Vita | |
---|---|
Vita in her Tactics Teacher uniform | |
Character profile | |
Other names | Knight of the Iron Hammer Crimson Iron Rider StarS 02 / Aggressor 2 |
Age | uncertain, but at least several centuries |
Gender | Female |
Species | Wolkenritter |
Homeworld | Old Belka |
Date of birth | Ancient Belkan Era |
Family | Yagami family |
Background | |
Affiliation | Air Force 1321 (pre-StrikerS) Riot Force 6 (StrikerS) SAFA (post-StrikerS et seq.) Special Duty Section 6 (Force) |
Rank | 3rd Air Captain (StrikerS) 2nd Air Captain (ViVid)[1] |
Occupation | SAFA Tactics Teacher (post-StrikerS) |
Qualification | Tactics Teacher (pre-StrikerS) Commander of Platoon (pre-StrikerS) |
Partner | Nanoha Takamachi (post-StrikerS) |
Magic | |
Color | Red |
System | Ancient Belka |
Rank | AAA+ (Air)[2] |
Device | Graf Eisen Reinforce II (TSAB registered, pre-StrikerS) War Hammer (Force) |
Production | |
Japanese name | ヴィータ (Vīta) |
First app. | A's manga (prologue) |
Voiced by | Asami Sanada (Japanese) Elizabeth Rick (English) |
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Vita (ヴィータ Vīta) is a knight introduced in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's. She is one of the Wolkenritter, a creation of the Book of Darkness.
Name[]
Her name is presumably a reference to the Opel Vita. Like all Wolkenritter, she does not have a family name.
As a Wolkenritter, Vita is titled as the "Knight of the Iron Hammer" (鉄槌の騎士 Tettsui no Kishi), referring to her weapon Graf Eisen. Additionally, she is called by the Will of the Book of Darkness as the "Crimson Iron Rider" (紅の鉄騎 Kurenai no Tekki).[3]
Her callsigns in the extra forces include StarS 02 (スターズ02 Sutāzu Tsū) (in Riot Force 6, 0075-0076) and Aggressor 2 (アグレッサー2 Aguressā Tsū) (in Special Duty Section 6, 0081).
Appearance[]
Vita is visually the youngest of the Wolkenritter, appearing to be approximately 8 years old over all the series. Like other Wolkenritter, she does not have an official born year or age.[4] De facto her centuries-long service as the guardian of the Book of Darkness places her among the oldest living individuals in the entire Nanoha universe.
Physically, she is a small red-headed girl with diminished height. She wears her hair in two queues that trail behind her head.
Vita's appearance and abilities (as well as the name of her Device) recall the Alt Eisen of Super Robot Wars, with her Schwalbefliegen being similar to its Heavy Claymore attack and Raketenhammer resembling its Revolver Stake. Graf Eisen's forms also contain references to GaoGaiGar and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. She also bears some resemblance to Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Like Thor, Vita is a brash redheaded fighter who wields a hammer that changes size appropriate to the situation.
In A's[]
Vita enters A's on a hunt with Zafira for strong Linker Cores to absorb into the Book of Darkness. She targets Nanoha Takamachi, which she deems to be a juicy target, unlike the usual TSAB "redshirts" which can barely fill up a single page of the Book of Darkness. Later, she's shows some strong dislikes toward her until near the end of the series (possibly due to acknowledging her as a potential threat to the Wolkenritter's efforts in filling up the Book of Darkness), which may have driven her to intentionally call Nanoha "Nantoka" (Japanese: "Something-or-Other"). Even after the series end, she's still sometimes drove her anger toward her, like when Signum taunted her that she "scared to be lose in front of her master", when she refused Signum's advance to put up a group-mock battle training.
Nanoha puts up a decent fight, but Vita tilts the deck with two cartridges and manages to overpower her, obtaining a power superiority so vast that she heavily damaged the Raising Heart. However, before she could get the Linker Core, Fate Testarossa and Yuuno Scrya come to the rescue. Vita fights them off with her fellow Wolkenritter, Signum and Shamal, and they declare themselves enemies. The battle ends with Shamal finally managing to get Nanoha's Linker Core and Nanoha breaking Vita's barrier.
