Escher (エッシャー Essha) is a playable character in one of the two starting couples in Chaos Rings. He is partnered with Musiea.
Physical Appearance[]
Escher has dark skin, silver hair, and silver eyes. When his portrait shows him smiling, it is shown that he has distinctly pointed canine teeth. In his official art, he wears a black and brown top with unicorns on the chest, and a black and silver mantlet with large white buttons and fleur-de-lis motifs just below the shoulders. He wears silver gauntlets, black gloves, black pants, and brown boots. The outfit shown on his character model differs slightly from the official art. His mantlet lacks the fleur-de-lis design, and his shirt no longer bears the unicorns.
In the manga, Escher is first shown wearing a black jacket with zippers, studs, chains, and cross motifs, with a white t-shirt underneath, as well as white pants and tennis shoes. In volume 2, he changes into an outfit more consistent with his in-game appearance, though there are some minor differences.
His early concept art features him with blond hair and light skin.
Background[]
Escher is introduced as a rash but capable swordsman. In the beginning his behavior is quite vicious. He shows little to no regard for anyone but himself and acts as though he could win the Ark Arena single-handedly. Escher is an assassin by trade but royalty by birth, kidnapped by thieves at a young age. It was in their care he met a young girl who he cared for like a sister. He grew to care about her so much that he helped her escape from the thieves, despite ruining his standing with them.
In Escher's scenario he eventually left the thieves to fight on his own. He killed the priest and the nuns of Musiea's church three years prior to the Ark Arena, which is the reason for her initial hostility. Where as in Eluca & Zhamo's it was done by a traitor in the thieves organisation who he "took care of", though Musiea had seen this and misinterpreted Escher as the killer of her "family".
Escher is the only participant in the Ark Arena who is interested in the prize of immortality, the reason being that he has a heart defect that is soon to be fatal. He refuses to die because he made a promise to the girl he rescued that they'd meet again.
Story[]
- Main article: Escher (Scenario)
Upon being brought into the Ark Arena, Musiea immediately lunges at Escher with her rapier. He swiftly dodges her attack and threatens her life should she try it again. The two hold off their attacks after witnessing the futility of fighting against the rules when Garrick is effortlessly struck down before them. Upon nearing the end of Clashing Grounds, Escher and Musiea witness Alto being finished off by the Executioner after apparently falling at the hands of Olgar.
Personality[]
Despite initially coming off as ruthless and even cruel, Escher is a man who, despite having been raised in a violent and crime-laden setting, has strong convictions and intentions driven by those convictions. Keeping promises is something he values greatly. He is a bit headstrong and doesn't like being told what to do. He can be reckless or even foolish in his behavior, and gets frustrated when he doesn't understand a concept or idea, which is shown when he speaks to the Agent before fighting him in Bereshith Road. He is quite informal and even rude in his speech mannerisms, something that is toned down a bit in the English release (as seen in Eluca's route, when he refers to "nature calling" in the English version, but actually discusses bowel movements in the Japanese version), though in some cases that is hard to convey, as he speaks in a manner commonly associated with yakuza or edgy and brash characters (for instance, saying mendokusei instead of mendokusai, or urusee instead of urusai), which can be hard to translate. His battle quotes demonstrate that he enjoys taunting his enemies, even if they are monsters, asking "are you stupid?" when he blocks an attack or the enemy misses. He is shown to use sarcastic humor in dangerous situations, such as telling Musiea "it's not time to sleep yet" when reviving her with a skill or an item, or asking the Almighty "is that how you ask out all your dates?" when she demands that Escher and Musiea hurry to meet her. It is implied in multiple routes that Escher is compassionate and even kind to children.
See Also[]
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
- Escher is a German name meaning "dweller near an ash tree."
- His name may be a reference to the Dutch artist M.C. Escher, who was known for creating art of paradoxical structures. This may be a nod to the inability to escape from the Ark Arena, which bears a slight resemblance to some of Escher's works.
Trivia[]
- In Chaos Rings II, reading certain documents in the Home area will reveal that Escher and Eluca were participants in the 8th Rite of Resealing, with Escher as the Nominator and Eluca as a Pillar. Whether they are the same characters is unknown, but they are probably not the same as the two could not exist in the same timespace after the events of Chaos Rings.
- In the update of Chaos Rings Ω in December 2011, an alternate version of Escher is fought in Extra Mode. This version of Escher uses his original design from concept art and has a different skin tone, hair colour and hair style.
- He is voiced by Junichi Suwabe.
- The art book that was included with the limited edition release of Chaos Rings III: Prequel Trilogy lists his age as 26 years old, his height as 183 cm, and his blood type as B.
- In Chaos Ring III, he orders lonsdaleites to fix his equipment for the subquests.