Lepus

*“Let’s see... there was a time long ago where the Cirque du Peur threatened Lampetia in the past and I was summoned to stop them. I sealed them in stone, that I can take credit for, but now my work is done. Even if they’re coming back and attacking Earth in the process, it’s not any of my business anymore. Those days of me being a hero are all behind me now, and I wouldn’t go back to that for any reason. Well... maybe just one reason...

What’s that? An alter ego, you ask? You know, I have to keep* some *secrets...”*

— Lepus' official bio.
**Lepus** (*リパス Ripasu*) is a veteran magical girl hero who once faced off Corona Austrina and the Cirque du Peur seventeen years prior to the beginning of the story. Since that time, the Cirque du Peur has remained petrified, only to slowly come out of stasis, but Lepus refuses to face it by resuming her old identity.

## Appearance

Lepus stands one inch taller than Yumemi, with a "peachlike tan", purple eyes and calve-length wavy brown hair kept in a side ponytail. She is described by Yumemi in the novel as "tall and slender", wearing "knee-length white high-heeled boots and a short umbrella-shaped dress with enough frills to rival a princess' gown; decorated sparingly with various gold charms of stars, cresent moons and other celestial objects."

Her color scheme is predominantly purple, blue and black.

## Personality

Lepus is a calm and collected woman of few words, unintentionally shrouded in mystery due to her withdrawn nature. She seems to view a magical girl's responsibility as an obligation to fulfill instead of a free choice or privilege, and exhibits visual irritation during the main series if someone tries to pry into this aspect of her life. For the most part she is serious and shows little emotion, but she does have a sympathetic side toward Yumemi.

## Biography

Chronologically, Lepus first appears as a cameo in episode 14 of Heirloom Star: Strangers, meeting Jean-Claude for the first time.

In the novel's prologue, Lepus' first appearance is in a dream Yumemi has, where all that is seen of her is a silhouette in a picturesque starlit field as she summons her weapon and runs into the distance, after which Yumemi tries to pursue her before waking up. This scene is never shown in the animated series; instead replacing it with a cold open showing the planet Lampetia and its landscapes as Lepus narrates, while crossing a barren terrain. She then falls off a precipice in an almost suicidal gesture and into an unseen void below.

She appears in person to rescue Yumemi from Fornax in chapter two, starting by dealing a blow to Fornax's head that knocks her out and then helping Yumemi escape the mall's parking garage. She gives her a glass vial with healing water from Lampetia, which Yumemi feels the effects of almost immediately. Realizing this is the woman from her dream, Yumemi then tries to make small talk with Lepus, but only receives short, nondescript answers before an annoyed Lepus stops responding altogether. When they leave the garage, Lepus appears to want to tell Yumemi something, but changes her mind and leaves. Navi confirms that she knows Lepus from several years ago, but Lepus has since then broken off her friendship with her once she forsook her hero identity, much to Navi's despair. This has a corrolation with why she seeks Yumemi, the only other person with Lepus' power, to confront the Cirque du Peur.

## Powers

**"That which once was human, now clothed in colors of the dark night! Starlight Lepus!"**

"以前は人間だったことが、今や暗い夜の色彩で覆われていました！ スターライト リパス"

*"Izen wa ningendatta koto ga, imaya kurai yoru no shikisai de ōwa rete imashita! Sutāraito Ripasu!"*

Lepus is an expectionally skilled fighter who thrives in ranged combat. Conversely, her main weakness is her unfamiliarity with hand-to-hand sparring, and she is usually trumped by her adversaries in a melee fight. Her primary weapon is the Lepus Golden Mirror Totem, which she uses to perform her main attack, Orion's Throne.

## Etymology

Lepus is a constellation south of the celestial equator. Its name is Latin for "hare", which gives a clue to her personality. Her attacks are based off of stars or deep-sky objects in Lepus or leporids in general. One example is her main attack, the name of which is derived from a quadilaretal formed by Alpha (Arneb), Beta (Nihal), Gamma and Delta Leporis known as "*Arsh al-Jawzā*", which is Arabic for *The Throne of Jawza* (Orion).

## Trivia

* She is the focus character of the animated series' first ending theme.