Jack Frost: Chee-hee-r up, ho! You got rid of it, even if you didn't kill it.
Nanashi: I guess, but... who knows where it's going to pop up next. And I need to roast that Adramelech, too.
Halphas: Trust us, kid, he's way beyond you at this point.
Shiisaa: HELLO. YOU HAVE MUCH MAGNETITE! MY NAME IS SHIISAA! I HAVE JUST MET YOU, AND I LOVE YOU!
Character notes: A Japanese guardian spirit in the shape of a lion or dog, famous for the statues of them placed at entrances and such to drive off evil spirits. He's a touch underleveled for this part of the game, but I made him because I missed him last time. Gets Wins and ailment skills.
Personality notes: Big, Friendly Dog, designed after Dug from Up.
Nanashi: Ah! Stop licking... huh, this isn't so bad. I got a dog and a butler today; maybe demon summoning's not so bad after all?
Night Stalker: Cut the ooey-gooey sweetness. Fucking protective gods; they don't know what it means to be a real demon! Howzit goin' kid?
Character notes: These guys seem to personify based on their Compendium info, the "Satanic Ritual Abuse" scandal of the '80s, where a Red Scare-esque media frenzy erupted attempting to track down murderous cultists who raped and murdered children supposedly to please Satan. No such cultists actually existed, but belief in them evidently formed this demon. He gets Damascus Claw, Dormina, and Attack Knowhow.
Personality notes: Violent, urbane, and perverted - fun to have around at parties.
Incubus: Heh heh, he said 'ooey-gooey'. Ya know, like jizz!
Phoenix: I swear, young fellow, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel with these latest recruits! Must we truly lower ourselves thus?
Nanashi: Hey, I need all the friends I can get to survive down here!
Character notes: A Medieval European male Horny Devil, the masculine counterpart to a Succubus. It's said that unexplained pregnancies in unmarried women were the fault of Incubi. If you're thinking that maybe the women just had sex outside of marriage, well, that's probably where the legend came from - people didn't want to punish their children for their natural urges even though the law back then said they had to so they just said "Demons did it." He gets Wind, Charm, and Sleep skills.
Personality notes: Also crass and lecherous, and mades frat boy-style "He said X" jokes.
Nanashi: Well what about- what the!?
(The phone begins flossing red!)
???: BUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
(HORKOS drops from the sky!)
Nanashi: Ack, what is that!?
Horkos: FORGIVE ME MY INTRUSION, BUT WORD ON THE GRAPEVINE (MMMM, GRAPES) IS THAT MY OLD COLLEAGUES HAVE TAKEN UP WITH A BUONO YOUNG BOY FULL OF DELICIOUS MAGNETITE! I INTERCEPTED YOUR INTENDED DEMON ON THE PATH TO THE ASSIAH TO SEE FOR MYSELF!
What happened here was a Fusion Accident - sometimes, at random, your fusion will spit out a demon you didn't intend to make. The chance increases if Nanashi is Sick, or if a Foul-race demon, such as Slime or Night Stalker, is used as an ingredient. Accidents are often a blessing in disguise - like Horkos here, the demon you get from an accident is typically stronger than the one you originally intended to get.
Character notes: A minor Greek death god, said to carry off those who broke sacred oaths. Belief in him survived into Medieval times, where he entered folklore as a gluttonous, pig-headed barbarian, as he's seen here. It's believed that those ubiquitous fantasy creatures, Ogres and Orks, were inspired by him. He gets only Phys moves naturally so you'll need to fuse him if you want anything else.
Personality notes: SJ Personality once again.
Mithras: Fantastic! Word of our little experiment must have traveled greatly to reach your realm so soon, Lord Horkos!
Nanashi: You two know each other?
Mithras: We had a... working relationship elsewhere in the time stream, you might say...
And speaking of Fusion Accidents, there are three demon races you can only get with one - Zealot, Famed, and Undead. It's exactly as irritating a sidequest as it sounds, but once you do it once, you can just summon them from your Compendium in future runs, as I did here...
Zombie Cop: Stop... criminals that have... defiled this city... the law commands...
Nanashi: Man, that guy's pitiful. I'll take him with too.
Character notes: It's simply an undead police officer, nothing more, nothing less. The term "Zombie" is Haitian in origin and originally referred to a type of brainwashed human. Over time, Zombies assimilated traits of Ghouls in public consciousness and became cannibalistic undead corpses.
Personality notes: Has his rather tragic unique personality from the game, where he still thinks he's doing his job.
