Melty Blood Misconceptions: How exactly do the various Tatari work?

A brief thread clarifying the mechanics behind Tatari-generated versions of characters, particularly whether they are as strong as the originals, a long-standing point of confusion.

Starting with the first Tatari, Night of Wallachia, it usually creates manifestations that match the original character’s power. This is confirmed in dialogues like this one:

However, this isn't a hard rule; several important exceptions exist.

One of these is based on the fact that Wallachia reaches peak power during a full moon, affecting the strength of Tatari manifestations. If summoned before the full moon, their power may be diminished:

Additionally, Some characters are fundamentally incompatible with Tatari’s chaotic nature. These include Arcueid, Akiha, and Nanaya Shiki.

Wallachia draws power from fear, chaos, and subconscious pressure; disorder. In contrast, characters whose power is rooted in willpower, order, or natural harmony disrupt or resist his influence:

Arcueid is Gaia’s guardian, a being of balance and natural order. Her autonomy and connection to the Earth clash with Tatari’s chaotic nature, making her extremely difficult to replicate.

Wallachia states that the form of Arcueid he manifested ("Warcueid") represents only about 30% of her full strength. Her nature doesn’t “fit” his phenomenon.

This results in Tatari Arcueid lacking the true abilities of Red Arcueid. Warcueid essentially mirrors Restricted Arcueid, only with a more chaotic and bloodthirsty temperament. Her fighting style is brutal, but she lacks Arcueid’s full arsenal, especially her reality-warping authority.

Similarly, Nanaya Shiki poses a unique challenge to Wallachia due to his conceptual clarity and focused nature as an assassin. His abilities are rooted in instinct, precision, and a sharpened mental state that allows him to act with unwavering decisiveness. These traits stand in direct opposition to Tatari, which thrives on chaos, unpredictability, and emotional disturbance. Nanaya’s Origin, centered on the concept of killing, is fundamentally incompatible with Tatari’s abstract and fear-based manifestations. His power is directed toward clean, immediate execution, not psychological manipulation. This makes it difficult for Wallachia to fully exploit Nanaya’s capabilities, limiting his ability to replicate Shiki’s true potential. This interpretation is supported by supplementary materials:

In Melty Blood, Nanaya Shiki appears as Tohno Shiki’s anxieties given form. He uses the Nanaya martial arts that Shiki should have learned, but unlike Shiki he does not possess the mystic eyes of death perception. According to Miyako, he is her “wild big brother.” Also, perhaps it is due to Wallachia’s influence, but he is prone to somewhat theatrical elocution. - Tsukihime Dokuhon Plus Period: Tsukihime Dictionary Revised - Nanaya Shiki [Person]

It’s noted here that Wallachia's influence causes this version of Nanaya to adopt theatrical mannerisms. The Tatari phenomenon inherently amplifies fear and dramatization, so when recreating Nanaya, Wallachia emphasizes the most terrifying and exaggerated aspects of the assassin archetype. As a result, Tatari Nanaya becomes a distorted figure born from collective fears surrounding the Nanaya bloodline, rather than a faithful copy of the original. While this serves Wallachia’s goal of spreading fear, it ultimately produces a flawed imitation in terms of combat effectiveness.

The real Nanaya’s abilities stem from his intrinsic Origin of Killing, allowing him to carry out assassinations with ruthless clarity and no wasted motion. Tatari Nanaya, lacking this inner essence, compensates with exaggerated flair and psychological theatrics. His movements lack the minimalist efficiency and silent decisiveness of the original, revealing the absence of that underlying truth. Instead of being a true reflection, Tatari Nanaya is a mythic construct, an echo of collective fear, not of form and function.

There is even a moment where Tatari Nanaya himself reflects on his inadequacy in combat:

Also, this is just a digression, but in the game when he comments on the lack of skill after winning a battle, he’s actually talking about himself and not the opponent. After all, an assassination is something that’s over in an instant. For it to turn into a drawn-out “battle” against an enemy, well, what can he do but laugh at his own failure? - MB Act Cadenza PS2 Manual: Tsukihime Dictionary - Nanaya Shiki [Person]

Traditionally, Nanaya would view assassination as an act that concludes instantly: clean, efficient, and emotionless. So when the Tatari version criticizes the prolonged nature of battle, he’s acknowledging his failure to embody the true Nanaya ideal. Despite possessing skills and Mystic Eyes, this version falters in execution, his actions disordered and overly performative. This self-awareness highlights his conceptual instability and the dissonance between imitation and reality.

Ultimately, Tatari Nanaya reflects the essence of Tatari itself: a conceptual distortion, not a perfect replica. Though he carries the outward traits of a lethal killer, Wallachia’s influence, driven by fear, chaos, and perception, renders him unstable and inferior to the real Nanaya’s pure, quiet lethality.

