Characters / Arknights Guards A To H

Arknights Characters
Operators: Vanguards (A-M | N-Z) | Snipers (A-M | N-Z) | Guards (A-H | I-Q | R-Z) | Defenders (A-M | N-Z) | Casters (A-G | H-M | N-Z) | Medics (A-M | N-Z) | Supporters (A-M | N-Z) | Specialists (A-M | N-Z)
Factions: Rhodes Island | The Reunion Movement | Dublinn | The Military Commission of Kazdel | Allied Factions | Enemy Factions | Miscellaneous factions & characters | Nation States (A-M | N-Z) | Enemy Units Index

Akafuyu

Akafuyu

Introduced: Under Tides
Voiced by: Yumi Uchiyama (Japanese), Lu Xiaotong (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English), Kim Yul (Korean)
Artist: Kumatangent

If you trust in her blade, she'll trust in you.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Epoque: Temperament skin.}

Higashi swordbearer Akafuyu, the Nobukage-ryu disciple.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 475

Subclass: Soloblade

Tags: Survival, DPS

Skills: Shinkage-ryu - Kaminari-gatana no Zei, Shinkage-ryu - Juumonji Masaru

Talents: Shinkage-ryu - Hatobu

Affiliation: Higashi

Race: Aegir

Birthday: March 27

Height: 176cm

"Akafuyu, a swordsman, and the strongest you'll find. Taking a fancy to my katana? I will never set my katana down wheresoever I go. Haha, you better keep your distance if you are scared."

A highly proficient swordswoman from Higashi with a unique fighting style. One of the conflicts she participated in saw her on the opposite side from Shirayuki, and thus she does not trust the ninja.

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• Animal Motifs: Japanese Spider Crab, as shown in her E2 Art. And yes, the size it is in that image is only barely exaggerated◊.
• Cast from Hit Points: Upon activating her second skill, Akafuyu will instantly lose 50% of her current HP in exchange for going into overdrive, gaining massive ATK and DEF buffs while also gaining a shield that blocks the next hit. While this works in her favor given that she attacks faster as she loses health, it also leaves her highly vulnerable to being killed off quickly if used at a poor time, even discounting her shield and inflated defense. Her module partially alleviates this, by giving her immediately a 25% reduction on all damage she receives once she hits half HP.
• Colorful Theme Naming: 'Red Winter'. Funnily enough, this is reminiscent of Shirayuki ('White Snow').
• Four-Star Badass: She was actually once a full fledged general in Higashi and led her own force up until she was exiled.
• Handicapped Badass: Her eyesight is poor to the point where she's known for randomly bumping into things when off duty. Her other senses are honed enough to make her a terrifying warrior regardless, but she still gets angry if it's brought up. This is a reference to how many deep-sea crabs have impaired vision. Her Epoque: Temperament skin indicates she eventually does get a vision prescription and glasses to deal with the problem.
• Heroic Bastard: She is the illegitimate daughter of one of Higashi's ruling lords and isn't afraid to admit it, but she doesn't have any particular love or admiration for her blood father.
• Hidden Depths: Despite her dedication to being a warrior, she is still aware of the importance of leisure time and is actually quite knowledgable on fashion trends and is extremely skilled at video games despite her poor vision.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: She trains her reflexes by playing fighting and rhythm games, and is known to be extraordinarily good at them.
• Noodle Incident: It's heavily implied Akafuyu and Shirayuki were on opposing sides in Higashi's civil war, which is why HR recommends neither of them meet in person.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: She gets particularly offended if you point out her poor eyesight, insisting it's perfectly fine and then challenging you to a duel to prove it.
• You Have Failed Me: Publicly, Akafuyu was exiled from Higashi due to falling into an enemy trap, despite escaping from it unscathed. However, the real reason was her master wanted her to find a different path from war and arranged for her to be transferred to Rhodes Island.

Amiya

Amiya

Introduced: Episode 8: Roaring Flare
Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa (Japanese), Dian Tao (Mandarin Chinese), Emma Ballantine (English), Lee Ji-hyeon (Korean)
Artist: Wéi@W

^{Click to see her CASC: Touch the Stars skin.}

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 2

Subclass: Arts Fighter

Tags: DPS, Support

Skills: Ying Xiao - Fleeting Night, Ying Xiao - Shadowless

Talents: Wrathful Cerulean Flame

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Cautus-Sarkaz Chimera

Birthday: December 23

Height: 142cm

"Doctor, it's so good to see you. My appearance? Um, please don't be afraid... I can explain this. But don't worry, Doctor. Whatever happens, I won't ever let you come to harm. I swear it."

The leader and public face of Rhodes Island, in a transformed state achieved by breaking one of her rings and taking on the memories and powers of an ancient Sarkaz warlord.

This folder is for tropes relating to her gameplay role as a Guard operator. For tropes related to her default Caster version and story role, see Arknights Casters.

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• Anti-Magic: With her first skill, in addition to getting an ATK buff and making her attacks hit twice for its duration, she gains a whopping 60% Arts evasion to make most Arts damage fail to even hit her.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Not only does final blow of her second skill deals a large amount of true damage, it causes all her basic attacks to do true damage for the remainder of its duration, giving her 30-odd seconds where she hits like a freight train no matter who her target is.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Amiya's S2, Ying Xiao - Shadowless looks flashy and has a whole slew of powerful effects, starting with a massive Arts damage nuke which follows with a temporary buff that converts her attacks to True damage, as well as granting a huge ATK and RES buff per target slain by the initial attack up to a cap of three. However, it comes with the drawback of only being used once per battle, meaning it cannot be used again even if Amiya is redeployed. This also means she can only double the effect of her Talent, Wrathful Cerulean Flame, once per battle. This means the skill is only at its most effective if Amiya is able to kill three Mooks with the skill then attack a dangerous foe such as a boss or elite afterwards with her ATK/RES buff and True damage, which also means the damage of the nuke is being spread between multiple targets. While the skill can be devastating with buff support and allow Amiya to obliterate bosses solely with her own DPS, her Caster form's S3 Chimera while having its own restrictions is generally considered a much more reliable source of True damage between its range and ability to be used more than once per battle.
• Ditto Fighter: By looking into Ch'en's memory, Amiya ends up copying Ch'en's sword and skill.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Amiya is the first operator who is granted an alternate form. A similar mechanic would be later featured for operators such as Lava and Skadi who gained an alternate "Diversity" versions of themselves in Lava the Purgatory and Skadi the Corrupting Heart, respectively. Unlike the Diversity operators however, Amiya's alternate forms occupy the same character slot instead of both having their own slot. As a result, a "Class Conversion" button can be found in Amiya's profile which can allow her to switch between her Caster and Guard form, replacing the "Promotion" button.
• Flash Step: Like Ch'en's third skill, her second skill has her teleport around to deliver a crippling series of slashes to the lowest-HP enemies unfortunate enough to be near her.
• Kill Streak: During the initial barrage from her second skill, Amiya will gain a stacking ATK and RES buff for each enemy she kills, up to 3. This can give her up to +40% ATK and +20 RES per stack - not only does this let her shrug off Arts damage, but combined with her now doubled talent buff and her doing true damage for the next 30 seconds or so, an attack from Amiya will hurt.
• Leitmotif: Wrathful Cerulean Flame. An excerpt plays during her Class Conversion cutscene in Chapter 8, with a full version later released on a soundtrack CD. Notably, this song shares a name with her Talent, which was translated as Azure Fury in the English script.
• Loophole Abuse: In Intergrated Strategies from Phantom and Crimson Solitaire onwards, since Amiya still counts as one and the same operator due to being on a Stance System unlike the other operators with Alter units such as Kroos and Lava, Amiya in guard form can still be recruited under the Caster recruitment voucher. This makes her automatically promoted with the Tactical Assault Operative (Promoted Guards and Vanguards) and Tactical Destruction Operative (Promoted Casters and Specialists) starting squads and in the latter, she can still be recruited while Promoted with the Guard recruitment ticket.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
  • Amiya currently is the only character that can switch classes. Hypergryph confirms that no other character will have this ability. However, the "Diversity" or "Alter" mechanic granted to certain Operators, such as Lava and Skadi, has a similar functionality.
  • Similar to her Caster version, Amiya's attacks can deal True Damage, which very few operators are capable of.
  • Amiya's second skill, Ying Xiao - Shadowless, can only be cast once a battle.
  • In the Integrated Strategies mode, Amiya is the only character who can be recruited/uncapped from Caster or Guard Recruitment Vouchers once she unlocks her Guard class, by changing her class from her Operator page.
• Moveset Clone:
  • Her first skill, Ying Xiao - Fleeting Night makes her auto-attacks dual-strike and the nature of her second skill makes her very similar to Ch'en, which makes sense since Amiya read Ch'en's mind to replicate Chi Xiao and her sword techniques in order to gain this form.
  • Her presence on the battlefield buffs multiple friendly operators, similar to Dobermann and Swire.
  • Her first skill is almost identical to Hellagur's Half Moon skill, but with 60% Arts evasion rather than 75% physical evasion.
• Necessary Drawback: Ying Xiao - Shadowless is extremely powerful, but can only be used once per map. Unlike her Caster form's Chimera, not even retreating and redeploying Amiya can get around this. On the upside, Amiya will still remain on the battlefield afterward.
• Power Of Hate: When she taps into the power of the Lord of Fiends to forge the Ying Xiao, she taps into the memory of an ancient Sarkaz warrior who lamented the loss of his family, killed through betrayal. Her profile reveals that he was the Sarkaz King Kollam, who slaughtered those who betrayed him without mercy and his quest for vengeance made him so wretched and empty, he killed himself in the end. His bitterness slightly influences Amiya, explaining her more somber personality in this form.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Amiya gains this form after she witnesses the entire RI-Reunion conflict, and her voice lines are considerably more serious and somber to match all the things she's seen.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Amiya's sword is made of pure Arts. Based on her profile, forging weapon using Arts is the characteristic power of those who ascended Kazdel throne.
• Stance System: Amiya gains the ability to swap classes between her default Caster kit and the new Guard set in the Roaring Flare update. This has to be done prior to the battle starting, only either of the class sets can be used at any given time, and it requires Amiya to have been promoted to Elite 2 to unlock.
• Status Buff: She grants all allies on the map (including herself) +7% ATK and DEF, which doubles to +14% if her skill is up.

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Arene

Arene

Introduced: Rewinding Breeze
Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Japanese), Feng Xiu (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English)
Artist: _umo_yszx

Don't come too close. It's dangerous.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see his Cambrian: Casual skin.}

^{Click to see his Unveiling of Devotion: Dangerous Invitation skin.}

Vanguard Operator Arene, always taking pleasure in toying with his enemies on the field.

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 271

Subclass: Lord

Tags: DPS

Skills: Just Kidding, Deadly Prank

Talents: Structural Decomposition

Affiliation: Laterano

Race: Sankta

Birthday: September 7

Height: 161cm

"Codename Arene, officially joining today, it seems. So you are the Doctor... I hope we'll get along, Professor."

An unruly Laterano citizen exiled for his Oripathy, who studied at Leithanien after his exile.

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• Anti-Air: Right off the bat, his talent Structural Decomposition causes him to prioritize attacking drones; at Elite 1 it begins allowing him to deal 20% extra damage against them, which goes up to 43% at Elite 2 Potential 6.
• Birds of a Feather: He quickly forms a rapport with Adnachiel because of how they both have very similar backgrounds as two Sankta without personal firearms. They also are both Infected and have mixed feelings regarding Laterano.
• Boring, but Practical: Arene's playstyle mostly consist of being this. As a 4★ Operator, he falls behind when compared to his higher rarity counterparts like Thorns, but his skills being manually activated than having an on-hit nature that requires him to attack enemies to gain SP makes him a decent lane-holder with respectable and consistent damage.
• Brutal Honesty: Has absolutely no hesitation speaking his mind even if it offends others.
• Conveniently an Orphan: His parents "were killed during a recent clandestine operation to steal Laterano firearms technology", years after they opted to send him away to Leithania as a direct result of his contracted Oripathy.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Unlike most Sankta, he uses Arts rather than firearms. This is not only because of his infection depriving him of the chance to receive a "guardian gun" like most Sankta, but also because his parents were professional firearm researchers and often neglected him due to their work. He blames guns for his childhood loneliness.
• Epic Flail: Whenever he's not using it as a Magic Wand for his Arts or slinging attacks with it, Arene uses his flail to whack enemies that get too close for comfort.
• Magic Knight: Deals Arts damage when his second skill is up. Notably, although he's explicitly stated to be an Arts user in his profile, his regular attacks still do physical damage.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
  • Arene is the first Guard to prioritize hitting drones if applicable, dealing bonus damage to them beyond Elite 1. He's the second operator with this trait who's not a Caster or Sniper, after Glaucus.
  • Also applies to his RIIC skills:
    • His Workshop skill, Waste Not, Want Not, boosts his chance to get a byproduct from making Elite materials by 5% for every operator in the Dorms with less than 4 Morale^note For calculation purposes, you can have up to four dorms in your base, each of which can hold up to five operators. Assuming all four dorms are filled with operators with less than 4 Morale, his byproduct rate becomes +100% (since the standard rate is 10%, his skill doubles that, to 20%).; upon reaching Elite 1, the skill upgrades into Everyone Does Their Part, which has the same benefits but instead accounts for everyone in the dorms with less than 20 Morale.
    • Upon reaching Elite 1, he gains the Dorm skill Searching for Solitude which increases his Morale recovery rate by .7 per hour. Unlike the regular Solitude skill, Searching for Solitude has the effect of giving Arene an extra .05 Morale per hour for every other Operator in the Dorm with him.
• Mundane Utility: To a certain degree of mundane, but he can use his corrosion arts to falsify signatures.
• My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Arene is noted to be very much an outlier within Sankta: he doesn't like guns at all, can't stand sweet foods, and dislikes Laterano for how it treated him.
• Odd Name Out: Unlike most Sankta, he seems to be named after a hydrocarbon of all things, alluding to his chemical-based Arts. (芳汀)
• One Degree of Separation: He studied under the same professor as Eyjafjalla in university.
• Poisonous Person: His Arts manifest as a toxin that corrodes and decomposes matter. This manifests as a fragrant aroma around him normally, but it can become lethal the moment he wills it.
• Significant Birth Date: His birthday is shared with August Kekulé, who founded the theory of chemical structure.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: His unruliness and nature as a prankster is considered normal, but he becomes almost sadistic when dealing with enemies. He has even tried several times to capture live enemies to use as test subjects for his poison Arts.
• You Can't Go Home Again: As an Infected from Laterano, he was immediately exiled from his homeland upon his infection. While he managed to live his life in Leithanien, he retains some bitterness and awkwardness regarding his former home.

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Astesia

Astesia Urbica

Introduced: Heart of Surging Flame
Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka (Japanese), KIYO (Mandarin Chinese), Lexi Fontaine (English)
Artist: YUJI

She is the boundless starry skies, as well as your personal alarm clock.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Epoque: Starseeker skin.}

^{Click to see her Shining Steps: Frlibe on the Palace skin.}

^{Click to see her Epoque: Fantastic Crafts skin.}

Astesia, Guard of Rhodes Island, has summoned the power of the stars to hold the line.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 211

Subclass: Arts Fighter

Tags: DPS, Defense

Skills: Astral Protection, Astral Sword

Talents: Celestial Globe

Affiliation: Columbia

Race: Liberi

Birthday: July 10

Height: 165cm

"Astesia, astrologer, reporting for guard duty. I'm yours to command, Doctor."

A Columbian astrologist working as a consultant for Rhine Labs, who came to Rhodes for Oripathy treatment alongside her sister.

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• Animal Motifs: Common house martin, as indicated by the signature shape of their tails. A flock of them also appear in her Elite 2 artwork. Her last name refers to its scientific name.
• Artistic License - Astronomy: Subverted, really, even though it seems to be played straight at first. When taking a closer look at her Starseeker skin, one would notice that certain constellations like Hydra, Leo, Gemini and Capricorn look very off from what they really look like. Furthermore, the elliptic and equator do not align with Polaris and the celestial globe in the skin is also tilted, 45° instead of 23.5° for Earth. The elliptic and equator not aligning with Polaris can only happen when the Earth will tilt thousands of years in the future, and the North Pole is pointing towards Vega on the skin, as Vega will replace Polaris 12,000 to 13,000 years in the future. The constellations also look as if they were that far in the future. This is finally proven in Lone Trail when it is revealed that Terra is at least 13,000 years old.
• Astrologer:
  • She is one and came from a long line of astrologers. Her fencing training even incorporates it. However, she's afraid that her infection is causing her to lose this ability and wants to find a way to reverse it before she loses it completely. This manifests in her skills too:
  • Her S1 Astral Protection is a simple Status Buff, that increases her ATK and DEF by 20% and 30% respectively at level 1, giving her staying power.
  • Her S2 Astral Sword gives her a 30% buff to her ATK and DEF for the duration at level 1, and not only allows her to block one extra target but to attack all of them, regardless of level.
  • Her Elite 2 RIIC Reception Room skill Astrology is an upgrade to her Clue Search α skill, increasing her ability to search for clues to 25%.
• Audible Sharpness: Her attack sounds resemble high-pitched 'shring's. Players have commented how it sounds similar to nails on chalkboard.
• Combat Stilettos: Has noticeably high heels in her Elite 2 artwork.
• Gathering Steam: Every 20 second on the field, her Celestial Globe talent increases her attack speed (+3 on E1, +5 on E2), which stacks up to 5 times.
• Magic Knight: Her regular attacks deal Arts damage. This gives her a very useful utility against high DEF opponents, who tend to be more vulnerable to Arts damage. On the other hand, this also means she will have a harder time against Casters and other high RES enemies.
• Magikarp Power: Her damage output is relatively poor (usually being inferior to her 4-star equivalent, Mousse) until she can level up her S2 to extend its active time.
• Lightning Bruiser: She has extremely high defense and resistance for a Guard and her skills boost her defense and attack even further, allowing her to stand in front of Defenders to help take pressure off them.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Despite her niche as an Arts Guard, Astesia's S2 Astral Sword turns her into a discount Centurion Guard for a short amount of time with a block value of 2. She still deals Arts damage during this phase, making her the first AoE arts melee unit before the introduction of Dur-Nar and others.
• No Hero to His Valet: Astesia's promotion record consists of various praises from other people, each in awe of her work ethic and abilities. The exception is the final comment which says "My sister's dumb as a sack of hammers!"
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Has fallen into this as of recent ever since the release of Surtr and with Mousse's existence. The former's monstrous damage potential is unparalleled and very useful in nearly any situation, and Mousse is a very hands-off, cheap melee Arts damage option. While Astesia still excels at her niche and is tankier than Mousse and Surtr at comparable levels, meaning she can take more punishment that her counterparts cannot in some cases, defense means nothing if you can just annihilate your foes before they get close or when you're not blocking said foes in the first place. It also helps that there are operators dedicated to defense in contrast to Astesia's archetype, which only can block 1 by default. And even if the player does not have Surtr (or by some miracle, Mousse), they would receive Amiya's Guard form for free upon completing JT8-2.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Astgenne's Red.
• Royal Rapier: This is her main weapon, though she attacks using uncharacteristic sweeps rather than the thrusting motions commonly associated with it.
• Significant Birth Date: Her birthday is the peak of viewing the Telescopium constellation.
• Sixth Ranger: Technically seventh, and only on a faction basis. Astesia is affiliated with Rhine Labs and serves as a consultant on detachment to Rhodes Island. She has little to no relation to the primary six members of Silence's group.

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Ayerscarpe

Ayerscarpe

Introduced: Twilight of Wolumonde
Voiced by: Yuki Kaji (Japanese), Huang Jinze (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English), Kim Myung-jun (Korean)
Artist: NoriZC

Actual performance far exceeds what is stipulated in the contract.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see his Bloodline of Combat: Tested One skin.}

Ayerscarpe, Messenger Bodyguard, will provide support in accordance with the terms of his contract.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 294

Subclass: Lord

Tags: DPS, AoE

Skills: Shrapnel Burst, Activate Phase Blades

Talents: Seek Aid

Affiliation: RIM Billiton

Race: Cautus

Birthday: October 25

Height: 173cm

"Catastrophe Messenger bodyguard, Ayerscarpe. Pleased to meet you."

The bodyguard and childhood friend of Catastrophe Messenger Leonhardt.

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• Combat Sadomasochist: His weapon is a faulty prototype because it constantly backfires and shocks its own user. But Ayerscarpe doesn't mind it because he really likes getting himself electrocuted. At the Doctor's suggestion, he even comes up to operators with electrical Arts (Greyy and Leizi are explicitly named, and Passenger and Goldenglow are implicitly mentioned) asking them to zap him so that he can raise his tolerance.
• Fell Off the Back of a Truck: How he got his hands on a failed prototype weapon from Rhine Labs is anyone's guess. The dialogue in his archives points out that there was a tracker in it (which he had no knowledge of despite buying it from the black market) with a location pinpointed in Ursus, implying that there's something very fishy with it. Furthermore, he says that the boss of Rhine Labs (likely to be Saria) "frowned" at him, as if he was some kind of pest; the Rhile Lab manhua reveals that Saria left Rhine Lab because she became aware of Control authorizing experiments with no regard for ethics, implying that she's frowning at Ayerscarpe's weapon.
• Hates Being Touched: A variant and a downplayed case. Ayerscarpe dislikes having his ears touched and says as much if you tap him in the Base.
• In the Hood: He wears one of these.
• Location Theme Naming: His name refers both to Ayers Rock, and to an escarpment. One of the tags on his design resembles the famous rock. The rock being located in Australia ties in to Rim Billiton's references to the real-life country.
• Magic Knight: Both of his skills deal Arts damage to enemies.
• Mind over Matter: This is how he launches knives at enemies, presumably with the device that he holds in one of his hands.
• Not So Above It All: Despite being The Stoic and Leonhardt's Cloudcuckoolander's Minder, he has his own quirks. Not only does he really like his faulty weapon and calls it "(his) baby", he also eats edamame with the pod.
• Shock and Awe: His Arts manifests as electricity.
• Tsundere: His max Trust line is him apparently telling the Doctor that just bandaging his wounds won't be enough to get close to him... which he said at least once before.
  "Don't think you can get close to me just because you helped bandage my wounds, got it? ...I said the same thing last time? Tsk, damn it."
• Unreliable Expositor: In "Twilight of Wolumonde", when the suspect of Atro's murder is identified as a Catastrophe Messenger, Ayerscarpe speculates that the suspect is one of the extremists within the Catastrophe Messengers who care more about fighting the Catastrophe as "a visible threat". Because none of the other characters can offer another reasoning for the suspect's motive, they accept Ayerscarpe's insinuation as fact. The extra scene of the event shows that the suspect initially didn't want to kill anyone, only changing his mind so that a noble would be assassinated. The tragedy was purely the brainchild of a Wolumonder.
• Utility Party Member: While Ayerscarpe has use as a ranged guard, what makes him shine is his talent, Seek Aid, that increases the attacking speed of allied operators in the eight tiles surrounding him by 8 (10 with full potential) at Elite 2. This explains his synergy with Leonhardt. Humorously enough, his talent also has synergy with Goldenglow as well as the other Operators he approaches to get shocked (as the others are all slow-attacking Casters), who especially benefit from attacking faster.

