Taokaka

Taokaka is a respected warrior of the Kaka clan, and is attempting to apprehend Ragna the Bloodedge and use the bounty to secure a new home-land for the Kaka, and is a playable character in Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift.

Information
A resident of the Kaka village and member of the Kaka tribe, Taokaka is a catgirl, wearing a large coat that obscures her face, only exposing red eyes and a row of sharp teeth; whether or not this is her true face is still a mystery. She wants to get back the sky above her village, which was sealed off. She was sent by the Elder to retrieve the bounty on Ragna's head, becoming a vigilante in the process. Despite this resolve, she is considerably food-obsessed and forgetful, often falling asleep on a whim, becoming hungry moments after a meal, or forgetting details moments after hearing them because. She is good friends with Litchi, affectionately referring to her as "Boobie Lady".

She doesn't seem to refer to anyone other than herself by name and creates nicknames for people she meets. She is unable to recognize that Ragna the "good-guy" and "Rawrgna"/"Rargnya" the criminal are the same person, though there are times she seems to know but doesn't care. Interesting to note is the fact that the Kaka tribe, which she hails from, is actually genetically engineered from the genes of the original Grimalkin (the name that refers to the species of the Kaka tribe), Jubei, one of the six heroes. As a clan, they are copies of each other and cannot reproduce above one hundred members.

In the fourth-wall breaking mini-series, Teach Me, Miss Litchi (which is not canon), Taokaka is studying under Litchi in order to become a great vigilante.

In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, while taking a nap, Taokaka sees Ragna (as 'Good Guy') fall to her village (after being wounded by Nirvana). She manages to defend Ragna from Arakune's assault and goes to fetch Litchi to heal him. Ragna leaves shortly after recovering and Tao follows after, although she ends up encountering a brainwashed Noel and Hazama. She is thoroughly beaten by Hazama, although Jubei manages to save her and brings her back to the village. Realizing that she has a lot of training to do, Tao leaves in order to get stronger while allowing her sister Torakaka to be the village guardian in her absence. She manages to catch Ragna as he leaves Kagutsuchi for Ikaruga as Jubei told her to keep an eye on him.

Material Collection Information

 * Hobbies: Taking naps, food (steamed buns mostly)
 * Values: Friends
 * Likes: Big fish
 * Dislikes: Squigglies

Personality
Taokaka is the personification of innocence in the BlazBlue world. She is a happy-go-lucky catgirl who only wishes the best for her friends and family. Her only desire is to protect those she holds dear to her heart, or who offer her food (although in her mind anyone who offers her food is a good person).

Unfortunately, she is also the least intelligent character in BlazBlue. Like most cats, Taokaka's daily routine consists of eating and sleeping, and she can, and often will, forget anything she does or is told to do within three steps or seconds. Of course, it goes without saying that she isn't totally dumb. Taokaka often gives nicknames to those she meets so she can try to easily remember them later. She does actually know who they are, but prefers the nickname routine.

Appearance
Taokaka is a rather unique take on the catgirl archetype with light brown skin and long blond hair tied up into two braids and a black cat tail with a faded white tip. She seems to spend her entire time wearing a beige-colored hoodie with a cat hood and long cat-themed sleeves that cover her arms. She wears a pair of unusually-designed high-heel boots with the same cat theme but appear to be more fit for a creature with high ankles. According to concept art, Taokaka typically dresses skimpy underneath the hoodie, wearing only red panties with red straps. Taokaka's actual face has been the subject of interest by both the characters and audience alike; her hood has been stated to conceal her facial features and she never removes it. All that can be seen are a pair of red beady eyes and an ever constant toothy grin that tends to emulate emotions when conveying facial expressions. When co-creator Daisuke Ishiwari was questioned about Taokaka's true appearance in an interview, he responded that he wanted to leave it to the players' imaginations. However, he does confirm that her shadowed visage is not her true face. She has fish bones that cover for her long arms and a human face with cat ears, as you can see while she is electricuted.

