Hazama

"Am I allowed to pass? Huh, I guess not..."

- Hazama

Hazama, also simply known as Hazama Honoka, is one of the main antagonists of BlazBlue and the artificial vessel of Yuuki Terumi, the creator of the Azure Grimore, he also served as a captain of the NOL's intelligence department showing to be almost as evil as Terumi. As of recently, Hazama and Terumi are now separate entities with the former having his own agenda and goals. He is the 5th main character of the BlazBlue series.

History
Hazama was created by Relius Clover after the loss of Kazuma Kval during the Dark War and had since became Terumi's vessel.

Remix Heart
Greeted by Relius inside his office, the two talked about the 15th Hierarchical, and the possibility of the Crimson Grimoire lying within it. Intrigued, Hazama journeyed there to find it.

When Hazama did arrive, he found a mortally wounded Seifer Albar stumbling away with the Burning Red in hand. Tutting, Hazama sneaked behind him and called it a dud, firing his Nox Nyctores, the Geminus: Anguium: Ouroboros, into the alchemist's back, killing him before he had a chance to react. He took the Burning Red, and looked at Mai Nastume before walking away, the Grimoire in hand.

Wheel of Fortune
???

Calamity Trigger
During the majority of Calamity Trigger, Hazama is supervising Noel Vermillion's mission to return Jin to his post, and attempts to avoid fighting anyone, claiming he "is not good with that sort of thing". However, during Rachel Alucard's story mode, he appears twice as Terumi, the first time mocking Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, and the second time mocking Rachel herself.

After the final fight of the True Ending in Calamity Trigger, he appears before Noel and Ragna, and after Rachel arrives, he loses his calm demeanor. His hair spikes up and his voice becomes much louder. Rachel and Ragna, having recognized Terumi from the attack on the chruch years before, attack him immediately, but he simply shrugs it off, and begins to taunt Ragna over the chruch attack before departing. After the True Ending, he is shown issuing confidential verbal orders to Tsubaki Yayoi to assassinate Noel and Jin.

​Trigger Shift
Before calling Tsubaki Yayoi to come over to his office in the 3rd Hierarachical City of Iwasu, Hazama sat in an airship where he received the call of Jin Kisaragi had been captured; in response, he issued that Jin be moved to a ship in the 5th port and that it should stay docked. Following this order, Hazama called up Relius to tell him that Noel Vermillion had inherited the Azure, only to find that Relius was now going to visit the 13th Hierarachical City of Kaguttsuchi so he could perform some 'tests'.

Conitumm Shift
In Continuum Shift, he appears as the main antagonist, planning to destroy the core unit, Amatersu, using Noel Vermillion, who becomes the Perfect Murakumo Unit, Kusanagi, Mu-12. He sacrificed many NOL members in order to temper her. When he and Ragna battle, the former overwhelms the latter and proceeds to take his life. But Nu-13's soul in Lambda-11's body sacrifices herself to protect Ragna and gives him her Idea Engine before dying. This allows him to access the True Azure and defeats Hazama. However, Ragna does not kill him, and the latter calls the former a chicken before falling unconscious. During the ending it is revealed that Hazama and Relius are working for Ragna and Jin's little sister Saya, who is now the Imperator of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

It's revealed that Terumi, like Hakumen and Rachel, will fade away without an Observer. Takamagahara, and later Mu (with the power of the Eye), with whom he shared a Life Link, observed him in BlazBlue. However, Mu lost that power after she turned back to Noel and Takamagahara was attacked by a magical virus from Phantom, losing its power. Terumi did not fade away, however, because he had awakened Hades Izanami, her vessel Saya in observing Terumi. As an added measure, hi is using Ragna's hatred as a force to bind him to this world, as well and the reason he was able to destroy Takamagahara.

Chronophantasma
He was tasked with erecting a barrier over the Ikaruga region, preparing the 13th Prime Field Device and managing Tsubaki Yayoi. Among his other goals was taking care of Ragna the Bloodedge and the remaining Six Heroes.

In the Six Heroes story, Trinity forcibly switches the positions of Hazama and Terumi, making Terumi "outer" in order to bypass Hazama's Life Link with Noel Vermillion and allow Hakumen and Jubei to eliminate him. However, Terumi is saved by Phantom at the last minute, and switches back with Hazama off screen. Hazama is later found and attacked by Trinity, but uses her lingering feeling for Kazuma Kval to get her to let her guard down and attack, only to be stopped by Hakumen. The two battle, but while Hakumen seems to have an overwhelming advantage, he is unable to kill Hazama, who leaves with Phantom in tow. Trinity tries once again to force Hazama and Terumi to switch, but something interrupts her.

