Bloody Roar: End Zoan

"Unleash your beast. — Official Tagline"

Bloody Roar: End Zoan is the sixth installment in the Bloody Roar series of fighting video games''. ''It is a reboot of the franchise and was developed by Ars Nova and published by Konami. The game will first be released in arcades as well as on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Ars Nova has given hints to a possible port to the PlayStation Vita, Wii U and 3DS at a future date. Like the previous game, this one will have an M rating for blood and violence and adult themes. The game will once again focus on ‘zoanthropes’, warriors who can transform into half-man half-animal beasts. Characters from different installments will make an appearance in the game alongside new characters. The creators have said that ‘while the game is going to have instances of nostalgia, call backs and easter eggs from previous games this is an entirely a new look and direction. Not everything is going to be as you remembered it.’ To further the point they further said that Tylon Corporation is no more and has been replaced with Evolution Enterprises. The creators also said that the game will touch on themes of masks, racial tensions, scientific experimentation, and physical pain.

Gameplay
Bloody Roar: End Zoan is a fighting game in which players control characters with different fighting styles and special attacks, engaging in one-on-one combat to deplete their opponent's life gauge. The game features 3D graphics on a three-dimensional plane. Unlike the traditional fighting game design involving multiple rounds with regenerative life bars, Bloody Roar uses a scheme similar to the Killer Instinct and Injustice: Gods Among Us games. Each match consists of a single round with each player bearing two life bars. When one player loses their first life bar there is a pause before the fight recommences. The player to have his first life bar depleted will get back 50% of their beast gauge.

The game engine has been redone to create a faster experience with more emphasis on impacts from hits. The game uses a five button layout: Punch, Kick, Guard, Unique Attack, and Shift. Unique Attacks are attacks unique to characters and Shift allows characters to transform into their Beast forms. Through various timings and positions many moves can be unlocked. Transforming into Beast form also gives characters additional moves as well as changing the properties of moves from their human form.

Beast Mode, now known as Shifting, and animal forms have been redone from scratch. Below the health bar is the feral gauge. This gauge is broken into three sections. Both players start off with the gauge at maximum. When a player shifts into beast form one section of the gauge is used. Also shifting into animal form takes up some of the health bar when using a section of the gauge for the first time. Health is regained over time while in beast form to a certain point. The used gauge decreases each time the player takes damage. Once the gauge runs out a player shifts back to their human form. A player can shift back to human form by pressing the Shift button so as to not lose anymore of that sectioned gauge. Shifting between forms between moves and combos can create new devastating moves. Characters gain and lose certain properties between their forms. For instance Alice in her rabbit form gains a dramatic increase in her jumping ability and control of her air descent speed while Dragana gains increased defense and if attacked while guarding the opponent takes chip damage.

The feral gauge has more uses. New to the game are ‘Shifting Strike’, ‘Safeguard’ and ‘Blitz Drive’. Shifting Strikes are similar to enhanced attacks from Mortal Kombat. They use one section of the feral gauge and are unblockable attacks. Safeguard also costs one section of the feral gauge. Using this will stop any combo a player is stuck in and create distance between the player and opponent. The player that uses this is automatically taken out of beast form. There is also a time limit before a player can change back into beast form that extends for a longer duration with each use of Safeguard. Blitz Drive requires the use of two sections of the feral gauge. These attacks function as super moves seen in other fighting games. They are only accessible in the human form. Beast Drive makes a return and function the same way as the Blitz Drive, but only in beast forms. Beast Drives are more powerful and different from the character’s Blitz Drive but are usually easier to read. Each playable character has two Blitz and Beast Drives. When a character is picked they choose one Blitz Drive and one Beast Drive for the match.

Hyper Beast also makes a return. This mode uses the entire feral gauge and costs twice the amount of health from when shifting normally. It also continuously drains the player’s health bars till death or till they come out of Hyper Beast. Once used, the feral gauge takes a longer time to fill. In return for these penalties the character’s attack and speed are boosted in addition to whatever properties are in their beast form. Hyper Beast cannot be stopped by Safeguard. Startup and recovery time from moves are also shortened allowing for combos that wouldn’t be normally possible.

Game Modes
Arcade Mode: The player picks a character and goes through eight stages. The seventh stage is a fight between a rival character and the last stage is against the boss. With the right conditions a bonus ninth stage may be unlocked. This mode also features a story mode for each character detailing a point in their lives outside of or during the main story. This mode is done in picture frames and the game’s unique art style rather than CG video style of story mode. Extra colors for characters, extra art and videos, and extra information on characters are unlocked in this mode.

Story Mode: The main story of the game. This mode is similar to Injustice: Gods Among Us where the player will control or have a choice between different characters at certain points to further the story. The story is told in anachronic order and events are shown in their respective perspectives. Extra costumes, extra music, videos from story mode, and secret codes to change some of the game settings are in this mode.

Vs Mode: Local play between one or two players. Contains Single, Team, Time Attack, and Vs Time

Survival Mode: The player tries to defeat as many enemies as possible with increasing handicaps. There is also Time Survival which is how fast the player can go through 100 enemies with increasing handicaps.

Online Mode: Online play with players from around the world. Includes Vs, Team, King of the Hill, Spectator, and Trial modes

Practice: Where players can practice with characters. Includes Free Practice, Training, and Trial Modes

Options: To change the game settings. This mode has both Video Viewer and Juke Box to watch videos from the game and listen to the music of the game. You can adjust the game music settings for different songs to play. It also has Code Input where players can input codes found throughout the game. These codes change various settings of the game till it is taken off. Such things can be done such as Classic Mode, which turns the game graphics to PlayStation 1 era polygons much like the original Bloody Roar. Playground Mode turns all the characters into little kids. Anime Mode gives the game an anime look similar to what is seen in Bloody Roar Primal Fury.

Story
Zoanthropy. At its simplest it is the ability for a human to transform into a monstrous animal. Not much is known about Zoanthropy or Zoanthropes. Is this a genetic mutation or human evolution? Is this something recent in the era or has this been around since the beginning of human history? Many questions unanswered. There is one thing known for sure. Zoanthropes are dangerous.

Because of events such as ‘The Massacre at London’ and ‘The Peace Assassination’ human and zoanthrope relations are at its worse, with much of humanity calling to end all zoanthropes. In these dangerous times Yugo, a wolf zoanthrope, sets out to find the mystery of his father’s death. His search leads him to the corporation Evolution Enterprises and the words ‘N Zone’. To continue will only lead to tragedy, but Yugo persists.

The tale of beast warriors renewed. Blood will fall.

Terminology
Zoanthropy - Humans with the ability to transform into beasts. Despite being public knowledge for twenty years there is still very little known about the ability. Some see it as a disease or a curse that needs to be eradicated. Others see it as a blessing and joy while still others think it could be the next evolution of humanity. Others see it as a divergence in humanity, treating those afflicted as a different race or species. Those with this ability are known as Zoanthropes.

The Unmasking - Twenty years ago there was a terrorist attack and hostages were taken. During this attack two individuals would, as described by witnesses, ‘transform into a bird demon and some type of monstrous insect’. Film footage taken at the time shows the two creatures indiscriminately killing both terrorists and hostages. It came to a point where the terrorists teamed up with the police force to kill the insect monster. The body transformed back into a person and was identified. This caused a panic throughout the world and tactics were formed to find similar individuals. These Zoanthropes would also make themselves known, marking a new era of the world. The ‘bird demon’ escaped and has never been identified.

The London Massacre/Disaster - A tragedy in London that happened during a world conference between nations. While not the primary topic, one of the main topics was zoanthropy. The conference was going well and looked like it was going to be a breakthrough, but that all changed when a human ambassador’s daughter was killed. Asha Smriti was killed in front of the entire conference by her bodyguard who was then revealed to be a zoanthrope. What followed next was chaos between human and zoanthropes leaving 64 humans and 40 zoanthropes dead. This event would ripple across the world.

The Assassination of Peace - Following the events of The London Massacre hate groups against zoanthropes, like HOPE, gained more power. In reaction to this, zoanthropes and their movements became more tense and fervent in protecting their kind. Drastic and rapid efforts on both sides had to be done to maintain peace. Ohran Wilfred, a world leader of peace, headed the efforts. Though he made great strides in these high tension times it would not last. At the end of a peace conference he was assassinated. This would cause the fall of the ZFM and P4A and the rise of the ZLW. After the assassination it was reported a zoanthrope said ‘They didn’t just kill a man. They assassinated peace. There is no world for humans and zoanthropes.’. The assassin has yet to be found.

Zoanthropy Freedom Movement (Z.F.M)- The longest and largest movement for zoanthrope rights. They were an aggressive but nonviolent movement. Strong in passion, but lacking leadership they gained momentum when joining with P.4.A. All members were zoanthropes but they gave temporary sanctuary to humans who were persecuted, the sick and runaways. This group would eventually disband and reform into the ZLW.

Peace 4 All (P.4.A)- A group created by Ohran Wilfred. This group strove for total pacifism for everyone, not just zoanthropes. Rather than just focus on one group’s interest, they managed to pull all groups together like a family. The ZFM was the first and most loyal members to join them, but many other organizations eventually joined. With the assassination of Ohran, Peace 4 All slowly dissolved within the rising flames of anarchy.

Humanity’s Opposition Prevention and Extermination (HOPE)- A SWAT paramilitary and world law enforcement unit created by the U.S., British and Japanese governments to deal with the problem of Zoanthropes. The organization was created in reaction to The Unmasking. While it started out and still is a reaction and retaliation force to zoanthrope crimes, hate groups have influenced the ideology of the organization. The London Massacre was the breaking point that changed the group into more aggressive and suppression tactics. Originally called ‘The Preventers’, the organization’s name was changed to HOPE in tribute to Asha Smriti.

Zoanthrope Liberating World (Z.L.W)- The aftermath of the Assassination of Peace caused members of the P.4.A and ZFM to become disillusioned, disheartened, embittered, and enraged. These growing feelings would lead to the dissolution of the P.4.A and for a splinter group within the ZFM to rapidly grow. This splinter group would eventually overtake and absorb the ZFM, becoming the ZLW. They are an infamous group viewed as heroes and freedom fighters by many zoanthropes but terrorists by humans. All members are zoanthropes with zero tolerance to humans.

