Beatrix

"This is a good hand. I’m sure you’ll grow stronger."

- Beatrix, to Cid Kagenō

Beatrix (ベアトリクス) is the first champion of the Bushin Festival, hailed at the "Goddess of War". She is also presumed to be the long-lost aunt of Alpha.

Appearance
Beatrix is a beautiful Elf with refined features and a voluptuous figure, and always carries her sword by her side. She has long platinum hair, blue eyes, and near pale-colored skin. Cid notes that she greatly resembles Alpha, to the point Cid initially mistook her for the latter.

Her attire comprises a gray robe with tattered edges, a white bikini top, and black short skirts with gold accessories. She wears a leg stocking on her right leg from just above the ankle to the middle of her thigh, while her left leg is bare save for two straps and black gloves. She also wears a jewel-adorned hairband and a necklace with what appears to be a sapphire.

In the novel and manga, her sword is a double-edged longsword with a gold hilt decorated with black and blue accents, with the scabbard designed in white with gold and black accents. While in the anime version, the weapon is a single-edged straight sword, like a katana without the curved warping.

Personality
"Do you know of any elves who look like me?"

- Beatrix, to Cid Kagenō

Beatrix is ​​shown as a mature person, but stoic individual as she is socially awkward with an infallible attitude, which she rarely shows, confusing others with her strange behavior. Even she is not afraid to say what she thinks, but she is usually polite with the people around her.

Despite this, Beatrix is shown self-confident and seems to be determined as she unyielding to achieve her goals by find her niece and shows respect towards others. Beatrix, like Shadow, also feels a desire to face off against powerful opponents that she sees. She is capable of teaming up with others in defeating larger threats as she demonstrated with her alliance with Iris Midgar.

Beatrix maintains her friendly kind and loving presence with people she likes, and enough sanity to avoid death in combat when faced with very strong and powerful enemies. This is in contrast to Iris Midgar, who is carried away by rage and revenge to the point of sacrificing everything to kill Shadow.

Background
Beatrix comes from Elfland. From an early age, she began to practice with her sword, and continued for many years, but as time passed, she began to feel uncomfortable in social settings due to her devotion to the sword, which she then left her country to concentrate on her commitment to the sword. In her youth, she earned the title "Goddess of War" after her victories in battle and winning the Bushin Festival tournament 10 years ago. Her sister was married and had a daughter, while Beatrix vowed to travel the world in search of worthy opponents to test her mettle with the sword.

Starting a Journey
Shortly after the death of her sister, Beatriz, the renowned Beatrix began a journey searching for signs of life of her niece, Alpha, apparently being the only living relative she has left. Due to her travels, Beatrix likely didn't learn from Beatriz that Alpha contracted Demonic Possession from a very early age, and was exiled from the elven country and her family.

Bushin Festival Tournament
Having heard rumors of a female elf that resembled her, Beatrix travelled to the Midgar Kingdom, hoping this mysterious elf was her long lost niece. Upon her arrival, she headed to the Bushin tournament where she met Cid Kagenou, and found the scent of elf on the boy. Interrogating him, she asked if he knew an elf who shared a resemblance with her. Met with a disappointing answer, she then tested Cid by swinging her blade at him, stopping right before his neck. Contrary to her expectations, the boy fell back to the ground and offered a generic scared reaction. Apologizing for her misjudgment, the two parted ways, but not before she complimented Cid, declaring that he will surely become a strong Dark Knight.

The following day, Beatrix went to the tournament's reserved seating and gained entrance due to her invitation with Iris Midgar after she won her match yesterday. Once again, she asked the spectators if they had seen an elf who resembled her, but to no avail. The spectators then asked her if anyone has caught her eye, attempting to validate her title of "War Goddess," and she replied that Cid had caught her interest, making the spectators skeptical of her abilities considering his displayed prowess.

Beatrix witnessed Iris Midgar being easily defeated by the mysterious duelist, Mundane Mann, and was impressed with his strength, desiring to face him. She watched as Mundane Mann them revealed himself to be Shadow, so Beatrix stepped in to face Shadow and the two engaged in an intense battle.

