| “ | Victory is everything! | „ |
| ~ Ray Dark's stern belief and his most famous quote |
| “ | If you spit on the Gods, they'll rain on you later. | „ |
| ~ Dark's warning to Jude Sharp in the anime - also foreshadowing his plan to sabotage the stadium. |
Ray Dark is the main antagonist of the football RPG video game and anime series; Inazuma Eleven.
He is a former member of the original Inazuma Eleven, and turned evil after his father's failure in football, causing him to develop a strong fear of losing. He was also believed to be responsible for David Evans supposed death, while appearing as the main antagonist of the whole series. It is eventually discovered that he was serving a greater evil.
He serves as the main antagonist in the first game, and a supporting antagonist in the second game and third games.
He was voiced by Richard Magarey in the original anime dub, Robbie Stevens in the UK video game. As well as Shimada Kyuusaku and Sasaki Seiji in the Japanese dubs respectively. He was also voiced by Richard Epcar in the Ares series.
Biography[]
Background[]
When Dark was younger, his father Tom Dark was a professional striker who played in the nationals. However, as Tom got older he lost his fame and thus abandoned the game which lead to his wife's death. As a result, Dark became convinced that victory was all that mattered and became determined in crushing his opponents.
In the original Football Frontier, Dark assured that the Raimon team would not arrive to face Royal Academy. Their coach got into an accident, which (supposedly) caused the death of David Evans, and the rest of the team struggled their way to the stadium, despite all of them being injured. There and then, there was a phone call which informed Royal Academy that the Raimon team would not arrive and Royal ended up winning by default.
Several years later during the next Football frontier, Kirkwood were facing Royal Academy in the finals. However, Dark chose to sabotage this as well by removing their striker Axel Blaze. He did this by organising a road accident, that his little sister Julia was caught in, causing Axel to leave the game and rush to the hospital. Royal Academy ended up winning and Dark’s actions would leave a lasting effect; Julia was left in a coma, and Axel was shunned by his old teammates who accused him of running away. This caused him to change schools and quit playing football out of guilt.
Inazuma Eleven - Football Frontier Saga[]
Dark is present as the commander of Royal Academy in the very first video game. As mentioned before, he was responsible for Julia's accident which caused Axel to quit football. During the match between Royal Academy and Raimon, Dark chooses to concede the match after having witnessed Mark's God Hand, as well as Axel having joined and scored a goal for Raimon. Despite Royal Academy winning at 20-1, Raimon were still given a unanimous spotlight and many other teams requested friendly matches as a result.
It is eventually revealed that the football club's coach, Mr. Wintersea, was Dark's informant. Wintersea planned to sabotage the team's bus by draining the break fluid, but this plan was foiled by a conscience-stricken Bobby Shearer. Bobby's note of confession revealed Dark to be the mastermind behind Royal Academy, as well as the murder of Mark's grandfather.
Dark then appears at the Royal Academy stadium, where Jude Sharp requests that the players back away when the whistle is blown. This foils Dark's plan of crushing the Raimon players to death by falling girders. As a result, Dark is arrested by Detective Gregory Smith and the game between Raimon and Royal Academy officially starts.
Somehow, Dark managed to be released from custody and afterwards formed a new team called Zeus Jr High. Zeus were able to defeat Royal Academy and this resulted in Jude joining Raimon and wanting revenge for his injured teammates. Although his arrival isn’t met too kindly by the team at first, with Axel especially harboring a grudge due to his sister’s accident that Dark caused. Hillman reveals to Sharp that his current mentality of victory being all that matters and disregarding teamwork is what led to Dark becoming who he is now. This causes Jude to change for the better and succeed in performing the ultimate move: Inazuma Break.
Nelly, Silvia and Celia eventually discover that Dark had been using a military-grade power enhancing formula named Ambrosia (God's Aqua in the anime). During the match, the girls cleverly switched it out with water during the second half. Raimon ultimately won against Zeus and Dark was arrested for his crimes.
