Stratos "The Gluttonous Fly"

Stratos "The Gluttonous Fly" is a Sumeragi Group prisoner, test subject, and one of the antagonists of Azure Striker Gunvolt, serving as the boss of the mission Garden (Pharma Lab).
Once a handsome and popular man, he was captured by Sumeragi and experimented on repeatedly at their pharmacology lab to test the effects of drugs on Adepts. These experiments have taken a heavy toll on his mental state, reducing him to a feral creature whose only instinct is to devour all in sight and sate his constant hunger. Only the consciousness stabilizing, highly addictive drug S.E.E.D. can give him brief respite.
He has an affinity for the Septima The Fly, which allows him to transform his body into insect-shaped energy particles that can break down and consume all kinds of matter. The constant experiments have also caused his Septima to grow so unstable that his Glaive alone cannot contain his powers, forcing Sumeragi to rely on the aforementioned drug to keep him complacent.
==Website Description==
== Appearance ==
Stratos is a teenager with shoulder length, messy green hair, red eyes, and extremely pale skin. He wears a tattered white shirt, a black Sumeragi executive jacket (which he presumably stole during his escape) tied around his waist, black trousers, and brown boots. His forearms and palms are also heavily wrapped in bandages.
In Armed Phenomenon, Stratos's appearance changes dramatically. His body appears to be made of bright yellow flames, possibly plasma. He wears black and white armor on his hands, chest, feet, thighs and groin. His hands are overly large with three digits and a thumb on both. Above him floats a black and gray shell comprised of three parts that vaguely resembles an insect head, with the two parts on the side each having one massive yellow "eye".
===Gallery===
Main article: Stratos "The Gluttonous Fly"/Gallery
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== Personality ==
Stratos's original personality is largely unknown, though he was apparently very popular and attractive. After being captured and experimented on by Sumeragi, his personality changed drastically. Now representing the sin of Gluttony, repeated experiments have driven Stratos to pure insanity, to the point where Gunvolt and Moniqa actually felt pity for him.
As a side effect from the multiple experiments he endured, Stratos suffers from a constant, agonizing hunger, which only twists his already broken mind even further. His mental state has deteriorated to such a degree that he can barely control his powers, even with a glaive, and operates mostly on pure instinct.
== History ==
===Background===
Originally, Stratos was an attractive, popular young man, before being approached by Sumeragi. Presumably, he refused to cooperate, and he was captured and subjected to numerous experiments. Though the tests greatly advanced adept research, it came at a cost of both Stratos's mental health and self control.
His powers reached the point to where his glaive alone could not control his Septima, and he became reliant on a drug known as S.E.E.D. to keep his abilities and never-ending hunger in check.
===Justice Rage===
Stratos is mentioned by Nova as an example of some of Sumeragi's more unnecessary and grievous actions, though Jota writes off his suffering as worth the results it yielded.
===Azure Striker Gunvolt===
====Garden (Pharma Lab)====
In order to stop S.E.E.D. production, QUILL sends Gunvolt (guided over commlink by Moniqa) to the Pharmacology Lab to destroy the Eidolonflower responsible for the drug. Gunvolt succeeds in his mission, while escaping Stratos breaks out of containment elsewhere in the lab. As a soldier reports to his superior officer that they don't have any S.E.E.D. stock on hand to pacify Stratos and can't make any more with Eidolon destroyed, Stratos encounters and devours the both of them.
He then sends swarms of his energy insects throughout the lab to indiscriminately more soldiers, the escaping Gunvolt, genetically engineered plants, and even security robots. However, just before the exit, Gunvolt comes across Stratos, who notices the smell the flower left on Gunvolt, and is instantly attracted to it. Gunvolt asks if he is the adept controlling the insect hoard, but Stratos merely says dinner shouldn't talk, before he begins moaning about the hunger pains. Transforming using his Glaive, Stratos declares Gunvolt his next meal and attacks him.
