Main Characters
Civilians, Rokuhara Shogunate, General Headquarters, Unaffiliated People, Tsurugi And Cruxes, Past Characters
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General Tropes
Tsurugi and Cruxes are the names of the armored suits wielded by soldiers all around the world. First discovered in the Middle Ages, they quickly spread around the world to become the most prominent tools for war, due to their versatility and vast powers.
- Awesome, but Impractical: With the advent of kazu'uchi/Red Cruxes, which as mentioned below can be produced in the hundreds for every shin'uchi/Blood Crux, the latter are slowly being pushed into specialized positions rather than in the front lines of the battlefield.
- The Blacksmith: All shin'uchi are made by skilled blacksmiths who forged themselves into the armor as their last acts in life.
- Effective Knockoff: Shin'uchi/Blood Cruxes are those created with the sacrifice of a blacksmith, and the mass-produced kazu'uchi/Red Cruxes are made by sacrificing human clones instead. The former are far more powerful and have perks like a Healing Factor, independent intelligence, and shinogi/lawbreakers (special techniques), but the latter are still strong enough to do the things a tsurugi is meant for just fine in most cases and some may even be designed to improve upon aspects of the original shin'uchi. Also, the kazu'uchi don't require members of a Dying Race to destroy themselves to create, so they can be produced en masse and with greater specialization. Racing cruxes, for example, are kazu'ichi which have been designed for pure speed and relatively skimpy armor for the protection of their pilot, and thus in racing can handily beat the "superior" shin'uchi whose blacksmiths who designed with combat in mind.
- Flight: The only tsurugi which can't do this appear to be extremely specialized. In fact, most tsurugi combat takes place in the air, as gravity allows them to put more force into their attacks.
- Healing Factor: Given time, a shin'uchi can repair itself with remarkable speed, a property it conveys upon the person bonded to it whether they're inside it or not—but particularly when they're inside it. Given time this can repair even all-but-destroyed limbs such as a fried arm or restore even completely severed limbs! The musha can also just stick the limb back on (if possible) and the healing goes to work. Kageaki says that the only difference between any wound which doesn't kill a musha and a scrape is the amount of time it takes to heal. A kazu'uchi, on the other hand, cannot heal itself, or does so so slowly/in such a limited fashion that waiting for major damage to repair itself is pointless and its ability to repair its user seems more limited from context (though still present).
- Healing Hands: If the pilot inside is wounded, a shin'uchi may divert power towards healing them. Surprisingly, dialogue indicates that a bond with a kazu'uchi can help its pilot recover from injuries a little more quickly as well, especially when they're inside it.
- Human Resources: All the true Tsurugi and Cruxes are made from a smith forging the armor, wearing it while it is still white hot and then quenching in special water, merging smith and armor into one, giving them their incredible traits. The mass production units are exempt from this however.
- In a Single Bound: Even without using their flight, a tsurugi can jump above the treetops.
- Innate Night Vision: It's mentioned at one point that a lack of light isn't a problem for a tsurugi's sight.
- Living Battery: They and any special techniques they have are powered by calories in the form of their bearer's body heat and (as one might expect) will shut down if their demands exceed the user's ability to provide.
- Living Program: As mentioned above, shin'uchi are crafted by blacksmiths who forge themselves into the armor. Allegedly, this reduces their consciousness to what amounts to a particularly smart OS. In practice, many of the shin'uchi we see in the story demonstrate a great deal of independent intelligence and personality, though they apparently remain unable to directly act against their masters' will.
- Magic Enhancement: The bearer of a shin'uchi gets a dramatic enhancement to their physical abilities. Its unclear if a kazu'uchi user gets these benefits, but if so certainly not to an equal degree.
- No-Sell: The pilot inside a tsurugi is immune to a shin'uchi's shinogi. This even applies to shinogi with godlike power such as Ginseigo's.
- Power Armor: They are all powerful armors that are both near impervious to contemporary weapons and greatly boosts the wearers strength.
- Super-Empowering: Bonding with a shin'uchi grants the user a small degree of the shin'uchi's power, allowing them to use the shin'uchi's shinogi through their own body, telepathy with the shin'uchi, and a healing factor at the very least.
- Super-Senses: Tsurugi have telescopic vision, a degree of infrared vision and radar at the least. The master of a shin'uchi, at least, can make use of some of these sensory abilities for themself when not armored.
- Synchronization: A tsurugi and its musha are one. No matter the distance, they may share senses.
