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Killy (霧亥, Kirii) is the main protagonist in Blame!, a synthetic human who travels though the Megastructure to find a human with Net Terminal Genes, which, if found, would be able to halt the expansion of the City, thereby saving all human life within it from hostility by the rogue Safeguards.

Killy's journey throughout the City and his encounters with its inhabitants make up most of the series.

Biography[]

Volume 1[]

In his first appearance in-series, he was seen escorting a young boy - a possible gene carrier - through Silicon Creature territory. He dispatched one, though two more captured the boy and his GBE, forcing him to flee. He came across a dilapidated vehicle, which he used to kill one of the remaining Silicon Lifeforms before it is destroyed by the second one, though he was able to retrieve his GBE and shoot it. He attempted to free the child but he was too late, as the Silicon Lifeforms had already killed him. [1]

He reported back to one of his superiors, delivering the body of the boy. After he was given orders from her to investigate signs of life on a far above level, he showed her an ancient book he found, asking for information on "earth" - a place he had apparently never heard of before. She offered to give him a lift to the next level, though he silently declined. [2]

Wandering further, he was attacked and injured by a group of insect-like creatures known as "Watchers"; his comatose body was found by the "Technomads", a settlement of humans that were currently taking shelter nearby, where they take him to heal him. After he reawakened, he asked around to see if any of them were carrying the Net Terminal Gene; none of them are. Disappointed, he injected himself with one of his shots, causing him to sleep. An attack from the Watchers caused him to wake up, and from there he helped defend the village. Afterwards he had one of them show him the nest of the creatures, which he blew up with his GBE. [3]

Incredibly hungry, Killy wandered until he found a Silicon Lifeform nursery, which he broke into. Once inside, he consumed their entire food supply - angering the sentry stationed there. Narrowly escaping, he fired his GBE and destroyed the entire nursery - though for a brief moment he seemed concerned about the babies inside. [4]

Still searching for food, he eventually came across a strange, silent boy. The boy prepared to trade with him but was shot by a trio of humans, who attacked and restrained Killy. They interrogated him, and he revealed that he had traveled over 5,000 floors to get to where he was now. Not believing him, and thinking he was working with "The Authorities", they threw his bag into the abyss and warned him to stay away - almost immediately before the three were brutally killed by the child. Killy ends up being spared and watched the child leave. [5]

After a brief sleep, he found the village mentioned by the child shortly ahead, with bloodied bodies of the population scattered everywhere. Discovering that one of the inhabitants is alive (albeit missing both legs), he learned what happened by connecting to her memories with a strange device attached to him. Through her memories he saw that they killed the child when it attacked the village, then were shortly after attacked and killed by "the Authorities" - robotic creatures resembling Safeguard Exterminators. Along with the survivor, whom he strapped to his back, they left to find the settlement's DNA records to see if the Net Gene was here. A search of the village shows no one survived; arming themselves, they encounter two more of the "Authorities", which get mowed down by the survivor's automatic weapon. A third Authority appeared and tackled them off the ledge they were fighting on; in the ensuing struggle, the survivor's arm was snapped, and Killy was able to shoot the Authority in the head. [6]

After possibly hours more of wandering, Killy realized the survivor had perished from blood loss, and turned to find a nearby group of survivors making a stand against the Authorities. Either from wanting to avenge the survivor or to see if any of the others carried the Net Gene, Killy prepared to help them fight, when two Silicon Creatures showed up and wiped out both the Authorities and the survivors. The larger of the two claimed he recognized Killy and had a brief conversation with him; afterwards Killy gloated with a smirk that he was the one that blew up the Silicon Lifeform nursery. Distraught, the two attacked and injured him, kicking his head into a wall; he ended up fighting back, shooting the female cyborg point blank in the head before being forced to retreat down a hole after being shot by the male. [7]

His long fall was ended when he landed on some pipes jutting out from one of the surrounding buildings. As he made his way to the building, he was greeted by a disheveled man, claiming that he's the "curer" they'd been waiting for. The man, Kumoi, took him inside and gave him food as he told him about the activity of the Builders in the area and introduced him to his wife, Yaki - who Kumoi didn't seem to realize was dead. After Killy revealed he was not the "curer", a Builder arrived and started to construct inside the building, despite Kumoi's pleas to stop. Killy used a device that transmitted binary code to shut off the builder; amazed, Kumoi asks him to stop a giant builder that had slowly been traveling towards the area. They work together to stop it and Kumoi begins to rejoice, though the celebration is interrupted by the appearance of the Silicon Lifeform before, who had been following Killy the whole time. He fatally wounded Kumoi before dishing out a brutal beatdown to Killy. The man was barely able to fire off the GBE, blasting the cyborg through the chest. Killy tried to calm Kumoi in his last moments, telling him "the curer is here", though the dying man realized there is no such person. Killy placed his body next to Yaki's before continuing on his journey. [8]

Volume 2[]

While crossing an incredibly long bridge, Killy rescued a member of the "Dry Men" from a large worm like creature, and attempted to communicate with her before she was taken away by the rest of her tribe. Soon he found a sort of docking station, transporting workers to the Capitol of the Bio-Electric Corporation. Hoping to find people that carry the Net Gene there, he hitched a ride from a departing worker named Tettan and helped to defend their vehicle from attacking Dry Men (he also realized this was the same tribe he ran into earlier). With Tettan killed and their vehicle badly damaged, the AI of the ship, Tets, made a crash-landing in the Capitol's docks. Soon workers arrived and unloaded the cargo: numerous Dry Men bodies, among them the young female Killy rescued. After Tets explained to Killy that they were harvesting the Dry Men's organs. Killy realized the attacking Dry Men he killed were just trying to rescue their comrades and asks Tets to confirm. The AI responds by calling Killy dumbass which results in Killy snapping and killing the AI before going on a rampage through the docks. Security was called; strange, floating, telekinetic beings capable of deflecting Killy's GBE shots. They ejected Killy from the docks, forcing him to flee deeper into the levels, where he eventually found the Capitol itself. [9]

Killy asked around for directions to the Corporation itself and, after he witnessed the corpses of rebellious Laborers being dragged away, was directed to a secret entrance in the lower levels. Here he was confronted by a group of Laborers that wished to use his GBE to free themselves from enslavement; after a quick one-sided battle, Killy manages to escape and make his way inside the Corporation. He wandered until he discovered a deep pit, where he could see more deceased Laborers being dumped. A Guardian suddenly appeared and attacked Killy, who retaliated by kicking it into the pit. As he made his way around the edge, he was confronted by the head of security, who succeeded in sending him plummeting into the pit.