As the battle rages, Gunvolt wonders if Stratos is brainwashed, whilst the former obsesses over Gunvolt's smell, complaining of his eternal hunger. Moniqa observes he can turn his body into flies and reform into different shapes. Gunvolt notes how the flies devour everything in sight, and expresses sympathy for Stratos's plight. Moniqa says she feels the same, but that they can't do anything for him now. Noticing Gunvolt's chatter, Stratos reminds him that dinner shouldn't talk. He then once more begins moaning of his hunger, and starts begging Gunvolt to just having a nibble, soon resorting to screaming for help. Horrified, Gunvolt eventually manages to defeat and kill Stratos, ending his pain, and leaving the lab.
====Stratosphere (Babel)====
At some point in time after his demise, Stratos is resurrected by Sumeragi's Rebirth Adept, Elise, and transferred to the command of Project Muse head Nova. He, along with Nova's other resurrected Adepts, await Gunvolt as the last defense between him, and Nova and The Muse.
As anticipated, Gunvolt ascends an Earth-to-space elevator (after killing Merak) to Sumeragi's orbital space station, Firmament, to finally topple Sumeragi. As he rides the elevator, Stratos, Jota and Viper attack him one by one in an effort to destroy him.
Soon after Gunvolt loses a signal and is unable to communicate with his allies, Elise beams Stratos in, who mocks Gunvolt's determination by saying he will eat him there and now.
Gunvolt is shocked at the beam of light that Stratos arrived in, but the crazed Adept tells him he shouldn't focus on it, informing him that he was brought to life, and is now even more ravenous. He goes on to state that because of Gunvolt, he is now living in his own Hell, and demands Gunvolt satisfy his needs, cackling madly. Seeing his pain, Gunvolt swears to put him down for good. 
Eventually, Gunvolt makes good on his word and sends Stratos once more to death, as Jota steps in.
== Other Appearances ==
===Azure Striker Gunvolt 2===
Stratos appears as the boss of the Score Attack exclusive stage EX Prism Highway.
The stage was originally released for the Nintendo 3DS version alongside EX Isle of Dreams as part of the DLC pack "Missions - Viper and Stratos" for $1.99 / €1.89 / 300 Yen, and has been included by default in all ports of the game to later platforms.
===Mighty Gunvolt===
Stratos appears in Mighty Gunvolt as the boss of the stage Lab.
=== Mighty Gunvolt Burst ===
Stratos appears as a collectible pixel sticker that is randomly dropped from an enemy.
=== Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 ===
Stratos appears as Image Pulse items based on Gunvolt's memories of him.
===Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime===
Stratos appears at the end of the OVA as a silhouette surrounding Gunvolt alongside Nova's other Adepts (minus Merak).
== Powers and Abilities ==
As a human attuned to the Septimal stage of the Lifewave, Stratos is a powerful Adept who can harness the power of The Fly Septima, which, true to its name, allows him to transform his body into fly-shaped energy particles that can break down and absorb virtually all types of matter. The energy flies have no sense of friend or foe and will indiscriminately consume all in sight.
In his armored form, Stratos can disassemble and reassemble at will and can change into various shapes. However, due to Stratos' primal nature, the forms he takes are quite simplistic, often being large mouths. Stratos can burrow underground to catch opponents off guard. He can also create eggs that spawn large insects and can use the halves of his mantle to generate swarms of flies to overwhelm opponents.
Unlike other Swordsmen, who require permission from Sumeragi to so much as summon a Glaive, Stratos is implied to have a certain control over his, possibly due to his warped powers, which only adds to the number of concerns surrounding Glaives as a safety device.
===Boss Battle Skills===
====Azure Striker Gunvolt====
Skill 	Description
Devouring Charge(マッドネスイーター, Madness Eater) 	Stratos' standard attack. He transforms into a giant chomping mouth and charges from one end of the screen to the other.
*Stratos always charges from the side of the screen that is farther from Gunvolt.
*Beginning at battle phase two, Stratos summons a slow-moving swarm of insects to fly across the screen before he charges at Gunvolt; the insects can be dispersed with the Flashfield.
