Relius Clover

Relius Clover is Carl Clover and Ada Clover's father, and Ignis Clover's husband. He was a colonel in the Engineering Department for the Novus Orbis Librarium, and worked alongside Hazama as one of the main antagonists of the series until BlazBlue: Chronophantasma. He is a playable character starting with BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend.

Information
Relius is a genius alchemist known as the "Puppeteer". At some point before the start of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, he disappeared without a trace.

Relius is known and feared by Tsubaki Yayoi and Makoto Nanaya. He also seems to know and dislike Jubei of the Six Heroes. Carl, his son, hates him for turning his sister, Ada, and his mother, Ignis, into mechanical marionettes. Carl spends a majority of his travels in pursuit of Relius. During Noel Vermillion's story in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Relius attempted to kidnap her in order to 'examine' her, and he seems to have gotten a hold of Arakune at the end of his respective story. He did not hesitate to attack his own son when confronted by him.

His experiments include the resurrection of the Nox Nyctores named Deus Machina: Nirvana, which now houses the soul of his daughter, Ada Clover, whom she lives on inside. He completed this project with help from Kokonoe of Sector Seven. His own Nox Nyctores, Fluctus Redactum: Ignis, also still houses the soul of his wife, Ignis Clover. Ignis is similar in appearance to Nirvana, although she has a red dress, aqua eyes with rings inside of her irises, a more slender head dress with long rabbit's-ear-like protrusions, and hooked razorblade fingers.

Other creations of his include the artificial body of Yūki Terumi: Kazuma Kuvaru; Relius became the tutor of Kazuma and is inadvertently responsible for his fusion with Terumi to become Hazama. He is also rumored to have created the zeroth Boundary Interface Prime Field Device that was used to explore the Boundary.

He also seems to have been involved with the creation of Lambda-11 and Nu-13, as told in Lambda's storyline and the extra story "That Which is Inherited", and by extension, possibly the other Murakumo Units as well.

Relius is seen alongside Phantom and the Imperator of the NOL. He is also working with Hazama to achieve his goals, which at this point are unknown.

In the past, he worked alongside Kokonoe, under a group known as the "Sin Architects". During an experiment with Shūichirō Ayatsuki while using the first Boundary Interface Prime Field Device, they unknowingly unleashed the Black Beast that was sent back through time.

Continuum Shift Extend
In Relius' arcade ending in Continuum Shift Extend, he runs into Hazama following his defeat by Ragna the Bloodedge (possibly in the true ending). The two aren't antagonistic towards each other by their conversation, but Hazama decides to fight him for an unknown reason. After losing, Yūki Terumi tells Relius that the Life Link between him and Noel is secure, along with speaking of "Kushinada's Lynchpin". After hearing from Phantom that Ragna defeated Kusanagi, Relius uses Ignis to rip out Terumi's throat and force his spirit from his body; an opportunity which Terumi uses to infiltrate and disable Takamagahara. Relius stays behind and contemplates on the current situation.

In both his and Valkenhayn R. Hellsing's Continuum Shift Extend story modes, it is revealed that when he was swallowed by the Cauldron during the initial experiment with Terumi and Shūichirō Ayatsuki, he did not die; he was actually sent forward 80 years into the future, to the year 2179. In the process, he lost his memory, but gradually started to regain it over the years, stating that the feeling was as exhilarating as placing books back on shelves (a personal pastime of his). After reuniting with Terumi, he continues working with him in secret, and during the timeskip to the present day meets and marries Ignis, which in turn leads to the birth of Carl and Ada.

Chronophantasma
It was shown that he and Terumi were working for Izanami but she abandoned them to their fates after they became useless to her. In the end of Chronophantasma Relius had been defeated, his plans crumbled, his ego crushed to bits, and now he is a broken man and, until he fixes Ada, is under the mercy of Carl and Litchi, the two people that he had used as puppets before.

