Nikke

Spoilers!*"Your greatest villain Drake shall warn you, SPOILERS AHEAD!"*The following article or section contain **spoilers!** Viewer discretion is advised.Under Construction*"No need to fear, Liter is here!"*This article is currently under construction. Help contribute by filling out missing information or section!This article is about the playable characters. For the eponymous video game, see Goddess of Victory: Nikke.

**Nikke**By ManufacturerBy BurstBy Code

A **Nikke** refers to the female soldiers manufactured in fighting the Raptures, they serve as the titular playable characters. After the invasion of Rapture, humanity had to seek shelter underground. There, they gathered forces, knowledge and resources to achieve one goal: retrieve the earth's surface from the enemy.

To do so, they divided themselves into several manufacturers and started working on manufacturing special fighting androids, commonly called Nikkes.

These Nikkes are sent on the surface of the planet and fight against Raptures using special weapons and abilities that makes them the only effective counter against Raptures.

## History

### Early Rapture Invasion

In the early days of the Raptures' invasion, "Nikkes" were simply ordinary humans (compatible humans were referred to as "Suiters") with their brains transplanted into mechanical bodies. While humans of all ages and genders were originally allowed to apply and become Nikkes, it was found that men who were converted into "Nikkes" had drastically lower survival rates, either dying from the shock of the transplant process or suffering psychotic breaks. Additionally, as most armed forces at the time comprised largely of male soldiers, the male population rate went into freefall as most of them died against the Raptures. As a result, the Nikke projects narrowed their criteria until they settled on females ages 10-25.

Early production Nikkes were more machine-like in appearance, and outfitted with all sorts of technology like built-in missile launchers and leg-mounted rocket boosters. Unfortunately, these augmentations caused cognitive dissonance between the human brain and the machine body, resulting in psychotic breaks and meltdowns. Additionally, the process of putting the brain in a cybernetic body would often have side effects, such as memory loss or personality alteration.

Later Nikke models were designed to more closely resemble humans, using handheld weapons and auxiliary gear worn on the body. Accounting for the age range of suitable candidates, these new Nikkes would all be humanoid women that could look about 30 years old at maximum. Non-mass-production models may have nonhuman features, such as wings or animal ears, either due to specific abilities/technologies they possess, or due to requests made prior to the transplant surgery. While acquiring brains to transplant into Nikke bodies is largely still voluntary, sometimes a person critically injured or terminally ill will be made a Nikke to save their lives or, in a more cynical light, make use of someone who's bound to die anyway.

The first prototype of "modern Nikkes" was codenamed Liliweiss, using the brain of a woman who at the time was *the* ace pilot of aerial combat. Using technology and knowledge derived from Liliweiss' construction, the United Forces of Humanity and the Big Three (Elysion, Missilis, Tetra Line) went on to create the "Grimms" series of Nikkes, specialized units with powers and specs far beyond any mass-production models that would later become the bread-and-butter of the UFH's forces. The Grimms would be compiled together into a squad known as "Goddess" and alongside their commander, made a name for themselves as the greatest warriors in the battle for humanity's survival. They, and to a lesser extent all Nikkes, were revered as "Goddesses of Victory".

Unfortunately, despite Goddess' best efforts, and even an all-or-nothing attack on the Rapture-controlled orbital elevator believed to hide their Queen, humanity and the Nikkes eventually lost the war. The humans were forced to abandon the surface and evacuate into the underground colony, the Ark.

Goddess Squad was later assigned the task of protecting the Ark's gates as part of Operation Ark Guardian. While official records claim that they valiantly fell in the field of battle, the truth is the Central Government abandoned them to die on the surface. This was quite obviously covered up, as the public would go ballistic if they knew their leaders were forsaking the Goddess of Victory for petty politics.

