[OOC] Application @ realityshifted
Character: Asch the Bloody
Series: Tales of the Abyss
Deviance: 1
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Species: Human.
Canon Used: Tales of the Abyss video game (inclusive of side quests) and supplemental manga material.
Appearance: Asch is a teenage boy with green eyes and long red hair--the signs of royalty in the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. His hair gradually darkens toward the tips. He is approximately 5'7" tall. Typically he wears his uniform from ranking as God-General in the Order of Lorelei; the outfit consists of a black tabard with dark-red lining and details that somewhat resemble a heart, a heavy black shirt with a leather belt, long dark-grey gloves with tan-gold details, and dark-grey thigh-high boots. These clothes leave nearly everything to the imagination since the only skin showing is his face. He is generally a very serious person wearing a hardened, scowling, or irritated expression. Also, Asch was trained from youth to be properly right-handed, so his sword is kept on his left hip.
Psychology: Asch was an incredibly mature ten year old; seven years later, he's now a relatively childish and immature teenager. He's bitter, angry, and guarded, but also a truly moral character who wants for the good of others.
As Luke fon Fabre, he was raised to become a future leader. He had high standards and had to live up to great expectations. His parents were distant for various reasons while noble stature set him apart from commoners and servants; his closest bonds were with his fiancee Natalia, his servant, Guy, and his trusted mentor, Van. At age ten, he was kidnapped and put through excruciatingly painful experimentation. But his dedication to the people who needed him--his family, fiancee, and the people of his country--drove him to escape and brave many difficulties to return home. When he arrived, he discovered that his family, fiancee, and servants had already accepted a look-alike in his stead; he lost almost everything he had--his purpose in life, identity, family, fiancee, kingdom--which planted the seeds of bitterness and hatred for replicas.
Despite his tremendous losses, he managed to pull himself together with the help of his kidnapper and only remaining link to his past: Van. Since then, his underlying personality hadn't changed too much because of his isolated life as Van's pupil and unquestioningly loyal servant. As Asch the Bloody, he remained unwaveringly dedicated to his country and desired only good for its people. He maintained high expectations and standards for himself, becoming prideful and confident of his capabilities. Even though he had cast away his past identity, he continued to love and feel concern for his parents despite his bitterness toward the love and affection they showered on his replacement. And he continued to love his fiancee Natalia, upholding her on a pedestal unreachable by any other and untouchable even for himself.
Meanwhile, his world almost entirely revolved around Van until his love for the world outweighed his beliefs in Van's ideals. Although his decision to defect from Van was strongly influenced by his hatred for replicas, it's important to note that the replication process physically hurts. like. hell--as he's already experienced it and understands that it can ultimately kill an original, it's doubtful he'd accept plans to replicate the human race and eradicate all the originals. But disagreeing with and working against Van doesn't mean he's willing to work with anyone else unless it's absolutely necessary--he knows what he has to do and doesn't want others getting in the way or slowing him down, so he prefers working independently.
Asch can be difficult to work with: he's assertive and critical, strictly holding everyone to impossibly high standards. He easily becomes angry when he or others don't to live up to his expectations, but from minor mistakes to complete failure, he also doesn't allow himself to sulk. Asch (very childishly) always has to be right; often without thinking, he retorts with insults, insists illogical arguments, and/or storms off at inconvenient times. But he's intelligent, has a wealth of worldly information, and can be quite the strategist despite his social downfalls. And most people are able to look beyond his angry, guarded front and see he's a good boy with deep-seated morals who really wants only for the good of the people.
Outside his general personality, it's worth noting that Asch's attitude toward his replica gradually changed as time went on. While his initial feelings were those of hatred, Asch eventually developed conflicting feelings namely based on identity issues borne of the replica's existence. His hatred for replicas in general stemmed not only from the pain of replication but also the manner in which his loved ones accepted a cheap substitute in his stead. He felt that the replica existed as his replacement, which displaced Asch as a person and effectively took away his reason to live.
Because he believed that his replica must live the life that it had stolen away, it only followed that Asch held Luke to the same impossibly high standards and expectations he had for himself. Naturally, he was disgusted upon seeing his replica years later only to discover an ignorant, selfish, and spoiled brat incapable of defending itself, much less taking care of his kingdom and fiancee. He was so bitter that he tried to kill the replica a couple times. Then, he hatched a plan to use the replica to foil Van's plans, but this backfired when Asch's bullying drove the replica to outright ignore his warnings and follow Van to the point of destroying Akzeriuth.
Following the fall of Akzeriuth, Asch worked harder toward molding his replica into a proper replacement who would execute his role in life, take care of his people, save Auldrant from the miasma, and defeat Van. He felt pressed for time since contact with the replica was unintentionally but gradually killing him. Because he was dying anyway, Asch thought it wouldn't matter what happened to him so long as the replica could properly fulfill his role as Luke fon Fabre. However, there was always a part of him that was similar to his replica and others; he wanted to live and continually sought a reason to exist.
Many of Asch's arguments with the replica stemmed from his inability to see himself and Luke as two different beings performing different parts of the same role. He couldn't understand and felt insulted by his replica's lacking self-confidence, and was even more offended when the replica tried to return the life and role of Luke fon Fabre. Though grasping at straws to give his own life meaning, Asch rejected the way his replica shirked from his responsibilities, decided that he wasn't good enough, and attempted self-sacrifice to atone for Akzeriuth. He inevitably challenged Luke to a battle of self to decide who would be the stronger of the two and bear the responsibility of defeating Van.
