Issei Hyoudou

*This page contains information from sources yet to be translated.*
*Minor errors or differences may be present.*

* Light Novel
* DxD HERO
* DxD Season 1-3

 Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth by Hades, Nyx & also used in Azazel Cup)
 Red Dragon (shared with Ddraig)
Hero of the Underworld (by the residents of the Underworld & Arthur Pendragon)
Hope of the Underworld (by Sirzechs Lucifer)
 Lover of the Next Heiress of the House of Gremory (by the residents of the Underworld and Grayfia)
 Breast Dragon Emperor (shared with Ddraig) (also used in Oppai Dragon)

### Equipment & Abilities

Boosted Gear
Ascalon
 Ascalon II
Dragon Shot
 Flame Blaze
 Ryuuteimaru
 Dragonification
 Dress Break
 Pailingual

## Personal Status

### Relatives

Juzo Hyoudou (Grandfather) †
 Unnamed Grandmother
Unnamed Grand-Uncles
 Gorou Hyoudou (Father)
 Miki Hyoudou (Mother)
 Unborn Two Older Siblings †
 Asia Argento (Foster Sister)

### Affiliations

Hyoudou Residence
 Kuoh Academy (Third-Year High School Student)
 Perverted Trio
 Occult Research Club
 Rias Gremory's Peerage
 Gremory Clan (Future Member)
 Issei Hyoudou's Peerage (King)
 Team Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth (Leader)
 D×D
 Three Factions (Underworld)
 Kuoh Town
 Issei Hyoudou Company (President)
 Gremory Large Enterprise (Branch Manager)
 Tiamat (Guarantee)
 Azazel (Former Mentor)

### Ranking

Special-Class Devil
 Super Devil
 Pawn (8 Pieces, later 8 Mutation Pieces)
King (Independent)

### Voice Actor

Yūki Kaji (Japanese)
Scott Freeman (English, Season 1-2)
Josh Grelle (English, Season 3 Onwards)
Su Jin Kang (Korean)

**Issei Hyoudou** is the main male protagonist of *High School DxD*. He is a third-year high school student at Kuoh Academy in Class 3-B and a member of the school's "Perverted Trio", a trio of the most perverted men in the entire student body.

He's a member of the Occult Research Club, and his rank in Rias' peerage is Pawn. His power as a Devil ranks at the bottom at the beginning (which increases as the series progresses, until eventually he becomes the strongest among the young Devils and develops his strength into SS-Class); however, on his left arm, he wields the Sacred Gear, Boosted Gear, making him a dangerous opponent to underestimate.

Due to his possession of the Longinus; the **Boosted Gear**, which hosts the *Welsh Dragon*; **Ddraig**, Issei is the direct rival of Vali Lucifer, who is the host of the Vanishing Dragon; Albion, who is Ddraig's archrival.

He has achieved his goal of becoming a High-Class Devil, obtaining his own servants, and is one step closer to owning a harem, becoming a "Harem King".

## Appearance

Issei is a high school student of average height with short spiky brown hair, with two short locks of hair behind his head, and light brown eyes. Following his training with Tannin in Volume 5, he gained a more muscular and toned build.

While he has worn various outfits throughout the series, his most commonly worn outfit is the Kuoh Academy boys' school uniform, which consists of a blazer (more commonly black, although in other media is shown with a tinge of purple or grey, with white accents) over a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with black highlights with a black ribbon on the collar, matching black pants, and brown dress shoes. However, Issei's uniform differs in the fact that he wears a red T-shirt underneath his open dress shirt and blazer, and wears blue and white sneakers in place of dress shoes.

From the end of Volume 2 to the beginning of Volume 12, Issei's left arm was transformed into that of a Dragon. In order for it to appear human, a ritual would be performed where Rias or Akeno would suck the power of the Dragon out of it, allowing it to appear human for a few days. After gaining a new body in Volume 12 through the combined efforts of Great Red and Ophis, he is now able to freely transform any part of his body into that of a Dragon.

He has been said to show manly expressions by his paternal grandmother. Issei's height is 170 cm (5 feet 7 inches) and body weight is 62→65 kg (137→140 lbs.).

## Personality

Issei instantly shows his perverted nature, often indulging in lecherous fantasies, and is utterly obsessed with women's breasts and having his own harem. This has caused him to be instantly labeled as a pervert among the girls of Kuoh Academy and has gained him notoriety for being one of the members of Kuoh Academy's Perverted Trio.

Despite his pervertedness, Issei is courageous, selfless and unwaveringly determined to protect those who are important to him, despite almost dying by the hands of his opponents. Having great kindness, Issei is also very caring, "putting his nose into other people's business" as he helped Yuuto Kiba, Koneko Toujou, and Akeno Himejima overcome their fears and hatred of their mournful past. Due to this, he gained strong friendship from his comrades and affection from most girls of the Occult Research Club. He is, however, oblivious to the feelings of the girls around him (save for Rias after his confession), often believing they are simply teasing him. Even with Rias' family telling him to use the same titles for them as Rias (Father, Mother, Brother, etc.) and other mentions of engagement activities, he still remains the same. This is due to his trauma with Raynare. He has a habit as mentioned by his mother of not forgiving himself if he does something wrong: always saying sorry if said thing is mentioned, and showing an expression of pain and regret. He is also fiercely loyal to his comrades and is always willing to stand up for them. Issei's kindness also have a positive influence on others including former enemies. When Issei suggested to Cao Cao to use his True Longinus to help and protect people, Cao Cao acknowledged had he and Siegfried met and befriend Issei earlier, they would not have ended up becoming terrorists in the Khaos Brigade. Another sign of his kind nature is that despite wanting to lose his virginity, Issei refuses to take advantage of women when they are upset, even if they themselves are willing to. This happened when Akeno appeared in front of him naked and wanted to have sex to forget about her sad past and her father. However, Issei refused, knowing it will just hurt her more, and put her clothes back on and hugged her to comfort her.

