Luminos564

Zedar had an explanation that breaks the thing in more layman's terms. In a nutshell, it means that the 2 linked entities cannot "die" until they "observe" and therefore "recognise" each other as "dying". Naturally this franchise being a clusterfudge of terminology, this means there's a whole other metric ton of rules that apply to it but that is the barest premise behind what a Life Link does. Technically, Ragna absorbing the Idea Engine did give him a sort or "mist" like effect. Though this was only in his Unlimited form. In CT it merely represented itself as a permanent Blood Kain mode. In CS and CP however, Unlimited Ragna did have a black mist whenever he was invoking the Idea Engine. Tager however can be explained as to why he doesn't sparkle. Tager only has an "Artificial Causality Phenomenon Weapon". The Idea Engine is something based on them, but is an improved model. However, your hypothesis on the 3 Murakumo ladies gave me my own theory. Now they are templates of Saya, Ragna and Jin's sickly little sis. That I will not dispute. But proceed to think, when was it that units 11, 12 and 13 were created? Before or after was possessed by a creature solely identified as "death incarnate"? I am of course talking about Izanami. After all, the gal took a Time Killer to the face and brushed it off as if it were a speck of dust on her shoulders. Perhaps making templates based on the Saya that got taken over by an otherwise unkillable entity brushed off that very trait to them? But yeah, I'll also have to call in Mori and his method of conveying information about the series. Half the time it seems he's either making stuff up as it goes along or writes himself into a wall so he glosses over it with another massive info dump.

So here's a thought, free of charge: besides serving as the visual indicator that you're fighting Lamb-chops and not Nu-13, does anyone else think there is a story related purpose to the spiraling tron mist that envelops her during combat? Actually speaking of that, in what kind of state is Lamb-chops even in? Alive? Dead? Pseudo-revived? Her CPEX arcade run suggest something akin to "between life and death" since she is slowly reformating but at the same time Noel and Rachel note she's not there just yet. And CF doesn't really establish on her status either beyond her wish: wanting to be with Ragna. Now that I bring it up, units 11, 12 and 13 all have this unprecedented ability to just not stay dead, even when all signs point to an eternal grave...

Kokonoe does, but she refuses to use it in favor of science. There's also Seven I guess, provided he lived through the ages. Rachel knows Sorcery but that's a whole other ball game (think of it as an advanced form of the magic Nine uses). See part of the reason Nine developed Ars Magus in the first place was because actual magic was simply too difficult to teach to the average Joe Everyman of this universe within the 1 year that Bloodedge bought them and they needed a lot of people to combat the Black Beast at the time. But let's assume we decide to reopen a Blazblue Hogwarts; what would be the point of it? There's a good chance that Central Fiction will resolve most of the immediate issues and even if there was some bigger threat beyond the stage of Central Fiction's plot, do you honestly think they/it would sit idly by and allow humans to all develop and refine the use of actual magic for themselves?

If there's one thing I learned when it comes to fighting game characters is that they're, for lack of a better term, "immortal". I mean that in the sense that, while they're not above death, for they can still die in-story, they can be brought back using the flimsiest of excuses. If Ragna kicks the bucket, you can bet that eventually someone will clone him, make him a robot copy body for his soul to inhabit or just plain ascend him to godhood and have him effectively rise back from the dead. Keep in mind, this IS a series where Life Links, Chronophantasma, artificial bodies merging with spectral demons and flippin' Amaterasu exist (Amaterasu gave the first unit that came into contact with it immortality after all). It's like Mori went up to Akira Toriyama and said "Ok you know about your Dragonballs yeah? Well Imma one up ya man". If Ragna dies at the climax/end of Central Fiction it will not be a question of "Will he or will he not stay dead" but rather "How long until he comes back, rearin' for another go"?