Other Skills/Abilities: Asch is an accomplished soldier and swordsman of the Albert-style, which focuses on powerhouse strikes and fighting without the use of a shield.
He can also combine fonons--basic particles of sound that bond atoms together, contained in everything in Auldrant--with physical attacks to add elemental damage variations based on type. For example, he can combine the fifth fonon (fire) with his technique or rate Havoc Strike; this adds the element of fire and upgrades the attack to Burning Havoc. He is also a fonist capable of performing fonic artes, or powerful magic-like forces, by drawing fonons from the atmosphere into his body and colliding them with matching fonic frequencies. A full listing of his artes can be found here, but he needs to use glyphs to differentiate friend from foe when performing fonon-related and fonic artes.
Seventh Fonists are those who could specifically use the seventh fonon, which is of sound or life itself. When they use their abilities in tandem, they create a reaction called hyperresonance, which is highly destructive and can destroy and reform matter at the atomic level. While Asch isn't a Seventh Fonist, he is the prophesied scion of Lorelei's power; therefore, his fonic frequency is the same as the seventh fonon, and he is capable of catalyzing a hyperresonance without a Seventh Fonist's help. (As to whether Asch's hyperresonance is stronger than Luke's, my beliefs are in line with this essay or this slightly updated one written by my sister.)
His replica, Luke, is a perfect replica and isofon, meaning that he shares the same properties as his original and is therefore capable of hyperresonance. In addition, Asch arranged for Luke's fon slots to be synchronized with his own so that he could speak to him telepathically, see through his eyes, and control Luke's body. Reversing the connection allows Asch to communicate telepathically while Luke experiences what Asch sees and does; however, Asch still maintains control of his own body while Luke's catatonic.
Non-battle-related skills include proper right-handed table manners, knowledge of Ancient Ispanian, and excellent cooking abilities.
Other Weaknesses: Asch can be physically injured like any other human being. Although he also receives Lorelei-induced headaches, he doesn't seem nearly as affected as Luke does. His most notable weakness is that contact with Luke gradually kills him as the replica winds up stealing away Asch's seventh fonons to replenish its own dwindling supply, slowly but inevitably causing Asch's body to break down.
History: Luke fon Fabre, the "Light of the Sacred Flame", was the son of Duke Fabre of the Kingdom of Kimlasca(-Lanvaldear). He was a boy of royal blood with hair of red and the scion of Lorelei's power, prophesied to lead the world to unprecedented prosperity in Yulia Jue's Score, an accurately-detailed account of the world of Auldrant's presumed future. Then he was kidnapped at age ten and replicated by a process called fomicry. The replica was returned in his stead and accepted as Luke fon Fabre while the original Luke abandoned his previous name and life, becoming Asch, the charred remains of the Sacred Flame. This application is about the original Luke fon Fabre who cast aside nearly everything he ever had and eventually became known as Asch the Bloody.
Luke was born and lived a challenging life in Baticul, the capital of Kimlasca. He worked hard to fulfill the expectations of a noble, heir to the duchy, and future king. The Score foretold that Luke's death would be the catalyst in leading their country down the path to prosperity; knowing this, his father didn't want to grow attached to a son with a predetermined death sentence, keeping distant from and hardly acknowledging him. Meanwhile, Luke's mother had a physically weak constitution, so Luke worried for her health and didn't expect anything beyond her loving support from afar. Detached from his parents as well as servants and commoners because of his noble stature, his only close relationships were with Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (his fiancee and heiress to the throne), Guy Cecil (servant and primary caretaker in lieu of his parents), and Van Grants (his mentor and the Commandant of the Order of Lorelei, a religious group that upholds, protects, and follows Yulia's Score).
At age ten, Luke was kidnapped and held captive somewhere he couldn't tell the passage of time. Van performed excruciatingly painful experiments on him and tried to convince him that this was for his own good. Luke somehow managed to escape and stowed away on a ship heading to Baticul. But when he arrived at his manor, he saw his father, mother, and Natalia outside laughing and playing with a boy who looked just like him, a red-haired boy called 'Luke'. Everyone had accepted this look-alike as Luke fon Fabre, regardless of his authenticity, and the original Luke had a brief breakdown when Van approached to explain how much he needed him. Then he convinced the boy to cast away his past and start a new life as Asch, his pupil and servant.
For the next seven years, he trained as a soldier and worked under Van, who helped him rise through the ranks in the Order of Lorelei to eventually earn the title 'Asch the Bloody' and become the God-General Commander of Special Ops. As Van's pupil and servant, Asch became loyal to and extremely dependent on Van until he found out his mentor's true plans: to eliminate the Score by replicating the world and destroying its originals. He disagreed with Van's ideals and began using his position and connections as a God-General to obtain and interpret secret information; Asch became a double-agent, obeying Van's orders under scrutiny but working against him behind the scenes.
Before continuing with the history starting with Asch's first appearance in the game, here's some background on the world of Auldrant...
