Hachi

Hachi (ハチ) is the defence commander in the APE Operational Headquarters. He was based in Plantation 13.

Appearance
Hachi is a tall, young man. He has shaved, dark blue hair and usually appears either unemotional or frustrated. He wears the standard APE uniform.

During a flashback in Episode 18, when he was a teenager, he is shown to have chin length blue hair parted in the middle when he was a parasite. As a child, he had shorter hair that was a bit rough cut.

He got a vertical scar over his right eye during the battle with the VIRM in Episode 23 when he sacrificed himself to shield Nana from an explosion.

Personality
Hachi is a composed individual with a pragmatic perspective. He believes, through well-defined laws and regulations, all solutions can be dealt with. Unlike the friendly and kind Nana, Hachi tends to speak with a tone of iron, which includes being incredibly blunt and never expressing any emotion. When Squad 13 misbehaves or gets carried away with their antics on and out of the battlefield, Hachi helps Nana mediate and discipline them. Hachi often gives Squad 13 a brief lecture on how any distortion could affect their ability to pilot the FRANXX which could endanger Cerasus and its citizens. Hachi is stern with Squad 13 and refers to them by their code numbers rather than their nicknames.

Hachi is loyal to APE and abides by Papa‘s orders. He takes his duties as an APE Defense Commander seriously and pays ample attention to the parasites to make sure they remain compatible pilots. He is reasonable going about everything, remaining calm and even-handed in all situations. Hachi holds back on showing any compassion and sympathy for the parasites, as he had viewed them as tools for warfare for so many years and they were destined to die in battle. However, he is not completely indifferent towards them and will offer them solutions to solve any obstacle - both professionally and personally - that bothers them. He also takes their health into consideration; he demonstrates this when he sounded concerned for Mitsuru upon learning he had an Elixir Injection as a child which had a negative impact on his health and when Hiro was forcibly linked with 001 which almost resulted in his death. He also shows concern for any of the parasites who may be subjected to ‘pruning’ if they show any signs of incompetence.

While he is loyal to APE and obediently follows orders without complaint, he does have opinions on APE’s ideals and actions. He shows this when Papa ordered several plantations to detonate in order to kill a Super Lehmann Klaxosaur, killing hundreds, if not thousands, of parasites and civilians. Hachi even remarks in a stunned tone that APE would go that far. In the manga, Hachi is shown to possess a more emotional side than his anime counterpart; he gradually questions Papa’s motives with Squad 13, and he reacts with shock and dismay when Papa orders the 9’s to be pruned for nearly getting killed by the Klaxosaur Princess. He starts to worry that Papa’s agenda may endanger the children and, as he is shown to be opposed to the pruning procedure of children, he secretly develops a desire to protect the children.

Hachi's cold demeanour begins to diminish as he watches the parasites live peacefully and thrive after the Gran Crevasse siege. He secretly watches Kokoro and Mitsuru have a wedding ceremony but he doesn’t stop it despite it being against regulation, and he is surprised when Alpha intends to have the two taken away for re-indoctrination, implying that Hachi didn’t see the wedding as harmful to the parasites. He then witnesses the children in distress as Kokoro and Mitsuru get taken away for wanting to get married and have a child. He later admits to Nana that he wonders what he could have done to comfort the children if he had emotions. This implies that he could have intervened to help the children but, because of his lack of sentimentality, he didn’t know what to do. He also appeared troubled when he learned Kokoro and Mitsuru’s memories were altered as punishment. He starts to exhibit a kinder side in retribution for not helping the children. He firstly rescues Nana from isolation and then helps lead Squad 13 in the galactic battle against Papa and VIRM. He goes as far as to put himself in danger by protecting Nana and asks her to leave him so she can be saved, but she refuses because his responsibility is to look after the children too. He later dedicates himself to helping the parasites rebuild the planet for the sake of survival. He even admits to Nana that her desire to see the children prosper and live their own lives is not bad, proving he no longer sees the children as tools for warfare but as genuine people with feelings and free will. He demonstrates this further when he agrees to play with some children after being asked.

In the manga, Hachi is reminded of his past as a parasite when he realised Kokoro, and later the rest of Squad 13, was reacting the same way to the 9's pruning as Nana did when her partner was to be pruned. Unlike in the anime, when his feelings almost never swayed him, Hachi decided to go against APE and give a false report that the 9's had been pruned because he understood the children's feelings.