- Telepathy: Once a shin'uchi and its master complete the Rite of Joining, they may communicate mentally over any distance. Technically, it's due to subsonic vibrations of the master's throat for sending messages to the tsurugi and vibration of the small bones of their ear for receiving messages blah blah, but in practice it might as well just be telepathy. This bond is strong enough to allow the shin'uchi's pilot to somewhat assume direct control over the tsurugi if necessary, and at least one outright mind controls its user. It's unclear if kazu'uchi have something similar.
Shinkai
Inoue Shinkai
Armored Form
- "How might I call forth the moon from my soul?/
That its light may shepherd the lost through the darkness."
The Tsurugi wielded by Suzukawa Ryobu.
- Animal Motifs: Centipedes.
- Blood Magic: He can control blood, both of the one wearing him and that of other people. Technically all liquids, but blood gets the most use.
- Creepy Centipedes: He takes the form of a centipede when in animal mode as well as having a general centipede motif in armor form. He is introduced in the hands of a crazed serial killer. Notably however, what we see of Shinkai's personality would seem to belie this, as he appears to an honorable warrior.
- Face Death with Dignity: When it becomes clear that he will be slain by Muramasa Shinkai decides to take his coming demise in good graces and asks that his wielder does the same.
- Fallen Hero: Both Kageaki and Muramasa make note of the accolades Shinkai earned due to its excellent design and performance and note what a shame it is that it ended up with a schmuck like Suzukawa. There are a few vague hints that Shinkai isn't pleased with the arrangement either.
- Grail in the Garbage: Shinkai is an incredibly valuable Tsurugi that Ryobu simply happened to stumble across gathering dust in the old school building. At least, as far as he knows. Soramichi actually put it there for him to find.
- Lost in Translation: The meaning of his chants for his shinogi are lost when brought to English as they are phrases relying on Japanese homophones and word plays, something that is impossible to translate.
- Making a Splash: More precisely, Shinkai's powers allows its user to control any type of fluid in small quantities. First exemplified when he uses his power to control people's blood, thus turning them into People Puppets. The user can also control their own blood to boost their abilities, but cannot affect armored Musha. When given a Next Tier Power-Up by Ginseigo, he's able to control the sea itself to create geysers and tornadoes.
- Red Baron: "The Masamune of Osaka". "The Lord of Izumi".
- Stone Wall: Shinkai is sturdy even as far as Tsurugi go which allows him to take multiple clean hits from Kageaki in spite of having an incompetent pilot. Being empowered by one of Ginseigo's eggs with a piece of Muramasa's nodachi helps boost its already considerable defenses as well.
- Worthy Opponent: Ryobu's narration notes that when assessing Muramasa to be one of these, its voice held a note of genuine emotion. Later Shinkai gushes a little over Muramasa and has to be chastised into shutting up by Ryoubu.
- You Didn't Ask: Shinkai knows the basics of Tsurugi combat but never told Ryobu anything about it as he never asked about it.
Gassan
Gassan Jusanmi
Armored Form
- "Six realms of desire we roam: Naraka, Preta, Tiryagyoni, Manusya, Asura, Deva!"/
"Four realms of enlightenment we seek: Sravaka, Pratyeka, Bodhisattva, Buddha!"/
"Death brings life and life brings death! Death is life and life is death! Ten realms in life and ten in death!"
The Tsurugi wielded by Fuma Kotaro.
- Animal Motifs: Monkeys.
- The Dividual: Gassan is actually three different Tsurugi working in tandem with each other, the others being Haguro and Yudono, with the others focusing on supporting the main combat unit.
- Fragile Speedster: Not the most durable thing around nor the most agile, but speed its got and then some.
- Foreshadowing: One which requires a little understanding of Japanese culture. Gassan in a sacred mountain of the former Dewa province. One of three sacred mountains.
- Invisibility: Gassan's Shinogi is able to make it invisible not only in visible light, but to radar as well. It will only be visible in infrared light. And as most Tsurugi are poorly equipped to see in the infrared, this ability is considered a pretty big Game-Breaker in universe, especially with combat being focused on one on one duels. Even more so in that it seems to hardly drain its pilot at all. The source of this is revealed to actually be the result of three Tsurugi working in tandem with one doing the fighting and the other two using their Shinogi to conceal the combatant.
- Red Baron: Wolf of Seisho, Outlaw of Soshu.