Down below, he encountered the Guardian, though a nearby voice from the darkness told him that it reprogrammed the Guardian so it could not see him. Killy then discovered the decaying torso of a Cibo hooked up to a bank of machinery. She struck a bargain with him, saying that she would assist him in accessing the Corporation's genetic records if he freed her; he agreed, and carried her body out of the pit. Once she was hooked up to the Corporation's system she began to search through the genetic records as he held off the Corporation's Guardians, though one of the Guardians managed to slip through and destroyed her body; she only had enough time to show him the location of the Corporation President. Reaching the President, he requested to search through the genetic record files, though his request was bluntly denied. He was once again forced to engage the bodyguards and, after a quick battle, had his left arm severed by the head of security.

Blamev2 124

Killy loses his arm.

Before he could be finished off, however, Cibo arrived in a brand new body, shutting down the bodyguards before taking on the President himself. Soon thousands of Guardians arrived, and, after Killy took multiple shots from their lasers, Cibo urged him to shoot the President; Killy was reluctant, however, as it would mean losing any potential genetic records, though after she admitted there were no records to be found, he dispatched the President with a level 4 blast from his GBE.

Later, Cibo was successful in reattaching Killy's severed arm and discussed what may be found on the next Megastructure level. She asked him to take her with him in his journey to find the Net Gene, as there is nothing left on this level for either of them; he agreed, and they begin moving upward. [10]

As they traveled up a giant spiraling pillar to reach the border of the Megastructure, Cibo showed Killy her memories of the incident that led to her imprisonment - her attempt to connect to the Netsphere that lead to the Safeguard appearing - in preparation for any Safeguard that may be waiting for them ahead. While Cibo set up camp for the night, Killy began to rip away the cast on his arm, revealing that the amputation had already healed.

That night they were awakened by the appearance of both a Safeguard agent and a proxy messenger from the Governors. Killy dispatched the Safeguard and attempted to do the same to the messenger but Cibo stopped him before he could. After she established communication with it, the Governor messenger relayed a message to Killy, updating him on the status of the mission to find a Net Gene. He learned that so far no one has been able to find one and was told that he and Cibo need to run from the massive army of Safeguard being downloaded into the area. The two quickly reached the top of the rapidly collapsing pillar, where Cibo set up a shield to protect them from three more Safeguard while Killy drilled a hole into the ceiling of the Megastructure with his GBE. After the force of the blast from Killy's gun destroyed the foundation for the shield, Cibo used a grappling hook to pull them towards the newly created exit. She was barely able to catch Killy as he destroyed the Safeguard units - and the entire pillar - with a shot from his gun aimed directly downward. She pulled them both up into the exit, they were finally able to leave this level behind and travel to the next. [11] [12]

Volume 3[]

Upon reaching the next level, they saw what appeared to be a large body of water and a large city in the distance. Cibo's scans were able to detect the movements of numerous Builders in the distance, along with possible organic lifeforms, though she could not detect thoughts from them; Killy decided they should head this way. They eventually discovered signs of a battle, with heavily mutilated corpses strew about, all noted to have suffered from genetic mutation - meaning no Net Genes were to be found here. Further on, they found a heavily damaged Governor, whom Killy tried to question, though it almost immediately exploded into numerous Safeguard units. The force of the explosion threw Cibo into a wall, while Killy was forced to engage the emerging Exterminators. He succeeded in taking out two of the Exterminators before he realized that the Safeguard leader - who also carried a Gravitational Beam Emitter - was going after the injured Cibo. With an Exterminator still clinging to his arm, he used the beam of his own weapon to counter the beam of the Safeguard's variant, causing a massive explosion.

Blamev3 024 025

Killy counters Sanakan’s GBE beam to save Cibo.

He pulled what was left of the Exterminator off of him before he was clawed in the face by the Safeguard leader, who was unfazed by the explosion. As he tried to take a shot at her she used her foot to pin his arm to the ground before firing a strange dart into his arm. Unfazed by the dart, he tried to retrieve his weapon with his free arm, only to be shot in the face by nearly ten more darts, which injected a strange substance into his head, knocking him out. His body was then kicked into the water far below them. Cibo, with her injuries patched up, eventually found his prone body and dragged him to a heavily damaged Governor. Killy then regained consciousness and aimed his weapon at the Governor, though Cibo stopped him, claiming he saved their lives. The Governor revealed that the darts injected into Killy contained enough organic compound to instantly kill a normal human. He also learned that there's a high chance of living humans up ahead in a large cylindrical building, before the Governor finally succumbed to it's injuries. [13]

As they wandered further, Killy's injuries began to catch up to him. Cibo tried to help him up after he stumbled on a staircase, though he rudely shoved her away. They came across a side passage, with an incredibly strong stench comic from within; here they found an incredibly sick man and a young girl named Sanakan. While she conversed with Cibo, Killy convinced her to show them where surviving humans may be hiding. As they made their way to the location, Killy began to sweat heavily, gradually slowing down before collapsing to the ground. The appearance of more Exterminators forced Cibo to carry him away. When she tried to use his GBE to protect them, he quickly woke up and used it to stop the advancing machines himself (and was thrown into the far wall from the recoil) before falling into unconsciousness again. The Exterminators quickly closed in and nearly killed everyone before the Electrofishers Pops and Sutezo arrived, making quick work of the machines. The two Electrofishers decided to bring them all to their village, with Killy's limp body being carried on a stretcher. [14]

Once they finally reached the village, Killy was taken to their medicine room to be healed by Zuru. [15]He awakened a few days later, and discovered he had gained the ability to scan objects with his eyes (he analyzed his own suit, discovering it to be made up of "Type 2 layered composite plastic"). Scanning Zuru's eyes, he discovered that she does not carry the Net Gene, and suddenly had the realization of what the eye insignia he had been seeing everywhere meant.

Blame v03 c016 p111

Killy wakes up.

