This article is about the character classes from .hack, a franchise that encompasses several video games, anime and manga. The franchise focuses on the mysterious events surrounding the mega-popular MMORPG The World. Most characters in the .hack franchise are known only by their virtual avatars within The World. For the PlayStation 2 video game series by the same name, see . ... This article is about computer and video games. ... Anime ) (IPA pronunciation: in Japanese, but typically or in English) is an abbreviation of the word animation. Outside Japan, the term most popularly refers to animation originating in Japan. ... 2nd English edition of InuYasha Vol. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The World is an MMORPG created and distributed by the CC Corporation in the mega-popular anime and manga franchise, .hack. ... Example of an avatar as used on internet forums. ...

The character class chosen determines the base appearance to other players and the role that they can play during combat. Because skills and abilities are given by the items equipped, each character class can only use a specific type of weapon, though some armors can be used by multiple classes. However some character classes are chosen only as a matter of aesthetic value, reflecting the user's self image whether real or ideal. A persons self image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, nature of external genitalia, I.Q. score, is this person double-jointed, etc. ...

In the beginning there are only six types of classes: Twin Blade, Heavy Blade, Blademaster, Wavemaster, Heavy Axeman, and Long Arm. In .hack//Legend of the Twilight, an expansion to The World was released, introducing the Kickboxer and Werewolf class. After a fire heavily damaged the game servers, The World was shut down for good. Code from The World was spliced together with another game in development, "King Crimson," to create The World R:2, complete with a new style, new graphics, and new character classes. However CC Corporation attests that player characters from the older version were not compatible and could not be transferred, effectively discarding over 20 million player characters. Despite this, several people from The World created new characters in R2. Examples include Endrance, formerly Elk, according to unconfirmed rumor. A player character or playable character (PC) is a fictional character in a game who is controlled or controllable by the player. ...

The World

Primary 6 Classes

• Blademaster: A playable character class that uses swords. This class is probably more accurate than others. This class is used by Balmung of the Azure Sky, Orca of the Azure Sea, Bear, Mia, Rachel, and Marlo.

• Heavy Axeman: A playable character class that uses gigantic axes to deal heavy damage. This class is used by Subaru, Piros, and Terajima Ryoko.

• Heavy Blade: A playable character class that uses broadswords and katanas to attack enemies. This class has the highest attack power of all the classes in the The World. This class is used by Rena, Mimiru, Sanjuro, and BlackRose.

• Long Arm: A playable character class that uses spears and lances, utilizing the range of their weapons in battle. This class is used by Crim, Nuke Usagimaru, Kamui, Albireo, and Gardenia.

• Twin Blade: A playable character class that uses identical dual blades. This class has average attack power, and is known for their superior attack speed and travelling speed. This class is used by A-20, Shugo, Sora, Moonstone, Natsume, and Kite.

• Wavemaster: A playable character class that uses staves and long-range magic rather than melee attacks. This class has the lowest attack power and players using this class should avoid close combat. This class is used by B.T., Mireille, Tsukasa, Elk, Helba, Wiseman, Kazu, Hotaru, Hokuto, and Mistral. They are the only classes that can use Level 4 Summoning Magic.

Affiliated Terms

• Game Masters: Game Master (GM) is a title used by CC Corp employees, giving them the ability to maintain events and perform administrative duties. GMs include Reki & Magi from .hack//Legend of the Twilight as well as many unnamed other references as seen in episode 2 during the Cherry Blossom Event.

• Crimson Knights: Characters that fight to protect the World from illegal users. However none of them had any real administrative power. All of them work for Subaru. One of their objectives is to capture Tsukasa. They were all disbanded. (Scarlet Knights in the Japanese Version)

• Cobalt Knights: A team of system administrators who hunt down Vagrant A.I. and delete them. The first known leader was Alberio. Later the group was led by Kamui. Formed from the remnants of the Crimson Knights, and possessed much more power.

• Cerulean Knights: The Cerulean Knights are a non-canon group of knights that replaced the Cobalt Knights in the Legend of the Twilight anime. Rather than hunting down Vagrant AI, they were created to prevent internet terrorism within The World.

• Illegal Character: A character that has been illegally edited via hacking. Helba, Mia, and Keyaki fall into this category.

• NPC: Stands for non-playable characters. These are just programs that are used in shops. Most or all of their dialogue is scripted and they perform very limited functions.

