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"I'm going to fight for her. The same way you once fought for me."
—Gunvolt, Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime
Gunvolt "The Azure Striker", also known by his nickname "GV", is the main player character and eponymous protagonist of the Azure Striker Gunvolt series and the deuteragonist of Azure Striker Gunvolt 3.
After years of experimentation at the hands of the Sumeragi Group, he was freed by the resistance group QUILL, whom he served for a number of years, before he met a young girl named Joule in a similar situation. Taking pity on her, Gunvolt left QUILL and vowed to protect her as her guardian.
He is an Adept with an affinity for the Azure Striker Septima, which grants him the ability to generate and manipulate all forms of electricity.
Website Description
Azure Striker Gunvolt
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English site
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Japanese site
Our hero is a 14 year old boy whose real name is unknown, but he goes by the codename "Gunvolt."
When the story begins, he is a member of the armed resistance movement named QUILL, whose sole purpose is to fight against the Sumeragi Group.
Although he is a cool, level-headed guy most of the time, Gunvolt’s youthful rebellious streak tends to rear itself when he is forced to do things that go against his principles. His septima, known as the "Azure Striker," grants him the ability to control lightning. [2]
今作の主人公である14歳の少年。通称“GV”。
ガンヴォルトはコードネームであり、本名はGV自身が語りたがらないため不明。
反皇神(スメラギ)を唱える武装組織「フェザー」に所属する第七波動(セブンス)能力者だったが、シアンとの出会いにより、フェザーを抜けることとなる。
普段は冷静で大人びているが、曲がったことは嫌いで、納得の行かない事に対しては我を押し通そうとする若さと芯の強さを持っている。
第七波動(セブンス)は電子を意のままに操る雷撃能力“蒼き雷霆(アームドブルー)”
Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
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Gunvolt is an incredibly powerful adept with the ability to control lightning. He fights using a gun that fires special darts that, when locked onto an enemy, allow him to strike with pinpoint accurate electrical attacks.
The soul of a departed adept named Joule now resides within him, and with them perfectly synchronized as one, his power has been increased to its absolute utmost limits.
Still reeling from the profound loss and pain he experienced from his past battles, his chance meeting with a girl named Quinn helped him get back on his feet.
電子を操る
「ダート」と呼ばれる特殊な針を敵に撃ち込み、そこから強力な雷撃を流し込む戦法を得意としている。
シアンという能力者の魂を内に宿しており、彼女とシンクロすることによって自身の能力を極限にまで高めることが可能。
かつての戦いで多くのものを失い、深く傷ついた彼だったが、オウカという一人の少女との出会いが彼を立ち直らせるに至った。
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3
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Gunvolt has been sealed behind 1000 Sacred Blades ever since transforming into a “Primal Dragon.” The eternally young man was once known as the Azure Striker. He wields a special dart gun that allows him to lock onto enemies with precise electric attacks, all while using powerful “Voltaic Arts” to demolish his enemies. After his long battles with the Adept supremacist group “Eden,” Gunvolt found himself unwillingly awakened to a new power beyond Septimas.
千本の聖剣に封印された暴龍の化身。かつて、蒼き雷霆(アームドブルー)と呼ばれた永遠の少年。特殊な銃でダートを撃ちこみ、雷撃を必中させるバトルスタイルに加えて、新たに覚醒したヴォルティックアーツを用いて、立ち塞がる者を殲滅する。多国籍能力者連合「エデン」との抗争を終結させたが、尚も戦いに身を置き続けた彼は、ついに第七波動(セブンス)を超えたの次の段階(ネクストフェーズ)へと突入してしまう
Appearance
In Azure Striker Gunvolt, Gunvolt is a young teenager with blue eyes and somewhat spiky blonde hair along with a braided ponytail. He uses a black gun with white gatling with a blue sphere. His costume is blue with a few black details, and wears a silver hair clip at the end of his ponytail. In the 3DS version, he wears a black shirt. In the PC and Switch version, it exposes his abdomen. He also sports black boots with glowing blue highlights.
In Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 Gunvolt now has a longer ponytail, with purple, pink and blue colors on the end of it. His coat is a much darker blue with small black stripes with a white and blue neck brace. His silver hair clip is replaced with a rectangular black clip with a glowing blue center.
In Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, Gunvolt has a coat similar to the second game, but with a shade of blue more similar to the first game, a bright blue belt, with the Sumeragi symbol on the back, and gray boots and gloves with blue highlights. He wears a black ribbon on his ponytail (which is noted to be from Quinn in concept art). In his sealed form, Gunvolt resembles a blue raijū, has blonde bangs, his tail is similar to his ponytail in his normal form, and has a white collar. His ribbon is replaced with a silver butterfly-shaped hair clip, ornamented with seven blue jewels (in concept art, this is noted to be from Joule's pendant): three on each wing and one on the center. The form that resembles a puppy with yellow fur and is wrapped in a blue ribbon with a padlock, while referred to as Pupvolt, has been called a "wholly separate character", so it is unclear if it's actually a real form of GV.[3] GV's unsealed form resembles a massive blue-scaled dragon with horns similar to his Raiju form, and butterfly wings reminiscent of Lumen's.
Gallery
Main article: Gunvolt "The Azure Striker"/Gallery
Personality
Gunvolt is a serious, straight-laced and compassionate youth. He has a strong sense of morality and justice that will not be compromised, and will fight for those ideals and beliefs to the bitter end. GV is thoroughly repulsed by the idea of exploiting others against their will and by those who seek to cause harm on others purely for self-professed virtuous goals, or "big picture" schemes which are ultimately delusions of power and authoritarian in nature. Although generally soft-spoken and tranquil in his interactions with others, on the battlefield he is vastly different, being generally merciless to his enemies and hides his emotions behind a placid facade. However he does display remorse for his actions when he is forced to kill and will try to reason with his enemies and avoid unnecessary murder if possible, but will not stop if his hand is forced. While normally serious, he can sometimes be facetious on missions and has a humorous side - such as admitting that he practiced his famous pose (when charging septimal energy) in front of a mirror because he thought it was cool. While he is portrayed as highly intelligent for his age, he is also shown to be quite dense when it comes to the subject of women.
In Azure Striker Gunvolt his moral compass and beliefs are tested to his limits. Being forced to abandon QUILL after refusing the order to kill Joule and raise her instead as Asimov did to him when he was a prisoner of Sumeragi. GV also single-handedly destroyed the Adept elites of Sumeragi when they refused to listen to reason and most importantly also dealt a finishing blow to Nova, feeling disgusted by the latter's idea of exploiting Joule and Lumen for the sake of national security which involved the control of all Adepts, a vision that was reinforced when Nova became drunk with power and believed himself a God. Beyond all, GV was shocked and horrified by Asimov's goals of Non-Adept eradication and have GV and Joule serve as rulers of his new order, standing steadfast and opposing his mentor, whom he grew to view as a parental figure for saving him and teaching him the means to protect himself and how to wield his own Septima.
GV is shown to have good rapport with the rest of QUILL, getting generally along with Zeno who is close to his age, although somewhat overwhelmed by Zeno's otaku-esque inclinations. GV views Moniqa as an elder sister figure, and the two have a professional and cordial relationship during missions.
Following the events of the first game and by Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, GV is left devastated at all the deaths that occurred to those close to him, and finds a much needed source of companionship with Xiao and Quinn which provide him a place to belong and reinforce his idea of peaceful coexistence between Humans and Adepts. GV takes matters into his own hands to defend those ideals as he comes face to face with the Adept supremacy group Eden, and trying to save Joule after being subjected to Zonda's Mirror powers. GV is put face to face against Copen, and his unquenchable hatred of Adepts which stand in contrast with his more pacifist ideals. GV's attempts to reason with Copen have fallen largely on deaf ears and while he has avoided killing him before, Copen's persistence and determination have made GV fearful and wary of him. GV would admit much later that Copen was the most terrifying opponent he had ever faced. On GV's true ending, he comes to terms with Joule and Lumen's "loss" as they are merged into Mytyl and opts to remain away from her life.
By the time of Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, GV has matured considerably after several decades, but has grown somber, broody and solemn as well. Now being able to look back at his past self and his actions, he feels tremendous remorse for all the violence and bloodshed he spread, along with the consequences of his actions, regularly blaming himself for being indirectly responsible for the surge of Primal Dragons or causing Sumeragi's Adepts and equipment to lose control. Kirin proves to be an important source of emotional support, as she regularly encourages him to stand up and do what he can to fix things as he is still able to do, and prevent him from succumbing into self-guilt.
GV is good friends with Kirin and trusts her deeply, but is also mildly annoyed whenever made fun of his canine appearance, mostly by her. GV also regularly tries to be a voice of reason for Kirin as she tends to be inflamed when certain obstacles annoy her, or whenever perceived to be lax in handling matters, often telling her to focus. For the most part, he retains his unalienable sense of justice, regularly calling out the ATEMS' knights and their leader for their self-engrandoised beliefs and self-righteous posturing, despite all the collateral damage they are causing. As he is forced to confront the ghosts of his past as both him and Kirin come to face with different versions of GV's former enemies, GV comes to terms with the blood on his hands, and affirming his beliefs that while he would do things differently, he would still have fought to protect the defenseless and that ultimately his actions weren't completely depraved and had moral value.
GV, nonetheless, is fully self-aware that he is a walking danger, and that his Primal Dragon power is only being kept in check by Kirin, therefore only granting a minuscule amount of safety before he could go berserk at any time and potentially plunge the world into destruction and ruin, as demonstrated by visions of probable futures shown to him by Moebius. Knowing that a definitive solution is not available to deal with his ever growing powers, GV by now having learned to put further trust in others, while abandoning the idea of suicide which would only bring grief, decides to use Moebius' powers in order to buy humanity more time, knowing that the world will be safe with Kirin and the Dragon Saviors.
History
Background
Information about Gunvolt's past is largely obscured in mystery. He was held as a test subject in a Sumeragi lab since childhood and was forced to participate in their inhumane experiments to create artificial Azure Striker Adepts, which involved implanting non-Adept humans with Azure Striker Septimal inducers extracted from the corpse of the original Azure Striker. This project was known as "Project Gunvolt", and Gunvolt himself was regarded as the only truly successful subject.
When Gunvolt was 9 years old[4], he was rescued from Sumeragi's captivity by Asimov, who raised him from that point on. Gunvolt thus came to see Asimov as a father figure.
Gunvolt's real name is unknown, since he doesn't speak of it. In a flashback in Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime, Asimov gave Gunvolt the codename "Gunvolt", referencing the Sumeragi project that gave him his Septima.
Azure Striker Gunvolt
Pre-game
A year before the events of the main game, Gunvolt has already made a name for himself as QUILL's best agent. It was during this time Asimov introduce Gunvolt to Zeno and Moniqa for the first time.
Meeting The Muse
Gunvolt is given a mission by QUILL to find and destroy the Muse, a virtual idol that Sumeragi uses to control and manipulate both people and adepts. During this mission, he is captured by an agent of Sumeragi and tortured via electrocution, which is ineffective given his abilities. He discovers that the Muse is onboard a train headed for an unspecified location, and pursues.
After fighting his way through Sumeragi forces, Gunvolt discovers that the Muse is in fact, not a program, but rather a young girl. As he stares, the Muse materializes in front of him. The Muse introduces herself as Lumen, a manifestation of the girl's septimal power. Her lack of control over her power allows Lumen to take an avatar and act on her own will. Lumen asks Gunvolt to take the girl away from Sumeragi, but Asimov maintains the order to unplug the Muse by killing the girl.