History
As a child, Hachi lived at the Garden with Nana sometime after it was built in 2042 in order to become a parasite. They were assigned to the same squad and Hachi saw Nana developing a romantic relationship with her partner. During a battle, her FRANXX was destroyed and Hachi pulled open the cockpit entrance to find Nana injured and her partner dead, which devastated her. Hachi and the rest of his squadmates watched Nana being taken away to be re-indoctrinated and Hachi felt troubled.

Hachi later became one of the rare parasites to become an adult and he underwent the procedure to become immortal. He began working for APE as a defense commander and was assigned to be the commanding officer for Squad 13 of Plantation 13. He has Squad 13 undergo a capacity test and announces all but Hiro and Naomi passed.

Episode 01: Alone and Lonesome
Hachi meets with Hiro to discuss the conditions for him to return to the Garden. Hachi says Hiro has been offered a chance to remain in Mistilteinn because APE has high expectations for him but Hiro declines. Hachi later attends the startup ritual for Squad 13 until a klaxosaur appears and begins attacking the plantation. Nana and Hachi try to evacuate the parasites until Strelizia begins fighting it and easily kills it when Hiro successfully synchronizes with Zero Two.

Episode 02: What it Means to Connect
Hachi resumes the squad’s startup ritual the next day. As the parasites begin the connecting phase, Hachi announces he will be giving overall strategic instructions and all field decisions will be made by Delphinium as the leader unit. Hachi instructs then to whole-heartedly trust their partners to fully synchronize and active their FRANXX units.

Afterwards, Hachi and Nana announce they will have Hiro participate in a mock battle to test his abilities and decide if he should be promoted to a stamen. Zero Two offers to be his partner but Hachi and Nana agree to let Ichigo be his partner while Zorome and Miku volunteer to be the opponent. During the battle, Hachi watches along with Nana and the others. When Ichigo pilots Delphinium alone after failing to connect with Hiro and takes down Argentea, Hachi declares the match over.

Episode 03: Fighting Puppet
After running tests on Hiro, Nana says Hiro is the first sample to pilot with Zero Two and taken little damage. Hachi wonders why he failed to connect with Delphinium but is compatible with Strelizia even though he was unconscious at the time. Both wonder if this because of the ‘special specimen‘.

Hachi receives orders from HQ to have Squad 13 sortie against a Conrad klaxosaur that has been residing in the outskirts of the plantation near the magma energy drilling area. Strelizia will not accompany them because they need to learn to defend the plantation on their own. When Mitsuru and Ikuno fail to connect, Hachi announces Chlorophytum will stay behind while the other units will proceed. As the units head out, Hachi instructs them to go to the 8th floor and explains, to kill the klaxosaur, they need to extract its core and shatter it with their magma energy weapons.

However, the magma energy weapons end up attracting a horde of klaxosaurs and the group is corned. Zero Two offers to be sent with Hiro to rescue them. Hachi and Nana refuse to let them sortie because Hiro is not an official stamen, even when told the others will die if no help is sent. Mitsuru, as the only stamen available, offers to go with Zero Two, who is reluctant but Hiro and Nana relent. Hachi then radios the units that Strelizia is on its way as backup.

During the battle, Mitsuru becomes overwhelmed by the power he feels and says he wouldn’t mind being Zero Two’s official partner. Zero Two says she should go all-out for a bit. Hachi tells her to stop, as the others have already evacuated. He sends for Strelizia to be retrieved, and Zero Two emerges smiling at Hiro while Mitsuru is shown to be near death.

Episode 04: Flap Flap
Hachi and Nana lecture Zero Two while riding in the elevator for using too much power in the last battle and almost killing Mitsuru. She is indifferent and says the parasites are nothing but a nuisance and will die sooner or later anyway. She also reacts with dismay when told she will be returning to the front lines. Hachi says that is because she is special, which Zero Two takes as an insult to her not being human. Hachi says it just means her abilities. He also tells her that Hiro is not given permission to pilot with her.

A worm-like klaxosaur is detected and Hachi says there could be more hidden, and orders the squad to sortie.

