BLOODY ROAR 4 CHARACTER STORIES FAQ by Patrick Coffman (Revision 1.0) NOTE ON JAPANESE ROMANIZATION AND PRONOUNCIATION I write out the "long" vowel sounds. Some people don't when they put the words into the Roman alphabet, just because they don't want people to mispronounce the diphthongs. However, I've found that it is a little annoying to see things written out without reference to how long the vowel is, because that does change the word quite a bit and can easily make it have different meaning, especially where "kanji" compounds are concerned. Basically, the sound should be held longer, is all; when you see "ou" it is a longer version of "o," "aa" is a longer version of "a," "uu" is a longer version of "u," "ei" is a longer version of "e," and "ii" is a longer version of "i." It's like you say the sound twice smoothly, like the difference between someone going "Ohhhhhh" versus them just saying "Oh." shortly like that. In other words, no, it's not "Rye-ow-how," it's "Ryo-hoe-." If you don't want to learn any Japanese, then just don't worry about it. Don't send me mail about it, tho', unless you really do just want to know how to pronounce the word in question. Copyright 2004. Don't steal this, don't post it without permission, don't copy it without permission, don't sell it, etc, etc, all that other legalese that no-one will read through. >>>INTRODUCTION<<< This series is not exactly excellent or anything, but it always does seem to come around just when there are no other fighters on the market and give me something to waste my time on. This latest installment, you may notice if you play the game, has endings that reference a backstory for each characters that they haven't set up. Sort of like, "Whoops!--We forgot to make intro's to the story mode!" Way to go, Eighting. Anyway, for the longest time, there were no stories available on the entire internet. The Japanese site only had the stories for the new characters. I just didn't care enough to pursue it, but then, when I visited the message boards at GameFAQs for the first time in a while, I saw a topic wherein the author was lamenting a complete lack of English stories, while the Japanese ones had finally been all uploaded to the Japanese official web site. So, being a translator by trade, I decided I'd jot them down quickly. Perhaps there will be future updates with endings and possibly some vocals and such, but more than likely, there won't. I didn't even do that for Soul Calibur, and I really did mean to do that, now! Oh well. Enough jibber-jabber! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICIAL BLOODY ROAR 4 CHARACTER BACKGROUND STORIES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Translated by yours truly) [NOTE:]=stuff I perpended ==== YUGO ==== Beast Form: Wolf Real Name: Oogami, Yuugo ("Oo"="Great"; "Kami"="Divine Spirits, God"; "Yuu"="Bravery"; "Go"="I, myelf, one's self") Country of Origin: Japan Height: 177cm Weight: 81kg Occupation: Leader of the W.O.C. (World Organization for Coexistence?) Yugo, the leader of the W.O.C., has been racking his brains over the recent "Beastman Rampage Incident." One day, when he was still investigating the incident in order to prevent the beastmen from doing brutal things, he heard rumors of a "Black Shadow." Moreover, he heard that the name of this "Black Shadow" was "Nagi." Nagi...? He had heard her name somewhere. He was sure it was a victim of the "Beast Crest Incident," and was being hospitalized somewhere.... In order to find out if that was true, Yugo embarks on a journey. [NOTE: Yugo's organization has been called an "N.G.O." in previous games--a "Non-Governmental Organization." Its purpose is to help beastmen and humans live in harmony. That's why he's trying to stop the beastmen side from be- coming wicked or evil.] ===== ALICE ===== Beast Form: Rabbit Real Name: Nonomura, Alice ("No"="Fields, wild" [x2]; "Mura"="Village") Country of Origin: Japanese (Her father is Japanese, her mother is American) Height: 158cm Weight: 52kg Three-Size: Breast=86cm, Waist=58cm, Hips=89cm Occupation: Originally a nurse, now a translator for the W.O.C. Alice, who