Train Heartnet

Train Heartnet (トレイン ハートネット Torein Hātonetto) is the main protagonist of the manga and anime, Black Cat. Once an Eraser for Chronos, he eventually turns to the life of a sweeper and starts working alongside Sven Vollfied. In Chronos, he was a part of the Chronos Numbers as Number XIII, and was known widely as the "Black Cat".

Appearance
Train is a young man with an average height, short brown hair, striking gold, cat-like eyes. He possesses his trademark XIII tattoo on his left collar-bone and his outfits change frequently after having departed from Chronos. During his time as an eraser for Chronos, he wears a long, black trench coat over a black dress shirt and black pants.

As a sweeper, he wears a white v-neck t-shirt (that shows off his XIII tattoo) under a blue cropped jacket with four doughnut-resembling objects over his front. In the anime, Train says they are food rations, but according to the mangaka, they are wooden with metal built in to protect his vital points; thus his anime line was likely a joke. His gun's holster is held on with two brown straps and worn over dark blue pants with black shoes. He also wears a red collar with a bell in reference to his cat-like personality.

During the Zero Numbers arc, Train switched to a black leather jacket with similar blue versions of the doughnut shapes on it, paired with black riding gloves.

Personality
Train's underground name is "Black Cat" because of the misfortune that lies in his wake. He always says to his target "I've come to deliver some bad luck" before killing them and he always completes a mission with 100% accuracy, without remorse. This is a side that Creed, a comrade of lower ranking, admires. Train's demeanor is very cool, bordering nonchalant and almost detached until he met a girl, Saya, who was a bounty hunter that lived life as she wanted to. He then began to reveal a much warmer and more human side of himself, which Creed despised Saya for.

After giving up his life as an eraser working for Chronos, Train becomes a Sweeper (bounty hunter) and his personality changes drastically as he takes on a more lighthearted approach to life. There have been many scenes where Train is displayed carefree and even somewhat foolish.

He often gets into fights with Sven (these fights involve Train letting another bounty slip through, his bottomless appetite, being way too silly, etc.) Following Saya's way of life, he refuses to kill, and seems to take enjoyment in annoying his enemies. He is not one to "look before he leaps" and his antics usually lead to accumulating debt that he and his partner Sven have collected from property damage. At times he is solemn, usually from regret that he was unable to help someone and other times, carefree and exuberant. There are times when Train will revert to his earlier personality when tempted (often through extreme anger).

History
Train Heartnet was orphaned at the age of ten when an assassin named Zagine Axeloake murdered his parents. The assassin allowed him to choose whether he wanted to live or die. Train chose to live and was taken in by Zagine.

Zagine took care of Train for 4 months, teaching him marksmanship and other killing techniques. He taught the boy to grow strong and only rely on himself. From then on, Train became fixated on growing strong enough to kill his mentor and avenge his parents.

On a rainy day, Train returned from buying groceries to find Zagine bleeding on the streets. Train was frustrated as he wanted to be the one to kill Zagine. Zagine just laughed and told the boy that if he wished to surpass his teacher, then he must survive on his own. After Zagine's death, Train lived on the streets until he was taken in by Karl Walken, who took care of the boy for 3 to 4 years.

Train joined Chronos at the age of 18 and became one of its deadliest and most notorious assassins, earning him the moniker ''"Black Cat". ''On one mission, he was partnered up with Creed Diskenth, another eraser who admired Train for his hatred of the world.Because Train was a remarkable assassin, and exception was made and he became Chronos' 13th Number.

Despite being a coldhearted assassin, Train refused to kill women or children. This was why on one mission; he hesitated to kill his target as his target was carrying a child. Train was injured and was found by a sweeper named Saya Minatsuki, who nursed him back to health. They became friends and Train was influenced by Saya's "Stray Cat" lifestyle, causing him to spare his targets. This did not sit well with the elders of Chronos, who sentenced Train to 10 days of confinement.

After his release, Train went to see Saya at her apartment, only to find it destroyed and Saya nowhere in sight. What he did find was a letter from Creed, stating that he will kill "the witch" to release Train from her "spell". Train quickly understood the situation and rushed to find Creed and Saya. He arrived to see Creed about to finish off the sweeper. Train stopped him and Creed escaped. In her last moments, Saya told Train to forget about her, and then died.

