Ray

Ray (レイ) is one of the protagonists of The Promised Neverland alongside Emma and Norman.

Initially, Ray appeared as an aloof and introverted individual who was often seen with his head buried in a book instead of socializing with the other orphans in Grace Field House. Despite his distant disposition, Ray is able to interact well with the orphans and is fiercely loyal and caring to them, particularly Emma and Norman.

Since he is one of the smartest children living in Grace Field, Ray is considered one of Grace Field House's three "Premium quality goods" next to Norman and Emma. He is also known for being an avid reader with high intellectual abilities, blunt skepticism and cunning.

The only biological child of Isabella, he did not experience childhood amnesia and confirmed his suspicions about the existence of demons and the true nature of the House when he was 6 years old. Wishing for nothing but Emma and Norman escaping from Grace Field, Ray became Isabella's spy in exchange for goods and pledged to use the remaining 6 years of his life to secure a future for his two best friends.

Although initially unwilling to accept Emma's unrealistic goal of escaping with every child, he successfully escapes Grace Field alongside her and 13 other orphans, and vows to never abandon his family again. Ray now seeks William Minerva, whom he believes can grant him and his family liberty and help them find a safe and peaceful life away from the demons.

History
Ray was born on January 15, 2034, to Isabella through artificial insemination. A year after his birth in 2035, Ray was removed from his mother's hands and sent to Grace Field House. Due to their close age and probably the fact that they are the top students academically, Ray was exceptionally close to Emma and Norman out of all the orphans in Grace Field, and thus mingle with the two often.

Ray is in the minority of people who do not suffer from childhood amnesia. Due to this, he remembered his life before he arrived at the orphanage, including being in his mother's womb, having the farm's tracker stapled into his ear, the human adults in different facilities, and when he was sent to Grace Field House. When he became literate, his suspicions towards the idyllic life grew, and he eventually discovered the true purpose of the 'orphanage', the litany of tests, the gates surrounding the orphanage, and the numbers on his neck. Ray found out the possibility that the children had a tracker inside their ear, which resulted in the scar.

Eventually, despite having no interest in reading and studying, Ray purposely adopted the habit of reading, as a way to do well academically in Grace Field so he would be the top student in the orphanage (in order words, "premium quality" meat ). He sought to read all the books that were available in the Grace Field library before turning 12. As a result, this could be one of the reasons for Ray's introverted and seemingly asocial behavior, as he would often exclude himself from playing a game of tag with others. Emma and Norman would often get his attention away from reading, such as joking with him by making funny faces when they saw him read in the library one fine day in January of 2040.

During a snowball fight in the new year of January 2039, Norman fainted due to the low temperature and had to be quarantined within the orphanage's sickbay. Emma sought to sneak into the sickbay and accompany him, but failed in every try as she was caught by Isabella consistently, who forbade her to stay near Norman in fear of how his cold might spread to her. Numerous times when Emma was caught was partially thanks to Ray, who told Emma several reasons which led to her visiting Norman, such as how "idiots (Emma) don't catch colds" and how "one's cold can be cured if it is spread to another person (Emma)". Ray and Emma were punished in the end, as Ray's mouth was sealed with tape. In the end, Emma thought of interacting with Norman via a tin can telephone. Ray, Emma, and the other orphans chatted with Norman merrily through the night.

During Ray's fifth birthday on January 15, 2039, Ray went to confirm with Isabella on how he might be his biological son, a theory which he had been keeping to himself for some time. After knowing how his theory is indeed true, Ray made a trade with Isabella and became her spy. In exchange for keeping an eye of the orphans from behind, Ray requested Isabella to give him certain gifts in return for being "good" to her. In actuality, Ray's gifts were actually part of the escape plan of his which he would make use of the gifts to make a certain device which could benefit in the escape. In addition, Ray's loyalty towards Isabella as her spy was actually all just an act, as this was Ray's way of benefiting from the enemy.

On November 2039, Emma and Norman persuaded Ray to not have his eyes stick to his book all the time. The two invited him to join them to explore the gate that encircles Grace Field House. When the trio reached the gate, they all wondered what lies beyond the walls. Emma asked the two boys what they each want to do once they left the orphanage. Ray responded to how he does not know what to do once he is outside. Emma merrily said how she wants to ride a giraffe outside, Ray was dismissive of her childish idea. The three recalled how Isabella once warned them how they should never go to the gate or beyond the fence due to danger. The three went back the orphanage soon after.

