Riz

Riz (リズ) is a secondary character in Beastars, and the main antagonist of the "Who killed Tem?" arc.

He is a student at Cherryton High School and a member of the Drama club.

Appearance
Riz is a light grey Brown bear, his height being approximately around 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 Legosi he wore a black sweatshirt, light jeans and light colored shoes.

Personality
Riz appears to be a kind brown bear and was very loved and respected. However, he has a hidden darker side. Beneath the innocent facade, Riz is a cruel, remorseless monster who did as much as he could to cover up his murder. Unwittingly, he killed Tem, his close friend, when he refused to take his government-mandated strength reduction medication thinking he wouldn't need it. Riz's cruelty is exacerbated, as seen as he sucked the fingers of Pina, who believed he would be killed.

History
The fact that he accidentally killed Tem is made tragic by the fact that all bears are forced to take medications that limit their strength when they grow beyond 200 centimeters in height. These come with terrible side effects. Tem's friendship made Riz think he could manage without his pills. Riz remembers that Tem accepted him exactly as he was and remembers them hugging each other, before his memory jumps up after having eaten Tem.

However, from the first scene of the manga, we know that Tem died cursing his killer. Later, Riz admits that he was so happy that Tem saw through his exterior facade the "monster" that was inside, that he felt so much affection for Tem for seeing his true self that he altered his memories to make them happier, but it seems that the event has given him a taste for killing. It has only accelerated in recent chapters, to the point that he now sincerely believes that Tem wanted to be devoured and that eating Tem will make him his "best friend".

He has incredible strength even when compared to other carnivores and has to regularly take force-limiting medications to make sure he keeps his strength under control. He stopped taking them in preparation for his fight with Legosi.

Trivia
Riz