- Super-Speed: Incredibly fast and capable of outrunning Muramasa despite being designed roughly a thousand years before.
- Theme Naming: The three tsurugi are named after the three sacred mountains of Dewa.
- They Don't Make Them Like They Used To: Zigzagged. As mentioned, it's one of the oldest tsurugi around. Forged by the Moksha, engineering pioneers who innovated the art of designing armor for improved acceleration, Muramasa is amazed by how well-engineered the work of her forebears is...but points out that designing for actual aerial combat started after the Moksha. Just because they understood speed, didn't mean they understood maneuverability, she says, which she and Kageaki demonstrate by taking away his aerial advantage.
- Zero-Effort Boss: Haguro and Yudono, the two support Tsurugi that fight alongside Gassan are quickly dispatched of once Kageaki sees through the ruse.
Avenger
Avenger
- "Grant me wings, that I may touch the sky/
"Grant me wings, that I may chase the wind/
"Grant me wings, that I may dance with the birds/
"Grant me wings, such that sky, wind, and bird shall look upon with envy./
"My wings will render all else meaningless. They will be dust in my wake, a distant fading memory/
"For this is not love./
This is revenge./
"Let the sky loath me, the wind revile me, and the birds tremble in fear. Let them shed tears of grief as they cry my name."/
"Avenger in the Blue."
The customized racing Dragoon piloted by Oji Misao.
- Crippling the Competition: The pilot has a secret trick which permits them to flip a panel of Avenger's armor to become reflective and blind an opposing pilot. Misao is extremely reluctant to use this, but Suguru pressures her into it.
- Lethal Joke Character: While Avenger initially seems like a complete joke of a machine with its somewhat low speed and wobbly handling, it soon reveals itself to be pretty much a bullet on the track.
- Super-Speed: It is a tsurugi built for nothing but raw speed, able to even take sharp corners at high speed with little issue.
- What a Piece of Junk: The initial reactions to those seeing it for the first time can be likened to bewilderment as it looks almost slapdash compared to other racing cruxes. However, this look comes about simply from a downright obsessive desire for speed, using whatever crazy parts and design applications to achieve this goal.
Arahabaki
Arahabaki
A secret weapon hidden by the Rokuhara Shogunate, in fact an ancient model of Tsurugi appearing as a towering steel giant which can only be piloted by another tsurugi.
- Black Box: Rokuharan scientists tried to study the original tsurugi that forms the core of it in order to improve kazu'uchi, to no avail.
- Deflector Shields: Of a sort, it is able to use electromagnetism as a barrier to trap any tsurugi that get too close to its few weak point.
- Flight: It's so big it looks like it can't, but that's how it gets around.
- Human Resources: Like all tsurugi it requires the calories and body heat of its pilot to function, and with its massive size, even more so. The scientists of Enoshima simply got around this by installing cages with captured people as batteries to fuel this titan.
- Humongous Mecha: Unlike other tsurugi that are just slightly larger than a man, this one is a hulking behemoth dwarfing anything near it.
- Mana Burn: Its shinogi is a freezing wind that saps the heat and strength of unprotected targets and uses them to charge its batteries. In the case of a musha caught unarmored, this reduces their ability to power their tsurugi.
- Meta Mecha: The thing is so large that the only way to control it is with another tsurugi.
- Mighty Glacier: Incredibly slow and lumbering compared to any other tsurugi, but is packing so much firepower and has such thick defenses that it is able to act as a mobile turret.
- More Dakka: The thing is covered head to toe in turrets and gatling guns, something it makes liberal use of against whatever opponent it might face. One gun might not take out a tsurugi, but a hundred?
- Resurrect the Wreck: The framework of Aharabaki is an ridiculously gigantic tsurugi from ancient times (called Omiutsushi by the locals) that was buried in a cave. After it was discovered eight years prior to the game, Rokuhara tried to figure out how it worked, gave up, and just stuck a crazy amount of guns and armor onto it instead.
- Victory by Endurance: Since its flight and Dragon's Breath drain a huge amount of energy, the best thing a pilot can do is simply out-dodge its attacks until its heat source runs out. Of course, most pilots and tsurugi would get barbecued well before that happened, but Kageaki and Muramasa are main characters.
- Wave-Motion Gun: The most powerful weapon in its arsenal is something called the Dragons Breath, a cannon that takes advantage of an inherent function in all tsurugi and uses it to literally melt its foes. There had been attempts to create it in the past with limited success mostly due to the size required. As Arahabaki is so big to begin with, the size requirement became a non issue.
