Kämpfer

"Natsuru-san, you will fight. As long as you're chosen to be a Kämpfer, that is absolute."

- Harakiri Tiger

A Kämpfer is a person chosen to fight to decide the fate of an as of yet undisclosed world. The battle of the Kämpfers are overseen by a group known as the Moderators. All Kämpfers are female, and any males chosen undergo a gender swap upon transformation. Kämpfer is the German word for 'Fighter'. There is no obvious connection between the Kämpfers and its German apparent origin.

Red and Blue Kämpfers
Most Kämpfers, when selected, will be placed into one of two factions, easily identifiable as Red Kämpfers or Blue Kämpfers. The Contract Bracelet all Kämpfers wear around their wrist will be coloured to represent their alliance. Once placed, that Kämpfer must fight for their team. There is no penalty for betraying your faction and joining the other team, however, the Contract Bracelet will not change colour to reflect this. All Kämpfers obtain enhanced strength and speed when transformed. Kämpfers can move extremely fast and jump incredibly high. It is rumoured that Red Kämpfers are three times faster than their Blue counterparts by Mishima Akane. Kämpfers, while not explicitly stated, are expected to keep knowledge of the Kämpfers to themselves.

White Kämpfers
There is a third faction, known as the White Kämpfers. These Kämpfers' Contract Bracelets are White to represent their neutrality. These Kämpfers are neutral to either side, and do not interfere with the battle between the Red and Blue Kämpfers. They are only called to fight when Kämpfers band together with intention of attacking the Moderators. The White Kämpfers answer directly to the Moderators, but otherwise follow the same rules as the other Kämpfers.

Battle Classes


All Kämpfers take on one of three battle classes. These are Zauber, Gewehr and Schwert , the German words for Magic, Gun (Rifle) and Sword respectively. Kämpfers do not have control over which battle class they belong to, nor what weapon they wield in that class.

Zauber
The Zauber class is a magical class, and Kämpfers classified as Zauber users are able to summon and launch elemental projectiles at their enemies. Zauber is elemental in nature, and draws power from the Contract Bracelet of its Kämpfer. The element wielded by each Kämpfer is random, and they will be associated with that element permanently. While Zauber users are able to generate their element at will, they are not able to control pre-existing sources associated with that element.

Zauber is arguably the hardest class to master, as it is not obvious for Kämpfers on how to use them. It has been mentioned by Akane that an activating item is used by novice Kämpfers when learning to use Zauber. However it is also the most destructive class among the three, as Zauber attacks are both large and explosive. Smaller attacks can be generated, as seen by Senou Natsuru, who generated just enough fire to set off a fire alarm in school, however, pinpoint strikes are not usually a trait seen in Zauber users.

The Zauber class can be said to be an offensive oriented class or a support, as fighting styles of Zauber users are usually composed of powerful strikes and fast advances that keep the opponent off balance, and have no way of defending themselves from direct attacks. They are usually at their best when fighting in tandem with a Kämpfer of another class.

Notable users include Senou Natsuru, who wields Fire, Minagawa Hitomi, who wields Light, and Shinomiya Tamiko, whose Zauber element is unknown, as she was missing and only mentioned during the events of Kämpfer.

Gewehr
Gewehr is a German word meaning 'rifle', however as a class it encompasses all types of small firearms, and when spoken is taken to mean gun. Certain physical limitations do not apply to Gewehr weapons, such as the weapon never jamming nor ever running out of ammunition. Gewehr users are able to summon their weapon through the Contract Bracelet, though it is unknown if the amount is limited. For example, the Red Kämpfer Kuzuhara Midori used dual revolvers, while Akane only ever used one pistol at a time.

It is fairly simple to master the Gewehr class, as its weapons are a relatively simple point and shoot rather than having to learn to harness the energy necessary by Zauber users or the complicated techniques of the Schwert users. This process is made easier as users do not have to learn how to tend to the gun, reload effectively, or chamber new rounds.

Gewehr users can be said to be a generally evasive class, as users are more comfortable strafing and evading the attacks of other Kämpfers while using their gun to keep enemies at a distance. They are able to block to an extent, as their guns seem to be indestructible, however the small margin they have to block with usually means they prefer to avoid attacks rather than block them.

Notable Gewehr users are Akane with her Springfield Armory Loaded M1911-A1 pistol, Yamakawa Ryouka with her Ingram MAC-10 submachine gun, and Midori, who used dual unidentified revolvers.

Schwert
Schwert is a German word meaning Sword, though as a class encompasses all bladed weapons. Like the Gewehr class, its users are able to summon their weapons through their Contract Bracelet. While Schwert weapons seem to be influenced by local culture, such as Kondou Mikoto's katana, and Ueda Rika's kusarigama, foreign and unconventional weapons have been seen as well, such as Nakao Sayaka's sabre or Sangou Shizuku's dual knives.

While the concept of using blades is obvious to its users, in learning of the actual techniques necessary to wield their weapon effectively lies the difficulty in mastering weapons among Schwert users.

The Schwert class is a jack-of-all-trades class, as users employ various strategies ranging from an aggressive fighting stance to overwhelm an opponent, to a passive stance where they avoid and deflect attacks. waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Schwert users include Mikoto, who wields a katana, Rika, who wields a kusarigama, Sayaka who wields a sabre and Shizuku, who wields dual knives.

Transformation
All Kämpfers undergo a change, be that a physical one or mentally, usually in the form of a change of appearance, or a change in personality or both. For males, gender swapping will always be one of these changes forced on them. Kämpfers do not have control over what traits they assume when transformed. There is no way for a Kämpfer to access his or her powers without transforming.

When a Kämpfer is first selected, they have no control over their transformation, and may transform for no reason at all. These initial transformations can last from little over an hour to several weeks or even months to wear off. Otherwise, a Kämpfer will transform under the condition that they sense a fighting intent or another Kämpfer being close by. Kämpfers that band together eventually get used to the others' presence and are able to resist transformation, though if a Kämpfer transforms in their presence, the others will generally transform as well.

Messengers


Kämpfers are given creatures named Messengers to brief them of the nature of the Kämpfers. Messengers have been seen in the forms of the Entrails Animals. The Messengers are responsible for instructing Kämpfers of the rules of engagement in battle and other minor details, and can assist the Kämpfer in small ways, such as forcing the reverse transformation of a Kämpfer, like what Harakiri Tiger had done for Natsuru after his first transformation. Messengers, while are capable of female or male voices, are assumed to be genderless.

When a Kämpfer is defeated in battle, their Messenger dies as well. It is therefore in a Messenger's best interest to help a Kämpfer as much as they can.

Defeat
When a Kämpfer is defeated in battle, according to Shizuku, they 'cease to exist'. No Kämpfer has actually been killed during the events of the anime version of Kämpfer, though it has been mentioned that a friend of Shizuku's, Tamiko, had been 'defeated in battle', and has disappeared from existance. Shizuku herself had defeated many opponents in battle before, but has always been vague when asked to describe what happens afterwards. In the manga version of the series, the Red Kämpfer Midori had been defeated by Natsuru and Akane. Shizuku later assumed responsibility for her, and she was never seen again.

There is no known way for a Kämpfer to leave their responsibilities as a fighter other than by being defeated in battle by another Kämpfer.