By the time he had fully healed, Cibo, Pops, Sanakan, and Sutezo had returned from their expedition to the Toha Heavy Industries building. Outside, he scanned the eyes of Cibo and the rest of the Electrofishers - not one person possessed the Net Gene. A scan of Sanakan's eyes revealed her to be a disguised Safeguard; Killy desperately attempted to push through the crowd to seize her but was too late, as she had cut off Pop's hand and begun her transformation. He and Cibo realize with shock that this is the same Safeguard leader that had defeated them earlier. [16]

Cibo warned Killy that he could not use his weapon with the Toha Heavy Industries building so nearby. He threw Electrofishers being targeted by the Exterminators spawned by Sanakan out of the way as he charged towards her, tackling her off of the bridge they were on and landing on another below. He was then kicked into a wall before having his weapon knocked away. The chaotic hand-to-hand battle that followed ended with Sanakan stomping Killy's head into the ground, forcing him to watch as she gunned down masses of Electrofishers. Soon the warriors of the village arrived, giving Killy a chance to free himself as they destroyed her GBE and fired dozens of bolts into her. After a giant pair of wings sprouted from her back and she began to escape, she questioned him about his "restored functions". His response was to make a quick grab for his GBE, although she escaped before he could make a shot. [17]

He and Cibo quickly worked together to carry survivors away from the burning village before a large Builder show up. The group watched, surprised, as Killy briefly conversed with it, informing everyone that it was only here to put out the fires and repair the damage caused by the battle. Later on they meet with Pops and decide to depart for Toha Heavy Industries. After the dead were put to rest and preparations were made, Killy, Cibo, and the survivors began the exodus. Several days were spent walking before their path was blocked by fire and rubble; Killy informed everyone that the Builder present would not being finished making repairs for another 2160 hours. Cibo got the idea that they could convince the Builder to carry them across and asked Killy to connect to her to show her how to talk to it; he complied. Upon connecting, however, Cibo suffered a massive nosebleed, prompting Killy to disconnect immediately.

While she left to go retrieve the builder, Killy and the Electrofishers took up defensive positions for the event that the Safeguard should show up. A sudden tremor shook the area, and Killy, readying his weapon, suddenly found himself face-to-face with a massive Safeguard machine. He fired into the machine's head, although it had no effect on the beast. With a terrifying realization, he realized that the machine's mouth contained a gigantic Gravitational Beam Emitter, and yelled for the Electrofishers to run. The sudden appearance of Cibo's giant Builder prevents it from killing them, though a pair of massive worm-like tentacles emerging from the Safeguard send Killy flying. He fired off rapid shots to the tentacles and arms, holding the giant at bay while everyone made a run for the entrance of the Toha Heavy Industries building. As Exterminators began to spawn, Killy once again found himself faced with Sanakan, who informed him that he missed his chance of "Registration" with the Safeguard and it was time for him to be "cancelled". [18] [19]

Volume 4[]

The two engaged in a gunfight with their respective Gravitational Beam Emitters, though Killy was unable to land a hit on Sanakan. She was able to graze him in the back, and once again he found himself at her mercy, pinned to the ground beneath her foot with a gun aimed at his head. Cibo, within a backup cyberspace, was able to momentarily stun Sanakan, giving Killy an opening to shoot her in the head and body. He then moved to engage the giant Safeguard machine, and witnessed Cibo being bisected by the Safeguard. [20]

A sudden surge of electricity surging through his GBE (supposedly caused by Cibo re-entering base reality) puzzled Killy momentarily before he charged the massive swarm of Safeguard Exterminators that were heading for the fleeing Electrofishers. Standing between the two groups, he fired off numerous shots from his weapon, destroying large numbers of the machines with each blast. Despite taking heavy damage, being impaled through the torso numerous times and losing a large amount of blood, he succeeded in killing all of them before drawing the attention of the massive Safeguard away from the Electrofishers and towards him. Deciding to use his Gravitational Beam Emitter on his highest setting, he deactivated the gun's limiter before connecting himself to the piles of destroyed Exterminators in order to draw extra power.

Limit off

"Limit off".

Blame v04 c2 p062

A full power.

After charging his weapon to it's full power, he fired his beam just as the Safeguard fired it's own, though Killy's beam overtook the Safeguard's and wiped it out from the shoulders up. The force of the recoil was so powerful that it tore his arm almost fully off and sent him flying for miles, eventually landing hard enough to leave a crater. Painfully he was able to get to his feet, having to hold his arm in place to keep it from falling off as he made his way back to the Toha Heavy Industries building. He eventually came across Cibo's builder, as well as her discarded lower half, before he noticed that the entrance to the building was open; the Electrofishers had made it inside. Relieved, he rested against a wall for a while before he was found by the young girl form of Sanakan. [21]

Killy drew his weapon, but Sanakan yelled not to shoot; a scan of her eyes revealed it to actually be Cibo, now in control of Sanakan's young girl body. She informed him that everyone made it inside, and walked with Killy through the entrance. They witnessed a mangled Exterminator try to crawl in after them, only for it to suddenly fall out. As the entrance suddenly began to shut, and Killy grabbed Cibo and dove out the entrance before they could be crushed, then drew his handgun at the Exterminator, which was now dead. With them now locked out, Killy located another entrance higher up and began walking in that direction with Cibo. Upon reaching the door, Killy observed the locks for a moment before he realized that Cibo was being overtaken by Sanakan. He quickly opened the locks and, grabbing the still transforming Cibo/Sanakan, threw them inside before they could shoot him. Cautiously walking into the entrance, he saw that his plan had worked; the anti-Safeguard field had shut down Sanakan and put Cibo in full control. [22]

While Cibo took time to regain her composure, Killy worked on repairing his arm. As they continued to walk further into the building, Cibo asked him if his arm was ok; he answered her question by opening a door ahead of them with said arm. They traveled further, through chambers with gravity moving in a different direction, lockers full of suits of Electrofisher armor closer to Killy's size, and eventually a hallway sealed off by a strange material. Here they were suddenly cornered by two Silicon Creatures, Ivy and Maeve, who claimed they have an old score to settle with the Killy. The man draws his weapon, but discovers that it does not work inside the building, as Safeguard devices are deactivated. [23]