Gunvolt refuses, and tells Asimov that he is resigning from QUILL. Asimov lets him go, and Gunvolt escapes with the girl to a hideout.
Missions for QUILL
Some time after the first mission, Gunvolt is depicted to be in hiding with the girl, whose name is now Joule.
As Joule is being pursued by Sumeragi agents wishing to reclaim the Muse, she cannot go out of hiding, and Gunvolt takes jobs from QUILL to earn money. QUILL sends Gunvolt a set of 6 jobs, each involving the general sabotage of Sumeragi facilities and neutralizing Sumeragi commanders.
When he's not having missions he attends school: that's when he disguises himself with glasses and uses a fake ID provided by QUILL (Joule does so as well but since they're a year apart in age they aren't in the same class).
Other times he does other jobs apart from missions, some apparently taking up a whole day's time.
On other occasions he hangs around with his QUILL comrades such as when he went to a karaoke at the suggestion of Zeno.
Kaleidoscape (Sinner's Row)
About 3 missions through, Gunvolt receives a message from QUILL. It is a job to take down Zonda, a commander of Sumeragi. After meeting with Zonda and dealing with Zonda's illusions, Gunvolt finally tracks Zonda down, witnessing Zonda's death at the hands of a mysterious hooded figure.
The hooded figure attacks Gunvolt, using a gun and a shield that becomes a crossbow. After his defeat, the figure retreats, stating that "when you meet God to face judgement, you will hear him whisper a name. Copen..." On that cryptic note, Gunvolt returns to his original objective. Eliminate the remaining Sumeragi adepts.
Hostage (Urban Run)
Soon after defeating the last Sumeragi commander, Gunvolt returns home, only to find Merak back from the dead and kidnapping Joule. Gunvolt leaves the hideout and rushes off to chase Merak.
After fighting against a variant of the Mantis tank which Merak summons to keep him busy as he warps away, he speaks with the executive of Project Muse, Nova Tsukuyomi. Nova offers a reward to Gunvolt for keeping Joule and the Muse safe this whole time, but Gunvolt refuses.
Eridu, Babel, and Firmament
Gunvolt reaches the Babel orbital elevator, fighting against several commanders once again. He encounters problems fighting Elise once he reaches the Firmament orbital station, who reveals a third self who infinitely revives the other two.
Then Copen suddenly shoots Elise, taking out her third self and killing Elise permanently. Gunvolt offers a truce, but Copen refuses, citing his hatred of adepts. He fights Gunvolt, using powers stolen from the commanders that Gunvolt previously defeated. After defeating Copen, Gunvolt proceeds on, meeting Nova.
Nova placed Joule into a machine to control Lumen, who is now silent and a servant to Nova, providing him with a shield. After Gunvolt fights him, Lumen disappears, weakened from both the machine's control and damage in the battle. Nova states that the reason he needs the Muse is to control all Adepts, as they would otherwise run amok and destroy humanity.
He then transforms into his final form, a giant, multi-armed figure, as if he were a god. When defeated, he leaves Gunvolt with a final message, saying that the Adepts will destroy everything without Sumeragi to guide them. Gunvolt frees Joule, and the two begin to leave the orbital station.
Betrayal
Gunvolt and Joule are intercepted by Asimov on their way to the elevator. Asimov congratulates them for defeating Sumeragi, and reveals his secret true goal; Adept supremacy and the annihilation of normal humans. He proposes using Joule's power and the satellite begin now since there won't be a better chance, and claims that GV and her will rule as "King" and "Queen". Joule is horrified at the prospect, and Gunvolt refuses, claiming there's almost anything he'd do for Asimov, but not that.
As GV prepares to fight, Asimov takes out Copen's gun and neutralizes GV's powers with a Greed Snatcher bullet, before following up with a second shot to kill him. Joule screams out his name before Asimov shoots her too. He says that while it's a shame things didn't go as planned, plans can be rewritten.
What happens next is dependent. If GV did not gain and wear the handmade necklace from Joule, the second shot fully penetrates his heart and kills him. This leads to Asimov's successful escape and eventual enactment of his plans in Luminous Avenger iX, and the transplanting of GV's Septimosome from his corpse to turn another person into a replacement "King": Blade.
If GV had the handmade necklace made by giving seven jewels to Joule and is wearing it at the time of Asimov's betrayal, he survives the gunshot but is left unconscious and bleeding out. After Joule dies, she wakes up to find she has taken Lumen's form and acquired control over her power. She sees Gunvolt, and finds that miraculously her pendant stopped Asimov's bullet from killing him.
However, he is still horribly hurt and will soon die. With no options, Joule hears the voice of Lumen, saying that there is one way to save him, but it comes at a great price. Joule accepts, and her power implants into Gunvolt's body. Gunvolt awakens to find Joule dead, and begins to despair.
Until he hears the voice of Joule, who has become one with him for eternity. Gunvolt understands that he has one last thing to do, and goes to stop Asimov, the Muse's song echoing in his heart.
Azure (Firmament)
Gunvolt journeys through Firmament, fighting Carrera one last time, though the commander is no match for Gunvolt's new power.
Once he reaches the elevator, he faces Asimov, who reveals that he too, is an Azure Striker who can manipulate electricity and Copen's gun including the "Power Grab": he demonstrates his skill in forcing the gun to do things it wasn't designed to do like drawing paths in mid-air.
In a dramatic final battle, Gunvolt overwhelms Asimov's power using the power of Joule's song, ending his ambitions. As Asimov lies at death's door, he says that Gunvolt must become the one who leads the Adepts.
Gunvolt remains silent, and the elevator stops at the surface of Earth. Gunvolt's friends from QUILL ask him what happened, and are shocked to discover Asimov dead. Gunvolt remains silent to their queries, and walks away.
Joule reassures Gunvolt that they'll be together forever, asking him where he wants to go. He says nothing as he disappears, a scattering of azure feathers in the twilit sky.
Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
Pre-game
After wandering aimlessly for months, one night he casually meets Quinn, who's being attacked by a couple of drugged Adepts. He saves her out of impulse. In return, she gives him and Joule a place to stay at.
About half a year since his battle with Asimov, he's contacted by Xiao Wu, a former QUILL agent who provides intel and new gear for GV to use since he felt GV was the only person he could trust to be able to face the upcoming threat of "Eden".
Infiltrator (Seraph Interior)
Gunvolt is given a mission by Xiao to stop the Sumeragi airship Seraph, which has gone out of control. Upon boarding, he is surrounded by some Sumeragi troopers, who are unaware of who he is until he prevades their attacks.
After dispatching the troops and several other Sumeragi minions, GV rushes through the airship to get to the control systems. On the way, he witnesses a Fazent seemingly activate by itself and drop into the city below.
Needing to reach the control room faster, he activates Joule's Anthem and blasts through every obstacle, even when an unknown person tries to catch him with an unknown Septima.
Upon nearly reaching his objective, GV is intercepted by the appearance of the Plasma Legion JB, a 10th generation Sumeragi autonomous tank prototype. It is still no match for the Anthem-empowered adept, and GV reaches the controls.
He attempts to hack it with his Azure Striker, but the code is written in such a way that it can't be modified.
Aggressor (Downtown)
GV moves further into the Seraph to find a girl being held captive by a strange robot. As he goes to save her, some strange interference is fracturing Joule's link with GV and cancelling the Anthem. The robot readies an attack, but GV rushes in close and launches Astrasphere, destroying the robot.
As the girl lies there on the ground, GV is strangely reminded of Joule. He briefly flashbacks through everything he went through with Joule, but quickly discards whatever thoughts he was having. Joule jealously makes a comment about how GV is habitually saving cute girls, even referring to Quinn and Xiao, even though Xiao's male.
Also, the girl makes Joule uneasy for one reason or another. Xiao decides to cut in, saying that GV still has to stop the Seraph from crashing down. Forgoing any plans, Joule reactivates her Anthem as GV jumps out of the ship.
With the Seraph's controls effectively sabotaged, GV has to stop the ship another way. He activates his septima in tandem with Joule's Anthem to try and safely land the ship, but a strange interference with Joule's powers is keeping them from overpowering the ship's engines.
They are only saved in the nick of time by Copen and Lola blasting the Seraph with a giant laser beam, allowing GV to move the now-disabled airship to safety. GV safely lands with the girl in tow, when Copen suddenly advances aggressively. He demands that GV hand over the girl, whose name is Mytyl. The two are about to face off, when suddenly, they are both frozen in place.
An adept shows up between the two, denying any affiliation to Sumeragi. Then, Zonda comes in behind Gunvolt, introducing the man as Tenjian of The Seven, "his" personal bodyguards.
Joule materializes herself in a valiant attempt to protect GV, but it turns out to be a trap. Zonda encases Joule in "his" mirror septima, which Tenjian then breaks, shattering Joule into nine fragments. As Tenjian gathers the mirror shards, Zonda finally reveals her true self, as the leader of the adept supremacist group Eden.
She also drops some foreshadowing for plans regarding the fragments of the Muse before departing.
As Zonda leaves, Tenjian offers GV a membership in Eden. GV refuses, breaks through the ice, and demands Joule back. The two adepts fight, with GV emerging victorious and destroying Tenjian's Glaive. Tenjian departs with the mirror shards in tow, but not before Lola jumps in and snatches one. As Copen runs off with Mytyl and shard in tow, GV is left alone to mourn Joule's disappearance.
That is, until Joule's voice comes seemingly from nowhere. Miraculously, Joule's shattering didn't quite remove her from GV completely. However, her powers have significantly weakened, and she's been forced to take on a smaller form as a result. Happy to still have some of her around, GV heads back home.
Gunvolt's Route
Back at Quinn's home, everyone takes a moment to admire GV's new combat attire.
They also converse about other topics, such as Xiao's former QUILL affiliation, Eden's ongoing operations, and Quinn's inexplicable ability to see and hear Joule. With new gear at the ready, GV heads out to foil Eden's ambitions.
Icebound (Frozen City)
During the mission to take down Tenjian, GV bumps into Copen. GV says he doesn't want to fight Copen, but Copen isn't having any of that.
The two duel, ending with Copen's defeat. He refuses to hand over his mirror shard, saying "You're not the only one who needs this shard, Adept." He leaves GV with this remark as he dashes off.
Crossroads (Prism Highway)
After three of the Seven have fallen, GV returns from his mission to find Quinn and Xiao in a panic. Eden has attacked a local highway, causing it to become filled with crystals.
GV quickly heads out to the highway, only to hear a conversation between Copen, Asroc, and Ghauri. Asroc has captured Mytyl, and refuses to hand her over. As Asroc leaves with Mytyl in tow, GV decides this is a good time to butt in and demand Copen's mirror shard. Copen then proceeds to run after Asroc, leaving GV to fight Ghauri.
Having beaten the prismatic joker and claimed his mirror shard, GV heads home.
GV returns to Quinn's home, where Joule is being unusually nice to Quinn for some reason. Meanwhile, one of Xiao's contacts has gotten the info on where Eden's headquarters is. It's called The Garden, and it's located in the city of Tashkent.
According to reports, Eden hijacked the highways and traffic control systems to recall most of Eden's manpower. As a result, it's also the location of the last few shards.
GV is unsure of how he can attack a place all the way in Central Asia, but Xiao says he's planning a way to get him in. Everyone shares another moment of camaraderie, and GV prepares to break into Eden's Garden.
