As the contents pertain to post-viewing discussion, WMG pages are Spoilers Off.
Soul Edge is an empathic Artifact of Doom that constantly searches for more souls to consume to become stronger. In the Bad Future, its host Nightmare assumes his Super Mode Night Terror and proceeds to slay entire cities at a time and become monstrously overpowered. When he has consumed the entire world, it's left a barren, twisted wasteland tainted by Soul Edge's power. Since Nightmare, the Azure Knight, has completely merged with Soul Edge, the energy of Soul Edge now appears Azure.
- The immortal Zasalamel became Terumi, the remains of his morality shattered with his sanity when he was forced to continue living with no body to reincarnate into. He doesn't want to die anymore, as his insanity lets him derive great joy from torturing others, so he abandoned the scythe he carried as a reminder of his goal. Note both character's Supernatural Gold Eyes, the fact that Terumi's ghost form's eye is on the same side as Zasalamel's gold eye, their affinity for snakes (and Ouroboros is a symbol for immortality). He slipped into the world of BlazBlue through a hole in the boundary. His presence in BlazBlue becomes stronger the more souls are resonating (aggressively) towards him.
- Yukianesa is Soul Calibur. The blade is blue and clearly has a mind of its own. Soul Calibur has demonstrated ice powers when wielded by Siegfried. It's possible that Jin's cold-hearted personality isn't revitalized by Soul Calibur which is why he doesn't gain health, but his resolve and desire for justice/revenge allow him to use the same powers Siegfried manifests. It assumed the form of a katana, Jin's preferred weapon, and drives him to destroy Soul Edge wherever it manifests (including as part of his brother's arm). When Ragna loses the grimoire in the fight with Mu-12, Jin doesn't feel the need to destroy him any more.
- Seithr is the corrupting and twisting influence of Soul Edge. Lotte Carmine was probably just close enough to the ultimate Night Terror to not get ripped a new one or completely possessed, but have enough Seithr exposure to degenerate into his current form (similar to Lizardman in Soul Calibur, but more severe because Soul Edge is stronger in the future.) He's obsessed with obtaining the Azure because the power of Soul Edge is addictive.
- The Azure Grimoire is Soul Edge. Ragna's copy is also Soul Edge, but it's only a fragment.
- Slayer (brown hair) and Sharon (black hair) had a blonde daughter through the magic of anime hair colors. And that's all the explanation that needs.
- This is completely possible even in the real world. Since blonde is a recessive gene, two dark-haired parents could conceivably conceive a blonde child.
- Jossed. It's confirmed that Rachel's father's name is "Clavis".
- Then again, Slayer is highly unlikely to be Slayer's real name. He founded an assassin's guild, so it's probably a title or alias.
- His bio in Accent Core Plus' Story even reads, "The subject refers to himself as 'Slayer,'" so it would seem that the P.W.A.B. is also under the impression that he's going by an alias. Given that Slayer hails from another world and isn't a native of the GG one, it would make sense that he wouldn't assume his real name.
- It's possible that Requiem (that pocket dimension Rachel is able to conjure up) is somehow linked to the world that Slayer's race of vampires/nightwalkers hail from. On top of this, take note of how both Slayer and Rachel's birthplace is listed as "Transylvania." (They also share the same birthday—Halloween—but that's inconsequential.) Granted, even with what little we know about Clavis, it's likely he's not Slayer, but, hey, at least it's something to make note of should ASW ever make a GGxBB.
This, of course, opens the way for the crossover fighting game which some of the development team want.
- I'm gonna to deviate a little here: It's possible that the Black Beast is a threefold fusion between Ragna, Nu, and Justice (when she was sealed in the original GG game, or perhaps after she got killed off). Or maybe I-No was playing with dimensions again, which resulted in Ragna and Nu going back in time to begin with. It's also possible that I-No is screwing with Rachel, forcing her to relive the timeline every single time it loops for sheer kicks without Rachel knowing.
- Even if I-No could mess with the timestream in a way that Rachel wouldn't be privy to it and Takamagahara wouldn't try to intervene (which sounds vastly unlikely), the timelines still don't match up. In Guilty Gear, magic was discovered by humans in 2010, the Gear Project started in 2014, Frederick was converted into the Prototype Gear in 2016, Justice was created in 2073, and subsequently turned on humanity the following year. The Black Beast appeared in 2100, so Gears would be around then (since they were fighting against mankind in the Crusades). If anything, it could be the reverse, in which the Gears and their ravaging of Earth prevented human attempts to contact the Master Unit inside of the Boundary. That, or the creation of the Black Beast was an effort to counteract the threat of the Gears that inadvertently went horribly, horribly wrong.
- Found a better picture of the Six Heroes.◊
- I'll take a stab at this, but you guys owe me lots of meat buns if I get it right! Jubei and Nine exist as separate characters. Hakumen is, of course, accounted for. My pick? The guy with the spiked hair is Terumi and the man with the nail-like implement (which I don't see in either picture, but I'll go with the assumption) is one of Tenjo's predecessors, which would make the nail a family heirloom. I'd bet the Alucard estate has a representative there: either Rachel's father or Valkenhayn. You can mix and match those, by the way; wouldn't it be funny if Rachel was somehow distantly related to Bang's "lord"?
- My turn at guesswork. Going from left to right, I'll number things. 1.) Unknown. I have no guess. Perhaps Valkenhayn, as it's all I can slot in. Slayer is also possible. 2.) Terumi. Almost 95% on that. 3.) Honestly? I think it's I-No. The appearance is just too damned close. Hat, jacket, corset, stockings, all seemingly a dark color. She's also a dimensional/time-traveler, so if anyone from Guilty Gear is getting in, it's her. 4.) Jubei, due to the heavy armor and two tails. 5.) Hakumen. 6.) Nine, due to the fact that robed characters tend to be spellcasters, and she's the only unaccounted at this point.
- I'll try this too. Left to right. 1) I guess this is the supposed nail guy. But to me it looks like a silhouette with a scepter of some sort. No nail. Besides, Hakumen would've recognized Bang's nail and said something. But he was more like you're a new face2) I have no idea, but definitely not Terumi. Too muscly and badass! 3) Nine. Come on, how more stereotypical Witch can you get? Besides she's right next to her romantic interest¦ 4) Jubei, you can tell by the tails. 5) Hakumen 6) This is probably Terumi. He's shady and he's splitting from the band.
- As of the Setting Material Collection, we know for sure the identity of five of the Six Heroes. In the middle are obviously Nine, Hakumen, and Jubei. Valkenhayn and Terumi were also in the group, but I'm not sure where they would fall in the picture. That leaves only one mystery figure, and my guess is that it is Rachel's or Carl's dad.
- Does anyone else remember when we were told that Bang was one of the Six Heroes (before the American release)? Hakumen did recognize Bang (somewhat), its possible that one of the Six is actually Bang's master (or grand master).
- No. Hakumen recognizes Bang somewhat when he was Jin Kisaragi. And I doubt Bang's master is one of the Six if Jin easily beat him.
- This has been debunked. Hakumen, Terumi, Nine, Valkenhayn, Jubei, and Trinity have been confirmed as the Six Heroes.
- Found an updated picture of the 6 heroes.◊ Also, Platina and Torakaka◊ are confirmed as new story characters.
- Actually, Terumi and Valkenhayn are labeled wrong in that picture. If you zoom in really close, you can see that the person labeled as Terumi actually has Valkenhayn's pony tail and bow.
This would explain a couple of things: what happened to Nine, why Jubei trained Ragna and sympathized with him (they both lost someone they loved that day), why Kokonoe hates Terumi so much as well as the animosity she has towards Jubei since he wasn't there to protect her (probably off wandering).
- Actually, it's been confirmed that the woman is Nine's sister. It's also revealed that the church they were staying at is used to keep the body of the Black Beast buried.
- Jossed. Takamagahara is a device used by Sector Seven to track Terumi.
- And that is wrong also.
- In one of the Teach Me, Ms Litchi segments, Rachel asks Taokaka "Are you wearing a mask?" So the Kaka clan might just be wearing masks.
- They must be some really expressive masks if that's the case.
- Face paint, maybe?
- Recent Word of God: the Kaka clan are all indeed wearing masks.
- They must be some really expressive masks if that's the case.
- A fully workable theory regarding Ragna's sword, sure, but the Azure Grimoire (copy?) is that red circle on the back of his hand.
- I assumed the Grimoire was Ragna's whole arm. That makes the loss of the original (and its subsequent replacement) much more meaningful. Now, who caused him to lose that arm in the first place...?
- OP: Hmm, okay that makes sense. Now for something not entirely different.
- I assumed the Grimoire was Ragna's whole arm. That makes the loss of the original (and its subsequent replacement) much more meaningful. Now, who caused him to lose that arm in the first place...?
- And he does get a Transformation Sequence. His right arm transforms into a winged SOMETHING, his entire body goes black, and he sucks the enemy's life out, then runs them through with his sword. His Astral Finish.
Litchi is also revealed to have taken power from the Boundary in order to bring Arakune back and cure him, but since she's a bit more sensible, she only grabbed herself Incinerate! and Telekinesis plasmids. The former she uses for her All Green Distortion Drive. The latter she uses to move her staff around (which is presumably a Nox Nyctores since everyone and their grandma seems to have one in this game).
- So does this mean Hakumen and Nu-13 are a type of Big Daddy and Big Sister respectively?
- That... actually makes a whole lot of sense. But what do we make of Nirvana's "resemblance" to Litchi in that case...?
- IIRC, and it's been a while since I watched Carl's storyline, Litchi recognizes Nirvana as being a Nox. The way the conversation went, it sounded like there's more than one of the Nirvana model, but Carl's is actually different from the rest (something only Rachel commented upon). In the ending, Litchi's kindness towards Carl is what made her resemble his sister; it wasn't actually her face or anything (well, it may have been, as we have no images of Carl's sister to work off of). I don't recall anyone ever saying that Nirvana resembled Litchi, only that Carl related Litchi's kindness at the end of the storyline to that of his sister's, and was confused because of it.
- Jossed as of the release of the Setting Material Collection.
- Confirmed by Terumi as of Continuum Shift.
- Except Arakune was not born that way. He FUSED with Uboa.
- She just gets confirmed as a DLC for Continuum Shift. We're doomed.
- Or possibly Terumi.
- Does he know about the time loops? It's a bit unclear.
- It is abundantly clear that Terumi has Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory and has been fighting a The Plan war with Rachel. By the end it is effectively a draw with Terumi slightly ahead. While Terumi has enough power to fight Rachel 1v1 on even ground, he hesitated to fight Rachel and Ragna (and possibly Noel, or maybe JUST Noel). Rachel has Ragna and Noel by her side, with Tager and Kokonoe backing her up. If some info on the net is right Kokonoe brings Lambda -11- in for their faction as well.
- Does he know about the time loops? It's a bit unclear.
- Of course there is. It's ours.
- We can't know that yet, since the time loop brings the Black Beast to 2099. 89 years to go...
The only hole in this is that Jin wasn't aware that Ranga was the Bloodedge himself, he merely suspected it based on the name (remember, Ragna's pictures have him with white hair, when he's actually a blond like Jin). Still, he knew that someone named Ragna was going to become the Black Beast.
- Continuum Shift suggests that he knew this on a sub-conscious level all along.
- Jossed. Nox isn't even activated so he's just manly through his own stupidity.
- Supported by the masses of Noel x Rachel official art.
- And now by Valkenhayn's Drive turning him into Zafira.
- Confirmed. In Continuum Shift, Jubei tries to convince her to save Jin, and she can't even think of a reason she should until she remembers how much Tsubaki loved him.
- Not quite. CP is largely Ragna's story as usual and the twist at the end sets up Tsubaki and Jin as the likely main players for the next installment. That said, Noel remains the female lead (a status that, at worst, she'd have to share with Tsubaki next game), gets some more confidence under her belt, and convinces Rachel to help her learn how to use her power as the true successor of the Azure, which includes getting Mu-12 to function as her Super Mode.
- Amaterasu is one of the three Sankishin Units and is used for Manipulating Time. It is within the Boundary (and theorized to confer that power upon individuals) seems to run on an AI (not completely confirmed) and was what was causing the time loops under the directions of Takamagahara.
- A bit of 'clarity' on the above, with the benefit of later games: The Boundary is itself what drove Arakune crazy (he couldn't withstand what he experienced/saw). Amaterasu is powered by the first PFD, a bio-android - so, not far off an AI. It (she?) was causing the time loops, but was actually pulling against Takamagahara in doing so. Takamagahara would much rather Amaterasu didn't exist.
- So Ragna, Jin and Saya are all related to the Night of Wallachia? No wonder Ragna became half-vampire when Rachel bit him!
- Or Terumi is more like the Night of Wallachia. He just wants Noel as his successor instead of the others.
- Confirmed as of CS. It seems like playing around with the Boundary is akin to playing around with Chaos.
- Which one is confirmed? "Purge the tainted" reaction from Hakumen? Because as far as we know, in Litchi's Arcade Ending, Linhua m to Litchi in that case...?
- IIRC, and it's been a while since I watched Carl's storyline, Litchi recognizes Nirvana as being a Nox. The way the conversation went, it sounded like there's more than one of the Nirvana model, but Carl's is actually different from the rest (something only Rachel commented upon). In the ending, Litchi's kindness towards Carl is what made her resemble his sister; it wasn't actually her face or anything (well, it may have been, as we have no images of Carl's sister to work off of). I don't recall anyone ever saying that Nirvana resembled Litchi, only that Carl related Litchi's kindness at the end of the storyline to that of his sister's, and was confused because of it.
- Jossed as of the release of the Setting Material Collection.
- They entioned that every single townspeople is crazy about her. So I suppose she has her own followers, just not someone who'd dare to marry her (and even then, she might just refuse as she's too busy thinking about "how to cure Arakune").
- Litchi being corrupted by the Boundary. Arakune actually speaks in coherent, full sentences to tell her to get cured, fast during his Story Mode in CS. He says this is a "line she can't cross", and tells her to go to Kokonoe while she still can. So yeah, the corruption wins again.
Why Lao Jiu? All the answers lie in... Noel's Joke Ending. It's not joke at all, but Foreshadowing!
Why? Noel might like cute stuffs quite a lot, but to go on hypnotized stance on Lao Jiu? It must've been its power trapping Noel in such stance. Also, Litchi is a doctor, and usually doctors avoid alcohols (and she set a good example on the Orient Town people, so I don't think she's secretly hiding some wines), so why would she be drunk on Noel's story? Because it's another of Lao Jiu's corruption! It makes her drunk and insistent. Alternatively, it amps up her love of cosplaying, the usual Litchi may held herself not to drag anyone for her to put costumes on, but why did she do it on Noel? Because Lao Jiu made her do it.
- Image◊
- Lao Jiu connection to the Boundary confirmed.
- Supported by Tsubaki's joke ending, though seemingly benign, if manipulative: Tsubaki gets the same cosplay treatment, but halfway through Lao Jiu takes over Litchi's body and holds her hostage to force Tsubaki to clean the room, do the laundry, cook dinner.... Tsubaki is already suspicious of Lao Jiu, though: she knows that pandas are evil creatures with yellow eyes.
- Probably Jossed.
- Definitely Jossed with the revelation of all six Heroes's identities, as well as the trio's status as orphans adopted by Celica.