Evolution Enterprises - A corporation in all parts of the world that deals in the business of technology, genetics, medical, and communications. The company has earned a strong following for many of its great achievements such as eradicating rabies, asthma, and strains of ebola and its smaller breakthroughs such as a pill that can change a person’s hair and eye color for a few days. They also openly support zoanthropes. Despite all of this there are rumors of shady dealings, such as kidnappings, every once in a while. These rumors usually die out quickly. The CEO is Aldeer Darwin. Slogan: Enter Evolution / Go Beyond Human

Kāità zhě Manufacturing - The R&D department of Evolution Enterprises. They have a remarkable success rate in their findings and draw from all parts world. Top members of this department include: Ishii Mengel, Steven Goldberg, and Hajime Busuzima. Slogan: Vanguards of the Future / Evolution or Extinction

Wild Hunt - A group of mercenaries and hunters renowned for their ability to hunt and capture the most elusive bounties. They grew in public popularity for capturing rogue and convicted zoanthropes. They have also been criticized by humans and zoanthropes alike for treatment of their captives as well as killing some of their bounties. The group disappeared from public eye after being recruited by Evolution Enterprises. It has been split into two divisions: The Company Defense Force that works specifically under the CEO and the Human Resource Acquisition Department that works with the HR and R&D departments.

Grandis Hunter - An unofficial title given to those who hunt and kill zoanthropes without any affiliation to any governments or political agendas. Most of these lone wolves and single groups are the equivalent to big game hunters and poachers, doing it for the thrill of going after a dangerous animal. Others do it for more nefarious reasons. The title and people given these titles are very controversial. While many say these hunters are doing the world a favor exterminating pests, others say this is glorifying killers and perpetuating violence between species.

Characters
Bloody Roar: End Zoan features 14 playable characters with 6 returning characters, 6 new characters and 2 secret characters each with English and Japanese voice actors. The developers have stated that “the roster will be primarily from the first two Bloody Roar games, but characters from the entire Bloody Roar universe will make an appearance in the game. Any characters missing are due to story purposes and may make an appearance as DLC or in future games.”.

DLC skins will also become available in the future that will change the appearance and voice of some characters. 4 DLC characters were added to the roster that will be available in the future.

List
Returning Characters: Yugo the Wolf, Alice the Rabbit, Long the Tiger, Bakuryu the Mole, Reiji the Crow, Shina the Leopard

New Characters: Cuán the Hound, Vulpez the Silver Fox, Michaël the Silverback, Dragana the Ouroboros, Dieter the Humanity, Bart the Kraken

Special Characters: Mitsuko the Boar (Secret Character), Gado the Lion (Secret Character), Uriko the Evolution (Boss)

DLC Skins: Gregory the Gorilla, Hans the Fox, Fang the Wolf, Mashiro the Rabbit, Shirakumo the Tiger

DLC Characters: Langstrom the Man-Bat, Leonardo the Ninja Turtle, Zitz the Battletoad, Felicia the Darkstalker

Yugo Ogami
''“Trust me. You won’t get back up after this.”''

Known As: Yugo the Wolf

Age: 17

Occupation: Delinquent Student

Fighting Style: Boxing

Beast Form: Gray Wolf (white coat variant)

Rival: Cuán

Voiced by: Yuri Lowenthal

Whether it is due to his own personality or because he is a wolf zoanthrope, Yugo has always been a wild and trying child. His father, Yuji Ogami, did his best to satiate and direct his wilder nature in positive directions like learning boxing. This gave Yugo focus and not reliance on his feral nature when pressured. A retired soldier of the Japanese military, Yuji is suddenly unretired by the government and sent out on a mission. He never returned. Suspicious over the reasons of his father’s sudden mission and death, Yugo spends hours searching for clues and answers to this mystery neglecting other parts of his life. Two years have passed since his father’s death without any clue. Yugo was about to give up when an email is sent to him from a mysterious user called Lady Carmilla. In the email it said ‘Answers can be found at the N Zone. You may not like what you find. You may never find your way out. This is your only warning.’. This is all Yugo needed to ignite the flame in him. He sets off to find his answers.

Yugo is a Japanese zoanthrope and returns as the protagonist and unofficial mascot of the Bloody Roar series. The developers have said that “He’s similar to the original series but we’re going to play up on his brash and ‘lone wolf’ nature this time around.”. His appearance is the same but updated for the current times. The biggest change is his wolf form being white instead of grey. They also said that Yugo’s gameplay style is meant for beginners to easily get into the game, but it truly shines in the hands of an expert. His human form is the most balanced of all the human playable characters. In wolf form Yugo gains an increase in his offensive moves and speed turning him into a rushdown character.

Alice Tsukagami
“Don’t confuse gentleness with weakness.”

Known As: Alice the Rabbit

Age: 17

Occupation: Student

Fighting Style: Kickboxing

Beast Form: Florida White Rabbit

Rival: Shina

Voiced by: Hynden Walch

It is believed that people are born with zoanthropy, but when and where it occurs in a person is highly variable. Some may never turn into a zoanthrope. Others may turn before they are even a year old. Alice is one such case where her first transformation was right before being pulled out of her mother’s womb. The parents’ trauma of seeing their child come out as a beast affected them rest of their lives. They accepted Alice, but due to the young girl unable to control her transformations life was strenuous. The everyday wearisome battle of having a zoanthrope child eroded them quickly. On Alice’s fourth birthday they dropped her off at an orphanage and never looked back.

Despite this Alice grew up happy at the orphanage and made friends at school. She became friends with Yugo Ogami and his father taught her how to control her transformation. Alice is a person who wants to help and ease the pain of others. When her friend lost his father she could only watch helplessly as he slowly drifted away from everything. One day a spark ignited in him. ‘I’m going away.’ he said and disappeared. Alice would not leave things as they were. Hoping to save her friend from whatever dark path he walks, the girl follows him at a distance.

Alice is half Japanese and half German. Her story and appearance are greatly altered from the first game. The developers said “We decided to rework Alice’s story from scratch so that she would have a bigger part in the overall story. We also decided to combine some of her design elements from the first and fourth Bloody Roar games with some of our ideas to make a more up-to-date and fresh look.”. Fans have had mixed reactions to this change. Alice’s gameplay is closer to the defensive side. When she transforms her gameplay takes a big change. “She becomes a lot more dynamic and an air juggling monster.” the developers stated. Alice’s jump height becomes much greater and she can control her descent speed. Alice also gains a move called ‘Engel Schritt’ that allows her to bounce and ricochet off the ground and sides of the screen. This allows her to chain air combos and keep juggling the opponent.

Long Shin
''“Some people are strong. But I… I am terrifyingly strong.”''

Known As: Long the Tiger

Age: 26

Occupation: Teacher (previous), Chinese-English Translator

Fighting Style: Baguazhang

Beast Form: Siberian Tiger

Rival: Bakuryu

Voiced by: David Kaye

When one transforms a primal instinct begins seep into a person’s mind. How much of these feral instincts flow in differs between individuals. For some there is little or no apparent change in their personality. For some, like Long Shin, there will be times where they transform and lose complete control of themselves either not remembering or unable to control themselves. At the age of twelve Long had an unexpected transformation. It was like he blacked out and had no memory. When he came to though his sister lay huddled in a corner and his mother was shredded in pieces. Long’s father took care of him and his sister, but the brutal death of his wife at his son’s hand left him changed forever. No longer did he see his son as his child, but a monster he was chained to. As the years past their father grew bitter and became an alcoholic. He began to strike and berate his son. Long endured. In his mind he deserved it.

One night Long’s father struck his sister and the twenty-two year old would not endure it. He only wanted to scare his father into stopping his rage, but the beast in Long went on a frenzy. Long saw everything but could not control himself. He saw as he tossed on half of his father’s body across the room and the other half out the window. Even his sister was not safe as she lays sick in a hospital because of him. The zoanthrope would have committed suicide a long time ago if not for the desire to save his sister.

One day in the hospital he is approached by a woman in a red suit who works for Evolution Enterprises. ‘We have heard about your condition and your past. We have an offer...’ she said. It was simple. Evolution Enterprises ,always wanting to help zoanthropes, would continue to pay the medical expenses of Long’s sister and give him a stipend to live off of. All Long needed to do was come into their R&D department for experimental treatments that would cure his zoanthropy. Long agreed in a second. With each treatment he can feel the beast within him disappearing yet there are days where he sleeps for hours on end…

Long is a Chinese zoanthrope. “Long is a much more tragic character this time around.” the developers said at an interview. They stated that the change in his fighting style was for diversity in gameplay. Also they picked an ‘internal’ and ‘soft’ martial arts style to compare and contrast his internal struggle with the savage beast he becomes. The interview further revealed that Long ‘is very intelligent and would have went on to do great things if not for his tragedies’. Long is one of the most difficult characters to learn, but has great rewards if learned correctly with few weaknesses. His fighting style is meant to take advantage of the 3d field of the game, striking at angles. Developers also told fans “don’t worry. Even though it’s a different style his 6-way combo ring and multiple stances return.”.

Ryuzo Kato
''“Man or beast. It doesn’t matter. I’m beyond all of you.”''

Known As: Bakuryu the Mole

Age: 73

Occupation: Evolution Enterprises Company Defense Force

Fighting Style: Four Clans Style Ninjutsu

Beast Form: Star-nosed Mole

Rival: Long

Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson

It is said that Mount Kurama has been a home for demons for centuries. This myth may have come from the fact that a village of shinobi zoanthropes have lived there in secret. Ryuzo Kato, the infamous Bakuryu, belongs to one of the four clans. From a very young age Bakuryu was a genius in the art of ninjutsu and combat. He had the talent, ambition, and drive to make him one of the most powerful warriors in the world at a young age. Unfortunately these same traits in excess can lead to a twisted mentality. Bakuryu had no patience for failure. He killed his son, Bakuryu II, an exceptional shinobi in his own right, for failure of a mission.

As the years went by Bakuryu found he had reached the limits of his body and could no longer grow stronger. This realization made him obsessed with surpassing his limits and become the strongest warrior in the world. He took missions against clan orders and accidentally killed the head of his clan during a training exercise. Feeling the clans were restraining his strength, Bakuryu decided to take action. In the darkness of the night he killed two other heads of the clans, but was beaten by the head of the Tengu clan. ‘Fear the day I return. Because on that day I will have ascended to the ultimate warrior!’ Bakuryu yelled as he escaped from his village. The shinobi would disappear for a few years resurfacing as an assassin for Evolution Enterprises. The deal was simple. They would augment his strength and find him strong opponents and he’d eliminate these threats to the company. Bakuryu waits in the darkness for strong opponents to test and surpass his limits.

Bakuryu is Japanese and the oldest character in Bloody Roar. His human character design has gone through slight changes, but his mole design has taken an overhaul making him look different from the previous moles in the series. The developers have stated that Bakuryu is the most difficult character to learn due to the timing of his moves mixed with the difficulty to perform some of them. Developers said ‘the strength of his character lies in chaining together his special and striking moves with his special throws.’. They then showed a combo that led into his ‘Kingslayer’ special move that continued into the ‘Izuna Twister’ Blitz Drive.

Reiji Takigawa
“There’s nothing more soul fulfilling than killing a strong opponent!”