The Garden
GV charges into the Garden, battling his way through Eden's troops and robots. Along the way, he manages to defeat Desna and Asroc, who even managed to defeat Copen.
Despite the fall of The Seven, Eden's troops refuse to back down, and GV has no choice but to slaughter them all to reach Zonda.
As GV gets close to the heart of the Garden, his comms link begins to cut off, likely due to interference by Zonda's septima. Upon entering a rather familiar mirror, he comes face to face with Tenjian once more. But this Tenjian is not the real one. It is a simulacrum with all of the original's thoughts and memories, created by Zonda's Septima.
The copy also decides to let drop that Zonda is his sister, though more in the "really close bond and childhood" sense than actual blood-relation. GV quickly dispatches the copy, only to find more mirrors, each leading to a rematch with Gibril, Teseo, and Milas. At the end of it all is Zonda, who speaks more about her plan to create a paradise for Adepts.
Upon finishing, she teleports away, leaving behind a copy of "himself" and "herself" to fight GV. As GV shatters the final illusion, he charges into the Garden's innermost area, ready to finish things.
GV charges into the heart of the Garden, where Zonda waits nearby with an unconscious Mytyl. Apparently, Mytyl's body can act as a nexus for the Muse's power, which Zonda demonstrates by completely shattering Joule into nothingness. Joule can do nothing to stop it, only offer a last encouragement to GV as she crumbles.
As the fragments orbit Mytyl, Zonda takes them into her own body, amplifying her septimal power. With her septima boosted by the Muse's power, she even has the power to manipulate reality, as the beautiful Garden turns into a crystalline blue emptiness, and Zonda herself takes on a fairy-like form with gigantic wings, as if she were a darkened twist to Lumen.
As the two come into conflict, GV desperately calls out to Joule without success. Zonda reveals that she was using The Seven to gather data on the shards, analyzing their usage and reactions as they fought with GV. From this data, she was able to make it so she could perform a perfect fusion with the Muse and take her power in its entirety. And that power is what she will use to crush GV.
Tiring of GV's resistance, Zonda activates her final skill, Paradise Lost. As the song begins to tear at GV's body and mind, he gradually falls into despair. That is, until he hears an echo of Joule's last words, "my song is...always...inside you..."
Finding strength from within him, GV stands up once more. As Reincarnation starts to ring out, it cancels Paradise Lost. Even Zonda, for all the power she gained from the Muse, is overwhelmed by the song within GV. Zonda can do naught but watch her paradise crumble as she explodes, her macrocosm collapsing.
Zonda is no more, but Joule still hasn't come back. Mytyl lies on the ground, ever still. GV checks for a pulse, and tries reviving her with electricity, but to no avail.
Suddenly, Copen comes in, having somehow survived and made it to the center of the Garden. Seeing Mytyl's corpse, Copen is overcome with grief and rage. Blaming GV and all the other adepts for Mytyl's death, he draws his gun on GV.
True Ending
To reach the True Ending, you must clear the story mode for both Copen and GV. Afterwards, the fight with Copen will actually play out.
In his grief and rage, Copen attacks GV, blaming him and all the other adepts for Mytyl's death. So great is Copen's anger that he even breaks out the septima from the Sumeragi commanders in the form of the powerful Guilt Sequence.
But even the sins of the past are no match for GV, and Copen is defeated. That is, until Joule's voice seemingly rings out, exclaiming "Don't you touch him!"
As Mytyl's body rises into the air, Joule and Lola both materialize their fairy forms. The Anthem echos through the Garden, and Copen comes back, stronger than ever. Copen feels the power of the Muse coursing through him, and declares it a result from Mytyl's own power, and that she wills him to stop Gunvolt.
He also makes arrogant comments such as "The Muse sings for me now! She sings a song too good for your ears, adept!" The Anthem only justifies his arrogance, as he brings his Greed Snatcher rounds to bear once more, and his Doppler Desire is empowered to Doppler Destroyer. However, even the Anthem is overcome, and Copen falls again.
Having beaten Copen again, Gunvolt slowly walks forward. Suddenly, Mytyl stands up in a bright light and blocks GV, saying "Don't get near him!" in Joule's voice.
As she stands there, arms outstretched, GV can't help but see Joule's face. As GV calls her by Joule and Copen calls her by Mytyl, she becomes confused, not knowing either of those names nor the ones who are speaking them. Realizing Joule is truly gone from this world, GV leaves the Garden, entrusting the girl's care to Copen.
Epilogue
Several weeks later, GV is walking outside with Quinn on a not-date/shopping trip. When Quinn suddenly goes speechless, GV follows her gaze to see the girl who looks like Joule. She asks, "are...are you an angel?" GV is confused, and so is she. So she asks if she knows GV or Quinn from somewhere.
She explains that she lost her memory in an accident, but the two seem familiar to her for some reason. GV asks for her name, and after some stuttering, she introduces herself as Mytyl Kamizono. GV apologizes, saying he doesn't know her, it's probably her imagination. Mytyl apologizes for the odd comment, but GV shrugs it off.
He tells, or rather insists to Quinn, that everything is fine and they can go. GV and Mytyl part ways as Quinn looks back, uncertain. GV's last thought as he walks away is "I hope that she's happy. That's all I want."
Later on, a girl quietly wonders. She has been dreaming about a person for some time now. She doesn't know that person's name, only that he fought for her.
She wonders why she has stopped dreaming about that man. Then she realizes, it is because she feels happy. She hopes that she can meet that person again, even just once.
To tell him, "Thank you. I'm happy now." And to hope the same happiness finds him. That girl, is Mytyl.
Copen's Route
The story told when playing as Copen in GV2 has Copen fight and defeat Zonda and the Seven in GV's place, with GV instead of Copen arriving late to the scene of Zonda and Mytyl's deaths. Copen still blames GV for Mytyl's death and attacks him, but Copen is the one who wins the ensuing final battle. Copen tries to finish the defeated GV off, but Mytyl (now fused with Joule) protects him with an energy barrier and demands that Copen not hurt him, before becoming confused at the loss of her memories. Copen then takes her home, fulfilling her wish to spare GV. The events of GV's epilogue still occur several weeks later.[5]
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3
GV3 implies that GV was the primary agent of Eden's downfall, and thus likely follows his story in GV2 rather than Copen's.
Pre-game
Some time after Eden's defeat, Gunvolt awoke to the Next Level, a state beyond even Septima that pushed his Azure Striker to uncontrollable levels of power. Quinn was injured in an unspecified incident, leading GV to submit himself to Sumeragi's custody to avoid causing any further harm or destruction.
GV is sealed away in the Sumeragi Future Institute of Technologies, eventually casting off his human form to become a creature known as a "Primal Dragon." Sumeragi keeps him in stasis using 1000 Glaives, and siphons his Azure Striker's electricity to power all of Japan. Supposedly, GV's power output was so high that the country was able to completely move on from all use of fossil fuels.
Dragon Slayer (Futures Institute)
Decades have passed since Gunvolt chose to be sealed, yet trouble still looms on the horizon. Even with the Glaives, GV's power continues to rise, eventually overwhelming the seal and releasing the berserk Primal Dragon on the world once again. With the help of Shadow Yakumo's battle priestess Kirin, disaster is narrowly averted, and GV's power is quelled once more.
Creating the Dragon Saviors
Shortly after GV is brought back to his senses, he is brought into Sumeragi's employ as a member of their anti-Primal Dragon taskforce, the Bureau of Dragon Saviors. As an unfortunate side-effect of Sumeragi using GV as a power plant, an emission known as "Dragon Radiation" has spread all over the country, turning Adepts into Primal Dragons that cause mayhem and destruction. GV's role is to support Kirin in handling these matters, particularly in sealing the Primal Dragons.
As a side-effect of his power being sealed by Kirin's Radiant Fetters, GV is stuck in the form of a canine for the most part. This results in GV basically becoming the bureau's mascot alongside Lumen. GV himself is more confused than anything, mixed with some mild consternation at inconveniences stemming from his lack of actual hands.
Another effect of being sealed by Kirin are "Image Pulses", flashes of GV's memories captured in Kirin's talismans to grant them permanence. Even though Lumen herself is also an Image Pulse, she's strangely able to act and talk on her own will...
Holy Night XIII (Downtown Christmas)
While responding to a Primal Dragon appearance on Christmas Eve, GV takes a moment to assist Kirin by opening some shutters using his Azure Striker and take out some enemies, though Kirin warns that there's a limit to how long he can spend in human form since she still needs to keep his power in check.
Another Sun (Ballistic Missiles)
When Shiron detects several missiles flying toward the city, Gunvolt gets an idea. Based on a certain adept he fought with data transmission abilities, Gunvolt can use his Azure Striker to warp himself on the missiles so long as Shiron can give him coordinates. Kirin tags along, as she still needs to keep GV's power under control.
They board the missiles and neutralize four of them, but on the last missile, they're accosted by two individuals; ZedΩ, leader of ATEMS, and a girl who can wield "Djinn", a septima that can empower adepts similar to Anthem. ZedΩ faces the duo in combat, showcasing his Golden Trillion septima, able to harness nuclear fusion itself. While GV and Kirin emerge victorious, ZedΩ explains that these missiles were actually transports for his associates, who've already reached their destinations, before escaping himself.
While GV and Kirin have successfully disabled the missiles, Lumen brings bad news. Eyewitness reports indicate that ATEMS members have landed at four locations, which Kirin recognizes as storage areas for the Binding Brands, the sacred swords from which every Glaive is derived. While ATEMS' aim is unknown, GV can't imagine they'd do anything good with the Brands, and the Bureau sets off to intercept.
Sunrise Palace
Despite the Dragon Saviors' best efforts, ATEMS manages to steal all the Binding Brands. Doing something at the UTU Media Tower, a song rings out that adversely affects Adepts, even GV himself. Lumen's song manages to protect everyone in the office, though the rest of Sumeragi's Adepts are out of commission. They quickly check the news to find that the media tower is turning into a sandy castle. GV theorizes that ATEMS used the tower to amplify the effect of their Djinn septima and spread that "song" across the area. While he thinks they're running headlong into a trap, there's no choice but to move out to the Sunrise Palace.
Venturing deeper into the Sunrise Palace, GV is shocked to see Jota and Viper, Sumeragi Adepts he once fought in the past. GV can't sense any lifesigns from the two before him, betting that an ATEMS Adept is pulling illusions from his memories. After Sumeragi's ghosts are put down, GV soon faces Zonda and Tenjian, the No.1 and 2 respectively of Eden. When they too go down, the duo finally confronts the source of their phantoms; Serpentine of ATEMS. They eventually best her illusions, and move further into the palace.
Deeper in the palace, GV and Kirin come across Grazie, who insists on standing in their way. The knight's blind faith in ZedΩ for giving her purpose seemingly riles up GV, perhaps drawing some unfortunate parallels to Eden's zealots. This, combined with BB's fall at the hands of Sistina, drive Kirin and GV to defeat the gunner Adept and move on to the palace's core.