Everything in Auldrant contains fonons, or basic particles of sound that bond their atoms together; there are seven different types of fonons that resonate at specific frequencies. People called fonists can draw fonons from the atmosphere into their bodies and collide them with matching fonic frequencies to create powerful magic-like forces. When large enough quantities of any specific type of fonon gathers together, it becomes a sentient entity or aggregate without understanding of good or evil. The first six types of fonons are known to have corresponding sentient aggregates; however, since the seventh and last type's discovery over two thousand years ago, the existence of Lorelei is still theoretical in their world.
Over two thousand years ago, half of Auldrant's population was wiped out by war, and the planet began releasing a deadly toxin called miasma when fonist Yulia Jue used her power to lift the crust's land, or Outer Lands, away from the miasma-filled mantle, or the Qliphoth, by supporting them with vast collections of fonons called Sephiroth trees. This caused a great release of fonons that led to discovery of the seventh fonon and fonstones that accurately recorded Auldrant's history and presumed future that came to be Yulia's Score, or the Planet Score, which prophesied that the one who inherits the power of Lorelei, or Luke, would die bringing unprecedented prosperity not only to Kimlasca but to the entire world. The last and missing fonstone, however, foretold of an unstoppable spread of miasma and inevitable destruction of the human race.
So Asch unexpectedly found his replica in the country of Malkuth during a mission to retrieve the missing Fon Master Ion, leader of the Order of Lorelei. Fueled by hatred and bitterness, he initially made a couple attempts on Luke's life. Discovering that Van planned to use Luke to destroy the Outer Lands, he requested other God-Generals to assist him in a fon slot adjustment procedure that theoretically would allow Asch to contact and possibly control his replica. Van appeared surprised that Asch was able to make these arrangements but was unable to prevent Luke from complying with the other God-Generals' demands before he could return home to Baticul.
Meanwhile, Kimlasca and Malkuth were on the brink of war, and shortly after Luke arrived in Baticul he was sent to fulfill 'his' role in Yulia's Score: to die in the miner's town, inciting the war that would lead Kimlasca to unprecedented prosperity. As the group set out, Asch and the God-Generals retrieved Ion and brought him to the Zao Ruins to remove a seal protecting the Sephiroth tree there. Compliance to Van's orders bought Asch time to test his replica's fon slot adjustment while preventing Luke from heading straight to Akzeriuth. When his attempts to contact and even control Luke proved successful, he told his replica where to find Ion but also mocked and lorded over his ignorance. Luke's party arrived too late to stop the God-Generals and sought to take Ion back by force. There was a battle, but they were under a desert and wound be crushed if they continued, so the God-Generals agreed to return Ion in exchange for a temporary truce.
After Luke's party arrived in Akzeriuth, Asch contacted his replica, hoping to use him to stop Van. This backfired because Luke distrusted him and ignored his warnings. Still determined to thwart his mentor's plans, Asch rescued Van's sister, Tear, from being captured and taken away by Oracle Knights under Van's orders. Then he descended into the mines to stop Van, intent on dying in Akzeriuth; he brought Tear back as an additional act of defiance since Van didn't want either of them dead. However, Van had already used Luke to destroy the Sephiroth tree and retrieved Asch before he could die as the town began to fall into the Qliphoth. But Asch managed to escape from Van and stow away on the main party's ship, the Tartarus, before they boarded it and left as Akzeriuth sank into the sea of miasma.
The Tartarus docked in Yulia City, a place made of ancient fon technology so great that it could survive in the Qliphoth, where Asch directly confronted Luke to blame him for the fall and destruction of Akzeriuth and explained the reason that he and Luke look alike--that Van had kidnapped a young noble from Baticul to create Luke, a replica. When Luke refused to believe Asch and accept responsibility, the two fought, and Luke passed out afterward. As Luke slept, Asch opened a channel of connection that not only enabled communication but also allowed Luke to see through Asch's eyes.
Asch returned to the Outer Lands with the rest of the party and used his information network to investigate Van's objectives, eventually discovering a fomicry research facility where Van had collected research data for large-scale replication. Before Akzeriuth's fall, Van had assigned the God-Generals to make Ion remove protective seals on Sephiroth trees, and while each still had one remaining seal of protection that Ion couldn't and hadn't removed, Van could bypass them and control the passage rings, which are like valves for regulating the flow of fonons through the Sephiroth. With that, Asch concluded that Van planned to drop the Outer Lands and replicate them to 'preserve' the world; he warned which city was going to fall next before deciding it was time to part and closing his connection with Luke.
It became more apparent that Auldrant was deviating from Yulia's Score when Luke's party lowered lands in danger of falling, and the war between Kimlasca and Malkuth came to a halt. Asch worked independently to investigate methods of lowering the Outer Lands and neutralizing the miasma, contacting and meeting with the party a number of times to share relevant information. After being injured in a brief confrontation with Van, Asch later told Luke to kill their mentor.
When Luke defeated Van and began to lower the remaining Outer Lands, Asch lent his strength when his replica was unable to do it alone. Almost immediately afterward, both Asch and Luke received a message from Lorelei--Van was trying to capture him, so he would send the key they must use to set him free. Asch then received the Sword of Lorelei, which was only part of the key that he found did nothing on its own. He wasted no time seeking the Jewel of Lorelei to complete it. Knowing the key would ruin Van's plans, the God-Generals followed Asch and tried to take it from him while working toward fulfilling Van's vision of a replica world freed from Yulia's Score.