Working on building the device from Isabella's gifts, as well as reading to do well in the tests to qualify as a premium quality meat for the demons, Ray had been coordinating an escape plan for almost all his life so he could get Emma and Norman to escape, he never included himself in the equation, because he thought of ending his life instead once he had to be shipped out of Grace Field House.

Appearance
Ray is a slim boy of average height with somewhat messy short black hair, parted to the right so that the longer, chin-length clumps on his left obscure much of his face. Around the sides, it appears to spike upwards, following the shape of his head, and he also has triangular forest-green eyes with noticeably small black irises.

He wears the standard orphanage uniform- a white shirt and trousers along with plain shoes. The number "81194" is tattooed across the left side of his neck.

In the live-action movie, Ray has been aged up and thus he has the appearance of a 15-year-old teenager. The live-action version of Ray also lacks the character's signature bangs. Other than the age increase, the live-action version of Ray still resembles his manga and anime counterparts.

Personality
Ray appears to be aloof, introverted and snarky; often excluding himself from playing with the other orphans and prefers to read a book instead. However, he is able to interact well with his fellow siblings and loves them all deeply. Even if there are times when they do not get along, he still deeply cares about their well-being and would go to great lengths to keep them safe. An outspoken person with little patience for inconvenience and silliness (like Emma's), he frequently loses his temper or is often left dumbfounded when people such as Emma display reckless behavior and intentions, noticeably when he considered Emma as an "airhead" when she intended to rescue every orphan from Grace Field.

Furthermore, he is very blunt and honest, as when Norman is trying to figure out a way to break it to Emma that Ray was the spy all along, Ray abruptly comes out with it before Norman has the chance. In some cases, he considers it a kindness to be blunt, rather than alleviate the truth or give people false hope. He was also motivated by cold logic and reason, and he figures the best plan for success is to take the smallest group possible, even if that group doesn't include himself. While he worked extremely hard for six years to make sure that Norman and Emma could escape safely, he had to sacrifice a great prince, possibly his other siblings that were shipped out.

Ray's strengths are his cunning, sharp wits, and his manipulative nature. He is also rational, logical, and cynical. He is an academically inclined young boy who excels in the orphanage's daily tests, also using his intelligence to decipher problems and to come out with solutions. According to Emma, he's always the best at anything he tries. According to Norman, he is level-headed and precise in everything he does. He also always thinks ahead and finds the most optimal solutions to things.

According to the data Krone obtained, Ray is a person who makes plans too fast and gives up on them just as fast. This was specifically proven when after the plan of saving Norman got foiled, Ray lost hope and excluded himself from helping the others to devise another plan to escape. Ray is also noted to be extremely self-sacrificing and audacious. He was driven to suicide via self-immolation, and willingly did so to help aid in the escape. However, he also reveals to Emma that he wasn't going to go down as cattle and he would die as a selfish human. His little hesitation in throwing his life away stems from his past. Because he has known about the truth about the farms, the outside world, and his very own mother from a young age, Ray began deeming his life as "cursed" and therefore planned to die inside the House. Additionally, after years of watching his siblings walk to their death without doing anything about it, Ray developed extreme guilt and felt like the only way he could atone was by dying himself.

However, after the escape succeeds, Ray comes around to see that even a dream-like future can be achieved. This culminates in his change of mindset, and he admits to Emma that he's glad to see their siblings safe when he had previously thought bringing them would be a burden. He swears to keep on living and protect every single one of his siblings, and becomes fiercely protective and loyal to them. As opposed to his relatively pessimistic mindset prior to the escape, Ray became more optimistic and is now not scared to hope for a dream-like future where no one dies. Being surrounded by his family, no longer having to keep secrets from them, and being accepted by them, is the first time Ray is starting to heal. He also resolves not to do things on his own anymore, and when he looks like he might try to sacrifice himself again, he’s reminded of how much Emma values his life and says that he’ll come back to her if she trusts him.