ZedΩ (Sunrise Throne)
Shiron's comms link fails as Kirin and GV reach the inner sanctum of the Sunrise Palace. There, they find ZedΩ, accompanied by the wielder of "Djinn", Layla. ZedΩ welcomes them as he calmly exposits his plan. Using the Binding Brands, ATEMS would unseal the other secret S-FIT was hiding besides Gunvolt; the "true ruler" of the Primal Dragons, Moebius. ZedΩ states that as a natural-born "Octima" wielder with power beyond Septima and Primal Dragons, Moebius is the "Child of Hope" for Adept-kind. As Moebius stirs in its slumber, GV is hit with mental images, key among them being himself standing above a ruined world. ZedΩ explains that Moebius' power, "Astral Order", allows it to see the infinite possible futures and realize the one it desires. If Moebius were to wish for a future of chaos, it could easily become a Primal Dragon, spreading Dragon Radiation across the whole globe and driving Adepts to rampage...
Thus, ATEMS made it their goal to find and control Moebius, unable to trust that Sumeragi would not exploit or abuse it and catalyze such destruction. Layla's Djinn Septima was confirmed to have the ability to control Astral Order, even when Moebius is still asleep. While there will still be an epidemic of Primal Dragons awakening, they hope that their control of Astral Order will allow them to create a slightly better world. GV immediately gets flashbacks to Joule's internment as Sumeragi's tool, and rejects ZedΩ's plan. ZedΩ remarks he never expected GV or Kirin to cooperate, and summons his Golden Trillion, inviting them to try and stop him.
Even after ZedΩ is empowered by Djinn's song, the duo manages to defeat him. While Kirin promises the Golden King that Sumeragi and Shadow Yakumo will do their best to handle Moebius, as if on cue, Moebius stirs in its slumber and shatters the Glaives keeping it sealed. Apparently, when GV and ZedΩ's Septimas clashed, the resulting power was enough to awaken Moebius. With the Golden King too weakened from their fight, it falls to Kirin and GV to quell Moebius.
Moebius (World Moebius)
Kirin and GV find themselves in a warped reality, as Moebius' Astral Order is already taking effect. The Media Tower acts as a relay, allowing Moebius to engulf the world in Dragon Radiation in mere days. Kirin declares her plan to seal Astral Order with her Septima, and assaults the beast.
Kirin successfully destroys Moebius' armor, but it unleashes a pulse that destroys GV's Fetters, turning him human again. As the creature charges at Kirin, GV intervenes. Moebius fuses with GV, and he sprouts a pair of blue butterfly wings. ZedΩ realizes that as the ruler of Primal Dragons, Moebius has successfully hijacked the Azure Striker. GV himself realizes that this state he's in is the exact same as the one in the bad futures Moebius showed him, believing Moebius is going to use his Azure Striker and destroy the world. Seeing no other recourse, GV pleads for Kirin to kill him. The Battle Priestess cannot believe what she's hearing, but GV insists it's the only option since Moebius can nullify Kirin's Radiant Fetters. With one final plea, GV loses control of his body to Moebius, and is forced to attack Kirin.
Eventually, Moebius invokes its Astral Order, creating a dimensional space that nullifies Kirin's abilities and saps her health to nothing. Just as all seems lost, Djinn appears once more, reviving and empowering Kirin. This power, combined with the last of ZedΩ's Golden Trillion power, allows Kirin to resist Astral Order's effects, and just maybe stand a chance at stopping Moebius.
Bad Ending
To get this ending, attack Moebius at least once using the sword or a Skill Image Pulse while it's separated from GV.
As the battle rages, Moebius only sinks its claws deeper and deeper, eventually overtaking GV entirely. The possessed GV flies forward faster than anyone can react...and impales himself on Kirin's sword.
Kirin is shocked and horrified at what has just occurred, while GV, now in control again, congratulates her on stopping Moebius and saving the world. In his thoughts, GV is relieved at his imminent death, since the ruinous future Moebius showed him will never come to pass. Declaring the rest is up to Kirin now, GV fades in a cloud of green sparks, as Kirin falls to her knees in despair.
True Ending
To get this ending, DO NOT attack Moebius with Kirin's sword or Skill Image Pulses. Just throw talismans until Moebius enters the sealed state.
The possessed Gunvolt falls to the floor, severely weakened by Kirin's seals. GV internally marvels at how Kirin refused to simply kill him and sought another way. The final talisman shrinks Gunvolt into a child that flies off in an orb of light. Kirin calls to him, but he's already beyond her reach.
Weeks pass after the final battle. Sumeragi reached a peace agreement with ATEMS, who have since left the country. Primal Dragons are cropping up just about everywhere, leaving the Dragon Saviors with their work cut out for them. While GV's fate and location are unknown, just knowing he made it out alive is enough for Kirin as she fights to secure the world's peace.
As the credits roll, a shooting star trailing blue and green flies across the land and into the horizon...
True Ending 2.0
This is the True Ending as modified with the 1.3.0 (Switch) and 1.2.1 (PC) update. A new cutscene occurs after Kirin throws her last talisman.
In a faintly-illuminated space, Gunvolt feels Astral Order's power flowing into him. Moebius speaks to him in this space, but now the two can understand each other (though Moebius still warbles incoherently and its dialogue is rendered in ellipses). GV realizes Moebius did not desire the future envisioned, where Azure Striker destroys the world. Moebius' awakening, its attack, even possessing GV, were all last-ditch attempts to prevent that future from coming to pass, despite its seeming inevitability.
Gunvolt now realizes that attempting to kill himself to avert the apocalypse may not have been the best of ideas, especially having Kirin, his friend, commit the deed. Moebius suggests that rather than take the most drastic option, they simply take steps to buy time for Kirin and the others to work on a solution. While GV regrets that "present [him]" can only leave the majority of the work to Kirin, he holds faith that she'll find a way with the Dragon Saviors. With Moebius empowering him and a wish to meet everyone again, Gunvolt makes one final invocation;
"Oversurge, Azure Striker!! Together with Astral Order!! Reverse our inescapable fate!!"
The rest of the True Ending plays much the same. Gunvolt shrinks into a small child, vanishes into a ball of light, followed by a weeks-long timeskip where ATEMS has left and the Dragon Saviors are swamped in Primal Dragon suppressions.
The final change lies in the credits sequence. After the star vanishes into the twilit horizon, the screen fades to white with one final phrase;
"At that moment, a life gave its first cry on this earth once more----"
Epilogue ATEMS - Traces
In the aftermath of vanishing alongside Moebius, Gunvolt left behind Azure Spirits, fragments of his Septimosome mixed with Astral Order. Gathering the Azure Spirits to unlock their secrets becomes the impetus for ATEMS to remain in the country for a little while longer.
Other Appearances
Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX
An alternate-universe version of Gunvolt is briefly mentioned in Luminous Avenger iX, having been killed alongside Joule by Asimov. His Septimosome was extracted from his corpse and eventually implanted into Blade.
Mighty Gunvolt
Mighty Gunvolt
Gunvolt appears as a playable character alongside other Inti Creates characters Beck and Ekoro in the 8-bit spin-off game.
Burst
Gunvolt returns as the playable character of the sequel to Mighty Gunvolt, alongside Beck once more, having been sent to a strange virtual world.
Blaster Master Zero
Gunvolt appears as a DLC "EX character" in the game Blaster Master Zero, being the first of multiple characters, announced alongside Ekoro. He uses his electric powers like Prevasion and Flashfield, and has access to special moves like Luxcalibur.
Umbraclaw
Gunvolt's GV3 self will appear as a boss in Umbraclaw. During the battle with Moebius, he is separated from Kirin and sent to the Soulplane, one of the Potential Worlds attracted by Astral Order. His seal remains intact, albeit unstable.
While this collaboration coincided with the series' 10th anniversary, it was not considered one of the official commemorative events for it.
Card-en-Ciel
"Oversurge! Azure Striker! Burn your brilliant blue into this prismatic agent!"[6]
Gunvolt makes multiple appearances in the roguelite card battling RPG Card-en-Ciel, with each of his appearances from across the main series games appearing separately as cards and sometimes enemies representing those three games. His GV1 self is the boss of the Azure Striker Gunvolt story dungeon. In the case of his Gunvolt 3 appearance, Dogvolt also appears as a separate card.
Card | Character | Effect | Cost | Movement |
---|---|---|---|---|
Flashfield | Gunvolt (GV1) | 8 damage to enemies with Break Points a maximum of 3 times based on how many Break Points are applied to them. | 1 | Up |
Dart Leader | Gunvolt (GV2) | Apply 1 Break Point | 0 | Left |
Voltaic Chains | Gunvolt (GV3) | Banish all cards in hand and deal 16 damage. +3 damage per card Banished. (Special: Banish all cards in hand and deal 32 damage. +6 damage per card Banished.) |
1 | Up |
Ruler of the Primal Dragons | Dogvolt | [Summon] Forge two Radiant Fetters when Summoning and at start of turn. (Special: [Summon x2] Forge two Radiant Fetters when Summoning and at start of turn.) |
0 | Right |
Dogvolt himself is what is summoned to the player's field when using "Ruler of the Primal Dragons".
Gallery:
Runbow
Gunvolt, along with several other noticeable indie game characters, appears as a playable character in the racing game Runbow.
Indie Pogo
Gunvolt, along with several other Indie characters, was originally announced to appear in the game from Lowe Bros as free DLC. This did not occur as a different set of characters featuring only two of the promised ones, Gunvolt not among them, was released instead.
Blade Strangers
Gunvolt is a playable character in the fighting game from Nicalis. He has the lowest HP in the game.
Powers and Abilities
Azure Striker
As a human attuned to the septimal stage of the Lifewave, Gunvolt is an exceptionally powerful Adept with the Septima Azure Striker, which is also a moniker sometimes applied to him and the Septima's other wielders.
The Azure Striker was the very first Septima discovered by humanity, uncovered within a jungle within South America according to Asimov. It allows the user to freely control electricity, and in an age that was dominated by technology, the Azure Striker was dubbed the ultimate power. Ordinarily, an Azure Striker unleashes enormous bolts of lightning to strike their foes down and manipulates magnetic fields to move at high speeds.
Sky-blue electricity coursing through his veins, Gunvolt has shown himself to be one of the most powerful Adepts in the setting. Sumeragi researchers ascribe to him the highest Adept strength rank of S+,[7] and he has defeated many powerful foes including fellow S+ rank Adepts Nova and Zonda,[8] as well as Copen in Gunvolt 2, whose equipment put him on par with an S+ rank Adept.[9]
Apart from its straightforward attack ability, the Azure Striker can significantly increase bodily abilities by turning an Adept's biological current active.
It’s capable of covering the body’s surface with a thin EM field film (shield) which protects one from all types of attacks: this film acts as a barrier, the Flashfield. It also allows controlling (hacking) electrical devices from the outside. They say that it hides power which can be used in all kinds of situations.
In terms of combat prowess, Gunvolt commonly utilizes his Azure Striker in tandem with his marksmanship skills as his main fighting style, creating a deadly combination that most unmatched opponents are incapable of circumventing.
Gunvolt also regularly trains in a form of martial art known as Chatan Yara Kushaku.
Additionally, Gunvolt has displayed that he is able to use his Flashfield to achieve hovering for a short amount of time, disperse the enemy's defenses, as well as most obviously, harness the Flashfield to protect him from physical projects such as bullets and solve puzzles that he happens to encounter such as move floating platforms and float with the assistance of magnetic ceilings.
Gunvolt's greatest ability with the Azure Striker Septima is known as Prevasion, which involves his existence momentarily shifting from flesh to electricity, allowing enemy attacks to pass through him without harming him. In Gunvolt 1, Prevading through an attack produces a phantasmal image of Gunvolt that appears to take the hit in his place, but this visual effect is absent in later games. In Gunvolt 1 and Gunvolt 2, Gunvolt needs to wear certain pendants in order to use Prevasion, though he can use it without any equipment when empowered by The Muse's Anthem.
