Alex (Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux)

Alex is a character from Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux. She is a mysterious woman with a multiple-choice past.
==Appearances==
*Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux: Major Character, Recurring Boss, Final Boss (Old Neutral, Old Law)
==Design==
Alex has long black hair with bangs and silver eyes. She wears over-the-ear headphones, a red coat, and a black jump suit. She's shown to be wielding a gun. Her crimson attire symbolizes her demonic heritage, being Louisa Ferre's daughter.
Depending on how far the protagonist has traversed the Womb of Grief and his choice in the last encounter with Alex near the end of the original Law/Neutral/Chaos routes, Alex also develops a gold or blue aura around her body, the former of which also turns her eyes red, signifying her demonic heritage and cries bloody tears.
==Personality==
When first introduced, Alex comes off as highly intimidating, as well as fearsome. Despite her human form, Jimenez and Zelenin are terrified of her and consider her a monster. She is dedicated to her self-imposed task to eliminating the protagonist and his allies, even though doing so will result in her existence being erased due to the creation of an alternate future. She is relentless, pursuing them from Carina and even hunting the protagonist down in the Third Sphere of the Womb of Grief.
That being said, Alex isn't completely heartless; most of her desire to kill the three characters comes from what she knows about them in her time. Thus, when she gets to know them more in some way, she becomes confused, such as when Bugaboo protected Jimenez from her when he was infected by the Delphinus Parasite or when the protagonist protected her from Zeus. When she has time to interact with them properly and understand them better, she offers a different means to create a new world for them. She also comes off more approachable, thanking the protagonist for saving her.
Alex's driving force behind her decision to change the future isn't solely based on saving the world from a doomed future. Due to the nature of the world she originates from, regardless of alignment, she is left alone and abandoned. Thus, her desire is a selfish reason: To avoid being alone.
==Profile==
===Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux===
Alex is after Jimenez, Zelenin and the protagonist's life and is involved with the game's new ending route. representing an alternative Law/Neutral/Chaos Routes. She is the human daughter of Louissa Ferre, who traveled back in time from the future to prevent the three possible endings from the original game from happening, as each one results in an apocalyptic world regardless.
Depending on the player's alignment, her backstory changes accordingly:
*In a world of Law, humanity was divided into two groups: those brainwashed by Zelenin's song and those who were not. Alex was born into the latter group, which at some point in time had been massacred for simply not being affected by the song.
*In a world of Chaos, Alex was born into a world of survival. Anyone she met, she killed in order to stay alive. By the time she had decided to return to the past and enter Schwarzwelt to kill the protagonist, Jimenez and Zelenin, the only beings left in that world were herself and the demons who inhabited it.
*In a world of Neutrality, Alex was born into a world where humanity had grown complacent. As such, when another iteration of the Schwarzwelt was created, they were unable to stop its advance.
Alex is first met shortly after the Schwarzwelt Investigation Team arrives in Sector Bootes. She appears before the protagonist after he has finished launching the probes, attacking him on sight. After George identifies him, Alex proceeds to defeat his demons and mortally wound him with little effort. She then leaves, going after Jimenez and Zelenin next. Unbeknown to her, the protagonist's life is saved by Demeter, who brings them to the Womb of Grief. Jimenez mentions that he encountered her and barely survived, having managed to escape.
Alex appears again in Sector Carina, stopping the protagonist as he pursues Horkos. She is bewildered, demanding to know how he could have survived before attacking him again, though is once again unsuccessful as he escapes into the Carina's Sanctum.
During the protagonist's exploration into the Womb of Grief, he encounters her, but is not found thanks to Demeter's magic.
While in Sector Delphinus, Zelenin will mention that she encountered Alex, but was saved thanks to Mastema's intervention. Jimenez also vaguely recalls her, but cannot remember the details aside from Bugaboo protecting him.
In the Womb of Grief, when Demeter and the protagonist stumble upon her again, she is found looking at a holographic image of a blonde woman holding a baby. George interrupts her moment, asking why she allowed Jimenez to live when she had the opportunity to kill him. Alex says she was merely caught off guard by his strange demon, assuring him she can finish the mission before remarking that she learned nothing from her conversation with Zelenin. She then takes her leave.
In the Third Sphere, the protagonist encounters her several times as she attempts to kill him before finally confronting him after she has slain Amon. The protagonist injures her, forcing Alex to retreat due to damage suffered from the fight with Amon. However, she has also made off with the Third Fruit which the protagonist was supposed to collect.
In the Fourth Sphere, after the protagonist defeats Forneus, Alex and George encounter the protagonist. Learning from their previous fight, Alex ambushes the protagonist without giving him a chance to rest, and he is forced to deplete all her health this time.
In the Fifth Sphere, the protagonist encounters her asleep. George responds to his presence, and hurries the protagonist along without rousing her. Later on in the same Sphere, Alex is found fighting Zeus, but is quickly overwhelmed and thrown back. The protagonist is forced to intervene, taking on Zeus himself.
She reappears in the Sixth Sphere, thanking the protagonist for saving her before she promises to explain everything once he has made his decision. She leaves Maria to him, and this marks a significant change in how her final events play out at the depths of Sector Horologium.
If the player didn't defeat Maria before approaching Mem Aleph for the second time in Sector Horologium, Alex appears one last time, outside Mem Aleph's chamber, determined to defeat the protagonist so she can change the future. She fights alone, though with increased stats and stronger moves than her previous fights in the Womb of Grief.
