Riven is a major character in Winx Club series. He is a member of the Specialists, the stubborn maverick, and then even Musa’s boyfriend.
Unlike his other companions, he has a more rude character, but nevertheless tries to be loyal to his companions. In the first season she is initially with the Trix, especially Darcy, but then realizing their true intentions she betrays them.
In Italian, he is played by Mirko Mazzanti in the series and Emiliano Coltorti in the films. He is voiced in English by Mitchell Rothpan in the Cinélume dub, Michael Sinterniklaas in the 4Kids dub, Sam Riegel in the Atlas Oceanic dub, Jesse Manocherian in the DuArt/3Beep dub, and Steve Staley in the Dubbing Brothers one.
Appearance
Riven is a young man with an evidently muscular build. His skin is rosy with a slight tan, and his eyes are narrow and indigo-colored. He has short red-violet hair that is spiked back with only two bangs framing his face.
Personality
Riven is best described as a “lone wolf”. He usually has a very hard, irascible, rebellious, dark and somewhat arrogant character. Among the specialists he is the most competitive, competent, determined, realistic and oriented. Given his ego to improve more and more, he begins to believe he is better than his companions and leads him to be aggressive and impulsive, he also has a big rivalry with Sky for a long time, even if they are friends deep down. However, despite these negative traits, Riven is actually altruistic, protective and caring, but these are traits that he struggles to express in an always aggressive way, which leads him to have certain insecurities. Riven truly shows that she loves Musa, even though their relationship is often at odds given his inaccuracies. The two broke up in season 6, but in season 8 they finally got back together, having realized that they really loved each other.
The worst negative traits are shown in the first season, where he is often lonely and was very arrogant, mean and bitter, which often puts him at odds with others, especially with Sky (believed at the time to be Brandon). However, this is just a facade to cover his insecurities and fears about what others think of him. He is also a control freak and is easily influenced by everyone, especially when he is humiliated, and in cases like this he is easily fooled by the Trix to manipulate him, and falls in love with Darcy at first, but then having realized that he is having been used and having seen a hallucination of himself in a monster, he understands that he is wrong and understands that the Specialists and the Winx are his true friends.
In future seasons, Riven becomes more friendly and cooperative, as he has actually always had a conscience since the beginning, even if he struggles to admit it and still has some moments of arrogance. He dislikes his loved ones being seriously hurt, such as when he saves Musa and Darcy, and is later reluctant to abandon Griffin and the other imprisoned Cloud Tower students. He can also be thoughtful when he isn't blinded by his anger. Riven says they like him the way he is but doesn't like being a monster, and he wants to improve some traits in himself and says he has "a heart". After a while he starts to smile more often, but doesn't like jokes very much, although he has some silly behavior sometimes and is also a bit skeptical. He is very realistic and explicit about his opinions of himself. This is shown in the third season, when the Winx head to Eraklyon to get an explanation from Sky for his sudden decision to marry Diaspro. Riven reminds Bloom that he can't force someone to love her or give her an explanation. He also proves to be of moral support when he tries to distract Timmy from Tecna's apparent death, and then remains silent when she gives signals. He becomes more vulnerable from season 4.
It is implied that Riven's initial distrust of people, especially women, stems from his mother. She abandoned him as a child, he believes himself to make his fortune, explained why he hates her. It seems that he projected onto others those feelings of contempt and distrust, which initially led to difficulties in maintaining relationships.
Skills and Abilities
Riven seems to be the most knowledgeable in stealth and strategic planning. He also has other many abilities such as exceptional combat skills, wielding various weapons like a scimitar-style phantoblade and nunchakus, using ranged tools such as a bola and Solar Boomerang, possessing strong survival and wilderness instincts, being an excellent lock-picker, and demonstrating proficiency with musical instruments like the guitar and Chinese zither. While he doesn't have innate fairy powers like the Winx, he uses his physical prowess and resourcefulness to fight alongside the Specialists.
Trivia
- Riven's 4Kids voice actor (Michael Sinterklass) and Nickelodeon voice actor (Sam Riegel) both worked together in the 2003 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- Similar to Sky, Riven has been manipulated multiple times, and dated an antagonist.
- Sky was once the fiancé of Diaspro, as Riven dated Darcy.
- Sky was manipulated by Valtor's spell, as Riven was spelled by the Trix and the Ancestral Witches through Mandragora.
 Heroes
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Winx Specialists Allies Pixies | ||