Apollo "The Swinging Jester"

English site
Apollo "The Swinging Jester" is one of the berserk Adepts in Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, appearing as the boss of the mission Pendulum Heart (Stormy Megafloat).
Following his defeat, he joins the Sumeragi Group's Bureau of Dragon Saviors, gaining a three diamond rank comparable to Kirin and Shiron. He provides assistance with his Septima in the mission Hot & Cold.
His Septima is Pendulum, which allows him to apply vectors to objects and himself.
==Website Description==
==Appearance==
In his masked form he wears a gray suit with white and black parts under black armor with purple and white accents. His boots have upturned spikes like a jester's, his chest armor has an eye and from his back protrude fin-like structures. His mask is purple with a large horn on the front and has 4 small horns on the back side, and the bottom of the mask resembles a mouth that connects to the eyes.
In his normal form, he wears a white shirt under a burgundy vest and a toothpick in various shades of purple, black pants and brown shoes. He has what is likely a watch on his left wrist and a necklace with a greenish blue stone and glasses. His hair is a little spiky and white on top with a spiky part at his neck and his eyes are purple.
===Gallery===
Main article: Apollo "The Swinging Jester"/Gallery
gv3booklet09.jpg
Apollo armed portrait IP.png
==Personality==
Apollo is a serious and mysterious person with a dark background. When given any job, he is strict on himself and his coworkers and comes off as a taskmaster. This was taken to the extreme when he was a berserk Primal Dragon.
Despite this, he is actually a very sociable person when off the clock or on break, bonding with his coworkers through shared interests.
== History ==
=== Backstory ===
In the past, Apollo used to be involved with shady activities and gained many useful combat and practical skills till he one day decided that he had enough and start an honest life. According to Apollo, he started going from job to job using the practical skills he learned to adjust to his new life. Prior to meeting Kirin and Gunvolt, he found a labor job in Neptune and is allowed to use his Septima to move heavy cargo.
=== Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 ===
=== Dragon Crisis ===
During his shift, Apollo is exposed to a severe amount of Dragon Radiation, causing him to become a Primal Dragon and went berserk forcing the whole facility to shut down. In response, Kirin and Gunvolt are sent in to put a stop to his rampage. When Kirin and Gunvolt confront him, Apollo gets into an argument with Kirin about proper work ethics as they fight.
Following his defeat he comes to his senses and realizes what he did as a Primal Dragon. He joined the Dragon Saviors to atone for the trouble he caused. 
=== ATEMS Invasion ===
During ATEMS' heists on the Binding Brands, Apollo joins Kirin and GV to try and stop Prado stealing a Brand hidden in Neptune. 
Apollo and the other Dragon Saviors participate in the assault on ATEMS' Sunrise Palace. As they reach deeper, he sees phantoms from his past which overwhelm him and is forced to retreat. 
The True Ending reveals that Apollo survived, and continues working for the Dragon Saviors.
=== Epilogue ATEMS ===
In the Dragon Saviors office a wounded B.B. informs the group of ZedΩ and ATEMS being active again. Kirin unsure of what is going on orders everyone to apprehend ZedΩ for questioning. Apollo finds ZedΩ on Neptune and interrogates him and is forced to fight ZedΩ when he refuses to cooperate and is defeated.
== Powers and Abilities ==
Apollo holds the power of the Pendulum Septima, which allows him to manipulate vectors, altering the direction and inertia of anything he touches including himself. 
When in combat, he uses acrobatic movements to evade and uses his Septima to throw objects as projectiles. 
===Boss Battle Skills===
Skill 	Description
Pendulum Charge(ベンデュラムチャージ) 	Apollo moves to one of six spots; The upper or bottom corners, or the middle of either wall. He'll use a rope to sling himself there, or move along the ground. Apollo will always use this once after having done a different move.
Bounding Decoy(バウンドデコイ) 	Apollo jumps to the other side of the screen and throws a projectile to a bottom corner, which will spawn a ball of trash which bounces off the floor and walls. The ball can be destroyed, though if left alone, it will bounce in shorter and shorter heights from the floor before destroying itself. Apollo can perform other attacks while the ball is bouncing. 
In Hard Mode, Apollo will target both bottom corners, spawning two balls instead.