Introduction Arc
Taking a litany of tests, eating scrumptious homemade food and having a good time – Ray went through the same routine every day in Grace Field House, an orphanage where he lived since the day he was born. Under the loving parental care of Isabella and the companionship of Emma, Norman and the other orphans, Ray spent a pleasant childhood in Grace Field.

When the day came for Conny to be sent off to foster parents, Ray and the other orphans bade farewell to the toddler. Sometime after Conny left with Isabella, Emma found Conny's beloved stuffed toy on a tabletop in the house, Ray remarked how Conny might not have traveled far from Grace Field, and thus advised Emma to return the toy back to Conny.

Sometime later, Ray was loitering through the orphanage's hallway and noticed the saddened Emma and Norman returning, he questioned the two, and stared at them as they did not answer him.

During the next few days, Emma and Norman remained silent and secretive about Conny's death and the existence of demons. Ray noticed their suspicious behavior, as he one day followed the two to the orphanage's forest and demanded their odd behavior for the past few days. After the two let the cat out of the bag, Ray expressed how he also suspects Isabella and the orphanage. When Emma wanted to save every single orphan, it greatly bothered Ray as he viewed her goal to be impossible to achieve. Nonetheless, he joined the two and help in figuring out a way to escape from Grace Field. The three learned and gathered every possible information they could get about the outside world and to aid in their eventual escape.

Isabella eventually got Krone appointed as Grace Field's second caretaker (as the orphans' "Sister"), an additional obstacle for Ray, Emma, and Norman to deal with. Krone tried to get in the way of the trio, much to their dismay.

Jailbreak Arc
Ray, Emma and Norman eventually recruited Don and Gilda into the team as additional help and told them about the secrets behind Grace Field, Isabella and the existence of Demons. Along the way, the five faced obstacles and issues whilst working together, such as the interference of Isabella and Krone, suspicions of Gilda being on the enemies' side, and Don's unhappiness towards the limited trust Ray, Norman and Emma had on him and Gilda, whom they did not tell the entirety of their plan and motives to. The trio starts suspecting that there might be a traitor amongst the children, possibly Don or Gilda, who are working for Isabella, and Norman lays a trap to determine who the informant is by telling them the location of their ropes and that night.

The following night, Norman inspects the rope locations with Ray, and by the process of elimination, accuses Ray of being the traitor. Although hesitant at first, Ray eventually confesses that he has been the spy who worked for Isabella behind his friends' back. When Norman questioned his motive, Ray explained how he already knew about the orphanage's secrets a long time ago, and how him serving his mother as her spy is all pre-planning for him and his friends' escape. Following a lengthy discussion about loyalty, Ray eventually agrees to side with Norman, but on one condition: they must give up the intention of saving everyone, but without telling Emma. Later, Ray reveals his duplicity to Emma, but she believes in his promise to still aid the escape.

Isabella eventually cut ties with Ray and no longer have him as her spy, when Ray desperately tried to persuade her, telling her how he is still capable of being her spy, Isabella explained how she would be ceasing his friends from escaping without his help, and thus locked the latter inside an empty room, preventing him from saving Emma and the rest. As Ray struggled to free himself and save Emma and Norman before it was too late, Isabella already managed to foil their escape plan by herself by fracturing Emma's leg and prepared Norman to be shipped out.

Isabella's success in rendering their plan useless greatly affected Ray, as he struggled to think of solutions to prevent Norman from getting shipped out as well as aiding in Emma's fractured leg. Nevertheless, his solutions were rendered useless, as Norman was unable to escape due to how outside the walls lies a steep cliff which made his escape impossible.

Norman was soon shipped out. The team and the plan began to fall apart, as Ray became depressed over the failure of the plan and the loss of his friend. Hence, Ray gave up and excluded himself from Emma, Don and Gilda and no longer aid in their escape.

As two months pass, Ray and Emma withdraw into themselves and were depressed over Norman's shipment. The night before Ray is to be shipped out, he sits alone in the dining hall, saying goodbye to the House. When Ray asks Emma if she has really given up, she smiles and reveals she has never given up the idea of escape. Ray proposes they set the house on fire that night as a distraction. After Emma agrees, Ray reveals that he plans to set himself alight, to distract Isabella and deny the demons their feast. As the clock chimes midnight, the now twelve-year-old Ray starts the fire.

