History Characters / DimensionalHeroes

* AnIcePerson: Thanks to his Arctic Style by training under Sayuri, a yuki-onna, he can unleash ice attacks like nobody's business.

* AnimalMotif: Afterimages of a panther tend to appear in several of his attacks.

* AtLeastIAdmitIt: Whatever accusations are thrown about or even at him, David doesn't deny who he is. He mentioned several times that he is a piece of work, but he doesn't make excuses for the actions he takes, and he knows that he will never live a normal life and that he will probably be going to Hell for some of the more darker actions he has committed. Compare this to Regime Wonder Woman, who at the time of their last meeting, was so delusional about her own status that she couldn't tell what was good and evil anymore, and you can see why David expressed disappointment towards her during the flashback in Mario Tennis Aces.

* BFG: Uses two energy rifles when he uses his Judgment Blaster attack.

* BFS: How his sword looks in Burst Mode.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to the other leaders of the Hero Alliance, he easily has the darkest backstory, and his attitude in his early appearances, not to mention his body count, show signs of this. However...

** LighterAndSofter: ...as time goes on, he starts to mellow out bit by bit and be more cheerful than he was before.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: His past was pretty normal for the most part, but during one of his investigations, [[spoiler: his partner, Eikichi Shimura, sacrifices himself to knock David out of the crosshairs of a naga, and that naga ended up eating Eikichi instead of David]]. While David does eventually get over this, especially after he finds out that Theodore caused the incident that got [[spoiler: Eikichi]] killed, he still feels himself being partially responsible and beats himself up for it. See {{Darker and Edgier}} and {{I Let Gwen Stacy Die}}. Junko Enoshima's plot just adds salt to the wound.

* Determinator: Once he sets his sights on something, David won't stop until he sees it through.

* Intergenerational Friendship: David has been stated to have this with several older members of his group and a few others in the Alliance, and even a few associates, mostly due to the fact that he respects his elders more often than not. This is most notable among the Royal Knights, specifically [[spoiler: Leopardmon]], who he has taken tutelage under in the ways of strategy.

* NiceGuy: David is a genuinely kind person, which has given him the respect of many people, including Cheetah (though she prefers not to admit this).

** BewareTheNiceOnes: That being said though, he's also got a wrathful side deep inside him that you don't want to be on the receiving end of. If you manage to get that side out of him, he won't hesitate to tear you apart.

* NobodytoNightmare: He started out as a decent, if reliable, cryomancer with a few weapons at his disposal, but now he's become a force so powerful that underestimating him could be his enemies' worst, if not last, mistake of their lives. Especially after Octopath Traveler II when he gains access to [[spoilers: axes, lances, bows, daggers, and staves]]. Color Gods help you if you piss him off.

* TheAce: When it comes to athletics, as mentioned when he trained his body rigorously to perform as best he could in the Tokyo Olympics. Even without that goal, you can expect him to pull off good performances in almost every sporting event he's in.

* TheProtagonist: Of Part 2. In Part 3, he shares this role with Jexi and Cheetah.

* TheRival: David gets these as quickly as a Harem Hero gathers their {{Unwanted Harem}}. Cheetah, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MirrorCharacter Esmeralda]], Mayumi, and even Jexi (albeit one-sided on Jexi's part), see him as a rival to pit themselves against in order to grow. David, however, takes it all in stride and reciprocates the drive when on opposite ends. What's notable is that whenever the situation gets serious and David and Cheetah are practically [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RivalsTeamUp forced to team up]], they tend to form one of the strongest duos in the franchise. Just ask [[spoiler: Eternatus and Zagred]]. However, even his most notable rivalries tend to be [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FriendlyRivalry friendly ones and not too hostile]], more often than not.

* {{I Hate Past Me}}: Sectonia, after her revival, grew to resent the tyrannical ruler she had allowed herself to become. This was to the point where she initiated a redux of the events of Triple Deluxe, where instead of dying like she originally would, she grew out of her old body for a more human-like one, and split into two separate entities.

* {{Shock and Awe}}: She is still a master of lightning, just like she was in canon. Only this time, she has a lightning-elemental Nichirin Blade to combat demons with. She even learned a few lightning artes as well, including the infamous [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TalesSeries Indignation]] spell.