- Not to mention that he created Nu's body, while Terumi created the Murakumo unit (Nu's sword armor/Nox Nyctores). Because of this, it's likely that Relius and Hazama/Terumi are working together in some way.
- Seems to be confirmed.
- Definitely confirmed... in a way, in the light novel Phase 0.
- Seems to be confirmed.
- And sure, maybe eventually Arakune will be cured. But what they really have to worry about is that middle period where he's completely sentient, but still craves the Azure and the Boundary beyond all else. Can anyone say True Final Boss?
- No. What happens when Bang's Nox activates is it summons his long-lost brother, Jack Rakkan. Here's the scoop: Ken Akamatsu and Daisuke Ishiwatari know each other, or are fans of each other's works (based on one of Akamatsu's past and the resemblance between Rachel and Evangaline, but this is WMG territory in and of itself). Thus, the two created similar characters who are actually related. We know Bang has some past with one of the Six Heroes, be it training or simple admiration (based on one of Hakumen's storylines). We know Jack has helped save the world. What would happen if the two met? Their combined manliness creates an Epic Battle, destroying the world as we know it (but humanity survives). Fast forward several hundred years, and we have the set up for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, with Kamina being the reincarnation of both Jack and Bang.
- Too bad Ishiwatari didn't make BlazBlue.
- It's because Bang doesn't know how to activate it (and didn't even know he had one until recently) and, furthermore, activating would lead to the eradication of all the world's seithr, which, while temporary, would cause society to collapse (which is why the heroes only use it to undermine the Imperator's plans), but honestly, this WMG should be the real reason why.
- Interesting. To elaborate:
- Bang is a Hot-Blooded otaku who is trying to get Litchi, a somewhat schizophrenic, yet beautiful, poster.
- Taokaka is a spaz poster (e.g. the first poster here).
- Arakune was an intelligent and friendly board member who fell victim to a virus and spams the board.
- Carl is a 14-year-old boy who's trying his hardest to fit in. He uses a Sock Puppet (Nirvana) to agree with him to make him look better.
- Rachel is a veteran board member who can be very disdainful of everyone else.
- Tager is a member of another board who's trying to bring Hakumen over to gain publicity under the orders of one of the board's owner, Kokonoe.
- Jin himself is Hakumen's alternate account, which got hacked at times by Terumi and made him look like a Jerkass, even though his real self has mended his way (would explain about how Jin and Hakumen can be together).
- Tsubaki is the girlfriend of the mod who survived the board being taken down and getting reuploaded, but she's always like a Sub-mod for Jin/Hakumen. Unfortunately, when Noel joins the board in the middle of being taken down and uploaded... Noel starts taking Tsubaki's position as Sub-mod while they still act like friends. She entered a trolling topic by Terumi while having a bad day IRL, was eaten by his troll rumors of Noel usurping her position, and now hates Noel
- Relius is a seemingly normal poster on a good day, with Sock Puppet skills better than Carl (he taught that to him!), a notorious hacker/virus developer in the night, in cahoots with Terumi and thinks it'll be fun if he uses the virus for Trolling (rather than posting). As it turns out, he handed down the virus to Terumi which infected Arakune... and seems like to develop an unhealthy crush on Litchi, ultimately blackmailing her the program to clean Arakune's virus, in exchange of her defending his and Terumi's trolling.
- Izanami is Saya who has been given some permissions by Amateratsu and wants to shut down the entire forum (create a world of death) she's stopped when Ragna convinces her to give up her plan and delete her acount, instead sharing it with Noel.
- Susanoo and the Central Fiction finale hapens when Terumi violently steals Hakumens account and changes the username, password and profile picture to his original one as a Moderator followed immediately by a Let's Get Dangerous! moment where he tries to hack the message board itself to make himself superior to his sister Amateratsu, and make it so that everyone is afraid he'll delete their accounts, Ragna decides to fight fire with fire, manages to stop him and fixes the board, with him becoming the new administrator.
- Hazama was Terumi's account before Hakumen took it down and allowed someone else to have it.
- Azrael was a member of the Sector Seven forums before Kokonoe suspended his account for harassing people both on- and off-site. During the events of CF, he managed to get his account back without ban evading and he's back to harassing people again.
Yukianesa is nowhere in sight when Terumi burnt down the orphanage and right after that, Jin apparently lost his memories. After being adopted by the Kisaragi family, Jin somewhat leads a normal life, never even remembering his past (which probably explains why he's so nice with Tsubaki). However, when Jin gets promoted and receives Yukianesa, he started getting loopy. Why is that?
It's true that a Nox Nyctores amplifies the user's psychosis, but why is the effect so big to Jin? Because like how Jin is contained in Hakumen's armor, Yukianesa contains a part of Jin's soul: his childhood, courtesy of Terumi. A part where he hated Ragna for ignoring him, and Saya for taking away his brother. Which kind of explains why in Continuum Shift, he tried conversing like an aloof senior, but then Yukianesa took over and he goes on 'KILL' mode.
Basically, there are three faces of Jin:
- Past: His crazy mode. Happens when possessed by Yukianesa.
- Present: His normal, aloof self. Which he usually displays to Tsubaki.
- Future: Hakumen. It kinda makes sense that when Hakumen declares that he is discarding the past, it could also mean that he realizes that Yukianesa is evil and thus threw it away and decides to live looking to the future.
- As much as I find this interesting, this is pretty much jossed: Nine created the first 9 Nox Nyctores, that includes Yukianesa. (Bonus info: the first Yukianesa wielder was someone from Kisaragi family as well.)
- The BlazBlue timeline doesn't diverge from ours until the Black Beast attacks in 2099, so why not?
- That actually makes sense: In the first loop, Jin rejects Susanooh and becomes Terumi. In later cycles he accepts Susanooh and becomes Hakumen.
- Then how did he retain his voice when he's Hakumen, but changes his voice when he's Terumi? Also, Jin stated that the one truth is 'death'. Terumi's brand of truth is "despair." While they could go hand-in-hand, death and despair could be interpreted differently (we have a trope for "happy death"). They may be similar in thinking line, but they could still be a different person.
- BlazBlue is no stranger to all sorts of temporal/spatial hijinks, but Terumi being an alternate form of Jin doesn't pan out well; Terumi's been around since before the Dark War. Sure, you could say Jin fell through a cauldron, wound up in the past (well, even further in the past), and then—somehow—became Terumi, but there's a slim chance of that being pulled off in a believable manner that doesn't strike the fandom as coming right out of left field and/or character assassination on what we know about Terumi up to this point.
- Ultimately Jossed in CF - Terumi is older than the world before the main world the plot takes place in. Great idea, though.
- Nu's Sword Summoner abilities are apparently based on warping space. Gentlemen, I think we've struck gold.
- Probably Jossed.
- Definitely Jossed. Terumi used her to try to destroy it and Izanami is using Saya as a vessel.
- Definitely confirmed. Chronophantasma has Jubei referring to a young Kokonoe being put in the custody of the NOL so as to not endanger her because he's on the run from the government during a conversation with Celica after the Dark War and Terumi's betrayal, and before that, Makato's "Help Me, Professor Kokonoe" segment has Kokonoe bemoaning her lack of womanly endowments (and how she didn't inherit anything from her mother); when Makoto tries to cheer her up ("They'll grow eventually!"), Kokonoe says she's way older than Makoto ("Like, 'if I HAD 'em, they'd be down to my KNEES' old!").
- If it's any consolation, the Imperator turns Ragna into a sort of humanoid Black Beast (similar to his CS Bad Ending) at the very end of Chronophantasma.
- This Troper believes that Carl will be the one to save Litchi, along with Bang perhaps. In Carl's true ending in CT, Litchi sacrifices her life to protect him from being killed by Nu, reminding him of his own sister's kind heart. In fact, in CS story mode, Carl says that he wishes he could grow up to be a kind person like Litchi one day. Also, Relius is the one who manipulated her, giving Carl even more reason to save her. So, it wouldn't be surprising if Bang worked together with Carl to rescue Litchi and Arakune.
- For one, I would suppose that Carl would concentrate further in defeating Relius, leaving the rescue to Bang. According to the rumors, the Nox that he has and Platinum the Trinity is training him to use has recovery elements, thus Bang would be the one to do the job to cure Arakune.
- Or for worse, based on the other WMG about Tao's joke ending below (this is a really Darker and Edgier setting after all): Bang only has one use of the Houyoku... but if he wants to save more than one, he'll have to use the Houyoku on himself, which would work like an area heal... at cost of his live. I Want My Beloved to Be Happy occurs and Bang makes an epic heroic sacrifice to cure both Litchi and Arakune. This is also a pretty common outcome for characters like Bang after all (see: Kamina). Then maybe Carl would take up/inherit Bang's manliness and become a REAL GAR (like Simon).
- Alternatively, Bang's mental dilemma is not about Arakune at all... it's his personal preference. Look at the things he liked in the Material Setting Collection: Justice and Litchi. At this moment, if he arrives at Ikaruga, he'll no doubt has to choose a Sadistic Choice: Either he has to take Litchi down in the name of justice (she's going to Ikaruga as part of NOL, presumably as an invading force), or he cannot bring her down at all. Either way, he has to choose what he likes more between those two. I'm seeing the next installment as a moment when Bang stops being a Joke Character and shows a serious side.
- Going by the third game, the moral dilemma is definitely confirmed, but in a different way: Bang really can't fathom how Carl and Litchi goes to side with Relius in the climax. And he does become a bit more serious after that. The nail is already being used for something else, though, and Arakune's problem is not resolved yet.
With lots and lots and parallels to go. I kept thinking that Mori might be reading Bleach and thinks "Hah! I can do better!"
- As we all know, Hazama/Terumi is Gin. This is reinforced when he's revealed to be NOT the Big Bad.
- Saya is Aizen, being the one behind Hazama/Terumi and even NOL. And what does she do while Hazama/Terumi distracts you? Destroy Amaterasu, organized the hacking of Takamagahara. Sounds like killing Central 46 and extracting Hougyoku to me!
- Tsubaki is getting parallels with Tousen. She ends up blind, and frustration about Noel taking her place drove her mad and refused the good way, similar to how Tousen ends up forsaking the proper way of Shinigami after his friend's death frustrated him and ends up siding with Aizen.
- Relius is somewhat a parallel to Ulquiorra. When Ulquiorra debuts, he's rather minor in fighting scene (even when he makes his debut, he leaves most fighting to Yammy), but he hides a great power by himself, quite possibly being a playable character when CS sequel comes out. When he caught Arakune and coaxes Litchi to join NOL, this is similar with how Ulquiorra forced Orihime to unconditionally go to Hueco Mundo. Also, Relius has Grimmjow's voice.
- It's now pretty much true that Litchi is the parallel for Orihime. They're both busty healers whose powers seem to be sourced from their "hairpins" or something (except Litchi is more willing to get into battle). This goes into the ultimate kicker when both of them had to surrender themselves to the bad guys to save someone they love.
- Does this mean Taokaka is Chizuru?
- Noel is a bit like Rukia, as in they hid something really great that the bad guys sought (Urahara hid Hougyoku in Rukia; while Noel has the makings to become the Kusanagi, which Terumi sought). They're also flat chested (though Rukia is more or less uncaring about that)
- Bang... is Uryuu, only more boisterous and more into manliness than fruitiness. Even though Ragna is pretty far from Ichigo, Bang himself hails from a city that has its population reduced greatly (like how the Quincy came to near extinct). While Bang is stalking Litchi and full of that advances, Uryuu has a more subtle feeling towards Orihime. When Litchi made the decision to join NOL; Bang was away training with Platinum the Trinity, like how Uryuu is away training with Ryuuken when Orihime went to Hueco Mundo.
- There's a new mechanic for Chronophantasma that involves a Super Mode, so this might be fulfilled, at least partially.
- Alternatively, she didn't repair his body, but merely put his soul into an entirely artificial body, like what she did with Nu and Lambda. Thus explaining why Bang doesn't recognize him. And obviously, some memories would be lost (intentionally or otherwise) in the process, so Tager doesn't recognize Bang.
- Alternatively alternatively, Tager is Tenjo's son, who Valkenhayn hinted might still be alive at the end of CT and who Bang goes searching for in CS.
- Jossed as of Continuum Shift II.
- Go a step further. Saya is a Puppet Queen. I mean Terumi kidnapped her, he could have instilled in her some of his beliefs before setting her up as Imperator. He acts like he works for her, when really he's The Man Behind the Man. Plus it would be epically trolly for him to go "Oh I'm the villain. Gotcha, I'm not! Oh wait, I REALLY AM! HAHAHAHA!"
- Except they have the EXACT same goal. Terumi wants to kill the world because for 100 years he saw the "truth" and had to listen to souls screaming at him. That "truth" being that the world is supposed to be dead but is distorted and is just endlessly repeating. This is revealed during Noel's True Ending.
- Thing is, Saya has no visible motivation for her goal as of yet. Terumi has a personal one. Considering he kidnapped Saya in the first place, it's very likely he instilled his own goals and beliefs into her.
- Being an orphan with a brother that babied her and a brother that bullied her might have been all the motivation she needed to hate the world.
- Put it this way: By the next game, Hazama would be more likely to become some sort of "regular" character, while Saya takes his place as the Arcade Mode's Final Boss. How are you going to excuse Hazama going against Saya? Simple, have him say You Have Outlived Your Usefulness and start the betrayal.
- Possibly Jossed, in that it's confirmed Saya is a puppet queen. Terumi and Relius are the Men Behind the Woman, and she's being used as a "vessel" for them. She's a tool for him, and he needs her in her position to retain control. However Chronphantasma reveals that Saya is possessed by Izanami and she's been using Terumi and Relius as her pawns the entire time and later backstabs them so it's Jossed.]
- Thing is, Saya has no visible motivation for her goal as of yet. Terumi has a personal one. Considering he kidnapped Saya in the first place, it's very likely he instilled his own goals and beliefs into her.
- Confirmed.
- I thought Rags and Jin were indeed humans, but just gifted with weird power. Ragna given the power of the destroyer through his azure while Jin manifested his Order due to Ragna's existence?
- Nope, they are like Noel. Also, here are some suspicious things. Nu was created by Relius. Isn't the fact that Nu has WHITE hair despite being a SAYA clone strange? Nu and Saya are blonde. Nu also has a life-link with Ragna, of all people. When the hell was this lifelink supposed to be created? My guess is that "father" is maybe too much, but Relius definitely had something to do with the creation of the 3 "siblings", or at least Ragna. Hazama needed Noel by his side in order to create a life-link.
- Not quite. No source material states that any of the three original siblings are false humanoids. (If it was revealed in-game I really want to see where.) Ragna is half-vampire due to being bitten by Rachel, but Jin and maybe Saya are still considered full human as far as canon is concerned. It's just that their family line is VERY gifted with Armagus capabilities.
- It's not outright stated, but it is speculation based on CT Material Collection mentioning successful experiment creating artificial humans based on Black Beast DNA and CS True End where Ragna stated that he's not sure that he is normal human.
- I thought Rags and Jin were indeed humans, but just gifted with weird power. Ragna given the power of the destroyer through his azure while Jin manifested his Order due to Ragna's existence?
