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Player name: Steam
AIM contact: Wyverncakes
Alternate contacts: There's always PMing
Character name: Hibiki Tachibana
Source canon: Symphogear
Community tag: hibiki tachibana
Do I want a HMD: Already have it
Notes: Many a moon ago, Hibiki got to make an appearance in a Symphogear mission as an NPC. Now she gets to arrive as a proper character!
Background: Like most of the other Relic users in Symphogear, little's known about Hibiki. Prior to attending ZweiWing's disastrous final concert and nearly getting killed she lived with her parents and maternal grandmother, and was really good friends with a girl named Miku Kohinata for a really long time. Her life was quiet but good, but the Noise attack during the concert nearly put an end to that. While countless others either ran away or were killed by the Noise during the initial moments, Hibiki was simply too horrorstruck to move and too lucky to be killed... not that the Noise didn't quickly turn their attention to her all the same. She was saved by Kanade Amou, but unfortunately as the fighting continued fragments of Kanade's Relic Gungnir broke off and pierced Hibiki's body. To make matters worse, Kanade's powers were at their limit and there were just too many Noise left...
But in spite of this, Kanade hadn't given up. She'd even told Hibiki to not give up on life, and in turn sacrificed her own to destroy the Noise with her fatal Swan Song to save everyone.
After that, things did not get easier for Hibiki. Many of Gungnir's shards were embedded deep in her body, several dangerously close to her heart and too small to operate on. And even after the removable ones were dealt with, there was still the daunting task of physical therapy... though Hibiki steeled her resolve and worked hard through it. She found solace in Tsubasa Kazanari's solo albums and was eventually cleared to go home, only to find out that a lot of people hated her and her family now. The government gave very generous payouts for those caught in Noise attacks, but people started calling her a murderer for living when others had died.
Still, Hibiki persevered and has recently enrolled in Lydian Academy along with Miku, the very same school that her idol Tsubasa was in, and no matter the tragedies and misfortunes that'd befallen her, she was still an energetic, cheerful derp of a girl.
Personality: As mentioned right above, Hibiki's faced some pretty severe adversity in her life but never let it totally beat her. She's outgoing, a lover of food (most notably rice) and ZweiWing music, and the kind to leap before she looks when it comes to helping people. There's an eager enthusiasm in everything she invests herself into, even if she doesn't always think everything through. This can sometimes lead to her biting off more than she can chew, but she's made a hobby out of helping people in need, and she's not likely to change it.
This desire to help others even extends to people she fights. She likes to believe that so long as her opponents are those that she can speak to and communicate with, then they can work through their problems and differences. Not to say she won't fight against them with all her power, but she's not one to take a life, even in cases where the bastard clearly deserves it (like Dr. Ver in season 2). She's also welcoming and forgiving of former enemies too.
That said, Hibiki can be more than a little dense, short-sighted, and simple-minded at times. Metaphors and deeply philosophical stuff often goes over her head or reduced to more simple and literal interpretations. Not that these interpretations lack a certain poetry all their own though. But when running off of incomplete information she's capable of making the wrong assumptions about things, and with that incomplete understanding of situations and her go-getter attitude can lead her to saying things that step on toes.
Still, she is a kindhearted girl who stays optimistic and formed the emotional center of the Symphogear trio, bridging Tsubasa's stoicism and Chris's bluster, helping them by believing -and knowing- they were better than they thought they were. It takes a lot to not just get her down but keep her down, and most often in the series those points involved her thinking she was being dishonest and hurting people close to her when she wants to help them. Fortunately she's not the type to get sucked into a positive feedback loop of depression, and between her own optimism, help from others, and a willingness to work through problems with those she shares them with she's able to conquer these negative feelings.
Capabilities and Resources: Hibiki starts out as just a very energetic girl without any form of combat training. Still, the Gungnir fragments inside of her body afford her some degree of improved healing and make her a living Relic of sorts... though this doesn't become noteworthy until season 2 when the effects -both good and bad- start to become visible. Having Gungnir inside of her does come with the perk that she can't be separated from her Relic easily, as opposed to other users who actually need their Relics on-hand to transform.
No/little proper training means early on Hibiki's fighting will be clumsy and simplistic, but after training with Genjuro she'll become much more competent in battle and develop an effective fighting style.
Type: Combatant
Unit Name: Third Relic - Gungnir
Unit Description: The Third Relic found by the 2nd Division Special Disaster Response Team... or rather, the leftover bits and pieces of Kanade's version that are inside of Hibiki's body. When called upon, it creates a protective suit of armor for Hibiki to wear -the titular Symphogear- which not only grants her the ability to fight against the Noise, but also dispels their bullshit offensive and defensive powers. With a Symphogear on the scene, Noise cannot carbonize targets with just a touch and they can be harmed by conventional attacks.
Because Hibiki is working with only fragments of Kanade's Relic, she can't manifest an Armed Gear like other Symphogear users can. This also means no named attacks like Kanade's Last Meteor, Tsubasa's Blue Flash, or Chris's Megadeth Party. Instead Hibiki makes due entirely with hand-to-hand combat, the energy meant to be used for her Armed Gear instead being put towards making her hands and feet capable of smashing apart Noise with ease. At one point she even punches a falling car away from herself purely with just the strength of her right arm.
