Rikki Chadwick

"Cleo:' Lewis, What do you think of Rikki?'""Lewis: 'You know those stonefish that kind of look like a rock, yet can shoot out enough poison to kill an entire football team in half a second? She kind of reminds me one of those.'""-episode Pool Party"

Rikki Chadwick is one of the main characters who became a mermaid in the Australian television series, H2O: Just Add Water. Along with Cleo Sertori and Emma Gilbert, Rikki discovered her powers after her trip to Mako Island. Rikki is portrayed by actress Cariba Heine. Rikki makes a return cameo in the sequel series Mako Island Mermaids, where she meets two natural born mermaids, who have heard of her time as a mermaid a decade ago.

Personality
Rikki is rebellious, independent, sarcastic and carefree. Unlike Emma who tends to hold her tongue in certain situations, Rikki frequently speaks her mind without euphemism or without care that her opinions might hurt other people's feelings. Not only does Rikki shows her rebellious nature freely, but she encourage it in her friends as well. She has a hard time sympathizing with people who are in pain, as seen in "Dangerous Waters." She can be very stubborn and has a short temper.

Despite their arguments, Rikki and Emma do get along a lot of the times, and Rikki genuinely cares for her friends. This is demonstrated when she takes Emma and Cleo out on a shopping spree with her new money in "Dangerous Waters." To make up for her previous blunder in the same episode, she also does her best to buy Cleo the perfect new fish (as thanks, Cleo dubs the fish "Hot Stuff," in honor of Rikki). Rikki also shows her care for Emma when Rikki prods Byron to apologize to her friend in "Sink or Swim," revealing that Emma is not as tough and thick-skinned as she lets on.

While carefree, Rikki is capable of displaying a sense of responsibility especially when it comes to money. During her stay as café manager in season three, she was able to show her ability in running a business successful. When Rikki left after breaking up with Zane, the café started to struggle despite Sophie replacing her as manager, showing her organizational and monetary abilities.

Since she was little, Rikki has been used to people not liking her, so when people express their affections and kindness towards her, she feels uncomfortable and "fenced in". Before moving into the Gold Coast, Rikki was used to being alone and she usually preferred it that way. Throughout the series, Rikki slowly abandoned her isolation and learned to accept other people caring for her. By season 3 and beyond, Rikki seems to have lost her fear of intimacy altogether and freely displays her love for her friends. After the series ended and her friends drifted apart, Rikki didn't retreat to old behavior. She missed them and wanted to reconnect rather than stay isolated like she used to.

Appearance
Rikki is described as very pretty. She has wavy, platinum hair that goes a bit past her shoulders, remaining a consistent length throughout all three seasons. Her eyes are wide, dark-lashed, and sky blue. It appears that she wears mascara. She is fair-complected with no visible blemishes. Her lips are a rosy pink and plump. Her body is slim, but not to an extreme, and shows signs of athleticism.

As a mermaid, her hair is always down and she gains a long, shimmering fish tail and a matching top of scales. In seasons 1 and 2, her tail is a coppery orange. In season 3, it becomes golden amber. Like the rest of the girls, her skin is glowing and ethereal when in mermaid form.

Trivia

 * Rikki learns during her cameo in the sequel series that becoming a mermaid with her friends imprinted the natural born mermaid sense of being part of a pod; hence why she badly misses her friends.

Links

 * Rikki Chadwick's page on H2O Universe wiki
 * Animated Rikki Chadwick's page on H2O Universe wiki