As it spreads, the children evacuate and Emma severs her ear so she cannot be tracked. Isabella tries to extinguish the fire and save Ray, who she thinks is engulfed in flames, but the children had wrapped meat and hair in his clothes as a decoy. Months earlier, Norman told Emma of Ray's plan to burn himself and prepared a counter-plan for her, which meant that they were already prepared to escape. When Ray is saved, he is seen being visibly shaken by Emma's interference of his suicide plan, but before he is able to say anything more, Emma slaps him and forces him to go escape with her, refusing to let him die. Emma then tells Ray that she'll take out his tracker from his ear.

The children reach the boundary and prepare to scale the wall, but Ray notices the younger ones are not with them. As the children reach and climb the boundary wall, Ray is told by Emma that the children under the age of four are going to be stay behind, hoping to be freed before being harvested, and the only one knowing the truth is Phil.

The children cross the cliff by using ropes and coat hangers as zip lines, Jemima starts crying because she is afraid of crossing. Ray tells her he'll go with her and they cross together. As they safely arrive at the other side, Ray hugs Jemima close and mentions to himself that he has "lost" to Norman, will now live for and protect his family, and discard his previous ideas of dying. As everyone successfully escapes, the escapees are able to see their first sunrise outside the farm.

Intelligence
Ray is an extremely intelligent and cunning strategist. He is a highly intelligent boy and is the only one who can keep up with Norman's intelligence. Because of this, he is considered one of the most intelligent children in Grace Field and is also known as "The Walking Encyclopedia". Ray gains knowledge of the outside world from the books that he reads hence act as a trump card for the group during and after their escape from the Grace Field House.

Ray is also extremely perceptive, as it is revealed that he realized years ago that the "orphanage" is, in fact, a farm, with the children as livestock, without ever having to actually see the reality with his own eyes (like Emma and Norman) in order to realize this fact. Ray was also the first human (possibly aside from those working for the demons) to discover the demons' physical weakness (their middle eyes) and managed to get Emma to slay a wild demon before it ate him. Hence showing his capability in quick-thinking under pressure in a life-and-death situation.

Hyperthymesia
Unlike others, Ray does not suffer from childish amnesia, so he can remember details from when he was an infant, or even when he was in his mother's womb. Thanks to his natural ability, Ray was able to discover the secret of the orphanage and also that Isabella was his mother.

In connection to this, Ray has a great memory, as he when recalling which books in the archives mention ruins, he's not only able to remember the books but also, without even looking, their exact location on the shelves.

Physical Strength
Although he rarely performs physical activities with other children, Ray has demonstrated his good physical abilities, as krone has reported that he is more Physically fit than Norman. He also has great physical strength and was able to hit the door of the Krone bedroom with a kick.

Culinary Skills
Ray was taught about cooking by Mujika, and ever since, he has shown to be an excellent and talented cook. He's seen cooking the most often out of the Grace Field kids, and the other kids are seen at least once gushing over how good his cooking is. When he and Pepe helped Mister to make Yakisoba for his food stand, he was extremely fast at cooking them.

Emma
Being orphans of Grace Field, Ray grew up with Emma and has been best friends with her ever since they were toddlers. Despite deeming his life as "cursed", Ray mentions that Emma and Norman mean the world to him and that the time he spent with them truly made him happy and his life worthwhile. For Ray, seeing Emma and Norman make it out alive regarding the Grace Field Escape, was a top priority. At the same time, Ray has a rather complex relationship Emma— as their personalities are arranged to contrast with each other's; with Emma being a jovial, gullible and sociable person— and Ray as more of an edgy and sharp-witted introvert. After setting motion to the escape plan, Emma's optimism, ideals, nature, and opinions regularly get on Ray's nerves since they contrast so heavily to his own. This went to such a point that Ray asked Norman to hide their true plan (as in only bringing the three of them) from Emma.

