ooc † chiropterans
IN PROGRESS
Table of Contents
I. Etymology
II. History
III. Hierarchy
IV. Anatomy
V. Abilities
VI. Behavior
I. Etymology
The word chiropteran comes from the scientific name for the order Chiroptera. According to Wikipedia, chiroptera "comes from two Greek words, cheir (χείρ) 'hand' and pteron (πτερόν) 'wing'." They were labeled as such by Joel Goldschmidt who, along with his cousin and assistant Amshel Goldsmith, made the first recorded discovery of the preserved remains of a chiropteran in Iceland. The mummy had wing-like membranes extending from long arms, thus the inspiration for the name.
In Japanese, chiroptera are called 翼手 [よくしゅ (yokushu)]. The first character, 翼, means wing; the second, 手, means hand. It is literally a direct translation of the English name.
II. History
[WARNING: SPOILERS. This mostly follows the anime history rather than the manga, though I added notes regarding the manga when I could remember how it differs from the anime. Much of this is laid out neatly here.]
Chiropterans are theorized to have evolved from bats, much like how humans evolved from ancient primates. Much of the how and why of chiropterans remains a mystery. They came perilously close to extinction for a number of centuries until 1833, when two wealthy natural science hobbyists, Joel Goldschmidt and Amshel Goldsmith, discovered the remains of a chiropteran frozen in ice during an expedition in Iceland. It had, for some reason, been marked by ancient natives of the island with the word SAYA.
Joel had the mummy shipped to his the Zoo, his estate in Bordeaux, France, where he could analyze it as his leisure. Upon dissecting it, they found two cocoons in its womb; when Amshel clipped and cut himself, leaking a few drops of blood on one cocoon, the cocoons slowly came to life. On August 4th, two human-like infant girls emerged, one blue-eyed and the other red. As part of his experiment, Joel confined the blue-eyed infant to a tower prison away from virtually all human contact but for Joel and his assistant, and gave her only the most meager sustenance in order to stay alive. The red-eyed twin he named Saya after the desiccated remains of her mother and raised as his own daughter.
In other words, the experiment was one of nature vs. nurture through which he could observe chiropteran psychology. Saya had no knowledge that she was not human and no conception of how she differed from humans. She, along with her twin, aged slowly over a span of roughly thirty years; when they stopped, they looked to be only 16 or so. During this time, Joel and Amshel performed experiments on the nameless twin, learning of such things as the chiropterans' natural regenerative capabilities. Wishing to research their reproductive capacity as well, Amshel, under Joel's direction, purchased a twelve-year-old boy named Hagi to be Saya's companion and, they hoped, to mate with her when he was old enough. At some point during this time, as well, Saya discovered the tower and befriended its captive, naming her Diva, not knowing of their relationship to one another (in the anime; in the manga, both Saya and Diva realized their connection).
In 1883, on the day of Joel's 72nd birthday, Saya stole the key to Diva's cell and freed her from the tower, intending to have her sing for Joel's birthday. Diva promptly went on a rampage, massacring everyone on the estate. Hagi, then 25, died (in the manga, he was one of Diva's victims). Saya fed Hagi her blood, altering him on a genetic level and making him into her chevalier; around this time, Diva did the same with Amshel. The organization Red Shield was created to support Saya as she set out to kill Diva. However, three years later, Saya unexpectedly fell into her first period of hibernation; Diva presumably did so as well.
They woke up again in 1915. On Amshel's prompting, Diva created her second and third chevaliers: a young doctor named Solomon followed by Karl Fei-Ong, a Vietnamese man. Amshel brought Diva to Russia, where they assimilated themselves into the Russian imperial court. Diva killed and shapeshifted into the form of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna and added Grigori Rasputin to the ranks of her chevaliers. Meanwhile, Saya and Hagi travelled to Russia in pursuit of Diva, where they joined the imperial orchestra to get close to the court. It was at this time that grunt-type chiropterans, devoid of either sentience or human form, began manifesting. Amshel and Rasputin performed experiments to artificially create non-chevalier chiropterans from Diva's blood.
The situation came to a head in the weeks immediately preceding the Revolution: Diva killed Alexei Nikolaevich and made him her chevalier, but was forced to flee with Amshel while Alexei stayed behind to fend off Saya. She killed him and tracked Diva across Russia, nearly coming into contact with her in Siberia; however, she was held back by Rasputin. Saya defeated him, but having been awake for three years, promptly fell into her her second hibernation. Diva soon followed.
Again they slept for thirty years. There is little on record about their next awake period. It is known that Amshel and Diva resided in Germany during World War II and were very close to Adolf Hitler, if not part of his inner circle, and Amshel very likely provided him with funds. Martin Bormann was made into a chevalier, though in 1945 he was killed by Solomon on Amshel's orders and replaced by James Ironside. Saya and Diva fell into their third period of hibernation.
