Cypher Albar

Professor Cypher Albar (サイファー＝アルバール) was a lecturer at the Military Academy and a genius alchemist. He spent most of the year in his laboratory and seldom showed himself. Underneath his calm manner, he was a deranged and twisted man obsessed with the finding of the Red Grimoire and serves as the true main antagonist of BlazBlue: Remix Heart.

Appearance
Cypher was a slender, mature, and tall man with short, messy brown hair and dark-colored eyes. He wore a scholarly outfit with an ascot and a short collar cape. He also wore circular glasses.

When he was member of the 7th Agency, he appeared to be very different from his current appearance, he reattained his glasses except he had short black hair, and shallow eyes.

Personality
Cypher was a very intelligent and seemingly wise man. He rarely went outside, usually spending his time in his laboratory. He appeared cool and calm to those around him, and easily earned the respect and trust of his students.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Cypher was, in reality, a cruel, sick, and twisted individual who was absolutely obsessed with the retrieval of the Burning Red. He would follow this singular goal endlessly, experimenting on humans in order to get closer and closer to the grimoire. His twisted personality extended to a lack of remorse for the countless humans he experimented on.

History
As a child, Cypher had a lifelong obsession with the Red Grimoire, often being ridiculed for his desire to find it and become a hero. This passion lead him to do anything to find it, mastering the art of alchemy and leading him to join the 7th Agency and become acquainted with Kokonoe Mercury. For unknown reasons, he left to infiltrate the Military Academy, becoming a lecturer. While doing so, he changed his appearance, and took materials from the former company.

He is hardly known, and only spent time in his laboratory, seldom being seen by anyone. He regularly committed experiments on live subjects to create a Remix Heart, all of them failing.

BlazBlue: Remix Heart
Looking out of his lab window, Cypher noticed Jin Kisaragi’s rampage, and swooped in to calm him down after he was distracted by Noel Vermillion and Taro Sasagae. He managed to calm down the young man by using a form of Magic Formula, making him collapse in his arms. Shocked, Cypher noticed that there were not only two Event Weapons in the school grounds, but a girl with a Remix Heart was also present.

Once the Guardian went missing, Cypher took notice of his monitors and spotted Relius Clover. Frightened that he may have taken notice of his research, Cypher rushed to the safe vault to find that the Conversion Grimoire had gone missing. He later went to the Academy’s sentō, and helped Taro in undoing the Magic Formula letter sent to him from Noel that concerned Mai Natsume.

He observed Mai and Chachakaka’s fight from afar, and noticed that Mai had activated a Grimoire, but was unable to see where it was located. Through process of elimination, Cypher correctly concluded that Mai must have fused with a grimoire, becoming a Remix Heart. He became determined to keep a close eye on her from then on. Using the Truth Grimoire and alchemy, Cypher created a grotesque monster to play a part in his plan to earn her trust – once Mai had been attacked by the beast, Cypher leaped in, saving her from a crushing fall. He took her back to his office and made her a warm drink, while they discussed her situation with the Intermediary Grimoire, leading Cypher to confirm his suspicion that Mai had merged with said grimoire. He then offered to help her with her problem, filled with glee that he had a road to the Burning Red after so long.

Cypher gave Mai a device to monitor her body under the guise that it would help to save her from her fusion. In order to get a reaction and give the device a test, he attacked the Mountain Beast Jellyfish, forcing it to attack Mai and her group of friends; once it had been defeated, he forced it to attack once more from behind the scenes, finally giving him the results from Mai that he desired. Finding out that the young woman had two grimoires inside her heart instead of one, Cypher decided that he would have to act sooner or else, and activated the device he placed on her earlier, putting her into the infirmary.

Feigning innocence, Cypher fooled Noel, Makoto Nanaya, Tsubaki Yayoi, Shiori Kirihito, Kajun Faycott and Estella McKenzie into going to find the most talented of Magic Formula users to free Mai from the device he gave her. While alone, he began to monologue his plan to her, exclaiming that he was going to devour her heart, putting her to sleep afterwards and transporting her to the Academy’s rooftop. He gathered everyone together and placed an alchemy barrier around them all, extracting their Magic Formula to fuse the Blue fragments resting within Mai’s heart. He crushed the barrier, believing he had won, but was shocked when the group managed to survive thanks to Mai’s new strength.

He descended into their location, calling them all weak and pathetic while effortlessly blocking Mai’s assault. Cypher then used the fence beside him to attack Mai from afar before attempting to take the Remix Heart from out of her. Failing the attempt forced Mai to attack him while he was caught off guard, however, Cypher remained composed despite his grievous injury, and teleported himself and Mai to the bottom of the Academy, arriving at its Kiln. At the Kiln, Cypher found that magic element was far more prevalent at the location, and revealed to her and Shiori that he planned to use the entirety of Torifune’s population as a catalyst so he could finally create the Burning Red. Attacking with a barrage of summoned kunai that was blocked by Shiori, Cypher manically laughed at the two girls, calling them utterly pathetic before seizing Mai’s Remix Heart for himself. Because of the efforts of the group that survived earlier, Cypher was unable to finish the ritual that turned the Remix Heart into the Burning Red, and instead made an incomplete one to assault Mai after she attempted to make emotional contact with him. Wielding the power he desired for so long, Cypher went insane, and shot lightning from his hands at the nearby wall, but the grimoire began to reject him, sending out shock waves that knocked out the young girl. Attempting to stumble away, the man believed that it was not over before hearing the haunting words of Hazama behind his back. He attempted to turn around, but was struck by Hazama with his Event Weapon Snake Pair: Ouroboros. His body was not found.

Powers and abilities
As an alchemist, Cypher had a great deal of knowledge in the fields of alchemy; it can be assumed he knew a lot more than just alchemy, given his status as a lecturer at a highly prestigious academy. As well as his skills in alchemy, Cypher also demonstrated a great deal of skill in the use of Magic Formula, and could summon kunai to attack from afar.

In combat, Cypher was exceptional. His use of alchemy allowed him to instantly raise columns of earth to protect him from any blow, and could manipulate any object near him to attack an opponent; an example being when he turned rails into a group of piercing spears. His cold and calculating nature helped him manipulate those around him, allowing Cypher to put them situations he could use to his advantage in mere seconds. Interestingly, Cypher was also capable of being able to teleport, although the time taken to recite the chant needed put him in a vulnerable position. Finally, Cypher was also able to put people to sleep if given the opportunity, as well as hover tens of feet off of the ground.

In the very brief time he wielded the incomplete Burning Red, Cypher was capable of using intensely powerful magic, spewing raw lightning that cracked the exterior walls of a Kiln. Despite the fact that the Grimoire was rejecting him, Cypher still managed to use it until it was taken away from him.

Trivia

 * Cypher’s brief use of the Burning Red made him the first known human since the dissolution of the Magic Association to have used magic.