Sage Harpuia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ventusaerius) wrote2013-12-11 11:38 pm
ventusaerius) wrote2013-12-11 11:38 pm
Entry tags:
[exsilium] application
» CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character NAME: Sage Harpuia
Canon & MEDIUM: Megaman Zero (also known as Rockman)
Canon PULL-POINT: After the third game
Character AGE: A couple of decades? No one knows
Character ABILITIES: As far as abilities go, he was a part of a weather control system along with the other three Guardians of Neo Arcadia. He's also a general of the aerial assault arm of the army in Neo Arcadia, which is a testament to his own abilities as a Maverick Hunter. His greatest strength is his maneuverability and agility which he uses to effectively make up for the fact that his attacks aren't as powerful as his brother Fefnir's or even X and Zero themselves.
Character HISTORY: goddamn this stupid game series' timeline.
The year is 20XX. Dr. Thomas Light, an eminent scientist in the field of robotics, dreamed of a world where robots and humans could live in peace. In order to do so, he eventually set about creating the world's most advanced robot; one that was capable of thinking and feeling, of worrying and making decisions for itself and no longer bound by the Three Laws of Robotics. Aware of both the potential problems that the Suffering Circuit (the part of the robot which gave it the human-link capability to feel) may cause and the prospect of humanity itself being unprepared for such an advanced cyborg, Dr. Light sealed away his final creation, dubbed 'X' to represent his infinite potential, for 30 years. Knowing he may not live to see the day his creation is activated, he left a recording to the person who would find X explaining this advanced robot and pass on his last wish.
Around a hundred years later, in 21XX, X's capsule is found by an archeologist called Dr. Cain. Cain and a few other scientists then set about creating androids by replicating X's schematics, dubbing these new robots - all with the Suffering Circuit built into them - 'Reploids'. Unfortunately, unlike X, these new Reploids would become victims of a processing error brought upon by the new sense of self they were imbued with. They would also become victims to a virus that would tear the world apart for a hundred years. A Reploid or Mechaniloid that is considered a threat to humans and other Reploids is listed under the all encompassing term 'Maverick'. The Maverick status can be caused by errors in a Reploid's circuitry, a virus, reprogramming or, later, by a Reploid's own free will. Dr. Cain eventually created the Maverick Hunters to combat the growing Maverick problem, with Sigma as the original commander of the Hunters. Eventually, Sigma would turn Maverick, having been infected by a virus that was hidden in the capsule that Zero had been sleeping in. Thus began the sequence of events that would lead to the Maverick Wars a couple of colonies crashing into the planet, /another virus outbreak/, and Zero being sealed away despite X's best efforts. Eventually, a scientist studying Zero's data came across an antibody for the Sigma and the Nightmare Virus in the form of the Mother Elf, a program lifeform with the ability to rewrite and erase the Virus. From the Mother Elf, other Cyber Elves were created and research began focusing on these entities.
During this period, the Maverick Wars segued into what came to be known as 'Elf Wars' due to the prolific use of the Cyber Elves and X's use of the Mother Elf in combating the Virus. During this period of 21XX, X formed Neo Arcadia as a safe haven for humans during this time of conflict. Against the wishes of a number of humans, X's establishes, recruits and successfully generates control over the Reploids and Humans in Neo Arcadia using his reputation, rather than using the Mother Elf to forcibly control all Reploids. A scientist named Weil was all for ruling with an iron fist though, and refitted Zero's original body, calling it 'Omega' instead. Zero's soul is moved to a copy body so that he and X could fight Omega and seize the Mother Elf - now cursed by Weil and turned into the Dark Elf - and put a stop to the mad doctor's attempts to prolong the Elf Wars. Zero promptly has himself sealed away once the threat is neutralized, much to X's distress.
Sometime during or after the Elf Wars, the Four Guardians are successfully cloned directly from X's DNA data. Considering that X and Zero, both extremely advanced androids that were sealed away for different reasons by two of the most brilliant scientists of 20XX, are considered the most mysterious of 'Reploids', that anything could be directly based off his DNA is a feat. DNA data is a little more personal than the schematics of how one is built though, so the fact that Guardians were created from his DNA data more or less makes them his kids. No, I don't really understand either.
