12 playable characters have been confirmed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fighting game BlazBlue, that will be released in America this summer. BlazBlue is the newest fighter from developer ARC System Works and publisher Aksys Games, makers of Guilty Gear.
The North American console versions will have new additions to the Japanese arcade game including a fully fleshed out story mode, online play, new animations, new stages, new music and even the ability to switch between Japanese and English voices.
BlazBlue features the same crazy style that you know and love from Guilty Gear along with twelve all-new, highly detailed characters to battle with. Each of which features over 1800 frames of hand-drawn sprite animation that truly makes the game come alive.
——> NOTE: We also have a guide that explains how to unlock all BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger secret characters and more.
Here is the list of playable characters in alphabetical order:
1. Arakune (voiced by Takashi Hikida)
Height: 20-200 cm
Weight: 5-1000 kg
Blood type: Unknown
Gender: Unknown
Origin: Unknown
Hobby: Unknown
Once a man named Han who worked alongside Tager and Litchi, Arakune is an occult being that is constantly seeking knowledge. Its body consists of a mask-like face and an amorphous black and red body, which houses innumerable insects. Currently, it lives under the streets of Kagutsuchi. Because it needs to absorb large amounts of life force to continue its existence, it frequently attacks those of the Kaka tribe and humans alike. It also keeps a diary that it writes what has gone on during its life. Recently, it has sensed the presence of a being with unheard levels of life force, which has caused it to stir – namely, a certain “God of Death” possessing the Azure Grimoire. Its Drive Ability is Crimson, which curses the opponent to where several flying insects will attack him/her.
2. Bang Shishigami (voiced by Tsuyoshi Koyama)
Height: 192 cm
Weight: 105 kg
Blood type: B
Gender: Male
Origin: The Far East
Hobby: Unknown
A ninja-turned superhero, Bang has dedicated his life to exterminating evil and overturning injustice wherever he goes. The scar on his face was given to him by Jin, whom he would like to get back at for that exact fact. His Drive Ability is Burning Heart, which places emblems for every fire punch he lands on his opponent. When four of them are replaced, he can then use his Distortion Drive, “Fuurinkazan”, which gives him enhanced speed and strength, although he cannot block.
3. Carl Clover (voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro)
Height: 144 cm
Weight: 35 kg
Blood type: AB
Gender: Male
Origin: Austria
Hobby: Reading
A young boy wearing a top hat who fights using a large mechanical maid puppet named Nirvana, an Ark-Enemy unit whom he refers to as his sister. He was once a student at the Military Academy alongside Jin and Noel, but he mysteriously dropped out while the other two graduated. Then, having heard of the bounty on Ragna’s head, Carl decided to become a vigilante and go after his bounty on his own, with help from Nirvana. His Drive Ability is Auto Maton, which controls Nirvana.
4. Haku-Men (BOSS)
Haku-Men is a samurai-like cyborg/robot who resembles Justice from Guilty Gear. Haku-Men was one of the six heroes who battled against and defeated the Black Beast. Afterwords, he was locked away in the area where the Sheol Gate was located beneath the grounds of the area. Haku-Men follows a code of honor, and says that his sword will purify the world of sin and vanquish that which is evil. Haku-Men is also regarded by v -13- as a SUSANOOH unit. When defeated as the sub-boss in Arcade Mode, he is suddenly called back by his master, Grimalkin, all the while being angry with his master for interrupting him in the middle of his battle. Unlike every other character, Haku-Men does not possess a standard Heat Gauge. It is instead replaced by a unique gauge that gradually stores up to eight orbs, which are then used in varying amounts for his specials and Distortion Drives. His Drive ability, Zanshin, involves counter attacks.
5. Iron Tagar (TR-00009) (voiced by Kenji Nomura)
Height: 240 cm
Weight: 550 kg
Blood type: Natural oil
Gender: Male
Origin: Unknown (doesn’t remember)
Hobby: Bottle-ships
Originally the leader of a battle unit which revolved around physical combat, he was forced to withdraw from the front lines after sustaining a mortal wound in the Ikaruga Civil War. He was brought back from the brink of death at the hands of the scientist “Kokonoe” and revived as a cyborg, and is currently assigned to a combat unit under the direct control of Kokonoe. He seems to be pursuing Ragna, though his goals are entirely unclear. He is also shown to be working with Litchi Faye Ling, and apparently also knows about Arakune. His Drive Ability is Volttech Battler, which specializes in using electricity and magnetism so he can grab his enemies.
6. Jin Kisaragi (voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara)
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 61 kg
Blood type: A
Gender: Male
Origin: England
Hobby: Vintage Motorcycles
From a prestigious family, this man is a retainer of the Librarium’s Kisaragi house. His class is Major. In the past, he had a distinguished military record during the “Ikaruga Civil War” that broke out, and was promoted to the position of Division Commander at an exceptionally young age. He is always cool and calm, though he is a deeply jealous, ambitious, and possessive person, with little care for others. He treats other people like a nuisance, with the exception of Ragna, who is said to be his “blood brother”. His Drive Ability is known as Frost Bite, which specializes in freezing opponents.