Vita fights for the sake of protecting their mistress, Hayate, whom she is completely dedicated to. The Wolkenritter attack mages to steal their Linker Cores, their sources of magic, to fill the 666 pages of the Book of Darkness with this power before it saps any more of Hayate's and she becomes fully paralyzed. They continue to obtain Linker Cores and fight off interference from the Administrative Bureau, mainly Fate and Nanoha, while they try to keep Hayate from knowing that they are stealing magic for pages; she has told them that as long as she is mistress of the Book, she will not allow anyone to be harmed over it.
The Wolkenritter, especially Vita, are determined to save Hayate even if it means going against her wishes. What the Wolkenritter don't know about Hayate is that the Book of Darkness, once completed, may stop sapping her Linker Core for pages, but that does not mean that it will stop hurting her or undo its damage. In fact, the master of the Book dies upon its completion. Vita is the first to recognize that something may be wrong with what they are doing and that they have forgotten something very important, but her devotion to Hayate keeps her fighting for Linker Cores regardless. Just before the Book of Darkness is completed, Suzuka Tsukimura brings Nanoha, Fate and Arisa Bunnings to visit Hayate in the hospital while the Wolkenritter are there. The warring groups recognize each other and their shared wish at once, and meet on the roof of the hospital. Nanoha and Fate try to tell the Wolkenritter about what will happen to Hayate, but their confrontation is cut short by both the interference of two masked men and the completion of the Book of Darkness with the Linker Cores of the Wolkenritter themselves.
The masked men are actually women, Aria and Lotte Liese, who frame Nanoha and Fate for the death of Vita and the others. Hayate screams in terror for all of this to stop and is taken over by the will of the Book of Darkness, becoming the fearsome, possessed woman inside of it just as the real duo escapes their prison. Meanwhile, Vita's spirit is trapped inside the Book of Darkness with the others. When Hayate rejects her own wish of vengeance, she reprograms the entire Book, but a virus still remains inside, the one that caused the evil aspect of the Book in the first place. Hayate awakens the spirit of Vita and her friends inside the book of Darkness, and she decides to join the fight against the automated defence program that Hayate describes as "the 'darkness' in the Book of Darkness". Vita finally recognizes Nanoha as an equal, though she won't admit it, and calls her by her real name.
Between A's and StrikerS[]
A's manga (ch.6-7), A's Sound Stage 03, A's epilogue, StrikerS manga (ch.1-7) and StrikerS Sound Stage M expand on what happens to the characters between A's and its sequel, StrikerS.
Vita officially joins the Administrative Bureau in May 0066 as a Special Investigator Assistant (特別捜査官補佐 Tokubetsu Sōsakan Hosa) (to Hayate) under the Armed Forces.[5][6]
During an armed force drill along Nanoha and other mages in the second winter after they join the Bureau (late 0067), Nanoha is severely injured by a then-unidentified Type-IV Gadget Drone. In StrikerS manga (ch.2), it is revealed that Vita is actually the first to notice Nanoha's weakening condition upon their deployment but has done nothing about it, making her feel particularly guilty for what has happened. Such memories also haunt her at times in the future.
The first part of StrikerS manga (ch.1-3) occurs in April 0071, nominally six years after A's and four years before StrikerS anime series. In it, Vita is working under the Bureau's Main Office. She and her family are planning to relocate from Earth to Midchilda before Hayate's graduation from junior high school.
It is also known that Vita has to use transformation magic (presumably some form of Adult Mode) to appear older when she visits her elder croquet friends in Uminari City.
In StrikerS[]
Vita is now a 3rd Air Captain, transferred from Air Force 1321 to Riot Force 6 as Tactic Teacher and the Sub-Commander of Forward Stars, working under Nanoha and Hayate.
