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| “ | Everything that made you sad, everything that hurt you, Cheshire will destroy them! | ” |
—Cheshire to the Intention of the Abyss. | ||
Cheshire (チェシャ猫 (チェシャ), Chesha, Cheshire Cat) was a cat whom belonged to the Intention of the Abyss whilst she occupied Alice's body 100 years prior to the series. Cheshire was killed by Vincent in retaliation for Alice's treatment of Vincent and his brother, Gilbert, but because of their closeness, the Intention of the Abyss used Cheshire's soul to create a Chain unlike any other. Cheshire spent 100 years dedicated to acting as a guardian, defending the memories that the Intention of the Abyss had thrown away, however he failed his purpose in the end and was killed by Xerxes Break and Mad Hatter.
History
Cheshire was a cat that Oswald had brought Alice shortly after her arrival on the Baskerville estate, in order to stop her from being lonely while she lived within an isolated tower on the estate. Cheshire took a liking to Alice's twin sister rather than her however, and Alice's twin (the Intention of the Abyss) would often trade places with Alice, taking over her body so that she could interact with Earth.
Cheshire remained happy with the Intention inside of Alice's body for another two months before Jack Vessalius brought two children to her tower. After Gilbert attacked the Intention for being mean to Vincent, Vincent was angry with the Intention. In his mind, she had ruined everything, making Gil angry and Jack disappointed in both Vincent and his brother.
Cheshire's First Death
Vincent learned to vent his anger by taking a pair of scissors and using them to rip apart dolls. Vincent applied this to his want for revenge against the Intention, and so he took Cheshire from her one day, later returning to her tower to tell her how much of a simpleton she was. Vincent told the Intention that Jack didn't really like her, that he was only pitying her because he felt sorry for her. Vincent told the Intention to open her eyes to see the truth, otherwise she would end up being just as blind as Cheshire, throwing Cheshire's body before the Intention to show her that he had cut out Cheshire's eyes, killing him. Vincent then relished in the Intention's torment as she mourned Cheshire.
Cheshire's soul was taken into the Abyss, where Cheshire's old master then gave Cheshire a new, human-like body, transforming him into a Chain. The Intention then had an Illegal Contractor brought to her room in the Abyss so that she could pluck out his eyes for Cheshire. This Illegal Contractor was Kevin Legnard, contractor to Albus, the White Knight. Upon his arrival in the Intention's room, Kevin was approached by Cheshire, who studied Kevin, running away when Kevin regained his consciousness. Cheshire ran back to the Intention's side as she greeted Kevin, suddenly Albus summoned himself in order to approach the Intention. Through Albus, the Intention saw Kevin's reign of terror and the slaughter of 116 people in pursuit of changing the past. Cheshire stood by until Kevin lashed out at the Intention, calling out for her at the sight of danger as Kevin tackled her to the ground and threatening to stab her with his knife, but the Intention justified her harsh words to Kevin. Kevin relaxes and Albus attacked Kevin, this enraged the Intention for interrupting her conversation with Kevin, and so she destroyed Albus and took Cheshire by the hands, spinning and dancing merrily through Albus' blood as it rained down over them.
Suddenly, Kevin began to experience excuriating pain, and so the Intention's dolls explains to him that he would soon become a Chain like them, because the power of the Abyss was strongest there. This confused Kevin, and so the Intention detached from Cheshire, dancing around Kevin and explaining that the power of the Abyss transforms humans into Chains and inanimate objects into living beings. She then explains how the Abyss is linked to all flows of time, and as such, it could rule over the Chains like a microcosm of the world, something which Glen Baskerville (Oswald) had told her once. Kevin was confused when the Intention mentioned Glen Baskerville, but became even more dismayed when the Intention remembered that she wanted to pluck out both of Kevin's eyes before he turned into a Chain. The Intention's dolls asked what the Intention planned on doing with the eye as they tugged on Cheshire's ears, and so the Intention explained that she would give them to Cheshire. Cheshire held Kevin's head still so that the Intention could take his other eye, however Kevin remembered a promise he had made to the daughter of his old master, the reason he had become an Illegal Contractor in the first place.