This isn't to say Hibiki doesn't have her own fancy little tricks. She can pull back the hefty pistons on her arms to let her punches hit with greater force, and there are similar spring-launchers on her feet to strengthen her kicks and jumps. But that's the extent of what she brings to the table under normal battle conditions.
Outside of those normal conditions though, first and foremost there's Hibiki's potential to go berserk when overcome by emotions or exposed to an excessive amount of phonic energies. It took Chris's seeming death and Fine's disregard at it to trigger it via the former method, exposure to the complete Relic Durandal to cause it via the latter. In this state Hibiki isn't necessarily that much stronger (if any at all) but she is much, much more aggressive and liable to strike at allies. Outside of specific Symphogear events I don't plan on having her fall into it.
Hibiki also possesses the ability to sing her Swan/Ultimate/Superb Song just like other Symphogear users. She never fully sings it on her own, but there are several points in season 1 and 2 when she joins Songs with other users. Hibiki serves as the cornerstone to these attacks, connecting everyone's Songs together through herself to amplify them. This puts the strain of the attack on Hibiki, but thanks to being fused with Gungnir her synch rate with the Relic is incredibly high and thus the negative after-effects aren't as severe as they are on others.
Size: SS.
Terrain compatibility:
Air: No (limited to big jumps)
Ground: Yes
Water: Presumably no (no experience with water-skimming like Tsubasa)
Space: Yes
Favored terrain: Ground
Upgrades: Gungnir X-Drive
A temporary Super Mode invoked during the Symphogear season 1 finale (and then again in the season 2 finale), the X-Drive form is activated when a user is exposed to an extremely high phonic gain level and it unlocks the full potential of a Relic. In Hibiki's case, this grants her proper flight both in the atmosphere and in space and the ability to telepathically communicate with other users in X-Drive form, along with an increase in speed and strength such that she can easily tear through even large armies of Noise in a matter of minutes -if even that-.
Lastly, in X-Drive form Hibiki can further bolster other Relics as well. In her hands -and after a Berserker fit was quelled- Durandal was able to easily strike down Fine and the Nehushtan Armor, even though both were complete relics with comparable levels of power and the Nehushtan Armor's whole schtick was self-repair from damage.
Wingmen: Technically Chris and Tsubasa, but they're already apped.
Mission requirement: Hibiki needs to debut on a mission.
Suggested Event List:
Mission 1: Beat of Awakening
A group of Noise attack the city near Lydian Music Acadamy, prompting intervention by the Unity Group and the 2nd Division people. Before sortieing though, a second energy signature is detected: that of Gungnir! On arrival, everyone will be able to see that Hibiki is there, trying to keep a little girl away from the Noise and wearing armor similar to Kanade's. Between her complete lack of combat training and having to carry the girl, she'll only be able to provide token contribution on the Noise-killing front.
Between missions 1 and 2:
Hibiki will be taken back to the 2nd Division's headquarters at the Acadamy so that they'll be able to learn why she's able to use the power of Gungnir. She'll get to meet everyone there along with the Unity Group, and after some time to think on it resolve to use her newfound power to help protect and save others, serving as Kanade's replacement! This last bit'll ultimately lead to a confrontation between Tsubasa and Hibiki, but Genjuro will intervene and stop the fight.
Mission 2: Shedding Tears from the Bottom of a Deep Abyss
Because of the Noise attacking so close to the Lydian Acadamy, the 2nd Division is pressured by the Japanese government to transfer the complete Relic stored there -Durandal- to a safehouse elsewhere. The Unity Group people (Hibiki and Tsubasa included) provide part of the security detail for Durandal during the transfer, and partway through the drive Noise suddenly begin attacking in a coordinated manner.
Once people catch on that someone or something's pulling the Noise's Strings, Chris reveals herself. Wearing the Nehushtan Armor and wielding the Noise-summoning Cane of Solomon, she identifies Durandal and Hibiki herself as her targets and proves to be a tough fight. Hibiki will end up incapacitated somehow and Tsubasa will be pushed to the limit, and the latter will resort to singing her Swan Song to injure or even force Chris to retreat.
However, this is not the end of things. Either Chris isn't down and out just yet or there's other powerful enemies, but in the chaos and the defense of Durandal, Hibiki will have to grab hold of it. Doing so releases a tremendous amount of energy, activating the Relic and making Hibiki go berserk, using Durandal to defeat whomever is a threat to everyone before she passes out.
IMPORTANT NOTE: at some point in the mission (ideally on the earlier side before Hibiki dons her armor), Hibiki and the still-encased Gungnir will get attacked by either a Noise or someone or something from another canon (but not Chris). Ryouko will stop the attack by generating an energy barrier, though nobody else will see this.
Between missions 2 and 3:
The disaster of trying to transport Durandal also convinces the Japanese Government that it's safer to just keep the Relic at the 2nd Division's headquarters in the Abyss -the stupidly deep underground chamber-. Security is beefed up even further as a safeguard too.
Also, Tsubasa fortunately survives her Swan Song, though she's left in critical condition. Hibiki'll get to find out more about her as well, and resolve to get stronger by training with Genjuro. Thus: training montage!