When Jail Scaglietti's allies attacks the TSAB Public Press Conference, Vita performs Unison with Reinforce II to fight against Knight Zest Grangeitz and Agito. With Zest's reckless Full Drive, the battle ends with Reinforce II blacking out and Graf Eisen being broken.
During the attack of the Saint's Cradle, Vita shows that she is still hurt emotionally from the times she couldn't be there for Hayate and Nanoha, and will go to extreme levels to protect them. As portrayed in episode 22, taking down the Gadget Drones which she recognizes to be the ones who hurt Nanoha and in episode 25 (after being stabbed through the back), Vita breaks her Device while desperately trying to destroy the Cradle's main engine controlled by Quattro. As she falls, she apologizes to Nanoha and Hayate (basically all of her comrades) for failing. Hayate then comes to the scene, telling her that there is nothing to apologize about because there is nothing in the world that Vita and Graf Eisen cannot destroy. At this point, it becomes apparent that her Zerstörungshammer has inflicted just enough damage upon the engine for it to slowly start falling apart.
After the dissolution of Riot Force 6 in 0076, Vita accepts Nanoha's invitation and becomes a Tactic Teacher under the Aerial Tactical Instructor Corps alongside her.
In ViVid[]
Vita only makes minor appearances in ViVid, mainly along the rest of the Yagami family at home or at the Intermiddle Championship stadiums.
However, Vita is the main character of the special chapter (Memory;ex), which covers not only the recent lives of Yagami and Takamachi families, but also the past times of the Wolkenritter and the emperors in the Ancient Belkan ages.
From the flashback of Miura Rinaldi, it is revealed that Vita has been teaching her for certain battle techniques, e.g. hammer blows adapted as punches. In ViVid (ch.86), it is also revealed that she now possesses the rank of 2nd Air Captain.
In Force[]
Vita appears in the prologue chapter, discussing a "new riot" with Reinforce Zwei. She is then mentioned (but not shown) in chapter 5 as the one who tested the countermeasures to the "Zero Effect".
Vita enters the story proper in Force (ch.7), when the Special Duty Section 6 on Vaizen receives news that Signum has engaged Cypha of Hückebein in battle on Ruwella, before her AEC Armament was ready. Shocked, Vita contacts Rein, who tells her that Teana Lanster and Fate are already on the way. Vita rushes to help, mentioning her own War Hammer, while Nanoha is summoned, as well.
She and Nanoha are later seen on top of the bridge of Wolfram, as it is chasing the Esquad Hückebein airship. The two of them act as the vessel's alternate "main cannons". After the Augusto (the main weapon of Wolfram) deals little damage to the enemy vessel (due to the magic-disrupting effect utilized by the Hückebein), Nanoha and Vita, codenamed Aggressor 1 and 2, respectively, are ordered by Hayate to attack the Hückebein using their newly-acquired AEC equipment. Nanoha fires first, followed by Vita, and their combo attacks hamper the Hückebein vessel somewhat, allowing the Wolfram to not only catch up but also to send in Fate, Erio, and Subaru to infiltrate it through the hull breach. When Stella Irvine assumes control over the ship to accelerate the repairs and seals the infiltration team inside, Vita and Nanoha continue bombardment, with Vita flying in closer to the enemy ship to deal more damage. However, when Thoma's Divide Zero Eclipse area-of-effect attack is activated, she loses most of her flight capability and has to retreat back to the Wolfram. After recovering her bearings, Vita then rendezvouses with Hayate on top of the Wolfram, protecting her mistress from the Huckebein attacks. Hayate instructs her to make the final preparations as she (Hayate) readies Heimdall.
Alternate continuities[]
Portable[]
Vita appears as a playable character in both Battle of Aces and Gears of Destiny.
Movie[]
Vita appears in The MOVIE 2nd A's, Reflection and Detonation.
There is no significant change related to Vita between A's and The MOVIE 2nd A's. In the epilogue of the latter (presumably spring of 0067), Vita is seen wearing the Sailing Force uniform along with Signum and Shamal as they have joined the Bureau's Main Office under Leti Lowran's arrangement.