* {{The Rival}}: She has racked up quite a few of these throughout her travels. Her most notable ones, are King Dedede and Ridley. Heck, throughout Part 2, she even encounters Cheetah enough times to be considered this (though that may be due to the fact that Sectonia is the closest thing to David at the time.)

* {{Took a Level in Badass}}: While she was already a pretty solid fighter during her villain phase, and in case upgrading her lightning attack from the Triple Deluxe game to the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/TalesSeries Indignation]] spell isn't enough proof, Sectonia has gotten quite a hold of her ever-growing list of abilities from her Color Fighting and Breath of Thunder styles, even to the point where she was able to stand toe-to-toe against [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/Metroid Ridley]] of all people without so much as showing a hint of fear. She has even shown to be capable of quick wit on occasion when she needed to.

* {{Badass Crew}}: Considering that everyone has spent years knowing each other, and continue to do so with great camaraderie and loyalty to each other, and the fact that everyone is welcomed by the other members with open arms and a warm welcome. Not to mention that the team consists of fairly powerful characters, so this holds true, especially the fact about giving ungodly retribution to those who would harm their friends and allies.

* [[BrotherSisterTeam Brother-Sister Team]]: Richard and Heiwa are this, as they work for the same organization, although there are no instances of them working together in the current multiverse/reality, although the first instance out of it, was against Hel, back in their own reality. Another pair under this same category is Eruza and Taiga Nakanishi.

* {{Elite Four}}: Gus Campbell, Antonio the Hedgehog, Link Hylia, and Fox Mccloud are this to the Unmei Force, under Richard, as they're exactly four in number, and are the most experienced members of the team, considering that they have been with Richard since early in the start of his own journey, making them quite formidable.

!Richard Liu
The young leader of the Unmei Force, who is talented in both magical and physical combat, tactical planning, and maintaining his organization. He is a person with a fairly complex personality, having several monikers, each with their own mannerisms and unique ideals, that he adapts, taking parts of his own true personality.[[spoiler: He is also responsible for almost destroying his Gensokyo, due to snapping hard from the trauma of being thrown through the KKHTA universe several times over.]]

* AFatherToHisMen: As acting commander of the UGF forces, Richard demonstrates this whenever he addresses his army. He never once makes any attempt to undermine the value of his own men, but rather respect them all as good men and women who are devoted to protecting the livelhood of the innocent who are under the watch of the army, and constantly compels his men to fight well. In fact, his speech in the epilogue of Shattered Heroes indicates that he cares more for his army men than himself, swearing that he would do better to be worthy of leading them, rather than the other way around.

* {{Badass Bookworm}}: Having spent decades being Yukari's disciple and learning from the various residents of Gensokyo, he is quite clever for someone of his own power, and proficient to a great degree with his elemental magic. What's more, is that his mindset is daring and strong-willed. Not only that, but those who expect Richard to be a fragile cannon of magic would find themselves smacked out by Richard's physical prowess, which complements his magic skill, to create an excellent arsenal of skills that only few can exploit, save for raw brute force to negate the advantages of his skills.

--> '''Richard:''' You might have noticed that throughout the entire account, my tone has never changed with emotion at all. That's because, in that world, I've learned to seal away my emotions, to show only certain things to others. I wear 'masks' of emotions to satisfy others, to make sure that they never realise what is truly inside of me, but sometimes, just sometimes, I want to pull away from them, and let those I truly care about, see me for what I truly am. I am a monster, already insane, although insanity is only defined by one's views, Barry Flux, but I am one with a human heart and human desires. All I want from you, even if you forget everything else, is to remember that one statement.

--> '''Barry:''' Richard… I...I'll remember that. Just… promise me something, would you? One day… not tomorrow, but someday… take that mask off.

--> '''Richard:''' ''[slowly nods]''...I hope for that day to come.

* {{Black Mage}}: With how most of Richard's arsenal of spells is offensively oriented, it would be sensible to call him such.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Considering that Richard had to deal with the [[spoiler: KKHTA]] world, it is no wonder that nothing even comes close to fazing him in terms of horror. Take an example from Richard's journey through the world of Berserk. All the worst moments have managed to do is to piss him off, and even then, he never shows a single ounce of fear at all during the entire trip, even when exposed to the slaughters, while the other members were fairly unnerved. Even the nightmare the imp tried to give him, had Richard laugh it off, and what's more: He taunted Ubik, one of the God Hand, just because it pleased him.