Ascalon VII
Ascalon VII
Armored Form
- "Sacrosanct!"
The Blood Crux wielded by George Gargett.
- Animal Motifs: Between the mane-like flourishes and the horn, it seems modeled after a unicorn, possibly a winged one.
- BFS: Takes the shape of a huge sword when inactive.
- Effective Knockoff: Stated to be a copy of the original Ascalon, less expensive but no less powerful.
- Red Baron: It bears the same one as the original Ascalon: Dragon Slayer.
- The Worf Effect: George doesn't have much opportunity to use it, right before being turned into Ginseigo's spawn and subsequently killed by Kageaki.
Aoe
Aoe Sadatsugu
Armored Form
The Tsurugi wielded by an unnamed individual holding the second to last piece of Muramasa's Nodachi.
- Ax-Crazy: Relishes in murder and messing with peoples heads.
- Body Motifs: Unlike most other tsurugi that are based on animals, he is based on human faces, smiling faces specifically.
- Card-Carrying Villain: A serial killer who wants to be called a demon and is violently trying to steal the title counts, right?
- Demonic Possession: Fully took hold over his wielder.
- Evil Is Petty: Apparently the reason he attacks Muramasa is because he wants to lay claim to the title of "demon".Muramasa: "...We all have our dreams, I suppose, but this is the first time anyone has ever envied me for that. If you want it, take it—is what I'd like to say, but not if it means losing to the likes of you!"
- Evil Laugh: "Ka! Ka! Kakakakakakaka!" and "Kakakaaaaa!" These are actually phrases used to activate his shinogi.
- Fusion Dance: A mental version. All of Aoe's pilots' minds end up fusing with it to the point where there is no difference between them.
- Green and Mean: A tsurugi than manipulates its owners into becoming Serial Killers, and it's mostly green in color.
- Master of Illusion: By using his Shinogi he is able to create all kinds of illusions to mess with opponents. Since this doesn't affect the pilot of a tsurugi directly, it's immune to the No-Sell mentioned above.
- Mind Control: According to Muramasa, Aoe is a tsurugi which deceives its masters twists their hearts and leads them to kill women and children. From the phrasing, it may be More than Mind Control.
- Mind Rape: His Shinogi messes with peoples minds, digging up either unpleasant or pleasant memories to break his targets.
- Perpetual Smiler: The armor of him is designed with smiling faces built in, most notably the helmet has a giant grin permanently plastered on.
- Red Baron: Grinning Aoe
- Serial Killer: After taking over his hosts, he would go on killing sprees, until Kageaki put an final end to him.
- Stone Wall: He's got exceptionally resilient armor, particularly with Ginseigo's egg inside him.
Umaya-shu
Umaya-shu
A elite unit of bodyguards specialized in camouflage and covert operations for the Rokuhara Shogunate.
- Elite Mooks: Well trained and use far more advanced tsurugi than what the rank and file use.
- Flight: Their maneuverability is much better than that of a typical tsurugi, allowing them to make short flights indoors without splattering themselves on the ceiling or walls.
- Praetorian Guard: They are far more dangerous than the usual Dragoon's and serve as the personal guards of the royalty.
- Stealth Expert: They all make use of stealth techniques to get the jump on their foe. While not as advanced as what the Europeans have, it is more than enough if standing still.
Masamune
Soshu Masamune
Original Form
Armored Form
- "Where there are demons,"/
"I slay them."/
"Where there is evil,"/
"I smite it."/
"Mine is the Way of the Sword!"/
- Anachronism Stew: As pointed out by Kageaki, it is very strange for Masamune, a tsurugi from the 12th century, to have a cannon hidden under his arm as those weren't invented until much later.
- Animal Motifs: Beetles.
- Arm Cannon: One of his seven tools is a cannon hidden underneath his arm that fires an iron grenade, a sort of shrapnel bomb. Unfortunately though, the explosion radius is larger than the cannons range meaning that Masamune and his wielder will also be caught in the blast.
- Bad with the Bone: Another one of his seven tools involve ripping out the hosts ribs straight out of their body and turning them into a literal cage to ensnare his foes.
- BFS: Unlike other tsurugi, he uses a kind of ōdachi, something far larger than what others use. It's mentioned that he was likely one of the first tsurugi to use an oversized sword, likely in response to the Mongols' thick armor. It's also called a zanbato, or "horse-killer", which ought to tell you everything you need to know about its intended function.
