Empress

Empress (エンプレス, Enpuresu) is the incarnation of the Black★Rock Shooter character in Black★★Rock Shooter DAWN FALL. Her full designation is "Hemiteos Unit Type 01: Operation Codename Empress", and she is also known as "Black Rock Shooter" (ブラックロックシューター, Burakku Rokku Shūtā).

Appearance
Empress is a white-skinned, thin girl with black hair tied up into asymmetrical twintails, the left being much longer and more voluminous than the right, and soft blue eyes. In the present day, she wears a revealing black and white uniform with orange accents, which consists of a large, wide collar, a bikini top with two white stripes on the left breast, a pair of hot pants, a holster on her right thigh, and combat shoes and gloves. Empress' appearance in the present day is due to herself reawakening from her stasis pod prematurely; her original appearance was taller with a somewhat different uniform, the lack of a holster on her thigh, and knee-high boots with blue accents. A blue flame could emanate from Empress' left eye in this form, whereas her current form is not shown with a flame in her eye. Empress regains her original appearance after entering another pod that reorganized her Hemiteos genes.

When she first came to Lighthouse No. 8, her hair was down and she wore a plain red shirt and blue jeans. After adjusting to life at the orphanage, she tied her hair into her trademark hairstyle and wore an open black jacket with white stars on the sleeves and back, a white crop top, and hot pants.

Personality
Empress isn't very emotional or expressive, but she is selfless to the point of being stubborn when it comes to helping others. She values the lives of those she loves and others, and chooses to fight to protect them. Although her main goal as a Hemiteos Unit is to destroy the Orbital Elevator, she willingly chooses to lend a hand to those who need it in the moment and do whatever she can for them. Despite how hostile Strength and Dead Master initially are towards Empress when they each respectively reunite with her in the present time of DAWN FALL, Empress is not vengeful towards either of them and fights back only to defend herself.

Black★★Rock Shooter DAWN FALL
Empress was an orphan who was brought to an orphanage called Lighthouse No. 8 in Bogotá, Colombia, in the early 2030s. Her life before then is unknown, but she did not even have a name prior to coming to the Lighthouse. She met Jessica, a teacher at the orphanage, who asked her to pick from a hand of face-down tarot cards. She picked the Empress card, and was given the name Empress.

Some time after, Empress was partnered up with the newest girl at the orphanage, who was often outcast due to the horns on her head frightening people. Empress, however, thought the girl's horns were cool instead. This kind sentiment touched the girl, who did not have a name either. Empress asked her to pick from a hand of tarot cards, and the girl picked the Death card. She decided to name the girl Dead Master, and from then on, Empress and Dead Master were a team. Later on, Empress met Strength, whom she also grew close to. The three girls eventually became Hemiteos Units, with Empress as the leader, but they would also be the only survivors of the Hemiteos Units in the ensuing war after Artemis turned against humanity.

In 2042, Empress was defeated by Lunatic. Her comrades, Strength and Dead Master, cried out for her to no avail as they were both defeated as well. As Lunatic looks down on Empress, she tells her to give up, that living and fighting were all for nothing. She looks at the ongoing destruction surrounding them, and calls it the result of Empress' promise to protect humanity, wondering what she'd have to say for them now. Empress, refusing to give up, simply says she'll kill Lunatic, to which Lunatic scoffs at. As the flame in her left eye burns again, Lunatic drives a sword into her eye and drags her away to a wasteland of crosses where countless Unmanned Forces roam.

To her horror, Empress finds Strength and Dead Master bound to crosses, screaming that they'll destroy humanity. Lunatic states that the two of them were tortured beyond their limits. She raises the sword with Empress still impaled on it, and tells her that she didn't make it in time. The flame in Empress' eye breaks the blade off from her and she falls to the ground. In her right hand, Empress held the Overdrive Key. Strength and Dead Master were unbound and attacked her, but using the Overdrive Key, she out-sped both of them and subdued them. Empress then drove off alone on Black Trike, who told her that the effects of Lunatic's brainwashing on Strength and Dead Master were removed to some degree, but would leave them with gaps in their memories and cause them to forget about Empress. Empress did not mind this, saying that as long as they don't die, it was more than enough for her.

