Valkenhayn R. Hellsing

Valkenhayn R. Hellsing (ヴァルケンハイン＝R＝ヘルシング), also known as the Sagacious Gray Wolf (藍錆の俊狼), is Rachel Alucard’s elderly butler and trusted adviser who has served the Alucard family line for generations, as well as one of the Six Heroes. He first became playable as a DLC character in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. His life-force value is around 2,394,211.

Appearance
Valkenhayn takes on the image of the stereotypical butler. He is an elderly man who wears a dark, aquamarine suit adorned with gold trimming. His long, white hair is tied in a ponytail at the back. In his youth, he still wore the suit sans the jacket, but had brown hair. When transformed, he takes the shape of a big, silvery-blue wolf with a white mane (formerly his hair). On a comedic note, supplemental materials reveal that the pink ribbon used for his ponytail was a gift from Rachel, and the ribbon can be seen in his wolf form adorned on his tail. In his youth, Valkenhayn’s fur was brown instead of gray.

Personality
Valkenhayn is a noble gentleman: polite and courteous in all situations. Being a butler, he is extremely devoted to Rachel and does whatever he can to assist and protect her. His demeanor, however, belies a savage side which is only seen during battle or when he is pushed to the brink of his anger. He uses a fighting style that, while awe-inspiring, is unbelievably brutal, utilizing slashing attacks and blows so powerful they look like they are intended to break the enemy’s bones.

Despite his calm behavior, he tends to lose his temper every time Terumi is concerned, whether it be when Rachel talks about it or when he fights him. He also holds such animosity anyone who dares to be rude to Rachel, especially Ragna the Bloodedge; however, it was shown that he eventually puts trust in him along with the rest despite his prior doubts during the events of Centralfiction.

A much younger Valkenhayn was extremely impatient and quickly resorted to anger and fury should things not go his way, had he not have been paired with Relius Clover when the two belonged to Immortal Breaker, then Valkenhayn’s rage would have inhibited him from a great deal of situations. Valkenhayn was also ill-mannered and rude, often clicking his tongue. It is quite clear and apparent that age has mellowed him out, yet should Rachel’s well-being come into play, the younger, more savage Valkenhayn will appear. Soon, the two would also have a bit of a rivalry in this regard.

His kind behavior also extends to his friends, the fellow Six Heroes barring Terumi, despite some of their personalities overall clashing with each other.

History
Valkenhayn has been the butler to the Alucard family of vampires for a great deal of years. He possesses a sharp wit and is concerned for Rachel’s well-being. Valkenhayn seems to be worried about Rachel associating with things below her class (particularly Ragna the Bloodedge, although others might apply), but he usually acts in a sophisticated and gentlemanly manner. Judging from comments frequently dropped by Rachel, he seems to have once been a vigilante himself.

He has shown a savage temper on occasion, mainly seen during battle. During BlazBlue: Continuum Shift he lost his temper after Hazama insulted Rachel, his voice deepened and his teeth sharpened into fangs.

Valkenhayn is also a lycanthrope, a being that is able to freely switch from being in a human form to a wolf form and exists outside of the reason.

BlazBlue: Bloodedge Experience — Part 1
When Valkenhayn was in his 20s, he belonged to the group Immortal Breaker, alongside Relius Clover. The two were hired by the Mitsurugi Agency’s Kiiro Hikagami to assassinate 'The No Life King' Clavis Alucard as he posed a threat to the worlds order due to his incredible power. Valkenhayn chose to work for the agency as it would give him the opportunity to find strong opponents to battle.



Valkenhayn first appeared in the novel alongside Relius, when he sent Naoto Kurogane hurtling through the air and killed him twice, only to become furious that he could not kill the boy, he began to believe that Naoto was an immortal and prepared to kill him again until Relius stepped in and explained Naoto’s situation; Valkenhayn looked at the boy once more and crushed his leg before sulking to Relius’ side.

