Ragna the Bloodedge

Ragna the Bloodedge (ラグナ＝ザ＝ブラッドエッジ), also known as the Grim Reaper (死神), is a wanted criminal with an extraordinarily large bounty on his head (well in the trillions) for attempting to destroy the Novus Orbis Librarium, and is Jin and Saya's older brother. He is one of the original 12 playable characters and the main protagonist of the BlazBlue series from BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger to BlazBlue: Centralfiction.

Appearance
Ragna is modeled after the traditional Japanese manga and anime hero. He is a young adult with white spiky hair and heterochromia: his left eye being green and his right being red, a side effect from assimilating the Azure Grimoire into his body. His clothing consists of a hybrid of modern, futuristic and old features. He wears a vibrant red sleeved jacket with two long thin tails hanging from the back. Under it is a black shirt with three red belts and also several belts covering his right arm. He wears a pair of black gloves with a red shell on the backs of the hands. His right arm is a black mechanical prosthetic after having lost it when he was younger. The shell opens up to reveal the Azure Grimoire whenever he utilizes it. He wears a black hakama and steel-toed red boots. He also has a small black birthmark on the center of his chest.

When he was in his mid-teens, he had blond hair and green eyes before being bitten by Rachel. After he is taken care of by Jūbei, he wears a traditional Japanese style sleeveless red turtle neck top, long black gloves that reach to his elbows, baggy black pants, and red shoes with high cuffs and steel toes.

In BlazBlue: Alter Memory during the hot spring scene in Episode 5, Ragna wears only a pair of black, baggy swim shorts; his, otherwise, spiky hair is pushed down from the water and comes down just below his nose.

His swimsuit in BlazBlue: Chronophantasma is different than that of BlazBlue: Alter Memory – he now wears an open, long sleeve red-and-black hoodie, which shows his chest and eight-pack abs, orange-and-red swimming trunks with black flames on each side, and red-and-black sandals. The small black birthmark on his chest was exposed while wearing the outfit.

Personality
Ragna is sardonic, rude, and abrasive to anyone he comes across. He is also quick to anger, stubborn, and never misses a chance to use as much vulgar language as possible. In this regard, Ragna is similar to the stereotypical anime delinquent. This is caused mainly by Yūki Terumi practically destroying Ragna's life, which has created a mass of hatred in him; stronger than that of any other individual. Ragna often becomes infuriated at first sight of Yūki Terumi, which he often takes advantage of through taunting him. However, even in cases where he cannot win or is on the brink of death, Ragna possesses an undying will and refuses to give up, something many characters either hate or admire.

Beneath his gruff exterior, however, Ragna does possess a softer, more compassionate side. He chooses to keep up his public front because of the path he chose – that of revenge, as well as accepting the fact that he's still someone who's committed crimes such as murder. He does genuinely care for certain people, such as Taokaka, Rachel, Noel, Jūbei and, to an extent, his brother, Jin. Ragna seems to disdain killing, refusing to kill Terumi after he defeated him in the end of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. Ragna spared Arakune's life due to Litchi's pleas, and in his Arcade Mode, he directly references his promise to Litchi to let him live after he defeats him. In the end of BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Ragna saved Nu -No. 13- instead of killing her and he told Hakumen to not kill her. Also, despite Jin's role in the destruction of his life, still cares for him as a brother. He also expressed anguish when Nu sacrificed her life to protect him, despite the past animosity he harbored for her and later declares he will "save" her due to prior events that shifted his beliefs.

Later on after the events of BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Ragna goes through more personal development which changes his opinions about the reasons he fights. He starts to rely on his own strength instead of the Azure Grimoire, as its power is to "steal" instead of "protect". He declares that he will no longer fight to destroy and for revenge, and instead, decides to fight in order to protect his loved ones. This as aforementioned extends to Nu where he declares he'll save her instead of destroying her.

History
As a youth, Ragna was apparently confined in a lab along with his younger siblings Jin and Saya for presently unknown reasons. However, they were eventually freed from the lab by Jūbei of the Six Heroes. They were then taken to a church and were watched over by the sister of one of the Six Heroes. At some point, Saya became very ill and Ragna decided to look after her, and in turn spending less time with his brother. Jin eventually grew jealous of Saya for being able to spend a lot of time with Ragna, and he began to hate her.

Soon after Saya became sick, the church was burnt down by Jin and Yūki Terumi, who also cut off Ragna's right arm and kidnapped Saya before leaving him for dead. At some point, Ragna was bitten by a vampire to save his life. He was later found by Jūbei, the beastkin who left him at the church, where he proceeded to train Ragna on how to control the power of his newly acquired Azure Grimoire which replaced his lost arm and repeatedly stated that although the item was a part of him now, the power was not his to command yet. For the next few years, Jūbei trained Ragna to control the power of the Azure, being periodically watched by Rachel, who requested Jūbei to take care of him. During the time, he met Taokaka as a child. When his training was at last complete, Ragna had finally come to the decision to depart on his journey.

But before the three would part ways, Jūbei took Ragna to the burnt down church and handed Ragna two items once belonging to a hero named Bloodedge: his jacket and the sword – Blood-Scythe. Feeling the weight of the man that gave hope to the world and the Six Heroes, Ragna finally takes off, his training now complete.

Ragna has a deep hatred for the Novus Orbis Librarium, and travels from city to city destroying their bases; due to this, he has become a world-known criminal and has a bounty on his head "large enough to buy a small country", according to Jin. Despite this, he seems to travel through cities by night without much fear of being detected or captured by the NOL or any vigilantes.

BlazBlue: Remix Heart
Distracted while training, Ragna turned his head, believing that someone was calling out for him. Unfortunately, Jūbei attacked while he had his guard down, knocking him over. He leisurely resumed the regime once ordered by the hero.