Kevin used his sword to free himself from Cheshire and the dolls, knowing that he couldn't die yet. The Intention simply smiled slyly accepting Kevin's challenge. Suddenly, the Intention dropped to the floor, writhing and screaming in agony as the city of Sablier was dropped into the Abyss. Cheshire called out for his precious Alice, but soon had his attention averted as two boys walked into the room covered in blood, they were Vincent and Gilbert.
Cheshire attacks Vincent
Cheshire helped the Intention up as Vincent greeted her as 'Alice'. Seeing Vincent stunned the Intention. Vincent talked about how Alice seemed odd because she was all white and because he could've sworn that Alice died not long before. Vincent and Gilbert collapse onto the floor when the Intention angrily demanded to know what Vincent was doing there. Cheshire attacked Vincent, throwing him across the room with his clawed arm. The Intention told Vincent that they were in her room, and that it wasn't a place that he could just walk into of his own volition. Cheshire hissed at Vincent as the Intention's dolls explained that Vincent was a bully, always tearing them apart and taking Cheshire's eyes away from him. Vincent didn't understand this statement, remembering Cheshire in his past life and then asking if the man he saw before him could have really been the same being.
The Intention cried and questioned why Vincent always had to be so mean to her, but her dolls told her that everything would be okay, urging her to take Kevin's other eye to give to Cheshire. The Intention was confused and asked who Kevin was, completely forgetting everything that had come before. The Intention then realized that it was time for tea and so she, Cheshire and the dolls began to set up a table with tea and biscuits. Vincent deduced that everything about this was mad, but the Intention simply ignored his statements and asked when Jack would be coming to tea. This made Vincent laugh hysterically because he had seen Jack fighting with Oswald during the Tragedy of Sablier, and he was covered in blood. The Intention insisted that Vincent was lying, but Vincent carried on, saying that she was the entire reason for Jack's death and the Tragedy of Sablier, that everything had been her fault.
The Intention broke down in tears and cried, destroying that part of her dimension and sending debris flying into the sky. Vincent, Gilbert and the dolls were taken away, but Cheshire ran to console the Intention. Kevin also held on with his sword, telling the Intention that she could have anything she wanted of his, be it his arm or his leg, as long as she turned back time for him. Kevin broke through to the Intention by calling her 'Alice', surprising her with his statement stating that he would grant her wish if she turned back time. The Intention told Kevin that she didn't want to be the Intention of the Abyss anymore and that she wanted him to save Alice, before Kevin, the Intention and Cheshire were carried off into the sky.
Plot
Cheshire's Dimension Arc
Cheshire in the anime.
Cheshire's Dimension
Cheshire lives in an alternate dimension created by Alice's memories in present day. His loyalty was to The Will and his duty was to kill Alice for her based on The Will's hate for Alice. Cheshire kidnapped Alice and Break and separated the two in the dimension, so that he could kill Alice as well as protect her from regaining her painful memories that he had in his possession, those that she had previously cast away.
When Oz and Gil arrived, Cheshire confronts them, although, Equus takes over the battle for a short time. Cheshire leaves Equus and attacks Oz and Gil once again, this time wounding Gil and sending him to another area of his dimension. Oz was then left to play a game of "cat and mouse" with Cheshire.
As Cheshire was just about to kill Oz, he was was saved by a fragment of Jack's soul that had survived in the memories within the dimension. Jack took Oz to safety and directed Cheshire's attention to Break, whom he had left for a long time. Cheshire entered Break's memory-world only to find him asleep. When Cheshire tried to kill Break, he awoke and revealed that it had all been a trap to lure out Cheshire as he knew Cheshire was too cowardly to approach him in a fair situation. Break easily got the upper hand and pinned down Cheshire. He then summoned Mad Hatter.
Cheshire being destroyed by Break and his chain, Mad Hatter.
Break beat Cheshire around with Mad Hatter to the extent where he had cut off both of Cheshire's arms, though he made sure not to kill him, in hopes of getting some information out of him.He had also taken Cheshire's Bell which held Alice's memories and the truth of 100 years ago. During this time, the dimension began to shatter due Oz's meltdown triggered by witnessing Alice's death during the Tragedy of Sablier,which was causing the power of B-rabbit to go out of control, destroying the dimension.