Other techniques Gunvolt has displayed with his Septima include stimulating his natural healing abilities through bioelectric currents, temporarily boosting certain aspects of his power, enhancing physical attributes such as his speed, strength and endurance as well as granting him the ability to perform double jumps as to extend the time spent airborne, dashing within the air with the same ease displayed by rushing forth on the ground, and many more.
Gunvolt is able to invoke Skills, which are specialized techniques that make the most of his Septima, accompanied by skill names and elegant haikus. Gunvolt's skills normally involve him shaping the blue lightning manifested by the Azure Striker power, constructing a myriad of formations out of solidified electricity, such as creating small-to-medium-sized spheres that can circle him or are simply projected before him, pillars of lightning that zap everything above and below him, enormous swords of azurite that he thrusts forward, and most notably, electrifying chains which ensnare everything in sight in a crisscrossing motion, fatally electrocuting anything they come into contact with; though Skills come in two flavors, Offensive Skills, which are geared towards doling out immense amounts of damage, and Support Skills, supplementary powers that bestow upon him incredible supportive properties, such as increasing damage output, recovering from the full expenditure of energy, and many more.
However, a weakness to Gunvolt's power is that once his Electro Psycho (EP) energy has been exhausted, he will enter a state known as overheating, where he is incapable of channeling Septimal energy, which remains in effect for approximately one second.
Interestingly, Gunvolt's Azure Striker abilities appear to run off two separate power sources – Prevasion and Flashfield are drawn from EP energy, and his special skills are derived from Skill Points, with each skill having a varying cost. If Gunvolt has his EP energy depleted at any time, he is able to recharge his energy manually by concentrating deeply and striking a flashy pose; however, Skill Points slowly refill over time with no way to hasten their recovery rate manually.
In addition to the Flashfield's gliding capabilities, when using certain equipment GV is capable of performing air jumps and dashes at the cost of EP.
Tagging and Flashfield
Tagging is a core battle mechanic in Azure Striker Gunvolt. Through "bolts" from his gun, Gunvolt can mark enemies and objects with "tags."
- Enemies and objects can be marked with up to three tags.
- Bolts permitting, multiple enemies and objects can be tagged at once.
Enemies or objects that have been tagged can then be shocked with Gunvolt's Flashfield (雷撃鱗, Raigekirin, "Thunder Scales") even at a distance. The Flashfield can also be activated mid-air to slow Gunvolt's descent to the ground as well as increase the lateral distance at which he can move as he descends. Lastly, the Flashfield can act as a physical barrier to enemy projectiles. Activating the Flashfield consumes EP.
- Each additional tag on a target increases the rate of damage dealt to the target by the Flashfield.
- Performing a dash-jump and then activating the Flashfield increases the speed at which Gunvolt can move laterally as he descends.
- The Flashfield cannot shield Gunvolt from energy-based projectiles, such as lasers.
- Should Gunvolt's EP become 0, he will temporarily overheat—preventing him from using the Flashfield. Neither quick-charging nor the skill "Septimal Burst" negate overheat. However, the skill "Split Second" can instantly restore Gunvolt's EP to max in the case of an Overheat.
- Using the Flashfield while underwater or with most of his body submerged causes it to disperse and triggers overheat.
Prevasion
Prevasion (
- Thus, constant EP recharging grants Gunvolt pseudo-invincibility.
- Prevasion will not activate if Gunvolt has the Flashfield active.
- Even if Gunvolt avoids damage with Prevasion, one hit will break his Kudos.
- Changed in the second game. Kudos can be kept for three hits or even permanently if so chosen.
- Prevasion does not work against attacks that cause Chaff or Stone.
- Prevasion does not work against instant-death attacks/cutscene attacks.
Next Level
Following the dismantling of Eden's ambitions, Gunvolt awoke to the "Next Level", a stage above Septima that pushed his Azure Striker to the pinnacle and beyond. This power grew to the point where not even GV himself was able to control it, requiring him to be sealed by Sumeragi using 1000 Glaives. This also caused him to lose his human form, becoming a giant beast known as a Primal Dragon. It was only with the help of Shadow Yakumo's Battle Priestess Kirin that GV was able to safely harness this power, though he can only remain in human form as long as his seals remain stable, needing to otherwise spend time as a raijuu-esque canine.
With his Next Level powers, GV's Azure Striker has increased output and variety, though utilizing these abilities does strain GV's safety limiters, forcing him to become a raijuu again if he overdoes it. The exception is when Kirin falls in battle, in which case Lumen will activate Anthem to awaken GV, though this comes with its own risks. If GV loses control of his power and Kirin cannot quell it, there will be nothing to stop him from reverting to a Primal Dragon and going on a rampage...
An invisible timer ticks down when Gunvolt is under Anthem, represented by a flashing red border on the screen that encroaches more as time passes, Gunvolt attacks, or he gets hit. When the timer expires, the "Special Skill" Vanishing World will activate. A chantless cut-in of Primal Dragon Gunvolt appears as he loses control of his power. A silhouette of Primal Dragon GV roars as the screen fades to white before returning to the title screen. Basically an extended game over sequence where Primal Dragon Gunvolt loses control, and it's implied he destroys the world.
Abilities:
- Arc Unleash: Whenever GV takes the field, this skill always precedes his appearance. A flurry of Crashbolts strike the area, wiping out all foes in sight.
- Flashfield (Constant) and Lock-on Flashfield: GV's Next Level Azure Striker always has Flashfield deployed, shocking any enemy or projectile that enters its radius. GV must instead retract it to focus its energies on tagged foes, which also slows his falling speed.
- Spark Dash: Inspired by Copen's equipment and abilities, this skill allows GV to damage and tag enemies by dashing into them.
- Lightning Assault: Similar to the Arc Chain ability bestowed on Kirin, GV can warp to any tagged foe and hit it with an electric burst. Unlike Kirin's Arc Chain, however, GV only targets one foe per input, rather than hitting them all in succession. The upside here is that as long as GV's tags are still active, GV can keep hitting the same target(s) until the enemy is defeated or the tags expire.
- Voltaic Buster: A stronger version of Spark Dash is triggered by dashing into a foe with 3 tags applied to them. GV performs an electrified piledriver that obliterates the target and all foes on screen. This move can only be used on bosses when their HP is below a certain threshold. The exact limit varies depending on the remaining Fetters charge. Defeating a boss with Voltaic Buster counts for Skill Finish bonuses. During Anthem, GV can use Voltaic Buster on almost any boss regardless of their remaining health.
- Flash Dart: Replaces GV's standard darts when Anthem is in effect. GV unleashes a shockwave that applies 3 Tags to all foes in range.
- Astrasphere Flashfield: Replaces GV's Flashfield when Anthem is in effect. Any time GV focuses his energy to zap tagged foes, he also emits a constant Astrasphere.
- Luxcalibur Dash: Replaces GV's Spark Dash when Anthem is in effect. Dashing into foes now stabs them with a Luxcalibur for greater damage.
- Permanent Voltaic Chains: Under the effect of Anthem, Gunvolt's Special Skill will always be set to Voltaic Chains, and using it will not switch him back to Kirin.
Special Skills
Voltaic Chains' incantation |
As Gunvolt damages or defeats enemies, he gains experience and can potentially levels up. As he levels up, Gunvolt may learn new attacks that he can use in battle. Unlike normal attacks, these use SP, rather than EP, which take far longer to recharge, and are split into offensive skills, which can kill most enemies in one strike, and support skills, which can heal Gunvolt and buff his existing moveset.
Equipment
Main article: Equipment
Aside from his outfit and gun, through QUILL GV has an assortment of special equipment--eye contact lenses, pendants, and rings--which enhance his septimal powers and can unlock abilities he can't normally use on his own. In a home conversation on the subject, he notes that the rings are constructed out of a special metal and gems, and speculates they're similar to Sumeragi's glaives.
New Model Protect Armor
The New Model Protect Armor (新型プロテクトアーマー) is a strengthened protector which Xiao, who secretly supports GV, made-to-order exclusively for GV and which he procured. Apart from being very lightweight, it reacts to GV's septima and it can change strength and toughness, amongst other aspects.
It also can generate a special EM field to guard against the "Greed Snatcher" which made GV suffer in the past, but it can't fully block the effects. This defense is an application of the EM field produced by the Azure Striker. It uses data retrieved from Asimov's corpse (data which he left behind for GV just before his death) and the Dart Cartridges technology as a base.[7]
Dart Leader
Gunvolt's pistol, the Dart Leader (ダートリーダー), more properly known as the Fw-005 (TYPE-0) D:T/LEADER, is an exclusive firearm administered to him by QUILL, and is classified as an electromagnetic projectile weapon. Because its energy source is Gunvolt himself, there is no external power system installed.
Rather than bullets, the gun normally fires Bolts (
These bolts are created by combining a metal coating with strands of GV's highly conductive hair. As they are from his body, they correspond to his Flashfield's electricity; once a target is "tagged" by a bolt, an arc of lightning will be discharged from the Flashfield directly at it.
According to concept art notes, the gun uses magnets attached on the bottom of the barrel to accelerate the bolts and increase their strength. A sensor on top of the gun automatically calculates the distance to the target and calibrates the firing speed accordingly. As the bolts fly, pieces break off from their rear, resembling feathers being shedded.
Since the gun's main purpose is to guide lightning, its output's restricted, but if Gunvolt connects the “tail-plug” equipped on his hair into the rear connector then it can directly fire a powerful septima as well.
In truth, if the muzzle size matches, the Dart Leader is capable of shooting conventional bullets or pebbles, and can even be used as a wire hanger. However, Gunvolt’s physical abilities are so high that this is almost never used.[10]
Following GV's departure from QUILL, he had to do maintenance by himself. However, once he got into contact with Xiao he was able to completely overhaul it. The basic structure is unchanged, but gun calibration aiming to stabilize the output and cooldown has been carried out. Also, as a result of increasing the thunder transmission efficacy, the indicators now glow in a blue color.[11]
Boss Battle Skills
Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
Normal
Attack | Description |
---|---|
ダートリーダー 雷撃鱗 Thunder Scales |
GV's standard attack. He fires a round of four needles straight forward while standing still or walking forward. Alternatively, he can jump and shoot, launching one needle in the air and one on the ground. If three tags are inflicted, GV will shock you with the Flashfield. If GV is suffering overheat, upon the third tag connecting he will use Split Second to recharge his EP.
GV will also dash around the battlefield at various points in the fight for better positioning and to try and inflict contact damage. |
霆龍玉 Thunderclap Dragon Sphere |
GV creates an orb of electricity that lingers in the air for a few seconds. Damages on contact. Ignores Prevasion.
|
スパークカリバー Spark Calibur |
Gunvolt's Special Skill. Creates a gigantic electric sword in front of GV's current position that deals damage on contact. Ignores Prevasion.
|
Anthem
Attack | Description |
---|---|
Electromagnetic Barrier (Heat Haze) |
Under the effects of Anthem, GV has unlimited Prevasion. The only way to cancel this is to hit GV with Hydro Zapper or Shred Storm, both of which cause him to overheat.
|
スパークカリバーシュート Spark Calibur Shoot |
Gunvolt creates a Luxcalibur and launches it forward. Ignores Prevasion.
|
ライトニングスフィア曼荼羅 Lightning Sphere Mandala |
GV casts Astrasphere in midair, covering a large portion of the screen and dealing notable damage. When the move ends, the 3 lightning orbs spiral outwards. Ignores Prevasion.
