Caerula Sanguis

Caerula Sanguis (カエルラ・サングウィス, Kaerura Sanguwisu, Latin for "blue blood") is one of several Last Order characters adapted from fan submissions that were solicited by Kishiro from his readers for character ideas. She is based a design called “Blue” by tfng,^[1] and the color blue is a recurring theme in the various aliases she has adopted. Formerly known as Vilma Fachiri, Caerula is first introduced as the Chairman of the Stellar Nursery Society, a small faction that operates within the main asteroid belt. However, she turns out to have a much longer history and background going back more than 700 years that parallel the creation of the current world within which the Battle Angel Alita universe is set, but was not revealed in the original manga series. As one reviewer notes, "in a very real sense Caerula's story is also the foundation of the present...her actions in the past played an instrumental role in bringing about the state of affairs that exists in Alita's current time."^[2]

Caerula is the last surviving Type-V mutant or "Cognate" as they refer to themselves as, a human who was infected by a retrovirus known as the V-virus, giving her vampire-like characteristics such as eternal youth. As a result of abilities that she has developed as a Type-V mutant, she is a formidable martial artist able to fully contend with cyborg opponents such as Alita, the series protagonist, even though she is still fully flesh and blood. Caerula is the protagonist of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order volume 9 (titled Angel's Duty by Viz Media), in which Alita does not appear once, making it the only volume thus far in both manga series to have this distinction.

Caerula is a highly skilled martial artist, a student of "48 schools and 125 divisions" of kung fu.^[3] She was a formidable fighter second only to Victor because of his skin hardening ability, and following his death, she might be peerless. Caerula is highly skilled in both hand-to-hand combat and sword combat (she fights with dual jian). Her long history of combat experience enables her to anticipate and counter her opponents while taking into account the surroundings and all possibilities. She developed a tactic known as the Eight Block Death Gate Array, a series of maneuvers designed to drive an opponent into an untenable position from which they can be killed in a final blow, which Mbadi acknowledges as inescapable once it has been executed.^[4]

As a result of being a Type-V mutant, Caerula's combat abilities are further enhanced. Because she is fully flesh and blood, more cyberized opponents tend to think that she is an ordinary human, which leads to underestimating her. She has more physical strength and heightened senses, such as being able to "see neural pulse flow", nullifying any speed advantage a more cyberized opponent may have over her.^[5] This is further enhanced by an acquired capability to ascertain the presence and trajectory of everything in her immediate environment during a fight, from the presence of her enemies, bullet trajectories, and minute details such as "the mice scurrying to take cover".^[6] Caerula's acquired regenerative ability can regenerate lost limbs over time and revive her from catastrophic injuries that appear to be fatal, such as her disembowelment following her fight with Victor Byron in ES 126 and her apparent "death" during her fight with Alita in ES 591. This ability appears to be aided by the consumption of fresh human blood, and she can completely suck an adult male dry, leaving him a desiccated corpse in seconds.

Sechs/Xechs

The sixth 'TUNED AR/GR Series 2' robot copy of Alita/Gally. After the shut down of the GIB, the abandoned AR-6/GR-6 renamed themselves Sechs, and found new purpose through combat, hunting down and destroying the other copies. Intending to ultimately destroy Alita in single combat, surpass the original, and earn the right to exist as a real warrior. After being defeated by Alita, and having the TUNED body destroyed, Sechs is temporarily put inside of Alita's old interactive interface to use as a body. After registering for the Z.O.T.T., Sechs transitions into the anatomically male Fizziroy body, made of cutting edge polyethylene materials, and different from his initial make as a replica of Alita.

Ping Wu/The Weasel

A hacker extraordinaire, refugee from the outside world and justice, Ping Wu (ピング・ウー, Pingu Ū) saves Alita and company after Mbadi expels them from Ketheres to burn up in atmospheric reentry. He offers to assist Alita in her rescue of Lou's brain from the Ketheres brain matrix. Although Alita distrusts him, she has no recourse, giving Ping one of Nova's brain chips as partial payment. Ping turns out to have a history with Trinidad and Ketheres, as it was he who stole the secret of nanotechnological longevity and spread it to the masses. He attempted to hack into the first Zenith of Things Tournament, but failed. Barely escaping with his life, Ping lost his left arm, which is now a robot named Kale who assists him. He spent 100 years in hiding in Robo-Asyl. He is officially listed as a member of the Space Angels' pit crew, and provides Alita with technical support when she invades Melchizedek.