Train decided to leave Chronos, but had his gun confiscated. He forcefully retrieved it and escaped. He became a sweeper and met Sven Vollfied and the two became partners.

Meanwhile, news of the Black Cat's "death" spread around.

Black Cat Arc
Train has been working as a Sweeper for more than two years with Sven. They capture a criminal named Sadon Corney and use the bounty to buy some food. At a diner they find another bounty: Harry Afleck, who is being targeted by the old mafia he used to work for. Train and Sven save him, but clarify that they are going to turn him in. Harry accepts that, but requests to see his family first in Rojana. Train gladly accepts, much to Sven's annoyance. The next day, Train and Harry are waiting for Sven. Sven arrives, but is severely injured. Harry rushes to help him, but Train, sensing something is amiss, warns him not to. It is too late however, as "Sven", who turns out to be Race Donovan, kills him. In Train's arms, Harry expresses his regret that he did not get to see his family before dying. Enraged, Train goes after the assassin and kills him. He and Sven then go to Rojana to give the Afleck family a photo of Harry.

Later, the two track down another criminal: Pado Reed. As they are chasing him down, they run into Cleaver, a member of Chronos. Train and Cleaver chat and it quickly becomes clear that Cleaver wants Train to Chronos. When Train refuses, Cleaver reveals that the council ordered him to kill the ex-number should he refuse to return. Cleaver tries to kill him, only to be killed by Train first.

Eve Arc
Train and Sven meet Rinslet Walker, a famous thief-for-hire. She offers to make an alliance to aid her in her current job: Stealing from Torneo Rudman. The sweepers accept and the three meet at Sepidoa. Train infiltrates Torneo's masion to find his target ordering a young girl to kill one of his subordinates. Train stops her, exposing himself in the process. Torneo's henchmen chase him throughout the mansion, but Train escapes. He goes back to his partner, only to find him severely wounded after being stabbed by the girl, Eve.

Train and Sven devise a plan to save Eve and infiltrate Torneo's mansion. Train deals with the henchmen while Sven confronts Torneo and rescues Eve after convincing her that she can do whatever she wants to do. Torneo, angered by this, decides to inject Eve with the N-S drug, a drug that will turn the girl into an unstoppable killing machine. Fortunately, Train stops him before he could do so. Train then witnesses Morris Flitt shoot Eve and angrily knocks him out. He then subdues Torneo who reveals his knowledge of Creed. They hand Torneo over to the police and allow Eve to join them on their travels.

Lunafort Arc
Two days afterwards, Train and his partners go to Elsida city to watch a carnival. Train encounters a Taoist known as Shiki, who informs the sweeper that Creed has captured Rinslet, and that he wants to see Train.

Train dons on his old, black coat from his Black Cat days and heads to Lunafort tower, where Creed awaits him with Rinslet. Creed offers his old partner the chance to join him in commencing a global revolution against Chronos. Train refuses, and believes Creed as no right to make such an offer after betraying Train and killing Saya. They duel, but Train quickly realizes that his chances of winning are slim because of Creed's invisible blade. Train then devises a plan and sacrifices his right hand to locate the sword and destroy it. He falls out of the tower after part of it is destroyed, but fortunately for him, Rinslet jumps after him and catches him, then breaks their fall with a grappling hook. Train wakes up and makes the two of them fall into a pool. The two survive and Train is approached by a man named Doctor, who reattaches the sweeper's right hand on Creed's orders.

Gyanaza Arc
Ten days after the incident with Creed, Train, Eve, and Sven, resume their sweeper business and capture the criminal duo, Ricky and Johnny. They meet Belze Rochefort, Chronos Number II, who gives them a video message from Train's caretaker, Karl Walken.

In the video, Karl explains that there has been a series of murders in Rubeck City, the city that he is mayor of. He requests Train's help as a sweeper and reveals that the bounty is 150 thousand, an amount enough to erase the trio's entire debt.

They head to Rubeck City, where they discover that the culprit is Gyanza Rujike, a criminal Sven arrested back in his IBI days. Later, Train meets a grieving old man, whose son and grandson were killed by Gyanza, and promises to avenge his deceased family. At night, Eve acts as bait, while Train and Sven wait for Gyanza to appear. Gyanza appears and fights the sweepers. The fight is difficult and only ends with Sven using his right eye to predicate the criminal's next move. Then, two Taoists, Kyoko Kirisaki and Charden Flamberg, greet them and watch as Gyanza dies due to overusing his Tao.