The Four Guardians worked along side X to lead and protect Neo Arcadia. And for a while, the five of them along with the 8 Gentle Judges were doing fairly well. Until X eventually disappeared, an energy crisis happened and a copy came back to take his place. Since Reploids used up the most energy in Neo Arcadia and threatened the life style of everyone, it was imperative that they keep a close on eye many reploids. Copy X took it a step further and, not tempered with the amount of time and experience that the original did, started taking extreme measures to keep Reploid energy consumption to a manageable rate. A Resistance group was created to combat the unfair prejudice against the Reploids, with very little success. Harpuia and his fellow Guardians, Fefnir, Leviathan and Phantom, squashed all attempts made by the Resistance to disrupt Neo Arcadia. For a while, it appeared as though the 'Resistance' was nothing more than a feeble attempt at rebellion.
A hundred years after the end of the Elf Wars, the legendary Reploid, Zero, was discovered by Ciel, a human scientist who worked with the Resistance. The Guardians and X didn't pay much attention to the Resistance's new find initially, thinking of it only as one of those usual attempts at throwing Neo Arcadia into disarray. It wasn't until Mechaniloid after Mechaniloid got destroyed and even higher functioning Mutos Reploids were taken offline that Neo Arcadia finally sent in the Guardians to clean up and squash the opposition. Of course, this is the actual Zero we're talking about and not a copy. So he promptly flattens the Guardians (all four of them), launches an attack on the Neo Arcadia headquarters (on his own) and then proceeds to knock out the Guardians again (Phantom's kamikaze attack did nothing) all ending in the utter defeat of Copy X and the destruction of his Fortress. And who said that such a feat was impossible?
Sometime between the first and second game, a reploid squadron accompanied by Hunters and Harpuia was deployed to an information facility to collect all the data that remained there. While there, a single mass produced reploid, designated as 'TK-31', went in and ended up viewing information that had been labeled as Classified. When the data was accessed (voluntarily or involuntarily is left ambiguous, though Harpuia makes it sound as if TK-31 accessed it of his own will) an alarm was set off, which alerted Harpuia to the violation. This is a pivotal event that sets up the second game, as this is where TK-31 learns of the history of Neo Arcadia, X, Omega and the Mother Elf and the place where he picks up his future name, Elpizo.
This was also the event that forced Elpizo to leave the well-managed Neo Arcadia and join the Resistance instead.
It was a week later before any serious repercussions fell upon the poor reploid. During this time, X met with the Judges to determine whether the reploid was a Maverick or not. The definition of Maverick had changed over the years, but after the 'trial' even the Judges were beginning to question X's decision. There had been an increase in Maverick convictions in recent years with Neo Arcadia's law enforcement subsequently cracked down on rebellious reploids even harder than before. Surprisingly, all of them seemed to be well aware that the reasoning behind these decisions may lie in humans being afraid of the robotic citizens of the city (which goes against the original ideals X had in the X series and with Dr. Light, both of whom wanted to see humans and reploids co-exist). Just as one of the Judges, Cerberian, began to voice some dissent with regards to a change in their once benevolent leader, X, Harpuia decided to drop in. While he heard the potentially Maverick like talk, Harpuia chose to turn a blind eye to Cerberian's comment. He even went on to mention that he had noticed the increase in Maverick-like behaviour in the reploid citizens of Neo Arcadia, indicating that the upper level of government wasn't blind to the injustice of their (then) current way of doing things. But what can one do when one stood as a protective, guiding light to the humans of Neo Arcadia had to turn around and retire fellows in order to maintain peace?
One year after the events of Zero...
Harpuia found Zero, beaten and battered in the middle of a desert. Apparently, the poor guy had lost track of his rebellion and been left on his own for the entire year.
"To live or to die..."
The General of the Rekku Army chose to let Zero live, perhaps because he wanted to 'retire' the Reploid properly or perhaps because he was more similar to the original X than anyone else had expected. Either way, Harpuia dropped Zero off at the new Resistance Base before flying off in a green blur. The guerrilla attacks on Neo Arcadia continued, many of them were only mild successes except the ones that Zero himself participated in (many a follower was terminated as a result). When Elpizo went through with Operation Righteous Strike though, the Guardians (sans the now deceased Phanrom) set about 'retiring' all the Resistance fighters that had set out alongside their Commander. Had Zero not appeared, they would have 'retired' the flamboyant pink commander too. As it was, Harpuia stopped Leviathan and Fefnir's attempt to fight Zero and revealed that there was a missile being launched at the base while he was out. Despite all three Guardians showing distaste for this tactic, so long as the Resistance posed a threat to Neo Arcadia, Harpuia would swallow his pride and do anything in his power to terminate it.
But the failed Strike by Elpizo along with the information he had accidentally witnessed back when he was simply 'TK-31' set off a chain reaction that sealed everyone's fate. The 'peaceful' days of Neo Arcadia as Harpuia knew it were coming to an end.