Aga Mbadi/Trinidad

Officially the assistant chairman of LADDER, the Tiphares council and a celebrated hero, Aga Mbadi (アガ・ムバディ, Aga Mubadi) is known as Trinidad (トリニダード, Torinidādo) because he has the brain chips of three Tipharean geniuses inside his own head. Mbadi has more power and hidden agendas than most realize. Officially a supporter of the Mars Kingdom Parliament, he had Queen Limeira's father assassinated for yet undisclosed reasons. He directs the development of the transhuman world and the cooperation between the powers of the solar system. LADDER's military forces including its interplanetary peacekeepers and special forces who use stealth camouflage to make themselves invisible also fall under his command. Part of his rise to power appears to have been because of a mission to Pluto in which he appeared to be the sole survivor. Mbadi had a previously close relationship with Caerula Sanguis that has not yet been fully revealed. The two were once friends, and Mbadi knows quite a great deal about Caerula's background and her capabilities as a Type-V mutant. This relationship however has since evolved into one of mutual hostility, and both now seek to kill each other. Mbadi attempted to kill Alita and her companions after capturing Desty Nova soon after they arrived in Ketheres by ejecting them into space, but they were rescued by Ping. He takes an interest in the Space Angels after they enter the Zenith of Things Tournament (ZOTT). Mbadi is a powerful hacker and the only one who is a match for Ping. He can hack into cyborg bodies by just being in the same room as his targets, but in Alita's case, requires direct contact. He is a master of yoga and the ancient martial art of Kalarippayattu.

Nola Defarge

Nola Defarge, known in Japan as Nora Lafargue (ノーラ・ラファルグ, Nōra Rafarugu), is a young woman who lives in Tiphares, but hasn't had her brain switched for a biochip. She survives the breakdown of Tiphares society and her parents' suicide, and joins a group led by Jim Roscoe. With Pam Mahan and David Frank she sets out to find Desty Nova's lab and stumble upon the newly awakened Alita. Nola follows Alita through the chaotic city for a while and learns how to deal with her hopelessness in the process. She stays in Tiphares and helps with the rebuilding process.

Marge Mahan

Marge Mahan (マージ・マハン, Māji Mahan) is Pam's assigned mother. Unlike other adults, she seeks to bring peace to Tiphares by reconciling the adults and children. After Sachumodo is defeated by Alita, she emerges as the leader of the Tipharean survivors.

Pam Mahan

Pam Mahan (パム・マハン, Pamu Mahan) is a young, slightly ditsy girl and a close friend of Nola Defarge. She reminds Alita of Lou, and it is theorized that they come from the same genetic stock.

Jim Roscoe

Jim Roscoe (ジム・ロスコー, Jimu Rosukō) is one of the manufactured geniuses of Tiphares society, much like Desty Nova and Daisuke Ido. He becomes Nova's protégé and seems to have a bright future with him until Nova brings down Tipharean society by revealing the secret of Tiphares to all. Jim kills Nova to see if he told the truth about the brains of the adult populace being replaced with chips. This begins his spiral into despair over the state of the world.

Jim assumes the leadership of a band of children and young adults, and although he proves an effective leader, he is detached and manipulative, and carries a genocidal hatred against Tiphareans who have had their brains replaced with brain chips. He leads a party of youths into the core of the MIB with plans to hack it so that it will create a powerful giant robot named Sachumodo to defend his followers. Instead, his group runs afoul of a group of bloodthirsty adults led by his stepfather Casey. Jim barely escapes as his group is annihilated in the battle.

Reaching the MIB core, Jim discovers that Tiphares itself is simply a proving ground for manufactured intelligences like himself, with no other real purpose. This knowledge drives him over the edge, and he orders the newly created Sachumodo to destroy all of Tiphares, starting with Casey and his group. As Sachumodo slaughters them, he is killed by an arrow fired from one of Casey's henchmen.