Later, Train visits Karl to talk about a possible war between Chronos and Creed. Train states that he is uninterested in such things as they do not concern him. Karl finds this amusing and remarks how Train has changed. Before leaving, Train decides to accept only 1/3 of the bounty, much to Karl's shock and Sven's anger. He later sees the old man again and tells him to smile as it is the least he could do for his son and grandson.

Graveyard Arc
While Sven is visiting his late friend, Train practices shooting and ends up using a lot of bullets. Upon seeing this, Sven yells at him for wasting bullets.

Dinosaur Arc
Rinslet returns and blackmails Train into being her date for Madame Freesia's birthday party. There, Train spots Lugart Won, an assassin with a bounty on his head. He approaches Lugart and challenges him to a battle. Lugart accepts and the two fight, but their battle ends when Train leaves to stop Madame Freesia's pet dinosaur, Flora.

Later, Lugart approaches Train and vows to battle him another time and win.

The Impostor Arc
Train, Sven, and Eve hear that a sweeper has been using Train's old moniker to intimidate their targets in Fector Town. Train is unbothered by this, but still goes to Fector Town where he and his partners meet the impostor, Woodney. Woodney's action attract the attention of the assassin Wilson, who challenges the "Black Cat" to a battle. Train, acting as the Black Cat's disciple, takes Woodeney's place and easily defeats Wilson. Realizing that Train is the real Black Cat, Woodney requests to become his apprentice, much to Train's annoyance.

Vengeance Arc
The sweepers head to Champais town where they capture the criminal duo, Ricky and Johnny. Later, Train meets Bayard, man who once met Saya. Bayard invites Train to his café where the sweeper gets ambushed by the Blue Vice syndicate, a mafia Bayard works for. Train, however, easily defeats them and leaves.

Train encounters Tim Vertical, a boy who wants revenge against the man who killed his father. Upon seeing Train's gun, Tim begs him to help him get his revenge. Train initially refuses and discourages him from seeking revenge, but after seeing how determined the boy is, agrees. At night, they are attacked by the police, led by Murdoch. Train defeats them and disguises himself as Murdoch, then leaves to "report" to Baldwin. Train reveals himself, and kills the police officer right before Tim.

Tim however, did not feel any satisfaction from the man's death. Train tells him that this is how revenge feels and upon seeing how Tim has finally understood, he reveals that he never killed Baldwin. Instead, he used a stun bullet with red paint, all so that Tim can see how revenge was not the answer.

After dropping Tim off at his grandmother's house, Train reveals to Sven why he went to such lengths for Tim's sake. It was because the boy had remained of himself.

Cerberus Arc
Train learns that the Apostles have a hideout in Stock Town from an unfamiliar man who has been following him and his partners. He heads over there and rescues Rinslet, then quickly leaves, much to Creed's shock.

While escaping, Train realizes that both he and Rinslet have been manipulated by Sephira. They successfully escape and run into Lin Shaolee, the man who had told them Creed's location.

Lucifer Arc
Creed goes after Sven, believing that Train will join him once his current partner is gone. He shoots a nanmachine-filled bullet called 'Lucifer' at Sven, but Train takes it and as a result, is turned into a child. He runs into Kyoko who is being chased by Chronos agents. Charden contacts him and has him promise to protect Kyoko from Chronos, however, after Kyoko attempts to kill someone, Train has her promise him to never kill anymore, otherwise, he will not protect her.

At their hotel room, the sweepers and Kyoko are attacked by Baldorias S. Fanghini and Karnz Maduke, who want to execute the Taoist. Train and Sven try to convince them to let the girl go as she is no longer an Apostle, but the Chorno numbers refuse. They battle until Jenos Hazard arrives and tells the two rogue numbers to leave.

With Rinslet's help, they track down Tearju Lunatique, the scientist who created Eve. Tearju believes that Train now has transformation powers similar to Eve's and can return to his original form by forming a mental image of his original body. He goes outside to concentrate and succeeds and gains a new power called the Rail Gun. Upon entering Tearju's house, he finds Echidna and the new Apostle, Eathes, along with the Apostle's shooting star unit surrounding his friends and Tearju. Using his new powers, Train easily defeats the Shooting star Unit, forcing the two Apostles to retreat.

