Yuuki Terumi

"This whole world is nothing but lies! LIES! Lemme show you what I like to call the truth! The truth called DESPAIR!"

- Yuuki Terumi/Hazama

Yuuki Terumi, also known as Hazama, is one of the primary antagonists of BlazBlue. He is former member of the Six Heroes and the creator of the Azure Grimoire and by extension the Black Beast. He originally appeared as a non-playable character in the story mode of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, but starting with BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, he became a playable character as well as his true form in Choronophantasma until the third game where he is killed by Hakumen. However, he does return in BlazBlue: Central Fiction as a playable character as both Hazama & Terumi, revealing he is still alive.

Information
Yuuki Terumi was originally one of the Six Heroes who fought against the Black Beast in the First War of Ars Magus. He created the Azure Grimoire (and in turn, the Black Beast) and had wished to quell the mistake he had made. However after the beast was destroyed, he turned his back on the Six Heroes, and murdered one of them, Nine, who was the mother of a fellow heroes' child.

He was the original owner of the Susano'o Unit armor (which now belongs to Hakumen), and it is assumed that, after realizing he was forever linked to the Master Unit while in the armor, he drove himself out of it - which is possibly why he now appears as a ghost. He was formerly sealed away in the Boundary after Hakumen sacrificed himself to pull him in, with help from Jubei. He was later released before the events of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger by Takamagahara.

Years before the events of Calamity Trigger, Terumi had appeared at Celica's church, where Ragna, Jin, and Saya lived. Upon arrival, he killed Celica. After possessing Jin, Terumi burned down the church, cut off Ragna's arm, and abducted Saya (or in actually retrieved his boss Izanami who had trouble controlling Saya). For much the events of the first game, Ragna believed Jin to be responsible for this incident.

Remix Heart
Greeted by Relius inside his office, the two talked about the 15th Hierarchical City of Torifune, and the possibility of the Burning Red 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 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 Natsume before walking away, the Grimoire in hand.

The Wheel of Fortune
In Hazama's office in the 3rd Hierarchical City of Iwasu, Relius asked Hazama where he had placed an artifact from Ikaruga, responding that he had placed it in Relius' lab, also claiming that Kushinada's Lynchpin was not in Ikaruga either. Before Relius left, Hazama had a favor to ask him.

Hazama later interrupted the meal between Tsubaki Yayoi and Makoto Nanaya, introducing himself to Tsubaki and ordering Makoto to come to his office later on; he then payed for their meal and left to meet with Relius. He asked the Puppeteer and asks how the matter with the artifact was going, then answering Relius' question on who Makoto is, noting that it was unusual for him to be interested in another being.

Some time later, Hazama caught Tsubaki running down the halls of an NOL hallway, telling her that there was no point in even attempting to find Jin Kisaragi since there was no point; after being pressed by Tsubaki for an answer, Hazama took the opportunity to relish in mocking their relationship, before finally dropping the subject and relinquishing his whereabouts - stating that Jin is within the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, searching for the Grim Reaper. Relius and Hazama meet yet again, this time with Hazama claiming that nothing can stop the tempering of Nu-13.

Deep within the lower levels of Kagutsuchi's NOL branch, Hazama found Tsubaki asleep, patiently waiting for her to wake up. When she did, he directed her to Jin's location - the deepest level of the branch. Hazama then turned to face Hakumen, switching with Terumi so he could battle the White Susano'o instead.

At the end of the original timeline, Hazama walked over to Tsubaki's corpse and kicked it, remarking that even though she was garbage, she did move like he wanted her to. The timeline ends as Hazama exclaims that he can finally begin.

Calamity Trigger
During the majority of Calamity Trigger, Hazama is supervising Noel Vermillion's mission to return major Jin Kisaragi to his post, and attempts to avoid fighting anyone, claiming he "isn't good with that sort of thing". However, during Rachel Alucard's story mode, he appears twice as Terumi, the first time mocking Valkenhayn, 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 church years before, attack him immediately, but he simply shrugs it off, and begins to taunt Ragna over the church attack before departing. After the credits roll at the end of the True Ending, he is shown issuing confidential verbal orders to Tsubaki to kill Noel and Jin.

