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The Kakugane (核, Japanese for "Nucleus") are alchemical devices used by all Alchemist Warriors to form a Buso Renkin and one of only two forms of alchemy alongside the Homunculi which had succeeded.

A Kakugane is a hand sized hexagonal medallion with a hexagon at the center on both sides. On the front it features the classic alchemical symbol for amalgam and below it a roman numeral which represents the Kakugane's serial number.

Kakugane were developed in the process of creating the Philosopher's stone, the ultimate goal of the Alchemist Warriors around the planet. They were also developed as a possible counter against the Homunculi.

In total, there are only 100 Kakugane, from I (1) to C (100). The first three of were turned into Black Kakugane and the second one was made into a White Kakugane afterwards. After the Victor Incident, Kakugane were scattered around the world; currently, there are 29 known Kakugane that are used in Japan, including 3 White Kakugane.

Powers & AbilitiesEdit

Buso Renkin Creation: The most famous use of a Kakugane is the creation of a Buso Renkin, powerful weapons or objects created based on the users fighting instinct. The Kakugane opens up and morphs to form a weapon based on the user's fighting style. It is the only weapon that can destroy a Homunculus. Some users can use more than one Kakugane to create a Double Buso Renkin, an almost identical copy of the first Buso Renkin. However using a Double Buso Renkin requires a lot of energy and can become unstable, also no more than 2 Kakugane have been used by one Alchemist Warrior in the series.

Durability: The Kakugane are highly durable as they have been shown to be able to block other Buso Renkin even while deactivated. However a Kakugane is not invincible and can be damaged or even destroyed with enough force.

Regenerative Healing Factor: The Kakugane can self regenerate from damage and will slowly heal whoever is holding one, the healing process can be quickened by holding more than on Kakugane. Its regenerative properties are that great that one can also function as a replacement heart allowing the user to function even when it has transformed into a Buso Renkin. It is notable that the only Kakugane used for this purpose in the series have been Black Kakugane.

VariationsEdit

Black Kakugane: These are powerful, but unstable variations of the Kakugane. When implanted into a persons body the person will undergo Victorization, a transformation named after Victor Powered. As well as this they can create a Buso Renkin, like all Kakugane, however a Buso Renkin created by the Black Kakugane are often much stronger.

White Kakugane: Developed by Alexandria Powered, a White Kakugane is the exact opposite of a Black Kakugane. It holds the ability to nullify a Black Kakugane's power, restoring a person with a Black Kakugane to normal.The Black Kakugane (黒核, Kuro Kakugane, Japanese for "Black Nucleus") are a modified and potentially dangerous form of the regular Kakugane. They play a pivotal role during the later half of the series.

The Black Kakugane look almost the same as the original Kakugane, however as the name obviously suggests they are jet black and have small pointed diamond shapes on the edges of the inner hexagon. Also the amalgam alchemical symbol is upside down making it resemble a V which could represent its corruption or as homage to Victor. The original roman numeral remains on the Black Kakugane but is smaller and positioned to the right side of the amalgam symbol.

In the Alchemist Army's quest for the Philosopher's Stone, a research team which included Alexandria Powered as it's Assistant Section Chief used the Kakugane with the serial numbers I, II and III to create three prototypes which produced the three Black Kakugane. The first test subject to use the Black Kakugane was Victor in an attempt to save his life, however it turned him into the third type of being, described as a monster more terrible than any Homunculus. Black Kakugane II was eventually turned into a White Kakugane by Alexandria while Black Kakugane III was sealed and disguised as Kakugane LXX which was eventually taken by Tokiko Tsumura and implanted into Kazuki Muto.

Powers & AbilitiesEdit

Victorization: When somebody uses a Black Kakugane or at least has one implanted into their chest to replace their heart, it transforms them into the third type of being, neither human nor Homunculus, dubbed a "Victor", named after the first person to undergo the process. A Victorized human has glowing white hair (light green in the anime), red eyes, and tanned skin with an outline of their Black Kakugane on their chest. The transformation gives the user phenomenal speed, strength, durability and vitality above those of the Homunculi, they also effectively immortal as they never age, however they can still be wounded or killed which is an almost impossible task as they can regenerate from almost all damage. Unfortuentely this great power comes at a great cost, a Victor automatically drains the life force of any living thing around it, this function is like breathing to them and as such cannot be controlled but apparently replaces their need for nourishment or even oxygen. The only way to reverse these effects is to kill the user, which is very difficult or the Black Kakugane can be nullified by the effects of a White Kakugane.

