Lieutenant Seppuku

*"You have destroyed the safe to my Monetary Keepings—I fail to understand how this was an act of good will."*

*"Oh, well, you see, we're poor and I wanted money; that's why I did it." ―Mighty Gazelle and Lieutenant Seppuku, Part 2/3, Lap 62*

Lieutenant Seppuku is a main character and anti-hero in F-Zero: Seppuku who regularly acts as team leader for Chiya Flower and Earl Bendek.

Little is known about Seppuku's origins other than that he first stepped foot on Earth through Wales, where he would initially begin a life of petty crime. While in England, Seppuku would take part of a personal heist in Bianca City that saw him successfully stealing a historical sword of great value; by this time he felt that he had gained too much notoriety in Britain, so he sought to start fresh on another planet.

Wishing to gain distance from Earth, Seppuku ventured to the planet Port Town, and while there made the acquaintance of a petty criminal named Sarge. Based around the Red Light District of Port Town, the two began to construct a base of operations for an unnamed organization the two planned to lead together. While the two had agreed on an organization centered around crime, the two would go on to disagree about what kind of organization they wanted to make. Seppuku envisioned an organization that would serve as a kind of vigilante authority for the Red Light District, while Sarge desired it to help facilitate escorts and other forms of prostitution. Their cordial disagreements on this matter would lead to the two men parting ways, with Seppuku deciding that Port Town was too linear in what opportunities it offered him.

Seppuku would eventually return to Earth, this time delivering himself to Japan, more specifically the metropolis of Mute City. The Man of Darkness was initially shell-shocked by Mute City and what it could offer him in terms of luxury and fun, and yet he found himself again lost on what career to tackle. Shortly into his stay, Seppuku made the bizarre acquaintance of the Galactic Space Federation Chief Commander, Jody Summer, who was headquartered in the Mute City Federation HQ. During their early relationship, Jody discovered that Seppuku had an extraordinary talent for problem-solving, and despite knowing about his background of petty crime in Europe, she saw some of his heists as proof of great competency. In a radical shift of profession, Seppuku signed onto Jody's team as a Federation detective lieutenant, effectively moving into the Federation HQ and giving himself a new life purpose.

As a detective lieutenant, Seppuku would quickly demonstrate high efficiency at his job and assimilate into a small team comprised of himself, Jody Summer, Dr. Stewart, and Dr. Clash. Seppuku had a natural desire for justice to be served against criminals, making him an excellent fit with the team; consequentially, however, his hunt for justice would not mix well with his extraordinarily violent character. Seppuku would gain great prestige for his role as a detective, but he also developed a controversial reputation for murdering even the most petty of criminals in unspeakably graphics ways. It soon became apparent to everyone that Seppuku held no sense of mercy for those he identified as criminal, and even fetishized their slaying by turning jobs into hunts. Jody. although a friend of Seppuku's, made the unpopular decision to fire Seppuku from the team, thus provoking a rivalry between the two that would last for years. Seppuku partially defied Jody by keeping a military-grade anti-material rifle that he was ordered to surrender. He chose to take his business down into the gang infested streets of the Lower City District, where he could continue to entertain his controversial hunts.

Sometime later, Seppuku made a new acquaintance—a Korean mechanic named Earl Bendek. Recognizing an opportunity to seize Earl as a personal mechanic for his F-Zero machine, the *Red Dove*, Seppuku proposed an unorthodox business partnership centered in the Lower City that would have the two living in a secret base together as part of a Lower City vigilante team. Some time later, Seppuku would make an unusual decision to incorporate a third member of his team, a homeless Lower City Mysterian woman known as Chiya Flower. Altogether, the three make up Team Seppuku and combat the Lower City gangs of Red Star and the Bloody Chain.

## Appearance

Chiya is a pale Anglo-Mysterian (born on Mysteria with English ancestry) who stands at a height of 5'5". Her natural hair color is blonde and grown beyond the shoulders; bangs overlap her eyes, intentionally kept in place by her hat. Chiya bears the 'Mysterian Blue' eye color unique to most Mysterians, most noticeable for its tendency to darken in color when in a bright setting. Her everyday outfit is comprised of a pale green beanie, a gray short sleeve turtleneck, a white belt, purple mini skirt, and Mysterian Army jackboots. Chiya will frequently incorporate a green holster onto her person while going out into dangerous territory.

As Chiya progresses her eventual career as an F-Zero racer, she takes on an outfit comprised of a blue beanie, a small red scarf, blue tipless gloves, blue boots, and a black/blue racer suit bearing feline imagery. This outfit would become exclusively attached to Chiya's F-Zero career, only wearing it for races, interviews, and other relevant events.

Her formal attire consists of a blue metallic dress with a shoulderless and revealing design, complimented by similarly blue heels. This dress only comes out for Chiya's love life, intentionally meaning to provide a rare sensual view of her.