• Player Killer: A PK is much like a serial killer, generally choosing random players and killing them at random, for one reason or another. This class includes Sora and Tri-Edge.

• Rare Hunters: Characters that like collecting rare items. Some may be obsessed with collecting rare items. Some own a special rare room for storing their items because it holds more than the storage in the NPCs. Mistral and Mireille both follow this ideal.

• System Administrator: Players that are in charge of protecting the world. They delete any hackers, cheaters and wandering A.I. Some are also in charge of setting up events for players to play. The first known Admins were Albireo and some unnamed references in .hack//AI Buster, Lios of the game series, and Balmung and Kamui from .hack//Legend of the Twilight.

• Vagrant / Wandering AI: Corrupted or illegal programs that have achieved a state of pseudo-existence within The World. They are hunted by system administrators who delete them in their debugging duties. Aura, Zefie, Morganna and Lycoris are Vagrant AI. A parallel may be drawn between them and Rampant AI.

In the Marathon video game series by Bungie Studios, rampancy is an expansive growth of intelligence and self-awareness in a computer AI. The term was adapted by Greg Kirkpatrick, the Marathon storys writer, as a replacement for the word insane, as the term could be considered cliché and...

The World Expansion Pack

Additional Classes

• Kickboxer: A Character Class that uses fists to fight opponents. This Class is only once ever mentioned, however, Ouka was once a Kickboxer before gaining the Werewolf upgrade that came with the expansion pack for The World.

• Werewolves: An upgrade of the Kickboxer class that comes with the expansion pack for The World, this class also uses fists to fight opponents. Werewolves can transform into wolves at will and have fur so they don't get cold in Icy areas. Werewolf is special class that can only be obtained by buying the expansion pack of The World. There are many requirements to become a Werewolf. It is also possible that any Kickboxer who can obtain a certain ultra-rare item can become a Werewolf. Ouka is of this character class.

The World R:2

This article or section contains information about an unreleased computer or video game. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as more information becomes available.

It seems that animal-type avatars are common in The World R:2. In the original The World there seem to be no animal-type characters except Mia, her counterpart Macha, and Ouka, and everyone appeared to be interested in Mia. The Crimson Knights even tried to hunt Macha down. But in The World R:2 there are more commonly occurring character avatars that take on the appearance of various humanoid mammals such as dogs, jaguars, racoons and lions. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... It has been suggested that Multiplayer Video Games be merged into this article or section. ... Image File history File links Nuvola_apps_package_games. ...

Primary 10 Classes

• Twin Blade: A Character Class similar to the original Twin Blade in The World, though this Class may utilise two longer edged blades. This is the first of the three classes Haseo chose Twin Blade first when picking classes as an Adept Rogue. Negimaru, Alkaid, Azure Kite, Sophora, and Natsume are all Twin Blades. Twin Blades are speed-oriented and are able to deal quick, successive blows. They have more attack styles than any other class.

• Edge Punisher: A character class that uses two-handed heavy weapons to fight, usually broadswords, similar to a Heavy Blade in The World. Some swords have mechanized "secondary weapons" on them, such as the chainsaw on Haseo's Centipede broadsword. Haseo chose Edge Punisher as the second class for his Adept Rogue. This class is also used by Sakaki, Grein, Asta, Gabi, Azure Balmung, Azure Orca, and Saburo. Their attacks, while powerful, are slow.

• Lord Partizan: A Character Class that utilizes various pole-arm weapons, similar to a Long Arm in The World. This class is now used by Piros the 3rd, whose weapon looks like a long golden mace, and Nala. They fight like Heavy Axemen, using attacks that are slower than other classes, but can deal the most immediate damage. Lord Partizans have lots of monster-oriented skills including Armor-Piercing and Aerial skills.

• Blade Brandier: A character class that uses a one-handed sword or a dagger to fight. They are swift, agile, accurate, and similar to a Blademaster in The World. Endrance, Silabus, Bordeaux, Kaede, Antares, Ender, Wool, and Cashmere are known Blade Brandiers.

• Macabre Dancer: This unique character class uses a pair of sharp fans as weapons and fights with a fluid dancing motion, they are known in The World R:2 as 'Flowers of the Battlefield'. Yata, Naobi, and Hiiragi are all Macabre Dancers.