During the events in Reflection (summer of 0067), Vita is serving in the Bureau's Armed Forces.[7] Due to the good compatibility of skills between Vita and Nanoha, they usually form a combination at operations.[8]
Brave Duel[]
Vita Yagami (八神ヴィータ Yagami Vīta) is a member of the Yagami family. She is a Duelist at the beginning of the story, with the ambition of becoming the Brave Duel champion of Uminari City and top Duelist of the nation.
Powers[]
Vita is a skilled aerial knight and wields a mallet-shaped Armed Device named Graf Eisen.
Like Signum, she has demonstrated the ability to enter Unison with Reinforce II, although her synchronization with Rein cannot create great synergy effect like Hayate's. Rein is therefore also registered as one of Vita's Devices on her Bureau ID Card.
Knight Clothing[]
Vita's Knight Clothing, designed by Hayate with the intention to replace unnecessary bulky Knight Armor, is a red Gothic Lolita-style dress with black frills and yellow ribbons, a large red hat with plush rabbit heads, and black and red boots. It turns white and orange when Vita is in Unison with Reinforce II.
In the movie continuity, Vita's Knight Clothing in The MOVIE 2nd A's is basically the same as that in A's. By the time of Reflection, her Knight Clothing has been refined by the Technical Division's latest technology and received design changes by Hayate, resulting in increased functionality.[8]
Notably, in the flashbacks in ViVid (ch.ex), Force and The MOVIE 2nd A's, Vita is seen wearing more traditional armors alongside other Wolkenritter while serving other masters in the Ancient Belkan era.
Spells[]
Spell | System | Category | Type | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dimensional Transfer | Midchilda Ancient Belka | Support | Transport | |
Eisengeheul | Ancient Belka | Support | Decline | |
Gefängnis der Magie | Ancient Belka | Force field | Area | |
Giganthammer | Ancient Belka | Attack | Magic-enhanced attack | |
Gigantschlag | Ancient Belka | Attack | Magic-enhanced attack | |
Kometfliegen | Ancient Belka | Attack | Shooting | |
Panzergeist | Ancient Belka | Defense | Field | |
Panzerhindernis | Ancient Belka | Defense | Barrier | |
Panzerschild | Ancient Belka | Defense | Shield | |
Pferde | Ancient Belka | Support | Transport | |
Plasma Pile | Special (AEC) | Attack | Energy blade | |
Raketenhammer | Ancient Belka | Attack | Magic-enhanced attack | AA+ |
Schwalbefliegen | Ancient Belka | Attack | Shooting | A |
Tödlichschlag | Ancient Belka | Attack | Magic-enhanced attack | |
Zerstörungshammer | Ancient Belka | Attack | Magic-enhanced attack |
In the games[]
Spells in The Battle of Aces | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Cross Range | Long Range | Long Range (Charged) | ||
▢ | Attack/Basic | [unnamed] | Schwalbefliegen | Kometfliegen |
△ | Block/High | Kanonehammer | Tödlichschlag | |
◯ | Catch/Attack | Raketenfangen | Raketenhammer | |
L | FDB | Gigantschlag | --- | |
R | Guard | Panzerschild | --- |
Spells in The Gears of Destiny | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Cross Range | Long Range | Long Range (Charged) | ||
▢ | Attack/Basic | [unnamed] | Schwalbefliegen | Kometfliegen |
△ | Block/High | Kanonehammer (?) | Tödlichschlag | |
◯ | Catch/Attack | Raketenfangen | Raketenhammer | |
△△ | EX Attack | Giganthammer | --- | |
L | FDB | Gigantschlag | --- | |
R | Guard | Panzerschild | --- |
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, chapter 86.
- ^ Mage ranks in StrikerS on the Japanese Nanoha wiki.
- ^ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's Sound Stage 02.
- ^ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, TSAB ID card.
- ^ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Starter Book.
- ^ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's THE COMICS, chapter 7 ("Epilogue of Aces").
- ^ Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Reflection, official website.
- ^ a b Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Reflection Official Guide Book.