* {{Dark and Troubled Past}}: This is very much true for Richard, as it is the main reason why his mindset deviates from other heroes, in that he has a fairly unique set of morals that borders that of a neutral entity. (See Pragmatic Hero in the main article.) Although most of his past was lived in fairly calm times, with nothing to play this trope straight. The real instigator of the trope is the unnamed incident, which had ruined Richard's mentality for a fairly long time, and resulted in him coming back to his senses, with most of his mentality restored, except that he didn't exactly remain untouched by his experience in the cruel world... [[spoiler: It turns out that Richard experienced an iteration of the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/KoishiKomeijisHeartThrobbingAdventure KKHTA]] universe, and ended up being looped in it a la death loop. Being someone who lived in Gensokyo for almost two decades, this is the ultimate suffering for him. Eventually, he made a temporary {{FaceHeelTurn}}, by consuming KKHTA!Koakuma's power, and then murdering every single one of his friends, in order to gain the power to kill the Lunarians, and still it wasn't enough to win. Not to mention that when Heiwa was dropped into the world in the last loop, Richard committed omnicide against the Earth and the Moon, if not the entire universe, had Yukari not gapped him back, and then fought him back to sanity. Even still, he's scarred by the experience permanently. Poor guy.]]

* {{Darker and Edgier}}: Out of all of the protagonists, Richard easily holds the title of being most eligible for bearing this trope, for the sole fact that he shows far less mercy to opponents in general, that his personality does not befit that of his standing as a traveling savior, and that he is far more tormented by his inner negativity than most other heroes, although he does not let that fact show in front of those who look up to him, or stand alongside him as a fellow ally.

* {{Experienced Protagonist}}: This has been hinted several times already, considering that Richard has skill and power to match that experience. Considering that he had to deal with the Darkness, an active force of destruction back in his reality, he's no slouch when it comes to his duties as a savior, even if the DH reality is a step up from his own, in terms of typical power levels of beings.

* [[FaceHeelTurn Face-Heel Turn]]/[[HeelFaceTurn Heel-Face Turn]]: This is a {{Double Subversion}}, considering that Richard got better from his initial turn to villainy, since he's much more sane since then, although there is a risk that this can end up as a [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagging Trope]] in the future.

* {{Good is Not Soft}}: A definite example of this, Richard is only gentle with his actions, because he believes in small kindness doing big things for worlds, and garnering relations and good-wills with all that he meets, cementing his usual stance as a savior who wishes to give most of the misunderstood a chance to live the lives that they wished for, and enjoy a new life away from their cruel circumstances. Not only that, but Richard is a fairly good man who understands the dark side of emotions, being someone who was experienced with them. However, don't mistake that for the fact that Richard is soft in heart though, as he is quite the opposite: His 'soft' side is a part of him, as much as his 'cruel' side is. Although to varying degrees of willingness and guilt, he WILL do what is necessary to achieve his objectives, if it's the only way to achieve results to a desirable level, and he won't back down from his choices save for some truly PERSUASIVE convincing. Not only that, but as shown in the other tropes involved with him, he has a cruel streak for those who would dare to harm his friends severely, as to ruin them. He might be fairly forgiving and teach the instigator a lesson through a beating or a humiliation, but for those who manage to breach past his patience and forgiveness... A living Hell only awaits them, as he will make sure that their last moments will be in unbearable agony and despair, and nothing can stand in his war-path when he is set for payback, not even gods, save for the most powerful and potent ones.

* {{Guilt Complex}}: Richard is a case of this and {{Chronic Hero Syndrome}}. Because of the fact that he feels responsible for having to protect his own friends and family from the worst that the multiverse could offer, he would do anything and '''everything''' to achieve that. [[spoiler: Especially when he would fight his own friends to destroy the X-Verse to ensure that X-Gaster nevers get the chance to hurt them at all.]] And when it comes down to it, he believes that the world would be a better place without his own actions messing things up. He regrets what he has done in hindsight, and every mistake sticks to him hard enough to leave me hurt inside. However, by the end of Shattered Heroes, thank to those close to him coming to realise this, he is on the path of shedding this, even though shades of this will likely remain.