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Beehunter

Beehunter / Shura (Шypa)

Introduced: Grani and the Knights' Treasure
Voiced by: Yuko Hara (Japanese), Duduru (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English)
Artist: toast

Boxing comes second, honey comes first.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}340:

^{Click to see her Rhodes Kitchen: Honey Pilferer skin.}

Beehunter, Guard Operator of Rhodes Island, will beat up enemies with her fighting skills.

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 137

Subclass: Fighter

Tags: DPS

Skills: Flexibility, Soaring Fists

Talents: Boxer's Concentration

Affiliation: Empire of Ursus

Race: Ursus

Birthday: October 2

Height: 163cm

"Yo! Boss, you know a winner when you see her! You got the world's strongest underground fighter, me, Beehunter!"

A former underground fighter from Ursus who sought employment at Rhodes Island after her fighting circuit dissolved.

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• Achilles' Heel: Enemies with a lot of DEF. As Beehunter deals low damage per hit, their high DEF will reduce her attacks to mere Scratch Damage levels if not supported by defense debuffers. Worse still is her Block stat of 1, meaning she's not ideal to stand ground against a group of them, be they Defenders, Junkmen, or Butchers.
• Animal Motifs: Bear, due to her Ursus race. There's also a red bear behind Beehunter in her Elite 2 artwork.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Being a Fighter-type Guard, this is what Beehunter's strategy boils down to. This is helped by her Boxer's Concentration talent, which decreases her target's attack by 3% (5% at Elite 2), and stacks up to five times per attack as long as she's hitting the same target. The problem is that she loses stacks as soon as she switches targets, but given that she has a high ASPD, she should have no problem getting them back. Given her talent and her Flexibility passive giving her a good chance to dodge physical attacks, she is at her best when she's going up against enemies with a high RES and HP, but a low DEF like Loggers and Junkmen.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Beehunter lives to fight, eat, sleep, and fight some more.
• Color Motif: Her striped black-and-yellow attire alludes to the pattern of a bee's body, specifically a hornet's.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She's been making a living off underground fights at a very young age.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Unlike most Guards, Beehunter deals relatively mediocre damage per hit. She makes up for this with her high ASPD, which goes even higher with her second skill active, allowing her to wail on her enemies until they die.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: She wears a yellow stocking on her left leg, while the other leg's stocking is black. These also have unequal lengths.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Beehunter's bio claims she's great at one-to-one combat but poor at handling many enemies at once, which is considered to be a detriment. In actual gameplay, Beehunter is a monster when faced with big mobs of weak fodders, but performs miserably when deployed in place of a Duelist Defender due to her low damage and weak staying power, with much of her ASPD advantage being negated by high-DEF enemies.
• Meaningful Name:
  • From two of her traits - She's an Ursus (in other words, she has bear-like traits) and her name is Beehunter. In real-life, bears do love honey, the food produced by bees.
  • In specific, she is named after the old English "Beowulf", translated as "beehunter", meaning bear.
  • Her real name, as given in the Children of Ursus event, is Shura, which is the diminutive of Alexandra, meaning "defender of man". Quite fitting for a Guard operator.
• Only in It for the Money: Cites cash as the reason why she joined the underground fight scene at such a young age. When she's recruited to Rhodes Island, that reason isn't a problem for her anymore.
• Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Beehunter's second skill Soaring Fists decreases her attack interval, allowing Beehunter to unleash a flurry of punches that would make Star Platinum proud. Extra points for her going "ORA ORA!" while doing it.
• Status Effects: Beehunter's Boxer's Concentration talent decreases the ATK of her target by 3% (5% at Elite 2) if she can land consecutive hits on her target, and stacks up to five times to debuff her target's ATK by up to 15% (25% at Elite 2).
• Trademark Favorite Food: Fish and honey.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Being accustomed to the underground fighting style, one of her ideals is simply "solve problems with your fists".

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Bibeak

Bibeak

Introduced: Contingency Contract Barrenland
Voiced by: Akane Fujita (Japanese), Liu Zhixiao (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English), Lee Sae-ah (Korean)
Artist: RAYVON

She's not the type of person who would embroider upon the bodies of her enemies.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Cambrian: Gentle Velvet skin.}

Bibeak, Guard Operator, is hard at work on the battlefield trying to build up confidence.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 252

Subclass: Swordmaster

Tags: DPS, Nuker

Skills: Plumage Pins, Blade Swap

Talents: Soul Drinker

Affiliation: Sami

Race: Liberi

Birthday: December 12

Height: 161cm

"H-hello, Doctor... My codename is Bibeak... Excuse me, but is there a facility with a loom and a knitting machine here?"

An aspiring tailor and swordswoman who sought out Rhodes Island for treatment after getting infected in a riot.

---

• Animal Motif: Swans, that also appear in her E2 art. Similarly to them, she may look all elegant, but plays a contrastingly offensive role into battle.
• Anti-Armor: Bibeak's kit involves her dealing a lot of Arts damage to her targets, making her a good choice against beefy enemies with a lot of DEF.
• Blade Spam: While Bibeak starts off with the same attack profile as Ch'en, her talent gives her more ASPD with each kill she personally makes, which stacks up to 6 times at max potential, allowing her to deal damage at a ridiculous rate. This also means Bibeak can spam out her skills willy-nilly, owing to their charge type (on-hit SP), leading to constant group stuns that's all but impossible to shake out of, so long as she still has something to poke at.
• Covert Pervert: Her E2 profile has a staff member being incredulous on the description that she's a timid person, given that she designed a lace miniskirt for Kal'tsit.
• Deadly Scratch: Bibeak contracted Oripathy from being struck in the head with a chunk of Originium after getting caught in a riot.
• Gathering Steam: Her talent Soul Drinker permanently increases her attack speed every time she kills an enemy, which stacks up to 5 times (6 at max potential). The purpose it serves is to let her build up charges of her second skill faster.
• Lady of War: Her swordplay is said to be as elegant and graceful as her designing skill, yet lethally effective in combat.
• Moveset Clone: Of Ch'en, evident by the design of her second skill, and she also attacks twice by default. Word of God says this is an attempt to make previously unique 6-star skills more accessible to all players. Notably, Bibeak plays a generally more active role than Ch'en, since her kit incentivizes her killing enemies as much and quickly as possible to stack up the ASPD bonus given by Soul Drinker, and her S2 can hold up to three charges with an on-hit stun, whereas Ch'en can only hold one charge of her S2, which doesn't do much beyond dealing a big hit of damage.
• Shrinking Violet: When she's appointed as an assistant, she feels relieved because she doesn't need to go outside. It appears that her aversion to people is her struggling with her resentment to the rioting workers who responsible for her infection, as she both hates and understands them. She fears her hatred will make her a bigot and a bad person, and it causes her to avoid people in an attempt to make herself hate them less. Rhodes Island disagrees with this, and subtly makes her interact with more people so her bonds can outweigh her hatred.
• Spam Attack: While her Skill 2 initially seems like a weaker Arts variant of Ch'en's S2 that stuns, its primary merit comes from its very fast charging time (gaining a charge every 7 hits at max rank compared to Ch'en's 20, not to mention Bibeak can gain bonus ASPD stacks) and ability to store up to 3 charges. Not only does this let Bibeak gather charges quite quickly (especially with an SP battery), she can also unleash them in rapid succession to beat down and lock enemies in the Stunned status. Cumbersome foes like Mudrock Colossi are simply too slow to even touch her.
• Temporary Online Content: Like Grani before her, Bibeak is only obtainable from an event shop, specifically the one for "Contingency Contract", though her case is a bit less aggravating since CC is confirmed to rerun many times and the shop progression persists. This means if you failed to purchase either Bibeak herself or her tokens in one go, the items will remain as is when the event becomes available again.

---

Blaze

Blaze

Introduced: Episode 5: Necessary Solutions (First Appearance), Episode 6: Partial Necrosis (Playable Debut)
Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (Japanese), Atom (Mandarin Chinese), Cristina Valenzuela (English), Kim Yeon-woo (Korean)
Artist: Wéi@W

Please, it's okay to dial it down a bit...

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Ambience Synesthesia: Burst Feline skin.}

^{Click to see her appearance in Gavial: The Great Chief Returns}

Blaze, Rhodes Island's most fired-up Operator, will spread her enthusiasm like a wildfire.

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 17

Subclass: Centurion

Tags: DPS, Survival

Skills: Power Strike γ, Chainsaw Extension Module, Boiling Burst

Talents: Emergency Defibrillation, Harsh Training

Affiliation: Elite Op - Rhodes Island

Race: Feline

Birthday: Undisclosed

Height: 172cm

"Rhodes Island Operator, Blaze, reporting in. Here, this is the authorization letter that Dr. Kal'tsit has already signed, so you can directly dispatch me. All righty, Doctor, let's show the other squads what we're capable of!"

A hotheaded veteran operator from Rhodes Island, commonly found in the frontlines as a part of the Elite Operators.

---

• Action Bomb: Blaze becomes one at the end of her S3, dealing anywhere between 300% and 400% of her ATK to all nearby enemies at a 25% hit to her own HP.
• And This Is for...: When she's about to confront Mephisto in Episode 5, Blaze says this for the fallen Rhodes Island members Ace and Scout, even if she's aware that Mephisto has no clue on who they are.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: From her first scene in the main story alone, Blaze already deciphers the trick behind Faust and his Phantom Crossbowmen's invisibility, that they depend on refraction and any sudden movements would give away their position. Even Faust is shocked to the point where he can do nothing else but confirm her theory. So what does Blaze do during this scene? She creates shockwaves or explosions big enough to shake the building they're in, startling the Reunion soldiers who were camouflaged.
• Barrier-Busting Blow: Played with. While her S2 is active, Blaze gains an additional tile to her melee range. This allows her to attack enemies right through walls if they're thin enough, though the barriers themselves are not busted by the blow.
• Big Damn Heroes: She saves Ch'en in Episode 5 by literally airdropping out of a plane without a parachute.
• Bloody Murder: Blaze uses her own blood as an incendiary exponent for her Arts. In the main story, this ability is demonstrated for the first time◊ against Faust in Operation 5-10.
• Boring, but Practical: While some argues that Gavial the Invincible has supplanted her as the best Centurion guard, Blaze remains useful for her passive S2 as it grants increased range, damage, and defense, inflating her defense to almost Defender-level. Permanently. This does mean she is better at holding a line compared to Gavial.
• Cat Girl: She has the physical cat ears and tail due to her Feline race. She also has a visible Playful Cat Smile which turnst into a Cheshire Cat Grin when her S2 activated while attacking her enemies in her sprites as well.
• Chainsaw Good: That she can attach to a pole for even more range with her Chainsaw Extension Module skill.
• Cute Little Fangs: While it can be hard to see from her in-game artworks, Blaze has these, like what this official artwork◊ shows.
• A Day in the Limelight: She is one of many major characters for the "Partial Necrosis" arc, alongside Amiya and GreyThroat.
• Destructive Savior: She is infamous for this, such as destroying a village, a water reservoir, and a mine in a single mission. In Episode 5 of the main story, Blaze wrecked the L.G.D. headquarters near the end of their fight against Reunion.
• Disappeared Dad: Leizi's Promotion Record file, combined with particular mentions of Blaze across her profile and lines, hints at this. Specifically, Blaze asks whether Leizi was "convicted" over a string of bloody murders (implying Leizi was the victim of a Frame-Up), to which Leizi reveals that Blaze's father was the third murder victim. This gets Blaze's attention instantly, and she demands Leizi to tell her everything she knows. In turn, Leizi wants to know everything Blaze knows about the case, because Blaze is the only one of the three children "born during that time" that Leizi has access to.
• Dynamic Entry: Jumping out of aircraft to drop directly into battle is Blaze's MO, to the point where her fellow operators aren't even surprised anymore.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Blaze first shows up in Episode 5, but isn't introduced as playable until later on.
• Everyone Has Standards: For all the Hot-Blooded tendencies Blaze displays, even she gets annoyed at the horde of Tiacauh warriors' sheer will to fight and refusal to back down in RI-9.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: She's noted to be a staple for tough operations. The DEF buff she gets with her second skill, the Resist that she gets with her second talent, and her first talent that saves her from death for the first time (thanks to her Magical Defibrillator she also has in-universe) all the while also dealing good AoE damage indeed makes her a popular pick to hold lanes.
• Gathering Steam:
  • Her most notable skill is her S2 Chainsaw Extension Module, which takes 70 seconds of real time at minimum to charge up, but once triggered will permanently give her a substantial buff to ATK and DEF along with an extra tile of range.
  • Her second talent will grant her Status Resistance if she stays on the field for 15 seconds. Her X Module furthers this by also granting her an extra ATK buff after 30 seconds, and another ASPD buff after 45.
• The Glomp: Has no qualms about getting touchy-feely with her comrades, especially Amiya.
• Having a Blast: Her abilities allow her to heat air to the point where she can manifest explosions at will. She scares a Reunion soldier with the threat of sending superheated air into their body and causing them to combust from the inside out.
• The Heart: She actually cares very deeply about the plight of the Infected, being Infected herself, and tries to go out of her way to avoid harming them if she can help it, even if they are part of Reunion. She also has no tolerance for people who don't care for or respect what the Infected have to experience, leading to her vendetta against GreyThroat for the first half of Episode 6.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Her Arts talent enables her to heat gas in a specific area. Sounds useless at first, until you realize she can enhance her already tremendous speed by creating pockets expanding air behind her, or compress air to such degree that it combusts and explodes. This, alongside her fiery personality, is implied to be the source of her codename.
• Hot-Blooded: And it's just as bad as it is good. On one hand, her spirit and determination are second to none. On the other, she's a giant hothead and nigh impossible to handle. She causes mass property damage everywhere she goes; medics loathe her inability to follow the most basic safety measures despite being heavily infected already; putting her in a team situation quickly turns messy as she expects others to match her (absurd) pace rather than the other way around. Most of Rhodes respects her as a brilliant operator and a reliable friend, but are also adamant that nobody should look up to her, as the organization would probably not survive two loose cannons of her caliber. She is also literally Hot-Blooded, as she purposefully uses her Arts to heat up her own blood.
• Image Song: "Boiling Blood". The title is a reference to her blood-based ability.
• Last Episode, New Character: Blaze makes her debut in the main story during the cutscene of Episode 5's last playable stage.
• Made of Iron: She thinks nothing of leaping out of aircraft to deploy directly onto the battlefield. Sure, she might be using Arts to slow her fall, but judging from the craters she makes in the ground, it doesn't slow her down all that much.
• Magical Defibrillator: She has a pacemaker in her chest (installed by a "special friend"), which heals her back to half health should she fall to 25% health for the first time in battle.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her outfit is relatively revealing (albeit fairly tame compared to the likes of Schwarz, Nian, Eunectes, etc.), with and unbuttoned jacket that exposes her bust and short skirt proudly displaying her legs. In-Universe, the Yeti Squadron thinks she's 'hot' (pun not intended) and would make a great drinking partner if they were not enemies.
• My Blood Runs Hot: What her main way of fighting is. She uses her blood as an incendiary, and can quickly heat it up in order to combust it. This may also be the reason why she uses 25% of her HP in her third skill, as she's using a lot of blood in order to deal an AoE DPS nuke.
• Mysterious Past: While Victoria is stated to be her birthplace, one of the Yen inspectors noted that her Yen accent is strong. This compounded with the mysterious death of her father in the land of Yen, which forced her to redact her own birthday and compelled Leizi to continue her investigation in Rhodes Island, heavily implies that Blaze did not live most of her life in Victoria.
• Oh, Crap!: Her face briefly flashes this expression◊ right before the AoE explosion of her S3, complete with the Blank White Eyes typical of operators being stunned.
• Remember the New Guy?: She's not mentioned at all until Episode 5, despite being a longtime employee of Rhodes Island.
• Superpower Meltdown: Weaponized. Her Boiling Burst S3 has her use her Arts to boost her combat power. But judging from her Oh, Crap! expression and the Warning screen that pops up near its end, she (perhaps intentionally) loses control, resulting in a massive explosion dealing huge damage and taking off 25% of her health.
• Super-Strength: She thinks nothing of leaping great distances while carrying Amiya or the Doctor.
• Survivor Guilt: Episode 6 reveals she feels guilty over not being in Chernobog when her comrades in Ace's team were all killed.
• Training from Hell: Her daily training routine goes on for six hours. It's implied that she received even harsher training prior to the story. This manifests in her Harsh Training talent, in which she gains a 50% status resistance 15 seconds after deployment, which means that the duration of stun, cold, and freeze effects are halved. This, combined with her Magical Defibrillator are the reasons she's classified as a "Survival"-type Operator.
• Unkempt Beauty: Her hair is notably much messier in her Ambience Synesthesia skin. Doesn't make her any less attractive for it though.

---

Broca

Broca

Introduced: Episode 6: Partial Necrosis
Voiced by: Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Zhaokun Liu (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English), Sung Wan-kyung (Korean)
Artist: Infukun

He's not as scary as he looks.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see his Marthe: Rest Between Sets skin.}

Broca, Guard Operator of Rhodes Island, is busy defending the other Operators on the front lines.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 356

Subclass: Centurion

Tags: AoE, Survival

Skills: Galvanize, High-Voltage Current

Talents: Drill Strengthening

Affiliation: Chiave's Gang - Siracusa

Race: Feline

Birthday: February 4

Height: 189cm

"Since Chiave decided for me to join you, I don't have much else to say. You can call me Broca. I will listen to your orders, but don't count on me to do anything extra. I have no love for large organizations like yours."

A former Siracusan mafioso betrayed and left for dead by his group, before being rescued by Chiave and Aosta.

---

• A Day in the Limelight: His Operator Record, "The First Step Towards Trust", shows him during his first field operation as part of Rhodes Island. His interactions with a nameless Guard operator convince him to start trying to trust Rhodes Island.
• Animal Motifs: Cats, due to his Feline race (more specifically, tigers). There's also a tiger formed out of lightning in his Elite 2 artwork.
• The Berserker: His Drill Strengthening talent makes it such that his ATK and DEF increases by 12% when blocking two or more enemies.
• Cat Boy: He shares the typical cat ears trait of his Feline race.
• Defrosting Ice King: Initially, he is very defensive and somewhat hostile towards Rhodes Island and the Doctor, owing to his past troubles with large organizations. As his Trust increases, however, he starts opening up significantly about his past, and even acknowledges the Doctor as his leader and superior. This is touched on in his Operator Record: one of his employers abandoned him, expecting his absolute loyalty to make him willing to die for them.
• Face of a Thug: He is a Perpetual Frowner and has an intimidating air to him. However, he's actually very honest and personable if one actually sits down and talks to him. Being a former mafioso, it's part of the job for him to look as scary as possible.
• Hidden Depths: He dabbles in crafting, and the saw on the back of his drill weapon is used to saw wood and do other things related to retrofitting.
• I Owe You My Life: One of his lines mention a Noodle Incident in his past, where he was betrayed by the crime syndicate he was a member of and left for dead on the side of a road, before being saved by Chiave and Aosta. He's been indebted to them since.
• Magic Knight: Both of his skills allow him to deal Arts damage for the duration.
  • Galvanize not only increases his ATK by 50% at max level, but it also allows him to deal Arts damage.
  • High-Voltage Current increases his attack interval and will briefly stun him after the skill ends, but in exchange he gains more reach, 140% ATK, his attacks now deal Arts damage, and slows enemies for .9 seconds at max level.
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: He wields some sort of power tool with a drill on one end and a circular saw on the other.
• Mr. Fanservice: Broca is a very hunky and handsome man whose outfit showcases his physique quite nicely. Taken even further with his MARTHE outfit which gives us a gratuitous view of his abs.
• This Is a Drill: He uses the drill end of his weapon when his skill is activated.

---

Bryophyta

Bryophyta / Enis Visser

Introduced: So Long, Adele
Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi (Japanese), Zhang Pei (Mandarin Chinese), John Patneaude (English), Lim Hyuk (Korean)
Artist: Cenm0

By his family's side, he's never afraid.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

Bryophyta, born and raised by the Siestan seaside, and come to Rhodes Island to begin a new journey.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 4106

Subclass: Instructor

Tags: DPS, Support

Skills: Power Strike β, Earthen Tenacity

Talents: Cautious and Calculated

Affiliation: Siesta

Race: Liberi

Birthday: September 29

Height: 178cm

"Hello, Doctor. I'm Enis, and I'm formally joining Rhodes Island today. What, a codename? Umm, let me think... How about "Bryophyta?" I hope I'll get to leave my mark on the mountain rocks and reefs, just like the moss."

A Siestan citizen who is often found working many small jobs to provide for his family, sent to Rhodes Island for Oripathy treatment.

---

• Animal Motifs: He's based on the Japanese tit, which are present in his Elite 2 artwork.
• Deadly Nosebleed: He has this as a sign of his Oripathy, which he contracted after an accident during a trip to mine obsidian.
• Dishing Out Dirt: His Originium Arts allows him to manipulate soil and stone in a similar manner to Mudrock.
• Doesn't Know Their Own Birthday: He doesn't actually know what day he was born on because he's an orphan adopted by Harley and Chuck. However, he considers the day his family opened up their bar to be his birthday as that's when his adoptive family had come together.
• Floral Theme Naming: His codename is based on a taxonomical division of plants that includes mosses, which he mentions in his onboard line.
• Happily Adopted: He knows that Harley and Chuck are adoptive parents and that his brother Lut and sister Liv are adopted as well, but he still considers them all his family and loves them dearly.
• Mr Fix It: He can be seen in "So Long, Adele" running around fixing various things for other Siestans, and he fixes the Doctor's ceiling light in his talk line.
• Pass the Popcorn: He offers to make popcorn in his battle record line.
  I didn't know you could work together in battle like that! Uh, I'm getting a little hungry. I'll go make some popcorn. You want some? (watching battle records)
• The Pollyanna: Even though he has a hard life, Bryophyta remains optimistic and upbeat.
• Support Party Member: This is Bryophyta's role as an Instructor Guard, with his particular niche being melee operators next to him. His talent grants increased DEF to nearby melee operators when he's not blocking, and his second skill grants even more DEF to the melee operator with the highest block count.
• Workaholic: He works a lot to keep his family afloat, and Rhodes Island Medical department chastised him for overworking to the point of getting nosebleeds.

---

Castle-3

Castle-3

Introduced: Game Release
Voiced by: Atsushi Abe (Japanese), Ma Yang (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English), Choi Seung-hoon (Korean)
Artist: TOKI

He knows he's a robot.