As the two Silicon Creatures began to advance, Killy grabbed Cibo and carried her out of the way of their blades' swings. He was able to jump out of the way of Ivy's sword, though the Silicon Lifeform triggered the hidden feature of the blade that caused it to fold out and extend; Killy threw Cibo out of the way just in time before he was squeezed against the floor by the massive blade. Cibo was quickly impaled through the stomach by Maeve, and Killy frantically struggled against the blade to save her, when the sudden appearance of Mensab and Seu caused the Lifeforms to halt their assault. Mensab, thinking they were unwanted guests from the Netsphere, ordered Killy and Cibo to leave, though almost immediately they fell through holes opened up in floor by someone else. Killy is able to stop his descent, and is met by tiny winged humanoids that lead him and Cibo away. [24]

They were brought to the Eighth Cave, where the mini "custodians" explained to them everything that was going on. It was revealed that, due to a mounting invasion force of Silicon Creatures, all the citizens of Toha Heavy Industries were hidden by Mensab, the cave's AI; Cibo convinced Killy that if they could solve the problems here and fine a normal AI, they may be able to find a Net Gene among the hidden citizens. Killy agreed to give this a try, earning the gratitude of the custodians. Suddenly, the custodians detected Mensab approaching; they lead Killy and Cibo to an elevator that would take them to another cave. Mensab, detecting their presence, had the elevator ejected from the building itself, though Killy was able to bust them all out as it flew into the sky. Cibo quickly sprouted a pair of massive wings and caught Killy, who in turn caught the two custodians that were with them before declaring that it was time to head back and meet Mensab. [25]

Volume 5[]

Cibo was able to fly them back into an opening in the building. From there they walked into another area with gravity working differently, and suddenly found themselves falling a great distance. Killy was able to grab Cibo (and the custodians) and, holding onto them, landed on his feet, causing massive damage to the floor. As the custodians reactivated, Killy detected a Silicon Creature up ahead; sneaking up on the Lifeform, he struck it in the head with a massive pipe hard enough to break it's spine before pinning it to the ground with the pipe, where Cibo was able to hack into it's brain. With her connected to the brain, Killy connected to her, in order to interrogate it. From the cyborg they learned that their overall mission is to wipe out any traces of the Net Gene to preserve the City's current state of chaos, and that cyborg army was about to find Mensab and the remaining colonists of Toha industries. They arrived to find Mensab and Seu making a last stand. Killy intervened and began killing the Silicon Lifeforms off, but was caught in the middle of Mensab's emergency teleportation. [26]

Blame v05 c01 p016

Killy ambushes a Silicon Creature.

As the light faded, he found himself within a very strange landscape. Scans showed that his weapon would still not work here, meaning he was still at Toha. For hours he wandered a desolate landscape before a massive Silicon Lifeform burst through the walls in front of him, followed by a small flying figure, who shot down the massive machine. She landed in front of him and took off her helmet, revealing herself to be an older Cibo, though she did not recognize Killy. Cibo detected a "new model" of cyborg approaching, saying that she could not fight it, and urged Killy to follow her through a teleportation gate. With much confusion from the two of them, they pieced together that Killy was now in an alternate universe.

Wandering through the alternate version of Cave 4, they discovered a message addressed to Killy from the main reality, though they were only able to get a set of coordinates from the message. Heading in that direction, the alternate Cibo carried (with her flight gear) Killy through a narrow trench where they are ambushed by more of the giant Silicon Creatures, followed by the "new model" from earlier. Damaged, and falling through the air, they were suddenly rescued by the Cibo from the main reality, who was now a teenager. She placed a magnetic shield down, which allowed Killy to use his GBE to shoot down the new model cyborg. Cibo then informed him that she had been waiting ten years for him to return. [27]

The cyborg suddenly began to regenerate, and destroyed the supports to the shield before Killy could shoot it again before suddenly leaving. As the two Cibos began to get acquainted, they revealed that the unstable gravity furnace of Toha was the key to escaping this reality. Reaching the furnace, Killy fired his weapon on it's lowest setting to open a hole in reality, though the new model cyborg reappeared to block their path. Killy then charged it, flipping it over and ripping off it's head with his bare hands, but taking massive damage in the process. Making a dash to the rapidly closing hole, Killy and Cibo were able to jump through, though he was unable to save the alternate Cibo from the still-alive cyborg as it dragged her away. [28]

Blame v05 c03 p111

Killy defeats the new model.

Returning to the base reality during Ivy and Maeve's battle against Mensab and Seu, Killy was able to damage Ivy with alternate Cibo's gun. Mensab then teleported away with Seu, leaving Killy and Cibo to follow her. [29] Finding her at Toha's matter replicator machine, they learned that all the colonists (including the Electrofishers) have been hidden in Cave 13, so they began to head in that direction. [30]

A sudden surge of electricity coursing through Killy's GBE alerted him to a Governor messenger that had downloaded nearby. It revealed that the anti-Safeguard agreement had been cancelled and that the Safeguard were now on their way, as well as the fact that Toha Heavy Industries would soon be moving from it's current location - meaning Killy's time to find a Net Gene here was now limited. Hastily they began to move to the location of Toha's Central AI to convince him to renew the agreement. As they neared the tower the AI was located in, the defenses activated, gunning down Cibo and injuring Killy, though he was able to climb the rest of the tower, shooting the turrets as he went, before reaching the central chamber. [31]

Volume 6[]

As the combatants in the room all paused their battle due to his arrival, Killy tried to convince the Central AI to renew the agreement to stop the invading Safeguard, to no avail. He then heard Cibo calling his name as Sanakan attempted to aim and fire her GBE at the Central AI from the lower levels. Scanning the floor below, he carefully aimed his weapon right at Sanakan and fired. [32] The beams passed right by each other, with Killy's beam hitting Sanakan dead-center and obliterating her, while her beam struck the Central AI's head. After regaining his footing in the collapsing chamber, he suddenly found himself facing off against Maeve (now with the body of the "new model" cyborg) who proceeded to pummel him into the ground. [33] Though he repeatedly tried to take aim with his weapon, Maeve shot her's first, impaling him three times through the torso with large metal beams.

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Killy after defeating Maeve.

Satisfied that her foe had been defeated, Maeve moved on to finish the Central AI and attack Mensab, despite Seu's best efforts to stop her, though Killy was able to shoot her through the heart from the ground below before collapsing. [34] He regained consciousness just as Toha Heavy Industries was beginning it's final stages of collapsing. Mensab greeted him, informing him that the genetic information he had been seeking was already lost, though she was able to send him compressed data that might be useful to him before teleporting him away, far above the building.

