Asroc "The Pygmalion Furnace"

Asroc "The Pygmalion Furnace" is a member of Eden's "The Seven" possessing the rank of Knight, and one of the antagonists of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, appearing as the boss of the mission Puppeteer (Isle of Dreams) in Copen's story route, and Inferno (The Garden 2) in Gunvolt's story route. He also appears in the drama CD Eden's Party.
His family and dreams taken from him by hateful humans, Asroc serves Eden through his intense lust for revenge. He is an Adept with the Septima Marionette, which allows him to control machinery via energy strings extended from his fingers.
== Website Description ==
*It is instead referred to as "Marionette" in both Gunvolt 2 dialog and Gunvolt 3 Image Pulses.
== Appearance ==
Asroc is a teenager with short, light brown, somewhat spiky hair, and brown eyes. He wears a short sleeved white jacket, a black undershirt, black trousers, and black boots with silver highlights. He also wears red gloves, a brown hat with an orange patch in the middle, a long, light brown scarf and a black belt with a silver buckle.
In his Armed Phenomenon, Asroc gains bright orange hair and black eyes with orange irises. He wears black armor with gray and orange highlights, with a large piece of hat-like armor on his head. The armor on his upper body resembles the top half of a robe, and he wears a long loin cloth on his lower body.
When Asroc transforms, he automatically summons Galette Krone, a large robot fused from various Eden weaponry and brought to life by Asroc's septima. Galette Krone is much taller and bulkier than Asroc, and is primarily black and orange. Its body is rather circular, its head ends in a large orange cone, and its fingers serve as cannons. Another Galette Krone is also seen with a blue and silver color scheme.
===Gallery===
Main article: Asroc "The Pygmalion Furnace"/Gallery
Chara0307 SC00.jpg|Normal
CpWNSw8UsAAtjWV.jpg|Armed Phenomenon
CpWNUlaVUAAwxkZ.jpg|Galette Krone. Top left face is the final one.
AsrocGrandTortaDesign.jpg|Gran Torta
== Personality ==
Asroc is visibly a calm, serious person. He is never seen losing his temper, and rarely smiles and laughs. He is also shown to be rather arrogant, casually mocking those he sees as weak, and takes great pride in both his combat abilities and skills as a chef.
At his core though, Asroc is someone full of anger. His disgust and hatred for non-Adepts is vast, even when compared to the rest of The Seven. He despises them due to the discrimination he suffered and looks down on them greatly, refusing to call Copen by his name, instead referring to him as a "primitive" ("old man" in the Japanese version), and views Adepts as the next step in human evolution, mirroring Tenjian's Social Darwinist philosophy. Ironically, it is observed by Lola that he and Copen are quite similar, from their technological prowess to their personalities and hatred towards the other's race.
However, Asroc's dark personality is slightly undermined by his constant use of food metaphors.
== History ==
===Background===
Hailing from France, Asroc was raised by his mother as the eldest of four children.
A quiet but kind child, the highlight of Asroc's childhood was getting to try his mother's homemade cakes once a year, which eventually inspired him to become a pastry chef. Sure enough, at age 12 he was eventually taken on as an apprentice to a famous chef. His mother had always told him to hide his Septima, however, word eventually spread of his powers, and he gained a lowly reputation.
Despite this, he tried to ignore the rumors, until one day, when he returned from work to find his house in flames, and his family dead. His teacher, not wanting to get involved, expelled him. Catching wind that it was a non-Adept who killed his family, Asroc spiraled into a deep pit of hatred, convinced he had to "burn up" humanity.
Eventually, he joined the adept supremacist group Eden as one of The Seven, becoming known as one of Eden's "Knights". Unlike the other members, nothing is known about the circumstances of him joining.
===Eden's Party===
===Azure Striker Gunvolt 2===
==== Prologue ====
Asroc and Galette Krone take part in Eden's plan to gain the power of The Muse by kidnapping Copen's sister Mytyl and taking her aboard the sabotaged Sumeragi ship Seraph.
Asroc uses his Puppetmaster septima to activate the Fazent just as Gunvolt, having boarded the ship, witnesses this. Unable to pursue it, he finds Galette Krone and promptly defeats it.
