- Joined
- Jul 17, 2019
I know a [bad] guy. Oersted, from Live-A-Live.
Needless to say, this dude's pretty fucking evil. However, he walked a long road before his decline. Allow me to divulge the details:
Live-A-Live is a character-centric title, focusing on the story and journey of the main characters through their respective playable scenarios, each of which center around a specific setting (i.e. the Stone Age, or something you'd see out of science fantasy media). In that case, the game puts Oersted as the last main character, for his specific scenario.
Might not be as evil, but he's a quality villain in my books.
tl;dr: Knight goes through a lot of shit, goes nuts, and stops listening to a well-known song by Journey. But he does provide one of the best tracks in the game:
Needless to say, this dude's pretty fucking evil. However, he walked a long road before his decline. Allow me to divulge the details:
Live-A-Live is a character-centric title, focusing on the story and journey of the main characters through their respective playable scenarios, each of which center around a specific setting (i.e. the Stone Age, or something you'd see out of science fantasy media). In that case, the game puts Oersted as the last main character, for his specific scenario.
For Oersted: He wins the final round of a tournament [held in the Kingdom of Lucretia] against his best friend, the magician Straybow. The grand prize is the marriage to the princess, Alicia. Oersted and her are engaged, but she gets kidnapped by the Demon Lord, away to his hideout.
Being this great hero and all, Oersted sets out for his betrothed, with his best bud, Straybow, tagging alongside him. They obtain the help of past heroes, Uranus (stop laughing) and Hash, with the latter of the two having experience fighting the Demon Lord. With a party of 4, they take the battle to the Demon Lord, and defeat him. However, Hash tells the others that the Demon Lord was unlike the Demon King he had fought in the past. Hash would died after the battle, succumbing to a plague known only by him. In his parting words, he tells Oersted to never make the same error he made by deciding to no longer believe in humanity.
After that, a sudden tremor prompts the remaining to vacant the late Demon Lord's lair. Oersted and Uranus manage escape the cave-in, but it seems Straybow wasn't as lucky. Only those two came out unscathed, but just like that, following the plague-ridden old hero, the new hero's best friend appears to have perished as well. At the end of it all, the duo return to the castle without a rescued Alicia in tow, and two allies gone. The King of Lucretia can only tell Oersted to rest and fight another day.
Unable to sleep thanks to visions of this "Demon King," Oersted awakes and sees the figure of Straybow slink out of his quarters. Giving chase, he sees the should-be-vanquished Demon Lord on the King's throne. He does battle with the fiend, and appears to slain him yet again, but unfortunately, it was only an illusion. Oersted, in actuality, just slew the King in cold blood, on the man's own throne! The guards arrive, and the same guards who once congratulated and praised Oersted, now spit vile remarks and call him after his fallen nemesis—a Demon.
Uranus arrives to buy him time to flee as he gets captured, but like the guards, the same villagers than once hailed him as a great hero, now lash out with the same remark—Demon. He turns himself in and awaits execution, but like Hash, Uranus [in the the cell beside his] tells him to keep fighting with the idea that if at someone keeps believing in him, this whole ordeal will never truly be for naught. Uranus then uses the last of his strength to free Oersted from his cell, and then perishes soon after. Oersted dirtily escapes; it is not without killing those same guards does he manage to flee the kingdom once more.
Oersted, with no options left, proceeding to the Demon Lord's lair in an attempt to rescuing Alicia, the one person whose bound to still have faith in him. He arrives to where he fought the Demon Lord, and uncovers a secret entrance, which leads to out into the open pinnacle. There, he sees that Straybow was alive, and learns that it was the jealous heart of his best friend that conspired this chain of events; he gave Oersted visions of the Demon King; and it was he lured Oersted out to see the King in an illusion as the Demon King, so he would ruin himself by killing the King. The two do battle. Oersted wins, Straybow dies, and Alicia pops out to see the outcome.
Oersted is glad to finally reunite with his lover, but he is suddenly taken aback when the first words she udders are, "STAY AWAY!" Alicia says that Oersted made not a single effort to rescue her, unlike Straybow. She confesses her love for the late mage, right in front of Oersted. In her pathos... she kills herself, the only person who Oersted still thought had faith in him, right in front of him.
