List of Tsukihime characters

This is a list of characters from the Japanese adult visual novel, Tsukihime, created by Type-Moon and adapted in an anime series by J.C. Staff and Geneon. The voices of the characters listed are from the anime and spinoff game, Melty Blood.

Main characters

Shiki Tohno (遠野 志貴 Tōno Shiki)

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese); Steve Staley (English) (anime), Voiced by: Keiko Nemoto (Japanese); Wendee Lee (English) (child, anime), Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Shiki is the main character of the Tsukihime series. He is a kind, honest, if not slightly playful second-year high school student. He is anemic and is prone to fainting, but he tries his best to live a normal life. In actuality, Shiki is the last male member of the Nanaya family, a powerful family of demon slayers from the Demon Hunters Organization. The family was massacred by Kishima Kōma on orders from Makihisa Tōno, who then adopted the traumatized boy. He has the (Mystic Eyes of Death Perception (直死の魔眼 Chokushi no Magan)), allowing him to see the "Lines" and "Points" that enable him to kill all things whose death he can conceptualize, using the highly effective assassination techniques hidden in his subconscious from his early life with the Nanaya. Despite being constantly surrounded by death he has a greater appreciation for life than most people and would never take a human life. Shiki's eyes also affect him in other ways, causing him to give in to his more depraved desires, committing acts such as rape when the urges grow too strong. When faced with a non-human creature, Shiki's demon hunter blood will surface and cause him to be overcome with the desire to kill it.

IGN comic reviewer A. E. Sparrow praised his complexity as a character, stating "Tohno is certainly not your typical manga schoolboy...He's an absolute mixture of good and evil, and it's hard to say which side you want to see prevail."^[1] Animefringe noted Shiki's development through the series, stating "The character growth of Shiki must be commented upon. It's really quite refreshing to see a character in anime grow so deeply through twelve episodes."^[2] In a later review they cited his character as "plagued with the hero-saves-girl complex", noting him as an example of emphasized guilt in the series.^[3] Insert Credit described Shiki's appearance in Melty Blood as "[exuding] a seriousness that befits the relatively dark treatment of much of the game's story."^[4]

Arcueid Brunestud (アルクェイド・ブリュンスタッド Arukweido Buryunsutaddo)

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese); Michelle Ruff (English) (anime), Voiced by: Ryōka Yuzuki (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Arcueid is described as the main heroine of Tsukihime. Aside from her own route in the game, she is the character with the largest role in a route not her own, that of Ciel. However she makes nearly no appearance in Akiha, Hisui and Kohaku's routes, while Ciel does make some limited appearances.

Shiki Tohno will first meet Arcueid in one of the 2 "Near side of the moon" routes (Arcueid/Ciel's routes) after leaving school early one day because of an anemia attack, he spots Arcueid on the street and is consumed by an irresistible urge to kill her because of his Nanaya blood. The Nanaya were a family of killers that specialized in hunting down non-humans, and Arcueid as a vampire awoke his Nanaya blood. Skillfully trailing Arcueid back to her apartment, he rings the doorbell and in the instant the door opens, sneaks through the crack and slices her into 17 pieces in an instantaneous single strike with his knife and his Mystic Eyes Of Death Perception. Regaining his sanity and finding himself in front of her corpse, Shiki staggers to the park where he either collapses and is taken back to the mansion by Kohaku (Arcueid's route) or is found and taken care of by Ciel (Ciel's route).

The next day when heading to school, Shiki finds Arcueid waiting on a guard rail outside his school. Panicking, he runs, only to be chased into a dead alley and confronted by Arcueid. Their conversation is interrupted by one of Nrvnsqr's beasts, and Arcueid "convinces" Shiki to help her deal with the vampire in the town as she used up most of her power to re-form her body after Shiki killed her and will need time to regain the power she had lost.

