Ulrich Stern
Ulrich Stern is a character from the French animated television series Code: LYOKO.
Description
Ulrich is the silently strong introvert of Team Lyoko. He is 13 years old, 5.12' and weighs 99.2 pounds.
On Earth, Ulrich wears a jersey with a vest over it and he wears cargo pants over his legs, all varying shades of green. In the first season episode Killer Music, the jersey is shown as a non-sleeved shirt. His shoes are white. At night, he wears a white jersey and green shorts when he goes to sleep.
Ulrich's Lyoko attire is somewhat modeled after a samurai, despite the fact that he's from Germany. The outfit comes complete with a karate headband and a katana (called a saber in the English version). Coincidentally enough, Yumi's outfit is that of a geisha's, which is from the same region as a samurai. The outfit is symbolic of his personality in Lyoko.
Ulrich knows the martial art of Pencak Silat, which he practices with Yumi. He's also seen practicing it alone on several occasions. It's currently unknown how Ulrich learned Pencak Silat in the first place, who taught him, or why he learned it. Sissi also knows this art, though she only learned it to impress Ulrich (it didn't work, but it did impress Aelita). He's also a capable katana fighter as shown in the episode A Bad Turn, when he uses his skills to protect Yumi and her family from a Crab (which has garnered some respect from Yumi's brother, Hiroki). It is also unclear on how he learned how to wield and use his saber. Odd seems to have his own unique mix of styles when it comes to fighting. It can also be surmised that Odd and Ulrich regularly spar (where is not made clear) from a comment that Ulrich makes to XANA's polymorphic clone when it was in Odd's form: "You're wasting your time, XANA. Odd has never beaten me yet!"
In Lyoko, he is a very quick and powerful fighter, able to increase his speed, and can create clones to confuse enemies. He has had the some of the most interesting fighting experiences in Lyoko. In one episode, he fights three Megatanks at once. In another, he had to fight one of XANA's clones on Lyoko, which had turned itself into a copy of Ulrich. He managed to defeat his doppelganger with a clever sword stab to the chest.
Ulrich would seem to be the bravest member of Team Lyoko. He also seems to be fearless in his friends' eyes (especially Yumi's). In the second season episode Vertigo, it is discovered that he has vertigo, which is a chemical disorder that causes dizziness. It is usually associated with a fear of heights, though fear is an incorrect term in this case. It hasn't seemed to affect him before this point. Having vertigo does not seem to be a hinderance on Lyoko, since it doesn't stop him from fighting XANA's monsters on cliffs or scaling walls in an attempt to destroy them.
He doesn't say very much and is evasive when someone asks him about himself or his family (current and future). He seems to have trouble opening up to people and hides his feelings in order to use them all the more explosively in action. Whenever someone is in danger (usually due to a XANA attack) his feelings appear very quickly. The first example of this is in the first season episode Killer Music, when Odd is about to be sent to the hospital. A similar situation occurs in the second season episode Cold War, where he tells Yumi that he needed her and screams when she seems to have died (even though she wasn't).
Though on the outside Ulrich appears to be fairly emotionally strong, many would argue that he constantly deals with hidden issues few could understand. One cause of this would undoubtedly be his parents, who, as we find out in Zero Gravity Zone, are very hard to please, and have high expectations of their son (although his father seems to be prouder of him than his mother is, especially after Ulrich saves his life in that same episode). As is expected, he hasn't told his parents anything about his other life (as a Lyoko warrior). Earlier in that same episode, Jeremie berates Ulrich for going to the soccer game instead of helping to fight XANA, which upset Ulrich. Odd explained Ulrich's reasoning after he had left the room.
He has a close (and rather romantic) relationship with Yumi, based on observation from a distance and repressed admiration, though both he and Yumi constantly waver between just friends and more than that. This admiration can sometimes cause him to do things that one might consider to be stupid. For example, in the episode The Chips Are Down, when it looked as if Yumi might move back to Japan, Ulrich actually tried to write a letter to the president in an attempt keep her near the school. He abandoned this plan once he heard the lotto numbers being announced on the radio. Instead, he copied the numbers and activated a time reversion in order to win the lotto. On the other hand, he writes a poem for Yumi in the episode Saint Valentine's Day.
Ulrich's poem is as follows:
To tell you how much I flip,
it's not with a tulip.
How I'm a victim of your charms,
I long to hold you in my arms.
With you I never feel gloomy,
my little Yumi.
