Figure Four (Battle Angel Alita)
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| Figure Four | |
|---|---|
| Battle Angel Alita character | |
 Figure Four in Battle Angel Alita |
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| First appearance | Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Death |
| Created by | Yukito Kishiro |
| Profile | |
| Age | early to late 20s to early 30s |
| Occupation | Fisherman, vagabond, rail mercenary |
| Degree of cyberization | Fully human |
| Fighting style | Koppo |
Figure Four (Fogia Foa} is a fictional character in the Battle Angel Alita manga by Yukito Kishiro. He is likely named after the figure-four grappling hold and is known for his mastery of anti-cyborg martial arts.
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[edit] Fighting style
Figure is the only practitioner shown in Battle Angel Alita of koppo, a form of martial arts that emphasizes giving a human an edge in combat with cyborgs. Its techniques emphasize bypassing a cyborg's armor to inflict internal as opposed to external damage. Figure is especially deadly in close quarters, where he can make use of "teai" attacks that take advantage of those koppo attacks which originate at the elbow, making them faster than those using punches that originate at the shoulder, such as Alita.[1] Figure can even use a modified version of the Hertza Haeon.[2]
Figure seems to have a tendency to get into fights with cyborgs. Up to his fight with Alita, he had beaten 35 cyborgs in combat with the ultimate aim of beating a thousand because of his techniques. These victories were also due in part to the fact that his opponents have not been as skilled fighters and tend to underestimate him because he has no cyborg enhancements. Alita is the only cyborg Figure has fought who has managed to defeat him. Outside of this defeat, he has emerged from his other fights relatively unscathed.
[edit] Battle Angel Alita
A fisherman from the now coastal village of Alhambra, Figure went east in order to see Tiphares, staying in the Scrapyard for a year, but not finding it to his liking. He then signed up to be a rail mercenary on Factory Train 12 and befriended Yolg, a fellow rail mercenary. Despite Yolg's protests, he became intrigued by Alita, who is also on the train. When Knucklehead’s squad attacks the train and it gets derailed, Figure is the only other surviving rail mercenary besides Yolg. He later challenges Alita to a fight after learning that she plans to leave him and Yolg, but is soundly beaten by her.
After Alita, Figure and Yolg get caught up in a desert tornado and their jeep winds up on the edge of a skyscraper, Figure manages to save them, but as payback for his treatment by Alita, suspends her from the building for a day. The next day, he shimmies down to have a talk with Alita. After she manages to grab him with her legs and threatens to drop him, the Barjack's Boiling Metal battalion, which has returned to their base, attacks. While hiding, Figure calls into question Alita's bloodlust and desire for battle, making her think about her motivations. As she fights the Barjack, he decides to help her after realizing that she is less free than he is because she cannot choose not to fight. He hijacks a Barjack vehicle mounting a minigun after the rest of the battalion arrives and pins down Alita, laying down enough covering fire for her to go after Colonel Bozzle, but Yolg’s defection stops her short. The battalion then attacks Figure, apparently killing him when the building behind him collapses on him.
Figure however survives, emerging from the rubble that same night after the Boiling Metal has left their base to attack Factory Farm 22. He somehow manages to catch up to the battalion, and is able to save Alita from Knucklehead when the latter attempts to duel with her, after which he realizes that Alita likes him. After Bozzle is killed, he and Alita set off into the desert. Eventually they run out of fuel for their jeep, and Figure carries Alita on his back as her legs have been shot off below the knees. Eventually they run out of water and she overheats. Figure refuses to abandon her however, admitting that he has fallen in love with her. They are saved by a deluge of rain and fish, a result of Chief Bigott having manipulated the weather patterns to save Alita. Figure and Alita eventually reach Alhambra, where Figure returns to his previous life as a fisherman. Alita promises to return to him when her mission of apprehending Desty Nova is finished.
Figure is later shown listening to the last broadcast of Radio K.A.O.S. Just before she transforms herself into the Life-Tree, Alita in an invisible form is able to see him before she initiates the transformation process. Figure cannot see her, but feels her presence.
Five years later and following the construction of the Tower of Tiphares, Koyomi encounters Figure in Ketheres Elyion. She buys him dinner after he beats up four cyborgs, but Figure refuses to believe that Alita is dead. Shortly after, a senile Desty Nova is found who leads them to the Life Tree’s carbon nano-tube in which a large bulb is suspended. Seeing something, Figure rips the skin of the bulb, from which emerges a human Alita, who recognizes him.
[edit] Battle Angel Alita: Last Order
Like several characters from Battle Angel Alita, Figure has yet to make an active appearance in Last Order, outside of appearing in Alita's thoughts. His appearance is of how he looked when Alita last saw him in Battle Angel Alita, being clean-shaven.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kishiro, Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Death page 101.
- ^ Kishiro, Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Death page 97.
[edit] References
- Kishiro, Yukito (September 1996). Battle Angel Alita: Angel of Death, 1st ed., San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-127-7.
- Kishiro, Yukito (November 1997). Battle Angel Alita: Fallen Angel, 1st ed., San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-243-5.
- Kishiro, Yukito (June 2001). Battle Angel Alita: Angel’s Ascension, 4th ed., San Francisco: Viz Communications. ISBN 1-56931-293-1.
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