Black Beast

The Black Beast is a legendary beast that threatened to cause much calamity before the events of the first game.

Information
The Black Beast is a monstrous creature responsible for killing half of the world's population before its defeat at the hands of the Six Heroes. According to Jubei, there was no rhyme or reason with the monster's methods; it simply killed for the sake of killing. The results of the monster's existence is noticeable in the current timeframe of the game; in particular, seithr, a dangerous air-like substance that the Black Beast exuded from its own body, covered the planet, causing many areas to become inhospitable, and even altering some of the creatures, turning them into violent beasts. A warrior named Bloodedge was responsible for causing the Beast to fall silent for one year, sacrificing his life to do so. This time frame allowed the people to develop and learn how to use magic, and, along with the Six Heroes, be able to combat the Black Beast head on. Ragna takes on the Bloodedge name in his honor, as well as inheriting his jacket and weapon from Jubei. These events were called The Dark War, later referred to as the 'First War of Magic'.

The Black Beast is a resulting combination of Ragna and Nu fusing together inside of the Cauldron of Kagutsuchi, Ragna being its body, and Nu the heart. Ragna in particular houses the violent powers of the Black Beast in his body, although how this came to be has not yet been revealed. Hakumen even refers to Ragna as "The Beast" and "The Dark One" instead of his normal name, and he considers it his primary goal to remove Ragna before The Black Beast returns once again. In one of the endings in Calamity Trigger, Ragna was defeated by Nu at The Sheol Gate, and they were thrown into the cauldron and smelted together to form the mythical monster. This resulted in the Black Beast, along with Jin Kisaragi, being thrown 100 years into the past. Jin would then become Hakumen of the Six Heroes, and take up the fight against the monster.

In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, it is revealed that the Black Beast was originally a failed product of Yūki Terumi in an attempt to create Kusanagi, the "Sword to Slay the Gods" from the use of the Azure Grimoire. Terumi would take part in defeating the Black Beast, only to turn against the Six Heroes shortly afterwards. It is based on the story of Yamata no Orochi from Japanese mythology, one of the few such references in the series not to be directly named after its inspiration.

In one of Ragna's bad endings in Continuum Shift, after Rachel Alucard wins against Ragna in a fight, she tells him to "Never mistake the power of the Azure Grimoire as [his] own", to which Ragna responds by saying he will use his own power to shape his destiny. After Rachel leaves, Ragna's right arm begins to shake violently and seithr starts to generate. Ragna then sees an image of himself, being fully consumed by the darkness of the Grimoire. As quickly as this moment comes, it vanishes, leaving Ragna exhausted. Inside a Cathedral, Ragna encounters Jin Kisaragi, forcing him to use the Azure Grimoire. As Ragna wins, he loses the last of his self-control and becomes the Black Beast itself, causing almost all of the planet to be destroyed. As Jubei and Rachel see Ragna off, she tells him that she is sorry, and that none of this was his fault and that she will see him in another world.

Appearance
The Black Beast is a mass of black energy shaped like an eight-headed, serpentine beast with numerous tentacles and red eyes. Its body is never shown.

Gallery
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