Suzumi Kuzu

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國主くず 雀巳すずみ
Suzumi Kuzu
kɯᵝzɯᵝ sɯᵝzɯᵝmi
Hamee
Ardey
Benny

Suzumi Kuzu (Hamee)

Character Titles
Insidious Superfluous Memory (Hamee)
Delusive Memory (Ardey)
Information
Species Human
Abilities Reproducing information (Hamee)
Altering reality (Ardey)
Occupation Informant
Location Devanagara, etc.
Music Themes
  • MO-NA-D-2 ~ 記憶偽筆 (BPoHC, as stage 6:0 boss)
  • 壊れかけの永劫舞踏機関 (BPoHC, disguised as Tsurubami Senri)
  • MO-NA-D-1 〜 記憶追蹤 (BPoHC, as Extra+α boss)
Appearances

Suzumi Kuzu (國主 雀巳) is a human from the Outside World, the main antagonist of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, and eventually a recurring character of the Len'en Project. Acting as an undercover informant for both Devanagara and the Dragonfly Castle, they are responsible for Mugenri spiraling into war games. They are known to have been seriously plaguing Yabusame Houlen and Tsubakura Enraku in the past; in particular, they're plotting Tsubakura's destruction, but their motive behind this remains unknown.

General Information[edit | edit source]

Suzumi originally appeared as a hidden stage 3:0 boss in the demo version of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle with little understanding to them. Later however in the final version, they were revealed as the hidden final boss on stage 6:0 and the game's main antagonist in the Extra+α stage. Eventually in v1.20, the game was updated to have them as a secret playable character of the game. Finally as of version 1.10a, Suzumi was retroactively added as a secret playable character in the past three games Evanescent Existence, Earthen Miraculous Sword and Reactivate Majestical Imperial. What's interesting about this is that Suzumi was originally a mysterious character who eventually became a prominent character of the series.

Suzumi is a mysterious person originally from the Outside World, currently living in Devanagara.[1] How they entered Mugenri is unknown; some of the Shitodo siblings remember them being present along with the rest of the group when they first arrived, but Suzumi's memory-altering powers make it difficult to know whether or not that's really what happened. In the past, Suzumi knew Yabusame Houlen and Tsubakura Enraku and allegedly attempted to fool and kill them. They work as an informant in Mugenri, working behind the scenes and giving information to key players in various incidents.

Suzumi is the one responsible for the events of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, by spreading rumors to cause an incident with the intention of luring Tsubakura. They admit that they might be recording Tsubakura's exploits just to make eventually killing them more enjoyable.[2]

Personalities/Souls[edit | edit source]

Suzumi has multiple personalities. How this came to be is unknown, but it is known that their body is composed of multiple souls.[3] While they are referred to as Suzumi, each soul has another, distinct name and significantly differing behavior.

While these personalities may exist as separate characters in their own right, it is also an acceptable alternative to not think too deeply about these personalities and still treat Suzumi as one, singular character as it will not affect the story's progression.[4]

Hamal Cine

Hamal Cine (nicknamed "Hamee"), Suzumi's blue-eyed self, acts carefree, mischievous, and overly campy. They have made the most appearances, being present in every Suzumi appearance with the exception of the Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle Extra+α stage. They talk and dress in a very effeminate way and enjoy getting on people's nerves, teasing them with a smiling face. However, underneath their seemingly cutesy exterior, they are shown to be a cunning, troublesome individual without many inhibitions who is obsessed with murder. Hamee is particularly obsessed with Tsubakura, with their prime goal being to bring them the most suffering possible, even going so far as to endanger people that Tsubakura is close to to do so. Despite this, they agree with helping the other selves further their own goals as well, even when they are not present.

Arde

Arde (a.k.a. "Ardey"), Suzumi's red-eyed self, is depicted as more level-headed and straight to the point, not hesitating to use far rougher dialogue and get quicker to the point. Arde shows themselves to generally hang in the back and let Hamee be the front face, Arde acting as their advisor and reminding Hamee to avoid brash decisions. When they both work to collect information, Arde seems focused on their main goal of collecting as much as possible, not wanting to waste time or stray off too far. Though they show a more theatrical side of themselves in the extra+α stage, where they had control of the body, gloating victoriously before tricking the protagonists with their power once more.

Benny

There is at least one other person within Suzumi, known only by the nickname "Benny".[5] Benny rarely speaks, only speaking in Reactivate Majestical Imperial's good ending, but they can choose to talk anytime if desired.[6] They are shown to have black eyes and a blank expression, likely implicating them to be the third Suzumi in their Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle playable appearance. Very little is known about them, but they appear focused on their plan. Hamee described them as being well-prepared. JynX has stated that they have spell cards and abilities like the other two personalities, although these are still unknown.[7][8]

Interactions with the body

Suzumi's body can be inhabited by multiple alters at once, however only one of them is visible to most other people and has "main" control of said body. They can interact with each other, which looks to others as if they were muttering to themself. Some individuals such as Adagumo no Yaorochi[9] or Yago Ametsukana[3] can also hear both sides of the conversation. The personalities operate independently of each other and can choose to either let the other ones listen in on their thoughts or keep them to themselves.[10] It's also possible for a personality to give control of the body to another on the fly, although with some difficulty.[11]

