Kafka/Story

Profile

Kafka is the most senior amongst the Stellaron Hunters barring Elio, being promised to "feel fear" when she joined him.^[1] She was a former Devil Hunter on Pteruges-V.^[2] She was the one that taught the Trailblazer various skills, and the Trailblazer followed her the longest amongst the Stellaron Hunters. Because of this, she possesses an emotional attachment with the Trailblazer, resulting in effects like not being able to hide her tells when she lies to them.^[1]

When Kafka is captured by Fu Xuan and taken into custody, her lipstick is removed and her eye design changes entirely, which implies that Kafka's normal eye appearance is actually due to cosmetic contacts.^[3] She is also a violin player, and has a hobby collecting velvet coats.^[4][5]

Her bounty given by the Interastral Peace Corporation is 10.899 billion credits.^[6]

Appearance

Kafka has the appearance of a tall woman with magenta-colored hair that she ties into a messy ponytail with two loose bangs hanging on either side of her face. Her eyes are of a similar, lighter color, and she wears dark pince-nez sunglasses on top of her head along with a pearl earring in her right ear.

She wears a white dress shirt that exposes the top of her back and shoulders along with a black jacket that is draped over her shoulders. There's a silver butterfly pin on its left lapel, and on the back there is a large, spider-like pattern in the center, along with webs on both shoulders and a burgundy inside. There are also wine-colored straps with golden accents on both her jacket and thighs, and gloves of a similar shade. She has large silver rings on each of her fingers, and her gloves have silver spiderwebs on the backhand.

She wears black, high waisted shorts and nylon tights, with a black thigh garter on her right leg. She also wears black boots with two different lengths: the right goes over her knee, while the left goes slightly over her ankle.

History

Recruitment of the Stellaron Hunters

Kafka was born in Pteruges-V, and she became a Devil Hunter.^[2] During a Devil Hunter mission, Elio met with Kafka and offered her to be part of the Stellaron Hunters. In exchange, he would fulfill Kafka's wish of being able to feel fear. Eventually, Elio handed the Trailblazer to Kafka's care, telling her to protect and train them.^{[1][Note 1]}

In order to recruit more people, Kafka and the Trailblazer went to the remains of Glamoth to retrieve Firefly and invited her to the Stellaron Hunters.^[7] She and Firefly then went to invite Blade, but not before fighting and defeating him.^[8][9] Lastly, Kafka, Blade, Firefly and Elio went to Punklorde to meet with Silver Wolf, promising to raise her level cap beyond LV.999. As a show of sincerity, Kafka and Elio gave her the chance to fight against her alternate self, which she defeated and gained the LV.999 cartridge.^[10][11]

Together, the Stellaron Hunters partook in a myriad of crimes to take the Stellarons, ranging from the theft of the Attouine Universal Auction, the infiltration of the Cyber Prison of Inupeis, the theft of the Steel Core of Golcondar, the Trovys Disappearance, the Loar-51 Stellaron event, the cyber-attacks on Planet Screwllum, and the Jepella Rebellion.^[12]

Herta Space Station

When the time for the Trailblazer to depart from the Hunters arrived, Kafka and Silver Wolf invaded the Herta Space Station, and Kafka used Spirit Whisper to implant the Stellaron inside them. She also revealed the Four Apocalypses, and advised them that when they have a chance to make a choice, they should make one they wouldn't regret, before erasing the Trailblazer's memories.^[13][14]

The Xianzhou Luofu

As the Astral Express crew planned to visit Penacony for the next Charmony Festival, Kafka's projection appeared on the Astral Express and asked the crew to visit the Luofu instead, as Blade was supposedly captured by the Cloud Knights for being falsely accused of the recent Xianzhou Stellaron disaster. In a vote split 3-2, the Astral Express crew went.^[15]

The Luofu and the crew made an agreement to capture Kafka, and managed to pinpoint her location at Stargazer Navalia.^[16] Kafka fought off the crew, before turning herself in when Fu Xuan arrived.^[17] Using the Matrix of Prescience, they were proven to be innocent.^[18] The Trailblazer stepped up to question Kafka's motives, which she revealed to be luring the crew to make an alliance of forces, including the Xianzhou Alliance to go against Nanook. However, the Ambrosial Arbor began growing again, which Kafka capitalized on and escaped, along with Blade.^[3]

Kafka let Blade's mara loose against a fight between Dan Heng and Yanqing, before using Spirit Whisper to stop all of them. Jing Yuan arrived and thanked Kafka for stopping the conflict and let her and Blade go free.^[19] Before they could go, however, Blade's mara acted up, causing the two to hide nearby the Divination Commission. In accordance with the script, Kafka contacted the Trailblazer, who met up with them. The Trailblazer either rejected or accepted Kafka's aid for help. If the player accepted, the Trailblazer and Kafka would play a truth-or-dare game, before fighting Yanqing off and having the two escape.^[1]

Present

In Amphoreus, when the Trailblazer was walking back from the River of Souls, an illusion of Kafka beckoned them towards the exit.^[20] When Irontomb managed to corrupt the entire universe, a memoria projection of Kafka appeared in the Eternal Page, warning the Trailblazer of the possible Fourth Apocalypse that comes from the Remembrance, before bidding farewell, trusting the Trailblazer to make the correct choice.^[21]

When Silver Wolf and Blade went to Planarcadia, Kafka was also sent by Elio to Penacony, following a more detailed script.^[22] During Asat Pramad's invasion of Planarcadia, Kafka passed along a message to not lose to Aha. However, the message was 23 seconds later than the script dictated, which indicated that they would face an enemy capable of interfering with the script.^[23][24]

Trivia

• Kafka is the first playable character in the game as a trial character during Trailblaze Mission Chaos In the Deep.
• The silhouettes of Silver Wolf, Blade, and what is likely Firefly can be seen in Kafka's splash art.
• Kafka's design incorporates numerous insect and spider inspired elements. This is a reference to her namesake's most famous work, The Metamorphosis, where the protagonist wakes up transformed into a giant bug. These include:
  • Kafka's jacket sleeves hang freely behind her, mimicking the six appendages of an insect.
  • The buckles and clasps on her outfit are stylized to have the appearance of an insect's pincers.
  • Kafka's glasses sit on her forehead above her eyes, imitating some insects and most arachnids possessing multiple rows of eyes.
  • Kafka's outfit features several spiderweb designs. These include the shoulders and cuffs of her shirt, the shoulders of her jacket, and the back of her gloves.
  • Kafka wears a butterfly pin on the left lapel of her jacket.
  • The symbols for Kafka's Ultimate and Skill are a spider and a spiderweb respectively. The former symbol also adorns the back of her jacket and her right boot.
  • When fought as a boss, Kafka's Spirit Whisper ability has strings appear from her hands, referencing a spider's webs.
• Kafka's trailer features renditions of the third movement of "Summer" and the first movement of "Winter" from "The Four Seasons," four violin concertos composed by Italian Baroque violinist Antonio Vivaldi.
• Kafka's submachine guns resemble the MAC-10 and Socimi Type 821.

HoYoverse Shared VAs

• Kafka shares the same Chinese voice actor, Xu Hui (徐慧), with:
  • Yelan in Genshin Impact
  • Kimberly Garner in Tears of Themis

Etymology

• Kafka is named after the Bohemian novelist, Franz Kafka.

Notes

References

Navigation

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