Deckman 100

One of Nova's creations, Deckman 100 is specially built to repair and maintain Alita's Imaginos body. He has been reprogrammed to loyally follow Alita wherever she travels, addressing her as "Master".

Sachumodo

Sachumodo (サチュモド) is a monstrous robot created by the MIB facilities, hacked by Jim Roscoe. Originally meant to be a protector, he becomes a tool of vengeance and destruction when Jim dies, leaving his memories and detached nihilism in the robot.

Gelda

Portrayed by Michelle Rodriguez

Gelda (ゲルダ, Geruda) is the woman who saved Erica and Yoko (Alita) when they were children from a squad of Martian soldiers and took them into Grünthal. Alita considers Gelda her master. She taught Yoko and Erica the Übergeheimnis combo Hertzer Nadel. Gerla has only appeared in Alita's flashbacks thus far and her status is unknown.

Tzykrow

Tzykrow (ツァイクロウ, Tsaikurou) is a former Höher Krieger of the Mauser School and the Kammer Gruppe instructor, known both as "The Raven" and "Tzyk the Brute". He is now a major of the High Order Squad, a group of LADDER special forces soldiers under Trinidad’s direct command. Alita runs into him again 200 years after she was a former subordinate of his in the Kammer Gruppe when she infiltrates the Ketheres Central Core Block during the Z.O.T.T. to recover Lou’s brain. After she dispatches two of his fellow guards, Tzykrow manages to slip through Alita's attacks and hit the override switch of her EVA suit, shutting off her stealth mode. After the introductions, Tzykrow reminds Alita of the results of the last mission she undertook as Yoko, Operation Maulwurf, and how she was supposed to self-destruct to avoid capture. He then fights Alita and initially has the upper hand, but then Alita recalls who she is and starts to press him. Tzykrow resorts to using Kurz Bombe Kunst, managing to hit Alita's arms with several of the tiny bombs. Alita's use of an original technique on him, the Plasma Bissen, completely surprises Tzyk, who falls to Alita's use of the Geheimnis Einsatzrhythmen, followed by Hertzer Nadel. He manages to escape the destruction of his body by distracting Alita with an eyeball bomb and detaching his head via his Seinerweisen. When Tzykrow opens a communications channel to contact Trinidad, Ping is able to hack into the channel and electrically shock him, disabling his circuits, if not frying them outright, and causing him to fall unconscious into the depths of the core. He is later shown to have made it back alive, only to be badly damaged by an enraged Trinidad and given over to the newly reincarnated Desty Nova for experimentation.

Tzykrow is a direct reference to the character Zycrow seen in Yukito Kishiro's previous manga series Aqua Knight, both in name and appearance.

Lambda Nam Nam

Lambda Nam Nam (ランダ・ナムナム, Randa Namu Namu) is the leader of the independent robots who exist in a symbiotic relationship with Ketheres, performing maintenance in exchange for a power source. Considered a friend by Ping, he exiled Ping for rescuing Alita, Sechs, Elf, Zwölf and Deckman 100 after they were expelled from Ketheres by Aga Mbadi. When Ping and Alita later returned to Ketheres, he had all the entrances that they knew of sealed to prevent them from reentering. Lambda Nam Nam has a change of heart after witnessing Ping's sacrifice for Alita. Following her defeat by Super Nova, he had his robots gather the remnants of her body along with the Fata Morgana, and implored Melchizedek to save her.

Jack Gerambo

Jack Gerambo (J.ゲルランボー, Jakku Geruranbō) is a reporter for Combat TV who is first introduced during Alita and Zazie's quest through the combat chamber to capture all the flags. He has his crew deliver them to the final flag as part of a deal struck with Ping Wu in exchange for an interview with them. Gerambo later covers the Zenith of Things Tournament (ZOTT) with the aid of martial arts scholar Hegeor Hopper.

