Akumaryu Kadokawa

Gender: Male

Species: Human/Dragon hybrid (more obviously human)

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 170lbs

Age: 22

Faction Ties: Former member of the Trinity - now trying to earn his place back.

Role in Game:

Supporting lead. Aku is dishonourably banished before the events of the game after being framed by his identical twin Rikku, but the legendary Trinity prophet, Destiny, offers both a prediction and a way to redeem himself - a prophecy that a being by the name of Psi will doom the world to ruin and suffering, and a promise of redemption should Aku prevent it from happening. Aku tracks Psi down by pure luck and confronts him in an abandonded subway tunnel, but can't bring himself to end Psi outright. Learning of his great power and easily-irritated nature, Aku opts instead to watch over Psi in his journies and keep both his might and his temper under control, hoping to effectively kill several birds with one stone.

Abilities

Can run obscenely fast, much moreso than any character in the game, and accelerate to his top potential quickly to boot. In addition, he is proficient in several styles of martial arts including Wushu and Taekwon Do, specifically in kicking attacks, and adept at using them all on the move, usually using his momentum to add extra kick. Aku also possesses control of the lightning element usually only seen in those literally born from it, and is an extremely talented mage capable of casting a wide array of spells ranging from minor healing to massive energy blasts. Finally, he is an extremely gifted Empath, which gives him the ability to sense the emotions of others, but his Empathic gift is so strong that it can even effect his own emotions at times, which usually leads to him dampening most of its effect via Magick shields.

Personality

Akumaryu is relatively humble and wise for his standing, but usually feels inadequete for his actions and sometimes even hates himself for some of the things he does. Irregardless, he's a kind-hearted individual and does his best to help out those in need, even if he tends to feel he can do better. Obviously his Empathy can get the better of him in times of stress and intensity, which can sometimes leave him acting as a mirror of people he is addressing. Finally, in spite of his wisdom Aku is easily startled and surprised, often to comical effect and often concerning Psi and his many strange workings.

Summarization of Fighting style

Aku fights best when he's in mid-transit, and because Aku can reach absurd speeds even while attacking, his fighting style is best suited to very wide open, relatively featureless stretches of land where he won't have to worry about him and his opponent colliding with a wall before a combo is over. That's not to say he can't fight in tighter areas - his combos have contexts for finishing combos by launching off walls to deal somewhat lesser but still competent damage, his lightning abilities possess plenty of hitstun to keep his victims reeling, and given the opportunity, his Magick abilities can cause absolute havoc that can be difficult to recover from.

Primary Attack

Acrobatic kicks. Aku's primary attacks are fast and fluid, and always act in effort to get either himself or his opponent in a specific direction - usually both. Ordinarily these are lightly damaging and unthreatening attacks, but the flashiness and overall damamge of Aku's kicks increases greatly proportional to the speed of his victim and himself, allowing him to create large combos with spectacularly high damage if given the room to do so. In more confined areas, kicking is only any good until it backs the victim against a wall, at which point it ceases to be particularly useful or effective.

Secondary Attack

Lightning abilities. While zapping enemies doesn't benefit from the same speed enhancments as kicking does, it deals more damage at a basic level and can inflict heavy hitstun in most cases, making it a reliable fallback. While it can be used to pester enemies from a distance, the histun caused can be capitalized on to set up more difficult and complex manuevers, and zapping people in general does a better job in confined areas than kicking ever does.

Special 1

Quick dash. When tapped, Aku dashes straight towards the nearest enemy to the cursor, stopping directly in front of them even if they are off the ground. When held, Aku dashes straight to the cursor itself and, if the dash path causes him to collide with the ground, allows him to maintain the momentum given to him by the dash (otherwise he loses most of it when he reaches his destination). This is an essential technique for catching up to enemies sent flying by prior attacks and intercepting them with high damage moving combos, but it can also be used as a means of redirecting momentum quickly when the need arises.

Special 2

Magick techniques. While the Special button is held down, an interface with series of coloured dots appears onscreen, each different colour representing a seperate Magick spell. When a spell is selected by gesturing towards one of these dots with the cursor, the others disappear, and the selected dot moves each time the cursor touches it, creating a path between points that gradually forms a Magick symbol. When the symbol is completed, the spell is held in a "ready" state until the player releases the Special button again, unleashing the spell. While Magick has plenty of useful and devastating forms, the universal disadvantage of all of them is that they cost plenty of time to cast which any smart enemy will capitalize on whilst Aku is vulnerable. Representative techniques of Aku's Magick includes the minor healing Chiyu Fuujin, the lightning ring projectile Denkou Kaiten, the melee-range beam Bakuryu-zhô, and his trademark Kaze No Ryu.

Climax Mode

Buridoshu frenzy. Aku's Sakabatô sword is an Asylum Blade, which controls his actions when he wields it. When activated, the player can only control Aku's movement, whilst Buridoshu automatically attacks and defends independently from the player. The lasting time for this Climax is extremely small compared to that of other characters, and as such can be negated simply by playing keep-away or defending well, but overall Buridoshu is extremely adept at punishing projectile users and overly agressive players by way of effortlessly deflecting and countering their every move as Aku advances. If Buridoshu sucessfully executes several attacks without opposition, it will attempt to catch the victim in a viciously damaging frenzy that, if successful, lasts for the remainder of the Climax and ends in a spectacular finishing blow before Aku re-sheaths the blade.

Climax 1

Kaze No Ryu. Aku slams the ground with his fist, and several large pillars of energy burst out of the ground around him, dealing heavy damage to all enemies in the general area. Surviving enemies are sent into the air afterwards, creating ample opportunity to intercept at least one of them on the way down with the right attacks and timing, but the Kaze No Ryu's main purpose is a simple crowd clearer when surrounded.

Climax 2

Inazumakeri combo. After opening up with an assortment of rapid kicks, Aku follows up with a gut level kick which winds the victim, stunning them. He then finishes up with a rising, electrified kick that both stuns the enemy and sends them flying horizontally, finishing the Climax. While not especially deadly in its own right, it can instantly be followed up with one of Aku's trademark running combos to compound the damage further, making it useful for skipping the early setups for such and skipping straight to the pain.

Climax Finisher

Heaven's Symphony. Aku first lashes out with a Lightning Raze, punching the victim straight into a lightning bolt that descends from the sky, paralyzing them. Dark storm clouds then gather in the background and over Aku, causing Aku himself to be struck by an even larger bolt of lightning, causing him to overflow with electrical energy. Still sparking, Aku then throws alternating lightning bolts from both arms at the victim, each time increasing in intensity, finishing up with a two-handed bolt that fills most of the screen. FInally, using the remainder of his excess electrical charge, Aku summons a ball of lightning and hurls it at the victim, causing it to explode in a screen-obscuring blast of electricity, ending the Finisher.

Sketches

[Having wandered with Aku outside of missions for a specific period of time]

Psi: *sighs*

Aku: *sighs*

Psi: So...

Aku: A needle pulling thread.

Psi: What?

Aku: He built the steam angine.

Psi: Agh-- hey!

Aku: That's a horse's seat!

Psi: Why--

Aku: That one comes before Z.

Psi: Stop!

Aku: Go!

Synn: SHUT UP.

[a long silence follows. Aku looks understandably shocked]

Psi: What was I gonna say now? Oh yeah. I saw a book of "VeeGeeCats" on the stands back at the library the other day. You know what it's like?

Aku: I dunno, I wouldn't exactly say it's novel.

[Synn glares angrily at Aku, one ear twitching erratically. It takes Aku a moment to realize why.]

Aku: No wait, that wasn't what I--

Synn: *SHOOP DA WHOOP*