Later on during the summoning of the Master Unit Amaterasu, Hazama is seen using the Azure Grimoire to gather souls into the cauldron, kicking off the "Day of Destruction". When Hakumen encounters Terumi again near the tower, he explains that whatever interrupted Trinity's attempt to switch them cause Terumi's consciousness to separate from Hazama and transfer to a doppleganger body. While Hakumen and Terumi fight, Hazama is ambushed and bound by Trinity, which causes Terumi to become paralyzed as well. Hakumen uses his Time Killer technique to erase Terumi's "time" and kill him, which appears to have some devastating affect on Hazama. He stabs Trinity while she's unfocused, saying that he'll take her down with him, and falls with Platinum into the water below. Their whereabouts became unknown afterwards.

Central Fiction
After Terumi's defeat, Hazama has lost not his connection to him, but became nicer than he was before. He also is still shady as ever and is revealed to have been faking his amnesia having an agenda. In his Act III story, he fights Terumi and has stated that he wants to be in charge of the plans and they went to where Ragna was with both of them laughing.

Personality
Hazama maintains a calm and quiet demeanor around most people, pretending to be harmless as a member of the Intelligence Department. He claims to hate fighting and prefers to avoid conflict. This, however, is simply a guise to his true nature. When people see through it, he shows his true colors as selfish and manipulative; destroying other people's lives and twisting their beliefs for his own gain. He has no qualms with killing those who get in his way, and doesn't seem to show any kind of remorse for his actions.

After being separated from Terumi in Chronophantasma and Central Fiction, Hazama seems to become more different than Terumi as without him Hazama is much more nicer and is nowhere near as deranged from him but is still shady and a trickster due to him faking his amnesia but has different desires from Terumi and doesn't want to host Terumi anymore but instead become his own entity.

Appearance
Hazama's appearance is taken after the shady, creepy archetype. He is depicted with bright green hair and an ever-present smile with his eyes closed, belying a demonic nature. He wears a simple black suit with a white shirt underneath, short brown gloves, and brown steel-toed shoes. He dons a pair of black trousers held up by two brown belts. He completes the outfit with a black fedora hat to close the shady visage. Upon revealing himself as Terumi, he removes his hat and tie, his hair spikes upward, and he opens his eyes, which are gold with snake-like slits for pupils. His smile also becomes that of a psychopathic killer. In his ghost form, he appears as a black apparition with a vague humanoid outline and green veins. His facial features consist of a single beady green eye and a red mouth curled into an eerie, wide smile.

Power and Abilities
In battle, Hazama wields the Nox Nyctores named Geminus Anguium: Ouroboros; a steel hook crafted in the shape of a snake that he summons in front of him, attached to a chain of green/black energy, which he can use to attack opponents from afar, or reel them in, as well as zip around the battlefield quickly, if not instantly, and close gaps between him and his foes. On the other hand, he also uses Balisong-style butterfly knifes for close-range attacks. Most of his attacks are similarly based on summoning green/black energy and serpentine apparitions to attack his foes, with his Astral Finish being a gigantic cobra of green energy composed of many smaller snakes. Outside of his magical prowess, Hazama is incredibly nimble and flexible, his moves vaguely reminiscent of dance techniques.

Having been the original creator of the Azure Grimoire, he possesses his own imitation, activating it in an identical manner to mock Ragna. When activated, a large magical circle envelops him, slowly sapping away vitality of anyone who steps inside. Also, Ragna was unable to use his own Azure Grimoire until he absorbed Lambda's Idea Engine. In the Story Mode of the first game, Hazama's true form as Terumi depicts him as a black apparition with green glowing veins and aura, or alternatively, his facial features become psychotic and his hair spikes up.

According to dialogue, Hazama (at least in his true form) is able to erase memories by "eating" them, saying that they are delicious. He has used this ability twice so far, both of which were on Jin Kisaragi.

Hazama's drive is Ouroboros, utilizing his Nox Nyctores' namesake to soar around the battlefield using his weapon to pull him in, regardless of whether or not Ouroboros has made contact, in order to make up for his lack of long range or projectile attacks. Above his Heat is a counter for his Ouroboros that determines how many times he can pull himself in (2 at max). Though it usually recharges after two seconds, he can get some back by simply hitting the opponent with the weapon and allowing it to click a second after it lands.

