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RoaRemake

Michael Roa Valdamjong, the unofficial 28th Dead Apostle Ancestor.

Dead Apostles (死徒, Shito?) are Humans that became Vampires either by the use of Magecraft (like Van-Fem, though this kind is rare) or by the actions of another Vampire of similar nature (in this case, either a True Ancestor or another Dead Apostle). The Dead Apostles also includes creatures that weren't Vampires from the beginning, such as animals.

Among the creatures that fall under the Vampire category, they are the most numerous.

The main targets of the Executors of the Burial Agency (Remake), an organization created for the purpose of stopping the spreading of the heresy known as Vampires by exterminating the Dead Apostles and sealing The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake).[1][2]

Origin[]

The original members of this kind of Vampire were created to act as countermeasures in the case of a True Ancestor being overwhelmed by their thirst for blood. In exchange for losing their free will and becoming a tool to relieve the Vampiric Impulses of the True Ancestors as emergency meals, these individuals were granted powers and longevity similar to their masters. However, what they received was still a flawed form of Immortality and it was soon discovered that they needed to suck the blood of others to survive.

Just like the True Ancestors, these Vampires have the instinct known as Vampiric Impulses (吸血衝動, Kyūketsu Shōdō?),[3] which pushes them to suck the blood of others. But differently than the Vampiric Impulses of the True Ancestors, they have the physical need to suck the blood of others in order to maintain their own bodies. For those Dead Apostles who used to be human, it is something not entirely dissimilar from an expression of love.

The result of repeatedly sucking the blood of humans was the emergence of a sense of superiority in the heart of the servants of the True Ancestors. Such a thing eventually gave birth to a feeling of rebellion towards their masters, which then lead the servants to find ways of strengthening their mental control and escaping from the domain of the True Ancestors. After the rebellion, these blood-sucking humans became known as the Dead Apostles.

Dead Apostles first started appearing frequently around 20~100 AD deeming Magi as their enemies and attacking them.[4]

Every Crusade was marked by the appearance of a Dead Apostle on the battlefield, each attacking humans indiscriminately on all sides of the war.[5] In the First CrusadeWP, Nrvnqsr Chaos attacked and "stained the desert with blood."[5] During the Second CrusadeWP, different Dead Apostles appeared, rampaging for three days and nights.[5] During the Third CrusadeWP, another new Dead Apostle appeared, but it was eventually slain through the combined effort of Richard I, SaladinWP, and the Hassan-i-Sabbah of that period.[5][6]

Although the Dead Apostles are maverick and individualistic by nature, there is a form of ruling body among them: The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake).

In the original Tsukihime continuity, they were a group formed only by the original Dead Apostles who escaped from the True Ancestors, today however it is more of a collection of very odd, but powerful bloodsucking characters who are divided into multiple rival factions. Most of the original Dead Apostles were destroyed along the generations or sealed away by the Holy Church. Afterward, their seats among the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors were either left empty or filled by somewhat suitable replacements.

On a side note, those sealed away are actually just placed into eternal imprisonment inside special coffins, for the Church lacks the means to definitely destroy them. Meanwhile, some of the factions of those sealed Dead Apostle Ancestors still remain and are slowly gaining power to either free their masters or destroy them.[7] There are two primary factions that divide the Dead Apostles,[8] there are those who follow the formal King of the Dead Apostles, Trhvmn Ortenrosse, and those who follow the Princess of the Dead Apostles, Altrouge Brunestud.

In the Tsukihime Remake continuity, they are primarily individualistic, with the exclusion of the five members of the Age of Gods Alliance (神代同盟, Jindai Dōmei?), and not every Dead Apostle Ancestor is an enemy of mankind.[9] The oldest Dead Apostle Ancestors are referred to as Elder Title: League of the Age of Gods (神代連盟(エルダータイトル), Jindai Renmei(Erudātaitoru)?). Each Dead Apostle Ancestor creates and rules over it's own kingdom and they divide the world of Dead Apostles into 27 powers. The original Twenty-seven were those who were able to escape their existence as "emergency rations" for the True Ancestors. As of the modern day, there are the "elders" of the BC era and the "upstarts" of the AD era.

Dead Apostle Deinos Portrait

Dead Apostle Deinos.

In Fate/Grand Order, in the South American Lostbelt, there exists a species of Dead Apostle Deinos (死徒ディノス, Shito Dinosu?) created by Camazotz. Initially believed to simply be unintelligent dinosaurs, these Deinos have had their brains deteriorated and lost their intelligence, and are now neither living nor dead. Tepeu describes them as the jungle's malignant tumours that hunt animals around them to convert them into energy. They cannot be communicated with, and the only options when encountered are to run or to stop them.[10] Sion Eltnam Sokaris states they are Vampires, and had their blood sucked out by another Vampire to become one. She states that the lack of intelligence and shambling walk means they are Ghouls, akin to shambling corpses that instinctively seek blood, meaning they are lower-tier Familiars of a Vampire that have been given some of that Vampire's immortal blood. When killed, they disintegrate into dust.[11]

Society[]

For the Dead Apostles, amusement is the same as breathing. For those who were once human and achieved imperfect immortality, boredom is their greatest enemy. As soon as someone realizes they have no value – that their life is stopped, then their meaning of existence disappears too. So they started to wear down and to counter this they started to create their own amusement.

The Dead Apostles began a game of conquest and saw themselves as lords of a castle expanding their territories. Additionally, in the original continuity, Ortenrosse suggested a game of hunting the remaining True Ancestors. Most Dead Apostles choose their hiding place close to human cities and built them into strong fortresses. When they sleep deep within these castles they are very cautios of their surrondings and let themselves be guarded by their loyal followers during the day, but never let their followers feed near their castle. Experienced Dead Apostles also have an escape route ready for when their castle get attacked by the Church or if an individual is stronger than themselves approaches, then they flee at once. But if an Dead Apostle manages to gain enough followers, the Church can’t do anything to stop them and the town they’re in will be destroyed. Afterwards, the Dead Apostle will wander to the next town.

The Dead Apostles find territorial wars and power struggles within their own factions entertaining and, for their own enjoyment, they place their own blood inside the Humans they preyed upon. These corpses go through the Growth Process (Remake) to become Vampires and eventually kill their parent Vampire in order to become new Dead Apostles themselves. Additionally, in the Remake continuity, a Rank V Vampire can reach Rank VI and become a completely independent Dead Apostle from their sire without killing them. Then in Dead Apostle society the term "family" is used to indicate ones carefully acquired subordinates, those of Rank IV-V. They are seen and treated by Dead Apostles as sons and daughters who were adopted and turned for their talents. But still, for the Dead Apostles, killing another Dead Apostle is not something wrong, for the overall number of Vampires doesn't change. However, those Dead Apostles, like Enhance in the original continuity, who want to destroy the existence of all Vampires, in a manner similar to Vampire hunters, become unforgivable traitors.

In the original continuity, should a Dead Apostle be killed then all of its children Vampires should die as well, but those who are treated as successors can live on even after the parent's death. While in the Remake, only those of Rank I-III known as The Dead die instantly and return to being corpses. Only those from Rank III, who are in the process of turning, into Rank IV and upwards can continue on. The area needs investigation even after the parent is exterminated, and the real job of purification only begins after that point.

The Dead Apostles, however, try to maintain the balance between society and themselves. They exploit humans in secret, for no other reason than self-preservation. They don't want it to be known that Vampires exist at all and to protect their own lives, they hide the bodies of their victims, expand their territory, increase their followers, create their own society and use various magical techniques to make things appear not out of the ordinary. But there were also Dead Apostles, like Einnashe, with values unchanged since the Middle Ages and sucked blood with reckless abundance. Then Aged Dead Apostles set their own rules and by abiding by them enjoy bloodsucking as entertainment.

Most of the long-lived Dead Apostles don't use their names from their human lives anymore. And they don't make up a new name for themselves, but the Church assigns them one. They add on names as they find new, special characteristics of the Vampire, so some of them have names as long as spells.

The common goal of all Dead Apostles is to achieve perfect immortality, that does not rely on the ingestion of blood. There exist a variety of approaches of Dead Apostles who tried to achieve it but no one has succeeded yet. It could be said that another goal of all Dead Apostles is becoming an Dead Apostle Ancestor. Even those Dead Apostles at the very bottom, who were changed into Vampires by lowly Dead Apostles with no standing or reputation, dream of one day being able to gather enough power to become one of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors themselves.[12]

Characteristics[]

Although they appear to have capacities beyond human limitations, most Vampires actually acquired their powers by constantly refining human-inherent abilities throughout their extended lives. In other words, anyone with a similarly long lifespan has the potential to reach a level comparable to the Dead Apostles. The Dead Apostles also lost the human ability to procreate.

Contrary to popular belief, Vampirification is not the transformation of the body, but of existence. It’s like if the entry in the Root that read ‘human’ changed class to ‘Dead Apostle’ — it means that one has become a Vampire in one’s very being. So one cannot undo Vampirification by putting your soul into a human physical body, such as Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg using the Second Magic to transfer his soul to another physical body in a parallel timeline; as one who has inherited the Idea Blood of one of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, he has been infected on the soul-level, making it impossible for him not to be.[13]

Also, contrary to popular belief, Vampires can be killed with conventional weaponry. However, that is a feat near impossible to accomplish since their superior reflexes, senses and physical abilities allow them to see and dodge a bullet after it has been shot. And as long as you are human, you can't deceive the Vampires sense of smell or their sense of taste who can even detect alcohol in the blood of their victims. They can gain these inhuman physical abilities because their bodies are not connected by nerves, but by the blood of others. They also developed fangs to suck blood and can turn their hands into vampiric claws at will.

Some standard abilities of a Dead Apostle include things such as levitation and the ability to turn invisible.[14]

Vampires like Dead Apostles also show signs of Mystery, a sliver of power that comes from the Root, which accumulates over time and grows stronger with age. Additonally, in the Remake continuity, Dead Apostles from Rank IX till Vampires from Rank IV can sense the individual depth of the vampiric curse in each other in close proximity. High-ranking Vampires are difficult to trap in an illusion, taking a lot of work, however this can be done with the full power of Francois Prelati's Noble Phantasm or effortlessly with the Mystic Eyes of Roses.[15]

They are able in the original continuity, by training their abilities or by finishing their magical research, to develop their own special abilities. Examples would be the Dead Apostle Ancestor, Gransurg Blackmore who has the ability to change his shape into a large bird several kilometers in size or the Dead Apostle Michael Roa Valdamjong who altered his soul and attained the Magecraft of Reincarnation. Most of the Dead Apostle Ancestors are able to utilize Reality Marbles and the top 10 Dead Apostle Ancestors can no longer be killed by ordinary means, having lived in Mystery for so long, that they even conquered the weakness of sunlight and move around during the day, the only way to defeat them is through an even greater Mystery.