Driven mad by his failure, Elpizo went to collect the Baby Elves and release the Dark Elf that the original X had sealed away a century ago. The Guardians set off to try and stop the Commander, but whether Leviathan or Fefnir were affected by the Baby Elves or not, the two of them left finding/stopping Elpizo to Harpuia and went to fight Zero instead... Twice even. That left Harpuia on his own, and Elpizo - supported by the two Baby Elves and fueled, perhaps, by his own need for revenge after how Harpuia treated him in the Sunken Library - defeated the last Guardian. Then promptly had the Baby Elves possess the defeated warrior so that he would fight Zero with the intention of killing them both (wishful thinking by far). Upon being freed of the possession (by getting owned) Harpuia had to resort to asking Zero to put an end to Elpizo, and to protect Master X from the madman. Zero agreed - obviously - and set off...
He couldn't reach the seal in time to stop Elpizo from freeing the Dark Elf and destroying X's body.
Two months later, Ciel had completed her energy research and had sent it along with a proposal of peace to Neo Arcadia. As the steward of the colony, Harpuia along with his comrades and the Eight Gentle Judges were going over it when a space capsule containing the 'Evil Reploid' Omega crash landed back into Neo Arcadia. The area around the capsule was cordoned off, with the Resistance members who came to investigate it escorted out of the area by Pantheons (your mileage may vary on how kindly they were treated). Though the Guardians tried to stop Omega from leaving the capsule's landing zone, Fefnir and Leviathan were critically injured, leaving Harpuia the last Guardian standing. Before he could start attacking Omega (and get trounced) though, a strange man name Weil appeared alongside another copy of X, much to Harpuia's surprise. He bowed down to X's wishes, despite it conflicting with his own knowledge and values. After all, when two characters that had been banished from Neo Arcadia decades before suddenly reappeared with your leader - now sporting a speech impediment - telling you that 'It was okay', so many different warning lights just had to start sounding. Harpuia returned to a changed Neo Arcadia; the Eight Gentle Judges were no longer so gentle and his fellow Guardians were barely given any sort of care or repair. The two of them were left in maintenance for most of the game.
Despite Harpuia's best efforts, Weil - having 'upgraded' the Judges and 'resurrected' X - had the upper hand and quickly set about stripping the Guardians of their rank and title, citing their failure to defeat Zero as the reason. When Weil ordered a missile attack on a human residential area, that was the last straw; Harpuia set out to stop Weil's corrupted 'justice'... To no success.
After this, he was taken in by the Resistance and repaired. Let it be known that not everyone in the Resistance agreed with the decision to help the former Guardian of Neo Arcadia, with at least one Reploid who suggested they take out Harpuia while he was down. Everyone else seemed to share Ciel's and - ironically - X's philosophy of co-existence and found the situation lamentable. That even at a time like this, the Resistance and Neo Arcadia likely wouldn't work together to stop Weil.
Once he had recovered enough, Harpuia ditched the Resistance group and set off to try and stop Weil and Omega once again. Except that his path was impeded by a veritable army of enemies. Enemies everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Even Harpuia was beginning to wonder if there would be an end to it. At least, until Fefnir and Leviathan showed up to back him up. According to his fellows, they had been reunited with the deceased Phantom and X in Cyberspace where X requested them to stop Weil and protect the world (preferably together with Zero). With the three of them finally working together as a proper team, they set off to help Zero and stop Omega, even if it meant giving up their lives to do so.
Character PERSONALITY:
Harpuia's title - Sage, or Wise General if you want to use the Japanese translation - is a pretty good place to start for him. Even among civilians, other members of the Neo Arcadian government and the Resistance members, he's noted to be brilliant and quite shrewd. Of the four, Harpuia is second only to Phantom in how stoic and business-like he can be, with Fefnir and Leviathan being much more competitive and playful. He takes a more mild approach to governing Neo Arcadia and agrees to a ceasefire with the Resistance when Ciel sends in the proposal for a new energy system. Harpuia even defended the ceasefire negotiation when Weil attempted to attack the Resistance, opting to choose the path with the least amount of fighting. However, he still remains no-nonsense when it comes to defending the city and retaliating against aggression; Elpizo's 'Operation Righteous Strike' is cut down immediately and without mercy. Despite his faith and loyalty to X, Harpuia isn't completely blind to the mood in the unrest amongst Reploids in Neo Arcadia and, in a very X-like gesture, questions if this atmosphere and the unfair verdict on TK-31 was due to Harpuia's failure as a Guardian.