7. Litchi Faye Ling (voiced by Chiaki Takahashi)
Height: 170 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Blood type: AB
Gender: Female
Origin: Shanghai, China
Hobby: Mahjong
A doctor in the oriental part of Kagutsuchi. Apparently, she is vital to the town because of her profession and her knack for sensing others’ needs. She is a subordinate of the scientist Kokonoe alongside Tager, and is currently chasing after Arakune, determined to put an end to his life if neither she nor her fellow subordinates of Kokonoe can change him back to normal. Her Drive Ability is Mantenbou, which manipulates her staff into attacking opponents by itself.
8. Noel Vermillion (voiced by Kanako Kondou)
Height: 157 cm
Weight: 48 kg
Blood type: A
Gender: Female
Origin: England
Hobby: Writing Poems
Because of her outstanding combat ability and suitable operation evaluations, she was selected to be Jin Kisaragi’s direct subordinate in her youth. The two were acquaintances in the Military Academy, though Noel thought Jin was extremely weak. However, on a certain mission handed down from the Librarium, her preconceptions were changed. She is actually ? -12-, the predecessor of v -13- (both of them are Ark-Enemy units), although she doesn’t remember it. During the Ikaruga Civil War, she was found amidst the burning fields of Ikaruga, where she was rescued, after which she was adopted by her parents of the Vermillion family. Her Drive Ability is known as Chain Revolver, which specializes in chain linking her combos together.
9. Rachel Alucard (voiced by Kana Ueda)
Height: 145 cm
Weight: 31 kg
Blood type: Unknown
Gender: Female
Origin: Transylvania
Hobby: Tea
A blood-sucking vampire who is the head of the Alucard family, as the head of the family an enormous castle and a servant have been handed down to her from previous generations. She carries a cat-shaped umbrella called Nago and fights using a chubby, red bat familiar called Gii. She slipped out of her castle in search of fun because she hates to be bored. She also seems to be constantly following Ragna around, which irritates him and causes him to tell her to go home. Her Drive Ability is Sylphide, which allows her to manipulate wind.
10. Ragna the Bloodedge (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita)
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 78 kg
Blood type: B
Gender: Male
Origin: Unknown
Hobby: Cooking
The almighty force managing the “Operation”, in order to obtain absolute power over the world, is this man who has rebelled against the “Novus Orbis Librarium Armagus”. Known as the “God of Death”, a bounty for his elimination has been placed in all the regions populated with branches of the Librarium. Ragna is said to be a reincarnation of the Black Beast, and also posesses the Azure Grimoire, a powerful form of Armagus, thus leading others to be after not just his bounty, but his grimoire as well. Ragna’s heterochromia is revealed in Rachel’s ending, which suggests that both of his eyes were green until Rachel bit him, causing one of them to turn red. He is also said to be “blood brothers” with Jin, although he refuses to forgive him for the way he made the inside of his left arm, which currently appears to be mechanical instead of having the usual bones inside it. In game, his tactics revolve around using his power and large sword to keep pressure on his opponents. His Drive Ability is known as Soul Eater, which is used to absorb the opponents life.
11. Taokaka (voiced by Chiwa Sait?)
Height: 165 cm
Weight: 42 kg
Blood type: O
Gender: Female
Origin: Kaka Village
Hobby: Naps, Food
A young lycanthrope of the Kaka tribe who live in the lower class part of Kagutsuchi. Her coat is equipped with massive paw-like hands that include long, retractable claws. She wants to get back the sky above her village that was sealed off with an enormous plate by humans who came to the land and started building a big city. She left her village in search of someone called Ragna after she heard that you could gain a lot of money for defeating him. She doesn’t know it, but she is a descendant of bio-weapons created from one of the six heroes, Jyuubei. Her Drive Ability is known as Dancing Edge: Reckless Kitty, which specializes at dashing at high speeds with a slash attack.
12. V -13-
A Mecha Musume who lives at the Sheol Gate. Her name is pronounced as “Nu”. She is an Ark-Enemy unit with a personality that is split between a stoic battle android programmed to terminate hostile subjects and a sweet, pure, and innocent girl (the latter of which takes over when she’s around Ragna). v -13- also seems to have a crush on Ragna the Bloodedge – which explains why she acts so strange when she’s around him (as said before). She even kills him in his ending, and says that if Ragna dies, then so will she, and says that she wants for her and Ragna to be together forever, and destroy “this terrible, awful excuse for a world” as she calls Earth together with him. Noel Vermillion’s story also reveals that Noel herself is ? -12-, v -13-‘s predecessor, which explains why they look very much alike, although Noel forgets who she is by the time she gets to her successor. In Haku-Men’s story, he fights v -13- as the sub-boss before fighting Ragna; it is there that she is unable to scan him and recognizes him as a SUSANOOH unit. Her story mainly revolves around beating up and terminating all hostile subjects in her way, where she faces Taokaka as the sub-boss and then Rachel as the final boss, after which her ending shows her consciousness wondering where Ragna is. Her Drive ability, Sword Summoner, revolves around attacking opponents with sword-like projectiles.
Translation of official Japanese descriptions by Wikipedia