TFW you realise that making Alpha requires merging all 3 Murakumo with him . On a more serious note this "true merge" business has me curious. Nu-13 has always wanted to merge with him regardless of what the end result meant (Black Beast commencing Doomsday and repeating the 100 year cycle). Now all of a sudden we seem to have an alternative to all that but once again, Mori only drops vague breadcrumbs that we can draw nothing beyond mere speculation. And though I was mostly joking in my first sentence, I can't help but feel Lamb-chops and Noel are needed for this as well. Granted, Noel does have (or perhaps, "had") a Life Link with Hazama/Terumi (I forgot which it was exactly) but there seems to be some leeway in regards to that stuff. Yes, Nu-13 does want to merge with him, but Lamb-chops is also drawn to him for her own reasons and he already bonded with Noel between CT-CP. The more I think about it, the more I believe these 2 are also part of this process but I suppose we ought to wait and see. This is sounding more "story climax" kind of territory than anything though...

Or she knows that the current Celica is a Chronophantasma and that her real sister died during Terumi's assault. Admittedly this doesn't really make sense since in their VS match, she seems genuinely pleased whenever she wins and Nine is nothing BUT dedicated to keeping Celica alive, willing to end the lives of millions if it meant keeping her alive longer. If whatever she learned drove to the extent that she'd drop even that aspect of her character, then whatever lies beyond Izanami must be horrifying.

At least she's still one of the very few people that don't go out of their way to belittle, antagonise, murder, break and/or touch Ragna inappropriately, memories or no. The fact that she connects him as "Good Guy" despite not knowing who "Good Guy" actually is while inside the Embryo through smell and that now almost ancient CT encounter (when he bought her lunch) brought a small tear to my eye. This being said, Nine really ought to rethink giving out these "Hey go kill Izanami" business cards. I mean let's not kid ourselves: what could Taokaka even do to Izanami? Glomp her and then call her a cutting board until Izanami gets annoyed enough to commit seppuku? Actually, come to think of it, what are like 50% of the cast supposed to do in this conflict? Izanami and whatever else comes after her is more Ragna's personal problem. You could extend that to Noel/Mu-12 and Jin and potentially Rachel and Lamb-chops. Maybe even Nu-13 if she stops being all stabby-stabby. Hakumen is likely to be dealing with Nine and the immortal cockroaches, Hazama/Terumi. You can include Valkenhayn, Platinum and I guess Celica and/or Kokonoe in here for that. Azrael could serve as Tager and Bullet's personal agenda with support from Kagura and Hibiki. Naoto is a wild-card but I guess he would follow Rachel. But that's about it really. What are the rest of them supposed to do? Then again, we also don't have all the info and presently only Act 1 is here (and even that is mostly just set-up for Act 2 and 3).

Well, Amaterasu has been the focal point of the villains like Terumi, Relius and Izanami since the beginning (and possibly even Nine right now if what she learned ties in to the unit). Its ruin is their overall goal, though for completely different reasons for each of them. Terumi wants it dad because how dare it follow its functions and have him serve it when he was inhabiting the Susano-O unit. Relius wants it out of the picture because with it gone, he can reshape the world and have it progress rather than stagnate from the repeated phenomena. Izanami on the other hand wants it gone because as an entity embodying death, letting a device that can more or less annul everything you stand for simply won't do. The unit has arguably been the biggest player in the franchise and while we know what it does, we haven't a reason as to why (though that story about the Girl, the Beast and the Hero may be foreshadowing to it). This Blazblue should answer all of this. As for special intros, none that pop to mind. There's those that you'd expect like Celica calling out to Ragna and him to knowing who she is. There is however that Ragna vs. Naoto one, where they come right close to each other and stare in each other's faces super yaoi erotica-like menacingly/murderously. Now remember that the Vs. intros are usually a result of events that already happened and/or will happen. Heck even the Arcade opening depicts the two of them clashing. This might have something to do with Naoto's existence erasing Ragna's own and how Naoto will "bring ruin to the world " as Nine claims. Heck even Valkenhayn wants to send him away. Something is definitely up with this situation.

