Battler Ushiromiya

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Template:Character Details

"It's useless, it's all useless!"

— Battler's notable quote when in a difficult situation

SPOILER WARNING: Plot details follow.

Battler Ushiromiya (右代宮 戦人, Ushiromiya Batora) is the protagonist of the Umineko no Naku Koro ni series. Much of the series follows his battle with Beatrice in which he attempts to prove that the murders on Rokkenjima, of which he himself is a victim, could be committed by humans.

Battler is stubborn and doesn't believe in magic, preventing everyone from entering the Golden Land, during the events of Legend of the Golden Witch. While Beatrice vows to show Battler the errors of his ways, Battler vows to crush her; thus, beginning the fight between them. Along the way, new foes and allies enter the fray and, soon, Battler finds himself fighting over something even more precious: the truth behind Beatrice herself and the world she created.

In the Magic Ending it is revealed that he survived the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident and took on the pen name Tohya Hachijo, which he shares with Ikuko Hachijo.

Profile

TIPS

The son of Rudolf and his first wife, Asumu.

When his father married a second wife shortly after Asumu's death, Battler rebelled and went to live with his grandparents on his mother's side. However, both of these grandparents passed away, and he has now returned to the Ushiromiya family after six years.

This family conference is a chance for him to renew his friendship with his cousins after a six year gap.

Background

Battler was born to Kyrie, who at the time was Rudolf's mistress. But Rudolf switched Asumu's and Kyrie's children, and Battler legally became Asumu's child. Asumu raised him as if he were her own child.

Growing up, he and his family attended the family conference once every year and befriended his cousins Jessica and George and the servant Shannon. The four of them often played together, but he became the most closest to Shannon, due to their mutual interest in mystery novels. The two of them became close enough that talking about mystery novels became an excuse for their secret meetings. At some point he may have had developed an interest in Shannon, and when he was twelve years old (probably in order to sound and look cool), he promised Shannon that when he returns in the next family conference, he will take her away from the island while riding a white horse.

However, when Asumu died, Rudolf immediately married Kyrie, who was pregnant with her child. Battler, in his grieving process, fought with his father and says to him that Asumu's death benefitted Rudolf so that he can be with Kyrie. He also tells Rudolf that since the unborn child is innocent, he won't hate him or her, but will hate Rudolf in his mother's place, since Asumu is dead. He later on left the Ushiromiya family and lived with his supposed maternal grandparents for six years.

Though still on bad terms with his father, Rudolf, he would once in a while visit his younger sister Ange during her birthdays and on one occasion, got her hair ornaments from a crane game in an amusement park. Eventually he grew to appreciate his step-mother, Kyrie, but considers her more of an older sister than a mother. In 1984, Kyrie asked him to write letters to his cousins (including Maria, who he was not close enough with) which she delivers that year's family conference. In the same conference, Kyrie has stated that Battler has became very popular in school. When Asumu's parents passed away, he returned to the Ushiromiya family after six years. In 1986, it is his first time back in Rokkenjima to attend that year's family conference, which gives him a chance to renew his friendship with his cousins after a six year gap.

Appearance

Battler appears as a young man with short, spiky, auburn hair parted to the side. He has a light skin complexion and has either blue (as seen in the anime, the cover of volume one of the novel, Umineko: Majo to Suiri no Rondo and the portrait in Twilight of the Golden Witch and Symphony of Golden Dreams) or brown eyes (as seen in the original sound novels and in his portrait in Dawn of the Golden Witch). He appears to be quite a fascinating man with a slim body and is described as very tall. According to the sound novels, he is over 180 cm (close to 5 ft 11 inches) and is 10 cm taller than George. It has also been stated that in the past, he was of below average height.

He wears a khaki suit with the Ushiromiya crest. Underneath this suit, he wears a black vest with a red long sleeved shirt with a black tie. After becoming the Endless and Golden Sorcerer, he appears with a black cape (similar to the cape Kinzo, or "Goldsmith", wears), symbolizing his position as the Game Master.