Meanwhile the people of Auldrant began to grow restless. The Score had ruled their lives for two thousand years, and many became insecure without its direction and guidance. The miasma returned and was slowly killing everyone. Van himself had survived his defeat and subsequent fall into the planet's core by absorbing Lorelei. Replicas increased at a shocking rate. Those who weren't strong enough to survive having their data replicated died, and their hardly sentient replacements were shunned and hated, mistreated, abused, enslaved, or killed. With nowhere else to go, many replicas sought refuge at the Tower of Rem.
Asch went to the Tower of Rem to ask the replicas to die with him after Luke gave him the idea of neutralizing the miasma with hyperresonance, or a fonic reaction strong enough to destroy matter at the atomic level and the prophesied power of Lorelei. He had already realized a while ago that he was gradually dying as a result of his replication. Since then he'd been filled with a sense of urgency and a strong need to fulfill some purpose, even at the cost of his life. Ten thousand lives and one Seventh Fonist would be necessary, and the chances of survival were next to none. After an argument with Luke over who would sacrifice himself, Luke started the reaction and absorbed all the replicas' seventh fonons. They discovered that Luke had received the Jewel of Lorelei and absorbed it into his body, which began dispersing the fonons and weakened his hyperresonance. Together they neutralized the miasma, killing all the replicas but somehow surviving the process themselves.
In the meantime, Van began replicating his homeland and named it the Glorious Land of Eldrant. Such large-scale replication began disturbing the original land and would completely destroy it if allowed to continue. Having survived the ordeal at the Tower of Rem, Asch now headed to Eldrant to finish Van off once and for all... until he fell into a trap that required one person to hold the door open by using hyperresonance while another escaped. Enraged and insulted by his replacement's lacking self-confidence, Asch challenged Luke to a final battle of self. The winner would be the stronger of the two and bear the responsibility of defeating Van.
When Luke won the battle, Asch gave him the Sword of Lorelei to complete the key as replica Oracle Knights rushed in to stop them. Luke left after demanding a promise that his original would survive. Asch managed to defeat all the soldiers and was contacting Luke before being taken by surprise. Taking the remaining few out, he entrusted the rest to his replica before dying from his injuries.
Canon Point: After Asch loses to Luke and gives him the Sword of Lorelei, and just as Asch challenges the approaching Oracle Knights.
Reality Description: The planet Auldrant has twenty-four hours in a day, seven days in a week, and a year nearly twice as long as that on earth as we know it. It is covered in water comparable to earth's oceans. Climates seemingly vary based on geographic location rather than time of year; it appears that most (if not all) regions lack seasonal change. Beyond this, pretty much everything else about reality and existence on Auldrant has to do with fonons.
As mentioned in other sections, everything in Auldrant contains fonons, or basic particles of sound that bond atoms together. This means fonons are not actually atoms and do not replace them. There are six different types of fonons that resonate or vibrate at fonic frequencies corresponding with the elements (darkness, earth, wind, water, fire, and light). The seventh fonon has been discovered only two thousand years ago, is said to have a fonic frequency corresponding with sound, and exists in every living thing. Thus, it is also known as the fonon of life itself. When there is a large enough concentration of a specific fonon type, it can become a sentient entity or aggregate. While the first six types of fonons are known to have corresponding aggregates, the existence of the seventh, or Lorelei, is still theoretical.
People called fonists can draw fonons from the atmosphere into their bodies and collide them with matching fonic frequencies to create powerful magic-like forces. These fonic artes often leave residual pools of elemental concentrations, or fields of fonons. Using artes or techniques that specifically correspond with a field of fonons could produce other powerful side effects, such as adding elemental properties to physical attacks or affecting others with status ailments/buffs. Not all fonists can manipulate seventh fonons, and those who are capable of doing so are called Seventh Fonists. They can be categorized by ability as healers, scorers, or hymnists, but are not exclusively limited to one type. Healers can restore life energy, remove status ailments, and generate status buffs. Scorers, as the name suggests, can read the Score as recorded on fonstones not only to recount past events but also to interpret things yet to come. Lastly, as the fonist Yulia Jue is said to have made a covenant with Lorelei, hymnists are the descendants of Yulia and thereby recipients of the fulfillment of Lorelei's promise.
Auldrant has three main political powers: the Kingdom of Kimlasca(-Lanvaldear), the Empire of Malkuth, and the Order of Lorelei. While Kimlasca and Malkuth are similarly powerful nations, Kimlasca is known for its fontech or fonic technology, and Malkuth tends toward the study and usage of fonic artes. Last but not least, The Order of Lorelei is Auldrant's major religious organization that upholds, protects, and follows Yulia's Score. The Order has its own military branch, the Oracle Knights, headed by Commandant Van Grants and the Six God-Generals. The Score holds much power over the people of Auldrant; in fact, some followers of the Order are so reliant on the Score's predictions that they allow it to dictate events as simple as having breakfast.