Known As: Reiji the Crow

Age: 16

Occupation: Runaway Ninja

Fighting Style: Tengu Clan Style Ninjutsu

Beast Form: Hooded Crow

Rival: Michaël

Voice Actor: Richard Ian Cox

If there are parents who are burdened by their children being zoanthropes then it is also true that there are zoanthropes who are burdened by their child being human. Reiji was the third child out of four. All his siblings were able to shift into a beast form at least once by the age of two. Reiji at the age of four had shown no signs of being a zoanthrope. This disappointed his father greatly. So much that on a trip to Mount Kurama he pushed Reiji over an edge and never looked back. Reiji lay at the bottom of a cliff broken and full of hate. Luckily the shinobi of the mountains found and took him in. Using a mystical stone and water the ninja found out that Reiji had the power of a bird zoanthrope within him, but it lay dormant and possibly may never show under normal circumstances. The shinobi took Reiji and he joined the strongest of the four clans, the Tengu Clan.

Reiji grew up within the world of shinobi but his anger and destructive tendencies never dissipated. He grew up admiring Ryuzo Kato and formed his own twisted ideology based on Ryuzo’s already corrupted outlook. For this reason the Tengu Clan would not trigger his latent zoanthrope abilities. Yet a convenient moment occurred when a silver haired man journeyed to the mountain in search of the stone. Reiji agreed to steal the stone if he could unlock his power. It was easy as there was only one leader left among all four clans and thus Reiji’s actions had gone unnoticed for a long time. He stole the stone and the silver haired man unlocked his power. This new power surging through him, Reiji killed two clan members as he left the mountain. His first destination was back to his home. The shinobi ruthlessly killed his father and older sibling laughing mad while doing it. His madness only stopped when shinobi of the four clans approached. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be back one day to finish the job!’ Reiji yells as he flies away. Now an exile shinobi like the person he admires, Reiji searches for Bakuryu to be mentored by him so he can become stronger.

Reiji is a Japanese zoanthrope. The developers gave Reiji a new look closer to that of a ninja. “We wanted him to be a ninja, but we didn’t want to give him the same look as Bakuryu. So we added different elements to give him a punk urban ninja look.” developers said. Reiji’s human form is aggressive and ground based while his crow form is aggressive and aerial based. When transformed Reiji’s speed increases as well as gaining an all direction aerial dash that can be used twice. The developers chose to introduce Reiji in the first game because “he introduces and ties in other elements of the bloody roar series.”.

Jeanne Shina
''“A soldier’s path is littered with nameless corpses. I’m just staring at another nameless corpse.”''

Known As: Shina the Leopard, The Fighting Marvel

Age: 24

Occupation: Mercenary

Fighting Style: Marine Corps Martial Arts Program

Beast Form: African Leopard

Rival: Bart

Voiced by: Stephanie Young

Born to two zoanthrope parents with military backgrounds, Shina was born a fighter. When Shina was born, her mother took a reserve position in the military to raise her. Shina loved the tales of her legendary father and wanted to join his mercenary brigade as soon as possible. The girl’s mother forbade her from the life of a soldier, but allowed Shina to go to a military school where she ranked high. Things changed when the girl’s mother left to help her husband with a mission. She never returned from that mission.

After that the girl dropped what little contact she had with her father completely and fervently devoted herself to her studies. She graduated at the top of her class and joined the French military. Still dissatisfied Shina soon left the military and became her own independent mercenary for higher. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Her military feats, such as obliterating a platoon of soldiers and destroying an attack helicopter (both of these feats single handed), earned her the nicknames ‘The Fighting Marvel’ and ‘Ms. Marvel’. News came to Shina that her father had died on a mission. Curious as to whom or what could have killed him, the woman searched for two years without any answers. Only when an email from a Lady Carmilla told her to look for the ‘N Zone’ that Shina finally had a clue. The mercenary goes off to find answers.

Shina is a French zoanthrope whose design is an update from her design in Bloody Roar 4. Developers have said “she’ll play a bigger role in the story and has a more rocky and estranged relationship with her father this time around.”. They also gave other bits of information on Shina. Originally Shina had her father’s last name, but changed it to her mother’s last name after she died. Just like her father, she’s only referred to by her last name. Shina and Cuán have also met on the battlefield although they didn’t realize it at the time. Like previous games, Shina returns as a well rounded character with good damage potential and able to fight both offensively and defensively. Her beast form increases her speed and allows Shina to change the time and power of her moves to throw off the opponent and hit harder than normal. Shina is one of Set Gaebulg's favorite characters in the Bloody Roar series.

Cuán Corbett
“There is no place in life or death that I can’t hunt you.”

Known As: Cuán the Hound, The Beast of Lozère

Age: 23

Occupation: Evolution Enterprises Human Resource Acquisition Department

Fighting Style: Krav Maga

Beast Form: Hound hybrid

Rival: Yugo

Voiced by: Brian Drummond

Grandis Hunter is a term used for the greatest people who hunt zoanthrope kind. How ironic that one of the best hunters to earn that title is a zoanthrope. Cuán was a rebellious child with an independent nature. His family was happy when he ran away so they wouldn’t have to put up with his feral blood. Cuán disappeared and would reappear in Lozère, France where he hunted and attacked its citizens. Never appearing out of his beast form, the hunter became the hunted and was shot down by a man who was payed to hunt the beast. This hunter, realizing what he was dealing with was a young boy, took Cuán and gave him focus and a purpose. Cuán would go to school and learn many things from this hunter. Sadly none of this could soothe whatever haunted Cuán. After his graduation Cuán ran away. He gained public recognition for being able to hunt down bounties and zoanthropes all over the world, most known for finding a scent a few weeks old and hunting down a zoanthrope across two continents. Three years ago Cuán and his group disappeared from the public and began working for Evolution Enterprises. He now hunts and captures prey for them.

Cuán is dark skinned and of Irish descent. Developers have said he was one of the toughest characters to design due to the team having different perspectives. “We knew we wanted him to be similar and yet a contrast to Yugo. Because of that we had a lot of ideas in how to design him. Initially we wanted to make him a wolf-dog hybrid, but then his characteristics and moves started to look too much like Yugo so we scrapped it and started over. There’s a few of us who think we should have stuck with the wolf-dog hybrid as his beast.”. Cuán’s gameplay is what the developers have called ‘Hunt and Trap’. He is of intermediate difficulty where one needs to control their opponent’s movement. “We wanted his movelist to reflect his hunting ability” the developers said. Cuán’s beast form has the most balanced stats of all the beast forms.

Vulpez Bellerose
“Leave me alone or I’ll leave you in pieces...”

Known As: Vulpez the Silver Fox

Age: 19

Occupation: Fashion Designer

Fighting Style: Silat

Beast Form: Red Fox (silver coat variant)

Rival: Dieter

Voiced by: Carrie Keranen

Beauty can be a blessing and a curse. Vulpez has beauty in both her forms which made her isolated from everyone. The only person who truly knew and protected Vulpez was her grandmother. When her wealthy grandmother died things changed. The domestic workers refused to nurture a zoanthrope to be the future lady of the house. A hope came through for Vulpez when a millionaire and his son decided to pay for the manor and take her in till she came of age to control her fortune. She trusted them, but trust comes at a price. Their true intentions were to make sexual advances towards her, finding a woman zoanthrope to be ‘an exhilarating new discovery’. She escaped from the two, taking an arm from the millionaire, but her zoanthrope secret was now known to the world as father and son pursued her.

Vulpez found a peaceful place to hide with a middle aged couple. Even though Vulpez lost so much, the girl found that she could live on happily with a simple life. Happiness stopped when the middle aged couple showed their true nature. They made their living in skinning zoanthrope beast forms and using the material to make clothes and goods. Their kindness was a ruse to get her healthy and find a buyer before she met the same fate like so many others. Vulpez had to kill one of them before she could escape. Forever on the run Vulpez can trust no one. Through rumors she heard about a place called the ‘N Zone’ where there is a cure to zoanthropy. She hopes this cure will bring her peace.

Vulpez is a mix of French and Italian. The developers made Vulpez to be ‘so beautiful and exotic that it borders on being unnatural. That’s the thing that keeps drawing people to her.’. They then pointed to specific areas of design such as her red hair and silver eyes. Her gameplay is described as short ranged with high impact and high damaging one hit moves. “We made her with many evasive moves where she can create or close a lot of distance between the opponent. She’s a ‘Hit and Run’ type of character.” Set Gaebulg said. Her beast form is the fastest playable character in the game.

Michaël Angelos
''“In this world there are monsters far worse than any beast. Unfortunately you’ve come across one of those monsters.”''

Known As: Michaël the Silverback

Age: 34

Occupation: Reporter/Artist

Fighting Style: Sambo with some Wrestling

Beast Form: Eastern Lowland Gorilla

Rival: Dragana

Voiced by: Jamieson Price

Michaël Angelos is a present day Renaissance Man. A high level polymath, he is a painter, a philosopher, a mathematician, a scientist and a journalist. These are just a few of things Michaël does. Yet despite this he has a dark past. His oldest memory is hiding under a bed while men threw his mother on the bed and tore her clothes off. She fought against them while trying to fight the beast inside her, but one had to give. She transformed and went on a rampage but the numbers eventually got to her. Michaël watched as they shot her down and cut open her neck. The event was so shocking that it took four years before the boy could speak again. Yet in those four years a new person was born.

He grew learning multiple skills, hiding his zoanthropy and ironically joining up with zoanthrope hate groups. Not because of any hatred towards zoanthropes. Michaël couldn’t care any less about the war between humans and zoanthropes. But being in zoanthrope hate groups gave him access to his targets. Through their connections it only a took a year to find the men that killed his mother when he was a boy. After dismembering them, he shifted blame towards zoanthropes. And that has been his modus operandi. Kill a member of one group brutally and manipulate the facts to blame the other group. Then in the ensuing chaos kill his targets that will open the path to his next target. A continuous chain. Michaël learned a long time ago that the men that butchered his mother were only small gears to a much a greater machine. A world view. Therefore, he will destroy this machine from the inside out, one gear at a time. His next target is a young girl who is lost due to an attack. The chaos that will ensue if the princess of the ZLW was killed by a member of one of those hate groups. It will surely push the ZLW and the world at war. And in that conflict the machine will lose many gears. Michaël sets out to spur chaos.

Michaël is a Greek zoanthrope. Michaël’s gameplay is a chain grappler. His special grapples like ‘Pieta Punishment’ have multiple and divergent combinations where an opponent has to guess the correct type of grapple to escape it. He also has counter moves that lead into grapples. In his beast form Michaël’s speed increases and depending on the stage he can use the ceiling or sides to swing and close the spacing between him and the opponent. He also gains two more counter air grapples as well as ‘Puig Roll’ which serves as an evasive maneuver as well as getting close to the opponent. The developers have said that Michaël’s name has multiple meanings. “Each character’s name is chosen for a reason. Michaël’s has multiple, but the one I don’t think fans would get is that his first name is taken from a gorilla that used sign language to relate his mother’s death from poachers. Much of Michaël’s backstory is based on the real life Michael’s story.”.