* {{Magic Knight}}: Richard is a dual-sword wielder, who is capable of casting high-level spells. Not only that, but his weapons are capable of channeling his own magic, allowing him to strike with magical properties using them.

* {{Misery Builds Character}}: He proves this several times, within the Encoded Memories arc, and once during the Roots arc, where it is shown that he has his own set of traumatic memories. [[spoiler: The events that are involved so far include the fact that Richard truly misses the Gensokyo he came back from, and the fact that he has went on a murderous rampage, in a currently unspecified world. According to Gus, it is stated that Richard tried to annihilate his Gensokyo as well, in his blind rage, only to be stopped. Afterwards, it is stated that Richard went into complete and utter despair (See Despair Event Horizon), filled with self-loathing and boundless sorrow. It is stated that his friends took a very long time caring for him, in order to help him recover himself, although this was not to great effect, as shown by his actions...]]

* This however has been rendered unneeded later, as it is rarely seen in future stories, both within the Unmei Force series, or the wider Color-verse crossovers

* {{Nice Guy}}: If you can put him in the right situation, you can see this side of him show, as he is truly caring of his friends, and unwilling to do any kind of harm to them, unless he was absolutely forced to as a last resort, and even then, willing to take whatever consequences his actions will result in, in order to ensure his friends do not suffer the brunt of them, in an act of self-sacrifice. Not only that, but he does get in touch with his future teammates, to forge a bond that is genuinely formed through long times of being together with them. He is also willing to forge new friendships with other people, and tends to be understanding on how one's plights might drive them to do terrible things.

* {{Pragmatic Hero}}: Richard is a good example of this. He is fairly brutal in his actions, willing to be a fair leader and fighter at times, but does not have hesitation in killing others, and is very fond of making those who would try to torment him to receive the same treatment many-fold. He is also sometimes a person who will do what is necessary to achieve his goal, even if it may conflict with the morals of others.

* {{Screw Destiny}}: Richard has a mindset dedicated to this, although the degree that he utilizes this in each arc, depends on what he requires and what his morality and 'heart' tells him to go. The greatest and worst example of this is the Vengeance Arc, set within Berserk. He helped the God Hand to convert Griffith into Femto, only because he wouldn't risk speeding up the events of Griffith's transformation by interfering with key events. However, the gloves came off, when Richard decided that he's already fulfilled his side of his unspoken bargain, and saves Judeau from death, and Casca from rape, dramatically changing the events of the stories. From there on, he continued to ruin the God Hand's plans, by abducting Flora away from her death and saving a lot more people in the Tower of Conviction.

* {{Sealed Evil in a Can}}: Richard counts strongly as this, as a heroic example of this. [[spoiler: Considering that if Richard still had KKHTA!Koakuma's powers, which have been corrupted due to his dark insanity earlier, he would have been the most dangerous being of darkness, should those powers awaken. Fortunately, Yukari sealed them perfectly, to the point that only she could undo it, even if the individuals are a greater level of power and skill than her.]] This is also the reason why he makes promises with Siege, Yukari and now Barry Flux, that if he were to be at the cusp of awakening it, they would use their full force to seal himself until the 'seal' is repaired. [[spoiler: However, after the events of X-Changed Will, Richard is likely to play this trope straight, especially the unsealing part, due to the fact that his corrupted last log declared that he would obliterate Cross, X-Frisk, X-Chara and X-Gaster for what they did to him.]]

* TheProtagonist: Of the Unmei Force series in the first and second volumes, and some side-chapters.