As she becomes friends with Tsubasa, she'll also get a better understanding of Armed Gears.
Mission 3: Where the Signs Lead
Either during another event or just while Hibiki's doing one thing or another (possibly making up for lost time with her friend Miku), Chris makes her return and attacks again in order to capture her. Hibiki will take it upon herself to deal with Chris, first attempting it though the power of dialogue and UNDERSTANDING and after that fails, incorporating the power of kicking ass into the mix. All of this will just lead Chris to getting pissed off and discarding the Nehushtan Armor in favor of her own proper Relic, Ichaival, which she will grumble about since Hibiki forced her to sing and she hates singing.
Switching to the range-oriented Ichaival will put the fight on a more even standing, but the fight against Chris shouldn't last much longer; a full round at most. At that point, suddenly Noise will appear to attack not Hibiki, but Chris, dive-bombing her from above. Hibiki'll # her here and a woman calls over to Chris, commenting that Chris has failed yet again and sardonically asking when she'll start living up to her expectations.
This lady, as Chris identifies her, is Fine, and Chris tries to convince her that they don't need Hibiki to stop war and reunite the world. Fine's response is short and straightforward: summoning more Noise with the Cane of Solomon and telling Chris she no longer has any use for her. Afterwards she leaves, and everyone'll have to deal with the Noise she just made.
Having just been disowned by her boss, Chris'll be taken in by the Unity Group as a semi-prisoner.
Between missions 3 and 4:
With Chris in the Unity Group's custody, we'll be able to get some answers regarding both her backstory (daughter of musicians turned child slave) and also Fine's goals. Whatever they are, they entail something called "Kadingir" -named after a gigantic mythological tower- and ending conflict on Earth somehow. How far Chris transitions from prisoner to proper member of the Unity Group will be up to Cubey.
Mission 4: Bonds Formed from Holding Hands
A slew of gignatic, aerial Noise appear around Tokyo Sky Tower, and Fine is spotted with them. It's a safe assumption that this factors into her plan regarding Kadingir, and the Unity Group goes in to stop her. Fine is waiting for and greets us (in intentionally bad and insulting Engrish) when we arrive, thereafter donning the Nehushtan Armor and summoning more Noise via the Cane. Any comments about stopping her plans will be answered with condescension, and at some early point in the battle one of Fine's attacks will get supped via Support Defense from a Dynamic Entry-ing Tsubasa.
Within a turn or two, we get to make Fine eat her words when Tsubasa focuses all of the energy of an attack into a single point to breach Fine's barriers (and presumably other people can help if they so which). An opening is made for Tsubasa to finish her off,
but as the smoke settles mid-swing, everyone'll see that the woman in front of her is not Fine, but a naked(!) Ryouko! The shock will give Ryouko the chance to turn the tables on Tsubasa, and when asked by Hibiki why she (meaning Ryouko) is doing everything she refutes it saying no, Sakurai Ryouko ceased to exist twelve years ago when the scientist was present during Tsubasa's activation of Ame no Habakiri and the soul of her genetic ancestor awoke within her.
She reiterates that she is Fine, an ancient priestess acting to restore the "True Language" that was taken away from humanity by the "Curse of Balal" that was inflicted on us by the "Custodians". But what she means like this will have to wait, as Fine dons the Nehushtan Armor again and attacking with renewed aggression.
From there on, the battle becomes straightforward, but before long the Noise count should start to dip noticeably low, only for Fine should simply warp more in. Fine needs to go first, and the way to take her down is with a large, group-effort attack, the Symphogear contributions to this being Hibiki and Tsubasa unleashing the joint Disaster Blast attack while Chris uses the Megadeth Quartet. The Symphogear trio will get to act in harmony and eveything can be feel good-y afterwards, and the rest of the mission can be mopping up the Noise leftover.
Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the battle there's no sign of Fine. It'll then be decided that 2nd Division agents will be stationed at the Tower and other potential Kadingir locations (read: really tall places) just to play it safe.
Mission 5: Pierce the Moon
Word will come that Fine and the Noise have been discovered again... but in the form of distress call. The Lydian Academy/2nd Division Headquarters has come under attack. The Unity Group will have to go and rescue everyone still there. When we arrive there will be a lot of Noise to fight through, and 2nd Division agents to assist too.
During all of this, we'll also hear what's going on inside of the Academy as well, including Genjuro confronting Fine and actually getting the better of her in a short exchange... but when he'll have her on the ropes Fine will cry out to him like Sakurai and make him falter, opening the way for a counterattack. We'll get word from someone else that Genjuro wasn't killed, but the bad news is that Fine's claiming Durandal.
After that, a gigantic tower will rise up from the ground, destroying the academy in the process. Fine will also emerge, welcoming us to the true Kadingir, made from the 2nd Division's massive underground chamber with all its security upgrades, using Durandal as a power source. Chris will ask how this tower will end conflict on Earth, and Fine's answer: by destroying the Moon! Fine then elaborates, saying how in the distant past she wished to reach "Him" and built a massive tower to do so... only for He to strike it down and subject the Earth to the Curse of Balal, robbing it of a unified language. The Moon houses the cornerstone to this Curse, Kadingir the weapon that will let her destroy it.