As shown by Hamee traveling by themself during their routes in Evanescent Existence and Earthen Miraculous Sword, they do not all have to be inhabiting the body at the same time. While many characters refer to this phenomenon as differing personalities, Yago, who was able to perceive their true nature, referred to the pair of Hamee and Arde as "two minds in one body."[3]

Interactions with other personalities

Arde is frequently exasperated with Hamee due to their brash actions and lack of self-control, with Arde repeatedly stopping Hamee during information gathering from callously murdering anyone that they shoot down; they also have their own thoughts on how to take care of killing Tsubakura, as Hamee has a long, convoluted plan centered around breaking Tsubakura's spirit, while Arde seems to desire to kill Tsubakura and get it over with. Upon listening to Hamee's method, Arde dismisses them as "demented".[12] According to Hamee, both Arde and Benny hold a strong grudge against the Senri Clan and Mugenri itself,[13] and they are often shown to be meticulously collecting information and devising their grand plan, although their goals remain unclear.

Abilities & Strength[edit | edit source]

Suzumi Kuzu is considered to be one of the most powerful characters of the Len'en Project.[14] It is possible to defeat Suzumi in spite of their powers, albeit it is "extremely difficult",[15] although they are not powerful enough to take on Tsurubami Senri properly.[16] Suzumi's three personalities are roughly equivalent in power within the bounds of Mugenri's spell card rules.[17] According to JynX, Suzumi had their abilities prior to arriving in Mugenri; whether this applies to all their abilities is unknown.[18]

Suzumi may be physically strong, managing to beat Hooaka Shitodo in a straight-up fight and even ripping their arm off.[2] Tsubakura described Suzumi to not be particularly powerful, but instead is incredibly cunning.[19]

Reproducing information and altering facts

Suzumi has the ability to reproduce information, which allows them to create illusions by way of manipulating peoples' consciousnesses and altering what they perceive. In their attacks, they create danmaku out of nowhere and can also make the bullets disappear and reappear at will.

Suzumi can create books containing the memories and experiences of a person upon fulfilling unspecified conditions. These books allow them to replay and/or overwrite a person's memory. They can replay a target's memory by reading a book containing their memories, and can overwrite them by editing the book and showing it to their target, knocking the target out in the process. Suzumi can also read books containing their own memories in order to fly back in time and alter the events of the past. Should a book be destroyed, they can easily regenerate it.[20]

When using their ability on themself, such as when memory diving or rewinding time, Suzumi appears to need to sleep to do so, as shown in their Bad Endings in Evanescent Existence, Earthen Miraculous Sword and Reactivate Majestical Imperial.

  • Override (Memory Forgery)
One of the applications of their ability is what they refer to as "Override", the ability to rewrite people's memories. However, such application has a weakness; overwriting memories of an event does not mean that the event never occurred, and people can therefore remember what has been erased under specific conditions. Hamee used this to make Hooaka "forget" their arm, essentially severing it.
  • Trace (Memory Pursuit)
Another application of their ability is what they refer to as "Trace", which Arde describes as the ability to rewrite facts themselves. They also use it to "rewind history", presumably reversing time to gather information from the future safely before returning to the past. However, memories can leak through from other timelines, allowing people to recall memories of events that did not actually occur within the current timeline but in another one. Arde refers to the phenomenon as déjà vu, and explains that it is why careful use of Trace is essential. While all individuals experience déjà vu, some apparently have a stronger déjà vu than others, such as Yago Ametsukana.[3] Arde also notes that a great discrepancy in a person's current memories and those received through déjà vu may lead to serious mental damage, and is the major risk of using Trace to rewind time. This is why Arde tries to avoid majorly altering the course of history before rewinding, especially killing people.[21]
Déjà vu is not a specific result of Arde's ability, and is in fact the reason everyone vaguely remembers all possible routes of the events from Earthen Miraculous Sword, Reactivate Majestical Imperial and Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle.[22] In addition, due to déjà vu being a memory-based phenomenon, it can be negated by Hamee's Override ability. This is explained to be why no one remembers or only vaguely remembers their encounters with Suzumi in Reactivate Majestical Imperial.[23]
Rewinding history has an additional side effect of creating a clone of Suzumi, which the original has to erase.[24] This is done by the two merging together, getting rid of the clone in the process.[25]
Disguising themself

Suzumi can perfectly disguise themself as someone else as long as they know what they look like,[26] as demonstrated when they disguised themself as Tsurubami Senri in the Extra+α stage. These disguises are so convincing as to be nearly impossible to see through, not even Yabusame Houlen could see through it. Tsubakura Enraku also worked out that this wasn't a mere disguise, suggesting that Suzumi actually became Tsurubami via one of Arde's abilities.[27] Tenkai Zuifeng especially was upset for being forced to fight "Tsurubami", as they were insisting that it was indeed the real Tsurubami. In addition to copying a person's appearance, they can also use that person's abilities, but are unable to master them.[28] It is unclear whether this is another application of their abilities or a separate ability entirely.

Interestingly when the protagonists fight "Tsurubami", they all question why they are still managing to fight on. In Evanescent Existence, Suzumi questioned why Tsurubami was going easy, to which Tsurubami answered that they didn't want to show their full power to whose nature they didn't understand. Suzumi gave the nod that they didn't know their power.[13] This could suggest that Suzumi was not able to use Tsurubami's full power as they did not have the information necessary to replicate it.

Other abilities

Suzumi has numerous other abilities besides their primary ability, to such a degree that no one can remember exactly what they are.