* {{Trauma Conga Line}}: As someone who went through the [[spoiler: [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WebVideo/KoishiKomeijisHeartThrobbingAdventure KKHTA]]]] universe, this is very much evident. [[spoiler: The fact that Richard had to endure watching Gensokyo die so many times over, because he is looped back to the beginning each time he dies, and having to watch his friends kill each other, and try to kill him to varying degrees of success, being powerless to stop the Lunarians from finishing Gensokyo, place and residents all. Not to mention that he couldn't change fate no matter what he tried, even going the villain route only bought him some time, before he was inevitably killed. Not to mention in being the villain, killing his own friends with his own hands is already despairing enough, until the straw that broke the camel back, was Heiwa's appearance and death, and considering that she was Richard's {{Morality Pet}}, it's no wonder he snapped and almost wiped the entire KKHTA universe in his absolute dark fury.]] Related to this trope, he also suffers from [[spoiler:{{Roaring Ramgage of Revenge}}]], [[spoiler:{{Despair Event Horizon}}]], and [[spoiler:[[WoobieDestroyerofWorlds Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]]]. Because of all of this, he ends up running a fine line between {{Knight in Sour Armor}} and {{Tragic Hero}}

* Deuteragonist: As hinted towards by his role as second-as-command, and his major role in several of the Unmei Force stories.

* ExperiencedProtagonist: As one of Richard's oldest companion, and almost present in almost every conflict that he's been through, Gus's experience with heroism is quite bountiful.

* TheConscience: This is what Gus does for Richard. Considering that Richard is known to be a person who is willing to do morally terrible things to achieve results, there are times where Gus has to remind Richard that he needs to ensure that he doesn't stray. He also does this for some reformed villains and other morally ambiguous characters, to a lesser degree.

* TheLancer: Very much so. As demonstrated in several stories, most prominently Retaliation, Gus proves to be a leader that can match Richard's leadership in different ways. While Richard is prominent in using tactics and fighting battles, Gus's speciality lies in his charisma and empathy, which gives his men a high opinion of him, and being the more benevolent leader, which can influence other's opinion of him and his men. [[spoiler: It's no wonder why Richard picked Gus as his successor, should anything happen to himself.]]

The second-in-command of the Unmei Force, and Major in the United Gensokyo Force. He is considered to be a generous and kind-hearted hero, who does his best to help others, and fights for a better future. He has proven to get along with the other heroes from the Hero Alliance due to his personality.

* AFatherToHisMen: As acting commander of the UGF forces, Richard demonstrates this whenever he addresses his army. He never once makes any attempt to undermine the value of his own men, but rather respect them all as good men and women who are devoted to protecting the livelhood of the innocent who are under the watch of the army, and constantly compels his men to fight well. In fact, his speech in the epilogue of Shattered Heroes indicates that he cares more for his army men than himself, swearing that he would do better to be worthy of leading them, rather than the other way around.

* [[BrotherSisterTeam Brother-Sister Team]]: Richard and Heiwa are this, as they work for the same organization, although there are no instances of them working together in the current multiverse/reality, although the first instance out of it, was against Hel, back in their own reality.

** Fire Aura (mentioned): GlassCannon
** Water Aura (mentioned): StoneWall

* {{Nice Guy}}: If you can put him in the right situation, you can see this side of him show, as he is truly caring of his friends, and unwilling to do any kind of harm to them, unless he was absolutely forced to as a last resort, and even then, willing to take whatever consequences his actions will result in, in order to ensure his friends do not suffer the brunt of them, in an act of self-sacrifice. Not only that, but he does get in touch with his future teammates, to forge a bond that is genuinely formed through long times of being together with them.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Considering that Richard had to deal with the [spoiler: KKHTA] world, it is no wonder that nothing even comes close to fazing him in terms of horror. Take an example from Richard's journey through the world of Berserk. All the worst moments have managed to do is to piss him off, and even then, he never shows a single ounce of fear at all during the entire trip, even when exposed to the slaughters, while the other members were fairly unnerved. Even the nightmare the imp tried to give him, had Richard laugh it off, and what's more: He taunted Ubik, one of the God Hand, just because it pleased him.