Harpuia is incredibly loyal to X and his own views on justice, almost to a fault. He and the other three Guardians - Leviathan, Fefnir and Phantom - all fail to notice when a Copy had replaced the original X and never thought to question the orders they were being given. In fact, Harpuia even gives warnings to the other Guardians and Judges to watch what they had to say about their leader; Fefnir having voiced displeasure for being called back to Neo Arcadia to fight a weak Resistance group and Kelverian of the Eight Gentle Judges commenting on how X had changed from how they remembered him. When faced with a known copy of his master in Zero 3, Harpuia offers barely any resistance when Copy X MkII retakes Neo Arcadia, though he protests against almost all the suggestions that Weil puts forward. Note that while he questions X's decisions and offers some of his own advice, the only orders he full on rebels against is Weil's, which earns him a quick and disgraceful demotion from his station. Considering the entire purpose of the Neo Arcadian Government is meant to protect humans and how Weil had basically been trashing everything and everyone Harpuia cared for, it was only a matter of time before Harpuia, who's loyalty lay with the comrades he fought with and the master he served, flipped the proverbial table and all but commits treason against the Neo Arcadia that was under Weil's control.
He's determined and stubborn, a couple of traits that are no doubt inherited from X. During Zero 2, he is able to fight off the Baby Elves' direct reprogramming long enough to request that Zero kill him, which is pretty intense considering that this was one of the only, if not the only time a character phrases it as such. Harpuia fights for his beliefs, ones that he shares with the original X and after all the terrible experiences that the three Zero games unloads on him (and everyone else, holy crap) that he comes out the other end a stronger Reploid kind of shows how much stronger his will has grown compared to what it was at the beginning of the series. You could say that he's a little more human for it.
UNFORTUNATELY, HE ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A PRIDEFUL, TSUNDERE LITTLE SHIT DESPITE ALL THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
While it's certainly toned down since the beginning of the series, Harpuia still has a great deal of pride behind him. And for good reason; he is, after all, one of the few Reploids that can say he has a direct connection to the legendary Maverick Hunter X and is a decent Maverick Hunter in his own right. His title as 'Guardian of Neo Arcadia' does very little to temper that ego. In fact, the slightly antagonizing relationship the Guardians had with each other (or rather, the antagonizing relationship that Harpuia, Leviathan and Fefnir had with each other) at the beginning may have something to do with each of their own prideful natures. He rejects the Resistance's offer of help after his defeat at Omega's hand due to this. In fact, he's downright offended that they even bothered to help him. So while he's not as awful as he once was, Harpuia hasn't completely improved his attitude.. But hey, at least he'll ask for the opinions of his fellows now rather than just plain ordering them around, isn't that nice?
Harpuia is also rather stoic and is surprisingly soft spoken. Short of fights or other extenuating circumstances, he's hardly ever heard yelling in the drama tracks. In fact, with the exception of his siblings, Harpuia himself is rather courteous towards everyone else, human and Reploid alike, though he does come off as a bit cold. Considering his original purpose is to help reclaim land for human habitation and then later reassigned to protect them, it's understandable why he would be more polite when speaking with human staff... Towards those he deems a threat to the peace in Neo Arcadia, Harpuia is no-nonsense and downright frosty. Which is a stark and surprising contrast to how he is around actual comrades. Really, compare his script in the games to the way he sounds in the drama tracks (which don't revolve around fighting); he's all professional in the game but voices doubts and concerns to his comrades in the drama tracks. So he's a jerk to people he doesn't trust, but at least he tends to be fair about it.
» EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON: His Sonic Blades; since they're not weapons originally designed for combat, as they evolve their abilities will grow to be more energy efficient in terms of attacks, air purification, electricity generation and even help make Harpuia himself more energy efficient. Eventually, the weapons will allow the Armed Phenomenon to be unlocked once again due to the nearly impossible nature of this form outside of Neo Arcadia.
Character INVENTORY: His armor, maybe a spare E-tank (not likely) and his civilian attire (HAHAHA)
Character NAME: Sage Harpuia
Canon & MEDIUM: Megaman Zero (also known as Rockman)
Canon PULL-POINT: After the third game
Character AGE: A couple of decades? No one knows
Character ABILITIES: As far as abilities go, he was a part of a weather control system along with the other three Guardians of Neo Arcadia. He's also a general of the aerial assault arm of the army in Neo Arcadia, which is a testament to his own abilities as a Maverick Hunter. His greatest strength is his maneuverability and agility which he uses to effectively make up for the fact that his attacks aren't as powerful as his brother Fefnir's or even X and Zero themselves.