### Goddess Fall

This article is about the event. For the titular soundtrack, see The Goddess Fall.
Some time after mankind was forced into the Ark, human perception of Nikkes changed from "goddesses of victory" to "expendable tools". Not helping the matter was the increasing optimization of Nikke production meaning manufacturers could churn out parts and even entire units with minimal resource consumption and incredible speed, plus the Central Government seemingly *actively* working to stifle any kind of sentiment related to giving Nikkes human rights. This suppression has gotten so bad that people who try and advocate for Nikke rights have been labeled *terrorists* and suffer legal persecution.

Despite Nikkes being made to look and act like people, most humans living in the Ark saw Nikkes as tools at worst, and uncanny valley at best. Between this, the built-in restriction to Nikkes regarding use of force on humans, the overall incompetence of the military's efforts to retake the surface, and the lack of preexisting rights or associated legislation, the Nikkes made the perfect scapegoat for the common folk's gripes. Taxes too high? Blame the Nikkes for being expensive to make and maintain. Terrorist attack means the train will be late? Blame the Nikkes for not stopping it in time.

30 years before the events of the game, 200 mass-produced Nikkes, frustrated by human mistreatment, boarded one of the elevators to make their own home on the surface. The Central Government saw it as a mass desertion, and cut the elevator's power while it was 4 kilometers in the air. At that height, the elevator crashing back to the Ark would cause immeasurable damage and fatalities. The Nikkes self-destructed, destroying the elevator and saving the Ark at the cost of their lives. This event would come to be known as "Goddess Fall", and sparked the Nikke civil rights movement. The elevator would be repaired as a monument to Nikke rights, but for some reason, it never functioned properly after Goddess Fall.

### Present

Despite many advances in civil rights, Nikkes are still widely unacknowledged as people, if not mistreated outright. Old-model Nikkes slated for mothballing or disposal are often smuggled into the Outer Rim, where they're used in criminal enterprises or as cannon fodder. While some Nikkes are placed in non-combat roles, such as entertainment or business operations, they still have combat functionality under the expectation of being sent to fight Raptures at some point or other.

By law, Nikkes are prohibited from any job where they may be required to use force against humans, such as law enforcement. Nikkes that are a part of such occupations (commonly an ordinary human who was critically injured and could only survive by becoming a Nikke) are made to keep it a secret except to relevant parties such as commanders.

Nikkes in modern times still suffer all manner of harassments and discrimination, the perpetrators emboldened by the fact that Nikkes are made to be incapable of attacking humans unless Mind Switched or corrupted.

Nikkes in Eden are treated equally as a whole, and even look down on the Ark for good reason, due to them being betrayed by the Ark.

## Physiology

A Nikke's skin is composed of a material known as "Goddesium", which somehow replicates the feeling of human skin. Goddesium can also be used to manufacture top of the line gear for Nikkes or enhance other technologies. Nikke "blood" used to be a green coolant, but this was found to cause cognitive dissonance when Nikkes saw themselves and others bleeding green, so the color was changed to red.

Due to the weight of their internals, Nikkes are incapable of even floating, much less swimming in water. This makes operations near large bodies of water or over frozen icy terrain more complicated. Only a few Nikkes are adapted to deep water conditions (such as Helm and Aegis squad), and they are few and far between due to the land-dominant nature of combat against Raptures. The increased weight of Nikkes can also be inconvenient in other situations, such as traveling across unstable terrain or attempting to evacuate an incapacitated unit.

Nikkes up to the 9th generation used actual muscles in their body and thus were able to strengthen them via training. Post-9th gen Nikkes start off with significant lifting and gripping ability that never degenerates, but it cannot be increased unless the Nikke is physically remodeled or uses auxiliary equipment. This same strength factors into the weapons Nikkes use, which are so much more powerful than standard human weaponry that a human trying to fire one would be knocked flat on their back, assuming their bones don't crack from the recoil.

Nikkes have an internal reactor that provides all their operational energy, removing the need to eat or sleep. Doing so is purely psychosomatic to ensure mental stability, though it does seem Nikkes can derive some energy from consumed matter, and Nikkes who regularly use power-hungry weapons or abilities such as Matis need to supplement their power supply by food or auxiliary batteries. Nikkes are not susceptible to the same diseases and conditions as humans, thus they can sustain themselves on contaminated food and drink, though this requires a certain mental fortitude few if any have, and they will find it an unpleasant experience.