Van's mass-produced replicas, both human and otherwise, are composed entirely of seventh fonons, which replicas before this time had lacked. The influx of replicas has caused political unrest as well as instabilities between originals and replicas. Asch is affected in that contact with his replica causes dissonance, a process in which his replica's body steals his seventh fonons to replenish its diminishing supply. The dissonance is gradually killing him. Despite the deaths of thousands of replicas gathered at the Tower of Rem, a sizable number of replicas is likely scattered throughout Auldrant.
The people who are most important to Asch (according to the Dark Wings' discussion about who he speaks of most) are Van, Natalia, and his replica. He cares about Guy's opinion even though Guy hates him and is Luke's best friend. Naturally, he is linked with the other God-Generals through his appointed position. He also has connections with circus performers called the Dark Wings, who he trusts enough to continue hiring them to work for him. Asch had used his position as God-General to make many more connections to halt Van's plans; among these people are Ginji, who pilots the Albiore III, and Spinoza, who was initially one of Van's spies. Asch's leadership qualities and concern for the people shines beyond his brash attitude, garnering the trust and respect of others.
Series: Tales of the Abyss
Deviance: 1
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Species: Human.
Canon Used: Tales of the Abyss video game (inclusive of side quests) and supplemental manga material.
Appearance: Asch is a teenage boy with green eyes and long red hair--the signs of royalty in the kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear. His hair gradually darkens toward the tips. He is approximately 5'7" tall. Typically he wears his uniform from ranking as God-General in the Order of Lorelei; the outfit consists of a black tabard with dark-red lining and details that somewhat resemble a heart, a heavy black shirt with a leather belt, long dark-grey gloves with tan-gold details, and dark-grey thigh-high boots. These clothes leave nearly everything to the imagination since the only skin showing is his face. He is generally a very serious person wearing a hardened, scowling, or irritated expression. Also, Asch was trained from youth to be properly right-handed, so his sword is kept on his left hip.
Psychology: Asch was an incredibly mature ten year old; seven years later, he's now a relatively childish and immature teenager. He's bitter, angry, and guarded, but also a truly moral character who wants for the good of others.
As Luke fon Fabre, he was raised to become a future leader. He had high standards and had to live up to great expectations. His parents were distant for various reasons while noble stature set him apart from commoners and servants; his closest bonds were with his fiancee Natalia, his servant, Guy, and his trusted mentor, Van. At age ten, he was kidnapped and put through excruciatingly painful experimentation. But his dedication to the people who needed him--his family, fiancee, and the people of his country--drove him to escape and brave many difficulties to return home. When he arrived, he discovered that his family, fiancee, and servants had already accepted a look-alike in his stead; he lost almost everything he had--his purpose in life, identity, family, fiancee, kingdom--which planted the seeds of bitterness and hatred for replicas.
Despite his tremendous losses, he managed to pull himself together with the help of his kidnapper and only remaining link to his past: Van. Since then, his underlying personality hadn't changed too much because of his isolated life as Van's pupil and unquestioningly loyal servant. As Asch the Bloody, he remained unwaveringly dedicated to his country and desired only good for its people. He maintained high expectations and standards for himself, becoming prideful and confident of his capabilities. Even though he had cast away his past identity, he continued to love and feel concern for his parents despite his bitterness toward the love and affection they showered on his replacement. And he continued to love his fiancee Natalia, upholding her on a pedestal unreachable by any other and untouchable even for himself.
Meanwhile, his world almost entirely revolved around Van until his love for the world outweighed his beliefs in Van's ideals. Although his decision to defect from Van was strongly influenced by his hatred for replicas, it's important to note that the replication process physically hurts. like. hell--as he's already experienced it and understands that it can ultimately kill an original, it's doubtful he'd accept plans to replicate the human race and eradicate all the originals. But disagreeing with and working against Van doesn't mean he's willing to work with anyone else unless it's absolutely necessary--he knows what he has to do and doesn't want others getting in the way or slowing him down, so he prefers working independently.
Asch can be difficult to work with: he's assertive and critical, strictly holding everyone to impossibly high standards. He easily becomes angry when he or others don't to live up to his expectations, but from minor mistakes to complete failure, he also doesn't allow himself to sulk. Asch (very childishly) always has to be right; often without thinking, he retorts with insults, insists illogical arguments, and/or storms off at inconvenient times. But he's intelligent, has a wealth of worldly information, and can be quite the strategist despite his social downfalls. And most people are able to look beyond his angry, guarded front and see he's a good boy with deep-seated morals who really wants only for the good of the people.
Outside his general personality, it's worth noting that Asch's attitude toward his replica gradually changed as time went on. While his initial feelings were those of hatred, Asch eventually developed conflicting feelings namely based on identity issues borne of the replica's existence. His hatred for replicas in general stemmed not only from the pain of replication but also the manner in which his loved ones accepted a cheap substitute in his stead. He felt that the replica existed as his replacement, which displaced Asch as a person and effectively took away his reason to live.
Because he believed that his replica must live the life that it had stolen away, it only followed that Asch held Luke to the same impossibly high standards and expectations he had for himself. Naturally, he was disgusted upon seeing his replica years later only to discover an ignorant, selfish, and spoiled brat incapable of defending itself, much less taking care of his kingdom and fiancee. He was so bitter that he tried to kill the replica a couple times. Then, he hatched a plan to use the replica to foil Van's plans, but this backfired when Asch's bullying drove the replica to outright ignore his warnings and follow Van to the point of destroying Akzeriuth.