^{Click to see his Coral Coast: SUM019 skin.}

Castle-3, Guard robot of Rhodes Island, is assigned by Engineer Closure to carry out combat duties in the field.

Rarity: ★

ID: No. 286

Subclass: Dreadnought

Tags: Support, Robot

Skills: N/A

Talents: Tactical Configuration

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Height: 167cm

"Hello, Doctor. Thank you for choosing Castle-3. Tap anywhere to initialize startup options."

A robot designed by Closure to be a mobile combat platform.

---

• Do Androids Dream?: His Operator Record brings into question how much of Castle-3's personality is mere programming and how much of it is his own developed self as he grapples with the concept of death during his impending declared termination as he does not understand why people act the way they do when it comes to death like keeping song recordings or refusing treatment. Castle-3 eventually comes to his own conclusion in his self-created rhythm of noise driving the Doctor back to the landship as the latter sings; he can create and enjoy one final memory that someone else will carry with them after he is gone. This fascinates Closure who sees all three robots growing in different ways that she didn't expect but still adhering to their baseline programming and believes AI has great potential to go even further.
• Fake Longevity: Despite his rarity, Castle-3 is currently king among the hardest to get operators. Unlike his Recruitment-only stablemates Indra and Vulcan, who can at least be guaranteed by getting a Senior Operator tag, all of the tags that could result in Castle-3, including the very rare "Robot", are all very likely to be crossed out given his recruitment time range (3:50:00). Even if the "Guard" and "Support" tag combo isn't crossed out, they're far more likely to net Dobermann in recruitment as she also corresponds to that tag combo. Even in the event that "Robot" is not crossed-out, unless there's also a locked-in "Guard" tag, you could end up getting another Lancet-2 instead. Even with the introduction of the Achievement system, which grants exchange tickets that can be redeemed for either Indra or Vulcan after performing a given number of recruitments, Castle-3 still remains elusive.
• Glowing Eyes: His red eye will glow temporarily when he's first deployed, signalling how long his Tactical Configuration talent is active.
• Insistent Terminology: He calls his creator not just by her name of Closure, but as "Master Closure".
• Kill Tally: His Operator Record confirms that the markings on his side track how many kills he's personally made (carved by the operators he's accompanying at his request). He picked up the habit three years back from a young sniper operator named Huntingbow shortly before the latter's death.
• Lethal Joke Character: Castle-3 is implied to have had an actual bodycount, even if he's nowhere near deadly during actual gameplay. On the side of his body, he has a tally mark of 6 notches. In his Coral Coast skin, the tally increases to 20 people and a cow, likely referencing this image◊ of an A-10 Warthog.
• Robot Buddy: He's one of the very few robotic characters in the game.
• Utility Party Member: While he has pitiful stats, Castle-3's Tactical Configuration talent temporarily increases the attack and defense of all melee Operators. Alongside his low deployment cost and ability to ignore the deployment limit, he can come in handy in a pinch.
• Your Days Are Numbered: His Operator Record is centered on him spending a few hours with the Doctor on what he thinks is his very last day. Fortunately, Closure had a whole upgrade system prepared for him which would keep his core running for a long time.

---

Ch'en

Ch'en Hui Chieh

Introduced: Episode 2: Separated Hearts (First Appearance), Episode 5: Necessary Solutions (Playable Debut)
Voiced by: Shizuka Ishigami (Japanese), Jen Zhang (Mandarin Chinese), Sunny So (Cantonese), Amy Lennox (English), Jung Yoo-jung (Korean)
Artist: 唯@W^note 伍秋秋秋秋 (After Storm)

She's terrifying when she's mad, but you don't want to mess with her even when she's not.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her 0011 Series: Ageless Afterglow skin.}

^{Click to see her Test Collection: After Storm skin.}

^{Click to see her appearance in Heart of Surging Flame.}

^{Click to see her appearance in Episode 8.}

^{Click to see her appearance in Episode 11.}

^{Click to see her appearance in Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow.}

Ch'en, Special Inspection Unit Chief, L.G.D., is cooperating with Rhodes Island to fulfill the obligations outlined in her contract.

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 10

Subclass: Swordmaster

Tags: DPS, Nuker

Skills: Sheathed Strike, Chi Xiao - Unsheath, Chi Xiao - Shadowless

Talents: Scolding, Blade Art

Affiliation: L.G.D. - Great Lungmen

Race: Lung

Birthday: July 7

Height: 168cm

"Ch'en. Leader of the L.G.D.'s Special Inspection Unit. For my own reasons, I'll be joining you for a while. Seeing as we're already well acquainted from our prior work together, I'll ask you to take me to my workplace now."

Senior Superintendent of the Lungmen Guard Department.

---

• Abusive Parents: It's heavily implied Ch'en had an abusive father, or at least had an extremely strained relationship with him. Either way, she quickly moved out of her old home the first chance she got and never looked back. It is shown in Episode 5 that her father was very strict towards her, and these following words below are what she remembers. He is aware of his actions, but assures that hatred between him and Ch'en is most beneficial. It is later revealed that it's due to a marriage arranged by Wei, something that everyone involved in it actually hated.
  "Keep all the toys orderly. Do not go outside. Do not talk to anyone without permission. Do not make eye contact with adults without permission. "You shall receive no love from me, not in the slightest. Sorry. I'm sorry, but I can't stand you. Just seeing you makes me want to peel my skin off my arms. I cannot tolerate any of you. I am too selfish, but I can't live like this anymore. One day, all of you will understand. If you hate me, so be it. Because I hate you too. And that's how it should be."
• The Ace: She graduated from Victoria Royal Guard School with flying colors and became a Lungmen superintendent in record time. About the only thing she's bad at is using Originium skills, but even then she shows additional competence by reshaping her staff into a sword-like shape.
• Affectionate Nickname: Bagpipe called her "Chenchen" when they were classmates in the Victoria Guards Academy. Ch'en for the most part found it a bit embarrassing, but didn't object to it.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite the grief her uncle gave her, Ch'en ultimately loves Wei Yenwu like a father. When Kashchey claims that he's to Talulah what Wei is to Ch'en, Ch'en immediately defends Wei's honor because Wei obviously doesn't steal his daughter's body.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: When she finally returns midst the Londinium conflict towards the tail end of Episode 11, she comes wearing what seems her old Victoria Military Academy uniform which fits her quite nicely.
• Big Damn Heroes: In "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow", she came to Yühsia's rescue after seeing the sandstorm created by Yühsia's Arts so Du Yaoye can escape with the data box, managing to block a hit from Ya with Chi Xiao.
• Bilingual Bonus: In a game where Japanese dub is the norm (including EN and KR voices), her line when added into a squad is "Mou mantai", a Cantonese phrase meaning "no problem" or "relax". Note that this line is romanized but left untranslated in the voice line viewer.
• Blade Spam: Chi Xiao - Shadowless has Ch'en Flash Step to nearby enemies and unleash 10 lightning-quick blade strikes, with the last hit also stunning them.
• Boomerang Bigot: Ch'en displays the same callous attitude towards the Infected as with other Lungmen citizens, especially in earlier scenes (most notably when she declares to Reunion that they will not use her homecountry as their "personal latrine"), but Episode 5 highly suggests that she's had Oripathy since the first moment you met her. Actually downplayed since Ch'en is shown helping Infected children in the slums in Episode 4 and she also reassures her Infected informant Phal that his Oripathy doesn't matter in him being a good person before the latter's death in Episode 5. She's also outraged when she learns Wei has been using Reunion's attack as a cover to secretly exterminate Lungmen's Infected population in Episode 6. The attitude she displayed earlier in front of Amiya was likely a facade she put on since she's surrounded by her coworkers and thus can't afford to display a sympathetic attitude toward Infected when Lungmen still discriminates them. In fact, she has been working behind the scenes with the Rat King to improve the living conditions in the slums.
• Brick Joke:
  • In Episode 5 of the main story, Ch'en muses with Hoshiguma that they're overdue for a vacation. In the Heart of Surging Flame event, which takes place in Siesta, Ch'en makes a brief cameo as "Female Tourist C".
  • After spending most of the Dossoles Holiday event in separate groups (Ch'en with Lin Yühsia, Hoshiguma with Swire), the quartet finally get to enjoy a vacation together in the epilogue.
• By-the-Book Cop: One of her defining characteristics is her extreme strictness and adherence to rules, agreements and schedules. This is even lampshaded by other characters like Amiya, who find Ch'en to be a hard person to talk to.
• Character Catchphrase: "I have other things to do."
• Character Development: In Episode 5, Ch'en realizes the consequences of her distrustful attitude towards her allies. She admits to being conflicted with all the harsh words she said to Amiya, who just wants an alliance to be formed between their factions. When she previously just leaves people behind at a whim, Ch'en shows signs of changing this mentality starting from this episode. Even her partner, Hoshiguma notices that she's thinking differently from before, now dropping the tough and strict act in favor of trusting others.
• Cluster Bleep-Bomb: In 5-7, Ch'en drops one of these after Hoshiguma makes fun of her inspirational speech.
  Ch'en: Shut the *** up.
• A Day In The Lime Light: She's the main character and protagonist of Episode 5, with the usual Rhodes Island cast being nearly completely absent due to the events of Episode 4 until the very end. The only other characters for most of the Episode 5 story are basically her supporting cast from Lungmen.
• Deuteragonist: She is the second most important character alongside Amiya in the main story.
• Draconic Humanoid: Ch'en sports some horns and a tail like most of her race.
• Establishing Character Moment: From her first appearance in Episode 2 alone, Ch'en already berates Amiya and the Doctor for being fourteen minutes late to their arranged meeting. This exemplifies how she is a strict By-the-Book Cop.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Stand-offishness and incapable to put her trust in anyone that is equally, if more capable than her. Due to her strict and by-the-book nature, Ch'en is not an easy person to persuade and get along with. She refused to cooperate together if there is something that involves Lungmen and L.G.D., and when it does, she'll do it nonetheless, albeit under her superior's orders. Later on, she abandons Amiya, the Doctor and the rest of their squad at Chernobog when Lungmen was invaded by Reunion under the excuse of "too many variables". Many Rhodes Island operators and her fellow L.G.D. officers call her out for these reasons.
  • Despite declaring that she's not like him, Ch'en ends up being quite similar to her uncle Wei Yenwu, especially his need to shoulder responsibility by himself. Byproduct of the above, combined with her sense of justice, pushes her to desert Lungmen after being disillusioned by Wei's ruthlessness in an attempt to "correct" what she feels is her fault, and disregards everything and everyone. By the time she's face to face with Talulah, the Reunion soldiers between Lungmen and Chernobog have softened her up considerably. Injured, exhausted, and emotionally distressed, it's likely that she would've died if Amiya hadn't caught up to her.
  • To add on to the first point, one of the things Ch'en can't understand well is the whole ordeal with her sister Talulah. Despite her Character Development in putting more trust in other people, the matter with Talulah is so complicated that she resorts to judging her as an officer instead as a sister, completely disregarding Talulah's personal motives and not understanding that what she needs from her is something else. Kashchey's dialogue in Episode 8 heavily implies that Talulah is very much hurt and disappointed by everything Ch'en said about her, to the point that Chi Xiao even responded to her desire to kill her own sister, something Ch'en only finds out later in the fight and feels ashamed about. Feeling completely lost about how she's supposed to deal with Talulah is part of what drives her to join Rhodes Island to help the Infected alongside them and mature her worldview.
• Flash Step: When Chi Xiao - Shadowless is activated, Ch'en will lock onto the nearest enemy and dash like mad around them, dealing high damage before stunning them on the last hit. If said enemy is behind a wall, Ch'en will even phase right through it to reach her target.
• Foreshadowing:
  • There are a lot of clues that she is already infected with Oripathy as early as Episode 4, despite her only formally revealing it in Episode 6. First, Amiya's empath powers allow her to subconsciously read Ch'en's memories and emotions in the Lungmen slums, and it's all negative emotions towards Oripathy. Second, she doesn't seem to have much concern about traveling in areas with heavy Originium contamination, which would've been dangerous only for the non-infected. Third, she absolutely refuses an offer from Amiya for a free medical checkup, despite Amiya's assurances the results will be kept confidential. Fourth, Ch'en's medical records are completely sealed under LGD order, despite the fact that fellow LGD operators Swire and Hoshiguma's medical records are publicly viewable. Fifth, in Episode 5, the powder from Mephisto's zombie-healing Arts sticks to her despite it only supposed to affect the Infected, and Mephisto is quick to catch on to this.
  • The main story has a lot of build-up or hints of the rivalry between Ch'en and Talulah. Starting from Episode 2, Ch'en has a very awkward silence when the Doctor brings up Talulah's name, with Wei Yenwu even asking her if the name is familiar. In Episode 4, Ch'en heads off alone away from Rhodes Island when she heard of Talulah's voice from a distance. In Episode 5, there's a cracked photo frame of the two girls in their younger years. And in Operation 5-9, a flashback has Wei Yenwu explaining how Ch'en's sword, Chi Xiao, is a unique dragonslaying sword. That information can be connected to certain lines of dialogue in the first episode, where Talulah is called "she-dragon" by both Nearl and W.
  • Her E2 Promotion Record in her profile is simply written, "She'll be back," pointing out that she's Walking the Earth at the end of Chernobog-Lungmen arc.
• Foil: To Talulah. Both show a distaste of Wei Yenwu, but Ch'en loves her country, her becoming an officer was actually a step she took in order to change it little by little. Talulah wants to destroy Lungmen by force.
• Gut Feeling: In Episode 4, Ch'en decided to split up with the rest of the group after hearing Talulah's voice in the distance. When Amiya caught up to her, Ch'en explains that her own gut feeling turned out to be wrong because she claims that the destroyed city isn't a place where Talulah would be in at that moment.
• Half-Sibling Angst: She and Talulah are half-sisters, sharing the same mother and having different fathers. Their mother is Wei's sister who was forced to marry her Ch'en's father by her brother, because Talulah's father is a political fugitive from Victoria.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: In the past few years, Ch'en has been trying her best to improve the conditions in the slums in any way she could. However, as Nine points out, Ch'en is too sheltered to realize how deep the slums' problems run, that by the time you meet her, the slums is still a crappy place to live in that they ended up becoming a security hazard for Reunion to take advantage of. The resulting purge shattered her idealistic view of Lungmen for good and pushed her to leave the city behind to help Rhodes Island's efforts in providing aid to the Infected around the world.
• High Heel Hurt: Her idle animation when using the Ageless Afterglow skin shows her having difficulty adjusting her high heels in the middle of battle.
• Hyper-Awareness: In What the Firelight Casts, she instantly recognizes Reed as a Draco in their first direct conversation, despite the differences between Draco and Vouivre being practically unnoticeable to the average person. Then again, Ch'en would know, considering her sister was one.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: What her second skill, "Chi Xiao - Unsheath" does. She even has to draw the blade back out of the scabbard if it didn't somehow kill everything in range.
• I'll Pretend I Didn't Hear That: In Operation 4-5, this is her response to Kal'tsit when the latter requests Amiya to convince Lungmen for yet another joint operation.
  Kal'tsit: Ask her... "How long does Lungmen intend to keep playing dumb?"
  Ch'en: I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
• Image Song: “Daydaydream”. Shares with Hoshiguma.
• Innocently Insensitive: Her whole confrontation with Talulah can be summed up as this, openly declaring to kill her without remorse for the person she has become and judging her for the war criminal she is. Even after Amiya reveals to Ch'en that what's in front of her is a mix of Talulah and Kashchey, Ch'en only cares about how she's supposed to judge Talulah and give her the sentence she deserves for the crimes she has committed (after which she told Talulah that she has her own future to walk on, which is ironic). If Amiya hadn't interfered, Ch'en likely wouldn't have hesitated to deal a killing blow, as even Talulah can't really bring herself to kill her own sister.
• Justice Will Prevail: A huge part of her mindset is that she will do anything it takes to right every wrong in her eyes through conventional law system, and she left Lungmen because her own sense of justice couldn't prevail in the face of Wei's ruthlessness.
• The Leader: Of the Lungmen Guard Department (L.G.D.).
• Leeroy Jenkins: After she's disillusioned by Wei's Kick the Dog, she throws her L.G.D badge at Wei, jumps out of his office's window (which is in Lungmen's highest tower), runs from Lungmen to Chernobog, and slices up everyone who stands in her way. One of the reason why Wei is so insistent to attack Chernobog himself is because Ch'en is definitely going to die fighting Talulah.
• Mean Boss: Downplayed. Ch'en has very strict standards and isn't shy in voicing her displeasure at her underlings or colleagues. Unlike most examples in this trope, her underlings respect her as an exemplary officer of L.G.D., even Swire as much as she doesn't want to admit it.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Her third skill, Chi Xiao - Shadowless, technically removes her from the map while she's using it. This can be exploited to dodge certain high-damage attacks and debuffs targeting her tile, as well as bypass auras. Notably, she keeps positive buffs on her while using this skill. This can make her extremely deadly against certain bosses. For example, she can completely ignore the dodge aura of Andoain, the boss of Guide Ahead, as she's technically not present on the map and thus isn't affected by it, letting her nearly one-shot him with a single use of this skill.
• Mercy Kill: She unknowingly does this but in Episode 5, Mephisto's zombified minions thank Ch'en for being killed by her, removing them from their miserable fate.
• Missing Mom: Her mother died due to depression, and was raised by her uncle and aunt, Wei Yenwu and Lady Fumizuki.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Despite likely being Infected herself and being mistrustful of Wei, Ch'en is still loyal to Lungmen and the LGD. While it's subverted when Ch'en grows disillusioned by Wei's actions, in the end she ultimately understands that Wei doesn't do evil just because.
• Mythical Motifs: Dragons, made obvious from her race. But in her Elite 2 artwork to be specific, it's a Chinese dragon.
• Named Weapons: Her red-bladed sword is named "Chi Xiao".
• Not So Above It All: Despite being seen as a no-nonsense and strict police officer who obeys the rules, she does enjoy having fun and doing silly things as well.
  • She tends to get into drinking contests with her fellow LGD partners, Hoshiguma and Swire, after work.
  • As seen during the events of Siesta, Ch'en does know how to party.
  • In the "Holy Knight Light" anime short, she trolls Rhodes Island and Penguin Logistics by sending them a Happy New Year cake in a box disguised as a bomb and laughing about it.
• Ornamental Weapon: For a large part of the game's main story, Ch'en doesn't unsheathe her Chi Xiao, to which Mephisto even lampshades or points out in Episode 5. Mechanically, it's due to the weapon being a Situational Sword that has some restrictions. This later gets subverted when Ch'en uses the sword against Mephisto's horde in the same episode.
• Our Dragons Are Different: She's a Chinese dragon, as one is seen behind her in her Elite 2. As an example of writers doing their homework, she isn't aligned to fire.
• Perpetual Frowner: According to Bagpipe, Ch'en had always been wearing a scowl on her face, even during their time together in college. It certainly didn't do her any favor, as fellow students tend to keep their distance for this reason.
• Power Crutch: She needs a conduit to master her Originium power.
• The Reveal: Ch'en is also an Infected, something that gets a lot of foreshadowing but is explicitly mentioned and deduced in Episode 5... by Mephisto of all people!
  Mephisto: Officer, I know what you are. My Originium Arts only work on the Infected.
• Sheath Strike: Her first skill is a powerful swing with her scabbard, dealing high damage and briefly stunning an enemy.
• Situational Sword: Chi Xiao is a unique sword that she received from Wei Yenwu. Supposedly, its a dragonslaying sword and its mechanism is so unique that it can't be easily unsheathed against the wrong target. It does act strange for a while when Ch'en unsheathes it against Mephisto and his horde, but she was able to overcome its restrictions.
  Wei Yenwu: Do not waste its power on trivial things. A dragonslaying sword shall only be unsheathed against a worthy enemy. Who you choose to draw this sword upon is entirely up to you.
• Stunned Silence: Ch'en has several moments of prolonged silence ever since the Doctor mentions Talulah being a leader of the Reunion Movement.
• Support Party Member: Ch'en's first talent Scolding makes her a boon to any Operator with an ATK or DEF recovery skill, as it restores 1 SP to those Operators every 5 seconds (reduced to 4 seconds if Ch'en is promoted to Elite 2). This means faster, and more frequent use of skills for those Operators.
• Sword Plant: In the epilogue of Episode 4, she plants Chi Xiao on the ground◊ while requesting backup from Rhodes Island.
• Talking in Your Sleep: In the beginning of Episode 5, Ch'en is talking in her sleep having a conversation with an unknown character (implied to be younger Talulah) to the point that she had to be splashed with water by Swire.
• Technicolor Blade: Chi Xiao has a red metallic blade which glows brighter when she activates or unsheathes it.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork:
  • Ch'en isn't the type who gets easily swayed by alliances involving Lungmen and her L.G.D. group. And if the alliances are indeed implemented, she doesn't do it out of her own volition but out of a higher-up's commands.
  • In fact, she's initially against Rhodes Island's desire to collaborate with Lungmen simply because of the risks of having their city's confidential information exposed to a third-party. Fortunately, Wei Yenwu commanded her to participate in the joint operation. Ch'en had no other options but to comply, even then, she still withholds confidential information to R.I. until the situation got dire on Episode 3.
  • She initially rejects Amiya's request for a joint operation again on Episode 4, but Kal'tsit had to declare it a state of emergency and remind Ch'en again of the gravity of the situation involving the Reunion and their new temporary base near Lungmen.
  • Even within the LGD, Ch'en has fellow officers she finds difficult to work with, Swire in particular. Not only are their personalities not very compatible, but Ch'en is also aware Swire is a rival who is openly gunning for her position. However, given that they're childhood friends, the rivalry might not be that serious.
• There Was a Door:
  • When she makes it back to her old family estate, she slices the door open. When Hoshiguma is shocked about this, Ch'en simply jokes that she forgot the key.
  • Justified when she deserts Lungmen; she jumps out of the window of Wei's skyscraper because his door gets barred by his personal guards.
• Trap Is the Only Option: Ch'en knows that Mephisto intentionally left the ground floors of the L.G.D. Headquarters empty and that Reunion would be gathering at its rooftop, but she went through it anyway since there's no other choice. Mephisto then mocks her for being predictable.
  Mephisto: Good evening, Madam. You charged straight into my trap alone. Should I call you brave, or just stupid?
• Trash Talk: Implied by her first talent, Scolding, which restores 1 SP every 4-5 seconds to all allies with offensive or defensive recovery skills.
• Underestimating Badassery: Her first impression of the Reunion Movement was perceiving them as an ordinary faction of rioting Infected and nothing more. This leaves Ch'en surprised at the beginning of Episode 3 after learning that Reunion could make strategic plans, ambushes and decoys as if a hierarchy exists, to which Skullshatterer and W demonstrated in the second episode.
• Unwitting Pawn: Ch'en nearly ends up being this to Kashchey's plans for Talulah as revealed in "Roaring Flare", aware that her sister is a Morality Pet to the last visages of Talulah's own willpower that stand against him from completely replacing Talulah's own soul in his Demonic Possession of her. Thus utilizing their feelings for one another, Kashchey creates a scenario that forces Ch'en to play the hero to try and save her sister from herself, unaware of what is actually happening to Talulah that's orchestrating her current actions, despite everyone's warnings, as to put her in a scenario where he can inch Talulah's rage to the point of killing Ch'en, which thereby would complete her Despair Event Horizon and completely assimilating Talulah's body into his own collective consciousness. However, Amiya is able to put a stop to it during the confrontation by causing Kashchey's Master Actor performance to slip up in the final steps, which reveals to Ch'en what she nearly fell for and causes his plan to consume Talulah's soul to completely fall apart by end.
• Walking the Earth: After the conclusion of Episode 8, she concludes that her justice is still immature and applies herself to be a Rhodes Island operator so she can travel the world with them, helping the Infected their way. She swears that she won't return to Lungmen until she truly understands what justice actually is.
• Weak, but Skilled: When compared to most other higher-rarity guards, Ch'en is this because her attack stat is relatively low (notwithstanding that Blade Art and her module in Break the Ice marginally boost it). Fortunately for her, her trait doubles how much damage she deals and her first talent Scolding helps charge her own SP^note and other operators, depending on what skill they're using. Also, most of her skills can stun the target and they can deal solid damage.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • She used to be childhood friends with Talulah. There is a photo of her and Talulah as children in Ch'en's bedroom. It is revealed later that they are half-sisters.
  • She's childhood friends with both Swire and Lin Yuhsia, but their relation as adults end up not as affable, starting from when Ch'en and Swire broke their promise to go to the same middle school for scholarships in Victoria. While Ch'en and Swire are good enough as coworkers, Ch'en and Yuhsia are best described as 'almost strangers' as seen in "Dossoles Holiday", though they're slowly mending it.
• Wham Line:
  • In the Wham Episode that is Operation 3-8, Ch'en is hinted to be aware that Amiya is troubled at having to fight her friend Misha (who disguised herself in the image of Skullshatterer). But despite this, Ch'en delivers this harsh line to Amiya, just before rallying her L.G.D. troops to attack Misha.
    Ch'en: There's one thing I must tell you. From now on, you'd better treat all Infected the same way... as your enemies. Life is unfair. If you want to hate someone, then hate me.
  • She also says this line in the ending of Episode 4, which sets up a cliffhanger for the next Episode.
    Ch'en: Amiya... Lungmen... is in danger.
  • In the beginning of Episode 7, Ch'en gives two bombshell statements in a very heated exchange with Wei Yenwu - first of which explicitly reveals her being an Infected in response over an argument who should stop Talulah and her Reunion-occupied Chernobog city block headed towards Lungmen.
    Ch'en: Wei Yenwu, what I must do, what the LGD must do, is name who is at fault, and correct the mistake. It seems that, according to your definition, I am at fault. We could also say I am the mistake. Because I am Infected.
  • And the second one, after raising her sword against her uncle Wei who's protesting over her decision to go after Talulah alone, effectively resigning from the LGD.
    Ch'en: Why is it you're so decisive when it comes to killing people and so indecisive when it's time to save them? That's how it is now. That's how it was then. I didn't expect a chance at a proper goodbye. Miss Fumizuki, I'm sorry my mom treated you like that. Thank you for looking after me all these years. I've always thought of you as family. (to Wei) Not anymore. This badge? You can have it back.
• Vigilante Woman: One of "Beyond Here" story reels, "Sword and Scale", shows that Ch'en goes to Columbia for one of her Rhodes Island mission. She catches a man who is accused of a crime he didn't commit and, after hearing his side of the story, convinces him to surrender to the authority. The next day, the real culprit along with damning evidences for the crime are found on the doorstep of the police station. When hearing about the various rumors about the incident, instead of extolling the vigilante's virtue, Ch'en simply claims that vigilantism would not be needed if the justice system is working as intended.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Ch'en came under criticism from several Rhodes Island operators and her partners Swire and Hoshiguma for abandoning Amiya and her squad at Chernobog when Lungmen was invaded by Reunion, reasoning that not only did that damage the relationship between the two factions, but the city could have been reclaimed without such great loss of life with their help. To hammer the point, Swire claims that she should be leading the Special Ops division instead of Ch'en. This started the girls' rivalry for a while, and also serves as the initiator of Ch'en's Character Development.