In a flashback in Umineko: Majo to Suiri no Rondo, Battler's casual clothing consists of what seems to be a white jacket with a dark colored shirt underneath. In the anime, his casual clothing consists of a short-sleeved white shirt with a long-sleeved dark blue shirt underneath. In the manga, his casual clothing consists of a jacket, with a black shirt underneath with a metallic necklace. He also wears jeans with a chain on his left pocket. He also wears a typical Japanese highschool uniform. In Pachi-Slot Umineko no Naku Koro ni, he wears a white collared long sleeved shirt as casual attire as seen in a flashback with Ange.

In Twilight of the Golden Witch, he ages and assumes shorter and white hair, less spikier than his original red hair do and greatly resembles Kinzo when Kinzo was younger. He now wears a black khaki suit with a green tie and white shirt.

Personality

Although stubborn and hotheaded with the habit of flirting with young women, Battler is a very compassionate young man. However, he is also very emotional which is both his greatest strength and weakness, as while he refuses to acknowledge a witch to be the culprit, he also refuses to accept the fact the culprit is among the people he loves and mostly when he gets caught up in disproving Beatrice's magic, he forgets the most important question about the game: Why did Beatrice commit the murders?

Battler also has a perpetual fear of 'shaky' transportation, thinking he might fall out. He is also shown to be intuitive and intelligent at certain situations, as he uses Kyrie's "flip the chessboard" mindset to predict his enemy's thoughts based on the situation at hand. Though he doesn't look like it, Battler also enjoys reading, mostly mystery, which explains his extensive knowledge on the subject.

By Dawn of the Golden Witch, Battler’s personality makes an exceptionally drastic change compared to his former cheerful self; Battler then shows to be very serious, discarding all signs of his once goofy habits and quicks, and can become easily angered with anything that involves Beatrice such as how he became furious with Erika for wearing the ring meant for Beatrice. This is due to how he is unable to forgive himself for not remembering the sin, the reason that caused Beatrice in committing the murders, in time before she died, as well as how he indirectly caused the death of his sister, Ange Ushiromiya, during the Alliance of the Golden Witch.

Role

Legend of the Golden Witch

In Legend of the Golden Witch, most of the story is told through his point of view. In the beginning, he meets his cousins George and Maria (which is pretty much a first meeting between the two for when Battler and Maria last met, she had been three years old) at the airport. It has been six years since he has seen the rest of the Ushiromiya family and been to Rokkenjima after living with his mother's parents. He is very playful and jokes around with his cousins while at the mansion on Rokkenjima. He indulges in Maria's occult knowledge but is surprised when she goes into her creepy mode and he receives her wrath for not taking Beatrice seriously. In the end, because he does not believe in Beatrice and does not admit that her and her magic is real, the door to the Golden Land is closed. He costs everyone their paradise.

Death

This fool made the world where everyone could be happy all come to nothing.

Though Beatrice is extremely angry, she also seems to be enjoying herself immensely. It's almost as though she's waited a thousand years to get her hands on a toy as fun as this one.

Hopefully, even this fool will be able to see you before too long...

Turn of the Golden Witch

In Turn of the Golden Witch, Battler is less prominent in the story itself, as he is observing the events along side Beatrice, whilst continuing to deny her. Although he is still part of the world taking place, it could be said the real him is with Beatrice. During the first half of the story, Battler is only significant through little interjections made by him and Beatrice, when events turn dissatisfying in the world they are observing. Eventually he plays a prominent role, when presented with a situation that occurs during the game and attempts to explain as possible by "human tricks." This is the point where he begins stating his famous line "Repeat it in Red." He is successful in disproving the need for magic in that mystery, which seems to stir Beatrice's arrogance. Unfortunately for Battler, it's the only one of many mysteries that take place during the game world that he is able to solve. This causes Battler to accept the witch and magic and become Beatrice's furniture for a while until he's ultimately killed at her banquet.

