Alpha

"If that’s what you want, then I’ll devote my life to it. We’ll punish these sinners with death…"

- Alpha

Alpha (アルファ) (Aλφα) is the first member of Shadow Garden, being one of the original Seven Shadows. After Shadow cured her of demonic possession, she dedicated her life to him and destroying the Cult of Diablos. Second-in-command only in name, she acts as Shadow Garden's true leader, being its chief operating officer who grew it from a grassroots organization into an economic and military superpower.

Appearance
Alpha is a young elf with long golden-blonde hair and blue eyes. Her general appearance is described as breathtakingly beautiful, garnering ample attention and praise. Unblemished skin adds to her striking characteristics. She bears a strong resemblance to her ancestor Olivier, the Elf Hero, and her aunt Beatrix, the Goddess of War.

Dark dresses are Alpha's typical attire, and several have been featured. One such dress is a side-slit evening gown with matching gloves, high heels, and a choker. The décolletage accentuates her curvaceous body and reveals a matinee pendant necklace. Alpha's less ostentatious choice is a simple black dress without a conspicuous neckline. It offers refinement through simplicity.

During her Shadow Garden activities, Alpha wears the customary ebony slime bodysuit ornamented with gold accents and a cutout-style chest design. A gold diamond is centered on the lower sternum, with two gold stripes descending below the chest cutout. The stripes continue down until they conjoin the hip decorations. Along Alpha's hips are ornate golden streaks, adorned with three belts that wrap around her hamstrings. On her feet, she wears block high heels with gold-edged collars. Dark bracers covered in golden ornamentation protect her hands. For anonymity, she dons a pitch-black mask. It is in the style of a domino mask, having ornamental frills and flowers.[MANGA ONLY]

Personality
"I’m dumb, so I don’t understand all the things you do. I’m weak, so I can’t do all the things you can. But still, even so… I want to understand, so I can support you. You saved me, saved all of us, so I want to do whatever it is I can to help."

- Alpha

Born from a devotion to her savior and malignity toward those who deprive many, herself included, of happiness, Alpha's sole purpose in life is to eliminate the Cult of Diablos. She jeeringly conveys contempt for the weak and the "ignoramuses" who are oblivious to the real world. Even for the shadow-enlightened, she can be cold if they lack ideals or ambition. Alpha's callous indifference regarding outsiders does not reflect her temperament in all circumstances. Acting as a Shadow Garden administrator, she presents as imperturbable, offering compendious replies and orders. This composed demeanor has crumbled in the face of suspected harm or betrayal from those she cherishes. Alpha conveys a larger emotional spectrum around the Seven Shadows and Cid. Ridiculing laughter is replaced with genuine giggling, and sororal compassion supersedes impassivity. She has called the Seven Shadows her family, periodically looking past faults and embracing them as her kin. The Possessed likewise arouses profound empathy from Alpha, and she endeavors to rescue as many as possible.

The blonde elf's achievements have not tempered a deep sense of inferiority and inadequacy. Like many of the Seven Shadows, Alpha feels Shadow is in a realm beyond understanding, regarding her presence as a burden. Unsatisfied with personal deficiencies, she strives to shoulder Shadow's responsibilities and earn even a little more of his trust.

Powers & Abilities
Since its inception, Alpha has remained Shadow Garden's second-in-command, a position predicated on being the second-strongest member. She is a versatile combatant, exhibiting proficiency in many areas, but is surpassed by her fellow Seven Shadows in their specializations. Her only defeat has been to Shadow, the organization's leader. As a testament to her strength, Cid has used her as a benchmark to determine the capability of an opponent, and she remains one of the few combatants who has drawn blood from him in a genuine skirmish.

Swordsmanship
Under the early guidance of Cid, Alpha learned various sword techniques and practices. Expanding upon the foundation laid for her, Alpha adopted a personal style, as did other members of the Seven Shadows.[GAME ONLY] Alpha has displayed two-sword styles. One is similar to Shadow's methodical approach: observe the opponent and slowly create an advantage by refining movements amidst active combat. By calculating the trajectory of attacks, Alpha can evade with exactitude. The second style is about killing the enemy in a single strike—a preferred method of assassination or elimination of regenerative targets. Slime viscosity and fluidity can facilitate sword elongation for larger adversaries.

Magic
Alpha possesses an immense magical reserve, surpassing even Shadow when they were children ; whether the feat remains in later years is undisclosed, but her level has been employed as a metric to determine magical capacity.[ANIME ONLY] At a young age, she learned to heal the possessed—a rare feat even among the upper echelons of Shadow Garden. Other than the originator, Alpha and Epsilon are the only practitioners of purification. [EPSILON GAME ONLY] The control extends into combat, aiding quick and powerful engagements against enemies. She demonstrates the ability to compress magic, but unlike an atomic attack, Alpha focuses magic into a single point on a sword to make a piercing blow.[GAME ONLY] For magically enhanced stealth, Alpha's capabilities have caught some strong combatants unawares, but covert operations are not her defining characteristic.

