Battler Ushiromiya

**Battler Ushiromiya** is the main protagonist of the *Umineko no Naku Koro ni* anime and games.

Battler is an 18 year-old son of Rudolf and Asumu and 7th in the line of succession. After Asumu died six years ago, Battler became angry with his father for remarrying Kyrie so fast and went to live with his maternal grandparents. Because of this, he's been fairly out of the loop as to the affairs of the Ushiromiya family. Often, he is teased about being similar to his father for his tendency to try to grope girls. He now has a half-sister named Ange who does not come to Rokkenjima.

In the AWA fics, Battler is set to appear in a future AWA storyline.

## **Appearance**

Battler appears as a young man with short, spiky, auburn hair parted to the side. He has a light skin complexion and has either blue (as seen in the anime, the cover of volume one of the novel, Umineko: Majo to Suiri no Rondo and the portrait in Twilight of the Golden Witch and Symphony of Golden Dreams) or brown eyes (as seen in the original sound novels and in his portrait in Dawn of the Golden Witch). He appears to be quite a fascinating man with a slim body and is described as very tall. According to the sound novels, he is over 180 cm (close to 5 ft 11 inches) and is 10 cm taller than George. It has also been stated that in the past, he was of below average height.

He wears a khaki suit with the Ushiromiya crest. Underneath this suit, he wears a black vest with a red long sleeved shirt with a black tie. After becoming the Endless and Golden Sorcerer, he appears with a black cape (similar to the cape Kinzo, or "Goldsmith", wears), symbolizing his position as the Game Master.

In a flashback in Umineko: Majo to Suiri no Rondo, Battler's casual clothing consists of what seems to be a white jacket with a dark colored shirt underneath. In the anime, his casual clothing consists of a short-sleeved white shirt with a long-sleeved dark blue shirt underneath. In the manga, his casual clothing consists of a jacket, with a black shirt underneath with a metallic necklace. He also wears jeans with a chain on his left pocket. He also wears a typical Japanese highschool uniform. In Pachi-Slot Umineko no Naku Koro ni, he wears a white collared long sleeved shirt as casual attire as seen in a flashback with Ange.

In Twilight of the Golden Witch, he ages and assumes shorter and white hair, less spikier than his original red hair do and greatly resembles Kinzo when he was younger. He now wears a black khaki suit with a green tie and white shirt.

## **Personality**

Although stubborn and hotheaded with the habit of flirting with young women, Battler is a very compassionate young man. However, he is also very emotional which is both his greatest strength and weakness, as while he refuses to acknowledge a witch to be the culprit, he also refuses to accept the fact the culprit is among the people he loves and mostly when he gets caught up in disproving Beatrice's magic, he forgets the most important question about the game: Why did Beatrice commit the murders?.

Battler also has a perpetual fear of 'shaky' transportation, thinking he might fall out. He is also shown to be intuitive and intelligent at certain situations, as he uses Kyrie's "flip the chessboard" mindset to predict his enemy's thoughts based on the situation at hand. Though he doesn't look like it, Battler also enjoys reading, mostly mystery, which explains his extensive knowledge on the subject.

By Dawn of the Golden Witch, Battler’s personality makes an exceptionally drastic change compared to his former cheerful self; Battler then shows to be very serious, discarding all signs of his once goofy habits and quicks, and can become easily angered with anything that involves Beatrice such as how he became furious with Erika for wearing the ring meant for Beatrice. This is due to how he is unable to forgive himself for not remembering the sin, the reason that caused Beatrice in committing the murders, in time before she died, as well as how he indirectly caused the death of his sister, Ange Ushiromiya, during Alliance of the Golden Witch.

## **Abilities**

Battler is the rival Beatrice chose and the reason she created her game board. Battler fights on the white part of the chess board and is the representative of the human side, along with the first detective. He doesn't know the truth behind Beatrice's tale and views himself as a traveler on his way to find it, guided by Virgilia. He makes crushing the illusion of the witch his goal. His determination and rejection of magic provide him with a powerful anti-magic barrier. He is a worthy opponent; at times, even brilliant, thanks to the knowledge he's built up as an avid reader and his own talent.

### **Meta-Battler**

His Meta-World counterpart has the ability to control his piece on the gameboard.  His piece on the game board is human and unaware of the Meta dimension, so it acts as an ordinary human of his age would. This piece is moved by Battler himself on the upper plane, with exception of most of Episode 5, in which it was moved by Bernkastel. Because he refuses to acknowledge the existence of the supernatural, he is protected by a barrier known as Endless Nine, which protects him from magical attacks. By the fourth game, he was granted the ability to use the Blue Truth. In Ougon Musou Kyoku, he can use this as an attack fused with his kicks and punches. He was granted the ability to use the Red Truth temporarily during this arc. As one of the pieces inside the cat box, Battler has access to the truth of the tale.

### **Golden Sorcerer**

During the ending of End of the Golden Witch, Battler is named the "Endless Sorcerer" and "Golden Sorcerer" by Lambdadelta after he inherits Beatrice's power and becomes the new Game Master.

His weapon is a golden longsword, which grants him the power to wield the Red and Blue Truth in battle. Because he knows the truth behind the game board, he is allowed to use the Golden Truth.

But in order to win the game, he has to prove that he understands everything by weaving and winning a new tale against Erika and Bernkastel. Battler weaves two tales:

* Dawn of the Golden Witch: The first of his tales is dedicated to Beatrice and her resurrection. It was challenged by Erika and was interrupted at the first twilight.
* Twilight of the Golden Witch: He dedicates this last tale to his sister, Ange. He invites Ange to the final party, hoping to end her turmoil, as well as inspire her to live on in the future as the final witch. Ange, EVA-Beatrice, Bernkastel, and Erika challenge this final tale.

## **Trivia**

* In Dawn of the Golden Witch, it is stated by Lambdadelta and later confirmed in Twilight of the Golden Witch, that Battler has a third title, "Lord BATTLER, Golden Endless Sorcerer of Miracles", a title on par with Bernkastel's. Bernkastel is the witch who knows the true form of miracles and knows that they do not occur. She can only wait for one endlessly, whereas Battler is the sorcerer, who knows that miracles exist and can create one. This is why Bernkastel can't stand him and wants revenge. This affinity (and others) might also be the reason Bernkastel became interested in him in the first place.
* In the manga, Battler spotted Rudolf and Kyrie's clothing in the shed on the first night and tried to get a better look. In the anime, it was Jessica.
* A character in one of Ryukishi07's work, Rose Guns Days (Philip Butler), is a shout-out to Battler, though the two have no relations to one another.
* Battler wears his cape much earlier in the manga. It materialized the moment he became a sorcerer in End of the Golden Witch.
* His birthday is 7/15 and his blood type is 0.
* He likes mystery novels and books but dislikes high places and vehicles.
* According to one of Ryukishi07's twitter posts, his favorite sport is dodgeball.

## **External Links**

* Battler Ushiromiya at Umineko no Naku Koro ni Wiki