Litchi Faye Ling

Litchi Faye Ling (ライチ゠フェイ゠リン) is a renowned doctor living in Orient Town, located in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. She is a playable character in the BlazBlue series.

Appearance
Litchi is a tall, young and attractive Asian woman with long black hair tied into a bun, pink eyes, pink lipstick, and large breasts. On top of her hair is her pet panda, Lao Jiu. She wears a stylish Chinese doctor uniform with long white sleeves, a yin and yang brooch ribbon, a red vest, and a skirt dress that exposes her thighs. When in battle, she wears a slightly similar outfit: her hair is tied into a ponytail with Lao Jiu sitting on top with a yin-yang hair accessory at the end of the ponytail. She also wears an unbuttoned red vest that shows her black bra and breasts with separate black sleeves, a long red skirt, black thong and red shoes which are in a Chinese sort of style.

When she used to work for Sector Seven, her hair was styled the same way as the style she uses for combat. While performing medical work as a doctor she used wear China-red glasses with a styled white lab coat. When she was younger, her hair was as long as her back, and she kept it tied with a deep green bow. She also wore small glasses, along with a sleeveless red shirt, white tights, and red slippers. When Amane Nishiki uses his Astral Heat on her, this look is retained, but Litchi is with Lao Jiu.

In BlazBlue: Alter Memory during the hot spring scene in Episode 5, Litchi is seen wearing a strapless white bikini while she lets them tastes the water from the Kaka clan hot springs.

Personality
Litchi, at first glance, can be perceived as the perfect woman – courteous, sexy, and intelligent. Being a doctor and former scientist, she is a kind person who is willing to help those in need. She is good friends with the Kaka Clan, acting as their teacher both mentally and, in Taokaka's case, physically. She has a one-sided, rather awkward relationship with Bang: Litchi likes him as a friend, while Bang is infatuated with her, but does not know how to express his love.

In her heart, however, Litchi hides a deep guilt for not being able to help her colleague Lotte, who became the being known as Arakune. In secret, she has searched for a way to cure him through any means necessary. It is through this that she is manipulated by Hazama to work for the NOL.

However, she did not take any joy in the act, only taking such path because she has tried other paths to no avail such as asking Kokonoe, but was refused. She also realized that she had to use the cure for herself, as leaving it alone will not make her own corruption go away by itself, as seen in her Bad Ending. It also shows her unwillingness to give up or taking the easy way out to live in ignorance of her own condition when there's so much she could do for the benefits of others.

Despite working with NOL, however, she never did become as low as her other co-workers are nor completely focused on saving Arakune and forgetting everyone else. Litchi remains a compassionate, courteous soul with a kind heart. Lastly, she has two obsessions, Peking duck and cosplaying smaller girls when she is drunk (due to accidentally buying clothes that are too small for her size and wishing to see what they would look like on a person).

History
Litchi Faye-Ling owns a clinic in the main throng of Orient Town, and is helped by her assistant Linhua. For a time, she worked with Tager and Kokonoe in Sector Seven, until an incident, where a man by the name of Lotte Carmine, who seemed to hold much importance to Litchi, became Arakune. The next 2 years she spends on searching for Arakune, until she finally finds him throughout the course of Calamity Trigger.

She defends the local townspeople from Arakune's assaults, and seeks to restore him to his former self through any means necessary; even through death. She also seems to respect Bang, apologizing to him if she defeats him in a match, although she remains unaware of the true extent of his feelings for her. She is often subject to adoration for her noticeably large breasts, and can be quite persistent when inebriated. Litchi is often complimented as the founder of the Seithr Fluid Body Theory.

She is well-known and trusted by the Kaka Clan living beneath Kagutsuchi, often bringing them food or teaching their members. At some point, she took an object from the Boundary, a panda named Lao Jiu. It acts as an amplifier of Seithr, and seems to allow her control over her staff. She is also the host of her own Fourth Wall Mail show, "Teach Me, Miss Litchi!", drawn in chibi-fied form, where she teaches about the not-so-canon plot of BlazBlue and answers questions from various other characters, ranging from Taokaka, the NOL students, to Ragna.

Borderline


In AD 2193, Litchi joined as Kokonoe's assistant, becoming lost on her first day until she arrived, eventually, she arrived at Kokonoe's office and entered. Here, she found Lotte Carmine instead of Kokonoe, and the two exchanged greetings, Litchi noting how he was handsome and finding herself blushing at the thought of it. This is noted as the first time they met. The course of Borderline takes place over the following 4 years.

Litchi and Lotte's friendship blossomed, the two shared their subjects together, with Litchi learning Alchemy while she taught Lotte about Oriental medicine and traditional Chinese herbology. Because of their ages being rather close, their friendship quickly deepened.

One day, both Kokonoe and Lotte began to fight, the two belittling one another, with no Tager to tear the two apart, Litchi ordered the two to be quiet, telling Lotte that he wasn't 'acting like himself'. Due to the erosion from the Boundary influencing his mind, he went into a violent outburst, exclaiming that she didn't know a single thing about him and that everything has a light and dark side; he left the room exclaiming that he would find the road of truth and expose it to the world.

