Deva Series/Characters: Difference between revisions

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'''Appearance:''' A tall statuesque woman in a black dress that stylistically mirror's Hayate's barrier-jacket, with red tattoos on her cheeks and forehead, and long silver-grey hair.

* [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]]: Reinforce in the Deva Series is the device Hayate built based on the original, who resumed the appearance of the original Reinforce.

* [[Hot Teacher]]: While none of the students have said so openly, Yussef and Luke have commented on her looks while not at school, as have extras not associated with the school.

Zafira remains much as he was, the guardian of the Wolkenritter and general tough-guy. He is the teacher Yussef is most comfortable with, and the one who advises Yussef on his classes and the Myrmidons. Zafira's the phys-ed teacher, which, given the student body at Hayate's Academy, generally breaks down to keeping them from hurting themselves.

* [[Oh Crap]]: still induces this in others, especially Noriko when Nanoha, as a visiting instructor in Noriko's first year, defends destroying a workroom as a simple accident due to momentary surprise.

Takashi has learned [[Et Tu, Brute?|what it is like to be deeply and utterly betrayed]], and what it is to have everything and have it all torn away. He trusts slowly these days, and never completely. Conversely, he is extremely protective of what he considers his, and has determined that, when he and his are threatened, the only effective response is the utter annihilation of the source of the threat. To his way of thinking, the only remnant he has of his wife is Hayate, Sara's heir in skill and power, if not blood, thus he is extremely protective of her.

* [[Knight Templar Parent]]: While Takashi regards Hayate as an adopted daughter, that means she comes in for more danger, as he has threatened on multiple occasions to 'put her someplace she will never be endangered again.' He also {{spoiler|slaughtered the Circles' highest leaders for threatening her, and used their plans to justify it to Hayate herself}}.

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Don't threaten to harm Hayate. It's a bad, bad, ''bad'' idea.

The second version of Akira, this one is less an independent agent of vengeance than Takashi's doer of unpleasant things. Just as remorseless as the original, the second Akira is not as cold, patently enjoying his work, whether that work is torturing a man for information, slaughtering his master's enemies, or 'educating' Hayate's students.

{{spoiler|In actual fact, Kriegsen arranged the disaster that killed Sara Shimazu specifically to kill Takashi, out of jealousy over Sara. Further actions on his part to 'assist' in capturing Akira covered his efforts to destroy Akira and complete his 'revenge'. Even after being convicted of treason by the Bureau, Kriegsen escaped and manipulated the Circles on Earth in their first attack on Hayate, and is attempting to manipulate Al Hanthis into doing the same.}}

* [[Ditzy Genius]]: Implied by Takashi to be this – when they got married, he apparently had to make all the arrangements. And her 'wedding gift'? She transitioned him into a Deva Mage, her own style of magic, while he was asleep and without asking him, because she wanted to share her magic with him and couldn't conceive of him having any issues with that. In contrast, she created the series' titular magic system as a teenager, because she was curious about a discrepancy she noticed in the energy structures of inter-dimensional teleports.

* [[Person of Mass Destruction]]: Sara definitely qualified as one of these simply for creating the Armageddon spell, though she never used it that anyone knows about.

'''Appearance:''' Hair a shade of bright red that is obviously (magically) dyed, a narrow pixie face, short and wiry even for her age. Laura prefers light clothes in subdued colors, especially Paradox's all-black armored form. She wears her hair loose with a single lock of hair in front of her right ear run through a string of small white beads, with a single black bead (signaling her various battles).

* [[The Nicknamer]]: Laura rarely refers to people by their real names, preferring to make up ''appropriate'' nicknames. She doesn't call everyone by those nicknames, but such restraint is apparently contingent upon demonstrated ability to beat her senseless.

Megan is the 'silly' child of a generally practical and mundane but very clannish extended family in an English town just east of Stonehenge. She always loved myths, especially change-child myths of the Celts, and leapt at the chance to learn magic specifically to learn shape-shifting. Far less militant than her friends and class-mates, Megan is less interested in fighting her enemies than in protecting her friends.

* [[Schoolgirl Lesbian]]: With Allina, she is the Academy's only real couple, and while she is pushing it more than Allina, she is just as nervous about it.

'''Appearance:''' One of the tallest girls in the glass, Juliet is solidly built, with dark skin, short curly black hair, and hazel eyes. She prefers to wear jeans and t-shirts with sneakers, but unlike the other 'tomboys' at the Academy (Laura & Allison), she will wear skirts and blouses on occasion.

