Ragna the Bloodedge

Ragna the Bloodedge 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 a playable character and the main protagonist of the BlazBlue series.

Information
When he was young, Ragna lived in a church with his younger siblings Jin and Saya, and was 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. At some point, Ragna was bitten by a vampire to save his life. He was later found by Jubei of the Six Heroes 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, Jubei trained Ragna to control the power of the Azure, being periodically watched by Rachel, who requested Jubei 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, Jubei 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.

Calamity Trigger
On the date 2199/12/31 AD, New Year's Eve, Ragna travels to 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-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.

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-11 due to Kokonoe 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 he manages to beat Jin. 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-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 though in the process his left arm is destroyed. 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 Jubei to go with him much to Ragna's dismay, but he caves in when he realizes Taokaka would follow him even if he said no.

Chronophantasma
Ragna and Taokaka are in Ikaruga. Along the way, they bumped into a mercenary. He got separated from Taokaka. Ragna soon encounters Tager asking Tager if he knows where Noel Vermillion is, but he does not know where she is nor does Kokonoe. However Kokonoe did tell Ragna that Noel and Makoto ran off after they heard the name Tsubaki.

During his search, Ragna found Tsubaki and asked her if she knows Noel, but Tsubaki ignored him and she attempts to follow out the order made by the Imperator to arrest him and she blames him to be the reason for the change in Noel, Makoto, and Jin. After Ragna defeated Tsubaki, she pleaded him to kill her, but he thought against it because she is Noel's friend. As Tsubaki keeps blaming him, Ragna decided to just destroy the Izayoi. Hakumen appeared out of nowhere to protect Tsubaki and let her escape.

Later Ragna decided to face Terumi, but had an unexpected encounter with a revived Nu-13. Soon after, Ragna was about to activate the Azure Grimoire, but he was unable to activate it because Terumi used the power of Takamagahara to create a dimensional influence so that the Grimoire could not be used. Ragna failed to stop Terumi from retaining the power he needs to open the Nemesis Horizon (due to Nu's obsession of him).

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 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 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. He does genuinely care for certain people, such as Taokaka, Noel and Jubei. He 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. 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. It is also hinted that he and Rachel have feelings for one another, but both of them would die before admitting it.

In the anime adaptation BlazBlue: Alter Memory, Ragna appears to be much more rebellious than his game counterpart.

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. He wears a pair of black gloves with a red shell on the backs of the hands. His right arm is 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 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 Jubei, 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.

Powers and Abilities
Ragna is one of the most powerful individuals in the world of BlazBlue. Having been trained by Jubei, the strongest creature alive himself, Ragna possesses incredible fighting skills enough to take down a squad of the Librarium. Being the human form of the Black Beast, Ragna has incredible seithr powers. His elemental affinity is darkness. In battle he summons parts of the Black Beast to attack such as a pointed jaw or possibly its tail (for Carnage Scissors), claws (Back Spin Kick followup, Devoured by Darkness, and 6D), one of the many heads (Dead Spike and the Hell's Fang Additional Blow), its breath (the Ax Kick followup only in Continuum Shift) or a lump of seithr (5D and 2D), the hide for its skin (D version of Inferno Divider and j.D), and an angelic wing (Black Onslaught). Which all involve the use of drives and his ability to reap souls. He also has the ability to transform his entire body into a creature of pure darkness to devastate his foes.

His weapon of choice is the Blood-Scythe, a weapon that supplements his ability to steal life force with each strike. The Blood-Scythe initially takes on the form of a giant sword with a giant slab of metal resembling a blade. The weapon can change into a scythe-like weapon to effectively steal more energy from the foe through his Drive, Soul Eater (which involves summoning parts of the Black Beast). One of the main reasons Ragna is hunted down is because of his possession of the Azure Grimoire in his right arm, an incredibly powerful form of Ars Armagus sought out by many which grants its wielder power from the Boundary. The Azure Grimoire enhances the powers of whoever wields it. In the case of Ragna, he enters a more powerful state known as Blood Kain, enveloping him in a dark aura that doubles his attack power at the cost of his life energy. Later onwards the Azure Grimoire downloads Lambda's Idea Engine, removing Hazama's control over it and granting Ragna access to the True Azure.

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 Continuum Shift, his name suggests another Norse reference, which is the legends of Ragnar Lodbrok, 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

 * Ragna is called Shinigami (死神) in the Japanese dub, meaning God of Death. This was replaced in the English version with Grim Reaper, a more Western personification of death.
 * During Ragna's flashbacks, his outfit resembles one of the concept designs for the early design stages of Ragna's character.
 * Ragna's fear of ghosts may derive from the fact that they are spiritual, and thus he cannot fight against them, especially seeing as how they rely on illusions and dark arts, which cannot be physically countered. Although in theory Ragna can absorb ghosts, them being simply souls by another name, it is possible that he avoids doing this because of some undesirable side-effect. Another explanation is that his fear stems from the fact that Hazama, his archenemy, is a ghost, and he is still suffering from the psychological trauma he inflicted upon him.
 * 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 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.
 * Ragna's crest seems to be a variation of the 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.
 * All of Ragna's D attacks involve either seithr or a part of the Black Beast.
 * Ragna dislikes needles, as revealed by his dialogue in his Help Me, Professor Kokonoe! section.
 * Three of Ragna's Special Attacks which involves using his darkness element have names related to 'hell' (Hell's Fang, Gauntlet Hades and Inferno Divider). 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. It happens the same with Belial Edge, in which Belial is one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell.
 * Ragna, along with Jin, Hazama 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 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 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 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 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 Continuum Shift artwork. In Ragna's 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.
 * In BlazBlue: Alter Memory, Ragna is severely injured after falling into Lost Town during his fight with Carl Clover. However in Continuum Shift, he was severely hit by Nirvana.