The gravitational effects the moon's destruction would have on Earth are obvious, but if anyone points it out to Fine she'll treat it as a good thing. With society in disarray they'll flock to her for protection and guidance.
Time is short and battle ensues to try to stop Kadingir from firing, Fine summoning swarms of Noise to her aid in defense of the tower. Even without Fine and the Noise playing defense it is still difficult to damage, but just before it fires (say, one turn after the mission's start), Chris uses one of her huge missiles to launch herself into the air above it and invokes her Swan Song. Kadingir fires, but she fires right back at it, appearing to die when she's enveloped in the blast. Said blast continues on only to graze the moon, breaking a chunk of it off but leaving the remainder intact.
Chris's sacrifice will shake Hibiki badly, and Fine writing her off as worthless trash will make it worse. She'll go berserk with rage, attacking Fine futilely as she talks of how the fragments in Gungnir are taking control of her and turning her into just a wild beast. Attempts to help Hibiki regain her senses will just get her attacking allies instead and making the fight against Fine that much more difficult.
Tsubasa's (and in fact anyone else's) counterattack in the wake of Chris's sacrifice should be allowed to serious damage Fine, but afterwards Fine will just use the restorative powers of the Nehushtan Armor to have each separate part regenerate into another whole Fine. Conservation of Ninjitsu obviously will apply to each copy's powers, and severely injured Fine copies will need to merge with each other to stay fighting.
After a little while/not much more than a turn, Kadinger will be building up another shot at the moon. Barring some crazy, outside idea to incapacitate Hibiki, she'll be stopped by Tsubasa using her shadow bind trick. From there Tsubasa will invoke the power of her own Swan Song to attack Fine -forcing all the remaining copies to reunite- and then unleash the Song's powers on Kadinger in a suicide attack, totaling it at the apparent cost of her life. Even in her berserk state, Hibiki will be reduced to tears by this and in fact come to her senses... though also just be totally demoralized.
Fine will be shocked and angry that her plan's been thwarted, but she won't stop fighting. Hibiki however will have completely lost the resolve to fight with the loss of Tsubasa, Chris, and presumably everyone she knew at school. This changes when someone will call out to her to not give up on living. It's the guard from the Zwei Wing arc, the one that Kanade saved before. And with him is Miku, alive and well, who'll begin singing the anthem of the Lydian Academy as the school's speakers begin to broadcast all of her friends and classmates, alive and safe underground. singing as well to encourage her and everyone else. Their song reinvigorates not only her, but also the very much alive Chris and Tsubasa, giving all three the strength to fight again and unlock their Relics' X-Drive forms.
At this point, Fine will try to sic a gigantic army of Noise on everyone, prompting a big group attack to flatten as many of them as possible. It's a curbstomp in our favor, but it is all to buy time for Fine to fuse with the Cane of Solomon, surviving Noise, and also Durandal, which transforms her into a gigantic monstrosity -the "Red Dragon of Revelations" as Genjuro calls it- able to throw around extremely destructive beams of energy. Beams that -even if they miss us- pose a tremendous danger to the city. Fine will be as confident as ever, saying that even that even the unlocked Relics are only fragments, in comparison with the complete Nehushtan Armor and Durandal. The monster will heal from attacks very quickly too, but it'll be the only target we're fighting and Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris will concoct a plan for dealing with Fine.
After enough attacks, everyone's efforts will have paid of, and Durandal will be blown free of the Dragon to Hibiki. Taking hold of the weapon again, Hibiki will nearly go berserk, but the support of everyone there (Chris, Tsubasa, allies, and even Miku and her classmates) will let Hibiki retain her senses and strike down the Red Dragon in an absolutely devastating show of power and Hibiki's one and only named attack in season 1: Synchrogazer.
Mission accomplished?
Not yet, because Hibiki will dive into the exploding dragon afterwards to save Fine. The battle is over, but Hibiki will still try to have a heart-to-heart with Fine, Fine saying that reaching understanding with each other with the Curse of Balal is impossible, Hibiki believing otherwise because understanding is reached with more than just words. Just as it looks like Fine might be won over though, she'll lash out at the broken moon fragment with the Nehushtan's whip and pull it towards Earth declaring she's still won! The world'll be devastated and those who got in her way will die... but she reminds us that she's immortal and can just reincarnate at a future time and start again! She's been active throughout the ages, and she'll continue to and nobody can stop that!
... But her rant will end when Hibiki just lightly punches her in the chest and asks Fine to take a message down for her and everyone, because where Fine sees a way of demoralizing her mortal enemies, Hibiki sees a way of passing something on to even the distant future. The message? That you don't need strength to unite people that people can surpass the limit of words and still become one. She's entrusting the future to Fine of all people... but she also needs to save the present.
This will finally get though to Fine, who'll chide Hibiki for being a hopeless child and that she should "believe in the song of your heart" (words initially said as Ryoko). With that she and the Nehushtan armor crumble away into nothing. With Fine dealt with, the only thing left to do is for Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris to blast off into space and join hands and Swan Songs to destroy the moon fragment to save the world.
... Well, that and show up afterwards, alive and well.
Sample post: Right here!