Jūbei soon ordered Ragna to find the Adsequi Grimoire within the Military Academy; things did not go as planned when Mai Natsume dropped down from the upper levels in front of him, deterring him slightly from his mission. Ragna was alarmed when she asked if he was looking for the Azure Grimoire, but decided to help her through the maze of the lower levels to find the Azure figments that she was sensing – since he would lose sleep if he left a woman in such a place. The two of them eventually found the Adsequi Grimoire, but were attacked by the Grimoire's defenses. Effortlessly, Ragna began to dispatch each and every one of them, but more arose, leading him to try and activate the Azure Grimoire so he could get it over with. However, two of the defenses threw him down a dust shoot, landing him straight in front of the wrathful Jūbei, who relentlessly hounded him for having help in finding the Grimoire.

Memory of Blue
Trekking through the 9th Hierarchical City of Akitsu-Kō in the dead of night, Ragna noted how dull and unremarkable the city was until the looming figure of the NOL headquarters stood overhead. Coming close to the building, he was met with several officers issuing warnings for him to turn back; Ragna came too close and a trap designed for feral beasts was raised, however, he easily dispelled it. Ragna was met with dozens of armed Praetorian Guards, but they were easily defeated as he blasted them and the gate down. Leisurely walking down the interior of the branch, Ragna was eventually met with an army of 300 plus armed officers, awaiting him on the staircase connected to the central hall. He launched himself recklessly into the crowd, effortlessly massacring each and every soldier without much of a struggle from the opposition. Afterwards, Ragna descended into the area that contained the Cauldron and effortlessly destroyed it. The weather control in the city was destroyed alongside the Gate.

Becoming slightly lost in the labyrinth that was the lower levels of the City, Ragna encountered Rachel, who teleported in front of him and gestured towards the northwest, whispering that he should go to the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. Rachel then abruptly left as Ragna managed to find his way out of the City. Shortly afterwards, Ragna earned his moniker – the 'Grim Reaper'.

BlazBlue: The Wheel of Fortune
In the first timeline where Noel Vermillion did not exist, Ragna made his way deep into the bowels of Kagutsuchi's NOL branch, eventually running into Relius Clover, who summoned the Fluctus Redactum: Ignis to assist him. Despite the difficult fight for Ragna, he refused to use the power of the Azure Grimoire, disappointing Relius until he left out of boredom, saying it had been a waste of time.

Ragna managed to make it down to the bottom of the branch, reaching the Cauldron, he was, however, stopped by Jin Kisaragi and the two dueled until Ragna stood victorious – a victory short-lived as Tsubaki Yayoi rushed in and pathetically attempted to punch Ragna away, something he withstood and waved away, pushing her down to the ground since he had no idea of how to deal with her. This meeting between the three was interrupted as Nu -No. 13- descended from the Cauldron, leading to Jin questioning who she was until Ragna told him to shut up; Ragna soon went toe-to-toe with Nu herself, but the results ended in her favor.

Before Nu went to finish off Tsubaki, Ragna stabbed the Murakumo midway through before finally succumbing to his wounds and fainting. Nu took the fallen Ragna and fell into the Cauldron with him, merging to become the Black Beast which would plague the planet with death and destruction for a century.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
On the date 2199/12/31 AD, New Year's Eve, Ragna traveled to the  13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi to destroy the NOL base located there. Along the way, he has a brief confrontation with his younger brother, Jin, inside the headquarters. After the fight he makes his way down to an elevator shaft that leads him straight down to the headquarters basement. There, he meets Hakumen of the Six Heroes and a lengthy battle ensues. As Ragna is about to lose, he activates his Azure Grimoire to tap into the power of the Azure and is able to defeat Hakumen.

He then arrives at the battle between Noel Vermillion and Nu -No. 13-. Right before her death blow, Ragna intervenes and saves Noel, but cannot defeat Nu, either. Noel then saves Ragna from being taken by Nu, who wanted to fuse and jump into the Cauldron with him.

Rachel then appears and tells Ragna that Noel is the new "eye", who will inherit the "true" Azure, and that the world will change. She then departs to activate her Tsukuyomi Unit to protect Kagutsuchi from a powerful blast that came from the Nox Nyctores named Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. Shortly after Rachel returns, Hazama appears before all three of them, and Ragna immediately recognizes him as Yūki Terumi, the one who cut his arm off and burned down the church. He and Rachel attack him, but Terumi merely rubs them off, stating that Ragna is too weak for him to fight and Rachel is the only one who can keep up with him. He then leaves the three of them.

Trigger Shift
Since Rachel left both Ragna and Noel inside the collapsed interior of the NOL branch, the Grim Reaper was forced to burrow himself out of the rubble, being slowed progressively by Noel's repeated clumsiness. Finally, they made it outside of the building, despite Noel's slow movements.

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
After the incident at the Sheol Gate, Ragna lets Noel travel with him for a short time, though he tells her to leave afterwards, upsetting Noel who tells him that the next time they meet they will be enemies. He is shortly thereafter attacked by the vigilante, Carl Clover, managing to beat the boy though he is dealt a nasty blow from Nirvana. He then wakes up in the Kaka Clan village, having fallen in there and spends the next few days recovering and becoming friendly with the Kaka Clan, including Taokaka.

He leaves shortly thereafter and meets Platinum the Trinity before fighting Lambda -No. 11- due to Kokonoe Mercury messing up the teleporting process. After fending her off, Ragna hears from Kokonoe not to fight Hazama as he cannot beat him. Hearing Noel's name from Kokonoe prompts Ragna to find Rachel who tells him where to go, though reminding him that he must not fight Hazama. He then runs into Jin at the Librarium branch, and Ragna manages to defeat him. There Jin also warns Ragna not to fight Hazama, saying Ragna cannot beat him.

Nonetheless, Ragna proceeds to fight Hazama, though his Grimoire is useless as Terumi, the original creator of the Azure Grimoire, locks Ragna's. Ragna is forced to watch as Noel descends from the Cauldron as Mu -No. 12-. Just as he is about to be killed, Nu intervenes in Lambda's body and gives Ragna the Idea Engine, allowing him to bypass his Azure Grimoire's restrictions and allow access to the true Azure and defeat Terumi. He runs to Rachel to free her from a binding spell cast by the Phantom, and then fights Mu. Ragna manages to wake Noel's mind by using the True Azure's power to activate the Idea Engine, but his left arm is destroyed in the process. After the fight, he, Jin and Noel see that Hazama and Relius Clover are working for Saya, which is a shock to them. After they leave from Kagutsuchi, he, Jin and Noel decide to leave the city and become stronger. Kokonoe gives Ragna a new mechanical arm using parts from Lambda's regeneration tank. Ragna leaves for Ikaruga with Taokaka, who was ordered by Jūbei to go with him much to Ragna's dismay, but he caves in when he realizes Taokaka would follow him even if he declined.

