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Master (主人 Shujin?) is a man living within the Scrapyard located underneath the city of Tiphares. He was the owner and bartender of Bar Kansas and Bar New Kansas.

Appearance[]

Master was a fair-skinned man who is slightly overweight. He sports a mohawk and has a thin beard running along his chin; due to some unknown injury in his past, Master wears a prosthetic eyepiece on the side of his head. He usually is seen wearing a light colored shirt with a dark vest. An illustration by Yukito Kishiro for the 2003 Ultra Jump calendar depicts Master as having tanned skin with light green hair. [1]

Due to him breaking both legs while catching Koyomi after she was dropped from a great height by Den, Master had both legs amputated; by the epilogue, his torso was connected to a mobile platform with tank treads to get around. During the opening of another Bar Kansas location, he is seen wearing a white shirt and a thick light colored coat.[2]

Personality[]

Master is usually seen as a quiet individual, wishing to stay away from confrontations. He is frequently trying to keep the peace whenever fights break out between hunter warriors who frequent his establishment. It is believed that while a lowly resident of the Scrapyard, Master has a strong business acumen; this is seen as him having run and operated several successful and popular bars over the course of a few years.

What really drives Master forward is wishing to have a peaceful life away from conflict with his adoptive daughter Koyomi; whenever something comes up that threatens this vision, he is quick to lash out and cut off relations with anyone involved.

Relationships[]

Koyomi[]

Koyomi and Master reconcile

Master and Koyomi reconcile with each other

Arguably Master's strongest relationship is with his first adopted daughter Koyomi. While Master clearly loved her, he was often blinded by his desire to reestablish Bar Kansas after the first two locations were damaged or outright destroyed; things would eventually come to ahead when he occasionally would beat her to deal with his drinking and financial troubles.[3] Koyomi leaving him caused Master to drink even more heavily and become extremely depressed. He would eventually learn the error of his ways and try to find where Koyomi ran away to. When Koyomi was dropped by Den from a great height, Master did not even consider his own safety and immediately tried catching her.

Daisuke Ido[]

Due to welcoming him back after being injured, it is presumed that Master had a fairly positive relationship with Daisuke Ido and was a close friend of his. It is believed that after Ido leaves to track down Alita's Berserker Body, Master never sees him again and is unaware of his friend's death and later resurrection by Desty Nova.

Zapan[]

A popular Hunter Warrior that frequented Bar Kansas, Master had a good relationship with Zapan; this is shown when Zapan was one of the primary people behind reestablishing Bar Kansas after it was partially destroyed by Makaku. However, after his amnesia and later absorption of the Berserker Body, this relationship was severed due to Zapan's desire to kill Alita and destroying Bar New Kansas in a rage; despite this, Master was able to slightly bring Zapan back to a semblance of sanity before the crazed former Hunter-Warrior resumed his rampage.[4]

Kinuba[]

While the two never interacted with each other, Master was star-struck when he presumably saw Kinuba enter Bar Kansas; this hints that Master was a fan of his and kept track of Kuniba's fights that occurred in the Coliseum.

Alita[]

Initially indifferent to Alita, Master was grateful for her bringing Koyomi back safely after she was abducted by Makaku. Their relationship remained positive and he even hired Alita as a singer in Bar New Kansas after she retired as champion in motorball. However, their relationship is severed after Zapan destroys the bar; placing the blame of all his recent misfortunes onto Alita, Master forbids her from approaching him ever again and leaves to start over at another location within the Scrapyard.

Despite viewing her in a negative light, it is believed that Master still harbored some slight measure of gratitude towards Alita for saving Koyomi and would tell stories about her to his daughter as she grew up.

Shumira[]

After her brother's death in a motorball competition, Shumira was presumably adopted by Master as a second daughter.

History[]

At some point in Master's life, he opened his famed establishment Bar Kansas and it quickly became a favorite location for Hunter-Warriors and other residents of the Scrapyard. Shortly before the start of the series, he found a newborn orphan girl and took her in as a daughter, naming her Koyomi.

Plot[]

Eventually, his friend Daisuke Ido arrives with a new Hunter-Warrior named Alita. He quickly witnesses the destructive powers and capabilities of Alita when she easily beats the other Hunter Warriors present after none of them agree to help them track down the feared Makaku. As a slight rumbling is heard, Master is shocked to see the Coliseum champion Kinuba arrive in his bar; this turns to horror once it is revealed that Makaku killed the champion and stole his Power Body, goading Alita into a fight by taking Koyomi. Master begs Alita to get her back and is overcome with relief when she and his dog Duke Fang return with Koyomi safe and sound.[5]

Despite his bar being destroyed, Master is able to save enough money up to start a new establishment, thanks in part to his Hunter Warrior friend Zapan. A few years pass and Master, still grateful to Alita for saving his daughter, hires her after she retires from the sport of motorball as champion; he also takes in the girl Shumira as a server.[6]

Master upset

Master forbids Alita from coming near him or his foster children again

Master would eventually see Zapan return, this time in a deranged and insane state due to absorbing the Berserker Body. Demanding to know where Alita is, the former Hunter Warrior kills many of the patrons before Master is able to briefly calm him; while trying to appease Zapan with some free booze on the house, Master gets his head slammed against the bar. Soon after Zapan begins destroying much of the Scrapyard to find and kill Alita, the latter arrives back at the ruined Bar New Kansas. Heartbroken over his loss, Master berates Alita and places the blame of all his misfortunes on her (including the destruction of his two bars and Zapan's current mental state). Forbidding her from ever talking or coming close to him again, he sadly takes Koyomi and Shumira to another location within the Scrapyard to start over again.[7]

Eventually, Master found an area of the Scrapyard that he viewed as being far enough away and stayed there for some time with Koyomi, Shumira and Fury. While he tried calming a worried Shumira, he himself had doubts on if they would be safe from the fight between Zapan and Alita which the residents could hear in the distance.[8] However, Master would not find any success in establishing another Bar Kansas location and quickly ran out of what little money he had saved. Eventually, he became an alcoholic and would frequently beat Koyomi as a means to deal with his troubles. Soon, Koyomi would take Fury and leave the Scrapyard; with Shumira already having left to start a family of her own, this left Master a shadow of his former self and all alone.

Master pleads for Koyomi

Master begs Koyomi to come back to him

After continuing to drink and wallow in pity over his numerous plights, Master somehow learned that Koyomi had aligned herself with Den and the forces of Barjack. Crossing paths with Den while wandering in a drunken stupor, Master noticed his daughter riding with him and begged her to come back. While Koyomi insulted him for being worthless, Den held Koyomi high in the air above the ground; this caused Master to begin panicking and continued to ask Den to release his daughter. Den then dropped Koyomi and continued on with his planned attack on Tiphares; Master managed to catch Koyomi but both of his legs collapsed under the impact and were broken. Master weakly asks Koyomi to never leave him again as he slips in and out of consciousness; Koyomi tearfully reconciles with him and screams for a doctor to come help.[9]

Trivia[]

  • During the entire original run of the series, Master is never referred to by his name by any of the other characters.
  • Master's character design was used originally in a short story included in Hito and within the Battle Angel Alita Last Order Omnibus.

References[]

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