has been living the volunteer life in a Non-Governmental Organization, has recently been tending to the those injured by the earthquakes in the area. A girl came before Alice. She was wearing the clothes of a Shinto oracle. A child wearing an oracle's clothes walking over a disaster area seemed out of place. Alice called to the girl, her heart aflutter. She spoke, and requested that Alice tend to a man named Ryouhou. Not knowing all the circumstances, alice tried to refuse her. However, something she said struck a chord with Alice. "Those earthquakes recently were our fault...." Alice followed her in order to look into it more deeply. ======= BAKURYU (BAKURYUU; "Baku"="Explosive"; "Ryuu"="Dragon") ======= [NOTE: The characters used to write "mole" in Japanese are "Earth" and "Dragon."] Beast Form: Mole Real Name: Oogami, Kakeru ("Oo"="Great, Large"; "Kami"="Divine Spirits, God"; "Kakeru"="To Gallop") Country of Origin: Japan Height: 155cm Weight: 47kg Occupation: Student (Ninja) While investigating the earthquakes and the "Beastman Rampage Incident" that had occurred once again, Kakeru met a fox in the mountains. The fox started to walk before him, looking a bit like a puppy. The fox was getting in the way of his investigations, so along the way, he gave it food, and tried to distract it. However, no matter how many times he did that, it kept coming back, so he just gave up and let the fox go with him. "Guess I've got no choice. Do you keep coming around because you're worried about me?" Just as he said that, the fox ran away. Kakeru followed it. At the fox's destination, a beastman was going on a ram- page. "Oh! So you were trying to tell me about that!" Kakeru became wrapped up in a battle with new beastmen.... ===== JENNY ===== Beast Form: Bat Real Name: Bartley, Jenny Country of Origin: Unknown Height: 170cm Weight: 52kg Three-Size: Breast=90cm, Waist=57cm, Hips=88cm Occupation: Model (Freelance Investigator) Jenny is, in her normal life, a top model who mingles in the world of high society. Her true abilities have made her a name as a specialist who infil- trates and finds information secretly about the world. Her mission at present is to find out the truth about the existence of the "Water Dragon" and "Nine- Tailed Fox" that exist in Japanese legend. Jenny, who doesn't believe in legends, figures that it'd be good to get rid of the boredom, and leaves for Japan. Although her investigations had gone on for a week, she wasn't finding any good information. Just as she thought she should just fabricate an appropriate report, a fox passed before her. She was certain she shouldn't overlook it. Jenny set out to track the white fox. ==== XION ==== Beast Form: The Unborn Real Name: Unknown Country of Origin: Sweden Height: 173cm Weight: 56kg Xion reflected upon the incident one year ago.... "I was going to defeat a woman with these hands. She tried to say something or other, but I didn't hear it. She was not a beastman. What was standing before me was the truth. I had to remove what stood in the way of me accomplishing my goals. "It seemed that the other beastmen wanted to live together with the humans, but that had nothing to do with us, the Unborn. "I got close to her fallen form, and muttered this: 'Humans, aren't you making a mistake, trying to defeat me?' "Was what I said at that time really my own words? I still don't know. All I know for sure now is that the beastmen are again coming before me to defeat me. The battle has already begun...." ===== URIKO ===== Beast Form: Cat (Half-Beast) Real Name: Nonomura Uriko ("No"="Fields, wild"; "Mura"="Village"; "U"="Roof, outer space"; "Ri"="Reason, truth"; "Ko"="Child, daughter") Country of Origin: Japan Height: 150cm Weight: 41kg Three-Size: Breast=75cm, Waist=56cm, Hips=78cm Occupation: Student When Uriko was walking around town, she came upon the scene of some grade school students gathered around and prodding at something. When she got closer to see what was going on, it looked like what they were poking at was a white dog. Uriko shouted, "Hey, hey!! Don't you pick on animals!!" The children, shocked from sudden