Ari

* Artwork
* Game Model

**Ari** (Ruka in Japan) is the protagonist of *Okage Shadow King*, and is the character that the player controls the entire game. His shadow becomes possessed by Stan which initiates the story.

While the player can rename him to anything, in this wiki he will only be referred to as Ari.

## Personality

An inversion of typical hero archetypes, Ari is a nondescript boy whom others describe as being gloomy, or the type to blend into the background.

It's exactly his quiet, solitary nature that makes him a perfect empty vessel for Stan, who speaks for or over Ari, when not criticizing him or praising him for subservience.

His actions and motivations are often wildly misinterpreted, even if he's candid about what they are, and many people confuse his thoughts and opinions with Stan's.

Despite having dialogue options to be cheerful or sarcastic rather than remaining quiet, other characters frequently ignore what he has to say regardless. These options do give insight into Ari's personality however, which reveal peppiness, a desire to help and be accepted, occasional bitterness, and above all, a very dry wit.

## Appearance

Ari is a slender teenager with shaggy red hair and bright green eyes. Compared to other party members, he's fairly short though this might be due to his young age.

He wears a sleeveless blue plaid shirt and a large belt around his waist. Over that, he wears a leather vest with golden clasps and a green skull patch on the left breast.

On his hands are blue striped fingerless gloves, and he also has a blue striped headband, that both match his shirt.

He has pants that are a dark beige, and although it doesn't appear in his official artwork, his in game model has 3 rows of a light red checkers design around the cuffs that he wears with dark shoes matching his vest.

## History

Ari is an unassertive and nondescript teenage boy whose most notable quality is how unremarkable he is. Despite his efforts, he's often overlooked by many around him if not outright ignored.

His lineage is one of adventurers, with his Grandfather having once been widely renowned for his journeys in his youth. When she was a girl, Ari's Mother went on her own adventure as well which is how she came to meet Ari's Father. While not directly stated, it's implied that Ari descends from the legendary hero Hopkins and legendary scholar Pollack as there are graves describing the two in their family cemetery.

He grew up with his family on a significantly larger estate than his peers on the outskirts of Tenel. Even having its own courtyard with a full fountain and private cemetery, their property is larger than both the Town Hall and Tenel Church combined. Although perhaps once great, the mansion appears to be in relative disrepair or disuse as sheets cover most of their furniture and entire rooms are boarded up.

Like his home, the fame and prestige of previous generations in his family has dwindled. Ari is unpopular and not well respected by the townspeople, often being disregarded, bullied by peers, or chastised by adults for his unassertive nature. Ari's only childhood friend is a tomboy named Julia.

Although she's described as his friend and later claims to have had a crush on him, Julia's domineering personality and flippant disregard for what Ari has to say, suggest that she's only interested in him for her own self-interest because of his controllable, weak-willed personality.

His pretty and popular little sister Annie only helps to eclipse her passive older brother both socially as well as with their parents. While Annie sneaks out to meet boys, Ari is forced to pick up the slack and miss out on social events while doing chores for his mother or indulging his father's longwinded archaeological speeches.

His life changes course when his sister is attacked by a ghost while on a date and is cursed to speak exclusively in Pig Latin. To cure her, Ari's family appeals to a demonic presence trapped in a jar Ari's father recently acquired. After completing a ceremony in their basement, a demon butler named James appears and explains that his master, the Evil King Stan needs to possess a human shadow as his vessel in order to help. Ghostly servants assess the group and select Ari as the ideal vessel.

Stan is released and informs Ari that as his vessel he is now his slave and has no choice but to help him to establish worldwide dominion. But to Stan's dismay, his plot and evil influence are not taken seriously. Ari's parents, grateful for curing Annie, welcome him as member of the family. Stan amuses the townspeople who view him as a joke or magic trick and Ari's "act" results in an uptick in popularity.

Humiliated by unintentionally doing good deeds that result in glory for Ari rather than himself, Stan realizes that his powers have been weakened and stolen by other so-called Evil Kings. With this in mind, Stan reevaluates his plans and enlists Ari to first subjugate rival Evil Kings on their path to world supremacy.

## Relationships

### Father

The manager at Tenel Town Hall who moonlights as an archaeology/anthropology buff. If you remain neutral or negative toward every relationship but his and maintain a chipper attitude, you'll have highest compatibility with your father.

### Stan

Stan claims Ari as his slave in exchange for 'saving' his sister Annie, and takes over his shadow. Because of this, Ari must bring Stan wherever he wishes and is ordered to help Stan regain his power.

### Marlene

After meeting her, Princess Marlene claims to own 2/3rds of Ari (With the remaining left to Stan), and treats him as a servant. However, through the game she will learn more about Ari and his family and warm up to him, treating him as a person and eventually having feelings for him. To a point, Ari will return these feeling regardless of the players actions, though the intensity of them will depend on dialog choices.

### Rosalyn

Rosalyn is the first new person that Ari meets, saving him from ghost attacks on a bridge. She sees him as a young kid that needs protecting, and feels bad for him that Stan is inside of his shadow. She claims that she would kill Ari in an instant if Stan were to not fix her shadow.

### Julia

Julia is Ari's childhood friend, and she has a crush on him as well, though once Ari's shadow becomes possessed she wants nothing to do with him. She doesn't treat Ari that well, considering she accepts another boy's date invitation to the circus (She later states this was to make Ari jealous). Depending on your dialog choices with her, you can have Ari return her feelings or have him move on.

### Mysterious Woman

If you favor no characters whatsoever through sarcasm or insults, your highest compatibility will be with the Mysterious Woman who stands outside of Madril.

## Trivia

* In the Japanese version of the game, Ari's eyes are much more open than they are in the English version.

## Gallery

Official concept art of menu headshotOfficial concept artHeader from Japanese PlayStation store page