Hysteria

"The wind feels good against my cheeks. It's been so long since I've had this sensation..." - Hysteria the Elegant

Hysteria was Claymore No. 1 of her generation and one of the eight most powerful No.1 claymores of all time. During her lifetime, she was known as "Hysteria the Elegant" (流麗のヒステリア, Ryūrei no Hisuteria, lit. "Flowing Hysteria").

She is one of the three claymores revived by Dae and the Organization in order to stop the uprising of the current warriors.

Etymology
"Hysteria" is a transliteration of the Japanese "Hisuteria" (ヒステリア).

"Hysteria" is derived from the Latin word hystericus, meaning "of the womb," derived from the Greek word ὑστερικός, meaning "of the womb/suffering in the womb," derived from the word ὑστέρα, meaning "womb." The term was originally defined as a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the uterus. Presently, the term denotes behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion. This may be in reference to Hysteria's tendency to have sudden bursts of anger, usually seen when she is not regarded with the same amount of attention that she considers herself worthy of.

Claymore
Hysteria has long, straight, pale blond hair pulled into a ponytail. She has four braids—two in front, forming her bangs, and two incorporated into the ponytail. She has silver eyes and wears the standard uniform.

Awakened Being
Hysteria's awakened form is small in size compared to most other Awakened Beings. It consists of a harpy-like torso, i.e. a human torso with avian wings instead of functional arms, a spherical waist with an array of blades protruding from it, and a set of jointed legs not unlike those found in insects. These legs have the capacity to separate into segments joined together by muscle-like tissue in between.

Personality
Calm and composed on the exterior, Hysteria seems to hold herself in high esteem, is easily offended and has a certain degree of impatience, as shown when she grows irritated at Miria's hesitance to reveal her forgotten name and tells the younger warrior twice that she hates being ignored over all else. She is also repulsed by things that she finds to be unattractive, such as Miria's Phantom Mirage, which could have led her to choose a visually appealing technique as her signature style. Her pride may have been the reason why she never sent her black card to anyone, even when she was on the verge of awakening, and refused to die by the hands of the lower-ranked warriors sent to execute her, choosing to slaughter them instead. Her obsession with elegance proved to be her undoing, as Miria defeated her using a "filthy" strategy that Hysteria couldn't even begin to fathom doing herself.

Claymore
Hysteria is known for her Elegance. It is considered to be the "most beautiful technique of all warriors".

According to Miria, Hysteria's ability is similar to her Phantom Mirage, that is, Hysteria briefly and instantaneously increases her speed by releasing a large burst of yoki. Whereas Miria uses the technique as an evasive measure, Hysteria uses it offensively. Hysteria steps forward, slips past an opponent's side and then moves behind them. The proximity of the after-image is such that it appears as if Hysteria had slipped through her opponent's body. Miria concludes that even if their speed was the same, Hysteria was still far more superior because of her exactitude.

Abyssal One
As an abyssal one, Hysteria has been shown to possess a tremendous amount of yoki that is enough to make claymore trainees shake in fear.

Her speed is noteworthy, easily outrunning Miria, though it must be noted that Miria was carrying an injured claymore at the time.

It is implied that she may have the ability to fly.

Her jointed legs have been shown to by quite sharp and have the ability to separate into segments with cords of muscle-like tissue in between them.

Life as a Claymore
When Hysteria reached her limits, she did not send a black card to anyone. The Organization sent many warriors to purge her on Rockwell Hill, but she did not submit herself to the command and massacred the warriors that surrounded her. They narrowly managed to take her life in the end, but it was said that the corpses of warriors who fought her piled up in heaps on Rockwell Hill.

After Resurrection
Hysteria is among the three former No. 1 claymores revived by Dae, the other two being Roxanne and Cassandra. Her aim was to stop the rampage of the current warriors against the Organization.

After injuring or possibly killing most of the warriors, she engages in combat with Miria. It is revealed during the fight that she has a patchy memory and can't remember her name, knowing only that she is supposed to kill all the other warriors and that she was slain at Rockwell Hill. Noting the look of recognition on Miria's face, she asks for her name, only to be ignored due to the younger warrior's mullings. Her patience growing thin, Hysteria attacks Miria once more and expresses surprise when the latter managed to survive her attack. Miria analyzes Hysteria's technique and notes its similarity to her Phantom Mirage. The younger warrior then releases her yoki, intent on sending Hysteria back to the grave.

Hysteria easily outmatches Miria in battle, but the younger warrior refuses to give up. Hysteria hints that despite releasing yoki, Miria will never be able to match her speed. As the fight continues, Hysteria manages to wound Miria with her Elegance a few more times. However, just when Miria is about to reach her limits, she charged towards Hysteria one more time and succeeded in wounding her, though suffering injuries herself in the process. Hysteria looks at Miria in shock, realizing that her opponent had used a risky technique to determine the outcome of their fight.

After clashing several more times, suffering injuries as well as inflicting them upon Miria, Hysteria openly showed disgust at Miria's technique. The two continue fighting, pausing briefly upon noticing Cassandra's wounds and her awakening.

Miria leaves Hysteria, aiding the twin trainees escape from an awakened Cassandra. However, Hysteria chases after her, reiterating how she dislikes being ignored. Miria, unable to cope with both Cassandra and Hysteria attacking at the same time, loses an arm in the following exchange. Now able to predict the technique by recognizing its timing, Hysteria evades Miria's attack.

Miria charges towards her one more time and she again evades her technique, but then she was surprised to have found out that Miria intentionally had her arm decapitated with the sword impaled through her body. Hysteria removes the blade and approaches a defenseless Miria. She again expresses her disgust for Miria's "inelegant" technique, to which Miria replies that her obsession with elegance is her weakness. Angered, Hysteria goes in for the kill. Just as she is about to deliver the final blow, however, Miria impales her through the throat with another sword, holding the hilt with her teeth. The No. 1 realizes that Miria had planned to fall on that spot to hide the sword of another warrior. Hysteria hints that Miria's style of fighting and strategy was something she isn't capable of and she collapsed on the ground. However, moments later, it is revealed that her fatal injury is causing her body to awaken.

Hysteria is next seen chasing after Miria and easily outmatching the latter in terms of speed. She reiterates for a third time that she hates being ignored above all else. Apparently, she had been asking Miria to remove the sword lodged in her throat so that she may feed, as she could not do so herself given that her awakened form possessed no arms. She bites into one of two claymores she had skewered previously in order to demonstrate. She mentions that in her current state, Miria was clearly at a disadvantage and should not consider even attempting to rescue the two warriors. In return for the favor, Hysteria promises Miria that she would spare both Miria and a claymore she's been carrying. Instead of pushing through with the deal, Miria attacks Hysteria, the latter easily dodging the blow by taking off into the air. Hysteria mocks Miria for foolishly taking her speed for granted, particularly now that she had awakened. Miria declares that she would save her friends and releases more yoki in an attempt to pursue Hysteria. Miria nearly awakens, but is pulled back to the ground by Anastasia, heralding the arrival of the Deneve's group.