Flight - considering his name, it makes sense that he would be capable of flight. Like most Reploids though, he 'floats' rather than actually flies with typical wing beats. He's incredibly agile in the air, the result of both experience and his small, lightweight frame.
Combat - Harpuia's attacks are largely based around shockwaves, electricity/wind and close range slashes using his twin blades. In that regards, he and Leviathan follow Zero's example of being a Reploid who's skills lie in close quarters combat. Couple with his ability to fly, it means he can dive in and out to land attacks while avoiding any that come his way... Unless an ice cube gets thrown at him
Terraforming - this is only loosely referenced in the artbook which refers to Harpuia's abilities to alter the weather and air purification on a small scale. I'm assuming. Information is vague as hell because Capcom.
Armed Phenomenon - the Armed Phenomenon is a supersized form of a Reploid, one that takes on a themed form and exemplifies said Reploid's specific abilities. In Harpuia's case, his Armed Phenomenon causes him to transform into a huge bird which packs missiles and uses both wind and electricity to attack. It is a huge strain on Harpuia's internal power supply and probably requires pre-programmed co-ordinates for transporting the pieces onto the teeny Reploid. Consider this skill [ LOCKED ] for the time being.
Misc. skills - the usual scanners and the like. Harpuia's specialty is analyzing the enemy to identify their weakness and how much health they have left. This probably extends to being able to identify known species, but as this is a little distracting in everyday life, it is a function that is usually left off or running in the background unless in combat, where it can be focused on a single target.
Character HISTORY: goddamn this stupid game series' timeline.
The year is 20XX. Dr. Thomas Light, an eminent scientist in the field of robotics, dreamed of a world where robots and humans could live in peace. In order to do so, he eventually set about creating the world's most advanced robot; one that was capable of thinking and feeling, of worrying and making decisions for itself and no longer bound by the Three Laws of Robotics. Aware of both the potential problems that the Suffering Circuit (the part of the robot which gave it the human-link capability to feel) may cause and the prospect of humanity itself being unprepared for such an advanced cyborg, Dr. Light sealed away his final creation, dubbed 'X' to represent his infinite potential, for 30 years. Knowing he may not live to see the day his creation is activated, he left a recording to the person who would find X explaining this advanced robot and pass on his last wish.
Around a hundred years later, in 21XX, X's capsule is found by an archeologist called Dr. Cain. Cain and a few other scientists then set about creating androids by replicating X's schematics, dubbing these new robots - all with the Suffering Circuit built into them - 'Reploids'. Unfortunately, unlike X, these new Reploids would become victims of a processing error brought upon by the new sense of self they were imbued with. They would also become victims to a virus that would tear the world apart for a hundred years. A Reploid or Mechaniloid that is considered a threat to humans and other Reploids is listed under the all encompassing term 'Maverick'. The Maverick status can be caused by errors in a Reploid's circuitry, a virus, reprogramming or, later, by a Reploid's own free will. Dr. Cain eventually created the Maverick Hunters to combat the growing Maverick problem, with Sigma as the original commander of the Hunters. Eventually, Sigma would turn Maverick, having been infected by a virus that was hidden in the capsule that Zero had been sleeping in. Thus began the sequence of events that would lead to the Maverick Wars a couple of colonies crashing into the planet, /another virus outbreak/, and Zero being sealed away despite X's best efforts. Eventually, a scientist studying Zero's data came across an antibody for the Sigma and the Nightmare Virus in the form of the Mother Elf, a program lifeform with the ability to rewrite and erase the Virus. From the Mother Elf, other Cyber Elves were created and research began focusing on these entities.
During this period, the Maverick Wars segued into what came to be known as 'Elf Wars' due to the prolific use of the Cyber Elves and X's use of the Mother Elf in combating the Virus. During this period of 21XX, X formed Neo Arcadia as a safe haven for humans during this time of conflict. Against the wishes of a number of humans, X's establishes, recruits and successfully generates control over the Reploids and Humans in Neo Arcadia using his reputation, rather than using the Mother Elf to forcibly control all Reploids. A scientist named Weil was all for ruling with an iron fist though, and refitted Zero's original body, calling it 'Omega' instead. Zero's soul is moved to a copy body so that he and X could fight Omega and seize the Mother Elf - now cursed by Weil and turned into the Dark Elf - and put a stop to the mad doctor's attempts to prolong the Elf Wars. Zero promptly has himself sealed away once the threat is neutralized, much to X's distress.