==== Copen route ====
===== Puppeteer (Isle of Dreams) =====
Some time after Eden's retrieval of the power of The Muse, Asroc and a platoon of Eden soldiers claim an old abandoned weapons manufacturing plant, and, using Asroc's septima, start using it to make weapons. This captures the interest of Copen, who heads there to stop them. As Copen makes his way through the factory, Asroc revives deactivated Sumeragi robots to try and hinder him.
Eventually, Copen comes face to face with Asroc and calls him brave for facing him. Asroc merely calls him a "primitive" in response, and prepares to "cook up" a new human evolution. Copen dismisses his "evolution" on the grounds that it has no mortality, but Asroc just claims he refuses to see the truth. He then uses his grimore to transform, and summons Galette Krone before attacking Copen.
Copen recognizes Galette Krone, and vows to remove his head for kidnapping Mytyl. Asroc claims Copen's head is full of cream and pudding, and is just another bit of his "bloody mise en place". In return, Copen scoffs at his title as a chef, saying he's nothing more than a two-bit cook. Around this time, Lola calls out Copen and Asroc's similarities, which Copen greatly denies. Annoyed by the two, Asroc focuses his attention towards beating Copen. Eventually, Asroc is beaten.
Realizing he can't win, Asroc leaps into Galette Krone and flees, with Copen in close pursuit. When the latter catches up, Asroc leaps into a massive robot known as the "Gran Torta", and attacks Copen, who remains unimpressed, calling the robot a sacrilege to science. Asroc claims it's like a primitive to refuse to accept a superior talent, and threatens to drop him in the "fryer". However, the Gran Torta is eventually beaten, and blows up with Asroc still inside, killing him. His mirror shard is then taken by Copen.
===== Savior (The Garden 3) =====
At some point, a copy of Asroc and the rest of The Seven is made by Zonda using her Mirror septima. He, along with Tenjian, Ghauri and Desna await Copen as he attempts to reach Zonda. When he encounters Asroc again, the former informs him that he didn't expect to see Copen again, yet is needed in the kitchen once more before attacking him with Galette Krone.
During the fight, Asroc warns Copen that Galette Krone will destroy both him and Lola, whom he calls a "pet", something she finds greatly offensive, saying Galette Krone is the one who should be called a pet. Asroc just calls her pathetic like her master, and orders her to roll over, which only infuriates her more. Copen tells Lola to ignore the "hollow wails of the dead" and reassures her she is more than a household pet, much to her joy. Eventually, Asroc's copy is beaten once more, and Copen moves on to Zonda.
Zonda later summons an illusion of The Seven to assist her in her battle against Copen, Asroc among them.
==== Gunvolt route ====
===== Crossroads (Prism Highway) =====
After Gunvolt defeats four members of The Seven, Asroc and fellow knight Ghauri break into Copen's house and kidnap his sister Mytyl, destroying a highway on their way out. Furious, Copen pursues and confronts them, demanding the return of his sister. Asroc immediately shuts him down, explaining that Eden has big plans for Mytyl, prompting Ghauri to apologize for his teammate's rudeness, before assuring him that his sister is in good hands, which only annoys Copen further. Asroc determines that it's useless talking to him any more, and takes his leave with Copen in pursuit, leaving Ghauri to deal with Gunvolt. Asroc wins the battle off-screen.
===== Inferno (The Garden 2) =====
As the last surviving member of The Seven, Asroc is sent to stop Gunvolt, who has tracked down and broken into Eden's headquarters, The Garden. Eventually, Gunvolt confronts Asroc, who is extremely pleased that the former made it to him. Gunvolt recognizes him as the adept Copen went after. Asroc claims to have dealt with Copen, and that now it's just him, Gunvolt, and Galette Krone, before attacking him.
During the fight, Asroc claims that he and Galette Krone form an unbeaten duo. This prompts Joule to also claim that she and Gunvolt are a perfect match. Not hearing her, Asroc launches into a slew of cooking metaphors about how he's going to kill Gunvolt, which get on the latter's nerves, who declares he will fight and win. Asroc claims that bakery and battle are the same thing, to which Gunvolt responds by calling him "half-baked". Eventually, Gunvolt manages to land a killing blow.