Using the Overdrive Key for longer than she should have took an immense toll on Empress, both physically and mentally. Parts of her body were falling off as a result, and she needed maintenance as soon as possible. Black Trike brought her to the base of an underground research facility, where Empress made it to a stasis pod just before she completely fell apart. She reassured herself that she was going to meet up with everyone again one day, and laid dormant in Area X for twenty years. Her whereabouts during this time were unknown to virtually everyone.

In the present time of 2062, after dreaming of Lighthouse No. 8, Empress was roused from her slumber and freed herself from the stasis pod she was kept in. However, she had lost all memory of everything, even of herself, although she had a strong desire to go to the place she dreamt of. Empress found herself stuck behind the exit of the base she was kept in, and reached out to a young boy and girl whom she sensed were on the other side, asking them to free her. On their side, a Titan attacked them, and the girl chose to blast open the doorway, freeing Empress and allowing her to fight the Titan. Unbeknownst to any of them, Lunatic witnessed Empress' return through the eyes of the Titan. Empress quickly defeats the Titan and saves the boy and girl. The boy realizes Empress isn't human due to multiple factors, such as her lack of a mask and unfamiliarity with the Titans, and the two introduce themselves as Norito and Miya. The three of them head for above ground as more Titans come after them. When Norito asks for Empress to take Miya with her and run, Empress promptly refuses, saying that she would prefer that they all survive. Suddenly, a motorbike breaks out of Area X nearby and helps to fight off the Titans. The bike identifies Empress as "Hemitheos Unit Type 01" and happily greets her, surprising Norito and Miya. With more Titans on the way, the three of them take off on the motorbike.

The motorbike demonstrates a number of abilities of its own to fire back at the pursuing Titans while getting over the terrain, introducing itself as Black Trike and giving Empress' name to Norito and Miya. Just then, the Peacebuilding Forces destroy the Titans pursuing them and meet with Empress at a rendezvous point. The Colonel identifies Empress as "Black Rock Shooter", whom the Peacebuilding Forces had picked up on as having just reactivated. When told that Empress has lost all her memories, the Colonel gives a brief explanation about how Artemis, the artificial intelligence that was originally the core of Project Elysion, chose to fight humanity and turned the world into the way it is now, and the need to destroy the Orbital Elevator being built by Artemis and its Unmanned Forces, stating that Empress will be the one to destroy the Elevator. At that moment, a tank-type Titan rapidly approaches the rendezvous point, and the Colonel tells Empress to leave Norito and Miya behind. Empress, however, decides to take them back to their home in the mountain town instead. The Colonel tries to stop her from doing so, but Empress refuses to abandon the kids. The tank Titan fires, momentarily distracting the Colonel and allowing Empress to escape. Another Titan unexpectedly intercepts their path of travel, knocking all three of them off of Black Trike and into the air. Although Empress is physically too far to reach for Miya and Norito, through the unconscious manipulation of Arche, she manages to bring them both safely into her arms. She approaches the remains of a Titan and manipulates its Arche, this time being aware of it, and summons a massive cannon to fire a piercing laser into the pursuing tank Titan. However, the laser does not destroy the Titan completely, and the cannon dissipates before Empress can use it again. Then, Strength charges in on her own motorbike and crushes the tank Titan with her massive arm-like weapons. She coldly greets Empress and then charges straight at her.

Abilities
As the former leader of the Hemiteos Unit, Empress displays superhuman capabilities in battle. She is nimble and displays quick thinking, dodging all of a Titan's attacks and turning its attempt to pierce her with its tail back on itself. Despite her thin build, she is able to sever the limbs of said Titan by kicking or swinging her arm at it. Even without her memories, Empress' battle instincts remain as she knew she could fight the Unmanned Forces, though she did forget the very basic function of a gun after instinctively pulling it out.

Empress can breathe in the air around her without issue, unlike normal humans who require a respirator due to the planet being contaminated with Arche. She is also able to manipulate Arche in the atmosphere and reconstruct them into a powerful Coilgun for her own use, an ability that she rediscovered when Norito and Miya were in grave danger and physically beyond her reach. Furthermore, Empress can recover from severe wounds and regenerate lost limbs, albeit at a reduced pace after her awakening.

Gallery

 * Full article: Empress/Gallery