(last updated: 12/30/17)CANON HISTORY ADJUSTMENTS
After the Cold War, humanity began to delve deeply into magic and the Boundary with reckless results. As a result of man's uninformed exploration of the Boundary, the Black Beast was born into the world. This calamity forced the Ten Sages, a group of power spell casters, to reveal themselves. In the end, it was the Ninth Sage that figured out how to forge Nox Nyctores, powerful magic weapons capable of injuring the otherwise impervious Black Beast. Six Legendary Heroes, after a battle lasting years, eventually destroyed the destructive abomination.
The destruction caused by the Black Beast, and the magical contamination released across the globe upon its demise, forced the surviving humans to establish cities high in the mountains, above the blanket of seithr. Decades later, after the NOL became a global power, the Ikaruga Civil War was ignited as Emperor Tenjo attempted to create a nation independent of the NOL's oppressive rule. This civil war was the first time mankind would use the magic weapons devised to defeat the Black Beast against each other, and the results were catastrophic, rapidly steering Earth toward total destruction.
It was at this point that the Elder Gods got involved in the fate of Earth. If the planet were to be destroyed by mankind's rampant use of magical doomsday weapons, it would contaminate the Boundary and risk triggering a universe ending chain reaction throughout all existence. The Elder Gods proposed that the only recourse was to wipe out all life on Earth and place it in a state of stasis where it would no longer be in any danger of collapse.
As Earth's Bystander, Rachel Alucard was able to treat with the Elder Gods and argue in favor of an alternative plan that would spare Earth the fate the quorum of divine beings had in mind. Using the Tsukuyomi unit, one of the three prime artifacts of creation, and with the help of the Elder Gods themselves, Rachel Alucard sequestered the timeline of Earth from before the Black Beast was born up until after the Ikaruga Civil War ended. This disastrous timeline, referred to as the BlazBlue World from here out, was transplanted into its own adjacent timeline, now entirely independent from Earth's existence. This meant the BlazBlue World could drive itself to utter destruction without any risk to the Boundary. From there, the BlazBlue world's events proceeded largely how they are represented in BlazBlue canon, and Earth's history largely mirrors our Real World history as it always has at MotM.
Please see BlazBlue Challenges for a few specific notes that should be kept in mind when applying into the BlazBlue cast. Additional general notes are contained within the remainder of this page.
INFLUENCES FROM BLAZBLUE IN THEME
Even though the BlazBlue World was sequestered, its existence continues to have effects on Earthrealm. Many of the same principal figures in the world of BlazBlue are also born on Earth, with similar histories, personalities, and relationships with other characters. Little by little, the BlazBlue World is trying to imprint itself back onto Earth in a cosmic attempt to course correct history back to what actually took place.
For the most part, this is a harmless phenomenon, and characters from BlazBlue should feel integrated into MotM's Earth as if they had always belonged here (with a few exceptions). They operate just like any other cast, working alongside a world that is similar to the real one. For players applying into BlazBlue, operate under the assumption that the major, world changing events of BlazBlue have not happened in MotM's shared history unless stated otherwise in info files. Please contact Wheatley or GLaDOS with any theme integration questions regarding BlazBlue characters or events.
One change to MotM's history is the disaster of Ikaruga. Though the scale of the conflict in the Ikaruga region did not reach the disastrous degree that it did in the BlazBlue world, there was an incident there a few years ago. SEE 'NOL HISTORY'
The Ikaruga incident seems to have triggered a sequence of events from BlazBlue's World to bleed over into Earth through a process known as Event Interference.
Through future plots, Event Interference will retroactively introduce aspects of BlazBlue to players. This will primarily be the Six Heroes and the Black Beast; slices of time will be planted in MotM's world, and the residents will then respond to such logically as they would any other unexpected incident.
