Hey folks, Steve here. I have taken over Building Character this week to bring you one of my favorite characters from the Hyperdimension Neptuina series. Continuing our theme of silly characters in April, I am gonna be talking about the infamous Pirachu.
As many fans of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series know, there are plenty of over the top villains to be found. My favorite of these villains is Pirachu (or Werechu in Japanese). His name, much like many others in the Neptunia series, is a pun. “Pira” is probably a reference to piracy, the central theme of Neptunia MK2 in which he first appears. His Japanese name of “Were” is probably a pun on the old term “Warez”, which was where pirated software was usually found. These names make perfect sense for him, as he is always helping the villains get pirated software in the the hands of the masses.
Pirachu is a very confident character, but if he feels battle is not going his way he will flee in a second. He proclaims that he is the 3rd most popular rodent mascot in Gameindustri (Mickey Mouse and Pikachu are most likely beating him out). I guess the bad guy can’t win a popularity contest.
Probably the funniest part of his personality is that, even though he is very evil, he has an undying crush on Compa. Of course she is oblivious to this, which makes it even more hilarious. In the end he is shot down because Compa just cannot love a bad guy. I would have thought it was because he was a rodent, but different strokes I guess. His efforts to get some alone time with Compa are thwarted very painfully by Iris Heart in the anime. Plutia likes to bring the pain!
In the anime adaption, Pirachu is often helping Arfoire hatch her evil plot to take over the world. Most of the time he is ragging on her for being old, making cracks about her body, or stealing her spotlight. He may act like he doesn’t really care for her, but when push comes to shove he says us villains have to stick together.
Some would likely see Pirachu as a secondary villain amongst all the others in the series. Personally I think he stands out from the crowd in many ways. The pun on his name is just great and it is the little things like this that have always made me enjoy this series. Also, the crush he has on Compa makes for some very funny scenes several times throughout the series. I am very curious to see what his role will be in the upcoming Hyperdimension Neptuina V-II and Neptunia U.
If you would like to see a Building Character for any other characters from the Hyperdimension Neptuina series please let me know in the comments below.
