Ambassador Bloomers

"Ambassador Bloomers"

- pledging his support to Nacht Ragnard.

About
Ambassador Bloomers is a strange competitor in the Toushin Tournament and a secondary character in Toushin Toshi III.

The son of devout followers of the Bloomers Sect, a religion dedicated to the worship of gym bloomers, Ambassador Bloomers grew up deeply entrenched in the teachings of the bizarre movement. Though he was raised without knowing the faces of either of his parents, as they always concealed them beneath pairs of bloomers, he did not mind this due to sharing their love for the clothing, and had an otherwise peaceful and happy childhood.

Ambassador Bloomers' life took a tragic turn when a religious war erupted between the Bloomers Sect and the Church of Spats, a competing movement that decried bloomers as being inferior to spats. While those of the Bloomers Sect fought valiantly for their beliefs, they were ultimately unable to overcome the rising popularity of spats and had their religion destroyed. Both of Ambassador Bloomers' parents were killed amid the fighting, with his mother sacrificing herself to launch a raid on an enemy camp and his father being burned at the stake after refusing to renounce his faith, while he himself was branded with a large mark in the shape of a pair of spats on his back as a symbol of his people's defeat.

Despite the suffering he had endured, Ambassador Bloomers' devotion to bloomers remained unshaken. In an act of defiance to his oppressors, he branded over the mark of spats on his back with one in the shape of bloomers. This profound display of religious dedication earned him the favor of the Bloomers God, the patron deity of the Bloomers Sect, who bestowed him with the divine power of bloomers and assigned him the sacred mission of rebuilding his fallen church. Accepting the orders of his god without question, Ambassador Bloomers set his sights on winning the upcoming Toushin Tournament and using the prize money to fund the reconstruction of the Bloomers Sect. To aid him in his quest, he asked Bloomers Girl, a young woman who had also survived the holy war, to serve as his partner in the tournament. Bloomers Girl agreed instantly, sharing his desire to revive the Bloomers Sect.

During the events of Toushin Toshi III, Ambassador Bloomers and Bloomers Girl traveled to Toushin City to register in the Toushin Tournament. Due to the large number of applicants, the tournament implemented a qualifying challenge that asked the potential competitors to collect 30 Sand Lances from defeated Monsters in the nearby Qualifying Labyrinth, with the first 30 that succeeded in doing so being granted the right to participate. During his search for sand lances, Ambassador Bloomers became acquainted with Nacht Ragnard, another young man who hoped to take part in the tournament. Ambassador Bloomers sensed an innate passion for bloomers within Nacht, causing him to feel an immediate sense of kinship with him. While Nacht was oblivious to Ambassador Bloomer's affiliation with the Bloomers Sect, he was quickly won over by his polite demeanor and parted ways with him on good terms, with each man wishing the other luck in qualifying.

Though competition for the sand lances was fierce, with supplies quickly dwindling between the first and second days of the challenge, Ambassador Bloomers narrowly managed to meet minimum amount needed to become an official participant in the tournament. He was assigned his first match, against Channeler Ito, a mysterious young man imbued with the power to detect radio waves from the far off cosmos, on the very first day of the proceedings. Ambassador Bloomers won the clash with ease, using his rainbow bloomers attack to defeat Ito while he was in the middle of channeling radio waves.

After his victory in the first round, Ambassador Bloomers was arranged to face Rafflesia Hood, an infamous fighter whose unbearable stench could down an entire stadium of people in an instant. To prepare for the match, Ambassador Bloomers ventured into the Mavil Labyrinth to meditate in isolation, repeating a mantra consisting solely of the word "bloomers" to himself to heighten his divine powers. During his training, he crossed paths once more with Nacht, who had also succeeded in qualifying to take part in the tournament. Nacht expressed concern for Ambassador Bloomers having to go up against the deadly Rafflesia Hood, but was reassured by the fellow competitor, who insisted that the blessing of the Bloomers God would protect him. This claim inadvertently revealed Ambassador Bloomers as a follower of the Bloomers Sect to Nacht, who reacted with immediate discomfort. Ambassador Bloomers was disappointed to see the look of judgement on Nacht's face after he learned of his religion but was not upset by it, stating plainly that he had grown used to others being intolerant toward him, and calmly left to meditate elsewhere.

