F-Zero: Seppuku - One Year of Dark Rose

Thought the year went by pretty fast? Well try and take this in: It's already been one year since Dark Rose's creation. That's right, it's that time again, and this time we celebrate Dark Rose's first year of being an F-Zero: Seppuku character. Lieutenant Seppuku's Two Year Anniversary comes mid-September, followed by Chiya's second anniversary in November--which also means F-Zero: Seppuku in general is nearly two years old. But in this case, we celebrate a character that wasn't necessarily fighting for good, rather, we celebrate someone who throughout all of Part 2, fought under Black Shadow's cape.

This year is going to be different. Last year for the anniversary of Chiya and Seppuku, I merely listed some interesting behind the scenes trivia; this year, I have an index here that I'm going to put in this deviation:

1. Good or Evil? The Dark Rose Controversy Answered
2. Rose's Creation
3. Trivia
4. Frequently Asked Questions About Dark Rose

***Part 2 spoilers below***
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1. Good or Evil? The Dark Rose Controversy Answered

Lap 81 of Part 2 was and still is without a single shred of doubt, the saddest chapter amongst readers. All in one chapter, Rose built up the strength to approach Excalibur about her love for him, was rejected, and then was killed. For those who are very fond of romance, comedy, and drama, this is that one chapter many would like to try and forget about--but it happened. For others, however, this chapter was praised, as it finally removed Dark Rose from the story, whom many hate. Very fortunately, there has been little-to-no fighting about this. There are two types of people: The ones who love Rose and say: "Lap 81 was too depressing, Rose shouldn't have died, Seppuku's too cruel, etc." And those who hate Rose and argue that, "She was a villain, she was trying to kill them, she was helping Black Shadow in his quest to destroy humanity.) To my knowledge, there are no readers who have a neutral opinion on the matter. It's either like or hate Rose. But the question has always been raised over, and over, and over. Which side is right?

NO SIDE.

I mean, no offense, but I don't think anyone is quite right about Dark Rose.

Rose haters are wrong simply because Rose was not evil by choice. It was very, very, very, evident throughout Part 2 that Dark Rose was a failed experiment. Black Shadow misunderstood just who Chiya Flower is, he assumed that if Chiya was someone who fought beside Lieutenant Seppuku, she must be someone hardcore and tough. What Black Shadow didn't expect, was that Chiya was actually a simple going cat lover who enjoyed doing fun things. Henceforth, Black Shadow created a duplicate of Chiya--with the same attributes--and ended up with the same headache Seppuku has had to endure. Dark Rose was a loving person just like Chiya and even tried to help her while captive by Team Seppuku (With her relationship with Earl.) She did inform the three that Blood Falcon had a plan to bring them down before the final race, this makes it clear that she did support the downfall of Dark Million. Dark Rose was programmed to hate, it's unfair to flat out say that she's a bad person who deserved to die.

Rose lovers are also wrong, though. The lovers will preach on and on about how unfair this was, and that Seppuku was a horrible person for killing Rose. Well, this is absolutely wrong as well. If anything, Seppuku was the only person making sense. We had learned throughout Part 2 that Dark Rose was constantly beat, tortured, insulted, neglected, hated, and had little-to-no freedom aboard the ship. She was a slave to Black Shadow and was not allowed to do anything that she loved doing (Watching TV, date boys, sketch, love cats, etc.) And in addition to this terrible life, it was revealed to Rose in Lap 80--one chapter before her demise--that Black Shadow planned on impregnating her with various experiments (non-human experiments.) This meant that she would likely be strapped down, forced to give birth to various creatures without any consent. Throughout Part 2, Seppuku insisted on killing her to 'set her free'. Seppuku was spot on with this, and he ended up finally doing so before it was too late. Had Seppuku not killed her, he would have been eventually arrested by Jody, which meant that Rose would be forced to endure the same horrible treatment for nearly an entire year (and would likely have had to give birth to Black Shadow's said experiments.) While it is true that Rose could have been free, it was never a guarantee that she would come out of her brainwashing and live the exact same kind of life Chiya had. Ultimately, Seppuku killed her and denied her life--but he gave her the freedom that she ever so desired.

