Hysteria

"I hate being ignored more than anything." - 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 relatively small in size compared to most other awakened beings. It consists of a harpy-like torso, i.e. a human torso with avian wings and no 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. The blades can be used as projectiles while the legs have the capacity to separate into segments with extendable muscle-like tissue in between.

Later on, Hysteria sheds off much of the outer layer of her torso, the spherical middle segment, the anchor-like blades and all but four of her legs. She also grows four new wings as a replacement for the ones cut off earlier in the battle. These wings are different from her original ones and appear similar to those of an awakened Priscilla.

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 thrice that she hated being ignored above all else. 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 beauty and elegance proved to be her undoing, as Miria defeated her using a "filthy" strategy that Hysteria couldn't even begin to fathom doing herself. Hysteria is most proud of her rare level of speed. As such, when Miria's speed augmented with the combined yoki of her comrades proved to be greater than her own, Hysteria became extremely upset.

Later, as she lay broken and dying, Hysteria reveals a softer side as she recalls the events at Rockwell Hill. She considered the other warriors as friends and comrades. However, they turned their blades on her when she was on verge of awakening. This hurt her feelings, as they did it with fear and no compassion. Fearing death, she used her superior speed to slaughter them all and could have possibly survived if it weren't for a crippling blow she had received from a faintly smiling warrior. This shows that although Hysteria was a proud warrior, she cared about her comrades.

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.

Again, her speed is her greatest asset, easily surpassing that of Miria. Later, upon releasing yoki, her movement speed increases even further. Helen admits that she didn't even see the actual attack hitting Deneve and Nike.

Using her avian wings, Hysteria gains the ability of flight. However, Tabitha cuts off her wings early on during her battle with the claymores. Hysteria later admits that the speed that she achieves while flying is a mere one-tenth of what she could achieve on the ground. As such, she considered ripping them off herself. Later on, however, she regains the ability to fly by modifying her body and growing two new pairs of wings.

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. Because of legs' sharp ends, Hysteria achieves unmatched traction—a physical property required when one reaches for the limits of speed. Miria notes how Clare had to awaken her arm and use the bladed ends to function in the same manner, i.e. to help her in stopping and turning.

The blades protruding from her spherical waist can be used as high-velocity projectiles. They are attached by a thin cord to the main body, giving her the same amount of maneuverability she has on the ground.

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 attacks her one more time and she again manages to evade the younger warrior's technique. However, Hysteria is surprised to find out that Miria had allowed her arm to be cut off just so she, Miria, could impale her, Hysteria, through the chest. 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, Hysteria awakens despite the fatal injury.

After Awakening
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.



Deneve, Helen, Tabitha, Anastasia, Dietrich and Nike engage Hysteria, managing to reach her by using Anastasia's technique. Cynthia and Yuma watch along the sidelines as they help Miria recover. Dietrich and Nike cut the two warriors free from Hysteria's appendages and Tabitha manages to destroy Hysteria's wings, the Abyssal One expressing surprise since she could not sense any yoki from Tabitha. The six, then, converge for an attack, thinking Hysteria was now an easy target. However, they end up hitting nothing. Hysteria comments that she didn't need her wings anyway and was moments away from tearing them off herself. She had wanted to try out flying, but found that her speed in the air was less than a tenth of what she could achieve on the ground. She begins releasing yoki. Miria warns Deneve to dodge, but in vain. In a burst of movement akin to the Elegance, Hysteria manages to take off Deneve's left arm and part of her face as well as Nike's right arm and leg. Dietrich tries to engage Hysteria, but the latter easily evades her attacks. Dietrich expresses confusion at just how Hysteria could maneuver herself so quickly in mid-air. Yuma notes craters appearing on the ground despite the fact that the battle was occurring in mid-air. One of Hysteria's bladed projectiles punches a hole through the right side of Dietrich's abdomen. Miria explains that Hysteria's awakened body is designed to gain perfect traction —a property required when one reaches the limits of speed. Miria also notes that Hysteria's awakened form reminds her of Clare's form when she partially awakened to defeat Rigardo.

Miria explains that the sharp ends of Hysteria's legs had the same purpose as Clare's awakened arm, i.e. by digging into the ground, it allows for abrupt stops and turns. She also explains that the bladed projectiles act as anchors that allow Hysteria the ability to maneuver herself in the air, essentially allowing her to fight in the air as if she were still on the ground. Eventually, Hysteria manages to capture Anastasia by spearing her through the abdomen. She, then, proceeds to make another offer: the warrior who pulls the sword out of her throat shall be the only one she shall spare. If none came forward, she would simply mince everyone so finely she could drink them.

Miria assesses, the situation: six warriors had engaged Hysteria, all of them, save for Nike, being of single-digit rank, and half of them being easily comparable to top-ranking warriors, and yet in a single jump, Hysteria had incapacitated and gravely wounded four of the warriors. Miria considers awakening herself but is stopped by Deneve.

Nike comes forward and takes up Hysteria's deal. Hysteria mocks Nike, mentioning how she seems to be unfit for the job given her injuries. Nike notes how the latter's attack made her realize just how outmatched she was and was and she was merely hoping that Hysteria would keep her end of the deal. After removing the sword, though, Nike frees Anastasia and makes an attempt at Hysteria. The Abyssal One, instead of retaliating, moves past her, saying that despite the treachery, she would hold true to her word to spare Nike. At this point, Miria clashes with her once more. The two engage in the air, with Miria using Anastasia's hair as a foothold and Helen dislodging Hysteria's blades from the ground to decrease the Abyssal One's maneuverability. Hysteria mocks Miria for apparently thinking that she, Miria, had the advantage. On the ground, Anastasia panics and states how Miria is fighting a fight in which she has no hopes of winning. Deneve replies that Miria is planning to lure Hysteria to right into the middle of Roxanne and Cassandra's battle.

With Helen interfering with her blades, Hysteria finds herself in a more difficult situation than she had initially expected. She, then, decides to shed off much of the outer layer of her torso, the spherical middle segment of her body and all but five of her legs, thus making her body lighter. Noting the flesh growing on Hysteria's back, Miria realizes that the Abyssal One is attempting to grow new wings and attempts to finish her off. However, Hysteria aligns all of her blades and fires all of them off simultaneously, allowing her to evade Miria's blow. The Abyssal One applauds Miria's instincts as she grows two pairs of wings similar in appearance to Priscilla's, and with these, gain true flight at speeds at par with her top speed on the ground. Despite getting heavily injured, Miria manages to lure Hysteria into Roxanne and Cassandra's battle and uses the last of Anastasia's hair to get away just before Roxanne begins another volley of attacks.

Hysteria chases after Miria in vain, the younger warrior's speed proving to be greater than her own due to the yoki all the other claymores lent her through Anastasia's hair. In her pursuit, she gets struck by one of Roxanne's blades from behind and then suffers further injury from Cassandra. As she lay broken, she begs Miria to save her, as she does not want to die. She recalls her death at Rockwell Hill and narrates how, with her superior speed, she was forced to kill most of the other warriors to stay alive. It was Rosemary, then Claymore No. 4, who eventually slew her. However, it was Teresa who critically injured her prior to this, taking away her speed advantage. Priscilla's latent yoki reacts to the memory of Teresa and a ghost-like image of her appears. Dae triumphantly notes that this was who he was searching for—the Organization's greatest creation. Helen and Deneve attack the apparition, dispelling it. Hysteria's body is later shown to be devoid of yoki.