Episode 05: Your Thorn, My Badge
Hachi shows medical reports regarding Hiro’s yellow blood cell count. Nana is amazed he is still alive. Hachi says Hiro is having the opposite reaction compared to the other parasites who rode with Zero Two. Nana says it will be Hiro’s third ride and will be dangerous for him but Hachi says they will need Strelizia for the next battle.

An hour later, klaxosaurs are detected. Hachi explains there are 100 to 150 of them and are expected to arrive in 33 hours. He tells the parasites that Squad 26 will be in the front lines and Squad 13 will be the last line of defense, and Strelizia will be positioned near the pipe. Code:090 asks if he means Zero Two will be part of the mission because Zero Two’s recklessness causes the death of his partner two years prior.

Episode 06: DARLING in the FRANXX
A large klaxosaur appears while Nana and Hachi watch from the control room. Both comment how large it is and Hachi remarks he has never heard of this klaxosaur. Despite it not being on file, Hachi seems it a klaxosaur and code names it ‘Beta’. As the parasites prepare the connecting phase, Hachi tells them, aside from the horde of Conrad klaxosaurs, a larger one has been detected. He gives Code:090 field commands and tells Strelizia to stay back.

When Squad 26 struggles against the klaxosaurs due to the large amount in numbers, Hachi orders Squad 26 to roll back and let Squad 13 deal with it. Like Nana, Hachi is worried when Strelizia enters stampede mode when Hiro and Zero Two’s connection severs due to Hiro initially starts succumbing to the effects of his third ride.

Episode 07: Shooting Star Moratorium
When Dr. FRANXX is introduced to Hiro, Hachi announces one of APE’s special forces has become a plantation’s exclusive parasite. He formally declares Hiro and Zero as official partners, and Strelizia will be transferred to Plantation 13. He later talks with Nana about how unprecedented it is former elite like Zero Two to be assigned to a standard parasite squad. They then talk about Dr. FRANXX’s choice to send the kids to the beach on their own as a vacation.

Episode 08: Boys × Girls
Hachi and Nana converse with Dr. FRANXX over all the members of Squad 13 going through puberty. Hachi notes it is unprecedented for all of them to go through it at the same time, as it is expected for two or three at most. Nana says, if they are going by the APE manual, they need to intervene should something happen. The doctor however orders them not to because it will ruin the purpose of the experiment.

As the boys and girls go through a ‘gender conflict’, Zero Two makes it worse by tricking the boys into walking in on the girls bathing, causing the girls to throw bathroom supplies at them and Nana intervenes. While scolding the children, Hachi reminds them, as parasites, they need to remember what comes first in their lives. Nana says these children are not like others and Hachi is amazed that Zero Two joined along with them.

Episode 09: Triangle Bomb
Hachi tells the squad a Gutenberg klaxosaur has been detected 2000 from the plantation. However, the units are forced to retreat when Delphinium is absorbed, forcing Goro to eject Ichigo. Hachi and Nana tell the squad that the klaxosaur uses liquid to expand and explode, and the fluid is harmless. Zorome says they will rescue Goro first but Hachi says their top priority is to keep the klaxosaur away from the plantation and Nana says in the worst case, they will absolutely leave Goro behind to die. Everyone disagrees and Ichigo asks to speak to Goro. After she asks to save Goro, Hachi tells them that Genista and Chlorophytum will be the last line of defense while Strelizia and Argentea will help Ichigo reach Delphinium and distract the klaxosaur.

Episode 10: The City of Eternity
Hachi and Nana take the children to the city to receive medals for their achievements. Hachi and Nana easily pass through the ID gate while Nana encourages the children to come along.

Episode 11: Partner Shuffle
During a meeting, Nana and Hachi compliment the squad for their high killing numbers but Hachi says Mitsuru and Ikuno need to improve their kill count and their capacity rate has been falling. Hachi then dismisses the groip for the day. Nana says the group has killed over 90 in their area, which means their kills in the past foresight are 3.7 times greater than their first. Hachi replies it would be a total refutation from their original methods.

Shortly after, when Mitsuru is hospitalized for falling ill while in Chlorophytum with Ikuno, Nana gives him an antipyretic for his fever and Hachi looks at Mitsuru‘s profile, and notes he had an Elixirs Injection at 9-years-old. When Mitsuru recovers, he and Ikuno undergo a capacity test, where his score is shown to be lowering. Hachi says this is bad and he may become a pruning target if this continues. Nana suggests the squad try a partner shuffle; Ikuno tries a pistil-pistil connection with Ichigo while Kokoro tries with Mitsuru. Ikuno and Ichigo fail and time out while Kokoro and Mitsuru have a low but stable connection.