So in conclusion, Rose wasn't a bad person, no. And I become fairly irritated when I hear someone claim otherwise. However, it was ultimately for the best that she was killed. Chiya and Earl knew that killing her was the fastest way to free her, but just like a pet owner might do once faced with a very sick beloved pet--they go into denial.

I urge everyone to accept this. Besides, there's one thing we should all be able to agree on, regardless of your opinions on her. She's on the good side in Part 3, right?

2. Rose's Creation

It may seem funny, but Dark Rose was never intended to be a character in Part 2 until the last second. Part 2 had begun shortly before September, and as of right now, it is almost September. Dark Rose ultimately replaced Brock Blaskovitz as a recurring enemy. Blaskovitz was originally supposed to play the role of a Dark Million assassin, but once Dark Rose was thought up, she took his spotlight. Blaskovitz did eventually get his spotlight in early Part 3 with the Throwdown chapters.

So the question is, how and why did I suddenly create Dark Rose just before Part 2? My good friend --creator of the F-Zero: Seppuku OST--drew me up a joke drawing. Art isn't quite his passion, so he occasionally would draw me very silly drawings featuring Warriors or F-Zero: Seppuku characters. One day, just prior to Part 2, he showed me a drawing of Emo Chiya--which featured a depressed Chiya in all black (including black hair.) I thought this was hilarious looking, but surprisingly, I liked the appearance of Chiya in all black. And so it came to be that I drew Chiya in all black (with stocking boots instead of jackboots,) and voila, I had an interesting looking new character. I understood that the whole replica Chiya idea seemed cliché, but as you have all seen, I had quite the story planned up for Dark Rose. One year later, her story is practically finished... ...but there's still more from Dark Rose to come as we near the end of F-Zero: Seppuku...

3. Trivia

1. Names - When coming up with the name for Dark Rose, many suggestions popped up in my head. I wanted to make her name in a way that mirrored the name Chiya Flower. My first idea, was to name her Black Flower. Later, I thought of using Blood Flower or Dark Flower. I didn't do Blood or Black for her first name, simply because I didn't want to steal from Black Shadow and Blood Falcon. As I considered Dark Flower, I found that the last name Flower wouldn't work for a multitude of reasons. Henceforth, I was to pick a flower that represented death. Initially, I searched for the name of a poisonous flower, but then I came up with the obvious one--the rose. The rose is often regarded as the flower of love, but also the flower of death--two things that greatly symbolize Dark Rose's character. Henceforth, Dark Rose was the final name.

2. Rose's Affection for Earl - One of the first things that many noticed in her appearance chapter, was that she skipped Seppuku and went straight into Earl's room. Instead of simply cutting his throat and going for Chiya, she proceeded to mount him in his sleep and threaten him in an erotic fashion. For a short while, there were the Dark Bendek fans because of this. Why did Dark Rose go for Earl, and not Seppuku? Indeed, this foreshadowed something huge, and only a very attentive and deep thinking reader would have caught this. It was already established that Chiya had a crush on Earl, and if Rose is the clone replica of Chiya and carries on her attributes, then yes, it's evident enough to establish that Rose did have a crush on Earl. Unfortunately for her, the brainwashing that had been dealt to her caused her to both love him, and want him dead. Throughout the story, it was made clear to the readers that Rose loved Excalibur, but still had a crush on Earl. Ultimately, Rose even proposed that Earl and Excalibur have a threesome with her.