A lot of characters go insane whenever they come to know things they really were better off remaining ignorant of. Just ask dear old Albedo from Xenosaga. Or Arakune from BB itself. Chances are Nine more or less came to know something very important and the knowledge of it drove her to these current actions (though apparently, her eyes going all black and gold is a result of her "resurrecting"). As for what it actually could be... I don't think we've heard anything explicitly stated but, if I had to ballpark it, I'd say the answer lies in 3 different pieces (and this is all personal opinion): The first piece is Ragna and the supposed "evil" he is plagued by from within. This more or less ties into what sort of entity he is to begin with and his origins so explaining it could potentially answer part of the riddle. The second piece lies with Amaterasu, or rather, what lies within its coffin and why she/it went through all this trouble of repeated timelines and phenomena for. "What lies beyond her and the Boundary?" that sort of thing. The last piece comes from way back in CT. Anyone recall one of Arakune's lines that goes something like "Seithr is not what you think it is" in English. Curious innit? Remember: Arakune was driven insane by what he learned within the Boundary. An even more chilling one is "Why won't you understand? We are ALL being watched". Now who could possibly be watching these events unfolding besides just Amaterasu? So yeah those are my votes: Ragna, Amaterasu and whatever the Hell Arakune (and potentially Nine) saw within/beyond the Boundary. For the chains, I figured it was a care of irony because she was ultimately bound to servitude by Izanami (with Terumi's help no doubt). As for her line, no clue. Relius name-drops her father often but no mention is made of her mother that I know of. Unless of course her mom is secretly someone from either Xblaze or Bloodedge Experience.

It took me a while to find it but here it is more or less in full glory: Azzy vs. Rags Intro You notice the entire time Ragna's playing defense while Azrael wails on him until he pushes him back via Guard Break. It's certainly not as action-packed as their last one, but at this point Ragna has no clue who Azrael is and Azrael is acting more restrained (merely dishing out a TCL rekka as opposed to trading heavy blows with the guy). In addition, in the link you can see various other matches between these two and whenever Azrael scores a good hit (like his BHS) he has a new line of dialogue where he is positively salivating at what comes next (my understanding of Japanese is very limited but from what I can tell, Azrael is hoping that something is going to happen after he is done and that he gets to devour it).

And so he is. Sigh, so much for a Lamb-chops vs. Nine smack down (unless ASW has other plans). Still, she was shown in one of the illustrations taking on Haku-men so that is still badass of her considering who he is power-wise. And though it may never happen, I would like her to give him a solid thrashing through sheer force of will if nothing else. That aside has anyone seen/heard what the Azrael vs. Ragna match sounds like? Azrael is positively estatic whenever he scores a good hit and the intro is just him pushing Ragna to a guard break. Perhaps he is in cahoots with Nine already?

Ok that's twice I've seen Lamb-chops duking it out with one of the Six Heroes. The first one was with Haku-men during one of the CF trailers and now she's throwing down with Nine herself. Either she's got a death wish the size of Kagutsuchi or that quote in which she claims she will not allow Ragna to be killed/destroyed means she'd go as far as fighting 2 of the strongest people in all of BB to prevent it (and this of course assumes she doesn't meet up with anyone else that wants him dead). I hope however that (provided it's true) this serves as a means of establishing Lamb-chops as her own separate entity as opposed to merely been a former host for Nu's soul. Clones they all may be but they're all distinct in their own ways.

Alright since we've not got that much to talk about what with Act 2 not yet released, I've got to ask: what are people's thoughts on Nine pulling this whole Embryo scenario? I mean I can understand it being a space designed to mold Ragna into a more proficient Anti-Izanami countermeasure (main character privileges and all that) but what of the rest? What would be the point in altering Carl's memories on who Nirvana really is? What's the point of making Litchi forget her body is nary a day left to spare before she turns into a Sludge Mamma? I mean OK so you're peeking into and deconstructing all of their wishes/desires and maybe giving out a pep-talk or 2 but isn't messing with their memories detrimental to your cause? Half the time it looks like Nine's doing this for kicks and giggles (like with Amane and Bullet).