While in the Remake continuity, Vampire blood itself contains Ether, which holds the power to materialize whatever they want, but it is limited to the form their soul takes. At Rank V the vampiric curse runs so deep within a Vampires blood, that it allows them to manifest special powers deriving from their parent Vampire, or perhaps arising from their own self. The Rank VI Dead Apostle Michael Roa Valdamjong developed a method of Reincarnation, which workings seem to be derived from a Principle that he stole from his sire Arcueid Brunestud in the past.

The artificially induced transformation of Noel, through the special drug Idea Replica, into a powerful Rank VI Dead Apostle allowed her to acquire the Mystic Eyes of Roses from the Dead Apostle Ancestor Rita Rozay-en. Noel also physically regresses to her fourteen-year-old self and developed the abilities to create and manipulate a large number of spears (bells) and to materialize the church from her traumatic past and it's surrounding area into reality.

Vlov Ice

A Dead Apostle Ancestor's Principle in action.

While any Vampire can develope or gain abilities at Rank V, only Dead Apostle Ancestors have the quality of Idea Blood: Hemonomic Principle (原理血戒(イデアブラッド), Genri Kekkai(Ideaburaddo)?). Idea Blood is the blood that makes an Ancestor an Ancestor and at the same time is it a foundational commandment etched on their soul. A "Truth", a Principle (原理, Genri?), that they have each attained through a vast amount of time and research, from something that the individual studied when they were human. And after they became Vampires, such Principles become their "purpose for living" and path to obtaining true Immortality. Wherever an Dead Apostle Ancestor asserts their Idea Blood becomes their territory, subject to the influence of their Principle curse. The curse itself manifests as a unique power distinct from their other properties as a Vampire. A singularity that paints over the planet's physical laws just by circulating blood.[16][17]

However, the downside of acquiring a power that humans originally would not have is that the genes that compose their bodies are constantly degenerating and once they die they won't leave a trace as their bodies turn into ash. The only way to interrupt and reverse this degeneration, even if just temporarily, is by regularly ingesting the blood of living creatures in order to absorb genetic informations and stabilize their own bodies. On that note, even though human blood and especially the blood of virgins, because one's blood cells are more pure before one has exchanged bodily fluids with others, are the most suited to the needs of the Vampires, the blood of animals is a viable alternative.

Due to their advanced age, Dead Apostles that have lived for at least one thousand years require enormous amounts of energy. Rather than a measure of their power, it is instead because compensation is needed for the maintenance of such a long-lived existence.[18] One such Dead Apostle, Nrvnqsr Chaos, has colossal meals including over one hundred people in ten minutes.[18][19]

Basically, there are a few "weaknesses" common to all Dead Apostles which are sunlight that greatly hastens their bodies' degeneration, Magical Energy depletion and the Executors, who use holy Sacraments and other holy weapons, from the Holy Church. Therefore they hide themselves, create their own society and use the advances of technology like a plane or a ship for their advantage. Higher-ranked Dead Apostles are careful not to operate too openly when feeding, as to avoid attracting attention from the Executors. The relationship between the two is like that of criminals and the police, with the mere presence of Executors in an area putting Vampires on high alert and reducing their activity.[20]

On the issue of the actual bloodsucking process, a Vampire can either hunt prey themselves or acquire the blood indirectly through the use of Familiars. The actual bloodsucking process is described as if, all the life in the body is liquified and sucked out, the consciousness of the victim is being destroyed. A victim that gets all of his blood sucked dies and becomes all shriveled up like a mummy. A Vampire can either kill a victim or drain them completly dry and then intentionally skip the process (Remake) of becoming a Vampire by turning the dead body into its Familiar.

Dead

The Dead.

Although The Dead are the traditional Familiars of the Vampires in the original Tsukihime continuity, few actually use them today since their presence will alert vampire hunters such as the Burial Agency (Remake). While in the Tsukihime Remake continuity, The Dead are a classification for the Stages I-III of the Vampire curse with the first Stage being the equivalent to the intentionally skipped process.

Dead Apostle invade cities by first looking for humans with superior abilities and turning them into servants by carefully sucking their blood. These servants, usually Stage III-V, can blend in with human society, because they retain their own free will and personality from when they were human. They expand their influence and begin to prey on other humans. The Dead Apostle themselves go into hiding once they have enough followers in order to sleep. They let their followers collect flesh and blood for themselves, but most of it is sent to the Dead Apostle.

Vlov Dogs

Familiars of another species being used.

The use of Familiars from different species is also somewhat more widespread. These Familiars are created when a Vampire feeds his blood to a living creature. These creatures cannot disobey their master as there is both a mental and physical connection between the two. For a Dead Apostle living a long time and stabilizing his body with normal lives is not sufficient, so it's more effective to repair one's body by absorbing beasts, as they surpass the human species in this respect.

In the original continuity, by pushing their capacities to their limits, a Dead Apostle can possess about 30 animals of the same species. In the Remake continuity, they possess 1-3 animals with dogs or birds being the most common ones, as too many animals would cloud their soul. But in both continuities can they take in only one member of the Phantasmal Species that belongs to the Monstrous Beast or Phantasmal Beast-class as Familiars. Stronger Dead Apostles were known to have used Familiars of different animal species simultaneously, showing that the strength of the user's willpower is apart from others. Those Dead Apostles who repair their own bodies with beasts can return them to their previous forms and use them as Familiars when they need to.

Roa Curse of Restoration

A Dead Apostle's Curse of Restoration.

Dead Apostles have regenerative powers which do not simply heal, but cause their bodies to turn their time backwards to a point in which they were unharmed; thus, you cannot cause wounds greater than the speed of their recovery. As their internal flow of blood fuels their regenerative immortality, still relies on their heart being connected to their body, it is possible to destroy a Dead Apostle by tearing their heart out. Crushing or destroying the heart within the body is insufficient, as they can restore it at the cost of a great deal of their supply of blood, but removing it cleanly will cause their Curse of Restoration to be disrupted and their physical body to wither.[21]

The Dead Apostles also can "deny" the power of Noble Phantasms made by man or those the Gods prepared for man, rendering them useless. Such a compatibility Advantage comes only against humans wielding such weapons, so if a Heroic Spirit wielded those same Noble Phantasms, or if the Noble Phantasms were made by the Gods for the Gods, it would work against the Dead Apostles.

Most Vampires possess the Mystic Eyes of Enchantment, which are capable of high-level hypnosis within the user's field of vision increasing dramatically in effect by direct eye contact, while some possess other forms of Mystic Eyes but most of them are considered useless in the world of Vampires. A rare number of powerful Dead Apostles posses Mystic Eyes of Enchantment that can tap directly into a person's brain and take complete control of their thoughts.

Dead Apostles are also known for turning into mist and there are two known versions of it. The lesser version is by transferring their consciousness into created body doubles, which all Dead Apostles can create, to acquire information from a different perspective. Once it has served it's purpose, they cut the Magical Energy flow and it returns to dust, which gives them the impression of turning into mist. The high-grade version involves actual particle transformation, it defuses one's 'self' and scatters the particles that make up one's body. Their are only a few Dead Apostle who can do this over a wide area and for a long period of time.

Additionally, since they are related through the True Ancestors with the Moon, the lunar cycle over the Earth has effects on them. Granting to them more power than their normal state is depending on the lunar cycle.

Those who know Magecraft make layers of Bounded Fields to form Territorial Fields (領地田畑, Ryoudo Tahata?) when creating their lairs. This invisible protection is similar to the ones that hide away the world of the Fairies, which fool even nature itself. The lair is accessible only by those who are invited in, and they are difficult to invade, taking even the trained Magi of the Mage's Association several years to find one. These lairs are enshrouded by darkness, by shadows, by longing for rationally, and by fear towards the taboo, so they cannot be found by humans.

Growth Process[]

Tsukihime Remake continuity[]

Dead Apostles who suck the blood of humans and replace it with their own pass on the curse of vampirism, as their victims are now reborn as Vampires under the control of their sire. The curse of vampirism is divided into several steps according to its depth and the name of each step is derived from the Church, it has also become a common terminology in the World of Magecraft. The Dead Apostles themselves see the depth of the curse as a caste system, of social standing in vampiric society, in which Rank I-III are slaves, Rank IV-V are subordinates and Rank VI-IX are Vampires.

IdeaReplica

The special vampiric conversion drug: Idea Replica.

Dr. Arach possesses a special drug known as Idea Replica that will force the vampiric conversion upon any human that takes it, even if they would not normally be able to develop into a Dead Apostle. Further doses of this drug accelerate the development process to the point where entire stages of growth are skipped completely, but an increased risk of a lethal overdose occurs with each state this bypassed.[22] Norikata Emiya developed a potion with similar properties, in Fate Worlds, as part of his attempt to reach the Root.[23]

When a human becomes a Vampire, their body often will transform into the most beautiful form it can take, a process which can change both the Vampire’s apparent physical age and physical features. They become an erotic work of art to which ordinary humans can’t compare. What precisely this looks like depends on the ideals of the newly turned Vampire. In the case of Noel, her body regressed to resemble her 14-year-old self, and her face became more beautiful according to her standards.[22]