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma (part 1)
While traveling with Taokaka, Ragna temporarily separates with her and visits the Sister's grave on the remains of the church. Rachel approaches him, and upon being asked about Kushinada's Lynchpin, tells him that it is located in Ikaruga, and that the technique to activate the Lynchpin has been lost, but she doesn't know all the details surrounding the Lynchpin. She tells him that the Lynchpin has the ability to sever the connection between the Boundary and the Cauldron, stopping the flow of seithr, which could defeat the Imperator, and give Ragna the chance to defeat Yūki Terumi. Ragna asks Rachel how he can obtain it, but she tells him it is impossible for him. She tells him that Tenjō Amanohokosaka had sealed it, and to remove the seal, Noel's power as the Successor of the Azure and the Eye of the Azure is required.

Suddenly the Imperator appears with Phantom, who immobilizes Rachel with Gravity Seed. The Imperator asks Ragna to become hers, swear loyalty to her and serve her forever. She offers him Yūki Terumi's head in exchange, but Ragna declines. Then, the Imperator switches to Saya's voice and asks Ragna to come with her. Ragna attacks her in rage, but becomes subdued by Phantom until the two take their leave.

Ragna is injured due to Phantom's attack, so Rachel asks, the recently arrived, Torakaka to take him to the Kaka Hot Spring that is located in the old Kaka village. Rachel reveals that attacks by Magic inflicts damage towards the soul, and that the Azure Grimoire remembers all the damages that Ragna takes, even bypassing dimensional interferences, and that it is the same case with damages occurred by Nox Nyctores. She warns Ragna that if the Azure Grimoire's assimilation continues, he will become damaged by injuries that happened within other dimensions.

A while later, Ragna finds Tsubaki. Tsubaki attempts to arrest him, but fails as Ragna manages to overpower her. She blames Ragna for the changes in Noel, Makoto, and Jin, and declares that she will definitely kill him. Tsubaki pleads for him to kill her, but he declined because she is Noel's friend. As Tsubaki keeps blaming him, Ragna decides to just destroy the Izayoi. Hakumen appears out of nowhere to protect Tsubaki and let her escape. Ragna tells Hakumen that Tsubaki is currently affected by the Mind Eater technique and that it isn't something she can solve by herself. Hakumen tells Ragna that the one to toss aside the Sealed Weapon: Izayoi should be Tsubaki, not Ragna, and the two begin to fight.



After the fight between the two, Hazama appears to insult them, telling Phantom to get rid of the obstacles, and both Ragna and Hakumen are teleported. Ragna is teleported into the Grave Marker of Bases, and decides to face against Terumi, but he declares that his opponent is not him, while Nu -No. 13- descends. Hazama requests that Ragna fight against Nu, the Sword of Hades. Ragna tries to activate the Azure Grimoire, but he becomes unable to do so, because Terumi used the power of Takamagahara System to create a dimensional influence. Ragna becomes surprised as such level of dimensional influence is impossible, but Terumi declares that the Imperator's dimensional influence power is above the Successor of the Azure. Terumi tells Ragna and Nu to continue fighting and killing, and that their distressing "song" will open the Nemesis Horizon.

Time rewinds back to when Ragna was eating with Taokaka in the restaurant. Suddenly Ragna feels intense pain and injuries start appearing from his body. Taokaka becomes shocked by the sudden happening, and Bullet runs into the scene asking if Ragna was alright. Ragna asks her if her name was Bullet, then she takes caution as Ragna knew her name. Ragna remembers the words that Rachel told him before about Ragna receiving injuries from Magic and Nox Nyctores. Ragna's vision becomes blurry and he is unable to think straight, then faints.



Ragna dreams about his time with the Sister when he was young, and wakes up to find out he was lying down on Celica A. Mercury's lap. He realizes that Celica was using magic to heal him, and stands up in panic. Celica happily comments that Ragna is the same as always, but Ragna tells her to not call his name so easily. Suddenly, Ragna's right eye becomes blind and his right arm paralyzed. Celica asks Ragna if he is still hurt somewhere, but Ragna pushes her aside and runs away.

Later Ragna walks on a rainy street, and notices that his right eye and arm had gone back to normal and suddenly bumps into a stranger. Ragna's temper appears and he tries to attack the stranger, only to see that Rachel had teleported him away. Ragna tells Rachel to go away, which makes her disappear after she insults him due to his behavior. Ragna wonders why he is in an enraged mood, then meets Noel. Noel becomes surprised as Ragna was soaking wet in the rain, where she tries to dry him with something. Ragna suddenly grabs Noel painfully, saying that he had looked for her everywhere, and demands her to come with him. Noel pleads him to let her go but Ragna keeps on trying to bring her with him by force. Suddenly Kagura Mutsuki comes to Noel's rescue by attacking Ragna. Kagura calls Noel "his woman" and asks Ragna what he was doing to her. Ragna becomes more enraged and tries to attack Kagura and fights with him, only for him to fall into Kagura's pace. Kagura insults Ragna by calling him weak, which makes Ragna try to activate his BlazBlue, but then suddenly his arm and right eye becomes paralyzed again, due to Celica appearing. Kagura tells Ragna not to look away then knocks him unconscious.

Ragna gets arrested and is thrown in jail. He asks why he is jailed, Kagura replies that it is because of Ragna's past crimes, and tells him to be grateful that he wasn't executed on the spot. Celica and Noel becomes surprised by his statement, which makes them ask Kagura to not execute him. Kagura tells them he was joking and that he still has a job for Ragna to do. However Ragna declines saying he will not do anything Kagura asks him to do. Kokonoe later reveals that the reason Ragna was imprisoned was because of the Imperator's dimensional interferences and that the underground where Ragna is has an anti-dimensional interference device, and that Ragna should cool his head while he is imprisoned.