Dragana
“I don’t want to fight… but if I have to I’ll win.”

Known As: Dragana the Ouroboros

Age: 13

Occupation: ZLW Representative

Fighting Style: Enshin Kaikan

Beast Form: Armadillo Girdled Lizard

Rival: Reiji

Voiced by: Ashley Eckstein

The Zoanthrope Liberating World has as much animosity towards humans as any of the hate groups against their kind. Despite this not everyone among the ZLW feel it should be a ‘us or them’ mentality. Even after watching her parents ignited before her eyes, Dragana still holds on to the hope that humans and zoanthropes can come together one day. Known as the ‘Princess of the ZLW’ by its members she frequently finds her own way in bringing the children of humans and zoanthropes together, hoping to spur change with a new generation. Against her sibling’s requests, she puts herself in dangerous areas to try and make change. One such occasion an attack destroyed her transportation and hunters murdered her bodyguards. She was gagged and blindfolded. The next Dragana knew she was in glass prison with other children. With the help of another child she was able to escape. On the run from her captors, HOPE, and everyone else Dragana tries to find a way to get back to the ZLW safely, fearing the retaliation her siblings will take towards the world if she does not return.

Dragana is a Southeast Asian zoanthrope. Dragana’s human form is the fastest human character in the game. While she also does the least amount of damage in the game, Dragana has a lot of mixups and feints with a lot of free range movement. She is also able to counterattack both normal and special moves. When in beast form Dragana loses some of her speed and agility to get a major defense boost. She gains the moves ‘Aegis Spikes’, which further increases her defense as well as inflicting chip damage when Dragana attacks or is attacked, and ‘Ouroboros’ a rolling attack that can hit from multiple directions and has fake startups in those directions. Dragana is the only reptile zoanthrope in the game. Developers have said she was partially inspired by Talim from Namco’s Soul series.

Dieter Rask
''“I’m disposing of rabid animals. Beasts that just happen to resemble humans.”''

Known As: Dieter the Humanity

Age: 27

Occupation: HOPE

Fighting Style: Systema

Beast Form: None

Rival: Vulpez

Voiced by: Matthew Mercer

A soldier for the United States Dieter has done many missions for the government. From a soldier on battlefields to security at homeland to training troops at a distant land, he has much experience in conflict despite his young age. Due to this he was put on the force of HOPE to help aid in interventions between zoanthrope and humankind. At first Dieter was neutral. His eyes could see that both sides had their reasons, strengths and faults. But the more HOPE had to intervene and prevent conflicts from escalating the more Dieter’s eyes became jaded and less sympathetic towards zoanthropes. This became more apparent to him as zoanthropes caused more destruction and chaos than the humans. This culminated with a zoanthrope attack that killed his pregnant wife who tried to defend him. From that day on Dieter showed no mercy or remorse to zoanthropes. It became clear to him that humanity’s survival hinged on zoanthrope’s extinction. HOPE intel came across something called the ‘N Zone’ where zoanthropes seem to be gathering. Dieter heads out with a small task force to investigate and if need be eliminate whatever they come across.

Dieter is a Russian human. Set said “Dieter is an unusual character because he has no beast form. He’s all human.”. Because of this Dieter’s feral gauge works differently. Instead of using it to shift into beast form, it is used to call different members of his task force to attack for a short time. This is also represented in the game with ‘Shifting Strike’ and ‘Beast Drive’ changed to ‘Strike Team’ and ‘Blitz Force’. His feral bar drains slightly each time a member is brought out. Strike Team will use up one section of the feral bar to keep a teammate out for an extended period of time. Instead of ‘Hyper Beast’ it is replaced with ‘Assault Protocol’. Instead of a massive boost to the stats all members of Dieter’s team are called out to attack for an amount of time. Dieter has four members on his team: River Dalton, Ciel Tolbert, Erden Fleischer, and Ash Bolivar. They make up Huntsman Team 03.

Bart Roberts
“The seven seas are my throne and your tomb.”

Known As: Bart the Kraken, Black Bart Roberts

Age: 33

Occupation: Evolution Enterprises Human Resource Acquisition Department

Fighting Style: Tang Soo Do

Beast Form: Colossal Squid

Rival: Alice

Voiced by: Paul Dobson

Even though his parents greatly enjoyed the sky, Bart loved the sea. So much that every summer they would take a vacation on a yacht. One summer their yacht was invaded by pirates. Local authorities intervened and managed to save the family, but Bart was taken away for ransom. Despite his parents paying the ransom, the boy was never given back to them. Instead of killing him the pirates saw possibility with Bart. They put him to work and made him a pirate. His zoanthrope ability playing a large role in their attacks, conquests and creating an urban legend that kept some away but brought in fools. As the years continued Bart forgot about his home and only knew the life of the pirate. He moved up through their ranks becoming one of the greatest and notorious pirates in the ocean. This is due to his ability to make a successive chain of brutal attacks that ravage small towns, villages and ships leaving them in ruin in a short amount of time. This is followed by Bart disappearing for months to a year. Through this and other means he has been able to evade naval warships.

He gained notoriety for pillaging a military base and looting a few warships of varying size. The biggest one, a destroyer class, he took for himself and renamed it the Dreadnought. Due to his increasing threat, a plan was made by different countries to capture him. Bart was tipped off by Evolution Enterprises of the plan and the pirate was able to make his escape before the attack. Evolution Enterprises struck a deal with Bart after. They would hide Bart away from authorities and help in strengthening his vessel if he worked for the company. Seeing this as the perfect chance to disappear off of government radar and become a greater threat in the future, Bart took up their offer. It has been three years since Bart became the company’s source of transport for their cargo to areas like the N Zone.

Bart is an American born zoanthrope. The developers have said they took influences from many things to create him, such as ghost pirate myths, his namesakes, and Cervantes from Namco’s Soul series. “As a boy, Bart was influenced by seafaring tales including those of pirates. As such he made his appearance to emulate the pirates from stories and his vessel to look like a ghost ship on the outside, despite it being a modern warship.” Set said. He is a pressure inducing character and best used at mid range where his saber and pistol attacks can keep the enemy at bay or push them further away. In beast form Bart can be used from long range, gaining attacks and command throws like ‘Abyssal Constrictor’ that reaches ¾ of the screen. Bart loses the most health shifting into beast and hyper beast. In beast form his special moves cause the most damage out of playable characters and he gets the largest stats boost in hyper beast.

Mitsuko Nonomura
“You’ve pissed off the wrong mom!”

Known As: Mitsuko the Boar

Age: 39

Occupation: Fishmonger/Shopkeeper

Fighting Style: Bare knuckle Brawling

Beast Form: Ussuri Boar

Rival: Dieter

Voiced by: Christine Auten

There are few places in the world that do not care about the differences between humans and zoanthropes. The people in these places see them all the same. Mitsuko was born in one of those places. Free to be who she wanted to be without judgement. Having frail parents, her father born sickly and her mother becoming weak due to complications in Mitsuko’s pregnancy, she took on hard labor to support them. The villagers enjoyed her support as her zoanthrophy made physical labor easier. Years of difficult jobs gave Mitsuko a hard as iron body with great strength. One day the woman saved a scientist doing research in her village from muggers. The two fell in love, were married and had a child. Life could be difficult but was peaceful. This changed when her daughter was abducted during a class trip without any witnesses. Mitsuko’s husband used all his resources to find their daughter, but nothing came of it. Frustration and anger boiling over, Mitsuko decided diplomacy was over. She would search on her own and turn entire world over if need be.

Mitsuko is a Japanese zoanthrope. Mitsuko’s appearance has been updated for present times, but has stayed the same. “We found her design to be unique and endearing so we kept her mostly the same. In most games women tend to follow a swimsuit model type of body. Mitsuko stands out in the gaming world so we wanted to keep that.” the developers said. She is a rushdown and power character with strength comparable to Michaël and Greg. The developers have said they made a little twist with her play style. “Most rushdown characters are quick and agile. They are able to evade and get in quickly. Mitsuko is the reverse. She’s not quick or agile, but her moves allows her to accumulate damage without being stopped and then inflict the accumulated damage back on top of her own.” they said. The developers showed this with one of her special moves ‘Rush Recklessly’. Her Shifting Strike, ‘Okotto Fury’, also boosts her attack power for a short time. In beast form this attack boost makes her the strongest playable character in the game.

Alan Gado
“If you don’t walk away then I’ll walk through you.”

Known As: Gado the Lion

Age: 43

Occupation: Mercenary

Fighting Style: SPEAR

Beast Form: African Lion

Rival: Bart

Voiced by: Keith David

His father a lieutenant colonel and mother an infantry combatant, Alan was born for combat. He has always been proud of his parents but even at a young age he did not like some of the ways the military worked. He never understood why they could not save everyone or had to let certain people get hurt or die do to political agendas. Like his parents, Gado joined the military but with each passing year he grew more dissatisfied till he left. Feeling that he could make a bigger difference on his own Gado became a mercenary and fought battles across the world.

In fifteen years some of Gado’s achievements are defeating one hundred soldiers on his own, destroying a tank single handed, forming a plan in a short time that took down three battle cruisers, and preventing a war between Canada and Germany. Such amazing feats has made him a mercenary of legend. The Japanese government called in Gado, his old friend Yuji Ogami, Golan Draphan and others for a small strike team against the pirate ship, Dreadnought. What they found was shocking and a battle erupted on the ship. The strike team was annihilated and the legendary mercenary was thrown over the side. Gado was sure he would die but was saved by an old friend. The mercenary spends the next two years healing his wounds and gaining information with his friend. By the time Gado is fully healed he gained information on the vessel and something called the N Zone. With the help of his friend he heads out. The mission continues.

Gado is a French zoanthrope. Developers said that the game will go more in depth with his relationship with others like Shina and Yuji. The developers also said some of his design and costumes are influenced from Konami’s Metal Gear Solid series. Gado is the leader of a small private military company called Bravers International. His gameplay is similar to the original Bloody Roar series with more emphasis on pressuring the opponent. Many of his moves have guard breaking properties. “He’s a legend and transforms into the king of beasts. We wanted to make the character have a prideful air and evoke a sense of dread in opponents who face him.” Set said.

Uriko Nonomura
“Your evolution ends here.”