Could be yet another Ragna-class attack what with Saya seemingly taking more center stage in Act 2. Plus isn't Act 2 named "Nightmare Memory"? The nightmare part might refer to him again since back in CS Mu-12 calls him the "World's Nightmare" so it might be that once more, Ragna's grimoire goes haywire and he starts wrecking people's day. There's even that Ragna vs. Jin image we saw in the CF trailer so it is possible. Look at that dental work. Azrael proves to everybody that just because you make a living knocking them down the throats of others, that doesn't mean to neglect your own . On the image itself: I don't think he's allying with Izanami necessarily. Based on his response it could very well be that he might have taken Nine's idea to heart and sets out to get Ragna Black Beastified. You'll also notice that unlike the other characters who were shown in the Act 2 trailer, he's crushing that Azure shard in his hand as opposed to holding it. That might be important somewhere down the line.

With the Embryo still active and since we know Nine is telling the people within that they need to go defeat and/or kill Izanami, I wager that Act 2 is where the Embryo is removed from the equation. That way Act 3 is set up for the "truth" that Nine spoke of that follows Izanami's defeat. That being said, what that truth actually is may not necessarily be a good thing.

More or less what I was getting at. Ragna is a lot of things, many of which can be described as negative, but one of his defining characteristics is being able to ultimately put others ahead of himself. He willingly took on the Black Beast, marching to his own doom (except not really but it's the thought that counts) in order to buy time for Nine and prevent Celica from being used as a magical fantasy nuke. He protected Noel during his encounter with Nu-13 in CT and sacrificed his original left arm to bring her back despite having known her for less than, what, a week? Even in CP he was willing to cast aside past dealings with Nu-13 of all people in order to try and help her. And then there's Jin, whom he does have hostile feelings towards, but admits that ultimately he cannot go all out on because at the end of the day, he's still his brother. Heck, he even encourages Jin in his mission to save Tsubaki, much like how an older brother would. Eh, I mentioned this before but Nine's plan seems to either 1. unite the characters against a common foe or 2. she's setting them up as distractions in order for Ragna to grow/become able to deliver the killing blow (there must be a reason why she'd contract Azrael to awaken Ragna as opposed to siccing the rampaging behemoth on Izanami herself). Time will tell what Act 2 and 3 bring however.

For a character that is surprisingly down-to-earth like Ragna, I find that a bit difficult to believe. He reminisces about the tragedy sure, but if his speeches to Noel are anything to go by, he's not about to let it chain him down. For him to suddenly want to go back in time and live in said past is...polarising, to say the least. Just because Jin has a life ahead of him now doesn't mean he suddenly stops being Ragna's brother, or his family. They don't have to act like when they were children but it isn't much of a stretch to believe they could act like brothers as adults. If that dinner at Kagura's HQ was anything to go by, they most certainly are able to be cordial enough with each other. Rachel also demanded that Ragna kill Mu-12 because "it was the only way". Look how that turned out. It's true that Rachel is knowledgeable about a lot of things, but her ability to play the part of an "actor" on the stage leaves much to be desired. Ragna has proven he can do things most people in this franchise wouldn't even consider. I also never said he'll separate Izanami specifically. I only said it's doubtful he'd actually go through with killing Saya, but what form said action takes is up in the air. For all we know Saya herself could expel Izanami out of her body or perhaps Izanami has a change of heart and then joins the list of Ragna's growing harem (j/k).