Yumi, however, is not the only person interested in him; Emily, Milly, Sissi, and Tamiya also like him quite a bit. Sissi is the most notable of the fangirls since she's the most persistent in trying to get him to like her back (usually through mean-spirited jokes or pranks towards him and his friends). Quite often, Ulrich has been forced to take one for the team in regards to her, meaning he had to distract Sissi to protect their secret or fake being nice to her while the others took care of the problem.
It has been confirmed on a message board by Barbara Weber-Scaff (Ulrich's American voice actress) that Ulrich is of German descent. However, neither he nor his parents speak German. Additionally, Ulrich's name translates from German as "prosperous and powerful star."
Ulrich was one of the strikers for the Kadic soccer team. He's quite good at the sport, being basically the game-winning element on the team. Jim even says so in the episode Zero Gravity Zone. Ulrich's involvement with the soccer team is not seen after this episode, probably thanks to (in part) the fact that XANA's attacks are becoming more frequent. It's possible that he may have quit or that the team itself was disassembled, as he is not shown in his soccer uniform ever again after this point, nor is any other member of the team for that matter.
Ulrich's Weapons and Capacities Inside Lyoko
- ID card: The back of Ulrich's Lyoko ID card shows three round symbols, believed to be stylized chrysanthemums.
- Life points: 100
- Skills: Out of the three warriors, Ulrich has the most effective Lyoko-based skills. Those skills include super-speed and cloning. Unlike the others' abilities, neither the super-speed or cloning require any preparation on his part, nor do they have any noticeable drawback. The others are usually hindered in some way by their special abilities. In the original pilot, Garage Kids, he possessed the super-speed ability in the real world, though he does not exhibit it. He doesn't have this ability in the actual show.
- Super-speed: In Lyoko, Ulrich is capable of moving much faster than any ordinary human. In the second season, he gains an ability called "super-sprint." This ability allows him to run even faster for short periods of time. Moving at super-speed allows him to run up walls. By stopping at a certain point on a wall and jumping off, he can "fly" for a considerable distance, usually slicing through a few enemies along the way.
- Cloning: Ulrich has the ability to create two copies of himself with the same capabilities as him. Using the ability costs him one point per copy, but since enemies damage in multiples of five, it barely qualifies as a drawback. Each copy retains one of those points and therefore can be destroyed by a single hit from any monster. He can command them after they have been created, either through vocal commands or some form of telepathy. He can draw these clones back into himself if he wishes, which is referred to as "Fusion." His cloning ability can be used in one of two ways:
- Triplicate: Ulrich simply forms two clones to assist him in battle. The clones can destroy monsters just as easily as he can, but are usually used to confuse enemies.
- Triangulate: An enhanced version of the "triplicate" ability, Ulrich and the clones from an equilateral triangle around a monster and a silhouette of Ulrich runs along the perimeter at super speed to confuse the monster. These clones remain if they are still alive after the monster is destroyed.
- Vehicle: Ulrich uses the Overbike, a one-wheeled motorcycle (monocycle) developed by Jeremie to enable faster travel in Lyoko. It's capable of flight, but does not do so normally. In fact, is the only vehicle of the three that does anything other than hover.
- Weapon: Ulrich is armed with a digital katana (a digital saber in the US DVD box set release). Ulrich's sword has the unique ability to not only absorb enemy attacks, but actually deflect them back at their source if his sword is positioned correctly. He often says "Impact" when stabbing a monster.
- Damage inflicted: 10 points of damage per hit on a monster when not the Eye of XANA.
- In the second season episode Franz Hopper, a ghost in the guise of Franz Hopper improved Ulrich's saber. The saber could now be charged and emit a wave of energy that could cut through anything in its path. The sword would glow white as this happened and the energy wave itself was of a similar color. Once the fake was revealed, he lost the improved weapon. He may get another weapon improvement in the third season.
- In the first season episode Image Problem, Ulrich says the word "weapons." This is likely a translation error by the writers.
- Damage inflicted: 10 points of damage per hit on a monster when not the Eye of XANA.
Trivia
- When travelling to the factory through the sewers, Ulrich uses a skateboard.
- In the episode Revelation, Ulrich reveals that he had an overall grade point average of 73 for the term.
- Barbara Weber-Scaff, the voice actress for Ulrich in the American version of the show, does character research on Ulrich after the recording sessions for the American version are complete. The questions asked by fans often help her conduct her research.
Voice actor information
Ulrich is voiced by Barbara Weber-Scaff in the American dub of Code: LYOKO. She does the voices for Hiroki (Yumi's younger brother), Kiwi, and Tamiya, as well.