Juliet has the worst temper among the students, though she does not show it easily. A mixed-race child born in South Africa, she has come in for harassment from both sides of the racial divide, as have her parents. Because of this treatment, Juliet is very distrustful, especially of anyone claiming to speak for any sort of 'true' or 'real' version of a group. Juliet believes not in groups or nations but in individuals, and the only ones she trusts are those she knows.

* [[Halfbreed]]: Juliet's father is white, her mother is black, and all three of them are native to South Africa.

* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Between her Triphammer and Vivace spells, Juliet is almost as fast as Laura, and hits much harder in hand-to-hand.

* [[Scary Black Man|Scary Black Girl]]: Her combat specialties (see above) along with her short temper tend to make getting on her bad side (especially in a fight) a frightening prospect.

* [[Dark-Skinned Redhead]]: As half-Irish/half-Native American, she always claims to have her father's hair and her mother's face.

* [[Halfbreed]]: Allison's father immigrated to the US from Ireland in his teens. Her mother is Navajo through and through. Allison is both sensitive and proud about both heritages.

'''Appearance:''' Tall and thin for his age, to the point of being spindly, Noah is very wiry. He has dusky skin, brown hair, and brown eyes, and is usually smiling or grinning. He prefers shorts and t-shirts, but in the 'freezing cold' of the Academy's valley he generally wears jeans or pants and a football jacket.

Noah is a fairly relaxed guy, unless you get him going on football, especially if Ichigo – the other Academy football-fan – is around. He likes magic, enjoying the challenge of keeping it under control, but is somewhat nervous that it crosses the line to witchcraft, which disturbs his Catholic morals.

* [[Barrier Warrior]]: Noah's stock-in-trade, he has a knack for stable force-effects such as shields, meaning his shields are an order of magnitude stronger than they should be.

'''Appearance:''' Cidela is small and delicate looking, with fine features and doll-like appearance. Her shy habit of staring at her feet and hiding in the back generally emphasizes that impression. She has tanned skin, wiry long black hair usually tied up in a bun, and always wears long dresses with long sleeves, and she usually covers her hair with a scarf. Since {{spoiler|being adopted by Shamal}} she tends to wear more beautifully embroidered versions of the same style, usually some shade of green.

* {{spoiler|[[Distressed Damsel in Distress]]}}

* [[White Magician Girl]] / [[The Medic]]: This is Cidela's primary role, due to personal preference and an extremely powerful natural gift for such spells.

* [[Halfbreed]]: A classic [[But Not Too Foreign|Charlie Dog]]: Japanese-American.

'''Appearance:''' Marcel has a round face, light brown hair, brown eyes, and still sometimes wears reading glasses, despite Shamal having fixed his vision during the invitation process. He is average height, average build, but has a ready smile, and between ''Academy Blues'' and ''Endless Waltz'' he put on some muscle.

Marcel comes from a very logical and rational family, one rational to the point of accepting magic without a qualm once Shamal demonstrated it for them. His parents pride themselves on that rationality, though Marcel is less aware of it in himself. Mostly he is organized, likes things to be regular and predictable, and has fallen easily into the role of Yussef's right hand.

* [[Do Not Call Me "Paul"]]: He would much rather you call him Mariachi than Hector.

* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: He's awfully close to Vita at times.

Natalia is defined by the death of her family in an auto accident several years before ''Academy Blues''. Her parents and sister-in-law were killed in the crash, and her brother left non-responsive in a coma. She accepted Hayate's offer as an opportunity to help her brother, or at least get to say good-bye, and leapt at the first thing she found that might have allowed it. {{spoiler|''That'' didn't end well}}. A combination of the threat of the Circles and then Al Hanthis, being unable to resolve her feelings for her brother or his situation, and largely dealing with her cursed eye, have steadily eroded her ethics and her sanity.

* [[Eyepatch After Time Skip]]: At the beginning of ''Endless Waltz'', Ichigo gives her an eye-patch to cover her cursed eye, to block the visions since she can't turn the eye off.

'''Appearance:''' Luke is the largest of the students, in both height and mass, with solid muscles from years of working his family's ranch. He's not a [[Big Guy]], physically, but he is bidding fair to give Zafira competition in a few years. Luke has a square face, sandy hair cut very short, and dark green eyes that already have squint lines. He's generally in jeans and a work shirt when he's not in the school uniform, and always in boots.