However, despite their different ideals which occasionally lead to personality clashes, bickering, and disagreements, the two love each other regardless and help each other when one is in distress. Ray is always looking out for Emma, and they do not let their differences get in the way of their friendship, and they are always able to work things out and face no difficulties working together. Emma also encourages Ray to be more open and out-going, and frequently invites him to join the orphans in games such as a game of tag, and not have his head buried in a book all the time. Likewise, Ray encourages Emma to speak up, honestly tell people what's on her mind, and not to bottle up her feelings.

After Emma saved him from his suicide attempt and when Ray sees Emma and Norman's plan come to fruition almost flawlessly— the plan he once deemed impossible— he realizes he’s made an error in judgment. From that point on, he lends Emma his support and becomes incredibly loyal to her and his whole family. At the same time, Ray is still not above scolding her, calling her out on her shortcomings and mistakes. He still tells her what he thinks and still reminds her of reality, but now he understands she can handle it and is confident in her abilities. Ray is the one who reminds Emma that she needs to speak up and that her own doubts and insecurities are important.

Norman
Growing up together for almost their entire lives, Ray has been best friends and brotherly figures with Norman. Ray views Norman and Emma as the most important people in his life and mentions that they matter more to him than anybody else. He thanks them for giving him such a happy life despite deeming his life as "cursed". He is very devoted to both of them, as the six years he spent in strategizing the escape plan was for the sake of their survival. Norman is one of the people that Ray swore not to let die, and Ray does anything in his power to protect them, including selling himself off to Isabella and being ready to commit suicide to help them escape.

Ray respects Norman greatly and holds him in high regard, and at the same time, he acknowledges and understands Norman's strengths and weaknesses – knowing how he is one of the smartest children in the orphanage. Norman, as well, is deeply confident in Ray's abilities. After setting motion to the escape plan, the two boys put their trust in one another. Ray believes Norman to be more logical and less reckless as opposed to Emma and hence trusts and relies on him more. The two, however, do have opposing views on various situations, like when Ray wanted to leave the others behind to heighten the chance of their survival, while Norman, believing in Emma, wants to help find a way to help everyone escape. Additionally, even after finding out Ray was the spy, Norman refused to give up on him and the two were once again able to work on their differences and help each other out.

After Norman was shipped out from Grace Field, Ray was devastated over the loss of his best friend. Following this, he became depressed and lost all hope to the degree of giving up and excluding himself from devising the escape plan with the other orphans. During the escape, when Emma saves Ray from his attempted suicide, she informs him that Norman was able to tell Ray's true intentions and was keen to not let him die. Norman also passed on a message from him to Emma, and then to Ray: "you can die anywhere, but this isn't the place. I'll show you something cool, so just shut and come." After witnessing their plan come to fruition and hallucinating Norman telling him to not give up, it inspires Ray to keep living, dream for a hope-like future, and never abandon his family ever again.

Isabella
What will you do now? Kill me? Mama, I want to make a trade with you. In his early youth, Ray revealed to Isabella that he knew the orphanage's true purpose and that he had figured out their familial connection. Ever since his 6th birthday, Ray worked as a double-agent for Isabella. In reality, he had been planning escaping this whole time. Despite their biological connection, their relationship was purely "professional", and while they mutually converse, their relationship remains tense. It is also implied that both sides felt little love towards each other, as Ray knows Isabella will proceed with sending him and his friends to their deaths. This leads Ray to determine the best way to deceive Isabella, and avoid this outcome. Although it is later revealed that Isabella does genuinely love Ray as her son, it is unknown in which way Ray views her.

Trivia

 * In the special edition of Volume 13, in an interview with Posuka Demizu and Kaiu Shirai, the two explained how Ray was supposed to die. The idea, however, was scrapped.undefined
 * Kaiu Shirai revealed Ray, Emma and Norman's birthdays in Volume 5, though he stated how Ray's birthday is on 15 January, he later stated how Ray's birthday is actually on another date.