The launch timing differs between Japanese and English; if the game language is set to Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, or Simplified Chinese GV will use the Japanese variation of this move, while all other languages cause him to use the English variation.
|
ヴォルティックチェーンサンダー Voltaic Chain Thunder 吼雷降 Roaring Thunder Fall |
GV creates columns using Voltaic Chains before charging them with electricity. As the chains shatter and fade, Crashbolts will strike the spaces inbetween where the chains didn't reach. Ignores Prevasion.
|
アンリミテッドヴォルト Unlimited Volt |
Let this joyous song / Ring forth as a dragon's roar / And grant the spark's gift! Septimal Surge!
Gunvolt's Special Skill while under Anthem. GV is enveloped in a yellow aura and gains doubled attack power for the rest of the battle. |
EX Frozen City
Gunvolt will begin the battle in his normal Anthem state. Upon entering his third phase, he will use Septimal Surge, this time drastically changing his skills and enhancing his defenses.
Attack | Description |
---|---|
Gunvolt creates an Astrasphere Mandala, and slowly launches the entire thing at the player before the three lightning spheres disperse.
The Japanese/English launch timing difference of regular Astrasphere Mandala also applies here. | |
Three Luxcaliburs are launched from Gunvolt's front, top, and rear, leaving behind trails of Dragon Spheres in their wake. The Dragon Sphere trails then rotate from his front to his back. | |
In addition to the vertical chains, diagonal chains are deployed in an X formation that forces jumping to avoid the current. This is then followed by three waves of Crashbolts which target the player's position and spread outwards, forcing well timed bullit dashing back and forth across the screen. | |
アンリミテッドヴォルト Unlimited Volt |
GV will recast this skill again if his life bar is reduced beyond the second "S" of "BOSS" label while he's in the cooldown time between attacks. This time it functions like Galvanic Renewal, restoring all of his health, including the two gauges that were cut down in his normal Anthem mode. GV remains in his ultimate form as his health is reset, making this basically an auto-loss for any player who doesn't possess great skill.
GV will trigger this healing move infinitely (fitting its Japanese name "Unlimited Volt"), which means precise control of his HP is required during this fight - the final bit of EX GV's HP must be removed in during his attacks and with a Shred Storm as the finishing move while EX GV is caught off guard. |
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3
Primal Dragon
*Note: All attack names except Lightning Overload are currently unofficial.
Attack | Description |
---|---|
GV will mark certain areas of the field with small lightning bolts. About 3 seconds later, Crashbolts will strike the marked areas.
On Hard Mode and above, the move electrifies the floor, and GV follows up with another volley with the safe zone near his head. | |
GV charges electricity in his horns while marking either the floor right in front of him or at the back of the arena. A few seconds later, a giant electric orb will form and slowly sweep the floor. Both the orb on the floor and the one on GV's horns inflict contact damage.
On Hard Mode and above, the large orb will also shoot Dragonspheres upward as it travels along the floor. | |
GV starts using this attack in battle phase three in Normal Mode. GV will lower his head and charge up a lightning blast from his mouth, which spews forth in a cone. The main safe spot is right in front of GV.
On Hard Mode and above, this move will fire additional blasts upwards and downwards. It also becomes a regular move that he'll use even before his final phase. | |
This move is only used by the Primal Dragon GV copy during Epilogue ATEMS. A Crashbolt spawns in front of it, and after a few seconds, a series of Crashbolts will sequentially fly forward. | |
This move is only used by the Primal Dragon GV copy during Epilogue ATEMS. It roars as three Dragonspheres appear around ZedΩ. The Dragonspheres spiral inwards to form an Astrasphere which flies towards ZedΩ's position. As the Astrasphere flies and lingers, the copy will charge and fire a Lightning Breath. After that, the Astrasphere will disperse into 3 Dragonspheres. | |
The Primal Dragon GV copy's Special Skill in Epilogue ATEMS. It roars as Dragonspheres fly in from the left half of the arena towards him. After ~10 seconds of charging, it will rain lightning bolts on the entirety of the arena. The attack is unavoidable if you let the Primal Dragon charge it up fully, so the player must weaken and finish the boss faster than it can charge to avoid taking damage. |
Moebius-Gunvolt
*Note: Aside from Prevasion and Special Skills, attack names without quotes are taken from GV3 data. It is not fully certain that the names and shown attacks are correct matches.
Attack | Description |
---|---|
Gunvolt is able to avoid any normal attack with Prevasion. Using Arc Chain on him removes the Prevasion and allows him to be damaged until he warps to perform a different attack. | |
Gunvolt flies across the top of the screen, raining electric sparks as he goes. He then warps to the half where he started his flight as the sparks linger on the floor.
On Hard Mode, after warping, while the sparks are still descending, he follows up with Astrasphere or Crashbolt. The sparks also linger on the floor for a longer time. | |
Gunvolt freezes in midair for a second before unleashing Astrasphere.
On Hard Mode, the electric orbs will spiral outwards, similar to Astrasphere Mandala. | |
Gunvolt warps around the area, then marks a part of the field before striking it with a large Crashbolt. Every time Moebius reunites with Gunvolt, he also unleashes a Crashbolt around himself. | |
(Lock-on Thunder Scales) |
Gunvolt warps to a random spot on the screen and unleashes a shockwave. If this shockwave hits Kirin, she'll be tagged and Gunvolt will hit her with an unavoidable Flashfield attack. If the shockwave is dodged, Gunvolt will warp to another area of the room and attempt the attack again, up to two times.
On Hard Mode, the delay between Gunvolt warping and unleashing the shockwave is shortened, and the wave itself travels faster. |
Gunvolt warps to one end of the area and summons a Luxcalibur above himself. He then swings it, launching a shockwave that spans the whole screen and electrifies the floor.
On Hard Mode, Gunvolt will then warp to the other side of the room and swing the Luxcalibur three more times. | |
Infinite Star Reading (Astral Order) |
GV's first Special Skill under the influence of Moebius, which he uses after the first time Moebius is knocked out of him and then re-fuses with him. Gunvolt forms an electrical field that covers the whole room for the rest of the battle and slowly saps Kirin's health. GV is invincible and cannot be tagged while this skill is in effect.
After Kirin is killed by this skill, she will get revived by Djinn's Wish and be granted the power of Golden Trillion, making her immune to the electrical field and allowing the battle to continue. In Secret Missions 12 and 13, Gunvolt does not use this skill; instead, the field is there from the start, and so are the powers of the Djinn and Golden Trillion. |
Gunvolt starts using this attack in battle phase two. Gunvolt sends a Grand Strizer diagonally down from one end of the screen, leaving an electric trail as it goes. He then warps to the other end of the screen, sending another Grand Strizer along the floor.
On Hard Mode, Gunvolt will warp off-center from the arena and launch three Strizers in a triangular formation, leaving only a small safe zone in the air. | |
Gunvolt starts using this attack in battle phase two. He marks four spots on the ground before raising up tall electrical swords from those spots. Then, as the swords disappear, shorter swords appear on the areas between the large swords.
On Hard Mode, the swords linger for a longer time, with the short ones appearing before the tall ones have disappeared. Gunvolt then unleashes a wave of Crashbolts outward from his position. | |
GV's second Special Skill under the influence of Moebius, which he uses after every second time Moebius is knocked out of him and then re-fuses with him. Gunvolt moves to the middle of the room and covers the surrounding floor and walls with Voltaic Chains, leaving a round safe space around him. Then, as the chains electrify, Gunvolt forms two vertical thunderbolts above and below him and rotates those around the safe space until they've both completed a full 180 degree rotation, at which point the bolts and chains disappear. Gunvolt takes less damage from attacks while using this move.
On Hard Mode, this move instead summons five thunderbolts which collectively cover Gunvolt's left, right, and half the space below him. They also perform more rotations around Gunvolt. | |
On Hard Mode, right before GV uses Octis Veto for the first time, Moebius will be fully healed and all talismans placed on him will be removed. This also occurs on Hard Mode whenever Moebius' HP bar is fully depleted, or partially depleted and partially sealed, meaning that sealing his entire HP bar with talismans and achieving the True Ending is the only way to defeat him.
The first three times Moebius heals, GV's attacks will increase in damage output for the rest of the fight. After the first heal, he deals 2x his base damage; after the second, he deals 3x base damage; and the third heal onwards, he deals 5x base damage. After the first time Moebius heals, GV's wings will become multi-colored. |
Boss Battle Voices
Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
Normal Battle
Event | Translated | Romaji | Japanese |
---|---|---|---|
Flashfield | Flashfield! (Overheat) Split Second! |
Raigekirin! (Overheat) Chaajingu appu! |
雷撃鱗 (Overheat) チャージングアップ! |
Dragon Sphere | Dragon Sphere! | Teiryuugoku! | 霆龍玉 |
Luxcalibur | Oversurge, Azure Striker! Luxcalibur! | Hotobashire, aoki raitei (aamudo buruu) yo! Supaaku karibaa! | 迸れ、 |
1st Phase Down | There’s no other way around…! | Yaru shika nai no ka…! | やるしかないのか…! |
2nd Phase Down | It won’t end here…! | Konna tokoro de…! | こんな所で…! |
Defeated | Too strong…! | Tsuyoi…! | 強い…! |
Anthem
Event | Translated | Romaji | Japanese |
---|---|---|---|
Astrasphere Mandala | Destroy them! Astrasphere! Mandala*! | Uchikudake! Raitoningu sufia! Mandaraa! | 打ち砕け!ライトニングスフィア!マンダラー! |
Luxcalibur Launcher | Rip them! Luxcalibur! Launcher! | Kirisake! Supaaku karibaa! Shuuto! | 切り裂け!スパークカリバー!シュート! |
Voltaic Chains | Tangle! Voltaic Chains! Thunder! | Karamitore! Vorutikku cheen!! Sandaa! | 絡み取れ!ヴォルティックチェーン!!サンダー! |
Septimal Surge | Oversurge, Azure Striker! Septimal Surge! | Hotobashire, aoki raitei (aamudo buruu) yo! Anrimittedo voruto! | 迸れ、 |
1st Phase Down | You won’t stop…!? | Guu! Tomaranai no ka…! | 止まらないのか…! |
2nd Phase down | Joule…! Grant me further strength… | Shian… Boku ni chikara wo…! | シアン…僕に力を…! |
Defeated | Guh... | Guu… | ぐっ… |
- The mandala is a concentric diagram that has significant spiritual significance in Buddhism, which is practiced by a majority of the Japanese population. Concentric refers to circles, arcs, or other shapes which share the same center, the larger often completely surrounding the smaller. As the Astrasphere attack has large orbs which circle and shoot out from the center, Gunvolt yelling "Mandala" is a reference to the diagram's similarity with Astrasphere.
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3
English
Event | English |
---|---|
Intro | Kirin! Kill me! |
Split from Moebius | Ghg! Kirin! Now! |
Moebius reunion | This is my limit...! Guaah! |
Astral Order | I can't...control it...! Astral...Order...!
