Arakune

Arakune is a black, blob-like creature and a playable character in the BlazBlue series.

Information
A black blob-like creature with a white mask who formerly worked alongside Kokonoe, Tager and Litchi in Sector Seven. He was formerly a human named Lotte "Roy" Carmine. After an attempt to study the Boundary, due to his inferiority complex over Kokonoe's genius, he became what he is today, now housing innumerable insects with his now-blobby body and thriving on knowledge. His horrible condition has rendered him virtually insane and lacking any reliable memory, as well as distorting his speech to near incoherency – most of his dialogue consists of gibberish, insane laughter and tortured screaming – but it seems that only Litchi understands his words.

His dialogue between many characters, as well as his Arcade Mode ending, suggest that it was the power and knowledge he obtained from the Boundary that gradually turned him into what he is, and notably (according to his Arcade Mode ending) he does not seem to have noticed that he is changed, and to him, his bizarre speech is completely normal. He seems to not understand why others cannot understand him, creating a crude mask for himself thinking it would allow others to understand what he is saying.

Calamity Trigger
During Calamity Trigger, he lives in the sewers of the Kagutsuchi where the seithr concentration is highest and will attack anyone who visits there. He has also been known to attack and devour his victims to sustain himself, specifically targeting the Kaka clan, the closest living creatures. He thirsts for power and knowledge above all else and considers the Azure Grimoire the pinnacle of such. Anytime he meets Ragna he becomes obsessive in his desire to consume the Azure, often only saying "AzureAzureAzureAzure" when around Ragna. Characters he defeats in his story path are subsequently eaten by him, including Litchi and Taokaka, though he refuses to eat Bang.

Continuum Shift
Arakune continues to look for the Azure Grimoire. He is also shown to be capable of speaking like a normal human, although temporarily before slipping away to insanity once more. During his instance of sanity, he told Litchi to cease her attempts to cure him using the same power that drove him mad and instead turn herself to Kokonoe for healing; there is a fine line that she should not cross or she could end up like him. An encounter with Hazama later reveals that Arakune was used as an experiment to create the Black Beast, but he ends up as a failure as the only thing he knew is how to consume others.

He seems to remember Relius Clover and has a deep hatred for him. Their initial encounter is revealed in Continuum Shift II's second Extra Story – That Which is Inherited. Unfortunately, during one of his encounters with Relius, he is struck down and subdued with Relius' own marionette, Ignis, taking him into his custody. Yūki Terumi later uses the information of his captivity to eventually push Litchi to join the NOL.

Appearance
Arakune appears in the form of a viscous collection of black goo with crimson fades. Amongst the chaotic mass is a white mask with a crude face carved into it which was crafted by Arakune to help him communicate. Despite his madness and the futility of its purpose, Arakune is never seen without the mask. Aside from the swarm of bees inside of his body, he also houses a collection of bones which he is able to mold into feasible limbs such as legs and arms to crawl on.

When he was still Lotte Carmine, Arakune had short, messy black hair and wore square spectacles. His attire included a white lab coat over a formal blue shirt and black tie with black pants.

Personality
When he was still human, Arakune (then known as Lotte "Roy" Carmine) was loyal to Sector Seven and a reliable apprentice to Kokonoe to the point where the latter had enough confidence in him to be her "back-up file" should anything happen to her. However, as time went on he began to develop an inferiority complex towards Kokonoe and her immense genius, so he attempted to make a discovery that would impress his higher-ups, including her. He became obsessed with discovering a link between the Boundary, the Azure Grimoire, and the Black Beast and eventually managed to find a way to briefly enter the Boundary, which unfortunately began progressively mutating his body and mind, showing clear signs of instability during a presentation.

His horrible condition has rendered him virtually insane and lacking any reliable memory, as well as distorting his speech to near incoherency – most of his dialogue consists of gibberish, insane laughter and tortured screaming – but it seems that only Litchi understands his words. He is very obsessed with finding the Azure Grimoire and wants it for himself, to the point of even trying to consume Ragna. He had a hard time remembering Litchi when he was human, but slowly regained memories of his life, and started to remember Kokonoe and Relius, the latter being hated by Arakune.

