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Read first before commenting, I know its long but no choice. And this is more than just the lore but discussing my own and similar theories I have seen..

This is for those of you who dont watch the cutscenes and skip them and not know much about the lore (Lazy mfs) Its important to know this so you know why characters are designed that way specifically in gameplay.

1. Beginning

\- Nishikawa grew up being misunderstood because of his piercing gaze and his red eyes, making people think he has some problem with them just because of his sharp stare. This eventually caused him to be alone for most of his young life.. 

Not until he met NN as his mentor and during that time NN was in his prime (probably an S+ setter) so it would be very beneficial for a smart and genius setter to coach the young talent. Nishikawa did have talent and NN saw all of it and decided to take him under his wing. Even NN picked out an outdate design for Nishikawa's glasses so he could be comfortable with his eyes and reduce his strong and sharp impression, and up until now he still wears the same glasses.

And also shortly after joining Valentia/Ritsumeikan High he eventually later met Yamadera as one his teamates and the best middle blocker for his team. He reached out to a quiet kid and turns out he was also good at volleyball and made friends with him. As he convinced Yamadera to join the Volleyball team, they made a pretty good duo as Yamadera was a strategist who pinpointed the weaknesses of enemy players and Nishikawa would be the main attacking force. This made their bond as friends even stronger. 

2. Highschool

\- I could definitely say this was Nishikawas prime where he used to spike with his right hand. Its seen through his spike animation which was very different from his base skin aka present nishikawa. And at this time he spiked the  ball even stronger and actually jumped higher, its also interesting that his younger self was much more serious and competitive than his now self.. I'll explain a theory there too dont worry. 

But basically this was Nishikawa's prime days, he is still strong today but I believe this was his best and peak. And during that time its easy to assume he eventually became  famous for making a name for himself as a talented young spiker and the thunder spiker was born. His spikes were devastating and roared like thunder and his jumps where even higher compared to now. 

But obviously when you exert that much force from insane athleticism and power, just as we seen from unfortunate characters like Lucas and Jenny.. Nishikawa was eventually injured. Specifically his right arm was damaged because of his thunderous spikes and I also heard his ankles or knees got injured too I mean it would make sense since jumping that high as seen with Lucas and Jenny again would take a huge toll on his legs.

3. Valentia/VWL

\- After that injury Nishikawa was never the same, he eventually changed his spike form and used his left hand instead of his right hand. And his spikes were never as strong as his young days, along with his jumps too.

This is where I believe Black Nishikawa started appearing in his dreams, which was a manifestation of his competitive drive. It reminded Nishikawa of his actual potential only if he let go of his trauma with his eyes (I'd like to believe its the thing and also the fear of injury happening again is what is holding back Nishi)

 Still though Nishikawa climbed up the world stage and competed in the VWL along with big names such as Sara Seo another prominent wingspiker. And also it was around the same time where Nishikawa met another young talent who is being held back because of his trauma, Siwoo. In the road to pro event Siwoo was along with Sohee who was in the same school with Seolhwa since this was after chapters 4 and 5 which Siwoo had previously met Seolhwa and battled him along with Jaehyun.  

Siwoo was a player with insane potential driven back because of his fear of loneliness since his insane talrnt overshadowed others and caused people to be jealous or taken out of the spotlight. And after convincing Siwoo to give it his all Nishikawa fought an amazing match against Siwoo and it was speculated that  Siwoo won against although I would like to believe Nishikawa was holding back because I mean Siwoo is talented but talent without much experience and especially not being mentored by good coaches (since in the story with Sara in rockwell siwoo was strictly trained) it wouldn't make much sense for someone with less experience in volleyball to immediately beat a big 5 attacker wingspiker..

And after that Nishikawa faced a match against Sara in VWL although im not sure who won, my bet is on Sara lmao. After this though not much lore has dropped and in the side story (Tiger Eyes) Nishikawa confirmed that Black Nishikawa was stronger than him, he mentioned he had dreams of playing volleyball but feeling lighter and stronger. Although Some say its actually him just sleep walking because he mentioned retaining the same bruises as he woke up after playing volleyball in his dreams as black nishikawa but I dont really know, just know its his strongest version..

My thoughts and Theory

\- I'd rank these versions of Nishi like this.. it makes sense since the story said so..

1. Black Nishikawa

2. HS Nishikawa

3. Present Nishikawa

To elaborate the only thing that's holding back Nishikawa from his full potential is his trauma and fear of injury happening again. Its evident too with the line "I could only forget about these damn eyes" as black nishi said in the side story.. simply put if Nishikawa accepts his red eyes he will get even stronger..

Its also definitely not a coincedence that the skin effects of Black Nishi, HS Nishi, and Default Nishi have a gradient of yellow to orange to red..

Not to mention Black Nishi had a strong and serious character, along with HS nishi compared to a now laid back personality Nishikawa has.. I mean he has a competitive drive still but its definitely not the same as his HS days and Black Nishikawa..

This is my favorite theory/support as its also not a coincidence that black nishi is the strongest because he represents not holding back and accepting his red eyes hence why he has red effect. HS Nishikawa was also strong but lacked because he was so close and had a gold/orange effect. And now Nishikawa has yellow thunder sparks...

It shows a sort of powerscaling where the more he accepts his red eyes the more stronger and much richer his vfx gets in red, interesting right?

Anyways that is all thanks for reading if you actually read and dont take this as actual info its just a theory but tbh its widely accepted already lol

But do remember its just an opinion, and If I did forget some details sorry I guess, anyways have a good day

Nishikawa Story & Some Theories