Insect Spawn(サーベイジミニオンズ, Savage Minions) 	Stratos' second standard attack. Stratos jumps to the center of the top of the screen and tosses two eggs on the right and left sides of the arena; he disappears shortly after. Each egg hatches to spawn two insects that fly toward Gunvolt's position.
*The eggs and the insects can be tagged and electrocuted to destruction with the Flashfield, but do not award Kudos.
Pincer Ball(デュアルタイラント, Dual Tyrant) 	Stratos begins using this attack at battle phase two. Stratos splits into two halves of a mouth at the upper corners of the screen. The two halves then begin unleashing a lateral stream of insects as they move downward. They briefly stop at the surface of the arena before colliding into each other to form a ball. The ball then performs three crushing jumps towards Gunvolt.
*To avoid taking damage, the insect stream must be dispersed with the Flashfield.
*Stratos' defense increases while he is using this attack.
*When the halves combine, the tag amount is combined as well. For instance, if GV has tagged one half once and the other half twice, the ball will then have 3 tags placed on it upon combining.
Antlion Fangs(タワーリングラトニー, Towering Gluttony) 	Stratos burrows underground. The halves of his mantle will rise up from the ground and sweep a certain distance trying to hit Gunvolt. Then the halves will both pop up at once and clamp the space between them.
Nemesis Fang(デスティニーファング, Destiny Fang) 	Stratos' special attack, only performed when on the last third of his health. He gathers flies with the halves of his mantle while shooting energy orbs toward Gunvolt's position in regular intervals. Once charged, the mantles will crush Gunvolt and the flies will devour him, resulting in instant death. The charged up skill is unavoidable and a guaranteed one-hit kill, but it can be stopped from fully charging. Gunvolt can destroy at least one of the mantles before they go off screen to cancel the skill altogether. Killing Stratos in the charge time will also, of course, make this skill null and void, but doing so is near impossible without the aid of Skills.
====Mighty Gunvolt====
Skill 	Description
Devouring Charge(マッドネスイーター, Madness Eater) 	Stratos' standard attack. He transforms into a giant chomping mouth and charges from one end of the screen to the other.
*The attack moves faster than its equivalent in Azure Striker Gunvolt.
Insect Spawn(サーベイジミニオンズ, Savage Minions) 	Two insect eggs are deployed on the ground, as Stratos himself disappears from the arena. The eggs can be destroyed before hatching without much difficulty. Should the eggs be allowed to hatch, however, each one contains two flying enemies that charge toward the player after a short while.
*The eggs are easier to break than in Azure Striker Gunvolt, most likely rebalanced due to the lack of a tagging system in the game.
Nemesis Fang(デスティニーファング, Destiny Fang) 	A simplified version of Stratos' Special Skill, he only begins using this attack after having lost over half of his health. Stratos appears near the top of the stage's center, then shoots homing blasts toward the player's position that explode into tall flames.
After these shots, Stratos disappears, and turns into two separate chomping mouths that charge in from both the left and right. One is on ground level, and the other is higher up.
*The tall flames left from Stratos' projectiles are too tall to jump over with a normal jump. Gunvolt is capable of doublejumping over it, however.