Buso Renkin: Like all Kakugane, a Black Kakugane can produce a Buso Renkin, powerful weapons or objects created based on the users fighting instinct. The Black Kakugane opens up and morphs to form a weapon based on the user's fighting style. Buso Renkin from the Black Kakugane however tend to be more powerful than usual Buso Renkin due to the Victorization. If an Alchemist Warrior wielded a normal Buso Renkin from a regular Kakugane it can change to fit the newly Victorized user.

A Homunculus (ホムンクルス Homunkurusu) or Homunculi (plural) are a race of artificial creatures, created using alchemy.

Along with the Kakugane, it was one of the only pursuits of alchemy that ever succeded, a byproduct of research on artificial life. They are bio-alchemical creatures which sustain themselves almost exclusively by devouring human beings.

BehaviourEdit

Homunculi are intelligent, similar to humans but are cannibalistic in nature and usually driven by their hunger. They gain sustanance by devouring human beings alive. This cannibalism is not a neccesary for them to function as they can obtain energy from normal human food. The desire to eat humans comes from the Homunculus's own attachments to humanity. A Homunculi that has no desire for humanity such as Papillon does not feel any cannibal urges, and has ceased feeding on humans since he killed his family, the last connection to his humanity.

OrganizationsEdit

Some Homunculi band together and form organizations, these organizations are normally led by their own creators who are often Homunculi themselves such as Papillon's group and the L.X.E. These organizations are sometimes allied with Familiars, humans who join the Homunculi or people who have been abducted by them. Familiars almost always the lowest ranked members, but are often used to protect the identities of the Homunculi, and function as undercover agents. The Homunculi will sometimes reward a Familiar's success by transforming them into a Humanoid Homunculi, however most of the time they will transform them into Animal/plant types or simply eat them if they have outlived their usefulness. A large army of Homunculi fought against the Alchemist Army over a hundred years ago, but were defeated. The Homunculi were even once used by the Alchemist Army in their campaign to destroy Victor Powered when he became fused with the Black Kakugane.

TypesEdit

Core Embryo FormEdit

Embryo2

A Homunculus embryo.

The original form of all Homunculi is that of a small core embryo created using cells from another life form and developing them through a series of complex alchemical processes. The embryo must stay in a special alchemic fluid, kept at a constant temperature in an incubator while it develops, which can take weeks. Once the embryo is fully developed, it must be introduced to a human body and be allowed to burrow into the brain. Even if introduced to the body far from the brain, it will spread toward the brain gradually (as shown with Tokiko, whose embryo took a week to enter her brain). Once the embryo enters the brain, it begins to take over, morphing the host's body into a homunculus form. An embryo is tiny, generally only three centimeters across and looking something like an armored monkey. They generally look the same no matter what cells are put into them.

Animal/Plant TypeEdit

Homunculus Mita

Mita, a King Cobra Homunculus.

Animal/Plant-type Homunculi are the most common type of Homunculi made from the base cells of animals and plants which are then used to make the embryo which takes over a hosts brain, effectively killing the original human. They usually take the form of a large bio-mechanical variation of whatever animal or plant they were originally made from. Parts of the original human host are seen on the creature such as the original head inside the Homunculus' mouth or the upper body appearing on the chest. The human head always has the Homunculus mark on the forehead which is their weak point. They can transform between their original human form and bio-mechanical versions of the original animal, fighting instinctively with whatever weapons the form possesses but cannot wield a Buso Renkin.

Revised Humanoid Homunculi: Dr. Butterfly created an army of specifically designed homunculi, which are an amalgamation of animals and plants created to form a humanoid shape. As they were created to to combat Alchemist Warriors, they are generally good fighters but possess little intelligence and follow Butterfly's orders. A unique trait of these homunculi is that they can merge into a single, giant homunculus by feeding on each other.

Humanoid TypeEdit

Moonface

Moonface, a Humanoid Homunculus.