The two of them are partners against Nrvnqsr Chaos, with Shiki killing Nrvnqsr by striking his "death point". They decide to again be partners to take out Roa whom Arcueid has been targeting. Over the course of her route she and Shiki begin to understand one another. Shiki shows Arcueid the various things she's unaware of, such as movies, which are things Arcueid can't comprehend as important. At several points she attempts to bite Shiki, though she manages to hold herself back in time, though usually she runs until her impulses have stopped. Eventually she and Shiki have fallen in love with one another, despite her slightly unstable nature and vampire lineage. However, she attempts to take out Roa by herself and is apparently killed in the process. Enraged and in grief, Shiki proceeds to destroy the walkway he and Roa are on as a distraction and utterly destroys Roa's point, thus nullifying his very existence and preventing him from ever reincarnating.

In Arcueid's True Ending, Shiki waits in his classroom for her despite thinking she is dead. Arcueid surprisingly arrives, having regained the bit of power Roa stole from her. However she can no longer hold back her impulses and decides she should sleep from now on, dreaming of Shiki. Despite Shiki's pleas, even begging her to drink his blood, Arcueid says she can't do so because she loves him and says farewell with Shiki greatly saddened, looking at the moon as he leaves the school. This ending was the basis for the ending used in the anime, although a few details were changed. In Arcueid's Good Ending, she spends an entire week suppressing her urges and meets Shiki on his way to school. The two then go off to seemingly spend the day together.

Arcueid is also one of 2 possible successors to the original Crimson Moon. The other is her "sister" Altrouge Brunestud, but she is generally considered too "unstable". All that is known about their relationship is that they had a fight some time after Arcueid fell and Altrouge won. That was also the fight where Arcueid lost her long hair when Altrouge took a portion as her trophy.

Ciel (シエル Shieru)

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese); Wendee Lee (English) (anime), Voiced by: Kumi Sakuma (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Ciel is first presented as a senior attending the same school as the main protagonist Shiki Tohno, where she is the president and only member of the tea ceremony club, and also good friends with Arihiko Inui, Satsuki Yumizuka and Shiki himself. Her outward demeanor is that of a calm, friendly, and peaceful person. However, Ciel's true character is later revealed as the story progresses. She is a member of the Burial Agency, a secret organization within the Catholic Church made up of skilled assassins, feared even within the Church itself, known for showing no mercy and willing to do whatever it takes to get their task done even to the point of using forbidden magics and creatures. Her objective in Tsukihime is that of hunting down the heretic vampire Roa, which while being a direct order from the Church is also her own vendetta. In Melty Blood she has been ordered by the Church to hunt down Roa.

Ciel is shown to be a very skilled individual who relies in speed and agility. In addition to her exceptional physical skills, Ciel relies on certain weaponry detailed below. Ciel's fighting style in the fighting game Melty Blood is based on that shown in both the Tsukihime visual novel and manga. In the anime adaptation Tsukihime, Ciel's abilities and main weapon were changed.

Ciel (whose real first name is Elesia) was a normal individual born in France to a baker. However, unlike those around her, Elesia had a high magic potential, and it was this rare characteristic which ultimately put Roa inside her as his 17th host body after his 16th host body was killed without having chosen his next host body.

In the process, Ciel became a vampire and killed everyone in her village, the massacre only ended when Arcueid Brunestud arrived and killed her, fulfilling her duty of killing Roa whenever he reincarnates. However, unlike previous hosts, Ciel returned to life after Roa had moved on to a new host. The secret Vatican agency known as the Burial Agency captured her, and over the course of a month she was killed repeatedly by the Church, only to rise again on every occasion, because as a host of Roa while Roa was also inhabiting another, it was impossible for her to permanently die until Roa was killed. Despite their usual views on sorcery, vampires, and the like, the Church decided to use her abilities as a member of the Burial Agency, her main desire and mission being the elimination of Roa to end her eternal existence.

Akiha Tohno (遠野 秋葉 Tōno Akiha)

Voiced by: Shizuka Itou (Japanese); Julie Ann Taylor (English) (anime), Voiced by: Hitomi (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Born into the prestigious Tohno family, Akiha lived a sheltered childhood under the strict supervision of her father Makihisa Tohno and was seldom allowed to go outside the mansion to play. One day while she quietly waiting for her tutor to arrive, her brother, Shiki, took her hand, inviting her to play with him and the other children at the mansion. Thanks to Shiki she was able to experience at least some semblance of the joys of childhood. Unfortunately not soon afterwards, Shiki was near-fatally wounded in an accident and was sent by Makihisa to live with the Arimas, relatives from another branch of the family. Akiha tried to visit Shiki at the Arima house several times early on, but pressure from her father and other relatives in addition to Shiki's constant visits to the hospital prevented their meeting. Contact was made impossible when Akiha was placed in a boarding school and she was forced to live on campus. Akiha also states that she sent Shiki many letters, but he never replied because he wanted to sever ties to the Tohno family.