The aftermath of this event lead the two to grow apart until they only gave each other polite nods in the corridors of Sector Seven. Eventually, Lotte took more sick days as his health deteriorated further thanks to his research. Fearing for his life, Litchi went to his apartment and broke down its door, finding the entire place to be in an abysmal state of disarray; further stumbling inside the apartment, she found Lotte, who had succumbed to the erosion and had become Arakune.

Trigger Shift
With the assistance of Taokaka, and the Ikaruga Ninjas, Litchi tended to the civilian casualties that entered her clinic. Bang Shishigami was left outside the clinic, and she tended to his wounds before lightly slapping him to wake him up. His rash reaction caused Litchi to reflexively slap him again, knocking him unconscious. She set herself a reminder to ask him about what really happened inside the Library branch, not believing the rumors that Ragna the Bloodedge had set bombs around the city. The ninjas told her that a red giant had carried Bang in, causing Litchi to rush out to talk to him; unfortunately, she was too late to talk to Tager.

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Litchi reconsiders returning to Sector Seven to get help from Kokonoe in regards to curing Arakune. However, an encounter with him left her in shock, realizing he could still speak normally after he warned her to cease her attempts to cure him. The reason he gives is that she is drawing power from the Boundary, which has since corrupted her (to an unknown extent). Unlike him, Litchi has yet to cross a certain thin line and be completely corrupted like him; therefore it is not too late for her to turn to Kokonoe and be cured.

In the Story Mode, she started having fits of blackouts and witnessing events of other versions of herself, as well as having a desire to obtain the Azure Grimoire. However, she was warned by Torakaka to not be addicted with it. While asking Kokonoe for the cause of this, Kokonoe instead brushed her off and told her to stop fighting, since the corruption of the Boundary was starting to take place, increasing her strength as well. Still determined to be able to cure Arakune while fighting, as well as frightened with her current condition, Litchi retreats. However, all the time, she has been harassed by Hazama, who seemed to know more than he lets on, including discovering her unpublished work about seithr, as well as quite detailed information about Arakune, although Litchi considered him highly suspicious. She saw Arakune speaking normally later, and begged her to kill him. Thinking more thoroughly, Litchi suddenly discovered that such corruption in her body would've transformed her into something like Arakune, but she stayed normal. Realizing that there's much information in the Novus Orbis Librarium that she has yet to know, and some of them may be beneficial to her current state and Arakune, Litchi made the heavy decision to leave her former life behind and joined the NOL.

Although her Story Mode ended there, it is implied that in other stories, Litchi has appeared as a member of the NOL. In Rachel's story, she attacks her for barging into the NOL headquarters. Instead, Rachel admonishes her decision to join them, calling her filthy. Litchi defended herself by revealing that her joining was not due to mere temptation, but due to a state of desperation that nobody seemed to care about Arakune and would rather leave him dead, and if there's the slightest glimmer of hope, even in the likes of the NOL, she would try to reach it. Rachel soon defeated Litchi, and warned her to think about her decision thoroughly.

Her other appearance is during Carl's storyline, whereas Carl caught up to the NOL base in pursuit of Relius. After seeing Litchi hanging around with NOL, he starts berating her for being the same as Relius and the other adults, only caring for things when they are beneficial for her, and attacks. After the battle was over, Litchi realized that Carl took a dangerous drug to make him stronger and he ended up bawling. Litchi decided to comfort him with a hug, but soon after Relius appeared and attempted to kill Carl; this action shocked her, and she referred to him as 'evil'. Nirvana eventually teleported the two to another place, where Litchi learned the identity of Relius' puppet Ignis, Carl's mother. Carl went off to Ikaruga soon after, thanking Litchi for comforting him.

Shortly after, Litchi managed to arrive back to the top of Kagutsuchi and blocked an attack by both Jin and a weakened Hakumen directed towards Imperator Saya. She is last seen heading to Ikaruga along with Saya, Hazama, Relius and Tsubaki.

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma
Relius puts Litchi's scientific knowledge to use as his personal assistant. Using Relius' memory of the modifications Kokonoe performed on Lambda, they are able to replicate the Artificial Causality Weapon used (likely the Idea Engine) and Relius installs it inside of Arakune, significantly enhancing his powers. At some point, Litchi discovers that an Observer can magnify another's existence and seeks out Kokonoe in order to learn how to become an Observer. She locates Tager and requests to speak with Kokonoe and begins telling her about a possible cure. However, much to her shock, Kokonoe is already aware of Litchi's hypothesis and tells her that it wouldn't work. Litchi begins to protest, but Kokonoe orders Tager to restrain her and they fight. She later flees and begins seeking a way to become an Observer on her own.