At 11:30 AM he is seen getting drunk at the dining hall when Genji came to him and brought him to Beatrice and Kinzo. Although it is stated that he ended up missing during this arc, it is most likely that he died as he witnessed golden butterflies between 11:30 PM and 12:00 AM. Per the rules of the forgeries, Battler witnessed the golden butterflies in the timespace of 30 minutes before his death and before the explosives went off and blew up a crater in Rokkenjima.

At the end, Bernkastel's words cause him to become willing to fight Beatrice once again, knowing that even if he loses the game once more, it will continue endlessly with the objective of torturing him.

Missing

He did surrender to the witch at one point, but he pulled himself together and regained his will to fight.

I see...So, to witches, Battler makes a great toy for smashing.

That explains why she's always breaking him, fixing him, and breaking him again.

Torture is meaningless if you kill the subject. You've gotta alternate between causing pain and letting them rest.

Banquet of the Golden Witch

In his third match with Beatrice, Battler's disgust with his opponent grows increasingly apparent and eventually leads to an interruption of the game proceedings. Meanwhile, the Battler on Rokkenjima spends much of this episode holed up in the Guest House, making only brief forays outside with armed family members to search for people who go missing.

Death

Shot to death by Ushiromiya Eva inside the mansion.

The weapon was a Winchester from Kinzo's collection.

Jessica had lost her eyesight. Alone with Battler.

Wolves and sheep puzzle.

Alliance of the Golden Witch

Much of this episode is told from the perspective of Battler's sister Ange, which leads to a reduced role for Battler himself. Meanwhile, the Battler on Rokkenjima barricades himself in the Guest House with his cousins while reports of bizarre murders filter in. It is revealed in this episode that Asumu is not his real mother.

Missing

Went to hell embraced by the witch.

But to the witch, that hell was the Golden Land.

End of the Golden Witch

At the end of Episode 5, Battler is stabbed to death by the Red Truth. However, Meta creatures do not actually die; they just lose the concept of themselves in the sea of nothingness. Battler takes a hold of himself and, in that dimension out of time and space, he discovers the truth behind everything. Since the rule established by the first Game Master entails that whoever discovers the truth and the gold will succeed Beatrice, Battler is recognized by Lambdadelta, who becomes his guardian, as the Endless and Golden Sorcerer, BATTLER, and inherits from the dead Beatrice the world of the game board, making him it's new Territory Lord.

With assistance from Beatrice's furniture, he uses the standpoint that he himself is the mastermind behind the game's murders to battle Erika's theory that Natsuhi is the culprit.

Dawn of the Golden Witch

In Dawn of the Golden Witch, he grows increasingly obsessed with reviving Beatrice, his attempts were successful as he had revived Beatrice, but she did not have the memories she had as a witch before she died, resulting her to be both childish and naïve, frustrating Battler. He attempts to demonstrate his understanding of the game but ends up inadvertently producing a Logic Error that Erika takes advantage of, and forfeits himself to her entirely.

However, alongside the newly awakened Beatrice, he manages to ultimately defeat Erika and win the game.

It is possible that he had purposely set himself up to enter the Logic Error in order to revive Beatrice's original personality.

Death

His corpse was found in a guest room.

Furudo Erika didn't perform a proper investigation, so the details of the cause of death are unknown.

Requiem of the Golden Witch

Battler only appears at the very beginning of Episode 7, in the Tea Party and in the epilogue.

Prologue

In the prologue of Requiem of the Golden Witch, Battler is at a funeral with Virgilia in the Chapel. After Virgilia made her prayers, he placed a book inside a coffin. The book is a tale he dedicated to the Beatrice he could not reach in time: "Dawn of the Golden Witch". This is the most beautiful tale he could weave and is a secret between them that no one will ever defile. It is buried along with Beatrice. After a few glances at the coffin, he left the Chapel with Virgilia. 

Rokkenjima Massacre

Battler finally returns to Rokkenjima after six years and goes about normal interactions with the cousins until the murders of Kyrie and Rudolf begin. The two orginally intended to pull Battler into their plan but both are killed by Eva before Battler could ever speak to them. What exactly occurs after he is called out to the Chapel by Rudolf is shrouded in mystery as he is never shown afterwards.

