Shelke Rui



Shelke the Transparent (無式(=無色)のシェルク, Mushiki no Sheruko, lit. "Shelke the Expressionless (Colorless)") is the third member of the Tsviets from Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-. She is nineteen years old, though she has the body of a nine year old. Shelke is voiced by Fumiko Orikasa in Japanese and by Kari Wahlgren in English.

Story
Born Shelke Rui, she was abducted at age nine and taken to Deepground, where she was subjected to numerous experiments. The procedures left her stunted, permanently appearing as a nine-year old child. She requires daily treatments of mako to sustain herself.

Her main skill within the Tsviets is retrieving information from the Worldwide Network by means of a Synaptic Net Dive, or SND. This skill allows her to create a residual image of herself and, with it, "dive" into the worldwide network. While performing an SND, she retrieves information by negotiating with data on the subconscious planes of sentient life forms. However, her skills are not limited to computers. She carries a pair of electromagnetic sabers, which resemble orange lightsabers.



She fights two battles with Vincent Valentine, and afterwards, is sedated. When Azul the Cerulean escaped his holding cell within the WRO headquarters, Shelke was targeted for termination, as she no longer had a purpose. She survived thanks to her sister, Shalua Rui, who held the monstrous Azul at bay long enough for Shelke, Vincent and Reeve Tuesti to escape. The sacrifice left Shalua permanently unconscious.

Shelke had previously absorbed some of Lucrecia Crescent's work and data into her mind to study it. However, this has an unforeseen effect, as it allows Shelke to experience Lucrecia's memories and to feel what she would have felt. These feelings compel her to help Vincent, although she never admits to this. They also allow Shelke to begin to regain her own emotions. Shelke's emotional attachment to Vincent is due to the result of absorbing part of Lucrecia's consciousness.



Onboard the Shera, Shelke performs another SND. She uses the information she gathers from the network to aid Vincent's infiltration of Midgar. While Vincent infiltrates Midgar, Shelke starts to look around the Shera. Inside the engine room, she finds her former comrade Nero the Sable, and is captured by his dark powers. She survives by using a shield materia, and is rescued by Vincent before her power runs out.

After the events of the game, Shelke lives with the others now at the Seventh Heaven Bar, although it is not revealed what she does. When the party needs to get Vincent out of the Crystal Cave, they send Shelke in to get him out. Seeing Lucrecia in Shelke, Vincent smiles as both of them look at the sky.

Battle
A mind-controlled Shelke is fought as a boss in chapter 5 at the WRO Headquarters.

Trivia

 * Shelke is the only member of the Tsviets not to be spliced with Genesis's cells.
 * In the Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Ultimania, Shelke's name and epithet are rendered as "無式(=無色)のシェルク", referring to the fact that her title is a pun meaning both "Expressionless" (無式, Mushiki) and "Colorless" (無色, Mushiki).

Shelke, die Farblose