Kirin...run! |
Octis Veto | I'm sorry, I can't...! Gaaah! Octis Veto! You must...survive! AAAHHHHH! |
Special Skill Chants
As a playable character
Astrasphere:
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
-
Korean (with Eng tl)
Lightning that flickers
Like a star, and purges all
That violate its realm
ASTRASPHERE
天体の如く揺蕩え雷
是に到る総てを打ち払わん
Lightning that vibrates like a celestial body
Purge all that comes across your path
LIGHTNING SPHERE
마치 천체처럼 흔들리는 우레
바른 길로 가는 모든 것을 없애 버린다
Lightning that flickers like the stars above
purge all that violate its realm
LIGHTNING SPHERE
Luxcalibur:
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
-
Korean (with Eng tl)
-
Anime
Sacred sword agleam
Barbarous and bathed in blue
Cleaving right from wrong
LUXCALIBUR
煌くは雷纏いし聖剣
蒼雷の暴虐よ敵を貫け
Sparking holy blade clad in lightning
Outburst of azure thunder, pierce my enemies
SPARK CALIBUR
빛나는 것은 천둥을 휘감은 성검
푸르고 잔인한 천둥이여, 적을 관통하라
Bathed in thunder, the sacred sword flashes
Azure, barbarous thunderstorm, pierce my enemies
SPARK CALIBUR
Flash, my enchanted sword of lightning!
Destructive Azure Thunderbolt!
Smite my foe!
LUXCALIBUR
Voltaic Chains:
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
-
Korean (with Eng tl)
Bolts of rebellion
A thunderous voice in his heart
Speaks of one true law
VOLTAIC CHAINS
閃く雷光は反逆の導
轟く雷吼は血潮の証
貫く雷撃こそは万物の理
The flashing lightning is the guidance of rebellion
The resounding thunder roar is the proof of flowing blood
And the piercing thunder is the reason of the universe
VOLTIC CHAIN
번뜩이는 뇌광은 반역의 길
울려퍼지는 천둥은 유혈의 증거
관통하는 뇌격이야말로 만물의 이치
The flash of thunderstorm marks the path of rebellion
Its roaring thunder is the proof of bloodstain
And its piercing lightning is the law of all existence
VOLTIC CHAIN
Grand Strizer:
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
-
Korean (with Eng tl)
Let praise be unleashed
As blades of lightning cleave sky
Yielding great glory
GRAND STRIZER
掲げし威信が集うは切先
夜天を拓く雷刃極点
齎す栄光 聖剣を超えて
The heralded glory gathers at the sword's tip
The pole of the thunder blade opens the night skies
Glory brought forth, overcome the holy blade
GLORIOUS STRIZER
당당한 위신이 모인 칼 끝
밤하늘을 가르는 번개의 칼
성검을 넘어 영광을 불러온다
The tip of this blade is filled with pride
The blade of lightning, piercing the skies of the night
Calls a bigger glory forth, transcending the sacred swords
GLORIOUS STRIZER
As a boss
Luxcalibur:
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
-
Korean (with Eng tl)
Sacred sword agleam
Barbarous and bathed in blue
Cleaving right from wrong
LUXCALIBUR
煌くは雷纏いし聖剣
蒼雷の暴虐よ敵を貫け
Sparking holy blade clad in lightning
Outburst of azure thunder, pierce my enemies
SPARK CALIBUR
빛나는 것은 천둥을 휘감은 성검
푸르고 잔인한 천둥이여, 적을 관통하라
Bathed in thunder, the sacred sword flashes
Azure, barbarous thunderstorm, pierce my enemies
SPARK CALIBUR
Septimal Surge:
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
-
Korean (with Eng tl)
Let this joyous song
Ring forth as a dragon's roar
And grant the spark's gift
SEPTIMAL SURGE
響き渡るは謡精の歌声
轟かせるのは龍の嘶き
総身総躯、雷神と化せ
The Diva’s singing voice echoes
The dragon’s hoarse roar resounds
Flesh and body, become a thunder god
UNLIMITED VOLT
울려 퍼지는 디바의 노랫소리여
땅을 울리는 용의 포효여
번개의 신으로 변신하라
The Diva’s song, ringing true
The Dragon’s roar, trembling the earth
Grant this man the form of a Lightning God
UNLIMITED VOLT
Astral Order
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
From the sea of countless stars
Draw forth the chosen truth
Toward phantasmal Arcadia
ASTRAL ORDER
那由他の星の海宙より
選び手繰りて実と成す
昏き幻想のアルカディア
From the space sea of endless stars
Draw a choice and turn it into reality
The phantasmal Arcadia in twilight
ASTRAL ORDER
Octis Veto
-
English
-
Japanese
-
English fan translation
Slaughter - Selection - Ruin - Awakening
Sacrifice - Corruption - Future - Cycle
-----Rejection
OCTIS VETO
殺戮 選択 破滅 覚醒
犠牲 堕天 未来 輪廻
ーーーーーーー拒絶する
Slaughter - Selection - Ruin - Awakening
Sacrifice - Corruption - Future - Cycle
-----Rejection
OCTIS VETO
Designer Comments
Source: Armed Blue: Gunvolt Official Complete Works
Gunvolt 1:
-
English fan translation
-
Japanese
I was told that to make him appealing to boys, the game’s target (audience) as well as teen-looking, so I designed him in way that I met the goals. GV’s main trait, his braid was made because I wanted him to look androgynous. Also, I used my head-cannon as basis: he might be a Psychic but he’s not all-powerful, he must use a gadget! And so the braid designed in the image that it’s an power cord to transmit the electricity charged in his hair to the gadget. In the end, though, that “setting” wasn’t used but he does use a bit of Kitaro-like* portion of shooting hair-needles with his gun. I tried inserting designs of angel feathers in various parts of the suit, can you tell it? Him showing his navel isn’t my hobby, Tsuda-san (author, director) told me to add it in.
--Munehiro Araki
T/N: GeGeGe no Kitarō, manga by Shigeru Mizuki created in the year 1960.
ゲームのターゲットとして男子向けや中二要素という指針があったので、その辺りを押さえるつもりでデザインしました。 GVの特徴である三つ編みは、中性的な見た目にしたかったのと、いかに能力者であろうと万能ではなく、ガジェットを使わなければならないのだ!という脳内設定をもとに、髪の毛に帯電した電気をガジェットに伝達する電源コードのイメージを持たせています。最終的にその設定は使われてませんが、銃で毛針を撃つという鬼太郎的な部分に少しだけ使ってます。 スーツには、いろいろなところに天使の羽根の意匠を入れてみてますが、わかるでしょうか?へそ出しは僕の趣味ではなく、津田さん(原作、デイレクター)の指示で入れました。
--荒木宗弘
Gunvolt 2:
-
English fan translation
-
Japanese
I thought that the impression that GV gave off in the prequel, that of the “blue protagonist”, would (remain) in the sequel even if he didn’t wear blue clothes so I dropped the heroic image he had. I wanted him to be a “dark hero” who shone in the darkness between buildings so I used black as a base and to grow out of the prequel’s suit. I like the current-style interpretation and fashion sense of the live-action American comic heroes… I use their image as my goal. So, personally, I feel that this (version) of GV is the complete version! I was unsure whether to make him show off the navel again or to have him wear underwear but I remember that, when I asked Tsuda-san he told me “he (GV) is Lord Thunder so he brings it out!” and I totally agreed with him.
--Munehiro Araki
前作のGVの持つ「青い主人公」という印象は、青い服を着ていなくても続編なら大丈夫だろうと考えたので、ヒロイックなイメージは捨てて、ビルの谷間の暗闇にきらりと光るダークヒーローになるように、黒ベースでなおかつ前作スーツからの脱却を目指しました。 アメコミヒーローが実写になったときの現代風な解釈やファッション性が好きで...あのイメージを目指しています。なので、僕的にGVはこっちが完成版!という気持ちです。 へそ出しは今回もやるのか、アンダーウエアを着せるか迷ったんですが津田さんに聞いたら「雷様だから出すんだよ!」と言われてめっちゃめっちゃ納得した覚えがあります。
--荒木宗弘
Source: Dengeki Online interview about Gunvolt 3 character design and illustration
-
English
-
Japanese
(Disclaimer: Edited machine translation)
Since GV3 Gunvolt's setting was to have a Primal Dragon transformation controlled with Radiant Fetters, I thought the suit would play the role of a restraining device, assisting it from the outside. My personal concept was to create a sense of "retirement," but the idea I had in that direction was not well-received, so I decided to go with a conventional suit.
GV's suits have always had a rather sharp impression, so I decided to incorporate circles and curves in the GV3 suit. I wanted to change the image a bit, and I also hoped that the changes in Gunvolt's state of mind over time could be felt in the suit.
--Munehiro Araki
鎖環のガンヴォルトは暴龍化をギブスで抑制している設定だったので、スーツはそれを外部から補助するような、拘束具的な役割も担っているだろうと考えました。その上で個人的なコンセプトは“隠居感”だったんですが、その方向性で出したアイデアは不評だったので従来通りのスーツにしました。
GVのスーツは今まで割とシャープな印象のものが多かったので、鎖環のスーツは円や曲線も取り入れるようにしました。今までのイメージを少し変えたかったのと、経年によるガンヴォルトの心境の変化がスーツにも感じられるといいなと思ってます。
--荒木宗弘
Musical Themes
Gunvolt 1 Themes
(C) = Composer
(A) = Arranger
Title | Context | Musicians | Audio |
---|---|---|---|
Lightning Unleashed (解き放たれし雷霆) |
Gunvolt's theme | Ryo Kawakami (C) | |
Sprinting Through the Darkness (蒼翼は夜に舞う, Azure Wings Dancing in the Night) |
Anthem (1st Sumeragi) second stage theme | Ippo Yamada (C) | |
Formulate the Battle Plan (戦士の日常, Warrior's Everyday) |
GV1 mission select | Ippo Yamada (C) | |
Lightning Pierces Through (駆け抜ける電光, Lightning Runs Through) |
Streak (Eridu) stage theme | Ryo Kawakami (C) | |
Lightning Crashes (雷霆衝突, Collision of Thunderstorms) |
VS Asimov (has part of "Sprinting Through the Darkness") | Ippo Yamada (C) |
Gunvolt 1 track notes by sound designer Ryo Kawakami.[12]
- Lightning Unleashed
It’s the theme song of our protagonist, GV. I focused on a straight “coolness” but I remember that I had difficulty expressing the portion of “it’s obviously a hero who fights for justice”. The accompanying and ringing subtle synthesizer sounds are based on the image of the lightning Septima flowing out and sparkling.
- Sprinting Through the Darkness
This track is based on the image of GV doing missions for QUILL. It’s used for the 2nd half of the opening stage (Sumeragi Building 1) but we also played it during the trailers. It’s a cool melody, in the image of (GV) throwing away his personal feelings to carry out the missions. Mr. Ippo told me to add the idea of “high ideals and beliefs that fly across the sky” so I added a (ecstatic?) choir sound while tuning the melody’s nuance; as a result I think I ended up making a song that not only has “coolness” but a lot of sides to it.
- Formulate the Battle Plan
GV, having quit QUILL and become a mercenary instead, a lone wolf, a hard boiled man; and the tension before a mission; those are the concept images used to make the track. I did some alterations such as adding keys from Track 7 ("Joule's Wish", Joule's theme which plays in home convos) to make the going from the Home Conversations and menu screen and coming back to feel seamless.
- Lightning Pierces Through
The track of the attack into Onogoro Float (Eridu). When GV notices how he wishes for Joule to be safe and how important she really is for him, he decides that “I will definitely save you!”. I made this track as I was absorbed into using that as an image. It’s one of the track I personally put a lot into. Man, when I first saw him running across the storm it was so cool that my heart felt like it’d been zapped by it. Running across the city is cool. I dunno why but it’s always cool.
