Lion Heart

Lion Heart is a 2.5 Generation prototype IS piloted by Raiden Hataru. Its IS core is also the first man-made core not created by Tabane Shinonono.

Characteristics
Lion Heart is Raiden's Personal IS created and manufactured by a Japanese IS company as a prototype experiment for him to pilot. A custom made 2.5 Generation IS, it is shown with a color of silver white on the main body and a streak of black on its outline decorative design along with gold trimmings. Its appearance is somewhat similar to Kurazakura, Chifuyu's current IS, but is given a more slim look and more agile, if not human, look for the use of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū. The helmet of the pilot is in the form of a lion's head that covers half of the face, leaving the jaw and neck unarmored with two fangs of a lion sticking out and razor teeth in between them.

After the Silver Gospel incident, Lion Heart underwent renovation to be modified and redesigned for improved combat and armor defense. It became a full-bodied IS, covering Raiden from head to toe, and gives a very human-like appearance and feel. The lion helmet now covers Raiden's head fully, with its mouth left open to show a black visor to conceal and protect his face. The leg armor has some slight telltale signs resembling Kurazakura but is noticeably thinner and more well-rounded at the knee section, giving off a more sleek and aerodynamic look. The armor around the hands is slightly thicker than the leg sections and are angled in order to maximize deflection from small fire arms. The waist armor pieces have shallower angles in order to guard the crotch and spinal section of the IS.

1st Shift Armaments & Abilities
Sakabatō (逆刃刀, Reverse-Blade Sword): designed as a simple katana with its blade forged on the opposite side than normal, making it a sword ill-fit for killing. Features of the blade have it depicted as a shinto era katana, and its hamon is an extremely rare recreated hitatsura notare midare on both sides of the blade, making it hard to differentiate the cutting edge from afar. Its fittings are humble and simple, but vary upon depictions throughout. Its hilt is without decoration and set in a simple, oval handguard and the sword itself is worn in a black steel sheath.

Ion blasters: two ion blasters that transform the hand of the IS into a range weapon, firing an ion round of pure energy. The rounds are harmless as they focus solely on IS shield energy.

Lightning Manipulation: the IS also has an unusual ability to manipulate lightning through nanomachines, derived and fed off of the Akuruka power inside Raiden. It enables Raiden to channel his Akuruka power in the form of lightning to serve a defensive or offensive purposes. The sakabatō acts as a conduit for the lightning's offensive attacks.

One-Off Ability
Hittokiri Kingslayer: The One-Off Ability of Lion Heart that is activated through a mental command, but it comes with a heavy price. It reverts Raiden back to his original personality as a hitokiri. With the One-Off Ability, Lion Heart's speed, attacks, and performance are improved. It grants Raiden both enhanced physical prowess and access to abilities impossible to perform. The durability of Lion Heart is incredibly strong, able to survive even the most powerful of attacks, even if Raiden's body begins to bleed and blood seeps out of the IS due to overusing it.

But when his strength as a rurouni is insufficient to defend against a particularly threatening foe, or when the most depraved and horrendous acts of evil push him to his patience and limits of his moral indignation, Raiden's restraint falters and his personality reverts to that of his days as the Hitokiri Kingslayer. Born from countless acts of manslaughter and to steel himself from the weight and guilt of felling other human beings like him, such a personality was born in the face of becoming the tool of death without say in the matter and the ignorant folly of denying the truth of reality of the act of murder, embellishing such awful acts as an exceptional and undeniably justified need despite its ultimately grim and miserably cruel nature. In turn, while this allows him the ease to take life without hesitation, so does throwing himself into this darker half of himself, this selfishly justified wickedness and holding the lives of his foes as worthless leads into the tainted and corruptible ground of thought that nears the idea that life too is nihilistic and meaningless, and for Raiden, the idea that his own life is worthless as well.

Standby Form
Lion Heart takes the stand-by form of his katana sword on his waist. When the sword is slightly pulled out of its sheath, the IS activates.

Trivia

 * The One-Off Ability and the sakabato are inspired by Rurouni Kenshin.