After his murder by Raynare, Issei had developed a fear of admitting his feelings to the girls, as he thought it would cause them to turn their backs on him. He acknowledged that this would never happen, but it was still an intense fear. It is also why he was so insistent on trying to lose his virginity, as he believed that no woman would ever want to be a true relationship with him and that him having sex was the best he could hope to achieve as he tried to lose his virginity obtain a sense of relief. Despite that, even when the girls of the Occult Research Club such as Akeno or Xenovia propositioned him into making love to them, Issei would always initially hold himself back, as he would sometimes look at them with a frightened gaze, a fact with Akeno, Asia and Koneko later noticed. However, by Volume 10, that fear had been overcome. Even with the knowledge that the girls do have romantic affection for him, he still has problems acknowledging some of their ongoing rivalries, an example being who gets to sit on his lap.

Despite his perverted nature, Issei has shown to have a innocent side, of a boy who yearns for love and a true relationship, a side which he only shows to women who can see past his perverted exterior and love him and who he has affections for. He shows this side the girls of the Occult Research Club, for instance of his date with Akeno or when Rias takes him out on dates.

Initially, after reincarnating as a devil, he set about his desire for a harem as his initial goal, by having his peerage become his harem. After the Rating Game against Sona and Saji, he slightly changed the goal to having a harem peerage that wouldn't lose to anyone. Among his other goals include competing in Rating Games and making Rias the Champion of the Rating Games by becoming the *"Ultimate Pawn"* alongside Kiba, who promised to become the *"Ultimate Knight"* with him and his desire to become the Champion of the Rating Games himself after he obtains his own peerage. He is also deeply invested in his rivalry with Vali Lucifer, his Heavenly Dragon counterpart, as Issei promised to get stronger and defeat him, with the both of them reaffirming their promise to fight each other some day multiple times during the series and Vali suggesting that Issei create his own team like Vali which is different from his peerage. Their rivalry would heat up after the both of them enter the Azazel Cup, with Issei creating his own team, *"Team Red Dragon Emperor of the Blazing Truth"*, to try to win the Cup and defeat Vali during the tournament. After the two of them passed the preliminary rounds, the two expressed their desire to continue their initial fight as the both of them promised not to lose until they meet each other in the Cup.

As revealed by Shiva, Issei has a deep desire for peace which is further strengthened by him being the "child" of Great Red and Ophis, as Issei seems incapable of realizing his dream of becoming a Harem King until he obtains peace with his own hands. Due to experiencing intense fights in which he nearly died, Issei affirms his desire to create a world without war and protect his companions even if his enemy is a God.

While initially shown to be unable to understand the appeal of fighting, Shiva reveals that Issei has developed fondness of fighting strong opponents with strong beliefs, with Issei himself confirming that he has come to like defeating strong opponents as equally as groping female breasts. While Issei is shown to like battling strong opponents, at first he was unable to truly "enjoy" a fight (except his match with Sairaorg) due them mostly being life-threatening fights. This began to change after his match with Dulio, as he realized that competing in the Azazel Cup is mostly sport rather then a serious fight.

Issei is shown to admire strong individuals who have strong beliefs and convictions, seeing them as targets for him to catch up to. He is shown to admire Sairaorg Bael, after witnessing his strength and noble splendor and that respect intensified after learning that Sairaorg was talentless like him, as he noted their similar fighting styles. Due to his interest in Rating Games, he has developed a admiration towards Diehauser Belial and Rudiger Rosenkreutz, due to them being the Top 10 Rating Game players, with Issei especially admiring Rudiger Rosenkreutz due to him being a reincarnated devil like him. As Dragon, he is shown to admire Tannin, admiring his strength and his desire to help other Dragon as Issei considers him the true Dragon King due to his splendor, and Crom Cruach, due to his overwhelming power and his pride as dragon. While he was initially exasperated and annoyed by Fafnir and his panties fetish, Issei is shown to have developed a respect for him after he witnessed Fafnir's willpower and determination to protect Asia from Rizevim.

Issei is noted be be a very friendly person, able to become friends with anyone. Azazel stated that he has the ability to win over the trust of others easily and doesn't discriminate against anyone as others can feel at ease with him due to him not resenting anyone, with Azazel calling that ability a talent of Issei's. Issei's ability to attract companions, allies and enemies is further enhanced by him being the Red Dragon Emperor. According to Cao Cao, despite Issei's lack of natural talent and demonic powers, Issei's ability to attract others by holding dragon powers it top notch compared to previous Red Dragon Emperors, as Cao Cao believes that Issei will become the most dangerous Red Dragon Emperor. His ability to obtain the trust other is so great that the residual memories of the past Red Dragon Emperors sacrificed themselves to protect him from Samael's curse. After coming back from the dead with by using Great Red and Ophis' power, Cao Cao commented that Issei's power to attract the strong is scary due to it attracting powerful beings like the Dragon Gods to aid him. According to Azazel, Issei makes a lot of irregular phenomena occur, for instance; a lot of Sacred Gear possessors near Issei were able to awaken irregular Balance Breakers (such as Yuuto, Gasper and Saji). Ophis stated that Issei is as strong as the number of companions he has. According to Azazel, Issei has the natural ability to make supernatural girls fall in love with him, while Millarca Vordenburg stated that most of the men who meet Issei become fascinated with him.

While initially being confused by his popularity among the devil children due to Oppai Dragon, Issei eventually embraced the role of being the Oppai Dragon and began acting as a hero for the children as was demonstrated in Volume 10, where he carried the wishes of child fans during his match with Sairaorg Bael, promising to defeat him for the sake of Rias and the children who believed in him. Issei has placed the his desire to protect the children of the Underworld and of the other factions as one of his goals as seen when he defeated various foes who threatened the children and their dreams such as Shalba Beelzebub, Grendel, and Erebus. In fact, due to Shalba's insanity and him promising to kill the children of the Underworld for rejecting him as a Satan, Issei killed him to stop his malice from reaching the children.

In battle, Issei is sometimes very stubborn, and due to his emotions, he often charges ahead towards his enemies without a second thought whenever his comrades are insulted, treated badly, or easily defeated. Azazel has stated that it is one of Issei's bad habits. Lately, he has started to become more tactical in his battles, using technique-type strategies to defeat opponents, as shown when he used the abilities of the Wyverns in a unique way to defeat Euclid.