Background Information[edit | edit source]

Origin[edit | edit source]

Suzumi seems to be at least nominally based on the Shinto god Ōkuninushi-no-Kami (大國主神), where the kanji for Suzumi's surname, "Kuzu" (國主), is taken directly from. An aspect of Ōkuninushi's spirit, Ōmononushi is considered a snake god, and by extension, Ōkuninushi is considered one as well. This may be referenced by the kanji for "mi" () in Suzumi, which is associated with snakes in the Twelve Earthly Branches. This connection to snakes may also be related to how Adagumo no Yaorochi is sometimes able to realize that there is more than one Suzumi.

Ōkuninushi is known for being the head of the earthly gods and the original ruler of the terrestrial realm, who later had to concede ownership of the realm over to the heavenly gods. In addition, he is also known for having "formed and developed" the land, teaching humans the art of agriculture, medicine, magic, etc. It should also be noted that the word 國主 (modern form 国主) ( Lit. "Country/Land master"), through the various Kuninushi Shrines and Kokushu Shrines (国主神社) across Japan, is also associated with a number of other gods, namely those who've helped Ōkuninushi in his mission. Examples include Sukonabikona-no-Kami (少名毘古那神) and Ōmononushi-no-Kami (大物主神), although the connection between any of them and Suzumi, if any, is unclear.

Name[edit | edit source]

Their full name is Suzumi Kuzu (國主 雀巳). Their first name "Suzumi" (雀巳) is composed of the kanji "", which means "sparrow", and "", which means "snake" (often used for the snake in the Twelve Earthly Branches). The reference to sparrows is also compounded by the name's intonation, where the name "su-zu-mi" is read with a "low-high-high" pitch, identical to that of "suzume" (, sparrow).[29] Thanks to this bird reference in their name, Suzumi is a bearer of a Bird's Name. In their surname "Kuzu", the first kanji ku () translates to "country" while the second kanji zu () translates to "lord"; the kanji may also be read together to mean "ruler of a country", or as a shorthand for daimyo (国主大名). In addition, its non-standard pronunciation of "kuzu" (クズ) is also used in Japanese as an insult, akin to calling someone "trash".

As described before, each inhabitant of Suzumi's body has their own name to differentiate from each other.

  • The first (the one shown during stage 6) is named MO-NA-D-2 (モナド2), and referred to as Hamal Cine (シネ=ハマル) or Hamee (ハミィ) for short by the other alter.[30][31] Hamal may be derived from the star Hamal, the brightest star of the Aries constellation. Curiously, it is known that "MO-NA-D" is apparently an abbreviation for something, although what that is is unknown.[32]
  • The second (the one shown during the Ex+α) is named MO-NA-D-1 (モナド1), and referred to as Arde (アルデ) – also nicknamed Ardey (アルディ) – by the other alter.[33][31] Other English spellings like "Alde" are valid, but the aforementioned romanisations are preferred for consistency.[31] Whether or not this refers to Ardi, an ancient hominid of the Ardipethicus ramidus species, is uncertain. (Ardi is the Cushistic Afar word for "ground floor", while ramid is the word for "root", referring to Ardi's species being considered the evolutionary "root" of humankind.) Arde may be derived from Aldebaran, the brightest star of the Taurus constellation. Similarly, "MO-NA-D" here is likely the same abbreviation previously mentioned as well.[32]
  • The third is nicknamed Benny (ベニー); their true name is currently unknown.[5] Benny may be derived from Benetnasch, a star in the Ursa Major constellation.

Design[edit | edit source]

Suzumi has neck-length brown hair and eyes varying between the colors, depending on the personality state represented: blue for Hamee, red for Arde, and black for Benny - but in some cases their eye color is shown as brown despite one of the personalities taking control[34][35], suggesting that their real eye color is brown. They wear a white wrapping with black edges around their chest and triangular purple plus white cloth around their waist, all under an unbuttoned brown tank top style jacket. There is also a white strip going around their shoulders and elbows. For leggings and footwear, they wear a pair of green shorts with a red ribbon threaded through and tied off in a knot, and white socks with the same style of threaded-through ribbon.

Additionally, they have three cloths they're always holding or wearing. One thin and long black cloth, one large black cloth, and one purple cloth. The long black cloth is almost always wrapped around their head, resembling a turban or kerchief. The large black cloth and purple cloth are occasionally worn together as capelets, with the purple cloth on top. Otherwise, they're just held by Suzumi. Hamee also wears a white choker with vertical black stripes on it.

Suzumi has two symbols on their clothing which change positions. An eye accessory similar to the Eye of Senri, albeit with different colors, and a Monas Hieroglyphica. The eye symbol is used to pin the cloths together when they are used as a capelet, and is pinned to their jacket when they aren't. The Monas Hieroglyphica represents their power and glows when their abilities are used.[36] There is also a smaller white Monas on their jacket.

In Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, when Arde is presented, a barely visible shadow can be seen behind them, which was later revealed to be either Hamee or Benny watching over in various endings. Additionally, when disguised as Tsurubami Senri, their appearance was almost identical to the real Tsurubami, such as the hair, the white dress with ofuda scripts, the hat, etc.

Symbols[edit | edit source]

Suzumi is one of several characters who have a known symbol of power, the hieroglyphic monad, which can be seen on both Arde and Benny's outfits. The hieroglyphic monad was invented by John Dee and published in his 1564 Monas Hieroglyphica, which is meant to express the unity of all creation, through the manipulation of which reality itself could be altered as well, fitting for Suzumi's ability to seemingly do the same themself.