- Black-and-White Insanity: To him, shades of grey do not exist. It is either, they are an enemy and is evil and must be slain or they are the rest who are good.
- Body Horror: Masamune's various tools all use the hosts body as a recourse, stripping flesh, bone and metal or causing it all to boil. All as a means to get at the enemy. Reaches the absolute peak with the Final Tool that is straight up an Eldritch Transformation.
- Confusion Fu: Thanks to his seven tools and usage of those going beyond any measure of sanity makes him a very tricky and unpredictable opponent to fight.
- Counter-Attack: His shinogi requires any opponent to attack him first, but then allows him to copy that attack and use it against them.
- Cynicism Catalyst: He was originally just a simple blacksmith who had no intention on sticking around for a war. "One ruler is as good as another" according to him. This changed after he saw the nature of the Mongols and the sheer cruelty they engaged in. This changed him on such a deep level that he became obsessed with justice.
- Death or Glory Attack: His shinogi is incredibly risky to use as while it can be an incredibly powerful reversal tool, it also requires him to be hit by an enemy shinogi first which of course means that if it lands true, he wont be making any counterattack regardless of copying ability.
- Did Not Think This Through: His obsession with justice never led him to think about the lives of those left behind in his bloody wake. As such when confronted with the unexpected consequences of one slaying, he nearly goes catatonic.
- Eldritch Transformation: His final tool is one born from his and Ichijo's utter determination in how heroes never die, causing their bodies to fuse and turn into some kind of fleshy monstrosity that Muramasa can only label as something "other" and allowing them to keep on fighting despite the grievous wound they just received.
- Enemy Mine: This is how he sees the mission to assassinate Kuniuji. A temporary matter of working with Kageaki and Muramasa to stop a greater evil before executing them for their murders. He tries to gently warn Ichijo that they're demons and will inevitably betray her, but she simply says she'll kill Kageaki herself if that happens.
- Finger Firearms: The fifth tool fires small dagger like projectiles from the user's fingers. Given the how the other tools cannibalize the bearer's body, they probably are sharp metal-sheathed fingers.
- Foil: In many ways he is the complete opposite of Muramasa.
- For Great Justice: It only allows those with a strong sense of justice to wield it, as such it ends up a perfect fit for Ichijo.
- Gutted Like a Fish: Weaponized. His sixth tool makes use of the wearers own intestines as makeshift lassos to snare his foes.
- Heroic BSoD: The reveal to him of what his actions had brought about in causing the deaths of innocents hits him so hard that he almost quite literally breaks down right then and there. Only Ichijo's determination to carry on snaps him out of it.
- Hot Blade: One of his seven tools involves causing his blade to heat up to such degrees that it can melt through tsurugi armor. This is accomplished both by utilizing the wearer's heat and by extracting their fat cells, spreading them on the blade and setting them ablaze.
- Hot-Blooded: His two main moods are righteous anger at evildoers and triumphant glee at seeing them pay.
- Human Resources: He uses his musha's own flesh and bone to form weapons and ammunition, such as shooting off their fingertips sheathed in metal like arrows, or grappling foes by stretching out their metal-sheathed ribcage. He also cannibalizes his own armor to make these things, which thanks to Synchronization feels like the flesh is being ripped from the pilot's bones on top of everything else that happens. The Healing Factor helps keep them from dying, but it hurts every bit as much as much as you imagine."We use our own flesh because nothing is stronger! We do not spare ourselves for then our weapons would be weaker!"
- Knight Templar: The guy is thoroughly convinced in his own righteousness and will carry it through to the end, damn the consequences. He even goes into Tautological Templar territory on occasion.
- Logical Weakness: Never having been used for 700 years means nothing ever challenged the beliefs that Masamune's very existence is based upon. When confronted with the fact that his fight for justice has cost the lives and happiness of innocents, he nearly shatters. Literally.
- Mutual Kill: Sort of half'n half. In the end of the Hero route he ends up dying alongside Kageaki following their final duel. Ichijo and Muramasa survive.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After learning that his slaying of Yusa Doshin indirectly led to the deaths of his concubine and her unborn child, he's paralyzed with horror and shame at having been responsible for an atrocity like those of the Mongols he was brought into being to oppose.
- Power Copying: His shinogi, Karmic Balance: Divine Retribution, allows him to copy any other shinogi used against him. However, the current power of it is also copied, meaning if it is weaker than normal then the resulting copy will be weaker as well.