Issei also displays strong moral principles, as seen when he initially refused to actually kill his enemies. Even after killing Shalba Beelzebub, Issei still rarely ever kills his enemies and prefers to either let others do so or simply let them face arrest. While Issei can carry grudges, he is not above forgiving his enemies and becoming friends with them due to his kindness, as seen with Riser, Kuroka, Vali and Cao Cao.

## History

Before Issei's birth, his mother became pregnant twice, but the pregnancies ended in miscarriages. So when Issei's mother got pregnant for the third time, his father had paced back and forth in front of a Shinto shrine honestly wishing that this time they would succeed. When the newborn was finally born he was named Issei, meaning "honesty", for his father's honest prayers.

He is a childhood friend of Irina Shidou and they would always play together back when she still lived in the neighborhood, although he thought she was a boy at the time as he vaguely remembers her. A few times Issei was invited to go to church with her family. On occasions they would stay over at each other's houses, one of these visits when Issei slept over at Irina's, she kissed him while he was sleeping. Eventually, Irina moved to England due to her father's job.

Sometime during his childhood, Issei met an old man who told him and other children stories about breasts, which eventually led to Issei's fascination with them and his perverted tendencies.

He attended the same middle school with Matsuda and Motohama and the three of them started attending Kuoh Academy one year before the story, and have come to be known as the Perverted Trio to just about the entire school.

## Powers & Abilities

**Demonic Power:** Issei has all the powers and abilities common to Devils, including the power to cast spells. His demonic power was originally lower than a child's, unable to travel via magic circles but now he has sufficient power to do so. By True Volume 2, he can create a teleportation magic circle. Through the use of Promotion, Issei can increase his demonic power. In Volume 14, Issei can summon Ryuuteimaru and in Volume 25 Issei can use magic communication circles.

* **Promotion** (プロモーション, *Promōshon*)**:** Being a Pawn, Issei can use the promotion to temporarily gain the traits of a Queen, Rook, Knight or Bishop. In Volume 8, after Ajuka Beelzebub rewrote Issei's Evil Pieces, Issei can now use Promotion anytime and anywhere without the King's permission.

* **Dragon Shot** (魔力弾ドラゴンショット, *Doragon Shotto*): One of Issei's signature moves. Issei fires a beam of energy by concentrating his magical powers. This move is usually used in tandem with the Boosted Gear to increase its destructive powers. He has also developed a small scale Dragon Shot that is meant for knocking out humans while fending off the members of the Hero Faction who are humans. In his Balance Breaker state, he can fire his Dragon Shot without increasing its destructive power. After his fight with Sirzechs, being inspired by the way he uses his Power of Destruction, Issei starts working on how to redirect his Dragon Shot by moving them in different directions, first using it in Volume 9 against Cao Cao and again in Volume 12 during his battle against Jabberwocky.

* **Dress Break** (洋服崩壊ドレス・ブレイク, *Doresu Bureiku*): The second of Issei's signature moves which he uses mainly against females. This move allows Issei to "strip" women by first coming in contact with them, concentrating his demonic power, then snapping his fingers to activate one of two effects.
	+ **Ver. B (Body):** This move is used to "strip" women by destroying their clothes and/or armor.
	+ **Ver. A (Astral):** This move is used to "strip" women by destroying the effects of spells or abilities that have been used against them.

* **Pailingual** (乳語翻訳パイリンガル, *Pairingaru*): Issei's third signature move. Pailingual gives him the ability to talk to the breasts of all females. It is a helpful technique as it helps Issei learn his opponents' plans and strategies by asking their breasts; however, due to complaints from female members from other peerages, Rias banned Issei from using this technique in Rating Games. This move, however, has a weakness which was shown in the Rating Game between Sairaorg when his Bishop Coriana Andrealphus started to strip in front of Issei and instead of telling him battle plans her breast told him what she was going to strip next thus hindering Pailingual. In True Vol 1, Issei can combine Penetrate with Pailingual to talk to the breasts of powerful beings and in his Diabolos Dragon form, Pailingual pink space covered the whole island.
	+ **Pai-Phone** (乳語電話パイフォン, *Paifon*)**:** A variant of Pailingual, using women's breasts Issei is able to communicate through breasts to other women's breasts.

* **Fire Magic**: Issei learned to use fire magic during his training with Tannin.
	+ **Flame Blaze** (火の息フレイムブレイズ, *Fureimu Bureizu*)**:** Following his training with Tannin, Issei learned how to use Dragon Flames through using Boosted Gear. He first inhales air filling his lungs, then produces a small flame in his stomach with his demonic power; then Boost and Transfer to enhance the flames within his stomach and he breathes out dragon flames from out his mouth toward his opponent. Because of the training, Issei has also developed a high degree of resistance to fire attacks, so that only the most powerful flames, such as those of a Dragon or the Phenex Clan, can injure him. He's also shown to widen the range of his dragon flames that can engulf the whole sky as shown in his battle against Cao Cao in Volume 12.
* **Castling** (キャスリング, *Kyasuringu*): Upon becoming King of his own peerage, Issei gained the ability to use this move, which allows him to swap locations with one of his Rooks. He first used it in his match with Baraqiel to escape a sealing barrier by switching with Rossweisse.
* **Nyuutron Beam Cannon** (超乳波動砲にゅうトロン・ビーム・キャノン, *Niyuutoron Bīmu Kyanon*)**:** Issei's fourth signature move. Nyuutron Beam Cannon gives Issei the ability to attach his Scale Mail's tail to a woman's breast and absorb their breast energy. This allows a powerful beam cannon to be fired as the result of breast energy being infused with Issei's demonic power. The color of his beam is pink in comparison to his previous abilities. The woman's bust size is displayed in his gauntlet's jewel and the number determines how powerful the beam will be. By using Rossweisse's breast, which size is 96, he was able to launch an attack comparable with Infinity Blaster. It is very powerful, as it was able to defeat the strongest Grim Reaper, Thanatos.