Known As: Uriko the Evolution

Age: 13

Occupation: Experiment 4P-U22

Fighting Style: Primal Rage & True Savagery

Beast Form: Larva (Evolved), Chrysalis (Chimera [BEHEMOTH])

Rival: -

Voiced by: Mae Whitman (Embryo), Mary Elizabeth Glynn (Larva)

Project: NEO 26. Next Evolution in Offspring. The phenomena of zoanthropy has been a subject of amazement and interest to many. Even before The Unmasking that introduced the world to zoanthropes, some knew of these people who can shift into beasts beforehand. The possibilities their blood held were numerous. A few questions were if zoanthropy could be induced in humans, if it can forcibly be triggered in zoanthropes and if it can be pushed into a state of evolving humans. Kāità zhě Manufacturing came up with a plan that could answer many of their theories. They would inject evolution inducing serums into the embryos of children developing in the womb. When they came to puberty, the company would reclaim their specimens for human experimentation and dissection to further their research. Because of this research humanity has advanced forward. The selection is always with twenty-six unborn embryos and to not arouse suspicion another selection is not carried out till the previous specimens are reclaimed. There have been four selections thus far. Uriko Nonomura finds herself part of the fourth selection and one of only four to make it to the fourth phase. Scientists have made leaps and bounds within the one year of having Uriko. She is the future.

Uriko is a Japanese zoanthrope and the final boss. She is the only character in the game to have two beast forms. She is also the only character in the game to have three life bars. Each time a player depletes one of her life bars she’ll shift into another form. Her first form is a thirteen-year-old girl with very quick attacks and agility with decent strength and moves that can stun the player for a few seconds. Her second form she is a full grown woman whose stats are above any other human character in the game and rivals the stats of zoanthrope forms. Her final form is a beast whose stats overshadow every other character in the game. Uriko’s feral gauge also charges faster than other characters. The developers have redesigned the character and all her forms. “As a boss we wanted to create something terrifying and sad at the same time. Her first form is an innocent girl whose been experimented on to the point of breaking. She fights like child raised by animals with tears flowing down her eyes and painful cries when you hit her. You’re supposed to feel sympathy. As the battle continues the threat rises and the player begins to see the true terror of Uriko. Sympathy turns into desperation and fear.” Set said. They also said if Uriko becomes a playable character in the future that they would remain faithful to her past designs in Bloody Roar.

Hans Taubermann
''“The ugly always die. You’re next."''

Known As: Hans the Fox

Age: 22

Occupation: Evolution Enterprises Company Defense Force

Fighting Style: Silat

Beast Form: Fennec Fox

Rival: Vulpez

Voiced by: Sam Riegel

Beauty has always been linked to Hans’s life. From a young age he watched as his beautiful child actress friend was abused and bloodied by her ugly father. When the father accidentally killed his daughter Hans made sure the man’s death was no accident. Hans’s older sister was a model who brought out jealousy in other women. So much jealousy that her ugly friend threw acid on her face ending her model career. Hans made sure to end this friend in a similar fashion. His sister’s career over and her handsome lover leaving, not able to look at her, she became ugly on the inside that matched her wounds on the outside. Hans put his sister out of her misery. Then there was his ugly father who hit both Hans and his mother, fearing she would leave him for a more handsome man. Hans made sure his father left this world to never return.

These tragedies developed Hans’s view of the world: People who were ugly on the outside were no doubt ugly and twisted on the inside. The world’s evils spawn from ugly people so every ugly person needed to die in this world. He had a talent in killing from a very young age that only grew more efficient with each year that passed. One day he was approached by a woman in a red suit. If Hans worked for their company she would find all the ugly people for him to kill as well as give him immunity from the law. Hans accepted becoming an assassin for Evolution Enterprises.

Hans is a British zoanthrope. The developers originally were going to leave Hans out and adapt his story for Vulpez. Due to fan desire for Hans to be in the game developers brought him back and changed Vulpez’s story. As he is a DLC skin his beast design is identical to Vulpez with some differences. His design has been updated with more emphasis on an androgynous look and his effeminate side. As such his second costume has him in long hair with a dress. “We pictured that one way Hans would kill targets is by taking advantage of his cross dressing nature. He’d dress up as a woman, seduce the target and kill them at their home.” Set said. Hans beast form is the same light brown color as the first game with larger ears than previous. Both forms are taller than Vulpez. His movelist is identical to Vulpez with the exception of some moves being chargeable for Hans. This makes the move stronger with guard breaking properties, but the attack becomes slower.

Gregory Astley
“I am pain and you can’t take me!”

Known As: Greg the Gorilla

Age: 35

Occupation: Circus Ringmaster

Fighting Style: Wrestling with some Sambo

Beast Form: Mountain Gorilla

Rival: Yugo

Voiced by: Patrick Seitz

When the family pet died Gregory’s parents carried him to the circus to cheer him up. This journey to the circus would leave an impression on the boy’s life for all time. It was something of magic that brought joy and happiness. Something so gleeful and festive must be shared with the rest of the world. For this Gregory wanted to make the greatest circus the world has ever seen. He invested his savings into a dying circus and renovated it, acquiring new content and creating new acts. Still... something was missing. Something to make his circus go from good to the greatest. Then a chance meeting with a woman in a red suit gave him the idea and inspiration. It was so simple. If he added a few zoanthropes to the circus it could be the greatest of all time. With all the civil unrest between zoanthropes no one even considered the two coming together to make a stupendous performance. A simple man with a simple mind, Greg doesn’t care of the war between races. He sets out towards where the woman in red said possible ‘talent’ would be. His mind imagining the greatest show between human and zoanthrope.

Gregory is an American zoanthrope. The developers were going to leave Greg out and adapt his story for Michaël. Due to fan desire for Greg to be in the game, developers brought him back and changed Michaël’s story. As he is a DLC skin, his moves and beast design is identical to Michaël’s with some exceptions. Developers emphasized kind and happy expressions with him while updating his costume to more fashionable for today. “We wanted Greg to be a light-hearted character in the game. He’s got such a kind expression that children even like him in beast form." Set stated. Gameplay wise one of Greg’s Beast Drives is different. Design wise Greg’s model has more cartoony expressions when being attacked. His top hat can also be knocked off with a strong enough attack.

Yuuga Tuskigami
“My fang is undisputed!”

Known As: Fang the Wolf, The Fang

Age: 17

Occupation: Inspector

Fighting Style: Boxing

Beast Form: Grey Wolf (ochre shades coat variant)

Rival: Reiji

Voiced by: Lex Lang

The protagonist of Bloody Roar: The Fang manga drawn by Maruyama Tomo. He is on his own investigation on the practices of Evolution Enterprises. The developers considered adding Fang to the main roster but declined as he was too similar to Yugo. "People send a lot of ideas for canines and felines. It makes us afraid to introduce too many of the same type of animal as there are many animals with cool traits that get overlooked for animals like wolves and tigers." the developers said. They also stated this was one of the reason they didn’t pick Talbain as a DLC character from the Darkstalkers series. Fang has a different stance despite having the same moves. In beast form his ears are pushed back unlike Yugo’s that stands straight up. Also one of Fang’s Beast Drives is unique and is able to shift an enemy out of beast form.

Mashiro Toba
“I’m sorry, but I have to win.”

Known As: Mashiro the Rabbit

Age: 16

Occupation: Student

Fighting Style: Kickboxing

Beast Form: Holland Lop

Rival: Long

Voiced by: Jennifer Hale

The main female character of Bloody Roar: The Fang manga drawn by Maruyama Tomo. She is helping Fang on his investigation of Evolution Enterprises. Her beast model differs from Alice in that her ears hang down instead of pointed up. She also has a different stance from Alice. One of Mashiro’s Blitz Drives is unique to her

Shirakumo
“You’re strong, but not strong enough."

Known As: Shirakumo the Tiger

Age: 26

Occupation: Nursery School Owner

Fighting Style: Baguazhang

Beast Form: South China Tiger

Rival: Shina

Voiced by: Kirby Morrow

A supporting character from Bloody Roar: The Fang manga drawn by Maruyama Tomo. He joins to help Fang and Alice on their investigation. His beast model is different from Long’s with the pattern and thickness of his stripes. Shirakumo has a unique Blitz Drive that only he has. The developers have said that while all DLC skin characters don’t have a significant part in story mode nor do they have an arcade mode, secrets can be unlocked throughout the game that will give background of these characters and what they were doing before, during or after the events of the game.

Kirk Langstrom
''“...too late. It’s in me… and it’s about to come out.”''

Known As: Langstrom the Man-Bat

Age: 38

Occupation: Scientist

Fighting Style: Panic/Feral

Beast Form: Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox hybrid

Rival: Alice

Voiced by: Marc Singer, Frank Weller (Man-Bat)

A special guest character all the way from DC Comics! He is a villain of the legendary Batman and debuted in Detective Comics #400. Working with the scientists of Kāità zhě Manufacturing, Dr. Langstrom looks to perfect his Man-Bat formula. Combining his research with the zoanthrope experiments led him to interesting results. His design is based on different iterations from the animated cartoons and his theme is a remix of Batman the Animated Series opening theme. The developers took moves from Jenny the Bat and created some of their own to make Langstrom’s playstyle a unique power house flyer. “We used Langstrom because we wanted to test a few things for a future game and future Bloody Roar characters. Unlike Reiji, whose more combo oriented, Langstrom is flying brick. He’ll hit hard. Fly back and hit harder.” the developers joked. His human form is weak and a long range character while his beast form is much stronger and fights close range with aerial dives. Downloading this character also gives you the special stage ‘Gotham Nights’.

Leonardo
''“It’s not the weapon that’s important. It’s the ninja wielding it.”''

Known As: Leonardo the Turtle

Age: 15

Occupation: Ninja

Fighting Style: Ninjutsu

Beast Form: Red-eared Slider

Rival: Bakuryu

Voiced by: Jason Biggs

A special guest character all the way from Mirage Comics! He is the leader of the turtles and  combats evil foes like the Krang and the Shredder. Leonardo saw a woman turn into a turtle and get captured by a dog like man. Thinking this is a plan of the Shredder, Leonardo rushes to save the woman. The young ninja is stopped by an older shinobi with a malevolent aura around him. Leonardo managed to escape yet with each move he makes he feels he is being hunted in the shadows. His design is based on the 2012 series while his theme is a remix of the 1987 series theme. Leo is similar to Dieter in that his feral gauge is not for transformation. Instead it is for multiple sword stances that give Leo access to a greater variation of moves and play styles. Developers have said he is one of the harder characters to learn in the game. Downloading this character also gives you the special stage ‘Sewer Lair Hideout’.

Morgan Ziegler
''“I’m the smartest thing on webbed feet. I can think as well as fight!”''

