This article is about a character in Umineko When They Cry. |
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This article or section contains untagged major spoilers for all of Umineko When They Cry, possibly including the manga. Readers who have not completed the story are advised not to proceed further. |
Lion Ushiromiya (右代宮 理御 Ushiromiya Rion) is the first child of Krauss and Natsuhi and is consequently the older sibling of Jessica by one year. They were chosen as the indisputable successor of their grandfather Kinzo as the next head of the Ushiromiya family. They first appear in Requiem of the Golden Witch.
Profile
The first child of Krauss and Natsuhi. Jessica is their second child. Was given the silver ring of the Successor to the Headship and will succeed the position of Family Head upon turning 20. Mild, polite, and without any clear faults. Except for being too young, Lion is a more suitable Successor than anyone else and is adored by Kinzo. |
Appearance
Lion appears as an androgynous person with long blonde hair and gray eyes. Will describes Lion as either an effeminate young man or an assertive no-nonsense young woman, furthering their ambiguous gender. During the events of Requiem, Bernkastel hides Lion's gender by controlling the people around them, making them refer to Lion as "Successor-sama".
Lion wears what resembles a horse-riding uniform[2] consisting of a white collared shirt with a green brooch and pink scarf, a red jacket, short red pants, and gray boots, with the Ushiromiya crest on their left collar and left side of their pants. Upon their middle finger is the silver successor's ring. Like Kinzo, they have polydactyly.
Personality
Lion is a mild and polite person without any clear faults. They believe in equality regardless of gender or rank. Because of this trait in their personality, they dislike the fact that they are called "Successor-sama" by the rest of the family. They also do not like rude people and tend to pinch their butts, regardless of their sex. According to one of Ryukishi's 'in-character' answers on Twitter, Lion thinks that regardless of gender, one should be able to stand in the kitchen.[3]
Because people would often ask questions on the topic of their gender, Lion admits to having a bit of a complex towards these questions. When Will asks what Lion's gender is, Lion presents a retort, suggesting the answer to Will's question should be obvious.
Abilities
Lion is unlike most characters in the series as they are a normal human, having no magical abilities and the like. They are an overachiever at school but their weakest subject would be English due to having a native pronunciation of the language. Lion is good at cooking and badminton; it can be assumed that they are a good teacher as well, being able to teach Willard the sport.
Background
Lion is actually Kinzo's child by his daughter, Beatrice, who in turn was the daughter Kinzo had by his mistress, Beatrice Castiglioni. The baby Lion was taken by Kinzo and given to Natsuhi to raise in order to prove her capabilities as a mother. In many Fragments, Natsuhi throws Lion off of a cliff in 1968, resulting in Lion being raised instead as Yasuda. This Lion exists in a special Fragment where Natsuhi accepted them, which according to Bern only has a 1/2,578,917 chance of happening. Because Lion exists, the Golden Witch Beatrice doesn't exist, causing an alternate set of events to occur on Rokkenjima in 1986.
Lion grew up receiving the same love Jessica was given by her parents. For most of their life, they believed that they were the child of Krauss and Natsuhi and the older sibling of Jessica. At an early age it was made clear that they were already adored by Kinzo and because of it, they were chosen to be the next head. They were unaware of the fact that Krauss' siblings envied them for it, though they did respect them to a certain degree.
During their high school years, they lived up to their parents' expectations as being an excellent student, the Student Council President and even captain of the badminton team. Aside from being viewed by the rest of the family as still being too young (Lion is 19, and will become head of the family after turning 20), Lion is more suited to be the next head than anyone else. Naturally, Lion's many achievements put quite a bit of pressure on Jessica, and they tend to argue as a result.