**Immense Strength:** At the beginning of the series, Issei's strength was considered below average compared to others. After his training with Rias and the others in the mountains, Issei using his Boosted Gear as shown that he could fight on par with Riser's servants. His training with Tannin has enhanced his strength to where he could erase a mountain after using Scale Mail and outclass Diodora who was empowered using Ophis' snake. It is also stated various times in the light novel that his power is equal to that of an Ultimate-Class Devil. Azazel has also stated that among the Young Devils, Sairaorg Bael, the former Strongest Young Devil is the only one able to fight against Issei head-on. After daily training with Kiba, and with the assistance of Sun Wukong himself his strength further enhanced to the point that he can fight against Rizevim Lucifer, a Super Devil. He later showed to be able to fight against Apophis, one of the Three Strongest Evil Dragons, who achieved Heavenly Dragon-Class powers and defeating him using both Infinity Blaster and Longinus Smasher. In Volume 22, Baraqiel stated he cannot defeat Issei in terms of raw power. In Volume 23, Issei was able to fight on par with Dulio Gesualdo, who is reknown as the Strongest Brave Saint and Trump Card of Heaven. In Volume 24, Issei was able to keep up with Thanatos who is known as The Strongest Grim Reaper. In Volume 25, Issei can fight on par with Vidar in his Ragnarök Earth Berserk using Pseudo-Diabolos Dragon. In True Volume 1, Ddraig stated that Issei's strength in his Crimson Armor is equal to a Satan-class Devil and that in his Pseudo-Diabolos Dragon, he can fight against Super Devils. In True Volume 2, Issei was able to defeat Rias in her Forbidden Invade Balor the Princess form, by using a combination of Infinity Blaster and Nyuutron Beam Cannon at the same time. In True Volume 3, Issei was able to defeat Erebus, a Primordial God of Darkness. He later defeated Tartarus, the Primordial God of the Abyss by using AxA.

**Master Hand-to-hand Combatant:** Issei was unskilled in combat at first, but after training with both Koneko and Kiba, he managed to obtain basic hand-to-hand combat skills. He can combine the boosted power from Boosted Gear and dragon aura increases the power of his physical attacks. After training with Tannin, Issei became more skilled in combat, learning how to survive the former Dragon King's assault. In fact, his prowess is shown as he could go toe-to-toe with Sairaorg Bael, a master martial artist in his own right in a fistfight. After daily training with Kiba and even Sun Wukong, he improved his skills to where he could handle the assaults from the likes of even Diehauser Belial and Rizevim Lucifer, who are powerful devils that are skilled in hand-to-hand combat, then overpowered the latter using Diabolos Dragon. In Volume 22, Issei using Cardinal Crimson Promotion is able to fight on par with Baraqiel, who infused both his punches and kicks with Holy Lightning. In Volume 25, Issei in his Pseudo Diabolos Dragon armor, went toe-to-toe in his fight with Vidar, who has excellent powerful kicking techniques even when Vidar was being enhanced by the power of his Ragnarök Earth Berserk armor. In True Volume 3, Issei demonstrated his experience and mastery of hand to hand combat when he overwhelmed Gressil, a powerful Satan class Devil at least until the latter's "Resistance" ability started to make him more resilient against Issei's attacks though Issei still had the advantage.

**Dragonification** (ドラゴン化, *Doragon-ka*)**:** Having sacrificed his left arm to Ddraig, having it transformed into a dragon's arm in Volume 2, Issei's left arm became immune to damage taken from touching Holy Objects. In Volume 14, due to his new body being created from Great Red's flesh, Issei can now turn any part of himself into that of a dragon by focusing his thoughts on that specific part as he turned his right arm into a dragon to combat three Magicians to sent to attack Kuoh Academy letting him break their defensive magic using a single punch. Issei is able to grow Dragon wings from his back. Unfortunately, once the transformation occurs, he is unable to return it to human form, unless he gets the Dragon energy drained from the transformed body part by either Rias or Akeno.

**Immense Durability:** Issei was originally very weak and vulnerable, easily hurt by the simplest attack. Through the use of Promotion, he can increase his defense. After his training with Tannin, where he was forced to survive Tannin's continuous assault, Issei's durability greatly improves, along with his daily training further enhanced his durability to the point where his body could withstand continuous usage of the Boosted Gear which he couldn't do so in the beginning. In fact, Issei's durability has been proven several times against opponents like Sairaorg Bael, Cao Cao, Grendel, and many others. In Volume 22, Issei can endure Baraqiel's Holy Lightning and continuing to fight despite the intense pain. In Volume 25, Issei can withstand Vidar's attacks even when he is wearing his Ragnarök Earth Berserk armor and even his signature move, Fimbulvetr Shot, the impact of which sent Issei crashing onto artificial Yggdrasil.

**Immense Speed:** Through the use of Promotion, Issei can increase his speed. In his Balance Breaker state, he can use the booster to further increase his speed. In Volume 20, in his Diabolos Dragon form, he was able to appear in front of Rizevim before he can react. He was able to keep up with Vidar in his Ragnarök Earth Berserk. In his Pseudo-Diabolos Dragon form, he was easily able to keep up with Yuuto Kiba, who is famous for his exceptional speed, until Kiba revealed his Drag Knight Boosters.

**Immense Stamina:** Issei originally possesses average stamina. After being reincarnated into a Devil along with his daily training with Rias, Issei obtains more stamina to use the Boosted Gear. Following his training with Tannin in the Underworld, Issei obtains, even more, stamina that he could use when in Balance Breaker. He eventually obtains enough stamina to activate his Scale Mail without a countdown. In Volume 23, he was able to keep fighting at his best throughout the whole two-hour Rampage Ball Rating Game.