A Gutenberg klaxosaur approaches and Hachi commands a defense line be set up 500 meters from the S-Planning and neutralize the target. During the battle, Mitsuru abruptly shuts down Genista out of despair for not killing the klaxosaur and Kokoro tries talking it with him. Hachi radios them and orders them to restart before Kokoro turns off the comms.

Episode 12: The Garden Where It All Began
Hachi and Nana take the parasites to the Garden to undergo tests. Hachi tells Zero Two that she will undergo thorough tests, much to her dismay. Shortly after, Hachi and Nana discuss how the Saurification process in Hiro and Zero Two is intensifying and it’s a matter of time before Hiro undergoes a genetic mutation. Ichigo overhears this and is horrified.

Episode 14: Punishment and Confession
Hachi and Nana look at Hiro’s yellow blood cell count and Nana notes it’s gone far beyond what the human body can handle, and his saurification could begin any moment.

At a meeting, Hachi announces they must neutralize every klaxosaur inhabiting Gran Crevasse and Squad 13 will take part in the sixth wave.

Episode 15: The Bird That Shares Wings
In the briefing room, Hachi explains their objective is to take control of Gran Crevasse and Squad 13 will be joining with other squads from other plantations. When Kokoro asks what Gran Crevasse is, Nana shows her a visual of it being inhabited by klaxosaurs and Hachi says taking over Gran Crevasse has been Papa’s long-standing wish and could a turning point for humanity.

As the 6th United FRANXX company and Squad 26 eliminate the klaxosaurs, the klaxosaur s start to flee and the control room detects magma readings accelerating underground. A Lehmann Super klaxosaur appears and Hachi says he has never heard of a klaxosaur from that class. The klaxosaur smashes into the plantation and sends a horde of Conrad klaxosaurs into it. Hachi and Nana order the units to neutralize them while ordering Dr. Franxx to evacuate and Hiro to return to Miltisteinn. Everyone hears a loud explosion and witness a plantation detonate, as ordered by Papa. Dr. FRANXX is disgusted by this and Hachi appears surprised, remarking they would go that far.

Episode 16: Days of Our Lives
A month later, Hachi and Nana have mysteriously disappeared. However, they are revealed to be secretly watching over the children from the control room via monitors. Hachi and Nana converse with Dr. FRANXX over leaving the children alone as part of the doctor’s final phase of the experiment. Nana is concerned this will cause the children to fall out of favor with Papa, considering they came back alive after the Gran Crevasse siege. The doctor orders them to not have contact with the children and keep him updated before hanging up.

Episode 17: Eden
When the 9’s decide to visit Mistilteinn and find Kokoro’s baby book, they berate her for wanting to have a child and Alpha’s comments particularly enrage Ikuno. Hachi and Nana intervene to defuse the situation.

While interviewing Kokoro, Nana says this is why she didn’t want to let the 9’s in but Hachi says they were sent by Papa’s command. Nana decides they should end the test and Hachi explains to Kokoro they have been instructed by Dr. FRANXX not to contact the squad for the entire month as part of their ‘final test’ but continued to watch over them, which means he and Nana saw her try to initiate sex with Mitsuru earlier. Nana berates Kokoro for wanting to have a baby but when Kokoro challenges Nana’s opinions, Nana suffers from a painful flash and Hachi sends Kokoro away. He asks Nana how long has this been going on and she says a week maybe and seeing the kids live their lives has made her irritated. Alpha appears and says she has relapsed into puberty despite her and Hachi having undergone emotional indoctrination when they were parasites. He tells Hachi to replace her with a new Nana and he will be reporting to Papa.

Afterwards, Hachi speaks to Dr. FRANXX and says there is no point in continuing the experiment but the doctor says he has gotten interesting data on humanity’s previous reproduction instincts.