Continuum Shift
In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, he appears as the main antagonist and a playable character, planning to destroy the core unit, Amaterasu, 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's soul in Lambda's body sacrifices herself to protect Ragna and gives him her Idea Engine before dying. This allows him access to the True Azure and he 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 Clover are working for Ragna and Jin's little sister Saya or more spefically Izanami the goddess of death possessing her, who is now the Imperator of the Novus Orbis Librarium. In the post-credits sequence he is shown standing over a Cauldron containing the remains of Nu-13 with Relius, commenting that it could be used to make the Sword of the Imperator" (Sword of Izanami in the Japanese dub).

It is 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 her 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 Saya/Izanami, using her as his Observer and presumably turning her into the person she has become, much like he did with Noel/Mu. As an added measure, he is using Ragna's hatred as a force to bind him to this world, as well.

Chronophantasma
In the Six Heroes story, Trinity forcibly switches the positions of Hazama and Terumi, making Terumi the "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 feelings for Kazuma Kuvaru 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.

In the True Ending, 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 caused Terumi's consciousness to separate from Hazama and transfer to a doppelgänger 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. The Library Guide unlocked after beating the game states that neither Hazama nor Platinum's bodies were located.

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.

When he reveals his true self as Yuuki Terumi, he becomes quite sadistic and insane in nature, relishing in others' misery and suffering. Terumi takes every opportunity to upset others by mocking them, deliberately provoking them, or even bringing up and prodding at a sensitive topic; all for his own enjoyment. However, he also harbors a cold and ruthless side when someone upsets or irritates him, in which case he starts torturing them excessively. He is rather arrogant and is confident that anyone he picks a fight with can't do a thing against him, and tends to get rather loud when it seems that something isn't going according to his plans.

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.



During the Dark War, before fusing with Kazuma, Terumi wore a Magic Guild uniform shirt, a tattered orange cape with a hood, and long black ribbons across his arms. During Phase Shift 1, his hair is not shown, as he is always cloaked. However, concept art in later art-books has revealed that Terumi's hair remains the same as it is today: spiked-up and green-colored.

Terumi wears a hooded yellow cape along with long black ribbons across his arms. He also retains a few articles of clothing from his Hazama persona, including an open shirt beneath his vest that shows his chest, two belts, and black pants. When he is in overdrive mode, he removes his hood, revealing his spiky green hair.

Powers & 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.

Terumi is said to be a character with more Distortion Drives than special moves. His Drive, Force Eater, focuses on absorbing the opponent's heat gauge, similar to Ragna's Soul Eater.

He will apparently still use Ouroboros, but not as much as his Hazama persona, as he will only use it during his specials and distortions. He is described as a "sadistic beatdown character", with more of an emphasis on utilizing heat abilities such as Distortion Drives, Rapid Cancels and Crush Triggers more-so than other characters. Terumi's almost constant access to Heat related abilities means that his options in combat far exceed that of other characters, even surpassing Kokonoe in options. With distortions that can hit overhead, counter and even pickup what would otherwise be a dead combo; Terumi is no slouch in the battlefield.

Gameplay-wise, Terumi is a character with more Distortion Drives than special moves. His Drive, Force Eater, allows Terumi to have a much greater Heat Gauge gain while negating it to his opponents, allowing him to utilize his Heat-related abilities far more than any other character and having several combo opportunities to use them, making his potential damage output outright devastating. His Overdrive is Nightmare Reaper, which strengthens Terumi's Drive attacks and allows him to absorb the opponent's Heat Gauge, similar to Ragna the Bloodedge's Soul Eater.

It is implied that he is more powerful than Hazama and utilizes Ouroboros in a manner meant to inflict severe damage to his opponent rather than the "basic" way Hazama uses it and, according to Jubei during the Dark War, was capable of using magic. He uses the snake apparitions far more often and rarely uses Ouroboros in it's ordinary form with Retaliating Fang, Snakebite, Screehes of the Condemned, and part of his Astral Heat being the only instances he does so. He is also somehow able to access the power he had as the Black Susano'o despite no longer having it, using it to finish the opponent in his Astral Heat.

Etymology
The "yū" in "Yūki" is from Japanese 優 yū – "gentleness, superiority" or 悠 yū – "distant, leisurely" is a literal translation. Whereas 希 ki – "hope", 輝 ki – "radiance" or 生 ki – "life" serves as the other half of the translation. However, the most likely translation is 幽鬼 yūki – "ghost" or "revenant".

