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User:Cerberusleuth/GUILTY

From The Codex
If there were a God, what would you hope for? I'm not asking you what you wish for, but rather, what would you like that God to be like? (...) Let me tell you a story from long, long ago. I once tried my hand at playing God. I settled in a village and started performing good deeds. I wanted nothing more than to use my power to help people. Sometimes, that took the form of healing wounds and illnesses. Other times, I toppled tyrants. And for my trouble, I was punished: even put to death. A minor setback, given that I'm immortal. People celebrated my many returns as miracles. (...) Over time, word of my exploits had spread to other settlements. People from afar sought my aid. I went to help these new villages, just as I did the first. When things finally settled down, I made my way back to the first village to rest my weary mind. I believed I would be welcomed back with open arms - I was a fool. My return drew nothing but criticism. That's right, they blamed me for every negative event that occurred in my absence. It was then I realized. I wasn't a savoir to those people, I was merely a repairman whose absence inconvenienced them. I was an everyday system. You can imagine how disappointing this was to one who saw himself as God. If nothing else, at least you can't call God a system. But what does make God, who can soothe people's souls? What exactly is God trying to save? (...) There's something that exists beyond people's understanding of this world. Something close to their hearts. When such existence earns their belief, it is called God. In it, people find true salvation. And if there is an immortal storyteller in this world, he would likely find a place close to people's hearts as well. In which case, I might be able to truly save people. So please, say it. Tell me you'll "leave the rest to me". I'm certain that I can live up to those words.
~ Raven to Asuka R. Kreuz

It's about time you made it. You're late. Do you have a message for my master?
~ Raven before battling Sol Badguy

Under the dust I reign, invisible, inevitable, king, I am
Birds sing, clouds rise, I'm vague as some dew
Watching them suffer from the tide, pulse, sneers at me

Worthless as the sun above clouds, look at you!
Behind the ashes I live. Inevitable, invincible, void, I am
Wolves howl, stars shine, hiding the sun from the sky
Prayers die away, now only pain is my salvation

So, are you gonna stay the same, pale, grim, deep in shame?

All I want is to know
Never wanna let go
If my fate is so, I'll strive for evermore

Under the dust I reign. invisible, Inevitable, king, I am
Birds sing, clouds rise, I'm vague as dew
Watching them suffer from the tide, pulse, sneers at me
Even bare mountains make trees cry, pitiful scum!
Behind the ashes I live. Inevitable, invincible, void, I am
Wolves howl, stars shine, hiding the sun from the sky
Prayers die away, only pain is my salvation

~ Worthless as the Sun Above Clouds lyrics

TSUKI NO SHIHAI
Worthless as the Sun Above Clouds

Background

Raven is a recurring character in the Guilty Gear series. He is one of three servants of That Man, and his right-hand man. With an immortal body that cannot die of natural causes, Raven has lived about a thousand years, and nothing stimulates him anymore, except pain.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Raven’s story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Credit to the Guilty Gear Wiki

Close to a thousand years ago, Raven was born during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, somewhere in the Kingdom of Germany. He lived a very average middle-class life, until he was enlisted as a soldier in his mid-twenties and sent far away. He became an accomplished knight, waging war in foreign lands, but the campaign quickly became an unsustainable one a little over a year after it had begun. The unit to which he belonged attacked a small village to obtain supplies, but their enemies had planned for it and attacked them in the middle of the night.

Raven woke up and, sensing danger, left his room. Avoiding the enemy soldiers, he fled on horseback but he—and the horse—were struck down by a hail of arrows. Defenseless, he was stabbed to "death" by five soldiers. However, rather than dying, he found himself in a strange cylindrical space, as if caged with birds of prey, and felt immeasurable pain. After a few minutes, the pain abruptly ended, and he woke up in a pool of his own blood. Somehow alive, his wounds had closed, leaving faint scars. His aging halted on this first recovery from death, Raven thus began his infinite circle of death and life.

At some point, Raven settled in a village and started using his powers to help people, at times healing the sick and wounded, and at other times overthrowing tyrants. For these deeds he was punished and even executed, but his many returns were celebrated as miracles, and they began to view him as a god. As word of his deeds spread, outsiders sought his aid and left the village to help other settlements. When things settled down, he returned to the first village thinking that he would be welcomed back with open arms, but instead found that the villagers blamed him for every problem that occurred during his absence. Raven then realized that he was no god, but a simple repairman to them.

In time, Raven grew apathetic and tired of living, and attempted suicide many times, only to be met with failure. It was then that he drove an experimental device with spikes on either end through his skull, in an attempt to prevent his brain stem from regenerating, but this too was unsuccessful. Eventually, he met That Man, who gave him a new lease of life, and pledged his allegiance to him.