Hegeor Hopper

Hegeor Hopper (ヘジオア・ホッパー, Hejioa Hoppā) is a martial arts scholar who provides commentary and analysis alongside Jack Gerambo during the ZOTT. His knowledge of martial arts techniques and history is very comprehensive, as Caerula Sanguis acknowledges, and he realizes that Alita is possibly a surviving Kunstler. During the Space Angels' fight against the Starship Cult, the Cult's leader Whophon unleashes a deadly hypnotic technique that causes members of the audience to spontaneously combust. Hopper is one of those affected, but is able to mentally block out the fact that he actually is afire in the belief that it is an illusion. He survives his burns and continues to cover the ZOTT.

Colonel Payne

Colonel Payne (ペイン大佐, Pein Taisa) was originally the heartless owner of a juvenile infantry school, providing children to fight wars for entertainment on the space colony Leviathan 1. He owned Giraud's platoon and Zazie was a former member of his school. After being dispatched by Alita for using innocent children as cannon fodder, Colonel Payne stays in her psyche as a Jungian shadow, embodying her dark side and, ironically, exerting more influence on her in his death than in life.

Rem Ray

Ping Wu's ex-girlfriend, Rem Ray (レム・レィ, Remu Rei) is a field surgeon who operates on survivors of the war games in Leviathan I. Although she helps Ping and Alita meet Martin, she rebuffs his attempt to get back together with her after he went into hiding on Ketheres for 100 years. Later on however, Desty Nova in the form of Portanova contacts her for assistance after Ping is attacked by LADDER special forces, nearly killing Ping.

Martin Tsang

A morbidly obese man and Ping's former partner in crime, Martin Tsang (マルチン・ツァン, Maruchin Tsan) was known as the "Skunk". He survived Trinidad's assault on Ping and his fellow hackers and established himself as a commodities broker on Leviathan I. After Ping met him again after 100 years, the two got into a major fight for Martin's backing out on Ping, but he ended up helping Ping out by sponsoring the Zenith of Things Tournament team headed by Alita, the Space Angels. Ping uses his likeness to fool LADDER cameras that are spying on him when he is in Ketheres.

König

A talking teddy bear that Queen Limeira has had with her since she was a toddler, it has not yet been revealed what König (ケーニッヒ, Kēnihhi)'s true nature is. His first appearance at a LADDER meeting led the Venusian and Jovian factions to suspect that Queen Limeira's dead father had transplanted his brain into König because his name means "king" in German. He appears to be capable of speech and independent thought, although it may simply be ventriloquism on the part of Limeira.

Queen Limeira

The constitutional head of the Mars Kingdom Parliament, Queen Limeira (リメイラ女王, Rimeira Joō) is young, but has a wisdom beyond her years, being able to confound even Aga Mbadi. However, she tends to lapse into a younger, more immature version of herself more reflective of her actual age, partly due to her behavior around König. It has been suggested that she is a ventriloquist who often uses König as a mouthpiece. However, when König does speak, it is usually to make serious policy pronouncements or statements on behalf of the Mars Kingdom Parliament. Her father the king was assassinated under Mbadi's orders, but she has yet to discover this fact.

Zazie

Queen Limeira's devoted escort and bodyguard, Zazie, known in Japan as Xazi (ザジ, Zaji), has served her since she was a toddler. She was a survivor of Colonel Payne's school and as a result is a highly trained and skilled soldier especially in the use of firearms. She discovers Alita and Ping as stowaways on the Mars Kingdom Parliament's spacecraft and nearly self-destructs to kill Alita. Later on however, she assists Alita in the combat chamber on Leviathan I by capturing the flags scattered throughout the chamber to atone for their failure to save Giraud's platoon on time. She fights and defeats Hogan, a member of the Space Karate team, and helps Alita in her fight against the leader, Toji. In volume 11 she joins the Space Angels in the arena, though she is suffering from the aftereffects of a blow from Frau X, Kunstler on Mars.

Guntroll

Also known as the Stellar Nursery Society Team, the Guntroll are formed from a group that takes care of children. With widespread immortality through advanced nanotechnology, children are widely seen as a threat. Guntroll fight in the tournament to win the first prize of nationhood, which would allow them to create a safe place for children they rescue.