Known As: Zitz the Battletoad

Age: 15

Occupation: Computer Technician (previous), Warrior

Fighting Style: Tactical and Economical

Beast Form: Cane Toad

Rival: Michaël

Voice Actor: Matthew Mercer

A special guest character coming from Rare’s Battletoads series! He is the leader of the battletoads fighting the forces of evil like the Dark Queen. Zitz witnesses a gorilla crushing the skull of a poor person. Feeling sorry for the victim Zitz heads out to deliver justice in the only way he knows how. With his fists. One punch at a time. His design is mostly based on his appearance in Battletoads & Double Dragon while taking a few design cues from other games. His theme is a remix to the battletoads original theme. While Zitz has his moves from previous games the developers have changed his fighting style. “We made his fighting style the same as he said it was.”. Zitz is a zoning character capable of controlling the space across an entire stage. Like Leonardo and Dieter, his feral gauge is used for something else. For Zitz the gauge is used to increase the duration and size of his special moves allowing him to control the space and flow of battle. Downloading this character also gives you the special stage ‘Turbo Tunnel’.

Felicia
“Wanna dance?"

Known As: Felicia the Darkstalker

Age: 48??

Occupation: Superstar

Fighting Style: Night Warrior

Beast Form: Cat

Rival: Cuán

Voice Actor: G.K. Bowes

A special guest character from Capcom’s Darkstalker series! She is a catgirl trying to create peace and coexistence between humans and darkstalkers through a career of being a star. When her fellow catgirls are attacked by HOPE she steps in to save them. Unfortunately by doing so Felicia perked the interest of one of the best hunters in the world. The catgirl must find a way to elude these hunters and save her catgirl band. The hunt begins. Felicia’s design is based on her design from Darkstalkers Resurrection with very little changes. Her playstyle is similar to her Darkstalker iterations being a nimble rushdown character. Felicia’s rolling attacks are different from Dragana’s. Where Dragana can stop in mid attack and reverse direction in some cases, Felicia’s attacks track the opponent and can be curved to attack from an angle or the side taking advantage of the 3D field. She has what the developers call ‘a reverse feral gauge’. Felicia’s feral gauge is constantly draining but she can shift into cat form which constantly makes her feral gauge rise. While in cat form she has the lowest offensive and defensive stats in the game, but due to her small size she can evade many moves. Her cat form also has a few evasive moves and her attacks have a high priority, able to stop many moves before they can be completed. Downloading this character also gives you the special stage ‘Tower of Arrogance’.

Ohran Wilfred
Voiced by: Paul Eiding

A pacifist who believed in the world coming together and everyone treated equally. He dedicated his life to trying to create total peace and formed the organization, Peace 4 All, in his attempt. When zoanthropy became known to the world and prejudice arose between zoanthropes and humans, he sought to mend their differences and bring them together. Ohran believed ‘no one should be left out of this world’. His constant work and charisma was one of the leading advances towards peace in the world. His assassination would set the world on a dark future.

Asha Smriti
Voiced by: Christina Puccelli

The daughter of an Indian ambassador, Asha never saw a difference between humans and zoanthropes. They both laughed and cried. They both have dreams and fears. Despite her young age she always treated her zoanthrope peers as equals. Her parents documented her behavior and showed it to the world to help promote peace and co-existence. Her innocent words and actions even impressed Ohran Wilfred. Asha soon found herself as the youngest peace ambassador. A symbol of peace, her death was the catalyst for disharmony. The developers have said that Dragana tries to emulate her.

Yuji Ogami
Voiced by: Lex Lang

A kind-hearted Japanese soldier, Yuji may have been a second-rate soldier, but his heart was second to none. One of his most notable actions was being able to stop a shootout from erupting between his division and a town of armed civilians. By just talking and risking his life in enemy hands he was able to tame the feelings of both sides. This action caught the attention of the legendary mercenary, Alan Gado. The two became brothers in arms from that day on. Years later a mission goes astray, killing many citizens. One of the citizens was Yuji’s wife. Disillusioned by the military, Yuji left  his life as a soldier behind and to raise his son. The government reinstated him into the military for one last special mission with Gado, Golan Draphan and a few other soldiers who have had experience with zoanthrope individuals. Yuji and the rest of the special task force died on this mission. The developers said they would give Yuji more characterization in this game and touch upon his relationship with Yugo.

Frañseza Shina
Voiced by: Jennifer Hale

A French soldier who worked as a combat medic. She met the mercenary, Alan Gado, while tending to his wounds against orders. Since then the two have been close even if they are not always on the same battlefield. When Frañseza became pregnant, she opted for a reserve position to spend time to raise her daughter. Combat and war made Frañseza see and do things she never wanted her daughter to experience. She did her best to steer her away from that life. Frañseza is called back as combat medic to aid as a supervisor of other medics on a mission. The mission went astray and Frañseza was killed in the conflict. Because of her death, Alan drowned himself in combat while Jeanne became lost on the battlefield.

Aldeer Darwin
Voiced by: Daran Norris

The CEO and creator of Evolution Enterprises. His grandfather became too old to run his company and named Aldeer as his successor. Using the skeleton of his grandfather’s company, Tylon Corporation, Aldeer created Evolution Enterprises in its ashes. A stern and mysterious man, Aldeer has been known to be aggressively passive. A visionary that looks far ahead into the future, not many can see the world as he does. The developers have said that Aldeer is a looming presence throughout the game, but one you don’t see or interact with. This can be seen with the viral marketing of the game and in-game scenes where you hear his voice in commercials and characters talk about him, but he is never seen.

Vera Baris
Voiced by: Laura Post

An Albanian high ranking executive in Evolution Enterprises and Aldeer’s left hand. She is able to grasp the CEO’s ideas and visions and able to execute his desires independently with little to no orders. A mysterious woman, no one can read what she’s thinking or what she’ll do next. Developers have stated that Vera stands in place of Aldeer who is never seen. She plays a vital role in some of the character’s backgrounds and what brought them to the present story.

Huntsman Team 03
Voiced by: River (Phil LaMarr), Ciel (Lara Jill Miller), Erden (Troy Baker), Ash (Erica Mendez)

A five-man HOPE unit led by Dieter Rask. The other members are River Dalton, Ciel Tolbert, Erden Fleischer, and Ash Bolivar. Each of them have past experiences with zoanthropes and joined HOPE for their own reasons. River is the longest member on the team, having worked with Dieter in different units within HOPE and military units outside of HOPE. The developers have given outside information on the team to further flesh them out. River is dark skinned and of British descent. He’s the most easygoing and lax of the group but can become cold in a heartbeat. Ciel is Canadian with a bubbly personality that always tries to keep a positive outlook. Erden is German. He is the newest member to the team and hard headed. He is very adamant in his beliefs and his ideas. Ash is a Spaniard with a hot temper and a trigger finger. She is the first one to jump into a fight.

Each member has a small patch on their uniform that is homage to another series. River has a Foxhound patch (Metal Gear Solid), Ciel has the witch, Charlotte, as a patch (Madoka Magica), Erden has a Wings of Freedom patch (Attack on Titan), and Ash has a patch of a red and purple scissor blade crossing each other (Kill La Kill).

Lin Li Shin
Voiced by: Lara Jill Miller

Long Shin’s younger sister. She has lived a distressful life due to her brother’s zoanthropy. Her feelings towards him are complicated. Lin Li rests in an advanced hospital with all her expenses being paid for by Evolution Enterprises. She battles for life against an unknown disease contracted from a zoanthrope.

Enemy Fighters
These are characters who show up as enemies during Story and Survival modes. These characters are not playable and only have stripped down movesets of playable characters. They have only one Blitz Drive and no Beast Drive or Hyper Beast mode.

Grasshopper - A well dressed person in a top hat, a monocle and carrying a pocket watch. They use a shallow moveset based on Alice. Has both male and female versions. The female has a different type of pants and a noticeable bust. Comes in a six color variant with enemy designations of [ZLW], [EE] or [Enemy]. Only the [ZLW] and [EE] variants have a Blitz Drive. Grasshopper is the only insect zoanthrope in the game.

Caracal - A young person with blonde hair wearing tinted glasses that cover their eyes. Their beast form is a smaller, spotless version of Shina’s with pronounced black tipped ears. They use a shallow moveset based on Shina. Has both male and female versions. The female has longer hair with a different tint to her glasses. Comes in a six color variant with enemy designations of [ZLW], [EE], or [Enemy]. Only the [ZLW] and [EE] variants have a Blitz Drive.

Gold Jackal - A young person with two-toned hair wearing a small scarf around their neck. Their beast form is a smaller, sleeker furred version of Yugo’s with a slightly longer snout. Has both male and female versions. The male version has long hair with the toned colors reverse of the female. They use a shallow moveset based on Yugo. Comes in a six color variant with enemy designations of [ZLW], [EE], or [Enemy]. Only the [ZLW] and [EE] variants have a Blitz Drive.

Law/Hunter - A man or woman in an all black SWAT uniform wearing a helmet that covers their head. The hunter version wears cameo colors with their lower face covered by a mask instead of a helmet. They use a shallow moveset based on Dieter and are unable to call for reinforcements. Comes in a three color variant for Law and Hunter. [HOPE] is always a Law designation and [WH] is always a Hunter designation. Both have a Blitz Drive.

Pangolin - A person in a spiked leather jacket with ripped jeans and a bandanna tied around their thigh. They use a shallow moveset based on Dragana. Has both male and female versions. The male is bald while the female has her hair tied back into a short ponytail. Comes in a six color variant with enemy designations of [ZLW], [EE] or [Enemy]. Only the [ZLW] and [EE] variants have a Blitz Drive.

Trumpet Swan - A person with light blue hair wearing white gloves and a wireless headset. Their beast form is a longer necked version of Reiji’s with a blunt beak, rounder eyes, webbed feet and a slightly larger wingspan. Has both male and female versions. The male has a mop head of very curly hair and a short jacket while the female has curly mohawk and long coat. They use a shallow moveset based on Reiji. Comes in a six color variant with enemy designations of [ZLW] and [Enemy]. Only the ‘Black Feather/Red Bill’ and ‘Black Neck’ color variation have a Blitz Drive.

Man of War - It doesn’t have a human form and is always in beast form. It’s beast form is similar to Bart’s but thinner, translucent with many more tentacles, and most of its head is just sail-like sac structure. Its mouth is also just 6 horizontal slits. It’s voice is mixture of male and female voices blended together. It uses a shallow moveset based on Bart. Only comes in two colors: vibrant blue and purple. The blue color is more defensive and has more health. The purple is aggressive and faster. Both have a Beast Drive, but no Hyper Drive. Enemy designation is [EE ZTE-17] for the purple and [EE ZTE-14] for the blue.

-More to Come-

Stages
Bloody Roar: End Zoan features 12 stages initially with 5 more unlockable stages and 4 DLC stages bringing a total of 21. Many stages feature breakable objects and multiple areas. All areas have a day and night look that can be picked in stage select. Stages, like the characters, also take damage that remains till the end of the battle. Cracked concrete or claw slashes in buildings can prominently be seen. This is also dependent on the character inflicting damage. Where Yugo and Shina would leave claw and bite marks on the environment, Michaël leaves fist imprints and Bart’s tentacles leave bands and whip like wounds on the area.