When Event Interference occurs, people exist as if it had always been present but they still reached the same point in their life, instantly gaining memories and subtle shifts to their past to accommodate things. Some realize it is surreal and strange, and others might remember both worlds, recognizing what has taken place. In this way, many BlazBlue chars will inherit their pasts and histories from the source material over time, allowing them to take inspiration from plots and courses of action impossible to have already exist in MotM, or Event Interference can manifest similar plotlines to grant the same end result.
There are two main differences from MotM's setting that deviate from BlazBlue entirely:
- One is that there are not countless universes for each possibility. The Takamagahara System does not and has never existed, and its role in BlazBlue's narrative is replaced by the Elder Gods. As such, the world is already a single linear reality, and Event Interference is specifically the overlapping of events from BlazBlue's World and MotM's Earth.
- Two is that the time looping is different. Saiki and his allies had always used the Time Spheres to reset time rather than time looping being triggered by the Black Beast. His motives are unknown to most. In the last attempt, AKA known as the End of the World plot prior to MotM's theme reset, Saiki partially failed, and time resetting is no longer possible.
BLAZBLUE CAST NOTES
For the most part, one can review how charcters from BlazBlue have been integrated into MotM by checking their finger profiles in game. The following are additional notes to be aware of regarding the cast:
A few individuals exist that were not affected by these split timelines or have greater insight into the truth of what happened:
- Rachel Alucard - As Earth's Bystander and the one that worked with the Elder Gods to sequester the events of BlazBlue away from Earth, she exists between both realities and is aware of both.
- Valkenhayn - As Rachel's butler, he was with her when she split the timelines and is aware of both of them.
- Trinity Glassfille - As her soul was sealed in her weapon, Muchourin, she was not directly affected by the timeline split, so there is only one Trinity Glassfille soul.
- Hakumen - As Hakumen was in the Boundary when the timelines split, he was not affected. Upon his arrival on MotM's Earth, he would find himself in a world very unlike the one he knew when he dragged Terumi into the Boundary.
- Terumi - As a being that exists within the Boundary when not inhabiting a vessel, he was unaffected by the split.
- Jubei - Due to his strong role played in the defeat of the Black Beast itself, he might experience brief flashes of information from the world of Blazblue.
- Kokonoe - Due to her lineage from Jubei, strong magic potential, and nearly unparalleled acumen for digging up information that is not supposed to be found, she has become aware of the truth of what happened.
- Noel - Due to her unique nature, she can 'see' the history of this world and the world of Blazblue, but these insights are not something she can actively control.
- Relius - Knows the truth of what happened due to being told by Terumi, but has no direct insight into the world of Blazblue.
- Hazama - Knows the truth of what happened due to being told by Terumi, but has no direct insight into the world of Blazblue.
Other Blazblue characters that exist in both worlds can easily have moments of insight into the other side. Please consult with Wheatley or GLaDOS with any questions about the implications.
A select few characters retained the ability to be an Observer even after the timeline was split off. Observers can choose to cause Event Interference, or see the history of individuals in both worlds at once. These all require plot approval for meaningful Event Interference, although background knowledge only requires the consent and mutual agreement of events between players.
Characters from canon that had the power to Observe retain that ability in MotM's Earth. Litchi bears special mention, as she did not know how to Observe early on in Blazblue's canon but eventually learned the ability. For her starting point here, she will not yet be capable of Observing.
INTEGRATION SUMMARY
MotM's history remains largely unchanged from what it has always been, with a few exceptions:
- The NOL and Sector Seven have existed as secret factions operating outside of the spotlight until very recently.
- The Boundary has been established as a realm of information and energy for creation, and Earthrealm is the only gateway to it.
- The events of BlazBlue's canon story did happen with a few exceptions, but due to the world-ending catastrophe they were, they were sequestered off to an adjacent timeline to play out independently of Earth so that the Elder Gods wouldn't destroy all life on Earth.
- On Earth, echoes of many of the major figures of the world of BlazBlue have been born and have lived lives that have echoes of events that happened in BlazBlue's sequestered world. These individuals often have dreams, premonitions, or flashbacks to events that happened to their copy in the world of BlazBlue.