In the second image of Suzumi's good endings in Reactivate Majestical Imperial, three symbols can be observed carved onto their bedside table. These three symbols can each be found within the hieroglyphic monad and can be assigned to each of Suzumi's souls as such:

  • Left symbol: Almost identical to the traditional symbol for the Taurus astrological sign (♉︎). It is matched to Arde through the star Aldebaran, found within the constellation of Taurus and on which Arde's name is based.
  • Right symbol: A combination of the Aries astrological sign (♈︎) and a cross (+). It is matched to Hamal Cine through the star Hamal, found within the constellation of Aries and on which Hamal's name is based.
  • Central symbol: A combination of a circle (○), said to represent the sun in the Monas Hieroglyphica; a dot (●) in the centre of the circle, said to represent the Earth in the Monas Hieroglyphica; and an upsidedown arc (⌒) cutting through the circle above the dot, said to represent the moon in the Monas Hieroglyphica. This symbol is matched to Benny through the process of elimination.

Appearances[edit | edit source]

Reactivate Majestical Imperial[edit | edit source]

As of version 1.10a, Suzumi was retroactively added as a secret playable character in Reactivate Majestical Imperial, being Suzumi's first chronological appearance in the Len'en Project. They are a team consisting of Hamee and Arde, thus Suzumi is on their own.

Suzumi sets out to collect information regarding the incident and the people involved in it. Notable encounters include that with Taira no Fumikado, who recognises Suzumi as the informant who told them about the influx of spirits, which was the basis of their plan; as well as that with Shion, who oddly showed no interest in their scent or eating their soul, and only wanted to "play" with them. Suzumi "solved" the incident, with Benny being the commander of the team as they went on with their plan for Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle.

Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle[edit | edit source]

Suzumi as "Hamee".

Suzumi is the primary antagonist of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle. They appear as the hidden final boss on Stage 6:0, as well as the Extra+α Boss. To unlock them as the final boss, the player will need to defeat all other possible final bosses (Chouki, Clause, Yabusame, Yaorochi, Shion, Tsubakura, Tenkai and Mitori). To unlock Extra+α, the player will need to beat all 3 Extra Stage bosses; Xeno a, Haiji Senri, and Yago Ametsukana. Afterwards, the player must re-beat Xeno a in the neutral route to proceed to Extra+α. They'll first appear disguised as Tsurubami Senri and use 6 spell cards. After the fight, they'll reveal their true self. They will then fight with an additional set of 7 spell cards.

Prologue

After entering Mugenri using an undisclosed method, Suzumi began working as an undercover informant in Devanagara, while they actually had ulterior motives and plans to use their abilities to ruin Tsubakura's life. They are first referenced during the prologue, implied to have been involved in a fight with the Shitodo siblings that resulted in Hooaka Shitodo's right arm being cut off, along with spreading the ambiguous rumor that Kuroji shared with Tsubakura. Suzumi is also supposely the narrator of the prologue.

Neutral Scenario

Suzumi is seen wondering far down the Shrine Road. When the heroes encounter Suzumi (Hamal Cine, the "blue-eyed Suzumi"), they greet the team casually and gleefully reveal their motives.

  • The Shrine Team contemplates the true reason Kuroji Shitodo shared the rumour with them, which Tsubakura figures out that it was bait for them to head out. They run into Suzumi, who "reminisces" about the times that they had spent together. Tsubakura and Yabusame are not pleased to see them, since they've tried to kill them in the past. They say that it is still too early to fight the protagonists but do so anyway.
  • The New Emperor Team run into Suzumi, who Fumikado recognises as the informant that notified them about the Mugenri Barrier breaking prior to the events of Reactivate Majestical Imperial. Suzumi explains that they had been manipulating the three and were done with them and they then fight them in an attempt to get rid of them, as they were "mucking up the stage" that they had set up.
  • With the Preschool Team, Tenkai ponders the strange, coincidential timing of recent events, to which Suzumi reveals that they were the mastermind behind the coincidences instead. Suzumi introduces themself and explains that they plan on erasing the trio's existence in order to make Tsubakura sad. The trio fight back in retaliation, with Tenkai vowing to bring them down in order to protect Mugenri.
  • The Scoundrel Team ponders how their assailant made it into Mugenri, where Suzumi then reveals themself to the trio, and explained that they attacked them in order to bring further grief to Tsubakura, hoping to see the expression Tsubakura made when their mother died again. The siblings are also not pleased to see them, and in order to punish Suzumi for all the bad deeds they have done, the trio attack Suzumi.

The teams managed to defeat Suzumi. However, before they could do anything, Suzumi erased the teams' memories of the fight by showing them a book and disappeared. This leads onto the Extra Stage.

Extra Scenario
Suzumi as "Arde".

After escaping further down the Shrine Road, Hamee swapped control of the body to Arde, the "red-eyed Suzumi", where Arde decides to prank the protagonists by impersonating as the previous Senri priest for dramatic flair (See Tsurubami Senri § Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle for full details). After Suzumi lets go of their disguise, they get notably excited about tricking the heroes and reveals that they have been fiddling with the heroes's heads since the beginning by altering their memories.

