Rachel Alucard

Rachel Alucard (レイチェル＝アルカード) is the head of the Alucard vampire clan, and one of the original 12 playable characters in the BlazBlue series. She is the 4th main character of the series.

Appearance
Rachel is a young vampire girl with pale skin, long blond hair tied into two pigtails with black ribbons, and red eyes. She wears Gothic Lolita fashion with a frilly black gown and jacket, red ribbon bow tie, a red bat symbol design cross from the front to the back on her dress, another red cross on her shawl and bottom half, high heeled black boots with a red cross, and a red ribbon on her right ankle. Physically, Rachel is said to look around 12 years old, however, she gives off an aura of someone far older than what she looks.

When she was young, her appearance was similar that of her current self. She wore a black dress with a red cross in the center and a large, black ribbon on the back, black ribbons in her hair, a white blouse, white bloomers, and black slippers.

In BlazBlue: Alter Memory during the hot spring scene in Episode 5, Rachel is seen wearing a dark blue one-piece bathing suit with red lines on both sides.

Rachel bears an incredibly striking resemblance to Raquel Alucard, save that the two have a very different dress sense, have different eye colors, hair style and a difference in appearance of age.

Personality
Rachel is a stereotypical aristocratic heiress. She has an almost enchanting air of dignity and grace, yet is sarcastic and condescending to those she considers lower than her, always expecting them to have the highest standards of formality when conversing with her.

Despite this, she does care deeply for her allies. Her butler, Valkenhayn, is fervently devoted to Rachel, as he was a loyal friend and respected rival to her father, the late Clavis Alucard, and she, in turn, treats him with a greater level of respect than anyone else. Rachel's two familiars, Nago and Gii, despite taking punishment from her on a regular basis, remain loyal to her.

Perhaps her most intriguing relationship is with Ragna. Although Rachel would never admit to it, she loves Ragna for his determination and unwillingness to give up even when the odds are against him, wanting him to reach his full potential as a warrior and as a person. In BlazBlue: Centralfiction, her feelings for Ragna become more evident as revealed in her arcade mode. She becomes even more concerned when she finds out that Naoto's existence is affecting Ragna. This is most notably the only time she lost her composure.

History
Rachel Alucard is the current head of the Alucard family, and a very powerful being. Rachel behaves like a stereotypical upper-class individual, often looking down upon others with boredom, arrogance, snobbery and apathy, and hates her vampire urges.

She is seemingly one of the most powerful characters in the series to the point where she can 'keep up' with Yūki Terumi. Rachel can create a dimension called the Requiem which intersects with her dream world. She is always with her servants Nago and Gii and usually with her butler, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing. Both she and Valkenhayn seem to be the only characters who know that time was looping in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger a century before. She plays with the characters to push them forward to breaking the loop of time that is repeating itself. She has in her possession the Tsukuyomi Unit, a powerful Sankishin which has, according to Rachel, an "absolute defense". The "absolute defense" takes the form of a golden shield which defends Kagutsuchi from a laser fired by the Nox Nyctores known as Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

Endless Waltz
Remembering her first meeting with Ragna the Bloodedge in the original timeline, Rachel went on to recall the events that unraveled.



Waking up both Nago and Gii, Rachel departed to church after briefly saying farewell to Valkenhayn. Arriving at the church a few seconds later, she was met with a fierce rain and the destroyed church that was set ablaze by Terumi; near her feet lay a young, dying Ragna, his arm cut off by Jin. Rachel quickly cast a spell that swallowed Ragna whole, before he had time to scream; inside the hole, Rachel drank his blood, stopping the bleeding and allowing Ragna time to live. Ragna scanned the room and touched the Azure Grimoire that lay in the corner, Rachel soon departed after comments by Nago and Gii, leaving Ragna alive and transported back to the ruins of the church, having saved his life.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
An extremely bored Rachel spent much of her time trying to secretly direct characters from making the same mistakes over and over again and break the looping of time, but as she was an Onlooker, she could do nothing but stand in the sidelines.

She teleported to the Hanging Gardens of the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi and conversed with both Nago and Gii before teleporting immediately in front of Ragna, startling him. After the two engaged in some intellectual banter, Ragna left and a shadowy Hakumen appeared shortly afterwards, warning her that she is dancing too close to the edge of her Observation, however, they argued about Hakumen's 'duty' to slay the Black Beast until the shadowy figure marched off into the distance. Rachel later teleported to the middle of a conflict between Valkenhayn and Ragna, where she began to casually lavish insults towards the Grim Reaper, later directing her fury towards her butler, questioning why he was not back in the Alucard Castle making her tea, however, she thanked Valkenhayn for giving her another opportunity to scold Ragna. She then teleported all three of them back to the Alucard Castle.