Warrior Born - A modern day urban street that is outside of a dojo, a few other stores and a park. In the background teens and kids can be seen skateboarding and watching the players fight. A character can be knocked through the window and fight in ‘Warrior Born’ dojo. The stage features breakable objects like lamp posts, street signs, punching bags, glass and other things. This is the dojo that Yugo and Alice learned martial arts. Yuji Ogami knew a few war buddies that ran the dojo whom gladly took Yugo and Alice as students.

Kuniumi High School - This stage takes place behind the school gate but outside the school. There are cherry blossom trees in the area with petals falling. Students hide behind the trees and run away as players get closer. Some of the trees and the school gate are breakable objects and show battle damage. A character can be knocked into the first floor of the school which has  rows of lockers. Students peep out of a classroom and the hallway to see the action. Some lockers are also breakable and take damage. Hinata Wakaba from Rival Schools makes a cameo appearance in the background. Alice and Yugo attend this school.

Graham Street Market - A stage that is bustling with people and carts. People can be knocked down and different carts take damage. Broken carts will spill their goods around the arena and civilians walking by can slip on them. Interestingly bodies don’t disappear when knocked down so the body count can get high. A character can be knocked through the crowd to a circular field that is mud and dirt. A few chickens run around this field and can be hit into the air. Long lives somewhere in this area.

The Train Station - An elevated station with trains running by between three tracks, characters fight on the narrow platform. Pillars and a garbage cans are breakable objects. Player can be slammed into a train that stops causing the train to speed off. If a player is knocked through the doors the fight will continue on the train. This field is narrower than the platform reducing the 3D elements of the stage. While on the platform you can also knock the player downwards through the platform into a wider stage area under the train station. This area is much wider than the platform and train with more breakable objects. It is one of the few stages to have three areas. The stage is set at night. Bakuryu uses the elevated train system to stalk and eliminate targets from all around the city.

The Cage - There is a nightclub called Impulsive Pleasures where carnal desires and fun happens. In the underground floor there is a large cage in a pit where people watch bloodsport between humans and zoanthropes. The cage is a medium-sized octagon without any breakable objects inside. This is also one of the few stages with only one area. When a character loses his first lifebar the cage is lifted from the pit to hang in the air for everyone to view. The background consists of well dressed people throwing money, refreshments and generally partying. There are also two large screens showing the fight. Reiji is a frequent participant in the cage and as of now is undefeated.

The War - This stage is set in a war between an army and terrorists. The city is crumbling as canon fire and missiles fly back and forth in the background. Soldiers and terrorists can also be seen running back and forth, firing at each other from the field and from buildings. There is a sniper on a building who pops his head up a few times to fire at an unknown enemy. The stage is rectangular, with tanks, barbed wire, and debris acting as barriers. A character can be knocked through a wall inside a small house that looks like it will collapse soon. Inside the house a young boy is huddled in a corner with a cat while the body of a terrorist lays dead on the floor. This is one of many battles Shina has fought in.

Blackwood Forest - One of the few stages to be set at night. It is a forest with medium to very tall trees. All with black leaves. The leaves on some of the trees fall. Trees take damage and some of them can be knocked down. During the night it is a full moon and the day is high noon. The barks of dogs and wolves can be heard. The wolves howl during the night and hounds howl during the day. In the background you can see wolves, dogs, foxes, pumas and other game animals running or flying back and forth. A few hunters peep from behind trees every few seconds. A character can be knocked into an area with a lake and stream. In this area is one thick tree with white leaves in the background with a giant snake wrapped around it. Legendary creatures like a unicorn and tsuchinoko make a rare appearance in this area. Hounds and a hunter can be seen in the background opposite the tree fighting a mothman like creature. This is where Cuán perfected his hunting skill.

Bellarose Manor - A great house on a large piece of land. The great house is desolate and deteriorating. Players fight outside by a spiral stairway that leads to a balcony inside the house. There is also a wall with graffiti and a drawing scribbled across it. The drawing is fox being hanged. On the other side is a garden with plants growing wildly. There are a few noticeable giant roses with large thorns. A player can be knocked up the staircase and through the balcony doors to fight inside the mansion. The inside is narrow with glass doors showing outside and how vast the manor is. In the background you can see how far the garden goes as well as a greenhouse, a stable for horses, and other things. A player can be knocked through the railings down to the ballroom. This area is large and rectangular. There is an old chandelier hanging above with and candles around the area have all been blown out. Some of the paint on the walls is torn, with many cobwebs. The area is dreary. At night you can see yellow eyes looking into the area beyond a door. This used to be Vulpez’s home.

Parking Garage - A darkly lit area that has a low ceiling and cuts off the height of a player’s jump. The stage is darkly lit, with lights in some parts flickering on and off. The area is slightly narrow and as players move back and forth the screen moves to give the feel of going up and down a spiral. In this area there are no breakable objects and only one person watches the fight leaning up on a wall in the background. A character can be knocked through the ground to the area below. This part is a larger, rectangular field with automobiles as breakable objects. Three people in the background sit around a car watching the fight. A baby blue Lamborghini Huracan makes a rare appearance in this area. This is one of the many places Michaël meets with people to get information.

The Yard - This stage is set at night at cargo unloading area next to a dock. In the background are Evolution Enterprises workers helping to unload and load cargo. Workers with guns force blindfolded people to march. On one side there is a ship, The Dreadnought, unloading cargo in the background. There is a crane taking a large container off the ship marked ‘5P-F06 URANUS’. On the other side of the stage is a train unloading cargo. Workers help load on a large container marked ‘5P-C03 EREBUS’ also by crane. A character can be knocked on a large freight elevator that changes the area to an underground facility. Workers armed with guns and scientists taking notes escort blindfolded people and people in large tubes. Canisters and small containers are breakable in this stage. Hajime Busuzima can be seen in the background escorting a tube with ‘LS028’ marked on the front. This is where Dragana escaped.

The Riot - A circular area outside of a police station with safety barriers on each side. One side are humans holding up anti-zoanthrope signs. The other side are zoanthropes, some transformed, holding up pro-zoanthrope signs. Police officers and HOPE enforcement on both ends trying to keep rioters at bay. In the background at one end are humans with bats cornering a zoanthrope. On the other end in the background a shifted zoanthrope holds a human on the curb while another prepares to curbstomp him. Racial slurs towards humans and zoanthropes can be heard. Fighters can be knocked through the safety barrier on either end. This is not a stage transition, but just an extension of the stage. When this happens the mob crowds around the fighters. If this is done on the human side, Nagi can be seen in the crowd. If this is done on the zoanthrope side, Akino from the Bloody Roar manga can be seen in the crowd. People can be knocked over in this stage. Dieter and his unit were called in to regain control of this area.

Pirates Bay - Within a large sea cave, at the entrance, there is a hidden dock for pirate ships. There is one wooden ship docked with pirates hanging off the side and unloading cargo. Cargo are breakable items in this stage. In the background you can see outside of the cave. Outside is a ship graveyard with numerous shipwrecks. Wreckers in small speedboats travel back and forth between wrecks. Beyond the wrecks in the distance is The Dreadnought sailing. A character can be knocked through the hull of the docked ship and into a room. Barrels are breakable in this room. Below a picture of a pirate is a treasure chest that can be opened. Every time it opens a mascot from Hudson Soft (like Bomberman) pops out and runs quickly off screen. This area is controlled and used as a hideout by Bart.

Fisherman Village - A bright and jovial stage with small shack like houses. Kids play with a ball in the background while the elderly watch sitting down on benches. To the side are middle aged people in straw hats sitting with fishing poles in the water. A player can be knocked off the small dock into the water. Waves gently crash back and forth obscuring the legs of characters. In the background are a few small boats, either slowly moving or dead in the water, with people fishing or hauling in a net. Flying fish jump out the water from time to time and rarely a giant black manta ray will jump out of the water behind them. This stage has no breakable objects. This is Mitsuko’s hometown.

Battle’s End - A hilly open field set at night with stars in the sky. It is the result of a battle with the bodies of dead soldiers and debris scattered all over. Large pieces of scrap metal and boulders are breakable. The remains of a tank, a helicopter, an AFV, and a jet can be seen scattered throughout the background. The helicopter is close enough to take damage from characters and have its tail fall off. There is also a destroyed Gekko from the Metal Gear Solid series laying on the ground with the main characters from Konami’s Contra series sitting on top of it. On the other side is a view of the sea with the moon (or rising sun) in the background. The remains of a submarine are scattered in the water. This stage only has one area. This is the remnants of a battle that Gado participated in.

N Zone -  Deep below Evolution Enterprises in an underground facility lies their most dangerous and glorious experiments. Things like the NEO 26 Project are here. This is a rectangular area and there are no breakable objects. The Evolution Enterprises insignia is on the ground. It is a rectangular field with a control room above and scientist monitoring the action. There are also two other screens that show the action from different camera views. There is an invisible barrier around the field (the devices that create this can be seen hovering in the air) that cracks as players are hit into them.

When Uriko is fought in this stage and her first health bar is depleted the ground collapses below the fighters and has them fall to a lower level. The new level is the same as before except there is no control room and metal plates marked with ‘Warning: Code Yellow Containment’ are placed as barriers around the entire stage. When her second health bar is depleted the ground collapses again to a lower level. Larger spiked metal, electrified plates marked with ‘Warning: Code Red Containment’ drop around the entire stage. A computerized voices says certain lines at the start of each of Uriko’s health bars. They are: ‘Intruders detected. Experiment U22 Elimination Protocol in effect. Release restriction 40%.’ for the first bar, ‘Intruders still detected. Release restriction 100%’ for the second bar and ‘Intruders detected… Limit Override sanctioned. 195%... Uriko. Kill everything.’ for the third bar.

Only when fighting Uriko does this stage have three areas. In online and versus modes N Zone is only a one area stage, but players can pick one of the three areas to fight in. Developers have released some outside information about this stage. N Zone is short for Neutralization Zone. All zoanthropes within the zone lose their ability to shift into beast form. “Even though N Zone is this stage, and the center of everything. Technically all of Evolution Enterprises is one giant N Zone with different areas allowing shifting and others not.” Set said. Pictures of story mode have shown that some characters are able to shift in the N Zone. When asked why the developers said “you’ll have to play to find out.”.

Whitechapel Alley - A narrow alley in the rain. There are windows above with some people watching outside down below. Two children sit on a fire escape watching the action. Garbage cans and bags are breakable objects. The rain washes the blood off of characters and the blood can be seen pooled in areas around the stage or being washed down a drain pipe. This area is where Hans first began killing.