- Pretender Diss: He insults Muramasa as a murderous demon, claiming the blood of those she killed is an offensive stench and wondering why no tsurugi ever had to courage to slay such a murderous fiend such as she. Muramasa fires back that the only reason Masamune has no blood on his hands is because he was dormant for seven hundred years. If he'd had a musha qualified to wear him during the Warring States Era, his pristine beauty and morality would be just as sullied as everyone else's, and he has no idea what the people of that era suffered through. This enrages Masamune even more than usual.
- Red Baron: The First Under Heaven.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Originally in the war against the Mongols he simply planned to show up and then desert the battle in the confusion. This changed when he witnessed just how cruel the Mongols were.
- Too Awesome to Use: Between the fact that its sheer power and beauty meant that people were unwilling to sully it with blood and the exacting standards it required of its users, Masamune spent over seven hundred years without a bearer. And then Ichijo came along.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Ichijo Ayane was a girl who strongly believed in Black-and-White Morality and hated gray areas. She needed someone in her life to show her that things aren't always cut-and-dried. ...Enter Mr. Black-and-White Insanity here, who gives her both the power and encouragement to make all her dreams of punishing evil come true with none of the moral quandries.
- Ultimate Blacksmith: In life, he created and infused himself into a tsurugi despite not being of Emishi blood and the result was a weapon of such immaculate beauty and craftmanship that it awed everyone who laid their eyes upon it, incomparable to anything else. This however was also something of a detriment to himself as no one would or even could use it for it's purpose, either in fear of staining such a work of art or lacking the drive for justice he required.
- Unexpected Successor: As he was not an Emishi he was thus never taught the art of tsurugi smithing despite his skill and was refused at every turn to become an apprentice. This changed when the retainer of one family took him in, teaching him the art as he already had a lot of the prerequisites required for it, something that other spent their whole life to learn.
- The Unfettered: This guy somehow manages to have even less restraint than Ichijo, bordering on the brink on madness in the means how he will achieve victory.
- Wrong Context Magic: In a world where most tsurugi have only one shinogi to make use of, Masamune was a mad genius of a blacksmith who put seven "tools", weapons which bank of a tsurugi's ability to heal itself and its owner to cannibalize Masamune and his pilot's bodies in order to destroy his foes in addition to a powerful shinogi that turns a foe's own power against it into his armor. It's a feat unequaled by any other blacksmith.
Dotanuki
Dotanuki Masakuni
Original Form
Armored Form
- "Hell in the heavens!/
"Chaos on Earth!/
"Beneath my feet, a road paved with blood!/
- Animal Motifs: Turtles.
- Playing with Fire: Its shinogi allows for the control of fire, allowing for the use of all kinds of dangerous techniques.
- Mighty Glacier: Comparably slow when measured up against other tsurugi to the point that even the inexperienced Ichijo is able to repeatedly get the high ground advantage, however it more than makes up for it by being able to tank hits like no tomorrow and having some nasty tricks to deal some serious damage to an opponent. It is so sturdy in fact that in Nemesis the thing even survived a goddamn nuke.
- Shout-Out: A flying turtle that spits fire? This Gamera is not a friend to children!
- Spectacular Spinning: He uses a Kan-ryu spinning spear technique—by using a flexible spear run through a tube, one can spin it in a circular manner at impressive speeds, allowing for multiple thrusts striking a large circular area in one attack. This makes evasion (it's all over the place) and blocking (your sword gets knocked away) difficult. He even gets lucky and deflects Masamune's first iron bomb.
- Transforming Mecha: Well, Power Armor rather than mecha, but it is able to shift from its normal mode into a more heavily defended mode making it even harder to kill than it already was.
Shishiku's Tsurugi
Unnamed Tsurugi
Original Form
Armored Form
The unnamed Tsurugi wielded by Otori Shishiku.
- Animal Motifs: Stick insects.
- Chameleon Camouflage: Rather than regular invisibility it is able to blend into the background near seamlessly. While one can see the outline if they focus enough, it is still enough to throw off any would-be attacker and keep them guessing.
- In the Hood: Unlike so many other tsurugi, this one includes a hood in its design. Fitting for one fit for an assassin.
- No Name Given: It is never named, even when Kageaki asks for Shishiku to name it he simply refuses.
Burroughs
William Burroughs
Armored Form
The Blood Crux wielded by Otori Kanae.