Back at the castle, Rachel began to fight Ragna while she waited for Valkenhayn to brew her tea. After she had finished battling him, she went to drink and then began a fresh assault of insults towards the Bloodedge before finally giving him minor compliments to help him realize his full potential. She then teleported him near the Novus Orbis Librarium headquarters in Kagutsuchi. Instead of staying within the castle, Rachel teleported far above where she placed Ragna, and watched him break into the NOL branch. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Noel Vermillion and immediately teleported to her position, startling the lieutenant and making her the new victim of her onslaught of slander. After fighting off Noel's feeble attempts to defend herself, Noel fled into the complex.

Rachel dove deeper into the NOL headquarters and found Noel asleep on a severely wounded Ragna. The vampire explained that Noel is to be the Successor of the Azure and that she does not know what will happen next.



Out of character, she began to congratulate Ragna, saying he's 'performed brilliantly' before teleporting to the top of the headquarters where she awaited the blast from the Nox Nyctores – Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi; in order to prevent it from signalling the beginning of a new phase, Rachel activated the Tsukuyomi Unit which reflected the scattered burst into the nearby mountainsides.

Teleporting back to the Cauldron where she left Noel and Ragna, Rachel found herself arriving too late as Noel had just Observed Yūki Terumi and begun to solidify his existence. The trio eventually fended him off.

Trigger Shift
Rachel promptly came back to the Alucard Castle and decided to visit the same wooden prison that held Terumi for the short time before he was released. She questioned whether the action of Nine to release Terumi was wise to make. Valkenhayn appeared next to her and the two talked until a buzz rang, signalling that Takamagahara System wanted to speak to the young vampire.

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
Rachel prepares herself to face Yūki Terumi again after finding that Noel Vermillion and Jin Kisaragi are targeted for assassination by the NOL. In the Opening of Continuum Shift ' s story, Rachel had something of a "falling out" with Takamagahara after she activated the Tsukuyomi Unit, thus losing her ability to Observe. Due to this, she lost a substantial amount of her power. The suspicion that she was the most powerful playable character is proved false as, when she fights Yūki Terumi, he appears to take her attempt to defeat him as a joke and quotes "I do not think you'll last more than a second or two against me". Furthermore, he is able to easily and mockingly evade not only Rachel, but Hakumen, and Valkenhayn when she rallies them against him. He is then able to teleport and conceal his own tracks so that Rachel, instead of following him, transports herself to the dump. There, she is subsequently caught by Phantom, Saya and Relius Clover, being kept outside of the reach of Valkenhayn and held inside the Library branch in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

Ragna manages to free her after he defeated Yūki Terumi, though she refused to thank him. Rachel then tells him that the only way to defeat Mu -No. 12- and save Noel is to kill her. However, he manages to counter-current the tempering and free Noel without killing her, at the cost of his left arm. Saya then appears, stating that all that Rachel did was for nothing and that she has control over everything.

Afterwards, she is seen with Hakumen, the latter stating that she and Jūbei are soft and weak. As he leaves, Rachel bids Ragna to not give up, no matter what the future holds for him.

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma
Rachel is in Ikaruga. She is later encountered by Noel, who is looking for her to ask if she knows how she can access Mu's power.



In the epilogue, Tsubaki Yayoi is seen searching for Ragna. Rachel arrives and asks where is Tsubaki going. Tsubaki answers that she is going to look for Ragna, who had accidentally injured Noel and Jin in the previous battle. Rachel's next question inquires how Tsubaki sees Ragna through "those clouded eyes of hers." Tsubaki answers that Ragna is an evil that must be destroyed, and that she would inherit Jin's responsibility to defeat the Imperator and Ragna if Jin fails to eliminate the Shinigami before he dies a natural death. Rachel tells Tsubaki that when Ragna's life is about to end and asks her to use her Sealed Weapon: Izayoi's Immortal Breaker technique to kill Rachel herself once Ragna dies.

BlazBlue: Bloodedge Experience — Part 1
Rachel briefly appears in Chapter 1: Contact when Naoto Kurogane seemingly has time frozen around him with all the people near him having disappeared. At the time, she is seen to have an expression as if she is mourning someone's future, or that she remembered someone. She muttered something that Naoto didn't hear and the street began to boon with life once more as she disappeared into nowhere. When Naoto does get a brief glimpse at her, he notices that she has no life-force value. It is later revealed in the novel's sequel, Bloodedge Experience — Part 2, that she was using Phenomenon Intervention to gaze upon the past.

BlazBlue: Centralfiction
In BlazBlue: Centralfiction, it is shown that Rachel has lost most of her power. She lost her composure near Naoto, and was briefly possessed by Raquel Alucard in his Act 3. Rachel also asked Hakumen to give some time for Noel, and asked Ragna to stay away from Naoto. She helped Noel to remember about the Godslayer power that she had lost, and advises her to think why she cut off that power, and then get it back.