3. Rose's perverseness - One thing that Rose couldn't stop showing, was her very perverse nature. Chiya, being a virgin, has no experience with sex and little knowledge on many things about it (Like her oblivious viewing of the dildo--which she believes to be a back massager,) however, Rose seems to know a lot about sex. One could only theorize where Rose obtained information on sex toys, the concept of threesomes (and foursomes,) and masturbation in general. It could be possibly argued that she had been raped before aboard Black Shadow's ship. This doesn't add up, however, as both Blood Falcon and Brock Blaskovitz discuss their stance on raping Rose--which is that they wouldn't do it. This leaves only The Skull and Black Shadow. The Skull--being a skeleton--likely does not produce semen or have bodily hormones, which basically rules out this possibility. Black Shadow would be the only one who could rape her, but he explained to her in Lap 80 that he only believes that sex should be for reproduction, and that doing it for any other reason would be pointless. So in conclusion, it's currently unknown as to why Dark Rose is so intelligent on the topic. While there is no official explanation to this, the only one that, I, the author, can provide, is that she possibly has access to pornographic material; as this is the only remaining possibility. Let's be honest though, you live a life as bad as Rose's, you don't have TV, no family, no job, and no allowed hobbies. Rose likely had a lot of free time to herself...

4. Dark Rose > Chiya Flower - Throughout all of Part 2, Rose explained that she planned on killing Chiya and reclaiming the name 'Chiya Flower' and her F-Zero machine name. While this was indeed her master plan, this was never confirmed whether Black Shadow would roll along with it. Since Rose was a puppet, this was Black Shadow's call to make. If he agreed on the new name, Chiya Flower, she would get it; but if he declined, Rose's instincts would have accepted this as an order, where she would remain Dark Rose. It's unknown what Black Shadow's stance was on the renaming of the Night Thunder to the Purring Kitten.

5. What happened to the fake Purring Kitten? - Rose had the opportunity to attack Chiya, Stewart, Seppuku, and Jody on Aeropolis in her newly acquired machine. Then, she got to participate in the final race (where she was ultimately defeated by Chiya.) Overall, she only tasted one true race, but the question remains. What happened to Silver Neelson's legendary machine after the final race? While not actually stated, there is an answer to this that only I know of. Dark Rose's machine was later granted to Brock Blaskovitz--who Black Shadow had assumed would be participating in the Grand Prix once more. Given how much of a failure Blaskovitz was driving a hoverbike in a race, he was to redesign the legendary machine to his likings and practice driving a legitimate F-Zero machine. Since Blaskovitz was killed by Bart Lemming in Part 3, Silver Neelson's machine rests in the belly of Black Shadow's ship with no one left to pilot it. It could be argued that anyone who drives the Night Thunder is doomed to die... (Silver Neelson, Dark Rose, Brock Blaskovitz.)

6. Prior to Part 3, Lap 44--one of the only characters to have hurt Seppuku - This is likely to annoy the Rose haters/Seppuku lovers. Throughout all three parts, Seppuku has rarely expressed pain when in a fight. Michael Chain had shot him in the chest in Part 1, but it can now be easily argued that Seppuku was faking his dying condition in order to test Chiya's abilities. Aside from Michael Chain, no character has ever caused actual pain to Seppuku except Dark Rose (And Jody, as of Part 3, Lap 44.) When the team first met her, she chucked a dagger straight into his hand; and later on Mysteria, she chucked another blade and slit his hand. Both times were wounds to the hand, but regardless of the severity, Rose provoked a howl from him each time.

7. Rose has a memorial in Fiona's yard, and Black Shadow's in-ship church? - After the death of Dark Rose, Chiya, Earl, and Fiona all gathered in the yard and planted a gravestone down next to Robert Flower's grave. Despite how much Black Shadow disliked Rose, he decided to put up stained glass art of Dark Rose within his church and granted her with the honorary title of 'Mother of Dark Million.' The reasoning for doing this, is so that he could exaggerate what a good person she was to the Blood Falcon drones, and thus teach them about how cruel Seppuku is for killing their mother. Both sides honor Dark Rose for completely different reasons, but regardless of the motives behind the honoring, Dark Rose is well respected on both sides of the war (Except by Black Shadow, Blood Falcon, and Brock Blaskovitz.)

4. Frequently Asked Questions About Dark Rose

1. What is my stance on Dark Rose? - As stated above, I have very heartfelt feelings for Dark Rose. I think her death was a miracle, but her life was a tragedy. As much as I now wish she could still be around in Part 3, she's dead. I will be working on future Seppuku Tales about her, and I assure everyone that Dark Rose will have her place in the F-Zero: Seppuku RPG.

