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Rikimaru is a Silverberg

It has been known that Mathiu and Odessa has a younger brother, whose identity has been shrouded in mystery. Many assumed this younger brother would play a role in Suikoden 3, but this speculation was shattered with the appearance of Caesar and Albert Silverberg, who are both grandchildren of Leon Silverberg.

So who can this elusive sibling be? After exhaustive research, I have concluded that he may have already secretly appeared in the Suikoden series, using an alias.

Rikimaru is the character. He appeared in Suikoden 2 as a broke mercenary who liked to eat. He was a completely physical fighter and did not show any strategic skill...or did he?

There are a number of reasons why he may be a Silverberg:

  • Name - Japanese names ending in "maru" are always aliases, usually used by swordsmen. The "Riki" basically means "strength" in Japanese, but it can also be a shortened form of the name "Richard" (romanized from Ricky).

  • Origin - His place of origin was written as Seika Village in Toran. He was the only character in Suikoden 2 that was given such a specific place of origin. This can only mean that the developers had something special in mind for Rikimaru. Seika was the village where Mathiu taught children.

  • Timing - He appeared in Suikoden 2 at the very beginning. In fact, he was probably the first character that you would recruit in Suikoden 2 (unless you recruited Mukumuku). He skillfully contacted you using a typical trick (I am hungry! Help meee!), and forcefully became "indebted" and entered your army. If his first ploy didn't work, he would follow you and appear at Coronet and use the same trick to be recruited. This shows incredible foresight, something only a skilled tactician would have. He probably joined knowing that Riou would become a leader of a powerful movement, and decided to protect him with his experience as a swordsman.

  • Physical Appearance - Although Rikimaru has an unkempt appearance, his physical appearance is similar to a number of other Silverbergs, such as Mathiu, Leon, and Caesar.

  • Age - Rikimaru's age makes him slightly younger than Odessa, which qualifies him as a younger brother of Mathiu and Odessa.

Purpose - Rikimaru said he was on a journey for revenge against a person who killed someone dear to him. Mathiu and Odessa were both killed because of Sanchez, but Sanchez was known to be in Qlon Temple. However, he may be looking for Barbarossa instead, who was the root cause for their deaths.

For all these reasons, it is reasonable to say Rikimaru, or Richard Silverberg, is more than meets the eye.

Although Rikimaru did not do much during the plot of Suikoden 2, one can argue that he may have been involved in places where Riou was not involved. Do you really think that the Riou +5 party was the only group roaming around while the rest of the 108 Stars of Destiny simply lounged around at HQ? I don't think so! Rikimaru was probably involved in many important things, perhaps even involved in setting up some of Shu's strategies. He may have even been a secret contact of Leon Silverberg's; that possibility is greater if Rikimaru is indeed a Silverberg. The fact that Rikimaru was uninvolved in the main plot may even be proof that he was involved elsewhere.

Written by SARSadmin
June 18th, 2003