As of current, Ragna, Jin and Noel do not concern themselves of Relius, the OTHER great threats, very much. Carl, on the other hand, has a lot of beefs against Relius. Rather than having any other people dealing with him (would be Anti-Climax if Ragna, without buildups and such, suddenly tossed Relius aside), it'd be fitting that Carl is the one to ultimately off him. Between his Character Development and Mori telling about Carl's prominence in CS Story and declaring him the strongest vigilante... Perhaps in the 3rd game, Carl will be some sort of 4th Protagonist, leading the vigilantes (Bang, Platinum and perhaps Taokaka) to assault on Relius while Ragna and the other big guns deal mainly with Terumi and Saya.
- Well, Rachel's arcade victory quote against Carl actually seems to be implying that Carl will have a much bigger role soon.
- Jossed. In CP, he's still trying to take down Relius and additionally bring Litchi back to his side. Then, he surprisingly joins up with Relius after he tells Carl he'll "recreate" Ada. At this point, he, Litchi, and a defeated/humiliated Relius have formed a sort of "neutral" contingent; the alliance is temporary, and Carl plans to make Relius pay for his crimes once he upholds his promises to Carl and Litchi.
Assuming the Imperator isn't just a puppet ruler, how else would Saya keep people like Terumi and Relius in line? Following the trend of naming things after deities and artifacts in Japanese Mythology, the Imperator's Unit will probably be named after a mythological Big Bad like Amatsu-Mikaboshi.
- Jossed as the Imperator is Izanami the Goddess of Death using Saya as a vessel.
- Technically speaking, not Jossed. There's no additional "unit" to speak of (there's only three Sankishin, remember), but the Imperator does use Takamagahara for phenomena interventions and calls forth Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi in her bid to destroy the Master Unit when Amaterasu is drawn out of the Boundary.
If anyone remembers Garou, in the presumably most canonical ending, Rock Howard ends up joining Kain R. Heinlein in order to find out more about his mother, which Kain might have information about and he told Rock that she's might still be alive. However, years and years and it looks like Garou 2, which may resolve on how Rock goes along with Kain, went through Development Hell and hasn't been touched while The King of Fighters has gone to about 13 official titles. Mark of the Wolves is acclaimed as one of the better fighters of SNK, so perhaps Mori has learned about it... and is pissed on the Development Hell it went through.
So, his take was, to give a BlazBlue character a similar situation with Rock. Rather than picking Ragna, he picked Litchi, the one who has all the makings of such "last minute Face–Heel Turn", thus, Hazama convincing her might look like how Kain convinced Rock:
- Hazama: "Join us... or that blob is dead."Litchi: "I'll never join you!"Hazama: "What if I say that we HAVE the only cure?Litchi: "Ugh... fine."
tl;dr, this is pretty much Mori's way to say this to SNKP: "Hurry the @$%@# up with Garou 2 already, or I will 'finish' that idea before you could!" (Because the sequel of Continuum Shift seems more likely than Garou 2.)
Initially, Valkenhayn was just going to be Rachel's Battle Butler who is actually one of the Six Heroes. But then Toshimichi Mori heard about the sequel to Twilight and thought, "Now she's making werewolves suck, too? THIS IS WRONG. I MUST FIX THIS." And he rewrote the story to make Valkenhayn a werewolf.
Pretty much because those two are the only adults he knows that are good person (Litchi has proved herself many times, while in one of his CT story paths with him meeting Bang, Carl noted that while he's over the top, Bang isn't really a horrible person). So pretty much those two (mainly Litchi, but Bang may be a second consideration) will be one of the counterpoints Carl has against Relius who's trying to prove him that adults are evil. Thus, in any case, he might try shipping them both, or at least push them together (Carl might be the one to give Bang a What the Hell, Hero? for his over-the-top advances to Litchi (if Platinum the Trinity didn't bother to do it already); while he also might be the one to persuade Litchi that Bang is more than just a dirty Stalker with a Crush and is more than willing to help)
Specifically, between the main continuity and the events of Angel Notes. At some point prior to the events of that story, something "killed" the planet, covering it in a toxic substance called "Gin" or "Grain", though humans eventually developed a tolerance for it. In the meantime they created the A-Rays, creatures genetically engineered from human and animal DNA which could absorb Gin to power special abilities.
The Black Beast seems to fit the "planet killer" bill, with Gin being basically the same thing as seithr, and the Kaka clan are oh so obviously the first A-Rays. Bang might even be an early example of the freakishly powerful Ether Liners.
Rachel is most likely the descendant of Arcueid Brunestud and Tohno Shiki - she can remember the previous timelines due to her inheriting the Pure Eyes of the Nanaya clan, which allow the owner to see things which normally cannot be seen. This is supported by the power of Observers being referred to as "The Eye".
"The Boundary" is the same thing as the "Akasha", "Root" or "Origin" desired by all magi. Both the Azure Grimoire and the Holy Grail are described as "devices to reach Origin", use homunculi with white-blonde hair and red eyes as mediums, and can produce monsters made of darkness under the wrong circumstances. In addition, "The Third Magic" used by the Holy Grail has the power to keep souls in the world after they should have passed on, which seems to describe Terumi. Arakune's transformation is the result of him following imperfect rituals left by the Makiri family. Somehow, Litchi gained access to The Second Magic used by Zelretch (with similar effects to those of the Kaleidostick's Prism Trance).
The Sankishin go as follows:
- Tsukoyomi: Named after a moon god, this contains the remaining power of Crimson Moon Brunestud (aka Type-Moon), hence why it is held by a vampire.
- Susanoo: The White Beast of Gaia, Primate Murder, attempted to stop the Black Beast but was killed. Its remains were reshaped into a suit of armour, and its wearer inherited its task of protecting Gaia as a being similar to a Counter Guardian.
- Amaterasu: Gaia itself, or posibly a "Type-Sol" (who is presumably killed before the events of Angel Notes).
Saya is likely a descendant of Sakura or Sion (see WMG further up the page). Given the resemblance of her Boundary-granted abilities to Kaleidoscope, Litchi might be descended from the Tohsakas (who were known to study Chinese martial arts).
The principles behind Touko Aozaki's "Mystic Eye killer" glasses were used to create the Izayoi, and Relius Clover may very well have studied her doll-making techniques.
Tao is Neco-Arc.
Originally the Black Beast was created by a fusion of Ragna and Nu, with Nu's mind in control, resulting in an uncontrollable monster. In Continuum Shift, Nu sacrifices herself to give Ragna the power to save Noel - in other words creating a fusion of Ragna and Nu with Ragna's mind in control, which retains his normal appearance. This could very well have been The Plan on the part of one the antagonists.
- Doubtful. Saving Noel did cost him his fake Azure Grimoire arm. Chances are in the next game his fighting style will revolve more around the techniques Jubei taught him, whatever power he may have gotten from Rachel and his spiffy new robot arm (courtesy of Kokonoe) now that he can't use "Soul Eater" anymore.
- Saving Noel actually cost him his OTHER arm. His Fake Azure is still intact, but both his arms are now fake/robotic. No need for new playstyle.
- My bad. But man, both arms gone now? It really sucks to be Ragna.
- All of CS was planned by Terumi. He specifically needed Ragna to defeat Mu-12, knowing it would divert the attention of the Observers for a brief instant, thus allowing him to kill them all.
- The Black Beast WASN'T created by a fusion of Ragna and Nu but rather their false Azure Grimoires merging, Ragna's Azure was the body and Nu's was the heart/soul. Since Lambda didn't have Nu's Azure when she merged with Ragna it didn't create a "Perfect" Black Beast but just gave Ragna access to the Idea Engine that Kokonoe created. Ragna's probably still at risk of turning into an incomplete, humanoid Black Beast like he does in his Normal Ending if he overuses the Azure.
- Chronophantasma basically confirms that last sentence. The Azure Grimoire has corroded the entire right half of Ragna's body (hence the red right eye and why his right eye and arm don't work in the presence of Celica, whose mere presence nullifies seithr, and, at the end, Izanami turns him into a humanoid Black Beast a la his story's bad ending from CS.
- Doubtful. Saving Noel did cost him his fake Azure Grimoire arm. Chances are in the next game his fighting style will revolve more around the techniques Jubei taught him, whatever power he may have gotten from Rachel and his spiffy new robot arm (courtesy of Kokonoe) now that he can't use "Soul Eater" anymore.
Houyoku's ability is said to SEVER the connection with Boundary, but not destroy the Boundary elements in it. So, when Bang hits Arakune with Houyoku; while it will certainly restore Roy into normal, the remnants of the Boundary will gather up into one new being, the true Arakune, a la Eddie from Guilty Gear. If BlazBlue continues after the Continuum Shift sequel, Arakune will no longer inhabit Roy's body, but rather become a sentient beast like Eddie, desperately looking for a new host. In other words, Bang... Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
- Who said Arakune needs a new host? After the severing, Arakune will become much like the Venom symbiote and Roy will goop up whenever he needs to fight.
- So far avoided for the time being, as Bang had to use Rettenjo to activate Kushinada's Lynchpin and thus prevent the Imperator/Izanami from using Take-Mikazuchi to destroy Amaterasu.
This might be ending the game after the sequel of Continuum Shift. Thing is, after Bang hits Arakune with Houyoku, Arakune left Roy and will seek a new host... who better than the nearby Relius, who sought vast knowledge to make the perfect doll? Unfortunately for Relius, the mass Boundary elements contained by Arakune is also too much for Relius and he started losing his mind just like Roy did. Eventually, he's reduced to be like Arakune, except nobody cared about him since he's done too many atrocities (that not even Carl would forgive). Then, Hakumen comes in and strikes him down for being corrupted by the Boundary, before Relius could try to master the Arakune moveset, thereby making Hakumen kill a non-tragic monster unlike when he killed Roy in Arakune's CT Story.
OH, WAIT.
- This WMG must be made by you, Terumi...
- Does that mean that Jin/Hakumen is Mikuru?
The reason of this is because Litchi's defection to NOL may mirror another event in Guilty Gear: Anji Mito goes from a carefree Japanese into an agent of That Man, and his first mission was to arrest I-No and get her sealed. Considering Saya-Terumi is getting like That Man-I-No...
- Doubtful, considering Relius is Terumi's partner, and Saya is their puppet.
- Or so Terumi thought. He and Relius are just Unwitting Pawns for the Imperator, and while Relius and Izanami actually interact with cordiality (despite Relius' own plans diverging from Izanami's "world of death" plot) whereas Izanami detests Terumi (but is always polite about it) because of Saya's scant influence on her, she makes it quite clear that once they've fulfilled their roles, death will be their sweet reward.
- My guess is as revealed in CS, Jin is the antibody created by the world in response to Ragna being the possible Destroyer of the World, to destroy anything that might be a threat to the world. This is what causes Jin's psychosis, he's reacting negatively to his natural enemy. Now we know that the villains needed Noel to access and destroy Amaterasu. We know that Noel was never meant to survive Ikaruga, but every successive loop increases the chance that Noel will survive to the point where her survival is almost guaranteed in every loop. Now, the villains need to ensure that the loops keep repeating itself. What causes the loops? First is Ragna and Nu-13 fusing, falling into the Cauldron, forming the Black Beast and going back in time. The second is Jin following them, becoming Hakumen, forming the Six Heroes, and teaching mankind the art of magic thus ensuring they will eventually be advanced enough create Nu-13 and restarting the loop all over again. Ragna merging with Nu is all but guaranteed. Terumi "kidnapping" Saya, destroying his life, and having him know what the NOL is doing with Saya ensures he will go after them in every loop, where Nu will be ready to defeat and merge with him. As for Jin? Yukianesa amplifies his emotions, magnifying his natural instinct to kill Ragna. In other words, Yukianesa was intentionally given to Jin to ensure he will go after Ragna once he receives news that he's heading for Kagutsuchi, where he will end up following Ragna to the past and becoming Hakumen.
- Jossed possibly, as it's hinted that Saya could've been possessed by Izanami at the time as, in the CP Material Collection, Ragna noted that Saya's personality changed.
Tomoya does border on a Jerkass in how many times he makes Sunohara's life a hilarious living hell. However, in the same time, he's gotten a lot of shits thrown at him (Heartwrenching, even), and was forced to live up to many variations on his life for many times (playing the game many times). Terumi is the result when Tomoya failed to get into CLANNAD's true ending after so long. The stress of losing Nagisa and Ushio and dying miserably so many times pushed Tomoya over the edge, and thus when he dies AGAIN... he completely loses it and decided "Ah screw it! Since the world is making me a miserable bitch, I will have my vengeance! I will make this world a horrible place for life!". Then, his ghost didn't even bother to reincarnate and he changed his name to "Terumi Yuuki"... and the rest is history.
- Are we forgetting MAKOTO? She's technically out of NOL and stationed in where Litchi started: Sector Seven. She's got'em bigger than Noel and Tsubaki as well, plus LOOK AT HER CLOTHES!
- Although she's (relatively speaking) more sensibly dressed than Makoto, Bullet has Tao and Makoto squarely outmatched. Nothing quite says well-endowed like Mori singling out her cup size as the first thing to talk about while discussing the character and then laughing about it. Plus, Tao really didn't grow up so much as the sprites in CT weren't accurate to official artwork.
- Jossed. With the change in setting to the Hierarchical Cities of the Ikaruga Federation, it seems that both characters stayed put in Kagutsuchi. Maybe in the inevitable Chronophantasma Extend?
Not just on the basis of they're the series' respective Boobie Ladies. Litchi used to live separated with the whole cast (only concerning herself to save Arakune), and had Taokaka to continuously pester her about her boobs; just like Rider isolating herself with the humans and had her sisters Euryale and Stheno tease and bully her. However, when they expose themselves to the humanities, they went batshit and practically gets to have a Face–Heel Turn or sorts (Rider turns into the scary Gorgon form after being harassed with humans one too many; while probably a lot of people didn't care about Litchi wanting to save Arakune and in desperation after realizing that Arakune is in danger; she ends up joining NOL), and probably in the near future, just like how Rider eventually consumed Euryale and Stheno, in her tenure as an ally of NOL, Litchi ends up wounding or even killing Taokaka, and had a massive Freak Out, realizing she crossed the Moral Event Horizon. She'll end up as a Death Seeker, urging those who fight her to kill her already, in which someone (presumably Bang), as the counterpart of Rider's Perseus, will defeat her and might kill her.
- Actually I expect that Saya will have her own, new unique style while the Nu as the "Sword of Izanami/the Imperator" will be the new Mu.
- Jossed. Both Mu and Nu are in CP as separate characters (Mu as an individually playable Super Mode for Noel, Nu working for the villains against her will). The Imperator, on the other hand, isn't playable per se; she commands Take-Mikazuchi and assists the Nox with a few attacks of her own as you do battle with it.
- Which would explain going out of his way to save Jubei, and Bloodedge's vow to fight to the end as a human being.
- Confirmed in the Phase 0 light novel. Bloodedge was the Ragna who went into the Cauldron with Nu. Nu only managed to merge with his Azure and become the Black Beast while he ended up in the year 2106 and became Bloodedge. He was absorbed by the Black Beast when he saved Jubei and was part of it for the rest of the war.
- And again in the story of Chronophantasma. More specifically Bloodedge is the Ragna of the current timeline, who goes back in time at Rachel's behest to learn about how to activate Kushinada's Lynchpin, allowing him to set up his Heroic Sacrifice (and various other elements of the Stable Time Loop) from the story Jubei told him once he realizes he's Bloodedge.
- Jossed.
- What the hell is he going to do with a giant tuna, though? Aside from feeding Taokaka, that is.
- Sorry I didn't explain this one well, I mean that there is a device like the Azure Grimoire called the Crimson Grimoire and it's somewhere in Ikaruga, it may also use a different form of energy, but that's another WMG.