Episode 18: When the Sakura Blooms
Hachi watches Kokoro and Mitsuru’s wedding from the control room when an APE assault ship has been detected. Alpha greets him on the monitor and Hachi asks who ordered this, and Alpha replies Papa did. Hachi asks if they are going to force Squad 13 into the parasite re-indoctrination program and the squad is exempt from it. Alpha says not all of them but just two and says Hachi knew what they were up to. Alpha tells him to sit back and watch like he always does before hanging up.

Hachi comes out as the squad is in distress while Kokoro and Mitsuru are taken away. He appears troubled as he watches the children. He later meets with Nana, who is kept in a cell, and asks her if he could have done anything to comfort the children if he had emotions. In a flashback, it is revealed Hachi was a parasite on the same team as Nana and rescued her when her FRANXX was destroyed but she was devastated that her partner was killed, causing her to forcibly undergo memory indoctrination while Hachi watched her.

A couple of weeks later, Hachi watches the group reunite with Kokoro and Mitsuru who have had their memories altered as punishment.

Episode 19: Inhumanity
In a flashback, Hachi is seen as a child living in the Garden with Nana after the facility was created in 2042.

Episode 20: A New World
Hachi tells Dr. FRANXX that Hringhorni is ready. The doctor asks how Nana is doing. Hachi says she’s been briefing the squad but the doctor says he didn’t mean that Nana but then says do as he likes.

When 001 infiltrates Star Entity and forces Hiro to link with her, Hachi and Dr. FRANXX watch as the doctor is amazed she linked with him and falls into Hachi. Both men then hear 001 relay how VIRM are invaders, the klaxosaurs are operated by male and female klaxo sapiens, and the FRANXX units are created from klaxosaur remains. Hachi says this is similar to the FRANXX units and Dr. FRANXX confesses they are an application of the klaxosaur system.

Episode 21: For You, My Love
Dr. FRANXX says the detonation of Star Entity has stalled because Hiro is a foreign factor and it can only be triggered in stampede mode. Hachi pulls up the countdown and they have 72 minutes until detonation. Zero Two comes in and collapses.

After recovering a little, Zero Two announces she is going to rescue Hiro and Dr. FRANXX decides to go as well while Hachi remains in the control room to observe the countdown. When the countdown finally ends, Hachi wonders if they were too late and it’s really over. However, Hiro and Zero Two reconnect and prevent the detonation, which surprises Hachi.

Episode 22: Stargazers
Several days pass, when Hachi and Nana, who is in a wheelchair, show up at the Bird Nest. In a flashback, Hachi retrieves Nana and works on some panels, explaining he is following the orders De. Franxx left him. He finds data with the memories of adults archived and copied. Nana asks why he didn’t just abandon her because she has no purpose anymore but Hachi doesn’t answer. He finds a hidden room in the doctor’s laboratory which had been keeping children who were deemed unfit to pilot in a cryogenic sleep. Hachi explains he received a message that was set to sent off after the doctor’s death and it instructed him to bring Nana to the lab and for them to become the ‘new adults’ to the children. Back to the present, Hachi looks at the dead crops and says this is likely due to that years of magma energy drilling have deprived the soil of life.

Hachi and Goro scan the area from the monitor to look for other methods to grow crops. Hachi finds the remains of Miltisteinn and sees it has fresh soil that can be used for cropping. After Goro leaves, Hiro comes in to speak with Hachi about going to space to rescue Zero Two. Again scouting the area from the monitor, Hachi finds a klaxosaur Mothership that is still functional and he is certain he can work the panels. Later that night, Alpha comes in to speak to him.

Hachi and Nana, along with Squad 13, meet with Hiro the next morning to help him rescue Zero Two.

Episode 23: DARLING in the FRANXX
As the squad flies through space, Hachi and Nana wonder if Hiro is right about the klaxosaur s leaving all the equipment for them. Hachi surmises this means humanity has been allowed to join the fight to defend Earth but Nana wonders if they have that right. Hachi orders the units to return to the ship

Hachi is able to operate the panels and Nana is amazed how similar the panels are. Hachi replies this means klaxo sapiens were no different than humans and he projects they are heading towards Mars’ orbit, as Strelizia is heading there as well. Nana admits she doesn’t want to watch the children hurt themselves any more than they already have and this confuses her because she has viewed them as tools for warfare do so long. Hachi asks if that feeling is wrong because their sole purpose was to fight but if this is their final battle, she will be needed in their lives afterwards.