Upon the death of their father eight years later (and the beginning of Tsukihime's story), Akiha became the head of the Tohno household and, ignoring protests from the remaining relatives, called Shiki back to life at the family mansion with her. Though she tries to conceal it, Akiha called her brother back because she truly loves him and wanted to be near him no matter how much it might alienate her from the rest of the family. She is incredibly shy about her feelings, even acting in complete contradiction to them on occasion, but to her Shiki is the most important person in the world.

In some story paths (especially the Akiha path), the cause behind Akiha's inversion to her not-quite-so-human form is revealed. Her father remarked in his journal that Akiha's Tohno blood was of the weaker sort and she could live as a normal human if she wished it. But that changed when Shiki's life was threatened in the "accident" from eight years earlier. She was out playing with Shiki, who it turns out was only adopted into the family, and her real brother, also named Shiki. But the Tohno blood was much stronger in her real brother and he inverted to his non-human form. In this uncontrollable state, he lashed out to strike at Akiha. Her adopted brother, main character Shiki, protected her with his life and was mortally wounded in the attack. Shiki would have died, but Akiha used the powers granted by her non-human blood to give him half of her life, allowing him to survive. After the incident, her true brother was locked away so that he could never again hurt anyone and Akiha severed all ties with him and has since said that Shiki, her adopted brother, is the only person she will ever call her brother. She needs twice the heat of an average person because she is supporting both her own life and Shiki's. Because of the strain on her body this causes, she often experiences attacks of intense pain that can last from a few minutes to several hours. But Akiha bears them bravely, knowing that it is all for the sake of her beloved brother.

Akiha is very protective of her brother, intent on knowing what he does with his day, and is extremely suspicious of what he does at night. She gets incredibly jealous when he is around other girls, as he is adopted under unique conditions. The constant supervision by his little sister sometimes bears hard on Shiki, but she only watches over him because she worries so much about him. Despite her general peevishness, she really is a sweet girl at heart. In the Kohaku route, she becomes possessed by Roa and decides to take Shiki for herself and later to kill him when he refuses to be with her, though she regains her senses eventually.

Like most of the people with Tohno blood, Akiha has non-human blood, which causes her body to use twice the amount of heat that a normal person uses. To make up for her increased demand, she must absorb heat from others. She can take this heat in through various means, even simply absorbing their body heat through contact, but the most efficient method is by drinking fresh blood (as seen when she sucks Kohaku's blood in a scene from the game well-known among fans). Her demonic power is called "Plunder". When used, her hair returns to a vibrant red color (her hair's true shade). In some of the game's story paths, the true extent of the power she has in this form is revealed. She is able absorb heat directly from anything that comes into her view. For people with Mystic Eyes, this form of attack appears as long strands of hair, originating from Akiha. However, her hair does not actually move. This is proven by the fact that Akiha, who does not possess any Mystic Eyes, cannot see the attack herself. The drawing-out of the heat produces a powerful burning sensation on the surface of the object, causing some viewers to believe that she was simply setting things on fire. This form of attack is incredibly fast and can strike an object as quickly as Akiha can look at it. Several of the characters who experience combat with Akiha are surprised at how overwhelmingly powerful this method of attack makes her.

Hisui (翡翠 Hisui)

Voiced by: Yumi Kakazu (Japanese); Kate Higgins (English) (anime), Voiced by: Miyu Matsuki (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Hisui is an orphaned child brought to the Tohno Mansion at an early age. Hisui, and her sister Kohaku were brought to the house for the express purpose of aiding Makihisa Tohno, patriarch of the family, to overcome his demon blood through their abilities as "Synchronizers", or beings that enable the transfer of energy. This transfer of energy is performed by the exchange of bodily fluids, such as another drinking their blood, but it is strongest in the act of intercourse. Hisui, however, was never forced to utilize her abilities as a Synchronizer because of the pleas of Kohaku and instead found herself playing outside every day with Shiki and Akiha. Her childhood was pleasant, and even though she is not naturally an active person, upon seeing Shiki playing so energetically she did her best to keep up with him.