  • The Shrine Team learn that memory manipulation is not their only ability after Suzumi dropped the disguise. Tsubakura and Suzumi decide to fight due to personal grudges and the former wins. Tsubakura demanded answers from Suzumi.
  • The New Emperor Team recalls their first battle with the informant after seeing Suzumi's real self. Explaining that the trio has become too much of a nuisance to the scheme which their "friend" had set up, Suzumi attacks them in order to get rid of them. After their defeat, Suzumi explains that while Hamee's ability is only to rewrite memories, Arde's own ability is to rewrite facts.
  • The Preschool Team sees the informant, and remembers their previous fight on the Shrine Road. After pointing out that they really were Tsurubami in their previous fight, Tenkai challenges Suzumi to a duel in order to punish them for making Tenkai fight Tsurubami. After they defeat Suzumi, the trio contemplates handing the informant over to Tsubakura and Yabusame, when Tenkai warns Suzumi not to attempt erasing with their memories again as Tenkai had already made barriers in order to recall Suzumi in the event that they do so.
  • The Scoundrel Team sees the informant and remembers their previous fight on the Shrine Road. They learn that Suzumi has a dual personality, but it seems that isn't quite it either. Still aiming to kill everyone related to Tsubakura, Suzumi attacks and the trio retaliates. Having defeated Suzumi, the siblings decide to sell them to Tsubakura and let them deal with Suzumi instead.

Despite the heroes taking countermeasures to prevent Suzumi from rewriting their memories again, they do so anyway and escape punishment, leaving everyone to wonder what happened. Tsubakura is the only person to figure out that Suzumi is responsible, and it once again doesn't affect Yabusame, leading Yabusame to be the only playable character to remember the entirety of Suzumi's encounter.

Secret Team's Scenario
Suzumi encountering a clone of themself.

As of version 1.20a, Suzumi was added as a playable character. Rather than being in a team, it's just themself, with the same shot-type, bomb and flash bomb. The team is instead shown as Hamee, Arde, and Benny. To unlock them, the player has to complete Extra+α with all other four teams.

Their scenario works by: taking a route, collecting information, reverting back in time, repeat. They do this to meet as many characters as possible, from Taira no Chouki to Ooama no Ake no Mitori and everyone in-between. If Suzumi has met everyone possible, gathering all the information they can, and kept to the Shrine Road, they would meet a clone of themself. Suzumi plans to rewind time again when they run into the Suzumi Kuzu of the past timeline they are currently in. They muse about the fact that neither of them has lost against themself before and after the short exchange, they battle one another. Having been defeated, the clone Suzumi erases Suzumi's memories of the fight by showing them a book and disappeared, although Suzumi already knew that this would happen as they have experienced this many times already.

Despite having their memory erased, Suzumi remains unfazed. Moving along the Senri Shrine Road, they chase down the clone and collect information from anyone they meet along the way. They run into "Tsurubami", which Suzumi immediately points out to be the past Suzumi in disguise. Tired from the whole ordeal, they immediately attack "Tsurubami" instead of playing along. After being defeated, past Suzumi drops their "Tsurubami" disguise and they fight again. Having erased the past Suzumi, Hamee goes to rest after Arde affirms that all they have done was for the sake of their revenge, leaving Arde in charge of the body. After sending Hamee off to sleep, Suzumi disappears.

Demo version

In the demo version of the game, Suzumi instead appeared as a secret stage 3 boss. Suzumi's initial appearance here gave them a vague backstory. They will only appear on stage 3:0 if all other bosses on each route have been defeated. They will appear randomly on any end cell, regardless of the path taken.[citation needed] Despite being demo content, this is still considered canon.[37]

Past Games[edit | edit source]

As of version 1.10a, Suzumi was retroactively added as a secret playable character in Evanescent Existence and Earthen Miraculous Sword. Even though JynX added this after Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, they had these scenarios planned since the beginning of Len'en.[38] Suzumi uses their abilities to travel back to periods of events of the first two games, taking place chronologically after BPoHC. Much like their own route in the fourth game, Suzumi collects information from those incidents for future usage.

Notably, only Hamee appears in the scenarios of the first two games, as Arde's abilities are incapable of travelling back to the memories of the past, but Hamee does occasionally make mention of Arde's opinions on the world of Mugenri. A solid point to Hamee travelling back in time is that in Eastern Miraculous Sword, Suzumi mentioned to Sukune Katano the coming war in BPoHC and that Sukune is much stronger during then.

Evanescent Existence

In Evanescence Existence, Hamee's main goal was to find the real Tsubakura (but also to collect information). They were travelling through the spaces across the Dimensional Cave by accessing memories of those present, swearing to kill all that they've met on their way there but were either too tired or too uninterested. Hamee realized that the "Tsubakura" on Stage 3 was a fake, thus Tsurubami was thrown off-guard and decided to capture them, seeing that Suzumi knowing too much was a problem. They eventually retreat knowing that Suzumi is quite powerful.

