Battler Ushiromiya

"Ah, it's useless! It's all useless!"

- Battler Ushiromiya

Battler Ushiromiya is the main protagonist of Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Much of the story of said franchise is often framed by his battle with the Endless Witch Beatrice, in which he attempts to prove to her that the murders on Rokkenjima, of which he himself is a victim, could be committed by humans instead of witches. He later takes on the pen name Toya Hachijo, which he shares with Ikuko Hachijo, also known as Featherine Augustus Aurora, which is her witch form.

Profile & Personality
Battler is one of the young cousins that come to Rokkenjima. He had lived with his grandparents (on his mother's side) for six years after his mother, Asumu, died. During the events of Umineko no Naku Koro ni, it is his first time back to Rokkenjima, and also his first time seeing his cousins for six years. He dislikes his dad Rudolf to the point of often calling him a bastard. He does like his step-mother Kyrie either, but thinks of her as an older sister rather than a mother. He also has a younger sister, Ange Ushiromiya. Battler is very stubborn and does not believe in Beatrice or magic at all. This makes Beatrice extremely annoyed and because he does not believe in her or her magic, everyone else that had died during the events of Legend of the Golden Witch cannot go to the Golden Land. Beatrice vows to show Battler the errors of his ways and show him how wrong he was in his stubborn mind. She believes that Battler is the answer to her thousand years of boredom and indulges in the torture he promises her as he tries to defeat her, disprove her, and solve the Witch's Epitaph. As Battler and Beatrice's challenge comes to an end, new foes and allies jump in the tale and Battler finds himself to fight over something even more precious, the truth behind Beatrice hereself and the world she created.

Relationships

 * Beatrice - opponent, wife and step-cousin
 * Ange Ushiromiya - sister
 * Rudolf Ushiromiya - father
 * Kyrie Ushiromiya - blood mother
 * Asumu Ushiromiya - "mother"
 * Kinzo Ushiromiya - grandfather
 * Krauss Ushiromiya - uncle
 * Natsuhi Ushiromiya - aunt
 * Jessica Ushiromiya - cousin
 * Eva Ushiromiya - aunt
 * Hideyoshi Ushiromiya - uncle
 * George Ushiromiya - cousin
 * Rosa Ushiromiya - aunt
 * Maria Ushiromiya - cousin
 * Lambdadelta - sorcerer guardian
 * Bernkastel - opponent
 * Erika Furudo - opponent
 * Stakes of Purgatory - furniture
 * Dlanor - friend, opponent, ally

Appearance
Battler appears as a young man with spiky, auburn hair. He has either blue (as seen in the anime, Umineko: Majo to Suiri no Rondo and the portrait in Twilight of the Golden Witch) or brown eyes (as seen in the original novel and in his portrait in "Dawn"/Symphony of Golden Dreams) and is described as very tall and muscular and appears to be a quite fascinating man. He wears a khaki suit with the Ushiromiya crest. In Dawn of the Golden Witch, he appears with a black cape (similar to the cape Kinzo, or "Goldsmith", wears), symbolizing his position as the Game Master. In Twilight of the Golden Witch, he ages and assumes white hair, less spikier than his original red hairdo and greatly resembles Kinzo when Kinzo was younger.

As a Human
Battler is the rival Beatrice chose, and the reason she created her gameboard. Battler fights on the white part of the chess board and is the representative of the human side and also the first detective. He knows not the truth behind Beatrice's tale and views himself as a traveler on his way to find it guided by Virgilia. As human, he has the ability to cancel out the illusion of the witch, thanks to the Blue Truth, and that is exactly what he sets himself to do. His determination and not belief in magic provides him an anti-magic barrier level endless nine. He is a worthy opponent, at times even incredibly brilliant, thanks to the knowledge he built up by reading a countless number of books and a certain talent of his own. His piece on the game board is always human and is not aware of the meta dimension, so it acts and talks like a normal human of his age would. This piece is moved by Battler himself on the upper plane, with exception of most of End of the Golden Witch, in which it was moved by Bernkastel. Battler, also, being one of the pieces inside the cat box, can access to the FULL truth of the tale on the contrary to those outside it, for whom it will forever remain a closed box. The Battler that survived the accident, Tohya Hachijo, and that lives in the future, is the actual forger of the tales of Rokkenjima.

As the Golden Sorcerer
At the end of End of the Golden Witch, Battler is stabbed to death by the Red Truth. However, meta creatures do not actually die; they just lose the concept of themselves in the sea of nothingness. Battler takes a hold of himself and in that dimension out of time and space, he discovers the truth behind everything. For the rule established by the first game master, whoever finds the truth and the gold becomes the new Beatrice. So Battler is recognized by Lambdadelta (who becomes his guardian) as the new sorcerer of Gold and Endless, BATTLER (written in capitals). Also, he inherits from dead Beatrice the world of the game board, making him it's new Territory Lord. However, in order to fully win the game, he has to prove that he understands truly everything by weaving and winning a new tale against Erika and Bernkastel. Battler weaves three tales:
 * Dawn of the Golden Witch, the first of his tales, is dedicated to Beatrice and to her resurrection. It was challenged by Erika and was interrupted at the first twilight.
 * The second is dedicated to the Beatrice he could not reach in time. This is the most beautiful tale he could weave and is a secret between them that no one will ever defile. It is buried in Beatrice's coffin along with her corpse.
 * The last one is for his sister Ange. It's an invitation to the final party in hope that she will get rid of the ghosts of her past and decide to live on in the future as the final witch. Ange, Eva-Beatrice, Bernkastel and Erika challenge this final tale.

Rokkenjima Prime
Very little is known about Rokkenjima Prime Battler since all representations of him are from others point of view. The only thing known about him is that he survived the tragedy of Rokkenjima and suffered amnesia. He then became a writer known as Tohya Hachijo.

Trivia

 * In Dawn of the Golden Witch, it is stated by Lambdadelta and later confirmed in Twilight of the Golden Witch, that Battler has a third title, "Lord BATTLER, Golden Endless Sorcerer of Miracles", a title on par with Bernkastel's. Bernkastel is the witch who knows the true form of miracles and knows that they do not occur. She can only await for one endlessly. Battler is the sorcerer that knows that miracles do exist and can create one. This is one of the main reasons Bernkastel can't stand him and wants revenge. This affinity (and others) might also be a reason Bernkastel first caught interest in him, all the way back in episode 1.
 * In the manga, Battler spotted Rudolf's and Kyrie's clothing in the shed on the first night and tried to get a better look. In the anime, it was Jessica.
 * A character in Ryukishi07's newest work "Rose Guns Days" (Philip Butler) is a shout-out to Battler though the two have no relations to each other.