 * A mini-game in The Promised Neverland official site revealed two manga pages for players who achieved high scores. The pages showed how Isabella named Ray after the American singer-songwriter Ray Charles.
 * Isabella furthermore explained how she was listening to Ray Charles' music which gave her the idea of giving Ray the musician's name, and how "Ray" is a unisex name and is of no particular nationality, which makes sense since Ray Charles is an African-American.
 * Ray has achieved a full score in all daily tests, except the ave.2, he has got a 292 out of 300.
 * Several information of Emma are revealed in a Twitter Q&A with authors Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu.
 * One of Ray's favourite things to do is disassembling machines. He likes to take items such as clocks apart together with Norman when they were younger.
 * Posuka Demizu considers Ray to be a fast character to create as compared to Norman and Emma.
 * Ray's dream, when he can get into the human world in future, is to see the famous Mona Lisa painting and the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona, Spain.
 * According to Kaiu Shirai, Ray's running speed is superior to Norman but inferior to Emma, regardless of whether the running distance is long or short, he would easily win against Norman but lose to Emma. Emma would be first, Ray would be second and Norman would be last.
 * Several information of Ray are revealed in Volume 13 Special Edition's Q&amp;A.
 * Ray was supposed to die.
 * When asked which character Shirai is like the most, Shirai answered Ray, explaining how the way he tend to get desperate and throw in the towel is a lot like the slightly crazy side of Ray.
 * A translated conversation between Demizu and Shirai talking about several proposals they done for Ray, which were scrapped:
 * Demizu: I submitted several proposals for Ray, but for some reason, the one that got noticed was something I’d drawn in an offhanded way, as a doodle.
 * Shirai: There was a sort of scribbled proposal with a note that said something like “If we hid one of Ray’s eyes, I bet he’d be popular,” and both the editor and I said, “This is wonderful!”.
 * Demizu: The proposal where his eye was hidden was a casual sketch; I’d thought it might give him a sort of shadowy air and make him look cool, and I very nearly scrapped it. I’d assumed that, as with their clothes, their hairstyles would be restricted for hygienic reasons. But when Shirai-sensei saw it, the response I got was that impossible one...
 * Shirai: If it’s Ray, it’s okay! That was definitely the coolest option.
 * Demizu: Yeah! But thanks to that, he is popular, too.
 * Shirai: You’re right; a lot of people say they like Ray, which is great. At first, there were lots of other, more wholesome-looking Rays. (laughs) Like a sports club senpai, for example; all sorts.
 * Demizu: The type that says, “In accordance with regulations, I trim my bangs properly!”.
 * Shirai and Demizu commented on how the character design for Ray was going to be like:
 * Shirai: It was about the black hair and dark eyes.
 * Demizu: There was something vague about wanting him to match Isabella. Oh, that's right. Other than that, what he has in common with Isabella are his eyelids and eyebrows, I guess... So I could emphasize a sharpness that would make you wonder if he would become more like her as he grew up. But I couldn't spoil that, so I made the balance between Emma, Norman, and Ray first priority.
 * Kaiu Shirai's commented in Volume 5 how Ray at a young age aimed to read all the books in Grace Field House before he turns 12. Hence in Chapter 32, 14 January 2046, one day right before his 12th birthday, the book he has is the final book he just finished reading.
 * When Ray was around 4 to 5 years old, he revealed how all the books he had read are fantasy books, thus implying how fantasy is his favorite genre of books as they are the first type of books he chose to read.
 * Ray, unlike the other orphans, didn't experience childhood amnesia. This contributed greatly to his discovery about the truth of the orphanage. It is likely that he has hypermnesia- abnormally sharp or vivid recall.
 * Ray originally had a tendency to scold Emma by hitting her head when she said something silly. Eventually, he is seen patting Emma's, Phil's, and other of his younger sibling's heads, suggesting that it has become a form of affection.
 * The following are Ray's rankings in some of The Promised Neverland's official popularity polls.
 * Announced in Chapter 75, Ray is in 3rd place in the Color Illustration Character Poll which was held on The Promised Neverland's official LINE account.
 * In Shounen Jump's popularity poll results released in May 2018 in Chapter 88 of the Manga, Ray is in 3rd place.
 * In commemoration of the manga's 2nd Anniversary, in Shounen Jump's 2nd popularity poll results released in September 2018 in Chapter 102, Ray is in 3rd place with a total of 4651 votes.

Interlanguage Wikis

 * Ray on Spanish Wiki.
 * Ray on Italian Wiki.
 * Ray on Portuguese Wiki.

Other Wikis

 * Ray on VS Battles Wiki. (Manga spoilers ahead)

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