The Tea Party shows him to walking to a supposed trial created by Kinzo. In reality, Rudolf should convince him to escape from the island knowing every other member and servant has been killed. An interaction between Rudolf and Battler hasn't been shown. Battler is last shown walking to the Chapel, but he is never shown to arrive. Rudolf was killed by Eva while waiting for Battler to show up, therefore Rudolf did not kill him. His fate is unknown at the end of Episode 7.

Epilogue

In the epilogue his Meta-World character, the Endless Sorcerer, consoles Ange by telling her a happy ending tale of the 5th October 1986. That way, it is not really clear if the last game has Bernkastel or Battler as Game Master.

Twilight of the Golden Witch

As the Game Master, he invites his sister Ange to the 8th game. However, Ange eventually found out that it was just a farce. Later on he was challenged by Bernkastel to solve her game. Together with Beatrice, he eventually found out that his game incarnation was the culprit along with his parents Kyrie and Rudolf.

At the end of the chapter, on the morning of October 6th, he and Beatrice escape the island on a boat. Beatrice then attempted suicide and was followed into the ocean by Battler. However, he floated back up and away from Beatrice's sight. But he was later then seen embracing Beatrice as they fall down together in the bottom of the ocean. He however ends up surviving and the Battler that was seen falling down with Beatrice was most likely her imagination. He washes up on the shores of Nijima with severe memory loss. He is later found on the road by Ikuko Hachijo and begins living his life as Tohya Hachijo.

Several decades later, Ange, now known as Yukari Kotobuki would reunite with her brother and invite Tohya to the Fukuin House, where it is seemingly shown that Battler has returned and that Beatrice offers to give him a hand to get up from his wheelchair. After the credits, a silhouette of both him and Beatrice can be seen in the Golden Land.

Other Appearances

He has appeared in every adaptation of the sound novels due to being the main character. He has also appeared in the game Ougon Musou Kyoku and manga exclusive series Forgery of the Purple Logic and the Higurashi and Umineko crossover manga.

Relationships

Relatives

• Rudolf Ushiromiya - father
• Kyrie Ushiromiya - biological mother (legally his stepmother)
• Ange Ushiromiya - younger sister
• Asumu Ushiromiya - stepmother (legally his mother)
• George Ushiromiya - older cousin
• Jessica Ushiromiya - cousin
• Maria Ushiromiya - younger cousin
• Kinzo Ushiromiya - grandfather
• Eva Ushiromiya - aunt
  • EVA-Beatrice - opponent
• Krauss Ushiromiya - uncle
• Rosa Ushiromiya - aunt
• Natsuhi Ushiromiya - aunt
• Hideyoshi Ushiromiya - uncle
• Sayo Yasuda - cousin/aunt
• Lion Ushiromiya - cousin/uncle
• Kasumi Sumadera - aunt

Other

• Beatrice - rival, opponent, love interest, wife
• Shannon - first love
• Lambdadelta - friend, sorcerer guardian
• Bernkastel - rival, opponent
• Erika Furudo - rival, opponent
• Dlanor A. Knox - friend, ally, opponent
• The Seven Stakes of Purgatory - furniture
• Ronove - ally
• Virgilia - ally
• Gaap - ally
• Tohya Hachijo - new/future self
• Black Battler - culprit form

Powers and Abilities

As a Human

Battler is the rival Beatrice chose and the reason she created her game board. Battler fights on the white part of the chess board and is the representative of the human side, along with the first detective. He doesn't know the truth behind Beatrice's tale and views himself as a traveler on his way to find it, guided by Virgilia. He makes crushing the illusion of the witch his goal. His determination and rejection of magic provide him with a powerful anti-magic barrier. He is a worthy opponent; at times, even brilliant, thanks to the knowledge he's built up as an avid reader and his own talent.