Reverse Arch(リバースアーチ) 	Apollo moves across the ceiling before jumping to the other side. The ceiling will then throw bits of trash in an arch. The trash can be destroyed by either sword slashes or GV's Flashfield. A few seconds later, Apollo dashes towards the other side of the room.
In Hard Mode, more pieces of trash are thrown out, making an arch of trash with no gaps in between. Apollo will also dash the moment the trash arch comes down.
Rapid Fall(ラピッドフォール) 	Apollo moves to an upper corner of the room and pulls out medium sized trash balls from the opposite wall, which form a line over most of the room before dropping down. He then drops down and pulls another batch from the wall he was on, before pulling out one more batch from the opposite wall. The trash balls can be tagged and destroyed.
In Hard Mode. Apollo dashes across the room as the third line of trash comes down.
Wall Crawler(ウォールクロウラー) 	Apollo moves to the other wall along the floor, which will throw up bits of trash in an arch a bit after he passes. The trash can be destroyed by sword slashes or GV's Flashfield. In Hard Mode, the trash is thrown at a farther distance from the floor/walls, and Apollo will jump to the other side of the screen after having reached the other wall.
Side Arch(サイドアーチ) 	Apollo throws a dagger at one of the upper corners of the room, before dashing across the room and then jumping and swinging back to where he started. While this is happening, a line of trash bits gets launched in a wide arch from the corner of the room where Apollo threw the dagger. Another then appears from the opposite corner, followed by another from the initial position. Just like with Reverse Arch, the trash bits can be destroyed by sword slashes or the Flashfield.
In Hard Mode, the second and third lines are accompanied by shorter lines of trash which appear from the other sides of the room.
Reflect Striker(リフレクトストライカー) 	Apollo throws projectiles at a top corner, which will spawn a big ball of trash that will move around the screen diagonally, bouncing off the floor, ceiling and walls. Similarly to Bounding Decoy, the ball can be destroyed despite having a larger health bar. If the ball is not destroyed in time, it will crash into the ceiling and break into four trash bits which can be destroyed by sword slashes or the Flashfield.
Atom Smasher(サテライトペンデュラム, Satellite Pendulum) 	Apollo's special skill. Apollo moves to a bottom corner if not in one already, and then throws a bundle of projectiles to the other bottom corner. He'll then jump to the opposite top corner and does the same to the other top corner. The corners affected will spawn two huge balls of trash, which will bounce around the screen in a (counter)clock-wise motion, before Apollo forces both of them to go towards one of the lower corners of the room, destroying the balls in the resulting collision. The balls can be tagged and Arc Chained through. 
In Hard Mode, Apollo will sling around the side he's at and throws bits of trash as additional projectiles towards the side he's not in. Apollo also ends the attack by moving the balls towards the player's position instead of a corner.
==Boss Battle Voices ==
===Japanese===
Event 	Translated 	Romaji 	Japanese
Start 	Can you keep track of my moves? 	Ore no ugoki, mikireru ka? 	オレの動き、見切れるか?
Start (Epilogue ATEMS)	I'll detain you! 	Kisama wo kousoku suru! 	貴様を拘束する！
Pendulum Charge 	You won’t be able to keep up! 	Mikireru mono ka! 	見切れるものか！
Pendulum Charge 	Here I am! 	Kocchi da, kocchi! 	こっちだ、こっち！
Pendulum Charge 	Try avoiding that! 	Sakete misero! 	避けてみせろ！
Pendulum Charge 	There! 	Hora hora! 	ほらほら！
Pendulum Charge 	Where are you looking? 	Doko wo miteiru? 	どこを見ている？
Bouncing Decoy 	Can you stop that? 	Tomeraru kana? 	止められるかな？
Reverse Arch 	I’ll drive you into a corner! Reverse Arch! I’ll finish you off! 	Tatami kakeru! Ribaasu Aachi! Shitomeru! 	畳み掛ける！リバースアーチ！仕留める！
Rapid Fall 	I'll show you! (?) 	Yokete miseru! (?) 	避けて 見せる!