Astley Circus - Within the main tent, in an octagonal field, is a circus event with many acts. The stage is unique in that a different act is going on every time the stage is selected. It shifts randomly between different performances such as clowns juggling, riding unicycles and doing comedy, men walking on stilts and juggling, a trapeze act, firebreathers, human cannonballs and animal tamers. All performers and their items are counted as breakable objects with funny animations if broken (for instance animals chase the animal tamers). A character can be knocked into one of the cannons which will blast them up to safety net high above the circus. In this area there is always a trapeze and aerial silk act in progress. If the action gets intense these acts will be interrupted and performers fall comically. The audience makes different reactions depending on the action going on (for instance they gasp in curiosity when a player shifts into beast form). Greg can be seen acting as the ring master conducting the performances in the background. If Greg is fighting then a woman from the circus acts as the ring master. This is Greg’s circus that he constantly works on to be the best in the world.

Gotham Nights - Bloody Roar makes its way to the infamous crime wave city of the dark knight! Always set at night. Players fight on a rooftop where radiators and a large sign are breakable objects. In the background is a full moon and a ‘Wayne Enterprises’ building. The bat signal wavers back and forth through the sky. On a different building the dark knight is fighting Killer Croc. The far background art style is reminiscent to the opening of the 1990s animated series. A player can be knocked off the roof onto the street floor. In the background is the Iceberg Lounge with many well dressed citizens standing outside who then cheer and watch the fight. A dumpster and a parked car are the only breakable objects in this area. Gotham police zoom by on the street. Catwoman watches the fight in an alleyway. This stage and Kirk Langstrom share the same theme.

Sewer Lair Hideout - Bloody Roar goes under the mean streets of New York to take a tour of the turtle lair! The stage is rectangular and a smaller stage. There is enough green sludge to be up to a fighter’s ankles. The foot clan and the Kraang lurk in the background. A character can be knocked through a wall that will place them in the turtle’s lair. This is an octagonal ring and fusion of the different versions of the turtle lair. Donatello is fiddling with a Mouser. Raphael is hitting a punching bag that looks like Shredder. If Leo is not fighting then he is sparring with Raphael in this stage. Michelangelo is watching a television and flips through channels. It shows a small video from one of the television or movie incarnations of the turtles. There are other homages to the turtles throughout the stage like plushies of the 1987 and 2012 April O’Neil side by side. This stage and Leonardo share the same theme.

Turbo Tunnel - Bloody Roar takes a speed trip with the greatest toads of all time! This is a recreation of the Battletoads stage ‘Turbo Tunnel’. Characters are on a metal platform that floats above the ground. As time passes wind effects can be seen on the screen to give the impression of going faster. Sometimes the platform hits a beam that throws both characters off stance and stops whatever moves were happening unless a player is in mid jump.’5000’ pops up when this happens. In the background the Battletoads drive back and forth on turbo skis (Zitz is not seen if he is a fighter). Pimple and Shovel Knight can be seen racing each other in the background sometimes. This is the only stage in the game where a ring-out can occur. Players can keep tapping the punch button if their character is holding on to the ledge to get back on stage. This stage and Zitz share the same theme.

Tower of Arrogance - Bloody Roar steps into the darker insanity of the night warriors world! This a recreation of the Darkstalkers stage ‘Tower of Arrogance’. Characters battle on the side of a building! A helicopter hovers around the area shining a light on with a person screaming in a megaphone at the fighters. This is a breakable object. If the helicopter hovers at the side of the characters (from a player’s perspective over their head) and is hit, the helicopter goes crashing to the ground. Catgirls from Felicia's band pop their heads outside of windows in the background to look at the fight. On another building two characters from Darkstalkers, Lilith and Lord Raptor, can be seen fighting. One another building there is a flashing neon sign that says ‘Darkstalkers x Arz Nova!?’ and ‘Darkstalkers 4 Ever!’. This stage and Felicia share the same theme.

Development
In 2011 a new Bloody Roar game appeared on twitter. This turned out to be a ruse. Konami took notice, but a new game remained in development hell till Ars Nova decided to take the game for development. In the fall of 2014 a message on twitter said ‘Bloody Roar guys! REALLY!! No TROLLING!!! :p’ a few days later another message emerged sending a link to a new Bloody Roar Twitter page. On the page was a redesigned picture of Yugo in his wolf form. Underneath the picture was the a message: ‘Did you think we were TROLLing? ;) The age of aggression returns! Unleash your beast.’. Nothing else would be heard about Bloody Roar till December 2014. Another picture was added using the Game of Thrones Stark banner with the words ‘Winter is Coming’ in the background. In the foreground was a picture of Hugo partially transforming into a wolf with ‘Bloody Roar is Here’ in the front. The developers have stated that they started to design the game since 2013, but Konami did not give the red light till the end of spring in 2014.

Viral Marketing
In 2015 Ars Nova used multiple techniques to build up hype for the game. “We split into two groups for this. One that targeted the casual crowds and the other targeted the competitive players. We have two tag lines for the game. Blood will fall for the casual crowds and the story and Unleash your beast for the competitive crowds.” Set said.

The developers created small commercial ads that appeared on YouTube and other areas on the internet. These were about how Evolution Enterprises enhances your life, the ZLW with pro zoanthrope sentiments and HOPE with anti zoanthrope sentiments and how they will protect you. Around certain cities they also placed stickers on buildings saying ‘Caution! Zoanthrope area. If in trouble call HOPE at this number.’. The number linked to an automated voice message listing off ways you can take precaution within a zoanthrope area.

They also went to some fighting tournaments with a demo build of the game that allowed attendees to play with Yugo and Vulpez. At some Expos, like E3 and EVO, they brought a bigger demo with Cuán and Alice also playable. Four models were brought in to cosplay the characters in human form wearing their associated animal ears and tail.

The ‘Blood Will Fall’ trailer is the first trailer released for the game. It consisted mainly of half the character roster beast forms in the shadows, Yugo and Cuán’s the most visible as they fight each other. The ‘Unleashed’ trailer soon followed featuring music from ‘Monster’ by Skillet. This trailer showed off the in-game graphics and gameplay. The characters featured in this video are Yugo, Alice, Long, and Dragana.

Art
The game features realistic rendered 3D models similar to those seen in the Dead or Alive and Virtua Fighter series. Emphasis was given on the animal forms and battle damage characters receive. Beast forms and transformations are different for each character with each having a unique look to their shifting. “Yugo and Shina let out enraged roars while shifting, Reiji makes a leap as if he’s jumping off a diving board while laughing maniacally, Cuán is eerily quiet while Urikio let’s out a shriek as if she’s been shot. Each character deals with their zoanthropy differently and we wanted to express that” Set said. The animal forms were redone and tailored more towards each character's’ personality.

Damage can be seen on characters as the battle prolongs. Dirt, scratch marks, blood can be seen on characters and carry over between forms. Great care and detail was put into the damage that beast forms took. “We felt we needed to get this right because each character’s beast form is different. How blood looks and bleeds onto fur would be different from Dragana and Bart, the latter whose blood is blue in beast form.” the developers said. Blood can spatter on stages and breakable objects too. Unlike its predecessors, clothing damage because of shifting carries over to human form. The degree of damage is different for each character. If clothes are damaged because of battle that also stays for both forms. The aesthetics for characters are revamped with hip hop culture influences to them. Each character has one extra costume that is mostly hip hop influenced. The game also uses scratch art to the promotional artwork as well as many special effects in the game. Shifting Strike, Safeguard and Beast Drives prominently shows off the style and each character has a unique color to for their effects. When Hyper Beast is activated the stage becomes slightly darkened and the character that activated it is now seen in a scratch art version with their unique color. The style is most notably seen for the story sequences and clips in Arcade mode. The style of the story sequences are very similar to the cutscenes from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Preordering the game comes with a calendar featuring all the initial playable characters from Bloody Roar: End Zoan. Each character and month is done in scratch art style. Three of the fifteen tribal beast emblems of the non DLC characters are added into the each game case as well as a poster. Preorders from Amazon or Gamestop gave a poster of Vulpez or Yugo respectively.

Players who preorder also get the OVA Bloody Roar: Re-Link. This is a 30-minute video broken up into three 10 minute stories: Phase 1 ~ N Zone, Phase 2 ~ Life of a Woman, and Phase 3 ~ The Final Mission. Phase 1 is about the scientist, Steven Goldberg, as he releases secret information about Evolution Enterprises to Michaël Angelos and another unknown source. Phase 2 is a quick look at Mitsuko’s life as a child up to the point that her daughter goes missing and she decides to search for her. Phase 3 is about Yuji Ogami and Alan Gado’s final mission. The animation is done by Japanese anime studio, Production I.G.

Audio
Unlike the previous games’ rock instrumental albums, Bloody Roar: End Zoan is primarily an album consisting of hip hop music to follow the game’s art direction. Background and stage music contain elements of hip hop mixed with another musical theme. This was heard when the developers showed off the Bellerose Manor stage where the background music was a mix of opera and hip hop. Fans have had mixed reactions to the musical choice and theme of the game.

Preordering the game comes with the soundtrack of the game on two discs. The first disc is water themed with Cuán’s human and beast faces up front and the hound tribal insignia as background. This disc consists of all the tracks in the game. The second disc is fire themed with Yugo’s human and beast faces up front and the wolf tribal insignia as the background. This disc consists of selected tracks from the original Bloody Roar soundtrack as well as rock remixes to the character themes of the first disc.

The game has two main and ending themes. The main themes are ‘Unleash It’ and ‘Pounds of Flesh’, a hip hop song by YouTube user Richie Branson. The ending themes are ‘A Bloody Roar from the Heart’ and ‘What You Are on the Inside’ sung by Japanese vocal group Kalafina. The rest of the music is primarily composed by Ars Nova. The character themes are:

Themes
Many have noted similarities between some of the themes of the game and Marvel’s X-Men comics. “While we are fans of the X-men this was not intentional. I think the nature of the plot creates similarities between both franchises.” Set said. The themes of prejudice and racism comes up between both franchises. “There is more focus on human reaction to zoanthropes than in past games. We felt that was something missed out on in the previous games and want to capitalize on it this time around.” the developers said.

Human experimentation is another theme. Throughout the game is subtext that humanity’s advancement is due to zoanthrope experimentation. At the same time it also gives glimpses to some of the horrific processes as well as the subjects experimented on. There is also an underlying theme of pain and how it is dealt with. Both in story and gameplay characters show different emotions when pain is inflicted. Gameplay wise characters show blood dripping off their bodies and limp or hold injuries. Story wise many characters have been affected by pain to varying degrees that has made their personalities. “We wanted to put the ‘blood’ in Bloody Roar this time around. But we also wanted to integrate the pain and brutality of the fights between zoanthropes. We looked at animal fights to gauge the level of  savagery we wanted.” they said. The developers have also said we’ll see how Yugo and Gado get their iconic scars and for Yugo it serves as some symbolism for his growth and change in character. Other characters may gain scars that help define their character.