Throughout the course of the Tsukihime game, Hisui plays the role of cleaning maid to the Tohno family. Always wearing her western maid uniform, Hisui can always be found tidying up the lobby, dusting the rooms of the mansion or waiting for Shiki to return at the gates. With the exception of the Hisui and Kohaku routes, Shiki mixes the two maids up, believing Kohaku to have been the girl he always played with and Hisui the girl who stayed in the mansion. Hisui's demeanor has changed so much, that rather than being the active girl he knew as a child, she has become severe and emotionless. Hisui, because she knows of the abuse inflicted upon Kohaku, refuses to let any male so much as touch her, the one exception being Shiki.

Following Hisui's route, more and more about her personality and who she truly is is revealed. Rather than the stern, immovable young lady she appears to be, Hisui is revealed to be a kind, loving and emotional girl, hiding her emotions to keep her sister as she is. Becoming a daily part of Shiki's life, Hisui wakes him up every day and prepares his uniform. However, she is hiding a darker secret, as she knows of her sister's plans for the downfall of the Tohno family, and after Shiki becomes paralyzed due to SHIKI Tohno stealing his life energy, Hisui offers her ability to Synchronize with Shiki so that he can stop SHIKI. In her True Ending, Midday Moon, Akiha is murdered by SHIKI, and Kohaku commits suicide to end her "doll's existence". Hisui comes to a peaceful, if not entirely sorrow-free, existence with Shiki. In Hisui's Good Ending, Dreams of Sunshine, Akiha barely escapes death from SHIKI, and Kohaku is saved from the poison she takes to kill herself when Shiki stabs the "point" of the poison within her. Forgetting her past and what she has done, Kohaku is renamed "Nanaya", and returns as a peaceful maid to the Tohno Mansion.

Kohaku (琥珀 Kohaku)

Voiced by: Kana Ueda (Japanese); Kari Wahlgren (English), Voiced by: Naoko Takano (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

The older of the two twin maids in the Tohno mansion, Kohaku, along with her sister Hisui, is a childhood friend of Shiki. She wears a Japanese kimono and is always seen to be smiling and cheerful, being especially gifted with medicine.

She hides her tragic past behind a cheerful face and Hisui's cold demeanor. As a child she was constantly raped by the manor's master, and pretends as though the events never happened, to a degree. It is due to the fact that Kohaku and her sister are the descendents of "Synchronizers" that allow them to give a person of the opposite gender a bit of their life energy if body fluids are exchanged. She also makes a fake contract with Akiha (Shiki Tohno's sister) by letting her suck her blood to suppress the demon blood inside of Akiha. After being used by the manor's master, she eventually lost herself, effectively killing off the majority of her emotions in an attempt to handle the pain. Her twin sister, Hisui, learned of the Tohno master's sin against Kohaku, and it depressed her greatly. Kohaku, seeing her sister's free enthusiasm falter for her sake, promises Hisui that she will "take on her role" until she was cheerful again, creating the jovial facade she currently presents. Ironically, it is because of those words that Hisui is unable to return to her old self. Seeing Kohaku acting happy as Hisui was as a young girl, she cannot bring herself to return to her former self. Even if Kohaku is simply acting out her old role, she seems to have attained some level of happiness.

She claims to hate Shiki Tohno for the silent connection they shared as children (watching one another but never meeting), but it is revealed that she is actually in love with him, and it is in part why she wanted to take on Hisui's role in the first place. Kohaku simply wanted to innocently love the boy named Shiki Tohno, just as Hisui did as a young girl. Just before Shiki leaves the mansion to live with the Arima family, Kohaku gives him her favorite ribbon and makes him promise to return it, indirectly begging for him to return. In Kohaku and Hisui's scenarios, this promise has a powerful meaning to Shiki, and along with his sister Akiha, is part of the reason he does in fact return to the Tohno mansion. Her name, Kohaku, is the Japanese word for amber, referring to her eye color.