Space Karate Forces

Starship Cult

Anomaly

Anomaly (アノーマリー, Anōmarī) is not a team, but a single contender of the ZOTT. A "true inorganic life form" as dubbed by Mbadi, it is a nanomachine-based monstrosity born from unknown origin, but supposedly from the surface of Mercury years after the whole planet became covered in a sea of uncontrollable nanomachines in a Grey Goo event, and was created as a way to make contact with humans through the language of combat, though it was only able to form a grotesque caricature of what the nanomachines' collective mind thought humans were like. Standing dozens of feet in height and sporting a menacing, almost disturbing look, it has humanoid appendages, a thin body and a massive head, but his most prominent feature is a massive penis almost as big as Anomaly itself is, used as a battering ram (in a fashion similar to the movement of a real penis during intercourse) and a powerful energy cannon (dubbed "Libido Cannon"). While gargantuan and enormously powerful, Anomaly was basically instinct-driven and thus easily destroyed multiple times during the tournament, only to repair itself completely in a matter of seconds and then obliterate its enemies. Toji faced this "Freudian nightmare" (as nicknamed by Nova) and was almost defeated when Zekka saved the day and pierced Anomaly's penis with a beer bottle, then used Toji himself as a projectile to cause the beast to overheat and detonate in melted pieces, thus rendering its regeneration completely useless.

War-Men 609

The only member of the Jupiter Team, War-Men 609 (ウォーメン609, Wōmen 609) cannot be considered a fighter but an engine of destruction. It sports an array of menacing weapons and a gargantuan size (exactly the maximum allowed size according to tournament rules), coupled with the ability to change its form and thus adapt itself to the flow of battle. The longer the fight, the more powerful this mechanical beast becomes. Three forms appear: the Übernaut, Voyna, and Tunguska, the most powerful and final form.

Genome Kingdom

The flagship team of Venus. Whereas the Jovians rely on technology, the Venusians specialize solely on an extreme and highly sophisticated form of bioengineering, having everything from clothes to weapons created from organic matter into grotesque forms.

Victor Byron

The most powerful Type-V mutant and Vilma's husband, Victor Byron (ヴィクター・バイロン, Vikutā Bairon) was a knight during the Crusades and has been alive for more than 1,000 years, becoming a Type-V mutant after he survived a hanging. He still speaks in an archaic manner reflecting his medieval origins. Victor is the last surviving leader of The Society, a group of Type-V Mutants that has dwindled to a handful members. They accompany him in roaming the snow-covered post-apocalyptic world, killing and eating the humans they find in an area and then moving on. Until the Type-V mutants are the only ones left on Earth, Victor is content to continue this existence after which he would kill Jacco and Morse, eat them, then die together with Vilma. Indeed, Vilma is the only other Type-V mutant Victor cares for more than himself, as he nearly committed suicide in his grief and depression after she disappeared in ES 69, and was willing to sacrifice Zapolska to demonstrate human treachery to her. He also threatened to kill anyone who insulted her when Jacco questioned his motivations for leading them into the trap set by Keiran Farrell and left it up to Vilma whether to choose them or the humans of the Farrell Shelter.

Based on his experience of being betrayed and turned into a Type-V mutant and as a result of his Christian beliefs, Victor sees his fate as being heaven-sent and his mission as one to rid the world of "every last sinful lamb". He has a deep distrust of all humans and sees Type-V mutants as the wolves who prey on human sheep. Victor is a skilled swordsman, but his real abilities lie in being able to withstand devastating amounts of damage that would kill any other Type-V mutant many times over. After having gone through and survived numerous states of "Altered Shock" due to his prolonged age, Victor can increase the hardness and durability of his body surface by degrees until it reaches a near impenetrable armored state that is impervious to nearly all of Vilma's deadliest attacks. This final state however, uses up a lot of energy, leaving him a coma for months afterwards. Thanks to this ability, he won the previously recalcitrant Vilma over when she challenged him in ES 32 in Hong Kong by being able to withstand nine out of ten attacks that she threw at him in an attempt to kill him. Realizing that she had been defeated, she was unable to make her tenth attack.