In the case of Crimson Red Vermillion Akiha, her powers are deeply tied to her bloodline and require active dominance and control. Her ability to manipulate heat and life force is a direct extension of her willpower and autonomy. Wallachia’s Tatari phenomenon, which operates by overriding and exploiting its hosts, fundamentally clashes with Akiha’s need for precision and command over her abilities. Her power doesn’t stem from fear or chaos but from focused, internal control over her surroundings, making her a poor match for Tatari’s chaotic mechanisms. While Tatari could manifest a version of Akiha, it would be limited to her Inversion Impulse; the hidden, monstrous side she constantly restrains. This Tatari-Akiha would lack the true Akiha’s disciplined control and refinement, instead embodying a crude, rage-driven form. As a result, Wallachia is unable to fully access the depths of her Vermillion state, further emphasizing the incompatibility between Tatari and hosts who rely on self-discipline and refined control.

In all three cases, Wallachia’s failure to draw out the full extent of these individuals’ powers highlights Tatari’s reliance on conceptual alignment. Hosts defined by order, inner discipline, or a strong bond with the natural order inherently resist Tatari’s abstract and chaotic nature, rendering them ineffective vessels for its ambitions.

By contrast, many other characters (such as Ciel, as noted earlier in the thread), and more broadly, most Dead Apostles, are ideal candidates. Due to their unstable and monstrous nature, they offer fertile ground for Tatari’s chaos. Dead Apostles exist in a liminal state, no longer human, yet not entirely inhuman, embodying distortion and transformation. Their fractured identities and internal conflict between lingering humanity and vampiric instinct make them particularly vulnerable to Tatari’s influence. The more fragmented and unstable the self, the more easily Tatari can exploit it.

Nrvnqsr Chaos is a perfect example. His very essence is built on internal chaos; a shifting mass of lifeforms that exist within his body. This “chaos of life” resonates deeply with Tatari’s manipulation of fear, instability, and abstract phenomena. Because Nrvnqsr’s power is not dependent on fixed control, Wallachia can tap into it without resistance, fully unleashing his capabilities. His composite existence, less anchored to a defined individuality, also makes him an ideal vessel for Tatari’s aims. Wallachia even spoke of his body as if he could indeed use its full potential:

In summary, as long as it’s the night of a full moon, Wallachia’s duplicates are generally on par with their original counterparts; though exceptions exist for individuals who are conceptually incompatible with the process. Humans and Dead Apostles typically make suitable vessels, whereas beings defined by natural law, precision, or strict internal order, such as Akiha, Nanaya Shiki, and Arcueid, are notably diminished or less refined. Warcueid, for instance, is not a true manifestation of Red Arcueid, but rather a distorted materialization of her vampiric side, shaped by external perceptions of her as a bloodthirsty monster. Most witnesses, if not all, are unaware of the full power and nature of the true 100% Arcueid upon which Warcueid is loosely based.

Despite these conceptual mismatches, even weakened Tatari replicas remain formidable, fully capable of challenging or defeating figures like Ciel or Roa. Warcueid herself is stated to possess approximately 30% of Arcueid’s actual power.

So that covers Wallachia, but what about White Len? White Len is not a complete entity, but rather a fragment of Len (a dream familiar) fused with a remnant of Tatari. As such, she is inherently weaker than either Wallachia or a fully realized Len:

White Len’s existence is described as a "little more than a dream,” indicating a lack of the permanence, potency, and sophistication that Wallachia’s Tatari possesses. Her powers are more localized and less abstract compared to Wallachia’s vast conceptual manipulation:

This limits her ability to replicate the strength of powerful individuals and restricts certain abilities like Nanaya Shiki's Mystic Eyes:

In Melty Blood, Nanaya Shiki appears as Tohno Shiki's anxieties given form. He uses the Nanaya martial arts that Shiki should have learned, but unlike Shiki he does not possess the mystic eyes of death perception. According to Miyako, he is her "wild big brother". Also, perhaps it is due to Wallachia's influence, but he is prone to somewhat theatrical elocution. - Tsukihime Dokuhon PlusPeriod - TSUKIHIME Dictionary: Nanaya Shiki [Person's name], p.186

While Wallachia could replicate them:

According to Sion, her Reality Marble summons "clearly defined nightmares," meaning it is confined to more tangible, focused manifestations. This contrasts with Wallachia’s Tatari, which can fully embody abstract fears, rumors, and legends, even bending the rules of reality to a far greater extent:

White Len’s Reality Marble centers on clearly defined nightmares, meaning her creations are more grounded and less capable of embodying complex or abstract abilities like the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. As White Len states, her power draws out and materializes the hidden, submerged fears and traumas within individuals’ subconscious:

How do you like my capabilities? I am able to draw forth that which is submerged in the original - Melty Blood Re-Act - Tatari Arcueid's Arcade

This means her power operates on a psychological and emotional level, transforming personal, internal struggles into tangible but often distorted realities. These nightmares, while powerful, remain confined to individual fears and repressed thoughts.