Following the fall of Akzeriuth, Asch worked harder toward molding his replica into a proper replacement who would execute his role in life, take care of his people, save Auldrant from the miasma, and defeat Van. He felt pressed for time since contact with the replica was unintentionally but gradually killing him. Because he was dying anyway, Asch thought it wouldn't matter what happened to him so long as the replica could properly fulfill his role as Luke fon Fabre. However, there was always a part of him that was similar to his replica and others; he wanted to live and continually sought a reason to exist.
Many of Asch's arguments with the replica stemmed from his inability to see himself and Luke as two different beings performing different parts of the same role. He couldn't understand and felt insulted by his replica's lacking self-confidence, and was even more offended when the replica tried to return the life and role of Luke fon Fabre. Though grasping at straws to give his own life meaning, Asch rejected the way his replica shirked from his responsibilities, decided that he wasn't good enough, and attempted self-sacrifice to atone for Akzeriuth. He inevitably challenged Luke to a battle of self to decide who would be the stronger of the two and bear the responsibility of defeating Van.
Other Skills/Abilities: Asch is an accomplished soldier and swordsman of the Albert-style, which focuses on powerhouse strikes and fighting without the use of a shield.
He can also combine fonons--basic particles of sound that bond atoms together, contained in everything in Auldrant--with physical attacks to add elemental damage variations based on type. For example, he can combine the fifth fonon (fire) with his technique or rate Havoc Strike; this adds the element of fire and upgrades the attack to Burning Havoc. He is also a fonist capable of performing fonic artes, or powerful magic-like forces, by drawing fonons from the atmosphere into his body and colliding them with matching fonic frequencies. A full listing of his artes can be found here, but he needs to use glyphs to differentiate friend from foe when performing fonon-related and fonic artes.
Seventh Fonists are those who could specifically use the seventh fonon, which is of sound or life itself. When they use their abilities in tandem, they create a reaction called hyperresonance, which is highly destructive and can destroy and reform matter at the atomic level. While Asch isn't a Seventh Fonist, he is the prophesied scion of Lorelei's power; therefore, his fonic frequency is the same as the seventh fonon, and he is capable of catalyzing a hyperresonance without a Seventh Fonist's help. (As to whether Asch's hyperresonance is stronger than Luke's, my beliefs are in line with this essay or this slightly updated one written by my sister.)
His replica, Luke, is a perfect replica and isofon, meaning that he shares the same properties as his original and is therefore capable of hyperresonance. In addition, Asch arranged for Luke's fon slots to be synchronized with his own so that he could speak to him telepathically, see through his eyes, and control Luke's body. Reversing the connection allows Asch to communicate telepathically while Luke experiences what Asch sees and does; however, Asch still maintains control of his own body while Luke's catatonic.
Non-battle-related skills include proper right-handed table manners, knowledge of Ancient Ispanian, and excellent cooking abilities.
Other Weaknesses: Asch can be physically injured like any other human being. Although he also receives Lorelei-induced headaches, he doesn't seem nearly as affected as Luke does. His most notable weakness is that contact with Luke gradually kills him as the replica winds up stealing away Asch's seventh fonons to replenish its own dwindling supply, slowly but inevitably causing Asch's body to break down.
History: Luke fon Fabre, the "Light of the Sacred Flame", was the son of Duke Fabre of the Kingdom of Kimlasca(-Lanvaldear). He was a boy of royal blood with hair of red and the scion of Lorelei's power, prophesied to lead the world to unprecedented prosperity in Yulia Jue's Score, an accurately-detailed account of the world of Auldrant's presumed future. Then he was kidnapped at age ten and replicated by a process called fomicry. The replica was returned in his stead and accepted as Luke fon Fabre while the original Luke abandoned his previous name and life, becoming Asch, the charred remains of the Sacred Flame. This application is about the original Luke fon Fabre who cast aside nearly everything he ever had and eventually became known as Asch the Bloody.
Luke was born and lived a challenging life in Baticul, the capital of Kimlasca. He worked hard to fulfill the expectations of a noble, heir to the duchy, and future king. The Score foretold that Luke's death would be the catalyst in leading their country down the path to prosperity; knowing this, his father didn't want to grow attached to a son with a predetermined death sentence, keeping distant from and hardly acknowledging him. Meanwhile, Luke's mother had a physically weak constitution, so Luke worried for her health and didn't expect anything beyond her loving support from afar. Detached from his parents as well as servants and commoners because of his noble stature, his only close relationships were with Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (his fiancee and heiress to the throne), Guy Cecil (servant and primary caretaker in lieu of his parents), and Van Grants (his mentor and the Commandant of the Order of Lorelei, a religious group that upholds, protects, and follows Yulia's Score).
At age ten, Luke was kidnapped and held captive somewhere he couldn't tell the passage of time. Van performed excruciatingly painful experiments on him and tried to convince him that this was for his own good. Luke somehow managed to escape and stowed away on a ship heading to Baticul. But when he arrived at his manor, he saw his father, mother, and Natalia outside laughing and playing with a boy who looked just like him, a red-haired boy called 'Luke'. Everyone had accepted this look-alike as Luke fon Fabre, regardless of his authenticity, and the original Luke had a brief breakdown when Van approached to explain how much he needed him. Then he convinced the boy to cast away his past and start a new life as Asch, his pupil and servant.
