Gunvolt "The Azure Striker"

Gunvolt, the Azure Striker, is an adept and the main protagonist of his self-titled video games Azure Striker Gunvolt and Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. He is an adept with control over electricity.
He is voiced by Kaito Ishikawa while the English voice actor in the OVA is Josh Keller.
==English Website Description==
===Azure Striker Gunvolt===
Our hero is a 14 year old boy whose real name is unknown, but he goes by the codename "Gunvolt." When the story begins, he is a member of the armed resistance movement named QUILL, whose sole purpose is to fight against the Sumeragi Group. Although he is a cool, level-headed guy most of the time, Gunvolt’s youthful rebellious streak tends to rear itself when he is forced to do things that go against his principles. His septima, known as the "Azure Striker," grants him the ability to control lightning.
===Azure Striker Gunvolt 2===
Gunvolt is an incredibly powerful adept with the ability to control lightning. He fights using a gun that fires special darts that, when locked onto an enemy, allow him to strike with pinpoint accurate electrical attacks.
The soul of a departed adept named Joule now resides within him, and with them perfectly synchronized as one, his power has been increased to its absolute utmost limits.
Still reeling from the profound loss and pain he experienced from his past battles, his chance meeting with a girl named Quinn helped him get back on his feet.
==Plot==
===Backstory===
There isn't much information about Gunvolt, other than the fact that Asimov saved him from an experimental facility at a young age, and thus came to see Asimov as a father figure.
===Azure Striker Gunvolt===
====Meeting the Muse====
Gunvolt is given a mission by QUILL to find and destroy the Muse, a virtual idol that Sumeragi uses to control and manipulate both people and adepts. During this mission, he is captured by an agent of Sumeragi and tortured via electrocution, which is ineffective given his abilities. He discovers that the Muse is onboard a train headed for an unspecified location, and pursues. After fighting his way through Sumeragi forces, Gunvolt discovers that the Muse is in fact, not a program, but rather a young girl. As he stares, the Muse materializes in front of him. The Muse introduces herself as Lumen, a manifestation of the girl's septimal power. Her lack of control over her power allows Lumen to take an avatar and act on her own will. Lumen asks Gunvolt to take the girl away from Sumeragi, but Asimov maintains the order to unplug the Muse by killing the girl. Gunvolt refuses, and tells Asimov that he is resigning from QUILL. Asimov lets him go, and Gunvolt escapes with the girl to a hideout.
====Missions for QUILL====
Some time after the first mission, Gunvolt is depicted to be in hiding with the girl, whose name is now Joule. As Joule is being pursued by Sumeragi agents wishing to reclaim the Muse, she cannot go out of hiding, and Gunvolt takes jobs from QUILL to earn money. QUILL sends Gunvolt a set of 6 jobs, each involving the general sabotage of Sumeragi facilities and neutralizing Sumeragi commanders.
====Meeting the Adept Slayer====
About 3 missions through, Gunvolt receives a message from QUILL. It is a job to take down Zonda, a commander of Sumeragi. After meeting with Zonda and dealing with Zonda's illusions, Gunvolt finally tracks Zonda down, witnessing Zonda's death at the hands of a mysterious hooded figure. The hooded figure attacks Gunvolt, using a gun and a shield that becomes a crossbow. After his defeat, the figure retreats, stating that "when you meet God to face judgement, you will hear him whisper a name. Copen..." On that cryptic note, Gunvolt returns to his original objective. Eliminate the remaining Sumeragi commanders.
====Old Faces Return====
Soon after defeating the last Sumeragi commander, Gunvolt returns home, only to find Merak back from the dead and kidnapping Joule. Gunvolt contacts QUILL for assistance, then rushes off to Sumeragi Tower. After fighting against Merak a second time, he speaks with the leader of Sumeragi, Nova. Nova offers a reward to Gunvolt for keeping Joule and the Muse safe this whole time, but Gunvolt refuses. Nova teleports to the top of the tower, challenging Gunvolt.