- Arm Cannon: Well, giant crossbow, but the same end result.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Crossbows are infamous for their ability to pierce even the thickest armor at range, though at the tradeoff of a slow reload time.
- Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: Burroughs shinogi allows it to make use of one of Zeno's paradoxes, Achilles and the tortoise
, and make it real, continuously realigning the aim of whatever bolt it fires. The downside to this however is that it has both a wicked energy cost and that it requires superhuman eyes from the user to know both where the bolt and the enemy is at any given time. - Difficult, but Awesome: As Burroughs was supposed to surpass the original William Tell, its shinogi ended up near impossible to use. While the original simply had the bolt follow the eye, Burroughs makes Achilles and the Tortoise paradox real by constantly readjusting itself along infinite points between the start and the target. This requires both superhuman eyesight and reflexes as well as incredible spacial awareness. Kanae however it perfectly able to do all of this.
- Effective Knockoff: It is supposed to be a copy of the original William Tell, but made to be superior in every way.
- Instrument of Murder: In its inactive form it takes the shape of a cello. Playing a few strings transforms it into its main combat form.
- Mix-and-Match Weapon: Burroughs crossbow is designed to also be able to function as a shield.
- Orichalcum: It is made out of one of the three legendary materials used in western crux making, Orichalcum, which is said to have the best armor to weight ratio out of all materials in the world.
- Senseless Violins: Kanae keeps her Blood Crux inside a cello case when not in use. Played with though in that it takes the shape of a cello when inactive.
- William Telling: This armor is a copy of the one that originally carried the Trope Namer's name, so of course this happened in its past. Though unlike with the original, the one who piloted it at the time hit the throat of his volunteer rather than the apple.
Guts Eider
Guts Eider
Armored Form
A strange Red Crux met by Kageaki during Nemesis, who quickly antagonizes him.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Guts Eider has a cannon hidden in its chest that fires HVAP rounds, one of the only ranged weapons only recently invented that could hope to pierce a tsurugi. The only reason those things aren't more prevalent is due to the required tungsten core being in short supply.
- Body Horror: The pilots' bodies are integrated into the armor, to the point that blood starts flowing whenever they combine. Since even red cruxes can heal their pilots that means that whatever happens to their body inside the armor is repaired when they separate and then the wounds are ripped/torn/smashed again when they join. Yeesh!
- Chainsaw Good: After Kageaki manages to disarm it, the thing just pulls out a giant chainsaw and continues its assault. He almost regrets having made it drop the axe afterwards.
- Chest Blaster: Has a cannon hidden inside the chest that fires armor piercing rounds.
- Combat Pragmatist: Guts Eider fights as a blind berserker only set on the kill and thus is not shy of any kind of dirty tactic.Kageaki: I should have known. My enemy's devilish aspect. It isn't just some madman's flight of fancy. It is a message, a declaration: that here is one who holds nothing sacred, a beast for whom honor is naught but a joke.
- Combining Mecha: A rather wicked version of this, being piloted by four people acting as individual body parts.
- Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Kageaki first encounters Guts Eider when it appears out of nowhere with no foreshadowing after Kanae tells him to hurry to Prince Haruhiro's side.
- High-Pressure Blood: Whenever its parts fuse together, there's a gush of blood from the point of fusion.
- Incoming Ham: When it first appears it does so while shouting at the top of it's lungs "LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO BOOM!"
- Outside-Context Problem: Kanae could never have predicted that this thing would almost literally drop in from nowhere and throw her attempts at revenge completely off.
- Poisoned Weapons: The axe that Guts Eider is tipped with tetrodotoxin, something commonly found in fugu. The mere fact that the weapon is poisoned tells Kageaki that this is a foe that cares jack shit of things such as honor. It just wants him dead.
- The Reveal: After Kageaki defeats it for the final time it is revealed that it is piloted by those who had lost loved ones thanks to him. Suffice to say, he doesn't take this revelation all that well.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: All four of the pilots are out for Kageaki's blood due to him killing those near and dear to them.
- Shout-Out: It's deliberately designed to look like a silly robot from a 70s mecha anime.
- Spanner in the Works: Kanae had intended to lure Kageaki to her side in order to carry out her revenge only for this thing to appear out of nowhere and throw the whole thing out of whack.
- Talkative Loon: Is constantly shouting utter nonsense whenever it tries to speak.
- Unskilled, but Strong: This thing is all force no finesse, relying on its overwhelming might to subdue its foes.