Relationships
Overview
Ushiromiya Family and Relatives
- Kinzo Ushiromiya (father/grandfather, predecessor)
- Natsuhi Ushiromiya (foster mother, half sister-in-law/aunt)
- Krauss Ushiromiya (foster father, oldest half-brother/uncle)
- Jessica Ushiromiya (foster sister, half-niece/cousin)
- Beatrice Castiglioni (grandmother)
- Beatrice Ushiromiya (mother/older half-sister)
- Battler Ushiromiya (half-nephew/cousin)
- George Ushiromiya (half-nephew/cousin)
- Maria Ushiromiya (half-niece/cousin)
- Ange Ushiromiya (half-niece/cousin)
- Eva Ushiromiya (older half-sister/aunt, successor)
- Rudolf Ushiromiya (older half-brother/uncle)
- Rosa Ushiromiya (older half-sister/aunt)
- Willard H. Wright (friend, partner)
- Bernkastel (enemy)
- Yasuda/Clair Vaux Bernardus (alternate existence)
- Beatrice (ally, alternate existence)
- Lambdadelta (master)
Other
- Chiyo Kumasawa (mother figure, servant)
- Genji Ronoue (father figure, servant)
- Toshiro Gohda (servant)
- Shannon (servant, alternate existence)
- Kanon (servant, alternate existence)
- Terumasa Nanjo (family doctor)
Role in the Story
Requiem of the Golden Witch
Throughout the episode, Lion becomes close with Willard H. Wright while investigating the mysterious circumstances surrounding Beatrice's death. The duo are able to learn the story behind how Kinzo met the original Beatrice and her connection with the Beatrice whom Rosa met, as well as the nature of the individual who created the Golden Witch in the form of Clair Vaux Bernardus. Along the way, it is discovered that Lion and Beatrice cannot coexist, as Lion exists in a world where they were accepted by Natsuhi, thus the cliff incident never happened and the Golden Witch was never created.
In the Tea Party, Lion along with Ange is forced to witness the truth of the Rokkenjima Massacre. As Lion begs Bern to stop it, she shows Lion another world where they were killed in the parlor, ultimately telling them that even by existing, the massacres will still happen and nothing can stop them. Lion is put right into the moment when they are shot by Kyrie, but is miraculously rescued by Will.
Lion almost accepts their fate of being killed no matter what, but is convinced by Willard to run away and breaks down shortly after leaving the meta-world theater, only to be rescued by a mutilated Will again. Together, they try to escape the fate of Lion's death, but end up being surrounded by an army of demonic cats summoned by Bernkastel. It is implied that Will and Lion are killed soon after.
Twilight of the Golden Witch
Lion and Willard have been revived as pieces by Lambdadelta, arriving to Battler's after party with her. Lion and Beatrice encounter each other, and immediately become aware that they are the same person from different worlds.
Lion gives a speech to Lambdadelta that Battler's gameboard will reach a happy ending, and they are later scene amongst everyone in the Golden Land.
In Episode 8's Tea Party, it's revealed that they're in Heaven with Will, teaching him how to play Badminton.
Other Appearances
- Lion makes a cameo appearance in Golden Fantasia. They appear briefly in one of Will's intro animations before disappearing. They can also be unlocked as a system voice.
Trivia
- Lion's name is actually pronounced "Lee-on" rather than "Lie-on". This would be the correct pronunciation of the word "Lion" in French.
- Lion's palette swap in Golden Fantasia is based off the character Saber from the visual novel Fate/stay night. This is likely a nod to the fact Lion and Saber share the same voice actress.
- Despite being presented with an ambiguous gender by Bernkastel in order to hide Yasu's original biological sex, there are various hints that Lion is assigned male at birth.
- In an in-character tweet written by Ryukishi07, Lion claims to be good at cooking "despite their gender".[3] They would have no reason to mention this if they were female, as women are generally expected to be able to cook, especially in the setting and time period of Umineko.
- They were annoyed that Will couldn't tell what gender they were at first sight, even though they wear a suit, and other Ushiromiya women wear skirts or dresses.
- They responded naturally to Will calling them "bocchan", a male-gendered term for "young master". The female equivalent is "ojousama".
- Natsuhi knew that the baby she abandoned 19 years ago would grow up as a man.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 07th Expansion All Character Settings Collection
- ↑ Episode 7 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon page 101
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ryukishi's tweet: "I like most subjects, but probably the one I like least is English. It seems my pronunciation is too native - my classmates laughed at me, which was a little uncomfortable. I’m also skilled at cooking. Gender equality, after all. I think that regardless of gender, one should be able to stand in the kitchen.” Translation by akatokuro.
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