Sweeper Woman Arc
Train agrees to finally tell Sven and Eve the full story of how he met Saya and what happened between him and Creed.

Alliance Arc
Train and Eve encounter a sweeper named River Zastory and an informat named Glin, who knows of Creed's location. River, Upon learning that Train is the notorious Black Cat, challenges him to a battle. Train agrees and with his Rail Gun, manages to win, much to River's frustration. Glin tells the three sweepers that he is planning on creating a Sweerper Alliance to defeat Creed and gives them CDs of a game that he personally created. He tells them that if they pass all levels, they will get the information regarding the meeting.

Train and Eve win the game and attend the meeting along with Sven, who arrives at the last minute. They learn that the Apostles are on an island in the Adonia Sea. The newly-formed Sweeper's Alliance sets out to that location, but encounter Shiki on the way. The Taoist kills two of the sweepers and drowns the rest.

Train washes up on the Apostle's island shore and regroups with River. The two fight and win against Maro and the new Apostle, Preta Ghoul. They battle Shiki and his servant, Setsuki, and win once again.

The two sweepers reunite with Eve and Kevin and together, the four sweepers enter Creed's castle. There, they encounter two brainwashed Tomo Fudo and Munduck. Train and Eve manage to defeat them, but they are later captured by Doctor in the Warp World. With the help of Saya's sprit, Train escapes the Warp World, defeats doctor, and saves Eve. Finally, Train reaches Creed and the two duel. Creed's imagine blade evolves, giving the Taoist the upper hand. Train is severely wounded and is about to lose conscious when Saya's spirit returns and helps him defeat Creed. Eve removes the nanomachines from the Apostle's body and the sweepers let him go as Train believes that letting Creed continue living in the world that he despises is the perfect punishment.

A Carefree Tomorrow
Eight months after his battle with Creed, Train resumes sweeping with Sven and Eve. Sven repairs Hades for Train, though it is no longer fully made of Orichalcum.

Anime Plot
Train Heartnet, considered to be one of the more formidable Numbers, is assigned to kill a priest who has been terrorizing a village. Afterwards, Train is tasked by Chronos to kill Lib Tyrant, which he does so successfully and meets the sweeper Sven Vollfied. On that same night, he meets a woman named Saya Minatsuki, whom he befriends. Saya's influence opens Train up and teaches him that there was more to life than killing.

His next mission is to assassinate the genetically altered weapon, Eve. However, he fails to pull the trigger, and retreats when her guards arrive. Later, he is assigned for the same duty, and though he receives the opportunity, he doesn't kill her.

Eventually, Train stops killing his targets and gets in trouble with the Elders for it. He decides to leave Chronos and gives his gun to Saya. Train's old partner, Creed Diskenth, tries to persuade him to join him on a revolution against Chronos, but he refuses. The two are attacked by Sepheria Arks and two other Numbers. The fight is interrupted by the arrival of Shiki, a Taoist. Train escapes and meets up with Saya, who convinces him to attend a festival with her.

The next day, Train finds a letter from Creed, informing him that Creed will kill Saya, so that Train can "break free from her curse." Train rushes to the festival, but is too late and finds his former partner standing over an almost dead Saya. Train punches Creed and remains by Saya's side until she dies in his arms. Enraged, Train fights Creed, but their battle accidentally causes a fire. Train saves the children who were with Saya and passes out, but is saved by Eve and Sven.

Train wakes up a week later, and is surprised to meet Sven and Eve again. Initially, he doesn't get along well with Eve, but after learning that she was the one who tended to him, he changes his attitude towards her aand saves her from Jenos Hazard. Train joins Eve and Sven and becomes a sweeper.

Train joins Sven and Eve on their sweepers missions, until he finds out Creed is not only still alive, but he has founded the Apostles of the Stars. Sven and Rinslet are kidnapped by the Apostles, and Train faces Creed, but at the last minute decides to save his friends instead of taking revenge for Saya's death.

Sven, attempting to hide Creed's bounty for 3 billion dollars, knowing that it would only increase Train's desire to face Creed again, goes to meet the Sweeper's Alliance. When Train finally meets the group, he notices that their leader, Glin, is actually a Chronos number. The two have a short fight, ending with them going to Kraken Island to find the Apostles.