Sometime during or after the Elf Wars, the Four Guardians are successfully cloned directly from X's DNA data. Considering that X and Zero, both extremely advanced androids that were sealed away for different reasons by two of the most brilliant scientists of 20XX, are considered the most mysterious of 'Reploids', that anything could be directly based off his DNA is a feat. DNA data is a little more personal than the schematics of how one is built though, so the fact that Guardians were created from his DNA data more or less makes them his kids. No, I don't really understand either.
The Four Guardians worked along side X to lead and protect Neo Arcadia. And for a while, the five of them along with the 8 Gentle Judges were doing fairly well. Until X eventually disappeared, an energy crisis happened and a copy came back to take his place. Since Reploids used up the most energy in Neo Arcadia and threatened the life style of everyone, it was imperative that they keep a close on eye many reploids. Copy X took it a step further and, not tempered with the amount of time and experience that the original did, started taking extreme measures to keep Reploid energy consumption to a manageable rate. A Resistance group was created to combat the unfair prejudice against the Reploids, with very little success. Harpuia and his fellow Guardians, Fefnir, Leviathan and Phantom, squashed all attempts made by the Resistance to disrupt Neo Arcadia. For a while, it appeared as though the 'Resistance' was nothing more than a feeble attempt at rebellion.
A hundred years after the end of the Elf Wars, the legendary Reploid, Zero, was discovered by Ciel, a human scientist who worked with the Resistance. The Guardians and X didn't pay much attention to the Resistance's new find initially, thinking of it only as one of those usual attempts at throwing Neo Arcadia into disarray. It wasn't until Mechaniloid after Mechaniloid got destroyed and even higher functioning Mutos Reploids were taken offline that Neo Arcadia finally sent in the Guardians to clean up and squash the opposition. Of course, this is the actual Zero we're talking about and not a copy. So he promptly flattens the Guardians (all four of them), launches an attack on the Neo Arcadia headquarters (on his own) and then proceeds to knock out the Guardians again (Phantom's kamikaze attack did nothing) all ending in the utter defeat of Copy X and the destruction of his Fortress. And who said that such a feat was impossible?
Sometime between the first and second game, a reploid squadron accompanied by Hunters and Harpuia was deployed to an information facility to collect all the data that remained there. While there, a single mass produced reploid, designated as 'TK-31', went in and ended up viewing information that had been labeled as Classified. When the data was accessed (voluntarily or involuntarily is left ambiguous, though Harpuia makes it sound as if TK-31 accessed it of his own will) an alarm was set off, which alerted Harpuia to the violation. This is a pivotal event that sets up the second game, as this is where TK-31 learns of the history of Neo Arcadia, X, Omega and the Mother Elf and the place where he picks up his future name, Elpizo.
This was also the event that forced Elpizo to leave the well-managed Neo Arcadia and join the Resistance instead.
It was a week later before any serious repercussions fell upon the poor reploid. During this time, X met with the Judges to determine whether the reploid was a Maverick or not. The definition of Maverick had changed over the years, but after the 'trial' even the Judges were beginning to question X's decision. There had been an increase in Maverick convictions in recent years with Neo Arcadia's law enforcement subsequently cracked down on rebellious reploids even harder than before. Surprisingly, all of them seemed to be well aware that the reasoning behind these decisions may lie in humans being afraid of the robotic citizens of the city (which goes against the original ideals X had in the X series and with Dr. Light, both of whom wanted to see humans and reploids co-exist). Just as one of the Judges, Cerberian, began to voice some dissent with regards to a change in their once benevolent leader, X, Harpuia decided to drop in. While he heard the potentially Maverick like talk, Harpuia chose to turn a blind eye to Cerberian's comment. He even went on to mention that he had noticed the increase in Maverick-like behaviour in the reploid citizens of Neo Arcadia, indicating that the upper level of government wasn't blind to the injustice of their (then) current way of doing things. But what can one do when one stood as a protective, guiding light to the humans of Neo Arcadia had to turn around and retire fellows in order to maintain peace?
One year after the events of Zero...
Harpuia found Zero, beaten and battered in the middle of a desert. Apparently, the poor guy had lost track of his rebellion and been left on his own for the entire year.
"To live or to die..."
The General of the Rekku Army chose to let Zero live, perhaps because he wanted to 'retire' the Reploid properly or perhaps because he was more similar to the original X than anyone else had expected. Either way, Harpuia dropped Zero off at the new Resistance Base before flying off in a green blur. The guerrilla attacks on Neo Arcadia continued, many of them were only mild successes except the ones that Zero himself participated in (many a follower was terminated as a result). When Elpizo went through with Operation Righteous Strike though, the Guardians (sans the now deceased Phanrom) set about 'retiring' all the Resistance fighters that had set out alongside their Commander. Had Zero not appeared, they would have 'retired' the flamboyant pink commander too. As it was, Harpuia stopped Leviathan and Fefnir's attempt to fight Zero and revealed that there was a missile being launched at the base while he was out. Despite all three Guardians showing distaste for this tactic, so long as the Resistance posed a threat to Neo Arcadia, Harpuia would swallow his pride and do anything in his power to terminate it.