====Boss Rush====
Gunvolt ascends the Sumeragi tower, fighting against several commanders once again. He encounters problems fighting Elise, who reveals a third self who infinitely revives the other two. Then Copen suddenly shoots Elise, taking out her third self and killing Elise permanently. Gunvolt offers a truce, but Copen refuses, citing his hatred of adepts. He fights Gunvolt, using powers stolen from the commanders that Gunvolt previously defeated. After defeating Copen, Gunvolt proceeds on, meeting Nova.
====The Leader of Sumeragi====
Nova placed Joule into a machine to control Lumen, who is now silent and a servant to Nova, providing him with a shield. After Gunvolt fights him, Lumen disappears, weakened from both the machine's control and damage in the battle. Nova states that the reason he needs the Muse is to control all adepts, as they would otherwise run amok and destroy humanity. He then transforms into his final form, a giant, multi-armed figure, as if he were a god. When defeated, he leaves Gunvolt with a final message, saying that the adepts will destroy everything without Sumeragi to guide them. Gunvolt frees Joule, and the two begin to leave the tower.
====Betrayal ~ Bad Ending====
Gunvolt and Joule are intercepted by Asimov on their way to the elevator. Asimov congratulates them for defeating Sumeragi, stating that he can now become leader of all adepts, and destroy all humans. Joule is horrified at the prospect, while Gunvolt is offered a chance to join Asimov and lead the adepts. He refuses, and prepares to fight, but then Asimov takes out Copen's gun and shoots Gunvolt with it, disabling his powers and killing him. Joule screams out his name before Asimov shoots her too. He says that while it's a shame things didn't go as planned, plans can be rewritten. In the event that this end is reached, Gunvolt will wake up back at the hideout, the whole event being a nightmare.
====A Difficult Miracle====
To avoid the Bad Ending, Gunvolt must acquire 7 gems, one from each mission. Then he must talk to Joule and give each gem to her. Once all 6 gems have been given to Joule, talking to her again will give Gunvolt a new pendant, made using the gems he gave her. While this piece of equipment has no effects at all, Gunvolt must wear it through the final stage. Once Nova is defeated at last, the scene will proceed like the bad ending, but things change after Joule dies. Joule wakes up to find she has taken Lumen's form, having acquired control over her power. She sees Gunvolt, and finds that miraculously, her pendant stopped Asimov's bullet from killing him. However, he is still horribly hurt and will soon die. With no options, Joule hears the voice of Lumen, saying that there is one way to save him, but it will cost them their lives. Joule accepts, and her power implants into Gunvolt's body. Gunvolt awakens to find Joule dead, and begins to despair. Until he hears the voice of Joule, who has become one with him for eternity. Gunvolt understands that he has one last thing to do, and with that, he moves on to stop Asimov, with the Muse's song echoing in his heart.
====Azure Wings ~ True Ending====
Gunvolt journeys down Sumeragi Tower, fighting Carrera one last time, though the commander is no match for Gunvolt's new power. Once he reaches the elevator, he faces Asimov, who reveals that he too, is an Azure Striker who can manipulate electricity And has all of of his guns but better. In a dramatic final battle, Gunvolt overwhelms Asimov's power using the power of Joule's song, ending his ambitions. Asimov's final words to Gunvolt are a request, saying he must now lead the adepts to freedom. Gunvolt remains silent, and the elevator stops at the bottom floor. Gunvolt's friends from QUILL ask him what happened, and are shocked to discover Asimov dead. Gunvolt remains silent to their queries, and walks away. Joule tells Gunvolt that they could go anywhere in the world and she will forever be at his side. He says nothing as he disappears, a scattering of azure feathers in the sunset sky.