Litchi later encounters Bang and requests to borrow his nail, believing that Relius could use it to cure Arakune. However, he refuses on the knowledge that she allied with the NOL and pleads with her to return to Kagutsuchi to put many citizens' worries to rest, himself and Linhua in particular. She declines, adamant in her objective and they fight. Litchi later seeks out Ibukido's Cauldron in order to examine the Murakumo units to learn more about the Observers, but is stopped by Rachel. Rachel warns Litchi that her path will not yield the results she expects and begins berating her foolishness. Her frustration peaked, she attacks Rachel but is easily defeated. Rachel then explains to Litchi the severe consequences of becoming an Observer: when one becomes an Observer, they must not only Observe the existence of their target, but their own existence as well and ceasing to do either for even an instant will cause them both to cease to exist. Rachel then reveals a shocking truth to Litchi: in addition to Hakumen, Kokonoe is also Observing Arakune as well to prevent the Boundary from completely consuming him despite the immense strain caused by Observing two beings simultaneously. Litchi then recalls the warning that Arakune gave her in Kagutsuchi and realizes that Kokonoe is trying just as hard to save him as she is. Rachel then teleports away as Litchi weeps remorsefully.

At some point, she attacks Bang, Makoto, and Tsubaki alongside Relius and Carl, believing that Relius' plan to reshape the world will put everything back to normal, especially Arakune. After Bang successfully activates Kushinada's Lynchpin, she flees with Carl and Relius and watches on as Carl demands that Relius builds a new body for Ada.

Powers and abilities
Litchi has the ability to mentally control her staff from a distance. Her staff is usually seen floating behind her and it will thrust forward as she punches and kicks before returning to its neutral position. She can also throw it so it lands, erect and upright, far away from her, and she can later make it fly back to her, twirling rapidly like a wheel so that it hurts anyone in its way. The staff seems to be able to do some small amount of shape-shifting. Her staff can split into three parts or briefly double itself to attack from two angles or even become a strange "stick man" that marches forward as it wildly flails at an opponent.

Litchi herself is clearly skilled in martial arts, even without her staff, and is a skilled athlete. Many of her attacks involve split kicks or ornate gymnastics, and she can easily balance on one leg on the tip of her upright staff and still generate enough power to kick downward at an enemy. She also can perform what appears to be some chi-based attacks as well. Her formidable fighting skills, combined with her independently attacking staff makes her capable of attacking from many different angles at once.

Most of her powers come from her Panda hairpin Lao Jiu, by siphoning the spirits of the dead from the Boundary. This is actually a double-edged sword, as while it gives her great flexibility and control over her staff, it slowly erodes her mind, and overusage may end with her turning into something like Arakune.

In BlazBlue: Alter Memory, Litchi is able to analyze Ragna's medical conditions merely by placing a hand over him; supporting the claim that she is able to detect a person's physical status. Later, she displays some knowledge and use of basic Ars Magus by summoning Mantenbō from a circular, purple portal similar to her character crest (similar to a Distortion Drive attack), when first confronting Noel.

Etymology
Her name and normal color scheme seems to be a pun on a Chinese fruit, lychee. It should also be noted that many of her moves are named after Mahjong hands, and her name is an English name for a Mahjong rules system (Rīchi), reflecting her interest in the game. The beginning part of her last name, Faye, is a corruption of the Old English word Fay which means Fairy. Whereas Ling is a type of elongated freshwater cod found mainly in Northern Europe and Asia.

Her name in Chinese also can be read in actual Mandarin/pinyin as "Laichi Fei Ling" (來吃菲玲, Láichī Fēi Líng, lit. "The Inferior Jewel Sound of the Coming Stammer"). In on'yomi, it would be read as "Raikitsu Hi Rei".

Trivia

 * Litchi's birthday, July 7, is also the date of the Chinese Qi Xi, or the Japanese Tanabata.
 * Litchi's Tsubame Gaeshi move is an famous reference to Kojirō Sasaki, the sole creator of the Tsubame Gaeshi (Swallow Return) technique. Her Kote Gaeshi (Small Hand Return) is named after an aikidō technique of the same name.
 * In one of her voice sets, when performing Kote Gaeshi, Litchi will yell out "Genbu", "Byakko", "Suzaku" and "Seiryū". This is a reference to the Four Symbols in the Chinese Constellations, being the Black Tortoise/Occult Martial, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon, respectively (read in Mandarin/pinyin as "Xuanwu", "Baihu", "Zhuque" and "Qinglong").
 * Her staff is likely a reference to Sun Wukong AKA Son Gokū from the Chinese Epic "Journey to the West", via his famous staff (the Ruyi Jingu Bang/Nyoi Kinko Bō) that can change its length and size.
 * Her fourth color scheme in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift resembles the Intelligence Department's color-suits.
 * In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, if Litchi fights a mirror match, she is the only character to acknowledge that she is fighting herself: "Huh? What?! A… a lookalike?"
 * In BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger's arcade opening, her name is misspelled "Litchi Feye-Ling"
 * Her name is also misspelled as "Litch" on player cards in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger's network mode.

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Лайчи Фэй-Линь