• Flick Reaper: A rare Character Class that wields scythes or large axes. The stats of this class are very much like the Long Arms, for the class itself excels in speed and strength, but lessens in defense. This class is used by Zelkova, and is Haseo's third Adept Rogue class. They are designed for sweeping attacks, meant to literally "flick" enemies away before they can get within attacking range. Of course, a Steam Gunner or Lord Partizan could get at them easily.

• Tribal Grappler: A Character Class that utilizes their fists, claws, feet and various wrestling-type manoeuvers to fight. It's similar to the Kickboxer class in .hack//Legend of the Twilight Bracelet. This class is used by Pi, Sirius, Tabby, and Gord. They are easiest to achieve solo Rengeki Finish attacks with.

• Harvest Cleric: A Character Class that use staffs and specializes in defensive and healing magic instead of direct fighting. This class focuses on support magic. Atoli, Shino, Phyllo, and Seisaku fall under this particular class type.

• Steam Gunner: A Character Class that uses a rifle with a sword-like bayonet running the length of it. This class specialises in both long-range and close-quarter fighting. Kuhn, Ovan, Taihaku, Sakisaka, and B Set utilize this class.

• Shadow Warlock: A Character Class in which the character uses offensive magic, powered by a large spellbook, instead of physical attacks to defeat the opponent. Sakubo, Gaspard, Tawaraya, and Tohta are all Shadow Warlocks.

Adept Rogue

A rare Character Class which utilizes multiple weapons, and various skills. Adept Rogues have the unique ability to use up to three varieties of weapons which they select while creating their character using a point allocation system. The player is given 4 points and must distribute them between the desired Classes, which vary in terms of point value:

• Twin Blade: 1 Point
• Edge Punisher: 1 Point
• Blade Brandier: 1 Point
• Tribal Grappler: 2 Points
• Flick Reaper: 2 Points
• Lord Partizan: 2 Points
• Steam Gunner: 3 Points
• Macabre Dancer: 3 Points
• Harvest Cleric: 3 Points
• Shadow Warlock: 3 Points

However, they can't use them all from the beginning. At first, they can only use the first weapon type; the others are sealed. By completing exclusive quests, these abilities are released, and the character's appearance changes (an example of this is how heavily Haseo's appearance has changed by the //G.U. game). This is the Adept Rogue's "Job Extend" ability. However, the downside to being an Adept Rogue is the slower job levelling and the slightly different stats. For example, a Level 10 Twin Blade is a better fighter than a Level 10 Adept Rogue with Twin Blade weapons. At most an Adept Rogue can only have access to three classes, but in recent trailers for the third installment of the games it seems Haseo has broken this rule and gained access to a fourth form. This form is reminiscent of Steam Gunner, though Haseo wields a pair of pistols as opposed to a single, bladed gun.

Haseo and Matsu are both Adept Rogues.

Xth Form

Xth Form is the term given to a form of Class outside of The World R:2 and its system. In .hack//G.U. Volume 3, Haseo gains the ability to use a Character Class known as an Xth Form. So far it is unknown whether or not other Xth Form Classes exist.

• Dual Gunner: A Character Class that utilises a pair of pistols with bladed extensions, they can fire at up to two enemies at a time using ammo and must reload after a certain number of shots. The blades connected to them allow PCs to fight at close range without wasting ammo. Haseo uses this Class.

Affiliated Terms

• AIDA: AIDA stands for Artificially Inteligent Data Anomaly

• Player Killer: Characters that prefer to kill players for fun. Also, some like to kill them to steal their items to add to their collection. Many like PKing newbies because they're pushovers and easy targets. TaN is a guild composed of PKs. Tri-Edge is an infamous and legendary PKer fearfully rumored on message boards abroad: that when this mysterious phantom player kills a target, the unfortunate players that "die" from his attack don't ever come back.

• Player Killer Killer: Players that kill PKs. They sometimes kill PKs for revenge or to protect others. Haseo became a PKK in means of revenge for Shino after she fell into a comatosed state by the hand of the deadly Tri-Edge. Many state that PKKers are no different from PKers, and are looked down upon just as much as PKs, sometimes even more, as they do little but cause further instability among the player community.

• Guildmaster: The leader and usually creator of a particular Guild. Guildmasters control Guild shops and have their own Grunty which takes on their master's characteristics and assists in the running of the Guild. Gabi, Zelkova, Silabus, Haseo, Yata, Taika, Kuhn, Tabby, Piros the 3rd, Ovan, and Naobi either are or have been Guildmasters at some point.

