Cherno Alpha (Черный Альфа Cherniy Alfa) is a Mark-1 Russian Jaeger. Piloted by husband and wife duo Sasha and Aleksis Kaidonovsky, Cherno Alpha was the last of the Mark-1 Jaeger series and the oldest Jaeger still active in combat before its destruction in 2025.
History[]
Early Combat History[]
Launched in 2015, Cherno Alpha is tasked with defending the Russian coastline and the Siberian perimeter of the Anti-Kaiju Wall. Under the Jaeger’s watch, the Siberian Wall goes unbreached for six years.[5] During that time, Cherno Alpha responds to over six Kaiju attacks in six different locations on the Pacific Rim.[6]
By 2025, Cherno Alpha is one of the four surviving Jaegers left. Upon the closure of the Jaeger Program by the United Nations, Cherno Alpha and the Kaidonovskys are relocated to the last active Shatterdome in Hong Kong, China.[5]
Hong Kong Incident[]
On January 8, 2025, two Kaiju emerge from the Breach and head for Hong Kong. Cherno Alpha, Crimson Typhoon, and Striker Eureka are deployed into Victoria Harbour to defend the Miracle Mile. As Striker Eureka is given strict orders not to engage unless absolutely necessary, Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon are left to fight Otachi and Leatherback on their own.[5]
As Striker Eureka remains a fair distance away from the battle, the two Jaegers initially hold their own in a two-on-one advantage against Otachi. The Kaiju begins its assault against Crimson Typhoon, who, after a brief brawl, hurls it toward Cherno Alpha. Although the Jaeger catches Otachi in a headlock and proceed to pummel the Kaiju's face using its Telsa Fists, Otachi manages to break free and uses her barbed tail to knock Cherno Alpha off its feet.[5]
As Crimson Typhoon moves to assist Cherno Alpha, the Wei Tang Brothers are caught off guard by Otachi's tail pincer. The Kaiju crushes Crimson Typhoon's Conn-Pod and tears it from its neck, causing the headless Jaeger to collapse into the harbor. Striker Eureka's pilots, unable to sit back any longer and watch their comrades die, disobey Pentecost's orders and rush to Cherno Alpha's aid.[5]
Otachi changes tactics as Cherno Alpha taunts her by slamming its fists together and spits a stream of corrosive acid at the Jaeger's nuclear reactor. The acid melts through through Cherno Alpha's armor, compromising its Conn-Pod and damaging the Jaeger's reactor and fuel reserves - the incinerator turbines also go to a black colour from their original orange.[5]
Before Striker Eureka can reach Cherno Alpha, the Russian Jaeger is ambushed from behind by Leatherback. Leatherback leaps onto Cherno Alpha's back as Otachi tears off its right hand, leaving Cherno Alpha all but defenseless. The right incinerator turbines is seen to explode as Leatherback is attacking the Jaeger.
When Otachi moves to intercept Striker Eureka, Leatherback smashes Cherno Alpha's reactor with its massive fists and uses its weight to drag the Jaeger down into the harbor. Cherno Alpha's Conn-Pod is quickly flooded with water and Leatherback crushes it in an underwater explosion before the Kaidonovskys even have time to drown, putting an end to the Russian Jaeger.[5]
Features[]
Cherno is one of the heaviest, oldest, and best-armored Jaegers, but also one of the slowest. It ties with Coyote Tango for the tallest height of a Mark-1 Jaeger. Visually, Cherno Alpha was designed and patterned to resemble "Russian military painting schemes" and in particular, Russian tanks.[3] Cherno Alpha is built to endure long tours of duty and sustain as much damage from Kaiju attacks as it is able to return in kind.[3] Oppositely, its heavy armor makes it one of the slowest Jaegers ever built and vulnerable to attack from quicker enemies. Cherno Alpha's arms are equipped with a weapon codenamed "Roll of Nickels", cylinders that Cherno Alpha can use to increase the power of its punches. When using "Roll of Nickels", the surrounding environment is said to shake from each blow Cherno Alpha lands on a Kaiju.[3]
Cherno Alpha's arms also appear to be spring loaded, although they can also be supplemented by hydraulics for increased impact potential. Similarly, Cherno Alpha's Z14 Fists are powered by Tesla cells, allowing the Jaeger to discharge up to 415kv of electric charge with each punch it lands on a Kaiju. As such, the effect of smashing both fists to induce maximum current on both sides of a Kaiju's head is usually enough to stun or incapacitate most targets. Cherno's other weapons are the two shoulder mounted Incinerator Turbines, flamethrowers which fire up to a medium distance.