We'll be heading back to Kinshicho once exploration of Shinjuku is done. There's nothing new to be done around here so it's time to hit the hay.
Nanashi: MAN, you almost forget sleeping's something you CAN do around here. Night little demon guys.
Incubus: Heh, he said 'night', as in 'Spend with me.'
Nanashi: Shut up.
1/8 MOON
Nanashi is shaken awake by Asahi, who tells him that an all-Hunter emergency broadcast meeting is about to commence!
Nanashi: Wah! Fine, I'm up! Sheez. To the bar, I guess...
Upon arriving at the bar, the Hunters are gathered. Boss scolds Asahi for calling him "Dad" at work again before the broadcast behind, which just makes her do it again. Ah, teenagers.
Bifrons: It seems the communication is beginning...
The big screen over the bar flickers to life, revealing Fujiwara, Skins, and Isabeau in an unfamiliar room. With them are two equally unfamiliar young men dressed the same as Isabeau.
Morax: I ALREADY DON'T LIKE THE LOOK OF THIS, BWOOOOOOH!
Fujiwara describes the meeting as an 'emergency war council', then hands the mic to Isabeau to introduce the other two men in the room. She explains they too are Samurai from above the Ceiling, who came down with her and Flynn: Jonathan, who joined the angels, and Walter, who joined the demons. They sacrificed themselves... to become Merkabah and Lucifer!
Nanashi: I'm sorry what?
Melchom: That's Lord Lucifer's new form? I had heard mutterings of this, of course, but even I rarely get to actually see him!
Principality: Aha! Lord Merkabah! Here to inject some sanity to these proceedings, no doubt!
The two alignment generals then reveal themselves in all their glory! And... Lucifer requests a ceasefire?
Nanashi/Principality/Mithras: I'M SORRY WHAT?
Lucifer explains that with the Divine Powers attacking both sides and the humans, the last thing anyone needs is everyone wearing each other down. And, shockingly, Merkabah agrees!
Naga: Truly, this is the end of the Kali Yuga? You sense it, don't you? Something very bad is happening to time and space...
Skins is less than pleased, obviously, at the prospect of allying with Tokyo's tormentors, but Merkabah and Lucifer explain they need humans alive - humans are the only beings that can permanently kill demons. A human that can do so is called a "Godslayer."
Nanashi: No way... that's what Dagda called me!
The faction leaders speculate that the Divine Powers are attempting to turn Flynn into a Godslayer. This must not happen, they say, to the point that Merkabah insists on killing Flynn if he can't be recaptured. In the meantime, Merkabah will be sending his best Samurai down to Tokyo, Lucifer will be marshaling the citizens of Tokyo against the powers, and the Hunters must go about performing tasks to aid the fight. With that, the transmission ends. Dagda reminds Nanashi that he's his Godslayer, and it's his duty to take the fight to the Powers...
Nanashi: Goddamn it... who do those three think they are. I was actually getting kind of hopeful, too, now back to being kicked around by- no, remember. unfuck this town, unfuck this town.
Two new main quests are unlocked here - one asking to retrieve the legendary sword, Ama-no-Habakiri, from the Fairy Forest, as it's said to be able to pierce Shesha's impenetrable hide. And second, to report to Kasumigaseki to help design a radar to help track Shesha. These can be done in any order; we'll be doing the second first. Two new Challenge Quests are added as well.
Nanashi: Think I'll take on these shorter ones first...
Lham Dearg: Wha' are yeh, some kinda string bean? If i' were me, ah'd snap tha' snake over mah knee!
Nanashi: And I thought the guy in my phone had an impenetrable accent..
Character notes: A ghost from Scotland, said to be the spirit of a warrior who died still thirsting for blood. If you see him, he'll challenge you to a fight, and if you accept, even if you win, you'll die a few days later, so don't do that. He's another all-Phys demon.
Personality notes: Violent Glaswegian, naturally.
Baphomet: Hn hn hn hn... no, it's this one's mind that's special... how goes thou, child? I am the Vile Baphomet. I look forward to our, hmmm... partnership...
Character notes: A goat-headed demon associated with dark rituals. His name first appeared during the Crusades during the disbandment of the Knights Templar, who were accused of worshipping him. He's often thought to be a demonization of Muhammad, Prophet of Islam, and he frequently appears in various depictions of Hollywood Satanism. Gets Dark and drain skills.
Personality notes: Evil Genius.
Mou-Ryo: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... WoooooOOOOOOooooo...
Nanashi: Mmmmmkay.