Later, Kokonoe arrives to Ragna's jail room, telling him to get out and follow her. Ragna asks if it's alright for her to let him out of prison, then she shows him a rectangular object with a switch, and reveals that Ragna's left arm has a bomb installed in it, which would kill him alone if activated. She tells him that if he wanders too far from Celica, the bomb would activate and explode. Because of Kokonoe's threats, Ragna is forced to follow her.

After the group heads to Kagura's room, Kagura and Kokonoe reveal that they need Ragna to become bait for Azrael, as he is a threat. Hibiki Kohaku reveals that the news about Kagura having arrested Ragna had spread all around Ikaruga, and that there will be a tournament with Ragna's bounty as a prize at the Colosseum, where Ragna will fight against the participants, which would attract Azrael to join in. Kagura tells Ragna that he will reward him with the Kushinada's Lynchpin. Ragna abruptly asks Kagura if he truly has the Lynchpin, Kagura says that the key to activating the Lynchpin is already with them, and points to Celica. Kokonoe confirms that Celica is the key to activating the Kushinada's Lynchpin. After hearing this, Ragna decides to go with Kagura and Kokonoe's plan. Ragna then asks what their plan is. Kagura answers that their plan is to take down the Imperator and take over the Novus Orbis Librarium.

After Noel obtains control over her powers as Mu -No. 12-, it is shown that the room where she was sleeping was covered in a dimensional barrier, making the room inaccessible, which made Ragna, Celica, Kagura, Kokonoe, and Makoto unable to enter her room until Noel's consciousness comes back to her. It's shown that Noel was getting absorbed by Arakune, and due to her being unable to become free, she unconsciously calls out for Ragna, calling him "Brother". Ragna senses this and is able to enter the room, then sees that the room has turned dark, full of spider webs, and that Arakune was there. Ragna tries to attack Arakune but Kagura attacks Arakune instead, forcing him to flee the area. Kokonoe reveals to Ragna and the others that it was her fault that Arakune had infiltrated the area, due to her relationship with him. Kokonoe reveals that her frailty was what had caused this, and that her frailty may take an ally's life as the enemies they are facing should be considered like gods. Ragna tells Kokonoe that he doesn't believe in gods. Ragna sees that Jin had come visiting to see what was going on, but then sees him take his leave. Celica comments that Jin isn't being honest, but Ragna tells her that Jin was always that way.

The next day comes, and everyone gathers at the Colosseum. Ragna acts like a true criminal and appears in the main stage with Kagura and Celica. Tsubaki congratulates Kagura for arresting Ragna, and insults Ragna, telling him that he is to be taken to the headquarters and be executed for his crimes, but that she has a mountain of things to ask him, so she will personally question him. Ragna sees that Azrael was not around, so he asks Kagura why Azrael was nowhere to be seen. However, after the preliminaries are over, he sees that Bullet had entered the tournament and that Azrael had finally made his appearance. During their battle, Ragna sees that Azrael was too overwhelming for Bullet as she was getting tortured by Azrael. Celica pleads for Kagura to stop Azrael from hurting Bullet any further, but due to Tager's power output, the Coordinate Fixture for capturing Azrael was unstable, thus, Kagura could not enter yet. Ragna soon entered the stage himself to stop Azrael from hurting Bullet any further. After seeing this, Kokonoe tells Ragna to buy some time for her to stabilize Tager's output.



Ragna's BlazBlue activates, but goes in a berserk-like state, but he manages to subdue it and deactivates the BlazBlue. Kagura becomes impressed at Ragna for being able to subdue the Azure Grimoire and Rachel also becomes impressed over Ragna's growth. After seeing this, Azrael questions Ragna as to why he didn't use his power and tries to kill him in disappointment. However, Kagura makes Ragna retreat, saying his turn is over. Ragna runs over to Celica, asking if she was alright. Celica asks Ragna how Kagura is doing and sees that Kagura was getting overwhelmed by Azrael, but then sees that Kagura was able to find out that Azrael could not attack first, and sees Kokonoe successfully capturing Azrael.

After Jin, Noel, and Makoto succeeds in freeing Tsubaki from the Imperator's control, Ragna goes with Celica to the underground where Kokonoe is. Ragna realizes that Celica was worn out from the day's incidents and tells her to rest. Kokonoe picks Celica up and takes her with her. Ragna realizes that his right eye and arm went back to normal and wonders if it is because Celica had gone away from him. Ragna wonders what kind of answers he will find the next day about the Azure Grimoire, but suddenly, Hazama approaches him and tells him that he was unable to "observe" him, which forced him to come find Ragna himself, and attacks him as he wants to find out if Ragna was "real".



Ragna becomes overwhelmed by Terumi in the fight until Iron Tager and Kokonoe interferes, then Ragna notices that his right eye and arm became paralyzed again. However he also sees that Terumi was in pain as well. Terumi, who was in extreme pain asks Kokonoe what she had done, and she reveals that due to all the observations done by the Imperator's group, she had gone through extensive research on how to fight against them without getting observed, and that she had found out the answer. Terumi yells out to Phantom to teleport him out of the area in panic, and questions Kokonoe why Celica A. Mercury was alive when he had killed her in the past. Celica then appears, who runs to Ragna to heal him. Terumi becomes surprised after seeing Celica's appearance, and Kokonoe reveals that Celica is a Chronophantasma, someone who doesn't exist. Ragna then sees Phantom appearing to teleport Terumi away from the area.

The next day, Ragna, Noel, and Celica head down to the Ibukido's Cauldron, where Rachel was waiting. Ragna asks what he must do, where Rachel tells him that she will be sending him to a certain location. She tells him that there are people who doesn't have the time to think about What or Who, and that Ragna has a duty to do in that world, and that after he returns, his future will be decided, from the future of his end. Ragna asks what he must do there, where Rachel tells him that it is for him to decide for who, and for what he will use his Azure Grimoire for. Rachel reveals to Ragna that he will have a time travel to the past through the Boundary. Rachel then uses her Tsukuyomi Unit to protect Ragna from the influences within the Boundary. Ragna then goes into the Cauldron to begin his time travel back to the First War of Ars Magus era, 94 years back.
 * Note: For the sake of continuity, the information for Ragna in BlazBlue: Chronophantasma has been split in half. Chronologically, from Ragna's perspective the Phase novels take place halfway through the game where as they happen before any of the games.

