Black Cape

Black Cape is a recurring antagonist appearing in New Sakura Wars the Animation. It is a sinister figure all dressed in black aiming to capture Klara M. Ruzhkova, who was protected by the Imperial Combat Revue's Flower Division. Its real identity is later revealed to be a demon created and sent by Valery Kaminski.

Appearance
Black Cape has the appearance of a man with a robotic face wearing a black top hat, black cape and black suit. When its clothes were burned, it is revealed to be a white and yellow automaton-like robot with a human face and blank eyes.

In its true form, Black Cape is a massive black rock-like monster with purple crystals on its back, shoulders and neck. Black Cape's robot face is seen on its forehead. Its core is a blue crystal located in its chest.

Personality
Being a demon, Black Cape is a silent being that fights to accomplish his task of capturing Klara. It appears to have some intelligence as shown when it fought against the Imperial Combat Revue's Flower Division, knowing how to defend itself and when to retreat when it was cornered.

Background
Not much is known about Black Cape other than it is a demon that was created by Valery Kaminski, the man behind the downfall of the Moscow Combat Revue. It was then tasked to capture Klara M. Ruzhkova whose powers are desired by Kaminski.

Episode 1 : The Curtain Rises! The New Combat Revue!
Black Cape is seen lurking in a dark alley as it watches Seijuro Kamiyama, Captain of the Imperial Combat Revue, leave the Imperial Theater with Klara staying behind.

Episode 2 : Identity Unknown! A Mysterious Foe Appears
Black Cape appears on a rooftop as it was watching Klara and Sakura Amamiya near a teashop. When Sakura noticed its presence, Black Cape attacked, causing the young swordswoman to grab Klara by her hand and run. The black-hatted individual appears in front of the girls ans throws a bunch of boxes. Black Cape reveals his claws before attacking Sakura, who dodges his attacks before running in another alley with Klara. However, Black Cape stops them in their tracks by running of the walls and jumping again on Sakura. However, Hatsuho Shinonome, who came to help her friends, stops Black Cape's claws with her hammer. The shrine maiden tells the girls to leave Black Cape to her so that they can escape. The demon tries to catch up to Sakura and Klara but is stopped by the other members of the Flower Division : Clarissa Snowflake, Azami Mochizuki and Anastasia Palma. As all girls confront Black Cape, the metal-faced individual jumps up to a nearby building. Avoiding an attack from Azami, Black Cape intercepts a sword slash from Sakura's sword with its arms which shocks the young girl. Black Cape then kicks Sakura into a nearby wall before hitting Clarissa who was protecting Klara. With Klara in tow, Black Cape jumps on the roof of a nearby building and was about to escape when a white-caped individual appears from the side and grabs Klara.

White Cape jumps down in the alley and puts down Klara on the ground before fighting Black Cape in a sword battle. The attacks of both opponents are countering each other as the Flower Division watches in astonishment. While fighting her opponent, White Cape calls Sakura by her name and says that she's not a spectator. Understanding the swordswoman's words, Sakura takes her sword and slashes Black Cape in the stomach. The attack causes Black Cape to lean back on a nearby wall as both women confront it. Sakura then notices a blue light at the place she slashed Black Cape which made her wonder if her opponent was actually a robot. Cornered, Black Cape jumps on a rooftop and escapes.

Episode 5 : The Goofball Detective Combo! Find Klara's Secret!
Black Cape appears at night where it uses a huge demon in an alley to ambush Klara who was walking over to the park. After Clarissa Snowflake destroys the demon, Black Cape jumps down to capture Klara before jumping back on another roof. With the girl in its arms, Black Cape runs away as Azami Mochizuki attacks with a thousand kunai. Black Cape then jumps and tries to escape with the help of a small balloon. While it seemed like the black-caped individual was going to succeed, White Cape appears and cuts down its balloon making it lose the grip on Klara. Klara fell to the ground before being catched by Clarissa. Black Cape confronts White Cape on the roof. Knowing it failed again to capture Klara, Black Cape takes a glance at its target before retreating.

Episode 6 : Strange and Bizarre! The True Identity of Black Cape!
Black Cape returns and plans to capture Klara again. He is seen on top of a building where he watches Klara in a tramway alongside Sakura Amamiya and Hakushuu Murasame. He follows the young women to a nearby orphanage where Klara is being admired by the children. Black Cape's view is sent as an image to Kaminski's computer screen. From there, Kaminski sees Hakushuu and recognizes her as the godly figure that he saw falling from the sky a long time ago.

Black Cape attacks the orphanage and is confronted by Sakura who attacks with a broom. However, the armored man destroys the broom and tries to catch Klara. However, Klara is protected by Hakushuu who easily pushes Black Cape back with her kicks. Klara is then taken to safety by Naoya to the orphanage's safe room as Black Cape confronts Sakura and Hakushuu. However, the rest of the Flower Division (who were anonymously tipped by Hakushuu) drops from the sky alongside Sakura's Mugen. With Hakushuu and the Flower Division facing Black Cape, the mysterious assailant attacks.

Black Cape flees to the nearby forest where it is constantly attacked by the Flower Division. After receiving a huge attack, Black Cape's clothes were burned down revealing its true nature as a robot-like entity. It then attacks with increased agility and speed by jumping on Clarissa's Mugen. Despite its speed, Black Cape gets damaged by its enemies which causes it to levitate nearby rocks and fuse with them.

Black Cape reappears in its true form : a rock monster with purple crystals all over its body which shocks the Flower Division. With its newly found strength, Black Cape fights against White Cape who is able to hold back her own against it much to the surprise of the Flower Division. After a small scuffle, White Cape instructs Sakura and the Flower Division to attack the demon and aim for the demon's core which is the blue crystal located in its chest. Despite its best efforts, Black Cape is destroyed when Sakura uses her special attack Cherry Blossom Blizzard to destroy the demon's core. The core's destruction causes Black Cape's body to be engulfed in a red explosion, destroying the demon once and for all.

Episode 8 : Nonstop Chaos! The Combat Revue Challenge!
During the competition between the Imperial Combat Revue and the Moscow Combat Revue, Kaminski's true intentions are revealed as his Revue are attacking the Flower Division with actual weapons. Another version of Black Cape is sent by Kaminski to confront Clarissa Snowflake and Anastasia Palma who have come to stop Kaminski. Black Cape faces the two women in Kaminski's loge allowing the young man to escape.

Powers and Abilities
Expert Fighter : Black Cape is able to hold its ground against the Flower Division in a back alley despite the Flower Division members being experienced fighters themselves. It could also fight back against White Cape who is herself a master swordswoman. Another testament to Black Cape's abilities as a fighter was that he could fight against several opponents without having to transform into its demon form.

Immense Strength : In its true demon form, Black Cape's arms were really strong as it was used them to slam the ground.

Immense Speed : Black Cape is shown to be very fast as he was able to keep up with the attacks of both White Cape and the Flower Division.

Immense Agility : Black Cape is very agile, being able to jump and run on the walls of buildings to ambush its enemies. When its clothes were burned down, Black Cape became more agile as it was able to jump fast on Clarissa's Mugen.

Equipment
Claws : Black Cape's main weapon of choice consists of two pairs of claws with three blades each.

Knives : Black Cape has a certain amount of knives in its possession.

Wires : Black Cape can send long wires from its arms.

Robotic Armor : Being a robot, Black Cape is seen as really resilient, allowing it to stop an attack from Sakura's sword and Azami's kunai.

Robot View : Black Cape's eyes allow Kaminski to see what it sees from the Sevastopol.