Later in the Extra Stage, Suzumi and Tsurubami meet again, questioning each other about their actions and motives, with neither giving an answer. Tsurubami intentionally lost to Suzumi, not wanting them to learn their full power. Suzumi hoped to use Mugenri's spell card rules to force Tsurubami to speak, but since they were technically outside of Mugenri, the plan backfired. They thought about killing Tsurubami, but was reminded by them that they are too weak. Although frustrated, Suzumi left.[13]

Suzumi may or may not have re-attempted this scenario to make Tsurubami react differently, as it would have been much of a hassle, along with time to consider.[16]

Earthen Miraculous Sword

In Earthen Miraculous Sword, Hamee's goal was to collect information and have their own memories of the incident. During its entirety, they hung around Mugenri whilst complaining about various things. They also didn't kill anybody during their travel as Arde viewed it as a risk.[21]

Relationships[edit | edit source]

Tsubakura Enraku

Suzumi has an unhealthy obsession with Tsubakura and sarcastically gives them compliments such as "Master Tsubakura" and "The greatest prodigy in all of history", teasing and threatening them all the while. In the past, while they were in the outside world, Suzumi had tried to kill Tsubakura several times, endangering Yabusame in the process.[19] In return, Tsubakura is afraid of Suzumi's sadistic tendencies and campy personality. Also, Suzumi is overly delighted by tormenting them and wants to use their newfound powers to ruin Tsubakura's life, in order to make them despair as much as they did on the day their mother died.[27]

Yabusame Houlen

Yabusame does not like Suzumi, since they have been at the receiving end of their sadistic mind games due to Yabusame being best friends with Tsubakura and Suzumi's obsession with the latter. Suzumi's abilities are weakened when used against Yabusame, due to their multi-dimensional nature. Notably, being resistant or immune to Override, and it was implied if killed while Suzumi used Trace then their death would be permanent.[21]

Shitodo siblings

Kuroji, Hooaka and Aoji also dislike Suzumi and prefer to stay uninvolved in Suzumi's sadistic mind games. On the other side, Suzumi wants to kill them, believing that Tsubakura's life will be a little ruined if the Shitodos die.

Adagumo no Yaorochi

While Yaorochi does not know of Suzumi, due to the latter either having overwritten Yaorochi's memory or rewinding time after their every encounter. However, whenever the two meet, Yaorochi displays a limited perception of the multiple souls within Suzumi, perhaps due to being able to hear both Hamee and Ardey. Curiously, none of Suzumi's souls comment on this at all.

In their first time meeting in Reactivate Majestical Imperial stage 4, Yaorochi refers to Suzumi as multiple people, but gets confused when Sukune refers to Suzumi as a single person instead; Next in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle stage 6, Yaorochi starts out referring to Suzumi as multiple people but turns to refer to them as a single person later on in the conversation; Finally, in Earthen Miraculous Sword stage 6, they refer to Suzumi exclusively as a single person.

Taira no Fumikado

Suzumi informed Fumikado in advance of the hole that would later appear in Mugenri's barrier, which became a key factor in Fumikado's revival plan and led to the events of Reactivate Majestical Imperial.[39] Fumikado calls them "the undercover informant from the capital". Fumikado also doesn't recognize Hamee's way of speaking, which seems to imply they only ever met with one or both of the other two personalities.[40]

Taira no Chouki

Suzumi informed Chouki about the capital's oncoming attack, but apparently put a lot of spin on it.[41] Notably, Chouki is the only character in the Haze route who recognizes them.

Ooama no Ake no Mitori

Suzumi informed Mitori about Fumikado's revival plan, but told them that they would succeed and planned to attack the capital in a few days with Masakado at the forefront, which became the excuse Mitori used to send their troops to the capital.[42] Sanra also recognizes them, and Kaoru seems to recall their face, but calls them an intruder regardless. None of them recognize Hamee's way of speaking, which seems to imply they only ever met with one or both of the other two personalities.[43]

Tsurubami Senri

It is implied that there might be a relationship between Suzumi and Tsurubami. Suzumi was able to disguise as Tsurubami during Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, with the disguise being near-perfect to the extent that Suzumi could use Tsurubami's ability temporarily, but not master it.[28] However, when Suzumi travelled through past memories to meet Tsurubami during Evanescent Existence, Tsurubami had no clue who they were.

Additional Information[edit | edit source]

  • Counting the Tsurubami disguise, Suzumi has the most spell cards for an Extra stage boss, having up to 13 total.
  • Suzumi is the only character in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle to not appear as a possible midboss in the Extra Stage, likely due to them appearing as the Extra+α boss later on.
  • Suzumi's ability to rewrite the past is possibly the reason for BPoHC's "choose your own adventure"-style plot.
  • When Suzumi was added to the past games, their portraits from BPoHC were re-used rather than having unique portraits.
  • Suzumi was one of the first characters made for the Len'en Project, predating even Yabusame's creation.[44]
  • Suzumi thinks about romance, more often than any other character of the series.[45]
  • Apparently, Suzumi's level of surprisingness is 3 out of 10.[46]
  • Despite Suzumi's antagonising motives, JynX could not confirm if Suzumi is a villain or not.[47]
  • The teams throughout BPoHC may have fought a "clone" of Suzumi.[48]
  • When playing on normal Extra mode against Tsurubami on Extra+α, their first/third non-spell and second spell card have purple and red bullets rather than black and white, which while decreasing health damage, also foreshadows Suzumi's presence.
  • The Ōmiwa Shrine, where Ōkuninushi and Ōmononushi (Suzumi's namesakes) are enshrined, is famous for its Miwa Torii (三輪鳥居) gates, which curiously feature prominently on Evanescent Existence's extra stage, along the Shrine Road.
  • The "Mimetic Override" system from Book of the Cafe, with which a combat unit can be made to take on another unit's appearance, is likely based on Suzumi's abilities. Its title references Hamal Cine's "Override (Memory Forgery)" ability, the background text that appears during the process references Arde's "Trace (Memory Pursuit)" ability and its function references how Arde was able to take on Tsurubami's appearance during the events of BPoHC's Extra+α stage. However, it is unclear whether Suzumi is actually involved in the process or whether this is merely a reference.
  • While Suzumi is now a "hidden" protagonist of the series, they were originally paired with Tsubakura as the main protagonist duo in the very beginning of development, though neither of the characters were as fleshed out as they are now then.[49]