AIM contact: Wyverncakes
Alternate contacts: There's always PMing
Character name: Hibiki Tachibana
Source canon: Symphogear
Community tag: hibiki tachibana
Do I want a HMD: Already have it
Notes: Many a moon ago, Hibiki got to make an appearance in a Symphogear mission as an NPC. Now she gets to arrive as a proper character!
Background: Like most of the other Relic users in Symphogear, little's known about Hibiki. Prior to attending ZweiWing's disastrous final concert and nearly getting killed she lived with her parents and maternal grandmother, and was really good friends with a girl named Miku Kohinata for a really long time. Her life was quiet but good, but the Noise attack during the concert nearly put an end to that. While countless others either ran away or were killed by the Noise during the initial moments, Hibiki was simply too horrorstruck to move and too lucky to be killed... not that the Noise didn't quickly turn their attention to her all the same. She was saved by Kanade Amou, but unfortunately as the fighting continued fragments of Kanade's Relic Gungnir broke off and pierced Hibiki's body. To make matters worse, Kanade's powers were at their limit and there were just too many Noise left...
But in spite of this, Kanade hadn't given up. She'd even told Hibiki to not give up on life, and in turn sacrificed her own to destroy the Noise with her fatal Swan Song to save everyone.
After that, things did not get easier for Hibiki. Many of Gungnir's shards were embedded deep in her body, several dangerously close to her heart and too small to operate on. And even after the removable ones were dealt with, there was still the daunting task of physical therapy... though Hibiki steeled her resolve and worked hard through it. She found solace in Tsubasa Kazanari's solo albums and was eventually cleared to go home, only to find out that a lot of people hated her and her family now. The government gave very generous payouts for those caught in Noise attacks, but people started calling her a murderer for living when others had died.
Still, Hibiki persevered and has recently enrolled in Lydian Academy along with Miku, the very same school that her idol Tsubasa was in, and no matter the tragedies and misfortunes that'd befallen her, she was still an energetic, cheerful derp of a girl.
Personality: As mentioned right above, Hibiki's faced some pretty severe adversity in her life but never let it totally beat her. She's outgoing, a lover of food (most notably rice) and ZweiWing music, and the kind to leap before she looks when it comes to helping people. There's an eager enthusiasm in everything she invests herself into, even if she doesn't always think everything through. This can sometimes lead to her biting off more than she can chew, but she's made a hobby out of helping people in need, and she's not likely to change it.
This desire to help others even extends to people she fights. She likes to believe that so long as her opponents are those that she can speak to and communicate with, then they can work through their problems and differences. Not to say she won't fight against them with all her power, but she's not one to take a life, even in cases where the bastard clearly deserves it (like Dr. Ver in season 2). She's also welcoming and forgiving of former enemies too.
That said, Hibiki can be more than a little dense, short-sighted, and simple-minded at times. Metaphors and deeply philosophical stuff often goes over her head or reduced to more simple and literal interpretations. Not that these interpretations lack a certain poetry all their own though. But when running off of incomplete information she's capable of making the wrong assumptions about things, and with that incomplete understanding of situations and her go-getter attitude can lead her to saying things that step on toes.
Still, she is a kindhearted girl who stays optimistic and formed the emotional center of the Symphogear trio, bridging Tsubasa's stoicism and Chris's bluster, helping them by believing -and knowing- they were better than they thought they were. It takes a lot to not just get her down but keep her down, and most often in the series those points involved her thinking she was being dishonest and hurting people close to her when she wants to help them. Fortunately she's not the type to get sucked into a positive feedback loop of depression, and between her own optimism, help from others, and a willingness to work through problems with those she shares them with she's able to conquer these negative feelings.
Capabilities and Resources: Hibiki starts out as just a very energetic girl without any form of combat training. Still, the Gungnir fragments inside of her body afford her some degree of improved healing and make her a living Relic of sorts... though this doesn't become noteworthy until season 2 when the effects -both good and bad- start to become visible. Having Gungnir inside of her does come with the perk that she can't be separated from her Relic easily, as opposed to other users who actually need their Relics on-hand to transform.
No/little proper training means early on Hibiki's fighting will be clumsy and simplistic, but after training with Genjuro she'll become much more competent in battle and develop an effective fighting style.
Type: Combatant
Unit Name: Third Relic - Gungnir
Unit Description: The Third Relic found by the 2nd Division Special Disaster Response Team... or rather, the leftover bits and pieces of Kanade's version that are inside of Hibiki's body. When called upon, it creates a protective suit of armor for Hibiki to wear -the titular Symphogear- which not only grants her the ability to fight against the Noise, but also dispels their bullshit offensive and defensive powers. With a Symphogear on the scene, Noise cannot carbonize targets with just a touch and they can be harmed by conventional attacks.
Because Hibiki is working with only fragments of Kanade's Relic, she can't manifest an Armed Gear like other Symphogear users can. This also means no named attacks like Kanade's Last Meteor, Tsubasa's Blue Flash, or Chris's Megadeth Party. Instead Hibiki makes due entirely with hand-to-hand combat, the energy meant to be used for her Armed Gear instead being put towards making her hands and feet capable of smashing apart Noise with ease. At one point she even punches a falling car away from herself purely with just the strength of her right arm.