===Azure Striker Gunvolt 2===
==Abilities==
===Azure Thunderclap===
As a human attuned to the Septimal stage of the Lifewave, Gunvolt is an exceptionally powerful adept whom is capable of harnessing the Septima known as the Azure Striker (蒼き雷霆（アームド ブルー）, Āmudo Burū, Armed Blue literally meaning "Azure Thunderclap"), which just so happens to be the source of his title; said moniker handed down from wielder to wielder. The Azure Striker was the very first Septima discovered by humanity, uncovered within a jungle within South America according to Asimov, the user of the Azure Striker before Gunvolt. In essence, the Azure Striker enables the adept whom harnesses its might to freely control electrons in any way, shape, and form, and in an age that was dominated by technology, the Azure Striker was dubbed the ultimate power. Ordinarily, an Azure Striker unleashes enormous bolts of lightning to strike their foes down and manipulates magnetic fields to move at high speeds. The Azure Striker Septima was the cornerstone of Project: Gunvolt, a top-secret experiment by Sumeragi that would allow them to mass produce adepts with electric septima as part of their research into energy sources after having pushed more conventional methods of generating electricity to their limits. As such, the powerful conglomerate replicated the gene for the Azure Striker Septima, using Project: Gunvolt to impact into test subjects with high levels of compatibility. Gunvolt is one of the few survivors of Project: Gunvolt, which his codename comes from. Sky-blue electricity coursing throughout his veins, Gunvolt has shown to be one of the most powerful Adepts in the setting, perhaps best displayed that aside from some outside interference, he managed to defeat eight high-ranking Adepts whom worked for the Sumeragi Group in the first game. As Zonda "The Lustful Mirage" in Sumeragi form is stated to be as powerful as Nova Tsukuyomi "The Mighty" and Gunvolt himself, with Gunvolt later prevailing over both Adepts, it could be said that Gunvolt's power level is in the upper tiers in the series, commonly achieving victory in spite of the odds stacked against him, something best seen in the final battles of both games.
In terms of combat prowess, Gunvolt commonly utilizes his Azure Striker Septima in tandem with his marksmanship skills as his main fighting style, creating a deadly combination that most unpowered opponents are incapable of circumventing. Gunvolt's pistol, the Dart Leader, is a special firearm administered to him by the resistance group, QUILL, which is classified as an electromagnetic projectile weapon. The tool gains the majority of its power from Gunvolt's body itself, thus eliminating the need for an onboard source that empowers the projectiles fired from the barrel. As the weapon's name would indicate, what's sent forth from the gun aren't really bullets, but rather, they're actual darts that are forged from strands in the form of needles out of Gunvolt's own hair that are charged with electricity from his Septima, a specialized and incredibly conductive metal applied that seems to possess a relatively low voltage. The decoration on Gunvolt's ponytail assists in the psychic augmentation of the resultant discharge, as once a dart fired by the pistol makes contact with whatever Gunvolt deems to be a suitable target, they become "tagged", so to speak; said tagging action visually appears as Gunvolt's enemy having a varying-textured stylized reticle become superimposed over their frame. At this point, Gunvolt is able to invoke the bread and butter of his Septima by using the lock-on point as the focus for his Flash Field, an electromagnetic barrier through which a myriad of arcing lightning shocks are discharged at varying distances. Additionally, Gunvolt has displayed that he is able to use his Flashfield to achieve hovering for a short amount of time, disperse the enemy's defenses, as well as most obviously, harness the Flashfield to protect him from physical projects such as bullets and solve puzzles that he happens to encounter such as move floating platforms and float with the assistance of magnetic ceilings. However, arguably Gunvolt's greatest ability with the Azure Striker Septima is known as Pervasion, which involves his existence momentarily shifting from flesh to electrons, thus effectively turning him physically intangible as to allow all kinds of incoming strikes to pass through his body as if it did not exist, a cascade of feathers following his motions while neutralizing the attacks of his enemies. Originally, Prevasion caused Gunvolt to recoil ever-so-slightly in the first game and he required certain pendants to enable utilization, but after the events of the conflict with Sumeragi, Gunvolt seems to have gained a greater level of control over the ability, simply appearing as two phantasmal copies of himself that converge as once upon contact and no longer requiring tools to use Prevasion.