- Confirmed! ... But not in the way you expect. The Crimson Grimoire, also known as the Burning Red, turns out be important to the Remix Heart doujin in later chapters. It's apparently the ultimate grimoire created by Nine during the Dark War, but no one was able to obtain it, until it turns out, thanks to her contact with the Azure Grimoire (from meeting Ragna during one of the group's misadventures) and Adsequi Grimoire (during a run-in with the lingering soul of a NOL soldier trapped in Torifune), Mai has become the container for the Crimson Grimoire, which has caught the attention of several parties, most prominently Relius, who is gearing up for a trip to the Military Academy alongside Hazama to look into the situation.
- Uh, that is somewhat wrong... Mai is merely a component of creating the Burning Red, thanks to her being a "Remix Heart" (a perfect combination of a person and a grimoire). The one who uses BR is the rogue named Seifer Albar, but even then when he tried to form it, it's incomplete because there's not enough souls to power it. In the end, no one owns Burning Red (unless you count said incomplete one being apparently on Hazama's hands).
- Jossed as we find that Izanami is possessing Saya and she betrayed Terumi and Relius.
However, this Troper is convinced that Toshimichi Mori isn't Joe Quesada as he tried hard to make Litchi still look sympathetic and justified, as well as making her adhere the philosophy of "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility" (in which she feels like Arakune's curing is her utmost responsibility and she had to comply to it no matter what). Therefore, while Quesada will probably be satisfied with Spidey living with that devilish choice, with no one or himself to care, Mori is probably going to make Litchi feel extreme guilt and eventually get out of that condition, by herself or by being rescued. Thus in the end, if One More Day doesn't get a Retcon when Litchi's arc concluded, Mori will be able to join the anti-Quesada camp and say, "You want a 'selfish' character story? This is how it's done, Quesada!"
- Given this image◊ in the trailer for the Chronophantasma, that might be more of a possibility than we think.
- Jossed. He's still alive and well (er...) as of the end of the game.
- Terumi: The creator of BlazBlue... is ME!!
- Doubtable. To make this full Jerkass Stu, Mori needs to voice Terumi himself (he can alternate with Yūichi Nakamura)... Just like Daisuke Ishiwatari and Sol Badguy.
- Unless the OP specifically meant "Mori's Jerkass Stu" as in "Mori's Author Avatar, who also happens to be a Stu", you can be a Sue/Stu without being an avatar (and for that matter, an Author Avatar doesn't necessarily have to be voiced by the creator either). Heck, Terumi's already pushing Villain Sue status in the eyes of many.
- Nope, the Nox is the nail.
- Jossed that Saya is actually a vessel for the goddess of death Izanami.
- Granted, Terumi not being the true mastermind still doesn't necessarily mean Saya (and by Saya, I mean pre-possession by Izanami) wasn't one of the other Murakumo Units (though likely not the first Prime Field Device) or, as alternatively suggested, the template for (some of) them, hence why at least three of them resemble her).
- In other words, it will be her Super Mode. Bonus points if she gets a badass Transformation Sequence.
- Seemingly confirmed! Not in the way you described though; it's Rachel, not Kokonoe, who helps her regain the Mu-12 form. And no Idea Engine either.
- Or alternatively, THIS will happen to Rachel in the end of the next BB.
- Jossed. The true villain is Izanami, the goddess of death that is possessing Saya. Rachel is trying to prevent her from destroying Amaterasu, thus preventing the deletion of history's "backup file", so to speak.
- This would explain a lot, and it would be quite interesting to see a Taokaka who's more mature and intelligent yet still having hints of her eccentric charm.
- Or, alternatively, the brainy ones just ate a metric asskilo of Silvervine Candy.
- Probably Jossed. The younger Valkenhayn's appearance doesn't match up with the researcher shown, and the first Prime Field Device was created by Relius and Shuichiro Ayatsuki (Nine and Celica's dad) at Terumi's behest. Valkenhayn does additionally have history with Relius, but that's an antagonistic one.
- Given Noel's backstory in the Calamity Trigger story opening cutscene, it was more likely started to create the newest Nox: Murakumo.
- You missed whatever will replace Nu. Granted, that's not so much a new character...
- So far, we have Amane, Bullet, Azrael, Izayoi, Kagura, Terumi (DLC), and Kokonoe (DLC) with the Imperator as an Assist Character for Take-Mikazuchi. Jubei remains an NPC despite Ragna joking about how he needs to whip out Musashi in the next game and his last appearance in the story had him on the receiving end of a vicious beating from his wife. Homura, Tenjo's son, will likely stay an NPC, since he's the new Imperator of the NOL after Saya/Izanami willingly relinquished the title. Nine/Phantom and Saya/Izanami have a good chance for making the roster in the next game, updates to Chronophantasma notwithstanding. Jubei, too, provided he survives Phantom's onslaught. No new rivalry themes from that list either (discounting "X-MATIC" for Carl vs. Relius, since Relius made it into CS Extend).
- We can only wish. Relius captured Arakune so that Terumi could use him as a bargaining chip over Litchi, and then later modified Arakune to serve their schemes.
- But at least that means he still does Kagutsuchi a favor... unintentionally.
- Or, Bloodedge Ragna will be the exact same Ragna, just without BlazBlue. Near the end of Continuum Shift's sequel, Ragna will lose his grimoire and learn that he is still powerful with only one working arm and eye and using only his sword. He then beats the crap out of the sequel's boss and prove how dangerous he can be as a Badass Normal. If the that game has a sequel, then the opposite will happen and Ragna gets his grimoire back at the end.
- Um, "Bloodedge Ragna" not only is Ragna, he also is Ragna in the third game who went to the past and then goes back to the present time. Their powerset should be similar as well.
Cause Lambda-11+Nu-13 = Omega-24!
Bonus points if she does a Heel–Face Turn. More bonus points if she teams up with Noel as Super Mode Mu-12 against Saya (since 12 is 24/2).
- Jossed. It's a regenerated Nu, now serving the villains as the Sword of Izanami/Hades. In fact, she ends up fighting for Saya (or rather, Izanami) against Noel/Mu-12.
- This is actually possibly lampshaded in a blink-or-miss even dating back on CT, in Bang's story. After beating Tager, Bang left and Tager was actually impressed with his optimism, and thought that he could be the one to save Litchi from... something. Considering this something would be said decay as well as obsession with Arakune, then yes, Tager may be right.
- He doesn't. And seeing Litchi and Carl working with Relius (even if it's a temporary alliance) mortifies Bang.
- Because NUKES ARE VEDDY VEDDY BAD. GRRRR NUKES.
- Sadly, no mini-Tagers, though alongside her arsenal of but lethal gadgets is GOLDEN TAGER X!
- Slayer: "At least I don't sparkle on sunlight!"Valkenhayn: "At least I don't run around naked everywhere!"
- Jossed as we find it's actually Izanami.
- Also Izanami is possessing Saya so it could be another reason for why Saya got sick and why Jin subsequently started hating her.
- That's assuming Saya had been possessed by Izanami since childhood and not just after Terumi abducted her. But seeing as Jin was knowledgeable about Izanami's deathly presence before almost everyone else on the heroes' side, you may be on to something.
- My guess is that Jin will get maimed by Tsubaki due to a moment of hesitation and Noel will save him.
- Jossed. Interestingly, though, Jin does get maimed by Izayoi's Immortal Breaker... But he survived thanks to the very Power of Order.
- As much as I find this to be hilariously awesome, this is jossed. Hakumen slays him with a special technique that erases him from traces of time.
- Maybe she's selective.
- This is canon. The animation didn't screw up.
- Jossed. Few people knew how to activate Rettenjo, and even for those who did, most of them saw its use and that of Kushinada's Lynchpin by proxy as something that not even the crossing of a Godzilla Threshold could justify.
- Jossed, unless you want to count Jin helping fight Take-Mikazuchi alongside Ragna and Noel as a technicality.
- Oh, he may die, but you can guarantee he'll go down in a badass manner, taking his opponent with him with a special as-of-yet unrevealed technique.
- It's unlikely that the series will have the world gain absolute order since order is implied to be a bad thing going by what Rachel told Ragna.
- One problem: Lambda clearly had Nu's soul when she saved Ragna. How would Relius copy that? Plus there's no reason to keep Lambda around when they're already bringing Nu back.
- Solution to that: Relius put the Nu's soul in the Lambda replica, which would be slain by Terumi. The real body of Lambda is stored somewhere within the NOL base, probably with no soul until Relius can pick up one unfortunate soul to plug into Lambda's body. Yes, Relius seems to be something of the equivalent of A Wizard Did It.
- Lambda is announced to be playable in CPEX. As for how she came back, though, no one has given any explanation yet.
- It's still "Weak Executioner" in CP (well, "Weak Executioner II"). They could possibly add a subtitle to achieve the same effect (assuming the next game doesn't just reshuffle the deck and give everyone new themes like Guilty Gear Xrd did), but judging by ASW's previous song titling conventions, it doesn't look like they're going to rename the song by dropping "Weak" from the title. Besides, Litchi has yet to get over Arakune, though she does see the harm her actions are causing for others and is portrayed in a sympathetic light throughout the story.
- Better luck next time, Carl. The kid's going to have to outdo quite a few characters if he wants that tetragonist status come the fourth game.
- No new Astral Finish, though he does receive a new Distortion Drive in CP (Shishigami-style Secret Technique: "Hurricane Fury") that, while in Overdrive, ends with Bang jamming the nail through his grounded opponent.
- Alternatively, since every Nox Nyctores took away something of the user, Phoenix: Rettenjou is no exception. It takes away Bang's sense of morality, turning him into an amoral Knight Templar. He could snap this way if he learns that Litchi did a Face–Heel Turn only for Arakune, completely trashing his image of her and his love to her, this becoming his Freudian Excuse to eventually jump off the slippery slope, combined with the sacrifice of using Phoenix Rettenjou.
- Technically not jossed yet, but something gets in the way of this: the Rettenjou is now being used to activate Kushinada Lynchpin. Now it is the question of whether the lynchpin will still be active if the Rettenjou is unplugged or not, or, if it can't be unplugged at all, then how Bang will fight without it in the next game.
- She is aware that NOL is a official-shady business, considering Hazama can steal her unpublished work. Thus, she really has a dislike towards NOL, even more as it has another monster like Relius.
- Her only aim is Arakune and the cure, not the 'World of Death' or whatever the Imperator decreed
- She hasn't reached Jerkass levels that even matched Kokonoe (which was even LESS than Terumi) to even think about It's All About Me.
- Unless she's currently holding an Idiot Ball, Litchi herself is a smart person.
- She's not Brainwashed and Crazy like Tsubaki.
Therefore, it will be nearly too possible that once she gets what she wants, she will get out and return to the side of good (not necessarily returning to Sector Seven or joining Ragna, but she just quits) rather than being intoxicated with NOL's/Terumi's evilness and jumps off the slippery slope.
If Terumi/Relius don't have a hand in handling that, that is.
- Might have a chance for being true, that as Chronophantasma, she hasn't degraded into "I don't care about anything else except Arakune's cure!" and in fact still civil. Which in turns, brings forth this new theory to support this: In EXTEND Platinum's story, Jubei visits her, and after Platinum left, Jubei spoke of how Bang is going to be his "secret weapon" of sorts. What can be implied from here: Jubei supports her to go into the NOL and pretend like she's helping Terumi, while in truth, she's also there to motivate Bang into mastering the Phoenix: Rettenjou and probably use her and Arakune as a "testing ground" for his training of using the Nox Nyctores. Not to mention, probably Jubei knew that Litchi herself is like a Wild Card in NOL employment that probably won't stay long and with the incoming problems Terumi and Relius have, they may have trouble in allocating the time for keeping her there and the incoming problems coming from various directions. After all, there is something of a Sun Tzu saying about "To deceive your enemy, you must first deceive your allies.", which looks pretty fitting considering Litchi's Chinese design. Jubei, you Magnificent Bastard! note
- What actually happens in the third game makes it rather... complicated, but to sum it up, she doesn't exactly go back to the "good side", she retained her composure, and she's more in a "neutral" faction as of the end.
- Jossed. Supplemental material reveals Nine created the Nox Nyctores, and did so using human transmutation. A very Terumi thing to do, but he had no hand in it.
- Debatable. There could be some things that history twisted, such as how in truth Hakumen was making a Heroic Sacrifice to seal Terumi in the Boundary, instead of getting tossed by the humans for lecturing them. As of Nine, she did possess the knowledge of human transmutation to create the Nox Nyctores, but still very possible that she was VERY reluctant to do so. This is where Terumi comes in. If he had no hand in its creation, then he had MOUTH to its creation. He could as well influence Nine, telling her that human transmutation is the only way to go to save humanity, thus Nine stains her hand to do so with her own choice, believing that it's for the greater good. History may say that Terumi is not involved in its creation, but he could've been influencing it and that part was not mentioned in history like the truth of his sealing by Hakumen.
- We see the info directly from the novels (and not just some "exposition" like that Hakumen blurb), so it isn't lying. Indeed, Nine did the morally questionable thing just so she can save one person (her own sister) from certain death, even if she's meant to sacrifice herself to help humanity. But then it is said that she only takes souls from warriors that have already fallen in the battlefield, and after the war she plans on releasing those souls, claiming that they've done their job. And no, Terumi had been brainwashed by Nine before she started the Nox project.
- While CP is mainly a continued case of "Ragna & Friends", make no mistake: Jin's desire to save Tsubaki from the NOL is given a good deal of focus, and while he's still no saint (unless it's in matters concerning Tsubaki), he does continue to move further up on the morality scale. The ending does set up Jin and Tsubaki as two of the most important players in the next game, but Jin's currently incapacitated until further notice.
- The Murakumo Units only start from the Boundary Field Prime Device numbers 11 through 13; numbers 1 and 10 are simple exploration units made by different companies and not human weapons. Alpha-1 in particular is mentioned to be dead.
- Jossed. However, while Nu-13 remains under the Imperator's control, it looks like Tsubaki's poised to bump up to first-tier in terms of story importance.
- This may very well hold water due to the fact that Relius is over 100 years old.
- It could also be that Relius settled down with a family for the sole purpose of experimenting on them. He's depraved enough for that kind of thing.
- Technically he's still around 30, just that during an incident with the Black Beast, he accidentally jumped into the future. That may not disprove this theory, though.
- Not technically jossing this, but Nirvana does contain Ada's soul. It still may play some influence on him.
In other words, there may be an extra storyline regarding on whatever happened in-between "Battle against Mu-12" and "Journey to Ikaruga."
- Seemingly confirmed! In Chronophantasma, Relius reveals that he desires to remove Amaterasu and Izanami from the picture so that he can become the architect of a new world recreated to his liking, one where humanity's evolution will not be stagnated by the infinite repetitions of time itself, doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
In fact, in the first place, why is she betraying the NOL to work with Sector Seven? Her stated reason for joining the NOL was to recieve financial support for her large family; apparently she must care for them a lot. But just as Noel's parents needed to be hidden from the NOL's wrath, Makoto's family will now need to be hidden, and a large family of squirrel-people isn't going to be easy to hide. If they were the reason she joined the NOL, why put them all in that kind of danger?