Nikkes are built with mental limiters hardwired to them that prohibit them from exerting lethal force against humans or even a fellow Nikke. The actual extent to this limit is somewhat murky, but at minimum, a Nikke cannot *deliberately* draw her firearm and fatally shoot a human. This does not account for accidents such as in the heat of battle, the limiters can be circumvented by not taking immediately fatal shots or indirectly targeting a human such as a ricocheting bullet, and some Nikkes have their limiters secretly removed so that they *can* kill humans. Known Nikkes attributed to this case are Nikkes from Perilous Siege, Underworld Queen, and Heretic.

### NIMPH

A Nikke's brain is flooded with nanomachines referred to as **NIMPH** (**N**euro-**I**mplanted **M**achine for the **P**rotection of **H**umans), which manipulate the synaptic connections of neurons to control memories. This allows Nikkes to make a "backup" of their memories and thus can be revived from death, so long as their brain is intact. However, this also makes Nikkes vulnerable to alteration, or even erasure of their memory. Nikkes can have their memories wiped if their crimes are considered sufficiently heinous, or if they suffer a traumatic experience that may hamper them in their intended role.

NIMPHs are implanted on a Nikke while they were still humans during the process of becoming a Nikke, essentially allowing them to copy all the memories stored in the brain before all information are processed. While most Nikkes lose all of their memories while they're humans, their memories are instead replaced by pre-entered information before the NIMPH is implanted. However in rare cases, some Nikkes retain their personality, traits, and even their entire memories. Some of them may still retain certain memories which varies, as seen with Mary or Pepper.

The NIMPH also acts as a sort of fetter, which has a code ensuring that Nikkes cannot disobey the orders of commanders and preventing them from attacking humans. Although this mental inhibiter has its own inconsistencies, such as the Nikkes from Exotic. Because of these factors, a Nikke's NIMPH can be "overridden" by each individual's own personality.

Exposure to Vapaus can destroy a Nikke's NIMPH. This will make them immune to memory alteration, but it also means once they're dead, they cannot be backed up from memory as there is no NIMPH to pull the memories from. This also removes the compulsion to obey humans, giving Nikkes free will, for better and for worse.

The Pilgrims have a quirk in their mental wiring that gives them a hard limit to memory storage compared to the seemingly-endless archiving Ark Nikkes possess. Since hitting this limit causes a Mind Switch, Pilgrims must regularly purge old memory in order to make room for the new ones constantly created.

### Mind Switch

Mind Switch refers to a phenomenon where a Nikke's brain suffers permanent damage or alteration, often resulting in a psychotic break and going on a rampage. The most common cause of Mind Switch is anything that reminds Nikkes that they are fundamentally not human, but can also occur if Nikkes (particularly Pilgrims) suffer a memory overload in their NIMPH. Nikkes that suffer a Mind Switch risk becoming berserk Nikkes referred to as "Irregulars", and while reformatting their memory can stop the psychotic break, oftentimes the permanent brain damage means it's more merciful to put them down.

The Pilgrim Snow White is on record for having survived two Mind Switches, albeit at the cost of most of her previous memories and a personality alteration, becoming more taciturn and serious by the testimony of her comrades. The second one did not cause her to lose any memories from after the first mind switch but caused her to have a single minded obsession to kill all Raptures upon encountering them.

## Corruption

This article is about the side effect. For titular chapter, see Corruption.

While not often occurring (or something anyone wants to think about), Raptures can corrupt Nikkes with code that makes them into mindless puppets, often distinguished by a reddish-pink coloration of the eyes and sometimes repeating certain phrases with increasing vocal distortion. Nikkes subject to corruption must be terminated by a human with a special-issue pistol, as most corrupted Nikkes cannot kill themselves and Nikkes are restricted from firing upon each other.