On the day of his second match, Ambassador Bloomers arrived at the Toushin City coliseum to find it almost entirely deserted in anticipation for Rafflesia Hood's appearance. Unphased, he proudly entered the arena, donning a pair of bloomers to protect his nostrils from his opponent's stench. With the aid of the Bloomers God's blessing he was able to completely neutralize Rafflesia Hood's odor and swiftly defeat him. His surprise victory created a divide among the tournament's spectators, with some, including the host of the popular Toushin Digest program Kuri, voicing their admiration for his unconventional strength and style, and others, including Kuri's co-host Slasher, deeming him a pervert and expressing bafflement at his continued success.

Having reached the third round, Ambassador Bloomers was assigned to face Remedia Kalar, a swordswoman of the Kalar race who had gained notoriety throughout the tournament for both her strength and beauty. In preparation for the match, he returned to Mavil Labyrinth to meditate and was again encountered by Nacht, who had also advanced to the third round. Stricken with guilt over his actions in their previous encounter, Nacht apologized to Ambassador Bloomers and tried to educate himself on the Bloomers Sect by asking him why he became a follower of it. Taking this as a sign that Nacht was ready to be converted into a fellow bloomer lover, Ambassador Bloomers responded by warning that his answer would dramatically change the way Nacht looked at the world. Nacht was put off by this thought and retracted his question, slightly disappointing Ambassador Bloomers in the process. Though Ambassador Bloomers made no further attempts at directly introducing Nacht to his religion after this exchange, he continued to passively do so by encouraging Nacht to join him in meditating over bloomers in each of their following encounters, only to be awkwardly rejected each time.

When the day of his third match arrived, Ambassador Bloomers traveled through Mavil Labyrinth for last minute training. As he finished he ran into Nacht, who expressed curiosity at the upbeat mood he seemed to be in. Ambassador Bloomers explained that he was on his way to battle Remedia and voiced his excitement about getting to do whatever he wanted with her if he managed to emerge as the winner. As Remedia's childhood friend, Nacht was made visibly uncomfortable by this statement, which caused Ambassador Bloomers to try to alleviate his worries by elaborating that he only intended to have her perform various poses in public while wearing a pair of bloomers. When this did nothing to improve Nacht's mood, Ambassador Bloomers amended his plan so that Remedia would instead pose in a place where only he would be able to see her, a change that left Nacht no more relieved.

After parting ways with Nacht and leaving the labyrinth, Ambassador Bloomers returned to the coliseum to confront Remedia, whose usual stoicism was slightly broken by disgust at his strange demeanor. The battle between the two proved to be long and intense, with the divine protection of the Bloomers God allowing Ambassador Bloomers to withstand each of Remedia's devastating attacks. As Remedia's body began to wear down from fatigue, she attempted a new tactic by slashing at the bloomers her opponent wore on his head to deprive him of his power. Immediately after having his bloomers torn, Ambassador Bloomers suddenly collapsed on the ground unconscious, ending the fight with his defeat and eliminating him from the tournament.

While unconscious, Ambassador Bloomers experienced a vision of the Bloomers God, who discouraged him from needlessly endangering his life by reminding him that he carried the wills of all followers of the Bloomers Sect as the chosen wielder of his blessing. Taking the words of his god to heart, Ambassador Bloomers came to the conclusion that he was not meant to fight and abandoned his goal of becoming champion of the Toushin Tournament in favor of finding more people that shared his ideals to become new believers of the Bloomers Sect. To his delight, his performance in the tournament had awakened a love for bloomers within the hearts of several spectators, who began approaching him one after another to follow his religion. Slowly but surely, the Bloomers Sect regained its lost power.

As the Toushin Tournament progressed into its final round, the Mavil Treasury, a section of the labyrinth filled with rare and valuable equipment, was temporarily opened to the public in commemoration of the event. Seeing an opportunity, Ambassador Bloomers entered the treasury and plundered several items, intending to sell them to assist in funding the rebuilding of the Bloomers Sect. While doing this, he met up for one last time with Nacht, who had succeeded in becoming one of the tournament's two finalists. Along with offering Nacht his support as he approached the end of the competition, Ambassador Bloomers revealed the great success he had found since getting eliminated and expressed hope that he would be able to revive his religion within a year, a sentiment that filled Nacht with a variety of mixed emotions.