Humanoid Homunculi are made from the cells of the same human who becomes the host, thus leaving the human's mind intact through the transformation. Most of the time the resulting homunculus looks identical to the original human but there are variations such as Moonface who has yellow skin and crescent-shaped head. Tai and Shi also have more monstrous but still human forms. They all have the homunculus emblem mark on their chest. They gain incredible strength, stamina, and agility, along with a near-invincible homunculus body. They also have different methods of devouring humans such as when Papillon sucked them up using portal like holes on his hands and Jinnai who rips his cheeks and reveals lizard like jaws. In addition, because the human instinct is still intact, they are able to wield Kakugane as Buso Renkin, which is said to be their true power.

Powers & AbilitiesEdit

Immortality: A Homunculus' body never ages and as such can live forever, Dr. Butterfly and Moonface for example have lived over a hundred years. They are immune to all diseases as well, with the exception of incomplete Homunculi, in that case the disease will also become immortal, inflicting the Homunculus with symptoms forever without death. However they can still be killed.

Regeneration: A Homunculus' body is infused with alchemic energy and as such will regenerate instantly any damage it sustains from any type of mundane weaponry. However damage from other Homunculi or a Buso Renkin regenerate at a much slower pace.

Enhanced Durability: A Homunculus' body is almost invincible to all types of mundane weaponry. However they are generally vulnerable against Buso Renkin. An emblem mark acts as it's shield, a small mark on the Homunculus's body resembling two overlapping teardrop shapes. On animal-type Homunculi, the emblem mark is generally located on the forehead, while humanoid Homunculi have it on their chest.

Transformation: Animal/plant type Homunculi can freely transform between their true forms and the form of its human host. A Homunculus can even be modified so that they can partially transform possessing both human and Homunculus features.

Bestial Features: Animal/plant type Homunculi possess enhanced abilities that mimic the original animal or plant they were based on such as claws, fangs and even projectiles. Even Humanoid Homunculi can possess somewhat monstrous features such as Jinnai's lizard like jaws he reveals when he eats humans.

Enhanced Strength: All Homunculi have more physical strength than humans, such as the case with Animal/plant types which often take the form of an enhanced version of an already strong animal. Various Humanoid types have been shown to be able to fight on equal footing against Alchemist Warriors with their bare hands.

Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Many Homunculi possess a great deal of speed and agility depending on the species they were made from. Humanoid Homunculi are often especially quick as they are often known as super humans.

Organic Ingestion: One way or another, all Homunculi are capable of devouring humans. Animal/plant types will generally eat them normally using their mouths. Some Humanoid Homunculi do the same but making their mouths larger, however as Papillon on the other hand was shown literally sucking up people through his hands like a vacuum, leaving behind any clothes

Being well known as a genius, Papillon has created and even invented many objects including:

Homunculi: While he did not originally invent the Homunculi, Papillon created 21 Homunculus cores, the first 19 were regular animal/plant types including Hanabusa, Mita, Saruwatari and his minions, Kawazui and the core that attached itself to Tokiko. His last core was an incomplete human Homunculus embryo which merged with him, transforming him into an incomplete humanoid Homunculus.

Modified Homunculi: He also created Washio as a unique Homunculus that could partially transform parts of its human body into that of its true Homunculus form.

Cloned Homunculi: Papillon applied Alexandria's research on cloning to create clones of each of his original Homunculus minions each with the original ones memories.

Homunculus Incubator: An incubator which helped develop and support the life of a Homunculus Embryo until it was complete and ready to find a host. Papillon had at least 2 of these, one kept in the Haunted Factory to create various animal/plant types and one to create his personal Homunculus Embryo

Homunculus Core Antidote: An antidote to get rid of an attached Homunculus Embryo, he created this in case he ever became fused with one.

Modified Restoration Tank: This creation is a modified form of Dr. Butterfly's Restoration Tank. It is a bulb shaped container used for healing whoever is placed inside using a strange pink gas which often illuminates Papillon's secret hideout. It's power of restoration is slow but extremely effective as he uses it to heal himself after his fight with Dr. Butterfly. He modified it for more casual usage as it contains a chair, table and books which Papillon reads.