Wall Crawler 	There! Let's go! 	Hore hore! Ikuzo! 	ほれほれ！行くぞ！
Side Arch 	Eat this! Now! 	Kurae! Imada! 	喰らえ！今だ！
Reflect Striker 	This is gonna hurt! Can you dodge THIS? 	Koitsu ga itaizo! Yokerareru kana? 	こいつが痛いぞ！避けられるかな？
Atom Smasher 	My last resort! Atom Smasher! Let's go! I'll crush you! It's over!	Okunote da! Sateraito Penderamu! Iku zo! Tsuburero! Owari da!	奥の手だ！ サテライトペンデュラム！ 行くぞ！ 潰れろ！ 終わりだ！
1st Phase Down 	Such crafty moves...! 	Kozakashii mane wo...! 	小賢しい真似を…！
2nd Phase Down 	I can't lose to someone like...! 	Konna yatsu ni...! 	こんなやつに…！
Defeated 	DAMN YOUUUU!! 	Onoreeee!! 	おのれえええ！！
===English===
Event 	Voice
Start 	Will your eyes be able to keep up?
Start (Epilogue ATEMS)	You're under arrest!
Pendulum Charge 	I'm over here!
Pendulum Charge 	Just try to follow!
Pendulum Charge 	Hahaha!
Pendulum Charge 	Where are you looking?
Bouncing Decoy 	Take this! Can you stop it?
Reverse Arch 	I'll bury you! Reverse Arch! For the kill!
Rapid Fall 	Get out of the way! How's this!?
(Hard Mode) There!
Wall Crawler 	Try to keep up!
Wall Crawler 	How about this?
Side Arch 	Eat this! Now!
Reflect Striker 	This one will hurt! Can you dodge this?!
Atom Smasher 	My last resort! Atom Smasher!
Hrah! Here it comes! Hrrrrrgh! I'll crush you! This is... the end!
1st Phase Down 	You insolent...!
2nd Phase Down 	These little...!
Defeated 	Aaagh! DAMN YOUUUU!
==Special Skill Chants==
Atom Smasher:
==Designer Comments==
Source: Dengeki Online interview about Gunvolt 3 character design and illustration
==Musical Themes==
(C) = Composer
(A) = Arranger
Title 	Context 	Musicians 	Audio
Order on the Stormy Seas(軋轢波浪規律, Discord, Surge, & Rules) 	Stormy Megafloat stage	Yusuke Sakai (C) 	
Order on the Stormy Seas -Roar-(軋轢波浪規律 ーー, Discord, Surge, & Rules -Roar-) 	Gunvolt version 	Yusuke Sakai (C)Hiroaki Sano (A)	
==Trivia==
*Apollo's design motifs are the Major Arcana 0, The Fool, and LeviathanConcept art labels him 愚者 (Fool) and リヴァイアサン (Leviathan), matching the Arcana theme of other Gunvolt 3 characters and draconic theme of the Berserk Adepts. The Leviathan motif ties into his stage and former workplace.
*Apollo is likely named after the Apollo Intensa Emozione sports car. His Japanese name, Lexus, likewise references the Toyota luxury car brand. This matches the car theme naming of fellow Berserk Adepts, Black Badge, Cayman, and Shiron (Chiron).
**His English name also matches the multi-national tire manufacturer, Apollo Tyres.
*While Apollo's shady past is only hinted at in-game and in his site description, a promotional pamphlet published months before the game's release outright stated that he used to work as a hitman.
*In one early concept Apollo had the Reflection (反射) Septima, which allowed him to seal Septimal power attacks into something called "Jester Pendulum" and shoot it back to his enemy. This was based on the Japanese martial art Aikido. Curiously, this concept is similar to Kirin's Radiant Fetters, although the notes don't seem to mention her.
*Considering that his rampage results in the distribution of vital goods across the country being halted, combined with the references of BB and to a lesser extent Shiron and Cayman, it's possible that another motif of Apollo is Famine of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
*The Berserk Adepts' designs may pay homage to the Four Guardians from the Mega Man Zero series, with Apollo referencing Hidden Phantom. The way he swings across the ceiling is also reminiscent of the Model P (Phantom) pseudoroid Purprill.
*Apollo's Japanese title uses the French spelling and pronunciation of harlequin, arlequin.
*He is the second Adept to have a Septima that controls vectors, the first being Dystnine.
==References==
*4gamer.net article about Apollo.
*Gunvolt News Channel Episode 45, Apollo's debut stream featuring his Japanese voice actor Harasawa Kouichi as a guest.
==Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 Navigation==
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Category:Sumeragi Group
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