---

Chongyue

Chongyue / Shuo

Introduced: Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow
Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese), Zhao Ling (Mandarin Chinese), Bill (Chinese with Wuhan dialect), Yong Yea (English), Goo Ja-hyung (Korean)
Artist: KuroBlood

There are few tricks to learning martial arts, and the less trick there is to something, the harder it is.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see his 0011 Series: Alighting skin.}

Chongyue, self-proclaimed simple warrior visiting from Yan. (But no one's ever seen him in true action)

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 2024

Subclass: Fighter

Tags: Nuker

Skills: Abundant, Whisk, Anatta

Talents: An End To War, All Are Guests

Affiliation: Sui - Yan

Race: Unknown/Feranmut

Birthday: January 1

Height: 188cm

"Doctor, thank you kindly for taking care of my sisters. I hope you will excuse me for intruding upon Rhodes Island for a little while. Please call me "Chongyue." It's a name given to me by... an old friend of mine."

A martial artist and the Grandmaster commanding the garrison in the Yanese city of Yumen, having come to Rhodes Island to visit his family and stayed onboard as a visitor.

---

• 10-Minute Retirement: The events of "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow" occurred during a festival meant to celebrate his retirement. He ended up assisting in the defense of Yumen, even defeating the enemy Feranmut leader and at the conclusion of the event he leaves for Rhodes Island to visit Nian and Dusk, setting him up as a playable operator.
• The Ageless: After sealing away his powers as a fragment of Sui, this is the one trait that he retains in an otherwise mostly-mortal body.
• A God I Am Not: Of all the siblings who bear the fragments of Sui, Chongyue is the closest to the original being and retains some of its memories, as shown when he is briefly able to speak to Ya as Sui. Despite this, he is insistent on regarding Sui as its own being, while he exists as closely to a mortal as he can.
• Badass Normal: Chongyue sealed his Feranmut powers into a sword long ago, leaving him with the abilities of a mortal save for his lifespan. In spite of this, his countless centuries of experience has shaped him into a nigh-unbeatable martial artist capable of defeating a Physical God through sheer skill, strength and willpower. His Archive Files show he has 0.01u/L Blood-Originium Crystal Density compared to his siblings who have none, and Closure confirms that as far as clinical study can go, his body is fully human.
• Big Brother Mentor: Is a doting older brother towards his younger sisters, like trying to get Dusk to stop being a shut-in, joining in Nian's movie shoots, and teasing Ling about getting in trouble for being drunk.
• Blow You Away: His second skill has him create a windburst that Levitates all enemies in range affected by his first talent's mark, before marking all Levitated enemies in range and slamming them into the ground for massive damage.
• Boring, but Practical: Compared to his sisters, his attacks aren't very flashy, mostly consisting of quick and powerful punches. He's still an extremely powerful attacker all the same.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • Chongyue is the first limited male 6-star operator as well as the first playable male member of the Sui siblings, making him The One Guy to both categories.
  • He is also the first operator illustrated by KuroBlood that is not an anthropomorphic animal.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Downplayed. In "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow" he briefly coughs in pain after taking out Ya with one punch.
• Casting Gag: Twofold. His Chinese voice actor has previously voiced a world famous martial artist, while his English voice actor also voices a dragon - albeit a metaphorical one.
• Coat Cape: Wears his coat like this in his Elite 2 artwork.
• Damage-Increasing Debuff: His first talent gives him a chance to mark enemies for a few seconds on hit, making them take significantly higher damage from him for the duration. His kit is designed to take advantage of this with his fast attack rate and multi-hitting skills.
• Deus Exit Machina: Not by choice, but for the majority of "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow" he does not directly participate in the crisis, asking Qiubai to act in his stead. He still has a presence giving advice to his disciples, and when he finally take action at the end, handily defeats Ya who has been practically an Invincible Villain throughout the plot.
• Early-Bird Cameo: He was referenced in Ling's module description where she called him "brother", and was given more context in "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow".
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Most people in Yumen know him as the Grandmaster, with the name Chongyue only known to a few people including higher-ups in the government and his old disciples.
• Gathering Steam: His third skill starts as a strong but unremarkable double-hit that deals splash damage, and must be activated 5 times to activate its secondary effect, which takes at least 40 attacks without the use of an SP battery. Once it's fully prepared, though, it permanently turns Chong Yue into a DPS monster who can attack from distance (and even pressure other lanes with his cross-shaped range), automatically activate his skill once ready, and deal double hits to maximize his damage while charging his skill twice as fast.
• Glass Cannon: Chongyue can dish out tons of damage very quickly, particularly with his third skill's fast attack rate and high damage multipliers, but he has only average defenses and no form of self-sustain unlike his fellow six-star Fighter Mountain.
• Hidden Depths: He displays knowledge encompassing many fields beyond martial arts, such as when he speaks to General Zuo about his tea and speaking to Jieyun in the same Sarkaz language spoken by her tribe.
• I Gave My Word: Kept his promise three years ago to duel Huai Tianpei in "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow", comparing it to a ceremony meant to raise troop morale before a war.
• Image Song: "Where Tidings Sweep".
• It Was a Gift: Gave his power-concealing sword to Huai Tianpei as a reward for their duel, even though he lost to Chongyue. He was searching for someone worthy to keep it for him, and saw that Huai Tianpei was not just a peerless fighter, but was so dedicated to honing his martial arts that he looked down on weapons enough to never be tempted to abuse the sword's power.
• Let's Fight Like Gentlemen: Deconstructed and defied. Chongyue considers giving Huai more time to recover from his battle with Ya before their duel, but recognizes how incredibly rare a truly fair fight can be and that waiting would be more of a disrespect to his ability. Huai still manages to land a blow on Chongyue, something no other mortal has ever accomplished.
• MacGuffin: The sword that conceals his Feranmut powers which drove much of the plot of "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow".
• Martial Pacifist: Is the first of his family to dislike killing, but will not hesitate to resort to lethal force if needed.
• Master of All:
  • His profile states that he is a master of many martial arts styles, and traces of countless different styles can be seen in his own. The implication is that he either had the ability to study and improve on all of them, or that they were all outright created by him.
  • He also participates in many hobbies at Rhodes Island and proves to be a very fast learner at all of them. Notably, despite his tremendous martial arts expertise, he's a humble, diligent student in all other subjects.
  • He joined Nian's movie crew as the stunt director to make her happy, and ended up being so good at it that reviewers find the action sequence being the only good part of her B-rated movies.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: His second skill can damage aerial enemies, making him the first Fighter Guard able to do so.
• Meaningful Name:
  • While his name isn't important in and of itself, the fact that Chongyue is a typical Yan name with multiple syllables, rather than the single syllable common among other Sui, indicates that it isn't his real name.
  • His real name Shuo means "the first day of the year/new moon" which matches with his birthday of Jan 1.
• Nice Guy: Is a gentle and down-to-earth person despite his powers and prestige.
• No-Sell: Dusk tried and failed to trap him in a painting when he came looking for her. To add insult to injury, he intentionally stayed trapped for a bit to humor her, then effortlessly broke out once he had enough.
• One Degree of Separation: The woman that gave Chongyue his name turns out to be Jieyun's mentor and one of his previous disciples alongside Meng Tieyi. He originally was away from Yumen in search of a cure for Oripathy to try and save her life, and in "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow" was relieved to hear that Jieyun's tribe was at her side so she didn't have to die alone.
• Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You: Downplayed in that both he and Qiubai know he can't be killed so easily, but he is willing to give Qiubai the opportunity to take revenge for the death of her father. That said, he's not remotely surprised when Qiubai chooses to give up the Cycle of Revenge instead.
• Spam Attack: His second talent All Are Guests restores 3 SP to him if his skills kill at least one enemy. Coupled with two of his skills being on-attack SP gain and his fast attack speed, Chongyue can easily cycle his skills to keep the pressure on his opponents.
• The Strategist: Led Yumen's garrison against threats to Yan's borders prior to joining Rhodes Island, and is implied to be the one that taught Ling in warfare.
• Stern Teacher: He picks up the job of martial arts training after joining Rhodes Island, and quickly proves himself to be a strict teacher that emphasizes the importance of diligence in training. He manages to make Dobermann, of all people, look lenient in comparison.
• Tragic Keepsake: "Chongyue" is an alias given to him by a fallen comrade, because they thought he should have a human name for the purpose of living in the human world.
• Willfully Weak: Despite being the oldest and likely strongest of the Sui siblings, Chongyue sealed his Feranmut powers sealed away when he decided to live among humans, and considering his vast martial arts mastery, it doesn't make him any less badass. The sword that contains his powers become a MacGuffin in "Where Vernal Winds Will Never Blow".
• World's Best Warrior: He is the greatest martial artist in Yan and likely all of Terra, owing to the skill he has gained through several mortal lifespans. Huai Tianpei, a martial arts prodigy who had never lost to any opponent before, trained for forty years only to win a single round against him in combat, and was defeated the other nine times.

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Conviction

Conviction

Introduced: April Fools' Day 2020 (CN), April Fools' Day 2021 (Global)
Voiced by: Yuri Yamaoka (Japanese), Ying Xie (Mandarin Chinese), Jad Saxton (English), Kim Hyeon-sim (Korean)
Artist: TOMATO

Where there are sinners, there must be Conviction!

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see their Achievement Star: Super Conviction Buddies skin.}

Conviction is ready to join!

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 159

Subclass: Dreadnought

Tags: DPS, Survival, Crowd-Control, Nuker

Skills: Judgement, Genesis

Talents: Safe Landing

Affiliation: Minos

Race: Unknown (suspected Liberi)

Birthday: Unknown

Height: 145cm

"I am Conviction. I shall use this name, with all the faith it entails, as my code name. You ask what my talents are? I am a master of the deadly and beautiful art of conviction! Need I say more?"

A mysterious figure only mentioned in myths and legends, yet somehow recruited to Rhodes Island.

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• The Ageless: Their records suspect that Conviction hailed from the land that was ancient Minos, dating back to the first Terran millennium.
• Ambiguous Gender: Conviction's true gender is unclear. It is merely listed as "Conviction" in the provided operator bio, which when combined with the (male) peafowl Animal Motifs, led many players to believe Conviction is a Dude Looks Like a Lady or otherwise. According to their bio, "Conviction" had appeared at several points in Terran history, each time with a different appearance, so it would be pointless to try and nail down any specific gender, if they have one at all.
• Animal Gender-Bender: While Conviction is voiced by a female voice actor, their Animal Motifs are apparently based on (male) peafowls (see above trope).
• Animal Motifs: Seems to have had a peafowl one. Their profile lists their race as being "Unknown (suspected Liberi)".
• Art Imitates Art: A rendition of Michelangelo Buonarroti's [[Sistine Chapel "The Creation of Adam" appears in their Elite 2 art.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Their second skill Genesis seems great at first, being a strong, low-cost, manually-activated AOE attack that also silences enemies. However, using it has a 50% of failing, which instead causes all nearby allies (including Conviction themselves!) to be stunned for 5 seconds.
• Blessed with Suck: Their talent Safe Landing decreases their deployment cost and redeployment time considerably, but also leaves them stunned for 10 seconds upon being deployed.
• Critical Hit: Their first skill Judgment has a 5% chance of quadrupling the power of their next attack, stacked on top of the skill's normal attack buff. At max level, this translates to a whopping 800% attack buff. At max level and trust, one Mastery 3 proc of this skill hits for around 7,104 damage a pop.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Downplayed; while Conviction has not physically appeared or made playable as of yet on the Global/EN server, their icon can be found in the Network Archives as of the Rewinding Breeze event, albeit as a generic silhouette much like other unrecruited operators. As of April Fools' that year, they were finally implemented officially.
• Go Out with a Smile: Conviction's death animation shows them smiling while falling to the ground.
• Joke Character: They are made into one for April Fools 2020 on the CN version (and came to the other versions the year after), mostly due to their talent and second skill Genesis, the latter of which seems to have been made with the express intention of griefing their own team more than anything.
• Lethal Joke Character: Despite their unconventional nature, Conviction is actually capable of ridiculous levels of burst damage...if set up properly, and provided the Random Number God doesn't feel like trolling you (Conviction's S1 has a measly 5% to proc even at max level). In a team layout revolving entirely around buffing Conviction to sky high, they can nuke even Patriot into oblivion.
• The Needs of the Many: Conviction's second archive file makes reference to the "Trolley Problem", in which they have tied six convicted artists onto train tracks with an incoming train piloted by a Durin, while giving a single convicted artist a Sadistic Choice of saving one person or many of his fellow convicts.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Conviction's design really stands out among all the other operators in the game, having a more traditionally anime-esque art style.
• Random Effect Spell: Their S2 Genesis is a gamble; on the one hand, activating it will deal 180% damage to all enemies in range and silences them for 2 seconds at Level 1...on the other, there's a 50% chance that the skill will fail, therefore stunning all allies in range for 5 seconds.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Tomatoes, which coincidentally happens to be the namesake of their artist.
• Version-Exclusive Content: As of April Fools 2020, Conviction is only available to CN players through a special code obtained through BiliBili. This is no longer a case for Global players, though.

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Cutter

Cutter

Introduced: Darknights' Memoir
Voiced by: Sayuri Yahagi (Japanese), Sue (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English)
Artist: Xiàyě Hóng Míng

The kitchen is more dangerous than the battlefield, and it would be best to not let her in the kitchen.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

Cutter, mercenary, will complete all tasks on the battlefield in a calm and disciplined manner.

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 159

Subclass: Swordmaster

Tags: DPS, Nuker

Skills: Redshift, Crimson Crescent

Talents: Photoetched Marks

Affiliation: Columbia

Race: Vulpo

Birthday: May 2

Height: 155cm

"Cutter. Just an ordinary mercenary. I have Oripathy, so I plan to trade my abilities for some treatment. Hope this blade's good enough to get things done for you... Mm, that's about it."

A former Columbian mercenary stationed at Rhodes Island for Oripathy treatment. She is also known for refusing jobs that do not meet her moral standards.

---

• Anti-Air: At level 1, her S2 Crimson Crescent already deals 300% Physical damage to up to five nearby enemies; if she's hitting airborne targets with it, then the damage is doubled!
• Boring, but Practical: Cutter is a great option for a Swordmaster Guard even if one has Ch'en, Irene, or Degenbrecher, as her ease of development owing to her rarity and surprisingly powerful skills let her carry her weight even much later on.
• Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Part of her issues with cooking is she treats basic tasks like peeling potatoes with the same level of strength as one of her mercenary targets and sends food flying across the kitchen as a result.
• Flechette Storm: Cutter's S1 Redshift has her throwing four daggers that strike as many targets within her range, dealing 200% physical damage at level 1.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: She has a very low self-esteem regarding food after meeting with universal disappointment and dread from kitchen staff whenever she's in the kitchen, so she deflects Sideroca's praise when the latter does taste testing for her risotto and finds it delicious.
• The Klutz: It's implied that, despite branding herself as a professional mercenary, Cutter is actually rather clumsy and Does Not Know Her Own Strength.
  • According to her profile, Cutter is an absolute Catastrophe on her own when left in the kitchen, where utterly bizarre accidents can and will happen. She was banned from entering Rhodes Island's kitchen after being reported for "accidentally eviscerating a cutting board, causing the fire alarm to go off after stewing unknown substances, and causing the toaster to explode". Even those who particularly like her find it for the best that she's never let in there ever again.
  • Her misadventures in the kitchen aside, she had also accidentally damaged a lot of things simply by bumping into them when wearing her blades.
• Lethal Chef: As a mercenary who mainly ate canned food or meal packets while working, she's very intrigued by the prospect of hot food prepared through cooking but is unbelievably bad at actually doing it herself to the point where the cafeteria staff actually contemplated giving her the same ban as Ceobe from entering the kitchen. It takes Sideroca two months to instill into Cutter how to actually cook.
• Moveset Clone: Of Bibeak and Ch'en. Unlike Bibeak, who inherits Ch'en's Arts damage, Cutter specializes in physical ATK. She's a notably more faithful copy of Ch'en than Bibeak was, however, since both of her skills take after her prototype's, if slightly struck with the Nerf bat.

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Dagda

Dagda / Isabella Montague

Introduced: Episode 10: Shatterpoint (First Appearance), Episode 11: Return To Mist (Playable Debut)
Voiced by: Shiki Aoki (Japanese), Misty (Mandarin Chinese), Eleanor Bennett (English), Park Si-yoon (Korean)
Artist: Infukun

She defends the dark night of Victoria, and you within that darkness too.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

Dagda, member of the Glasgow Gang, she and her metal claws calmly awaiting assignment.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 159

Subclass: Fighter

Tags: DPS, Survival

Skills: Counter Technique, Search and Destroy

Talents: Gang Spirit, Knight's Honor

Affiliation: Glasgow - Victorian Empire

Race: Feline

Birthday: July 9

Height: 155cm

"Knight of the Tower Isabella Montague. On behalf of Siege and our little alliance, I express our sincerest gratitude... What do you mean I don't dress like a knight? L-Looks can be bloody deceiving!"

A hotheaded member of the Glasgow Gang.

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• Animal Motifs: Panthers, specifically the jaguar (Panthera onca) as demonstrated in her E2 art.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Wields massive claws attached to her gauntlets into combat.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Dagda wears a completely black outfit. This doesn't stop her from being a loyal companion to Siege and a fierce fighter against Theresis' occupation of Londinium.
• Due to the Dead: As the last Knight of the Tower, Siege encourages her to give proper salutes to all thirty-two Steam Knights who died in the Mausoleum of Kings to the Sarkaz.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She is first introduced in Episode 10 but doesn't become playable until Episode 11.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: She wears two different stockings, her jacket sleeves have different color stripes, and one side of her jacket breast is studded with rings.
• Gathering Steam: Her first talent's damage boost gains a permanent buff when an enemy dies near a Glasgow-affiliated operator, encouraging her to stay on the field as long as possible.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Nearly all of Dagda's clothes seem to be made from leather - namely, she wears black leather jacket, shorts, belts, choker, gloves and shoes.
• Really Royalty Reveal: Episode 10 reveals that she's not only an elite Knight of the Tower, but also a member of the influential Montague noble family, which is key to rallying the Central Londoninium Eartha branch to assist in the evacuation of the Sudean Borough.
• Shout-Out: The panther in her Elite 2 art has a passing resemblance to Black Panther.
• Situational Sword: Her second talent Knight's Honor gives her a max HP increase and lifesteal when she is used in Episode 11: Return To Mist.
• Sole Survivor: She is the last surviving Knight of the Tower after the other Knights were killed by Theresis' forces.
• Sophisticated as Hell: Her noble knight persona mixing with her gang member persona leads to her speaking like this in some of her operator lines.
  "A fight? Wicked, bring it on... Ahem, as a Knight of the Tower, I accept your challenge."
• Survivor Guilt: She expresses regret that she could not join her fellow Knights of the Tower in their last stand against the Sarkaz invaders in "Return To Mist", before Totter talked her out of it.
  He never asked what I wanted! I wanted to die with them! I...