shouting, scattered off in all directions. Perhaps out of grat- itude, the dog lept at Uriko, and licked all over her face. Then, biting at the hem of her clothes, the dog pulled at her, and led her off somewhere. "H-hold on--! Where are you taking me?!" Unable to resist, she was led off by the white dog. Uriko called to the dog. "Hey, what's your name? Is it on your collar--? Oh, you aren't wearing one. Well, I'll name you, then!" The dog looked at Uriko mysteriously. "Let's see now...you're white, so maybe 'Haku-chan' would do," she selfishly suggested. [NOTE: "Haku" means "white," "chan" is an affectionate "san."] "Well, maybe a cuter name would do better! Let's see...it's been decided! Your name is 'Pakupon!'" And so, the white dog(?) became arbitrarily named "Pakupon" by Uriko. ==== GADO ==== Beast Form: Lion Real Name: Gado, Alain [NOTE: Gadeau? Gadeaux? "Gado" isn't a French name.] Country of Origin: France Height: 194cm Weight: 105kg Occupation: High-ranking U.N. commissioner The world has once again become wrapped up in an ominous "Beastman Rampage Incident." Gado was using all his energy working as a commissioner for the U.N., and again tasted the frustration of not being able to get involved directly with the incidents. Just then, he got news that his daughter, whom he loved dearly, Jeanne (Marvel), went missing. [NOTE: Marvel is called "Shina" in the U.S.] Unable to just sit there waiting, in order to find out about the whereabouts of his daughter, Gado threw himself into the beastmen's battle. ======== SHENLONG ======== Beast Form: Tiger Real Name: Shen-Long ("Shen"="Deep, intense"; "Long"="Dragon") Country of Origin: None Height: 179cm Weight: 73kg Occupation: Bouncer Shen-Long was being followed. His daily activities aren't what you could call on the up-and-up, but even still, he couldn't guess why he was being targeted by a beastman. Thoroughly worn out, he scuttled away to some back alley. It was a dead end, and there was a man hanging out there. Getting a better look at him, he appeared to be a fortune teller. "You're being followed by a beastman, aren't you?" the fortune teller asked him. Shen-Long shouted, "Shut up! It's a matter of life and death! What the hell could you do about it?" "You are being haunted by an evil soul! In order to escape from this curse, you must obtain a blessing from this temple!" The fortune teller produced a map for Shen-Long. "You serious?! If you're tryin' to cheat me, I'm not gonna let you off the hook, you know!" Another beastman came between the fortune teller and his client, and attacked. ======== BUSUZIMA [NOTE: Pronounced "Busujima;" there is no "Zee" sound in Japanese, ======== normally, and "Zi" is read "Ji" like in "Jeep."] Beast Form: Chameleon Real Name: Busujima, Hajime ("Busu"="Poison"; "Shima"="Island"; "Hajime"= "First") Country of Origin: Japan Height: 191cm Weight: 67kg Occupation: Mad Scientist It's been one year since the Crest Incident. Busujima could not get any good results in the end, and spends his days in a lonely depression. When the "Beastman Rampage Incident" started to cause noise around the world, he stood, newly resolute! "If I just lie around like this, I'll never catch the legendary animal and make a new kind of beastman!" Busujima headed into the mountains, searching for the animal. There, he met a white fox. Not seeing Busujima, the fox got up and left the area. "There's a legend in Japan about a nine-tailed fox, right? Alright, then! Let's go catch that fox and build it up!!" In the end, will Busujima be able to capture the fox? ==== STUN ==== Beast Form: Insect Real Name: Goldberg, Stephen Country of Origin: America Height: 186cm Weight: 120kg Occupation: Unknown It's been one year since the "Crest Incident." As usual, he spent his days struggling with the intense pain running through his body. Stun was running out of patience. He didn't know how long he would have to have his enhanced body. He was also gripped with the feeling that if he could have a long life, he would want to preserve it tomorrow, too. Stun, wrapped up in this uneasiness, got information that there is a Shinto oracle who