Etymology
Hazama's Drive name, Ouroboros, refers to either a serpent or a dragon. The Ouroboros is usually represented by a snake biting its own tail, symbolizing infinity or a never-ending cycle. His Overdrive is named "Jormungand" which references the Jörmungandr of Norse mythology that grew large enough to bite its own tail, signifying the worlds end if it ever let go. Coincidentally, the symbol of Jörmungandr looks somewhat similar to the top half of Hazama's crest. Even more coincidentally, it reflects Terumi's relationship with Ragna, as Ragnar Lodbrok was a hero who slain the serpent Jörmungandr in some legends. Interestingly, the serpent itself is the symbol of Ouroboros in Norse Mythology.

Trivia

 * During the extra scene from the Arcade Mode of Continuum Shift II where he unleashes Mu-12,
 * Hazama has been often called BlazBlue's Joker: a psychopathic villain with chaotic evil laugh and green slicked back hair, a tuexdo and they love torturing their enemies psychologically and/or physically.
 * He shares many traits with Gin Ichimaru from Bleach:
 * They were both captains at one point.
 * Both are almost always shown with their eyes almost fully closed and have yellow eyes when opened.
 * Both of their favorite foods are dried permissons and boiled eggs.
 * Both are almost invariably seen smiling, and both have an almost identical facial structure (particularly in the anime version of BlazBlue).
 * In the English dubs of their respective series, both characters are voiced by Doug Erholtz using almost exactly the same voice.
 * Hazama is the BlazBlue counterpart of Guilty Gear's I-No whom he bears many similaities, but with big differences:
 * I-No is That Man's servant while Hazama has Yuuki Terumi as his master who possessed his body.
 * Both specify in trolling, but Hazama moreso.
 * Hazama is considerably more older than I-No.
 * Hazama is male while I-No is female.
 * His Astral Finish's motion resembles the Raging/Rising/Raising Storm done by Geese Howard of SNK's Fatal Fury/King of Fighters series; a possible SNK nod left in by Arc System Works (referencing Ishiwatari's previous employment at SNK).
 * Hazama is also very similar to Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog.
 * Both of them wear fancy clothing.
 * Both are very charismatic yet suspicious in their appearance.
 * Both have allies they consider their shadow (Facilier with his actual shadow, Hazama with Terumi).
 * Both seem to be based on Michael Jackson considering their appearances and movements.
 * Both use magic.
 * Both work under a being that is stronger than them and fear their powers (Facilier with Friends on the Other Side, Hazama with both Terumi and Izanami).
 * Both manipulate almost every characters they come across to acheive their goals.
 * Monaca Towa, the main antagonist of Ultra Despair Girls also shares similarties with Hazama on basically the exact reason as Junko, but also:
 * Both of them successfully (for a brief period) managed to make protagonist fall into despair and become something they're not (Hazama turning Noel into Mu-12 and destroy the world and Monaca making Komaru almost break the controller, which would then start a civil war).
 * Both of them have also begged for the main protagonist to hate them to  gain satisfaction to achieve goal.
 * Iris Sepperin from Rosenkreuzstilette have few comparsions to him:
 * Both committed artocrities and manipulated others for fun.
 * They both receive "I'll never forgive you" from one of the protagonists.
 * Both enjoy trolling certain characters.
 * Felix from Red vs. Blue is also similar to Hazama.
 * They first appear as an ally to the heroes.
 * Both later revealed to be jerks, trolls, and one of the main antagonists of their arc.
 * Both are examples of sociopaths, laughably evil, and master manipulator.
 * Both forms a three-person dynamic with a deadly-serious guy.
 * They both like knives.
 * They even both died (Hazama is stiil alive) in a similar way:
 * At the hands of those they had betrayed and manipulated, their plans falling apart around them, betrayed by one of their own allies whom they didn't control as completely as they thought, and unable to cope with them resulting in a villainous breakdown.
 * Hazama has also been compared to Nui Harime from Kill La Kill.
 * Both are the most nemesis to the main protagonist of their own series (Hazama to Ragna, Nui to Ryuko).
 * Both were created as artifical human to contain powerful weapon (Nui possess the Primordial Life Fiber and Hazama possess the Azure Grimoire) and showed it to the protagonist.
 * Both gave their enemies calm-like demeanor to not show their personlities.
 * Both are evil counterparts to one of the main heroes (Hazama to Ragna, Nui to Ryuko and Satsuki).
 * Both disguise themselves to trick the leading female (Hazama to Noel, Nui to Ryuko).
 * He's also similar to Gilgamesh in Fate since they use female characters to summon all-powerful beasts to wiped out humanity.
 * They even look very similar and their hair spike up when they're true demanor has been figured.
 * They are also heroes from an anicent past and were hailed until they found out how they truly were.
 * Both are incredibly powerful in their respectful franchises.