Luke, like Ichigo, is one of the quiet ones, and has found to his surprise that simple age does not grant him any particular authority. Looking at how hard Yussef has had to work since starting the Myrmidons convinced him that he wouldn't want it anyhow, though his own calmness and the habits from being an eldest brother have resulted in Yussef picking him as Yussef's official lieutenant.

* [[Hot for Teacher]]: Luke has been accused of this towards Hayate, both in story and in reviews.

With two exceptions, the new kids are not particularly well detailed. Two play small but active parts in ''Endless Waltz'', while another has gotten her own ''Side Story'' and each has had some sort of scene.

'''Appearance:''' Rhys has the same heart-shaped face as her sister and mother, with long pale blond hair and bright blue eyes. She habitually wears a blank expression just short of disdain, shading to anger when someone identifies her from her twin sister.

'''Appearance:''' Mercedes has long wavy black hair, tan skin, high cheekbones, and bright green eyes. She wears a wide variety of stylish clothes, but always the same pair of eight-point-star silver earrings, a gift from her grandmother.

Mercedes is, to a large extent, a spoiled little rich girl, but she knows it and while she can be something of an [[Alpha Bitch]], she lacks the self-absorption necessary. Her first encounter with Laura, and an inherent personality clash between the two, has exacerbated her Libbyish tendencies. She is working to join Yussef's Myrmidons partly as protection against Laura, and partly because she finds the Myrmidons' style and ideals to be similar to her family's.

'''Affiliation:''' Yagami Academy

Kaemon is a kendoist and a traditionalist, more so than his family. He loves Japanese history, and while he's aware of historical realities, he loves the ideal of the samurai.

* [[Everything's Better with Samurai]]: Kaemon's a fan of Samurai, especially the ideals.

'''Appearance:''' Square and solid describes Verner fairly well. He has a square face, short blond hair, pale grey eyes, and pugnacious jaw. He has broad square shoulders and a thick chest, but his arms and legs are a little thin at the moment. Based on his father, that will change over the next few years.

Verner is a placid, steady person, who never gets worked up about anything because he doesn't see a point in getting worked up. Things will work out as they will, and in his experience if you just keep calm you can find your way out of any situation. He shares his parents' dry and quiet sense of humor that leans slightly towards [[Deadpan Snarker]], but isn't quite sharp enough.

* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Verner knows he's a 'big boy', and can play the brute well enough. He has found that physical enhancement magic is the easiest for him to manage, and as such generally sees this as his own role.

'''Appearance:''' Jun is a wiry boy with big eyes and ears that he really hopes he'll grow into. He has dark eyes, brown or black depending on the light, and short black hair that he's letting grow in the hope his parents won't object when he goes home.

* [[China Takes Over the World]]: Jun has a fairly patriotic outlook on life – he dreams of running a big international Chinese company the way his neighbor kids dream of being Chinese astronauts.

Esmeralda grew up touring Spain with her mother, a professional dancer and dance instructor. Her mother claims Esmeralda was dancing before she was walking, and Esmeralda still loves to dance, fully intending to follow in her mother's footsteps. She is very interested in magic for its own sake, but has also thought of several ways to combine the magic with her dancing.

'''Aliases:''' Grifter, Cheater

'''Appearance:''' Chen-chi is small and thin, looking like a stiff wind could break her, and like Laura has a ready grin and quick hands. She has shoulder-length straight black hair, a round face, huge green eyes, and pale skin.

Chen-Chi is a born risk-taker, similarly to Laura, and shares a similar sense of humor. She is less active about both, however, and prefers to keep her risk-taking to the nice safe area of finances and small-scale gambling, where she is something of a genius. She has always been very lucky, and just accepted it until Aria and Lotte demonstrated how her luck was often a function of nascent magical ability. She used to say she was lucky, now she likes to say she is both lucky and good.

* [[The Gambling Addict]]: Chen-chi ran a gambling ring at her old high-school – it was how she fit in after skipping several grades. Apparently, by the time of ''Endless Waltz'', she had been running the ring despite her parents' objections.

Didier had a very traumatic childhood, witnessing his mother and little sister being killed by bandits, before killing one of those bandits himself, accidentally. Because of that event and his father's philosophies, Didier is a pacifist in the mold of Mahatma Ghandi. He is extremely uncomfortable with the combative atmosphere of most of his classmates, but that was true back in le Cote D'Ivoire, so it is no different. Like his classmates, however, he cannot simply sit by while people he knows are in danger, and thus he has actively pursued Shamal's idea that he train his magic to function as a paramedic and healer. He was interested in magic for its own sake, and being able to do something that is both worthwhile and in keeping with his father's ideals is making it even better.