Gallery[edit | edit source]

Spell Cards[edit | edit source]

Spell Cards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 28
As Hamal Cine: 11   As Arde: 15 (9 original spells & 6 from Tsurubami Senri)   Unattributed: 3
戻時「遡る記憶」 Reverse Time "Memories Moving Upstream" As Hamal Cine BPoHC St. 6: E/N
遡時「逆境歴史」 Retraced Time "Adverse History" BPoHC St. 6: H/U
止時「留まる思い出」 Stopped Time "Halting Remembrance" BPoHC St. 6: E/N
留時「消えていく姿」 Halted Time "Disappearing Figure" BPoHC St. 6: H/U
「欠ける未来」 "The Fragmenting Future" BPoHC St. 6: E/N
「毀れる過去」 "The Crumbling Past" BPoHC St. 6: H/U
憶刃「フラッシュバックナイフ」 Recollection Blade "Flashback Knife" BPoHC St. 6: E/N
過去剣「デジャブキル」 Past Sword "Déjà-Vu Kill" BPoHC St. 6: H/U
再現と体験「リプレイ」 Reproduction and Experience "Replay" 〃, Upgrade BPoHC
BPoHC
St. 6: E/N/H/U
Upgrade
「胎動する記憶」 "Quickening Memories" BPoHC St. 6: E/N/H/U
玄牌「モノクロムビヴァレンス」 Mysterious Card "Monochrome Bivalence" As Arde impersonating Tsurubami Senri BPoHC St. Ex+α
影牌「寄る年波と離れぬ血」 Shadow Card "Blood that Cannot Escape from Advancing Age" BPoHC St. Ex+α
隠彩「ブラインドファイアー」 Shrouding Paint "Blind Fire" BPoHC St. Ex+α
鶴唳「鶴鳴の歎」 Crane's Cry "Lamentations of the Crane's Cry" BPoHC St. Ex+α
刻牌「時を告げない時計」 Engraving Card "The Clock that Doesn't Tell Time" BPoHC St. Ex+α
墨牌「黒曜刀」 Ink Card "Obsidian Blade" BPoHC St. Ex+α
齟齬「致命的な記憶違い」 Discrepancy "Fatal Memory Mismatch" As Arde BPoHC St. Ex+α
惚憶「リバーブメモリアル」 Vague Recollection "Reverb Memorial" BPoHC St. Ex+α
忘刃「フラッシュバックキル」 Forgotten Blade "Flashback Kill" BPoHC St. Ex+α
「濁流に呑まれる記憶」 "Memory Swallowed by Torrid Current" BPoHC St. Ex+α
狭失「瞬きの記憶」 Slight Flaw "Blink Memory" BPoHC St. Ex+α
「背中に突き立てる思い」 "A Thought Jabbed Into the Back" BPoHC St. Ex+α
「迂闊な勇気」 "Foolhardy Courage" BPoHC St. Ex+α
記憶偽筆「オーバーライト」 Memory Forgery "Overwrite" As Hamal Cine, Upgrade
Instead titled "Override (Memory Forgery)" (オーバーライド(記憶偽筆)) in the dialogue mentioning it.
BPoHC
BPoHC
Upgrade
Mentioned
記憶追従「トレース」 Memory Pursuit "Trace" As Arde
Originally titled "Trace (Memory Pursuit)" (トレース(記憶追従)) in the dialogue mentioning it, displayed here in a modified form to stay consistent with Suzumi's spell-naming scheme.
BPoHC Mentioned
??????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[a] Bomb EE
EMS
RMI
BPoHC
Use
Use
Use
Use
??????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?[a] Flash bomb EE
EMS
RMI
BPoHC
Use
Use
Use
Use
ビッグミステイク Big Mistake As Arde, Upgrade
Upgraded bomb
BPoHC
BPoHC
Upgrade
Use

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 According to JynX, this is not a spell card but a usage of their ability, thus it doesn't have a spell card name

Official Profiles[edit | edit source]

奸佞邪智な過ぎたる記憶

國主 雀巳
Kuzu Suzumi
●種族
ヒト(情報屋)
●能力
情報を再現する
    的な能力など

華麗で優雅なる情報屋
凡才には見えざる手によって人々をその掌の上で舞わせ
春風に乗り颯爽と現れ秘匿を盗み、
そして秋風と共に幻のように消え去る
世界を裏で牛耳る影の支配者

今日も无現里の空を駆け巡り、世を翻弄する

                 (著:國主 雀巳)

Insidious Superfluous Memory

Suzumi Kuzu
●Species:
Human (Informant)
●Abilities:
Something like reproducing information; etc.

A brilliant and elegant informant,
who uses a hand invisible to commoners to make people dance atop their palm.
They appear while riding gallantly on the spring breeze, steal confidential secrets,
then fade away like a mirage along with the autumn wind.
A ruler of shadows who dominates the world in secret.

Today, too, they soar through Mugenri's skies, the world at their mercy.