How Diva awoke from her sleep ten years early is unknown; possibly she was forced awake. In any case, in 1972, Red Shield confirmed large numbers of chiropterans in Vietnam, and attempted to force Saya awake by directly injecting her with Hagi's blood, which she always takes upon awakening. This jolted Saya from her sleep, but it also temporarily deteriorated her mind, sending her into a berserk, animal-like state in which she massacred chiropterans, American soldiers, and Vietnamese civilians alike. When her energy was spent, she fell back asleep, and Hagi fled. Saya was entrusted to the care of U.S. Army veteran George Miyagusuku and moved to Okinawa, where she was interred in the Miyagusuku family crypt for the next thirty years. She awoke again in 2004, completely amnesiac, and was taken in by George and his adopted sons Kai and Riku.
One year later, in 2005, the war against chiropterans recommenced when Saya was reunited with Hagi. Following George's death, she, Kai, and Riku travelled with Red Shield to Vietnam, where they encountered Karl Fei-Ong and Solomon Goldsmith. From there they moved on to Russia, where Saya and Hagi briefly split off from the group and travelled on their own to the Zoo, though Kai and Riku followed. There they encountered the newly-awakened Diva, who killed Riku, forcing Saya to make him her chevalier. Weeks later, on the ocean liner that served as Red Shield's headquarters, Diva and Karl attacked without warning. Diva raped and murdered Riku, and Red Shield's members evacuated the ship, triggering explosives laced throughout it in an attempt to bury Diva at sea. Saya and Hagi stayed behind to fight.
After nearly another year, Saya and Hagi resurfaced in England, where they rejoined Red Shield and Saya killed Karl. They moved operations to America, where Solomon defected to Saya's side but died imminently after her battle with James. There they also discovered that Diva was pregnant with Riku's twins, as well as the full scope of Diva and Amshel's plan: to turn everyone on the planet into chiropterans through the mass distribution of Amshel's pharmaceutical company's Delta-67 drug, created from compounds in Diva's blood. Red Shield confronted Diva the night of her internationally televised concert. While Hagi fought Amshel, Saya fought and finally killed Diva, but chose to spare the twins, who had been delivered prior to the concert. As the American military bombed the opera house to destroy the chiropteran threat, Amshel resurfaced, but was killed by Hagi. Hagi was trapped in the explosion, but Saya and Kai escaped and returned to Okinawa; Kai adopted Diva's twins, and a month later Saya fell into hibernation once again.
III. Hierarchy
Queen
Chevalier
Schiff
Corpse Corps
D-67 Chiropteran
IV. Anatomy
V. Abilities
strength
speed
healing
shapeshifting
telepathy
viral blood
VI. Behavior
diet
sleep patterns
social structure
reproduction
Table of Contents
I. Etymology
II. History
III. Hierarchy
IV. Anatomy
V. Abilities
VI. Behavior
I. Etymology
The word chiropteran comes from the scientific name for the order Chiroptera. According to Wikipedia, chiroptera "comes from two Greek words, cheir (χείρ) 'hand' and pteron (πτερόν) 'wing'." They were labeled as such by Joel Goldschmidt who, along with his cousin and assistant Amshel Goldsmith, made the first recorded discovery of the preserved remains of a chiropteran in Iceland. The mummy had wing-like membranes extending from long arms, thus the inspiration for the name.
In Japanese, chiroptera are called 翼手 [よくしゅ (yokushu)]. The first character, 翼, means wing; the second, 手, means hand. It is literally a direct translation of the English name.
II. History
[WARNING: SPOILERS. This mostly follows the anime history rather than the manga, though I added notes regarding the manga when I could remember how it differs from the anime. Much of this is laid out neatly here.]
Chiropterans are theorized to have evolved from bats, much like how humans evolved from ancient primates. Much of the how and why of chiropterans remains a mystery. They came perilously close to extinction for a number of centuries until 1833, when two wealthy natural science hobbyists, Joel Goldschmidt and Amshel Goldsmith, discovered the remains of a chiropteran frozen in ice during an expedition in Iceland. It had, for some reason, been marked by ancient natives of the island with the word SAYA.
Joel had the mummy shipped to his the Zoo, his estate in Bordeaux, France, where he could analyze it as his leisure. Upon dissecting it, they found two cocoons in its womb; when Amshel clipped and cut himself, leaking a few drops of blood on one cocoon, the cocoons slowly came to life. On August 4th, two human-like infant girls emerged, one blue-eyed and the other red. As part of his experiment, Joel confined the blue-eyed infant to a tower prison away from virtually all human contact but for Joel and his assistant, and gave her only the most meager sustenance in order to stay alive. The red-eyed twin he named Saya after the desiccated remains of her mother and raised as his own daughter.
In other words, the experiment was one of nature vs. nurture through which he could observe chiropteran psychology. Saya had no knowledge that she was not human and no conception of how she differed from humans. She, along with her twin, aged slowly over a span of roughly thirty years; when they stopped, they looked to be only 16 or so. During this time, Joel and Amshel performed experiments on the nameless twin, learning of such things as the chiropterans' natural regenerative capabilities. Wishing to research their reproductive capacity as well, Amshel, under Joel's direction, purchased a twelve-year-old boy named Hagi to be Saya's companion and, they hoped, to mate with her when he was old enough. At some point during this time, as well, Saya discovered the tower and befriended its captive, naming her Diva, not knowing of their relationship to one another (in the anime; in the manga, both Saya and Diva realized their connection).