Shocked at his defeat, Asroc declares the battle isn't over, and uses his last remaining power to activate "it", which he declares cannot be stopped. Asroc then dies laughing madly, and his mirror shard is taken by Gunvolt, who moves on, unsettled by Asroc's words.
== Other Appearances ==
Asroc makes a cameo as collectible pixel sticker #47 in Mighty Gunvolt Burst. Some of Battalion's attacks resemble ones used by Asroc, and the Military Base stage has conveyor belts, somewhat similar to in Isle of Dreams. Coinciding with this, Asroc's pixel sticker is a stage completion reward.
== Powers and Abilities ==
As a human attuned to the Septimal stage of the Lifewave and a member of The Seven, Asroc is one of the most powerful adepts in Eden, wielding the Puppetmaster septima, which gives him the power to control and manipulate machinery using orange strings from his fingertips.
By using this power, he can activate and control even the oldest and most worn down of machines, and his range extends to the point where he can control an entire factory's worth of machines. Under his control, these machines often surpass their original functions.
Unlike Azure Thunderclap or Hack the Planet (used by Gunvolt and Teseo respectively), Puppetmaster controls the machine's physical body, making it rather similar to Nova's Psychokinesis. Upon gaining a Grimoire, his powers grow to the point that he can control machines even upon death, using it to activate the upgraded Plasma Legion in a desperate attempt to defeat Gunvolt.
Given that Asroc's septima is very limited in terms of offense, he generally relies on a robot called the Galette Krone to do most of his fighting for him which is specifically designed to be controlled by his Septima.
Galette Krone fights by rolling into a ball, firing bullets from its fingers, tossing its shoulder rings like boomerangs, firing lasers from its eyes, turning its legs into blades to slash opponents, punching the ground to generate fireballs, and unleashing a powerful heatwave from the opening on its chest. Both Grimoired Asroc and Galette Krone have the ability to create objects from masses of Asroc's strings and hover.
For his Amuse-Bouche Special Skill, Asroc can disassemble Galette Krone into its five components and have each part attack independently.
After losing his first fight to Copen, Asroc is forced to unveil his secret weapon: the Gran Torta, a gigantic robot that Asroc was developing in the factory to be a weapon of mass destruction. While it is mostly unfinished, it was still powerful enough to hold its own against Copen.
The robot is designed to be controlled via Galette Krone and is outfitted with several destructive weapons. It can rain down fireballs from the cannons on its shoulders, detach its arms and shoot several fiery projectiles, fire lasers from Galette Krone's eyes and fire a large, sweeping laser from its chest.
===Boss Battle Skills===
====Normal====
Asroc is a unique boss in that all his attacks are performed by Galette Krone, either by itself or in tandem with Asroc.
*Note: While Galette Krone has its own health, you must defeat Asroc to win. Killing Galette Krone only shuts it down for a few seconds.
*Even when Galette Krone is deactivated, it can still block shots and deal contact damage.
*When Galette Krone has been shut down, Asroc will interrupt his attack pattern to jump to the other end of the screen (if nearby Galette Krone) and revive it.
Skill 	Description
Šakotis Chakramシャコティスチャクラム4gamer.net article about Asroc and Gibril 	A combination attack in which Asroc and Galette Krone throw Wheel Chakrams at each other.
Beans Vulcanビーンズバルカン 	A machine gun rain that’s fired from Galette Krone's fingertips.
*The pattern goes; everywhere except in front of Galette Krone, then everywhere except the far end of the field.
*You can also avoid it by hovering above the barrage, but it works better for Copen than GV.
Le-Le Schneeballル―レシュネーバル 	An attack in which Galette Krone becomes a spheroid spinning at hi-speed and shoots towards the player. After flying off-screen, Galette Krone comes crashing down on you moments later. Watch the shadow to see where it falls.
*This attack also rains rubble from the ceiling. The pieces can be blocked by Flashfield.