This isn't to say Hibiki doesn't have her own fancy little tricks. She can pull back the hefty pistons on her arms to let her punches hit with greater force, and there are similar spring-launchers on her feet to strengthen her kicks and jumps. But that's the extent of what she brings to the table under normal battle conditions.
Outside of those normal conditions though, first and foremost there's Hibiki's potential to go berserk when overcome by emotions or exposed to an excessive amount of phonic energies. It took Chris's seeming death and Fine's disregard at it to trigger it via the former method, exposure to the complete Relic Durandal to cause it via the latter. In this state Hibiki isn't necessarily that much stronger (if any at all) but she is much, much more aggressive and liable to strike at allies. Outside of specific Symphogear events I don't plan on having her fall into it.
Hibiki also possesses the ability to sing her Swan/Ultimate/Superb Song just like other Symphogear users. She never fully sings it on her own, but there are several points in season 1 and 2 when she joins Songs with other users. Hibiki serves as the cornerstone to these attacks, connecting everyone's Songs together through herself to amplify them. This puts the strain of the attack on Hibiki, but thanks to being fused with Gungnir her synch rate with the Relic is incredibly high and thus the negative after-effects aren't as severe as they are on others.
Size: SS.
Terrain compatibility:
Air: No (limited to big jumps)
Ground: Yes
Water: Presumably no (no experience with water-skimming like Tsubasa)
Space: Yes
Favored terrain: Ground
Upgrades: Gungnir X-Drive
A temporary Super Mode invoked during the Symphogear season 1 finale (and then again in the season 2 finale), the X-Drive form is activated when a user is exposed to an extremely high phonic gain level and it unlocks the full potential of a Relic. In Hibiki's case, this grants her proper flight both in the atmosphere and in space and the ability to telepathically communicate with other users in X-Drive form, along with an increase in speed and strength such that she can easily tear through even large armies of Noise in a matter of minutes -if even that-.
Lastly, in X-Drive form Hibiki can further bolster other Relics as well. In her hands -and after a Berserker fit was quelled- Durandal was able to easily strike down Fine and the Nehushtan Armor, even though both were complete relics with comparable levels of power and the Nehushtan Armor's whole schtick was self-repair from damage.
Wingmen: Technically Chris and Tsubasa, but they're already apped.
Mission requirement: Hibiki needs to debut on a mission.
Suggested Event List:
Mission 1: Beat of Awakening
A group of Noise attack the city near Lydian Music Acadamy, prompting intervention by the Unity Group and the 2nd Division people. Before sortieing though, a second energy signature is detected: that of Gungnir! On arrival, everyone will be able to see that Hibiki is there, trying to keep a little girl away from the Noise and wearing armor similar to Kanade's. Between her complete lack of combat training and having to carry the girl, she'll only be able to provide token contribution on the Noise-killing front.
Between missions 1 and 2:
Hibiki will be taken back to the 2nd Division's headquarters at the Acadamy so that they'll be able to learn why she's able to use the power of Gungnir. She'll get to meet everyone there along with the Unity Group, and after some time to think on it resolve to use her newfound power to help protect and save others, serving as Kanade's replacement! This last bit'll ultimately lead to a confrontation between Tsubasa and Hibiki, but Genjuro will intervene and stop the fight.
Mission 2: Shedding Tears from the Bottom of a Deep Abyss
Because of the Noise attacking so close to the Lydian Acadamy, the 2nd Division is pressured by the Japanese government to transfer the complete Relic stored there -Durandal- to a safehouse elsewhere. The Unity Group people (Hibiki and Tsubasa included) provide part of the security detail for Durandal during the transfer, and partway through the drive Noise suddenly begin attacking in a coordinated manner.
Once people catch on that someone or something's pulling the Noise's Strings, Chris reveals herself. Wearing the Nehushtan Armor and wielding the Noise-summoning Cane of Solomon, she identifies Durandal and Hibiki herself as her targets and proves to be a tough fight. Hibiki will end up incapacitated somehow and Tsubasa will be pushed to the limit, and the latter will resort to singing her Swan Song to injure or even force Chris to retreat.
However, this is not the end of things. Either Chris isn't down and out just yet or there's other powerful enemies, but in the chaos and the defense of Durandal, Hibiki will have to grab hold of it. Doing so releases a tremendous amount of energy, activating the Relic and making Hibiki go berserk, using Durandal to defeat whomever is a threat to everyone before she passes out.
IMPORTANT NOTE: at some point in the mission (ideally on the earlier side before Hibiki dons her armor), Hibiki and the still-encased Gungnir will get attacked by either a Noise or someone or something from another canon (but not Chris). Ryouko will stop the attack by generating an energy barrier, though nobody else will see this.
Between missions 2 and 3:
The disaster of trying to transport Durandal also convinces the Japanese Government that it's safer to just keep the Relic at the 2nd Division's headquarters in the Abyss -the stupidly deep underground chamber-. Security is beefed up even further as a safeguard too.
Also, Tsubasa fortunately survives her Swan Song, though she's left in critical condition. Hibiki'll get to find out more about her as well, and resolve to get stronger by training with Genjuro. Thus: training montage!
