Taokaka

Taokaka (タオカカ) is a respected warrior of the Kaka clan, who is attempting to apprehend Ragna the Bloodedge and use the bounty to secure a new home-land for the Kaka, and is one of the original 12 playable characters in the BlazBlue series.

Appearance
Taokaka is a rather unique take on the catgirl archetype with brown skin and long blond hair tied up into two braids and a black cat tail with a faded white tip. She seems to spend her entire time wearing a beige-colored hoodie with a cat hood and long cat-themed sleeves that cover her arms. She wears a pair of unusually-designed high-heel boots with the same cat theme but appear to be more fit for a creature with high ankles. According to concept art, Taokaka typically dresses skimpy underneath the hoodie, wearing only red panties with red straps. Taokaka's actual face has been the subject of interest by both the characters and audience alike; her hood has been stated to conceal her facial features and she never removes it. All that can be seen are a pair of red beady eyes and an ever constant toothy grin that tends to emulate emotions when conveying facial expressions. When co-creator Daisuke Ishiwatari was questioned about Taokaka's true appearance in an interview, he responded that he wanted to leave it to the players' imaginations. However, he does confirm that her shadowed visage is not her true face.

When she was a child, she looks exactly the same when she grows up except she was barefoot.

In BlazBlue: Alter Memory during the hot spring scene in Episode 5, she wears a yellow wraps on her top and another wraps on her bottom that resembles cycling shorts and is the first time to see her without the hoodie but maintains her facial features and wears paw-like gloves.

Personality
Taokaka is the personification of innocence in the BlazBlue world. She is a happy-go-lucky catgirl who only wishes the best for her friends and family. Her only desire is to protect those she holds dear to her heart, or who offer her food (in her mind anyone who offers her food is a good person).

Unfortunately, she is also the least intelligent character in BlazBlue. Like most cats, Taokaka's daily routine consists of eating and sleeping, and she can, and often will, forget anything she does or is told to do within three steps or seconds. Of course, it goes without saying that she is not totally dumb. Taokaka often gives nicknames to those she meets so she can try to easily remember them later. She does actually know who they are, but prefers the nickname routine.

Of course, much of her simple-minded traits can be compared to how a cat's mindset actually works, especially when it comes to how fascinated by things she can be (such as a pair of breasts) or how her mind tends to seemingly drift away from more serious things.

History
A resident of the Kaka Village and member of the Kaka Tribe, Taokaka is a catgirl, wearing a large coat that obscures her face, only exposing red eyes and a row of sharp teeth. She wants to get back the sky above her village, which was sealed off. She was sent by the Kaka Elder to retrieve the bounty on Ragna's head, becoming a vigilante in the process. Despite this resolve, she is considerably food-obsessed and forgetful, often falling asleep on a whim, becoming hungry moments after a meal, or forgetting details moments after hearing them. She is good friends with Litchi, affectionately referring to her as "Boobie Lady".

She does not seem to refer to anyone other than herself by name and creates nicknames for people she meets. She is unable to recognize that Ragna, the "good-guy", and "Rawgnya", the criminal, are the same person, though there are times she seems to know but does not care. Interesting to note is the fact that the Kaka tribe, which she hails from, is actually genetically engineered from the genes of the original Grimalkin (the name that refers to the species of the Kaka tribe), Jūbei, one of the Six Heroes. As a clan, they are copies of each other, and cannot reproduce above one hundred members.

In the fourth-wall breaking mini-series, Teach Me, Miss Litchi! (which is not canon), Taokaka is studying under Litchi in order to become a great vigilante.

Capricious Us
Totokaka began to hold an important conference within the center of the Kaka Village, discussing the events that had happened with Arakune and the lack of food. Taokaka, however, was absent from the meeting.

Taokaka wandered into the center after the meeting, and was met with deception from the Elder. She carefully asked if Tao liked to walk, which was met with an excited yes, Totokaka went further on, saying she had a job for Tao, however, this was met with a swift turn as she thought of it to be too much of a drag. Taokaka, however, was easily won over as Totokaka bribed her with a years supply of catnip if she did it. The mission in question was just to simply visit the human town, which could help with sunlight returning to the lower areas.

Trigger Shift
The aftermath of Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi's shattered blast left multiple areas with several civilian injuries. Tao helped Litchi and the Ikaruga Ninjas in trying to calm down the situation, fetching medical supplies for the aforementioned to use.

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, while taking a nap, Taokaka sees Ragna fall to her village (after being wounded by Nirvana). She manages to defend Ragna from Arakune's assault and goes to fetch Litchi to heal him. Ragna leaves shortly after recovering and Tao follows after, although she ends up encountering a brainwashed Noel and Hazama. She is thoroughly beaten by Hazama, although Jūbei manages to save her and brings her back to the village. Realizing that she has a lot of training to do, Tao leaves in order to get stronger while allowing her sister Torakaka to be the village guardian in her absence. She manages to catch Ragna to set the stage for BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, as he leaves Kagutsuchi for Ikaruga as Jūbei told her to keep an eye on him.