• The Lost Ones: Refers to players in a coma, they are in this state because Tri-Edge used Data Drain on them. Shino is one example of a Lost One.

• AIDA-PC: AIDA-PCs are PCs that have been infected by an AIDA in one form or another. The AIDA affects the Player mentally as a result of its infection, and can also have a number of side-effects within the game. Endrance was an AIDA-PC.

• Epitaph-PC: A PC that carries an Avatar, such as the eight PCs that make up the Infinity Eight, and can fight with it after awakening. Avatars can't be seen by regular players and can only be controlled by people in a specific mental state, as it would cause anyone else to go insane.

Three Azure Knights

Azure Kite

• Kite of the Azure Flame- Azure Kite carries triple-edged Twin Blades. He is surrounded by Azure Flames when he appears. He always makes his appearance in the form of an orb of azure flame, and holds the power to Data Drain.
  Azure Kite can regenerate after being destroyed and, during Volume 2 of GU, is seen regenerating inside a casket before appearing, once again, in full health.

• Balmung of the Azure Sky: Balmung is first seen alongside Orca in Volume 2 of GU when he destroys an AIDA and saves Haseo. Both he and Orca appear to, at first, be guarding a casket that contains Tri-Edge. Later they are seen again fighting in the Arena alongside Tenrow.

• Orca of the Azure Sea: Orca is first seen alongside Balmung in Volume 2 of GU when he destroys an AIDA and saves Haseo. Both he and Balmung appear to, at first, be guarding a casket that contains Tri-Edge. Later they are seen again fighting in the Arena alongside Tenrow.

Image File history File links Tri_edge. ... Image File history File links Tri_edge. ... Azure Kite Tri-edge is a fictional character from . ... Data Drain in progress Data Drain refers to a fictional gameplay element in the . ...

Avatar

Avatar of 8 Phases

• Skeith - The Terror of Death: The Avatar controlled by Haseo, he uses it to destroy AIDA, as well as fight other Avatars. Aside from these basic functions, Haseo also uses Skeith to defeat other PCs, though it has been known to go out of control.
  In Volume 2, Skeith is upgraded to a more powerful form. How this occurs is unknown but it appears to have something to do with Endrance.

• Innis - The Mirage of Deceit: Innis is controlled by Atoli and first appears in Volume 2 of GU. Atoli appears to have been awoken by an AIDA infection, though the implications of this are unknown.

• Magus - The Propagation: This Avatar is controlled by Kuhn, who uses it to destroy AIDA as part of Project GU. It was the only Avatar to be salvaged after the fire at CC Corp and was eventually given to Kuhn, a CC Corp employee, as part of Project GU. Magus is capable of creating multiple copies of itself. Creating copies of itself can leave an enemy frustrated in the heat of battle. Additionally, it has the ability to 'propagate' huge amounts of random data, allowing Kuhn to survive a Data Drain attack with minimal ill effects.

• Fidchell - The Prophet: Fidchell is, presumeably, an Avatar controlled by Yata. It has yet to appear in GU and nothing is known about it.

• Gorre - The Machinator: Gorre is controlled by Sakubo, though it is seen in Volume 2 of GU under Saku's control while she is infected by an AIDA. It is made up of two different bodies, though they are, essentially, one Avatar.

• Macha - The Temptress: Macha is the Avatar under Endrance's control and the only active Avatar in Volume 1 of GU not working under Project GU. Endrance himself was infected by an AIDA and used the Avatar to win battles in the Arena. Contrary to popular belief, Mia, the cat on Endrance's shoulder, is not connected to Endrance.
  Many speculate that Endrance used Macha to upgrade Skeith.

• Tarvos - The Avenger: Tarvos is controlled by Pi, who works under Yata and Project GU. Tarvos was given to Pi through her brother, Jun Banshoya, who stole the Avatar from CC Corp before the fire. Unlike Kuhn, she doesn't use her Avatar and it is not seen until she is infected by an AIDA later in Volume 1.

• Corbenik - The Rebirth: Corbenik is, presumeably, an Avatar controlled by Ovan. It has yet to appear in GU and nothing is known about it. Contrary to popular belief, it is not directly associated with Ovan's sealed left arm.

External links

• Official Series Site
• Official .hack//GU Site
• .hack classes at .hack//Wiki