Rachel fought Yūki Terumi to prevent him from interrupting a really important moment, and when he was about to finish her off, Jūbei arrived and saved the vampire. He told Rachel that they will go to Trinity, and will recover "that thing".

Powers and abilities
Rachel believes herself to be one of the most powerful individuals in BlazBlue, making it a point by often looking down upon others, unamused or not fazed by the attempts of her opponents, no matter how hard they fight. In battle she employs her familiars, Nago and Gii to do most of the fighting for her. It is also stated that she has mastered the art of sorcery; in direct combat, she is shown having control of wind and lightning. Her feats of power range from creating portals, to turning her clothes in weapons such as forks, knives, and swords. Rachel's heightened power comes from her possession of the Sankishin known as Tsukuyomi. Boasting the ultimate defense, Tsukuyomi was able to block and completely nullify a blast from the Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. Rachel also has the ability to teleport herself and anyone who is standing close to her. Her Drive is known as Silpheed which employs the use of her control over the element of wind to alter the flow of battle by affecting all, from the combatants to projectiles. Rachel also has the ability Slave Red, which allows her to take control of any being she desires, bar Amane Nishiki.

As of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, she lost much of her overwhelming power after forsaking her status as an Onlooker. However, she still retains the ability to fight.

Etymology
Rachel is Hebrew in origin. It means ewe, a term used to describe an adult female sheep.

Her last name, Alucard, references her vampire origins. It is simply Dracula spelt backwards and first appeared in the 1943 film The Son of Dracula. Since then, the name has been used in various media as a last and first name to individuals with vampire heritage. Dracula itself is a name deriving from Romanian origin and dates back to Vlad the Impaler, who ruled Romania from 1456 to 1462 AD; the name literally translates to Son of the Dragon. The name first became associated with vampires in Bram Stoker's classic gothic horror novel: Dracula. The titular character was based on Vlad due to the latter's reputation to drink his victims blood in front of their family.

Further referencing her vampire origin, Rachel's birthplace is Transylvania, the birthplace of both Vlad the Impaler and the supposed birthplace of Dracula. It has since been commonly used as the origin for numerous vampires in various media.

Trivia

 * Rachel's birthday, October 31, is celebrated as Halloween in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She shares her birthday with Drei.
 * Unlike every other character in the game, when attacked with lightning from another Rachel, she just seems to ignore it (but Nago and Gii gets shocked). The other five characters who do not appear with human skeletons are Hakumen, Celica (where Minerva takes the hits for her), Hazama, Arakune and Hades: Izanami. Also, Nago and Gii take nearly all damage inflicted on Rachel in her place, with Gii blocking for Rachel in her blocking animations no matter how far he is from her, and Nago getting hit for Rachel instead.
 * Even though she is a vampire, she dislikes drinking blood. She has only succumbed to her thirst once, with Ragna being her first and only victim.
 * True to her vampiric heritage, on stages where other characters will have reflections, Rachel does not project one at all.
 * Rachel and Bang both share a dislike of bell peppers.
 * In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Rachel is shown to get very jealous at the thought of another female character eating alongside Ragna.
 * In Ragna's gag scenario in BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Rachel and Celica are the only 2 female characters who were not unaffected by "Love Glasses A". According to her, the glasses does not affect females who were already deeply in love with the wearer in the first place, hence Celica was safe. However, the very fact that she was not affected either could very well suggest that she was deeply in love with Ragna, just like Celica, or that she has some sort of immunity against the effect of the glasses.
 * Most of Rachel's special moves, her Distortion Drives and her Astral Heat are all named after different species and genuses of plants, such as Tiny Lobelia, Baden-Baden Lily and Tempest Dahlia.
 * The name of Rachel's Drive, Silpheed, refers to Sylphid (or simply Sylph), the name of a mythological creature that represents the element of air and wind.
 * In Gallery Mode in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, there are two additional voice clips of Rachel chanting the incantation for the Tsukuyomi Unit.
 * In BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, when Rachel uses her Impish Gypsophila move, she mispronounces it as "Impish Gypsophilia".
 * Rachel is a playable character in the MMO: Lost Saga. Other playable characters from BlazBlue include Ragna, Jin, Hazama, Hakumen and Platinum.
 * Alongside Ragna, Jin and Noel, Rachel is a playable character in the MOBA game, Chaos Heroes Online.
 * In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Rachel guides the player through Tutorial Mode, while in BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, she guides the player through the Advanced- Expanding on Combos section of Tutorial mode.
 * Rachel appears in Square Enix game: Lord Of Vermilion III along with Tsubaki and Hazama.
 * Mori considers Rachel and Hazama to be the 4th and 5th main characters of the series.

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