## Personality

    Chiya is an overly friendly and cheerful woman in large part owed to her constantly evolving ambitions and gratitude for all the positives in her life. However friendly and charitable Chiya may be credited as, there is also a recurring side of her that whines (especially when she feels that circumstances are unfair), covets, scheme, and act out in disproportional ways. She can thus be described as a woman who by the age of 23 has a childish nature that continues to be facilitated, partly resulting from cruel circumstances that had her fleeing her planet prior to adulthood, and not allowing for a smooth transition to adulthood.

Overall, Chiya takes on a mostly aromantic character, first and foremost concerned with her professional ambitions in life. Despite this, Earl Bendek wins Chiya's heart following a very long era of close friendship, and as a result births a very affectionate side to Chiya that sees her constantly desiring his attention. In addition to this, she grew up with a bias toward her father, Robert Flower, and beyond his death finds herself filling this hole in her life by viewing **Lieutenant Seppuku** as a new father figure to her. A major side of Chiya's personality revolves around her love for cats, so much so that she would eventually name her first F-Zero machine the *Purring Kitten* and feature cat imagery on her racing outfit. Chiya's love for cats will often bring out a childlike nature even in the most inappropriate of times.

While Chiya is known to forgive even the worst of offenses, she is just as well one to hold grudges over even the most minor of incidents, even when the person in question is a loved one. These grudges tend to form when something is especially harmful to her feelings or worse, and she will often feel obliged to escalate her grudge until an apology or concession is made.

    Outside of the F-Zero: Seppuku canon, Chiya is portrayed as a friendly egotist, frequently referencing her successes (or the successes of F-Zero: Seppuku) and taking a domineering stance over her 'Siontix Sisters,' Suri Yaktosh and Tomako Angel in a number of ways.

## Key Relationships

### Allies

#### Chiya Flower

    *"I was intercepted by the Wild Boar on the bridge."*

*"I presume he's dead..?" ―Chiya Flower and Lieutenant Seppuku, Part 1/3, Lap 23*

The relationship between Chiya and Seppuku is that of an apprentice and master for much of the story, followed closely by a father-daughter bond that is frequently riddled with discourse. In Part 1/3, Lap 1, Seppuku liberates Chiya from a life or death situation largely on the bid that she would take this second chance and use it well. One of the most fruitful aspects of Chiya's relationship with Seppuku is her accomplishment in not only making good on Seppuku's investment, but also going so far as to directly join him in going after the Lower City gangs and later Dark Million. Despite Chiya earning Seppuku's respect in this way, she is the cause for numerous moments of frustration simply due to the radical indifferences the two share philosophically, morally, and behaviorally. Where Seppuku has a darker view of the world and close to no mercy for even the most petty of crimes, Chiya is a bright spirit who believes in the hidden light side of even the worst of the universe, and will often battle Seppuku on his lack of spirit. What's more is that while Seppuku insists on a very isolated and priority centric lifestyle, Chiya insists on living one's best life and frustrates Seppuku by trying to drag him into the more innocent pleasures of life.

Professionally, the most defining part of Chiya and Seppuku's relationship is the unlikely F-Zero alliance they continuously maintain, naturally originating from her apprenticeship under Seppuku. Chiya and Seppuku go into each race as a team, however, their priorities are not always aligned. Chiya most often makes placing well in a race her top priority, even if at the expense of Seppuku's interests; Seppuku, meanwhile, prioritizes the targeting of rivals on the track, treating races more as a three lap opportunity to try and kill off personal enemies. While Chiya very often will agree to go into a race with intentions of fighting their mutual foes, the third lap usually sees her retracting this lend lease and focusing on victory instead. Outside of the races, even while being part of the same team, Seppuku becomes greatly agitated over the favoritism Earl shows towards performing maintenance and upgrades on the *Purring Kitten* before the *Red Dove* considering he is both the team leader, as well as one of Earl's oldest friends.

Despite the radical differences that divide Chiya and Seppuku, there are instances of the two making rare concessions to the other in what ultimately leads to improved relations. For Chiya, her willingness to adopt an interest in handguns and actively practice in Seppuku's shooting range is an import from Seppuku's interests that leaves the man glued to her side whenever she is open to shooting. For Seppuku, Chiya succeeds in exporting her interests in cats to Seppuku when she introduces him to her cat, Mauser. Although highly opposed to having a cat in his organization, Chiya's persistence eventually defeats Seppuku and leads to him actively pursuing closer bonds with Chiya's cat.

The tension between Chiya and Seppuku is very much real and can reach incredible points of hostility, however, there is also a complex nuance to this, with Chiya and Seppuku sometimes exchanging seemingly hostile blows without actually meaning real harm to the other. This would more often than anything come in the form of back and forth roasting or pranks. For Seppuku, this is done more than anything to maintain an image of dominance over Chiya; for Chiya, it is to counter his dominance campaign. Both find some satisfaction out of humiliating the other, and on rare occasion may even respect the game that the other is playing.

#### Earl Bendek

*"We die together, remember?" ―Chiya Flower, Part 2/3, Lap 28*

The relationship between Chiya and Seppuku is that of an apprentice and master for much of the story, followed closely by a father-daughter bond that is frequently riddled with discourse. In Part 1/3, Lap 1, Seppuku liberates Chiya from a life or death situation largely on the bid