Great Thief Forteprotze
Originally a “Theft Game” designed by Cyber Connects “Great Thief Forteprotze” also known as “Moon Crow” From there the storyline followed a treasure thief, which further developed into idea of hackers giving creation to the term “Treasure Hackers” The project title for .hack stated in its earlier announcements. In addition the development team that created .hack derived the name “Kaito” or “Kite” as it is romanized from the Japanese word “Kaitou” meaning “phantom thief.” The source of inspiration for Great Thief Forteprotze was Alice and Wonderland. The title provided a foundation for “Morganna” whom is loosely based upon the queen of hearts and “Mia” whose character design originates from Chester the cat.
Brief Trivia – The original character for the project was a female, with two horns wielding a dagger. Some believe the character “Zelkova” in G.U. is a reference to this, while others speculate Natsume from the original .hack games is a tribute to the character.
.hack//Comic
A short comic included at the end of each “Legend of the Twilight” Manga. In the story Kite and Balmung battling each other, Balmung is losing and in an attempt to gain victory he unleashes a level 13 Omega spell, however he is still defeated. The Kite in the story is believed to a prototype of the one that later appeared in the G.U. series as hinted by Balmung’s reference to Kite’s title; “Oh that’s right.” “I was defeated…” “By that Azure Flame” In addition Balmung’s final words before being data drained are as follows; “This man…”, “That Kite!!” “Not Him…!”
Brief Trivia – In the Japanese version of the comic the phrase “Now onto G.U.” appears at the end, an indication of future games.
.hack//G.U. Trailer
Summary: A trailer released by Bandai in 2004 that previewed the upcoming G.U. games. The trailer followed the same guideline as the official one, starting off with a fallen Haseo recently pked. The screen then flashes to desert with Haseo standing atop a cliff staring down at a group people attacking another player. The player is pked, soon after Haseo makes an entrance. The group directs their attention toward the challenger, vise versa Haseo looks at his opponents, he then pulls out his weapons and battle ensues. Throughout the battle the original designs for each epitaph user along with their title appear on the screen. The scene ends with Haseo pulling out a scythe. Afterwards, the trailer proceeds to the Cathedral. In the Cathedral Aura Statue remains still wrapped in eight chains, Haseo walks up to the pillar, looking up in remembrance. Prototypes of Shino flash across the scene. Soon after Haseo then turns to leave when suddenly the tone is heard and an electrical surge passes down. Haseo redirects his attention to the occurrences behind him, Kite appears in a fury of azure flames. Kite’s weapons extend into three blades, the sign of tri edge is shown over the screen. Haseo withdraws his blade and battle begins. Haseo attacks with all of his anger, constantly changing weapons his during the fight, yet the entire time he is unable to break through Kite’s defenses. The result of the battle ends with Kite lifting his arm and performing “Data Drain” The trailer flows through a brief recap of the characters before shifting to back to Haseo whom is standing in the phase battlefield, while holding his head. Thunder then passes across the screen and Skeith in his original form manifests behind Haseo. Vision fades and logos pop up promoting the series, the trailer end with Ovan reaching his hand out to a fallen Haseo voicing the Japanese quote “Welcome to the World”
Brief Trivia – The prototype seemly follows the original game aspects on class as seen through the character models of the Pkers Haseo fights in the trailer and the sketch of Pi that depicts her as a twin blade, via the large blades shown by her hands. Additional information states that all three Haseo’s weapons appear the .hack//G.U. game in some form. Further analysis notes that Kite’s bracelet in the trailer is shown in the form of “X” as he activates data drain. In addition Kite blades “Empty Skies” also slightly differ in appearance.