For the next seven years, he trained as a soldier and worked under Van, who helped him rise through the ranks in the Order of Lorelei to eventually earn the title 'Asch the Bloody' and become the God-General Commander of Special Ops. As Van's pupil and servant, Asch became loyal to and extremely dependent on Van until he found out his mentor's true plans: to eliminate the Score by replicating the world and destroying its originals. He disagreed with Van's ideals and began using his position and connections as a God-General to obtain and interpret secret information; Asch became a double-agent, obeying Van's orders under scrutiny but working against him behind the scenes.
Before continuing with the history starting with Asch's first appearance in the game, here's some background on the world of Auldrant...
Everything in Auldrant contains fonons, or basic particles of sound that bond their atoms together; there are seven different types of fonons that resonate at specific frequencies. People called fonists can draw fonons from the atmosphere into their bodies and collide them with matching fonic frequencies to create powerful magic-like forces. When large enough quantities of any specific type of fonon gathers together, it becomes a sentient entity or aggregate without understanding of good or evil. The first six types of fonons are known to have corresponding sentient aggregates; however, since the seventh and last type's discovery over two thousand years ago, the existence of Lorelei is still theoretical in their world.
Over two thousand years ago, half of Auldrant's population was wiped out by war, and the planet began releasing a deadly toxin called miasma when fonist Yulia Jue used her power to lift the crust's land, or Outer Lands, away from the miasma-filled mantle, or the Qliphoth, by supporting them with vast collections of fonons called Sephiroth trees. This caused a great release of fonons that led to discovery of the seventh fonon and fonstones that accurately recorded Auldrant's history and presumed future that came to be Yulia's Score, or the Planet Score, which prophesied that the one who inherits the power of Lorelei, or Luke, would die bringing unprecedented prosperity not only to Kimlasca but to the entire world. The last and missing fonstone, however, foretold of an unstoppable spread of miasma and inevitable destruction of the human race.
So Asch unexpectedly found his replica in the country of Malkuth during a mission to retrieve the missing Fon Master Ion, leader of the Order of Lorelei. Fueled by hatred and bitterness, he initially made a couple attempts on Luke's life. Discovering that Van planned to use Luke to destroy the Outer Lands, he requested other God-Generals to assist him in a fon slot adjustment procedure that theoretically would allow Asch to contact and possibly control his replica. Van appeared surprised that Asch was able to make these arrangements but was unable to prevent Luke from complying with the other God-Generals' demands before he could return home to Baticul.
Meanwhile, Kimlasca and Malkuth were on the brink of war, and shortly after Luke arrived in Baticul he was sent to fulfill 'his' role in Yulia's Score: to die in the miner's town, inciting the war that would lead Kimlasca to unprecedented prosperity. As the group set out, Asch and the God-Generals retrieved Ion and brought him to the Zao Ruins to remove a seal protecting the Sephiroth tree there. Compliance to Van's orders bought Asch time to test his replica's fon slot adjustment while preventing Luke from heading straight to Akzeriuth. When his attempts to contact and even control Luke proved successful, he told his replica where to find Ion but also mocked and lorded over his ignorance. Luke's party arrived too late to stop the God-Generals and sought to take Ion back by force. There was a battle, but they were under a desert and wound be crushed if they continued, so the God-Generals agreed to return Ion in exchange for a temporary truce.
After Luke's party arrived in Akzeriuth, Asch contacted his replica, hoping to use him to stop Van. This backfired because Luke distrusted him and ignored his warnings. Still determined to thwart his mentor's plans, Asch rescued Van's sister, Tear, from being captured and taken away by Oracle Knights under Van's orders. Then he descended into the mines to stop Van, intent on dying in Akzeriuth; he brought Tear back as an additional act of defiance since Van didn't want either of them dead. However, Van had already used Luke to destroy the Sephiroth tree and retrieved Asch before he could die as the town began to fall into the Qliphoth. But Asch managed to escape from Van and stow away on the main party's ship, the Tartarus, before they boarded it and left as Akzeriuth sank into the sea of miasma.
The Tartarus docked in Yulia City, a place made of ancient fon technology so great that it could survive in the Qliphoth, where Asch directly confronted Luke to blame him for the fall and destruction of Akzeriuth and explained the reason that he and Luke look alike--that Van had kidnapped a young noble from Baticul to create Luke, a replica. When Luke refused to believe Asch and accept responsibility, the two fought, and Luke passed out afterward. As Luke slept, Asch opened a channel of connection that not only enabled communication but also allowed Luke to see through Asch's eyes.
Asch returned to the Outer Lands with the rest of the party and used his information network to investigate Van's objectives, eventually discovering a fomicry research facility where Van had collected research data for large-scale replication. Before Akzeriuth's fall, Van had assigned the God-Generals to make Ion remove protective seals on Sephiroth trees, and while each still had one remaining seal of protection that Ion couldn't and hadn't removed, Van could bypass them and control the passage rings, which are like valves for regulating the flow of fonons through the Sephiroth. With that, Asch concluded that Van planned to drop the Outer Lands and replicate them to 'preserve' the world; he warned which city was going to fall next before deciding it was time to part and closing his connection with Luke.