could seal the power of the beast. There was not much time left. All that is left for him is to leave this single ray of hope in the oracle's hands.... ==== NAGI ==== Beast Form: The Spurious (Half Beastman) Real Name: Kirishima Nagi ("Kiri"="Paulownia [a kind of tree]"; "Shima"= "Island"; "Nagi"="A calm, a lull") Country of Origin: Japan Age: 18 Height: 164cm Weight: 47kg During the Crest Incident (Bloody Roar 3), Gaea copied "The Unborn (Xion)" and created the being "The Spurious" in order to weed out The Unborn again, and put it in her body. Yuugo and the others dipelled the incident, and so the power stayed dormant. A year later, in order to kill Xion, who had become The Unborn, the beast power began to awaken. In order to find out the secret of her beast form, she searches for Xion. ===== REIJI ===== Beast Form: Raven Real Name: Takigawa Reiji ("Taki"="Waterfall"; "Kawa"="River"; "Rei"="A channel of water that can be navigated by boat"; "Ji"="In a certain way, thou, thee, thine") Country of Origin: Japan Age: 19 Height: 174cm Weight: 62kg In a lone temple deep in the mountains lived a group of four clans of fighting monks called the "Yatagarasu." In these clans was passed down the beastman power, and the power to transform was sealed until the inheritor could be judged an adult. [NOTE: "Yatagarasu," meaning "large ravens," are great ravens mentioned in Shinto myths and legends--e.g., "The Great Goddess Amaterasu spoke thus, instructing the Emperor: 'We shall send now a Yatagarasu, and we ask of you that you make him the one to lead your country's actions properly.' Sure enough, there was a Yatagarasu there."--from the Record of Emperor Jinmu, Before the Coronation] However, an heir of the families of this building, Reiji, had his seal broken unfortunately before the coming-of-age ceremony because of the Crest Incident (Bloody Roar 3). Because of the suddenness of the incident, Reiji, who deep down possessed strong, destructive impulses, killed his father, a member of one of the four clans, and fled from the temple. Reiji, discovering the pleasure of killing a strong person, started to reach out to any beastman he could in order to gain the power to defeat the white beastman who watched from the main temple chambers as he fled from there and the remain- ing Yatagarasu. ============ RYOHO & MANA ============ Beast Forms: ? / Nine-Tailed Fox (Still not complete, she only has one tail) Real Names: Mamurasaki, Rao ("Ma"="True"; "Murasaki"="Purple"; "Ra"="Silk"; "O"="Chord--specifically, the chord on a Japanese clog [geta]) / Kamishiro, Mana ("Kami"="Divine spirits, God"; "Shiro"="Castle, citadel"; "Ma"="True, just, pure"; "Na"="What, that" [used phonetically]) Buddhist Name: Ryouhou ("Ryou"="Imperial tomb"; "Hou"="Male phoenix") Country of Origin: Japan / Japan Age: 37 / 9 Height: 191cm/94cm Weight: 107kg/31kg There was a temple that fled from the law enacted during the Meiji Restoration that separated Buddhist and Shinto religious activities, and still practices them, worshipping in a cave. At that temple lived a monk named Ryouhou. For some reason, when the temple was attacked y the white beastman (Xion), he lost his memories of the events there. [NOTE: This law was really enacted in the late 19th century in Japan, although Shinto and Buddhist activities in that country were closely related and inter- mixed for centuries before, in order to produce legitimacy for the purely Japanese Imperial government and to shun the primarily Buddhist warrior class. People such as the "Gyouja" or "Shugenja" are known to still combine the wor- ship of Kami and Bodhisattvah.] After this incident, he took in a Shinto oracle named Mana who held the power of the nine-tailed fox. Those pursuing Mana broke off, and a year later, earth- quakes and Beastman Rampage Incidents began occurring. These conditions were the same as the developments of the white beastman's attack. Ryouhou sensed a coming battle, and fearing that he would damage the temple, he led Mana out on a journey.... ==== LONG ==== Beast Form: Tiger Real Name: Jin-Long ("Jin"="To advance, forward"; "Long"="Dragon") Country of