BlazBlue: Phase 0
Although it is not a widely remembered part of the Dark War, six years after its appearance the Black Beast went dormant for an entire year. This was due to the actions of an individual known only as "Bloodedge", who sacrificed his life and managed to delay its cataclysmic destruction for an entire year. This small window he created allowed the Six Heroes to teach humankind how to use Ars Magus, and to amass a greater and stronger following. His sacrifice also strengthened Jūbei's resolve to defeat the monster, as he had personally bore witness to Bloodedge's final moments.

Bloodedge was a close friend of Jūbei, then known as Mitsuyoshi, one of the Six Heroes, who is one of the few people who remembers Bloodedge and what he did for the world. After Ragna completed his training, Jūbei gave Bloodedge's red jacket and weapon to his young apprentice. Ragna's title, the "Bloodedge", is in honor of this man. Ragna even speaks a phrase eerily similar to something Bloodedge once told Jūbei.

In reality, Bloodedge is actually a time-displaced Ragna, who was sent into the past and stripped of most of his memories, along with the ability to move his right arm or see with his right eye. At first, the only thing he can remember is his name 'Ragna', but he continues to regain fragments of his memories as the story progresses as he traveled with Celica and Mitsuyoshi. In these novels there are two versions of Ragna: one that became the Black Beast by merging with Nu -No. 13- in the original timeline and one that travelled back in time later remembered as the hero Bloodedge, a human that sacrificed his life for the world by going up against the Black Beast alone.

The human Ragna travels with Celica and Mitsuyoshi to the now destroyed Japan, which had been hit by nuclear missiles from around the world in an attempt to kill the Black Beast after it appeared, to search for Celica's father, Shūichirō Ayatsuki, since Celica wanted to prove her father's innocence in the project which caused the Beast's appearance.

Towards the end of the novel, he fully regains his memories due to being in close proximity with the Boundary through the Sheol Gate. Together with Nine and Trinity, they managed to find Celica's father. They then learn that he wanted to use Celica as the key for the Kushinada's Lynchpin, which would defeat the Black Beast, but in return would mean Celica's sacrifice. However it would only be temporary, as it can only be activated until Celica's life wears out. Angry, Ragna walks out from Shūichirō's laboratory to cool his head, though it is only an excuse to meet Rachel of his time, who was waiting for him near the Cauldron. Ragna asks her how to create the one year window of chance, to which Rachel says that he already knows the answer.

Suddenly, the laboratory shakes, and through one of the surveillance camera, everyone is aghast to realize that the Black Beast is coming at tremendous speed. Nine wants to stay and fight, but Ragna tells her to wait for a chance, which he will create to defeat the Black Beast. As Nine prepares to teleport everyone out, Ragna tells her to gather the Six Heroes and prepare for humanity's counterattack during that one year. He also warns her to be wary of Terumi, and passes his jacket to the tearful Celica and promises her that he will return afterwards. Mitsuyoshi stays behind with Ragna to fight the Beast, while Ragna laments the fact that he had lied to Celica. Ragna makes Mitsuyoshi promise to run away as soon as he gives the signal, as he is needed in the future.

As Mitsuyoshi and Ragna fight their way to the Beast's body, the two are struck with fear, realizing how much of a monstrosity the massive Beast is. However, Ragna realizes that his inability to move his right arm or see with his right eye was due to Celica's latent magical ability to suppress seithr. Reaching the farthest point they can go, Ragna signals Mitsuyoshi to retreat and activates the BlazBlue before charging at the Black Beast. The clash between the Beast and the Azure Grimoire creates a reaction, which pulls Ragna into the Beast's core and results in the phenomenon which the Beast is dormant for one year.

BlazBlue: Phase Shift 1
Ragna appears in one of Kazuma's dreams, battling Terumi at the top of Kagutsuchi.

Ragna was later found wounded in a forest by Celica, with most of his memories stripped away.

BlazBlue: Phase Shift 2
Ragna was mentioned to be the reason as to why the Black Beast follows Celica.

BlazBlue: Phase Shift 4
Inside the pitch black darkness, the human Ragna survived being consumed by the Black Beast and meets Nu -No. 13-, whom he fights while time is distorted. He manages to kill Nu which allows Hakumen to kill Black Beast Ragna. Approximately one year later in the real time (much shorter in the core), the Beast re-emerges in the real world and human Ragna is expelled of its body. While the Six Heroes fights the Beast on the frontline, Ragna reunites with Celica, brought by Rachel to see him one last time before he is sent back into the future. As their window is short, Ragna says farewell to Celica and tells her that they will meet later in the future before heading back through the Boundary to get back to the future where he belongs.

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma (part 2)
After returning from his trip, Ragna goes in a state of panic. However, after looking at Noel, Ragna is able to calm down. After hearing the name of Kushinada's Lynchpin, he takes Celica and runs over back to the base to find Kokonoe. After finding her, Ragna asks her how she plans on activating the Lynchpin. Ragna asks her if she knows the meaning behind it, then Kokonoe asks Ragna who he had heard about it from. Ragna reveals that to activate the Kushinada's Lynchpin, Celica's soul must be used as a catalyst, meaning that her soul must be fused to the Lynchpin. However once the soul is fused into the Lynchpin, the soul cannot be returned, as it will be bound to the core, and the soul's life will be used up until it dies, and once the soul dies, the Lynchpin would deactivate, where the seithr it stopped would spread once again. Ragna reveals that he had heard it from the words of Nine. Kokonoe asks if Ragna had met her mother, where she reveals that she is Nine's daughter. Ragna tells Kokonoe that her mother was more of a human than she was, as Nine was fighting to protect her sister, but Kokonoe tells him that her mother was foolish. She reveals that if Nine had used the Lynchpin, the Black Beast would have had stopped its activity from 3 to 5 years.