Disappointed that everything and everyone up until now had been lost, Killy grimly remained stationary for a long time before Cibo arrived, teleporting behind him. She showed him a capsule given to her by Mensab containing Seu's genetic information, then declared they had to find a way to analyze it. [35]

Climbing upwards for a very long time, the two reached a new place entirely. Down a dark hallway Killy spotted two young girls, who ran as soon as they spotted them; unable to scan their eyes in time, he ran after them. After traveling through a maze of pipes, the two eventually reached a chamber covered with an organic-like mass. Killy then found a chamber filled with hundreds of women of varying ages, who all quickly ran away; a scan of their eyes revealed that every one of them were clones. He told Cibo that the Net Gene was not here, saying he had encountered places like this before and that there was no point in searching here further. Cibo then found the original woman, hooked to a machine for what could have been centuries and producing endless clones; Killy suddenly showed up and shot the woman in the head before leaving without a word. [36]

Eventually the two reached a Megastructure - the border to the next level of the City. Killy found an entrance and, soon after, a giant elevator. The door suddenly opened, revealing a polite but deformed looking man. Killy instinctively raised his weapon, but a scan of his eyes showed no danger; he decided they would take the elevator up. Inside, the man - the elevator's monitor - scanned the next level for them, saying that it could not find anything like a Net Gene but it did detect numerous facilities where the gene capsule could be analyzed, and a distress signal nearby. After learning it would take 800 hours (a full month) for the elevator to reach it's destination, Killy sat down, got comfortable and injected one of his drug shots into his head. A month later, Killy woke up as they reached their destination, and he and Cibo began the trek towards the distress signal. [37]

Volume 7[]

After a long period of walking through the Unofficial Megastructure Level, Cibo lost sight of the distress signal. Killy found it being transmitted over an exclusive Netsphere channel and led the way. Further on, they were attacked by a large insect-like creature, which Killy caught as it leapt toward them and slammed it against the wall. Swarms of the insect suddenly emerged from the walls all around, and the two were forced to run, barely managing to lock themselves behind a door. One insect slipped through and attached itself to Cibo's back: Killy tried to pull it off, but scans showed that it was now rooted to her nervous system, so he had to leave it be as to not damage Cibo. He then picked her up and ran as a gigantic insect burst through the door and tunneled through the floor; Killy raised his weapon but was run over by the insect, being impaled by numerous spikes protruding from the creature's back. He watched as the insect changed into it's true form, a massive Silicon Creature, and wasted no time in shooting it with his GBE. He continued to carry Cibo with him as he made his way to the distress signal, until he spotted a figure in the distance, whom he raised his weapon against. [38]

Blame v07 c01 p046

Killy and Dhomochevsky meet.

As Killy and Dhomochevsky faced off, they scanned each other's eyes to get a reading of who they were facing. When Iko informed Dhomochevsky that she could not get a read on Killy, they decided that he was a threat; Iko was able to shut off Killy's Gravitational Beam Emitter for a split-second, giving her teammate time to fire off four rockets from his weapon. Killy regained control and fired, missing Dhomo by mere inches, though he was unable to shield himself from the rockets.

He regained consciousness on the elevator, already on it's way back to the previous level, with his Gravitational Beam Emitter missing. Killy ordered the elevator operator to go back up, but the operator refused. He then tried to open the emergency exit door, which the operator said could only be used in the event that he was injured; hearing this, Killy slowly turned around, though the operator attacked before he could do anything, transforming into a creature resembling a Safeguard. Killy was able to catch the grappling hooks launched by the operator in his hand before throwing the machine outside and crushing it in the elevator. He was able to jump out of the derailing elevator and catch the side of the shaft, and from there began making his way back up. [39]

Killy climbed for miles, passing deactivated Builders, flying machines, and organic grub-looking creatures. Making his way into the tunnels carved out by these creatures, he discovered the interior of this Megastructure, inhabited by mindless, wandering machines. Eventually he encountered a swarm of floating nano-machines, which were able to form words and symbols to communicate with him. The swarm revealed it is of the Governing Agency, and provided him with a set of coordinates. Killy followed the coordinates to what seemed to be an old Safeguard base, which he was granted access to after the door scanned his retinas. Inside were numerous lockers, containing Safeguard battle armor, an armory, and numerous other Safeguard machines. [40]

Volume 8[]

Blame v08 p026

Killy executes Schiff.

Now reequipped with Safeguard armor and various weapons, Killy was seen trying these out when he heard a noise from nearby. He scanned the room but his stalker was too fast and stayed out of his view. Killy began shooting rapidly in all directions; his stalker, the Silicon Creature Schiff, appeared before him and sliced one of his new guns into pieces before slashing at Killy's torso. He was able to block the blades with his arms, until he was thrown through a wall by the sheer strength of the Silicon Creature. Schiff thrust his blade towards Killy's face, and he barely managed to block it with his own hand before shooting off Schiff's other arm. Schiff dodged the next shot and freed his blade from Killy's hand before stabbing him through the chest. Killy then grabbed Schiff's arm and flipped him over his shoulder before delivering a heavy series of punches to the Silicon Creature's face, then finished him off with a shot to the head. [41]

Killy returned to the Unofficial Megastructure Level in the midst of a battle between Pcell and the combined forces of Cibo, Dhomochevsky, and Iko. He took shots at Pcell from across a ravine using some type of energy shotgun, causing her to take cover, before he swung over to her side via a cable. He then shot off one of her arms with a pistol; she retaliated by using her graviton sword to blast him deep into a wall, although this gave the others an opening to defeat her and drive her away. [42]

Cibo returned Killy's Gravitational Beam Emitter to him; the man instantly aimed at Dhomo and Iko before Cibo explained they were all on the same side. After they revealed the gene capsule had been taken by Davinelulinvega's Silicon Creatures, they gave Killy a choice to either assist them or leave this level with Cibo; eventually he chose the first option, declaring he would get the capsule back. The group re-supplied themselves before gathering at the headquarters of Davinelulinvega's army. [43]

Blame v08 p086

Begin the raid.