Powers and abilities
Unlike most characters, Taokaka does not have much in the way of abilities compared to the rest of the cast, although she is still able to utilize seithr according to Kokonoe Mercury and Litchi. She relies on her inborn instincts as opposed to a trained fighting style, and she naturally uses seithr, even without a formal education as to how. Her hands and feet also have large retractable metal claws. What's more, these claws seem to change slightly depending on what attack she wants to do at the time; even though they seem to default as curved, knife-sized flat metal blades, they can also appear as serrated saws, "can-opener" style hooks, or even more ornate blades that resemble arrowheads. What she lacks in strength and durability, she makes up for in agility and speed and extreme mobility, wailing on her opponents and catching them off guard with lightning fast, unpredictable maneuvers and techniques. Tao is so fast that she can sometimes create an afterimage of herself when she attacks. Yet as Tao doesn't appear to have any superhuman durability and has a chaotic fighting style, it is easy for her to get overwhelmed by a skilled or powerful foe. Also her stupidity is so intense that she quickly forgotten Litchi's schooling and quickly befriended Ragna despite attempting to assassinate him (This is because Tao thought that the bounty wanted someone named Rawgna instead.)

In BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Taokaka displays an unusually keen sixth sense. She was able to sense the Imperator despite Rachel, a powerful being capable of using magic, not even noticing the Imperator's presence.

Etymology
The beginning part of Taokaka's name comes from Chinese Dao (道) serves as several translations, which may reflect how many different characters (namely Litchi Faye Ling and Totokaka) try to help put her on the path she wants to follow; as a vigilante.

The last part of her name, kaka, is a suffix possessed by all members of the Kaka Clan.

Trivia

 * She creates her own nicknames for other characters which she meets:
 * Ragna: Good Guy/White Guy (before "Good Guy"), Pinhead person and white-blockheaded person
 * Jin: Creepy Guy/Ice Man/Shivers
 * Rachel: Bunny Lady/Rabbit Person
 * Noel/Mu: Lacking Lady/Hat Person
 * Carl: Little Guy/Shorty
 * Nirvana: Hard Person/Not-so-soft Person
 * Litchi: Boobie Lady
 * Arakune: Black squiggly
 * Tager: Big Guy
 * Bang: Scruffy-man (Or "Scruffy Old Man")
 * Bang's Subordinates: Blow Pops
 * Nu and Lambda: Flappy-flap
 * Hakumen: Mask Person/Cocky person
 * Hazama/Yūki: Green Guy/Scary Guy/Hipster person
 * Tsubaki/Izayoi: Red Lady/Eye Woman/Average Lady
 * Makoto: Furry girl
 * Valkenhayn: Butter Man/Dog person
 * Jūbei: Cat person
 * Kokonoe: Big sister/Tail lady
 * Relius: Big Fat Fibber Guy
 * Bullet: Butt Lady
 * Amane: Leader person
 * Kagura: Dark Man/Knightbro
 * Celica: Antenna Girl
 * Despite this habit of using nicknames, she refers to Torakaka by her name. This may be a sign of reverance or admiration, considering this makes Torakaka one of the only people she has bothered to learn the name of, or possibly the only one she was capable of remembering.
 * The only name she ever says in the canon story is Tsubaki, but only after Tsubaki corrects her for calling her "red lady" during BlazBlue: Continuum Shift.
 * She also calls Makoto by her name during one of the gag endings in BlazBlue: Chronophantasma.
 * Despite her habit of making nicknames, when people are talking about someone to Taokaka, she knows who they are talking about.
 * When electrocuted by Rachel, it can be seen that she is holding a fish in each hand under her sleeves.
 * If Taokaka fights against Bang Shishigami in Arcade or Versus modes in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II (and vice-versa as Bang vs Taokaka), the two will exchange a short series of blows (before the match begins) which are either blocked or dodged skillfully. This implies that every match is just another fun training session for the two, and that Taokaka really does acknowledge Bang as her "scruffy mentor".
 * If Taokaka fights against Arakune, she will call out an "Anti-Squiggly" move during most, if not all, her attacks (Ex. Squiggly punch, Squiggly kick, etc.)
 * In an episode of Teach Me, Miss Litchi!, Rachel outright asks Taokaka (who is not paying attention) if she is wearing a mask, and Litchi comments that even she (Litchi) does not know.
 * Taokaka's birthday, February 22, happens to be World Thinking Day, a day to study other countries and cultures.
 * One of Taokaka's DLC colors resembles one of the Six Heroes, Jūbei.
 * During an episode of Teach Me, Miss Litchi!, Taokaka makes a reference to Spider Man with the quote "And the best way to find that person is by using Tao's spide…err…Kaka senses!".
 * In the popular web series 'Death Battle' (that is hosted on Screwattack.com), where characters from various video game series are pitted against one another; Taokaka was pitted against Felicia of the Darkstalkers series and notably won using her Astral Heat.
 * Taokaka has been drawn by artists from the fighting game Skullgirls.
 * Before her fight with Hazama in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Taokaka exclaims "In the name of… the big white thingy in the night sky… Tao shall punish you!", a reference to the Sailor Moon franchise.
 * In BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Taokaka will help guide the player through the Tutorial Mode's Intermediate- Combos section alongside Bang Shishigami.
 * In Chronophantasma's Story Mode credits, Taokaka's name is rendered as taokaka.

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