Phase 4

Phase 4 (Katakana: フェーズ・フォー, Rōmaji: Fēzu Fō) is a clone of Kasumi created by MIST for Project Alpha. She made her first playable appearance in a 2014 update of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade.

History
Phase 4 is a product of Victor Donovan's Project Alpha. She is a prototype of the final model, ordered to fight as a test before mass production.

In the prologue of the story mode at the ruined battlefield, Phase 4 attacked Bayman and his soldiers at blinding speed. However, she hesitated to kill them, leaving Bayman alive with two vicious scars on his torso and face.

Appearance

 * See also: Phase 4's Costumes

Physically she looks exactly like Kasumi but is draped in a black cloak. She always keeps her face hidden by her hood. Whenever using her powers she is surrounded by black and greenish aura.

Aside from her cloak, she also wears ninja jumpsuits, much like Kasumi Alpha wore before she became Alpha-152. But unlike Alpha, she wears fishnet shirts underneath, much like Ayane, instead of wearing the full black skin-tight shirts from older installments. Her other outfits make her look like Kasumi, but she wears darker, more moody colors than her, favoring black, green, and other less bright colors. Her clothes are quite simple and modest, and she currently doesn't have many overtly feminine outfits, preferring kunoichi jumpsuits and pants over skirts and dresses.

To avoid creating confusion, alternate colors or extra accessories are added or removed from Phase 4, so the player can tell the difference, since they look exactly alike. While Kasumi's default hairstyle is a ponytail tied up with a yellow ribbon, Phase 4 wears her hair loose by default. She can wear the ponytail or braid in combat, but she can't wear Kasumi's new blue ribbon ponytail.

Personality
Despite almost killing people, including Bayman, unlike other Kasumi clones, Phase 4 has her own free mind and possesses feelings of her own as a human being, an explanation as to why she hesitates to kill people and wants to live as a normal person. If one looks closely, she acts like an earlier Kasumi; she doesn't wish to fight, is soft-spoken, and overall has a more sad personality. She doesn't smile very often, and her intros and winposes are quiet and short. Her killing Bayman's soldiers and scarring him while showing remorse afterwards is quite reminiscent to how Kasumi was forced to kill and fight ninjas of her own clan while on the run to survive.

While Phase 4 has her own free mind, she does not, unfortunately, have her own free will, as MIST went through extensive testing procedures to ensure that she does not go beyond her programming. Phase 4 knows this, and it adds to her inner turmoil.

She appears to carry herself with a more masculine tone than Kasumi, as she lacks the graceful, beautiful movements and teleports of the true Kasumi. She also warns her opponent that she doesnt want to hurt them, but that she will, and upon winning, she harshly tells them to stay out of her way.

Etymology
Her name is a reference to being the final stage of Kasumi α Clone distribution. As a clone of Kasumi she's in an indeterminate state just like the original, not knowing if she'll ever be free, or will exist forever as Donovan's ultimate weapon.

Bayman
She attacked Bayman and his soldiers, but not out of malice, only due to being ordered to do so. Even then, she spared him and warned him to stay away.

Kasumi
Although it isn't clear if they've met, Kasumi and Phase 4 do share a Tag Battle intro and outro, where they teleport in together, and upon beating the enemy, states in unison with Kasumi that their actions are Mugen Tenshin.

Gameplay

 * See also: Phase 4's Command Lists

Phase 4's gameplay is somewhat similar to Kasumi's. Based on her sample combo video, her fighting style is a combination of the moves of Alpha 152, Ayane, Hayate, and Ryu's. Phase 4's playstyle does bring in some key differences, however, as she is heavily teleport dependent, meaning that she will often dart about the stage in a similar fashion to her progenitor, but unlike Kasumi, Phase 4 seems to have more moves to teleport cancel out of. While just as fast as the other Kasumi, Phase 4 is more heavy strike based, meaning that she's more suited for performing, slow, but steady combos to critical burst the opponent, so she can lead them in more teleport-dependent moves or her power blow, which is more powerful and rapid than Kasumi's.

Her teleport moves take some getting used to; while she has several moves that can lead into a teleport attack, most of them require you teleport after the first strike hits, and the opponent can't be blocking. Furthermore, the time-frame that the teleport can be done is extremely strict, and must be executed at exactly the right moment. One mistake can ruin the entire combo, and while double-tapping the teleport button can help, it takes up time for the other attack commands. As a result, she's definitely not suited for beginners, and while intermediates can pull off shorter combos and still get by, experts will most likely get the most out of her.

Her holds are great for spacing the opponent, and her expert holds, while difficult to perform, can launch the opponent, and a long damaging teleport combo can be performed easily. She can also use an air-throw, and can backflip, but her backflips can't lead into any wall-attacks like the real Kasumi. If a player has practiced with her, and overcame her disadvantages, she can prove to be quite difficult to defeat.

Dead or Alive 5 Last Round granted her the ability to teleport on block, as seen briefly in Raidou's trailer, during their match-up together.

Dead or Alive Series

 * Dead or Alive 5 (Non-Playable, 2012)
 * Dead or Alive 5+ (Non-Playable, 2012)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade (Playable, 2014)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate (Playable DLC, 2014)
 * Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (Playable, 2015)

Also Known As

 * The Tragic Weapon - Dead or Alive 5 Games

Fighter Quotes

 * Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate/Dead or Alive 5 Last Round

Musical Themes

 * Collapse - Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade

Trivia

 * Phase 4 is the third playable Kasumi clone, following Kasumi α (later Alpha-152) and False Kasumi.
 * Her voice actresses are the same as Kasumi's, but the voice-overs are modified into a slightly lower pitch.
 * Some of Phase 4's alternate costumes were previously owned by Kasumi α. This seems fitting since she is also a clone of Kasumi.
 * In the western version of the game, her default theme is Collapse, but in Japan, the theme may be different; in her Japanese trailer and in Japanese arcade video, a more depressed sounding and gloomy styled theme is played instead.
 * In Dead or Alive 5 Last Round, it seems that all, or at least some of her attacks will be able to teleport-cancel on block, as seen in Raidou's trailer. This will make her a safer character to use since she is heavily dependent on teleport- cancels.
 * Phase 4 is the only non-guest female fighter besides Alpha-152 to not get her own PlayStation theme.