2. Why did Black Shadow dress her in the same clothing as Chiya? - This question has been asked by many now, and I'm happy to answer this at last. Unfortunately, however, I don't know this myself. The only person who could properly answer this, is the makers of F-Zero. Blood Falcon wears practically the same thing as Captain Falcon, henceforth, Dark Rose wears practically the same thing as Chiya. Only the maker of Blood Falcon could explain why Black Shadow would do this. So basically, it's a general F-Zero question, not an F-Zero: Seppuku question.

3. Why does she cry blood? - Dark Rose isn't human. She's created by Black Shadow using the blood of Chiya Flower. While Dark Rose does possess urine and all of that. Dark Rose was supposed to be created without eggs in her body, but this was a special feature Black Shadow had included for the sake of future science. It's implied that any of Black Shadow's creations cry blood, as he does not expect for any of his hardcore minions to cry. Henceforth, he never considered programming actual tears into his subjects.

4. Are her red eyes real? - This was actually one asked by one person, but it's a question I'm sure some have been wondering. All subjects of Dark Million have red eyes, and no, this is not fake. If Black Shadow were to die, his subjects would be free--but their eye colors would remain red.

5. Why did Rose want to have sex with Chiya? - This is a heavily asked question, and I can understand why. This doesn't mean that Rose is a lesbian, however. Rose had demonstrated more times that she has a sexual attraction to men, but also for Chiya. She has proposed sex with Earl countless times, has proposed that Excalibur joins in, and at one point even accepted Earl's fake offer to have a threesome with him and Chiya (while she was disguised as Chiya.) Dark Rose is bisexual and perverted. She is merely curious to experience what sex is like with a man, but she is also curious (and somewhat lustful) to see what it is like to do this with another woman. Just like Chiya, it's likely that Rose is very insecure with her body (Specifically because of a small vagina,) so it's possible that she merely wanted to have sex with Chiya because she knew what she would be receiving. But in no way did this mean she was a lesbian.

And finally, the one question I have been asked about so many times all year...

6. If Dark Rose is bisexual, does that mean CHIYA FLOWER is bisexual? - It's unbelievable to me how many of my readers have been interested by this theory. Even people who no longer read F-Zero: Seppuku had theorized about this. I understand why, it is quite a juicy thought--the nice and gentle Chiya Flower, also interested in women. See, Chiya's character is heavily inspired by my own character, and through middle school, I was bisexual. However, I'm not sure if this is saying anything about Chiya. It's obvious that she's into men (considering she is in love with Earl Bendek,) but there has admittedly been countless times where Chiya expresses curiosity towards women. In the onsen, Chiya seemed particularly interested in Rose's genitals, as she went on to talk about that moment many times in Part 2. Almost four times, Chiya brightly brought up sexual matters about Jody. One of the strangest occurrences was when Jody was in the hospital, as Chiya excitedly puckered her lips and contemplated whether she would be seeing Jody's exposed chest. Further evidence that might support this point, is the fact that she's been exposed to her naked sister and mother all her life, but not her father. Henceforth, it's possible that while she didn't have incest with her sister, it's possible that the two were finding slight giggly fun out of seeing each other's private areas. There are all only theories and possible evidence. I will not provide the answer to this question, merely because I don't want to spark any outrage. It's certainly a fun thing to wonder, and some have even wondered if Seppuku is bisexual. But as far as sexuality goes, I will never provide any answers to these kind of questions in order to prevent arguing.

Well, there you go. Happy Birthday to Dark Rose! 


...by the way, this might be an ironic time to announce this. Though I'm not going to bother with Lap 45 until I get through my first week of college, some may be excited to know that and I have been working together on a little joint F-Zero: Seppuku project, which should with any luck, be released within the week.

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Lap 1: siontix.deviantart.com/art/F-Z…
Story contains violence, language anywhere below the "F" word, sexual themes.

Disclaimer: I do not own F-Zero, all F-Zero titles are property of Nintendo. Most characters in F-Zero: Seppuku belong to Nintendo, (with the exception of Chiya Flower, Earl Bendek, and Lieutenant Seppuku.)