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Degenbrecher

Degenbrecher

Introduced: Break the Ice (First Appearance), The Rides to Lake Silbernherze (Playable Debut)
Voiced by: Minami Takayama (Japanese), Wu Di (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English), TBA (Korean)
Artist: ryuzakiichi

She won't be the one to take the initiative to say or do something, but you'll know what you must do and say.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

Guard Operator Degenbrecher, always on standby behind you.

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 4116

Subclass: Swordmaster

Tags: Nuker, DPS, Debuff

Skills: Sheer Force, Mirthless Jest, Return to Silence

Talents: Born Warrior, Living Legend

Affiliation: Karlan Trade Co., Ltd - Kjerag

Race: Caprinae

Birthday: June 6

Height: 182 cm

The legendary "Black Knight" of Kazimierz, a three-time winner of the Kazimierz Major who drew the unwanted attention of the General Chamber of Commerce, only to be hired by the Karlan Trading Co. as a bodyguard before the situation could escalate further.

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• The Ace: She managed to win the cutthroat Kazimierz Major three times in a row, and likely could have gone further if she really wanted to. Better yet, she was totally incapable of using Arts despite her Leithanian origins, so she did this using her skill and strength alone. As a playable operator, she also has an "Outstanding" rating on three of her evaluations (strength, endurance, and combat skill) where most operators established as this trope don't always get even one, and an "Excellent" for mobility and tactical acumen, with only her Originium Arts adaptability being flawed.
• All the Other Reindeer: As a Leithanian born with the inability to use Arts, Degenbrecher was ostracized and shunned by the people. Even after winning the Kazimierz Major for the first time, she found that she was still unwelcome in Leithanien. However, she was actually pleased with this, as it's implied she would have been disgusted if the Leithaniens did a 180 on their opinion towards her just because she had become famous.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Is extremely standoffish towards those who do not equal her or earn her respect (especially those who flaunt ideas of honor and respect), which is almost everyone around her that isn't SilverAsh. However, given her sheer skill, she can confidently back her attitude. Not even the Darksteel can faze her.
• Armor-Piercing Attack:
  • One of her passive abilities as a boss allows her attacks to bypass 20% of the defense of her targets. This effect doubles to 40% when she Turns Red.
  • As a playable character, her second talent lets her ignore 25% of an enemy's DEF afflicted with Tremble.
• Assassin Outclassin': The moment she spat in the K.G.C.C.'s face by winning a third championship she was supposed to lose on purpose, the Armorless Union came bearing down on her, including the old Platinum, presumably the Lazurites, and even the Darksteel themselves. The end result was that Degenbrecher only received minor scratches and was merely forced to leave her trophy behind in Kazimierz, with her even single-handedly blocking multiple arrows from the Darksteel, which previously was shown to take both Nearl and Shining working together to deflect one.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: A three-time winner of the Kazimierz Major and the final boss of "Break the Ice", all while being sharply dressed.
• Badass Normal: Degenbrecher cannot use Arts, relying solely on her skill and strength. She is still one of the deadliest and most powerful opponents Rhodes Island has faced, and later lends them that same incredible strength as a playable character.
• Blood Knight: Downplayed. While she does tend to get into fights due to her standoffish behavior and desire to challenge herself, she holds absolutely no desire to draw out a fight or bask in trivial beliefs as honor or glory as she would rather thoroughly demolish her opponent as fast as humanly possible because they are an opponent and they are in her (or her boss's) way, simple as that.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Tasked with bodyguarding SilverAsh, who is a master tactician and quite capable of defending himself. Admittedly, as strong as SilverAsh is, Degenbrecher is leagues stronger.
• Breaking Old Trends: Degenbrecher is the first Swordmaster Guard to have a skill (her third skill) that charges via Auto Recovery instead of Offensive Recovery.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Warfarin's analysis of her physical condition per Rhodes Island protocol explains her condition as this, as to compensate for her unusual lack of affinity for any Arts whatsoever, her innate physicality and constant training have honed her body to such a freakishly unnatural degree that for all intents and purposes she is far beyond what could be described as "superhuman" — Hell, Warfarin just giving her an encouraging pat on the back ends up bruising her own hand as a testament to how insanely strong Degenbrecher is.
• Chess Motifs: The Queen. The description of her final EX stage (notably called "Queen's Gambit") names her as the opponent's (Enciodes') "strongest piece", an overwhelmingly capable foe who cannot be reasonably defeated in a straight fight and is only deployed to handle especially dangerous threats when the time is ripe.
• Contralto of Strength: As fitting of a legendary knight, Degenbrecher speaks in a low and imposing tone.
• Counter-Attack: In her second phase, every time she loses 25% of her health, she'll use Momentum Murder to paralyze all Operators in a certain range, depleting their SP while making them unable to attack or use skills for 10 seconds.
• The Dreaded: While SilverAsh is no pushover himself in combat, the other heads of the Kjerag clans scoff and look down on him for his shifty behavior and family history. Degenbrecher is a whole different story and is so frighteningly powerful that facing her is considered suicidal, with even the most warlike clan generals like Gulo fearing the mere prospect of encountering her, much less battling her. Which is why the Doctor's plan hinges on pulling her away from SilverAsh's side so they actually have a chance of succeeding at all, citing her as the one element that could dismantle any plan they made unless distracted. Hilariously, her record shows that Platinum is utterly terrified of her, which she very much has reason to be considering what Degenbrecher can do (and once did) to Armorless members that rank above Platinum.
• Dual Wielding: She throws away her sword and starts dual-wielding swordbreakers to signal her second phase. As a playable character, she also uses her swordbreakers to perform her skills, which fittingly hit twice or more. Interestingly, although her regular attacks also hit twice, she just swings her sword twice instead.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She was seen in various promotional images in Arknights and mentioned in Maria Nearl before her debut in Break the Ice as a boss, more than two years after Arknights was released; her earliest appearance was as far back as the Kjerag trailer (at 0:14) from before Arknights was even released.
• Everyone Has Standards: It is revealed in her voice lines that her reasoning for ultimately defying the K.G.C.C. by winning her third uncontested victory in the Kazimierz Major in a row, despite putting her effectively in exile from the country on the threat of death (something they attempted to act on immediately), came down to a case of principle. While her first two victories were entirely out of a need to prove herself as truly a Living Legend and satisfy her lust for battle, the third was entirely just to spit at their belief that they can just push people around with their money and somehow control her as a result.
• Field Power Effect: Her boss version gains a significant ATK boost while in Snowfall.
• Final Boss: Degenbrecher is the main boss of the "Break the Ice" event.
• Flash Step: Her Swift Slayer ability lets her dash through operators that try to block her, much like Crownslayer. Unlike Crownslayer, this dash can't be silenced and also deals massive damage to anyone hit by it.
• Gameplay and Story Integration:
  • Degenbrecher is incapable of using Arts, so her damage is entirely physical.
  • She is the first Swordmaster to break the subclass's convention of only having Offensive Recovery skills, with her third skill being Auto Recovery. As shown in Honor Before Reason below, Degenbrecher cares little for being an honorable fighter and only fights to utterly crush her foes, so her breaking an unspoken rule of the subclass is quite accurate to her character.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Throughout "Break the Ice", she is part of the same antagonistic faction as SilverAsh, his bodyguards Matterhorn and Courier, and later Gnosis. Despite this, there is nothing stopping you from deploying her allies to fight against her as a boss in BI-8 and BI-EX-8. It's especially egregious with SilverAsh (her master), since some players may use his innate decloaking Talent to negate her invisibility phase. As of The Rides to Lake Silbernherze you can even make her fight her (technically) future self to make it even more absurd.
• Glass Cannon: As a boss, she hits like a train owing to her high ATK and DEF-piercing ability, and has no less than three seperate ways to evade or negate damage. However, once you get past her abilities, she goes down fairly quickly owing to her surprisingly middling HP and defenses. This also applies to her playable iteration due to the statline of the Swordmaster branch; she's capable of astounding damage output, but has only her low base chance to inflict Tremble as a defensive measure, making her liable to fall quickly without healing support.
• Gratuitous German: Her name is German for "sword breaker" and also the name of a German parrying dagger used to, well, catch and break swords. Although she doesn't wield said weapon, she does dual-wield similar weapons resembling Chinese swordbreakers in her second phase.
• Herd-Hitting Attack: Brutalizing Blizzard, a special move where she slices up everything around her with her blades to deal heavy physical damage. As a playable operator, all of her attacks pick up on this trait and can hit up to 5-6 enemies at once.
• Honor Before Reason: Averted, Degenbrecher explicitly states she couldn't care less about being honorable either on the job or in a fight since her one and only goal is to completely destroy her enemy without mercy, and she will use any means to achieve that end. It's this factor that makes her insanely dangerous to the Doctor's plans if she were allowed to regroup with SilverAsh's main forces, necessitating Sharp to distract her for as long as possible to ensure victory.
• Lightning Bruiser: Sharp determines that this is what makes Degenbrecher so absurdly strong. When it comes down to it, Degenbrecher's main strengths are just that she hits incredibly hard and moves incredibly fast, but those two qualities are so incredible that they're all she'll need to beat anyone who doesn't have equivalent prowess in both departments.
  She has speed and strength, qualities that every warrior should possess. Degenbrecher has nothing more, but clearly needs nothing more.
• Living Legend: Her inhuman feats of swordsmanship and combat prowess have given her a legendary reputation both in and out of Kazimierz, and her title alone is enough to invoke respect and awe. For bonus points, the trope name is also the name of her second talent.
• Loved by All:
  • In contrast to her status as The Dreaded towards the clan heads and being a pariah in Leithanien, Degenbrecher is well-liked and adored by the citizens of Kjerag, who often come to her for help with agricultural work or any tricky problems, and repaying her with free dinner, to the point where the owner of a restaurant she frequented took it upon himself to call out some unruly tourists for daring to inconvenience her, which is something that notably stuck with her as she wasn't used to being accepted anywhere before.
  • Also, despite being unofficially exiled from Kazimierz, Degenbrecher is still wildly popular among its knights, with the members of the Kazimierz delegation visiting Kjerag all clamoring for her autograph when they meet her.
• Master Swordswoman: Her title and past wins aren't just for show. Her pure skill with the blade and her absurd physical prowess makes her a nearly invincible foe even with her inability to use Arts, to the point where even Sharp, an Elite Operator and practically a One-Man Army of his own, can only hope to stall her for ten minutes.
• Meaningful Rename: It's implied by her intro line where she states "Degenbrecher" is not a code name and can be considered her real name that "Degenbrecher" is not her birth name but rather one that she chose for herself, likely after her signature weapons.
• Melee Disarming: Degenbrecher as a playable character introduces the Tremble status, which is inflicted by her first talent, which causes blocked enemies to be unable to attack. Even with her double hits, the base chance to inflict it is a lowly 10%, but her second and third skills can guarantee it.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Degenbrecher is referred frequently as being frighteningly strong to the point of qualifying in an argument as potentially the World's Strongest Woman, enough to casually level half a burning building to rescue SilverAsh and Ratatos, yet she looks as lithe as other females in the game, although she is very tall.
• Multi-Melee Master: Her portrait and first phase have her using a longsword, but her stronger choice is a pair of swordbreakers, the origin of her name. She only draws them when she faces an especially strong foe. It's implied that even that is her holding back, and that her true strongest weapon is a BFS that was shattered by the Darksteel during her escape from Kazimierz, which she never bothered to get repaired.
• Mysterious Past: Neither Degenbrecher's past before the Kazimierz Major nor how she managed to become so frighteningly strong are known currently, although according to her own words, it wasn't pretty.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Not necessarily Degenbrecher herself (although she is named after a weapon), but her boss skills being named "Brutalizing Blizzard", "Swift Slayer", and "Momentum Murder" on the other hand...
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Unlike her boss, she does not see the value in admiration, respect, glory, or even being honored from her opponents, as in her own words, she only wishes to see anyone who opposes her 'strewn across the ground', so she aims simply to destroy whatever her opponent is as thoroughly as possible, all while completely dispassionate about the ordeal.
• One-Woman Army: In The Rides to Lake Silberneherze, she holds the line against Harold and two thousand soldiers under his command. This is actually deconstructed as the prolonged battle shows that, as deadly as she is, she's still human with a limit to how long she can fight, as her opponents planned to slowly tire her out with constant fighting and her plan was not to win but merely stall long enough for SilverAsh's plan to come together.
• Power at a Price: Warfarin hypothesizes that her being born with her freakishly strong physique also led to her body becoming incompatible with Originium Arts.
• Power Trio: Forms one with her boss and friend SilverAsh and Gnosis. Their Chromatic Arrangement is emphasized in the PV for her EP "Blade Catcher," with Silverash being blue, Gnosis being red, and Degenbrecher being gold, and they both cameo in the background. The lyrics are also about her dedication to protect both of them. In addition, as of her release, they are the three only 6-star Operators of their faction (Karlan Trade Co.) and are very important and powerful figures within the company, with Silverash and Gnosis being co-founders and Degenbrecher almost as good as one as she joined them shortly after the company's inception when they were still young and struggling, and her presence was integral to getting the company off the ground. This is also makes her the Stranger of With a Friend and a Stranger trio centered around SilverAsh.
• Promoted to Playable: She's a playable Swordmaster Guard as of The Rides to Lake Silberneherze.
• Purposely Overpowered: Degenbrecher is the Black Knight of Kazimierz, with her feats and skill making her an incredible Living Legend. Fittingly, as a playable character, Degenbrecher is an extremely powerful Swordmaster Guard who manages to break the archetype's mold with her skillset.
• The Sneaky Gal: Turns invisible during her second phase, making her only vulnerable when blocked or revealed; a problem when she can pass through anything that tries to block her. Ironically, one of the Operators particularly capable of foiling her stealth is none other than her boss, SilverAsh.
• Statuesque Stunner: She stands at 182 cm, the third tallest female operator so far, and is quite the looker.
• Undying Loyalty: To SilverAsh, who's more her friend than her boss. Sharp notes this during their fight that Degenbrecher trusts him a lot, approves of him, and isn't someone who can be won over by money. Although Degenbrecher states that she won't bother defending herself or Enciodes as it's a hassle, the prequel manga lays out that SilverAsh won her over by not just going broke buying her freedom, but with his daring and resolve, and by trusting her with his life despite having known her for only three months.
• Unkempt Beauty: She wears her hair rather messily, strands consistently loose in and around her face, but it does nothing to detract from her looks at all.
• Un-Sorcerer: Despite hailing from Leithanien, a nation of Arts adepts, she is incapable of using Arts herself, with her in-battle description going so far as to label her a "defective Leithanian".
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Sees Sharp as this during their fight, while absolutely his better in combat, his ability to have fought her off for such a long time and his certainty in attitude regardless earns her respect enough to draw out her swordbreakers to face him proper. She even promises to remember his name after he surrenders.
  • One of her voicelines also implies that she sees Nearl as this and is waiting for the right moment to challenge her to a duel, although she remarks that it'll only be a true fight if they're both fighting to the death.
  • From her own backstory and voice lines, she also states her brief encounter with the Darksteel as an opponent she unfortunately wasn't allowed to have a proper fight with at the time... mostly because he was the closest out of doing any reasonable damage to her during the many assassination attempts on her life after winning the third Kazimierz Major, and that only because the Darksteel managed to break her famous greatsword after it deflected multiple of his darksteel arrows^note A feat that required Nearl and Shining working together just to block one.

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Dobermann

Dobermann

Introduced: Game Launch
Voiced by: Atsumi Tanezaki (Japanese), D. QQ (Mandarin Chinese), Lucy Montgomery (English), Kim Hyun-ji (Korean)
Artist: LLC

You could always use the advice of a veteran.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Epoque Passe: Lieutenant skin.}

Dobermann, Starter instructor of Rhodes Island, is always ready to offer advice on the battlefield.

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 130

Subclass: Instructor

Tags: DPS, Support

Skills: Power Strike β, Spur

Talents: Starter Instructor

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Perro

Birthday: May 27

Height: 163cm

"Attention! I am Dobermann, former military instructor for the Bolívarian armed forces. Now, let's cut to the chase. Hand over the list of Operators in need of training."

A former instructor of the Bolivarian Armed Forces, now working as a notoriously disciplined drill instructor at Rhodes.

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• Animal Motifs: Dogs, due to her Perro race. A dog of the Dobermann breed also appears in her Elite 2 artwork.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Her eyebrows look like thick dots.
• Crutch Character: Dobermann is pretty useful when you're first starting out with a team of 3-star operators, though once you start using four-star and above rarity operators, her utility falls off.
• Defector from Decadence: She abandoned the Bolivarian army after she was forced to sacrifice her men in an operation. She then briefly joined the Bolivarian Resistance and left them too when she found that they weren't much better than the Army.
• Disproportionate Retribution: As a part of her Drill Sergeant Nasty tendencies. For example, complaining about her advice of a balanced diet would get you fifty laps around the deck.
• Does Not Like Spam: She greatly dislikes chocolate and actually lobbies to have it banned, forcing Closure to switch to salted egg energy bars instead. Makes sense when you realize she's basically an anthropomorphic dog, as is any other operator of Perro race, and chocolate is poisonous to them.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: She earned herself a reputation for being this, with most new recruits quickly learning to fear and/or hate her. Catapult in particular has some especially scathing remarks to describe her. Subverted in that it's not how she actually is, but more of a byproduct of her having No Social Skills.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: As the distinction between Vanguards and Guards did not exist in the game's earlier incarnations (Vanguards were simply DP-generating Guards), the icon of her second skill is green, which is only reserved for Vanguards nowadays.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Story-wise, Dobermann is regarded as a very renowned and powerful operator in Rhodes Island. Gameplay-wise, she's mediocre at worst and middle-of-the-ground at best due to being classed as a maligned subclass of Guards and her talent only benefitting 3-star and lower rarity operators.
• Girls Love Chocolate: An inverted case as she dislikes chocolate. Chocolate is, of course, poisonous to dogs.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Dobermann actually greatly cares about her charges' wellbeing and feelings (particularly Fang, whom Dobermann feels she may have been too hard on her), despite her role as a drill instructor. She just cannot fully express this due to her having No Social Skills.
  • Despite her stern, no-nonsense personality, as mentioned in "Heart of Surging Flame", Dobermann is a fan of Penguin Logistic's Emperor and his music.
• Ironic Name: She is a drill instructor, named after a real-life breed of dogs that are well-known to be highly intelligent and receptive to training.
• It's All My Fault: When you have her on your team and the mission fails, Dobermann blames herself.
• Ms. Exposition: In the Prologue, she retells to a newbie medic (and by extension, the player as well) how Chernobog fell from the riots caused by Reunion, and how she and some fellow Rhodes Island members managed to sneak in the city.
• My Grandma Can Do Better Than You: In "Stories of Afternoon", one of Rhodes' training instructor recounts that, among the insults she had dished out at her trainees, one of them was that "(Dobermann's) abuela can run up a mountain carrying bigger weight than (the instructor)".
• No Social Skills: As mentioned in her bio, Dobermann's poor social skills, or lack thereof, makes her come across as mean and needlessly strict. It's in large part responsible for her reputation as Rhodes Island's resident Drill Sergeant Nasty.
• Physical Fitness Punishment: As part of her drill instructor duties, she typically assigns several kinds of extra exercise for anyone who screws up. Or in some cases, Dobermann combines exercise with another assignment as Hibiscus had to memorize her anatomy textbooks and do jumping jacks at the same time as a punishment for being late.
• Stealth Pun: In Catapult's acquisition line she stops just short of calling Dobermann a bitch, but seeing as she is a female Perro she quite literally is one.
• Unusual Eyebrows: She's got round brown eyebrows in contrast to her black hair. It's a reference to a Dobermann Pinscher dog's signature black-and-tan markings.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Dobermann is terribly afraid of heights. Most of her screentime in Episode 7 is spent making herself a nuisance to the pilot of Rhodes aircraft she's riding, because her terrified screaming causes everyone else in the plane nervous.

---

Estelle

Estelle

Introduced: Game Launch
Voiced by: Nozomi Yamamoto (Japanese), Mia Miao (Mandarin Chinese), Clare Corbett (English), Kim Seo-young (Korean)
Artist: Yā

Please trust her capability!

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

Estelle, Guard Operator of Rhodes Island, still doubts if she can help.

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 127

Subclass: Centurion

Tags: AoE, Survival

Skills: ATK Up β, Sacrificial Strike

Talents: Self-Healing

Affiliation: Sargon

Race: Archosauria

Birthday: February 14

Height: 162cm

"H-hello... Uh... s-sorry, my horns... I accidentally broke your office door with my horns..."

A nervous Archosaurus who suffers from insecurities and depression over her Oripathy-mutated horns, which are cumbersome enough that she has accidentally damaged a number of doors with them.

---

• Achilles' Heel: Not managing to reliably get kills while her S2 is active. As it renders Estelle unable to be healed by conventional Medics and Defenders for 15 seconds, if she cannot take advantage of her ATK steroid to kill her enemies and proc her talent, she will fall very quickly due to her low DEF.
• All the Other Reindeer: Sometimes, she gets bullied and called a "freak" by the bad guys because of her mutated horns.
• Animal Motifs: Crocodiles, due to her Archosauria race. It's also evident in her color scheme and tail. Lastly, her Elite 2 artwork shows a crocodile on the bottom-right.
• Brick Joke: One of her trust lines has her admit that her childhood dream was to become a princess. In her E2 art, the Originium crystals on her head are shaped like a crown and she wears a long white dress.
• Cleavage Window: As seen in her initial artwork.
• Death or Glory Attack: Her second ability, Sacrifical Strike boosts her attack by 85% while it's active. The caveat to this is that she can only be healed by Self-Healing talent.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Unlike her fellow Centurion Guards, she doesn't carry a chainsaw, instead, her main method of attack is to slowly punch her enemies with an impact strong enough to deal AoE damage...though given her voice lines, she's just as likely hitting enemies with her horns by accident.
• Healing Factor: Her Self-Healing talent makes it such that if an enemy has been killed within eight surrounding grids of her, she heals for 7% of her max HP, therefore justifying her Survival tag. If she's not backed up, then at the very least she has the ability to attack all blocked enemies.
• Heroic BSoD: She was deeply worried about her mutated horns, causing her to slip into depression.
• Horned Humanoid: Estelle has huge horns that appear to be just as large as her head. This is not natural to her race, however, but manifested as a result of her Oripathy infection, something Estelle is very insecure about.
• Rare Random Drop: She can only be obtained through Recruitment, though since her tags are fairly common (AOE, Guard, Survival) and the fact that she's a 4-star operator, she's definitely not as rare as the likes of Indra or Vulcan. Unfortunately, this worsened once Popukar was added to the Recruitment pool in an update, since she shares that same batch of tags.
• Shrinking Violet:
  • Estelle is extremely shy, insecure, and has very low self-esteem due to her infection causing her horns to grow too big. If some of her spoken lines are to be trusted, she also tends to be a bit clumsy, as she pierces the door to Doctor's office with her horns. However her profile notes that during battle she can be surprisingly powerful and effective, it's suspected to be her natural ability as member of Archosauria race.
  • This is manifested somewhat in having the Solitude base RIIC skill, which increases her own morale recovery rate by .7/hour whenever she's put in the dorm.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Combat-wise, she fights barehanded like Fighter Guards - but while actual Fighters employ technique and precision when pulling out attacks, Estelle on the other hand simply throw slow (and telegraphed) punches. Strength-wise, she is strong enough to block two opponents and (befitting her class as a Centurion) her punches produce a powerful force that can damage an additional attacker she is currently blocking.