Personality
Relius is calculating, analytical, cold and stoic. He's formal in speech and mannerism, and has no sense of tact. He likes to be entertained, where his playful side comes through, and also his notable sadistic streak. He takes his research seriously and cherishes knowledge above most else, but often times he turns gathering data into a sort of cruel game. He's also very confident in his knowledge and tends to be condescending to anyone who questions what he views as fact.

As a counterweight to his vast knowledge, Relius has an overall air of eccentricity. For example, he boasts that his wife, Ignis, is "perfect", and "his one desire fulfilled", yet he also says she still needs improvements and so is not yet truly perfect in combat. Calling her perfect in this way turns into a simple compliment, yet, as Relius is not one for small talk, it seems that he truly believes she's factually perfect as well. By mixing how he feels about her with the fact that she's a breakthrough in scientific research, this is not based on scientific fact alone, a clear break from his analytical thinking process. This is a pattern that resurfaces at times. In this way he is both very smart and factual, yet eccentric and self-righteous due to it.

He does have rare instances of empathetic feelings as well. For example, he showed empathy for his daughter, Ada (whom is now the Nox Nyctores, Nirvana), after she and Carl retreated from their first battle with he and Ignis on the Continuum Shift Story Mode.

It is revealed through Continuum Shift Extend's Story Mode that Relius has the ability to see any person's soul, which he believes to be their truest, rawest form. Souls on Blazblue appear as a ball of softly glowing, bluish-green light.

Relius' ability to see souls plays a large part in his skewed, eccentric view on the world. Looking past peoples' bodies, he's able to leave behind such basic prospects like pain and emotional suffering of his experiments. Usually this type of thinking causes him to do things which are cruel, but he can ignore that and focus on the 'good' or 'use' which is coming out of it - usually new scientific data. Using this as his logic, one may understand why Relius thought it a favor of sorts to turn his wife, Ignis, into something powerful and virtually indestructable, rather than leaving her soul where it was born, inside a 'frail, vulnerable, and mortal shell'. On Continuum Shift Extend's Story Mode, he tried his hand at explaining this sort of thinking to Carl, in an attempt to comfort him about his sister, Ada (albeit in his own odd, eccentric, stoic and overly-secular way).

While he accepts it and battles them away when confronted with them, beneath the surface, Relius seems confused and genuinely lost to find a 'justifiable reason' as to why his children Carl and Ada (whom is now the Nox Nyctores) hate him so much.

Relius comments on the status of the other characters' souls frequently (for example, when encountering Platinum the Trinity for the first time, he was intrigued by the fact that they have three souls, one for each personality; In his victory quote against Makoto, he states that her "soul is amusing" - these are just two of many examples of this behavior). Relius often uses the soul as the ultimate gauge to a person's overall worth.

In BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, it is revealed that his claiming to only have an interest for his research is only part of the truth. He admits relishing the act of witnessing the collapse and corruption of a soul under a burden too great to shoulder.

Appearance
Relius is similar in appearance to his son Carl. He shares his son's light blond hair and an affinity for the color purple, although the shade of purple he wears is magenta instead of violet. He also wears a golden opera mask, but the reason for this has not been made clear as of yet.

On his younger years, his appearance is not too different; key differences, however, include shoulder-length hair, a white chemise collar shirt with maroon cuffs, a white scarf with a purple gem, a purple vest, and black trousers.

Powers and Abilities
Relius possesses a vast knowledge of both science and magic, and has created several weapons utilizing his intellect, such as the Murakumo Units, the Nox Nyctores named Nirvana, and his own puppet Ignis. He has also survived numerous brushes with death.

With the use of his puppet Ignis, Relius has been shown to be one of the most powerful beings in the BlazBlue universe, having fought and defeated the likes of Valkenhayn of the Six Heroes in some of their encounters.

Etymology
Relius is a fictional name in the BlazBlue universe. The name seems to be derived from the Latin name Aurelius which means Golden; it is typically a name given to males since Anglo-Saxon times but it has greatly declined in popularity.

Clover is much simpler in origin and merely a species of grass of which the leaf is split is divided into three different loaves.