- Lightning Crashes
The track of the real final battle. The melody of Track 3 (Azure Wings Dancing in the Night) is used entirely here but using the theme of the farewell with the foster parent, I worked in bringing out a wholly different atmosphere. The image is that, no matter how close someone might be to you, there are times in which mutual understanding cannot happen. But despite that it doesn’t change the fact that this someone is very important to you. I also wanted to bring out this feeling of “they feel different but are actually the same” so the timbre of the melody uses the same sounds.
Gunvolt 2 Themes
Gunvolt's themes are meant to have an exhilarating timbre with transparency and strength.[13]
(C) = Composer
(A) = Arranger
Title | Context | Musicians | Audio |
---|---|---|---|
Dancing in the Chaotic Night (騒乱の夜に舞う) |
Infiltrator (Seraph Interior) stage theme. Remix of "Sprinting Through the Darkness" (Japanese name: "Azure Wings Dancing in the Night"). | Ippo Yamada (C) Yamajet (A) |
|
The Warriors[14] (戦士たちの寄辺, The Warriors' Home) |
GV2 Gunvolt mission select. Remix of "Formulate the Battle Plan" (Japanese name: "Warrior's Everyday"). Has three sub-melodies to reflect GV having three allies. | Ippo Yamada (C) | |
A Violent Tremor Surges (激震奔る) |
Gunvolt encounter in GV2 | Ryo Kawakami (C) | |
Claws & Jaws (絶爪顎門) |
Copen VS Gunvolt. Mix of "Lightning Crashes" and Copen's battle theme "Committed to Annihilation". | Ippo Yamada (C) Ryo Kawakami (C) |
Gunvolt 3 Themes
All stage themes in the game have Gunvolt versions arranged by Hiroaki Sano.[15]
(C) = Composer
(A) = Arranger
Title | Context | Musicians | Audio |
---|---|---|---|
Charging In, Blade In Hand (疾駆する |
Dragon Slayer (Futures Institute) stage theme, Kirin version. GV's motif is in the background instruments. | Yusuke Sakai (C) | |
Charging In, Blade In Hand -Roar- (疾駆する |
Dragon Slayer (Futures Institute) stage theme, Gunvolt version. Not used in-game. | Yusuke Sakai (C) Hiroaki Sano (A) |
|
Thunderous Roar (雷霆咆哮, Thunderclap Roar) |
VS Primal Dragon Gunvolt | Takumi Sato (C) Ippo Yamada (C) |
Mighty Gunvolt Series Themes
(C) = Composer
(A) = Arranger
Title | Context | Musicians | Audio |
---|---|---|---|
Formulate the Battle Plan (戦士の日常, Warrior's Everyday) |
Mighty Gunvolt stage select. | Ippo Yamada (C) | |
Sprinting Through the Darkness (蒼翼は夜に舞う, Azure Wings Dancing in the Night) |
Mighty Gunvolt Train stage theme. | Ippo Yamada (C) | |
Lightning Crashes (雷霆衝突, Collision of Thunderstorms) |
Zonda battle. | Ippo Yamada (C) | |
Lightning Pierces Through (駆け抜ける電光, Lightning Runs Through) |
Mighty Gunvolt Highway stage theme. | Ryo Kawakami (C) | |
The Warriors (戦士たちの寄辺, The Warriors' Home) |
Gunvolt's intro in Mighty Gunvolt Burst. | Ippo Yamada (C) Aoi Takeda (A) |
Early Concept Draft
In 2013 an early draft of Gunvolt's character concept was submitted to Nintendo[16], with a number of factors that were changed in the final version. Below is a translation of the submission contents.
- Big text: A hero which elementary and middle school students can project themselves onto.
- Red text, upper right: Document for internal use only.
- White text above Feather (QUILL) logo: Protagonist.
- Slogan (right side, inside of orange frame): “I decide why I rebel (fight)!”
- Gun description: The gun’s name is “Angel-summoning bell” (Angel Bell). It’s an EM accelerator gun, and shoots metallic bullets named “Feather Bullets (Feathers)”. It uses a battery, which can be recharged by GV’s long braid-shaped hair. By attaching parts to it, it can shoot different types of bullets too. When it needs more power for those modes, (he) connects his hair to it and sends electricity to it (directly). GV’s exclusive gun. *Design subject to changes.
- Description: Codename “GV” (Gunvolt) Real name: Unknown / 14 years old / Male / One quarter non-Japanese descent. He was implanted with the 7th Wave (Lightning Ability Factors) during his infancy during an experiment of the Sumeragi-Ou Concern and awakened the ability. He was then rescued by Feather and trained for several years until he became a (fully-fledged) member. He employs lightning-based attacks to fight. He normally is kind, reserved and adult-like, but also optimist and he shows a young-like attitude sometimes by pulling small pranks.
Trivia
- Gunvolt's motif as a playable character is Seiryu, the Azure Dragon of the East. This matches the other playable characters Copen (Byakko, White Tiger of the West), Kirin (Yellow Dragon/Qilin of the Center), and ZedΩ (Suzaku, Vermilion Bird of the South), as well as Xiao (Genbu, Black Tortoise of the North), who was originally conceived as a playable character early in the planning stages of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2.
- Gunvolt is sometimes seen shedding ethereal white or blue feathers, mostly when using his Azure Striker abilities. He does this when Prevading; when performing Air Hops, Air Dashes, and certain Offensive Skills in GV1 and GV2; when becoming unstable in Anthem mode in GV3; and in the cutscene after GV1's intro mission, which prompts Joule to ask him "are you... an angel?" He shares this feather-shedding trait with Asimov, ZedΩ, and Copen's copied Prevasion.
- In an early story draft of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, Gunvolt with a vaguely butterfly-shaped mask was intended to be the main villain and final boss, having become the top dog at Sumeragi and transforming with 1000 Glaives. Beating the game would have unlocked him as a playable character.[17] Character designer and world director Munehiro Araki felt there should be a "price" for absorbing Joule, and imagined Gunvolt slowly losing his eyesight, going deaf, or losing his sense of taste.[18] Concept art of this Sumeragi GV was originally teased by series director Yoshihisa Tsuda alongside the announcement that a sequel to GV1 had entered production at Inti Creates Fan Festa 2015, and was distributed online in press articles.[19][20] Right after this, it was decided that Gunvolt would be a protagonist again instead. This left scenario writer Toshiaki Tai hesitant on how to proceed, as he didn't believe GV would be able to continue as a hero after the first game's ending--eventually, the character Quinn was conceived to justify GV being a protagonist.[21] This idea has been partly reused or referenced in every game since:
- Mighty Gunvolt Burst has a copy of Gunvolt with a similar mask made by Teseo as a decoy antagonist.
- Luminous Avenger iX features the masked Azure Striker wielder Blade, who works for the Sumeragi Institute. The concept of an Azure Striker as the main villain and final boss is also revisited as Demerzel.
- In Luminous Avenger iX 2, a masked copy of Copen named Ypsilon acts as a major antagonist under Mother, filling a role similar to Blade under Demerzel.
- In Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, Gunvolt is initially sealed with 1000 Glaives, joins the Sumeragi Group, and as Moebius-Gunvolt is the final boss. The concept of the main villain becoming a post-game playable character returned with ZedΩ in Epilogue ATEMS. In the game's secret joke ending, Gunvolt wears a butterfly-themed mask as a parody of Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon.
- In the track Nova's Reminiscence of the drama CD Justice Rage, one of the Sumeragi scientists almost reveals Gunvolt's real name, before being cut off by Nova's inner monologue.
- According to a conversation he has with Joule, he has bad vision and wears contacts. This explains why, in the anime and other media, Gunvolt is seen wearing glasses.
- According to Gunvolt's early concept draft, he is three-quarters Japanese and one quarter non-Japanese. Copen and Mytyl are also three-quarters Japanese and one quarter non-Japanese in their final character settings. Although nothing in canon directly contradicts GV's heritage from the draft, it may be a remnant from Tsuda's early story draft where he and Copen were long-lost brothers.[5]
- In Blade Strangers, his 2nd color option gives him a color scheme resembling his rival, Copen. His other color schemes include Elise, Stratos, Jota and Asimov's colors, and Hard Mode.
- Gunvolt is one of the two bosses in the second game where Copen doesn't say "Time to ______" when battling him; the other is Fake Zonda.
- Moebius-GV is the third boss to have more than one special skill in the same fight; the other two are Tenjian and Grazie.
- The Primal Dragon GV copy is the only boss in the main series that uses a Special Skill without a chant.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 3DS Striker Pack limited edition height chart
- ↑ English Website
- ↑ Aizu, Tsuda, and Inafune interview with Gamer.ne.jp
- ↑ Interview by Skybane's Gunvault
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gunvolt Official Complete Works staff interview
- ↑ Card-en-Ciel - "Azure Striker GUNVOLT" Featured Game Introduction
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Dengeki Nintendo Character Profiles: Gunvolt (GV2)
- ↑ Dengeki Nintendo Character Profiles: Zonda (GV1)
- ↑ Dengeki Nintendo Character Profiles: Copen (GV2)
- ↑ Dengeki Nintendo Character Profiles: Gunvolt (GV1)
- ↑ GV2 loading screen
- ↑ Armed Blue Official Soundtrack
- ↑ Armed Blue Gunvolt Sou Soundtrack, Creator's Comments 1
- ↑ Mighty Gunvolt Burst Original Soundtrack
- ↑ Armed Blue Gunvolt Gibs Soundtrack
- ↑ Gunvolt Official tweet
- ↑ Nintendo Everything interview, page 2
- ↑ Armed Blue: Gunvolt Complete Works, Gunvolt and Joule's GV2 concept art notes
- ↑ Gematsu article about sequel announcement
- ↑ INSIDE article about sequel announcement
- ↑ Armed Blue Gunvolt Official Complete Works staff interview
- Japanese Website Dossier (ASG1)
- English Website Dossier (ASG2)
- Japanese Website Dossier (ASG2)
- Japanese Wikia Regarding Skills
- Tweet by SparkCalibur about GV's voice actor in Blade Stranger's credits.
Mighty Gunvolt | |
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Playable Characters | Gunvolt ・ Beck ・ Ekoro |
Bosses | Viper ・ Mr. Demon Plant Jr. ・ Stratos ・ Jota ・ Zonda Pyrogen ・ Elise ・ Brandish ・ Mr. Happiness |
Stages | Train ・ School ・ Lab ・ Tower ・ Mirror Factory ・ Bio Lab ・ Highway ・ Gym |
Misc. | Mighty Gunvolt Original Soundtrack |
Mighty Gunvolt Burst / Gal*Gunvolt Burst | |
---|---|
Main Pages | Game Page • Gallery • Soundtrack • Credits |
Playable Characters (Default) | Gunvolt • Beck • Ekoro |
Playable Characters (DLC) | Ekoro • Joule • Call • Ray • Copen • Kurona • Tenzou Motesugi |
Bosses | Round Digger • Pyrogen • Cryosphere • Dynatron • Seismic • Battalion • Aviator • Brandish • Countershade • Gunvolt / Beck • Briar Guardian • Plasma Legion • Data Doppelgangers • Teseo |
Stages | City • Oil Platform • Water Works Bureau • Power Plant • Mine • Military Base • Radio Tower • Highway • Capitol Building • Gateway • Subspace • Distopia • Cyberspace Colosseum |
Misc. | List of Mighty Gunvolt Burst pixel stickers |