Powers and Abilities
Unlike most characters, Taokaka does not have much in the way of abilities compared to the rest of the cast, although she is still able to utilize seithr according to Kokonoe and Litchi. She relies on her inborn instincts as opposed to a trained fighting style, and she naturally uses seithr, even without a formal education as to how. Her hands and feet also have large retractable metal claws. What's more, these claws seem to change slightly depending on what attack she wants to do at the time; even though they seem to default as curved, knife-sized flat metal blades, they can also appear as serrated saws, "can-opener" style hooks, or even more ornate blades that resemble arrowheads. What she lacks in strength, she makes up for in agility and speed and extreme mobility, wailing on her opponents and catching them off guard with lightning fast, unpredictable maneuvers and techniques.

Movelist

 * Taokaka's movements.
 * Changes in Unlimited Mode.

Musical Themes

 * Catus Carnival - Taokaka's Theme

Stages

 * Lost Town - Hope often deludes the foolish man
 * Postprandial Happy -Lost Town- - Laughter is the best medicine

Arcade

 * AD2199/12/26, -afternoon sunbathe-
 * AD2200/01/07, Dejya vu

Story

 * Innocent heart
 * Journey

Gallery
Click here to see all images of Taokaka.

Trivia

 * She creates her own nicknames for other characters which she meets:
 * Ragna: Good Guy/White Guy (before "Good Guy"), Pinhead person
 * Jin: Creepy Guy/Ice Man
 * Rachel: Bunny Lady/Rabbit Person
 * Noel: Lacking Lady/Hat Person
 * Carl: Little Guy/Shorty
 * Nirvana: Hard Person/Not so Soft Person
 * Litchi: Boobie Lady.
 * Arakune: Black squiggly.
 * Tager: Big Guy
 * Bang: Scruffy-man (Or "Scruffy Old Man")
 * Bang's Subordinates: Blow Pops
 * Nu and Lambda: Flappy-flap
 * Hakumen: Mask Person/Cocky person.
 * Hazama: Green Guy/Scary Person
 * Tsubaki: Red lady/Eye Women/Average Lady
 * Makoto: Furry girl
 * Valkenhayn: Butter Man
 * Jubei: Cat person
 * Kokonoe: Big sister/Tail lady
 * Despite this habit of using nicknames, she refers to Torakaka by her name. This may be a sign of reverance or admiration, considering this makes Torakaka one of the only people she has bothered to learn the name of, or possibly the only one she was capable of remembering.
 * Interestingly enough, the only name she ever says in the canon story is Tsubaki, but only after Tsubaki corrects her for calling her "red lady."
 * Another interesting note despite her making nicknames is that when people are talking about someone to Tao, she knew who they are talking about.
 * When electrocuted by Rachel, it can be seen that she is holding a fish in each hand under her sleeves.
 * If Taokaka fights against Bang Shishigami in Arcade or Versus modes in Continuum Shift II (and vice-versa as Bang vs Taokaka), 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.
 * There is an ongoing debate among fans about if if the black face with red eyes and mouth really is Tao's actual face. Many people like to think she does have a real, normal looking face while others choose to believe what we see is her actual face, or even a mask of sorts.
 * Taokaka's birthday, February 22, happens to be World Thinking Day, a day to study other countries and cultures. This is ironic in that Tao is, quite frankly, incredibly naive and forgetful, to the point of driving Litchi to exasperation and most people seeing her as simple or an idiot.
 * In one of Ragna's flashbacks, it is revealed Tao actually met Ragna when she was a kitten. Of course, Taokaka, due to her nature of forgetting things, does not remember the incident.
 * It's also revealed that Tao likes squeezing/playing with other women's breasts out of curiosity. Not only Litchi (who is the constant victim), she also felt up Tsubaki's breasts after defeating her (As an after thought before leaving no less), in which she admonishes her boobs as 'average', quickly flustering Tsubaki. Tao has even groped Bang Shishigami, mistaking him at first for Litchi in her haste. As a result, Bang suffered an embarrassing nosebleed, prompting Tao to ask how she could spontaneously cause her enemies to bleed in a similar regard.
 * In Tao's "gag" ending, it's shown that she has an insane love for Tapioca, even to the point of uppercuting One of the six Heroes and Relius's Son just to get it.
 * In Litchi's gag reel, Taokaka presents a board game called The Monarch of Life. This may be a reference to the popular board game The Game of Life.