Vampire Techniques
A few months after confirming the consanguineous connection between Vampires and The Possessed, Alpha was the first Seven Shadow member to exhibit proficiency in vampire techniques. Those who have shown vampiric powers have slight variations in their utilization.
 * Mistform: An ability that disperses the user into a fog-like state, rendering them immune from most attacks. The mist acts as an auxiliary sensory organ, detecting minute movements of those within the cloud. By utilizing pseudo-intangibility, Alpha's variation bombards combatants with crimson-colored blades. The power comes with two significant weaknesses. While in mistform, direct attacks can only be initiated after rematerializing. Fast transformation makes capitalizing on this difficult, but it is not impossible.[ANIME ONLY] The second weakness is that the ability is not incorporeal but rather a gaseous state. A lack of mass and weak intermolecular bonds makes it susceptible to dispersion by an opponent.

Intelligence
As second-in-command and one of the responsible members for transforming Shadow Garden into a powerful organization, Alpha presents as a charismatic leader and proficient in corporate compartmentalization. As Shadow Garden's chief operating officer, she has been noted to have spearheaded many successful operations.

Alpha similarly possesses an analytical intellect for rational problem-solving and deductive reasoning, both in and out of combat. Her discerning mind has unraveled many details regarding the Cult of Diablos and the Possessed before formal confirmation. Perceiving multiple variables and her master's supposed intentions, Alpha has made decisive actions to protect or cement Shadow Garden's position, alongside their public front within the Mitsugoshi Company. Alpha's strong personal bias has misinterpreted or neglected some pertinent verities, but it has not impeded success. Her intelligence is expressed in battle by keen combat analysis, assisting in stratagems and opponent identification-- such as identifying an advisory by observing dodging techniques.

Weapons and Equipment
Alpha's gear is primarily slime-based equipment given the slime's ninety-nine percent magical energy conductivity and the form altering adaptability make the slime flexible in combat. Her primary weapon, like the other Seven Shadows, is a katana based on teaching by Shadow. Other medians depict two horizontal quillons on the sword hilt, suggesting a longsword variant of slime sword, which is common among knights in the Midgar Kingdom.

Trivia

 * Alpha's magic is colored as blue.[ANIME ONLY]
 * Despite being the strongest of the Seven Shadows, Alpha is always training and developing new combat techniques with the sole objective of always keeping up with Cid.[CITATION NEEDED]
 * Alpha always assumes a role when interacting with the other members of the Shadow Garden, similar to how Cid takes on the role of Shadow. Among the Seven Shadows, she presents as a stoic leader, but she can be her true self with Cid and foregoing any need for pretense.
 * In the manga, Alpha is seen participating in the assault on Midgar Academy, while in the other adaptations, Gamma is the leader as the blonde elf is unavailable.
 * Cid currently owes her a meal after eating both their shares during the abduction incident involving Princess Alexia. He has yet to return the favor and has forgotten it.
 * Alpha is the practical leader of Shadow Garden, as Cid is too focused on his "Eminence in Shadow" performances to participate in organizational activities. Six of the Seven Shadows acknowledge her as having the highest authority in the organization after Shadow and loyally follow her orders.
 * Zeta and Delta have contested Alpha's leadership on different occasions.
 * Delta challenged the blonde elf shortly after joining Shadow Garden for the second-in-command position, but Alpha retained her title and the experience has led Delta to obey her orders without question.
 * Believing their leader is not preparing for the future, Zeta has created a sub-faction in Shadow Garden to undermine Alpha's authority and revive the demon Diablos. She routinely fails to report in and continues her clandestine behavior.
 * It is revealed in spin-off series Kage-Jitsu that Alpha lacks a sense and taste for female fashion. She tries to learn and take advice from her companions, such as Gamma's recommendation of wearing "cute" underwear.
 * Alpha is a skilled knitter, as shown in Kage-Jitsu, and successfully made prototype animal shirts for the Mitsugoshi Company, which didn't work for adults but was successfully marketed as a children's clothing line.
 * Although not confirmed by Daisuke Aizawa, third-party sources claim Alpha is in love with Shadow.
 * According to the surveys, with the voice actors of the characters, Alpha is in love with Cid, which was verified by her Japanese voice actress, Asami Seto, during an interview.[SURVEY CITATION NEEDED]
 * More details are revealed within the Master of Garden game.[CITATION NEEDED]