As she becomes friends with Tsubasa, she'll also get a better understanding of Armed Gears.
Mission 3: Where the Signs Lead
Either during another event or just while Hibiki's doing one thing or another (possibly making up for lost time with her friend Miku), Chris makes her return and attacks again in order to capture her. Hibiki will take it upon herself to deal with Chris, first attempting it though the power of dialogue and UNDERSTANDING and after that fails, incorporating the power of kicking ass into the mix. All of this will just lead Chris to getting pissed off and discarding the Nehushtan Armor in favor of her own proper Relic, Ichaival, which she will grumble about since Hibiki forced her to sing and she hates singing.
Switching to the range-oriented Ichaival will put the fight on a more even standing, but the fight against Chris shouldn't last much longer; a full round at most. At that point, suddenly Noise will appear to attack not Hibiki, but Chris, dive-bombing her from above. Hibiki'll # her here and a woman calls over to Chris, commenting that Chris has failed yet again and sardonically asking when she'll start living up to her expectations.
This lady, as Chris identifies her, is Fine, and Chris tries to convince her that they don't need Hibiki to stop war and reunite the world. Fine's response is short and straightforward: summoning more Noise with the Cane of Solomon and telling Chris she no longer has any use for her. Afterwards she leaves, and everyone'll have to deal with the Noise she just made.
Having just been disowned by her boss, Chris'll be taken in by the Unity Group as a semi-prisoner.
Between missions 3 and 4:
With Chris in the Unity Group's custody, we'll be able to get some answers regarding both her backstory (daughter of musicians turned child slave) and also Fine's goals. Whatever they are, they entail something called "Kadingir" -named after a gigantic mythological tower- and ending conflict on Earth somehow. How far Chris transitions from prisoner to proper member of the Unity Group will be up to Cubey.
Mission 4: Bonds Formed from Holding Hands
A slew of gignatic, aerial Noise appear around Tokyo Sky Tower, and Fine is spotted with them. It's a safe assumption that this factors into her plan regarding Kadingir, and the Unity Group goes in to stop her. Fine is waiting for and greets us (in intentionally bad and insulting Engrish) when we arrive, thereafter donning the Nehushtan Armor and summoning more Noise via the Cane. Any comments about stopping her plans will be answered with condescension, and at some early point in the battle one of Fine's attacks will get supped via Support Defense from a Dynamic Entry-ing Tsubasa.
Within a turn or two, we get to make Fine eat her words when Tsubasa focuses all of the energy of an attack into a single point to breach Fine's barriers (and presumably other people can help if they so which). An opening is made for Tsubasa to finish her off,
but as the smoke settles mid-swing, everyone'll see that the woman in front of her is not Fine, but a naked(!) Ryouko! The shock will give Ryouko the chance to turn the tables on Tsubasa, and when asked by Hibiki why she (meaning Ryouko) is doing everything she refutes it saying no, Sakurai Ryouko ceased to exist twelve years ago when the scientist was present during Tsubasa's activation of Ame no Habakiri and the soul of her genetic ancestor awoke within her.
She reiterates that she is Fine, an ancient priestess acting to restore the "True Language" that was taken away from humanity by the "Curse of Balal" that was inflicted on us by the "Custodians". But what she means like this will have to wait, as Fine dons the Nehushtan Armor again and attacking with renewed aggression.
From there on, the battle becomes straightforward, but before long the Noise count should start to dip noticeably low, only for Fine should simply warp more in. Fine needs to go first, and the way to take her down is with a large, group-effort attack, the Symphogear contributions to this being Hibiki and Tsubasa unleashing the joint Disaster Blast attack while Chris uses the Megadeth Quartet. The Symphogear trio will get to act in harmony and eveything can be feel good-y afterwards, and the rest of the mission can be mopping up the Noise leftover.
Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the battle there's no sign of Fine. It'll then be decided that 2nd Division agents will be stationed at the Tower and other potential Kadingir locations (read: really tall places) just to play it safe.
Mission 5: Pierce the Moon
Word will come that Fine and the Noise have been discovered again... but in the form of distress call. The Lydian Academy/2nd Division Headquarters has come under attack. The Unity Group will have to go and rescue everyone still there. When we arrive there will be a lot of Noise to fight through, and 2nd Division agents to assist too.
During all of this, we'll also hear what's going on inside of the Academy as well, including Genjuro confronting Fine and actually getting the better of her in a short exchange... but when he'll have her on the ropes Fine will cry out to him like Sakurai and make him falter, opening the way for a counterattack. We'll get word from someone else that Genjuro wasn't killed, but the bad news is that Fine's claiming Durandal.
After that, a gigantic tower will rise up from the ground, destroying the academy in the process. Fine will also emerge, welcoming us to the true Kadingir, made from the 2nd Division's massive underground chamber with all its security upgrades, using Durandal as a power source. Chris will ask how this tower will end conflict on Earth, and Fine's answer: by destroying the Moon! Fine then elaborates, saying how in the distant past she wished to reach "Him" and built a massive tower to do so... only for He to strike it down and subject the Earth to the Curse of Balal, robbing it of a unified language. The Moon houses the cornerstone to this Curse, Kadingir the weapon that will let her destroy it.