  • Stage I: Corpse (死者, Shisha?) — A marionette dancing to the tune of its sire. A being that had it's blood sucked and then replaced with that of the sire's. A corpse that will return to being dead if left without orders. A mere grunt which simply sucks blood and delivers it to it's sire. One of what are called "The Dead".[24]
  • Stage II: Ghoul (屍鬼, Shiki?) — A corpse mimicking the form it had in life, possessing a will yet incapable of coherent thought. While its sire's Magical Energy keeps it from decaying, its insides have completely disintegrated. As the brain's decomposition causes it to seek flesh and blood instinctively, it is more savage than a Stage l: Corpse, as they can devour people in less than a few minutes. Could be described as a 100% loyal soldier that can be programmed by its sire, it also dies with it's sire's death or by the sire's decision to cut off their Magical Energy connection.
    Only one in a hundred people have the aptitude (immunity to resist the blood of the blood-sucking species) to reach this rank. However, even if they have the same aptitude, they may die depending on their viability. Among them, only those who can adapt to the blood of their sire and can endure can become IV or higher. Counted among "The Dead".[25] Some of these beings may be mutated according to the whims of their master, such as Vlov Arkhangel's Flaming Dead and the spider-like monstrosities created by the spider-like Ancestor that seems to be related to Dr. Arach, possibly the same person.
  • Stage III: Undead (不死, Fushi?) — From this point on a creature that can finally be called a Vampire. A living corpse, that hasn't fully regained it's mental faculties and lacks it's senses of pain and taste, but can simulate a human lifestyle on its own. A high-ranking soldier whose brain has been reconstructed after death, that follows its sire after understanding what kind of creature it has become. They are still bound to their sire and return to being corpses when their sire gets destroyed or by the sire's decision that they are not needed anymore. These Undead act as commanders to the lower ranked Dead and are not fazed by sunlight, but require periodic embalming treatment in order to conceal their true nature. Counted among "The Dead".[26]
  • Stage IV: Nightkin (夜属, Yazoku?) — An undead who acts as a fledgling Vampire while maintaining its original personality. A half-human Vampire whose inhuman physical abilities come at the cost of experiencing extreme coldness and thirst. A low-ranking knight, that according to the Church can hold its own against one of their Executors. When those of Rank Ⅵ and above carefully drink the blood of their prey, their victim starts out as a Vampire of this rank. They may become anemic under the sunlight, though it doesn't burn them yet.
    In the magical world, one is considered "a person" up to this rank. A Vampire who has reached Rank Ⅳ can now survive away from its sire. From the sire's point of view it has changed from an "object" to a "living thing", in a sense. Only one in a thousand people are able to reach this rank.[27]
  • Stage V: Nightmare (夜魔, Yama?) — Adding to the scope of Rank Ⅳ, at this point the curse within their blood allows them to manifest special powers deriving from their sire or perhaps arising from their own self. A High-ranking knight — a fully fledged Vampire,[28] that according to the Church can hold it's own against several of their Executors.
  • Stage VI: Dead Apostle (Inferior) (死徒 (下級), Shito (Kakyū)?) — A completely self-sufficient bloodsucker, who has lost the human ability to procreate. Though these Lords can create children through their bloodsucking incursions, they cannot sire a child that can exceed Rank Ⅵ — what you'd call a limit to these upstarts. Only one out of ten thousand people are able to reach this rank.
    The Vampire lurking in Souya is of this rank. Villages fall prey to the disaster that is a "parent" raising minions. Vlov Arkhangel too was classified in this rank, but somehow managed to skip ahead.[29]
  • Stage VII: Dead Apostle (Superior) (死徒 (上級), Shito (Jōkyū)?) — Greater Dead Apostle. Those of Rank Ⅵ who were acknowledged by an Ancestor and bestowed with additional abilities. Though they share a name, this rank is of a wholly different scale from the previous one. To reach this rank is to become a poison that taints the land simply by existing.
    They are a heresy that ordinary Executors cannot cross blades with, noble Vampires permitted their own free will. Greater Dead Apostles do not show absolute obedience to their parent Ancestors; given the chance they can defeat them and inherit their curse. However, even if they gained the same "freedom", there is a vast difference in the years the Ancestors have lived, making it difficult for a Greater Dead Apostle to surmount the scale of an Ancestor's existence.[30]
    Also called Superior Dead Apostles (上級死徒, Jōkyū Shito?), this is the level displayed by Ancestors' Fate Worlds counterparts in which Dead Apostles are weaker due to the strength of the Human Order being greater than Tsukihime Worlds.
  • Stage VIII: Successor (後継者, Kōkeisha?) — A talented Vampire chosen by an Ancestor as their own successor. A prince or princess, who is in a position to inherit the Idea Blood of a Dead Apostle Ancestor upon that Ancestor's destruction. Among the Ancestors are also some who were captivated by beings that were not Vampires and unexpectedly raised them to this rank.
    Assuming a minimum of two for each Ancestor, there are more than fifty Rank Ⅷ individuals. Some of them are even said to have been created in imitation of the True Ancestors. Vampires of this rank are mighty, surpassing Vlov — who achieved entry into the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors — in terms of their fundamental reserves.[31]
  • Stage IX: Ancestor (祖, So?) — The old Dead Apostles who broke free from their role as emergency rations and achieved victory in their struggle for independence as wholly distinct beings. A crimson stain that fell from the moon onto the earth. Long-lived beings who take in the life of humans and give rise to Rank Ⅵ Dead Apostles. Kings and Queens who have established the structure of Vampire society that exists to this day, with each of them possessing their own Idea Blood.
    The scale of their existence differs on an individual basis, but they can be categorised into the "elders", active from before the Common Era, and the "upstarts", whose activities began in the Common Era. Vlov, having killed the Ancestor that had been his parent of the last hundred years, became one such new "upstart" Ancestor.[32]

Original Tsukihime continuity[]

If a Vampire injects some of it's own black blood into a human victim’s bloodstream, the said victim will be infused with some of the Vampire’s own power and their body becomes unable to completely die. The black blood violates and burns the whole body from the inside. But in most cases however, the body dies and with it, the soul of the victim. The final result would be a mindless Familiar known as The Dead. But in the rare occurrence of the said victim possessing an high physical potential and the capacity of their soul is excellent, it prevents the body and with it the soul from dying. He will instead become a Ghoul and embark on climbing the ladder to becoming a full-fledged Vampire.[33]

The extension of its powers, physical abilities and form is dependent on it's parent Vampire, to whom it is bound, both mentally and spiritually. Example's would be Sion Eltnam Atlasia, the child of the Night of Wallachia, who acquired abilities related to manipulating Malignant Information (悪性情報, Akusei Jōhō?)[34] or the children of Gransurg Blackmore who, rather than transforming from humans into pure Vampires, get turned into hybrids with the heads and wings of birds. Furthermore, the powers of the blood, shared by Vampire relatives of Dead Apostles, would exponentially increase when fighting together, since their powers are not calculated by addition but by multiplication.

Shokushiki[]

Shokushiki (食屍鬼, Shokushiki?, alternatively "Ghoul", lit. "Corpse-Eating Demon") are born when the body of a Vampire's victim is unable to completely die. After, their corpse is buried and left for several years in the grave, their brain will rot and the human soul will be freed from the cage of the body. The decayed corpse now begins activity as a kind of living dead called a Ghoul.

Their transformed souls, have now bypassed the necessity of the brain to hold the soul, as the soul is now separate from the body. The Shokushiki have mental capacities pretty much equivalent to that of a savage beast and they must devour other corpses to reconstruct their own degenerated flesh. After many years of this they restore their bodies and thus, their brain, which now anchors their soul again to the body. The soul can now reshape itself with the brain and the body and they fully recover their intelligence and memories.

Vampire[]

Vampire (吸血鬼, Kyūketsuki?, Blood-Sucking Demon). After several years of development, a Shokushiki regains all of it's memories and a full human intellect. They finally become mature Vampires who acquired their parents abilities and can now attain power of their own, move by their own will, capable of creating other Vampires and having their own minions. It takes decades, of acclimating to life in the darkness, to complete this Growth Process. Satsuki Yumizuka was a rare case among rare cases, for an unknown Psychic ability that made her complete the rebirth into a full-fledged Vampire almost immediately.[35] She is one of 27 to 30 individuals in the whole World who possesses this special idiosyncracy to become a Dead Apostle.[36] The newborn Vampire gains the necessary knowledge to understand the changes of it's body and quickly grows accustomed to living as a Vampire.

However, it is still bound to the will of it's parent Vampire, as they cannot escape from the rule of their sire's blood. They are forced, when they acquire blood, to supply the majority of it to their parent Vampire. Consequently, the child Vampire will eventually try to become a parent Vampire themselves. They will start to threaten the world by creating servants of their very own, while remaining subservient to the Vampire that made them. A Vampire can only become a full-fledged Dead Apostle after breaking free from the control of their parent Vampire.[37]

References[]

  1. [v] Tsukihime Dokuhon PlusPeriod - TSUKIHIME Dictionary: Dead Apostles [Term], p.180

    Dead Apostles [Term]
    The bloodsuckers that make up the vast majority of the subcategory of bloodsuckers known as vampires.
    Originally they were meals for the True Ancestors, who would prepare humans in advance for the times when their vampiric impulse became impossible to control. Of course, to keep them from escaping, the True Ancestors sucked their blood and brought them under their control.
    These humans who had their blood sucked by the True Ancestors in turn became bloodsuckers themselves. Though, in their case it was mostly as a means of survival. After all, it stands to reason that the apostles serving the extremely long-lived True Ancestors must be possessed of similarly long lives as well.
    However. At some point, after sucking the blood of others for such a long time, they began to feel a sense of superiority from the very act of sucking blood itself. They strengthened their abilities, their will, and eventually escaped from the control of the True Ancestors into the world of man, where they repeated the act of drinking blood over and over again to maintain their existences.
    This is the origin of the bloodsuckers formed from humans, the Dead Apostles.
    The Dead Apostles that escaped the True Ancestors the earliest are known as the 27 Ancestors. Though some of those 27 have been replaced over the generations, there are also those that still reign as Ancestors even now.
    In the main story of Tsukihime, not only was Yumizuka Satsuki's transformation into a vampire caused by having her blood sucked by Roa, but she was also lucky (?) enough to have a body blessed with excellent potential, allowing her to complete her rebirth into a bloodsucker in under half a day. It wouldn't be wrong to say her potential as a vampire is close to that of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors of old.

    死徒【用語】

  2. [v] Melty Blood Act Cadenza PS2 Manual - Dictionary: Dead Apostle [Term], p.055

    Dead Apostle [Term]
    Vampires. Basically, humans that have by some means or another been transformed into bloodsuckers.
    Originally they were emergency meals prepared by the True Ancestors, to use when they became unable to control their vampiric impulse. In a sense, you could say they were a type of pain-killer.
    Humans who had their blood sucked by the True Ancestors would in turn be transfigured into similar bloodsuckers themselves, and forced to spend their now immortal lives serving as the True Ancestors' emergency rations. Without a doubt, they were a "company of the dead".
    However, whereas the True Ancestors' desire to drink blood is purely mental, the Dead Apostles need to drink blood to maintain their bodies. Or to put it another way, for the True Ancestors it is merely entertainment, while for the Dead Apostles it is a fundamental aspect of their survival similar to breathing.
    At some point, after sucking the blood of others for such a long time, the Dead Apostles began to feel a sense of superiority from the very act of sucking blood itself.
    They strengthened their abilities, their will, and eventually escaped from the control of the True Ancestors into the world of man, where they repeated the act of drinking blood over and over again to maintain their existences.
    This is the origin of the bloodsuckers formed from humans, the Dead Apostles.
    The Dead Apostles that escaped the True Ancestors the earliest are known as the 27 Ancestors. Though some of those 27 have been replaced over the generations, there are also those that still reign as Ancestors even now.