Supporting characters

Aoko Aozaki (蒼崎 青子 Aozaki Aoko)

Voiced by: Akiko Kimura (Japanese); Karen Strassman (English) (anime), Voiced by: Kotono Mitsuishi (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

The one who gave Shiki the "Mystic-eye-killer glasses" (which she stole from her sister) to prevent him from seeing the lines of death. She is also the one who taught Shiki to value living things, whether it be humans, animals, or even plants.

In the original game and manga she is shown to have a bright cheerful personality that reacts very strongly to careless actions. In the anime she is depicted differently, as having a very quiet attitude. However, despite her personality before Shiki, she is a very powerful sorceress, one of the five magicians left in the world. (There is a large difference between sorceresses and magicians: magicians are capable of "miracles" that even sorcerers cannot pull off.) Her title as a sorceress is "Miss Blue, Magic Gunner" and "The Human Missile Launcher", and is notorious in the supernatural world for her lightning-fast temper and capability to destroy, having the power to wipe out entire cities at will due to her insanely high prana capacity and her mysterious time-based magic, who's true effects remain unknown even to Aoko.

Her sister Touko Aozaki appears in Kara no Kyōkai, and is the original creator of the glasses. Aoko is also the main star of the Type-Moon visual novel game, Mahōtsukai no Yoru, which serves as a prequel to the events of Tsukihime. Aoko is the true "final boss" in Melty Blood Re-Act

Satsuki Yumizuka (弓塚 さつき Yumizuka Satsuki)

Voiced by: Kaori Tanaka (Japanese); Carrie Savage (English) (anime), Voiced by: Omi Minami (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Shiki's classmate and friend, who likes him very much. She plays somewhat different roles in the game and the anime. In the game, she is shy and has somewhat of an inferiority complex. She has a crush on Shiki, although he is completely oblivious of this and regards her as just another classmate. In actuality, Satsuki has been stalking Shiki for some time and keeps a journal of his day-to-day actions. She is later attacked by Roa while walking at night and infected with vampirism. In several of Tsukihime's routes, Shiki is forced to kill her after she becomes a Dead Apostle Ancestor, during which time she reveals that she is in love with Shiki and wants to make him into a vampire so he will stay with her forever. In the anime, she is portrayed as somewhat more outgoing and a mutual friend of both Shiki and Inui, and confesses to Shiki near the end of the series. It is news of Yumizuka's supposed death during Nrvnqsr Chaos's raid on the hotel that finally prompts Shiki to action against the vampire. Although she is dead in Tsukihime, Satsuki is a playable character in the spinoff Melty Blood, which suggested that Shiki spared her life as a vampire in this version. Type-Moon had originally planned for her to be a heroine in the story, as shown in the Tsukihime PLUS-DISC.

Michael Roa Valdamjong (ミハイル・ロア・バルダムヨォン Mihairu Roa Barudamuyōn)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino (Japanese); Kirk Thornton (English) (anime), Ken Narita (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

A numberless Dead Apostle that Arcueid is searching for. He was a priest who sought immortality and was able to obtain it through reincarnation. He tricked Arcueid into drinking his blood, therefore making him a vampire. He is an antagonist in most routes of the game. Roa taught Nrvnqsr "The Soil of Genesis" which can only be destroyed with something that has a destructive power of something that can destroy a continent. It functions as some kind of cage or restraining device.

His original body was finally defeated by a coalition composed of Arcueid and the Church's Burial Agency, and he has been re-incarnating ever since then. By the time of Tsukihime he had already re-incarnated seventeen times and had been destroyed by Arcueid each time as she seeks to gain her stolen power back, and perhaps to achieve some measure of revenge and is now on his final reincarnation. Roa has two requirements for choosing the host of his next reincarnation: the host's family must have a high social standing so that he would be born into luxury, and a body with high magical potential and perhaps unique latent powers. His last host was Ciel, who was chosen in haste and thus was born into a bakery's family but in exchange had a body with an extremely high magical potential that was relatively close to that of his original form. His current host is SHIKI Tohno, but he has also possessed Shiki and Akiha. In Tsukihime, Roa is responsible for the grisly vampire murders throughout the city. He is killed by either Ciel, Shiki, or Akiha in every route.