Countermeasures against corruption are comparatively primitive. Corrupted Nikkes that aren't executed in the field are either put into stasis or scrapped on return to the Ark, due to the risk of becoming an Irregular. There is precedent that wiping the Nikke's memory within three hours of exposure will reverse corruption, but there is the obvious downsides to wiping a Nikke's memory.

As Rapture corruption works by hijacking the processes of NIMPH, Vapaus, which destroys NIMPH, can render a Nikke immune to corruption unless the corruption vector is directly shunted into their brain.

## Squad

See also: Inter-Manufacturer Squads

Each Nikkes are grouped together in a **Squad**, mostly consisting of three or more Nikkes. All Squads have their own various duties and roles ranging from serving humanity to working for the Ark.

Most Squads consist of Nikkes from the same manufacturer, although this isn't always the case such as from Triangle (Privaty, Yulha and Admi) or Seraphim (Mary and Pepper).

## Gameplay

From a gameplay perspective, Nikkes are the units the player controls in all manner of aspects in the game, from navigating maps to playing battles with them. Nikkes have a number of factors regarding gameplay

### Power

Power is a composite value based on the Nikke's stats, which in turn are affected by level, skill level, gear, and Recycling Room upgrades.

### Level

A Nikke's EXP level dictates general baseline stats. Credits, Battle Data, and Core Dust are consumed in order to level up a Nikke. Nikkes **cannot** be leveled past their level cap, and cannot be upgraded at all if they are placed in the Synchro Device.

A Nikke's level can be reset to 1 at the cost of 10 Gems, and will refund 100% of all the resources used to level them up. Level reset cannot be done when a Nikke is in the Synchro Device, and is completely locked for any Nikke that reaches level 200 (SSR only).

### Level Cap

Nikkes of SR or higher can undergo Limit Break by consuming Spare Bodies, which are acquired by rolling duplicates of that Nikke in Recruit. Every Limit Break increases the level cap by 40, alongside increasing the Nikke's base stats.

SR Nikkes can undergo 2 Limit Breaks, while SSR Nikkes can do 3. SSR Nikkes that reach LB3 can then undergo Core Release, which uses duplicates to increase stats without increasing level cap.

### Bond

Represents the closeness between the Nikke and the protagonist. Increasing a Nikke's Bond level by Advising them or giving Gifts can increase their stats. Nikke Bond limit is dictated by Limit Break.

Rare Nikkes do not have Bond benefits and cannot be Advised or given Gifts.

### Code Chips

Essentially the type matchup system of the game. Every Nikke and Rapture is assigned one of five elements (Fire, Wind, Iron, Electric, Water), and will deal additional damage if/when attacking an opponent's weakness.

### Weapons

Each Nikke is equipped with a weapon of a certain type, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Refer to the Weapon page for more information.

### Skills

Every Nikke has two "Automatic" Skills and one Burst Skill.

Automatic Skills will activate their effects the moment their trigger conditions are met, such as triggering Full Burst or when HP is above or below a certain percentage. Some Skills have cooldown timers between each instance.

Burst Skills are active trigger, and require player input to activate. As Nikkes participate in battle and land hits, a Burst gauge on the right end of the screen will fill. Once filled, the player can activate a Burst skill. Burst Skills come in levels I, II, and III, and must be triggered sequentially. Skipping a Burst level is **NOT** possible.

Note that while triggering Burst I can be withheld for an opportune moment, Bursts II and III have a time limit to activation.

Skills can be upgraded using specific materials, depending on level and the Nikke's element. While the primary source of such materials is the Simulation Room, the Arena Shop and most events will also provide opportunities to acquire them.

### Full Burst

Upon activating a Burst III skill, all Nikkes will enter Full Burst for a baseline of 10 seconds, with some skills lengthening or shortening the time. During Full Burst, all Nikkes will fire on the same target.

## References

Notes

References
1. ↑ Event, Red Ash "Red and White"
2. ↑ Event, Red Ash "Turn and Walk Away"
3. ↑ Event, Over Zone "Rise and Fall"
4. ↑ Story, Chapter 21. Cutscene: "Time Bomb in Brains: B."