Also, is Makoto any more loyal to Sector Seven than she was to the Libarium? She already turned traitor to one organization; why not another? In fact, Makoto warned Tager that if he hurt Noel, she would kill him. Killing Tager would make her an enemy of Kokonoe and all of Sector Seven. And Makoto NEEDS Sector Seven's help, since by that time she had already betrayed the NOL. But she was willing to become marked for death by the world's only two superpowers, dooming her family along with her. Why? Because Noel is THAT important to her, apparently.
Noel is not only the heir to the True Azure, but she also became the heir to (or at least the Eye of) the Master Unit, Amaterasu; the Sankishin named after a sun goddess. If Makoto is the alexandrite gemstone, then perhaps Noel is the sun that brings out Makoto's true colors? No one else gets Makoto's real color — she will betray and play both the NOL and S7 against each other, just to protect Noel.
When Tager asked Makoto why she was betraying the NOL, she told him that she thought it would be sad if someone cloned a T-Rex, since the beast would be born into a hostile world where it could not live in peace. But she wasn't really talking about the dinosaur, she was talking about the Murakumo Units. Living people created only to be tools, and heartlessly abused.
Recall Lambda's "Joke" End, which was dead serious, not even remotely funny. Just as Makoto sought out and found Noel outside the city in Noel's Story Mode, Makoto found Lambda when she left the city on foot. Makoto probably sought her out, too. Even if she ran across Lambda only by accident, she is completely unsurprised and unthreatened by Lambda's threatening armored appearance, and goes out of her way to befriend Lambda. Makoto knows exactly what the Murakumo units are, and that Noel is one of them. Maybe that's why Makoto seeks to protect Noel... but maybe it's the other way around, and Noel in specific is the reason that Makoto is sympathetic to the Murakumo in general.
Makoto is based on Ratatoskr, the squirrel of Norse Mythology who ran up and down the World Tree (which is depicted in her magical symbol), who listened to the wisdom of the eagle at the top (also depicted in her symbol), and who used that knowledge as ammunition to taunt and needle Nidhogg, the serpent who chewed endlessly on one of the Tree's roots. Makoto is a squirrel-girl who worked in the Intelligence department of the organization that runs the world, and her greatest enemy is Terumi, who has an evil-serpent-monster theme. Maybe the eagle will be represented by a specific character later, whom proves to be Makoto's real boss (the Master Unit?), or maybe the eagle is just the Intelligence Department itself and she learned everything she knows on her own. Either way, she's working to thwart Terumi, and she, rather than Kokonoe, will probably be the one to do it, even if she isn't the one who actually kills him.
- Alternately, there's this illustration◊ from Extend. This opens the possibility that Rachel, Valkenhayn and Jubei are her Hresvelgr (notice how the Tsukuyomi resembles a bird when active, like when Take-Mikazuchi opened fire?).
- Except for the fact that Sankishin means THREE Shining Gods and we already know all three Sankishin Units. Also the "First Bloodedge" WAS Ragna. And he didn't hold off the Beast for a year, he put it into a coma for a year by allowing himself to be eaten.
- To the first poster, the Blood-Scythe can't be a Sankishin Unit. The Amaterasu Unit, the Master Unit, is somewhere inside the Boundary and, in order to combat Takamagahara's interventions, is eventually pulled out of the Boundary in CP, Hakumen is currently inside of the Susano'o Unit, and Rachel has the Tsukuyomi Unit. The weapon's origins are unknown, although it's likely that Bloodedge created it himself, creating a Stable Time Loop of the weapon being constantly being handed back down to himself (i.e. Ragna) in subsequent time loops (of course, the fact that Ragna had his sword and jacket when he ended up being flung back in time implies that he had it in the original timeline as well, which opens up more questions about how exactly he obtained them). To the second, that's indeed how Phase 0 describes Ragna/Bloodedge's death, but that also directly contradicts what Jubei outright says in CS about Bloodedge fighting the Beast and stalling it for an entire year to give the Six Heroes time to teach humans how to use Ars Magus, then letting himself die when Jubei clearly implies he could've fought much longer. There's no reason to doubt Jubei (i.e. Unreliable Expositor) since Jubei was there to witness Bloodedge's last moments, but the fact remains that the two tales aren't exactly the same. My guess: time loops. We already have evidence that events change (sometimes slightly, sometimes not) over the timelines (for example, Hakumen being in the Susano'o Unit instead of Hazama and joining the Six Heroes or the entire Wheel of Fortune drama CD when compared to the current timeline) and Phase 0 would appear to be the one of the earlier time loops (if not the first), so it's not implausible that multiple time loops would corrupt what Phase 0 reveals into what Jubei disclosed.
- Of course, Chronophantasma comes along and shows Ragna diving into the belly of the beast to quell its destruction, affirming the Phase 0 version of events. Thus, the question is: is the revisionist history in-universe or out?
- But then he jumps back out exactly a year after. And then he goes back to his own timeline.
- To the first poster, the Blood-Scythe can't be a Sankishin Unit. The Amaterasu Unit, the Master Unit, is somewhere inside the Boundary and, in order to combat Takamagahara's interventions, is eventually pulled out of the Boundary in CP, Hakumen is currently inside of the Susano'o Unit, and Rachel has the Tsukuyomi Unit. The weapon's origins are unknown, although it's likely that Bloodedge created it himself, creating a Stable Time Loop of the weapon being constantly being handed back down to himself (i.e. Ragna) in subsequent time loops (of course, the fact that Ragna had his sword and jacket when he ended up being flung back in time implies that he had it in the original timeline as well, which opens up more questions about how exactly he obtained them). To the second, that's indeed how Phase 0 describes Ragna/Bloodedge's death, but that also directly contradicts what Jubei outright says in CS about Bloodedge fighting the Beast and stalling it for an entire year to give the Six Heroes time to teach humans how to use Ars Magus, then letting himself die when Jubei clearly implies he could've fought much longer. There's no reason to doubt Jubei (i.e. Unreliable Expositor) since Jubei was there to witness Bloodedge's last moments, but the fact remains that the two tales aren't exactly the same. My guess: time loops. We already have evidence that events change (sometimes slightly, sometimes not) over the timelines (for example, Hakumen being in the Susano'o Unit instead of Hazama and joining the Six Heroes or the entire Wheel of Fortune drama CD when compared to the current timeline) and Phase 0 would appear to be the one of the earlier time loops (if not the first), so it's not implausible that multiple time loops would corrupt what Phase 0 reveals into what Jubei disclosed.
- Jossed, her sister Konoe/Nine is Phantom.
- Jossed. His nail is Rettenjo, and said nail houses the soul of Lord Tenjo.
- Alpha-1 is stated to be dead. Not to mention there's a 0th Boundary Prime Field Device.
- Relius is well aware that Bang has Rettenjo, though, unlike his Arcade Route, he doesn't move to take it out of Bang's hands. Naturally, Bang manages to pull through and activate the Nox when the heroes need its powers, although this does little to deter Izanami's plans.
- Is there even ANY World Tree (that I might've missed)?
- Confirmed; it was Tenjo's before it came into Bang's possession. He didn't use it because what would happen if he did would be even worse. He did seal his own soul in it though, so Jin didn't actually kill him as first thought.
- Also, Rettenjo is dangerous for other reasons. It doesn't create a ghost world; it, an anti-Nox weapon, is used to activate Kushinada's Lynchpin, which stops the flow of seithr completely. In a world that is almost entirely reliant on seithr. This is why Tenjo didn't use the Nox during the Ikaruga Civil War even though it would have easily turned the tide against the NOL; the price was simply too damn high.
In other words, Bang is the ultimate Red Herring of BlazBlue.
- That's if Hazama suddenly got transferred from NOL to That Man's group. Different group, different policy. Also there's the fact that Sol is less gullible and more immune to trolling than Ragna. And more broken. So rather than Hazama gloating over, he'll be curb stomped without mercy by Sol.
- True but it does make one wonder how beneficial it would be if Hazama ended up working for That Man or not. Because That Man of all people is one of the more prominent reasons why I-No is actually not a Villain Sue. If for some reason That Man ever wanted to stop Hazama's plans for any reason then let's just say there is really nothing Hazama can do about that to put it very mildly.
And this was all designed by Hazama from get-go, on request of Relius. Relius was very impressed by Litchi's research during the EX Story, but she's on Kokonoe's side thus he can't use it. But then, he saw Lotte and his inferiority complex and on research found out their relationship. So he had Hazama eventually try on experimenting Lotte, resulting Arakune. And when Litchi tried tapping to the Boundary, Hazama gave her the Fake Memories corruption to obsess over Lotte, eventually leading her to NOL. This may also be why Litchi was extremely suspicious of Hazama because her corruption might react to him being the originator of the corruption.
- Impossible. He does things strictly For the Evulz. And plus he tried, and succeeded, in killing a god-like entity.
- Exactly the second version. He wants to be the ONLY GOD that manipulates events and the world. For the Evulz is one of the reasons why he wants to be a God: So it lets him do whatever evil he wants and there'll be nobody to oppose him to have his fun of "evil for the heck of it." Terumi is just that good to hide his God Complex, just because he killed a god-like entity doesn't mean he hates becoming one.
- Word of God is that Hazama has no redeeming features whatsoever. None. At all. Giving him a Freudian Excuse that would end up humanizing him or making him sympathetic in even the slightest of ways invalidates that.
- Not all "villainous excuse" makes one sympathetic you know. Although whatever tale he has before 100 years ago is still unknown.
- Yes and no. As thing stand, the fourth game is set to wrap up the BlazBlue story. Tsubaki received some focus, with more to come in the next game judging by the ending. Terumi and Relius, however, have been bumped down from Big Bad Duumvirate status; they were nothing more than pawns to Izanami, the entity using Saya as her host. Terumi even gets killed.
- The fact that it's Yukana instead?
- He didn't hold it off for a year by fighting it, he allowed it to eat him which put the Black Beast in a coma for a year.
- Does that mean we're going to see the BlazBlue equivalent to Robo-Ky?
- Nah, Prime Field Devices have been existed long before Jin and Saya come to being. Saya was only used as the template for 11-13th. Other models were made by different people; there are some chance of some of them being male, but it definitely won't be modeled after Jin.
- Except that Ragna did not share the ultimate thing that defines Sanger: The passion to smite evil everywhere, even if it didn't slight him?
- The Chinese Federation which values size? They look like inhabitants of Planet Tits!
Now look back at Litchi. With boobies that humongous and Chinese origin, don't you think she's actually someone from Planet Tits?
- That definitely seems to be the case, at least from the trailer.
Thus far the source of Ikaruga War in a deeper detail is Bang, who seem to portray that Ikarugans are brave rebels of justice to oppose the tyrannical NOL. However, as BlazBlue doesn't seem to be letting anyone who gets serious and be in story to be 100% Good (such as Litchi), and Bang is getting his own prominence soon, he will be revealed that... like every other War, there were no good side and bad side. The Ikaruga side weren't composed of Chaotic Good ninjas as Bang thought to be. They, including Bang, were pretty much blood-lusted Ax-Crazy ninjas who murder NOL soldiers the same way NOL incriminates them, an eye for an eye to say. They have slowly forgotten the ninja tenets taught by Lord Tenjou, or the ministers serving Tenjou were fooling them around with promises that they shall be heroes, but in turn, they view NOL soldiers, who are just as human as they are... to be devils that needs to be slaughtered in the name of justice and they went mad in killing them. Bang, however, did see Jin killing Lord Tenjou and in that moment, he starts remembering most of the teachings Tenjou did to him. When Ikaruga citizens moved to Ronin-Gai, to atone for his sins, Bang tried his best to lift the spirits of the survivors and next generation will move on from the bloody past. Thus Bang had to made up the past to be told to the children, that he's a hero of justice fighting for the evils of NOL and the Ikaruga Federation and their ninjas are honorable rebels rather than Ax-Crazy ninja, so the children can have people to look up into.
This, however, is also possibly why Phoenix: Rettenjou remained inactive in Bang's hand. Bang tried to cover his sins with another sin of lie, and it's a big one since he pretty much spread his lies to his kinsmen. This may end up as a possible double-edged sword for Bang because Nox Nyctores are Evil Weapon by nature so when it awake, it may feed on Bang's sense of justice, possibly reverting him back to his Ax-Crazy ninja self.
This can be used later if Bang confronts the system of NOL... such as Saya giving him a "Not So Different" Remark via Breaking Speech.
- If the few flashbacks of Bang's involvement in the war are anything to go by, Bang's always been, well, Bang, so consider this one Jossed. Similarly, the Ikaruga Federation really were the good guys during the Ikaruga Civil War, seeing as Lord Tenjo was the real Imperator of the NOL, only for Terumi to somehow reverse the situation as a coup/rebellion, have Tenjo assassinated, and insert Izanami as the Imperator in Tenjo's place.
- Confirmed. Except that he cuts himself lose instead.
- To go off of a fan theory thanks to Chronophantasma, what if Tenjou's son is Amane?
- For a kid whose father was killed off in a war so that the NOL could set up a false Imperator, Homura seems to be well-adjusted and well-mannered (being under the watchful eye of Kagura probably helped). He even thanks Bang for everything he's done in the name of Ikaruga.
- Or it looks like that because of all the Nox Nyctores basically having mini-Black Beasts inside of them as Relius explains in Extra Story 2 in CSII. Take-Mikazuchi was the first and was probably too close to the Black Beast hence why they sealed it away.
- And it was made by Nine, anyway, without any involvement from Ragna.
- Jossed. Terumi still had his knives and Ouroboros back then. As for Yukianesa, it was in the possession of Seven, one of the Ten Saints of the Magic Guild in Ishana and a member of the Kisaragi household. That said, Seven and fellow Saint Eight did conspire with Terumi to create Take-Mikazuchi after Nine dropped the project.
And when you think about it, the struggle between Rachel and Terumi also bore similarity with the same struggle between Philemon and Nyarlathotep, Rachel/Philemon are bound with the rules as 'observers' thus cannot intervene as much as they want to. Terumi/Nyarlathotep, however, actively intervenes and screws people over in daily basis to make sure he "wins."
Yukianesa is said to be the representation of Jin's repressed emotions, and if you took into account Yukianesa's way of convincing Jin to commit dastardly deeds. Yeah, Yukianesa is Asmodeus, alright.
Which would explain the "Groundhog Day" Loop and Hazama's Seen It All attitude.With regards to how she is as a boss, she'll be part of the background (i.e. Apocalypse) and will be harder than Nu, Hazama or Ragna. Oh, and she won't be playable (even with cheats).
- Very less likely that in lieu of Wheel of Fortune Drama CD, Saya is being "processed" by Relius into a "vessel of something", thus if anyone's out-eviling those two, it's whatever is being vesseled by Saya. Though not to say that those two can (and probably will) out-evil that thing.
- That "something", Izanami, does end up out-eviling Terumi and Relius. She's not a background boss, though (Take-Mikazuchi is, with Izanami controlling it and offering some support). Maybe in the next game?
- Maybe, maybe not. Amane's Astral (which seems to de-age its victims) appears to cause Platinum to regress into Trinity, so this is either teasing or more fuel for the fire that is the "Platinum really is Trinity" theory.
- One of the Teach Me, Miss Litchi! Reloaded short mentioned that Jubei once had both Sena and Luna in his custody. How they became Platinum, though, is unknown.
- CP ended up being Ragna's rodeo for the most part, and some of the mysteries of the war remain unanswered (at least, those not covered by TMML). Now for the next game, there could definitely be someone else taking the main protagonist spot, what with Ragna being forced to go rogue thanks to Izanami.