Upon arriving at their destination, the ship charges through and Hachi orders the units to provide back up for Hiro and Alpha. The ship starts getting attacked and the two begin moving to another ship when Hachi is injured by shielding Nana. He tells to leave him and go on but she refuses and says it’s his duty to watch over the children too. They then escape into another smaller ship and see the Mothership is equipped with a bomb. They hear the voices of Papa and the Vice Chairman, who encourage everyone to merge with VIRM to end a cycle of hatred and discrimination. Hachi says the adults would have found this euphoric but Nana says not the children. Hachi further elaborates its not about right or wrong but this is simply the path the children have chosen.

After Strelizia evolves into Strelizia True Apus, Hachi is surprised to see a warp gate appear.

Episode 24: Never Let Me Go
72 days after the gate passage, Hachi and Nana help the parasites gather fresh soil and plants from Cerasus to begin cropping. They also rendezvous with other caregivers and Hachi begins educating the younger children with Ichigo. They routinely update in the maturity of the parasites and begin suspending all of APE’s procedures, including the code number system. Almost a year later, as Goro prepares to leave to gather supplies needed to survive and rescue any children left behind, Hachi says they are counting on him.

783 days after the gate passage, Hachi joins with everyone after sending Hiro and Zero Two are trouble. They all link hands and send their thoughts to the two. Hachi stands next to Nana as a bright light shines in the sky and everyone realizes Hiro and Zero Two won but sacrificed themselves. Several days later, when many klaxosaur ships return to Earth and dove into the surface and became part of it, Hachi surmises this meant the klaxosaurs decided to let humanity keep Earth.

Over the next eight years, Hachi accompanies Goro on his travels to gather supplies and help relocate parasites. During a school entrance ceremony, Hachi and Nana observe the changes and Nana wonders if there is anything else they can do for the former parasites. Hachi says they never grow any older and are stuck in the middle between children and adults but their one obligation is to reach out to humanity and continue watching over the world. Nana notes how unyielding he is and Hachi attributes this to him having no emotions but wonders if he can change if she stays by his side forever. Before she can reply, two children ask Hachi to play with them and he agrees and tells Nana he will be back as he walks with the children.

Nana
Nana is his fellow APE colleague. Because of their similar positions within the plantation, they often discuss their plans together and what their actions should be. A flashback in Episode 18 shows that they were teammates in their parasite days. Albeit vaguely, Hachi displays concern for her. He was the one who pulled Nana out of her FRANXX when it crashed. Even when she relapsed into puberty, he continued to keep her around until eventually she was detained by the authorities. In Episode 22, when Nana asked why didn't he just leave her, Hachi remained silent. In Episode 23, he shields her from an explosion in the klaxosaur ship, permanently scarring his right eye. In Episode 24, Hachi wonders if he would be able to change (by having emotions) if Nana stayed by his side forever.

Dr. FRANXX
Hachi respects him as a superior and seek advice from him from time to time. Unlike Nana, who has doubts regarding the agenda of the doctor’s experiment with Squad 13, Hachi never questions Dr. FRANXX’s reasons and goes along with every order from the doctor.

Squad 13
Hachi has a very authoritarian relationship with the parasites of Squad 13, such as giving them missions, discussing battle strategies with them, and reminding them of their priorities. He doesn’t show them compassion and is extremely blunt with them. However, he is not completely opposed to them doing what makes them happy; he did not intervene during Kokoro and Mitsuru’s wedding despite it being in violation of regulations and was troubled to see the children distraught when the wedding was ruined. After seeing the children‘s dire situation, Hachi stops seeing them as tools for warfare but as just children who need support and guidance, and he resolves to help look after them.

Etymology
八 (pronounced Hachi) means Eight in Japanese, referring to Hachi's code number. It is revealed in Episode 17 that he is a former Stamen. The drama CD confirms his code number is 008.

Quotes

 * You must trust your partner and accept them whole-heartedly.
 * That feeling...is having it really that wrong? The children’s sole purpose in life was to fight and if this truly is their final battle, and in their lives after... Don’t you think they’ll be needing someone like you?

Trivia

 * Hachi’s code number, 008, wasn’t revealed until the third Drama CD.
 * It wasn’t until Episode 24 that Hachi revealed he is immortal.

Hachi