But the failed Strike by Elpizo along with the information he had accidentally witnessed back when he was simply 'TK-31' set off a chain reaction that sealed everyone's fate. The 'peaceful' days of Neo Arcadia as Harpuia knew it were coming to an end.
Driven mad by his failure, Elpizo went to collect the Baby Elves and release the Dark Elf that the original X had sealed away a century ago. The Guardians set off to try and stop the Commander, but whether Leviathan or Fefnir were affected by the Baby Elves or not, the two of them left finding/stopping Elpizo to Harpuia and went to fight Zero instead... Twice even. That left Harpuia on his own, and Elpizo - supported by the two Baby Elves and fueled, perhaps, by his own need for revenge after how Harpuia treated him in the Sunken Library - defeated the last Guardian. Then promptly had the Baby Elves possess the defeated warrior so that he would fight Zero with the intention of killing them both (wishful thinking by far). Upon being freed of the possession (by getting owned) Harpuia had to resort to asking Zero to put an end to Elpizo, and to protect Master X from the madman. Zero agreed - obviously - and set off...
He couldn't reach the seal in time to stop Elpizo from freeing the Dark Elf and destroying X's body.
Two months later, Ciel had completed her energy research and had sent it along with a proposal of peace to Neo Arcadia. As the steward of the colony, Harpuia along with his comrades and the Eight Gentle Judges were going over it when a space capsule containing the 'Evil Reploid' Omega crash landed back into Neo Arcadia. The area around the capsule was cordoned off, with the Resistance members who came to investigate it escorted out of the area by Pantheons (your mileage may vary on how kindly they were treated). Though the Guardians tried to stop Omega from leaving the capsule's landing zone, Fefnir and Leviathan were critically injured, leaving Harpuia the last Guardian standing. Before he could start attacking Omega (and get trounced) though, a strange man name Weil appeared alongside another copy of X, much to Harpuia's surprise. He bowed down to X's wishes, despite it conflicting with his own knowledge and values. After all, when two characters that had been banished from Neo Arcadia decades before suddenly reappeared with your leader - now sporting a speech impediment - telling you that 'It was okay', so many different warning lights just had to start sounding. Harpuia returned to a changed Neo Arcadia; the Eight Gentle Judges were no longer so gentle and his fellow Guardians were barely given any sort of care or repair. The two of them were left in maintenance for most of the game.
Despite Harpuia's best efforts, Weil - having 'upgraded' the Judges and 'resurrected' X - had the upper hand and quickly set about stripping the Guardians of their rank and title, citing their failure to defeat Zero as the reason. When Weil ordered a missile attack on a human residential area, that was the last straw; Harpuia set out to stop Weil's corrupted 'justice'... To no success.
After this, he was taken in by the Resistance and repaired. Let it be known that not everyone in the Resistance agreed with the decision to help the former Guardian of Neo Arcadia, with at least one Reploid who suggested they take out Harpuia while he was down. Everyone else seemed to share Ciel's and - ironically - X's philosophy of co-existence and found the situation lamentable. That even at a time like this, the Resistance and Neo Arcadia likely wouldn't work together to stop Weil.
Once he had recovered enough, Harpuia ditched the Resistance group and set off to try and stop Weil and Omega once again. Except that his path was impeded by a veritable army of enemies. Enemies everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Even Harpuia was beginning to wonder if there would be an end to it. At least, until Fefnir and Leviathan showed up to back him up. According to his fellows, they had been reunited with the deceased Phantom and X in Cyberspace where X requested them to stop Weil and protect the world (preferably together with Zero). With the three of them finally working together as a proper team, they set off to help Zero and stop Omega, even if it meant giving up their lives to do so.
Character PERSONALITY:
Harpuia's title - Sage, or Wise General if you want to use the Japanese translation - is a pretty good place to start for him. Even among civilians, other members of the Neo Arcadian government and the Resistance members, he's noted to be brilliant and quite shrewd. Of the four, Harpuia is second only to Phantom in how stoic and business-like he can be, with Fefnir and Leviathan being much more competitive and playful. He takes a more mild approach to governing Neo Arcadia and agrees to a ceasefire with the Resistance when Ciel sends in the proposal for a new energy system. Harpuia even defended the ceasefire negotiation when Weil attempted to attack the Resistance, opting to choose the path with the least amount of fighting. However, he still remains no-nonsense when it comes to defending the city and retaliating against aggression; Elpizo's 'Operation Righteous Strike' is cut down immediately and without mercy. Despite his faith and loyalty to X, Harpuia isn't completely blind to the mood in the unrest amongst Reploids in Neo Arcadia and, in a very X-like gesture, questions if this atmosphere and the unfair verdict on TK-31 was due to Harpuia's failure as a Guardian.