---

Executor the Ex Foedere

Executor the Ex Foedere / Saint Federico Giallo

Introduced: Hortus de Escapismo
Voiced by: Takashi Kondo (Japanese), Ji Huang (Mandarin Chinese), Eliah Mountjoy (English), Kim Young-sun (Korean)
Artist: Skade

Now when given a task, he might sometimes ask why.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

Saint Federico Giallo, known here as Executor.

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 1032

Subclass: Reaper

Tags: DPS

Skills: Testament Exacted, Close Combat, Damnatus Ex Foedere

Talents: The Chosen One, Empathy by Shotgun

Affiliation: Laterano

Race: Sankta

Birthday: July 7

Height: 181cm

"You seem surprised, Doctor. Please rest assured that the change in my equipment won't affect my ability to complete my missions. If you find yourself ill at ease because of my attire, I can change into my previous garments before I enter Rhodes Island. No need? Understood."

An alternate version of Executor as he appears in "Hortus de Escapismo", having been chosen to become the next Saint of Laterano.

---

• Ace Custom: His uniform is specifically tailored for him and also functions as a ballistic vest.
• The Ace: His evaluation at the Notarial Hall is marked as "Outstanding", with the file listing a variety of skills Executor is well versed in: sharpshooting, martial arts, explosives and driving. His Sniper version's profile also mentions that he knows several languages and is proficient with the legal framework of multiple countries. To top it off, he also has a flawless work record with 100% completion rate.
• Achilles' Heel: Not having anything to attack. Reapers in general suffer from this due to being reliant on having enemies in range to heal, but Executor takes it even further due to all of his skills being offensive recovery, meaning he'll also be unable to charge his skills; he falls quickly to masses of ranged enemies that he cannot retaliate against.
• Arch-Enemy: His distant relative-slash-criminal Arturia, whom he faces off against in "Hortus de Escapismo". His profile shows that he briefly lived with Arturia's family for a few years after he was orphaned, and was the one to discover evidence to incriminate Arturia's first crime when he was still a Notarial Hall rookie. Since then, anything related to her has always been given to him.
• Arc Number: Executor has a strong association with the number 7, which represents perfection and completion in Christianity. Fittingly, he is canonized as the Saint of Laterano.
  • His birthday is July 7 (7/7), he is 25 years old (2 + 5 = 7), he has 7 years of combat experience when he became the Saint, and his Guard version has 777 ATK when fully maxed out (Elite 2 level 90 and 200% trust).
  • His Sniper version is the 77th operator to be released, his Guard version is the 17th 6-star male operator and the 7th 6-star male Guard.
  • The PV for "Hortus de Escapismo" was released 6 minutes and 7 seconds earlier than other events, and there was a gap of 777 days between his two appearances in the distinction certificate shop.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: His first skill allows his attacks to ignore 100-400 DEF based on level, a Call-Back to his Sniper iteration's talent. His Module upgrades allows his Critical Hit from his first talent to ignore up to 300 DEF by default.
• Armor-Piercing Question: At the conclusion of "Hortus de Escapismo" Executor asked the Pope if Laterano laws can truly be applied in all situations, as he felt that his team's intervention at the Sanctilaminium Ambrosii only destabilized the situation instead of maintaining order as they intended it to be. Pope Yvangelista XI didn't have an answer for him, but promised to pass on the question to a friend in Siracusa - implied to be Agenir, Signora Sicilia's partner in "Il Siracusano" and Yvangelista's former student.
• Attack Drone: A cube-shaped one floating alongside him that also imitates his halo and wings, given to Executor by the Pope. The drone performs a slash with its scythe when his third skill runs out of ammo or is manually deactivated, inflicting physical damage to all enemies attacked by Executor during the skill duration. "Zwillingstürme Im Herbst" shows that the drone can also serve as a communication device directly to the Pope which was how the Pope informed Arturia that she was chosen as a Saint.
• Blasting It Out of Their Hands: He shot the lighter out of Clement's hand to prevent him from blowing up the entire Sanctilaminium Ambrosii in "Hortus de Escapismo".
• Bottomless Magazines: Played straight with his normal attacks, but his skills avert this due to them all costing ammo. He's notably the first Guard to make use of the ammunition mechanic (the 3 melee operators before him that use ammo are two Defenders and a Vanguard).
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • He's the first 6-star Reaper Guard and first male 6-star alternate operator, as well as the first Reaper Guard to not use a scythe as primary weapon - instead having a small one wielded by his Attack Drone.
  • In-Universe, he's the first canonized Saint that isn't the current Pope in over a thousand years.
• The Cavalry: He was part of the squad that went to rescue Oren and Lemuen in "Hortus de Escapismo" alongside Insider and Spuria.
• Character Development: He is starting to break away from his original emotionless self after the events of "Hortus de Escapismo". His profile shows him taking into account other people's emotions, even conceding that their methods were preferred over his own, and sometimes spends long durations lost in thought. In addition, he also started questioning the ideals of Laterano laws. Executor himself is confused by this development, leading to frequent visits to Medical to make sure nothing is wrong with him physically.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: "Hortus de Escapismo" reveals that he inverts this, with Spuria stating that Executor is blacklisted by a lot of female Sankta in Laterano due to them finding his robotic personality off-putting - in contrast to his reputation at Rhodes Island.
• The Chosen One: In his profile, Kal'tsit suspected that the Law chose Executor as the new Saint as a cornerstone for Laterano in the event a future disaster befalls them. It's even the name of his first talent.
• Continuity Nod: His assistant dialogue references the fragmentation mines his Sniper version planted outside the Doctor's office, and the engineering dorm from his Sniper version's promotion file makes an appearance in his Guard version's promotion file.
• Conveniently an Orphan: His parents were Notarial Hall executors that died in a mission when he was ten years old, leaving Executor in the care of Arturia's father, who also happens to be his father's cousin.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He now wears mostly black, but is still a law enforcement officer and the new Lateran Saint firmly on the side of good.
• A Day in the Limelight: He is the main protagonist of "Hortus de Escapismo".
• Deceptively Human Robot: Averted. His speech pattern is much more natural sounding and less robotic comparing to his Sniper self, and his additional backstory reveals that he is simply born with Lack of Empathy to normal Sankta parents.
• Double Tap: His first talent gives his attacks a chance to strike twice, with every ammo spent on his skill increasing the chance further. The increased chance is reset when all ammo is spent. Most notably, this double hit also gives him 2 SP instead of 1 for the purposes of Offensive Recovery.
• Dual Wielding: Just like his Sniper version. He normally uses a single shotgun, but can pull out another shotgun when using his skill.
• Due to the Dead: At the end of "Hortus de Escapismo", he honors Gerald's wish of sparing the Sarkaz inhabitants in the Sanctilaminium Ambrosii, and during his conversation with Raimund acknowledged Gerald as the hunter and not the mercenary he once was.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: His shotguns are colored differently, his coat and his hair are longer on the left side. His Elite 2 art also displays his wings in contrasting color fashion, and he wears a white glove on his right hand in said art.
• Foil: He's one to his cousin Arturia. They are both Sankta from the Giallo family with black haloes and wings, but their similarities end there.
  • She has long dark hair with dark eyes, he has short blond hair with blue eyes.
  • She is hyperempathetic and has an obsession with emotions, he has Lack of Empathy and largely disregards other people's emotions until his Character Development.
  • She is a wanted criminal in Laterano that fled the country to seek refuge in Leithanien, he is a Lateran law enforcement officer and fiercely loyal to the country itself.
  • As a Reaper Guard, Executor is a frontline attacker that deals exclusively Physical damage. Arturia is a Ritualist Supporter that buffs allies and deals Arts damage.
  • In "Hortus de Escapismo" she incited emotions in the monastery residents for her own selfish desires to see people's "truest" emotions; he prioritizes the wellbeing of others above his own desire to pursue her, such as stopping Clement from blowing up the monastery.
• Gathering Steam: His third skill will cause his ATK to increase by an additional amount each time he spends ammo, which stacks up to 30 times to gradually ramp up his damage over the skill's duration.^note Executor's third skill only has 16 ammo, meaning he'll never actually reach the cap without copious external help. Since the final blow dealt at the end of the skill scales with his current ATK at the time, it'll deal optimal damage once Executor has emptied his entire clip.
• Gratuitous Latin: His title "Ex Foedere" means "from the covenant"; "Hortus de Escapismo", the event he debuted in, means "garden of escapism". The English localization has his third skill's name as "Damnatus Ex Foedere", which translates to "Condemned by the Covenant".
• Herd-Hitting Attack: Similar to his Sniper iteration, his attacks hit all enemies in range.
• Icy Blue Eyes: They reflect Executor's apparent lack of emotions.
• Image Song: "Stained".
• It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Some of Executor's inner dialogues in "Hortus de Escapismo" as well as his trust voice lines shows that Federico is struggling with his role as the Saint. In addition to not understanding why he was canonized, his lack of experience in anything not executor work related also contributed to his struggle.
• Lack of Empathy: His voice lines state that his inability to understand people's emotions is the result of a birth defect. This is a notable contrast to Arturia, who has heightened empathy and an obsession with emotions.
• Life Drain: Executor regains health when he deals damage as per the Reaper branch, with his talent, second and third skills all have some way to increase his healing output.
• Magically-Binding Contract: Subverted. One of Executor's personal concerns in his Elite 1 promotion voice line is how the Law's usual rules regarding Fallen Sankta did not affect him. He opened fire on Arturia at the end of "Hortus de Escapismo" and by all rights should have fallen, as the act of shooting - or even just pointing a gun - at another Sankta would cause one to fall as depicted in the very same event, and yet he did not.
• Magikarp Power: Executor by himself is a fairly solid Reaper Guard, but his Module and its upgrades dramatically increase his performance, offering him more healing and base stats, letting his Critical Hit ignore a decent chunk of DEF, and almost doubling the chance of it occuring. The last of which is particularly important considering that Executor is highly reliant on his crits for his damage, sustain, and skill uptimes, massively buffing his performance.
• No Sense of Humor:
  Insider: Serpilia, let me give you a little insider tip from the Notarial Hall.
  Spuria: What is it?
  Insider: Federico never cracks jokes. He isn't capable.
  Spuria: ...
• No Social Skills: He is often awkward in conversations, does not understand physical interactions (such as Estara asking him to lean down so she can peck him on the cheek, or what is implied to be a hug from the Doctor in his trust talk) and takes jokes at face value. Insider had to compensate for him when interacting with the Sanctilaminium Ambrosii residents in "Hortus de Escapismo".
  Spuria: What, do you think I'm lying to you or something?
  Executor: I can't be certain that you are telling the whole truth.
  Spuria: Federico. Now I understand why so many girls in the Curia have you blacklisted.
  Executor: ?
• Non-Indicative Name: He's a Reaper Guard, but lacks a scythe and uses a shotgun in place of a normal melee attack. His Attack Drone does have a small scythe, and the statue in his Elite 2 art is wielding a much bigger one.
• Not So Stoic: "Hortus de Escapimo" saw Executor dealing with emerging emotions caused by the chain of events in the Sanctilaminium Ambrosii and exposure to Arturia's Originium Arts, culminating in him freezing in place instead of moving to stop Clement from consuming the Seaborn-laced bread at the finale.
• Only Sane Man: Plays this role during the climax of "Hortus de Escapismo". He quickly enforces his authority to help resolve the situation caused by Oren secretly mobilizing the military, and reestablished order after his teammates started bickering about the Sarkaz residents.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: His module story is Executor's attempt at preserving the burned flower from the Sanctilaminium Ambrosii using a broken searchlight, with Insider taken aback and questioned Executor's reason in doing so since he wasn't known for being sentimental enough to collect souvenirs.
• Pet the Dog: In "Hortus de Escapismo", he tries to comfort the Liberi twins in the monastery by promising to find their mother and later rescuing them out of the fire, as well as helping Clement find flowers to give Gerald a proper send-off.
• Religious Bruiser: He's canonized as the new Lateran Saint at the start of "Hortus de Escapismo", but as he is still affiliated with the Laterano Notarial Hall, Executor continues to perform executor duties as his main job in Rhodes Island.
• Sadistic Choice: Is presented with one in "Hortus de Escapismo". He encountered Arturia in the monastery, however as she is serving a Leithanien noble, killing her - even though it will end her string of crimes - will cause a diplomatic incident between Laterano and Leithanien. Arturia knows this, and decided to taunt Executor with the chance of killing her. He did pull the trigger, but Arturia shields herself with her Arts and escapes with her life.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Even moreso than his original Sniper iteration, as his base attack range is narrowed down to the column in front of him, and despite still wielding a shotgun, his Guard subclass makes him unable to hit aerial targets. His first and third skills remedy this by increasing his attack range.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Dual wields a pair that is even more ornate than his Sniper version.
• Situational Sword: His Elite 2 talent grants him extra ammo when he is fielded with other Laterano operators.
• Super-Reflexes: His second skill gives him a chance to evade and restock on ammo when targeted by melee attacks.
• Tragic Keepsake: The burnt flower from "Hortus de Escapismo", which he gives to the Doctor when reaching maximum trust. His module is said flower preserved inside a display made from one of the Sanctilaminium Ambrosii's broken searchlights, appropriately titled "Unanswered" seemingly as a reminder of Clement's remarks to him during the event.
• Vague Age: Averted, unlike his original Sniper version. His file states he was 10 when his parents passed away and fifteen years have passed since then, marking him as 25 years old when promoted to Saint.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Downplayed comparing to his Sniper self, but still present. Despite his focus still being on the completion of an assignment, he is now willing to take into account other people's ways of completing a mission and even concede that they're better than his own methods, although whether he actually follows them is still up in the air. He even removes the fragmentation mines he planted outside the Doctor's door to keep people from disturbing them... but only because they were against the rules, and replacing them with an electric fence "violates no ordinances."
• We Used to Be Friends: He called Arturia "sister" when he was living with her family. Arturia brought it up when he confronted her at the climax of "Hortus de Escapismo", which Executor promptly dismisses.
• What Is This Feeling?: He expresses confusion and worry in his Elite 2 promotion line upon realizing that he is starting to act on his intuition, thinking that it might be an illness.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Clement asks why Executor didn't just shoot him when he was about to blow up the monastery, to which Executor responded that Clement hasn't yet done anything worthy of the death penalty. Averted with Arturia at the end of the event, where when she taunts Executor into shooting her despite her protection from Leithanien, he does so without hesitation despite the risk of starting a Laterano-Leithanien international war, although Arturia was prepared for it and manages to block the shot.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Once a target has been marked by his S3, they will be marked permanently, meaning that the Finishing Move at the end of its duration will hit them no matter how far they are from Executor himself.

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Flamebringer

Flamebringer

Introduced: Operational Intelligence
Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura (Japanese), Ji Huang (Mandarin Chinese), Mercer Boffey (English)
Artist: Hǔ Sān

He might just ditch if the enemies are too weak.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see his Coral Coast: Casual Vacation HDm04 skin.}

^{Click to see his 0011 Tempest: One Blade skin.}

Flamebringer, Guard Operator of Rhodes Island, will bring ruination to enemies worthy of standing before him.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 131

Subclass: Dreadnought

Tags: DPS, Survival

Skills: Blood Pact, Blade Demon

Talents: Bloody Slaugther

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Sarkaz

Birthday: December 25

Height: 190cm

"We meet again, Doctor. Don't worry, I understand the situation you're in now, and pose no threat to you. I shall be your blade, so use me as you see fit, Doctor."

A wandering Sarkaz swordmaster with an unknown past outside of an impressive body count of outstanding individuals.

---

• Attack! Attack! Attack!: As a Dreadnought Guard, this is his whole strategy.
  • The Bloody Slaughter talent increases his Max HP by up to 50 after defeating an enemy, and it stacks up to 30 times to hugely boost his max HP. His Module upgrades increase the amount of HP per stack up to 80, and also make it so the enemy only has to die adjacent to him for him to get the HP.
  • Blood Pact is an automatic skill that increases the next attack's power to 155%-220%, and restores his HP by 5%-8%.
  • Blade Demon is an automatic skill that takes a while to charge up, but permanently increases his ATK by 30%-70%, and his ASPD by 30-45.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Achilles' Heel of his entire kit is its over-reliance on Attack! Attack! Attack! in order to reach its full potential. If he can't kill enough enemies, his HP stacks won't increase, the Life Drain of his S1 can't trigger, and his S2's Super Mode won't charge. Even if he can reliably accumulate stacks, achieving a full 30 layers takes so long that he often won't be able to put his monstrous health to use. Before his module rectified the issue, he also had the dilemma of supporting him risking Kill Stealing from his allies further slowing down his stacking, but him also needing allies to back him up as a 1 block Dreadnought. As such, players with better Guards will always use them over him outside of personal preference, while those without can just use Melantha instead, who can outperform him by miles simply by virtue of being Boring, but Practical.
• BFS: His secondary weapon other than the katana is the huge sword he holds behind his back, which he uses for his skills.
• Blood Knight: In the truest sense of the word. Flamebringer is only interested in battle itself, and could care less about unimportant things like victory or defeat.
• Hidden Depths: Is actually an avid gardener in his off time. He once got into a fist-fight with Flint when he caught her stealing his flowers.
• Horned Humanoid: They are black, just like his hair.
• I Am Not Left-Handed: W implies that what we're seeing is not even half of what he's capable of.
• Improbable Weapon User: Although he carries a katana on his waist, he doesn't use them to slash his opponents, he instead smacks them with the blade's handle.
• Informed Ability: All of Flamebringer's accomplishments and interactions suggest that he is one of the most powerful swordsmen in Terra, as even W would rather not fight him and he considers Shining one of his equals. However, this is not reflected in his actual in-game performance, as he's widely considered one of the weakest characters in the game.
• The Kingslayer: Flamebringer reveals in his promotion lines that he had slain two crown princes and three generals.
• Life Drain: He gains innate lifesteal and a 155% damage boost on his next attack with his Blood Pact skill. It is for this reason that he has the "Survival" tag attached to him.
• Mysterious Past: Besides the list of names that he has supposedly killed, much of Flamebringer's past largely remains unknown, besides the fact that he and W used to be comrades and he had some sort of involvement with the Doctor before their amnesia. It's implied the Doctor once commanded Flamebringer's old squad and was also responsible for the death of nearly all its members. As of "Darknights Memoir", it can be inferred that like W, he was part of or at the very least affiliated with Babel.
• Mythical Motifs: Demons, due to his Sarkaz Race. If his horns and black-orange color theme hasn't clued you in, his Elite 2 artwork shows him with a flaming demon behind his back.
• Pointy Ears: Another trait that he has in common with the Sarkaz race.
• Red Baron: He calls himself as the "Wandering Sarkaz Warrior".
• Temporary Online Content: He's only obtainable as event rewards during Operational Intelligence. No longer the case with Record Restoration however.

---

Flint

Flint / Kemar

Introduced: Gavial: The Great Chief Returns
Voiced by: Hibiku Yamamura (Japanese), Fifi (Mandarin Chinese), TBA (English)
Artist: aZLing4

The first step towards communication starts with finding a common language.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Bloodline of Combat: Gorgeous Flower skin.}

Flint, a tribal warrior, is the pure embodiment of power.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 415

Subclass: Fighter

Tags: DPS

Skills: Relentless, Display of Might

Talents: Featherweight

Affiliation: Sargon

Race: Liberi

Birthday: September 17

Height: 144cm

"We meet again, huh. I'm the tallest, strongest warrior of my tribe, Flint. I hear you've got a lot of strong people around here? Great. I'll challenge them one by one. Oh, right. Do you know where I can find Chief Blaze?"

A Liberi warrior hailing from the jungles of Acahualla. After picking a fight with Blaze and being overwhelmed by her strength, Flint followed her back to Rhodes Island in order to become her disciple.

---

• Animal Motifs: Hummingbirds, which are fitting for a tiny girl hailing from the jungle who's no less of a Blood Knight - hummingbirds themselves were associated with the god Huitzilopochtli (lit. hummingbird's south/left) who had to slay all his siblings.
• Art Imitates Art: On her jacket and on her second skill icon is a drawing of the 'Hummingbird' Nazca lines.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: While Fighter Guards primarily throw punches at their opponents (or, in Chongyue's case, hand stabs and chops) - Flint stands out among her fellow class as she incorporate kicks to her combat-repertoire, in addition to throwing punches.
• Blood Knight: Flint is constantly seeking out powerful opponents to challenge in an effort to grow stronger. After coming to Rhodes Island, she gained a reputation for approaching other Operators out of the blue and asking them to fight her. Her Bloodline of Combat Skin confirms that she started learning other languages just so she could challenge fighters from other countries to fights.
• Body Paint: She has this around her neck and (if you squint closely) on her hips.
• Defeat Means Friendship: She comes across Blaze when she's separated from the other Rhodes Island operators and tries to fight the cat woman for being a suspicious stranger. Blaze beats her up and continues on her merry way. Flint, who is the strongest in her tribe, considers her defeat a good lesson and starts to follow Blaze around, calling her 'Master'. Blaze doesn't mind it, and allows Flint to go to Rhodes Island with her.
• Destructive Savior: Similar to her role model Blaze, Flint tends to rack up quite a lot of collateral damage during her missions much to the Logistics Department's annoyance.
• Flash Step: Both of Flint's skills let her do this, complete with Speed Echoes.
• Genius Bruiser: Her Operator Record shows that she's actually far more intelligent than most people give her credit for, as she's able to fool a pair of spies sent by the Sargon government into thinking Acahualla is much less valuable than it actually is, and keeping up The Masquerade that the region is still a worthless backwater.
• Handwraps of Awesome: Her base artwork shows that she has this on at least one hand.
• Height Angst: Flint was used to being the tallest of her tribe, but coming to Rhodes Island and seeing how short she was compared to most other operator somewhat shocked her. One of her archive files mentions she gets along better with Durin operators.
• Hidden Depths: Her passion for fighting is matched only by her love of beautiful flowers, which is why she took up an interest in gardening after leaving the rainforest for Rhodes Island. This is further exemplified in her Bloodline of Combat skin art.
• In the Hood: Wears one of these.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: For a brief time after she joined Rhodes Island, she would 'help herself' to plants from the Convalescent Garden. She eventually stopped after she was caught by Flamebringer, and the resulting fist fight had Gavial intervene to break it up; she was given her own plot to grow plants in the Garden after this.
• Language Barrier: Unlike the other Tiacauh Operators, who had learned standard Sargonian before joining Rhodes Island, Flint can only speak in her native dialect, which barely anyone outside of Acahualla understands. This naturally leads to a whole host of communication issues, like making it nigh impossible to give her orders in the heat of battle. She has shown an interest in learning more common languages though, at least after Gavial pointed out it would make talking to Blaze much easier.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Appropriate for someone based on hummingbirds, Flint is tiny. Standing at a measly 144cm, Flint can still sock her enemies across the room if she so chooses. In fact, Flint is the tallest member of her tribe. Apparently, being short is a common physical trait among the Liberi population of Sargon.
• Punched Across the Room: Flint's S1 knocks back whatever enemy she hits. These enemies are then slowed.
• Shout-Out: The images hanging on her belt depict the Fūrinkazan, "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" (if you play the Bee by homophones you get "Wind" in Mandarin), meaning "as swift as wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as mountain" which are phrases from Sun Tzu's "The Art of War".
• Stealth Pun: A flint is a device used to start fires. In South American cultures, hummingbirds are the mythological bringers of fire.