    死徒【用語】
    吸血鬼。基本的に、人間が何らかの過程を経て変貌したもの。
    元々は真祖が用意した緊急用の食事。真祖が吸血衝動を抑えきれなくなった時の為の、一種の痛み止めと言える。
    真祖に血を吸われた人間は同じように吸血種に変貌し、不老不死のまま真祖の非常食として使役される。まさに“死した徒”と言えるだろう。
    しかし、真祖にとっての吸血が“精神の安定”を計る為のものであるのに対し、死徒の吸血は“肉体の保存”の為に必要なものだった。真祖のそれが娯楽であるのなら、死徒のそれは生存に必要不可欠な呼吸と同義、という事である。
    他者の血を吸うようになった死徒はいつからか吸血行為そのものに優越性を感じ始め、能力を強化していく。そうして自己の意志を強化し、真祖の支配を逃れた死徒は人間の世界に逃げこみ、自らを保存する為に吸血行為を繰り返す。
    これが死徒の始まり、人間から成ってしまった吸血種の馴れ初めである。
    この、最も古い時期に真祖の支配から逃れた死徒を二十七祖といい、以来、その二十七つはあるものは世代交代をし、あるものはいまだ祖として君臨している。

  3. [v] Melty Blood Act Cadenza PS2 Manual - Dictionary: Vampiric Impulses [Term], p.057

    Vampiric Impulses [Term]
    The base desire possessed by both True Ancestors and Dead Apostles.
    In True Ancestors it is merely a bad habit, but in Dead Apostles it is a means of staying alive.
    For those Dead Apostles who used to be human, it is something not entirely dissimilar from an expression of love.

    吸血衝動【用語】
    真祖、死徒が持つ行動原理。
    真祖のそれは病であり、死徒のそれは生存手段である。人間から死徒になったものは、それが人間でいうところの愛情表現に近いのだと論じている。

  4. Lord El-Melloi II Case Files material
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Fate/strange Fake Volume 2 - Chapter 3: Day 1, Early Dawn "Ensemble Versus Illusion"
  6. Fate/strange Fake Volume 3 - Chapter 8: Day 1, Afternoon (2) "The Wandering King's Rock'n'Roll"
  7. [v] Character material - Prelude I: The Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors [Term], p.020

    The Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors [Term]
    The twenty seven ancestors, the greatest beings among the Dead Apostles. More than half of them had been sealed by the Church.
    Among the most ancient Dead Apostles, some of the Ancestors had been slain. The reason that the Twenty Seven seats still existed was that the subordinates of the slain Ancestors inherited their seats.
    The sealed Ancestors were locked within sarcophagi by the Holy Church. Since they could not be completely destroyed, they were essentially permanently imprisoned. The covens of the sealed Ancestors still existed today. They were working hard either attempting to save the Ancestors or destroy them.

    死徒二十七祖 [用語]
    死徒たちの大元である二十七つの祖の事。現在では半数の祖が教会によって封じられている。
    最も古い死徒たちの事で、中には既に消滅している祖もいる。二十七祖の席が今もって不滅であるのは、消滅した祖の配下であった死徒がその座を受け継いでいる為。
    封印中の祖は聖堂教会の棺に収納されているが、彼らでは滅ぼしきれない為、半ば永久監獄となっている。祖が封印された派閥は今も健在であり、祖の奪還、あるいは消滅の為に力をつけているとか。

  8. [v] Tsukihime Dokuhon PlusPeriod - talk. Glossary: The Twenty Seven Ancestors [Term], p.195

    The Twenty Seven Ancestors [Term]
    The oldest 27 Dead Apostles.
    However, some had already been succeed by the next generation of Dead Apostles. Nowadays it mostly referred to the distinct factions that existed among the Dead Apostles.
    The Ancestors established their kingdoms consisted of Territories, Dead Apostles, and the Dead. However, some exceptional Ancestors had neither a Territory nor coven.
    The Vampires who were subordinates of True Ancestors favoured Territories, but those Ancestors who became Vampires as a culmination of pursuing magecraft had very little interest in such power.
    The Ancestors were non-aggressive against one another. At the present, there were two main factions.
    In some sense, they were an organization with power that rivaled the Church and Association.

    二十七祖【用語】
    最も古い二十七人の死徒を指す。
    中には次代の死徒に後継した位もあり、今では死徒たちの派閥を指して呼ぶことも多い。
    祖は領地と死徒、死者の王国を築いているが、中には領地も配下も持たない特異な祖がいる。
    真祖の下僕として吸血鬼になった祖は領地を好み、魔術の果てに吸血種となった祖はそういった権力に無頓着であるようだ。
    彼らは互いに不可侵だが、今では大きく二つの派閥に別れている。
    見ようによっては教会、魔術協会に対抗しうる組織力をもった勢力と言えるだろう。

  9. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, p.100

    The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors
    The 27 individuals who are the apex of Dead Apostles. It is a title that represents their way of being. Though exceptions like the "League of the Age of Gods" of the five old-timers do exist, each is said to be fundamentally individualistic, while not all of them are enemies of man.

    In their three thousand year long history some seats have emptied, and apart from those six that are Offenbaum's - Vlov's parent's - "idea" as well as the ideas of 「ripening」,「castle, therefore kingdom」,「sword」, and then the「melting」and「four limbs」 that are sealed by the Church, the remaining ones whose existence has been verified number twenty-one.

    Though it takes the Holy Church a hundred years from preparation to execution in order to seal a single ancestor, they are thought to have succeeded only twice. Considering this, it's easy to see how irregular Tohno Shiki's defeat of Vlov was.

    死徒二十七祖
    死徒の頂点となる二十七の個体。その在り方を示す呼称。古参の五氏による神代同盟。など一部に例外はあるが、それぞれは基本敵対関係にあるとされ、また、その全てが人間の敵という訳ではない。
    三千年の歴史の中で空席が生まれており、ヴローヴの親であったアッフェンバウムの原理、「実り」の原理、「城、即ち王国」の原理、「劍」の原理、それと教会に封印された「ける」原理、四肢」の原理の六匹を欠いて、現在様認されている残りは二十一組。
    聖宗教会ではひとりの祖を封印するため、百年単位で借しては実行するが、成功例は二回のみとされる。そうした事例を踏まえて見れば、遠野志夫によるヴローヴ討伐がどれほどのイレギュラーであったかがよくわかる。

  10. Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Nahui Mictlan: Golden Sea of Trees Travelogue - Section 2: Golden Sea of Trees
  11. Fate/Grand Order: Cosmos in the Lostbelt - Nahui Mictlan: Golden Sea of Trees Travelogue - Section 12: Kingdom of the Dead
  12. [v] Melty Blood Act Cadenza PS2 Manual - Dictionary: The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors [Term], p.055

    The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors [Term]
    The 27 oldest Dead Apostles.
    There are the Ancestors of the Elder Title, whose age exceeds 4000 years, Ancestors sealed by the Holy Church, Ancestors secretly biding their time in the unexplored regions of the world, and even Ancestors akin to a family that passes on the throne to a successor every 500 years.
    They each have their own factions, and are engaged in vicious power struggles within them. Perhaps for them, this is one of the few things that gives meaning to their existence now that their sense for amusement has completely worn away.
    On rare occasions an Ancestor will die, but since there is always a successor to replace them, the number of Ancestors never changes. In fact, it could be said that becoming an Ancestor is the ultimate goal of all Dead Apostles. Even those Dead Apostles at the very bottom, who were changed into vampires by lowly Dead Apostles with no standing or reputation, dream of one day being able to gather enough power to become one of the 27 themselves.
    On the other hand, there also exist Ancestors who have no interest in such things at all. They are seekers, who eschew building a kingdom of their very own in favor of chasing after perfect immortality. There are many of these "Ancestors without a faction" among the Dead Apostles that used to be magi.
    Below is a brief introduction.

    1/ Primate Murder
    Details unknown. Murderer of primates. The White Beast. Altrouge's demonic dog (the Beast of Gaia).

    2/ The Dark Six
    The very first Dead Apostles. The six royals of darkness.
    Currently resuscitating.
    It is said that their revival will unite the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors, but not a single Dead Apostle knows their true colors.

    3/ Crimson Moon Brunestud
    Ultimate One. Currently vacant.

    4/ Wizard Marshal Zelretch
    One of the five existing magicians. Also called Zelretch of the Jewel.

    5/ ORT
    Details unknown. Seems to be a mutant species that crash landed in South America sometime before the Common Era. As an attack-type organism, its power is on a completely different level.

    6/ Rizo-Vaal Strout
    One of the longest-serving Dead Apostles. Black Knight Strout. One of Altrouge's bodyguards. The True Devil Neardark.

    7/ Disemboweling Forest Einnashe
    The Sentient Woods. A mobile, predatory forest.

    8/ Fina-Vlad Svelten
    White Knight Vlad. One of Altrouge's bodyguards. The Vampiric Count. Devil of Stratovaris.

    9/ Altrouge Brunestud
    Hybrid of a True Ancestor and a Dead Apostle. Vampire princess of the Dead Apostles. "Black". Master of blood and contracts.

    10/ Nrvnqsr Chaos
    A living mass of chaos. A magus whose research ultimately led him to become a bloodsucker.

    11/ Stanrobe Calhin
    The Duke of Predation. Wraith. Also known as the "City Devourer". …The First Wraith (Stantia).

    13/ ?????
    Tatari. A Dead Apostle purported to exist. Only the name "Night of Wallachia" remains as a legend handed down through the ages.

    14/ Van Fem
    One of the longest-serving Dead Apostles. Dark Lord of the Business World. Puppet Master. He created seven great golem castles.

    15/ Rita Rozay-en
    A self-proclaimed artist. Indulges in a distinctive hobby even among the Dead Apostles. A second-generation Dead Apostle that inherited her castle from the Dead Apostle that made her.

    16/ Gransurg Blackmore
    Peng. The Black Wing Lord. A Dead Apostle known as the Moon Eater. Uses the reality marble Nevermore.

    17/ Trhvmn Ortenrosse
    One of the longest-serving Dead Apostles. The White Wing Lord. A magus who became a bloodsucker. The quintessential vampire. King of the Dead Apostles. As the official representative of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors he has the greatest influence – formally, at least.

    20/ Merem Solomon
    The Great Four Demon Beasts. Despite being a Dead Apostle, he is the fifth member of the Burial Agency. Goes by the alias of Crown. For Ciel, he is something like a pesky senpai.

    21/ Sumire
    Aquatic Demon Sumire. Water Bottle. An oddball Dead Apostle that lives underwater. A reformed vampire that has overcome the weakness to running water.

    24/ El Nahat
    Background unknown. The artifact called the Book of the Stomach World. Regarded as the Burial Agency's ultimate anti-Dead Apostle trump card.

    27/ Caubac Alcatraz
    Dead Apostle of the Millennium Lock. A magus whose research ultimately led him to become a Dead Apostle.