Inazuma Eleven 2 - Alius Academy Saga[]
While Dark wasn't present during the threat of Alius Academy, it is revealed that the aliens helped him escape prison transfer, and thus he chose to form his own team called Royal Academy Redux. With the help of Caleb Stonewall, and Alius' henchmen, he kidnapped young players in Ehime and forced them to join the Royal Redux.
It is later revealed that David Samford and Joseph King joined the Royal Redux out of desire to become more powerful. This led to them both learning incredibly dangerous special moves that caused harm to their bodies (Emperor Penguin No. 1 and Beast Fang respectively). The match between Raimon and the Royal Redux began on a giant submarine, and while Samford and King, along with Kevin Dragonfly, were seriously injured. Raimon succeeded in winning, and Dark rejected Caleb Stonewall, knowing of the latter's plan to use him so he could get into Alius.
Dark then set the submarine to self-destruct and proclaimed Jude Sharp as his greatest creation, something that would psychologically torment Sharp down the line. It is unknown how, but Dark managed to escape death and would not be seen until the next game.
Inazuma Eleven 3 - Football Frontier International Saga[]
In the Football Frontier International, Ray Dark is revealed to have replaced the Italian team's coach under the alias of "Mr. D". His first plan of action was to replace Orpheus with his own team, but a match would go underway to determine who would represent Italy. Team D's players were also responsible for some of the Italian team's injuries in an attempt to sabotage their chances of competing.
While Stonewall was believed to have been affiliated with Dark, it was revealed that he wanted to trick him and get revenge against him alongside Jude. During the match, Dark reveals Team D's captain; Giulio Acuto, a powerful doppelganger of Jude. Orpheus end up winning against Team D, however an unknown interference prevented Mark, Axel, Jude and Caleb from reaching the Argentinian match in time.
Dark helped Orpheus win against England's team Queen's Knights. It is also discovered that Dark had been giving money to an unknown person identified as "L", this person was later revealed to have been a little girl who was unintentionally blinded in an accident that Dark caused. During the match between Inazuma National and Orpheus, Jude and Paolo come up with a plan to make Dark see the beauty in Football again, by playing like his father.
This causes Dark to see the light, and he effectively redeems himself by wanting a fair victory. After the match ends with Inazuma National winning, Jude and Pablo talk to Dark before the latter turns himself in, and also reveals Zoolan Rice to be the true mastermind behind the murder of David Evans.
However, a car accident later was reported to have killed Dark, which struck both Inazuma National and Orpheus very hard. This accident was very well likely to have been arranged by Zoolan Rice for Dark's betrayal. While Dark was believed to have been dead, it is revealed in the GO Galaxy series that he was revived by a forbidden drug, and undertook the new identity of Astero Black.
Personality[]
After witnessing the failure of his father, Ray Dark developed a deep fear of losing and believed that winning was all that mattered. This soon descended into his power-hungry and ruthless personality that was present in the games.
Ray Dark is a ruthless and sinister man who will go to any lengths to achieve victory, this involved sabotaging to top of the stadium in an attempt to crush the Raimon team to death with heavy girders. He is able to instil fear into others, as shown by how Frank Wintersea is terrified of him and what he would do should he have failed. When it comes to football, Dark is deluded into thinking that winning is all that matters and always desires a crushing defeat of the opposing team. Even towards his own players, Dark treats them as disposable and will reject them should they fail or disappoint them, as shown by his rejection of Caleb Stonewall and Giulio Acuto. In the anime, it is proven that he demolished schools that lost matches against Royal Academy.
In the third game however, it is revealed that Dark does have a kinder side to him, as he helped a little girl recover from an accident he caused that ended up blinding her, sending money for Lucia's operation. On top of this, it is also revealed that Dark truly loved his father and football deep down, which was blurred by his obsession with winning. Jude Sharp and Paolo Bianchi are able to resonate with Dark by playing like his father and after this Dark regains his love for the sport and redeems himself before turning himself in.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is revealed in the GO series that he has a nephew; Lucian Dark, who ends up joining the Raimon Jr. High team.
- That being said, Dark must have at least one unnamed sibling.
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 Villains
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Inazuma Eleven Original Inazuma Eleven Go | ||