---

Franka

Franka

Introduced: Game Launch
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese), Vila (Mandarin Chinese), Maya Aoki Tuttle (English), Park Ko-woon (Korean)
Artist: TOKI^note 臼 (Rainforest, Me, Rainbow)

This scorching thermite blade shall penetrate all defenses.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Chinese National Geographic: Rainforest, Me, Rainbow skin.}

^{Click to see her appearance in Originium Dust.}

Franka, Guard Operator of B.P.R.S. of Blacksteel, is waiting for your orders.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 106

Subclass: Dreadnought

Tags: DPS, Survival

Skills: Swift Strike γ, Vorpal Edge

Talents: Thermite Blade

Affiliation: Blacksteel International

Race: Vulpo

Birthday: October 30

Height: 163cm

"I'm chemical specialist operator, Franka, here to do my bit to help minimize the pollution wrought by Originium."

An infected Blacksteel response specialist with an unpredictable fighting style and a teasing personality.

---

• Animal Motifs: Foxes, due to her Vulpo race.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: With her Thermite Blade talent, Franka has a small chance of outright ignoring the enemy's defense stat. This chance goes up significantly when she uses her Vorpal Edge skill.
• Career-Ending Injury: According to "Stories of Infected: Blacksteel" manga, while Franka is still technically employed by BSW, her Infection essentially pressed her into resigning through workplace isolation. Her sudden, severe Oripathy made her jump through several stages of Infected tolerance policies in BSW, and she would gain no work beside solo and dangerous missions that would one day kill her if she didn't quit or die from Oripathy first. Liskarm registering her for a cooperation work with Rhodes Island saved her from languishing.
• Confusion Fu: This is Franka's M.O. Her fighting style is described as enigmatic and unpredictable. Instead of going in for the kill, Franka likes to toy with her enemies in order to disorient them.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: As part of Confusion Fu. Franka prefers to make herself look "harmless" to confuse her enemies. Based on her personality demonstrated thus far and how Liskarm has to be around to rein her in, the "moron" part is sometimes genuine, however.
• Dark and Troubled Past: She lost her father when her home city was destroyed by a Catastrophe and her now single mother struggled to make ends meet, which is what motivated Franka to become a mercenary in the first place so she could help alleviate the burden on her mother.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Her operator record reveals that she doesn't like talking about her past or her ill mother because she doesn't want other people to look down on her with pity.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Her stockings vary in length, with only her right thigh being exposed.
• The Gadfly: Most of Franka's interactions with Liskarm involves her teasing the latter in some form.
• Glass Cannon: While she has very good HP as well as the "Survival" tag, her Vorpal Edge skill makes her into this. Franka gains a huge multipliers to her attack and talent activation rate, at the cost of reducing her defense to 0.
• Hot Blade: Her signature weapon is an Originium rapier that channels her Arts to superheat itself to over 2,500 degrees Celsius, letting her slice through heavy metal armor like butter. Despite the name of her talent, Thermite Blade, the blade does not seem to contain any actual thermite, but can achieve roughly the same temperatures.
• If I Wanted You Dead...: Franka says this to a startled Misha to assure that Rhodes Island is sent to protect her.
  Misha: You're just going to capture me and lock me up, aren't you?!
  Franka: If we really were going to capture you, we wouldn't have given you a chance to resist.
• Informed Ability: In Operation 3-6, Amiya explains that Franka and Liskarm from Blacksteel are well-experienced in fighting against casters. However, the story doesn't explain at all how they are capable of doing so. Were the two girls fighting casters for a long time, or do they have specialized equipment in negating Arts? That statement was not brought up again after this cutscene.
• Mean Boss: When she was a swordfighting instructor for reserved operators, they had to undergo an initiation, a "Columbian style training" which is likened to hazing. She later subverts the "mean" part after that, as Franka can prove herself to be a serious and dedicated instructor.
• Multiple-Choice Past: Whenever somebody asks her about her past, she will usually make up some clearly outlandish story and then laugh it off as a joke, making it difficult to tell if any of her stories are real or not.
• Ornamental Weapon: Her Elite 2 art shows her with a dagger and a Glock pistol, but, owing to her Dreadnought class, she uses neither in-game.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red Oni to Liskarm's Blue, Franka is far more outgoing than her partner and even has a chronic tendency to pull pranks.
• Royal Rapier: Her weapon of choice, befitting her ladylike aura. Franka's rapier is crafted out of Originium to better channel her Arts talent. Her bio mentions that she likes to pair the rapier with a dagger, though it's nowhere seen in gameplay.
• Stepford Smiler: Despite always appearing to be in a good mood, those who are close to her, particularly Liskarm, can tell that she's sometimes hiding dark feelings.
• Those Two Girls: She is Liskarm's partner and is often depicted alongside her.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Liskarm. As much as she annoys the latter constantly teasing her and her combat tactics, Liskarm immediately requests transfer to Rhodes Island upon learning that Franka is infected and sent there for treatment.

---

Frostleaf

Frostleaf

Introduced: Game Launch
Voiced by: Ai Kakuma (Japanese), Ruan (Mandarin Chinese), Ina Marie Smith (English), Jang Mi (Korean)
Artist: Xiàyě Hóng Míng

Try to become her beacon.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Bloodline of Combat: Breaking the Ice skin.}

Frostleaf, Guard Operator of Rhodes Island, will obey all your orders.

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 193

Subclass: Lord

Tags: Slow, DPS

Skills: Frost Tomahawk, Ice Tomahawk

Talents: Covered Strike

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Vulpo

Birthday: May 1

Height: 157cm^note From the artbook

"Frostleaf, former mercenary. From now on, I'm an Operator, and you're my employer. Assign me to any job you want, I can do pretty much anything."

A former soldier in the Columbian Junior Army with an incredible amount of combat experience.

---

• A Day in the Limelight: She gets a lot of screentime, plot relevance and characterization in Episode 4 of the main story.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Frostleaf is leading the recon team along with Jessica and Meteorite as they investigate a deserted city speculated to be the Reunion Movement's new temporary base. And among this trio, Frostleaf is the first to notice that the temperature suddenly dropping to freezing levels is an anomaly especially when the general weather hasn't changed yet, and when they investigated a frozen wall, they notice how a black Originium crystal seemed to be the cause of the freeze. Frostleaf then speculates through exposition that the Yeti Squadron is behind this, and she's proven right near the finale of this Episode.
• Animal Motifs: Fox, due to her Vulpo race. A black fox made out of stone is even seen towering Frostleaf in her Elite 2 artwork.
• Beat Them at Their Own Game: Subverted; when Frostleaf sees that FrostNova used ice Arts, Frostleaf attempts to use her own ice Arts to repel FrostNova's power. Turns out, FrostNova is significantly stronger than Frostleaf and pushes Frostleaf into desperate Heroic Sacrifice if Meteorite and Amiya weren't there to save her.
• Big Damn Heroes: In Operation 4-8, Frostleaf kills a Reunion Caster that's pinned down Amiya's group, despite herself being frostbitten earlier.
• Call-Back: Earlier in Episode 4, Frostleaf's group deduced that the black Originium crystals are responsible for freezing the structures around them and destroying said crystals would cancel the freezing effect. In the fight against FrostNova, Amiya takes advantage of this information for a while by destroying a black crystal that was spawned, thus giving an opening for Meteorite to rescue Frostleaf from the Reunion leader.
• Child Soldier: Being a former part of Columbian Junior Army, one of Frostleaf's lines has her admitting that she has been wielding her axe "before she learned to read".
• Distress Call: Of the Warning Beacon variant. At the end of Operation 4-4, Frostleaf sends a call pleading Amiya not to come into the city ruins, just as the Yeti Squadron is approaching near and Frostleaf, Jessica and Meteorite are escaping Mephisto's group. This message was enough for Kal'tsit to declare an urgent request and to convince Ch'en to assist Amiya and Rhodes Island again in rescuing Frostleaf's party.
• Draw Aggro: In the later parts of Episode 4, Frostleaf distracted and lured Mephisto away from Meteorite and Jessica, who were left in the city square. Fortunately when the rest of Rhodes Island arrived, she was able to rendezvous with them.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: In the story, Frostleaf can use Arts. In gameplay, she is one of the few Lord Guards that completely lack any mean to deal Arts damage.
• Headphones Equal Isolation: She's a loner who enjoys listening to music alone in a quiet corner. When you appoint Frostleaf as an Assistant, she even thinks of lending her headphones to you.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Attempts to pull this several times in Episode 4 to give Amiya and her teammates some time to escape from FrostNova, with Frostleaf trying to take on the Reunion leader by herself (and even when part of her body is already frostbitten). Thankfully, Meteorite and Amiya had different ideas.
  Meteorite: Who said you could play the hero?! Do you think I could just sit there and watch you die?
• An Ice Person: Her Arts manifests as this. Exemplified with her second skill, which has a chance to briefly bind enemy targets in her attack area.
• Irony: She does a Lampshade Hanging on this if her Trust is increased:
  Frostleaf: I only realized how precious life is after the people around me died one by one. Ironic, huh? I think so, too.
• It's Personal: One of the reasons why she wants to keep on fighting against FrostNova near Episode 4's ending? It's because Frostleaf has never met someone with a lower body temperature than her own before, and that she's quite amazed at how the rumored and feared "Master of the Yetis" is now standing in front of her.
• Magical Incantation: She tries to channel her Arts using an incantation but FrostNova interrupts by freezing her tongue. Fortunately, Amiya had other plans to help and rescue Frostleaf.
• Ms. Exposition: She explains to her teammates the legend of a mythological creature known as the yeti, how it relates to ice and the winter's chill, and how a certain guerrilla group known as the Yeti Squadron is feared in the rumors for having a monster-like leader who could freeze the land around them.
• Retired Badass: With 7 years of combat experience, Frostleaf is one of the most experienced Rhodes Island operators exceeded only by a few others. However, she briefly retired when her original army unit was destroyed before joining up with Rhodes Island.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Having fought in numerous conflicts for most of her life, the months she spent at Rhodes Island recuperating as an Oripathy patient had opened her up to a world beyond war. When Frostleaf was finally permitted by Kal'tsit to join a small combat operation, the memories of her hardships in the Junior Army had caught up to her, thus making even swinging at an enemy impossible. It is noted that she wept audibly on that battlefield.
• Status Effects: Frostleaf has the "Slow" tag attached to her because both of her skills decrease the movement speed of her targets.
  • Frost Tomahawk is an automatic skill that deals 105% ATK Physical damage in the next attack, and slows targets by 20% for 1.5 seconds at Skill Level 1.
  • At Skill Level 1, Ice Tomahawk is a manual skill that increases Frostleaf's ASPD by 5, and slows targets by 30% with a 15% chance of outright binding them in place.
• The Stoic: Frostleaf barely displays strong emotions. That said...
• Start X to Stop X: The fight between FrostNova and Frostleaf can be summed up as "fighting ice with ice", although the former is far stronger in terms of raw power (she almost froze Frostleaf's body), while the latter had to rely on her friends' teamwork and coordination just so that all of the protagonists can escape.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Despite her cold front and her preference to be alone, Frostleaf seems to care for her teammates in her own way, which is shown by asking if they didn't lose anyone (completing the mission with imperfect result) or offering to hold up the rear (if defeated). Once the player builds enough trust with her, she also offers to buy the Doctor a drink and tells them to get some rest. Somewhat manifests in her having the Solitude RIIC skill, which boosts her morale recovery rate whenever she's put in the Dorm.
• Sword Beam: Or "Axe Beam" as the case may be.

---

Gavial the Invincible

Gavial, the Invincible

Introduced: Ideal City: Endless Carnival
Voiced by: Ayaka Suwa (Japanese), Emma Chen (Mandarin Chinese), Natalie Winter (English), Kim You-lim (Korean)
Artist: LLC^note SculLhunter (Casual Vacation HD26)

Excels in employing body language which communicates her passion for others, creating palpable comfort and warmth in them.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her Coral Coast: Casual Vacation HD26 skin.}

The Gavial you know and love. (Toting a battleaxe.)

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 1026

Subclass: Centurion

Tags: Nuker, DPS. Survival

Skills: Precise Thrashing, Chainsaw Assault, Soul of the Jungle

Talents: Battleaxe, Medical Background

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Archosauria

Birthday: May 1

Height: 163cm

"Hold on, Doctor, I know what you wanna ask, and my files are still up in Medical. But, y'know, Dr. Kal'tsit's got a point. Doesn't reflect well on Medical to have a physician steamrolling around the front lines, so from now on, this is how I'm heading out."

An alternate version of Gavial who has discarded her role as a healer and returned to her roots as a peerless warrior of Acahualla.

---

• Beware My Stinger Tail: She uses her tail to wield a gigantic chainaxe.
• Boring, but Practical: Her first skill doesn't have quite have the insane stat steroids her second and third skill have, but it's still decently useful in modes like Integrated Strategies if a Medic is missing.
• Cast From Hitpoints: A version of this. With her third skill, Gavial gains a massive ATK and ASPD buff while increasing her own block count by 2, and will halve all damage taken for the duration of the skill. However, after the skill ends, she'll lose HP equal to the damage she reduced during its duration as Damage Over Time over 20 seconds.
• Critical Status Buff: Her second talent increases the healing she receives by 20%, which doubles once she's below half health, which is conveniently usually when she really needs it.
• D-Cup Distress: Archosaurian version. Originally she's in the pro thin-tail faction. After training her tail to wield her axe, she lists her tail becoming thicker as a downside.
• Dual Wielding: Triple wielding in her E2 art, using her tail as an extra hand.
• Feel No Pain: Her S3 works like this in a sense by delaying up to half of the damage she takes within the duration and inflicting it afterwards slowly over 20 seconds, suggesting she is ignoring the effects of her wounds through sheer adrenaline.
• Genius Bruiser: Gavial may now be toting around around a massive chainaxe and fighting on the frontlines, but she is still a trained medic with natural aptitude in healing, even if it is through extremely unorthodox methods.
• Image Song: "All hail Savior!"
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: One of her weapons is what can only be described as a giant, double-bitted chainaxe.
• Life Drain: Her first skill buffs her ATK and lets her heal for up to 40% of her damage dealt.
• Lightning Bruiser: To an incredible degree. All of her skills improve her survivability, whether through Life Drain, a defense boost, or damage mitigation, and she also hits like a freight truck.
• One-Woman Army: Enforced by her first talent, which gives her increased ATK and DEF for every enemy she's blocking, making her exceptional at fending off hordes. This is further amplified by her third skill, which lets her block up to 5 enemies at once without anyone holding her hands. With handholding, she can block up to a whopping 8 enemies!^note The three handholders in this are Heidi, Nian, and Pallas or Whislash. With everyone involved at high investment and skills active, Gavial can hit over 2500 ATK and 1000 DEF for 20 seconds
• Stating the Simple Solution: In Ideal City, after an active Originium vein is found blocking the only rail tunnel out of Zeruertza, Avdotya and Edge are left debating as to whether it would be better to attempt to evacuate through the Originium-filled tunnel to a neighboring Durin city or build a temporary shelter and hope that it surivives the inevitable explosion. As soon as Gavial manages to get a word in edgeways, she points out that they could just bring everyone to the surface via their cargo elevator instead, and questions why neither of them had even considered the option.
• Worst Aid: According to Tomimi, she has an infamous method for applying anesthesia for her patients by hitting them over the head hard enough to knock them unconscious, which has been dubbed by all Rhodes Island members as "Gaviallic kinetic anaesthesia". Gavial claims she only uses it as a last resort, though considering she apparently also has a tendency to lose her supply bag from using it as a bludgeoning weapon, it's likely she 'resorts' to this method more often than she suggests.
• You Will Not Evade Me: Her second skill expands her attack range to that of a Spreadshooter Sniper and forcibly yoinks unblocked enemies in her range towards her.

---

Hellagur

Hellagur

Introduced: Operational Intelligence (First Appearance), Heart of Surging Flame (Playable Debut)
Voiced by: Show Hayami (Japanese), Robin Liu (Mandarin Chinese), Paul Herzberg (English), Si Young-jun (Korean), Denis Aleksandrovich Nekrasov (Russian)
Artist: Liduke

Violence should only be used as a last resort, but make sure you're ready to use it.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see his Bloodline of Combat: Octopath Illusion skin.}

Hellagur, the visionary Azazel Guard, is joining you to help you achieve your goals.

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 188

Subclass: Soloblade

Tags: DPS, Survival

Skills: Crescent Moon, Half Moon, Full Moon

Talents: Waxing Moon, Ingenious Strategist

Affiliation: Empire of Ursus

Race: Liberi (Hippogriff)

Birthday: May 5

Height: 193cm

"Hellagur, a infected mercenary. I will work with Rhodes Island in order to rebuild my Azazel Clinic and protect my family. But be advised, I have no medical skills."

A former Ursus military general and the acting manager of "Azazel", the underground clinic treating the infected in Chernobog that get looted by Reunion rioters in Episode 0.

---

• Age Lift:
  • Compare his current artwork to the original design by Liduke. Hellagur seems to have aged about twenty years between his concept being drawn and him being added to the game proper.
  • For a more literal example, his "Octopath Illusion" skin depicts Hellagur during his youth when he still served for the Ursus Empire.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Right off the bat, Hellagur is considered a DPS-type Guard due to his Waxing Moon talent, which increases his ASPD based on how much HP he's lost, and his Life Drain trait makes it so that he can last a little longer in a fight which justifies his "Survival" tag. Due to this, he is intended to be a frontliner.
• BFS: One that's almost about as long as he is tall, and Hellagur's a big man, standing at 193cm. It's technically considered to be a nodachi, and even he has to hold it with two hands.
• Big Damn Heroes: During the "Heart of Surging Flame" event, Hellagur rescues the Doctor and Ceylon from Schwarz and Cronin's goons. He blows away the mercenaries with ease, but is forced to withdraw after briefly skirmishing with Schwarz.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Not very noticeable on his actual CG, but his chibi sprites sport a positively massive pair.
• Coat Cape: He wears his Azazel trenchcoat like this. It becomes more cape-like in his Elite 2 CG.
• Cool Old Guy: Despite his age, Hellagur is pleasant to hang out with. If posted in a dorm, his Absolution RIIC skill passively improves the morale recovery of everyone in it.
• Cosmic Motifs: Moons, based on the names of his skills and one of his talents.
• Critical Status Buff: Hellagur gains an attack speed buff according to how much health he's lost. This talent improves as he's promoted, giving him a maximum of 100 extra ASPD at 30% remaining HP. With his X Module, this is buffed to giving him up to 130 ASPD when he's below a higher 50% HP, while also giving him 25% Sanctuary if he drops below that threshold to keep him in the game for longer.
• Defector from Decadence: Hellagur abandoned the Ursus Empire following its cruel treatment of Oripathy infectees, with whom he sympathizes, owing to his own infection. He also holds some resentment towards them, since he had twice been ordered to kill close friends of his to protect the Empire, and saw how poorly it treated its own military.
• Difficult, but Awesome: In order to get the most out of Hellagur, players have to be keenly aware of his limitations since his DPS only peaks when he is at critically low health. Players will have to let Hellagur take damage from enemies to improve his effectiveness before activating his skills so he can heal himself back up.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Depending on the server, he first appears in either the first^note Designated as the second part of the event for Global servers part of Heart of Surging Flame event (CN servers) or the Operational Intelligence event^note Was released before the Heart of Surging Flame event on Global (Global servers), but isn't actually introduced as playable until later.
• Expy: His pale complexion, reputation as a war hero, and weapon of choice all bring to mind Sephiroth... if he were to live to an old age, and hadn't gone Ax-Crazy.
• Four-Star Badass: In his heyday, he was one of the higher-ups in the Ursus army, and to this day, he's still sometimes referred to as "General". In no way does this mean he's a slouch in combat.
• Friend to All Children: Zima and Absinthe's conversation in the Integrated Strategies 2 monthly squad "Until Spring Comes" reveals that Hellagur was planning to sell his war medals for supplies to take care of the clinic's children, in case the deal with Rhodes Island falls through.
  Zima: Huh? You mean he was going to sell his medals?
  Absinthe: Mhm. He says the children at the clinic needed medicine, and heaters for the winter. They didn't need his past.
• Healing Factor: His Elite 2 talent Ingenious Strategist lets him heal himself for 60 HP per second whenever he's not blocking an enemy.
• Irony: While Hellagur is the owner and leader of a clinic, his subclass specifically precludes him from working with and benefiting from having Medics around.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: He sheathes his nodachi after every attack, except when using the Full Moon skill.
• I Call It "Vera": His blade is named "Decapitator".
• Image Song: “Прощание”.
• Katanas Are Just Better: He wields a massive nodachi gifted by a friend from Higashi.
• Life Drain: Hellagur cannot be healed normally, however he gains some of his health back every time he hits an enemy in addition to his Healing Factor.^note Hellagur gains up to 70 HP per hit at Elite 2
• Magikarp Power: Hellagur has mediocre performance at Elite 0 and Elite 1 due to his attack speed and self heal not being high enough to sustain him in combat. It's not until Elite 2 that Hellagur's stats are high enough to keep him alive, and he'll also want his Module's extra DPS and durability upgrades if he wants to keep up in endgame content.
• Mythical Motifs: Hippogriff. Hellagur settles for a mythical beast motif instead of just birds like his fellow Liberis.
• Old Soldier: Easily the (visibly) oldest operator in Rhodes Island by a significant margin, and likely the oldest one who is relatively "normal" by their standards. He's still one of the strongest operators in the roster.
• Papa Wolf: Towards Neon, the young infectee entrusted to him by her father, who was Hellagur's old Higashinese friend before he was forced to kill him in a war. Hellagur would be willing to sacrifice everything to make her healthy again.
• Silver Fox: For a supposedly-old man, Hellagur still looks very stunning and in top physical shape.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: He admitted to Patriot that he doesn't want to step in a war anymore. It doesn't help he was forced to kill his friend during the war between Ursus and Higashi, orphaning his daughter in the process. It is also partly the reason he runs a clinic.
• The Strategist: Comes with the territory of being an Old Soldier, but his Elite 2 talent Ingenious Strategist implies that he's a capable leader in his own right. His Arts of War base effect even makes it such that you are 80% more likely to get a byproduct for Skill Summaries.
• Sword Beam: His S3 Full Moon allows him to fire these off... mind you, these are still short-ranged; at Skill Level 1, his reach extends by one tile, but come Skill Level 7 and he can attack two more tiles in front of him. The good news is that on top of the ATK buff it gives him, it also allows him to attack up to 3 targets at once no matter the level.
• Super-Reflexes: While his S2 Half Moon is active, Hellagur gains an impressive 75% chance to dodge physical attacks. This includes some enemy abilities that would normally guarantee to hit, such as W's sticky bombs^note W's bombs will still stick, but if they fail the 75% evasion check, the resulting explosion will deal no damage to Hellagur.
• Sweet Tooth: Implied. His response to Trust taps is to ask whether the Doctor wants a candy or not because he has some, and he also offers candy to Zima and Absinthe in their monthly squad dialogue.
• Tragic Keepsake: The sword he wields was a gift from a friend he was forced to kill on the battlefield.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Patriot, his former ally in the Ursus Imperial army. Their current relationship seems to be around Friendly Enemy level, however, and both men are very chatty around each other despite fighting for opposing factions.
• Weaksauce Weakness:
  • Surprisingly enough, not having anything to attack. As Hellagur's passive Regenerating Health is rather slow compared to the potential damage intake he's tanking, and considering his inability to be healed by most Medics and Guardian Defenders (passive heals like those of Angelina, Perfumer, or Bard Supporters are still fair game), if he doesn't have any enemy in front of him so he can proc his Life Drain, he can quite possibly fall to repeated crossbow turret shots, or ranged units.
  • Elemental Damage is also another of his banes, due to his inability to be healed by Wandering Medics. Getting stunned due to Nervous Impairment buildup or losing his DEF stat due to Corrosion will greatly hampers Hellagur's ability to stay on the frontline.

