Busou Shinki

The titular Busou Shinki—more commonly called simply by

Angel Type Arnval Mk.2, one of the first Busou Shinki ever released.

"Shinki"—are highly advanced robotic gynoid "partners" that are utilized throughout Earth in the mid-21st century to serve human "masters". They are of a diminutive size, standing at approximately 15 centimeters tall and are incredibly light, but possess strength that enables them to perform feats of incredible agility and strength for their size. Furthermore, all Shinki are in the shape of human females, and have fully articulatable joints.

Shinki are amongst the most widespread robotic units of the time period due to their wide range of abilities, cute appearances and because they can be great friends to have. Still, a large portion of the consumer base are males aged from their mid-teens to early forties^[1]. Prices of Shinki are approximately the equivalent of a High Spec Computer^[2].

A Shinki's body is created on a base template known as an MMS (Multi Movable System) which comes in three types:

MMS 1: The original Shinki version on the market, this has began to be phased out by the MMS 3 bodies for aesthetics and function. Waves 1 through 7 use this version. Everything else starting from Light Armor Wave 1 uses MMS 2 or 3.
MMS 2: These are not Busou Shinki figures but are licensed characters that use the MMS body. Examples are the Sky Girls or Yoko from Gurren Laggan. While they are 95% compatible with Busou Shinki figures, the chest region is not removable (unlike in the Busou Shinki figures) and therefore End Users can not use the Busou Shinki's chest armor on MMS 2 bodies.
MMS 3: These are the newest wave of Shinki figures and an upgrade to the MMS 1. The arm and leg connectors have been redesigned so that the spacers are not required. Also the entire chest module was redesigned to make it easier to change the armor. MMS 3 come in two flavors: Small and Tall. The small MMS 3 figures are shorter than the MMS 1 , 2 , and 3 tall figures. MMS 3 Tall figures are actually just a few millimeters shorter than MMS 1 figures, but they are also much more organic in appearance.

CSC Cores

Most notably about Shinki besides their nature as fully functional gynoids is the fact that they utilize a form of

advanced Artificial Intelligence to the point that they are sentient and fully capable of independent movement and thought as if they were truly miniaturized human adults or teens—though most Shinki are utterly loyal to their End Users and will not deviate from what has been set out for them unless it drastically deviates from their own views or morals. Shinki are also fully capable of thinking any thoughts that humans do, and are prone to the same emotions that humans will feel, negative or positive. A Shinki's artificial intelligence and data are stored within CSC Cores, which appear as a set

Csc stuff - 2 — A picture of Werkstra with CSC Core exposed and covered.

of jewel like orbs. To a Master, the CSC Cores also dictate a Shinki's combat parameters and the areas they excel most at, they enable a Shinki to be built in a specific way so that the Shinki will grow with certain stats increasing more than others, or to excel in levels or abilities. There are many different CSC Cores that do different things.

CSC Cores once installed are not able to be swapped out unless the End User wishes to reset the Shinki. Things reset are upto, and including her's accumulated battle experience, memories and personality. This is not recommended for obvious reasons.

The CSC Core is located under the left breast of a Shinki, where a human's heart would be.

Armor, Arms and Accessories

While the base body of a Shinki model is less likely to be directly modified by the End User, there are a varied assortment of items that can be bought and

Equipping — A Shinki's Gear can be manually equipped or quick equipped

equipped by the unit. When initially bought, the Shinki is packaged with her standard "basic" equipment, meaning that all Shinki of that model will look exactly the same when initially bought. However, many custom packs or even handmade clothing can be worn by a Shinki, hair can be dyed, armor can be repainted, etc. Giving your Shinki a unique look is one way to make her happy.

Some Shinki basic sets also come with a few optional accessories such as Arnval's hair extension, which is actually her ponytail, the exlusion of which gives you a short haired Arnval. The same goes for Strarf's twintails.

Armor comes in many forms, not all of which are necessarily used for combat. Armor parts are equipped much like clothing, with some such armor parts resembling normal clothing that a human would wear or specialty uniforms or costumes for aesthetic appeal. Furthermore, there is a system of quick equipping that stores the armor data within an internal memory, to be summoned when the Shinki requires it.

Weapons can be equipped much in the same way as armor, but unlike armor, they are use almost strictly for combat purposes only. Shinki weaponry is capable of damaging the environment, harming humans and critically damaging other Shinki. This is the reason behind the invention and usage of Battle Fields, which limit the power of weaponry to a controllable level, where the weapons can not seriously damage other Shinki or the surrounding environment, and does not endanger the lives of surrounding humans.