In 1883, on the day of Joel's 72nd birthday, Saya stole the key to Diva's cell and freed her from the tower, intending to have her sing for Joel's birthday. Diva promptly went on a rampage, massacring everyone on the estate. Hagi, then 25, died (in the manga, he was one of Diva's victims). Saya fed Hagi her blood, altering him on a genetic level and making him into her chevalier; around this time, Diva did the same with Amshel. The organization Red Shield was created to support Saya as she set out to kill Diva. However, three years later, Saya unexpectedly fell into her first period of hibernation; Diva presumably did so as well.
They woke up again in 1915. On Amshel's prompting, Diva created her second and third chevaliers: a young doctor named Solomon followed by Karl Fei-Ong, a Vietnamese man. Amshel brought Diva to Russia, where they assimilated themselves into the Russian imperial court. Diva killed and shapeshifted into the form of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna and added Grigori Rasputin to the ranks of her chevaliers. Meanwhile, Saya and Hagi travelled to Russia in pursuit of Diva, where they joined the imperial orchestra to get close to the court. It was at this time that grunt-type chiropterans, devoid of either sentience or human form, began manifesting. Amshel and Rasputin performed experiments to artificially create non-chevalier chiropterans from Diva's blood.
The situation came to a head in the weeks immediately preceding the Revolution: Diva killed Alexei Nikolaevich and made him her chevalier, but was forced to flee with Amshel while Alexei stayed behind to fend off Saya. She killed him and tracked Diva across Russia, nearly coming into contact with her in Siberia; however, she was held back by Rasputin. Saya defeated him, but having been awake for three years, promptly fell into her her second hibernation. Diva soon followed.
Again they slept for thirty years. There is little on record about their next awake period. It is known that Amshel and Diva resided in Germany during World War II and were very close to Adolf Hitler, if not part of his inner circle, and Amshel very likely provided him with funds. Martin Bormann was made into a chevalier, though in 1945 he was killed by Solomon on Amshel's orders and replaced by James Ironside. Saya and Diva fell into their third period of hibernation.
How Diva awoke from her sleep ten years early is unknown; possibly she was forced awake. In any case, in 1972, Red Shield confirmed large numbers of chiropterans in Vietnam, and attempted to force Saya awake by directly injecting her with Hagi's blood, which she always takes upon awakening. This jolted Saya from her sleep, but it also temporarily deteriorated her mind, sending her into a berserk, animal-like state in which she massacred chiropterans, American soldiers, and Vietnamese civilians alike. When her energy was spent, she fell back asleep, and Hagi fled. Saya was entrusted to the care of U.S. Army veteran George Miyagusuku and moved to Okinawa, where she was interred in the Miyagusuku family crypt for the next thirty years. She awoke again in 2004, completely amnesiac, and was taken in by George and his adopted sons Kai and Riku.
One year later, in 2005, the war against chiropterans recommenced when Saya was reunited with Hagi. Following George's death, she, Kai, and Riku travelled with Red Shield to Vietnam, where they encountered Karl Fei-Ong and Solomon Goldsmith. From there they moved on to Russia, where Saya and Hagi briefly split off from the group and travelled on their own to the Zoo, though Kai and Riku followed. There they encountered the newly-awakened Diva, who killed Riku, forcing Saya to make him her chevalier. Weeks later, on the ocean liner that served as Red Shield's headquarters, Diva and Karl attacked without warning. Diva raped and murdered Riku, and Red Shield's members evacuated the ship, triggering explosives laced throughout it in an attempt to bury Diva at sea. Saya and Hagi stayed behind to fight.
After nearly another year, Saya and Hagi resurfaced in England, where they rejoined Red Shield and Saya killed Karl. They moved operations to America, where Solomon defected to Saya's side but died imminently after her battle with James. There they also discovered that Diva was pregnant with Riku's twins, as well as the full scope of Diva and Amshel's plan: to turn everyone on the planet into chiropterans through the mass distribution of Amshel's pharmaceutical company's Delta-67 drug, created from compounds in Diva's blood. Red Shield confronted Diva the night of her internationally televised concert. While Hagi fought Amshel, Saya fought and finally killed Diva, but chose to spare the twins, who had been delivered prior to the concert. As the American military bombed the opera house to destroy the chiropteran threat, Amshel resurfaced, but was killed by Hagi. Hagi was trapped in the explosion, but Saya and Kai escaped and returned to Okinawa; Kai adopted Diva's twins, and a month later Saya fell into hibernation once again.
III. Hierarchy
Queen
Chevalier
Schiff
Corpse Corps
D-67 Chiropteran
IV. Anatomy
V. Abilities
strength
speed
healing
shapeshifting
telepathy
viral blood
VI. Behavior
diet
sleep patterns
social structure
reproduction