KAEDE Smith

KAEDE Smith
kana	楓・墨州
romaji	KAEDE Sumisu
Also known as	"Barefoot"
Age	20
Nationality	Japanese-American
Occupation	Assassin
Weapon	AMT Hardballer "CONNECTION"
Special abilities	Blood Shower
First appearance	killer7 (2005)
Voiced by	Tara Strong

"I changed my makeup. Did you notice? Ugh, men. They never notice... these kinds of things..."

—KAEDE Smith

KAEDE Smith is a character in killer7, one of the playable protagonists and a persona of the Smith Syndicate.

Appearance and Personality

KAEDE is the most cautious member of the organization, as evidenced by the fact that she fled from Emir Parkreiner when everyone else who became aware of his presence stood their ground, and also indicated by her use of a ranged weapon. She typically wears a white dress upon which a number of red bloodstains are splattered; even when she changes to a black dress, these bloodstains remain. These are not only holdovers from the bullets that Emir put through her body when he killed her, but possibly a guilty reminder of her attempt to save herself rather than warn the remaining Smiths of Emir's attack. KAEDE is never seen wearing shoes at any time, even when traveling over concrete, hence her nickname "Barefoot." When she makes a successful critical shot, KAEDE says "Hurts, doesn't it?" suggesting that she may be a very sympathetic person. She also seems to show some irritation towards men, as she comments how men "never notice these kinds of things", such as KAEDE changing her makeup.

Story

As a real human, KAEDE was born in Portland, Oregon, growing up with a brother. Sometime in her first life, her brother joined the Liberal Party. Her brother ended up killing her under their orders. However, she was rescued by the resurrecting powers of Harman Smith, who then recruited her to his killer7 assassin organization, serving the group with her long-range combat capabilities. She eventually dies when Emir Parkreiner murders the entire killer7, absorbing their personae into himself. The boy confronts KAEDE on the fourth floor of the Hotel Union, where she sees him pointing his gun at her and attempts to flee in a fit of panic, hiding in the wardrobe of her room, only to have him follow her in, immediately hones in on her hiding spot and shoots her in the chest and stomach several times. She then gains the ability to use her own blood to help the group progress through its missions as a member of the "new" killer7.

When the killer7 faces off with the Handsome Men at Broadway, KAEDE loses her fight with Handsome Light Brown, who shoots her when she's reloading.

KAEDE presumably ceases to exist when her persona is killed by a Black Smile in the gymnasium of Coburn Elementary School.

Powers and abilities

KAEDE's weapon is a customized AMT Hardballer equipped with a pistol scope and a accurately-depicted 10-round magazine. With it, she is able to pick off Heaven Smile before they get to her; however, she has a lengthy reload time, made longer if KAEDE used the scope, as she will fumble with the magazine while reloading.

KAEDE's main power is the Blood Shower ability, which allows her to cut open her own wrists in order to shower blood over a target. This has various effects, mainly uncovering secret doors and passageways. She also demonstrates the ability to absorb others' blood into her wrist, such as when she removes the superfluous letters of a secret message written in blood. KAEDE's weapon also makes her the most effective member of the group at long range. Although this is of limited usefulness as most Heaven Smiles do not reveal themselves until the enemy approaches to close range, her scope comes in extremely handy during several boss fights and puzzles.

Upgrades

KAEDE has four upgrades available to her.

Upgrade	Category	Level	Description
Down Attack	Speed	1	Finish off a Heaven Smile crawling on the ground with this downward move.
DoubleTap	Speed	3	Shoot two shells at once.
Counter Attack	Criticals	1	When a Heaven Smile leaps towards you, press X Button to counter attack.
Critical Lock-On	Criticals	4	Automatically lock on to a Heaven Smile's vital organ with this scan.

Official Website Description

Kaede Smith The 4th assassin wears a white dress that spells death. The only girl in the killer entourage. She summons her deadly spirits by blasting out a shower of blood from her wrist. Because she lives a life so close to death, her ability to survive life-or-death situations is beyond that of any living man. Her specialty is long-range shooting. She's able to use a 2-step zoom when firing her weapon. On a personal level she's very passive and tends to keep her distance from others. ZOOM Goes a long way Kaede Smith's favorite arsenal is her trusty Hardballer. A unique killing style calls for a unique gun. Her sidearm is equipped with a ridiculously large custom-made scope. Heaven Smiles are no match against her 2-Step Zooming gun! Kaede has an array of kicks to show for any close-quarter combat. She knows how to use them legs!

Trivia

• KAEDE is one of a few characters, along with MASK de Smith and LOVE Wilcox, whose name was originally written in something other than katakana, the Japanese phonetic script for foreign words and sounds, and therefore has her given name written using capital letters in the English release.
• Hand in killer7 states that she is a skilled martial artist, which is partially demonstrated in her counterattack. 
• KAEDE's custom scoped Harballer is a featured weapon in Resident Evil 4, and is named. "Killer7"

  

  KAEDE's AMT Hardballer in Resident Evil 4. "Killer7"

Etymology

"Kaede", meaning Maple Tree, though likely without any meaning in itself, is a very obviously Japanese name, setting her apart from her American-influenced fellows.

Quotes

"I changed my makeup. Did you notice? Ugh, men. They never notice...these kinds of things..." -- character selection screen

"What?!" -- character selection screen

"Shit! Fuck it!" -- character selection screen

"The fuck are you looking at?" -- character selection screen