Shinki gear is sorted into the following categories:

Head Gear - Including:
- Sensor Packages
- Helmets
- Hats
- Hair/Hair Extensions/Hair Accessories
Rear Units - Including:

An example of Rear Equipment
- The main rear equipment, which holds and controls the rest of the equipments:
  - Wings
  - Stabilizer Wings
  - Armlets - Secondary mechanical arms for holding larger weaponry
  - Rear Mounted heavy weaponry
Leg Gear/Landing Gear - Including:
- Greaves/Boots
- Thigh Armor
- Stockings
- Shock Absorbers
- Landing Gear
- Extended legs
- Shin Guards
Arm Gear - Including:
- Gauntlets or Gloves
- Shoulder Guards/Pauldrons
- Elbow Guards
- Forearm Guards
- Impact Plates
- Wrist Guards
- Wrist Mounted Weaponry
Chest Gear - Consists only of body armor or various clothing
Weaponry - Any weapons held within the hands, armlets or specialized weapon mounts
Accessories - These are any of optional units that add aesthetic appeal like Arnval's Hair Extension or do not fit within the above categories such as Yda or Ach's Jelly Cans.

Buying, Owning and Maintaining a Shinki

Buying

Buying a Shinki is as simple as going to a shop to pick one up. While somewhat on the pricey side for some, Shinki are becoming common, everyday Partners that many in the 2050's have a privilege of having.

Shinki are sold at specialty stores and at the battle arenas where tournaments take place, with some stores holding a gigantic variety of Shinki models for viewing or buying.

When in store, most Shinki do not have their CSC Cores activated, meaning that when bought, they're completely fresh and ready to adapt to their new living conditions with an open mind, similar to a newborn child if it were given all the abilities of an adult but no memories.

Ownership

Ownership of a Shinki is similar to a streamlined process of adopting a child. A Shinki is selected at

OS and Wire — The maintenance and initialization program, and a view of the wire

discretion at the store, the price for the model is paid and it is brought home. A variety of online paperwork and legal documents are signed and read, stating that the you will not be illegally modifying your Shinki or have it participate in unsanctioned battles without the use of a Battle Field. As mentioned above, when first bought, a Shinki does not have its CSC Core initialized. Without their CSC Cores, Shinki are just poseable figures with advanced, deactivated robotics inside. Installing the CSC Core is something that can be done professionally for a fee, or by the End User with proper handling and care. The process of doing this for a custom model involves removing the external chest plating and installing the cores into the model. Prefabricated models already have their cores installed and simply move on to the next step.

A Shinki on her Cradle, the wire is not attached.

After making sure the Shinki has been initialized and registered, it's time to activate her. This involves connecting a wire to her back, around the middle of where a human's spine would be. The wire is fed from what is known as a Shinki's Cradle, afterward, a loading program will start her up and charge her batteries.

After initialization, a Shinki is now "alive" and ready to become a partner. She'll start by stating her manufacturer (if applicable) and Model, following by a disclaimer that she'll do her best to serve her master's needs. Afterward, she will ask for a name, of which the master will provide. This startup procedure is the same amongst all Shinki and is not dependent and will not affect the Shinki's personality as it is simply akin to a recital.

An example of this startup procedure can be seen in the Busou Shinki: Moon Angel OVA:

Arnval: Frontline unit. Angel-type Arnval Mk.2. Operational.
Master: Hello
Arnval: Nice to meet you, Master. Master, please give me a name.
Master: A name? Oh, right. Name... How about Kaguya?
Arnval: Kaguya. Name recognized and recorded. As your partner, I pledge to fulfill a Shinki's duties. I look forward to our cooperation.

Maintenance and Care

Like all machines, and like humans, a Shinki needs to be taken care of and maintained. Regular cleanings and charging of a Shinki's battery will keep her in the best condition. Shinki stores will keep a stock of paints, cleaning tools and repair kits available for your Shinki.

Specialty resins, cleaning kits and repair kits aren't very expensive, and can even be fit within a child's budget, so there is no reason not to help a Shinki stay clean and presentable. Of course, as a Shinki is sentient, she has a mind of her own and can obviously maintain her own well being, though keep in mind that doing things with a Shinki maintains good relations.

In the case of severe damage and CSC Core damage, attempting to repair this without the supervision of a professional or in the care of a licensed manufacturer is highly hazardous for the Shinki and may harm her far more than it will help. In these cases, the Shinki's maintenance program will receive a signal from her and her cradle telling you to bring her in for professional repair.