Using a series of secret routes known by Dhomo and Iko, the group was able to infiltrate Davine's base. Iko soon realized that they had been detected; the wall suddenly opened up into a giant mouth, pulling in Killy and Dhomochevsky (whose arm was severed when he pushed Cibo out of the way).

The giant insect-like creature carried Killy and Dhomo deep into the base, spitting them out into a deep pit, where hundreds of Exterminator-Silicon hybrids began to spawn. A large polymer mass encircled Killy's arm and GBE, forcing him to rely on his other weapons as he and Dhomo fought off the army standing back-to-back. Once the second wave began to spawn, Killy was able to use his retina scanners to locate the Structural Conversion Tower in the distance; he fired his GBE (through the polymer mass) and was able to destroy the tower, stopping production of new Exterminators. They made plans to meet up with Cibo and Iko at the central connection facility, where Davine would be. [44]

As they made their way to the chamber, Cibo and Iko radioed in, telling Killy and Dhomo that Davine had began its connection to the Netsphere, but the connection speed was mysteriously slow, giving them time. Eventually they reached the gate of the central chamber; as Killy noticed Cibo's prone body in the distance, plugged into a machine, Dhomo yelled for Iko to open the gate. The gate opened, revealing Davine, and Dhomo took a shot but was knocked down by two Exterminators, whom Killy promptly dispatched. Killy then pointed his GBE at Davine; Pcell suddenly appeared and struck Killy's arm hard enough to stretch it way out of proportion before snapping his neck. [45]

Unaware of the battle that had occurred around him, Killy's had his GBE taken away by Dhomochevsky in order to mercy kill Cibo, who was rapidly transforming into a Level-9 Safeguard. The man tried to stop him, but was unable to move due to the extend of his injuries. By the time he had healed enough that he could stand again, everyone was dead except Cibo, who had become the Level 9 Safeguard. Thinking she was about to attack him, Killy retrieved his GBE and fired at Cibo, though he was shocked to discover that she was only healing his arm. After a heavily injured Pcell fired at Cibo as well (and was immediately after shot in the head by Killy), Cibo went berserk, beginning to detonate a massive explosion. [46]

Blame v08 p181

Killy's remains after Cibo's thermonuclear explosion.

The resulting explosion was powerful enough to melt down the entire Megastructure Level. Killy attempted to fire at Cibo but found his arm rapidly melting, with the gun falling out of it. The man was submerged into molten rock and melted down into an unrecognizable, humanoid mass, though he was able to fire off one final shot at full power (successfully crippling Cibo) before succumbing to the molten lake. [47]

Volume 9[]

Blame v09 c01 p010

"Adjustment complete".

After running a self-diagnostic, rebooting, and recovering memory, Killy's body spent the next few years regenerating. Once repairs were complete, he shed the outer "cast" that had formed around him to reveal his now fully healed body before bursting out of the hardened magma that had encased him. He then began to search for his Gravitational Beam Emitter, eventually finding it behind more layers of rock. Upon recovering it, he seemed to remember the events that led to his defeat and released some pent-up anger, firing off numerous shots from his GBE at full power until his arm was eventually torn clean off from the recoil.

With his arm healed again, he resumed his journey, traveling into the next Megastructure level. He discovered a terminal that allowed him to download a new outfit onto his body, and crafted a new jacket for himself. [48] Much later, he began picking up a transmission that seemed to be a message for him. Following the signal, he found what appeared to be a large town, completely devoid of life, and the source of the transmission: the severed head of a Builder. He connected to the head, asking the Builder why it was calling him; the Builder revealed a recording from years back, showing that it had found a now-weakened Level 9 Cibo. [49] The recording also revealed that Sanakan had returned, but her mission now seemed to be to protect Cibo - and the orb within her stomach - from the Silicon Creatures. At the end of the recording, Sanakan left the area with Cibo, who declared that Killy would come back for them one day. The Builder informed Killy that a very long time had passed since then before expiring. [50]

Killy was then shown to be fighting against a Silicon Creature aircraft. After taking numerous bullets from the ship's guns, he brought the aircraft down with his GBE, executing the escaping pilot with a smaller gun afterwards. Higher up on the Megastructure level he came across a corpse with a device resembling a flash drive it it's hand. The device - an "Emergency Preservation Pack" - spoke to him, saying that it had been waiting for help for a long time. Killy saw the name "Mori" on the device, which it explained to be it's manufacturer. He then dropped the device on the ground and walked away, but he could not ignore it's pleas for help and ended up bringing it with him.

Further walking brought him to a strange housing area, long abandoned. Mori instructed Killy to change the filters in his eyes to find a hidden doorway in the wall, leading to a staircase with a trap that Killy narrowly avoided. At the bottom was an area inhabited by humanoid Builders wandering aimlessly. Killy asked about the Net Terminal Gene and whether there were any humans around; surprisingly, the Builders pointed him in the right direction. Eventually he reached the site of a dying human torso attached to machines, though scans showed no trace of the gene. [51]

Blame v09 c58 p183

"Whoa."

Killy and Mori next reached a spiraling staircase, which Killy revealed extended up for 3000 kilometers. After climbing for an unknown amount of time, Killy paused and slept for a very long time before Mori woke him. Bombarding him with questions, Mori asked if it could connect to Killy to learn about him; as Killy contemplated this, Mori attempted to hijack his body, though the man was quick to avoid the attempt. Mori apologized, saying it just wanted to walk around for a little bit.