Eruption Eclaserイラプションエクレイザー 	A powerful punch attack by Galette Krone. It jump-punches the ground and sends flames flying forwards. The flames cannot be blocked by Flashfield, so duck under Galette Krone when it jumps.
*You can also try hovering over Galette Krone to avoid this attack.
Furnace of Infernoファーネスオブインフェルノ 	As the battle goes on, Galette Krone charges up energy and turns a golden brown. When it reaches a certain level, it shoots a heat wave that’s impossible to dodge.
*Galette Krone's charge carries on through its attack patterns, but resets when it is shut down or fires this attack.
*It is literally impossible to dodge this attack without using Prevasion. This attack can be interrupted by shutting down Galette Krone or forcing Asroc to switch phases, but those are the only ways.
Amuse-BoucheビートアップアントルメBeat Up Entremets 	Asroc’s Special Skill. He makes Galette Krone break apart into many pieces and each piece attacks the player. The pattern is as follows:
*Un- Galette Krone's head fires a laser that sweeps the floor with explosions.
*Deux- The right leg tracks your position to make a swing at you before hovering in place.
*Trois- The left leg tracks your position to make a swing at you before hovering in place.
*Quat- The shoulder chakrams make circuits around the floor and air.
*Cinq- The arms impact the ground explosively, followed by the main body dropping down the center.
*Terminer- All of Galette Krone's parts click back together as the robot jumps back to Asroc.
*All of Galette Krone's parts deal contact damage.
*If Galette Krone is shut down as Asroc enters his final phase, the latter will be forced to wait for Galette Krone to reactivate in order to perform Amuse-Bouche, allowing a window to attack him and possibly avoid the attack all together.
====Gran Torta====
The Gran Torta is a larger robot that Asroc was constructing deep within the Isle of Dreams. It is not fully completed, but he was forced to activate it in response to being defeated by Copen. This robot is piloted by Asroc, who lodges himself inside Galette Krone, which is lodged into the Gran Torta's "head".
*Note: Galette Krone must be destroyed to win this fight. The slots on the arms can be attacked to disable a certain technique of Gran Torta's. The arms count as separate enemies and grant 500 Kudos when finished off with a Skill, just like minibosses. Destroying both arms and Galette Krone all at the same time grants a secret bonus of 333 Kudos alongside normal combo bonuses.
*This battle is exclusive to the Isle of Dreams version of Asroc.
Skill 	Description
Caramelizer Novaカラメリーゼ・ノヴァGunvolt 2 Soundtrack booklet, Mecha profiles 	Galette Krone fires two lasers inwards that sweep the ground with explosions. To dodge, simply airdash, hover or jump to stay off the ground.
Dressage Blastドレサージュブラスト 	The cannons on Gran Torta's shoulders fire a volley into the air. About a second later, the fireballs gradually drop in on Copen's position. The fireballs leave explosions that linger for a few seconds.
Feuilletage Cannonフィユタージュカノン 	One of Gran Torta's arms splits off to fall onto one end of the arena. It then proceeds to launch a flurry of lasers, fireballs, and meteors to avoid by precisely jumping between them.
*This attack can be disabled entirely by destroying the slots on Gran Torta's arms.
Glaze Laserグレイズレーザー 	Gran Torta rises up to expose its chest turbine, which gathers energy before sweeping the arena with a large laser that moves right-to-left or left-to-right. Both upper corners of the arena are safe from danger.
*Depending on his health, Asroc may perform this attack sequentially up to 3 times.
==Boss Battle Voices==
==== Initial ====
Event 	Translated	Romaji 	Japanese
Transform 	 	Fun! 	フン!
