Riz

Riz (リズ) is a secondary character in Beastars, and the main antagonist of the Murder Incident Solution arc. He was a student at Cherryton Academy and a member of the drama club.

Appearance
Riz is a light gray-brown bear, his height being approximately 2 meters. He has been seen wearing different costumes throughout the series, such as his school uniform which is composed of a white shirt, with a pair of overalls and black shoes. He has also been seen wearing a sweater during his stay with companions of the same species in his dorm room.

During his confrontation with Legoshi, he wore a black sweatshirt, light jeans and light colored shoes.

Personality
Riz appears to be a kindhearted individual, who was very loved and respected by his classmates. However, he's hiding a dark secret.

He unintentionally gave into his predator instincts and ate his close friend Tem. Riz was suffering from bad side effects caused by government mandated medication for bears that was limiting his strength. Due to his close bond with the alpaca, he believed that he didn't need them anymore and stopped taking them, which proved a grave mistake.

Unable to cope with the guilt of killing his best friend, Riz develops a twisted perception of reality where Tem not only consented to being eaten, but was actually happy about it. He views the act of eating as a "celebration of life" and believes the most honest friendship a carnivore and herbivore can have is one where one devours the other.

Riz's brutality is increased as the story progresses, with him willing to kill and intimidate anyone who discovers the truth about what he did. He cares little for the personal boundaries of others, shown when he sucked Pina's fingers and caused him to believe he would be killed.

Abilities
Strength: Being a grizzly bear, he is one of the strongest carnivores.

Trivia

 * Riz can be seen standing in the background with the other drama club members in Episode 1 of the anime as they discuss Tem's death.
 * Riz was introduced as a background character (standing next to Kai) during the beginning of Episode 8 in the anime.
 * Riz may be able to see in the dark, as he was shown protecting his herbivore friends from danger along with other large carnivores during the festival blackout in Episode 8.
 * Since Riz is a bear over 2 meters tall, he is legally required to take government-mandated pills that decrease his physical strength. The pills are shown to cause him severe headaches.
 * Riz eats honey to lessen the pain of these headaches, though he likes eating honey anyway.
 * He enjoys cooking as a hobby and is quite skilled at it. He often cooks for his roommates at school.
 * After eating Tem, his sense of taste was badly affected, and this lead to Riz being unable to taste regular food.

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