new boss, and after defeating RAY, unlocks her to use in the main story) would be packed into the Retail version of Mighty No. 9, and it would be free for all backers of the Kickstarter. It has been confirmed that if you do not buy the retail edition of Mighty No. 9, you can still buy her off the Playstation Store/Nintendo Eshop/Xbox Live Store.^[4]

Two years later, during an event promoted by the website Dengeki Online in 12/12/2015, Keiji Inafune talked extensively about Mighty No. 9 and confirmed RAY as one of the Mighty Numbers, going as far as to refer to her as the "Mighty No. 0". He also suggested there may be more Mighty Numbers than those shown in-game.

Trivia

• RAY's design appears to be based on Zero.EXE and Bass.EXE from the Mega Man Battle Network series. She's also likely based on Omega from the Mega Man Zero series and Sigma from Mega Man X series, especially Mega Man X8.
• RAY sounds like the Japanese word 零/れい/レイ (rei, meaning "Zero").
• RAY's characteristics bears similarity to Kamen Rider Beast from Kamen Rider Wizard,as both served as rival to the protagonist and require to devour certain energy for survival.
• She feeds on Xels like a vampire.
• It was somewhat debated whether or not RAY was male or female, due to the website referring to RAY as an "it". Many, however, suspected that RAY was a female due to having a somewhat feminine physique (many pieces of the concept art shows she has breasts and wide hips), and she was confirmed to be female in an update released on June 22, 2015.^[5]
• RAY bears an uncanny resemblance to several robots from the Getter Robo franchise. She primarily resembles the design of Getter-1 as seen in Getter Robo Armageddon, and also shares the ability to consume robots with Shin Getter Robo from the Getter Robo Go manga. In addition, the single cutter on her left forearm and her fierce eyes appear to borrow heavily from the Black Getter, also from Getter Robo Armageddon.
• In the first fight against RAY, if you die right as you beat her a glitch can occur. The cutscene where she makes a hole in the floor plays out but there is no sound. After that, you respawn back at the start of the stage (still with no music). Any enemies you dealt with before are gone and the door won’t open. The only way to fix this is if you exit the stage.
• Thanks to Deep Silver, RAY is a playable character in DLC. The DLC was given to all backers, and comes with physical copies of the game. Otherwise, the DLC is $4.99.
• Unlike Beck, RAY does not use ReXelection, but instead uses Variation Codes, which transform her right arm only.
• It's unknown if RAY's campaign happens before or after her meeting with Beck in the Vermilion Destroyer stage.
• The decaying part of RAY's face resembles of the main character of the classic novel The Phantom of the Opera, a mysterious figure who used to live in an underground lair and wore a mask to hide his facial deformities. Additionally, the name of RAY's stage theme is " Love Hidden Under the Mask".
• By the staff and in-game, her name is written in all caps as "RAY", the motive for this is unknown, possibly as a result of her name being explictly spelled using the English alphabet in the Japanese script instead of katakana like the other characters (surely in an attempt of clearing up any ambiguities about the correct spelling of her name).

Gallery

Vermilion Destroyer stage art.

RAY's original design.

Downloadable content advertisement with finalized design art.

RAY's signature logo

RAY's blueprints

In-game Artwork

RAY on her lair

RAY entering to the City

RAY after beating the Round Digger

Berserk RAY

Berserk RAY entering into the Battle Colosseum

RAY's defective Xels being absorbed by Beck

Concept Art

Original concept sketches by KIMOKIMO

Concept sketch by Keiji Inafune

Additional concept sketches by KIMOKIMO

Concept art

Concept art

Concept art

Final Design of RAY

Different modes of RAY

Battle concept art

Gameplay concept art

3D Illustration used in creating RAY's model

Art by KIMO KIMO

References