Arcane Olga

“	Hmph, you're back from the spirit's graveyard, eh? I'm sure you'll make Lord Bacon proud. I am Arcane Olga! Remember my name! I'll be seeing you again. Hee hee	„
	~ Olga, formally introducing herself.

Arcane Olga, is a henchman of Albert Simon in the video-game Shadow Hearts. Olga is the ghost of a witch that enjoys murder and was eventually recruited by Albert Simon as his trusted and eager right-hand. It is unclear if she knew the true name of her master or the full scoop of his plans but she serves him loyally and helped him in most all of his schemes across Europe. Unlike Simon's other pawn, Dehuai, who unwittingly helped along Simon's schemes in Asia, Olga is very much aware of her role in his plans and has no ulterior motives for following "Roger Bacon" other than she admires his prowess.

Background

Olga was a ghost summoned by a corrupt mayor named Kevin who was experimenting with the occult in order to make some quick money. It is unclear if she was dragged back into the world of the living by Kevin originally or if she was already a ghost and Kevin just summoned her to him, but ether way she preformed a single killing for Kevin to silence a witness to his experiments and then parted ways with him. Olga did however meet Albert Simon under his alias of “Roger Bacon” and decided to join forces with him as his loyal go-to-ghost.

Olga goes across Europe in the guise of a fearful specter stealing people's souls with her bewitching voice and possessing the weak willed. She refers to her master as “Lord Bacon” but it is never confirmed if that is because she truly believed him to be Roger Bacon or if she was just instructed to address him as such.

Enter Arcane Olga

Olga first meets, Alice and Zhuzhen, two exorcists of Shadow Hearts, in Prague as she was silencing a witness for Kevin. Alice and Zhuzhen were still able to piece together where the man was from and went to Kevin's village to investigate. After a trip to recover their friend, Yuri, from the brink of eternal madness at the hands of a creature called The Seraphic Radiance, Alice and Zhuzhen returned to Prague with their re-en-souled friend to wait for word from another friend, Margarete, at the local tavern. While at the tavern Alice noticed a local lush acting suspicious and followed her into the bathroom. When Alice entered she could not see the bar maiden, Yuria, anywhere. After checking both stalls Alice glances in the mirror and notice she now looks like the old ghoul she had seen earlier, behind her she sees herself, Olga in her form.

Olga tells her she is a spy for “Roger Bacon” and has been sent to keep an eye on her, but her form is so pleasing she is compelled to kill the real Alice so she can inhabit her body as a more pleasing form instead of just using an illusion. Afterwords Olga ends the her illusion over Alice and herself, transforms into a spectral form she uses for combat and attacks her.

Alice manages to fend Olga off long enough for Yuri and the rest of Alice's friends to inquire about the ruckus in the bathroom and arrive to aid her. Upon seeing Alice's back up Olga decides to report what she has seen so far to “Bacon”. Olga leaves behind Yuria's body passed out at her feet and tells Alice that she was in her powers as soon as she entered the bathroom and next time she will be far less lucky.

Olga reports to “Bacon” at the Calios Mental Hospital, Inquisitional Hall. She reports her failure to capture Alice for him expecting him to be quite cross with her and was ready to accept punishment. “Bacon” however seems to take the failure in stride and tells her not to worry about it, he is however far more concerned with Yuri returning from the grip of the Seraphic Radiance but tells Olga not to worry about it for the moment and invites her to sit down to tea while they plan their next move.

Olga confronts Yuri and his friends with “Bacon” at a church in Rouen France; They were investigating “Bacon's” connection to Alice's father and why he killed him. “Bacon” wanted to silence Father Doyle, a friend of Alice's father. Olga warned Yuri and company not to go looking for trouble or she would kill them if they continued to pry into her master's plans. Naturally Yuri, Alice, and the rest were not so easily dissuaded. When they finally tracked down Doyle, Olga appeared and killed him then confronted them a second time in her transformed state, this time taking her master's advice and not underestimating Yuri or his friends. However Olga was defeated and vanished, having completed her task of killing Doyle anyway.

Yuri and his friends were tracking down “Bacon” through Europe and in the course of their adventures learned of a psychic/witch that was being held in the Calios Mental Hospital by Inquisitors; they went to go free her not only to save her for their new friend Halley, her psychic son, but also find information on “Bacon”. They indeed did find her and “Bacon” himself there waiting to see if the Inquisitors could put her in a subdued state for him to use as a pawn in his plans. “Bacon” and Olga captured Halley and held him hostage when Koudelka, his mother, snapped

out of her subdued state. The force of Koudelka's power sent Olga, the Inquisitors, Yuri and his friends all flying back, however “Bacon” was not as easily caught off guard. Koudelka agreed to help “Bacon” with the remainder of his plans on the condition that he not coup-de-grâce her son, “Bacon” agreed and released Halley and Koudelka went quietly with him. But “Bacon” did leave Olga behind to keep Yuri and his friends from following. Olga happily fought Yuri one final time on behalf of her master. This time when defeated Olga faded away and presumably died for good.

Personality

Olga is an outright villain, unlike her master, and takes great pleasure in seeing others suffer. She however despite her sadistic tendencies is completely loyal to Albert Simon. Olga was certain her first defeat would earn her punishment from Albert however she still reported it in, ready to accept her punishment. Olga is highly protective of her master and eager to please him, as her loyalty and devotion did not seem to apply to Kevin, such traits are not a natural part of her personality and earned solely by Albert. The reason for Olga's loyalty is never gone into in great detail other than she admires Albert's mastery as a warlock. How attached to Olga, Simon was, is unclear but her sadism usually prompts an amused chuckle from him, he reviews missions with her socially over tea and in general he treats her as more of a friend than a mere minion. Olga shows a distaste for the Inquisitors Simon is allowing to torture Koudelka, this implies that Olga, being a witch herself in life, was killed or at the very least persecuted by witch-hunters. Olga's comments to Alice also imply that she does not just possess young woman as a point of subterfuge but also just plain enjoys having young beautiful bodies to call her own.

Skills and Abilities

Olga can transform into a tougher alternate form of a hooded specter for combat purposes. As a witch, Olga is well versed in magic and her undeath only seems to have added to her various hexes. She has power to use icy blasts, dark bursts of energy and is described as using her voice to steal people's souls in the night. She has the power to possess the weak willed and can vanish at will or project her ghostly voice into remote areas. She also has the power to rip out people's life-force and cast illusions in a predesignated area and the ability to phase-shift. Olga can disappear instantly but whether this is teleportation or ethereal shifting is unknown, she is very fond of using it to make quick exits though. Zhuzhen has commented on her mystical strength and knowledge as rivaling his own, and Zhuzhen is the most magically adept playable character in the game. Though Olga becomes less of a challenge with each encounter her first one alone with Alice has been a wake-up call boss battle for more than a few players.