This article is about the Triggerheart Unit. For the unused Test Frame, see: Crueltear (Anchor Unit Test Frame)
Crueltear (クルエルティア Kuruerutia) is one of the main characters of Triggerheart Exelica.
Developed under the Triggerheart code TH32 (ナンバー32, "Nanbā San-ju Ni", lit. "Number Thirty Two"), She's Exelica's big sister for two reasons; due to her implanted personality in her Triggerheart System and the fact that both units were created by the Development Team #7 of C.H.I.L.D.A. giving them a bloodline-like link.
Due to periodic upgrades, she has grown in size compared to when she was first developed.
Treats Exelica like the little sister she never had. Crueltear possesses a mixture of genuine kindness and solid strength.
Together with Exelica and companion ships, among others, transported to Earth, where together the two continue their fight against the Ver'mith fleet.
Certain abilities, such as speed, surpass that of Exelica.
She can be passionate and hot-blooded...perhaps a little too much...
For reasons unknown, loves spicy food.
Operational History[]
Crueltear was among the Triggerheart units developed by C.H.I.L.D.A. and one of the few (if not many) developed by the Development Team #7, which later created Exelica. The creation of the TH60 gave Crueltear a Sister-like link which. Both Triggerheart units were assigned to the TH transport C'rna_dyne. Some time later, she befriended the TH44 Faintear. During a mission where the three Triggerhearts were deployed, the Ver'mith opened a Gate to escape, but also, the Triggerhearts (Exelica and Crueltear) and the C'rna_dyne were caught by the Gate and they're sucked in, while Faintear was captured by the Ver'mith.
The TH transport and the Triggerhearts materialized on planet Earth, which they made it their second home as they had no way to return to C.H.I.L.D.A. and save Faintear, thus, they've lost their reasons to fight. During a walk out of the C'rna_dyne, Crueltear meets Watt, a dog which she befriends. Then, an old man named Skiltall, which turns out to be the dog's owner, meets the Triggerheart units, which he adopts and treats as his daughters. During a considerable amount of time between family time and C.H.I.L.D.A.'s duties as a Triggerheart, another Gate opens, but this time is the surviving Ver'mith forces which came to take over the Earth as their new base. With the destruction caused by their enemies, the Triggerhearts lost reasons to fight returned, and they deployed to destroy the Ver'mith once and for all.
Final Whereabouts[]
Her fate varies depending on which game mode is the game being played.
Triggerheart Exelica (Arcade / Dreamcast)[]
- Arcade Mode: Like Exelica, her fate differs if the player is playing or not with Crueltear.
- Exelica: If the player is using Exelica, Faintear Imitate will try to destroy her with a final Fardott attack, then Crueltear will arrive and destroying Imitate. However, Imitate's "debris" will paralyze Crueltear and she's captured by Ver'mith Ennda. Exelica defeats Ennda easily in a desperate attempt to save her Triggerheart sister. Sadly, the Ver'mith Core explosion also damaged Crueltear. Mortally injured, Crueltear Anchor locks her sister throwing her away from the exploding battlefield, leaving her alone to die.
- Crueltear: If the player is using Crueltear, the Triggerheart roles are reversed. Exelica will be captured by Ennda and the final battle begins where Crueltear emerges victorious. Unfortunately, there's terrible consequences; Exelica is deadly wounded and corrupted by Ennda. Exelica throws Crueltear away and she stays to die with the Ver'mith. An unknown amount of time later, Crueltear continues with her life.
- Story Mode "Normal Ending": If the player used one or more continues in the game, it'll affect Crueltear's fate, along with Exelica's.
- Exelica: If the player is using Exelica, Crueltear will be mortally wounded by Ennda, while Faintear Imitate laughs at her defeat, she's captured by Ennda, and is destroyed by the Ver'mith Master Core after merging with her. However, an agonizing Crueltear makes her way back to Exelica. Realizing she's dying and any attempt of save her would kill both Triggerhearts, she Anchor locks her sister away, promising she will meet her later. Some time later, Exelica, refusing the fact that Crueltear has died, doesn't lose her hope of meeting her sister back.
- Crueltear: If the player is using Crueltear, Ennda will merge with Imitate, while the Ver'mith will capture Exelica, both Ennda and Imitate are destroyed, while Exelica is deadly wounded, and corrupted by Ennda. Exelica throws Crueltear away and she stays to die with the Ver'mith. After an unspecified amount of time, Crueltear still waits for her sister.
- Story Mode "True Ending": If the player didn't used a continue in the game the good ending will be unlocked.
- Exelica: After the destruction of Ennda, Faintear Imitate attempts to escape using the Gate, leaving the Triggerhearts to die, however she's captured by Crueltear, who is alive and well, with the combined powers of Exelica and Crueltear, Imitate is thrown away from the Gate, while the Triggerhearts escape successfully. Sometime later, both Triggerhearts are visiting a planetarium, remembering the Interstellar Wars.