Outcome in the Light Novel/Manga
But it was clear Beatrix was losing, as Shadow's technique was on a whole other level. Iris Midgar decided to help Beatrix defeat Shadow, but they were easily defeated by him.

Beatrix interrogated Shadow that, if he has so much power, why he doesn't he finish them off. Beatrix was perplexed as he replied that he was not interested in taking their lives, that he only destroys his "true enemies." Before he disappeared, Shadow reminded her and Iris that they should not lose sight of the real enemy, before he escaped in a flash of energy, leaving behind everyone surprised in the coliseum.

Outcome in the Anime/Game
During her initial fight against Shadow, seeing that he had overwhelming speed, capable of moving to such a degree that she was not able to perceive him, and that she could barely react to joust, (although this was only because Shadow allowed it), Iris Midgar proposed to help Beatrix to defeat Shadow, using a Sword of the Three Heroes, and their fight spread to the corners of the capital of the kingdom of Midgar. In their fight Beatrix asks Shadow if they had met before, to which he replies that who knows, since he never forgets powerful opponents, to which he asks her and Iris, if they were deserving to be remembered by him.

Their battle continues until they reach a tall clocktower, where seeing that they were not achieving anything against Shadow, Iris proposes to immobilize him even if it costs her her life, so that Beatrix can then attack him, but Shadow found out about her move and easily subdued them against their ground by giving them a crushing gravity kick (contained), which made them suffer a lot, leaving both Beatrix and Iris with little strength to fight. When Shadow was about to leave, Iris reproached him that now the entire kingdom of Midgar, and the kingdoms of the world have him as an enemy and that he will have nowhere to escape, to which Shadow laughs and responds strongly, questioning the need for him to run away. He then deploys his most powerful technique throughout the capital of Midgar.

Beatrix and Iris Midgar layed on the ground helplessly, to which their only option was to witness what Shadow was going to do. When tension was at its highest, everything was revealed to be but a trick by Shadow, who disappears without further ado, clearing the rain and lightning and leaving the kingdom of Midgar the light in his stead.

The next day Beatrix says goodbye to Iris, but not without first advising her to try to refrain from obsessing over this loss, since there are many entities that mortals cannot yet rival, and that she is still very young, to which Iris replies, telling Beatrix not to worry, and that she can't stay still for too long. While she was leaving on the train, Beatrix felt a little sad when she couldn't find any clues about her niece, but at the same time, she felt happy for having met people who came to her like Cid Kagenou.

Powers & Abilities
Beatrix is hailed one of the strongest swordswomen in the world, with Iris Midgar openly admitting that she is stronger than her and the Cult of Diablos believing her to have inherited the power of her ancestor; the "Elf Hero" Olivier. She even managed to hold her own against Shadow, forcing him to get "a little serious".

Physical Prowess
Beatrix's strength and speed are on par with Shadow, at least while the latter is holding back. Cid himself notes that her movements are so fast that a normal person should not even be able to perceive them.

Her physical resistance and supernatural strength are at a very high level, being one of the few, if not the only descendant of the Hero Olivier, to be alive and without contracting the Diabolos Curse. She's being able to withstand the hard attacks that Shadow was giving her more strongly and with more time, more than Iris Midgar, and managing to recover normally shortly after her defeat against it, although Shadow was only holding back all the time and not even fighting anything serious.

Master Swordsmanship
Hailed as the legendary master swordswoman, Beatrix is heavily skilled with the longsword, once being the champion of the Bushin Tournament. Hence, her skill in swordsmanship was a force to be reckoned with. She is an adept combatant, whether alone or in a team, even if she never fought with the other person before. As a testament to her abilities, she was able to fight on par with Shadow for a short while. However, this was only because he was holding back, and she was easily overpowered once he decided to draw his "true sword", and apparently get a little serious.

In the anime, there are several of her special techniques that involve sheathing her blade before executing a powerful attack.