Nrvnqsr Chaos (ネロ・カオス Nero Kaosu)

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Japanese); Jamieson Price (English) (anime), Voiced by: Jouji Nakata (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Known as the tenth of the twenty-seven Ancestors of Dead Apostles, as well as the highest ranking vampire to appear in Tsukihime at number ten. Has 666 beasts on his body, from deer and wolves to mythological creatures like unicorns. The only conventional way to kill him is to destroy all 666 beasts at once or he will constantly regenerate; to kill him is practically impossible as it would require the same amount of energy as destroying a continent. He is killed by Shiki or Arcueid and his position in the 27 is usurped by either Satsuki or a vampire named Louvre, who is targeted by the "Queen of the Clocktower" Lorelei Barthomeloi and the vampire-hunting vampire Enhance, only to be killed by Shiki after he becomes Satsujinki, who had snuck into the castle unbeknownst to anyone.

Minor characters

Arihiko Inui (乾 有彦 Inui Arihiko)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese); Dave Wittenberg (English)

Shiki's classmate and best friend. When Shiki was living with the Arimas, he often used to hang out with Arihiko. He has a competitive attitude against Shiki; Arihiko wants to get a girlfriend before Shiki does. As the player moves through the story, the player will discover that sometimes, Shiki cannot grasp how he became friends with Arihiko in the first place, since Shiki believes Arihiko has a "weird personality." Yet at one point in the game, when Shiki collapses in class due to his condition, Arihiko is the one who loudly informs the teacher that Shiki is sick and needs to be excused. Arihiko then proceeds to help a physically weakened Shiki to the medical office, thus demonstrating a personality trait that might, depending on the player's subjective perception, serve to explain why Shiki continues to be friends with Arihiko despite Arihiko's sometimes-callous behavior.

Miyako Arima (有間 都古 Arima Miyako)

Voiced by: Miwa Kōzuki (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Shiki's non-blood related cousin who became friends with him when he was staying away from the Tohno family ever since the events of eight years ago. She is annoyed at the lack of contact she has had since the events of Tsukihime, and attempts to 'rescue' him from the Tohno family in Melty Blood. However, this triggers a side of Kohaku that should not be awakened.

Kouma Kishima (軋間 紅摩 Kishima Kōma)

Voiced by: Jūrōta Kosugi (Melty Blood)

A man who worked with Makihisa Tohno to attack the Nanaya clan. In his youth, Kōma was locked away by his family for having blood that was more demon than human, they eventually tried to kill him by shooting him in the head, but Kōma survived and massacred his entire family in revenge. He first met Shiki's father, Kiri Nanaya, after the latter killed a family of half-demons, the Saiki, who had adopted Kōma. Upon seeing the boy, Kiri got the feeling that he would face the boy later in life and proceeded to crush one of Kōma's eyes, hoping to improve his chances of victory when the time came. It was meeting Kōma that ultimately led to his family's downfall, as his excitement made him get careless and accidentally leave a witness. He finally fought Kiri during the attack on the Nanaya and killed him with ease. He spared young Shiki due to getting the same feeling Kiri did when the two first met. Kōma then became a hermit in the mountains. Shiki's childhood memory caused his dream's manifestation of death to appear as Kouma. He is described as the perfect combination of human and demon blood, and possesses massive physical strength and speed, being able to crush trees with his bare hands.

Akira Seo (瀬尾 晶 Seo Akira)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (Melty Blood: Actress Again)

Akiha's friend from her boarding school. Her eyes give her a limited ability to see the future, although usually not entirely clearly. She met Shiki in the events of "Alliance of Illusionary Eyes", and they have remained in contact, to Akiha's chagrin.