- Or conversely Ragna is okay with this and might even be willing to support it (though he will say it's out of hope that Rachel will finally leave him alone) but Hazama will probably be depicted as comically trying to hide his jealousy that Rachel & Valkenhayn are now focusing on Relius than him.
- Or this might cause a little rift between Relius and Hazama, as Relius would want to prevent Carl with teaming up with Rachel but Hazama won't take that idea too seriously. But whether that does happen or not Relius and/or Hazama will strike to try to prevent the two from working together only for the two to get closer after said attack.
- Jossed on all accounts.
- Exacerbated with the facts that their new "recruits" weren't exactly loyal material. Tsubaki would've attacked and opposed Terumi if it wasn't for Phantom's brainwashing. Litchi is completely uninterested in the world of despair (or would've opposed it), and only in it for preserving Arakune and herself. And making matters worse for them (or better, for us), some stories had Phantom regaining some of her own sentience, which can completely fuck up any leisures they used to enjoy.
- Further complicating matters for them, the stage is shifting to Ikaruga - and Ibukido with it. While the likes of Ragna and Hakumen remain just as threatening to them as ever, two individuals are more dangerous than previously projected for the sheer potential they possess in screwing matters over. Starting off, we have Bang Shishigami...
- Combat: Bang was last seen leaving for Ikaruga so that he may learn of the whereabouts of Lord Tenjou's missing son. Also, since Platinum is in his company, Trinity may provide assistance with tracking down Rettenjou's missing components and/or teaching Bang how to use it. Relius is interested in Kushinada's Device for whatever reason, and Rettenjou is already stated as being able to rend the Boundary and destroy Nox Nyctores; I'm sure the Mad Puppeteer will be less interested after a demonstration gives Ignis a few bugs. Bang has also been seen to know when to hold his ground when possible, and run otherwise rather than constantly charging even at the face of death.
- Diplomacy: If there's a resistance movement in Ikaruga - and let's be honest, works like these having an oppressive government usually have one - Bang would likely be the local hero, and would thus be able to organize them into a more efficient fighting force. With Take-Mikazuchi on cooldown and Order being turned against the Imperator, there will be no easy cleanup for the coming revolt, and the loyalists serving under Terumi and Relius will have their hands full.
- With the Boundary rending ability, it would be also hard for them to take many actions against him without Litchi eventually catching on, and if that happened, that could be a big chance for her to get out of NOL and seek help from Bang instead, ruining whatever plans they had to her about her research (concentrate on Bang with the risk of Litchi finding out and deserting, or concentrate on Litchi's research and let Bang do whatever plan-ruining he likes). Making matters worse, Hazama's observation on those two are plainly just "Bang is an Ikarugan idiot" and "Litchi is obsessed with saving Arakune", while Relius' observation was "Bang has Kushinada's Device" and "Litchi used to work under Kokonoe." They missed out the bonds between those two, Bang is madly in love with Litchi, and while not really reciprocating it, Litchi considers him a dear friend rather than an idiot; missing that one particular bond and not taking measures for it can be very fatal as it could lead them to consider Bang to be of no consequence for Litchi and their problems are separate problems and won't clash with each other, while in truth... it could be a big consequence.
- Their only hope is if, by any chance, Tenjou's son wasn't as clean cut babyface like everyone expected him to be (see the other WMG about this), thus giving Bang a harder time gathering an actual resistance for those two. However, at best it's just 50/50 chance. OR, the chance that Bang wasn't viewed as a folk hero but instead a coward who turned his tails backwards, ran away and abandoned the actual Ikaruga and sucks up to NOL due to his job as a vigilante (after all vigilantes report to NOL). Again, it's just 50/50.
- Tactical: As a native to Ikaruga, Bang likely possesses knowledge of the lay of the land, and can strike from anywhere at any time, as well as give his men orders to do the same. Also, it is stated that Platinum's body was born in the region, and may also possess knowledge of hidden routes that Bang can use to slip around town unnoticed by the Library. Hazama is not the kind of guy who has patience for flitting about a town looking for one rebel, so he will become extremely livid before long; aside from dumb luck, he may never find Bang or Platinum.
- Much to Hazama's eternal consternation, the other person whose threat level elevates significantly by change of location is that "damned squirrel" Makoto, who had just come off assignment in the region. While not to the same extent as Bang, she does possess a number of factors that can potentially ruin the villains' day - and unlike her first interference with Hazama's schemes, she will be aiming to break things apart this time.
- Combat: Makoto is capable of holding her own against Hazama for a period of time, but more likely than not she's going to need an escort or serious intervention to escape alive - Hazama is out for blood, and with Takamagahara down, he's down a Reset Button, and Relius is still out there. Not all is bad, as Rachel did fish her out of the Boundary, and would like a return on her investment, so if it crossed her mind she'd have Valkenhayn offer some training. In addition to being one of the Six Heroes and kicking Relius' ass up and down the block in his youth, he is also a beastkin and, based on his Arcade commentary, is sympathetic to Makoto's plight - if he is ordered to do so, he would help the lass face her racism-riddled past with confidence. Not only would this force Relius to Mind Rape her for longer, which widens Murphy's window (the time in which anything can possibly go wrong), but it could also ease open any restrictions locking Makoto out from her full potential. Suddenly, that "hale and hardy soul" doesn't seem as enticing anymore... and if Relius loses the ability to suppress her movements, what does that say about Terumi?
- Diplomacy: Makoto was on assignment under the NOL, remember? As one learns shortly into Slight Hope, the Ibukido branch is not as loyal to the Main Branch due to being removed from regular communications - furthermore, House Mutsugi has been known to mouth off, and likely is just as disloyal. With a proper report and suitable knowledge of the Imperator's affairs with Relius and Hazama, they could be convinced to rebel of their own accord. Having your own squad defect from under you is a massive detriment, as you will lose vital resources and personnel to quelling an uprising. Coupled with Bang, it's safe to say they're going to kick this revolution into overdrive.
- Also, one has to consider that Makoto is quite friendly with Bang, due to his aiding Jin in Decision and Slight Hope. If the two were to meet mid-op, there is a strong possibility they would collaborate on their plans, and possibly unite Sector Seven, NOL Ibukido, and the Ikaruga resistance (if Tenjou's boy was a babyface) under one banner. If that were to happen, well... let's just say they'll be talking about this one for years.
- Tactical: Knowledge from alternate timelines does not lose usefulness just because affairs are settled in Kagutsuchi. Makoto is aware that in that timeline, Tsubaki transferred to the Zero Squadron to bring Jin back personally - the girl loves him more than her own job and family. If Makoto were to intercept Tsubaki during "pissy boss" mode, she could tell her what she saw, and coupled with Hakumen's tale, it could at least give her pause and interfere with the brainwashing, at which point anti-magic or Order could dispel it for good. Losing Tsubaki, and control over Jin and Hakumen in the process, is one of the last things Terumi and Relius want right now. Further, Makoto has likely made herself familiar with the lay of the land, though not as much as Bang has. How are Terumi and Relius supposed to eliminate Makoto if they can't find her?
- All these are probably planned ahead by both Rachel and Jubei. In Slight Hope, Rachel took notice of Makoto's incident and prepared her for eventually screwing Terumi's plan in the end, while throughout CS stories, Jubei went out all his way to ensure that Bang will be prepared to take the stage, starting from getting Platinum (a resident of Ikaruga) to him so he realizes his potential of Nox Nyctores and also giving hints to Litchi (as seen in Platinum's story) about Bang's potential, probably it's to hope that Litchi would even think of the possibility of other source of help when NOL proves to be inadequate, thus screwing Hazama/Relius' plans (Jubei's work on Bang is done, and he's now preparing for the other screwage: Jin).
- Confirmed. And the fall is much harder than one would ever expect. Relius' plans all come crashing down, leaving him a shell of his former self who is defeated by Valkenhayn and later forced to do Carl and Litchi's bidding until the day comes where he's held accountable for all of his evil deeds. Meanwhile, the Six Heroes set up a gambit that leads to Trinity immobilizing Terumi long enough for Hakumen to outright kill him off for good.
- Jossed. Homura's a nice kid, and the new Imperator of the NOL. Of course, he has his hands full thanks to Izanami's actions...
Because they want to research her boobs, therefore making something to increase the Saya's boobs. Why? Noel is a template of the Saya, therefore she will possess things from her. What's stopping them to say that Saya also has a massive A-Cup Angst and is trying to fix that?
- If the theory of Rachel/Valkenhayn also aiding Carl becomes true, the game might play up Kokonoe's Shipper on Deck role for Carl X Rachel (especially to gleefully get a rise out of Rachel). After Kokonoe did do a little bit of that with Carl in his "Help Me Professor Kokonoe" skit on CS.
- Jossed. They actually don't even do so much as cross paths, namely because Carl winds up on his father's side as a means to an end.
- Partially confirmed. Arakune will speak in full sentences in Chronophantasma. Still mad as a box of frogs, though.
- Will be utter gold to see. Judging from Rachel's bad end, Hazama seems to be thriving when people pay attention and SUFFER for his schemes. Being ignored would be one thing he'd really abhor. Like a real Internet Troll indeed.
- It's been pointed out that Ragna might instead be an Embryo Storage Unit as opposed to a male Murakumo Unit.
- One interesting info: After the war, scientists have researched the Black Beast's remains and extracted the Beast Genes from it, and with it, they created artificial humans.
- At least sorta confirmed for the console release as a pre-order bonus, a Six-Heroes-alike Terumi appears as a playable character. Whether this is just Terumi in the past (Order-Sol style) or a legitimate alternate personality as a result of Kazuma resurfacing is up for grabs, but since the whole plot revolves around time travel there's no reason the two couldn't exist in the same universe and — what else? — beat the hell out of each other.
- And it turns out that this Terumi is the one from the past a la Order-Sol. Well, it's actually a case of Literal Split Personality (Hazama = Faux Affably Evil smooth criminal who keeps up the masquerade in public, Terumi = Ax-Crazy sadist who surfaces when his cover is blown or he's feeling particularly nasty), with Terumi being materialized outside of Hazama's body via Platinum's Muchorin so that the heroes can kill him off (and Hazama in tow). Still no sign of Kazuma, though.
- Each character has their own respective end boss, though Hazama and Relius show up a fair amount of times as the final opponent in others' Arcade routes. Other than that, it's confirmed: They both get some karma thrown on them on certain endings while they get away with what they wanted on other ones.
- Way to tempt fate — just two days after this WMG was posted, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma was announced.
- Then again there's no conceivable way on how he learns his lessons, judging by his condition... And no, Litchi hasn't made a progress on him.
This will have the side effect that having someone kill Terumi means killing a part of living: Death itself. Though probably it would be remedied after killing Terumi that Ragna would make a Heroic Sacrifice and lives up to his Grim Reaper moniker, becoming Death itself. However, unlike Terumi, he'll be decidedly nicer.
- Unlikely. There's already a god of death pulling the strings here, and her name ain't Terumi. It's Izanami.
- This will bring problem, because even for Drama's sake, this would remove the Litchi player of the game, and there's none to inherit her skill. Linhua is too inexperienced in the game, and if Bang cures Lotte while Litchi becomes the next Arakune, Lotte wouldn't suddenly turn into the successor of Litchi's moveset, no signs of him being an exceptional fighter (and his style would clash with Litchi's Chinese style, because he's definitely NOT Chinese). Not to mention, according to interviews of Chronophantasma, the developers DO like Litchi and her gameplay enough that she's probably going to stay. It is more plausible to make it that Lotte is the one who doesn't survive and after trying her best, Litchi would finally learn about letting go, and eventually becomes the one cured by Bang's Rettenjou. Lotte dies, but the creature Arakune and his moveset would live on (maybe possessing something else), while Litchi and her moveset lived on as well. Best of both worlds, really.
- Thankfully Jossed. Litchi's alive and well as of the game's close, though the threat of her eventual degeneration continues to hang over her head.
- Essentially, he's the Deadpool of BlazBlue.
- I don't know where you heard Kanji was explicitly called gay in the Japanese release but I'm pretty sure that' not the case. If anything, it's just as ambiguous as, despite what anime would have you believe, Japan has just as much a Hide Your Gays attitude as the west. Similarly, I don't know where Makoto has been confirmed as bisexual either. It'd be pretty cool for BlazBlue to have the balls to make it so but it sounds like wishful thinking for the most part. Alas.
- The main hint for the possibility of Makoto being bi (aside of how protective she is of Noel and Tsubaki) comes from the Remix Heart manga, where she plants a big one on Mai (while stark naked, no less). Technically speaking, it's het Ship Tease, but since no one has yet to discover that Mai is really a guy turned into a girl thanks to the power of the Grimoire, you can see why this is so big in regards to Makoto's sexuality. Then again, given how fanservice-laden Remix Heart is, it's hard to argue that Makoto is the only offender; the manga has some rather strong Les Yay overtones, veering into at least a Pseudo-Romantic Friendship between all five of the main female leads (and this is in spite of everyone still playing Shipper on Deck for Tsubaki/Jin).
- There IS an official art made by Arc System Works [1]◊. It would also explain why Makoto is so protective of Noel whenever Kagura tries to flirt with the latter. OTOH, it is also hinted that Makoto and Kagura had a one-night stand awhile back.
- This has been slightly confirmed by Mori in the latest interview. According to him, TSUBAKI was supposed to be a lesbian character in love with Noel. But he changed his idea and made Tsubaki Jin-sexual and Makoto to fill the gap. More information can be found in the BlazBlue Wiki [2]
- Confirmed.... sort of; her Super Mode, Izayoi, is the final boss for some characters, Makoto and Jin among them.
- Eh, in this game, NO ONE (save Jubei, who has a kanji name) was born in Japan anyway. Let alone Bang or the entirety of Ikaruga.
- ... Isn't that probably why they brought Litchi in the first place? Unless she instead suddenly rebels and put yet another wrench to their plan. Not to mention, as of the current state, Noel managed to free Tsubaki from their control and in turn, she becomes Izayoi to get stronger... They may as well try appealing Azrael for tons of good fights or goading Bullet with the surefire revenge method for Sector Seven...
- Perhaps... Considering how much of a depraved scientist Relius has shown himself to Litchi, the backup plan they have in store for her (if any) is very unlikely.
- Jossed, their plan is going rather smoothly. But then Izanami chooses to disown Hazama and Relius after they've done their part of the plan.
- This is supported in a small way in Litchi's Arcade commentary, where Litchi asks Makoto to dress in Tao's outfit. Art of such has already hit the internet.
- Bullet was the victim this time around. Fourth time's the charm, right?
- Both Lux Sanctus: Murakumo and the Sealed Weapon Izayoi are armagus weapons, the former a variant of Nox Nyctores. A degree of ars magus aptitude is required to use them, and Noel and Tsubaki both have at least above-average aptitude (Noel has the highest on record in the Academy). Makoto's aptitude is average at best in comparison, which means she is limited to utility ars, Comet Cannon and Asteroid Vision. This is not enough for such a Super Mode, regardless of whether her tonfas are armagus or not.
- Eastern philosophy in real life states that the strength of a person's heart indicates the potency of their ability, combat-related or otherwise. Further, Relius' own research on souls explains that the strength of one's focus and the number of ways the soul observes itself are indicators of its quality. When one puts those two together, it is clear where Makoto stands - Relius Clover himself states that Makoto's soul is of a higher quality than his own daughter's, and he already used Ada's soul in Nirvana. Even if Makoto doesn't cross the line, such a Super Mode would be redundant.