One year following the end of the Toushin Tournament, Ambassador Bloomers was able to achieve his dream and gain enough money and followers to officially reinstate the Bloomers Sect as a religion and found a church in the Holy Land of Mausapon, with great strides being made afterwards to establish additional branches in cities all across the world. While presiding over the new church, Ambassador Bloomers was reunited with Nacht, who had reentered the Toushin Tournament after losing in the finals the previous year and was sent to Mausapon during his exploration of Mavil Labyrinth. Ambassador Bloomers sincerely thanked Nacht for the encouragement he had shown him in restoring his religion and told him that he would always be willing to lend him assistance should he ever require it. Nacht was flattered by the gesture but disturbed by the notion of the Bloomers Sect growing in influence, and quickly fled from the church when Ambassador Bloomers attempted to get him to join him in a prayer to the Bloomers God.

Personality and Appearance
Ambassador Bloomers is a tall young man with tousled blue hair and matching blue eyes. A large brand in the shape of gym bloomers is said to be etched onto his back, but is never shown onscreen. His clothing consists of a skin-tight black shirt with white cuff links, a pair of white gym bloomers, white boots, a small pair of spectacles, and a white cape with golden fastener inscribed with the "bu" (ブ) kana. He keeps his cape draped around his body on most occasions, obscuring his obscene choice of clothing to give him a deceptively innocuous appearance. When in battle, Ambassador Bloomers wears a second pair of bloomers atop his head which causes his hair to turn a golden color and his physique to swell with impressive muscularity, making him look equal parts more threatening and deviant.

A lifelong follower of the Bloomers Sect, Ambassador Bloomers is a man who has pledged his life to the worship of gym bloomers. He is passionately devoted to his religion, and will spend hours at a time doing nothing but chanting the word "bloomers" to himself repeatedly as a form of meditation. For his piousness, he was granted the blessing of the Bloomers God and entrusted with the mission of reviving the Bloomers Sect after it was all but destroyed in a holy war with the Church of Spats. All of his actions are in service of this goal, with his enrollment in the Toushin Tournament in particular being done to earn the money necessary to rebuild his fallen church. Missionary work plays an important part in this process, and he makes a concerted effort to seek out new potential followers for the Bloomers Sect wherever he goes. He is by no means inexorable in this practice, however, as he will only approach a person about joining his religion after he has first evaluated that they possess the innate love of bloomers needed to become a part of it and will obediently relent if they refuse him.

While the Bloomers Sect and its followers have long been stigmatized as perverts for their fixation on women's gym wear, Ambassador Bloomers stands out for being a well-rounded and admirable person in all respects outside of his faith. He is unfailingly polite and supportive to others regardless of their relation to him, claiming assisting those in need to be a founding principle of the Bloomers Sect, and never attempts to impose his religion onto those who do not show interest in it. Similarly, he is also very lenient toward those who express intolerance toward his beliefs, having long since hardened his heart to prejudice after experiencing a lifetime of unrelenting persecution for his way of thinking. The oxymoronic contrast between his gentlemanly personality and his depraved convictions is perhaps best exemplified in his dealings with the female partners of his defeated opponents during the Toushin Tournament, where he abstained from making sexual advances toward them out of principle but forced them to perform various erotic poses in public for his pleasure.

Ambassador Bloomers takes an immediate interest in Nacht Ragnard upon first meeting him. Detecting his own love for bloomers lying dormant within the other man, he considers Nacht to be a kindred spirit of sorts and always greets him with amiability and encouragement whenever they cross paths. Nacht is at first appreciative of these gestures, finding them to be a welcomed contrast to the eccentric and often antagonistic antics of other competitors in the Toushin Tournament, but becomes more wary of spending time with Ambassador Bloomers after learning of his affiliation with the Bloomers Sect. While Ambassador Bloomers shows sadness that Nacht would allow his presuppositions about the Bloomers Sect to taint their friendship, he does not judge him for it and continues to act kindly toward him. This reaction fills Nacht with a great deal of guilt over his initial discomfort and compels him to inquire Ambassador Bloomers about his beliefs in an effort to gain a better understanding of them. Ambassador Bloomers misreads this as a sign that Nacht is interested in becoming a follower of the Bloomers Sect, which leads him to make both active and passive attempts at converting him to the religion in each of their following interactions, to Nacht's great horror. After the Bloomers Sect is successfully restored, Ambassador Bloomers credits Nacht as having played a vital role in the process due to the emotional support he had offered him throughout the Toushin Tournament and encourages him to turn to the church for assistance should he ever find himself at an impasse in life. Though Nacht is somewhat flattered by the offer, he is left slightly mortified by the notion that he had a part in cultivating the creating more bloomer fanatics across the world and does not ever follow through with it.