In October 2180, after Justice's death at Sol's hand during the Second Holy Order Selection Tournament, That Man learns that his design plans for her still exist, and asks Raven to secure and delete the samples. He eventually intervenes, confronting Sol Badguy; Sol attempts to incinerate Raven with a powerful Tyrant Rave, but Raven simply regenerates his charred flesh and expresses disappointment that he didn't feel even a little warmth. He later recovers the sample from Faust and Ky Kiske, defeating Faust in battle in extra-dimensional space. Before vanishing with the specimen he tells Ky to warn Sol not to approach the resonance.

In 2181, the world learns of a self-reliant Gear Dizzy, on whom a large bounty is placed. In one of Sol's paths, after Raven's report, That Man is surprised to know that "there was a daughter" and orders Raven to keep an eye on Dizzy without being detected.

In Eddie's third ending, after Eddie fails to make Dizzy his host due to I-No's interference, That Man orders Raven to take Eddie as a sample, while he chats with Dizzy. In Axl's first ending, That Man tells Axl that Raven is an "identical existence" to Axl, which causes Axl to time-slip because they naturally repel each other. In I-No's first ending, she is about to kill Sol, but Raven orders her to stand down, while That Man is forced to punish her transgressions.

In 2186, in the aftermath of a battle between Valentine's forces and the Illyrian knights, That Man seals Ky Kiske away in Illyria Castle's throne room. When Sol, Sin Kiske, and Izuna come looking for him, Raven appears before Sol, subtly confirming his master's participation in the ongoing incident. Raven and Sol fight for a bit until Raven backs off, noting Sol to be "one of the wheels that moves the world" and laments that he can't kill him yet, then vanishes.

After Valentine's death at Sol's hands, Raven discusses the possibility of more Valentines appearing with That Man, and informs him that Sol's Dragon Install has started to encroach. Raven expresses concern that Sol may stand in their way again, and vows to protect That Man, but he tells Raven to let history write its own course, for Raven's responsibility is simply to be there at that time.

After That Man is imprisoned by Bedman on November 2, 2187, Raven finds him, but That Man is unable to break free, and instructs that Jack-O' should be awakened, for she is to replace Elphelt in restoring Justice to humanity. However, when she is awakened by I-No, Jack-O' decides to get some fresh air and runs away. On November 9, Raven is forced to ask Sol for help, who brings Sin and Ramlethal along.

Thanks to I-No, they find Jack-O' at Heaven's Edge; during the encounter, Raven explains to Sin that immortals like himself unavoidably grow apathetic, and That Man is trying to prevent humanity from following the same path. Raven, in turn, is taken aback by Ramlethal saying he treats Jack-O' too coldly for being "a doll". Finally, Sol pieces from Raven's explanation that Justice was Aria Hale all along, but Raven offers them his gratitude and teleports away with Jack-O'. Back at the Sanctuary, Raven chastises Jack-O' and, after briefly discussing Happy Chaos, leaves to find I-No. At Neo New York, she refuses to return. Though Raven shares her pain, I-No says that he is now on the "other side". As they are to part ways, Raven is upset when I-No says it's not like they ever were friends, so she adds that they might still see each other from time to time as she leaves.

Raven then returns to the Sanctuary, and watches alongside Jack-O' how events unfold while waiting for That Man to return. Noticing her leg wound, Raven heals it. Jack-O' says there is no need and wonders why he is being so nice; Raven reflects that he wantonly hurt Ramlethal's feelings earlier, but he himself has forgotten what being human is like, to which Jack-O' calls him a "softie".

When Elphelt's signal appears in Scandiva, That Man returns, and Raven leaves to check the signal. When Ramlethal is unable to get out of a Gear's explosion range, Raven manages to save her, though everyone is led to believe that she died. Upon healing her wounded leg and arm, Raven and Ramlethal go to the Celestial Altar to unexpectedly contribute to Ariels's defeat and the successful merge of Justice and Jack-O'.

In the aftermath, after That Man—or rather, Asuka—issues his challenge to Sol, Raven meets his former master one last time to inform him that preparations are complete. Asuka is about to say his usual farewell, but stops as Raven no longer works for him. Raven asks why Asuka once seemed to want Raven to live as a "storyteller" when peace finally came. Asuka admits that he just wanted to part ways as friends. Raven then tells the story of how he once tried his hand at playing God, concluding that as a storyteller he might be able to truly save people. Vowing to live up to those words, as a friend, he asks Asuka to say the line, which he does. Afterwards, Asuka turns himself in to the American government.

Three weeks later, after the conclusion of the G4 Summit incident, Raven finds himself alone watching L'oro Di Illyria from the top of a building.