Ragna tries to attack Kokonoe in anger, but Celica stops him. Celica reveals that even she thought of becoming a sacrifice 94 years ago due to the tremendous loss humans had experienced during the First War of Ars Magus, but Ragna corrects her saying that even if she had become a sacrifice and the Black Beast had stopped its activity for 3 to 5 years, it would have been meaningless as Nine would have given up all hope after losing Celica. Ragna reveals that because he had bought 1 year of time for humanity, Nine had worked all her hardest in creating the Ars Magus as she had thought only about protecting Celica. Celica denies that her sister is that weak, but Ragna corrects her saying that if one were to lose something very important, they would become weak. Ragna tells her that when the Kushinada's Lynchpin was found, no one there had ever thought about wanting to sacrifice Celica. Celica asks if Ragna thought the same, where he tells her that he did not want to lose anything, which was why he had fought against the Black Beast alone. Kokonoe tells Ragna that the only reason she had made Celica was to use her as the activation key for the Lynchpin, and that Celica herself knew about it too.



Afterwards, Kokonoe reveals that the Imperator's group is planning on summoning the Amaterasu from the Boundary, and that Amaterasu itself was going to be a bait to lure the Imperator. Ragna came to understand their plan but rejects the idea of using Celica as the catalyst. However, Kokonoe tells him that if there was another way, she would have already found one. Rachel then enters, and reveals that there is, in fact, another way to activate the Lynchpin. After Celica tells Kagura the way to activate the Lynchpin, which would fuse the soul and the core, Kagura realizes that Tenjō Amanohokosaka's soul is inside the Phoenix: Rettenjō possessed by Bang Shishigami. After theorizing that the Kushinada's Lynchpin may activate with the Phoenix: Rettenjō, Celica wonders if she isn't needed, but Kokonoe tells her that she is needed as an assurance.

Kagura tells Ragna, Noel and Celica to go activate the Lynchpin since everything is ready. Kokonoe gives Ragna a teleportation device which needs to be attached to the Lynchpin, and that the energy for the teleportation will be Ragna's Azure Grimoire. Ragna asks Kokonoe how he is going to do that when Celica seals the Azure Grimoire's power, then Kokonoe makes the Idea Engine activate, which makes Ragna's right eye and arm come back to normal. Ragna wonders how this happened, and Kokonoe tells him that the Idea Engine has a Noise Canceler installed that negates Celica's power from affecting the Azure Grimoire, and as long as Idea Engine is active, he will not be affected by Celica's power. Kokonoe reveals that the bomb she spoke of before never existed.

Ragna, Noel and Celica arrive at the location but only find an empty room. However Noel tells them that she can see the door, but Ragna and Celica are unable to see it. Celica tells Noel to take strong awareness of the door. Noel transforms into Mu -No. 12- and takes strong awareness of the doorway, which reveals a large room with the Kushinada's Lynchpin. Suddenly, Bang enters the room and declares that he was waiting for them to arrive, giving off a palpable killing intent.

Following a fight and a moving speech on Ragna's part, Bang finally acknowledges Ragna as being worthy of using the Lynchpin, and declares he is willing to use the Phoenix: Rettenjō for him, and Noel places the teleportation device onto the Lynchpin. While trying to find out how to use the Lynchpin, Celica asks Bang to insert the Phoenix: Rettenjō into the Lynchpin. When Bang tries to go to the Lynchpin, he is suddenly attacked by Litchi Faye-Ling. Noel is then assaulted by Nu -No. 13-, who starts synchronization with her, while Ragna is forced to fight against Relius Clover who prevents Ragna from aiding Noel.

After Terumi activates his BlazBlue, souls start getting sucked into the Ibukido tower. Nu finishes her forced synchronization with Noel and becomes the Successor of the Azure, like Noel. Relius affirms that Noel and Nu have synchronized, and that Noel is no longer needed, where he orders Nu to kill her. Celica tries to protect Noel, then Ex Machina: Minerva arrives to protect Celica from harm. Suddenly, the seithr concentration increases, which makes Ragna, Noel, and Celica cough in pain. Relius reveals that all the cauldrons around the world have been released, which is absorbing all life around the world, to be gathered into the tower of Ibukido as a catalyst, in order to summon the Amaterasu.

After Relius reveals that he will be the one to recreate the world after Amaterasu is destroyed, and that not even the Imperator is needed in that world. Ragna tries to attack Relius, but Carl Clover comes to protect him. Kokonoe contacts Ragna again to ask if the Kushinada's Lynchpin is ready as the Imperator has started the summoning of the Master Unit, but Ragna tells her that the situation is terrible. Kokonoe asks if he has put the teleportation device onto the Lynchpin, which he confirms that it is. Kokonoe tells him to activate the Lynchpin no matter what, and tells that she plans to have the Lynchpin strike into the cauldron by having it strike the monolith tower. However Kokonoe tells Ragna that one problem is that if the monolith tower's foundation is hit, the tower itself will be destroyed and that the tower currently has souls trapped inside.

The Master Unit Amaterasu is successfully summoned. However, due to Ignis and Nirvana's dual attacks, Ragna is unable to approach the Lynchpin. Tsubaki and Makoto arrives at the scene, and after leaving on orders from Kokonoe, Ragna follows Celica, leaving the Lynchpin's acquisition and defense to them and Bang.



Ragna and Noel leave the area and see Amaterasu floating in the sky. Suddenly they see something fall from the sky, which is revealed to be Take-Mikazuchi. With Jin and Noel in tow, Ragna heads off to face it, finding Celica along the way. Kokonoe reveals that she plans on deactivating Celica's limiter because Kushinada's Lynchpin hasn't been activated yet. and that Take-Mikazuchi has been attacking Amaterasu. She intends to use Celica's ability to make Take-Mikazuchi unable to attack Amaterasu, but if that doesn't work, she plans to use Celica as a bullet and fire at the Take-Mikazuchi. Kokonoe tells him to buy 10 minutes of time as that is the time limit before Celica ceases to exist. Ragna asks Kokonoe if that doesn't work either, what she would do, where she answers that she will fire all nuclear missiles at Take-Mikazuchi. Suddenly after hearing that, Hakumen appears. Ragna and Celica then ask Hakumen to destroy the tower's foundation.