Meta-Battler

His Meta-World counterpart has the ability to control his piece on the gameboard.  His piece on the game board is human and unaware of the Meta dimension, so it acts as an ordinary human of his age would. This piece is moved by Battler himself on the upper plane, with exception of most of Episode 5, in which it was moved by Bernkastel. Because he refuses to acknowledge the existence of the supernatural, he is protected by a barrier known as Endless Nine, which protects him from magical attacks. By the fourth game, he was granted the ability to use the Blue Truth. In Ougon Musou Kyoku, he can use this as an attack fused with his kicks and punches. He was granted the ability to use the Red Truth temporarily during this arc. As one of the pieces inside the cat box, Battler has access to the truth of the tale.

As the Golden Sorcerer

During the ending of End of the Golden Witch, Battler is named the "Endless Sorcerer" and "Golden Sorcerer" by Lambdadelta after he inherits Beatrice's power and becomes the new Game Master.

His weapon is a golden longsword, which grants him the power to wield the Red and Blue Truth in battle. Because he knows the truth behind the game board, he is allowed to use the Golden Truth.

But in order to win the game, he has to prove that he understands everything by weaving and winning a new tale against Erika and Bernkastel. Battler weaves two tales:

• Dawn of the Golden Witch: The first of his tales is dedicated to Beatrice and her resurrection. It was challenged by Erika and was interrupted at the first twilight.
• Twilight of the Golden Witch: He dedicates this last tale to his sister, Ange. He invites Ange to the final party, hoping to end her turmoil, as well as inspire her to live on in the future as the final witch. Ange, EVA-Beatrice, Bernkastel, and Erika challenge this final tale.

Quotes

• "Well, who you love depends on the person. Isn't everything fine as long as it's someone who's fun to be with? Being with someone doesn't require any permission as long as the two people accept each other. If you worry about your parents or your family, then you lose. Don't forget that. You can't go out with someone with incomplete feelings."
• "If you lined up all the things I wanted, all the gold in the world wouldn't be enough."
• "It's okay, you can stop talking like that. I'm not going to ask you for anything in return. Anyway, I want to apologize. And I want to talk with you. I don't even know where I should start."

Appearances

Sound Novels Umineko no Naku Koro ni Legend of the Golden Witch Turn of the Golden Witch Banquet of the Golden Witch Alliance of the Golden Witch Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru End of the Golden Witch Dawn of the Golden Witch Requiem of the Golden Witch Twilight of the Golden Witch Umineko no Naku Koro ni Tsubasa Umineko no Naku Koro ni Hane Manga Adaptation Umineko no Naku Koro ni Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Umineko no Naku Koro ni Tsubasa Umineko no Naku Koro ni Murasaki: Forgery of the Purple Logic Light Novels Anime Adaptation Umineko no Naku Koro ni PS3 Remake Rondo of the Witch and Reasoning Nocturne of Truth and Illusions PSP Remake Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Portable 1 Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Portable 2 Ougon Musou Kyoku Ougon Musou Kyoku Ougon Musou Kyoku Cross Ougon Musou Kyoku X

Trivia

• In Dawn of the Golden Witch, it is stated by Lambdadelta and later confirmed in Twilight of the Golden Witch, that Battler has a third title, "Lord BATTLER, Golden Endless Sorcerer of Miracles", a title on par with Bernkastel's. Bernkastel is the witch who knows the true form of miracles and knows that they do not occur. She can only wait for one endlessly, whereas Battler is the sorcerer, who knows that miracles exist and can create one. This is why Bernkastel can't stand him and wants revenge. This affinity (and others) might also be the reason Bernkastel became interested in him in the first place.
• In the manga, Battler spotted Rudolf and Kyrie's clothing in the shed on the first night and tried to get a better look. In the anime, it was Jessica.
• A character in one of Ryukishi07's work, Rose Guns Days (Philip Butler), is a shout-out to Battler, though the two have no relations to one another.
• Battler wears his cape much earlier in the manga. It materialized the moment he became a sorcerer in End of the Golden Witch.
• His birthday is 7/15 and his blood type is 0.
• He likes mystery novels and books but dislikes high places and vehicles.
• According to one of Ryukishi07's twitter posts, his favorite sport is dodgeball.