Bang Shishigami

Bang Shishigami is a ninja, and a playable character in the BlazBlue series.

Information
After losing his home in the Ikaruga Civil War and his master Tenjō at the hands of Jin Kisaragi, Bang and his followers began living in Kagutsuchi waiting for the right moment to strike back at Jin and the NOL. There, he declares himself a hero of love and justice, and dedicates himself to exterminating evil and overturning injustice wherever he goes. Over time, Tenjō's teaching prevailed over him, and Bang develops a strict 'no-kill' policy, which means he would never stoop so low as to kill his enemies, even Jin, despite how much he hates him. However, he states in his story line that upon meeting Hazama that he must be killed, perhaps meaning that his 'no-kill' policy does not extend to the truly evil.

He has a romantic fascination with Litchi, always willing to go charging in headlong if he sees someone making her upset. He is overzealous in every way, subtlety not usually at the forefront of his mind. However, his fiery spirit and will have earned him the respect of a few characters, most notably Hakumen. His first and foremost duty is to protect the citizens of Ikaruga, which was the reason why he also wants Ragna's bounty: to rebuild the glory of Ikaruga.

Continuum Shift
In Continuum Shift, he goes on a mission to find his Master's Son, although as his story revealed, his true ending in Calamity Trigger did occur and he survived the beating he got from Hakumen rather than dying (his death was a story made up by Taokaka). There is an inactive, unknown Nox Nyctores within his possession. This is earlier stated by Rachel in Calamity Trigger. This Nox Nyctores turns out to be Phoenix: Rettenjō, the Nox Nyctores with the power to sever connections with the Boundary. Trinity informs Bang of this, but vanishes before he could gather further information about it. Although it takes place in non-canon, Ragna states in the last episode of "Teach Me, Miss Litchi! " that it has the power to destroy other Nox Nyctores.

Trinity also revealed to him that his true enemy wasn't Jin, but the system within NOL. After an encounter with Hazama, Bang decided to travel to Ikaruga to uncover further mysteries about its destruction and NOL's involvement in it.

Chrono Phantasma
Bang runs throughout Ikaruga searching for answers about his Nox and his master, Lord Tenjō. Along the way, however, he noticed that a lot of people has been looking for his nail. He eventually encountered Litchi, who asked to borrow his nail, but even Bang refused, knowing that Litchi has sided with NOL. After exchanging blows, Litchi told him that Relius Clover may know more about his nail, but warns Bang not to confront Relius. Bang did so anyway.

Relius quickly reveals that his Nox Nyctores, the Phoenix: Rettenjō, is in fact the Kushinada Lynchpin, a device to activate the Kushinada Device and bring about a complete mass destruction throughout the world. He also reveals that Lord Tenjō knew of this function, but did not use it, resulting his defeat in the Ikaruga Civil War, although if he used it, the resulting timeline might not get any better. Bang was shocked at this revelation.

It is not known what happened to Bang, but according to Hazama's ending, Relius succeeded in taking the Rettenjō away from Bang.

Appearance
Bang is a young adult man with spiky swift back, slightly long brown hair, and amber eyes. He has a long, X-shaped scar across his face. He wears a dark green modified ninja outfit with a big red scarf, silver gauntlets, black fingerless gloves, dark green harama pants that expose his tights. He carries a giant nail on his back.

When he was younger, he wore his hair in a messy ponytail, and had no scar. He wore a skin-tight, sleeveless top, dark greeen harama, and he was barefoot.

Personality
Bang can be quite over-exuberant, and he is prone to speeches and tangents as well as making dramatic entrances. He has a romantic fascination with Litchi, always willing to go charging in headlong if he sees someone making her upset. He is a man with great pride in his home and tolerates no ill words towards it or his master. Though many members of the cast ridicule him and think of him as annoying, he protects those he cares about (such as Carl and Tao) with his life, and has a heart of gold. He thinks of himself as the "Hero of Justice", and the one to punish all evil doers.

Bang, however, possesses a lot of standards that display quite a bit of wisdom. He is capable of eventually forgiving Jin despite his murder of Tenjō, admitting himself to be an idiot. Likewise, he is not that overly blinded with his infatuation with Litchi that even if she asked nicely, he would not hand over his nail, recognizing her allegiance with NOL. Even so, he also didn't blame Litchi for her allegiance and quickly deduced that Relius is behind it.