After Hakumen accepts their request, Ragna asks Kokonoe to give him access to the communication towards Bang, where he asks him to activate the Lynchpin within 10 minutes. Ragna tells Celica to turn off the limiter once 10 minutes hit, whether the Lynchpin activates or not. After Celica releases her limiter, Ragna and the others face Hades Izanami, and the battle between Ragna, Jin, Noel, and Take-Mikazuchi begins.

After Hakumen defeats Yūki Terumi and destroys the foundation of the monolith tower with Jin, Ragna sees that Celica is reaching her time limit. After Bang successfully strikes the monolith tower with the Phoenix: Rettenjō, the activity of all seithr stopped, where Rachel immediately tells Ragna to activate his BlazBlue and take down Take-Mikazuchi. Ragna asks how he can even use any Ars Magus when seithr activity has completely stopped, but Kokonoe tells him that the Noise Canceler within his Idea Engine works the same for such a situation. Ragna then activates his BlazBlue and defeats Take-Mikazuchi.

Afterwards, Ragna, Celica and Minerva goes inside the Take-Mikazuchi's core. Nu suddenly appears in front of them, starting to speak like Noel talks, telling them the place they are in is Magister's City: Ishana, which was the final scene that the current Celica saw before coming to the future. Following her defeat in the ensuing battle, Nu goes in denial over how strong Ragna has become. Nu then loses consciousness, where Ragna runs to her to catch her from falling. Minerva then leads Ragna and Celica out of the core.



Celica escapes the core first, while Ragna comes out while holding Nu. Suddenly, Hades Izanami appears, and Ragna immediately attacks her. However, Ragna stops short before his attack can land. At that point, Nu awakens and attacks Ragna from the back, causing Ragna to collapse. Hakumen then attacks Hades Izanami using his Time Killer technique, which leaves her unaffected, and Phantom teleports Hakumen away from the area. Noel then transforms into Mu -No. 12-, where Hades Izanami comments that since Noel is known as the "Godslayer Kusanagi", she must strike back.



Hades Izanami then declares the awakening of the Beast, which makes Ragna's Azure Grimoire go fully berserk. Ragna tells Jin and Noel to take Celica and run away, and screams in pain. As Noel and Jin stand ready to fight Ragna, Hades Izanami notices that neither Hazama or Relius are coming, and points out that her contract with them had already ended, but since they had served her, she declares that she shall give them a "good death" and disappears with Phantom. Noel and Jin then attacked by Ragna, who then attempts to warn them off, lest he kill them.



In the Epilogue, Tsubaki arrives at the scene only to find Ragna gone and saw that Noel and Jin were both critically injured, with Kokonoe having tasked Tager with searching for Ragna, with the possibility that he is already dead not yet ruled out. Although Noel wasn't as badly injured, Jin was in a critical condition with heavy injuries, and Celica was doing her best to heal him. Tsubaki then prepares to take her leave, intending to go after Ragna, whom she sees as an evil that must be destroyed, but not after Rachel tells him that Ragna may be slowly dying due to his current fate, and that Tsubaki is one of the few that must destroy either Ragna or Rachel herself before it is too late.

Somewhere at an unknown place, Ragna's body reverts into a normal state, as he wakes up and sees the Embryo in the sky. However, he somehow lost all of memories and doesn't know who he is.

BlazBlue: Centralfiction
Ragna has lost all of his memories and now has entered the world in the Embryo where Nine uses it to test his resolve.

In Act II, he regains his memories after defeating Izanami, and in Act III, he saw the girl inside the Master Unit and decided to protect her from the Entitled even though it would make him the enemy of the world.

Powers and abilities
Ragna is an extremely powerful individual, having been trained in combat and Ars Magus by Jūbei, wielding an Azure Grimoire and a rather unusual sword called Blood-Scythe, he is able to easily take down entire squads of the Librarium by himself. Much of his fighting style involves somewhat crude-yet-controlled swings and strikes of brute force and simplistic martial form, ranging from wide sword swings to basic roundhouse-and-axe-kicks.

Being the wielder of an Azure Grimoire, Ragna is able to manipulate darkness in the form of the various body parts of the Black Beast through his Drive, Soul Eater, which also absorbs the opponent's life force to replenish his own. By utilizing an ability called "Blood Kain", Ragna is able to use his Azure Grimoire to greatly enhance his physical abilities and strengthens his Drive, although it wears down his own life force during its duration. During BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Nu -No. 13- (then in the body of Lambda -No. 11-), sacrificed herself to save Ragna from Hazama's onslaught and transferred her Idea Engine into his Azure Grimoire, allowing Ragna to access the True Azure and preventing Hazama from suppressing it again. In BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, the combination of Ragna's "Blood Kain" and the Idea Engine becomes his Overdrive, called Blood Kain Idea, which puts him in the "Blood Kain" state but without draining his health. Ragna is also capable of using concealment Ars Magus to help hide him from both man and beast.

However, a majority of events in the game involve him taking major beatings to the point of having difficulty recovering from them, which also ties into him having one of the lowest health stats in of the cast. He also has shown weakness in often over-relying on his Azure Grimoire during a majority of battles.

During the events of BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Ragna's right arm and eye become paralyzed due to Celica A. Mercury's power, which made him become very weak compared to his normal self. However this enabled him to fight without relying on the Azure Grimoire, which made him become physically strong enough to defeat Nu -No. 13- without the Azure Grimoire; something he failed to do before.

Etymology
Ragna is a name that is Scandinavian in origin. It is actually a feminine name that is the short form of female compound names beginning with the element Ragn-, from Old Norse rǫgn, which roughly translates as counsel.

However, the more likely explanation is that his name derives from Ragnarök, which translates as the final battle of the Gods. The word Ragnarök is a compound: the first element, ragna, means organizing powers and was commonly used to refer to the gods or their actions. In a sense, Ragna's first name could literally translate as God from Norwegian. The reason for this name is how Ragnarök describes the end of the world and Ragna possesses the power of the Black Beast, a being that killed off half of the world's population.