Statistics

Tier: 3-B

Name: Raven, the Watcher, the Undying Disease

Origin: Guilty Gear

Sex: Male

Age: Around 1,000 years old (Originates from Medieval Germany, born during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire)

Classification: Human, Soldier, Masochist, Servant of That Man, possible Demi-Human

Status: Alive

Alignment: True Neutral (Raven's emotion and feelings no longer exist with him, becoming incredibly jaded of the world due to his Immortality. It is unknown why Raven served That Man and sides with him because he agrees with his intentions. Raven does have some good intentions, such as acting as a healer before his home village getting angry at him and eventually "executing" him for leaving to help other areas)

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: Galaxy Cluster level (Incapacitated Ky Kiske. Fought against Sol Badguy[1], who destroyed Justice[2] who's information density is equivalent to a galaxy cluster[3])

Durability: Galaxy Cluster level. Immortality, Regeneration, and Masochism make him difficult to kill.

Striking Strength: Galaxy Cluster level

Lifting Strength: Multi-Galactic (Comparable to Sol Badguy, who is able to throw characters such as Justice, who's information density is equivalent to a galaxy cluster[4])

Travel Speed: Massively FTL (Can keep up with Sol Badguy[5], who can keep up with both Justice[6] and Jack-O' Valentine, both of which can fly out of the galaxy and back[7][8]), possibly Extra-Temporal out of universe (Raven is a zero in the existence of the world[9] much akin to demi-humans, who transcend time and need to downcovert to Planck time to exist in the world[10])

Combat Speed: Massively FTL, possibly Extra-Temporal out of universe

Reaction Speed: Massively FTL, possibly Extra-Temporal out of universe

Stamina: Limitless (Completely immortal and tireless)

Range: Extended Melee, up to Kilometers with attacks, Low Multiverse level with Magic (Magic is stemmed from the Backyard, and alternate dimension of pure information), possibly High Multiverse level through Omnipresence (Raven is a zero in the existence of the world[11] much akin to demi-humans who exists across infinite timelines[12])

Intelligence: Genius (Raven as lived for nearly a thousand years, being an extremely skill fighter and healer)


Powers and Abilities

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Weapon Usage (Proficient with needles), Genius Intelligence, Self-Sustenance (Types 1, 2, and 3), Time Manipulation and Statistics Reduction (Able to create dilation fields that slow down opponents[13]), Summoning and Status Effect Inducement (Able to summon massive amounts of needles. Can also summon minions[14]. His needles also applies status effects[15]), Mind Manipulation (Able to brainwash others[16]), Smoke Manipulation (Able to summon massive amounts of smoke), Animal Manipulation (Able to summon a massive amount of crows to attack his enemies), Illusion Manipulation, BFR (Able to send others to different dimensions[17]), Aura (Radiates a green aura[18]), Elasticity (Several of his attacks involve stretching his limbs[19]) Martial Arts, Energy Projection (Able to throw orbs of energy[20]), Magic, Information Manipulation, Law Manipulation, Reality Warping, Fate Manipulation, Conceptual Manipulation, Statistics Amplification, Dream Manipulation, and Dimensional Travel (Uses magic, which is stemmed to the Backyard, a dimension of high density information that is connected to dreams, being able to alter the rules of reality in any way, manipulate fate, and increase power), Empowerment, Absorption, and Pain Tolerance (Raven is a textbook masochist - being able to absorb pain and indulge in it; pain causes him to be more excited, and excitement can empower his moves[21]), Teleportation (He teleports at the beginning of his dash, being able to dodge projectiles[22]), Flight (Instead of doing an air-dash, he flies[23]), Deconstruction (Can turn his opponents into dust), Perception Manipulation (Able to warp his own perception), Sealing (Sealed away Ky Kiske[24]), Regeneration (At least Mid-High, possibly Mid-Godly: Able to regenerate from being turned into dust. Treated as one of the most immortal and hard to kill characters in the series, possible comparing those to can survive the Absolute World erasing everything due to having Adam and Eve's seeds), Transformation (Able to transform into a crow), Immortality (Types 1, 3, 5, 6, and limited 8: Raven is completely immortal, being unable to die through natural causes, and no attack and permanently kill him[25]. Shown to have a spike in his head throughout the entire series. Reliant on Master Ghost, though this doesn't last indefinitely[26]), Purification and Healing (Able to heal diseases), Null Existence (Type 3: Raven is a non-existent entity that is a zero in this world, being immune to tuning, which can control magic, which is composed of conceptual information), possible Acausality (Type 4), and Omnipresence (Type 2: Raven is a zero in the existence of the world[27], being similar to Demi-Humans who exists across infinite timelines, transcend genetics, physics, and time, lacking IDs and act as a bug in the Backyard, an alternate dimension of information that's the source of all magic and defines fundamental truths), possible Cosmic Awareness (Demi-Humans contains information on an infinite number of alternate timelines)
Resistance to Pain Manipulation, Sense Manipulation, and Empathic Manipulation (Pain and negative emotions are delight to him and he even proactively seeks them out. Except for his sense of touch, none of his five senses will ever bother him, no matter what he sees, hear, smell or taste), possibly Time Manipulation, Physics Manipulation, and Biological Manipulation (Demi-Humans transcend time, physics, and genetics), Magic, Conceptual Manipulation, Information Manipulation, Reality Warping, Law Manipulation, Fate Manipulation, Dream Manipulation, Dimensional Travel, and Statistics Amplification, Soul Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Matter Manipulation (Doesn't traditionally exist in the Backyard, becoming immune to the magic it grants, and should also resist what it does to those who enter it, which assaults mind, soul, and matter), Fusionism, Boundary Manipulation, Subjective Reality, Space-Time Manipulation, Existence Erasure (Type 4), Transmutation and Matter Manipulation, Extreme Colds, Cosmic Radiations, Biological Manipulation, Disease Manipulation, Death Manipulation, Space-Time Manipulation (Possibly resists the effects of the Absolute World and Information Flares due to his Immortality; Information flares floods an area with information, breaks through space, destroy matter, warp reality, create diseases and mutations and rewrite information of other people, and Absolute World, merges the Backyard and the universe, a realm which assaults the mind, soul, and matter, which will cause time to combust from an overload like a balloon, cause matter transmutation on a universal scale, on a universal scale kill every lifeform in the universe, erase everything, make dreams become reality, allowing the user to rewrite reality in their image)