Before battle, Cherno Alpha taunts its enemies by smashing its fists together multiple times. Whenever this happens, interconnected panels on the Jaeger's torso fluctuate. Cherno Alpha's Conn-Pod, also known as the Atmoscan, is located at the heart of the Jaeger, making it one of the most secure cockpit environments built for a Jaeger. However, it lacks an escape mechanism, meaning its pilots either kill the Kaiju or die trying.[3] Cherno Alpha's foot spikes provide additional support and balance and its MGS112 Recharging Energy Cell, a nuclear reactor, holds both unprecedented energy reserves and incendiary fuel, and also acts as a strong decoy for a Kaiju seeking the Jaeger's head.[7]
Trivia[]
- Cherno Alpha's nuclear reactor is modeled after the Mr. Fusion Energy Reactor attached to Doc Brown's DeLorean in Back to the Future.[3]
- Stacker Pentecost describes Cherno Alpha as "the last of the T-90's"[5], a term which has yet to be defined in the Pacific Rim universe. According to Guillermo del Toro, T-90 Jaegers don't exist but wanted to give Cherno Alpha the sense that it evolved from the Russians "wanting a tank" and needing to power it with a nuclear plant.[3] Out of universe, the T-90 is a third generation Russian main battle tank.
- NECA's Pacific Rim Series Three includes a Cherno Alpha Action Figure, released around February 2014.[8]
- Cherno Alpha is one of the three named Jaegers that defended the Anti-Kaiju Wall.
- in Irvine's, Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization, it is stated that (p224) "[t]he Kaidanovskys discharged the Incinerator Turbines directly into Otachi's face, searing away the kaiju's flesh and driving it back".
- In Russian dub, its name is "Cherniy Alfa" (Black Alpha). "Cherno" is the short form of the adjective and doesn't agree with a noun in that case. "Черно" is pronounced as "chyerno". For "cherniy" to be accurate as a transliteration, it would have to be spelled "Черный", which is Russian for "black."[9]
- "Cherno Alpha" is a reference to the Slavic demon Chernobog. Concept art of the Jaeger's leg joints reveal Cherno Alpha was originally named "Chernabog Alpha".[10]
- Cherno Alpha beats fellow Mark-1 Jaeger, Romeo Blue, in every category according to its stat card. Having a speed of 3 to Romeo Blue's 2, and a Strength and Armor of 10 to Romeo's Strength of 7 and Armor of 6.
- Guillermo del Toro states that Cherno Alpha was inspired by the MS-06 Zaku II from the classic anime series Mobile Suit Gundam.[11]
- According to the novelization, the Kaidonovsky's listen to Ukrainian Hard House inside Cherno's Conn-Pod.[12]
- The novelization mentions that Cherno Alpha was considered as an alternative to Striker Eureka to carry the bomb in Operation Pitfall, due to having slightly superior armor.[citation needed]
- NECA's tagline for Cherno Alpha is "Hammer Slammer"[13] and may be a reference to Hammer's Slammers.
- Cherno Alpha's first aperance is when he appears in the center of the bay doors of the Hongkong Shatterdome that had been clear a few seconds before, which might mean that Cherno Alpha is much faster than it looks.
- Cherno alpha is one of three Jaegers to receive a 18 inch edition figure .
- A twitter post from Travis Beacham shows that 1 kilogram was defined as the mass of 1 litre (dm^3) of Osmium in 1803 of Pacific Rim Universe.[14]
Gallery[]
An image gallery is available for Cherno Alpha (Jaeger)
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References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 @travisbeacham
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Cherno Alpha Poster
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 Info taken from: Pacific Rim: Man, Machines & Monsters, pages 74-73
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cherno Alpha Blueprints
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Pacific Rim
- ↑ Combat Dossier: Cherno Alpha
- ↑ Pan Pacific Defense Corps: Shatterdome
- ↑ NECA confirms Cherno Alpha
- ↑ Error Talk:Cherno Apha - Translation Error
- ↑ Cherno Alpha Joint concept art
- ↑ Guillermo, Rinko, Mana on Odaiba Tour (Pacific Rim)
- ↑ Pacific Rim: The Official Movie Novelization, page 213
- ↑ NECA: Cherno Alpha tagline
- ↑ new stats
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