Arakune

Arakune is a black, blob-like creature and a playable character in Calamity Trigger and Continuum Shift.

Information

A black blob-like creature with a white mask who formerly worked alongside Kokonoe, Tager and Litchi in Sector Seven. He is formerly a human named "Lotte 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 hisArcade Mode ending) he doesn't seem to have noticed that he's changed, and to him, his bizarre speech is completely normal. He seems to not understand why others can't understand him, creating a crude mask for himself thinking it would allow others to understand what he's saying.

During Calamity Trigger, he lives in the sewers of 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.

In 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 shouldn't cross or she could end up like him. An encounter with Terumi 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 2nd 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. 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.

Personality

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 Grimmore and wants it for himself, to the point of even trying to consume Ragna (or Noel). 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.

Powers and Abilities

Stepping into the Boundary has transformed Arakune into a black, amorphous creature. 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 hoarde 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.

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, 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.

Trivia

• Arakune's Guilty Gear counterparts seem to be in the form of Eddie/Zato-1 and Zappa. Largely borrowing from the former, aside from his shapeshifting nature, Arakune sacrificed his own sanity and eventually memories for knowledge and ended up being consumed, much like Zato sacrificing his own eyesight for control of the Forbidden Beast born of his own shadow, which eventually kills him. From the latter, he has similar gameplay traits in the form of summoning various creatures that inhabit his own body. His character also shares some similiarity with Faust/Dr. Baldhead, as they were both driven insane by outside forces, but have moments where their sanity returns (although Arakune's sanity doesn't permanantly return like Faust's did). Another is that they are/were intelligent men, Faust being a formerly trained doctor, and Arakune a career scientist.
  • One of Arakune's DLC colors resembles Zato-1.
• Arakune also shares many similarities with the character 'No-Face' from the anime movie 'Spirited Away', they are both black blob-like creatures, Arakune absorbs life force whilst No-Face absorbs emotions and both wear white masks.
• Arakune may be based on the Shoggoth from the Chtulhu Mythos, a shapeless creature that can create new organs at will, though they are only temporary.
• 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 can't return to a human state.
• Most of Arakune's specials are math terms, if not all. This points to the fact he was originally a scientist.
• In one of Arakune's endings in Calamity Trigger, he meets Noel Vermillion and ends up losing to her, resulting in him being shot multiple times due to Noel's fear of bugs (Arakune is said to be insects wrapped in cloth, resulting in his form). After the whole scene, Noel puts Arakune into a trash-bag and lets him get picked up with the rest of the trash. At the very end, Arakune finds out he's in a dump, and comments that he's "never thought it would end like this [ending up in the dump]". Applying the fact he needs to survive by eating other life forms, it's thought that he dies in this ending due to lack of food. This is one of his humorous endings.
• In some in-battle sound clips, it appears he is speaking like a normal human, this can be heard in one of his VS Ragna quotes.
• During a flashback in Continnum 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.
• One of Arakune's audible win quotes in Continuum Shift has him saying "What is a man?" This is likely a reference to a famous quote from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, where the antagonist Dracula proposes the same question.
  • Even more coincidentally, David Vincent, Jin and Hakumen's ENG Voice Actor succeeds as Ritcher Belmont from the same series, and is the one Dracula proposes the question to.
• In Arakune's gag reel, Arakune is able to draw a similarity to his surroundings as that of a RPG. The fact that he was able to draw such a conclusion may mean that he was a bit of a video game enthusiast while he was still human. During this segment, he even uses the infamous "OVER 9000" quote, referencing a particular scene from Dragon Ball Z that has become a widely popular internet meme. Later on, when Platinum comes into the scene, and says that a curse has been placed on her, which if she's in debt to someone, she gets a heart attack. As the curse was placed on her by Hazama(who soon forgot about it, as Jin says it's a side effect of laying the curse), Luna then proceeds to say that a curse was placed on her by a "n00b", internet slang for a new person to a game or chat with low typing skills (often), and says they were "pwn3d". Sena then says that they were talking "l33t", and then is surprised because he's doing it as well. After this, Hazama comes back with an order for a bridal gown, due to the fact he was going to marry a comatost "Princess Ragna". After more conversation and a fight, Ragna is then devoured by Arakune (dispite Luna's pleas for Arakune to kill Hazama), and just about ends the Gag Reel when Rachel comes out, picks up the forgotten "Sword of Morning Glory", the sword Jin had given to Arakune, and then stabs and hardens Arakune, before knocking the statue down and taking Ragna with her, and the shattered remains of Arakune are bought by Litchi from Jin (who instantly puts a price on each piece).
  • Strangely enough, the infamous "OVER 9000" quote was made only for the English version of Dragon Ball Z, while in the other versions it says "OVER 8000". In the Japanese Version this phrase is not said.
• Arakune's gag reel is the only one in which there is an actual fight segment, pitting the player against Hazama, and winning or losing the fight will cause the gag reel continues.
• In his "Help Me, Professor Kokonoe!" segment, Kokonoe gives Arakune a hard time for causing players to "shit bricks" whenever he appeared (referring to him being one of the top tier characters in Calamity Trigger [the others being Rachel and Nu], and being the bane of many players, both casual and tournament level). Arakune almost sarcastically admits he was toned down, slyly mentioning being able to do a mere 9000 damage in a 160 hit combo (which is actually possible).
• In his "Help Me, Professor Kokonoe!", since the bad ending turns out to ended on such a high note, he becomes the Irresistable Arakune, in which he talks as a ladies' man with a very handsome face mask. But he reverts back to his normal self when Kokonoe brings up the part where he acted too cool in front of Litchi when meeting her. Later in Litchi's "Help Me, Professor Kokonoe!", the Irresistable Arakune makes its return as the Arakunedroid (that cost 39, 800 PD with tax included and comes with the white version of him for a limited time only). However, both Kokonoe and Litchi doesn't seem to like Arakunedroid's new personality; nearly making Kokonoe want to blow him up, even though she's the one who created it.
• Arakune's Unlimited form allows him to send out three of the same bug when an opponent is cursed, at the cost of depleting the curse meter much faster. In Calamity Trigger, the small size of the bugs largely defeated the purpose of this, as most of them would miss the opponent easily. In Continuum Shift, however, Arakune is given his old CT ability of instant curse, and his bugs converge more convenitely onto the position they're directed in. Combined with the large size of the bugs this time, it allows for him to literally fill the screen, effectively shutting down any character. He also has increased jumping speed, and dashes instead of traveling through the ground, which unfortunately makes his feints less reliable. Arakune also gains a new Distortion Drive, in which he spits out a harmless looking bag. If the opponent makes any contact with it, it spits out a large number of bugs that can K.O. them in a single hit. In CS: EX, Arakune gains a new Distortion Drive in which he does a giant version of his 2C attack.
• Arakune's name may be a reference to Arachne, a mortal who was turned into a spider by the goddess of wisdom, Athena. His crest also resembles a spider.
• Besides Litchi, Terumi can understand what Arakune says, as seen in Arakune's true ending.
• Arakune is similar to Orochimaru from Naruto. Both men seek forbidden knowledge but becoming less than human as a result.
• In Arakune's gag reel, Litchi describes him as "flexible, able to eat and absorb almost anything, once it has his mind on something, he can't be swayed out". This Description makes a reference to Kirby, most known due to his ability to eat and absorb enemies, food and destructible objects.