Kang's Fanfic Ideas, Entry #6 - BlazBlue: Coronated Oblivion · 9:10pm Apr 8th, 2014
A few of my readers probably know that I'm a HUGE fan of the BlazBlue series. I would explain it to those of you who aren't familiar with it, but that would frankly take up enough space to cover an entire fanfic chapter. In short, it's a 2D fighting game with one of the most compelling (albeit sometimes hard to follow) storylines in the history of the genre. It's told in visual novel style, with lots of text and character dialogue without much animation to go along with it, which will probably put off players who want more action-packed single player experiences. But for those who like books or actually want to know the stories behind the playable characters of the game (something games like Soul Calibur V nearly didn't do at all), it's an extremely interesting tale with lots of drama, badass moments, and even a good share of humor. They're some of my all-time favorite video games (right alongside Metroid Prime, Okami, and Super Smash Bros), and I greatly recommend them to anyone out there... oh, and did I mention the gameplay is pretty great too?
I've been dying to think up an MLP/BlazBlue crossover for ages, but I've always been unsure of what the story would be, for reasons I will explain down in the "Why WOULDN'T it work?" section as usual. Even the idea I have planned right now isn't finished, but it has the potential of introducing the BlazBlue cast to Equestria, thus opening up the possible results of the characters' meetings with each other.
What will the story be about?
The Azure Grimoire, known among some as the BlazBlue, is commonly addressed as the strongest weapon in the world. When wielded by someone strong enough to control its power, that person becomes one of the most powerful beings on the planet, capable of vanquishing armies single-handedly, and leaving entire military bases in ruins in their wake. This weapon is now wielded by Ragna the Bloodedge, the man holding the highest bounty in mankind's history on his head. While his reputation as "the Grim Reaper" was justifiably earned after he had infiltrated and destroyed several government bases around the world, circumstances have now led him down a different path. He's now one of the last hopes mankind has for survival, as only he and a few others stand in the way of the earth's destruction by the hands of being's beyond normal comprehension.
And quite frankly, nobody believes his power will be enough, himself included. Their opponents wield powers equal to or beyond that of the Azure Grimoire, and even people who are more powerful than Ragna stand helpless before their reality-bending might. Against such a threat, the world's "most powerful weapon" simply doesn't stand a chance.
Rachel Alucard, head of the Alucard vampire clan, and former observer of the world, knows this fully well. But deep within her family's castle, located in an alternate dimension beyond reach for anyone but those she allows entry, lies an object that even Rachel herself knows very little about. The Equus Grimoire, which supposedly hides a power even greater than that of the BlazBlue. It draws in whoever dares to read it, seemingly trapping them forever within its pages, as the select few who've dared to do so in the past have never returned. Had it not been for the words passed down to her from her father, Clavis Alucard, Rachel would've simply believed the object to be cursed, and prevent it from ever being opened again.
But the end of all things is approaching, and Rachel believes her father's words about the grimoire's secret power. Thus, with great reluctance well-hidden behind an emotionless and uncaring expression, Rachel asks Ragna to delve into the book in order to discover its power. For without it, a world of death may very well consume them all.
Why would this idea work?
BlazBlue's story is more than just excuses to make different characters fight each other. It has a deep, well-written lore spanning over several hundred years, and characters that each miraculously manages to play important parts without seeming like pointless throw-ins. Their personalities are colorful, and their stories are so well-written that frankly everybody in the entire cast could've been the protagonist of this fic and still have potential for a long, eventful plot. The partly fantasy-themed setting of the games also allows it to introduce ways for the MLP universe to exist alongside the BlazBlue one, without having to make up a half-flanked reason for how and why a crossover character can end up in Equestria. Furthermore, I've managed to think up a few interesting ways for the two universes to "connect" with each other, making the two feel more involved with one another instead of feeling completely separate without any overlying connections whatsoever.
While I mainly presented Ragna as the primary protagonist in the story explanation above, there's more than enough room and possibilities for other characters to enter Equestria as well. Ragna's short temper and tendency to get annoyed by people around him has potential in itself, but throw in the possible reactions from the ponies when his semi-psychotic, borderline flirtatious brother Jin joins the party. Or how about Kagura Mutsuki, an unstoppable womanizer who asks every non-underage woman he sees out on dates, finding himself in a world where 80% of the population is female. Will the fact that they're a different race put him off, or will he embrace his regular habits and turn all of Equestria into his personal harem? And I think BlazBlue fans out there can only imagine what would happen if Hazama came in, a troll of such absolute immorality that even pre-reformed Discord would call him out of line.
Why WOULDN'T it work?
The BlazBlue story is... complicated. Even most diehard fans would probably go as far as to call it a mess, at least during the first game. While most of it has been explained by the third game, there's still A LOT of small things one needs to keep track of concerning the story, ranging from character/object names to different locations, from organizations to historical people and events. With so much going on, it's very hard to keep track of all the information while watching the characters' interactions, remembering why they act the way they do around each other and what their ulterior motives are. Even I can't say I have a full grasp of it all yet, making planning the story more difficult.
And yes, the story as a whole is still incomplete. The first two games had individual storylines for each character, letting the writers tell the plot from each of their POVs to cover as much detail as possible. The third game, however, narrowed it down into just three separate stories spanning over several arcs each. Thus, the overall plotline was more coherently told, making it easier to grasp without confusing people with following the story over and over again from different characters' perspectives. Structuring this fic's story like the third game forces me to more cleverly weave the story as it goes on, while focusing on one character at a time makes their individual parts easier to plan.
I'm almost tempted to just start writing Ragna's arc, then switch to someone like Jin, and the continue on while structuring the overall storyline as I go on. I could even hold polls for the readers where they could decide which character would appear next. But if I want the fic's plot to even live up to a fraction of the games' plot, I need to plan it more, which is ironically difficult when I haven't even started on it.
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Future masterpiece or the garbage of the century? You decide.
Your call in the end. I wouldn't mind reading another BlazBlue fic
Hell, I had a scrapped BlazBlue fic idea of my own that starred Bang Shishigami crossing the boundary in an effort to snuff out the 'source' responsible for creating Arakune
One chapter involved Trixie showing up to Equestria with her boastful self and Bang accusing her of being the one responsible for Arakune's creation and challenges her to a duel.
...It doesn't go well because I had the shoddy idea of having Trixie pummel Bang with random stuff, only for him to come back and spew justice each time until she was worn out/ terrified by his tenacity.
Hmmm. I like the premise of your story. I would like to see who and how it would implement with Equestria but it as you stated - Blazblue's story is complicated. Though, again as you stated, Chronophantasma gave us a simpler version of it all to work with. An with such a large story like Blazblue, die hard fans would love to see if the even the smallest details from the story are added in.
But like Dirty Bit said, if you want to go for it - go for it. If you do go for it, I look forward to seeing it :)
would love to see a good mlpXblazblue fanfic so far i have only found one and i have not started it yet because the story setup of the main 6 going to the blazblue world bores mw