In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, his name suggests another Norse reference, which is the legends of Ragnar Loðbrok, a hero who slayed the serpent Jörmungandr. Interestingly, the serpent itself is the symbol of Ouroboros in Norse Mythology. The relationship between Ragna and Yūki Terumi, who possesses the Nox Nyctores, Ouroboros, somewhat reflects the relationship between Ragnar and Jörmungandr.

His title of Bloodedge is much simpler in origin, as it is nothing more than just blood and edge combined to form a title that only exists with the BlazBlue series.

Trivia

 * During Ragna's flashbacks, his outfit resembles one of the concept designs for the early design stages of Ragna's character.
 * The blade of Ragna's Blood-Scythe resembles an enlarged version of one of the 8 blades the Murakumo Units use during combat. In early concept art, the two are identical.
 * Ragna was bitten only once by Rachel, as she admitted it in her ending in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. In all the other timelines, he was able to save himself by touching the Azure Grimoire, as it is described in Rachel's short story Endless Waltz.
 * In one of Ragna's endings in BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, after Ragna and Nu fuse together without entering into the Cauldron, the new entity is able to activate the Murakumo Unit and deploy the Blood-Scythe at the same time.
 * Ragna's crest seems to be a variation of the Azure's and Black Beast's crest, implying the fact that he is one of the two beings that need to be fused in the Cauldron in order to the Black Beast can surge.
 * When Ragna activates the Idea Engine together with his BlazBlue, the Azure's crest appears blue in color, but when he uses only his BlazBlue, it appears red. This supports Ragna's claim that this is the true Power of the Azure.
 * Ragna dislikes needles, as revealed by his dialogue in his Help Me, Professor Kokonoe! section.
 * Five of Ragna's Special Attacks which involves using his darkness element have names related to 'hell' (Hell's Fang, Gauntlet Hades, Inferno Divider, Belial Edge, with Belial being one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell, and Seed of Tartarus). Both Hell and Inferno share the same meaning, while Hades refers to the ancient Greek god of the underworld. In Hell's Fang's case, the intended name might have been actually Hel (the name of the goddess of death in Norse mythology), but was changed to Hell in the English version due to the similarity in their kana.
 * Ragna, along with Jin, Hazama, Hakumen, Platinum and Rachel, is featured as a "Playable Character" in the MMO Action Game, Lost Saga.
 * There is an artistic error found during the Calamity Trigger Reconstruction story in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend, when Ragna's right arm was cut off, he still has white hair instead of blond.
 * Although the image in which Ragna transforms into the Black Beast is part of Ragna's Bad Ending in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, it is listed as part of the True Ending in the Gallery.
 * Although Ragna has his own unlimited theme, Black Onslaught, this is not played in both Jin and Hazama's Arcade Mode in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, where the theme played is instead Under Heaven Destruction and Nightmare Fiction respectively.
 * In the Chimelical Complex manga, when Ragna uses the Azure Grimoire, his arm changes to the black claw that he uses in Devoured by Darkness, instead of the black aura of seithr that normally surrounds his body. When he used it to defeat Jin, Ragna's body turns darker as it happens in Black Onslaught; black feathers can also be seen spreading around him.
 * When Ragna is beaten by Platinum in the latter's Story Mode, his sprite is the bloody Ragna with his left arm torn off instead of the normal defeated sprite. This might be a case where the game loads the wrong sprite for the situation.
 * Ragna's jacket is drawn inconsistently from image to image. His BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger artwork features two small metallic plates on each side of his jacket, but they are usually not noticeable because of the belts and thus, not seen in most in-game CGs, as well as most game sprites (though they are slightly visible on the opposite side while he is standing). The said plates disappear completely in Ragna's BlazBlue: Continuum Shift artwork. In Ragna's BlazBlue: Chronophantasma artwork, the metallic plates are positioned lower so they are visible from all sides, but still absent from the new in-game CGs. His new game sprites have them, however.
 * On the clean cover artwork of BlazBlue In L.A. Vocal Edition there is a text written on one of Ragna's belts – it is -NO.5- Es.
 * Some of the symbols on the apparatus that is linked to Nu, match the symbol on Ragna's clothes and chest.
 * There is a strange symbol visible on Ragna's back/neck, when he retains a humanoid form, right before being slain by Hakumen. Naoto Kurogane also bears a similar marking.
 * The remains of the Black Beast that Ragna attains, is actually his own beheaded humanoid form.
 * Ragna's favorite food is stated to be tentama udon.
 * Ragna, along with Jin, Noel and Rachel, is featured as a Playable Character in the MOBA game, Chaos Heroes Online.
 * Ragna is featured in the Square Enix game: Lord of Vermilion Re: 2, alongside Noel and Jin.
 * Ironically, his birthday falls on "I Want You To Be Happy" Day. Also known as Girl's Day.
 * In the BlazBlue Material Collection, there is a sketch of Ragna defeated in front of Jin, with Ragna holding a sword known as the Rebellion, Dante's signature sword in the Devil May Cry series.
 * A running gag in the series is Ragna's tendency to treat people to meals. In BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, he decides to feed the starving Taokaka and is left with a large bill as a result. In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, he is forced to feed Platinum when Sena makes a commotion in public. In Taokaka's BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Arcade Mode, Tao and Luna leave a large restaurant bill on Ragna's tab. In episode 4 of Teach Me More, Ms. Litchi, Ragna gives Platinum a cake, and Sena remarked that if they asked, Ragna would probably buy them as many cakes as they wanted. This tendency is noted by Ragna himself in "Mechanical Soul", where he preemptively tells Lambda that he wasn't going to feed her. This episode is based on the BlazBlue: Continuum Shift — Part 2 novel, where he actually fed her. In Tao's Act 3 of BlazBlue: Centralfiction, Ragna said that they will eat some meat buns only if Kagura pays the bill.
 * Ragna, as well as Noel Vermillion and Tsubaki Yayoi, appears in the mobile game Seven Knights. Ragna will start without his red jacket, which he receives after upgrading into five stars, and the six stars update will turn Ragna into Bloodedge.

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