A trait that he shared with Litchi is his genuine love for children; he would do everything to protect them, and the sight of them being hurt badly and for no reason are one of the things that would tempt him to consider breaking his 'no-kill' policy, as shown in his rage towards Hazama in his Story Mode when he saw him beat down Carl and Tao for no reason. However, he also has a bad habit of instantly calling some of the children he saw as 'his apprentice'. Carl has begun to take that consideration well and nicely, but Platinum is highly annoyed at this treatment.

Powers and Abilities
Being a ninja, Bang seems to share many similar traits in his powers and fighting style. First of all, Bang is a speedy and agile character, and demonstrates an uncanny ability to maneuver through the air as if utilizing invisible platforms. He also bears a decent command of hand-to-hand combat (Taijutsu), and can seriously harm foes with punishing grab-combos and a fiery defensive "guardpoint or autoguard" drive (Bang automatically blocks attacks while performing his Drive attacks, similar to a counter, although unlike a counter they are not dependent on being hit).

Unique to Bang is his assortment of nails, referred to as "Bang-Style Shurikens", and he has a variety of nails for different effects. Some nails will explode, some afflict a poisoned status, some unleash a spray of webs to trap the foe, and still others can rebound off of surfaces, making them more difficult to avoid. The larger, seemingly unwieldy nail on his back is used in his Astral Heat, where he jabs it into a foe, and then uses his special gauntlet to 'hammer' it in.

Finally, Bang is capable of an ability that boosts his speed to even greater heights and allows for even more of his attacks to be linked for longer, more punishing combos. Called "Bang Shishigami Forbidden Art: Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan"(which means Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain), it is such a decidedly incredible, and "Epic" move that the BlazBlue staff orchestrated its own background music.

In the story dialogue, it is unknown if Bang can display such powerful skills to his opponents, as he is easily disrespected. Though so far in Calamity Trigger, he managed to overpower Tager with his Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan, and in Continuum Shift he used the ability to escape from Hazama with his friends.

Trivia

 * If Bang fights against Taokaka in Arcade or Versus modes in Continuum Shift II (and vice-versa as Taokaka vs Bang), the two will exchange a short series of blows (before the match begins) which are either blocked or dodged skillfully. This implies that every match is just another fun training session for the two, and that Taokaka really does acknowledge Bang as her scruffy mentor.
 * In Bang's electrocution sprite, one of his hands has five fingers and one thumb. Also, his underwear can be seen.
 * Bang's theme song, Gale, is listed as Reppuu in the Character Select screen, Reppuu being Japanese for Gale.
 * Bang considers that his Fuu-Rin-Kan-Zan transforms him into his "Super Mode", only stated in Tager's Alternate ending. He also reveals the Fuu-Rin-Kan-Zan ability against Hazama in his Continuum Shift story, in which he uses it to run away while carrying the wounded Taokaka and Carl.
 * His birthday falls onto New Year's Day.
 * Bang's Unlimited form allows him to throw three of his shurikens, except his D version, which remains unchanged. He also does a quick running charge for his command grab, increasing its effectiveness. He also has his "teleport" as an actual ability, allowing him to move around the stage much quicker, and doesn't need to use his drive on guard point to use it.
 * After winning a fight against Hakumen, Bang states he hates lies, evil and bell peppers, The last of which Rachel Alucard also dislikes.
 * Bang's moves in actual translation (not official US translation) are revealed to be very, very long, which is another note to his over-zealousness and his hobby of naming his moves. He even shouts out his attacks in a random fashion, such as "GIGANTIC SUPER CRASH!" or "RISING DRAGON!"
 * During Japanese in-battle dialogue, Bang often ends his sentences with 'de gozaru'. This is an archaic version of the verb "desu," or "to be," stereotypically associated with samurai; in modern context, it is often used to show a level of almost pretentious old-fashioned mannerism, especially with samurai and ninja-like characters.
 * In the console versions, when he uses his Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan move, its own theme song, "Omae no Tettsui ni Kugi wo Ute", sung by Hironobu Kageyama, will start playing.
 * Bang is the only character to have 4 Distortion Drives. However, Unlimited Taokaka has 5.
 * Bang's last name, Shishigami, means "Lion God" in Japanese. His first name however, based on the meaning of the Kanji, means "To perish thousands of evil", which perfectly match his personality.
 * Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan's original meaning is: Swift as Wind, Calm like Forest, Offensive as Fire, and Still as Mountain. These definitions are all applied to Bang's technique of the same name. However, Bang says "Quicker than the Winds and as Still as the Forest! Hotter than Flames and more Magnificent than a Mountain!"
 * He is voiced by Steve Kramer while Bang is pit up against Platinum and in Continuum Shift Extend's story mode.