Trivia

 * His birthday, June 1, is International Children's Day.
 * Most of Relius' special moves are in Latin while most of Carl's are in Italian. This could be a comparison likening Relius to Rome, which was the predecessor of modern Italy, represented by Carl.
 * When electrocuted, Relius' skeleton reveals various mechanical parts, such as gears and a prosthetic arm. This could imply that Relius has begun experimenting on himself at some point in the past.
 * His Astral Heat uses different binding methods for each character:
 * Ragna: Crucified on an X-shaped stake.
 * Jin: Arms are chained spread-eagle, while legs are chained at the ankles.
 * Noel, Lambda, Nu, Mu: Placed inside a Murakumo unit test tube. The Japanese text on the right of each device has different readings for each Murakumo. Naturally, Noel and Mu have the same readings, but with different character sprites, while Lambda and Nu use the same sprite but with palettes swapped. During this time, dry ice-like fog can be seen on the floor.
 * Rachel: Tied via vines to a cross. Gii is morphed into a tabernacle and Nago, still an umbrella, is being choked by a vine.
 * Taokaka: Locked inside a pet cage.
 * Tager: Limbs magnetized by 2 U-magnets. This one actually uses various different sprites for Tager.
 * Litchi: Hands tied to her enlarged staff. Lao Jiu is tied above her, unable to help. A magic circle on the floor is used to trap the character.
 * Arakune: Poured inside a huge lab beaker/flask while being burned alive by a bunsen burner. Strangely, his mask appears to be sweating.
 * Bang: Hands are tied behind his back as cinderblocks are placed on his knees to break his legs. A large row of cinderblocks yet to be placed are seen behind him. A magic circle on the floor is used to trap the character.
 * Carl: He and Ada are suspended by puppet strings in a marionette fashion.
 * Hakumen: Tied to the seal Kokonoe uses on him in Story Mode, which is also the seal he uses in his Astral.
 * Tsubaki:
 * Continuum Shift Extend: Sits on the floor praying, facing the wrong way (back turned to Relius) as her blindness has overcome her. Strangely, some of Izayoi's feathers are seen around her. A magic circle on the floor is used to trap the character.
 * Chronophantasma: Stands with hands chained above her head, back still turned to Relius. A magic circle on the floor is used to trap the character.
 * Hazama: Sits in a chair looking bored. The way he sits is a reference to Phase Shift 1. A magic circle on the floor is used to trap the character.
 * Makoto: Trapped inside a bubble akin to a hamster ball. A magic circle on the floor is used to trap the character.
 * Valkenhayn: Strapped via leather belts to an iron maiden and gagged so he cannot bite back.
 * Platinum: Inside a barrel with swords slotted in, crying a fountain of tears.
 * Mirror-Relius: Lies asleep in a different chair opposite of the winning Relius, while the losing Ignis is disabled and going to be subject to experimentation.
 * Amane: Locked inside an ancient Japanese brothel cage, used for displaying prostitutes, sitting down and facing away from Relius.
 * Bullet: Put in crawling position, hands bound behind her back with red tape.
 * Azrael: Crucified on a cross made from a long board and stocks, then hung upside-down from a magic circle on the ceiling.
 * Izayoi: Arms held above her head by a giant puppet arm, which sprouts smaller arms that grab the rest of her body.
 * Kagura Mutsuki: Hands tied behind his back, being suspended from a gallows stand. His Zweihander is on the ground and out of his reach.
 * Yūki Terumi: Sitting in a chair, hands bound behind it. Behind him is a mirror which reflects his ghost form.
 * Kokonoe: Strapped into a chair which is attached to what appears to be a mind-reading machine, as a helmet can be seen on Kokonoe's head with tubes protruding from it and connecting to the device.
 * Also, in his Astral Heat, if one looks closely at the lighting on the walls, several shadows of dangling corpses can be seen as well as what appears to be their blood. They are possibly previous test subjects who died during procedures.
 * In the console version of Chronophantasma, characters now say specific lines when hit by Relius' Astral Heat.