Abilities
As the chosen envoy of the Bloomers God's blessing, Ambassador Bloomers has been granted the divine power of bloomers and possesses an astounding amount of power as a result. By donning a pair of bloomers over his head, his body surges with strength and becomes much larger and more imposing. While in this state, he acquires an unmatched level of defensive ability that enables him to revive instantaneously from all fatal attacks and completely nullify Rafflesia Hood's deathly odor. Using this strength, Ambassador Bloomers was able to win both his first and second matches in the Toushin Tournament with relative ease and fight on even ground with Remedia Kalar, an outstanding swordfighter who would go on to become the ultimate champion of the tournament, for a very long time. Ambassador Bloomers is only able to maintain this form while he is wearing bloomers on his head, however, meaning that he will be instantaneously stripped of his powers should the bloomers tear or otherwise sustain damage, creating a key weakness in his otherwise impenetrable defenses. Following his loss against Remedia, Ambassador Bloomers was contacted by the Bloomers God to give up fighting in favor of focusing on missionary work, leaving it unclear as to whether he is still able to assume this transformation after his elimination from the Toushin Tournament.

Though Ambassador Bloomers is never directly seen participating in combat, his fighting style is stated to be both bizarre and salacious, involving disarming his enemies with disgust at his actions as much as it does physically hitting them. His only known technique is referred to as the rainbow bloomers attack, which was powerful enough to defeat Channeler Ito with a single strike. While obscene, Ambassador Bloomer's skills proved to be surprisingly effective throughout his time as a participant in the Toushin Tournament and caused him to gain considerable notoriety among spectators, with some finding a certain unconventional appeal to his style and others showing outspoken revulsion toward it.

Trivia

 * During his first meeting with Nacht, Ambassador Bloomers clarifies that his name is not a title; "Ambassador" is his first name and "Bloomers" is his last. He prefers to be addressed by his full name due to the great pride he has in it.
 * Ambassador Bloomers, along with his counterpart Ajimaph Raki, was added to Toushin Toshi III's story fairly late into its production as a character Nacht could speak with in dungeons for "flavor". Unlike Ajimaph, who was created from the ground up to serve this function, Ambassador Bloomers had always been intended to be featured in the game as an offscreen competitor in the Toushin Tournament, and simply had his character expanded upon. Fumya, one of the game's lead scenario writers, expressed regret at having taken so long to devise a personality for him when she had come up with his name so early on into the writing process.
 * Ambassador Bloomers' character references and expands on the Bloomers Sect sequence briefly featured in Toushin Toshi II, which Imam, one of the lead scenario writers for both Toushin Toshi II and III, named as his favorite moment in the game. Imam claimed that even greater focus would be given to the Bloomers Sect and Ambassador Bloomers' quest to revive it had he been created earlier.
 * Ambassador Bloomers' name is a parody of that of the title character of the manga series Ambassador Magma.
 * Ambassador Bloomers getting forcefully branded by followers of an opposing religion for refusing to recant his beliefs in his backstory parodies historical incidents of followers of the Roman Catholic Church placing a brand in the shape of a cross on the foreheads of Anabaptists during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.
 * Gyokai, a CG painter for Toushin Toshi III, conceived an alternate story route in which Ambassador Bloomers defeats Remedia in the tournament and goes on to win against Nacht in the final round. After winning the second year of the tournament, Nacht would reunite with him and the two would join hands to spread the gospel of bloomers across the world. As this idea would require the plot of the game to be drastically altered, it had no chance of ever being incorporated. Despite this, Gyokai insists that the route exists in his heart, and drew artwork featuring Remedia wearing bloomers to commemorate it.