(Author: Suzumi Kuzu)

幻怪の記憶

國主 雀巳
Kuzu Suzumi
●種族
ヒト(情報屋)
●能力
事実を改変する
    的な能力など

特異な能力を持つ情報屋、國主雀巳のもう一つの人格。

雀巳は特定の条件をそろえると、
相手の経験と記憶が記されている『本』を生成でき、
それを読むことによって相手の記憶を再現できる。

さらに、書き換えた『本』を相手に見せることによって、
相手の記憶そのものを書き換えることができる。

またリスクはあるものの、
自分自身の経験と記憶の『本』も生成でき
それを読むと過去に飛ぶことができ、過去を改変できる。

その他にも様々な能力を持っているが、
その全てを"覚えてる"者はいない。


玄鳥を破滅させることを企んでいるが、
その動機を玄鳥は知らない。

Delusive Memory

Suzumi Kuzu
●Species:
Human (Informant)
●Abilities:
Something like altering facts; etc.

The other personality of Suzumi Kuzu, an informant with an abnormal ability.

Upon fulfilling particular conditions, Suzumi can create
"books" with a target's experiences and memories recorded in them.
By reading one such book, they can replay the target's memories.

In addition, by showing their target a "book" that they've overwritten,
they can overwrite the target's memories as well.

Also, while there are some inherent risks,
Suzumi can also create "books" from their own experiences and memories.
Reading their own books allows them to fly back in time and change the past.

They have various other abilities besides that,
but there's nobody in the world who remembers what they all are.


They're plotting Tsubakura's destruction,
but Tsubakura has no idea what their motive is.

Official Sources[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Peing: 18 April 2019
  2. 2.0 2.1 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Prologue
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Extra Scenario - Haze
  4. JynX's Twitter: "As for why [I only introduced them here on Twitter], it's because "you can understand the story even without understanding those two [Hamee and Ardey]", who they are don't directly impact the story's progression."
  5. 5.0 5.1 JynX's Twitter: "By the way, there's another one named "Benny". The true name is a secret."
  6. Interview with JynX (2021): The Personalities, Question 290
  7. Peing: 28 April 2019
  8. Interview with JynX (2021): The Personalities, Question 291
  9. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Neutral Scenario - Adagumo no Yaorochi
  10. Interview with JynX (2021): The Personalities, Question 286
  11. Interview with JynX (2021): The Personalities, Question 287
  12. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Neutral Scenario - Tsubakura Enraku
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Evanescent Existence: Suzumi's Extra Scenario
  14. Interview with JynX (2017): Question 21
  15. Interview with JynX (2017): Suzumi, Question 68
  16. 16.0 16.1 Interview with JynX (2021): Characters (Suzumi), Question 271
  17. Interview with JynX (2021): The Personalities, Question 280
  18. Peing: 4 February 2019
  19. 19.0 19.1 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Shrine Team's Neutral Scenario - Suzumi Kuzu
  20. Interview with JynX (2017): Suzumi, Question 61
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Neutral Scenario - Yabusame Houlen
  22. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Neutral Scenario - Shion
  23. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Neutral Scenario - Sese Kitsugai
  24. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Neutral Scenario - Suzumi Kuzu
  25. Interview with JynX (2021): Clones, Question 277
  26. Interview with JynX (2021): Characters (Suzumi), Question 267
  27. 27.0 27.1 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Shrine Team's Extra Scenario
  28. 28.0 28.1 Interview with JynX (2017): Suzumi, Question 66
  29. Kanae Tabinoki Stream: [Productivity Stream] Single-mindedly Working Together For An Hour A Day: 6h [Kanae Tabinoki]
  30. JynX's Twitter: "☆Len'en Mini-Memo (※Spoiler alert) In Suzumi's personalities, the stage 6 boss is called "MO-NA-D-2" and is called "Hamal Cine" by the other personalities, "Hamee" is their nickname."
  31. 31.0 31.1 31.2 JynX's Twitter: "By the way, I guess they would be "Hamee" and "Arde" in English. アルデ can be both Arde and Alde, but we can just use Arde for convenience."
  32. 32.0 32.1 Kanae Tabinoki Stream: [Chatting Stream] Grab a Cup of Tea or Something, Let’s Chat... [Kanae Tabinoki]
  33. JynX's Twitter: "☆Len'en Mini-Memo 2 (※Spoiler alert) Suzumi's extra stage personality is called "MO-NA-D-1" and is called "Arde" by the other personalities, "Ardey" is their nickname."
  34. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Scoundrel Team's Good Ending
  35. Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle: Secret Team's Haze Ending
  36. Interview with JynX (2017): Suzumi, Question 63
  37. Interview with JynX (2017): Development and Design Decisions, Question 101
  38. Interview with JynX (2021): Suzumi, Question 265
  39. Reactivate Majestical Imperial, Official Profiles, Stage 5 Boss
  40. New Emperor team, Neutral Scenario, Suzumi Kuzu
  41. Secret team, Haze Scenario, Stage 6
  42. New Emperor team, Brilliant Scenario, Stage 6
  43. Secret team, Brilliant Scenario
  44. Interview with JynX (2021): Suzumi, Question 264
  45. Interview with JynX (2021): Characters, Question 133
  46. Peing: 24 February 2019
  47. Interview with JynX (2017): Suzumi, Question 67
  48. Interview with JynX (2021): Clones, Question 276
  49. Len'en Maniacs' Quiz: Extra Mode Question 3