At the top of the staircase, they reached an absolutely massive space - so large that Killy was unable to see any walls with his enhanced vision. Walking for a while brought them to a friendly Silicon Creature using a telescopic device. The Silicon Creature revealed that it had never met anyone else here, and that they were in a spherical space about 143,000 kilometers in diameter. He ignored Mori's questions and talked more about his findings before warning them that there was tower up ahead, protected by a Safeguard. The Silicon Creature requested to be left alone to continue it's studies, only to be decapitated by Killy. Mori started shouting at Killy, asking what he did that for; Killy merely replied that "he was a Silicon Creature" before walking away. [52]

Volume 10[]

Making his way across the massive chamber, Killy soon reached the base of the axis tower mentioned by the Silicon Creature. Here he was attacked by swarms of Exterminators, whom were all blown away with ease by his GBE, though afterwards he was forced to crack his broken (by the GBE recoil) arm back into place. Killy then began to scale the tower, climbing for miles before reaching a ledge, though a look up showed the tower continued for as far as the eye could see. As he walked along the ledge, he soon found himself facing a strange looking Safeguard that seemed to be attempting to communicate, though only static was coming out. While keeping his gun aimed at her, he found that his vision was beginning to get fuzzy, and his arm was falling against his will. The Safeguard continued speaking static; soon enough, Killy was asleep in a standing position. Mori desperately tried to rouse Killy as the Safeguard approached, a pair of massive claws sprouting from her arm, and Killy awoke just in time to shoot her in the head before throwing her off the ledge. [53]

Eventually he reached an elevator, which took him to the next floor of the tower. Here was a large metal door and, seemingly hearing something, he kept his gun pointed at it. When Mori asked what was wrong, Killy told it to be quiet just as a massive Exterminator burst through the door, sending Killy flying in the process. The Exterminator stomped on his head (destroying his right eye in the process) before picking him up with it's massive mouth, chewing on his torso, flinging him into the wall across the chamber, and finishing it's attack with a powerful energy blast. Despite the brutal assault, Killy was still able to shoot the Exterminator and run away, though he was now heavily injured. [54]

Blame v10 c62 p093

Preparing for battle.

Continuing to follow Cibo and Sanakan's trail, Mori informed him that the Silicon Creatures had apprehended the Level 9 Cibo. Killy asked how it knew about all this; Mori claimed that something (more than likely the Governors) was controlling it and forcing it to say this. The mysterious messenger told him that the Safeguard were attempting to destroy this illegal Level 9, though the messenger wanted Killy to personally retrieve it for their organization, as this Level 9 supposedly now held the key to ending the mission to save the City. After being given the coordinates to the Level 9's current location, Killy departed for that direction. [55]

Blame v10 c64 p159

Killy faces the First Class Exterminator.

As he healed himself and prepared for the intense battle that was about to begin, Killy was unaware that Sanakan was in the process of rescuing Cibo herself. [56] By the time he reached them, Sanakan had succeeded in leveling the Silicon Creature base and getting Cibo out, though she found herself victim to the First Class Exterminator - the most powerful variant - that had arrived to kill them both. [57] He arrived just as it was about to finish off Cibo, shooting the First Class in the head, though it recovered easily and now turned it's attention to him. Killy tried to shoot again, but the Exterminator sliced off his arm before he could; Killy merely picked the GBE up with his other arm and took aim again. The Exterminator suddenly encased Killy within a solid box, then charged up its core to finish him with a single blast; however, Sanakan was able to redirect the shot to her, giving Killy the chance to break free. Charging his weapon to max power, he fired right into the First Class's power core, destroying the Exterminator and the entire area.

Blame v10 c64 p171

"Cibo..."

When Killy came to, everything was reduced to ash. He was able to find the body of Cibo and what was left of Sanakan; the ex-Safeguard told him to protect the sphere in Cibo's stomach and bring it to an uncontaminated place before expiring for the final time. Killy desperately called to her, needing to know what it was, but got no response. He made his way over to Cibo, who dissolved into ash as soon as Killy touched her; and for the first time in many, many years, Killy cried. [58]

With directions from a Governor, Killy took the sphere and traveled towards the uncontaminated place, on a journey that was far longer - and far more difficult - than any of his past travels. [59] After an unknown time had passed (implied to be many, many decades), Killy - now covered in scars and practically running on fumes - emerged onto a distant Megastructure level, one where it was constantly raining. Here he was shown to be missing a leg, and his eye still had not healed. After dispatching a Safeguard, he attached a pipe to the stump of his leg and moved towards a series of buildings in the distance - unaware he was being followed. Moving through a maze of giant buildings and pipes, Killy found himself face to face with his stalker, a Safeguard that looked nearly identical to him, and was shot in the head by the doppelgänger. Killy was able to fire off one final shot from his GBE, succeeding in destroying the duplicate, before succumbing to his injuries and dropping to the floor.

Blame v10 c66 p219

Killy's final defeat.

An unknown amount of time passed while Killy laid bleeding on the floor. Rainwater began to leak in, flooding the building and eventually submerging him. The building's drainage systems activated and flushed the water away, taking Killy with it through miles of pipes. Eventually the pipes emptied out into a vast ocean, and at long last Killy had been brought to the uncontaminated place - the legendary and much-rumored Edge of the City.

Blame v10 c66 p232

Killy and the Net Gene Child.

As he began to float towards the surface, the sphere that Killy had been carrying activated, floating out of his bag. Through his barely-opened eyes, Killy could see something forming within.

It is unknown what happened afterwards, though the final panel shows Killy defending a child - heavily implied to be the embryo of the sphere, and the Net Gene carrier he had been searching for. [60]

Appearance[]

Blame v09 c01 p003

Killy's 5th outfit, the "Playford Jacket" as named by fans.

Killy looks like a normal human being in his mid to late twenties. Killy's outfit changes five times throughout the manga. His first outfit is a baggy, black jumpsuit. He later receives a tight, synthetic suit for his journey with Cibo. Next, when he finds a Safeguard armory, he finds a synthetic and moderately plated armor suit similar to that of suit that Dhomochevsky wears.

After the partial destruction of the unofficial stratum by a high level Safeguard made by Cibo by stealing Safeguard illegally downloaded data that was stolen by Davinelulinvega, Killy loses 40.82% of his body mass, leaving him a cybernetic skeleton fused to a heap of molten metal. Over time, he regenerates and, along with his bodily tissues, generates a new, more advanced, armored skinsuit. Upon breaking free, he generates a collared jacket and some tactical gear to complete the outfit. This outfit is often referred to by fans as the "Playford" outfit due to the word emblazoned on the back of the jacket, and is the outfit most promotional material features him in.

Like many characters, Killy possesses various cybernetic features, though they are not readily visible. He has a HUD (heads-up display) in his retinas that he uses to scan the environment around him, and a small box with several connection ports that hangs from his hip and is wired to the back of his head. When not in use, Killy keeps this box tucked inside his outfit.