Superior Senses
Beatrix possesses superhuman senses, being able to see right through the intimidation tactics Shadow used against Iris and sensing something was wrong with Raphael Oriana despite Perv Asshat's attempt to hide the king's drugging using perfume.

Beatrix has a strong sense of smell, being able to discern the smell of other races on other people. Her eyesight can keep up with Shadow even as he moved at his fastest pace during their spar.

Warrior Perception
Beatrix also has sharp instincts honed through her experiences as a swordswoman. She can determine the strength of others just by her instincts alone. She was also able to defend against Shadow's 'invisible' blade for a short duration.

Although it should be noted that this ability that Beatrix has is not fully perfected since although she may know how strong and powerful a person can become just by touching her until you get to perceive it, she does not know exactly what kind of warrior Shadow is or can become, or if he is deliberately hiding all his strength or identity. When she came face to face with Cid, after shaking hands with him, she knew that he possessed great talent and power but could not guess his secret identity as such at the same time. confront him as Shadow on the tournament field.

This is a very special ability that can only be gained with strong experience in both swordsmanship and other skills, as Shadow also possesses this form in a certain way, the same ability as Beatrix but at a higher level.

Magic
According to Shadow words, he admitted that although Beatrix's swordsmanship is almost the same in development as that of the Shadow Garden members, her magic, on the contrary, is in bad use, that Beatrix can barely manage to use it to perform powerful attacks, resist heavy damage and a few other things, but it can't heal serious injuries to herself or others or further enhance her abilities.

Standard Equipment:
Beatrix wears almost no armor, either shield or body protection. She wears short yin clothing (sometimes a short skirt), a cape with a hood, and a kind of warrior bra. She has inherited the strength of the Hero Olivier, so she has confidence in it, but if necessary she can carry weapons such as:


 * Long Sword: So far the only main weapon she uses is a magical semi-adorned longsword, which allows her to fight and channel her magic in a very extreme way. Although the weapon is made of a kind of metal that is good as a conductor, more than normal metal, it is still inferior to the magic conductivity of Shadow Garden's slime weapons and suits. It is speculated that being a special metal, its conductivity of magic must be 35% at most, compared to normal metal which is 30%.

Iaido Strike
Beatrix's best attack as she can channel her magic into her sword to perform a powerful, rapid-flash slash, capable of slashing from the middle of her enemy's body into shreds, even if it takes only a few seconds by momentarily tracing these kinds of runes tron lines across her body. However, unlike Shadow, hers do not extend into the surrounding environment.

When Beatrix and Iris Midgar face Shadow, seeing that they couldn't do anything to him, Iris offers herself as a sacrificial decoy so that Beatrix can kill him, she tries to channel her strongest technique. But in the end, Shadow easily dodges her strike and then crushes hard both of them.

Speed Flash Special
Beatrix can use her magic to move quickly in less than a second, something learned upon reaching the elite level of Magic Warriors and Dark Swordsmen. Unlike those who learn this, Beatrix has honed it to a degree that allowed her to be on par with Shadow for a few moments until Shadow decided to get a little serious against her.

Hike on the Water
Through the use of her magic, Beatrix can walk to run on water, in case of having to fight on non-rocky terrains, such as rivers, lagoons, and even seas, it is a skill that can be learned but so far only Shadow, Iris Midgar and she, have handled it to extreme levels.

Niece
Beatrix appears to greatly care about the well-being of her niece (heavily implied to be Alpha), traveling the world in hopes of finding her and threatening anyone who might have some information on her whereabouts.

Cid Kagenō / Shadow
The two had met during the Bushin Festival. Beatrix not only picked up Elf scent on Cid, but also sensed great power within the boy. She asked him if he met her niece to which he denied. When being asked about if any of the Bushin Festival's fighters had caught her interest, Beatrix declared it to be Cid, claiming that he'll be strong.

When she fought Cid as Shadow, Beatrix is strong enough to fight Shadow to some extent, but when Shadow started to get serious, she couldn't stand against him. She is the only one who understands that Shadow's sword fights only with swordsmanship without using magical power, and Beatrix acknowledged him as an incredibly powerful warrior with his strength and skills she described as no different than nature itself.