Ultimately, with no one he knows that believes in him, and with the world as he knows it calling him "Demon," in that moment, Oersted loses it, denounces his humanity and his hatred towards it, and proclaims himself to be the new Demon King, Odio.
Being this great hero and all, Oersted sets out for his betrothed, with his best bud, Straybow, tagging alongside him. They obtain the help of past heroes, Uranus (stop laughing) and Hash, with the latter of the two having experience fighting the Demon Lord. With a party of 4, they take the battle to the Demon Lord, and defeat him. However, Hash tells the others that the Demon Lord was unlike the Demon King he had fought in the past. Hash would died after the battle, succumbing to a plague known only by him. In his parting words, he tells Oersted to never make the same error he made by deciding to no longer believe in humanity.
After that, a sudden tremor prompts the remaining to vacant the late Demon Lord's lair. Oersted and Uranus manage escape the cave-in, but it seems Straybow wasn't as lucky. Only those two came out unscathed, but just like that, following the plague-ridden old hero, the new hero's best friend appears to have perished as well. At the end of it all, the duo return to the castle without a rescued Alicia in tow, and two allies gone. The King of Lucretia can only tell Oersted to rest and fight another day.
Unable to sleep thanks to visions of this "Demon King," Oersted awakes and sees the figure of Straybow slink out of his quarters. Giving chase, he sees the should-be-vanquished Demon Lord on the King's throne. He does battle with the fiend, and appears to slain him yet again, but unfortunately, it was only an illusion. Oersted, in actuality, just slew the King in cold blood, on the man's own throne! The guards arrive, and the same guards who once congratulated and praised Oersted, now spit vile remarks and call him after his fallen nemesis—a Demon.
Uranus arrives to buy him time to flee as he gets captured, but like the guards, the same villagers than once hailed him as a great hero, now lash out with the same remark—Demon. He turns himself in and awaits execution, but like Hash, Uranus [in the the cell beside his] tells him to keep fighting with the idea that if at someone keeps believing in him, this whole ordeal will never truly be for naught. Uranus then uses the last of his strength to free Oersted from his cell, and then perishes soon after. Oersted dirtily escapes; it is not without killing those same guards does he manage to flee the kingdom once more.
Oersted, with no options left, proceeding to the Demon Lord's lair in an attempt to rescuing Alicia, the one person whose bound to still have faith in him. He arrives to where he fought the Demon Lord, and uncovers a secret entrance, which leads to out into the open pinnacle. There, he sees that Straybow was alive, and learns that it was the jealous heart of his best friend that conspired this chain of events; he gave Oersted visions of the Demon King; and it was he lured Oersted out to see the King in an illusion as the Demon King, so he would ruin himself by killing the King. The two do battle. Oersted wins, Straybow dies, and Alicia pops out to see the outcome.
Oersted is glad to finally reunite with his lover, but he is suddenly taken aback when the first words she udders are, "STAY AWAY!" Alicia says that Oersted made not a single effort to rescue her, unlike Straybow. She confesses her love for the late mage, right in front of Oersted. In her pathos... she kills herself, the only person who Oersted still thought had faith in him, right in front of him.
Ultimately, with no one he knows that believes in him, and with the world as he knows it calling him "Demon," in that moment, Oersted loses it, denounces his humanity and his hatred towards it, and proclaims himself to be the new Demon King, Odio.
Being the Demon King, Odio kills everyone in Lucretia, holds the world in a perpetual stasis. He also uses the previous Demon King's status to reincarnate himself across worlds throughout different eras. Those reincarnations of Odio serve as the main bosses for each of the other main characters' scenarios. These bosses range from a prehistoric dinosaur to a HAL 9000 reference. All of these incarnations/bosses show the evils of humanity, either in themselves or others.
In the final arc of the game, Odio summons the other main characters to discuss if they also believe that humanity is as loathsome as he thinks. Hearing the negative from the main cast, infuriates Odio, who proceeds to attack them. However, the heroes prevail, even against his final form—Pure Odio.