Ragna presents a unique case as his wish is one that can be granted by merely resolving the conflict at hand and does not require some supernatural entity to make it come true. As BlackYakuzu mentioned, he just wants his family back (side note: d'awww Ragna ya big softy) and in fairness, he CAN settle down with them once everything is cleared up. If he and Jin can manage to bury the murder hatchet then they can slowly go back to being brothers. And it's doubtful he'll actually want to kill Saya who currently houses Izanami, so he'll be getting his sister back in that regard. As a plus he gets the 3 remaining Murakumo and the Chronophantasma Celica (if only for a few fleeting months in the latter case) to add to his family because let's be real, even though 1 of them wants him dead/merged inside her, they're more or less sisters to him. Well (and this is all hypothetical) provided we actually need Ragna to make a wish upon the stars above, the most likely candidate for the role of wish granting would be Noel/Mu-12 what with being the Eye of the Azure along with being tied to Amaterasu. But since we do know that she needs to "eat" other people's wishes in order to make hers come true I am uncertain at this moment how that'd even work out. Unless let's say if she were to adopt Ragna's wish as her own as some kind of loophole...

The "Entitled" are a select few individuals that have not turned to seithr once Izanami invoked the Embryo. From what I recall, they were chosen by the Master Unit Amaterasu. Of course, there are exceptions like Ragna, Hazama/Terumi, Azrael and I think Naoto as well should count for the time being, who all had circumstances that allowed them to bypass getting seithr-fied.

Oh I see. Whew that is a relief, however small. It'd really suck that after all the development and confidence boosts Noel simply falls apart again.

Oh geez and wouldn't ya know it; Ragna is fresh outta limbs to sacrifice. I'm starting to think that a crazy Mu-12 will be the boss for Act 2 as opposed to Izanami, thus semi-repeating the CS scenario. Also, Naoto coming here is erasing Ragna's existence? Oh boy the guy just never can catch a break.

Zedar you are my hero. Seriously what's not to like about Azrael? He's like the Chuck Norris jokes if they were fully realized and played completely straight . In a franchise where everyone has their little schemes, doomsday worship and manipulations, his entire desire to be able to punch something really, really hard stands out as remarkably unique. I agree that Nine is probably making plans on forcing Ragna to deal with his whole Black Beast fiasco. This is something he HAS to have solved if she truly does want Ragna to be able to take down Izanami and have his desire granted. Kinda hard to take down a creature who can make your source of power (Azure Grimoire) go haywire like in CP's true ending. Notice that Nine is the one tasking Azrael to awaken Ragna, as opposed to telling him to just gun for Izanami like she's telling everyone else. Either she's trying to unite them in a way that they all have a common foe or she's setting them up for failure because she thinks/wants Ragna to deliver the kill. Time will tell I suppose. It's also rather sweet, in a weird way, that Nine has what can roughly resemble "respect" or "friendship" with Ragna. Oh sure, she's probably all crass about it but from what is being said about their encounter, it seems like she genuinely does want him to succeed. I suppose making that promise in Phase Shift and tossing himself into the Black Beast's jaws for Celica's sake really changed her tone about him. Oh and that Mu-12 arcade run: mind = . Seriously what the hell is happening?

Can't believe I missed this but hey Azrael is fighting someone...a member of the Six Heroes no less, and he's not having his usual blood knight slasher smile on. Do we have any potential news regarding this encounter? I know Azrael is one of the few that does realise the current world is a tad effed up what with having been imprisoned since CP but what is his deal now? I know he must have encountered Bullet and Tager but that can't be all there is to it can it?

I'm not disagreeing because I too think the same. But I wonder then who would be the boss lady of Act 3? I mean, in Act 1 you're (trying to at least) kick Nine's ass. In Act 2 you're (most likely) tasked with the kicking of Izanami's ass. You're already facing one of the most powerful mages in known history and a death incarnate in that scenario. Who do you fight after that? "Evil within" Ragna would get my vote, but then we wouldn't have the ultimate Arcade boss be a lady which is an ASW "tradition". So we've finally got, more or less, confirmation that Tager = Bullet's captain. Not that anyone should be so surprised but hey, nice to have that out in the open. Hold the phone, what!? By who? For what purpose? Dammit Mori this is the kind of stuff you build up from the past games, not something you just toss onto the table. Still, I find the idea hilarious because there's only one thing Ragna could be a god of: bad luck. And my bucket-list of questions keeps on increasing.

I....but...how...when...why...I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS