Arakune

**Arakune** (アラクネ), known as a human as **Lotte Carmine** (ロット＝カーマイン *Rotto Kāmain*) and nicknamed as **Roy** (ロイ *Roi*), is a former scientist for the 7th Agency, who turned into a grotesque monster with an obsession for the Blue. He is a playable character in the *BlazBlue* series.

## 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.

When he was still Lotte Carmine, Arakune had short, messy black hair and wore thick square spectacles. His attire included a white lab coat over a formal blue shirt and black tie with black pants. He was known to carry folders around with him, and carried several pens in his lab coat’s chest pocket.

## Personality

When he was still human, Arakune (then known as Lotte “Roy” Carmine) was loyal to the 7th Agency and a reliable apprentice to Kokonoe to the point where the latter had enough confidence in him to be her “back-up file” should anything happen to her. However, as time went on he began to develop an inferiority complex towards Kokonoe and her immense genius, so he attempted to make a discovery that would impress his higher-ups, including her. He became obsessed with discovering a link between the Boundary, the Blue Grimoire, and the Black Beast and eventually managed to find a way to briefly enter the Boundary, which unfortunately began progressively mutating his body and mind, showing clear signs of instability during a presentation.

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 Blue Grimoire and wants it for himself, to the point of even trying to consume Ragna. 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.

In *BlazBlue: Continuum Shift*, as his story goes on, he suddenly has moments of coherency, whereupon he remembers who he really is and is able to speak clearly to others. As of *BlazBlue: Chronophantasma*, Arakune has regained the ability of speaking understandable sentences, but is still insane due to his condition. In addition, possibly due to the modifications Relius has made to him, Arakune appears to have been brainwashed into doing his bidding.

## Powers and Abilities

Stepping into the Boundary has transformed Arakune into a black, amorphous creature made almost entirely of liquid magic element. 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 horde 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. To make matters worse, in *BlazBlue: Chronophantasma* Relius created and implemented him with an Event Weapon Imitation.[3]

Arakune’s Drive is **Crimson** (クリムゾン *Kurimuzon*), which allows him to *Curse* his opponents by striking them with either a vapor he fumes out or by calling minions. In *BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger*, he only needed to strike his opponent once, but in *BlazBlue: Continuum Shift* and *BlazBlue: Chronophantasma*, 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. Arakune’s Overdrive is **Crimson Depths** (クリムゾンデプス *Kurimuzon Depusu*), which allows the Curse effect to last longer should it be in effect.

## TMNT X Pokemon

Shredder tries to recruit Arakune as he sees potential to destroy the Turtles and Master Splinter. However, during the first mission, Donnie was able to understand him and doesn't want to hurt him. He sense some good in him and convince him to join their side.

## Trivia

Naming
* “Arakune” most likely originates from a corruption of Arachne; a mortal who was turned into a spider by the goddess of wisdom, Athena, in Ancient Greek mythology. Arakune’s human surname, “Carmine”, is a red dye made from crushed cochineal insects. It is also a crimson color with a purple tinge. His forename, “Lotte”, is a fish having a large mouth with a worm-like appendage used to lure prey.
* Most of Arakune’s specials are math terms, save his Drive and Overdrive.

Appearance
* Along 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.

Other
* Arakune’s Birthday (4/1) falls on April Fool’s Day
* Arakune’s Drive appears to operate on a similar principle to attack pheromones that bees leave behind when they sting any animal or human that invades their territory, causing the entire hive to become aggressive toward the invader.
* In some in-battle sound clips, it sounds as if he is speaking like a normal human, this can be heard in one of his *VS Ragna* quotes.
* During a flashback in *BlazBlue: Continuum 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.
* Arakune’s gag scenario is the only one in which there is an actual fight segment, pitting the player against Hazama. The outcome remains the same regardless of whether the player wins or loses.
* In the opening of *BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II*, Arakune’s mask is shown to be capable of blinking.
* Besides Litchi, Hazama can understand what Arakune says, as seen in Arakune’s true ending.
* When targeted by Amane’s Astral Heat, Arakune does not appear in his former human form; instead he appears as a Tartar, an insectoid species.[4]
* In his Bad Ending in *BlazBlue: Continuum Shift*, when the connection between Roy’s soul and Arakune’s body was fading, he referred to himself as “we”.
* In the additional story in *BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend*, Roy’s transformation into Arakune is shown in greater detail. It is revealed that he tricked Litchi into helping him attempt to become a Blue Grimoire, but the result was his mental deterioration and eventual memory loss. When his mind was completely unstable, he sensed a presence in the 7th Agency’s Kiln and met Terumi in ghost form who tempted him into physically entering the Boundary, which turned him into the creature he is now. Through Litchi’s attempt to help him, he used the opportunity to escape and headed toward Kagutsuchi.