Other uses Gunvolt has displayed with his Septima involve using the Azure Striker to stimulate his natural healing abilities through bioelectric current, increasing certain aspects of his power, enhancing his speed and granting him the ability to perform double jumps as to extend the time spent airborne, dashing within the air with the same ease displayed by rushing forth on the ground, and many more. Like every other Adept with a perfect connection with the Lifewave, Gunvolt is able to invoke Special Skills, which are specialized techniques that make the most of his Septima, accompanied by skill names and elegant haikus. Gunvolt's skills normally involve him shaping the blue lightning manifested by the Azure Striker power, constructing a myriad of formations out of electrons which are then solidified, such as creating small-to-medium sized spheres that can circle him or are simply projected before him, pillars of lightning that zap everything above and below him, enormous swords of azurite that he thrusts forward, and most notably, electrifying chains which ensnare everything in sight in a criss-crossing motion, fatally electrocuting anything they come into contact with; though Skills come in two flavours, Offensive Special Skills, which are geared towards doling out immense amounts of damage, and Support Skills, supplementary powers that bestow upon him incredible supportive properties, such as increasing damage output, recovering from full expenditure of energy, and many more. However, a weakness to Gunvolt's power is that once his Electro Psycho energy has been exhausted, he will enter a state known as overheating, where he is incapable of channeling septimal energy, which remains in effect for approximately one second. Interestingly, Gunvolt's abilities with his Azure Striker Septima appear to run off two separate power sources – the Prevasion and Flashfield are drawn from Electro Psycho energy, commonly abbreviated to EP, and his special skills are derived from Skill Points, with each skill having a varying cost. As a side note, if Gunvolt has his Electro Psycho energy depleted at any time, he is able to recharge his energy manually by concentrating deeply and striking a flashy pose; however, Skill Points slowly refill over time with no way to hasten their recovery rate manually.
==Gallery==
Gunvolt.png|Gunvolt's appearance in the first Azure Striker Gunvolt game
File:Gunvolt in the animated OVA.jpg|Gunvolt in the OVA
==Trivia==
*During Nova's edition of the Gunvolt CD dramas, Gunvolt's real name is nearly revealed by a scientist before Nova's narration interrupts him.
*GV is regarded as an excellent cook by his friends and allies.
*While quite intelligent, GV is rather dense or naive to romantic situations with women and is unaware that he has three admirers that vye for his attention(Joule, Jibril and Quinn). Though, he is aware of Jibril's love/obsession for him since she is the only one of three to confess it.
*During an interview, it is revealed by Yoshihisa Tsuda (the main director of the Gunvolt series) that Gunvolt's character was conceptualized with both Mikoto Misaka from A Certain Railgun/Index and Kirito from Sword Art Online in mind. He jokingly states his hope that Gunvolt can eventually exceed both of them in power and ability.
==External Links==
*
*
==Navigation==
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Male
Category:Elementals
Category:Servant of a Villain
Category:Rescuers
Category:Rivals
Category:Betrayed
Category:Teenagers
Category:Psychics
Category:Titular
Category:In Love
Category:Science Fantasy Heroes
Category:Big Good
Category:Protectors
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Fighters
Category:Anime Heroes
Category:Energy Beings
Category:Voice of Reason
Category:Mercenaries
Category:Freedom Fighters
Category:One-Man Army
Category:Orphans
Category:Healers
Category:Mutants
Category:Indie/Doujin Heroes
Category:Tragic
Category:Scapegoat
Category:Anti-Nihilists
Category:Localized Protection
Category:Global Protection
Category:Martyr
Category:Successful
Category:Chaotic Good
Category:Revived
Category:Dreaded
Category:Selfless
Category:Genius
Category:Status Dependent on Version
Category:Crossover Heroes
Category:Egalitarian
Category:Merciful
Category:Rebellion Heroes
Category:Martial Artists
Category:Dragons
Category:Pawn of the Villain
Category:Supporters
Category:Immortals
Category:Force of Nature
Category:Possessed/Brainwashed
Category:Apprentice of Villain