He later appeared again when attempting to capture Clavis in Naoto’s apartment. After barging in through the door, exclaiming that he had finally found the vampire, he transformed into his wolf state and lunged at him, only to be caught and examined by Clavis; the No Life King marveled at Valkenhayn, claiming it had been a long time since he had seen a lycanthrope with his own two eyes. After this, Relius joined the fray and the duo dueled against the vampire, however, when Clavis decided it would be a wise time to leave, he fled the apartment with the two on hot pursuit. The apartment was completely demolished save for the kitchen.

BlazBlue: Bloodedge Experience — Part 2
Valkenhayn and Relius both encountered one of Spinner Superior’s bugs, swiftly killing it, however, Valkenhayn was interrupted as Saya Terumi entered, attacking him for murdering Naoto twice the previous week. Relius ordered Valkenhayn to resist killing her because of her 'good soul'. Unfortunately for the lycanthrope, Saya began to use her Drive, Soul Eater, on him, but she could only fight for three minutes and her time had ended, dropping to the ground. Valkenhayn reared up to strike again, but he was interrupted by Naoto; the two nearly fought but Spinner appeared and kidnapped Saya, delaying the conflict.

Valkenhayn and Relius would later destroy the magic circles erected by Spinner that gave him additional magical power. After destroying them, they sent Kiiro to attack the conjurer. During the battle between Spinner and Naoto, the Immortal Breakers stole Saya while all attention was focused on the fight. The two then met Hazama, with Valkenhayn hearing him whisper the words “I finally 'found it”.

BlazBlue: Phase Shift
After Rachel Alucard had transported Tomonori to the Alucard residence, Valkenhayn was seen at Clavis Alucard’s side, constantly warning Tomonori whenever he spoke out of turn about his mission and allegiances.

Clavis, realizing that Tomonori could potentially be killed by Yūki Terumi, sent Valkenhayn to help assist the beastman, but he arrived too late. After the intense battle between Kazuma Kval, housing Terumi, and Tomonori had subsided, Valkenhayn descended down into the catacombs where Kazuma stood above Tomonori’s corpse. Kazuma, being exhausted from the previous fight, was no match for Valkenhayn as he leaped forward and dealt a heavy blow to Kazuma’s body. Valkenhayn was later seen mourning Tomonori’s death alongside Clavis.

A short while after Clavis’ death. Valkenhayn lead both Jūbei and Nine into the specialized prison that Clavis had fashioned to house Terumi. He remained outside the room as Nine put Terumi under the effects of the Mind Eater.

During the Great Dark War, Valkenhayn became one of the Six Heroes, leaving Clavis’ and Rachel’s side temporarily. He did not have an Arch-Enemy Event Weapon fashioned for him due to his ability to counter the Black Beast as they both existed outside of the reason, leading many to have admiration for him. Eventually, after years of struggling against the monstrosity, the Heroes won, and Valkenhayn immediately returned to his masters side, only to lay Clavis to rest as his former rival passed on. His last promise to Clavis was to stay and protect Rachel. Valkenhayn remained there for a great deal of years until the events of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger raised his concern for Rachel’s safety, which ultimately forced him into action.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
Valkenhayn mysteriously appeared in the path of Ragna the Bloodedge when he was traversing through the Orient Town of the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The butler began to casually insult Ragna until he offered up a challenge to see if Ragna was worthy of being the object of Rachel’s interest, however, they were cut off by Rachel suddenly teleporting in between the two men. The vampire casually insulted the Grim Reaper and then questioned why her butler was not in the Alucard Castle preparing her tea – the answer to which was that Valkenhayn sensed Ragna’s presence and grew concerned for Rachel’s safety. After some more insults were thrown, Rachel teleported them all back to the Alucard Castle.

When back at the castle, Valkenhayn witnessed the “dance” between Ragna and Rachel while he prepared the latter’s tea.

