Rahu (Custom Robo)

Rahu is a mysterious being and the major enemy in Custom Robo (GameCube). It is the primary antagonist of "A New Journey".

BackstoryEdit
Rahu's origins are unknown, as it simply appeared one day and began laying waste to the world. It operated on a simple principle of destruction and evolution: after identifying a target with abilities it deems useful, it completely annhiliates it and everything around. After doing so, Rahu enters a state of hibernation, assimilating new traits and emerging more powerful than ever.

Initially, humanity had no means of defending themselves against Rahu, as it was an invisible entity. However, that all changed when Rahu targeted and combined with a custom robo, a simple child's toy at the time. Somehow, it became unable to escape its new form; a situation Harry likened to a one-way dive. Sergei claimed that Rahu may have had a link to the custom robo, but the true nature of the event remains mysterious to this day.

Whatever the case, Rahu had been forced into a visible - and vulnerable - form; prompting the government to modify other robos for actual combat. In this way, they were able to battle Rahu, but the monster still proved too powerful to defeat. Eventually, the government created a device which erased Rahu's "genetic memory," preventing it from evolving further. This allowed the remaining humans to defeat Rahu, forcing it into its dormant state for an unknown period of time.

Although it was stopped before it could completely ravage the planet, Rahu's attack left most of the Earth uninhabitable. The remnants of humankind took up residence in a large dome, sealed off from the rest of the world. Over time, knowledge of the outside world faded, leaving society unaware of the true history of the world - and of the existence of Rahu.

Role in Custom RoboEdit
During the course of the game, Rahu is encountered repeatedly and battled four times.

"Organic" RoboEdit
The player ("Hero") is first made aware of Rahu when Steel Hearts receives a call from Daimon, reporting a rogue robo attack at his restaurant. When they arrive, they only find a dead body; when Marcia attempts her half-dive technique to see his last memories, she reports seeing a robo unlike any that she knows of. Before further inquiries can be made, the police arrive and take Marcia in for questioning, with Mira and Roy requesting that Marcia draw them an approximation of the strange robo.

The first true encounter with Rahu is in Bogey's Cafe, when it begins destroying the proprietor's secret gambling room. When Steel Hearts arrives to investigate, they are shocked to see an autonomous robo acting outside of a holosseum. Marcia wants them to team up against it, but Harry suggests letting Hero battle it alone first, as he wants to know about the mysterious robo's personal holosseum (as the player character cannot generate a personal holosseum, the battle is guaranteed to occur in the enemy's arena). Thus, Hero engages Rahu, fighting in a strangely natural area with organic plant life. After a difficult battle, Hero emerges victorious, but Rahu recovers and flees while the Steel Hearts confront Z Bosses Sergei and Oboro.

Identity RevealedEdit
Later, Hero, Harry and Marcia are called to the police station to take a special test. To each's surprise, the test is a battle against a simulation of Rahu (effectively the same battle as the confrontation in Bogey's Cafe). After they each complete their test, they are awarded the secret S-Class license, allowing the chief of police to give them information about Rahu.

The next day, Rahu returns to Daimon's, where it battles Evil. When Steel Hearts arrives, the battle is over with Evil victorious, but the Dark Blue mercenary reveals that he intends to give Rahu to Eliza in hopes of winning her affections. Unfortunately for Evil, Eliza denies any association with him when she arrives, and the other Z Bosses soon join the group to make their own claim to Rahu. After Marcia attempts to confront Sergei - revealed to be her long-lost brother - Oboro throws a smoke bomb that gives him time to escape with Rahu.

Evolution Renewed (Rahu II)Edit
After the incident at Daimon's, Oboro takes Rahu to the Z Syndicate's headquarters, where he begins modifying it to make stronger and easier to control. Before the upgrade is completed, Oboro is confronted by Hero and Marcia - as well as Sergei, who reveals that his true aim is to defeat Rahu, not control it. After the defeat of his Rakansen, Oboro makes a last effort to stop the heroes by commanding Rahu, but the incomplete system causes the entity to rebel against his control. This allows Hero and Marcia to defeat the upgraded Rahu, after which it escapes the base by bursting through the roof.

Gathering the Steel Hearts, Mira, and Roy in the main control room of the Z Headquarters, Sergei plays a prerecorded message from the original leader of the Syndicate, who is revealed to be Hero's father. The message details the origins of Rahu and the Z Syndicate (originally, it was meant to find strong robo users in case Rahu returned), and also reveals that the memory erasure device is now within Hero's watch. To fulfill his father's wishes, Hero decides to defeat Rahu once and for all - to this end, Sergei reactivates the memory erasure device before the group sets out to find Rahu.

Final Battle (Rahu III)Edit
Aided by a tracking device Sergei planted on Rahu, the group tracks their quarry to an abandoned amusement park. After a series of confrontations with the remnants of the Z Syndicate under Eliza and Isabella, only Hero, Harry, and Marcia remain to challenge Rahu. After using a teleporter deep within an old funhouse, the heroic trio find themselves standing before the mutated robo itself, in the middle of another evolution.

With no time to lose, Hero uses the memory erasure device to wipe Rahu's genetic memory once again, provoking the creature into attacking them. Generating a massive new holosseum, Rahu demonstrates more power and skill than ever before, but the combined power of Hero, Harry, and Marcia proves too much for even it to handle. After a long, dangerous fight, the Steel Hearts defeat Rahu's ultimate form, causing it to seemingly vanish in a flash of light. Its final fate is unknown, but it appears to have been defeated for good.

Lingering PresenceEdit
Although Rahu's direct involvement in the story ends with "A New Journey", it has some minor roles in the subsequent tournament campaign, "The Grand Battle". After the creature's final defeat, its history was revealed to the world at large, in order to avoid making the mistakes of the past generations. Additionally, the site of Rahu's final battle was later found to contain a mysterious energy that could enhance robos far beyond their normal capabilities. The "Gold Single Battle" tournament pitted Hero against all of his fellow S-Class commanders, who each used robos enhanced by this power.