---

Highmore

Highmore

Introduced: Integrated Strategies 3: Mizuki & Caerula Arbor
Voiced by: Natsumi Ōshita (Japanese), Xu Xiaowen (Mandarin Chinese), Ashlyn Madden (English), Lee Dae-un (Korean)
Artist: Horin

Daughter of the sea, yet willful rejecter of the ocean.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see her 0011 Series: The Land With Me skin.}

Branch Operator Highmore, more belligerent than her looks suggest.

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 4066

Subclass: Reaper

Tags: DPS

Skills: Surrendrance From Hindsight, Evanescence From Paranoia

Talents: Sustenance from the Reaper, Interfluence from Maladie

Affiliation: Iberia

Race: Aegir/Aegir-Seaborn hybrid

Birthday: August 23

Height: 156cm

"So, you'd be the "Doctor". I imagine I don't have much introduce about myself. The fact that I'm allowed to stand here implies you've read and approved all the files about me."

A mysterious Aegir girl brought back to Rhodes Island by Mizuki after being greatly wounded following the events of Mizuki & Caerula Arbor.

---

• Animal Motifs: Corals, specifically the violescent sea-whip. Her enemy form as "Paranoia Illusion" on the other hand resembles Radiolaria protists.
• Apparently Human Merfolk: A plot point. Highmore was given the Bishop’s “gift” to transform into a Seaborn, like many other Iberians, however, even while transformed into a monster, a deep wish to be human remained in her which kept her human form from completely dissolving. When Mizuki defeated her, he was able to remove all the monstrous flesh from her Seaborn form and pull out the human body within. Highmore is currently a Seaborn, but her body looks mostly indistinguishable from a human’s save for the Seaborn growths on her right arm.
• Clipped-Wing Angel: The form she takes as a boss was a result of her trying to mutate herself into a Seaborn, but being unable to accept either her humanity or the call of We Many, causing her to transform into an incomplete state that indiscriminately lashes out at everything in pain.
• The Coats Are Off: In her Elite 2 art, Highmore discards her coat, as well as her stockings and shoes. This also fully reveals the Seaborn parts of her body, particularly her coral-covered right arm.
• Eldritch Transformation: Is transformed into a fully-fledged animalistic Seaborn in "Mizuki & Caerula Arbor", becoming the Final Boss of one of its Multiple Endings, and would need the efforts of Mizuki to return Highmore to her normal humanoid form.
• Fantastic Racism: Was on the receiving end of this due to rampart mistrust of Aegirians in Iberia following the Profound Silence, which led to her neighbors ratting her father out to the Inquisition and spreading rumors about her mother before trying to burn her corpse. This, alongside Cicero saving her and showing her the beauty of the Seaborn, caused her to develop an intense hatred of human weakness and a desire to become part of We Many.
• Heal Thyself: Highmore is unique in that she can recover elemental damage she's taken, when attacking enemies. This is very useful when dealing with elemental damage, as since she's a Reaper Guard, Wandering Medics cannot heal her.
• Horrifying the Horror: Not exactly Highmore herself, but in her 4-star victory line, she muses that seeing the Doctor's command makes her instinctually fearful, and claims that it means they could make even Sea Terrors feel fear.
• "Instant Death" Radius: Her form as the Paranoia Illusion projects a watery aura that massively slows the ASPD of any units in it, while also subjecting them to her multi-hit attacks. In her second phase, the radius gets even bigger, the debuff gets more severe, and her attacks are further strengthened. The "instant death" part is downplayed on lower difficulties, but played straight on higher ones where almost anything that enters the ring alone will be ripped apart without being able to get a hit in edgewise.
• Meaningful Name: Indirectly. Highmore's codename in the global version is a transliteration of her CN codename, 海沫, which is pronounced Hǎi mò and means "sea foam."
• Mirror Match: Highmore can be used in the "Mizuki & Caerula Arbor" operation "Curse of Cognition" which has her enemy version, the "Paranoia Illusion".
• Situational Sword: Downplayed. Like Shalem before her, Highmore's second talent gives her an extra block count and bonus ASPD when she is used in the third season of Integrated Strategies "Mizuki & Caerula Arbor". However, she is still very effective outside of that mode when facing enemies using elemental attacks, especially if she can get into a position where she can aggressively attack multiple enemies.

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Hoederer (Unmarked Spoilers)

Hoederer

Introduced: Darknights Memoir (First Appearance), Episode 13: The Whirlpool that is Passion (Playable Debut)
Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (Japanese), Su Zhihao (Chinese), Jason Spisak (English), Jang Min-hyuk (Korean)
Artist: 树豚^note Design by Ryuzakiichi

It wasn't his choice. Sarkaz don't get many choices.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

^{Click to see his appearance in Darknights Memoir.}

^{Click to see his appearance in Episode 10: Shatterpoint.}

Sarkaz mercenary Hoederer, the man who approaches, cloaked in war.

Rarity: ★★★★★★

ID: No. 4088

Subclass: Crusher

Tags: DPS

Skills: Unquenchable Front, Burden of Cinder and Ash, Fog of War Upon Death's Door

Talents: Do or Die, Cloak of Lingering Flame

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Sarkaz

Birthday: April 22

Height: 185 cm

"A nostalgic place, Doctor. As for this commission of yours, I trust we can both set aside its details for the moment. I do have some other ideas on the rewards, though, beyond the bounty itself."

A mercenary who works with Ines and took in W. He served in Babel for a bit before siding with Theresis and his Military Commission some time after, secretly working behind their back to sabotage their plans.

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• Actor Allusion: When Hoederer's English VA was revealed to be Jason Spisak, it didn't take long for players to note his role as another father figure to a Cute But Psycho girl with an affinity for explosions (though W's insanity is a ruse). Unlike Silco and Jinx, however, Hoederer and W are Anti-Heroes at worst and their relationship is significantly healthier.
  • Hoederer is a mercenary hailing from a wasteland of a civilization locked in a Forever War. One of his lines is, “War never changes”. Another of Spisak’s most well known roles is Vulpes Inculta, although the characters could not be more different.
• Badass Bookworm: His usual pastime is reading and he constantly pushes W to read more books as well. In Chapter 13 he expresses a desire to start a school in Kazdel once the war ends to teach young Sarkaz literacy, to give them better hopes for the future than as mercenaries.
• Benevolent Boss: As much as one can be in not only a cutthroat business like mercenary work, but of Sarkaz origin whom are notorious for their infighting. Hoederer is a notably stern, but fairly compassionate leader to those who get to know him, as both Ines and reluctantly W recount and often considers the weight of the lives under his command to make the most of them. However, what prevents him from being a true Father to His Men is the fact that he deliberately keeps a professional distance to them and is fully prepared to dispose of their lives for the mission he's tasked with without batting an eye or expressing remorse after the fact, knowing full well that sacrifices have to be made in his line of work.
• BFS: He uses a gigantic greatsword in battle, and can light it on fire when his second or third skill is running.
• Big Damn Heroes: Shows up to rescue Ines from her Super Window Jump in chapter 12 alongside W.
• Bizarre Taste in Food: To the bemusement of many at Rhodes Island, Hoederer actively requests meals made by Hibiscus, although it makes some sense considering Hoederer is a hardened, practical mercenary and Hibiscus's food does have health benefits for those who can stomach it.
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: His E2 art is an incredibly rare male version of this pose.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: Implied, as the limb and stirrup of a crossbow can be seen on his back in addition to his sword and dagger. His playable appearance ditches the crossbow in favor of using a BFS, however.
• Cast from Hit Points: His third skill causes him to lose 100 health every second in return for gaining a slew of buffs. This is downplayed given that 100 HP/sec is a drop in the bucket considering how he can hit ten thousand health during the skill along with Life Drain, although it does discourage using it when he's got nothing to hit (or a lack of healing in general), since the skill's lengthy duration means that the 7000 total damage will catch up to him if he doesn't heal some of it back.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: He readily accepts war and Oripathy as part of being Sarkaz, even as he wishes for the Sarkaz's freedom.
• Crazy-Prepared: He spent quite a large sum of money to secretly rebuild a communications bunker so he can pass messages without attracting Theresis' attention. This comes in handy when he is put under house arrest in Victoria.
• Damage Over Time: While his third skill is active, enemies who attack or are attacked by Hoederer will take 200 True damage every second for the duration of the skill. It doesn't seem like a lot, but the damage can really build up considering that the skill lasts for a whopping 70 seconds.
• Damage Reduction: His second talent confers 18-21% Sanctuary to both himself and the unit behind him, letting him slightly mitigate his complete lack of defenses.
  • This also means that he only takes 410 x 15 damage from Aak buffs rather than the 500 x 15 that Quartz and Wind Chimes do, which means Aak buffing him is actually viable with only a little help.
• Deadpan Snarker: Downplayed. He's not quite as sharp-tongued as his companions, but one can't be around Ines and W for a long time without developing a bit of a dry wit.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: He speaks fondly of his deceased mother in his third talk line, having taught him to read and write the Sarkaz language. The book she used to teach Hoederer before dying of Oripathy remains with him as a Tragic Keepsake.
• Dual Wielding: Subverted, as while he wields his BFS in one hand and his dagger in the other, none of his animations show him visibly using the latter to attack. Considering other examples such as Lava, it may be some form of Arts unit instead.
• Dub Name Change: From "Hedley" in the original CN texts. Remnants of it include the voiceovers in non-English languages still referring to him as such (like W's), and his Japanese name being 'ヘドリー'.
• Eyepatch of Power: At some point between "Darknights' Memoir" and Episode 10, he loses his eye and begins wearing an eyepatch as part of his new knightly look. A comment from Manfred reveals that he lost his eye to Ines when he "killed" her as part of the Military Commission. This doesn't slow him down any at all, as shown during his brief duel with W where he very easily overpowers her and could have easily killed her to keep up appearances if not for Ascalon showing up when she did.
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: Hoederer serves as the Fighter to W's Mage and Ines's Thief, being a bulky sword wielder who crushes his enemies with brute force.
• Foregone Conclusion: He is all but confirmed to survive the "Shadows of a Dying Sun" story arc, as Ines’s Trust tap line involves her telling the Doctor to go to him for small talk, implying that Hoederer will board Rhodes Island. He’s also implied to be in the 2023 April Fool's event, which takes place after the events in Victoria, as a watcher and fan of U-Official. This gets confirmed when he is made Promoted to Playable for Chapter 13 as the featured 6*.
• Freudian Trio: He's the Ego to Ines' cold, calculated Superego and W's chaotic Id, acting as the mediator and leader between the two.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: His gameplay kit has subtle synergy with W and Ines,^note He deals bonus damage to enemies inflicted with Stun or Bind, inflicted by W and Ines respectively, while his talent and own stuns also synergize with W's own Injured Vulnerability talent further increasing physical damage to stunned targets and his base skill gains efficiency if Ines and/or W are working in the base, fitting with their Vitriolic Best Buds status.
• Genius Bruiser: In addition to his monstrous combat capabilities and acumen, Hoederer is extremely well-educated and cultured for a Sarkaz mercenary (who mostly tend to be illiterate), being able to write comprehensive literature about Sarkaz history and culture, and teach classes to students of different ages. It's obvious that his true desire is merely to be a scholar and teacher, and was only forced to become a soldier due to the Sarkaz's Forever War.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: Hoederer's ash-based arts are not viewed as particularly impressive, even by himself initially if his old diary notes are of any indication. However, they are still very useful, and Ines secretly admits to valuing them as he's used them to save her multiple times. This carries over a little into gameplay as well; while Hoederer primarily does damage by bashing things in front of him with his sword, one of his third skill's effects is to deal true damage over time to targets that attack or are attacked by Hoederer, and while the damage isn't noticeable immediately, it will gradually add up quite significantly over the course of his skill's long duration.
• Hero Killer: He openly admits to the Doctor that he was the one who personally killed Scout, not that he was exactly happy to do so.
• Hidden Depths:
  • W's archive file contains an excerpt from the fictional book Struggle and Freedom. The name of the book's author is abbreviated to only the letter "H", implying Hoederer is that author. Episode 12 confirms that he wrote several books documenting the history of Sarkaz warfare, one of which Manfred lent to Paprika. He is also shown spending all his time in imprisonment reading books, which the Sarkaz soldiers in the Military Commission find unusual. His profile also notes that he continues to write, chronicling the history of the Sarkaz as it happens.
    Paprika: General Manfred lent me a book, A History of Sarkaz War.
    Ines: ... I know the author. His name is Hoederer, and he's an idiot.
  • The 2023 April Fool's event heavily implies that he is the video editor for and a fan of U-Official.
  • As opposed to a more martial-based skill such as mastery training which might be expected from a mercenary, his base skill is Self-made Trader, which provides a significant boost to Trading Post efficiency which is increased further with Ines and W working in the base, showing a talent in commerce. Even his first trust talk line is him reading a book on accounting.
    No, it's nothing. ...Fine. "Introduction to Accounting Practices". Borrowed it from the library. Ines said that all you need to know to open a shop is how to collect money and give change. And now, I'm a little surprised to find out that she's right. Well, I won't call it a waste of effort. At the very least, there's no harm in having some idle thoughts.
• I Did What I Had to Do: He makes it very clear to the Doctor that he is personally responsible for the deaths of many innocent Victorians in order to maintain his cover as part of the Military Commission.
• Image Song: "Settle Into Ash"
• Injured Vulnerability: His first talent gives him a small ATK multiplier on hit which significantly increases if his target is stunned or bound. This feeds into his second and third skills' stuns, but can be strengthened with some team support, such as from W and Ines, or (humorously) even U-Official.
• Life Drain: His first skill causes his next attack to deal more damage and restore up to 25% of his maximum HP, while his attacks during his third skill heal him for 5% each. Naturally, his ridiculous HP pool feeds into both of these, with his S1 in particular being able to heal for 4-digit HP with each activation.
• Mage Killer: Not a main focus of his design, but Hoederer is particularly effective against Arts-based enemies as enemy Arts damage is balanced around most melee units having no RES and much less HP, and because of how Arts damage mitigation works, his second Talent effectively gives him 18-21 base RES with no external bonuses giving him more mitigation than an Arts Fighter while having over double their base HP. And since Arts enemies will usually have high RES but low DEF, HP or both while Hoederer does primarily large amounts of physical damage, he will typically shrug off their attacks like nothing and proceed to crush them within a couple of hits.
• Magic Knight: He is capable of using Originium Arts to augment his swordplay, which surprised both Ines and W when it was revealed.
• Mighty Glacier: Hoederer has colossal HP and ATK from his Crusher archetype, and he has innate Sanctuary with his second talent to help mitigate the archetype's total lack of defenses, as well as Life Drain on his skills.
• The Mole: While he's outwardly loyal to Theresis, he is secretly working to undermine his plans to keep him from seizing any more power. Moreso after Episode 10 reveals that he managed to join Theresis's inner circle with the aim of sabotaging him where he can.
• Multi-Melee Master: He carries a sword on his hip and a dagger in his hand, though his standoff with W implies the former is his main weapon. He keeps the dagger in all his appearances but exchanges his sword for a rapier while working for the Military Commission. His playable appearance primarily uses a BFS instead.
• Not So Above It All: If he really is "One-Eyed Spy", then this serious, hardened mercenary secretly enjoys cute female streamers and is familiar with using modern internet slang.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: He swings his massive BFS in one hand normally, though he uses both hands while his third skill is active.
• Parental Substitute: He becomes something of an adoptive father to W ever since he took her into his mercenary group. This becomes more evident in Episode 13 when he gives W a You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech in an effort to convince her not to keep herself tied down to Theresa's memory.
• Playing with Fire: His arts are based on manipulating ashes in various ways, his skills and second talent's names are fire-themed, and their visual effects involve cloaking himself or his weapons in fire. His third skill also inflicts a true damage DoT that can be assumed to be the targets being burned by ashes.
• Promoted to Playable: After having been introduced to the story since "Darknight's Memoir", he finally becomes playable in Episode 13.
• Reluctant Warrior: Despite being a mercenary, Hoederer is deeply tired of warfare and conflict, particularly involving the Sarkaz race, and seeks a life of peace for both himself and all Sarkaz people. It's implied his reason for aligning with Rhodes Island rather than Theresis is because his personal ideals are far more in line with Theresa's, while Theresis's plans would only threaten to lead the Sarkaz into a future of endless violence.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Despite nominally being on the same side, he slaughters the Reunion squad responsible for Ines' death. It's revealed he did this primarily to cover up the fact that Ines survived by seeming vengeful for a deep cover operation against Theresis later on.
• Shout-Out: His English name seems to be a reference to a central character in the French stageplay Les mains sales by Jean-Paul Sartre. Parts of Darknights' Memoir and its related characters' stories thematically parallel it, and Hoederer himself shares a number of details with Sartre's Hoederer (a man with a trusting nature who wants a free society, is targeted by many people, and even remains friendly with two people after his head).
• Stance System: His second skill passively increases his ATK and allows him to toggle between his normal stance and a different stance that slows down his attack speed, but increases his block count and stuns enemies on hit. This notably allows him to permanently trap enemies with slow attack speeds/intervals in a Cycle of Hurting.
• Suicide Mission: In DM-8, he takes the risk of reporting to Theresis to cover for W, expecting to die for bearing bad news. Fortunately for him, Theresis has him under house arrest in a mansion in Londinium.
  Sarkaz Messenger: Looks like it's house arrest for both of us?
  Hoederer: It's not like I never thought about it. And hey, it's better than I was expecting... But we were a little too naive.
  Sarkaz Messenger: Which part was naive? The part where you thought you'd die, or the part where you thought the Regent didn't know?
  Hoederer: Both. He's been pulling the strings from the start.
• Weak, but Skilled: Interestingly, his physical examination lists his strength, mobility and endurance all as Standard (for comparison to other Sarkaz, that's around the same as Lava the Purgatory, a Caster, while Vigna has Excellent ratings for strength and endurance). However, his tactical acumen, combat skill, and Originium adaptability are all rated as Excellent, befitting his background as an experienced mercenary and leader.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: Previously, many Rhodes Island members did not have a good impression of Sarkaz mercenaries, having mostly interacted with Wild Cards Flamebringer and W, and the outwardly intimidating Mudrock. Hoederer, by contrast, is highly disciplined and intelligent, leading many who have interacted with him to greatly respect and admire him.
• You Remind Me of X: Several months after recruiting W, he tells her that she's the same type of person as the old W: good at putting on airs, good at living in the moment. When she smiles in response, he silently thinks that it was the same smile as the old W's.
  That's the first time I saw her smile. The same smile as W's.
  [...]
  What I needed was a mercenary who could cleave a path forward, not just another puppet. Puppets are a dime a dozen.
  That was the day W became W.

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Humus

Humus

Introduced: Episode 12: All Quiet Under the Thunder
Voiced by: Kazuki Kyan (Japanese), MinoruK (Mandarin Chinese), Gabriel Romero (English), Park Ju-kwang (Korean)
Artist: Agatsuma_Rochan

Capable of fixing everything other than his unkempt appearance.

^{Click to see Elite 2 appearance.}

Waste management expert Humus firmly believes that everyone and everything has a purpose.

Rarity: ★★★★

ID: No. 491

Subclass: Reaper

Tags: DPS, Survival

Skills: Solid Waste Cutting, Efficient Processing

Talents: Re-recycle

Affiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Forte

Birthday: February 20

Height: 185cm

"Doctor, Rhodes Island has helped me so much, I have nothing to say but gratitude. If you need me, just let me know and I'll find a way to get it done for you!"

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• Achievements in Ignorance: How he considers his first promotion as he spends it asking the Doctor repeatedly what he possibly could have done to earn it.
• Barrier Warrior: His talent converts any HP he gains from attacking that goes over his maximum health into barrier (similar to Penance).
• Breaking Old Trends: The first male as well as the first 4-star Reaper Guard.
• Cleavage Window: Male version. His jacket is unzipped at the front to reveal his chest.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Has a knack for repairing and recycling machinery.
• Sinister Scythe: Wields a huge one covered in tattered cloth.

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