Rayregalia Vers Rayvers

Rayregalia Vers Rayvers is a secondary antagonist in the 2014 anime ALDNOAH.ZERO, is the Emperor of the Vers Empire, an alternate-reality empire based on Mars. Rayregalia was formerly a scientist sent to Mars through a mysterious portal found on the Moon by Apollo 17 in 1972, known as the Hyper Gate. Through the gate, Rayregalia found more ancient alien technology, most notably that of Aldnoah, a powerful energy source of unknown nature. When Rayregalia touched the Aldnoah drive, the technology "imprinted" on him, giving him absolute control over it, and allowing to bestow more limited control over Aldnoah to his followers.

Rayregalia used the power of Aldnoah to build an independent state on Mars, his mastery of Aldnoah allowing him to seize absolute power. Rayvers bestowed the power of Aldnoah on a select few loyal followers, declaring them members of the nobility, or Orbital Knights, while establishing a feudal government that oppressed the common people. After Rayvers stepped down, giving the throne to his son, Gilzeria.

Gilzeria distracted the people from their oppression at the hands of the nobility by inciting resentment of the people of Earth, who had great wealth and abundant natural resources, unlike the Martians. In 1999, Gilzeria started a war against the Earth, unified under the UE, or United Earth. The war caused heavy casualties on both sides when the Hyper Gate was destroyed setting off an explosion that destroyed the entire moon, resulting in rain of meteors that devastated the Earth, destroying large portions of entire continents. Among the dead was Gilzeria, forcing Rayvers to reassume the throne.

15 years later, a conspiracy led by Count Saazbaum attempted to assassinate Rayvers' daughter, princess Asseylum Vers Allusia using missiles, and initially appeared to succeed. This drove Rayvers to declare war on Earth, sending Saazbaum and his knights to invade. It turned out, Asseylum was still alive, being sick on the day her motorcade was attacked, and a body double took her place. When Saazbaum found about this, he sabotaged Earth-to-Mars channels of communications and attempted, and eventually succeeded in assassinating Asseylum, in spite of the efforts of both Slaine Troyard and the United Earth forces to save her life.