Rika Furude

"I shouldn't say we may change fate...We will change it."

Rika Furude (古手 梨花) is a main character in and serves as the protagonist of  and. Rika is the last surviving member of the Furude family and is revered by village elders in Hinamizawa as the reincarnation of Oyashiro. Rika plays a significant role in the research into Hinamizawa Syndrome, as she is the "queen carrier" upon which all the Hinamizawa Syndrome parasites depend.

Appearance
While working at Angel Mort, Rika wears a fetish outfit combination of the standard Angel Mort uniform and a school swimsuit.

Hinamizawa Bus Stop
Rika is one of only two Higurashi no Naku Koro ni characters to appear in the non-canon Hinamizawa Bus Stop. Rika appears much older than in her canon appearance, being even older than Mion Sonozaki. Rika remains the host of the "parent insect" that is said to worsen the effects of Hinamizawa Syndrome. Initially, Rika works with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to select a new host to transplant the parent insect into, seeing as Rika is too frail to continue being its host. Rika selects Mion for transplant, but later changes her mind. Rika is much more violent than in her canon appearance, threatening to kill Mion if the Ministry of Health and Welfare comes after her.

Watanagashi-hen
Rika dies after visiting the Sonozaki residence to ask for soy sauce. Her body is found in a well on June 23, 1983. Curiously, a broken syringe is found in her possession.

Tatarigoroshi-hen
Rika mysteriously dies and ends up disemboweled. Her body is found on June 21, 1983 in front of the Furude shrine.

Meakashi-hen
Rika commits suicide by clawing out her throat after attempting to kill Shion Sonozaki.

Minagoroshi-hen
Rika serves as the protagonist of Minagoroshi-hen wherein she reveals her ability to travel between parallel worlds. At the end of Minagoroshi-hen, Rika discovers that her killer in every fragment is Miyo Takano. In order to ensure that she remembers this information in future fragments, Rika requests that Miyo disembowel her while she is awake instead of knocking her out first.

Trivia

 * Rika's birthday is August 21.
 * Rika is 137 cm (4'6") tall.
 * Rika's appearance and name bear great similarities to Erika Furudo from.
 * It is implied in that Rika has yet to have her first period.
 * Rika has attempted to avoid her fate by running away from Hinamizawa and living in the forest. She managed to live until mid-July before the Mountain Hounds found and killed her.
 * Rika's favorite wine, as seen in the manga, is "Bernkasteler B...". The full name of the wine is probably "Bernkasteler Badstube", a riesling wine produced in Bernkastel-Kues, Germany. Curiously, the label of the wine says "Riesling Spätlese" (late harvest riesling in German), and Riesling wines are always white, however the wine that Rika drinks is red.
 * Rika was BT's favorite character.