Cheshire finally abandoned his human form, which he loved as it made him feel closer to Alice, so he could fight off all the intruders and salvage what remained of his dimension. This reunited Alice, Oz, Gill and Break, who sliced through Cheshire's head when he attempted to attack the others. Cheshire slowly began to fade along with the dimension and everything in it, but Equus who was being controlled by Noise through Sharon took Alice and Oz back into their dimension, leaving GiIl and Break behind. They had to resort to using Raven's power of teleportation to escape with their lives.
Description
Appearance
Cheshire's first form was granted to him by the Intention of the Abyss. This form was a human-like form, which still retained likeness to his previous cat form. In this form, Cheshire had long black hair that hung over his face, covering the right side (in order to cover his empty eye socket) of his face. He had one eye, the left one, which was crimson-colored and originally belonged to Kevin Legnard, now known as Xerxes Break. His cat ears still stick through the top of his messy hair and he still retained his pointed fangs and long black tail tipped with white fur. Cheshire also wore his collar in his human-like form, with the bell resting in its center. Cheshire now however, had newly acquired clothes, which included a cape that draped over his shoulders and fell down his back, branching off into twin ribbons that had large bells tied to them, a high collared sleeveless shirt with exposed sides that were held together by strings tied in an "X" pattern that followed down the seams of the shirt, at the bottom there were also metal straps which hung loosely from the shirt's material, suggesting that it could be bound somehow, finally Cheshire wore tight black pants and long pointed shoes. Cheshire's arms are large and bulky, appearing to have been made from a black kind of material which was stitched onto the human arms Cheshire had been given, extending them to an abnormal length, ending in razor-sharp silver fingernails, which Cheshire could use to cut through human flesh.
Cheshire's second appearance was that of a short-haired black cat, this being his natural form. Cheshire had yellow eyes in this form, wearing a violet ribbon with a bell as well, something given to him by Alice.
Cheshire's third form was the form which he used to spy on Alice before he kidnapped her and Break to take them back to his dimension to destroy them for the Intention of the Abyss. It appeared as a large black, ethereal embodiment with two eyes, the left one being pupil-less and much large than the right eye. Cheshire's mouth is the only other part of this form which is visibly solid, being a large, jaggedly-shaped and smiling
Cheshire's final form was assumed to have been his true Chain form, as he was said to have discarded his human-like form that the Intention had given him, which he valued deeply, in a last ditch effort to destroy the intruders in his dimension and protect the Intention of the Abyss' memories. This form was in the shape of a large anthropomorphic cat with shaggy black fur, long fingers that ended in white tipped fur, sharp pointed ears, a round mouth with jagged teeth and circular pupil-less eyes. In that form, his voice gets deeper and begins to 'fizz'.
Personality
Cheshire's personality was overall aggressively driven, possibly because of his unjust death at the hands of Vincent. Although Cheshire is violent and unpredictable, the Intention of the Abyss brought out his much calmer, happier side, as he played with her and spent time with her, acting as her best friend. Although, because of his closeness to the Intention to the Abyss, Cheshire displayed a strong loyalty to the Intention, treating her happiness as what was most important to him. Cheshire was known to have also displayed significant jealousy towards humans, longing to be like them, a wish which the Intention of the Abyss granted for Cheshire by giving him a human-like form. Cheshire's loyalty also brought out his own selflessness, and while Cheshire's want to destroy Alice for the Intention because he wrongly believed it would make the Intention happier was misplaced, Cheshire still did it solely for the Intention of the Abyss, willing to do what ever necessary to bring the Intention happiness, something which included discarding his human-like form in order to protect the memories which the Intention had thrown away 100 years ago. In the end, Cheshire gave his life for the Intention of the Abyss, sacrificing himself for her happiness.He showed great love for her knowing she'd be happy.
While Cheshire does boast an outwardly aggressive attitude, he is a coward at heart. Cheshire kidnapped Alice and Break to destroy them both, however he refused to deal with them on a personal level because he was afraid. Instead, Cheshire allowed Break and Alice's memories combined with the Abyssal power of Cheshire's dimension to take care of them instead, hoping that he wouldn't have to face them himself. Cheshire reluctantly went to kill Break himself eventually, but only as a last resort, fearing Break's power. Cheshire also teleported away from Sharon and Equus as soon as Sharon questioned him about the Tragedy of Sablier during their battle, because of the pain he knew it could cause.