    EX/ Michael Roa Valdamjong
    The Serpent of Akasha. The Infinite Reincarnator.
    Though the Church counts him among the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors, the Ancestors themselves despise him as one who overstepped his bounds.

    死徒二十七祖【用語】
    最も古い二十七つの死徒。
    齢4000年を超える神代連盟(エルダータイトル)の祖、聖堂教会によって封印されている祖、人知れず秘境にて時間を数える祖、五百年単位で後継者に座を譲る血族のような祖もいる。
    それぞれが派閥を作り、同胞でありながら勢力争いをしている。娯楽という観念が摩耗している彼らにとっては数少ない存在意義なのだろう。
    希に祖は消滅するが、いずれ後継者が現れるので二十七の席は崩れない。その座はあらゆる死徒にとって最終目的と言える。末端の、名もない死徒によって吸血鬼化した最下層の死徒たちも、いずれ力をつけていつか祖に届く事を胸に抱く。
    反面、そういった盤上遊技に興味のない祖も存在する。自らの王国建築に関心はなく、完全な不老不死を求める探求者たちだ。魔術師から死徒になった祖はこういった“派閥を作らない二十七”となる事が多い。
    以下に、二十七祖の一部を紹介する。

    1/プライミッツ·マーダー
    詳細不明。霊長の殺人者。白い獣。アルトルージュの魔犬(ガイアの怪物)。

    2/the dark six
    最初の死徒。闇色の六王権。現在蘇生中。
    蘇生した暁には死徒二十七祖を束ねると言われるが、正体を知る死徒はいない。

    3/朱い月のブリュンスタッド
    アルティミット·ワン。現在、空席。

    4/魔道元帥ゼルレッチ
    現存する五人の魔法使いの一人。宝石のゼルレッチとも呼ばれる。

    5/ORT(オルト)
    詳細不明。西暦以前に南米に落ちた突然変異種、らしい。攻性生物として次元違いの能力を誇る。

    6/リィゾ=バール·シュトラウト
    最古参の死徒。黒騎士シュトラウト。姫君(アルトルージュ)の護衛の一人。真性悪魔ニアダーク。

    7/腑海林アインナッシュ
    思考林。動き襲い捕食する森。

    8/フィナ=ヴラド·スヴェルテン
    白騎士ヴラド。姫君の護衛の一人。吸血伯爵。ストラトバリスの悪魔。

    9/アルトルージュ·ブリュンスタッド
    真祖と死徒の混血。死徒における吸血姫。黒。血と契約の支配者。

    10/ネロ·カオス
    混沌の群。魔術師が研究の果てに吸血種となったもの。

    11/スタンローブ、カルハイン
    捕食公爵。亡霊。別名、“街食うモノ”。……第一の亡霊(スタンティア)。

    13/?????
    タタリ。存在する、とされる死徒。ワラキアの夜、という俗称のみが伝承として残っている。

    14/ヴァン=フェム
    最古参の死徒。財界の魔王。人形師。七大ゴーレム「城」を想像する。

    15/リタ·ロズィーアン
    自称、芸術家。死徒の中でも特出した趣味の持ち主。親である死徒から城を受け継いだ二代目。

    16/グランスルグ·ブラックモア
    鵬。黒翼公。月飲み、とも呼ばれる死徒。固有結界ネバーモアを操る。

    17/トラフィム·オーテンロッゼ
    最古参の死徒。白翼公。魔術師から吸血種になったもの。典型的な吸血鬼。死徒の王。二十七祖を代表する死徒で、形式上だけなら最大の発言力を持つ。

    20/メレム·ソロモン
    フォーデーモン·ザ·グレイトビースト。死徒でありながら埋葬機関の五位。王冠の通り名を持つ、シエルにとってイヤな先輩。

    21/スミレ
    水魔スミレ。ウオーター·ボトル。水中に棲む変種の死徒。流水を克服した変革吸血鬼。

    24/エル·ナハト
    経歴不明。胃界教典、と呼ばれるアーティファクト。対死徒用の最大の切り札とされ、埋葬機関の手によって運営される。

    27/コーバック·アルカトラス
    千年錠の死徒。魔術師が研究の果てに死徒になったもの。

    ex/ミハイル·ロア·バルダムヨォン
    アカシャの蛇。転生無限者。教会では二十七祖の一人と数えられるが、二十七祖たちの中では分不相応と軽蔑視されている。

  13. [v] TYPE-MOON Manuscript - Zelretch Kishur Schweinorg, p.033-035

    Zelretch Kishur Schweinorg

    Overview
    The Wizard Marshall. One of the oldest mages, having been active since before the common era.
    When the war between Crimson Moon and the Mages Association broke out around 300 AD, the mages were too preoccupied with their own single-player antics to be able to function as an army, so Zelretch took them by the neck and unified them, becoming feared as the Wizard Marshall in the process.
    He repelled Crimson Moon, but in the process the #3 of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors charged him and sucked his blood, and though he defeated this one too, he was ultimately turned into a Dead Apostle.
    Afterward, he was to become mankind’s enemy, unable to oppose Crimson Moon… but he just thought ‘I wasn’t mankind’s ally to begin with—kinda just wanna go retire’, taking the opportunity to disappear from the center stage of magecraft.

    After becoming one of the 27 Ancestors, he came to understand Crimson Moon’s views, and began hating him even further.
    On the other hand, after comprehending the system behind the 27 Ancestors, he became aware of the other Ancestors’ way of being, and so stopped hating vampires themselves. After all, some of the Ancestors were far more pure in their scholarship compared to the Mages Association’s advocates of pre-established privileges.


    Appearance
    From his outward appearance he looks like to be in his 60s. His facial features are Germanic.
    He is a stern-looking elder, his gray (originally blond) hair in a dishevelled back sweep, though on account of his youthful expressions, he can also look to be in his fifties.
    190 cm tall, well-built, with excellent posture—the very stereotype of an esteemed military-man.
    Consult the picture book that came with the Tsukihime anime as a bonus prologue for how his clothes look.


    Personality
    Lawful Good.
    Extroverted, self-assured, proactive.
    A thoughtful sage—one who assesses the whole and imagines a bright future. Though he has a scary look that makes others distance themselves from him, he is a man of social justice and has good and honest morals.
    However, though he has them, that doesn’t mean he applies them to himself, and is rather a man of freedom who does whatever he likes.
    “I’ll force rules upon the Mages Association for the sake of a brighter future, but I never said I’d follow those rules myself” is something he actually follows through with.
    He has the same attitude as a grandpa who often laughs as he watches over the life of his mischievous grandchild.
    Though he is an observer, he will still butt into arguments (in fact, if someone is about to make a blunder, he will warn them, a smile on his face), and if he realizes things are about to spill over onto him, he will childishly hinder it with full force. That’s the kind of adult he is.
    Zelretch generally sees himself as an alumnus who has already graduated from ‘Earth Academy’. Meaning, as long as the academy itself doesn’t go under, he will just warmly watch on from afar at the various problems afflicting it—broad-mindedly thinking something like “I did about the same when I was young”
    The highlight of Zelretch’s life was his showdown with Crimson Moon, so everything beyond that he sees as nothing more than ‘the rest of his days’.
    Although, that is precisely why he’s very proactive when it comes to assessing the situation surrounding Crimson Moon. One could see it as taking care of the aftermath of his adolescent period. The reason Zelretch headed for the castle of the True Ancestors and blessed the birth of Arcueid was because she was the factor who would take his place in bringing an end to the Crimson Moon problem.


    Manner of Talking
    His first-person pronoun is ‘washi’.
    He calls people by their personal name. If he has respect for someone of a more noble personage, he will use their appropriate title of honor—‘princess’, ‘king’ and so forth.
    If who he’s talking to is someone he personally likes, he may go as far inadvertently calling them “omae-san”.
    He does not use ‘~ja’ or ‘‘~jawai’ or such, at the end of his sentences.
    He speaks like a dignified elder, but try to keep in mind that his sentences are a bit youthful here and there.
    “I intended to remain youthful forever, but it didn’t quite go as I wanted”
    The ideal is to avoid long sentences—make him come through with each individual word.


    Abilities
    The father of jewel magecraft—to store magical energy in minerals, stabilize them and use it for various applications in life and for supporting civilization.
    Even if we assume that the Earth did not fall into the hands of humanity—remaining in the Age of Gods—he might have still piloted rockets using just his jewels.

    The Second Magic concerns the attestation and application of parallel worlds.
    By making it possible to travel to parallel worlds, he proved that there is still room for the world to develop in different ways.
    Thanks to this, the world’s lifespan has been extended. Even if our history fails, and we destroy ourselves, there might still be others of us out there—this concept granted hope to the planet, which had been in the process of losing its dreams.
    Zelretch’s method for travelling through parallel words is a simple one—he transfers himself to a jewel in a different temporal axis.
    For example: if he wants to transfer from World A to World B, he will gather jewels in World B until they gather up enough to take Zelretch’s shape, and then Zelretch’s soul will transfer over. In an instant, the jewel golem transforms into Zelretch. At that point, the Zelretch in World A will turn back into its original form as a pile of jewels.
    As long as minerals and jewels exist there, he can travel into any world he wishes, but as he only has a single soul, he cannot be active in all of them at once.
    He originally travelled with just his physical body, but because of various circumstances he eventually settled for this method as it was the easiest.
    In addition, as a small amount of time lag occurs when he travels, he is also capable of a tiny bit of time travel as well.
    To answer the question of ‘if he doesn’t travel with his physical body, how could he be a Dead Apostle?’—as someone who has inherited the Hemonomic Principle of one of the 27 Ancestors, he has been corrupted on the soul-level, so it's impossible for him not to be.
    Vampirification is not the transformation of the body, but of existence. It’s like if the entry in the Akashic Records that read ‘human’ changed class to ‘Dead Apostle’—to become a vampire in one’s very being.


    Career
    One of the oldest mages, having been active since B.C. Also one of King Solomon’s pupils.
    After Solomon's death, Zelretch witnessed the end of the Age of Gods with his own eyes, and then disappeared from the center stage.
    Afterward, when one of his fellow students (Brissan) was starting up the Mages Association, he helped out in laying its foundations.
    As a result, the mages who had not perished became involved in the war against Crimson Moon 200 years later. In this battle, Zelretch transformed from human to Dead Apostle.
    He has been observing many different parallel words ever since, detachedly spectating the course of their events.


    Standing

    Attitude toward the Mages Association
    Due to his promise with Yumina, and the fact that he is old acquaintances with the headmaster, he shows up now and then to act as an advisor for them. He has accepted the weakening of mage ideals as something that happens. However, if some weakling comes before him and starts going off about their own theories he will beat them and their weak character into shape.
    When there are issues concerning Magic, he appears before the Association and delivers fair and just judgment.