His last name translates from Japanese as "beautiful shrine" and is a feminine name, although admittedly rare.

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, he is briefly voiced by Spike Spencer.
 * In all new scenes in Continuum Shift Extend, he is voiced by Doug Erholtz, who also voiced such anime and video game villains as Gin Ichimaru, Shinji Matou and MetalSeadramon.
 * Hazama looks borderline identical to Gin Ichimaru and are very similar in a lot of aspects. They were both captains at one point and both are almost always with their eyes close and have yellow eyes when their opened.
 * As Terumi, he share a similarity to that of DC's Joker, such as: a psychopatic villain with an chaotic evil laugh and the slicked back hair.
 * His name "Hazama" comes from the place in the Boundary - the Edge - where he and Hakumen were sent.
 * Hazama's birthday falls on the International Dance Day, a reference to the fact some of his sprite movements are based off Michael Jackson, as well as an alternate color palette.
 * Hazama does not have a human skeleton; what appears to be the imprint of his ghost form appears when he is electrocuted by.
 * Hazama is the only one who enjoys Noel's cooking, as seen in her gag ending. This leads to the assumption that Hazama has no taste in food.
 * Hazama is one of several characters, namely Ragna; Jin; Rachel; Hakumen and Platinum, who are playable in Lost Saga.
 * A bug has been observed in the Challenge Mode where when Hazama finishes a mission and then removes his hat, he may start the next mission with no hat and then having it spontaneously appearing on his head.
 * This has been observed for his poses with hair down. It doesn't happen when he makes his pose with spiked up hair.
 * His Arstal 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 the Blazblue counterpart of I-No whom he bears many similarities, but with big differences:
 * I-No is That Man's servant while Hazama has Izanami the Goddess of Death Posseing Saya's body as his boss.
 * Both specify in trolling, but Hazama moreso as he needs to troll to stay alive.
 * Hazama is considerably more older than I-No.
 * Hazama is male while I-No is female.
 * Mori in a BlazBlue Radio episode revealed that Yuuki Terumi is not his real name and is an alias he uses just like Hazama, this gives the implications that Soichiro Unomaru is Terumi's real name given the two share some similarities.
 * Terumi is strikingly similar in many aspects to Medusa Gorgon from Soul Eater:
 * Both use snake like powers.
 * Both wear hoods with snake markings.
 * They needed bodies to host at one point (Medusa with Rachel & Arachne and Terumi with Hazama & Kazuma)
 * Considered the most evil beings in their respective universes.
 * Both are very powerful when it comes to close combat.
 * Both are known for acting like trolls in their series.
 * Both "die" through being forced out of their host bodies, being cut with a blade (Maka with Genie Hunter, Hakumen with Time Killer) and have hinted survivals (Medusa in the anime, Terumi with Centralfiction).
 * Their eyes glow with a certain color when hidden behind or under a shadow (Medusa's eye glow red while Terumi's glow green)
 * Both have deceived people until their cover is blown (Medusa as a school nurse, Terumi as Hazama).
 * Both of them have yellow eyes.
 * Both have controlled or corrupted people throughout their series (Medusa with Crona, Terumi with Tsubaki Yayoi).
 * Hazama is very similar to Dr. Facilier from The 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 power.
 * Both manipulate main characters to achieve their goals (Facilier with the Prince, Tiana & Lawrence and Hazama with Tsubaki Yayoi, Litchi Faye-Ling & Noel Vermillion.
 * Terumi also share similarities with Junko Enoshima from the Danganronpa series:
 * Both see despair as the only solution the world needs.
 * Both are responsible for the deaths around the main cast.
 * Both have manipulated people to the point of breaking them psychologically.
 * Both have used disguises to trick people (Terumi as Hazama, Junko as Monokuma).
 * Monaca Towa, the main antagonist of Ultra Despair Girls also shares similarities with Terumi on basically the exact reasons as Junko, and also both of them successfully (for a brief period) managed to make protagonists fall into despair and become something they're not (Terumi turning Noel into Mu-12 and destroy the world and Monaca making Komaru almost break the controller, which would then start a war).