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When you sacrifice, you must cut yourself from Humanity...
– Ubik
Ubik (ユービック Yūbikku?) is a member of the God Hand. His primary role is manipulating the emotions of those chosen by the Beherit into sacrificing their cherished ones or possessions.
Appearance
He has the form of a small floating figure wearing glasses that appear to be fused into his face. He does not appear to have legs, rather he has fin-like tendrils that hang down below him. He is the smallest of the God Hand and is never seen stationary or against any surface, always floating. His face constantly bears the same grinning expression with his hands usually clasped together.
Personality
Ubik does most of the talking when the God Hand is present, providing much exposition. His role appears to be to convince the would-be Apostle to accept the God Hand's sacrificial bargain by tempting them and convincing them that they cannot move forward without losing something of value. Ubik never outright lies, but will manipulate and twist the truth to push his victims closer and closer to accepting the deal.
Subtle aspects of his conversation with the Count and Griffith imply that he is cultured at least in his language, and may be amused by the mental torment his invasions cause.
Abilities and Skills
Master Manipulator: Ubik appears to be highly manipulative and mischevious, using his silver tongue as his deadliest weapon. He is usually manipulating the emotions of those chosen by the Beherit into sacrificing their cherished ones or possessions.
Astral Plane Manipulation: Ubik is capable of manipulating a person's consciousness, as shown when he and Void bring Griffith back into his past by showing him his memories.
Transformation: Ubik is able to shift his size to grow to impossible heights or become as small as a cat. He is also able to conjure puppet-like forms of other beings and hide within them, effectively transforming into that person. He demonstrates this when he shape-shifted into the fortune teller from Griffith's youth to deceive him.
Causality Manipulation: Ubik can also manipulate time, open up the time dimension and view events from the past like the other God Hand members. Ubik can also see the design of Causality, but only to an extent that barely borders omniscience. This enables him to foresee almost any possibility and influence the course of events to ensure one possibility becomes a reality.
Corporealization: He and the rest of the senior God Hand manifest rudimentary bodies from the restless spirits running amok in the city during Griffith's revival in the corporeal realm. Ubik and the rest of the God Hand manifest fully during the Blast of the Astral World, gaining a full-time physical presence.
Levitation: He floats suspended in air, and when moving he appears to "swim" through the air.
Story
Golden Age Arc
Ubik about to give Griffith a vision.
Ubik, alongside the other God Hand, first make themselves known to Griffith while he is imprisoned in the Tower of Rebirth. Once the guest of honor and his sacrifices appear in the Interstice for the Eclipse, the other God Hand reveal themselves. Ubik proceeds to influence Griffith's decision by subjecting him to a vision based on his past. There, in the form of an old woman, Ubik reminds Griffith of the type of person he is to sacrifice anyone to fulfill his dream so Griffith can accept the God Hand's offer to join them.
Black Swordsman Arc
The God Hand summoned.
Two years after last seeing Guts, Ubik and the rest of the God Hand appear before him after he fatally wounds the Count and the Apostle summons them to be given new life. Against the wishes of the Count, who hid the truth of his wife's death from their daughter, Ubik presents a vision to Theresia, forcing her to witness how her father murdered her mother to become an Apostle.
Conviction Arc
The God Hand appearing in Albion.
During the Incarnation Ceremony at Albion, Ubik and the rest of the senior God Hand members make themselves known to Guts when they manifest rudimentary bodies from the restless spirits running amok in the city. As he cannot truly harm the God Hand, and noting Griffith to not be among them, Guts decides to focus back on saving Casca from the mob who are intent on burning her at the stake. While the Incarnation Ceremony goes as planned with Griffith fully reconstituted, the process separates the senior God Hand members across different layers of the Astral World until the Blast of the Astral World.
Notes
- His name is taken from Philip K. Dick's Ubik.
- Along with Void, before the Blast of the Astral World, Ubik is the only God Hand not to appear outside of any Apostle-related ceremony.
- Ubik is the only character who has been voiced by the same Japanese seiyuu in all adaptations of the series.
- Ubik can be seen in the Blast of the Astral World inside of the "tree-man", a nod to Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthy Delights.
Appendices
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