Rika Nonaka

Rika Nonaka, known in Japan as Ruki Makino (牧野 留姫), is a character in the anime and manga series Digimon Tamers. She is voiced by Fumiko Orikasa (Japan) & Melissa Fahn (US).

Rika is the type of person who, in the beginning of the series, sees Digimon as nothing more than mere computer data, wanting her partner, Renamon, to be the strongest Digimon ever. But she eventally realizes that the two must be on equal partnership and friendship. She is very bitter and slightly antisocial thanks to her parents' divorce (as a result, her shirt in the beginning of the series has a blue heart broken in two), but Takato Matsuki (Takato Matsuda) and Henry Wong (Jenrya Li) manage to bring out the best in her. She lost a tournament to Ryo Akiyama two years before the series begins, which explains why she resents him. Rika takes Jeri Katou (Juri Katou) under her wing, teaching her about Digimon Taming when Jeri becomes a Tamer.

Rika's relationship with Renamon is unusual, more as a human contemporary than either a pet (like Guilmon was) or a playful child (like Terriermon). Rika's proud, independent, grouchy and cynical personality is substantially different than most of the female characters in the series. The exact reasons for this are unknown, although her mother is unusually young and her father is absent (see below).

Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers' Battle
With Takato, Henry and their partners on vacation in Okinawa, it was up to Rika and Renamon to keep the peace in Shinjuku as Digimon continued to appear at a rapid pace. When Digimon started appearing all over the world, Omnimon appeared to transport Rika and Kyubimon, along with Henry and Gargomon, to the battle site where Takato and Growlmon were fighting the true enemy: Mephistomon. Rika was present when the battle continued into an alternate dimension where the Tamers' Digimon combined their attacks to create the "Trinity Burst" attack to defeat Gulfmon and put a halt to the chaos in the Real World.

Digimon Tamers: Digimon Runaway Express
Rika's family and friends were planning a party for her and she was less than enthusiastic when Takato spilled the beans to her, suggesting they go cherry blossom watching together instead (she is shown to be blushing when Takato asks her on the "date"). The appearance of Locomon called her into action, along with Renamon, jumping onto one of Locomon's carriages with Takato. Taken over by a Parasimon which tricked her into attacking Takato and Renamon with memories of her father, Rika was freed when Guilmon destroyed the Parasimon controlling her. She Bio-Merged with Renamon to Sakuyamon to help defeat the Parasimon invasion in Tokyo. Following their defeat, Rika attended her birthday party thrown by her friends, only to leave just after blowing the candles out. Takato found her watching the sunset but Renamon stopped him from going to her, letting Rika be alone with the memories of her father.

Trivia

 * According to Konaka, Rika's earliest designs were influenced by Trinity of The Matrix, as an example of a strong female lead, before later settling on the red spikey 'pineapple-head' look instead. Many of her qualities, like headstrongness, arrogance, pride, and wanting to be the best, as well as a troubled family past, were a homeage to Asuka Langley Soryu of Neon Genesis Evangelion.


 * After Rika received her D-Power and before she chose Renamon, among the shadowed Digimon who wanted Rika to tame either of them are:
 * 1st Window: Gekomon, Deramon, Minomon, Musyamon, WaruMonzaemon, a Digimon that might be Dolphmon
 * 2nd Window: Apemon, Phantomon, Bakumon, Tsubumon, Mummymon (in his human form)
 * 3rd Window: Gizamon, Tuskmon, Aquilamon, SkullMeramon (in his hat and trench coat from Season One), a Digimon that might be Apocalymon

Fandom
Many fans of Digimon like Rika/Ruki, and a lot of fanfiction pairs her up with either Takato, Renamon, or Jeri, though she is also occasionally paired with Henry or even sometimes with Ryo. Takato/Rika pairings appear to be the most popular heterosexual pairing in the fandom.