==Boss Battle Voices==
Event 	Translated	Romaji 	Japanese
Warping 	 	Guehehehehe! 	グェへへへへ！
Warping 2 	 	Fuee… 	フゥェ…
Devouring Charge	 	Kuwaseroo! 	食わせろォ！
Insect Spawn 	 	Yo… Douda?Guehehehehe! 	よっ…どうだ？グェへへへへ！
Pincer Ball 	 	Ajiwaina!Suritsubusu… Hia! 	味わいな！磨り潰す……ヒィア！
Antlion Fangs 	 	Itadaku… Gua!Gua! Guhhaa! 	いただく…！グゥア！グゥア！グッハァ！
Nemesis Fang 	 	Owari da… Desutinii fangu!Haaa… Kurai na!	終わりだ……デスティニーファング！ハァァァ…… 喰らいな！
1st Phase Down 	 	Hitokuchi ii ka? 	一口いいかァ？
2nd Phase Down 	 	Memai ga shite saa… 	眩暈がしてさァ……
Defeated 	 	Hara no… mushi ga…! 	腹の…虫が…！
==Special Skill Chants==
Nemesis Fang:
==Quotes==
==Designer Comments==
Source: Armed Blue: Gunvolt Complete Works
==Musical Themes==
Title 	Context 	Composer 	Audio
The Garden of the Hungry Swarm(蟲毒の花園, The Flower Garden of Poisonous Insects) 	Stratos' theme, and the Pharma Lab stage BGM. 	Ryo Kawakami	
The Garden of the Hungry Swarm(蟲毒の花園, The Flower Garden of Poisonous Insects) 	8-bit remix used in the Mighty Gunvolt stage Lab.	Ryo Kawakami	
Track notes by sound designer Ryo Kawakami:Armed Blue Official Soundtrack
*The Garden of the Hungry Swarm
The theme track of Stratos "The Gluttonous Fly", that plays in the Pharmacology Lab. I wanted to display how harsh it is to be constantly hungry as well as his tragedy, but I was unable to find a way to even after constant debate and a lot of trial and error; ultimately I decided to not to touch too much on his character but instead prioritize the feeling of creepiness in the shape. He’s always hungry and wobbling meaning he suddenly goes berserk, so the track is also made so that it goes from a wobbling state to suddenly jumping into a greedy mood.
== Trivia ==
*The Sumeragi Seven are based on the Seven Deadly Sins and an animal that represents it. Stratos represents gluttony and based on flies. Gunvolt calls Stratos "Lord of the Flies", a title associated with the demon Beelzebub, who is also known as the demon of gluttony. Similarly, Merak and Jota have allusions to the demons associated with sloth and pride, respectively--Belphegor and Lucifer.
*Following the car naming theme of most GV1 characters, Stratos' name presumably comes from the Lancia Stratos.
*In the Japanese version, Stratos' Glaive, Tokagemaru (referred to as Lizardslayer on the official GV1 English site) is a sword of folklore which is said to have jumped out of its sheath to cut down the monster that suddenly appeared before its owner. The Glaive repeats this behavior by appearing before Stratos and unlocking itself even though Sumeragi never gave it the authorization signal.
*Stratos and Elise are the only known Swordsmen who aren't in the service of Nova at the beginning of the game.
*During battle, Stratos disappears from the screen in between his attacks. He shares this trait with Jota.
*Stratos' past in experimentation is similar to Elise, Gunvolt, and Nova.
*Despite the fact that Stratos is a prisoner, he wears the Sumeragi executive's uniform, albeit heavily damaged.
*Stratos is the only major character in GV1 and GV2 not to be featured on the official height chart for those games, possibly due to his perpetually hunched back. Based on his Armed form's sprite and by comparing it to others, it appears that when standing straight Stratos's height may be close to Carrera's, who stands at 200cm (6'6").
*Stratos is the only GV1 boss who does not appear and is not mentioned in GV3, aside from appearing as Image Pulses. Nova, Asimov, Jota, Viper, and Merak return as bosses; Copen is mentioned by GV in Downtown Christmas; Elise is mentioned by GV in Sunrise Palace 2; and Carrera is mentioned by Merak in Sunrise Palace 2.
== References ==
* Official Japanese Tweet Regarding Stratos
== Navigation ==
===Azure Striker Gunvolt 1 Navigation===
===Mighty Gunvolt Navigation===
Category:ASG1 Bosses
Category:ASG2 Bosses
Category:MG Bosses
Category:Adept
Category:Sumeragi Group
Category:Characters
Category:Antagonists
Category:Azure Striker Gunvolt
Category:Male Characters
Category:Mighty Gunvolt
Category:Deceased
Category:ASG1 Characters
Category:MG Characters
Category:Image Pulse