Character notes: Yet another yokai, this one a ghost that failed to properly reach the afterlife. They're said to be bound to mountains in particular, and appear as balls of sickly light. Another Dark-user.
Personality notes: Speaks only in ghostly wails.
Take-Minakata: Shove it Casper, you're making all us Japanese demons look bad. Hey kid, if I join up with you, you'll get me to Mikazuchi, right? I'm gonna bite his legs off!
Character notes: A Japanese warrior god, son of Okuninushi, the leader of the Earth gods or Kunitsu. He's most famous for the episode where he fought the thunder god, Take-Mikazuchi, for control of Japan, but ended up losing the fight and his arms for good measure. This established the dominance of the Amatsu, the sky gods, over the Kunitsu. Gets Elec and Phys skills.
Personality notes: Jaded Washout desperate to even the score.
Nanashi: Got demons coming out of my ears now, geez. What is this quest... retrieving lightbulbs, seriously?
Lham Dearg: That be nae greater horror than losing lightbulbs, laddie!
The lightbulbs are found in relic spots in Ueno. Like the oil from Toyosu, they're guaranteed to be there, so just keep checking and drop them off when you find them.
Ame-no-Uzume: Truly, you did fabulously at retrieving those lightbulbs! Now the people of Tokyo will grow food most fabulously.
Take-Minakata: Goddamn Amatsu bitch.
Ame-no-Uzume: Tactful as ever, Minakata. Been a while since we took the same contract...
Character notes: The Japanese goddess of joy, and one of the aforementioned Amatsu. She's in charge of pleasurable rituals such as dancing, and though she may look proper and ladylike, she once did a striptease to offend Amaterasu the sun goddess and get her to leave the cave she's barricaded herself into. Her signature move is Sabbatma, allowing her to summon demons herself!
Personality notes: A dramatic thespian type who says "Fabulous!" a lot.
Nanashi: Let's see, next quest... aright, a fight, sweet! Tokyo Station, huh?
Tokyo Station is just east of Kasumigaseki, so we're heading there anyway. The door we want is the westernmost one, bringing us face to face with that most terrible (and also cutest) of demons, Black Frost! Apparently he belongs to someone in Ginza and got loose, so we have to discipline him...
=MINI-BOSS: JAKI BLACK FROST=
Level 35. Resist Phys, Null Fire, Null Ice, Weak Light, Null Dark
You'd think a Frost demon would be weak, or at least Neutral, to Fire, but no, this guy nulls it! It's light attacks you want to go for, and while he's not too tough offense-wise he can still take quite a bit of punishment so buffs are a must here.
Halphas: Sadly it's your own legal fault if you fail to use buffs in a demon attack situation, can't do nothin' about it!
Pabilsag: Quiet, bird-fiend! Let me at this foul beast!
Character notes: A Mesopotamian god described as a scorpion-centaur, and despite his ugly appearance he's a noble archer who fells evil beings like the foul bird-god Anzu. His SMT Compendium info seems to have gotten him confused with the Girtablilu, similar-looking but distinct beings who guard the gates to the afterlife. Gets really good Gun skills.
Personality notes: Genuinely noble and good, and hates that his appearance scares people.
Nata Taishi: Whoopsie, pardon me, comin' through Frosty!
Character notes: Known as Nezha Taizi in Chinese, he's a Hermes-esque trickster god who fights with a hooplike weapon. He once killed himself in shame after killing a noble dragon king, but was revived with lotus roots. He's perpetually youthful and never ages. He's another Phys specialist gameplay-wise, and like Momunofu gets Charge!
Personality notes: Moves really fast, often bumping into people.
Frosty doesn't have any unique moves but he doers have Mabufula and Agilao, so cover those Fire and Ice weaknesses.
Principality: Bathe in my light, foul beast!
Gucumatz: MINE TOO.
Character notes: The Maya creator, and their version of the pan-Mesoamerical feathered serpent god. At the beginning, nothing seemed to exist except him, the wind god Huracan, and a seemingly endless sea. He retrieved earth from under the sea to create land, then populated it with animals. He gets a large amount of Combo Platter Powers, including Rakunda, and is just really useful in general.
Personality notes: Talks like an uncouth beast despite being a dignified creator god.
Upon defeating Black Frost, he'll realize he was wrong, thank you for the good fight, and head back to his summoner.
Nanash I: So that demon tried to escape his contract? Why do you guys all still hand around me then?
Guzumatz: YOU SPECIAL, THAT WHY.
Nanashi: And that means...?
Mithras: Oh, you'll see... eheheheheheheheheeehhhh...