Recalling Galette Krone	 	Modore! Funn. 	戻れ！ふんっ！
Galette Krone Defeated 	 	Chii! Funn!Yomigaere… Koii! 	チィッ！ふんっ！甦れ… 来いっ！
Furnace of Inferno 	 	Yonetsu wa juubun…Yakiagero! 	予熱は十分…焼き上げろ！
Le-Le Schneeball 	 	Iku zo, suri tsubuse! Nobiro! 	いくぞ、すり潰せ！ 延びよ！
Eruption Aix Razor 	 	Kudaki ware! 	砕き割れ！
Sakotis Chakram 	 	Hajimeyou… Haa!Seii! Mada da! Haaaa! 	始めよう… はっ！ せいっ！まだだ！ はぁあっ！
Beans Vulcan 	 	Ukero! Soko da, kona to chire! 	受けろ！そこだ、粉と散れ！
Amuse-Bouche 	 	Jikan da… Biito appu entorume!Saishuu koutei ni kakaru…An! Du! Toowa! Kyatoru!Nigemadoe... Sanku!Shiage da! Moto ni modore!	時間だ…ビートアップアントルメ！最終工程に掛かる… アン！ ドゥ！トロワ！ キャトル！逃げ惑え…サンク！ 仕上げだ！ 元に戻れ！
1st Phase Down(Unused) 	 	Zu ni noru na! 	図に乗るな！
2nd Phase Down(Unused) 	 	Ore no karyoku de...! 	オレの火力で…！
Defeated 	 	Guu!? Chouri sareru wa… ore datta ka…! 	ぐっ！？ 調理されるは…オレだったか…！
==== Gran Torta ====
Event 	Translated	Romaji 	Japanese
Caramelizer Nova	 	Yaki tsukusu… 	焼き尽くす……
Dressage Blast 	 	Moero! 	燃えろ！
Fiyutage Cannon 	 	Kudake chire.. Nigasan! 	砕け散れ… 逃さん！
Glazer Laser 	 	Saidai karyoku da… Kurozumi to nare!	最大火力だ… 黒炭となれ！
1st WingDown 	 	Koshakuna…! 	小癪な…！
2nd Wing Down 	 	Bakanaa!? 	馬鹿なッ！？
Defeated 	 	Atsui…! Ore ga… yakareru…! 	熱い…！ オレが…焼かれる……！？
==Special Skill Chants==
Amuse-Bouche:
==Quotes==
==Designer Comments==
Source: Armed Blue: Gunvolt Official Complete Works
==Musical Themes==
Title 	Context 	Composer 	Audio
The Puppets Dance in Silence人形よ静寂に踊れ 	Isle of Dreams stage theme 	Aoi Takeda 	
Giant God Cleverness巨神機巧 	VS Gran Torta (also plays VS Plasma Legion)	Ippo Yamada	
The stage theme's melody is intended to express Asroc's "always cold in nature and freely controlling robots" traits.Gunvolt 2 OST, sound designer Ryo Kawakami's comment
==Trivia==
*As part of the Eden top members being based on classical fairy tales, Asroc's motif is Hansel and Gretel.
*As a callback to earlier story drafts, The Seven are all named after missiles.Gunvolt Official Complete Works staff interview Asroc's name comes from the RUR-5 ASROC (Anti Submarine ROCet), a missile system developed by the US Navy in the 1950s.
**Galette Krone's name is a combination of the words "Galette" (a French term for a flat cake) and "Krone" (a cognate for "crown").
**Gran Torta can be translated as "Great Cake".
*Asroc's title of "The Pygmalion Furnace" comes from the Greek mythological figure Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he carved. This is mirrored by Asroc's affection for Galette Krone.
*Most of Asroc's attacks are named after culinary dishes.
*Asroc's Septima is inconsistently named in the English localization, with his website profile calling it "Puppetmaster" and in-game dialogue calling it "Marionette." In the Japanese version, it is consistently named Puppetwire across all mediums.
*Asroc piloting the Gran Torta is the largest boss of the series so far. With its dimensions, he overshadows even Nova in his armored form.
*The Gran Torta is the only boss in Gunvolt 2 who is not fought in Secret Mission 5 (boss rush).
*Asroc is the second boss to lack a cooldown phase voice-line in either fights, instead he briefly becomes invincible as he carries on attacking. The first is Elise and the third is ???.
**He does, however, have a voice line played whenever his 1st and 2nd HP gauges have been depleted, but these went unused.
==References==
== Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 Navigation ==
Category:Characters
Category:ASG2 Bosses
Category:Eden
Category:The Seven
Category:Antagonists
Category:Adept
Category:Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
Category:Male Characters
Category:Deceased
Category:ASG2 Characters
Category:Image Pulse