- Crueltear: As Crueltear destroyed the Imitate-Ennda fusion, Imitate re-appears in a very bad shape, admitting defeat and her true nature as a Triggerheart under Ver'mith control, when Crueltear asks her the whereabouts of the original Faintear, unfortunately she doesn't know. then Crueltear asks her to finish their fight, Imitate refuses because she's free of the Control Core's control and considers the Original Faintear as her trusted friend. Without the influence of the Control Core, Imitate decides to settle things by destroying the Ver'miths "In the Name of the Triggerhearts" and on her original's behalf. While Exelica and Crueltear escapes, Imitate stays. As both Triggerhearts escaped an explosion was heard, implying Imitate died, however that is not mentioned. Back on Earth, Crueltear has recovered in a 90% from the battle damages, with the Ver'miths defeated, the only thing left for the Triggerhearts is to find and save the original Faintear.
- Arrange Mode (Exelica and Crueltear): Her fate in both endings are the same of those in the Arcade Mode.
Triggerheart Exelica (XBOX Live Arcade)[]
- Normal Ending
- Exelica and Crueltear: The "Normal Endings" of both characters are the same as the original Arcade/Dreamcast Arcade Mode (See above). To achieve the Normal Ending the player must use one or more continues, or don't unlock the battle with Imitate on Stages 1 and/or 3. The only difference is that the unused Triggerheart speaks one of the dialogues from the Story Mode.
- True Ending: If the player didn't used a continue in the game like in the Dreamcast port, and if unlocks all the battles with Imitate in Stages 1, and 3, the good ending will be unlocked.
- Exelica: If the player is using Exelica, Imitate will fight Exelica one more time, only to be defeated by the Triggerheart unit, refusing to give up, Imitate will unleash a final Fardott attack in a desperate attempt to destroy Exelica, but before the Fardotts can fire, Crueltear arrives using a Supression Bomb destroying the Fardotts. After Imitate's attack is thwarted by Crueltear, Ennda appears and knocks Crueltear down. While Imitate laughs at her, she's also knocked down, but without noticing it Ennda destroyed her Control Core in the process. After the final battle, both Triggerhearts destroyed Ennda. Imitate, who is now free of the Control Core's influence flies away as the Triggerhearts escape.
- Crueltear: In a similar way to Exelica, Crueltear is saved when Exelica thwarts Imitate's attempt to destroy her. However she is knocked down by Ennda, along with Imitate and destroying her Control Core without noticing it. Right after the battle, Crueltear gets too close to Ennda and she begins to attack her on a close range fight, although Crueltear's Space Interference Field protects her from a few hits, it fades away. But before Ennda can hit her, Exelica captures her, destroying one of the arms, then Ennda tries to defeat her with her other arm, only to be destroyed by Imitate who is free from the Control Core, leaving Crueltear to destroy Ennda once and for all. Imitate only says farewell and she leaves, while the Triggerhearts escape.
Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced (PlayStation 2)[]
- Arcade Mode Normal Ending
- Exelica and Crueltear: The endings are exactly the same as the XBLA version. However, Exelica and Crueltear's last words were re-recorded for the Enhanced version.
- Faintear: Both Exelica and Crueltear are knocked down by Ennda, leaving Faintear as the only Triggerheart in the battlefield. Resulting victorious, the three Triggerhearts escape without speaking a word.
- Arcade Mode True Ending
- Exelica and Crueltear: Once again the endings are the same of the XBLA port, the voice actings were re-recorded for the Enhanced version.
- Faintear: Same as the Arcade Mode, the only difference is on the "escape" part, where Faintear realizes her real strength, and orders the Triggerheart units to activate their thrusters to escape.
- Story Mode Normal Ending
- Exelica and Crueltear: Their story mode endings are similar to the Dreamcast version, however there's some minor differences in dialogues.
- Story Mode True Ending
- Exelica and Crueltear: Their endings are similar to the Dreamcast version, some minor dialogues were added and the event takes place outside the C'rna_dyne rather than a tunnel.
- Faintear: While the Triggerhearts notice the movement of the Gate, which implies the possible escape of the Ver'miths, Imitate, who is now free of the Control Core's influence, tells the Triggerhearts to get them, as she reveals that she controls the Gate, but she is going to make some amends by closing the Gate, dismantling the Ver'mith Core and destroying it. Realizing that she's a Triggerheart, Imitate promises not to die, while the original Faintear hopes to make sure she tells her her real name (although Imitate doesn't have a name or a Triggerheart Code of her own). However, Imitate don't want to hear their words anymore, asking them to leave. The three Triggerhearts escape, while Imitate's fate is still unknown. Back to the C'rna_dyne, the Triggerhearts discovered a new Gate at 36,000km from Earth, which could send them back or not to C.H.I.L.D.A., thus they create a Fardott-like pod with a message for C.H.I.L.D.A., hoping they can recieve them to bring them back home. Although Crueltear thinks it will be like "sending a message in a bottle". Meanwhile, Faintear hopes she can meet Imitate once again.