**Skilled Tactician:** Although he is often outsmarted and considered an idiot, he is proven himself to be a slightly skillful tactician. In Volume 9, he acts as a leader and a tactical fighter, where he uses his brain to fight properly the Hero-Faction. Issei claims that his skills are not that enough, but Kiba mentioned that if it is not for his orders they couldn't fight and defend themselves from the sudden attacks of the Hero Faction. In True Volume 2, Issei demonstrated good tactical knowledge in his fight against Kiba, by exploiting his Transfer ability to make Kiba lose control of his speed thus negating Kiba's speed advantage. During his fight against Rias, Issei was able to exploit the fact that she was unfamilliar with his Nyuutron Beam Cannon ability to surprise her during their fight, allowing him to defeat her. Issei is currently learning Rating Game tactics from Ravel.

**Survival Skills:** Because of his training under Tannin, Issei has developed survival skills.

**Swordsmanship:** While Issei is not proficient in wielding a sword like Kiba or Xenovia, he has learned the basics of swordsmanship from Kiba and his sword skills improve in their training sessions together. Due to his constant training with Kiba, Issei has improved his ability to use Ascalon as a bladed extension of his gauntlet. While still not at the level of trained swordsmen like Kiba, Xenovia and Irina, Issei has demonstrated solid skill in using Ascalon to enhance his attacks as demonstrated in his battle against Thanatos where he used Ascalon to parry Thanatos' scythe. Issei has demonstrated the ability to dual wield both Ascalon and Ascalon II during his battle against Vidar. He developed a technique to shoot out his Ascalon swords at the enemy with are enhanced with Boost and Penetrate. Issei's improved sword skill was showed in his battle against Kiba where he was able to parry Kiba's Gram with his Ascalon blade.

**Stealth:** Issei has also learned how to mask his presence from people.

**Flight:** While Issei still lacks the ability to fly using his Devil wings, Issei being a former Dragon can fly using his Dragon wings.

## Equipment

     **Boosted Gear** (赤龍帝の籠手ブーステッド･ギア, *Būsuteddo Gia*): Issei's Sacred Gear and main weapon. The Boosted Gear is one of the 13 Longinus which holds the spirit of the Welsh Dragon, the Red Dragon Emperor, Ddraig, one of the Heavenly Dragons. It is said to have the power to kill a god when fully mastered. Boosted Gear takes the form of a red gauntlet on the wielder's left hand that has the ability **Boost** (ブースト, *Būsuto*),which doubles the user's power every 10 seconds without limit; and its sub-ability which can **Transfer** (トランスファー, *Toransufā*) the multiplied power to a being or object and it can even be focused on certain parts of the user's body such as the eyes for enhanced vision. Issei can use Boosted Gear to strengthen his physical abilities and demonic power. Later, it gains the ability of **Penetrate** (ペネトレイト, *Penetoreito*) to bypass any defensive abilities (including Rizevim's Sacred Gear Canceler) that would otherwise prevent his attacks from landing. Penetrate's effects can also be channeled through any part of the body, such as the eyes, making it capable of seeing through anything, even women's clothing.

* **Boosted Gear: Scale Mail** (赤龍帝の鎧ブーステッド・ギア・スケイルメイル, *Būsuteddo Gia: Sukeiru Meiru*): The Balance Breaker of Boosted Gear that creates a Red Dragon Armor and Issei's primary battle form. Issei first activated his imperfect version of Scale Mail in Volume 2, by making a pact with Ddraig by giving his left hand to the latter. During his first battle against Vali, Issei used a bracelet given to him by Azazel which allowed him to use the imperfect version of Scale Mail for less than 15 minutes. Issei completed his Balance Breaker during his fight against Kuroka, poking Rias' breast to trigger the evolution. From this point, Issei can **Boost** without the 10-second limit and it strengthens his powers and abilities. At the back of his armor, there are two rocket boosters that give a temporary boost of speed and flight. After the activation of the Juggernaut Drive, Issei's Scale Mail gained a pair of retractable Dragon Wings with Pteranodon-like claws that he can use as arms.

* **Boosted Gear: Juggernaut Drive** (覇龍ブーステッド・ギア・ジャガーノート・ドライヴ, *Būsuteddo Gia: Jagānōto Doraivu*): A form unique to the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing. The Juggernaut Drive temporarily removes the seal placed on the Heavenly Dragons granting the user immense power. The Juggernaut Drive, however, causes the user to lose sanity while having their lives devoured by power. Issei indirectly activates an incomplete version of this form when he thought Asia was killed by Shalba Beelzebub with the negative emotion overpowering him thus triggering the Juggernaut Drive. In this form, Issei's speed is greatly increased to the extent that it can be hard for one's sight to follow. This form is also capable of creating Dragon arms and blades from the gems of the armor. It contains a small cannon within the mouth of the helmet that shoots out a laser beam.
	+ **Longinus Smasher** (ロンギヌス・スマッシャー *Ronginusu Sumasshā*): It's finishing that is the most powerful attack of the Boosted Gear. A launcher appears from the chest of the form that is capable of shooting a powerful energy beam of immense destructive power.

* **Illegal Move Triaina** (赤龍帝の三叉成駒イリーガル・ムーブ・トリアイナ, *Irīgaru Mūbu Toriaina*): The Illegal Move Triaina is a specialized technique used by Issei Hyoudou that changes his Scale Mail armor into three different forms based on the Evil Pieces system.
	+ **Welsh Sonic Boost Knight** (龍星の騎士ウェルシュ・ソニックブースト・ナイト, *Werushu Sonikku Būsuto Naito*): Triaina's Knight form. In this form, Issei possesses enormous speed that far surpasses Sairaorg's speed, but to make full use of it, Issei must shed his excess armor, causing it to become thin to the point where it has low defense, making him vulnerable to powerful attacks.
	+ **Welsh Dragonic Rook** (龍剛の戦車ウェルシュ・ドラゴニック・ルーク, *Werushu Doragonikku Rūku*): Triaina's Rook Form. In this form, Issei possesses a massive amount of power and defense but has a low body maneuvering speed because of the massive, thickened armor.
		- **Solid Impact** (ソリッドインパクト, *Soriddo Inpakuto*): It's respected finishing move that delivers a punch that has its power and speed increased by nailing the percussion hammer located at his elbow.
	+ **Welsh Blaster Bishop** (龍牙の僧侶ウェルシュ・ブラスター・ビショップ, *Werushu Burasutā Bishoppu*): Triaina's Bishop Form. In this form, Issei possesses an enormous amount of magical energy, which he applies it to the two cannons at the back of his armor.
		- **Dragon Blaster** (ドラゴンブラスター *Doragon Burasutā*): It's respected finishing move that is a severely boosted equivalent of his Dragon Shot capable of leveling battlefields and briefly warp space-time. The drawbacks to that the amount of time it takes to charge the cannons and stamina lost with each shot.