Victorization Negation Tank: A tall, cylindrical tank similar to the Restoration Tank made in order to temporarily stop Kazuki's Victorization, including his energy drain and advancement to Stage 2.

White Kakugane: With the help of Alexandria and Dr. Butterfly's research notes Papillon creates a White Kakugane from scratch apparently without modifying an existing Kakugane beforehand. It is unique to the other White Kakugane as it has Papillon's trademark butterfly logo in between the Amalgam symbols. He gives it to Kazuki so he can reverse his Victorization.

White Kakugane Machine: A large bulb shaped machine, resembling his Restoration Tank that helps finish the creation of his White Kakugane. It has a timer counting down to it's completion and when complete, the machine opens up revealing the completed White Kakugane.

Powers & AbilitiesEdit

Genius Intellect: Both as a human and a Homunculus he displayed incredible intellect having an IQ of 230. He had a vast knowledge of Alchemy having replicated his great-great grandfather's research and created many Homunculi including his own humanoid Homunculus core as a result. His knowledge is shown even further later in the series when he creates his very own restoration flask and even a White Kakugane.

Homunculus PowersEdit

Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Papillon has been shown to be able to move at high speeds catching two bodyguards off guard and even escapes Tokiko's Valkyrie Skirt while using his costume as a decoy.

Enhanced Strength: His strength has also increased greatly to the point where he can impale a human with just his arm and even hold off Kazuki's Double Buso Renkin with his bare hands.

Enhanced Durability: Like all Homunculi Papillon can withstand conventional weapons and attacks such as gun shots which only hurt him slightly. He can even withstand most attacks from a Buso Renkin without flinching as shown when he was stabbed in the stomach by Tokiko's Valkyrie Skirt as he continued speaking as if it wasn't there.

Regeneration: Also like all Homunculi Papillon will regenerate quickly from any non-alchemic attack. However his regeneration is slow when attacked by a Buso Renkin or a Homunculus. However he uses a restoration flask to accelerate the process.

Handmouth

Papillon's method of devouring humans.

Devouring Portals: Papillon possesses two portal-like holes on each of his palms which are capable of devouring humans and possibly other organisms. The process sucks up humans like a vacuum and only sucks up the victim itself, leaving any clothes behind.

Blade Nails: Papillon also gains purple finger nails, these a razor sharp as shown when he slashed Kazuki multiple times with them.

Buso RenkinEdit

Buso Renkin of the Black Powder, Near-Death Happiness (ニアデス・ハピネス, Niadesu Hapinesu)

Neardeathhappiness

"Happiness is found at the verge of death!"

Papillon possesses Kakugane LXI which takes the form of black gunpowder that can assume any form, however when Papillon uses it, it typically takes the form of a pair of butterfly wings on his back.

Gunpowder Manipulation: The black gunpowder can be remote controlled at a maximum distance of 50 meters and can be ignited at will to create powerful explosions, however the gunpowder has to be within his line of sight in order for it to ignite. Papillon typically turns the gunpowder into the form of small butterflies when using it offensively. Once the gunpowder runs out it takes up to 3 days to replenish itself.

Flight: Papillon can burn some of the gunpowder to generate thrust. He often does this while the gunpowder takes the form of the large butterfly wings which allows him to fly

Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: After training with his Buso Renkin, Kazuki has been shown to be able to efficiently wield a sword as well, he was even able to give Shusui Hayasaka a good challenge in a kendo match.

Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Kazuki has been shown to be very fast at running. After training with his Buso Renkin he is shown to be an agile fighter, able to dodge and block most attacks and efficiently attack with his lance.

Enhanced Durability: Kazuki has been shown to withstand most injuries caused by his opponents including being beaten of slashed, however this is partly as an effect of his Kakugane's healing properties. Also as his Kakugane has replaced his heart any injuries he sustains there are no longer fatal.

Keen Intellect: During his battles Kazuki has become more perceptive of his opponents movements and can plan his attacks quickly. He also quickly learns how to use his Buso Renkin for a variety of purposes.