* [[The Woobie]]: From his Side Story (Scar the Soul) more than the main story line. He witnessed his little sister and mother gunned down by bandits, and when one caught him, accidently shot and killed the man with his own weapon, then got lost in the wilderness for several days.

* [[Imaginary Love Triangle]]: Accidentally ends up in one of these, in the eyes of the original students, with Niranjana and Allina.

* [[Big Bad]] / [[The Dragon]]: Li is on the border between these two tropes. On the one hand, he was in charge of the entire operation to destroy Hayate and her school in ''Academy Blues'', but he was also not the top of the heap. He reported to the [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness|Grand Circle]] and executed his operations on their command and in furtherance of their goals.

* [[Evil Mentor]]: Comments he makes to Li at various points indicate that Hassed helped train Li in magic.

* [[Mad Scientist]]: Al Huri has more than a trace of this. For all the distaste he professes towards magical artifacts and devices, he is remarkably quick to construct and study such things. Second-hand comments even indicate that {{spoiler|after being captured by the Bureau, he offered to work with their scientific department}}.

'''Aliases:'''

* {{spoiler|[[Power Nullifier]]: Hughes' most advanced and powerful spell is EMP – a pulse that disrupts and dissipates all magic in a fair sized radius. That radius gets catastrophically large when a desperate Maunders uses the spell with a brand new device and every bit of power she can gather.}}

Teri Maunders is a US Army Sergeant through and through. She eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps Army, and if anyone ever suggested making her an officer she would probably shoot them. She is an expert at small unit tactics and keeping soldiers in line and pointed in the right direction. {{spoiler|She also happens to be a steady mage with enough talent to pull off a Master Adept rank spell she only partly knew.}} As Hughes' most trusted enlisted subordinate, she basically functions as his right hand.

Schuster is on the borderline between being a REMF and a Special Forces commando. He knows the talk and is good enough to get the nascent Black Dogs working together, but he also wisely leaves the actual hands-on work to Thorngrave, Hughes' hand-picked team-commander. Schuster knows he is an administrator more than a soldier, and acts accordingly. He is also very cautious of his Black Dogs, trying to preserve the team while proving the concept.

Uriel is a well-trained commando and mage, fully capable with any weapon and in any environment. He has an easy-going command style that mostly consists of expecting the men to follow when he leads, which works fairly well for him.

Arlain is a dedicated British Army sergeant, and expected to remain so until retirement. Being pulled out by the Circles was a major aggravation, until he found out why. Since then, he has proven to be one of the more flexible members of the Black Dogs, leader of the recon element of the original team, one of the few able to utilize Jubal Early without panicking over it.

* [[Supporting Protagonist]]: Arlain is usually the character to provide the viewpoint for the Black Dogs, despite not being either the field leader or force commander. When Hughes expands the Black Dogs from their original single team prior to New York, Arlain got command of his own nine-man team (still including Jubal, for some strange reason)

* [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]: Not entirely accurate, but rank in Al Hanthis is largely determined by magical strength/rank. As the highest ranking officer of the Guard, Szash not only needed to demonstrate great personal strength, but as General of the Guard, she has entire power generators dedicated solely to her support (Al Hanthis' equivalent to Bureau mage-devices relies on routing power from large-scale generators via implants in their mages).

'''Appearance:''' Yosho is very tall, and very broad, though not fat or stocky. His black hair is short, but not militarily so, and shot through with gray. His eyes are gray, and very expressive, telling his audience exactly what he wants them to see.

Yosho is a master manipulator and long-time [[The Chessmaster|chessmaster]]. He manipulated his way to his current position as leader of Al Hanthis' police forces at a time when they were the only executive authority in Al Hanthis. A product of the post-Al Hazred civil war, Yosho believes overridingly in the security of Al Hanthis and in crushing the rebels as a threat to the very fabric of reality.

* [[Benevolent Boss]]: For all his amoral tendencies, Yosho is demonstrated to be a considerate, if manipulative, boss. He is actively training Journeyman Turo as an assistant/successor, but accepts the younger man's protests against atrocities (at least to Turo's face). Even when faced with evidence of his actions, his subordinates still don't believe it.

* [[Sempai Kouhai-Kohai]]: Hidan calls him sempai.