Whenever referring to himself in conversation with other characters, Cheshire would always refer to himself in the third person, a trait which he also shared with Echo.
Abilities and Powers
- Enhanced speed, strength and endurance.
- Regeneration
- Cheshire, was a special kind of Chain because of his unique qualities, as Cheshire doesn't require a contractor to leave the Abyss.
- Inter-dimensional Travel - Cheshire is able to travel between Earth, Cheshire's dimension and the Abyss as he pleases. It is unknown if there were other dimensions which Cheshire could travel to. This power also appears in the Chain Equus, as well as Gryphon, Raven, Owl, Dodo and Jabberwock, however it takes a lot of power to do so, and so the strain on the Contractor means that the teleportation ability of the Black Winged Chains is seldom used.
- Teleportation - Cheshire is able to freely move where ever he wishes to go by trailing his ribbons across his body, a power which he displayed during his fight with Equus and Sharon when he was avoiding Sharon's questions about the Tragedy of Sablier.
- Shape-shifting - Cheshire displayed his ability to shape-shift multiple times, taking on four different forms in order to fight Oz, Break, Alice and Gil.
Quotes
- To Oz the B-Rabbit
- "What are you saying? This dimension itself was created from Alice's memories."
- "Cheshire knows, y'know. You guys are trying to collect Alice's memories, right? Why... why are you doing that?"
- "Liar. Only Cheshire knows. She... Alice... wanted to forget everything! That's why... of her own accord... she tore up and threw all of her memories away!"
- "The shreds of her memory were scattered all over your world, and... this memory alone sealed itself within a shell. Cheshire's duty is to stay here... and prevent anyone from laying eyes on Alice's memory, and protect it. 'Cos what's here is the memory that Alice wanted to erase the most... the day that Alice lost everything."
- "You're such a strange human. You're still smiling like everything is fine, even after I've hurt you so much. Even though you're the one getting hurt, you somehow seem indifferent. Even though you're definitely here, you're not anywhere."
-To Gilbert Nightray-
- "By the way, fellow in the black there... you have a crow inside of you, right? Why don't you bring it out of its cage? Cheshire feels more like eating a bird... than eating a human right now!"
- "Oh... you're sealing B-Rabbit's power with Raven aren't you? That's too bad... it looks like I won't get to say hello to Raven."
- To Gilbert Nightray and Oz the B-Rabbit
- "You guys... how did you get here?"
- "Cheshire didn't predict that the red-eyed one would come with her... or that you two would come along too. But... if Cheshire kills you then nothing would change!"
- "The memories that are replayed here eliminate all intruders. In the end they'll swallow you whole... you'll suffer for all eternity in the thresholds of time. That's really painful. So you should just let me hunt you mice instead."
-To Sharon Rainsworth-
- "If you mean the red-eyed one... he was dragged into the mirror a while ago. Held close by the arms of his past... he ought to be in a deep, deep sleep by now..."
- "Why (Did he target Alice and Break)? That's obvious.They're enemies of the Intention of the Abyss."
- "Why do you and red-eye want to know about that (The Intention)?"
- "You're noisy."
-To Xerxes Break / Kevin Legnard-
- "Mad Hatter!?"
- "The dimension is cracking!?"
- "Cheshire doesn't have time to play with you anymore...! Cheshire will go kill that blonde, he's trying to destroy this dimension! You... the B-Rabbit... Raven... Cheshire will kill you all!"
- "Cheshire exists only for her sake! And for her sake, you will all die!"
Chapter Appearances
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(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia
- In an omake he is seen adding 'nyaa' to every of his sentences, since 'nyaa' is the noise cats make in Japan.
- Cheshire seems to have been familiar with many Chains, instantly recognizing Mad Hatter and Equus when he encountered them, and even sensed Raven's presence through Gil's body.
- Cheshire's forms are numbered in order of appearance.
- Cheshire refers to himself in third-person much like Echo.
- Cheshire also bare quite a resemblance with the character Boris Airay in Heart no Kuni no Alice. They both also play the same character, which is The Cheshire Cat.
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