- On the subject of Relius, if one puts together everything fron Continuum Shift and Bang's Chronophantasma Arcade mode, his plans for Makoto are clear - he intends to push her soul to its maximum output before breaking her completely and using it to fuel Kushinada's Device to invoke Doomsday. Allowing Makoto to develop a Super Mode of any sort is contradictory to his plans in every conceivable fashion, as it would push her beyond his ability to handle. He would never allow such a thing, especially if the means is by his own design.
- Rachel and Kokonoe are both aware how much Makoto, Noel and Tsubaki mean to each other - Rachel from witnessing Makoto firsthand, and Kokonoe over the month between Continuum Shift and Chronophantasma. Attempting to beat Relius to the punch and integrate Makoto into a Murakumo-esque weapon would be out of character (for Rachel at least), completely stupid (given aforementioned low ars aptitude), and would easily alienate Noel from both of them, with Tsubaki and possibly Jin to likely follow. Whatever such a move would benefit them, antagonizing the rest of the cast through a chain reaction of scorn counts as "diminishing returns" for both of them.
- Maybe not with a Murakumo Unit or similar - if Makoto ever gets a Super Mode of sorts, its origins must be something else. But then again, she may really not get it after all.
In actuality she had in fact killed her own unit herself, for unknown reasons. The incident, however, caused her so much trauma since she was as close as family to them, that she mentally blocked it out and fell into denial about the whole thing, even blaming others for it, quite like what happened with Siegfried when he accidentally killed his own father. Her story will be her gradually going more insane as she chases the "culprit" responsible for their deaths, until someone, most likely Rachel, Relius or Terumi or even Kokonoe finally force her to face the truth. What her reaction may be is up to interpretation.
- In the end, though, it was Azrael who admitted it, straight to Bullet. So, jossed.
I only say this because if he really is just a generic creepy paedo type I'll be pretty disappointed.
- His troupe does adore him because Amane cares for them, so this is confirmed... though not the Kayfabe part.
- There's a power boost from it, yeah, but it only translates to him activating Blood Kain without it draining his health now.
- That idea holds great potential for turning into a debacle of Biblical proportions if not handled with the utmost care. According to Word of God, CS was only about halfway through the story's plot, so assuming CP doesn't throw some eleventh hour twist our way that further extends the story (which wouldn't be unbelievable), we still have at least one more game to go. Guilty Gear is less clear on when the end will be in sight, what with the Time Skip between the first three titles and Overture and the Sequel Hook during GG2's Stinger. Consider just how dense a story both series contain in just the actual games alone. Now imagine what would happen if these plotlines intertwined. That adds yet another layer of complexity to the mix, especially since the casts and universes mesh together so well. Wrapping up everything would be a daunting task, and trying to do so in the span of one game, no matter how comprehensive the story mode is, runs the risk of coming across as rushed, which wouldn't go over well with many. There's no doubt fans would like to see a crossover between both series, but closing the curtains on two of the most plot-heavy fighters in the genre's history by means of that is probably not best the way to go about it. If not outright non-canon, a Crisis Crossover sequel that sets up a proper new installment (much like P4A did) seems like a better approach.
- This'll cause timeline problems. Kagura's the head of the Mutsuki family, and if he's Tenjou's son, that means he's kidnapped at the 2nd War of Magic and in the time span between the game proper and that particular war, how the hell does he amass such power that he's the head of the biggest family in Duodecim?
- I don't remember reading anywhere that he's the head, just that he's in it and that he's a Colonel. He could very well have the family heads doing the "organizing" for him, and he's The Man in Front of the Man.
- Jossed. Tenjo is revealed as the former Imperator, surname Amanohokosaka and he's still alive, sort of, inside Pheonix Rettenjo. His son is called Homura. Kagura is just a former disciple of his, and is now Homura's legal guardian it would seem, though he is the head of the Mutsuki family.
- Jossed by all accounts.
And this will pave the way to make Azrael the Terumi to Bullet's Ragna.
- Confirmed! And in fact Azrael was part of Bullet's team before he massacred them due to him being so much of a berserker. Well, he was a recruited "extra" member so to speak.
- Eh, Erholtz already voices him from the beginning of CP.
- Tempting, but probably not. Carl also built up his own unique pool of moves and strategy that Celica wouldn't even be able use or replicate, she's a magic user, not a tech-wiz, this will enrage many Carl players and probably that's why ASW is against removing a character no matter the reason. Besides, if Carl's gone, there's none with bigger beef against Relius for a proper showdown, and with Ignis, specifically Carl's mother, as his doll, the 'rivalry impact' that Celica would bring against Relius is smaller than what Carl would bring.
- It's shown that Kokonoe has built a duplicate of Nirvana, Ex Machina: Minerva, for Celica's use, so they could both appear in the roster, preferably with completely different playstyles.
- Litchi trying to fix him to normal probably isn't because of his looks, as she always said "Never judge a book by its cover." So there's a good chance that Lotte Carmine is not that handsome and she cares for him anyway. However, BlazBlue is an anime-based series so it's pretty much quite the requirement that you need to be at least decent looking, so this WMG has a good chance to be confirmed.
- One of the story stills in CP revealed alongside the announcement of Kokonoe (scroll all the way down towards the bottom of the page; I'd link to the picture directly, but its url will cause formatting issues) shows Litchi happily chatting it up with another scientist. If that's Lotte (and it probably is), confirmed.
- As seen in the Sector Seven story path, that is indeed Roy (i.e Lotte's alias), so consider this one in the bag.
- (Not OP) As Saya seems to very well be a Puppet Queen because of whatever it is she's a vessel for, it seems more likely that a) Terumi and Relius will eventually ditch her once she's fulfilled her role (possibly by the climax of Chronophantasma if Continuum Shift is indeed the halfway marker for the plot) and b) the last battle will be between Ragna and Terumi. Still, if Saya doesn't end up biting it and is restored to normal, it'd be refreshing to see all three siblings band together to do away with our resident troll. With all that they've been put through, they deserve at least that much.
- The WMG header is not jossed; the bullet below, however, is. "Saya" is actually the goddess of death Izanami possessing Saya and the one who pulled the strings on Terumi (and Relius). In the end Saya is still around and is still the antagonist, so the clash stated in the header might come true in the next game.
- Jossed. Bullet's a merc belonging to the same strike team it's implied Tager was from, Azrael fought in the Ikaruga Civil War, and Amane is an enigmatic leader of a dance troupe who may be an immortal Observer like Rachel.
- Jossed, those black faces are just masks.
Compare Marvin the Martian◊ to Taokaka.◊ Since it's only some Martian genes, it's why you can see the mouths of the Kakas, as well as only affecting their face.
- Not true. Terumi does use Ouroboros in CP; it's just that he uses it far less than Hazama does (only during specials and Distortion Drives) so as to keep the two forms distinct from one another in terms of playstyle. It's unlikely that he'd discard of it considering that he killed Nine because, in addition to his way of saying thanks for being brainwashed into helping the others fight the Black Beast, Ouroboros was in line to get the souls used in its creation released (thus rendering it useless), not to mention that Ouroboros appears to be his go-to tool for Mind Rape (and sadistic torture in general). However, while Nox Nyctores tend to have negative effects on its users (i.e. Jin's sanity, or lack thereof, thanks to Yukianesa), for all we know, Terumi was already that unhinged and evil from the beginning, with Ouroboros only worsening things.
- Nah, Kazuma is still in his own body, up until Jubei forced Terumi out of his body and then Hakumen seals himself and Terumi into a Cauldron. What happens to Kazuma after that... is still unknown.
- If the Story Mode's structure is like CS, then this WMG is very plausible. However, with how the structure leads to be more of a 3 main stories that would combine into one big true end... having Kagura, Kokonoe, Terumi and Celica getting their own Story Modes would be completely unfair. Best they got would be a "side story" or "fourth story" revolving them. But overall, it'll be harder to even include a special story mode for the DLCs without revamping the whole Story Mode ordeal in CP.
- Maybe that sidestory can be a bit of an epilogue if Kazuma does indeed regain control over himself.
- Celica becomes a playable character alright... in Extend. And some characters do get their own story alright - Bullet, Kagura and Kokonoe. Nothing about Kazuma though.
- Oh so confirmed.
- On further developments, a change looks a little more likely, what with several characters either Demoted to Extra or Killed Off for Real.
- With how the story goes, not likely. The thing about Take-Mikazuchi Embryo turning people into seithr and being drained to it is a big, imminent problem that has to be taken into consideration immediately, it's not like the transition between CS and CP where the stage changed from Kagutsuchi to Ikaruga, everything is still happening in Ikaruga, and it's where Izanami is still stationed. I foresee that an expansion will come up and give the ones Demoted to Extra (three newcomers, Tao, Arakune) a chance to shine, along with some new bloods (like Jubei, he probably is the only new addition, seeing that Relius was the sole new addition in CS Extend), a bit modifications of some characters' skills (e.g: Relius possibly getting a new Astral due to his breakdown in the end). Once Izanami is offed, I see it that the current BlazBlue saga will end and then a timeskip with a brand new cast ensemble will be introduced, if ASW wants to do another BB.
- Denial (Calamity Trigger): Litchi lived blissfully in Orient Town, she loved it, they loved her. She tried running away by thinking that the only way to solve her problem with Arakune is to kill him. However, in the end, she realized that this is not the way and she must save him so she sought for Kokonoe.
- Anger (Continuum Shift): Unfortunately for her, Kokonoe refused to help her and reveal that Litchi is rather close in time to becoming the next Arakune, along with her memory problems. When she realized that the only plausible help to save Lotte was in fact in NOL alongside Hazama and the insinuations that Arakune has been taken in, Litchi ended up joining NOL, but she is angered with the fact that she can't do a thing about it, this is shown during her encounter with Rachel, she was surprisingly angry and full of outbursts, and even this carried over to their encounter in Chronophantasma's Arcade Route. Even in Chronophantasma's Story, she's still in this phase with her angry remarks on Hazama and Relius, and went on ranting when Kokonoe once again refused her.
- Bargaining (Chronophantasma): Litchi finally found out that a cure may be impossible. However, Relius offers her one thing: If she helps him recreate the world, she can have a chance to undo her mistake of not stopping Lotte in time so she can have her normal life again. Even if she still doesn't like Relius, she's willing to bargain for one last time for a chance to live normally, at this point she wouldn't be long in this world. However, she's pitted against Bang Shishigami and had to break his heart by attacking him. However...
- Depression (Chronophantasma epilogue-Next game): Bang persevered and screwed Relius' plan, also in time when Izanami tossed Relius aside, causing him to fall into depression and Litchi loses her chance and manpower to recreate the world. The WMG is that she will fall into depression that every of her attempts ends in failure and her time is shortened further that Izanami is threatening the current world and her. Not to mention that she ruined her friendship with her friends, abandoning the old ones and right now, her dream of living a normal life, her promise to stay in Orient Town and help people... all shattered and she has no one to blame but herself. Fortunately for her, there's Carl nearby, and unlike the dismissive Kokonoe and Rachel, he will more likely try to understand her and maybe give her a hug, just like how she hugged him back in CS. And with Relius depressed, there's no way he can interrupt this like in CS.
- Acceptance (Centralfiction): With Carl's help, Litchi may be able to find strength to move on and perhaps find hope in this current world, either by using the best of her limited time or found enough strength to get HERSELF, not Lotte, cured. Since Carl's original goal in the end of CS and at the beginning of CP was to meet Kokonoe (until he's distracted by Litchi's peril), big chance that he'll bring her and Relius to Kokonoe, and there, Litchi can mend ways with the ones she abandoned (Bang, Makoto, Noel, etc) and with luck, perhaps she will get a chance to say her final farewell to Arakune. With that being solved, Litchi can now resume operating like a normal woman.
The things from Denial and early Depression seems to be strikingly accurate with what happened to her and the things put to set things up like that. But then again, it's Mori, the chance happening is just 50/50.
- Maybe his creepy obsession with youth and beauty is actually a twisted offshoot of his desire to turn time back to when Izanami was unmarred and non-murderous. Also, his big project might be the Astral Finishing of Izanami.
- This is simply speculation, but it is possible that he learned Iaido because Yukianesa needed the technique to function in the first place. Whenever he takes the swords out the sheath decompresses, implying that the sheath has something to do with the power of the sword. And considering that the blade is apparently made of ice it wouldn't be to much of a stretch to assume that it needs to be re-sheathed each time after making an attack. Once again just a guess on this tropers part, but considering that Hakumen has no trouble using a different fighting style it is relatively safe to assume that Jin's fighting style is used to match the weapon.
- Fans have been clamoring for ASW to pull an Order-Sol and put Bloodedge in the game as an alternate Ragna, so perhaps now might be the best time to capitalize on that. Additionally, since Bloodedge is Ragna circa CP (but prior to Izanami controlling him), maybe the newly-introduced Chrono Phantasma plot device that brought back Celica could be used to also pull Bloodedge from the past (again). They could even do something similar to how Siegfried and Nightmare were split off and underwent Divergent Character Evolution in Soulcalibur III: Bloodedge gets the bulk of Ragna's moveset (being unable to move his right arm—which, luckily, Ragna doesn't use in too many of his attacks to begin with—can be handwaved on the principle of Ambidextrous Sprite, but certain moves, like Belial Edge, Blood Scythe, Straight Punch, Not Over Yet, and his ground throws, would need reworking), but switches out Soul Eater for a new Drive, thus changing the properties of his existing moves where necessary. For example... Meanwhile, Black Beast Ragna keeps Soul Eater, but to ensure he's distinct from Bloodedge (who'd be closer in style to Ragna originally), Black Beast Ragna forgoes wielding Blood-Scythe for the most part, his moveset remaining rushdown-oriented, but with an increased focus on shapeshifting his limbs. Thus, he'd be the one with attacks like Dead Spike, Devoured by Darkness, and Ragna's Crush Trigger, though there's room for some overlap.
- Technically, the kanji used for describing Chronophantasma for Rachel and Celica aren't the same (for some reason they used the same katakana for each). Celica fits the "copy of soul from past time" definition with the kanji describing it as 居ない筈の者 ("the one that should not be here") , while Rachel follows its literal meaning - 刻の幻影 "the phantom of time". Also some other people speculated that it's the zeroth Prime Field Device that is writing said story.
To elaborate, the first time the black beast struck she didn't simply drive it back, it was a grueling battle that ended with the creation of the units and special weapons such as Izayoi.
Clavis was the creator of the units which were ultimately used to drive the Black Beast back into the boundary whilist the Maiden was put into Amaterasu and thrown into the boundary to restore the world and keep it from ending again.
What happened is that over time the loneliness drove the girl insane and when humanity rediscovered the boundary and made an eye of the Azure, she decided to write her story and threw the world into a time loop.
Rachel was misteriously born into the Alucard family with no mother to speak of roughly at the same time Sechs got influenced by Izanami and Kagari manifested the powers of the black beast because those were the early drafts of the story.
By the time Ragna became the hero of the story, Amaterasu had rewritten stuff so much that Terumi winded up a villain sue made for the sole purpose of diverting the hate away from Izanami, Saya became a vessel just so that Ragna had strong emotions against killing her, Jin became Hakumen to keep Ragna's black beast at bay, Noel survived Ibukido's purge to serve as a proxy for Saya and become an eye which would be loved as a person instead of hated as a crazy android, Rachel would deploy Tsukuyomi like crazy to stop Izanami and even then so they still haven't prevented the apocalypse or saved the girl inside Amaterasu instead of just trying to kill Izanami and her.