* {{Good is Not Soft}}: A definite example of this, Richard is only gentle with his actions, because he believes in small kindness doing big things for worlds, and garnering relations and good-wills with all that he meets, cementing his usual stance as a savior who wishes to give most of the misunderstood a chance to live the lives that they wished for, and enjoy a new life away from their cruel circumstances. Not only that, but Richard is a fairly good man who understands the dark side of emotions, being someone who was experienced with them. However, don't mistake that for the fact that Richard is soft in heart though, as he is quite the opposite: His 'soft' side is a part of him, as much as his 'cruel' side is. Although to varying degrees of willingness and guilt, he WILL do what is necessary to achieve his objectives, if it's the only way to achieve results to a desirable level, and he won't back down from his choices save for some truly PERSUASIVE convincing. Not only that, but as shown in the other tropes involved with him, he has a cruel streak for those who would dare to harm his friends severely, as to ruin them. He might be fairly forgiving and teach the instigator a lesson through a beating or a humiliation, but for those who manage to breach past his patience and forgiveness... A living Hell only awaits them, as he will make sure that their last moments will be in unbearable agony and despair, and nothing can stand in his war-path when he is set for payback, not even gods, save for the most powerful and potent ones.\

* NobodytoNightmare: He started out as a decent, if reliable, cryomancer with a few weapons at his disposal, but now he's become a force so powerful that underestimating him could be his enemies' worst, if not last, mistake of their lives.

* NoodleIncident: During his fight against Ice, David was reluctant to use the Ice Reaper Claw against him, due to the fact that it tends to slowly corrupt his mind. Although, it was never properly explained how he even got the Claw or why it works as it does. Though, even if David does know, he likely prefers not to talk about it.

* OfficialCouple: With Sectonia. They even have [[spoiler:(at least) two kids]] in Three Houses. This is also coupled with the fact that the two of them tend to be partners in a lot of events, even forming a Pair Unit in the first Project X Zone Redux.

* {{Hurting Hero}}: Richard tends to deal with his own emotions, which can range from violent rage to sadistic pleasure to deep self-loathing, although he is quite good at keeping his emotions at bay in front of others, to the point that only a truly astute person with a knack of psychology can figure him out, or a telepathic who can drill deep enough into his turmoil-filled mind to know what he truly feels at times. Having to deal with his negative side which flares several times is already mentally taxing for a typical human, and Richard can only weather these feelings, and mellow them out as much as possible. Then again, with what turned Richard like this, it's no wonder this is how he feels.

* OfficialCouple: With Sectonia. They even have [[spoiler:(at least) two kids]] in Three Houses. This is also coupled by the fact that the two of them tend to be partners in a lot of events, even forming a Pair Unit in the first Project X Zone Redux.

** In Ultimate, he gives a speech of how prophecies are simply predetermined fates in disguise, and how Dark Meta Knight's words in the Jambastation rang to him when he encountered Cheetah in Marina Island. All of this resolves him that he and his friends from that point on will carve their own fate.

* BadassBiker: Is sometimes seen with his motorcycle. He gets another one in Ironhide, a motorcycle that originally belonged to one of Ferric's men in Furious Racing. Miu converted it into a Hoverbike prior to the EX Multiverse Grand Prix, and he even has a Duel Disk installed to make it work as a Duel Runner.

* KindheartedCatLover: It has been mentioned numerous times that David is quite fond of the company of cats, or any figures with cat-like features (just ask Cheetah and Leopardmon), and in the Winter Catacombs, he even feels remorse over killing a snow leopard, [[spoiler: one with ice powers of its own, in fact]].

* TheRival: David gets these as quickly as a Harem Hero gathers their {{Unwanted Harem}}. Cheetah, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MirrorCharacter Esmeralda]], Mayumi, and even Jexi (albeit one-sided on Jexi's part), see him as a rival to pit themselves against in order to grow. David, however, takes it all in stride and reciprocates the drive when on opposite ends. What's notable is that whenever the situation gets serious and David and Cheetah are practically [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RivalsTeamUp forced to team up]], they tend to form one of the strongest duos in the franchise. Just ask [[spoiler: Eternatus and Zagred]]. However, even his most notable rivalries tend to be [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FriendlyRivalry friendly ones and not too hostile]] more often than not.

* TheRival: David gets these as quickly as a Harem Hero gathers their {{Unwanted Harem}}. Cheetah, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MirrorCharacter Esmeralda]], Mayumi, and even Jexi (albeit one-sided on Jexi's part), see him as a rival to pit themselves against in order to grow. David, however, takes it all in stride and reciprocates the drive when on opposite ends. What's notable is that whenever the situation gets serious and David and Cheetah are practically [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RivalsTeamUp forced to team up]], they tend to form one of the strongest duos in the franchise. Just ask [[spoiler: Eternatus and Zagred]].