If the player did defeat Maria at this point, Alex shows up in the depths of Sector Horologium - either just after Mem Aleph's defeat on the Law and Neutral routes, or immediately before the protagonist returns to Mem Aleph on the Chaos route. Rather than fight him right away, the she tries to convince the protagonist to work with her to change the future. Agreeing with Alex will lock the protagonist in a "New" route which will result in significantly less extreme Law and Chaos endings or a Neutral ending that allows a steady solution against the Schwarzwelt.
If he disagrees with her in any of the situations below, however, she will proceed to use the Fruit to unlock her demonic heritage in full, summon Shaytan and Amon to her side, and fight the player with her newfound party of demons. If this is the Law/Neutral routes, Alex will be the Final Boss, but during the the Chaos route, Pillar Zelenin still has to be fought after her. The classic Law/Chaos/Neutral endings then follow, and the protagonist might fuse Shaytan and Amon on their next playthrough.
*If the protagonist is Chaos aligned, Alex questions Jimenez saving Bugaboo when it conflicted with his ideals. Should the protagonist agree with Alex, a new future is created and Alex disappears, having accomplished her mission before giving Jimenez her ring and the protagonist the Third Fruit.
*If the protagonist is Law aligned, Alex questions Zelenin. Should the protagonist agree with Alex, Alex convinces Zelenin to create her own version of order by removing hostility with her hymn. As Zelenin declares that she accepts it and vows to create her own version of order, a new future is created and Alex disappears, having accomplished her mission before giving Zelenin her ring and the protagonist the Third Fruit.
*If the protagonist is Neutral aligned, Alex begs the protagonist to help her change her future. If the protagonist agrees to help her, George and Arthur formulate a plan to destroy the Schwarzwelt. After allowing the protagonist to keep her ring and giving him the Third Fruit, Alex's future changes and she disappears, at ease knowing that the protagonist will protect the future.
==Strategy==
Alex possesses a highly varied skill set, and can attack with Phys, Gun, Fire, Ice, Elec, and Wind skills. When facing her, it's vital that the player's team has a well-rounded defense, though her group-hitting attacks tend to be gun-based. Her signature skills make use of her high Agility. Dodging Counter lets her counterattack whenever an attack misses her, and Evade Physical and Evade Magic gives her guaranteed evasion against phys/gun and fire/ice/elec/wind attacks respectively. When those skills are used, they linger for an additional turn, so use this opportunity to either attack with skills that she's not countering, or go on the defensive and heal/buff/debuff. You can also deploy a Tetrakarn, deliberately trigger Dodging Counter, and feed her her own lead.
Be aware of excessively buffing and/or debuffing, as she can use Silent Stones, Dekaja Stones, and Dekunda Stones to erase them. She'll also use Smokescreen to lower your teams' Agility to increase her chances of Dodging Counter, so be prepared to correct it with Dekunda.
When she's fought in the Third Sphere, you only need to lower her to half health before the battle ends. Exploit her weakness to Elec to speed up the battle, and carefully play around her Evade skills to avoid unnecessary damage.
In the Fourth Sphere, she engages the player right after they defeat Forneus but before they have a chance to heal, and the player has to deplete all her HP to proceed. At half health, Alex brings a new trick to the table in this fight: A12 Incendiary. It sets up a field effect for 3 turns that deals fire damage to all combatants at the end of the turn, including Alex herself, though the damage she takes is negligible due to her fire resistance. The same strategy for the previous fight will suffice, though your team's higher levels will make her less of a threat.
When challenging her in Sector Horologium, the fight the player is given depends on whether or not they've completed the Womb of Grief by defeating Maria there. If Maria's not defeated, Alex is fought alone, with increased stats and stronger skills. The most deadly of her skills is easily Raging Blasts, which doles out 12 random hits of Gun damage - if 4 or more strike a non-resistant target they can easily die on the spot. Her elemental shots are switched to Barrages too, doing 8 random hits of their respective element. Bring Gun resistance and the fight should not be too different from the earlier fights.
If Maria has been defeated and the player declines the new endings, Alex summons Amon and Shaytan to fight alongside her. This time, her skill set is greatly diminished, but her one skill - Claimh Solais - is a physical attack that pierces resistance and is guaranteed to hit fairly hard while her demons support with buffs and debuffs. Dispatch her demons - particularly Shaytan who can heal her with Diarahan and apply Luster Soul, the equivalent of four Luster Candies at once - and Alex alone should not be a threat. Completing this fight will unlock Amon and Shaytan for fusion on the next playthrough, and add Amon to the boss rush machine in the Womb of Grief.
==Stats==
===Womb of Grief===
===Sector Horologium===
<tabber>
Human Alex =
She is fought in this form if you don't defeat Maria before reaching Mem Aleph the second time.
|-|
Empowered Alex =
If the player has defeated Maria but turns down the new endings, she is fought with Amon and Shaytan.
</tabber>
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
* The nature of Alex's parentage is deliberately left unexplained, but implied in the story (once during an animated cutscene in the Womb of Grief and another in the New Neutral Ending), with only the hologram of herself and her mother alluding to Louisa Ferre. The datamined cutscene files for the Japanese version directly state it with the name LOUIS_CHILD.
* The way she easily submits Amon but is at Zeus's mercy suits her elemental affinities, as Alex resists Amon's fire but is weak to Zeus's thunder.
Category:Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux Characters
Category:Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux Enemies
Category:Final Bosses