In Continuum Shift, as his story goes on, he suddenly has moments of coherency, whereupon he remembers who he really is and is able to speak clearly to others. As of Chronophantasma, Arakune has regained the ability of speaking understandable sentences, but is still insane due to his condition. In addition, possibly due to the modifications Relius has made to him, Arakune appears to have been brainwashed into doing his bidding.

Powers and Abilities
Stepping into the Boundary has transformed Arakune into a black, amorphous creature made almost entirely of liquid seithr. Added with his erratic nature makes him a difficult opponent to overcome. He is able to dive into the ground as a puddle and sink into the ground to avoid attacks and render himself invisible to enemy detection until he is struck. His gooey body encompasses a horde of poisonous insects that swarm around his opponents. His body also contains a bundle of bones which he can shapeshift for a variety of melee attacks or shape it into a cannon that can fire a concentrated beam of dark energy. To make matters worse, in Chronophantasma Relius states that he installed the same type of Artificial Causality Phenomena Weapon that Lambda had within Arakune, implying that Arakune is now in possession of an Idea Engine.

Arakune's Drive is Crimson, which allows him to Curse his opponents by striking them with either a vapor he fumes out or by calling minions. In Calamity Trigger, he only needed to strike his opponent once, but in Continuum Shift and Chronophantasma, he has to fill up the gauge in order for it to work. Once fully Cursed, Arakune can summon a legion of small vermin-based creatures to swarm his opponents from all sides, making him nigh-untouchable in the hands of a proficient player. Arakune's Overdrive is Crimson Depths, which allows the Curse effect to last longer should it be in effect.

Etymology
Arakune is a fictional name created by Arakune himself. On first inspection, it looks like a corruption of Arachne; a mortal who was turned into a spider by the goddess of wisdom, Athena, in Ancient Greek mythology. However, Ara, intriguingly, means intermediary in Turkish, this reflects how Arakune stood too close to the Boundary and acted as an intermediary device for the Boundary's energy, turning him into what he is now. Kune is Serbian in origin and has several meanings, the most intriguing one being curse. An example of this would be Ona ga kune which translates as She is cursing him. This may be used to reflect his cursed situation and his Drive. Literally speaking, Arakune can translate, from Turkish and Serbian, as Intermediary Curse.

Additionally, Arakune's human surname, Carmine, is a red dye made from crushed cochineal insects. It is also a crimson colour with a purple tinge. His forename, Lotte, is a fish having a large mouth with a worm-like appendage used to lure prey. It may also be a reference to Lot's Wife from the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrha, who looked back at the city and was turned to salt as a result, perhaps a reference to Lotte Carmine becoming Arakune as a result of looking into the Boundary despite being explicitly warned not to.

Trivia

 * Along with Rachel, Hazama and Hakumen, Arakune is one of the few without a skeleton shown upon the first's lightning attacks. Though, unlike the two, he just appears black and white. This is thought to further count for the fact he cannot return to a human state.
 * Most of Arakune's specials are math terms, save his Drive and Overdrive.
 * Arakune's Drive appears to operate on a similar principle to attack pheromones that bees leave behind when they sting any animal or human that invades their territory, causing the entire hive to become aggressive toward the invader.
 * In some in-battle sound clips, it sounds as if he is speaking like a normal human, this can be heard in one of his VS Ragna quotes.
 * During a flashback in Continuum Shift, when Arakune was still human, he is still referred to as such when looking at his name even after players learn his real name is Lotte Carmine.
 * Arakune's gag reel is the only one in which there is an actual fight segment, pitting the player against Hazama. The outcome remains the same regardless of whether the player wins or loses.
 * In the opening of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II, Arakune's mask is shown to be, oddly, capable of blinking.
 * Besides Litchi, Hazama can understand what Arakune says, as seen in Arakune's true ending.
 * Arakune seems to either be able to duplicate his mask, or carries spares; one of his new attacks in Chronophantasma displays him with five identical masks.
 * When targeted by Amane's Astral Heat, Arakune does not appear in his former human form; instead he appears as a Tartar, an insectoid species. As a matter of fact, the Tartar Arakune is transformed into resembles the one Lambda-11 encountered in Continuum Shift.