Buso RenkinEdit

Buso Renkin of the Lance, Sunlight Heart (サンライト・ハート Sanraito Hāto)

Activating Sunlight Heart

Activating Sunlight Heart

It first was believed to be Kakugane LXX, but Kazuki came to discover he was actually in possession of the Black Kakugane III, with the actual Kakugane LXX being in the possession of Dr. Butterfly. Seeing as the Kakugane doubles as his heart, his Buso Renkin plays a unique and critical role in Kazuki's survival. Once invoked, his Buso Renkin, Sunlight Heart, takes the form of a spear-lance with a large decorative cloth attached. He was told his personality fit as a spear so his Kakugane took that form, because he liked to poke his nose into other people's business.

Energy Cloth: The cloth is turned into an energy force when it resonates with Kazuki's willpower. The cloth's energy can be used as propulsive kinetic energy for forward charging, or, dissipating the gravitational forces of a fall. This ability is the origin of its name as the light it radiates shines like the rays of the sun.

Sunlight Slasher: formerly named the "Jousting Slasher," is a straight charge attack under the propulsion of cloth's energy at full capacity, and it appears to be his quickest attack.

Sunlight Flasher: formerly the "Jousting Flasher," uses a burst of bright light from the cloth to blind the enemy.

Sunlight Crasher: formerly the "Jousting Crasher," is his strongest attack,

Wrappedsunlightheart

Kazuki about to perform the Sunlight Crasher.

which wraps the cloth around the lance and uses its energy force to increase the overall speed and destructive force of the charge.

Energy Attack: During his fight against Kawazui, when Kazuki first discovered the energy abilities of his Buso Renkin's cloth, he used an unnamed energy attack that incinerated all of his mini-frogs. Presumably, this is Kazuki's only ranged/area-of-effect attack, but he hasn't used it since.

Alternate Type Buso RenkinEdit

Sunlight Heart: Alternate Type (サンライト・ハート: 代わり・タイプ Sanraito Hāto: Kawari Taipu)

Sunlightheartanothertype

Kazuki's Double Buso Renkin.

When Tokiko gave him her Kakugane to help confront Chouno it taken on the form of a second lance with the same shape and cloth as the original but had a different motif. It made both lances unstable due to Kazuki's exhaustion and lack of experience. It was only used once in the series during Kazuki's first fight with Papillon. It is also used as one of Kazuki's attacks in the Jump Ultimate Stars video game.

Evolved Buso RenkinEdit

Sunlight Heart Plus (サンライト・ハート プラス Sanraito Hāto Purasu)

Sunlightheart+

"The New Light that Shines Toward the Heavens!".

Sunlight Heart permanently evolved into this form shortly after Kazuki's Kakugane resonated with Victor's Black Kakugane and revealed itself to be Black Kakugane III. In this form it has a smaller, sleeker design.

Energy Discharge: At first glance, seems inadequate as a lance due to its decreased reach and size. However, Sunlight Heart Plus's true properties reveal themselves as being able to vastly increase its reach and power; responding to Kazuki's willpower to unleash its self-contained energy, disassembling into, and arranging its core components in the most efficient formations. To this extent, it activates its alchemic powers in the same manner as the original Sunlight Heart. Though lacking the cloth, it can generate propulsive forces from the point at the end of the handle (which is shaped like the original Sunlight Heart, though much smaller) which opens to release kinetic energy. It can also fire off blasts of internal energy.

VictorizationEdit

VictorIII

Kazuki a.k.a. Victor III, transformed by the Black Kakugane.

When Kazuki's Black Kakugane III awoke it transformed him into a Victor giving him glowing white hair (light green in the anime), red eyes, and tanned skin with an outline of the Black Kakugane on his chest. Kazuki was only in Stage 1 of the Victorization which meant he could revert back to his human form. The transformation was usually triggered when Kazuki was angry as it sent him into a beserker rage when he first fought Victor. Afterwards he would normally transform in response to his normal fighting spirit.

Energy Drain: A Victor's primary ability is a 'vital body function' which absorbs people's life force; it's possible to kill a person by draining his/her energy. As it is a vital body function, it is impossible to stop or shut off. Because of this however Kazuki is capable of surviving without oxygen as shown when he fought Victor on the moon.

Regeneration: The energy drain ability allows Kazuki to heal wounds and regenerate lost limbs almost instantly, having even more vitality than a homunculus.

Enhanced Speed & Strength: His speed in this form is greatly increased to the point where he can catch even Victor off guard and almost match his strength.