Origin: China Age: 33 Occupation: None (Teaches children Chinese martial arts) Height: 179cm Weight: 70kg Long was searching through his own archive, gathering information about the "Beastman Rampage Incidents" that were happening again. As night fell, he heard what sounded like an animal's call from near his home's entrance. When he went to the entrance, he found a white fox shivering, huddled up. He felt sad for the poor fox, so he gave it some food. As he looked at the fox as it ate the food, he noticed that there was a piece of paper wrapped around its foot. Taking the paper and unwrapping it, he found that it was a map to a temple. "Ah, so you've come from this temple, hm? I see. I'll see you get to the temple." Long left his house with the white fox, and behind him, a beastman who had become violently dangerous followed them.... ====== MARVEL [NOTE: Marvel is known as Shina in America] ====== Beast form: Leopard Real Name: Gado, Jeanne [NOTE: Gadeau? Gadeaux? "Gado" isn't a French name.] Country of Origin: France Age: 21 Occupation: Mercenary Height: 167cm Weight: 58kg "Beast Rampage Incidents" are alraedy happening all around the world. Marvel received an order from the general staff headquarters of a certain country regarding the incidents. It read: "The investigating unit sent to Japan, where the Beast Rampage Incidents are occurring, has vanished at a certain temple. They are provoking us. Marvel, you will find out their whereabouts, and then report. We are prepared to dispatch our special forces in the worst-case scenario." When Marvel arrived to Japan, she remembered the days she spent involved in the "Beast Crest Incident" a year before. The word "rest" is not in her vocabulary. ====== KOHRYU [NOTE: Really "Kouryuu"; long "uu."] ("Kou"="Iron"; "Ryuu"="Dragon) ====== [NOTE2: The characters used to write "mole" in Japan are "Earth" and "Dragon."] Beast form: Iron Mole Real Name: None (Production Number Beta-0389) Country of Origin: None Age: 26 days after rolling off the assembly line Function: Self-automated weaponry for combat use Height: 1550mm Weight: 0.1082t At one time, there was a man named Ryuuzou Katou who was known as the original Bakuryuu, an assassin that workd with the Tailong Corporation, which aimed to gather only the strength of the beastmen. His body was destroyed by many useless operations in an attempt to strengthen him, but his remains were passed along to someone. Part of the Tailong Corporation, the "Yun Chi Manufacturing," still existed after its parent company was destroyed. Using Bakuryuu I's battle data, they produced a fighting robot body called the "Iron Mole," and added to it Bakuryuu I's remains, which held his physical abilities. However, the prototype went on a rampage. As if it possessed a will of its own, it began to attack the beastmen.... ====== URANUS ====== Beast Form: Chimaera Real Name: Unknown Country of Origin: Unknown Height: 165cm Weight: 54kg A shadow appeared before the beastmen who continued their battles from out of nowhere.... The Tailong Corporation created the ultimate beastman weapon by experimenting on Uriko, called the "War Chimaera." However, Uriko has long lost the ability to turn into that form. Has something sleeping inside her awakened? Did they make a clone? Or, could it be that the present has somehow become suddenly linked to the time when Uriko was the "War Chimaera?" "Uranus" is god of the sky, husband to "Gaea".... It is the name of a god who gave birth to the god of time, Chronus, and was fated to be killed by him.... [NOTE: Technically, they are titans, not gods.] ===== RYOHO ===== Beat Form: Dragon Real Name: Mamurasaki, Rao ("Ma"="True"; "Murasaki"="Purple"; "Ra"="Silk"; "O"="Chord--specifically, the chord on a Japanese clog [geta]) Buddhist Name: Ryouhou ("Ryou"="Imperial tomb"; "Hou"="Male phoenix") Country of Origin: Japan Age: 37 Height: 191cm Weight: 107kg Ryouhou's dragon form has no official story. Mana will explain the background of this character in several endings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ME! Ha, HAAAH!!!! Oh yeah, *ahem*, and um, thanks to Eighting, etc.!