Standard Equipment

Needles, his tribe


Notable Techniques

*Schmerz Berg: Raven throws a needle which slows time for anyone pierced by it.

  • Grausam Impuls: Raven dislocates his arm, slashing across a wide range with the claws on his fingers.
  • Scharf Kugel: Raven throws a ball of turbulent magic which travels forward slowly.
  • Wachen Zweig: Raven grabs the opponent, heaves them over his head, and smashes them onto the ground with an explosion of magic power.

*Getreuer: Raven repeatedly stabs his opponent with his claws before kicking them away.

  • Verzweifelt: Raven surrounds himself in his cloak and rushes forward, surrounded by needles.

  • *Sehnsucht: Raven grabs his opponent by the throat and charges a massive eruption of magic energy at his feet, which reduces both himself and his opponent to ashes.


    Other

    Standard Tactics: Raven uses his needles, which can induce status effects like slowing down time. He also can absorb hits to get more excited, enhancing his powers.

    Weaknesses: Raven is masochistic and questions if he is even alive or not, and sometimes allows the opponent to dig in to him at first

    Trivia

    Credit to the Guilty Gear Wiki

    • His name may be a reference to the pioneering British heavy metal band, Raven.
    • Raven's conception might also be inspired by comic book anti-hero The Crow.
    • The coin on Raven's left eye is a reference to Charon's obol. Popular, but unlikely, etiology maintains that a pair of coins were placed on the eyes of the dead; according to Daisuke Ishiwatari, the use of a single coin signifies that Raven is only "half-dead".
    • The silhouette of Raven's mantle, designed to reflect his crow motif, was modeled on the capes worn by the heroes in Gatchaman, which Ishiwatari is a fan of.
    • In Revelator, the silver cross throughout his outfit have the word "yata" etched on them, derived from Yatagarasu, a mythical crow-god that serves as a symbol of guidance. (Incidentally, crows are seen as a mark of rebirth and rejuvenation in Shintō.)
    • Raven's story about being celebrated as a God in a village, only to later return and be met with ungratefulness and selfishness is similar to the story presented in the song "Holy Diver", by legendary heavy metal songwriter Ronnie James Dio.
    • His theme in Xrd, TSUKI NO SHIHAI, translates to "Moon's Domination"

    References

    1. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    2. Guilty Gear: the Missing Link
    3. Guilty Gear Xrd
    4. Guilty Gear Xrd
    5. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    6. Guilty Gear: the Missing Link
    7. Guilty Gear: The Missing Link
    8. Guilty Gear Xrd
    9. Guilty Gear Xrd
    10. Guilty Gear Strive
    11. Guilty Gear Xrd
    12. Guilty Gear Strive
    13. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    14. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    15. Guilty Gear Xrd
    16. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    17. Guilty Gear Xrd
    18. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    19. Guilty Gear Xrd
    20. Guilty Gear Xrd
    21. Guilty Gear Xrd
    22. Guilty Gear Xrd
    23. Guilty Gear Xrd
    24. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    25. Guilty Gear Xrd
    26. Guilty Gear 2: Overture
    27. Guilty Gear Xrd

    Gallery

    Battle Records

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