However, she was even horrified the level of power Shadow possessed. After her defeat against Shadow, Beatrix herself sets out on a journey of training to improve her swordsmanship from scratch.

Game
After the festival, the two meet by chance to save two children from abductors. Beatrix began to develop romantic feeling for Cid when the former was saved by him from an ambush.

Iris Midgar
The two respected each other and worked together in taking down Shadow. However even with the joint effort of the two former champions, they were unable to defeat him. The elven was quick to realize his strength and tried to warn the princess from obsessing over him but to no avail when she made up her mind.

Trivia

 * The name Beatrix means "voyager, traveler" in Late Latin and it is later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word beatus or "blessed."
 * It also means "she who brings happiness; blessed" in Latin, and Dutch.
 * Both the name of Beatrix, and in part her nickname, refer to the supposed Goddess Beatrix, mentioned by Nelson, during the "Goddess's Trial", from the magical world that many churches and sanctuaries worship, it is speculated that the supposed goddess is just another deception of the Cult to gain more support from the people, from the early days of the time of the Demon Diabolos.
 * Beatrix so far, is one of the few descendants of the Hero Olivier, (if not perhaps the only one, to the present date), not to contract Demonic possession from the demon Diabolos, apart from his deceased sister, from his early childhood, to his maturity as an adult.
 * Despite her appearance, her way of dressing in part, and her behavior, Beatrix is a very strong warrior and older than she appears to be, since she is an elf. But due to her appearance and mannerisms, she is often mistaken as a vagrant without any poneticial and without value as such. Only some like Iris Midgar, Cid Kagenō, partly Annerose, are among a few who know how powerful she is without needing to fully recognize her by reputation as a warrior, unlike the general audiences, and without get carried away by appearances as such.
 * In the game "The Eminence in Shadow: Master of Garden", Beatrix's real age is stated to be over 100 years.(It is not yet clear if the information that the game provides about the characters can be considered canonical).
 * Similar to the Beastkin, Beatrix apparently has a strong taste for the powerful and talented people that she foresees. In the anime, Beatrix apparently shows a love interest in Cid kagenou, when she first meets him, In the game, she feels an interest to such an extent, that she wants to marry Cid Kagenō when she first meets him.
 * According to the game, Beatrix, like the other girls in Shadow Garden, has become a romantically interested to Cid Kageno. An irony because without knowing it, her presumed niece "Alpha" is also romantically interested by Cid Kagenō, to the point that if he becomes someone strong like Beatrix would say, she would hallucinate what their possible child would be like if he married her, which implies she is single.
 * Beatrix, like Shadow, shows a strong interest and desire to face powerful people she meets for the first time, since that way, she can know how strong she has become and how powerful they are. When Beatrix noticed that Cid Kagenou was someone strong, even he also showed some interest in fighting her when she was in battle, his marital status, but he held back on it. Also, when she witnessed Iris Midgar defeat against Jimina Sehnen, Beatrix showed a desire to be able to face him.
 * By her own words, when she first fought against Shadow and he decided to get a little serious against her, and take out his real "sword", he discovered that the way his enemy wielded his sword, and the sword itself, was as if it were fused with nature itself, akin to some kind of natural phenomenon like raindrops and lightning. This makes it very dangerous for her and for anyone who comes up against him, given that, like any natural phenomenon, it is not known where or when it will attack until it is too late to protect oneself.
 * Shortly before losing to Shadow, he confesses to Iris Midgar and Beatrix that only his name and his way of acting are all that he is, that everything else that has happened is just a pure fictitious invention of his mind (without know that everything is real), but they only take it as a strong insult that motivates them even more to fight.
 * It is speculated that Beatrix, is one of the few powerful or strong opponents, that Shadow himself admitted that they only deserved to be remembered in his memory, since she was the only one to endure more in combat both in swordsmanship and in the rest, not counting magic, unlike Iris Midgar.
 * The color of Beatrix's magic is a bright white.