The gravitational effects the moon's destruction would have on Earth are obvious, but if anyone points it out to Fine she'll treat it as a good thing. With society in disarray they'll flock to her for protection and guidance.
Time is short and battle ensues to try to stop Kadingir from firing, Fine summoning swarms of Noise to her aid in defense of the tower. Even without Fine and the Noise playing defense it is still difficult to damage, but just before it fires (say, one turn after the mission's start), Chris uses one of her huge missiles to launch herself into the air above it and invokes her Swan Song. Kadingir fires, but she fires right back at it, appearing to die when she's enveloped in the blast. Said blast continues on only to graze the moon, breaking a chunk of it off but leaving the remainder intact.
Chris's sacrifice will shake Hibiki badly, and Fine writing her off as worthless trash will make it worse. She'll go berserk with rage, attacking Fine futilely as she talks of how the fragments in Gungnir are taking control of her and turning her into just a wild beast. Attempts to help Hibiki regain her senses will just get her attacking allies instead and making the fight against Fine that much more difficult.
Tsubasa's (and in fact anyone else's) counterattack in the wake of Chris's sacrifice should be allowed to serious damage Fine, but afterwards Fine will just use the restorative powers of the Nehushtan Armor to have each separate part regenerate into another whole Fine. Conservation of Ninjitsu obviously will apply to each copy's powers, and severely injured Fine copies will need to merge with each other to stay fighting.
After a little while/not much more than a turn, Kadinger will be building up another shot at the moon. Barring some crazy, outside idea to incapacitate Hibiki, she'll be stopped by Tsubasa using her shadow bind trick. From there Tsubasa will invoke the power of her own Swan Song to attack Fine -forcing all the remaining copies to reunite- and then unleash the Song's powers on Kadinger in a suicide attack, totaling it at the apparent cost of her life. Even in her berserk state, Hibiki will be reduced to tears by this and in fact come to her senses... though also just be totally demoralized.
Fine will be shocked and angry that her plan's been thwarted, but she won't stop fighting. Hibiki however will have completely lost the resolve to fight with the loss of Tsubasa, Chris, and presumably everyone she knew at school. This changes when someone will call out to her to not give up on living. It's the guard from the Zwei Wing arc, the one that Kanade saved before. And with him is Miku, alive and well, who'll begin singing the anthem of the Lydian Academy as the school's speakers begin to broadcast all of her friends and classmates, alive and safe underground. singing as well to encourage her and everyone else. Their song reinvigorates not only her, but also the very much alive Chris and Tsubasa, giving all three the strength to fight again and unlock their Relics' X-Drive forms.
At this point, Fine will try to sic a gigantic army of Noise on everyone, prompting a big group attack to flatten as many of them as possible. It's a curbstomp in our favor, but it is all to buy time for Fine to fuse with the Cane of Solomon, surviving Noise, and also Durandal, which transforms her into a gigantic monstrosity -the "Red Dragon of Revelations" as Genjuro calls it- able to throw around extremely destructive beams of energy. Beams that -even if they miss us- pose a tremendous danger to the city. Fine will be as confident as ever, saying that even that even the unlocked Relics are only fragments, in comparison with the complete Nehushtan Armor and Durandal. The monster will heal from attacks very quickly too, but it'll be the only target we're fighting and Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris will concoct a plan for dealing with Fine.
After enough attacks, everyone's efforts will have paid of, and Durandal will be blown free of the Dragon to Hibiki. Taking hold of the weapon again, Hibiki will nearly go berserk, but the support of everyone there (Chris, Tsubasa, allies, and even Miku and her classmates) will let Hibiki retain her senses and strike down the Red Dragon in an absolutely devastating show of power and Hibiki's one and only named attack in season 1: Synchrogazer.
Mission accomplished?
Not yet, because Hibiki will dive into the exploding dragon afterwards to save Fine. The battle is over, but Hibiki will still try to have a heart-to-heart with Fine, Fine saying that reaching understanding with each other with the Curse of Balal is impossible, Hibiki believing otherwise because understanding is reached with more than just words. Just as it looks like Fine might be won over though, she'll lash out at the broken moon fragment with the Nehushtan's whip and pull it towards Earth declaring she's still won! The world'll be devastated and those who got in her way will die... but she reminds us that she's immortal and can just reincarnate at a future time and start again! She's been active throughout the ages, and she'll continue to and nobody can stop that!
... But her rant will end when Hibiki just lightly punches her in the chest and asks Fine to take a message down for her and everyone, because where Fine sees a way of demoralizing her mortal enemies, Hibiki sees a way of passing something on to even the distant future. The message? That you don't need strength to unite people that people can surpass the limit of words and still become one. She's entrusting the future to Fine of all people... but she also needs to save the present.
This will finally get though to Fine, who'll chide Hibiki for being a hopeless child and that she should "believe in the song of your heart" (words initially said as Ryoko). With that she and the Nehushtan armor crumble away into nothing. With Fine dealt with, the only thing left to do is for Hibiki, Tsubasa, and Chris to blast off into space and join hands and Swan Songs to destroy the moon fragment to save the world.
... Well, that and show up afterwards, alive and well.
Sample post: Right here!