In the battle, Train faces Creed, who is seemingly immortal thanks to the nanomachines in his body. However, being that his imagine blade has now fused with his body, Train thinks to destroy the sword so that he wouldn't have to kill Creed, knowing that that was not what Saya would have wanted, and that Creed is not worth him turning back into a killer. The plan works and Eve manages to extract the rest of his nanomachines.

With Creed finally defeated, the Sweepers celebrate. However, their celebration is short-lived when  Eve is kidnapped by the Zero Numbers, a group formed and lead by ex-Chronos Number, Mason Ordrosso. Train, Sven, Chronos, the Alliance, as well as some former Apostles join together to save her. While on his way to Eve, Train encounters his mentor, Zagine Axeloake, but Train manages to defeat him after realizing that Zagine is a mere illusion created by Eden. He saves Eve and disappears, choosing to live a solitary life.

Equipment and Abilities
Train has shown remarkable speed and agility when running, as well as being able to run through an entire crowd to get to his target without their notice. Train has also shown that he can wield his gun like a melee weapon and hit people to avoid shooting them after becoming a Sweeper.

Marksmanship: Train wields Hades, an ornate 6 shot black revolver made out of Orichalcum with an XIII engraved into its side and a lanyard (which could be from Saya's gun). It weighs 2.5 kg. He is an extremely skilled marksman, able to accurately shoot down bullets from other guns, and make a number of bullets hit at exactly the same time as well as ricochet bullets off of multiple surfaces and effectively hit a target. He is also ambidextrous.

Black Claw (written in kanji as 黒爪 Kurotsume, lit Black Claw/Talon): A physical attack where Train slashes with his gun in three different spots at his target in one shot.

Black Cross (written in kanji as 黒十字 Kurojuuji, lit Black Cross): An evolved/alternate version of Black Claw, where Train instead slashes twice in the same spot for critical damage. The style in that he slashes resembles a cross in the form of an X.

Railgun (written in kanji as 電磁銃 Denjijuu, lit Electromagnetic Gun): When his body became infected with nanomachines he manages to manipulate them to create static electricity. The orichalcum in his gun Hades can act as a catalyst for the nanomachines. This allows him to focus the electricity into the barrel of Hades, turning it into a railgun. He is able to fire three of these daily, due to the energy consumption it takes to create the electricity. Train loses this ability after using it against Creed in their final battle.



Burst Railgun (written in kanji as 爆裂 電磁銃 Bakuretsu Denjijuu, lit. Exploding Electromagnetic Gun): This is Train's strongest attack. Train is also able to use Sven's specially made bullets with the Railgun, as shown when he uses the Railgun to fire a Burst Bullet. He uses this to defeat Creed. However, the combination of the cells in Train's body as well as the raw strength of the bullet is able to destroy the orichalcum barrel of Hades. Due to Train's condition at the time of finishing Creed off with this technique, the energy put into the attack also deprives him of his nanomachines, thus, he loses the usage of his Railgun ability at the end of the manga series.

Sven Vollfied
Train's sweeper partner and munitions expert. They are good friends an care about one another, but Sven often gets irritated by Train's reckless actions and childish behavior, and constantly beats him up. In the anime, they start as rivals in deciding Eve's future. However, after Train becomes a sweeper, they become partners and good friends. Train's bottomless appetite is also a source of annoyance for Sven, because its the primary reason their pay dwindles so fast.

Eve
Both characters showed deep concern for each other. Train is always concerned with Eve and gave her the nickname "princess". At first they started out as enemies. Later on, in episode 7, Eve sensed Train's blood on the burning ship. When Train woke up he treated her coldly and even calling her a killer like him. However, after learning that Eve saved him and nursed him back to health, Train went to save her. At the end of the episode, Train is shown wearing the bell Eve was attempting to make him wear earlier in the episode.

In episode 8, Train started calling Eve "princess" and showed deep concern when Eve left to hunt for the outlaw. He started running fast, to which Sven noted he was concerned of her, but he denied it saying it was because of the challenge. He didn't care if he left Sven and Rinslet behind, he just proceeded to find Eve. When he was caught, Eve tried to free him but she was also caught. At the end of the episode Train was bragging to Eve that he saved her. Train also cannot turn Eve down. On an episode where Eve asked Train to taste her cooking which looked burned, he stared at Eve before giving in to her request. He later enjoyed eating what Eve cooked.