 * In Tao's "Help Me, Professor Kokonoe!", it seems that Tao becomes a smart person for a short time after eating Kokonoe's silvervine candy. This is the first time that Taokaka gains some intelligence, but she retains her obsessive fascination with breasts (questioning why Kokonoe and Noel are so "mammary-deficient"), and it was for a short time only. After Tao left, Kokonoe decides to destroy the candy, thinking it was dangerous.
 * A common character that comes up during joke scenes is Mecha Tao, which is a robotic version of Taokaka, developed by Kokonoe. However, Mecha Tao rarely does as she is programmed to do (if anything), and often times ends up causing chaos on her own volition. This relationship may be a nod to the one present in Guilty Gear between Robo-Ky and Crow.
 * Tao keeps referring to herself as a kitten, even though biologically she is that of a teenager. However, since she's still technically a child (a minor), this is not an inaccurate way to describe herself.
 * Taokaka's crest slighty resembles the Cheshire Cat (specifically his "American Mcgee's Alice" incarnation)
 * A Reference to Sailor Moon's famous line,"By the name of the moon, I shall punish you!" is made by Tao during her battle with Hazama by Tao saying,"By the name of the...big white thingy in the sky...Tao shall punish you!"
 * During one of her attacks, Tao utters the line, You're already dead!, a reference to Kenshiro's Catchphrase in 'Fist of the North Star'
 * Combat-wise, Taokaka may be reminiscent to Lei-Lei/Hsien-Ko from the Darkstalkers series. Both have large sleeves that protrude massive claws, and like Taokaka, Hsien-Ko has a multitude of different blades in her claws. (apart from other spiked objects like mace balls)
 * Taokaka is also oddly similar to Firebrand from Ghosts and Goblins. Based on his description on the Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 website, both stand up to any threats posed on their home (for Taokaka, it's the Kaka Village, and Firebrand, it's the Demon Village), and are considered elite warriors by their peers. Ability wise, both attack with fierce slashes and can cling to walls.
 * Taokaka's Dancing Edge ressembles Wolverine's Drill Claw in the Marvel vs Capcom franchise, as both attacks have similar animations and the same rebound effect after hit. Also, Taokaka's Almost Becoming Two! reasambles Zero's Sougenmu (Twin Phantasms) (from the Megaman X series, and also in Marvel vs Capcom 3 as well as beforehand Tatsunoko vs. Capcom).
 * Unlimited Taokaka is the character who has most Distortion Drives, adding Taokaka's default Distortion Drives, she gains another two, one is a more powerful version of Kitty Litter Special (214214A), throwing a lot of objects, and other is call a group of Kaka kittens who rush againts the opponent (214214B), Taokaka's Dancing Edge can be chargeable, and if connects, it deal a lot of damage, she can jump 4 times, and her C attacks deal Fatal Counter.
 * The shape of her skull when she is being electricuted and that fact she is of feline desent might allude to her having a cat head and face under her hood (although it could also be viewed as a cartoonish drawing of a regular, human skull without the bottom jaw showing).
 * Taokaka shares both her Japanese and English Voice Actors with Maria Renard the in Castlevania series (the Harmony of Despair version). Both are voiced by Chiwa Saitou in Japanese and Philece Sampler in English.
 * Taokaka is similar to Luigi and Solid Snake in the Super Smash Bros. series. All three characters' taunts can damage the opponent (and in some cases in K.O.) They play a major factor into their overall gamplay (Tao: for one of her loops, Luigi: Can have chances of K.O.ing opponents especially ones hanging on ledges, Snake: Same factor as Luigi).
 * Chun Li from Street Fighter fame is also known for having a damaging taunt (which is now more obscure in later games), only it doesn't K.O. Deadpool's taunt in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 can both damage and K.O. opponents with his taunt, but it rarely ever makes a big factor into his gameplay.
 * Taokaka is also one of the present champions of Machinima.com's Death Battles, after being pitted against Felicia from Darkstalkers. Taokaka prevailed with her astral finish, killing Felicia in the process.
 * The character Ms. Fortune from the upcoming fighter game Skullgirls bears some similarities to Taokaka. Both are not only cat-based fighters, but enjoy sunlit naps, food, and making friends.