You could have the heroes kill him, but he dies with regret as Alicia's name alone are is dying words. The game ends with ambiguity as his stasis still persists, and the heroes seemingly remain trapped in the stilled remains of Lucretia.
If you refuse and leave him alive, he returns and tries to debate the heroes that hatred is prevalent throughout all times, cautioning them. He makes them fight their respective incarnation of himself/boss, and when they succeed, he just gives up. He takes the moment to ask the lead character you're controlling where he when wrong, what was he missing all along. They tell him that he just gave up his humanity when, even in the worst of times, they still held close to theirs. He dies finally hearing this, but not with out a warning: No one is destined to become Demon King, but like him, all it takes is hatred, and gears are already in motion.
In the final arc, you can also play as Oersted, now Odio. You primarily fight as the incarnations against the heroes, and defeat them. Or, should you let their HP reach a critical point, you can activate "Armageddon," and wipe away not only the world of ruined Lucretia, but also, the main characters' worlds and eras, leaving nothing behind as a result. The final boss, Pure Odio, also does this attack should you lose to him. Perhaps, with Odio at his full power, Armageddon was answer he wanted to hear from the heroes.
If Odio wins via his incarnations, he becomes convinced of his own philosophy and critiques a belief in humanity as an illusion of its own. The game ends as he walks across the ruins of Lucretia. A sense of pathos is present as it appears clear that even with desires satisfied as Odio, Oersted returning to the tower of the castle—the place where he shared a moment with Alicia and where his quest began—can only look outward, seemingly unsure of whether he's the real disillusioned one and the real victor in this entire fight.
Also, in his boss fight, he uses move called "Saint Alicia," which projects a beautiful woman who then becomes horrid creature that lets out a piercing screech. He was truly "down bad," as the kids today say, indeed.
In the final arc of the game, Odio summons the other main characters to discuss if they also believe that humanity is as loathsome as he thinks. Hearing the negative from the main cast, infuriates Odio, who proceeds to attack them. However, the heroes prevail, even against his final form—Pure Odio.
You could have the heroes kill him, but he dies with regret as Alicia's name alone are is dying words. The game ends with ambiguity as his stasis still persists, and the heroes seemingly remain trapped in the stilled remains of Lucretia.
If you refuse and leave him alive, he returns and tries to debate the heroes that hatred is prevalent throughout all times, cautioning them. He makes them fight their respective incarnation of himself/boss, and when they succeed, he just gives up. He takes the moment to ask the lead character you're controlling where he when wrong, what was he missing all along. They tell him that he just gave up his humanity when, even in the worst of times, they still held close to theirs. He dies finally hearing this, but not with out a warning: No one is destined to become Demon King, but like him, all it takes is hatred, and gears are already in motion.
In the final arc, you can also play as Oersted, now Odio. You primarily fight as the incarnations against the heroes, and defeat them. Or, should you let their HP reach a critical point, you can activate "Armageddon," and wipe away not only the world of ruined Lucretia, but also, the main characters' worlds and eras, leaving nothing behind as a result. The final boss, Pure Odio, also does this attack should you lose to him. Perhaps, with Odio at his full power, Armageddon was answer he wanted to hear from the heroes.
If Odio wins via his incarnations, he becomes convinced of his own philosophy and critiques a belief in humanity as an illusion of its own. The game ends as he walks across the ruins of Lucretia. A sense of pathos is present as it appears clear that even with desires satisfied as Odio, Oersted returning to the tower of the castle—the place where he shared a moment with Alicia and where his quest began—can only look outward, seemingly unsure of whether he's the real disillusioned one and the real victor in this entire fight.
Also, in his boss fight, he uses move called "Saint Alicia," which projects a beautiful woman who then becomes horrid creature that lets out a piercing screech. He was truly "down bad," as the kids today say, indeed.
Might not be as evil, but he's a quality villain in my books.
tl;dr: Knight goes through a lot of shit, goes nuts, and stops listening to a well-known song by Journey. But he does provide one of the best tracks in the game:
