User:Trocyte V./Rey

Rey is the cybernetic partner of the player character in Plants vs. Zombies: Infinite Generation''. ''First encountered as a mysterious derelict in the very beginning of the game's story, he awakens in response to the sudden assault on the mission, and injects an unknown payload and substance into the Extreme, creating the EXA System in the process.

For the rest of the game, Rey stands by the player character's side as the source of their powers and a powerful tactical assistant in the field, offering helpful insights and commentary throughout their adventures.

Origins
Rey is a composite character between the appearance and graceful persona of the artificial Rey Kivat, and the more neutral, kindhearted personality of Kivat-Bat III. Unlike the original Rey Kivat, Rey has the ability to transfer power with his fangs like a real Kivat is able to, which is portrayed in this game as "hacking" the physical matter he bites in a manner similar to the later-encountered Gaia Memories.

Rey's appearance is also altered to match the game's art style, looking less like a plastic toy and more like a proper mechanical bat-shaped drone with a cartoonish streak more resembling SD Gundam. The Fuestle slot that forms the inside of his mouth still remains, instead being used to read any storage device that can fit inside it. His snow motif is also replaced with generic crystals, representing the Time Crystals.

Rey's invocation cry before injecting something with his fangs, "Victus," is a Latin portmanteau between "vitreus," meaning "crystalline," and "ictus," which can mean "bite."

Personality
Built to assist in Infinite Robot combat, Rey has a penchant for violence, always ready for his partner to jump into the fray. Accompanying this standout personality trait is a lingering interest in all things he considers beautiful (including destruction), something developed out of his own volition, which becomes obvious once he starts encouraging the player to invest in customization options later in the game's story.

Underneath this persona, however, Rey does care deeply for those he considers his friends - though he will not hesitate to provoke his enemies or other people he dislikes and openly relishes in the destruction of particularly vile individuals, notably the Phasmids. Likewise, he does have a sense of mercy and tries to stray away from excessive force in the field, though he himself admits he finds it difficult to put such a limit on the countless grunts encountered in the game, who are often nameless to LEAF and blindly fight to their deaths.

Rey occasionally chews on a small collection of memory cards resembling micro-SDs out of habit, likely due to him also being constructed to amass a near-limitless collection of data.

In-game
Rey, as the player's partner, mostly interacts with the game's environment through his own dialogue. Being an all-purpose drone, Rey also has the ability to interface with technology for various purposes at specific points in missions and can also inspect points of interest in the world to gather more information about them.

Customization
Rey can also be equipped with a number of secondary functions, using a similar mechanic as armor perks but without the energy limit. His perks are broken up into the following slots: Perks for Rey can be unlocked by working with certain vendors and increasing their reputation with the player.
 * Scanners detect resources, chests, other loot, and points of interest within a 25-meter radius of the player on a given destination.
 * Generators create extra currency and resources under certain conditions, mostly related to killing certain enemies or getting kills with certain weapons and elements.
 * Miscellaneous perks add in other benefits that don't fit into the rest of the player's equipment, such as interacting with certain objects faster.

Rey has a default appearance mentioned above, but his masking and wings can be replaced with cosmetics found or purchased in-game. Said parts also accept palette changes for maximum customization.

Trivia

 * When Rey first reprograms and rewires the Extreme to awaken the EXA System, the armor has to be activated by inserting himself into a device that materializes on the Extreme's waist; this is never seen again. Rey later explains himself that the device was a stabilization mechanism for his bites, though following the player's smashing success in controlling the system and the immediate fallout, he simply reintegrated the device's wiring into the Extreme's hardware so as to not require a lengthy startup sequence after sortieing.