The Cradle

Cradle-2 — Cradles can be customized in appearance, just like Shinki.

For the sake of keeping her battery charged, a Shinki must set aside a time at least once a day to rest on a device known as a Cradle. While charging on her cradle, the Shinki will give close her eyes much like a human going to bed, this gives an impression of being asleep as she organizes data stored on that day and even find herself seeing a dream or two. Shinki are most comfortable charging through this method and need no wire connections when using a Cradle. This time of rest for a Shinki is about as crucial for them as sleep is for humans, and is highly suggested in order to maintain her health.

Also, the Shinki's dedicated cradle also serves as a status monitor for her health. By connecting the Cradle to a PC, the master will be able to check the status and conditions of his/her Shinki via a provided Maintenance program.

The cradle is vital to keeping a Shinki and not having one requires that you constantly have to plug her in to an outlet with the initial charging wire, an unpleasant experience for her, to say the least.

At this current time, This Editor is unsure of how long a Shinki will last 
without charging. So This Editor will go ahead and assume that they last 
roughly as long as the best Cell Phones on the market today, or possibly up
to a month depending on power usage. 
-Komamisa (talk) 03:59, October 16, 2012 (UTC)

It seems that Shinki may actually require a charge once a day, unless I'm
reading the section on Cradles improperly. Though I'm quite sure they have
a reserve amount of power that will last them a week or two, or only an extra
day if they use an excessive amount of energy.
Komamisa (talk) 03:09, October 18, 2012 (UTC)

Battle Classes of Shinki

For roleplaying purposes—and to save this particular Wiki Editor's mind—the various Busou Shinki have been divided into the following classes:

Heavy - Shinki such as Strarf or Murmeltier are highly attack focused and have specialties at breaking guards and offensive firepower. They're not necessarily slow, but they're not fast either. Heavy class Shinki have a tactical style gameplay that involves choosing when the best time to deliver a fatal blow is.
Balanced - Shinki such as Altlene and Tsugaru have a good degree of balance between offensive firepower and mobility, they're relatively adaptable to many situations and can choose to take a heavy fire support or high mobility role depending on their outfitted gear.
High Mobility - Shinki such as Ach and Yda are known for their breakneck speeds and maneuverability, due to these attributes, they're well suited to flanking maneuvers and quick hit and run attacks, though they can take a few heavy weapons along and be mobile snipers.
Aerial Supremacy - A relatively vague class that can owe itself to any of the above classes, Aerial Supremacy Shinki such as Asuka are marked by good attributes when they are in the air while being only decent on the ground.
Support - Support types include Zelnogrard and Fort Bragg, owed to their incredibly capable fire support ability and relative immobility. Also included under this category are specialty Shinki such as Waffedolphin (High degree of Underwater Performance) or Juvisy (A specialized type of defense).

List of Shinki Models

With the exception of the highly custom models built from blank MMS templates, Shinki are produced by various companies from around the world and each have specific model names, appearances and basic equipment. While all of these prefabricated Shinki initially appear to be the same, different CSC Cores will provide them a distinct difference between each other, and all Shinki can be customized in both appearance and ability. Also, as Shinki are sentient, they all have distinctive personalities that set each other apart from one another.

Also, each Shinki has a unique "Type" based on a primary defining trait of their design. Such as Maochao having cat-like accessories as a standard.

Available Shinki^[3]:

↑ "主要ユーザーは男性に多く、また年齢層は十代後半から四十代までと幅広い。" from the main website. lit. Primary users are largely males ranging from mid-teens to as far as their forties
↑ Translated from the JP Website "神姫の販売価格は高性能PC程度" lit. Selling Price of Shinki is comparable to a high performance PC
↑ This is a list derived from Busou Shinki: Battle Rondo, and this will be the list we'll use for non-custom MMS models.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 These are Shinki from Battle Masters that I thought were interesting (or cute) enough to be included

Custom Shinki

[Age-1] "主要ユーザーは男性に多く、また年齢層は十代後半から四十代までと幅広い。" from the main website. lit. Primary users are largely males ranging from mid-teens to as far as their forties

[Price-2] Translated from the JP Website "神姫の販売価格は高性能PC程度" lit. Selling Price of Shinki is comparable to a high performance PC

[Battle_Rondo-3] This is a list derived from Busou Shinki: Battle Rondo, and this will be the list we'll use for non-custom MMS models.

[Battle_Masters-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 These are Shinki from Battle Masters that I thought were interesting (or cute) enough to be included

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]