Saya Minatsuki
Sweeper and a good friend of Train. Saya was the one that changed Train from the cold-hearted assassin to the person he is today. Her death devastated Train and inspired him to leave Chronos and live a free life (like she did). Train stated that their relationship was platonic, and not romantic in anyway. When Eve questioned him about it, Train stated that he and Saya weren't at the right point for romance.

Rinslet Walker
While an ally and friend of Train, Rinslet likes to take advantage of him in order to achieve her goals, which annoys Trains to no end. Regardless the two remain on good terms.

Creed Diskenth
The person Trains hates the most. Because Creed killed Saya, Train harbored pure anger and a strong desire to kill him. Just the mere mention of his former partner's name is enough to revert him back to his old persona. His desire for revenge was so great that he was willing to lose a hand just to kill Creed. Yet, despite all the hatred and resentment he carried in his heart, Train refused to kill Creed. This is because deep down, he knew that was not what Saya would have wanted, and it was not worth him returning to his old self, much to Creed's dismay.

Kyoko Kirisaki
Former member of the Apostles of the Star Kyoko has a huge crush on train, and as a result, follows him anywhere and everywhere which annoys Train whom does not return her feelings. (Which is not due to an age gap (which is only six years), but because she annoys him and creeps him out.) He is, however, willing to protect her from danger, so long as she does not break her promise to never kill again. In the anime, Train usually uses the mascot cat as a shield from Kyoko's kisses.

Zagine Axeloake
Train's mentor and the one who murdered his parents. Train's relationship with Zagine was complex: He hated the man with all his heart for killing his parents, but at the same time, respected him for being the "strongest man in the world" in his eyes. As the Black Cat, Train was similar to Zagine in many ways (Ruthless and merciless, not killing children, etc.).

Karl Walken
Karl raised Train after Zagine's death for 3 to 4 years, and for that, Train is grateful. They met when Train attempted to rob him; Train had been trained on gunmanship by that point, which impressed Karl enough to see Train as a potential eraser for Chronos. He also has a great amount of respect for Karl, though he did mention that the man can be frightening at times. It's not clear if Train views him as a parental figure or not.

Tim Vertical
Tim's anger and thirst for revenge reminded Train of his former self, which was why he went out of his way to help Tim understand that revenge was not the answer. In both anime and manga, Tim's story made Train relive his past vividly.

Trivia

 * When Kentaro Yabuki was coming up with Train's name, he liked the feel of the word, attributing it to evoking the image of somebody traveling from place to place on the rails.
 * Train is terrible at video games, especially and ironically shooting games.
 * The bell he wears actually belonged to a stuffed animal black cat that Saya won for some kids at the festival.
 * His name contains thirteen letters, matching the tattoo on his chest. His birthday, April 13, also shares this distinction. Whether this was intentional or not is unknown.
 * April 13, Train's birthday, can be written as 4/13. The numbers 4 and 13 are considered numbers of bad luck (4 in Japan, 13 in the U.S.A.).
 * It is also possible that the number 13 is given to him, referencing the 13th Arcana, as he is commonly associated with Death early on.
 * Train is originally left-handed. There some superstitions that associate left-handedness with bad luck.
 * His zodiac sign is Aries.
 * In To Love-Ru, a manga written by Saki Hasemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, there is an assassin known as Kuro who bares a striking resemblance to Train, complete with a choker, black coat, a gun resembling Hades, and a name that references Train's alias, Black Cat. Kuro's back story is also similar to Train's, as he helped a person, Golden Darkness (whom strongly resembles Eve, along with her powers, and a creator named Doctor Tearju), escape from the organization that manufactured her into a bio-weapon. However, Kuro's personality is colder than Train's.
 * Train is 23, but has the appearance of a 16 year old, which is noted in the anime. It's implied he looks young in the manga as well, as most he comes across find it hard to believe a "kid" like him is the Black Cat unless having prior knowledge of the fact.
 * In the original one shot, Stray Cat, Train was a famous Sweeper who retired to become a delivery man. He was also a Tao user who could create chi bullets (Similar to Durham), and summon his gun.

Train Heartnet