    Attitude toward the Holy Church
    He does not concern himself with them in the slightest.

    Attitude toward the Dead Apostles
    He does not interfere with them as long as they do not cause some particularly large-scale mischief.
    He has seen through the mechanisms behind the 27 Ancestors, but has deliberately chosen to quietly observe them. He is tea-drinking companions with the three idiots of Agape, Lovematroos and Caubac. Rumors have it that he becomes like a simple grandpa doting on his grandchild when dealing with Agape.

    Attitude toward the True Ancestors
    Zelretch is highly regarded among the True Ancestors as he is one of the most prominent mages in the human world.
    Zelretch, on account of having been alive since before the common era, is friendly with the elementals known as the True Ancestors, and often provides them with counsel:
    “Kishua, hey, listen. You know that ‘Christianity’ thing humans are doing among each other? What’s that? A new type of magecraft system?
    “That’s a detailed Manual to Mankind’s Prosperity. It will one day even turn out to be a best-seller. Well, it’s for the best if you don’t know much about it. You’d probably lose your minds.
    “I see, if you say so, then it’s probably true. By the way, I’d like to try a bit of that wine they make in Bourgogne. Could you get some?
    Stuff like this.

    Attitude toward Rin
    ‘Tohsaka’s descendants sure did well! Alright, there aren’t any Magician seats left, but I will hammer some unreasonably difficult magecraft into you! They’re things I’ve worked out but unfortunately never taught anyone!’ So he goes, a bit happily.
    Anyone who is a Magician’s pupil is first started off with a living hell where they might accidentally destroy the universe—like with Aoko from Mahoyo. Although Rin never minded it that much, instead simply tilting her head, wondering if maybe she had just had some kind of tremendously hellish thing shown to her, after which she kept puking for a whole month.

    キシュア・ゼルレッチ・シュバインオーグ
    概要
    魔道元帥。西暦以前から活動している最古の魔術師のひとり。
    西暦300年頃に起きた朱い月と魔術協会の戦争のおり、個人プレーばっかりで軍隊として機能しやがらねえ魔術師たちのガン首おさえて統括した事から魔道元帥と恐れられる事となった。
    朱い月は撃退したものの、その最中に二十七祖・三位の死徒に突貫をうけ、これを倒すも血を吸われてしまい、死徒化してしまう。
    以後は朱い月に敵対できなくなり、人類の敵となる。……が、もともと人類の味方でもねーしそろそろ隠居したいと思っていたのでこれ幸いと魔術の表舞台から姿を消した。

    二十七祖の一角になってからは朱い月の考えも分かり、余計に毛嫌いするようになる。
    反面、二十七祖のシステムを理解し、他の祖たちの在り方を知ってからは吸血鬼嫌いではなくなった。祖の一部は魔術協会の既得権利主義者たちよりよっぽど純粋な学徒だったからだ。

    鉱石に関わる魔術の頂点。第二魔法・万華鏡の魔法使い。
    エネルギーを安定・構築させるエキスパート。

    外見
    外見年齢六十代、顔立ちはゲルマン系で。
    白髪(もとは金髪)を乱雑にオールバックにした厳つい顔をした老人だが、表情が若々しいので五十代にも見える。
    190cmの長身、ガタイよし、背筋もピンと張っていて、まさに軍隊の偉い人、みたいなステレオタイプ。
    服装はアニメ月姫・序章の特典としてついてきた絵本を参照。

    性格
    秩序・善。
    外向的、強気、能動的。
    思慮深く、全体を見ての良い未来を考える賢人。強面で他人を寄せ付けない外見をしているが社会正義の人で、まっとうな倫理観を持っている。
    が、持っているだけでそれを自分には課さず、やりたいコトをやるだけの自由人。「より良い未来のために協会にはルールを強制するが、儂がルールを守るとは言っていない」を地でいっている。
    スタンス的にはやんちゃな孫の人生を見守っている、よく笑うお爺ちゃん。
    傍観者でありながら口だし(しかも失敗しそうだとニマニマして忠告する)をし、かつ自分に火の粉がかかると分かれば全力で大人げなく阻止する。そんな大人。

    ゼルレッチは基本的に「自分はもう地球という学校から卒業したOB」として自身を捉えている。なので学校が崩壊しないかぎり、その中で起きている様々な問題は温かな目で眺めているだけ。「儂も若い頃はそれぐらいやったしな」ぐらいの懐の深さ。
    ゼルレッチの人生最大の見せ場は朱い月との対決だったので、それが過ぎた後はほんと余生にすぎないのだ。
    もっとも、だからこそ「朱い月」に関するコトだけは積極的に様子を見に行ってしまう。青春時代の後始末というか。ゼルレッチが真祖たちの城に赴き、アルクェイドの誕生を言祝いだのは、彼女が自分にかわって「朱い月問題を終わらせる」因子だったから

    口調
    一人称は「儂」。
    他人に対しては名字を呼び捨て。これと感じ入った高貴な人物にはそれに適した敬称を。「姫」「王」といった風に。
    個人的に気に入った相手には、いいところでポロッと「おまえさん」と呼びかける。
    語尾に「~じゃ」「じゃわい」などはつかない。
    貫禄のある老人口調だが、ところどころ若々しいセンテンスを心がけるように。「いつまでも若い気でいるが、そうはいかんものだな」
    長台詞はさけて、一言一言でバシッと決めるのが理想。

    能力
    宝石魔術の祖。鉱石に魔力を蓄え、安定させ、これを様々な生活・文明補助に使うもの。
    仮に地球が人間の手に渡らず、神代世界のままだったら彼は宝石だけでロケットを飛ばしていたかもしれない。
    第二魔法は並行世界の証明と運用。
    並行世界への移動を可能にした彼は“このように、世界には違う展開を迎える余地がある”事を証明した。
    これのおかげで世界は寿命を延ばした。「我々の歴史は失敗し、自滅するが、他に成功した我々がいるかもしれない」という概念が、夢を失いつつあった星に希望を与えたからだ。
    ゼルレッチの並行世界移動法は単純なもので、彼は違う時間軸の地球にある「宝石」に転移する。
    たとえばA世界からB世界に移動するのなら、B世界にある宝石がザザーッとゼルレッチのカタチになるまで集まって、そこにゼルレッチの魂が転移する。瞬間、宝石ゴーレムはゼルレッチに変身する。この時点でA世界にいたゼルレッチは元の宝石の山に戻る。
    鉱石・宝石が存在する世界ならどこにでも移動できるのだが、本人の魂は一つきりなので同時に活動はできない。
    もともとは生身で移動していたが、色々あってこの方式が一番楽だと落ち着いた。
    また、この移動時に多少の時間誤差が生じるため、時間移動もちょっとだけなら可能となっている。

    生身じゃないなら死徒じゃないんじゃないの?という質問には、二十七祖の原理血戒を受け継いでしまったため魂レベルで汚染されているので無理、と返すように。
    吸血鬼化なんてものは肉体の変容ではなく存在の変容である。アカシックレコードにある“人間”という記述が“死徒”にクラスチェンジしてしまったようなもの。もう生き物として“吸血鬼”なのである。

    経歴
    BCから活動している最古の魔術師のひとり。ソロモン王の弟子でもある。
    ソロモン王死後、神代の終わりを見届けて表舞台から姿を消す。
    その後、魔術協会を立ち上げる学友(ブリサン)に手を貸して協会の基部を構築。
    その結果、二百年後に滅びなかった魔術師たちと朱い月の戦争が始まる。この戦いでゼルレッチは人間から死徒に変貌。
    以後は多くの並行世界を観察しながら、飄々と事の顛末を傍観している。

    立ち位置

    魔術協会への態度:
    ユミナとの約束もあるし学長とは旧知なのでご意見番としてたまに面倒を見に来るぐらい。魔術師たちの思想の軟弱化はまあそんなもんだろう、と受け止めている。ただし軟弱者が自分の前で持論を垂れ流したらその性根をたたき直す。
    魔法に関わる案件があると協会に現れ、大岡裁きをする。

    聖堂教会への態度
    まったく関わっていない。

    死徒への態度
    大規模な悪さをしなければ介入しない。
    二十七祖のからくりを看破しているが、あえて静観している。アガぺ、ラブマドロス、コーバックの三バカとは茶飲み仲間。アガペの相手をしてるあたり、たんに孫好きのおじいちゃん説がある。

    真祖への態度
    人間世界の最高位魔術師として、真祖たちもゼルレッチを重く見ていた。
    ゼルレッチは西暦以前から生きている人間のよしみで、精霊である真祖たちの相談を受けていた。「キシュア君。ほら、なんだ。あの人間達の間ではやっているキリスト教ってヤツ?あれなんなの?新しい魔術系統?」「ありゃ綿密に作られた人類発展教本だな。しかもいずれベストセラーになる。まあ、おまえさんがたは知らない方がいい。おそらく正気が飛ぶぞ」「そうか、キシュア君がそういうならそうなんだろう。ところでブルゴーニュで作られたワインとかいうの、ちょっと飲んでみたいんだけど。手に入らないかな?」
    こんな感じ。

    凛への態度
    遠坂の末裔ががんばった!よし、魔法使いの席はもうないが儂が編み出したものの誰にも教えられずガッカリしていたいろんな無理難題魔術をたたきこんでやろう!
    といった感じでちょっと楽しい。
    まほよの青子よろしく、魔法使いの弟子はまず最初に宇宙をうっかり滅ぼすところから始めさせられるという地獄。もっとも、凛の意識はそこまでのものではないので「あれ、なんかいまものすごい地獄を見せられなかったか私?」と首をかしげながら、トラウマで一ヶ月吐き続けた感じ。

  14. The Adventures of Lord El-Melloi II Volume 6 - Fem's Casa (Upper)
  15. Fate/strange Fake Volume 7 - Interlude: Audition
  16. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Hemonomic Principle, p.100

    Hemonomic Principle
    Idea Blood. The quality of the blood that makes the Ancestors what they are, and a foundational commandment etched on their soul.

    The Dead Apostles who inherited this blood would always rise up to become Ancestors no matter their rank; Arcueid compared it to a "crown".

    On the other hand, a millennium-class foundation is needed for the Hemonomic Principle to function, and even if a Dead Apostle with hundreds of years of activity were to inherit it they would be crushed by that curse. Properly speaking it was not something that Vlov could withstand, but thanks to a technique given to him by a certain Dead Apostle as well as his desire for revenge against that person he managed to retain his sanity until the end.