In ES 126, the Cognate encountered Arthur Farrell, the grandson of John Farrell (see Earth Impact winter Survivors). Vilma's hope for humanity was rekindled, but she realized that Victor stood in the way and that there would be no chance for the Merlin Project that Arthur was supervising as long as Victor was still alive. She attempted to kill him, but failed, getting dragged into a prolonged fight that nearly resulted in her death and Victor's near triumph, although he had to push himself to his full armored transformation to withstand her attacks. By chance, the impact winter ended as Merlin predicted, enabling Vilma to deal Victor a death blow before he finished her off. Believing that God had chosen the humans over the Cognate by ending the impact winter, he enjoined Vilma to watch over them and not grieve for him before he died.

Arthur Farrell

Arthur Farrell (アーサー・ファレル, Āsā Fareru) is the grandson of John Farrell, and is in charge of the Merlin Project. He becomes the leader of the Bradley Shelter after his fiancée, Haruka, is killed by the leader of the surviving Type-V mutants, Victor Byron. His fame for "defeating" Victor and Vilma allows him to take leadership of the remnants of the human race after the impact winter ends. He realizes that the human race could never survive a second impact, so pushes relentlessly forward to re-establish a human presence in space and on other planets. His ruthless tactics make him an object of fear and hatred, but he never wavers in achieving his ultimate goal. His last act before his death is to give Vilma, the Type-V mutant, the "Fata Morgana". This is a specially encrypted program that can be used to deactivate Melchizedek, the computer that controls Tiphares and Ketheres and helps Aga Mbadi to maintain complete control over Earth.

John Farrell

John Farrell (ジョン・ファレル, Jon Fareru) is the son of Keiran Farrell and grandfather of Arthur. He discovered Vilma Fachiri in the snow after a fight with some mutant humans and took her to the Farrell Shelter, where she was nursed back to health.

Keiran Farrell

Keiran Farrell, known in Japan as Colin Farrell (コリン・ファレル, Korin Fareru), is the leader of the Farrell Shelter, a small shelter community and a former scientist pre-Catastropher who worked on the forerunner of the supercomputer Merlin.

Haruka

Arthur Farrell's fiancée, whom he grew up with, Haruka (ハルカ) has a gentle nature and is a talented flutist, although she once became very upset with Arthur for inviting Vilma to make him a Type-V mutant after she found out that they lose their reproductive capabilities. A bit naive, Haruka is the only other resident of the Bradley Shelter besides Arthur who trusts Vilma, and believes that Victor Byron will decide to peacefully coexist with them. Fearing a possible repetition of the events of fifty years before, Victor, happening upon Haruka in the woods, attacks her and tries to turn her into a Type-V mutant, telling her that if she can still wish for peace after becoming one then he will truly reconsider his position on humans. The trauma of the transformation and the realization that she will no longer be able to bear children prove too great, however, and Haruka succumbs to blood loss and exposure.

Radha

Arthur Farrell's friend and a student of Vedic math, Radha (ラダ, Rada) is one of those working on the Merlin project.

Citations

Trade references

1. Yukito, Kishiro (June 2003). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Angel Reborn. ISBN 1-56931-824-7.
2. Yukito, Kishiro (October 29, 2003). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Angel of the Innocents. ISBN 1-56931-976-6.
3. Yukito, Kishiro (March 10, 2004). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Angel Eternal. ISBN 1-59116-135-5.
4. Yukito, Kishiro (October 19, 2004). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Angel of Protest. ISBN 1-59116-281-5.
5. Yukito, Kishiro (April 12, 2005). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Haunted Angel. ISBN 1-59116-282-3.
6. Yukito, Kishiro (November 8, 2005). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order The Angel & The Vampire. ISBN 1-4215-0057-4.
7. Yukito, Kishiro (June 13, 2006). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Guilty Angel. ISBN 1-4215-0433-2.
8. Yukito, Kishiro (December 12, 2006). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Angel's Vision. ISBN 1-4215-0865-6.
9. Yukito, Kishiro (September 11, 2007). Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Angel's Duty. ISBN 978-1-4215-1348-5.