* **Cardinal Crimson Promotion** (真紅の赫龍帝カーディナル・クリムゾン・プロモーション, *Kādinaru Kurimuzon Puromōshon*): The Scale Mail's Queen Form that is achieved by gaining the "True Queen". This form changes the color of Issei's Scale Mail armor from red to crimson. Cardinal Crimson Promotion incorporates all three Evil Pieces traits, making it the most balanced and most powerful form of Issei's Scale Mail. In this form, Issei is capable of using enhanced versions of the Illegal Move Triaina's abilities. This form, however, is still unstable and requires mastering the three forms of Illegal Move Triaina to stabilize its powers. In Volume 22, it is revealed that Issei can enter True Queen without having to chant, and due to Diabolos Dragon God mode, its power has been increased.
	+ **Solid Impact Booster** (ソリッド・インパクト・ブースター, *Soriddo Inpakuto Būsutā*): By morphing one of the armor's gauntlets into Welsh Dragonic Rook's, it allows it for an enhanced version of Solid Impact. It can also be used in tandem with Ascalon to deal further damage to Dragons.
	+ **Crimson Blaster** (クリムゾンブラスター, *Kurimuzon Burasutā*): An enhanced version of Welsh Blaster Bishop's "Dragon Blaster" that shoots a powerful beam from the wings of the armor.
	+ **Dividing Wyvern Fairy** (白龍皇の妖精達ディバイディング・ワイバーン・フェアリー, *Dibaidingu Waibān Fearī*): Originally taking the form of **Dividing Gear** (白龍皇の籠手ディバイディング・ギア, *Dibaidingu Gia*), a white gauntlet on Issei's right hand which he obtained in his initial battle against Vali in Volume 4. Issei placed one of the jewels on Vali's armor to him, creating the Dividing Gear which allows him to use Albion's dividing powers. This ability, however, reduces Issei's lifespan and thus was banned by Azazel. In Volume 16, Issei is no longer able to use Dividing Gear after gaining a new ability that allows him to create small white Wyverns from the gems of his armor that can not only **Divide** but can also **Reflect** incoming attacks. Unlike the Dividing Gear, It only requires Issei's stamina rather than reducing his lifespan. In Volume 17, Issei manages to change the white Wyverns red at will where they are able to use Ddraig's powers of **Boost**, **Transfer** and **Penetrate** instead. After training with Rias, Issei manages to make use of the red Wyverns to attach themselves on Rias to create her own variation of the Boosted Gear Scale Mail armor called **Crimson Extinct Dragonar** (深紅の滅殺龍姫クリムゾン・エクスティンクト・ドラグナー, *Kurimuzon Ekusutinkuto Doragunā*). Issei also made use of the red Wyverns to attach themselves on Xenovia to create her own variation of the Scale Mail armor called **Crimson Destruction Dragonar** (真紅の破壊龍騎士クリムゾン・デストラクツョン・ドラグナー, *Kurimuzon Desutorakushon Doragunā*).
	+ **Longinus Smasher** (ロンギヌス・スマッシャー, *Ronginusu Sumasshā*): In Volume 17, Issei gains access to this ability when the Red Wyverns used **Boost** on him while in this form. An ability initially available to Juggernaut Drive that from the chest appears a launcher that fires a powerfully destructive beam. This, however, leaves strong fatigue on Issei as it drains a lot of his stamina and depending on how one uses it, it can change the environment. Due to its immense power, this ability has a very long recharge period, lasting at least a month.
	+ **Tail Blade** (テールブレード, *Tēru Burēdo*): Using the Ascalon II Prototype, Issei with his tail of his armor can attack with its blade and lengthened the tail towards his enemies at high speed.