    原理血戒
    イデアブラッド。祖を祖たらしめている血液の質であり、魂に刻まれた大本の戒め。その血を巡らせるだけで惑星の物理法則を塗り替える特異点。
    この血を継承した死徒は、どんな階梯であろうと祖に成り上がる事となり、アルクェイドはこれを『王冠』と例えていた。
    反面、原理血戒を動かすには千年クラスの土台が必要となり、数百年活動した程度の死徒が継承してもその呪いで潰されてしまう。本来であればヴローヴに耐えられる物ではなかったが、ある死徒から施された術式とその相手に対する復讐心により、彼の正気は最後まで残される事となった。

  17. Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- - Moon Princess route - Day 5: "Infernal River of Blood II"
  18. 18.0 18.1 Tsukihime - Near Side: Arcueid's route - 3/ The Black Beast I
  19. [v] Melty Blood Act Cadenza PS2 Manual - Dictionary: Nrvnqsr Chaos [Person's name • Dead Apostle], p.050

    Nrvnqsr Chaos [Person's name • Dead Apostle]
    One of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors. Alias, Chaos. He uses all the creatures of the earth as familiars. Because of the fact that he is preserving even extinct species, he is also sometimes called Dr. Beast.
    Though he had no business in Japan, he was selected as the executor of the True Ancestor hunt proposed by the White Wing Lord, and followed Arcueid to the island nation in order to defeat her.
    Dead Apostles who can measure their lives in millennia require a colossal amount of energy. This has nothing to do with their strength – it is merely the compensation required to maintain such a long-lived existence.
    Because he is one of these millennium-class Dead Apostles himself, Nrvnqsr's appetite is voracious. It took devouring every single person in a ten story hotel just to satisfy him.
    The factors of 666 beasts are swirling around within his body, but it's probably alright just to think of it as him being equipped with 666 familiars. Because this is essentially like having 666 lives, properly speaking he's a Dead Apostle that even a serious Arcueid wouldn't be able to kill.
    As one who became a Dead Apostle through sorcery, he has absolutely no interest in territory or building a faction. The only thing he cares about is completing his thesis.
    When he was still a human, his name was Fabro Rowan. He was a magus hailing from the Wandering Tomb, located in the northern Sea of Estray, one of the three main branches of the Association.

    ネロ·カオス【人名·死徒】
    死徒二十七祖の一人。通り名は混沌。地球上のあらゆる動物を使い魔として作り出す。絶滅した種すら保存している事から獸博士とも呼ばれる。
    日本にはまったく目的のなかった祖ではあるが、白翼公の提案した真祖狩りの実行者に抜擢され、アルクェイドを討つ為に彼女を追い、日本にて対決する事になる。
    千年単位の死徒は莫大なエネルギーを必要とする。力が強いからではなく、長く生きるほど存在の維持に代償を必要とするからだ。千年単位の死徒であるネロの食事量は膨大で、十階建てのホテル内全ての人間を十分ほどで完食するほどである。
    体内に六百六十六の獣の因子を渦巻かせているが、六百六十六匹の使い魔で武装している、というのが正しい認識であろう。六百六十六もの命を持っているようなもので、本来ならば本気になったアルクェイドですら殺しきれない死徒。
    魔術を極め死徒になったタイプで、領地や派閥作りに興味を持たない。彼に有るのは、ただ自らの命題の解決のみである。
    人間だった頃の名前をフォアブロ·ロワイン。魔術協会は三大部門の一つ、移動石柩こと北の彷徨海出身の魔術師だった。

  20. Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- - Rainbow in the Night route - Day 7: "Vermillion Vestiges I"
  21. Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- - Rainbow in the Night route - Day 6: "Vermillion Vestiges I"
  22. 22.0 22.1 Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- - Rainbow in the Night route - Day 10: "Bow of the Skies II"
  23. Fate/Zero Volume 4: Flames of Purgatory - Interlude: Sometime, somewhere
  24. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank Ⅰ Vampire: Corpse, p.99

    Rank Ⅰ Vampire: Corpse
    A marionette dancing to the tune of its master. A corpse that will return to being dead if left without orders. A mere grunt which simply sucks blood and delivers it to its master. One of what are called "The Dead".

    吸血鬼I階梯 : 屍鬼
    自立できず、親の命令通りに動く操り人形。
    命令がなければ死体のまま放置され、死に至る。親にただ血を吸われて、血を送られただけの下級兵士。《死者、と呼ばれるものの一つ。

  25. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank ⅠI Vampire: Ghoul, p.99

    Rank ⅠI Vampire: Ghoul
    A corpse mimicking the form it had in life, possessing a will yet incapable of coherent thought. While its master's magical energy keeps it from decaying, its insides have completely disintegrated. As the brain's decomposition causes it to seek flesh and blood instinctively, it is more savage that a Rank Ⅰ Corpse. Could be described as a soldier. Counted among "The Dead".

    吸血鬼II階梯 : 死者
    意思はあるものの、明確な思考はできない、生前の姿を擬態している死者。親の魔力で腐敗こそしないものの、中身は完全に崩壊している。
    脳が腐り出しているため本能で血肉を求める分、I階梯の死者より凶暴。あえていうなら兵士。死者、に分類される。

  26. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank III Vampire: Undead, p.99

    Rank III Vampire: Undead
    From this point on a creature can finally be called a vampire. A living corpse. Undead. Although it hasn't fully regained its mental faculties, it can simulate a human lifestyle on its own. A high-ranking soldier whose brain has been reconstructed after death. It is not fazed by sunlight, but requires periodic embalming treatment so as to conceal its true nature. Counted among "The Dead".

    吸血鬼III階梯 : 不死
    ここからようやく吸血鬼と呼べる程度の生き物になる。生きる屍。アンデッド。生前ほどの思考能力はないものの、自分だけで人間生活を偽装できる。
    一度死んでから脳を再構成した上級兵士。日光も平気だが、正体を秘すためには定期的な防腐処理が必要となる。死者、に分類される。

  27. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank IV Vampire: Nightkin, p.99

    Rank IV Vampire: Nightkin
    An undead who acts as a fledgling vampire while maintaining its original personality.

    A half-human vampire whose inhuman physical abilities come at the cost of experiencing extreme coldness and thirst. A low-ranking knight, so to speak. When those of Rank Ⅵ and above drink the blood of their prey assiduously, their victim starts out as a vampire of this rank. They become anemic under the sunlight, though it doesn't burn them yet.

    In the world of magecraft, one is considered "a person" up to this rank. A vampire who has reached Rank Ⅳ can now survive away from its parent. From their point of view it has changed from an "object" to a "living thing", in a sense. Only one in a thousand people are able to reach this rank.

    吸血鬼IV階梯 : 夜属
    生前のパーソナリティを維持したまま、吸血鬼見習いとして活動する不死者。
    人間離れしを渇きを覚える半人前の吸血鬼。いわば下級騎士。VI階梯以上のモノが獲物を丁寧に吸血していくと、犠牲者はこの階梯の吸血鬼からスタートする。日光を浴びると貧血になる程度で、
    まだ焼かれはしない。
    魔術世界においては、ヒト、と呼べるのはこの階梯まで。IV階梯に達した吸血鬼は、もう親基から離れても生きていける。親基から見れば、モノからイキモノに成った、ぐらいの感覚。このIV階梯になれるのは千人中一人の割合である。

  28. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank V Vampire: Nightmare, p.99

    Rank V Vampire: Nightmare
    Adding to the scope of Rank Ⅳ, at this point the curse within their blood allows them to manifest special powers deriving from their parent vampire, or perhaps arising from their own self. High-ranking knight — a fully fledged vampire.

    吸血鬼V階梯 : 夜魔
    IV階梯の深度に加え、その血液に宿った呪いによって親基、あるいは個人に起因する異能を発揮できるようになる。上級騎士、一人前の吸血鬼。

  29. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank VI Vampire: Lesser Dead Apostle, p.99

    Rank VI Vampire: Lesser Dead Apostle
    A completely self-sufficient bloodsucker. Though they can create children through their bloodsucking incursions, they cannot sire a child that can exceed Rank Ⅵ - what you'd call a limit to these upstarts.

    The vampire lurking in Souya is of this rank. Villages fall prey to the disaster that is a "parent" raising minions. Vlov too was classified in this rank, but somehow managed to skip ahead.

    吸血鬼VI階梯 : 死徒 (下級)
    完全に吸血種、として自立。吸血・侵食によって子を作るコトもできるが、所謂成り上がりものの限界か、IV階梯以上の子は作れない。あえて言うなら城塞。
    総耶に巣くっている吸血鬼はこの階梯。親、として下僕を作り、村を食い物にする災害。ヴローヴもこの階梯に分類されるが、ある方法により、飛び級、が行われる事となった。

  30. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank VII Vampire: Greater Dead Apostle, p.99-100

    Rank VII Vampire: Greater Dead Apostle
    Greater Dead Apostle. Those of Rank Ⅵ who were acknowledged by an Ancestor and bestowed with additional abilities. Though they share a name, this rank is of a wholly different scale from the previous one. To reach this rank is to become a poison that taints the land simply by existing.

    They are a heresy that ordinary executors cannot cross blades with, noble vampires permitted their own free will. Greater Dead Apostles do not show absolute obedience to their parent Ancestors; given the chance they can defeat them and inherit their curse. However, even if they gained the same "freedom", there is a vast difference in the years the Ancestors have lived, making it difficult for a Greater Dead Apostle to surmount the lifescale of an Ancestor.

    吸血鬼VII階梯 : 死徒 (上級)
    上級死徒。VI階梯のモノが祖に認められ、更なる異能を与えられたもの。同じ呼び名でもその規模は以階梯とは別物。この階梯になると居るだけで地域を汚染する毒になる。
    並の代行者では太刀打ちできない異端であり、貴族として自らの意志を許された吸血鬼。上級死徒は親基である祖に絶対服従という訳ではなく、機会さえあれば祖を倒して、その呪いを受け継ぐ事ができる。
    ただし、同じ『自由』を得たとしても祖が生きた年月との差は膨大であり、上級死徒では祖の存在規模を上回ることは難しいとされる。

  31. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank VIII Vampire: Successor, p.100

    Rank VIII Vampire: Successor
    A talented vampire chosen by an Ancestor as their own successor. A prince or princess, as it were. Among the Ancestors are also some who were captivated by beings that were not vampires and unexpectedly raised them to this rank.

    Assuming a minimum of two for each Ancestor, there are more than fifty Rank Ⅷ individuals. Some of them are even said to have been created in imitation of the True Ancestors. Vampires of this rank are mighty, surpassing Vlov - who achieved entry into the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors - in terms of their fundamental reserves.