Trigger Shift
After Rachel returned from the events in the Kiln, Valkenhayn found her down in the basement’s wooden prison where Terumi was sealed by Nine. The two conversed a little until a buzz rang throughout the castle, signalling that Takamagahara had called for Rachel.

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
Shortly after the battle between Ragna and Carl Clover, Valkenhayn encounters Bang Shishigami and engages in battle with him. After the battle, Bang carries Carl to Litchi’s clinic and so he and Valkenhayn parted ways. Valkenhayn greets Nirvana, who quickly becomes offensive. He tells her that he means no harm and asks her if she still held a grudge against them for sealing her away.

Powers and abilities
Being one of the Six Heroes, Valkenhayn possesses exceptional skill and power on the battlefield, so much that he fought the Black Beast unarmed. He was able to go against the Beast, the reason being that Valkenhayn is a sole being who exists outside of the reason, not unlike the Beast itself. His gentlemen-like behavior and profession as a butler belies a much more savage side that appears to have aged well with him. Valkenhayn fights with brute strength and incredible speed, unleashing swift kicks and claw-like attacks; through this savage fighting style he shows elegant form regardless, making use of a huge variety of agile kick-based moves in tandem with his Drive.

Valkenhayn’s Drive, Werwolf (ヴェーアヴォルフ) focuses on his mastery over lycanthropy, allowing him to transform partially, halfway or fully into a beast wolf form to tear his opponents to shreds unrestrained. A small purple gauge right above his Drive gauge determines how long he can stay in wolf form, automatically returning to normal once it runs out. The gauge regenerates when he is in human form, but only when he is on the ground. When in wolf form, after Valkenhayn uses his command throw, the gauge fully regenerates and reverts him back to human form. Valkenhayn can morph between forms at will to take advantage of both for some devastating combo strings. While he gains incredible agility and speed, he is unable to block in this form. His Overdrive is Endlos Wolf (エンドロスヴォルフ) which increases the rate that his gauge is restored and slows down the rate at which it depletes.

Valkenhayn appears to possess the ability to teleport those that he lays his hands on. He also knows a mysterious and painful technique that helped to unlock Jin Kisaragi’s hidden power after his abduction by Rachel in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. This technique, strangely, actually inhibited Jin from using Yukianesa for a time because it was his will to use the blade. In the end, Jin realized this and truly became its master (the 'hidden power' was probably referring to this fact).

Trivia

 * Naming
 * “Valkenhayn” as a name, is only existent in the BlazBlue universe. However, Valken is a male name of Ancient Scandinavian origin that has been known to mean Son of a Valkyrie; “Hayn” seems to be a corruption of the surname of “Hayne” which, in its most likely etymological root for Valkenhayn’s case, derives from the Middle English personal name of “Hain” or “Heyne” which came from the Germanic word; hagano which apparently means awthorn, a word of which the meaning has been lost in the centuries. His last name “Hellsing” is seemingly a nod at the protagonist of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the character in question being responsible for destroying the count is Abraham Van Helsing. In a more modern interpretation of the character, in the movie Van Helsing, the protagnist based on the original Helsing first presented in the novel, turns into a werewolf, if only briefly; a final similarity to the movie is that the antagonist, Dracula, employs werewolves as servants in a similar fashion to Rachel “employing” Valkenhayn.
 * In Bloodedge Experience series, his name is Valkenhayn Hellsing, without his “R” initial.
 * All of Valkenhayn’s attacks are in German, and have wolf, moonlight, and hunting theme.
 * Other
 * Valkenhayn’s birthday falls on the original date for the Respect for the Aged day in Japan.
 * When Valkenhayn is electrocuted, an outline of his werewolf form is shown.
 * Valkenhayn’s design and role fit into the “Battle Butler” archetype common in manga and anime.
 * Valkenhayn is the only DLC character whose theme can actually be heard inside BlazBlue: Continuum Shift.