Junko

Stairway To Heaven

**Junko** (**純狐**) is the main antagonist of the Star Ocean story arc.

As a Priestess working at Japan's S Prefecture Jail, she aspires to implement a plan long formulated by PADIO. She is the estranged twin sister of Iku Nagae.

## Appearance

Junko wears a Chinese outfit of a red and yellow tabard with a red sash over a wide-sleeved black dress and a black . She has long, blonde hair and red eyes with a fairly tall height.

## Personality

The priestess Junko is a fanatic committed to a heretical notion of God's will and to carry out PADIO's plan.

As a teenager, Junko was a kind hearted girl who tried the best she could to follow her faith as a future shrine priestess. When a tragic series of events led to the suicide of her beloved Sister Chang'e, Junko fell into despair and then went to see PADIO, whom she encountered before.

She became a radical believer after frequenting PADIO, whose principal credo was that humans were helpless before many forces which ruled the Universe. Among these forces, the will of the Gods and Fate. Junko's backstory, full of near-impossible coincidences and twists of fate and Chang'e's death whose responsibility couldn't be pinned on anybody in particular were the probable inceptions of this belief. Prone to chitchat, a lingering effect of her many discussions with PADIO, Junko often brings multiple random trivia to drive her point: observing Satori Komeiji try to steal a golden ring, Junko explained how she couldn't escape her nature. Mixing this belief with PADIO's plan to "attain Heaven", Junko sought to make every human know their fated paths via Stairway To Heaven's power, and give them the "resolution" to accept their destiny, calling it true "happiness". Essentially, Junko wished that humans realized that they couldn't fight Fate and make them at peace with their status as subordinates of Fate.

In her quest for attaining Heaven, Junko used many immoral methods including murder, manipulation and bribery. Junko was particularly callous about human lives, considering that she worked for the greater good anyway and that these sacrifices were insignificant. PADIO's plan notably included the sacrifice of 36 human lives, Junko also sought to murder anyone who would cross her path, even Rumia, who was a helpless child, or used minions she would recruit with manipulation or promises of favors as the priestess of S Prefecture Jail. Underhanded tactics are not beneath her: Junko favors imposing cruel choices to her enemies, for instance throwing Kaguya's Memory DISC into the dying Tenshi, and asking Seija whether she wants to stop her or save Kaguya, as the DISC will disappear if Tenshi dies and her Kaguya as a result, and Junko would drive Kaguya through a similar choice in their final battle.

## Abilities

Junko develops two Standmaku other than her original during the course of Star Ocean.

C-Snake is her basic Standmaku, with which she may steal up to two DISCS from individuals, one DISC contains the Standmaku of the target while the other DISC contains the target's memories.

Towards the latter half of Star Ocean, C-Snake then evolves into Red Moon which allows her manipulates gravity within 3 kilometers.

Finally near the end, she develops Stairway To Heaven with further instructions in PADIO's Diary, which steadily increases the speed of time.