* **Diabolos Dragon God** (龍神化－『D×D』・G－ディアボロス・ドラゴン・ゴッド, *Diaborosu Doragon Goddo*): This form is the result of Issei borrowing Ophis's power. The armor undergoes further change, as its color changes to be both crimson and black and adding a second set of wings. The power this form grant is so great that it overwhelms Rizevim Livan Lucifer's Sacred Gear Canceler, previously thought impossible. **Boost** has been changed to **D∞D**as Issei powers up in this form with the **∞** symbol emerging on all of the gems. According to Issei, he was able to use this form because his body was created with Ophis's power and Great Red's flesh. Even so, Issei can only sustain this form for a short period of time, followed by pain that makes death pale in comparison. After the battle against Apophis, Ophis adjusted DxD into DxD G, removing the infinity in it and dubbing the form *Pseudo-Dragon Deification* (疑似龍神化, *Giji no Ryūjin-ka*)*.* The form can only be maintained for three minutes at most, with the time limit becoming shorter by attacking or defending to the point it can last only ten seconds. In Volume 23, Issei reveals the ability to perform *Partial Pseudo-Dragon Deification* (部分龍神化, *Bubun Ryūjin-ka*) on his left arm, allowing him to use his Dragon God Aura to a lesser extent with less stamina consumption. With this technique, Issei can combine his Dragon God aura into both Solid Impact Booster and Dragon Shot. In Volume 25, after drinking the miracle drug Amrita, Issei can maintain his Pseudo-DxD form for 88 minutes in combat. During his fight with Angra Mainyu, Issei unlocks *True-Dragon Deification* (真の龍神化, *Shin no Ryūjin-ka*) which is described as having Devil, Dragon, and God aura. Hades notes that Issei's power in this form is even greater than when he was in Pseudo-DxD.
	+ **Infinity Blaster** (インフィニティ・ブラスター, *Infiniti Burasutā*): A further enhanced version of Crimson Blaster, the wings contain cannons that shoot out a powerful blast of red and black aura that leaves even Rizevim injured to an extent that his body is almost fatally damaged. By using it, DxD G's time limit of three minutes is cut down to ten seconds. After drinking miracle drug Amrita, Issei has overcome this weakness and can maintain his armor after shooting Infinity Blaster.
	+ **Longinus Smasher** (ロンギヌス・スマッシャー, *Ronginusu Sumasshā*): The form is not only capable of this move, but the blast it shoots out has been enhanced with the power of infinity, delivering further damage. It can also be used in tandem with the Infinity Blaster, fusing the two blasts into an even more powerful attack.
	+ **Blazing Inferno of Scorching Flames** (燚焱の炎火いつえきのえんか, *Itsu Eki no Enka*): An ability that was sealed by the God of the Bible, which Issei managed to unlock upon using his DxD form for the second time in Volume 21. Issei releases a powerful breath of fire that can incinerate anything, flames that never go out once ignited as they continue to burn even after being reduced to ashes and can probably burn the soul until nothing remains. The only existences known to be immune to these flames are Albion, Ophis, and Great Red. Its area of effect can cover an entire island.
	+ **Red Dragon Emperor** **Ddraig Manifestation** (赤龍帝ドライグ顕現, *Sekiryūtei Doraigu Kengen*): Due to drinking the miracle drug Amrita, Issei gained the ability to summon Ddraig into battle after the [8] countdown on the right gauntlet reaches zero.
	+ **Dress Break DxD** (洋服破壊・龍神式ドレスブレイク・ディーディー, *Doresu Bureiku DīDī*): By using his Dragon God aura, Issei can increase his range that halts a female target’s movement, and by strengthening his left hand he can destroy their clothes without even touching them. File:Issei’s AxA form.jpeg
* **Apocalypse AnswerArms** (A×Aアポカリュプス・アンサーアームズ, *Apokaryupusu ansāāmuzu*): Issei's AxA form. This form is the result of Issei combining with his familiar Ryuuteimaru, who manifests Great Red's power due to him being Issei's familiar thus allowing him to make use of Great Red's aura in Issei's body. The power of this form is so great that it overwhelms Tartarus, a Primordial God in Greek mythology. It has the power to destroy the entire world with its destructive power. Because of the weapons that were installed in Ryuuteimaru, Issei has gained new abilities in this form. The drawback of this form is that it has an extremely high consumption rate which gives it a short time limit. Furthermore, Ryuuteimaru is unable to move for a few days and Issei himself suffers fatigue for a few days. It is determined that these burdens compared to DxD G are much lighter.
	+ **Revelation Barrier** (レベレーション バリアー, *Reberēshon Bariā*): Creates a stronger barrier around the body and is powerful enough to withstand attacks from gods such as Tartarus.
	+ **Revelation Blade** (レベレーション ブレード, *Reberēshon Burēdo*): With four arms of his Apocalypse AnswerArms form, each of the arms carries a aura blade known as ***Apocalypse Ascalon*** (アポカリュプス・アスカロン, *Apokaryupusu Asukaron*), which can easily cut through anything like Tartarus’ tentacles.
	+ **Revelation All-Range Blaster** (レベレーション オールレンジ ブラスター, *Reberēshon Ōrurenji Burasutā*): Similar to Cardinal Crimson Promotion and Diabolos Dragon God, Apocalypse AnswerArms has many cannons to fire powerful blast of auras that can destroy Tartarus’ magic barriers like paper and destroys almost half of his body, even as Issei held back his power. The blast of destructive energy is so powerful it can alter the environment and is strong enough to destroy the artificial space created Dimension Lost. Issei states that the blast is comparable to several Infinity Blaster's blast attacks combined.

     **Ascalon** (アスカロン, *Asukaron*): A holy sword given to him by the Archangel Michael, after Ascalon had gone through a number of modification from the current leaders of the Three Factions it could be wielded by Issei, who wasn't a natural-born Holy Sword wielder and dragon host. He was also able to store it inside of his Boosted Gear and the blade emerges from the gauntlet when called. In the anime, it is shown that Issei is able to extend the length of the blade. It is also stated during the Rating Game match against Sona that Ascalon has been imbued with the dragon aura of Ddraig, resulting in an enormous boost in power. Issei learned how to channel the Dragon Slayer power of Ascalon into his punches, allowing him to harm Dragons more easily. Later, Issei managed to combine Ascalon's Dragon Slayer ability with his Crimson Blaster. In Volume 25, Issei is also shown to be able to endow Ascalon with **Penetrate** and **Boost**, with the effect staying even after he launches it as a projectile against Vidar.

**Ascalon II** (アスカロンII, *Asukaron II*): The second version of Ascalon. A long sword that releases holy aura, but is more of a dragon sword rather than a Holy Sword. Issei keeps this sword within his right gauntlet that was free.

**Ascalon II Prototype** (アスカロンII プロトタイプ, *Asukaron II Purototaipu*): The initial prototype model of Ascalon II that Issei used. Due to being created for Issei's use, other people cannot use it which is why the Vatican team that created it left it to him. Although it does not have the same ability as Ascalon II, it is still quite strong. Issei fused it to the tail of his armor to create the Tail Blade ability to suprise enemies with a third arm.