Triggerheart Exelica RE:Anchor[]
A redesigned Crueltear makes an appearance on Triggerheart Exelica RE:Anchor, joining Exelica, Faintear and the Test Frame Crueltear to fight against the Bullethearts.
Additional Data[]
- Height includes unit on the back of her head. Like Exelica and Faintear, her height is increased even before she straps on her weapons.
- Like any other Triggerheart unit, she is able to fight at close range with just her Spec Suit, and her forearms deliver hand and sword attacks enhanced with magnetic field control technology.
Quotes[]
- みてなさい! - Mitenasai! (See) - (Selected by pressing Start button)
- カルノバーン!! - C'rnBurn!! - (Firing last bomb)
- まだいける! - Mada ikeru! - (Recover after taking a hit)
- まだよ! Mada yo! (Not yet!) - (Last life point remaining)
- いやあぁぁぁ!! - Iyaaaa!! - (Defeated)
Triggerheart Exelica (XBLA)[]
- Is that...the core? (Stage 1)
- There's still something there! (Stage 1)
- Y-You?! (Stage 1)
- You again!? (Stage 3)
- No need to hold back...I'm sorrounded by enemies. (Stage 5)
- We'll see about that! I have no plans of dying - and neither does Exelica! (Stage 5)
- Exelica!! (Stage 5)
- This may hurt a bit... (Stage 5 - Exelica's Normal Ending Route)
- Cr'nBurn! (Stage 5 - Exelica's Normal Ending Route)
- Now we just have to destroy the core. Are you all right, Exelica? (Stage 5 - Exelica True Ending Route)
- Aaaahh! (Stage 5 - Exelica's True Ending Route)
- Cr'nBurn Anchor!! (Stage 5 - Exelica's True Ending Route)
- Haaaaa!! (Stage 5 - Exelica's True Ending Route, shouts it together with Exelica)
- Come on!! (Stage 5 - Crueltear's True Ending Route)
- Ugh...!! (Stage 5 - Crueltear's True Ending Route)
- Cr'nBurn Full Load! (Stage 5 - Crueltear's True Ending Route)
Other[]
- 誰がおばさんですってぇ!? (Dare ga obasan de sutte~e! ?) (Who are you calling "Aunt"!?) - (iMode announcement at Warashi's site)
Curiosities[]
- Crueltear's used design is a second design made by suggestion from a Warashi staff member to Kazuhiko Kakoi.
- Crueltear kept the name of the unused Anchor Unit Test Frame design. According to Kazuhiko, he liked the name, so he didn't consider other names for the Triggerheart.
- Along with the name keeping, both Crueltear and C'rnBurn kept the colors of the Test Frame, however, the eye colors (yellow/orange) of the Triggerheart unit are original.
- There are fewer concept sketches of Crueltear (as a Triggerheart) than the unused Test Frame design.
- Nagare Kuroha from the game Densou Tenshi Valforce is based on Crueltear.
- Natsuki Suguira, the protagonist of Natsuki Chronicles, makes a pose similar to Crueltear's arcade ending in the game's title screen.
- During the startup screens of the arcade game and console ports of Triggerheart Exelica, Crueltear says "Warashi" when the Warashi logo appears.
- Although her weight is not mentioned, it is possible that it might be around 53 or 54kg.
- Crueltear is the first character in the series whose voice suffered changes. While in the Arcade, Dreamcast and XBLA ports she has a quite deep, adult voice, in Parallel Anchor and Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced she has a much younger voice. This was because Kozue Shimizu re-worked the character voice throughout the games and materials, rather than an actress change like in Faintear Imitate's case.
- Crueltear is the first Triggerheart unit to demonstrate human capabilities such as eating (her love for spicy food) and growing up in size (by periodic updates), suggesting that Triggerhearts and Bullethearts are more human and organic rather than mechanical beings.
- One of the artworks of Archive Anchor and the cover of RE:Anchor 1.75 depicts Crueltear with a cameltoe, which implies Triggerhearts and Bullethearts have genitalia. However, it is unknown if they have the same anatomical functions like a normal female human such as menstruation and reproduction since it is also unknown if their Anti-Cloning and Anti-Aging properties could allow Crueltear and other "adult" units to experience pregnancy or not. Also, if pregnancy is possible, another mystery would be if the Triggerheart (or Bulletheart) part would be the "dominant gene" on their children, resulting in a Human-Triggerheart hybrid with the same properties inherited from their mother (For example, Crueltear having a daughter capable of controlling C'rnBurn).