- Villainous RRoD: The things biggest weakness is that it simply uses so much power that the fights against it always ends by it simply burning itself out.
Bathory
Bathory
- "Behold. An iron maiden before you—naked—rouged with blood!"
The peculiar crux wielded by Sayo Nagakura.
- Armor-Piercing Attack: Bathory easily pierces the armor of kazu'uchi/red cruxes. It even manages to take effect through Aharabaki's armor!
- Crippling Overspecialization: Downplayed. Bathory doesn't fly, doesn't enhance the users, and barely protects them. What it does do is shoot a mass of long, thorny vines which break through the targets' armor and drains their very life away to grant the user unnatural youth and vitality.
- Fountain of Youth: Bathory uses the life energy it steals to youthen its user.
- Tricked-Out Gloves: Bathory takes the form of these when activated.
- Vampiric Draining: Bathory drains both the blood and the life of the user's foes, restoring its bearer's youth and vitality.
- Vine Tentacles: Bathory attacks with a large number of these, which tear through armor and move quickly enough to take tsurugi users off-guard.
Higekiri
Higekiri
Armored Form
The Tsurugi wielded by Ashikaga Moriuji.
- Bling of War: An old tsurugi wielded by the shogun and is lined with golden highlights to reflect this.
- Cool Horse: It takes the shape of a horse when in animal mode.
- Really 700 Years Old: Seen as old even as far as tsurugi goes, so old in fact than no one really knows how this thing was even forged.
Hizamaru
Hizamaru
Armored Form
The Tsurugi wielded by Imagawa Raicho.
- Bling of War: This thing manages to be even more extravagant than the one of his fathers, being golden top to bottom, fitting of its wielders narcissistic disposition.
- Synchronization: Hizamaru and Higekiri were supposedly forged from the very same fire and when one is damaged then the other will show similar signs as if it was hurt as well. Raicho was able to use this to deduce that Chachamaru had killed his father as she is the only one who uses weapons that would leave such distinct marks.
Daughters of Stardust
Daughters of Stardust
Eight unmanned and autonomous Tsurugi created by Ginseigo near the end of the story, whom she considers her "children" and who share some of its power.
- Badass Creed: The leader of the eight has once that she loves to recite:I am destiny. I am fate. I am the border between life and death.
I am the End of All Things! - Early-Bird Cameo: One of them makes a brief appearance on Enoshima Island before being killed by either Kageaki or Hikaru as well as being briefly referenced in the Hero epilogue, long before they get their more proper introduction.
- Elite Mooks: They are all pieces of the original Ginseigo and as such are all almost as strong and difficult to take down as her.
- King Mook: While seven of them are identical, one of them is slightly different and is far stronger than her peers and serves as the commander for the group.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: They all have some rather threatening names fitting their origin. Fire Bone, Star Horn, Cat's Claw, Tail Biter, Scalpel, Singing Death, Storm Bringer and The End of All Things.
- Odd Name Out: The exception to the Names to Run Away from Really Fast rule is the first one she makes: Grey Wand
- Psychopathic Manchild: The entire bunch of them act as playful children, playful children that wants to play about murder and genocide.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It is never specified what happened to them after the final battle. The epilogue of Ichijo's route reveals that they can very much function without Ginseigo and both Ichijo and Kanae were shown alive and well in the ending so what happened to them is up in the air.
Type- 88
Type-88
A mass-produced (kazu'uchi) model produced for Rokuhara Navy Commanders, this is an antiquated but still powerful design.
- Awesome, but Impractical: High-ranking officers tend to remove the machine guns which come standard, relying upon their superior sword training and the enhanced physical qualities of the armor.
- Elite Mook: Reserved for commanders, these are much better than rank-and-file kazu'ichi, but still no physical match for shin'uchi armor, though an experienced or well-trained user can close the gap.
- Mighty Glacier: Downplayed. Type-88s focus on heightened power and durability over speed and agility, but both of the latter are still average for powered armor.
- So Last Season: They're being replaced on the field by Type-94s by the time of the story.
Type- 90
Type-90
- 'My life for the Empire."
The army's equivalent of the Type-88, this is the favored model of Ichizo Soramichi, whose fighting skills more than make up for its obsolescence.
- Jack of All Trades: Considered more versatile than the Type-88, it's still in wide use by the time of the story.
- So Last Season: Like the Type-88, it's considered outdated, though still useful.
- Transforming Mecha: Takes on the form of a monobike in its unequipped state.
