Riker Maddox

Riker Maddox is a major character in the God of Thieves metaseries, acting initially as the Guild Leader of Spectre. It is later revealed Riker had become a reformed criminal and is actually the undercover 6th seat of the Magistrate. He was an acting Robber Baron, a term created by the United Japanese government to create Maddox's persona.

Biography
Riker Maddox was born to a wealthy mining family sometime after the Great Gold Rush in 1849. The Maddox family initially originated from New York where they ran a profitable textile business, only to sell their facilities and move to California when news of gold in the rivers reached the southern part of the country. Riker would be the youngest of many older children in the family, and was often regarded as the runt.

Riker spent a troubled childhood at the Maddox manor, often playing pranks and causing deeds of mischievous nature. His mother would label him a menace and declare him to be rehabilitated immediately. After various maids and housekeepers attempted and failed to tame the boy, he was shipped off to Britain where he would attend the most prestigious military school in the world, Saint Agatha. It was there he would meet a young Lawrence "Law" Driscoll, and the two would quickly become best friends.

Lawerence had great appreciation for government and order, and at one point wanted to serve in the military. This greatly contrasted Riker's views, as he wanted to travel the world as a powerful criminal. Somehow, after bonding for years together, Riker would convince Lawrence to go on a tour of crime, and the two boys would leave school and Britain to travel across the world, changing identities and stealing everything they could.

When they finally returned to Britain, the country was at the brink of war with it's geological neighbor, Nihon. At this point, the boy's infamy across the country had become something of legend, and the public referred the menace as the Robber Barons. Law, having realized what he had done, decided to break off ties with Riker and pursue his true goal as a military man and eventual politician. Riker would continue to respect and care for his friend, and the two would eventually make amends after the Union War.

Lawrence would go on to become the first seat of the Magistrate, the governing body of United Japan's English region. Having missed his early days of mischievous fun, Lawrence's influence would corrupt the government, and he would become mad with power. Maddox, wishing to also rule the country alongside Law, made a secret pact that would declare him the secret 6th seat of the Magistrate. As a result of Lawrence's greed, the country become awfully corrupt and the commonwealth resorted to thievery and crime to survive. In order to oppose this in the shadows and slowly eliminate all rivals and enemies, Riker posed as the "Robber Baron" and gathered a group of young criminals and fighters, creating the first official squad of Spectre Guild and eventually enlisting the help of powerful noble Charlemagne Sterling to assist.

Riker would then rule the guild as it's leader and pose as a revolutionary building a force strong enough to eventually rival the government, all in a fake plot to take them down. Over the years, Riker would acquire powerful criminals, mercenaries, and revolutionaries, using them as soldiers to take out more villainous guilds and rivals. Over time, the public would coin the term "Public Enemy", which are the strongest criminals in the country that all bare potential to become the next Robber Baron. Riker would make several pushes against them to make sure he remained unopposed. When the title fell to his most prized member Maxwell Riley, Riker forged a seemingly strong but false relationship with the boy.

When he ordered an assassination on his family, Riker acted as his father figure to cope with his pain and gain even more trust. The mental instability and tragic events would cause fluctuations in Maxwell's mental state and control of Ether energy, resulting in him becoming a reckless monster Maddox would take advantage of. When the events of Magnum War came about, Riker would use Maxwell as a weapon against the other Magistrate chairs, killing each member together, leaving Lawrence purposely alive to fulfill the promise. To further fuel the flame, Riker admits his father had not been killed in the fire that assassins fueled for his mother and siblings murder, and that he was instead murdered by the members of Spectre on purpose to fuel his rage against the government. Snapping on this realization, Maxwell then turned his power onto his own guild, massacring many of its members in the process.

With all other Magistrate Seats dead, as well as core members of the Spectre Guild, Maxwell's power returns to normal from his rage state. After fighting against Law, Charlemagne is told the truth from him, and almost manages to beat him before Maddox arrives. Riker quickly defeats Charlemagne and then promptly executes him, but not before confirming his plan. In eardrop, Takeshi and the other surviving Specte Guild members realize the truth behind the situation and form one last conflict against Law and Maddox.

In this battle, Law would go on to kill his younger brother Freed, a Spectre Captain, as well as his second in command Winger. Riker killed Takeshi in the ensuing battle. A fight against Maddox with the assistance of squad four and a returned to normal Maxwell would break out, even with help from Galford who had returned to kill his old rival in the midst of chaos. Maxwell, having learn the truth of the set up and the death of his captain, stole Maddox's soul, ripping it clean from his body and instantly killing him. His body would be crushed by the collapse of the Pressure Planet, reduced to ashes.