## Quotes

### Light Novel

* *"I’m dumb so I don’t know anything about “foreseen” or “checkmate”. But I can still fight. I can continue fighting as long as I can crunch my fist!"* (Volume 2, Life 5)
* "*President Rias Gremory's virginity belongs to me!*" (Volume 2, Life ∞ vs Power ∞)
* *"President! I don’t have talent for swords like Kiba! I’m not a genius like Akeno-san at using demonic-power! I don’t have a crazy strength like Koneko-chan, nor do I have a healing power like Asia! Even still, I will become the “Strongest Pawn”! For you, I will even beat God! With this Boosted Gear! My only weapon! I will make sure that I will protect you!"* (Volume 2, Life ∞ vs Power ∞)
* (To Rias): *"Then I will give my right arm as a price next time. Then my eyes if another one comes in. I will keep on saving President. That’s the only thing I can do. But I will definitely come and save you. That’s because I am Rias Gremory’s [Pawn]."* (Volume 2, Last Kiss)

* "*Stupidity is fine! If I can't win with ability, I'll excel through stupidity!*" (Volume 4, Life 5)
* "*That's because we have to look if there is an Oppai in front of us!*" (Volume 7, Life 2)

### Anime

* "*I'll never forgive anyone who makes our president cry!*" (Season 2 New)
* (To Irina) "*No way, no way in hell. I’ve invested my entire aptitude in magic for this. Would you have me develop a technique that allows me to see through women’s clothing instead? I made such a choice bearing my thoughts, worries and all. I shall...I shall destroy more women’s clothes and then...and then...and then someday, as I gain the ability to destroy them just by looking, I shall continue my fight!*" (Season 2 New, Episode 3)
* (To Irina) "*Lechery is my strength! Lechery is my justice!*" (Season 2 New, Episode 3)
* (To Matsuda and Motohama in school) *"Boobs are heavier than someone's life."* (Season 2 New, Episode 4)

## Trivia

* Issei's birthday is on April 16.
* Issei's name means "Sincere/Honest".
	+ His surname means "Soldier" in reference to him being a Pawn, as pawns are considered to be foot soldiers in chess analogy. So his full name means "Sincere or honest soldier".
* Issei shares the meaning of the series' title that refers to Great Red: "Dragon of Dragons" as he can be considered a mini Great Red, who the title mainly refers to.
	+ In addition, he along with Vali have made another meaning for the title that refers to themselves: "Diabolos (Devil) Dragon".
* Despite not officially being a member of the Gremory clan yet, he is already considered one by the members (minus Rias) and their servants. After proposing to Rias, she also considers him a member as her future husband and fiance.
* His first kiss was with his childhood friend Irina Shidou, albeit he was asleep.
* In Rating Game fighting-types, Issei is considered a Power-type while also being a good Support-type due to his Boosted Gear Gift ability.
* According to the Magicians, Issei's strength is ranked in SS-Class.
* Issei's life force is currently unreadable due to his body being made from Great Red's flesh and Ophis' powers. At its lowest which is zero, it represents "dream" or Great Red and at its highest which is infinite, it represents "infinity" or Ophis.
* According to Ophis's spawn Lilith, Issei smells like her, Ophis, and Great Red.
* According to Elmenhilde, Issei's blood tastes sweet, mellow, and rich, and is absolutely addictive.
* In Volume 25, Issei is very popular in Norse mythology as many people in Valhalla were cheering for him.
* His favorite food is cheesecake.
* Issei has a *tokusatsu* show in the Underworld called *Breast Dragon Emperor Oppai Dragon* (乳龍帝おっぱいドラゴン, *Chichiryūtei Oppai Doragon*), which stars him as the main character named **Issei Gremory** and it is considerably popular among the children.
* Issei makes review videos for Oppai Dragon products while acting as the "Oppai Dragon" himself and uploads them to DeviTube. This caused the merchandises' sales to increase.
* It would seem his erotic nature is hereditary, as his father, grandfather, mother and grandmother all have a erotic nature too, with his father and grandfather also seeking to create a harem when they were younger and his mother teaching Asia about the naked apron while his grandmother teased Issei and Asia about the two of them having sex together and creating a child.
* Issei has a secret stash of his porn collection that he kept perfectly hidden within household goods inside the closet located in an unused room, he was surprised to hear that some of the girls not only found it but also have been watching them.
* Issei has broken off all the engagements of the female characters placed into one, (Rias, Kiyome, and Rossweisse) all of which have fallen in love with him as a result.
* As revealed in a short story, Issei is very good at giving massages, so much so that it's too erotic for women.
* Issei is the only man in existence to have seen Gabriel in a bikini, as well as the most beautiful women in all of Heaven who serves under her; in an old school swimsuit, transparent negligee, and athletic clothing.
* Issei's first-ever meeting with Asia may have been foreshadowing to the relationship between Cleria Belial and Masaomi Yaegaki, as at first, Issei and Asia similarly to Cleria and Masaomi, were forbidden from seeing each other in the same town; Kuoh Town due to the Devil's side and Angel's side still at feuds with each other.
* After the defeat of the Alliance of Hell, Issei is considered as a potential candidate for the new Satans.
	+ Sirzechs wants to create a new seat for Issei under the title ***Satan,*** as in the Revelation of Apocalypse, it is recorded that the terms of Satan and dragon were synonymous, which suits Issei as he possesses the flesh of Great Red who appears in the Apocalypse. Sirzech also wants to bestow his title of *Crimson Satan* to Issei.
* Issei is a fan of Dragon Ball (Drag-so Ball in the Anime and Manga).
* Issei's appearance is based on Kazuma Torisuna from **s-CRY-ed** because the author is a fan of the series.
* In the Light Novel, Issei's Dragon arm is depicted as a scaly Dragon arm that covers his entire left arm, while in the anime, his Dragon arm is replaced by the Boosted Gear.
	+ The manga depicts Issei's Dragon arm as a combination of both.
* Supposedly, one of Issei's power-ups was to involve sucking Rias' breasts. Unfortunately, that was already too much for Fujimi Shobo, so the author resorted to something else.
* In the short story "25 (Twenty Five) at the Clubroom with Rias-buchou!", Issei was stated to have black hair; however, the anime and light novel illustrations portray him as having brown hair.
* Issei was originally envisioned with Kiba's character traits but later changed into a pervert because Ishibumi felt those character types were too "weak" for the main character.
* Issei was originally going to be just a human who helps Asia.
* In the English dub, Issei’s nickname Oppai Dragon is Grabbin Dragon.
* His seiyū, Yūki Kaji, eventually married Ayana Taketatsu, the seiyū of Koneko, on June 22, 2019.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Light Novel Volume 2
2. ↑ Ishibumi's twitter
3. ↑ Short Story A Gifted Person's Sleepover Party