    吸血鬼VIII階梯 : 後継者
    祖が自分の後継に認めた、才能ある吸血鬼。言うなれば王子、王女。祖の中には吸血鬼ではないものを見初めて、いきなりこの階梯まで引き上げてしまうモノもいる。
    皿階梯はひとりの祖に最低ふたりいるとして、単純に五十匹以上。中には真祖を模して作られた死徒がいるとも言われている。
    この階梯の吸血鬼は強大であり、基本的な蓄えだけで言えば、二十七祖入りをはたしたヴローヴよりも優れている。

  32. [v] Tsukihime Material I - GLOSSARY: Rank IX Vampire: Ancestor, p.100

    Rank IX Vampire: Ancestor
    The old Dead Apostles who broke free from their role as emergency rations and achieved victory in their struggle for independence as wholly distinct beings. A crimson stain that fell from the moon onto the earth. Long-lived beings who take in the life of humans and give rise to Rank Ⅵ Dead Apostles. Said to have established the structure of vampire society that exists to this day.

    Their lifescale differs on an individual basis, but they can be categorised into the "elders", active from before the Common Era, and the "upstarts", whose activities began in the Common Era. Vlov, having killed the Ancestor that had been his parent of the last hundred years, became one such new "upstart" Ancestor.

    吸血鬼IX階梯 : 祖
    非常食の立場から抜け出し、まったく違うモノとして独立を勝ち取った古い死徒。月から地上に落ちた真紅の染み。決して他と相容れない世界を持った猛毒。VI階梯の死徒を生み出し、人間を“寿命”として摂取する長命者。現在に至る吸血鬼社会の構造を創ったとされる。存在規模は個体差があり、西暦以前から活動しているのが『古参』、西暦以後から活動を始めたのが「新参」と分類される。
    ヴェーヴはここ百年の間に親である祖を殺し、新しい祖になった『新参』になる。

  33. [v] Melty Blood Act Cadenza PS2 Manual - Dictionary: Vampires [Term], p.058

    Vampires [Term]
    Monsters that suck human blood. Refers mostly to the Dead Apostles, or those that have become bloodsuckers because of them. Though they are basically unaging and immortal, they require human blood to maintain their flesh. Thus, their immortality is imperfect.
    Those that have been turned into vampires by Dead Apostles can operate by their own will, but because their behavioral principles are bound by their parent vampire, it is impossible for them to escape their control. In the event that they successfully attack a human and acquire their blood, the majority of it will be taken by the parent vampire.
    Consequently, the child vampire will eventually try to become a parent vampire themselves. After spending decades acclimating to life in the darkness, they will start to threaten the world by creating servants of their very own.
    In order to put a stop to this vicious cycle of vampirism, the Church created the Burial Agency – heresy hunters whose aim is the complete extermination of all Dead Apostles.

    吸血鬼【用語】
    人の血を吸うモノ。多くは死徒、ないし死徒によって吸血種となったモノを指す。基本的に不老かつ不死ではあるが、肉体の維持に人間の血が必要な為、不完全な不老不死と言えるだろう。
    死徒によって吸血鬼に成った者は自分の意志で活動できるが、行動原理を親である吸血鬼に縛られる為、その支配から逃れられない。人間を襲い血を得たところで、その大半を親である吸血鬼に奪われてしまうのである。
    よって子である吸血鬼は自らも親になろうとし、何十年と闇の生活に慣れながら自分だけの下僕を作ろうと世を脅かす。
    この吸血循環を阻止する為、教会には死徒を殲滅する異端狩り·埋葬機関が存在する。

  34. [v] Melty Blood Act Cadenza PS2 Manual - Dictionary: Malignant Information [Term], p.060

    Malignant Information [Term]
    A requirement for the appearance of the Tatari. Shared common knowledge circulating throughout a closed community. Develops by making use of things like anonymous accusations, improbable testimonies, and popular trends. It will take on various forms depending on the circumstances, but at its core is "nothing". It is for this very reason that the Tatari itself is said to have no true identity.
    The "Bad News" used by the Night of Wallachia and the "Terror News" used by Vampire Sion were both forms of this, materialized with magical energy. The creation and control of malignant copies is a particularly advanced application.

    悪性情報【用語】
    タタリ発生の条件となる、閉じたコミュニティーで流布される共有常識。
    匿名性の告発、蓋然性のない証言、浸透率の優れた流行、といったものを利用して成長していく。状況によって様々な形に変化するが、その中心たる核には“何もない”。タタリが正体不在と呼ばれるのはこの為だ。
    ワラキアの夜が扱う『バッドニュース』、吸血鬼シオンが扱う『テラーニュース』はこれを魔力によって具現化したもの。更に高度な悪性情報の利用法に、悪質なコピーを捏造して操るというものがある。

  35. Tsukihime - Far Side: Akiha's Route - 9/ Bloodsucking Ogre
  36. [v] Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] II. lost butterfly Animation Material - Kinoko and Takashi Q & A, p.22[T]
    Q: Did Zouken have a choice to become a Dead Apostle when he sought immortality? If he did, I'd like to know why he didn't transform into a Dead Apostle.

    Q: Did Zouken have a choice to become a Dead Apostle when he sought immortality? If he did, I'd like to know why he didn't transform into a Dead Apostle. <Pon De>

    Nasu: If you become a vampire, the Holy Church will be after you all the time, so he couldn't take that risk. If his objective (goal) was to become "immortal", he may have turned into a vampire, but other than that, well, it's whether or not he had the talent to become a vampire. There are only about 27 idiosyncratic people like a certain Ms Yumizuka and her "You thought I was common? but I'm actually SSR!" in this world!
    Takeuchi: What? Aren't there actually a few more out there?
    Nasu: Yeah, let's say we undercounted and add about three more.

    ? <Pon De>

    奈:
    武:
    奈:

  37. [v] Tsukihime Dokuhon PlusPeriod - TSUKIHIME Dictionary: Vampire [Term], p.178

    Vampire [Term]
    A general term for those that suck human blood. Refers specifically to the Dead Apostles, or those that have become bloodsuckers because of them.
    The vampires in Tsukihime extract human blood to maintain their own flesh. If, during this process, the vampire injects their own blood into their human prey, that human will be unable to peacefully pass away. For a normal person, death will still find them before long regardless. However, on rare occasions, if the victim has high physical potential and the capacity of their soul is excellent, they will remain in the world of the living.
    Afterward, their corpse is interred, and left alone for several years. During this time their brain melts, their soul is liberated from the cage of the body, and finally they arise as a kind of living dead called a "ghoul".
    As a ghoul, they feed on the corpses sleeping in the graves around them to supplement their own missing flesh, restoring their physical body little by little. After many years of this, they will eventually regain their brain and intelligence. At this stage, they can finally be called a "vampire".
    However, although this new vampire can move by their own will, they cannot escape from the rule of their sire's blood. Finally, after spending decades acclimating to life in the darkness, the vampire will begin attacking humans to create servants of their very own, while remaining subservient to the vampire that made them.
    In order to obstruct this infinite cycle, the Church created the Burial Agency, Inquisitors that exist to slay Dead Apostles. The Burial Agency's goal is the utter eradication of all vampires, and the sealing of the 27 Ancestors that made them.

    吸血鬼【用語】

Vampires
Dead Apostles
Ciel (Remake) • Curry de MarcheJester KartureLord Rozay-enMaiko YamaseNoelOdd BorzakSatsuki YumizukaShiki Tohno (Remake) • SHIKI Tohno (Remake) • Sion Eltnam AtlasiaShirleyTarantellaThird Crusade Dead ApostleZepia Eltnam Atlasia
The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake)
Primate MurderThe Dark SixBrunestud of the Crimson MoonKischur Zelretch SchweinorgORT (LostbeltXibalba) • Rizo-Waal StroutEinnasheForest of Einnashe (Remake) • Fina-blood SveltenAltrouge BrunestudNrvnqsr Chaos (Remake) • LouvreStanrobe CalhinTATARIDust of OsirisVan-FemRita Rozay-enGransurg Blackmore (Remake) • Trhvmn OrtenrosseEnhanceZaria OffenbaumVlov ArkhangelMerem SolomonSumireChromclay PetastructureEl NahatBe'zeCaubac Alcatraz
Michael Roa Valdamjong (Remake)
True Ancestors
Altrouge BrunestudArcueid Brunestud (Red ArcueidBerserkerRemake (Eco-ArcArchetype: Earth))
Lamyros
Wolfgang Faustus
Others
Akiha Tohno (Remake) • Hinako AkutaBaobhan SithCarmillaChild of EinnasheEuryaleMedusaSion Eltnam SokarisSthenoVlad III (EXTRAApocryphaBerserker)
Concepts
Bounded FieldConceptual WeaponMagic (Second MagicThird MagicFifth Magic) • Magical Spells (AstromancyGradation AirFlash AirTuning) • Marble PhantasmMystic CodeMystic Eyes (Mystic Eyes of Death Perception) • PsychicReality Marble
Creatures
BicornCentaurDaemonDead ApostleDemonDemon BoarDivine SpiritDollDragonD'yavol TronFairyFamiliarGazerGiantGolemHomunculusHumanHydraLamiaMagicianMagusMixed-BloodOniOuter GodPhantasmal SpeciesSoul EaterSphinxSpiritsVampireUltimate OneTenguTrue AncestorWitchWizardXianYaga
Holy Grail War
Anti-HeroCatalystCommand SpellBlackeningGreater Holy Grail of FuyukiLesser Holy Grail of FuyukiHeroic SpiritHoly GrailIncarnationMasterMirror WorldOverseerNoble PhantasmParameter RulesSaint GraphServant (Class CardDemi-ServantGrand ServantHigh-ServantPseudo-ServantServant Universe) • Servant classesSkill
Organizations
Holy Church (Burial Agency (Remake)) • Chaldea Security OrganizationDemon Hunter OrganizationMage's Association (Clock TowerAtlasWandering Sea) • Spiral ManorSummit CourtThe Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake)
Terms
AdvantageAkashaAuthorityAnti-Purge DefenseCounter ForceIncantationsImmortalityElementsWorldWorld of MagecraftMagic CircuitMagical EnergyMagic CrestMagical WorkshopMysterySoulSpiritronStarlogResurrectionTextureTime TravelTradition ProtectionParallel WorldQuantum Time-LockUnderworld
Main works
TsukihimeTsukihime animeTsukihime PLUS-DISCKagetsu TohyaMelty BloodMelty Blood Re-ACTMelty Blood Act CadenzaMelty Blood Actress AgainHana no Miyako
Remake Works
Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-Melty Blood: Type LuminaTsukihime -The other side of red garden-
Terms
AdvantageAge of GodsAhnenerbeBajiquanChurchDead ApostleDemonsDemon Hunter OrganizationFamiliarMagecraftMagical GirlMarble PhantasmMystic Eyes of Death PerceptionReality MarblePsychicTohnoTrue AncestorVampire
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