Harpuia is incredibly loyal to X and his own views on justice, almost to a fault. He and the other three Guardians - Leviathan, Fefnir and Phantom - all fail to notice when a Copy had replaced the original X and never thought to question the orders they were being given. In fact, Harpuia even gives warnings to the other Guardians and Judges to watch what they had to say about their leader; Fefnir having voiced displeasure for being called back to Neo Arcadia to fight a weak Resistance group and Kelverian of the Eight Gentle Judges commenting on how X had changed from how they remembered him. When faced with a known copy of his master in Zero 3, Harpuia offers barely any resistance when Copy X MkII retakes Neo Arcadia, though he protests against almost all the suggestions that Weil puts forward. Note that while he questions X's decisions and offers some of his own advice, the only orders he full on rebels against is Weil's, which earns him a quick and disgraceful demotion from his station. Considering the entire purpose of the Neo Arcadian Government is meant to protect humans and how Weil had basically been trashing everything and everyone Harpuia cared for, it was only a matter of time before Harpuia, who's loyalty lay with the comrades he fought with and the master he served, flipped the proverbial table and all but commits treason against the Neo Arcadia that was under Weil's control.
He's determined and stubborn, a couple of traits that are no doubt inherited from X. During Zero 2, he is able to fight off the Baby Elves' direct reprogramming long enough to request that Zero kill him, which is pretty intense considering that this was one of the only, if not the only time a character phrases it as such. Harpuia fights for his beliefs, ones that he shares with the original X and after all the terrible experiences that the three Zero games unloads on him (and everyone else, holy crap) that he comes out the other end a stronger Reploid kind of shows how much stronger his will has grown compared to what it was at the beginning of the series. You could say that he's a little more human for it.
UNFORTUNATELY, HE ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A PRIDEFUL, TSUNDERE LITTLE SHIT DESPITE ALL THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
While it's certainly toned down since the beginning of the series, Harpuia still has a great deal of pride behind him. And for good reason; he is, after all, one of the few Reploids that can say he has a direct connection to the legendary Maverick Hunter X and is a decent Maverick Hunter in his own right. His title as 'Guardian of Neo Arcadia' does very little to temper that ego. In fact, the slightly antagonizing relationship the Guardians had with each other (or rather, the antagonizing relationship that Harpuia, Leviathan and Fefnir had with each other) at the beginning may have something to do with each of their own prideful natures. He rejects the Resistance's offer of help after his defeat at Omega's hand due to this. In fact, he's downright offended that they even bothered to help him. So while he's not as awful as he once was, Harpuia hasn't completely improved his attitude.. But hey, at least he'll ask for the opinions of his fellows now rather than just plain ordering them around, isn't that nice?
Harpuia is also rather stoic and is surprisingly soft spoken. Short of fights or other extenuating circumstances, he's hardly ever heard yelling in the drama tracks. In fact, with the exception of his siblings, Harpuia himself is rather courteous towards everyone else, human and Reploid alike, though he does come off as a bit cold. Considering his original purpose is to help reclaim land for human habitation and then later reassigned to protect them, it's understandable why he would be more polite when speaking with human staff... Towards those he deems a threat to the peace in Neo Arcadia, Harpuia is no-nonsense and downright frosty. Which is a stark and surprising contrast to how he is around actual comrades. Really, compare his script in the games to the way he sounds in the drama tracks (which don't revolve around fighting); he's all professional in the game but voices doubts and concerns to his comrades in the drama tracks. So he's a jerk to people he doesn't trust, but at least he tends to be fair about it.
» EXSILIUM INFORMATION
Chosen WEAPON: His Sonic Blades; since they're not weapons originally designed for combat, as they evolve their abilities will grow to be more energy efficient in terms of attacks, air purification, electricity generation and even help make Harpuia himself more energy efficient. Eventually, the weapons will allow the Armed Phenomenon to be unlocked once again due to the nearly impossible nature of this form outside of Neo Arcadia.
Character INVENTORY: His armor, maybe a spare E-tank (not likely) and his civilian attire (HAHAHA)