Len (レン Ren)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Len is a cat familiar, sometimes referred to as a "demon succubus familiar", one who shares her creator's ability to manipulate dreams. She is a unique being, equally cat and human, created from the body of a cat and the soul of a human. She has no memory of her past life - sorcery is not true magic, and can't "revive" a human, but rather, created a new life in the form of a cat familiar. Though her first real appearance is in Kagetsu Tohya, in which she is the main heroine, her dream manipulation is seen in Tsukihime when she causes Shiki to have a dream. For around 600 years, she was under the care of Arcueid, but later established a contract with Shiki in Kagetsu Tohya. Len is silent and never speaks (albeit one occurrence before her fight with White Len in Melty Blood), and is shown to be very reserved and unimposing. She has shown, however, to be very moody at times, though she only shows this subtly, if at all. Many of Len's abilities in the game are derived from cats. She also has a fondness for cake, first introduced to her by Shiki in Kagetsu Tohya. Although canonically unconnected to Kagetsu Tohya, it is implied that she has already established a contract with Shiki in Melty Blood.

Nanako (ななこ Nanako)

Voiced by: Haruka Tomatsu (Carnival Phantasm)

The spirit of Ciel's weapon, the Seventh Holy Scripture; referred to as "Seven" by Ciel, but nicknamed "Nanako" by Arihiko. She has hoofed feet and a horse tail. She is quite scared of her master, Ciel. She is a combination of the spirit of a girl from a poor family who willingly offered her life as a sacrifice to be combined with the spirit of a unicorn's horn. Nanako first appeared in Kagetsu Tohya.

Sion Eltnam Atlasia (シオン・エルトナム・アトラシア Shion Erutonamu Atorashia)

Voiced by: Rio Natsuki (Japanese, Melty Blood, Carnival Phantasm)

Sion is an alchemist of Atlas, one of the three main branches of the Mages Association. She is a genius scientist, given a position equal to the representative of ATLAS at an extremely young age. Although she is usually calm and calculating, always striving for perfection, she is actually quite emotional and extremely easy to set off. Later it is revealed that Sion is actually a vampire, having been bitten by one. Not wanting to drink blood, she spends much time trying to keep her vampiric instincts under control; she goes so far as to detest the color red. Even though she had lived most of her life in solitude, she gained her first true friend in Shiki. She first appears in the spinoff Melty Blood, where she is also the main heroine. Her future self named Dust of Osiris (オシリスの砂 Oshirisu no Suna) is the boss of Melty Blood: Actress Again, and is the potential vampire form of her nature.

Kishua Zelretch Schweinorg (キシュア・ゼルレッチ・シュバインオーグ Kishua Zeruretchi Shubainōgu)

Zelretch is responsible for killing Crimson Moon Brunestud, the King of Vampires, several centuries ago. However, the Crimson Moon was able to suck Zelretch's blood, turning the Wizard Marshall into a vampire now classified as one of the Twenty Seven Ancestors of Dead Apostles. Zelretch has grown older since that cataclysmic battle, and he can no longer use Kaleidoscope magic extensively. Although a vampire, Zelretch remains an ally of humanity and the nearly extinct race of True Ancestors. He acts as a surrogate grandfather to Arcueid Brunestud, and is both admired and disliked by the Mage's Association; his tutelage, while comprehensive, frequently traumatizes the most promising of students, leaving them unwilling or incapable of continuing their careers.

In Fate/stay night, Zelretch was notably involved in the founding of the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars two hundred years ago with his students, Zōken Makiri, Nagato Tōsaka, and a homunculus known as Justica von Einzbern. In establishing the wars, Nagato allowed his property, Fuyuki City, to be used as the battleground, Zōken proposed the system of "Masters" and "Servants," and the Einzberns offered to provide the vessels for the Holy Grail, which store the Mana from slain Servants necessary for wishes. During the scenario of Heaven's Feel, Shirō Emiya, with help from Rin Tōsaka, manages to recreate The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch for use against Dark Sakura. Zelretch himself emerges from a parallel world and compliments Rin's accomplishment, reflecting on the progression of the Tōsaka family in just two centuries.

See also

References

1. Sparrow, A. E. (2006-10-13). Lunar Legend Tsukihime Vol. 3 Review. IGN. Retrieved on 2008-12-02
2. Crocker, Janet. Lunar Legend Tsukihime: Life Threads Vol. 1. Animefringe. Retrieved on 2008-12-02
3. Crocker, Janet. 2004: Year of Vampires?. Animefringe. Retrieved on 2008-12-02
4. Diamante, Vincent (2002-04-03). Review: Melty Blood. insert credit. Retrieved on 2008-12-02