In contrast, Wallachia’s Tatari works on a much broader, conceptual scale. He can tap into not only personal fears but the collective imagination; myths, rumors, and ideas that transcend individuals. His reality-warping abilities manipulate perception itself, making abstract concepts tangible and manifesting collective anxieties and legends.

Consequently, White Len’s Tataris tend to be weaker and more limited compared to their originals. Characters like Nanaya, Kouma, Nrvnqsr, and Vermillion Akiha are all demonstrably less powerful than their true selves. Still, they remain formidable enough to challenge figures such as Aoko and Ciel.

Notably, White Len’s Tatari Arcueid has been shown to possess at least 30% of the real Arcueid’s power, enough to decisively defeat her, as indicated by her casual remark: “Aw, Dead already":

The real Arcueid typically holds back much of her power to maintain control and avoid unnecessary destruction. In contrast, Tatari Arcueid embodies her full aggression and destructive potential without restraint or concern for consequences:

Unlike Arcueid, she enjoys trampling on her enemies with overwhelming force. Because as a True Ancestor Arcueid does not (cannot) do useless things, she always regulates her fighting ability to match her opponent’s. However, Berserk Arcueid will use her power mercilessly even against normal humans. - MB Act Cadenza PS2 Manual: Tsukihime Dictionary - Berserk Arcueid [Person's name/True Ancestor]

This amplified aggression and lack of hesitation give Tatari Arcueid an edge in direct combat, especially when the true Arcueid restrains herself to preserve autonomy and control over her vampiric impulses.

Additionally, White Len's Wallachia noted that although he loses much of his power when manifesting as Tatari, he retains his full strength as a Dead Apostle in his original form as Zepia.

This now only leaves Dust of Osiris from Actress Again. She is stated to be even better than Wallachia as Tatari:

And we know that Osiris copied the Tatari phenomenon enacted by Wallachia during the first Melty Blood true route, specifically, the night when Arcueid brought the Crimson Moon from the future to remove Wallachia’s status as a phenomenon, including the full moon and his peak power:

This makes Dust of Osiris the greatest user of Tatari among the three, capable of reprogramming and reshaping its phenomena with unprecedented precision. Her control extends even to time itself; shifting Misaki City back a full year for select individuals while leaving the rest of the population untouched. This allows her to overwrite reality for a single night, crafting an entirely new world that exists only for those involved, complete with altered memories and inserted figures like Roa and Riesbyfe.

What sets her apart is her ability to engineer both objective and subjective reality, tailoring events and perceptions with surgical accuracy. However, she remains bound by Tatari’s core structure: the need for manifestation through rumors or memory, and the one-night time limit. Osiris doesn't transcend Tatari: she simply bends it further than anyone else.

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So, to summarize and rank the three Tataris:

1. Dust of Osiris: Dust of Osiris reenacts the "Hologram Summer" scenario originally created by Wallachia, but she doesn’t merely replicate it. Instead, she alters key elements, effectively programming a new reality. She corrects Wallachia’s unfinished work and completes the ritual to reach the Sixth, a goal Wallachia nearly achieved but couldn’t finalize. By integrating Arcueid’s Marble Phantasm, which embodies a future of humanity’s extinction, she materializes this apocalyptic future into the present as a Reality Marble. This destructive vision forms the foundation of her recreated world, which will ultimately replace the current reality via the world egg magical theory. 

In addition, Dust of Osiris surpasses all other Tatari users through her ability to reprogram and reshape Tatari phenomena with extreme precision. She can overwrite reality for a single night, selectively pulling specific individuals into altered timelines, such as shifting Misaki City back a year, while leaving others unaffected. She can introduce new elements like Roa and Riesbyfe into the narrative, rewrite memories, and manipulate both objective and subjective reality. However, she still remains bound by Tatari’s core limitations: her alterations only last one night and must remain within the structure of the phenomena’s manifestations. Dust of Osiris thus crafts a far more definitive and catastrophic conclusion than Wallachia’s original scenario, making her the most powerful and fearsome Tatari incarnation.

Because of this, the Tataris in Actress Again should be considered on par with those from the first Melty Blood.

2. Night of Wallachia: The classic Tatari phenomenon, Night of Wallachia generally manifests with power comparable to the original beings it summons, except when invoked before a full moon or when summoning conceptually incompatible characters. For instance, the Tataris of Vermillion Akiha and Nanaya Shiki are weaker than their originals. Tatari Arcueid resembles Restricted Arcueid in powerset, centered on physics-based reality warping and Gaia’s support, but lacks the full breadth of Red Arcueid’s abstract reality-altering potential. Instead, she specializes in a more chaotic, bloodthirsty fighting style.

3. White Len: White Len is a fragment of Tatari with a narrower focus. She can only summon concrete nightmares and suppressed facets of beings, limiting her abilities compared to other Tatari manifestations. Most of her Tataris, such as Nanaya and Kishima, both avatars tied to death and destruction, are significantly weaker than their originals. The main exception is Wallachia himself, who retains his full strength as a Dead Apostle despite this limitation.