(This theory was inspired by a forum post but I forgot where I read it so I'm afraid I cannot cite the source of the original author.)
- CF comfirms this as Hazama, now separated from Terumi, has plans that don't involve reuniting with him.
- My own opinion: Hazama might come back, but Terumi definitely won't. And I believe Time Killer would bypass such a thing like Life Link.
- Based on the CF epilogue scene, this might actually be a thing.
- CP is now getting its own Extend. Yes, it'll be released in PS4 and Xbox One as well. It comes with additional characters (Celica and Lambda-11) and thus, new Arcade story. And Kokonoe, Kagura and Bullet get their own story mode, too. No news on the gag reels though.
- In the end of the third game, Carl essentially leads his own faction with Litchi and Relius in tow, so what you said might be close to becoming true.
- Answer: he's still interested with Makoto of the current timeline. And if what you imply is Relius making a doll from Wheel of Fortune Makoto, then... how could it possibly happen anyway?
- The tattoos are his Power Limiter. And he doesn't absorb all attacks, only projectile ones.
- Confirmed, mostly. Central Fiction's final cutscene shows the new timeline after Ragna essentially ceases to exist, having replaced Noel as the core of the Master Unit, and we're treated to what the lives of the characters are like now. For starters, the NOL is no longer corrupt, and Homura is the Imperator, with Kagura and Jin as his right hand men. Tsubaki and Noel are back with the NOL as well (presumably in the same field Noel was, since they sport blue outfits), but Noel has Taken Up The Veil along with Lambda and Nu. Bullet and Tager are reunited and seemingly work together, with Bullet possibly joining Sector 7, and Azrael is sealed for good and constantly monitored by Kokonoe. Taokaka has returned to the Kaka village and proceeds to get glomped by kittens, and visited by Torakaka as well. Litchi has returned to Orient Town and reunited with Linhua, with Mai, Kajun, and Platinum in tow, with Jubei watching from afar. Bang stands before a ruined Ikaruga with his legion of men, and rallies them into rebuilding Ikaruga to its former glory, which is later visited by Amane and his troupe. Naoto and Raquel are seen having a comical moment, so it's implied they got their happy ending too. On the opposite side, Carl is seen turning away from something, his glasses bearing an eyepatch reminiscent of Relius' mask, and Valkenhayn is seen pouring tea in preperation for Rachel's return, with Nago and Gii looking troubled. We last see Rachel standing before a grave made for Ragna with his sword beside it, and she's approached by someone wielding Okami, which is implied to be Tsubaki, who has possibly inherited the Susano'o Unit. The fates of Arakune and Nine are left unknown.
- Jossed as of Guilty Gear -STRIVE-, where Bridget has comes out as a trans girl.
- As amazing as that would have been, it turns out Naoto is Ragna's Alternate Self rather than his ancestor.
- I expect some if not all the heralds being the souls of people already dead including Platinum/Trinity, the XBlaze cast, Tenjo, etc. Terumi might be the lone exception due to both Izanami not seeing further use for him and his death by Time Eater
- Heralds as in characters that will serve her as sub-bosses like in Marvel vs. Capcom 3?
- Unlikely. In the true ending of CP Izanami said that humanity created the Izanagi (what the Izanagi is we have no idea). Considering the Sankishin have existed since the creation of the universe (the world is Amaterasu’s dream constructed from her memories) it is impossible for Izanagi to have created them.
- Jubei: He's pretty much the most asked and expected to be playable since Kokonoe's inclusion. Also he has been knocked down numerous times, prominently one time in CS and then another in CP, coincidentally both by Phantom, so he'll be "normal" like Hakumen. Most importantly, since Phantom is revealed to be Nine, his supposedly dead lover, it's likely he'll take a more active role this time, trying to bring her back to her senses. During the fight he'll utilize his claws like the Kaka clan, but in addition, he'll have his Musashi on his mouth and tails. No idea on his drive yet, though.
- Central Fiction verified.
- Phantom: Because of the aforementioned Phantom = Nine skit and the fact that Izanami "loosens" her control of Phantom, she'll gain prominence and be playable. She'll be a powerful magic user for sure, and likely a tough opponent.
- Central Fiction Jossed. Nine, however, is playable.
- "Berserk" Ragna: similarly to Phantom, he's pretty much going to be the focus of our heroes (mainly Jin, Noel and Tsubaki) so it's likely that he'll be playable. Normal Ragna may also be playable, but it's a 50/50 chance. Fighting style is likely to be an improved version of normal Ragna's. Likely to be DLC.
- Makoto's Super Mode: Optional; just as her besties Noel and Tsubaki have got theirs, it'd be awesome if Makoto gets one too, but there's nothing on her to justify the need for it (yet).
- Hibiki Kohaku: Optional; at least Arc-sys might be pulling a Valkenhayn again and make Kagura's butler playable. At the very least, he's a captain in the NOL, which hints at his latent badassery.
- Dummied Out quotes in Chronophantasma Extend suggest they wanted to add him in for whatever reason. Probably gonna happen next time. Central Fiction verified.
- Mai Natsume: The abridged Remix Heart story in CP Extend is highly likely used as a tease for her appearance later. She was also mentioned to go missing after her graduation.
- Central Fiction verified.
- A random XBlaze character: As the ending of the third game mentioned the Embryo as Izanami's latest instrument, XBlaze elements would likely play some important role in the fourth game, and a character from there will be represented.
- Central Fiction verified via Es.
- Some more Duodecim representatives: Optional; as Kagura mentioned, not all of the Duodecim are supporting Homura as the new Imperator, so there's likely to be a feud between them, and it'll be represented through playable characters from their group.
- Nine: The last of the Six Heroes to be playable, just to complete them. She'll be a DLC character and be even more broken than her daughter. Story-wise she'll be saved from her predicaments as Phantom.
- Central Fiction verified.
- Hades Izanami: Optional; if she isn't going to be a non-playable Final Boss instead, she may become playable. Then again she's using Saya as her vessel, and Saya might try to reject her from within and at least someone might try to help her from the outside.
- Central Fiction verified.
- A “Third War of Ars Magus” seems difficult since most of the seithr in the world has been negated by Kushinada’s Lynchpin and a large portion of humanity has been absorbed into the Embryo. Only those who are “chosen” can still wield Ars Magus so a full scale war seems impossible.
- Most likely jossed based on Nine’s speech at the end of the trailer. She says that the Central Fiction is the unchanging truth upon which the world is based. It cannot be an artifact, and it is unlikely to be necessary to create a method of bringing in characters when the only character that is hard to bring back is Terumi (Platinum and Hazama are not confirmed dead and there are already multiple ways of bringing someone from the past).
- This might be true, as of Central Fiction, Noel Vermillion is revealed to be the girl sleeping inside the Amaterasu Unit, and the world is based on her memories and dreams.
- This begs the question of why Izanami want Noel to die, though.
- Gag Reels were present, but none of those were present. We do see a return of Magical Girl Platinum versus the evil Boing Queen, a return to Brotherly Paradise, the finale of the Spectacles of Eros, and Naoto Kurogane starring in a dating sim.
This is hinted at in Noel's Act 3 arcade where, in a flashback she (in Mu form) is inside the Black Beast and sees a vision of something she shouldn't see, which makes her split off with "that girl" (presumably Mu) to protect "that person" (presumably whatever being the Amaterasu's occupier was). Also the apparent desire of her being a normal girl is never hinted at in the previous games, especially since in CP Noel seems to be cool with what she is. Then there's how Mu still remembers things from the previous games while Noel doesn't. The vision that Izanami shows Noel in her Act 2 might refer to the girl in Amaterasu being "nailed" into the unit and being blamed for everyone's problems. Also Izanami (in Mu's Act 3) wanting Noel to be put back into "her coffin" and calling her the Original Prime Field, as well as in Rachel's arcade where it's said that the Amaterasu Unit is currently empty.
- Would you believe me if I said it's actually more complicated than that?
The ones related to cats (Cat Spirit One through Three and Sticky Kitty) were probably imagined up by someone like Ragna or Litchi, seeing as those are her most cat-like actions. They were named as such because they carry the spirit of a cat the most. All of her "Edge" moves, such as her Drive and whatnot, I'd imagine are because she probably got those names from "Rawrgnya the Bloodedge", and probably thought that adding "Edge" to her move names sounded powerful. Her Astral's name sounds more like a command she's giving to other Kaka kittens, and finally, there's "Cat Person's Secret Art: Hexa-Edge". That move is probably something she either learned or inherited through Jubei (AKA "cat person"). This leads to my next WMG...
1. To act as a Foil not only his arch-nemesis, but also his earliest student, what if Jubei had a large amount of weak Distorion Drives like Terumi, but because he was able to steal Heat kind of like Ragna's lifesteal? Alternatively...
2. Much like his more recent student, Jubei could have a series of Musashi attacks that cost 25 Heat to perform, much like Jin. The catch? These attacks are unblockable, because as he puts it, Musashi "can cut things you can't normally cut."
That, and as stated by the above WMG, Jubei would probably have his Hexa-Edge somewhere in his movepool.
... he's looking for his father. Carl found out or guessed that Relius left the Embryo by entering the Boundary; he still has a score to settle with his Archnemesis Dad and may still be intent on mining Relius' knowledge to save/recreate Ada. Cauldrons are Gates into the Boundary, so Carl is either planning on finding some way to pull Relius out or plans on entering the Boundary himself. Of course, we don't even know if Relius is still alive...
... he's trying to find a world where Ada lives. Carl now knows that Ada was always going to become Nirvana in his current timeline, but, with the Embryo no longer collapsing all other worlds, there's the possibility that other options exist and may be accessible through the Boundary. Depending on how far Carl's jumped off the slippery slope, he's either looking for another Ada to "adopt" or is planning on harvesting her to restore "his" Ada, similar to how Relius used Ada's body/soul to remake Nirvana.
- Does that mean he's going to be the next character to harness The Power of Hate? Is going to deliberately make subjects despair in order to increase their usefulness? If the series continues, Carl could end up as a new villain.
We already know about the stinger alluding to Alpha no-1 and Bloodscythe being missing, and concept art already exists of what she looks like; a genderswapped Ragna by all indications, including Bloodscythe. So we can make a pretty good guess where that's got to. Chances are good she'll be the new Big Bad, with Relius, Carl and maybe even Hazama also getting involved. And the expansion of the mythos pre Dark War, especially the Prime Field Device War and the first Black Beast gives room to flesh out her motivations. Maybe there's even room for Ragna to jump in as an 11th-Hour Ranger cameo....
It's common knowledge that the franchise was originally intended as a RPG. Sister series Guilty Gear experimented with that format, so the time is ripe to have another go and perhaps we'll see what they originally intended the series to be like.
- Alternatively, instead of the new Big Bad, Alpha will be the new central protagonist (having Soul Eater functionally makes her another Bloodedge anyway), inheriting Ragna's legacy.
We at least know that when Jubei found Ragna, Jin, and Saya/Noel as children, he stated that they were going to be experimented on. In the first few chapters of Central Fiction's story, we learn two things; 1. Jin's earliest memory is being huddled in the corner of a grey room with his brother and sister. 2. the above fact about what Jubei said. At first my guess was going to go to Shuichiro being Ragna's father, making him a Mercury, but Shuichiro and his children are not blonde or have green eyes. However, the Clover family is blonde, and while Carl and Ignis have blue eyes (though the latter could be an augmentation), we're not sure what color eyes Ada and Relius have. That, and it's possible that Ragna and his siblings, while born of Relius, might have been born of a different mother than Ignis, who could've been made into a doll like Ignis was, or left Relius for some other reason.
So, for all we know, Ragna, Jin, and Saya could've been Clovers at birth.
- We do know that there were several Detonator prototypes before Ada/Nirvana and Ignis, all of which Relius likely discarded once they didn't perform to expectations; it's possible that one of these prototypes bore Ragna and his siblings before being converted and abandoned. That leads to the unsavory possibility that Relius had multiple families, likely to get a pre-made fulcrum (required to use a soul in a Detonator), each of which was subsequently discarded a la Ego when they didn't serve their purpose.
- Relius did create the Murakumos, so in a sense they're Carl and Ada's siblings. And Noel is Ragna and Jin's sister... In some left-handed logic readings, this might actually be possible.
- For extra Big, Screwed-Up Family fun, if Celica had actually be an adoptive mother to Ragna, Jin and Saya instead of a custodian, that would have made Nine their (and the Clover kids') aunt. And Kokonoe their cousin, and Jubei their uncle. If this had been the case, Relius would be Nine's... sibling once removed. Yipes.
- Well he was one of the Ten Sages. And yes, that capitalization is not a mistake.
- For extra Big, Screwed-Up Family fun, if Celica had actually be an adoptive mother to Ragna, Jin and Saya instead of a custodian, that would have made Nine their (and the Clover kids') aunt. And Kokonoe their cousin, and Jubei their uncle. If this had been the case, Relius would be Nine's... sibling once removed. Yipes.
The Susano'o unit is the body of a creature capable of reproduction, and Pakumen and Terumen are baby Susano'o creatures. When a new Susano'o Unit is born, it begins its life as a Pakumen-like creature. They eventually grow to have more human-like bodies (a la Hakumen), but further up the evolutionary cycle they become more monstrous and gain teeth, and their shoulders evolve into two extra head-like structures (a la Takehaya Susano'o). So in the Susano'o unit life cycle, Pakumen and Terumen are babies/infants, Hakumen is a young adult, and Susano'o is fully grown. Now this image◊ makes so much more SENSE!
...as Izanami, sort of. It's confirmed in the light novel Spiral Shift that Tenjo is, in fact, a purple-haired, red-eyed woman, who's stated to wear a large cloak and mask to protect her weak body from seithr. It also turns out that Tenjo was the current Imperator of the NOL at the time, and her child, Homura, is next in line to take the throne. Here's where it gets weird, though; Tenjo has a unique ability to transfer her soul to a new vessel, which she eventually does this by hopping her soul into what would later become Bang's Nox Nyctores; the Phoenix: Rettenjo. At the time, however, she was already occupying a vessel which, as she told Jin, was "something that consumes death," and a "'puppet' that will give birth to 'death'." Jin even comments she looks exactly like Saya before Tenjo eventually died. And sure enough, after her death, her body is collected by none other than Yuuki Terumi.
So this could either mean one of two things; Tenjo is a Saya clone, or Izanami's soul is currently occupying Tenjo's former vessel.
The dude can revive Takamagahara. I'm almost certain this was why he wanted Carl so much.
There are a few similarities between some of Jubei and Ragna's attacks, specifically the following:
- Form III: Wild Lion - Nightmare Edge & Belial Edge: All of them are multi-hit downward aerials.
- Form II: Demon Fox - Gauntlet Hades: Sort of similar, only Ragna adds an extra hit to his.
- Fissuring Impact (his BBTAG reversal) - Inferno Divider: Granted these can be compared to any Dragon Punch-esque move, but the fact that both can be two-part (three-part in Ragna's case) upward attacks is a bit coincidental.
- Thousand Hands: Roaring Pillar - Carnage Scissors: Both are rushdown Distortion Drives with additional hits upon connecting.
We never knew much about his parents, did we...?