Grendel

Grendel (魔装鬼 グレンデル), also known as the Demonic Gear Clad in Blue Darkness: Grendel (黎を纏い魔装鬼 グレンデル), is the mysterious Shard armament form Van Arkride dons in certain circumstances.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
As Grendel, Van appears clad in a fit, flexible full-body armor which stands taller than his human body by approximately one head's height. The form prominently displays his thin but defined musculature with long arms. Van has glowing waist-length hair falling from behind the armor's helmet while possessing extended glowing claws and toes on each limb. Van's Grendel form possesses a gray-bluish armor with glowing turquoise energy lines. The glowing hair has a dominant turquoise gradient fading to yellow-orange tips. The claws and toes are also turquoise colored.
=== Background ===
The exact circumstances surrounding Grendel's origin and nature are yet to be revealed. Van originally takes on the form when in a life-threatening situation and continues to use it when facing formidable opponents. Upon its first usage, the AI from his Holo Core Mare manifests in the real world and displays sentience that should not be possible under normal circumstances. Mare asks Van whether he will 'don the nightmare' or not each time she is invoked and waits for a response.
Quatre Salision describes it as being composed of extremely high density shards. Later, it is revealed to be a form of restraint that separates Van from Vagrants-Zion.
=== ===
During , Grendel first manifests when Van Arkride struggles to pull though and protect Agnes Claudel against two drug-enhanced members of Almata. At this time, his Xipha's holo core Mare appears after Agnes's great-grandfather's Oct-Genesis glows.
Mare cautions Van about overusing or being too eager to use the form. Upon trying to use the form in Tharbad, Van instead glows red and an error seems to occur, leaving Van reeling in pain. A voice tells him that he scarcely needs to don the nightmare, as he is himself the nightmare.
When trying to extract answers about Grendel from Mare, the party calls her out in Dirke Memorial Park while fighting Raglan=Jule. Although they cannot comprehend everything Mare states, they discover she is influenced by something external and is therefore able to lend power to Van. Should Van overuse it, he will become something else.
Two alternative forms of Grendel, Demonic Gear of Creeping Blue Darkness: Grendel Alter and Demonic Gear Awoken from the Blue Darkness: Grendel Sin, are used in and , respectively.
Van enters Grendel's true form when fighting Demon Gerard, Grendel Sin. Using this form, he is able to take back the Diabolic Core from Gerard, but in doing so he becomes Vagrants-Zion. Mare states this is Van "casting off his restraints as Grendel and embracing his true self."
Van would later don the form to fight his demonic self and use it to cast the Core into the reaches of the Infinite Boundary.
=== ===
Grendel is used again to fight with Grendel-Zolga and its own Holo Core AI Altera. By the end, Grendel's mystery is not resolved.
== Gameplay == 
Van Arkride can don Grendel for certain storyline battles, The transformation significantly boosts his stats and makes Van capable of attacking twice in the same turn. Additionally, using S-Boost will grant him another action, thus making him able to perform a total of three actions in a single turn.
His basic attacks can be used as many times as desired. His physical and magical attack crafts will deal their respective damage type and can be used once per turn. When in Full Boost, Grendel can expend 100 CP to utilize an S-Craft.
During Kuro's Intermission, Van gains the Craft Take the Grendel that allows him to become Grendel for 3 turns. This is only available in certain fights against strong opponents.
=== Crafts ===
== Gallery ==
=== ===
Grendel (Kuro).png|Official Render
Announcement visual (Kuro).jpg.jpg|Key visual
Van & Grendel - Key Visual (Kuro).png|Key visual
Cover Art Kuro PS5 (Kuro).png|Key visual
The Girl and the Demon (Kuro).png|Grendel & Agnès
Grendel concept art (Kuro).png|Finalized concept art
Grendel concept art 2 (Kuro).png|Concept art
Grendel concept art 3 (Kuro).png|Concept art
Grendel concept art 4 (Kuro).png|Concept art
Grendel Combat Icon (Kuro).png|Combat icon
Grendel SIN Combat Icon (Kuro).png|SIN Combat icon
Mare - Promotional Screenshot 3 (Kuro).jpg|Promotional screenshot
Grendel - Promotional Screenshot 1 (Kuro).jpg|Promotional screenshot
Grendel - Promotional Screenshot 2 (Kuro).jpg|Promotional screenshot
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Grendel (Kuro II).webp|Official Render
Grendel SIN - Concept Art (Kuro II).png|SIN form concept art
Grendel - Promotional Screenshot 1 (Kuro II).jpg|Promotional screenshot
Grendel - Promotional Screenshot 2 (Kuro II).jpg|Promotional screenshot
Grendel - Promotional Screenshot 3 (Kuro II).jpg|Promotional screenshot
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File:Promotional screenshot 22 (Kai).png|Promotional screenshot
File:Promotional screenshot 26 (Kai).png|Promotional screenshot
File:Promotional screenshot 27 (Kai).png|Promotional screenshot
== Trivia ==
* Grendel is the name of a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, described as "a creature of darkness, exiled from happiness and accursed of God, the destroyer and devourer of our human kind."
Category:Characters
Category:Trails through Daybreak Characters
Category:Kuro no Kiseki II Characters
Category:Weapons