Raymond Kon, more commonly known as Ray Kon, known in the Japanese version as Rei Kon (金李, Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

: Kon Rei, Chinese

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 Pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Jīn Lǐ), is a fictional character from the anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 and manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series of Beyblade

Beyblade

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Aoki. Originally serialized in CoroCoro Comic from 2000 to 2002, the individual chapters were collected and published in 14 tankōbon by Shogakukan...

. In the anime, he is voiced by Daniel DeSanto

Daniel DeSanto

Daniel DeSanto is a Canadian actor.He is of Italian descent. Daniel DeSanto is well known for his role in Mean Girls in 2004, however, his claim to fame is stemmed from the TV show Are You Afraid of the Dark? in which he played Tucker. Daniel attended Martingrove Collegiate Institute and...

 in the US/UK version, whilst voiced by Aya Hisakawa

Aya Hisakawa

is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer born in Kaizuka, Osaka. In addition to releasing various solo CDs, she is well known for her anime voice roles, and has also done some work in video games. She is best known for her role of Sailor Mercury of the Sailor Moon fame and also Cerberus from...

 in the Japanese version. In the Japanese versions, his given name is often written in katakana

Katakana

is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

 as "レイ."

He is generally shown as to be calm and open minded. In fact, many comparatives can be made between his personality and Yin and Yang

Yin and yang

In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...

, which he appropriately wears the symbol of, the Taijitu

Taijitu

Taijitu is a term which refers to a Chinese symbol for the concept of yin and yang...

. The forces of Yin and Yang are generally described as "opposite but complementary" forces, and the same can be said about him. He can be calm and collected, but also a fierce competitor. These two qualities can be referred to as opposites, but they are not absolute in their differences, and the same can be said about Yin and Yang. Furthermore, the forces of Yin and Yang are interdependent, meaning that they cannot exist without their counterpart. This can also be compared to Ray's personality. His whole nature seems to be similar in principle to this metaphysical concept.

First season (Beyblade)

Ray is first introduced to the show in episode 6, named Dragoon Storm. In this episode, he is portrayed as a powerful and confident competitor. However, some may say that he is shown as overconfident in some aspects, especially before the battle against Tyson had even begun. In the first battle, Ray easily, and almost effortlessly destroys Tyson's blade using his bit beast Driger's Tiger Claw attack. The following battle, Ray becomes somewhat cocky about his ability, and ends up losing the 2nd round to Tyson. Ray forfeits the final, deciding battle, saying that he had no more to prove. After the final round of the Tournament, between Tyson and Kai, Ray approaches Tyson, along with Max and Mr. Dickenson, inviting him and Kai to join the new BBA team called the Blade Breakers.

Throughout the first season, Ray is looked to for advice about battles. He is generally revered as a kindhearted, polite individual, who is very welcoming when meeting new people. He is also shown as being very open minded, especially about Beyblading techniques. This is emphasised in the Asian tournament, used as a means to justify his leaving of his home village. It is also shown in this season that he has an uncle who is the head chef at a restaurant in Paris, which is owned by Olivers' Dad. It is also shown that he works as a waiter in a restaurant in Hong Kong for extra cash. This has led to an opinion of him loving to cook.

Ray's beyblades and their attacks in this season were Driger Slash(Tiger Claw) & Driger Fang(Tiger Fang)

Second season (Beyblade V-Force)

Generally, Ray is shown in a similar light as to how he is portrayed in season 1, although in V-Force, he is much more critical of his performance.

A good example of Ray's kind hearted nature is shown in V-Force, in the battle against Salima and Cyber Driger. During this battle, Salima becomes somewhat hypocritical towards her original philosophies towards beyblading. Because of this, Ray spends most of the battle trying to convince her that using Cyber Driger has tainted her beliefs.

Ray uses three beyblades in the second season—Driger Fang, Driger Vulcan(Vulcan Claw), and Driger Vulcan 2(Vulcan Power Claw).

Third season (Beyblade G-Revolution)

In this series, Ray is portrayed in a very different way from the other two series. In the previous two, he was shown as being a polite young man, but unconfident in his beyblading ability. In G-Revolution however, he is shown as being confident, almost to the point of being cocky, but he often backs this up with his speed and techniques. During this series, he leaves the Bladebreakers to help form the White Tigers X team, partnering up with his former teammate, Lee. It is known that in the third season the White Tiger X team advanced to the semi finals. His opponent was Kai from the Blitzkrieg Boys, and his former teammate from the Bladebreakers. He suffers a loss and the Blitzkrieg Boys advance to the finals along with BBA Revolution.

Ray uses three beyblades in this season, the Driger Vulcan 2, the Driger Gatling(Gatling Claw), and Driger Metal Slash (Thunder Slash).

Relationships

Kai Hiwatari

Kai Hiwatari

is a character from the Beyblade manga and anime series.He is the captain of the Team BBA throughout most of the anime series and the keeper of the phoenix bit-beast Dranzer, or in the original Japanese version, Suzaku, the phoenix god of the South in Chinese/Japanese legend.Kai is voiced by David...

: Kai and Ray are closest in age of the Bladebreakers

Bladebreakers

The Bladebreakers are a fictional team of Beybladers in the anime series Beyblade. The team includes Takao Kinomiya, Kai Hiwatari, Max Tate, Ray Kon and Kenny, though Kenny does not blade for the team until G-Revolution, where the team undergoes two new names, the BBA Revolution, and later...

 and are shown to share a certain respect, concern and admiration. This is particularly evident in V-Force.

Mariah Wong

Mariah Wong

Mariah Wong, is a fictional character from the anime and manga series of Beyblade. Mariah is the first girl-blader to appear in the series. She has cat-like features and a fierce bitbeast. She is completely loyal to the White Tiger team and always tries to keep the peace within it...

: Ray and Mariah both are friends that seem to have lasted since they were kids. At the end of the manga they are married and have daughter.

Salima: Ray and Salima are friends from 2 different teams. They aren't in love with each other.

Family

Ray's only known relative is his uncle; Stanley Kon, who left China and went to France, where he became a chef. Ray remains in contact with Stanley, as he has been taught great cooking skills by his uncle.

In the last chapter of the Beyblade Manga. Ray is married to Mariah and they have a daughter together named Rin (Ling )manga only
.