Personality[]

He is a person with the unenviable task of finding a human with the Net Terminal Gene within the Megastructure to access the Netsphere. He is soon joined by Cibo in his quest. Looking to be in his early to mid 20's, he is a glum-looking person, never smiling (except madly when shooting on occasion) and has a slight slouch in his normal standing position, he isn't afraid to fight, and readily shoots the GBE (Gravital Beam Emitter). Throughout the entirety of the manga, Killy smiles exactly once, after telling a pair of Silicon Life he destroyed a nursery carrying thousands of their infants. Apart from that one instance, Killy's expression never changes from either stoic boredom or anger. He has the fewest speaking lines of any major character, barely more than a few words a chapter, and most things he says are either questions regarding his mission or irritated remarks.

He also has no memory of his past, or how he obtained the GBE. Killy mistrusts Silicon Creatures on sight, and destroys them whenever possible; whether they are or are not hostile towards him or his objectives does not bear any weight on his judgement. Despite his inorganic nature and superhuman abilities, Killy adamantly considers himself human, as do most of the people he meets (though "human" is a rather loose term in the BLAME! universe).

He is stoic, quiet, and fully devoted to his mission. He may seem to only help those that are useful to him, but there are a few instances where he goes beyond his quest to protect someone. Whether it be some kind of conscience or another facet of his "programming", Killy has demonstrated compassion. In Volume I Chapter 7 "The Builders," Killy lies to Kumoi about being the healer when they first met to comfort him in death. Also, when Killy and Cibo meet the Electrofishers, Killy offers them food when he sees that they have very little(Blame! Movie).

However, these incidences of kindness are few and far between. Moreover, what Killy presents in kindness and compassion towards humans, he makes up for with scathing hatred for and hostility towards Silicon Life. Killy and Silicon Life are enemies, but Killy seems to derive an inordinate amount of pleasure from killing them. The only time Killy ever smiles in the manga is after seeing the horrified expressions of a pair of Silicon Life, unemotional creatures to begin with. After telling them he murdered countless of their infants. When he meets the Observer, a being that assures him it means him no harm, Killy violently kills him because he was Silicon Life.

He is never distracted and attacks enemies without hesitation, making him very dangerous. Overall, he has a very violent and impatient disposition, never standing still for too long unless sleeping or recovering, and readily uses the GBE on anything that bars his path for too long.

Weapons & Abilities[]

Killy wields a Gravitational Beam Emitter, which is capable of blasting massive holes in the Megastructure. The GBE is so powerful that he's flung backwards by its sheer power, often into walls and the ground, but he always gets up. Even in its lowest power, his arm jerks up and back from the force of it. Killy doesn't recall the origin of the weapon, though it is the only perfected GBE that can sustain such a high output for long periods. The weapon fires a highly condensed energy beam, which can repel beams from other weapons (seen in the Corporation against the Guardians). The weapon draws its power directly from the user, meaning it has unlimited ammo so long as the user has power. Inside Toha Heavy Industries, where the Safeguard aren't allowed access, Ivy (one of the Silicon Creatures) states that 'the weapons of the Safeguard are disabled', so the GBE is not permitted to work. This also happens in the alternate universe inside the Gravity Furnace. Later, when Killy meets Dhomochevsky, Iko manages to stop the power of the GBE for a split second, giving Dhomochevsky an advantage in firing his own weapon. Iko calls the GBE a 'Class 1 Critical Effect Weapon'. Whenever Killy loses the weapon, he always makes a point of getting it back. In addition, he refuses to let anyone else fire the GBE. The weapon is extremely resistant to external damage, to the point of being able to survive submerging in a lava flow (following the destruction of Davine Lu Linvega's NetSphere connection point).

Physically, he is very powerful, surviving injuries that would kill a normal human without a scratch. Only a high-level being can injure him significantly. During the encounter with the giant Safeguard outside Toha Heavy Industries, he fires at the Safeguard with the GBE at Level 4 Extra power level. The recoil from the GBE is so powerful that he is thrown back a considerable distance, his right arm badly broken and exposing bone and tissue. He heals very quickly, as well, recovering from more serious injuries much more rapidly than an average human.

In the times when it's quiet, he injects drugs into himself in the forehead, and when he's low on power, he may inject it straight into his hand. He has an electronic connector to create signals to stop Builders and to transmit information from one person to himself, and vice versa.

Inside his suit he carries a supply of small drug capsules. These appeared to be some sort of morphine, which he used occasionally to help him fall asleep during pauses during action, or to to numb his hurting nerves during battle, such as when he had to calm his shaking hand after firing off numerous shots from the Gravitational Beam Emitter.

He also carried a bag full of equipment, including binoculars and some minor rations, though these were all lost when his bag was thrown into the abyss of the City. With his Safeguard-like physiology he is able to access Safeguard equipment and interface with their systems. This can be seen when he finds a Safeguard armory hidden in the Megastructure and is able to access all the doors, weapon lockers, and computers.

From Volume 3 onwards, it is revealed that Killy is no ordinary human at all. In her attempt to register Killy as a Safeguard, Sanakan, intentionally or not, re-enabled Killy's cybernetic functions that had been dormant for some time. During the encounter outside Toha Heavy Industries, where he was knocked out from using too much power from firing the GBE, we see from his point of view that he can now scan for the Net Terminal Genes automatically. Zuru asks him if anything is wrong, and we see his viewpoint, filled with little windows and analyzing the eyes of the person, along with other unknown elements. His response to her question is "I understand what the displays mean now.", implying that he was able to see these things before but didn't know what they meant. This is where he leaves the room and immediately scans the people outside, even Cibo, who is unaware of his change. However, he senses a strange reading from one of them, even a small scan (possibly x-ray) showed up with a metallic endoskeleton. It was Sanakan, as she was one of the Safeguard, she then activates her functions and starts destroying things with her own GBE. He then apparently 'rejects registration with the Safeguard', and Sanakan tries to kill him, only to be defeated for the time being.

Later in the manga, Killy is shown to be able to see objects as far away as 3,000 kilometers using his naked eyes. This contrasts his need for binoculars in the volume 1 of the manga.

In the art book Blame! and So On it is stated that Killy is a human who has had extensive cybernetic enhancements, and before the Netsphere catastrophe he probably worked as a police officer. Killy has been alive for a very long time; when he lost a large portion of his body mass, it took him over 14 years to regenerate; a lift trip took a minimum of 33 days. Tsutomu Nihei has stated that Killy is over 3000 years old and his memory loss is merely a side-effect of his aging.

Gallery[]

References[]

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