It became more apparent that Auldrant was deviating from Yulia's Score when Luke's party lowered lands in danger of falling, and the war between Kimlasca and Malkuth came to a halt. Asch worked independently to investigate methods of lowering the Outer Lands and neutralizing the miasma, contacting and meeting with the party a number of times to share relevant information. After being injured in a brief confrontation with Van, Asch later told Luke to kill their mentor.
When Luke defeated Van and began to lower the remaining Outer Lands, Asch lent his strength when his replica was unable to do it alone. Almost immediately afterward, both Asch and Luke received a message from Lorelei--Van was trying to capture him, so he would send the key they must use to set him free. Asch then received the Sword of Lorelei, which was only part of the key that he found did nothing on its own. He wasted no time seeking the Jewel of Lorelei to complete it. Knowing the key would ruin Van's plans, the God-Generals followed Asch and tried to take it from him while working toward fulfilling Van's vision of a replica world freed from Yulia's Score.
Meanwhile the people of Auldrant began to grow restless. The Score had ruled their lives for two thousand years, and many became insecure without its direction and guidance. The miasma returned and was slowly killing everyone. Van himself had survived his defeat and subsequent fall into the planet's core by absorbing Lorelei. Replicas increased at a shocking rate. Those who weren't strong enough to survive having their data replicated died, and their hardly sentient replacements were shunned and hated, mistreated, abused, enslaved, or killed. With nowhere else to go, many replicas sought refuge at the Tower of Rem.
Asch went to the Tower of Rem to ask the replicas to die with him after Luke gave him the idea of neutralizing the miasma with hyperresonance, or a fonic reaction strong enough to destroy matter at the atomic level and the prophesied power of Lorelei. He had already realized a while ago that he was gradually dying as a result of his replication. Since then he'd been filled with a sense of urgency and a strong need to fulfill some purpose, even at the cost of his life. Ten thousand lives and one Seventh Fonist would be necessary, and the chances of survival were next to none. After an argument with Luke over who would sacrifice himself, Luke started the reaction and absorbed all the replicas' seventh fonons. They discovered that Luke had received the Jewel of Lorelei and absorbed it into his body, which began dispersing the fonons and weakened his hyperresonance. Together they neutralized the miasma, killing all the replicas but somehow surviving the process themselves.
In the meantime, Van began replicating his homeland and named it the Glorious Land of Eldrant. Such large-scale replication began disturbing the original land and would completely destroy it if allowed to continue. Having survived the ordeal at the Tower of Rem, Asch now headed to Eldrant to finish Van off once and for all... until he fell into a trap that required one person to hold the door open by using hyperresonance while another escaped. Enraged and insulted by his replacement's lacking self-confidence, Asch challenged Luke to a final battle of self. The winner would be the stronger of the two and bear the responsibility of defeating Van.
When Luke won the battle, Asch gave him the Sword of Lorelei to complete the key as replica Oracle Knights rushed in to stop them. Luke left after demanding a promise that his original would survive. Asch managed to defeat all the soldiers and was contacting Luke before being taken by surprise. Taking the remaining few out, he entrusted the rest to his replica before dying from his injuries.
Canon Point: After Asch loses to Luke and gives him the Sword of Lorelei, and just as Asch challenges the approaching Oracle Knights.
Reality Description: The planet Auldrant has twenty-four hours in a day, seven days in a week, and a year nearly twice as long as that on earth as we know it. It is covered in water comparable to earth's oceans. Climates seemingly vary based on geographic location rather than time of year; it appears that most (if not all) regions lack seasonal change. Beyond this, pretty much everything else about reality and existence on Auldrant has to do with fonons.
As mentioned in other sections, everything in Auldrant contains fonons, or basic particles of sound that bond atoms together. This means fonons are not actually atoms and do not replace them. There are six different types of fonons that resonate or vibrate at fonic frequencies corresponding with the elements (darkness, earth, wind, water, fire, and light). The seventh fonon has been discovered only two thousand years ago, is said to have a fonic frequency corresponding with sound, and exists in every living thing. Thus, it is also known as the fonon of life itself. When there is a large enough concentration of a specific fonon type, it can become a sentient entity or aggregate. While the first six types of fonons are known to have corresponding aggregates, the existence of the seventh, or Lorelei, is still theoretical.
People called fonists can draw fonons from the atmosphere into their bodies and collide them with matching fonic frequencies to create powerful magic-like forces. These fonic artes often leave residual pools of elemental concentrations, or fields of fonons. Using artes or techniques that specifically correspond with a field of fonons could produce other powerful side effects, such as adding elemental properties to physical attacks or affecting others with status ailments/buffs. Not all fonists can manipulate seventh fonons, and those who are capable of doing so are called Seventh Fonists. They can be categorized by ability as healers, scorers, or hymnists, but are not exclusively limited to one type. Healers can restore life energy, remove status ailments, and generate status buffs. Scorers, as the name suggests, can read the Score as recorded on fonstones not only to recount past events but also to interpret things yet to come. Lastly, as the fonist Yulia Jue is said to have made a covenant with Lorelei, hymnists are the descendants of Yulia and thereby recipients of the fulfillment of Lorelei's promise.
Auldrant has three main political powers: the Kingdom of Kimlasca(-Lanvaldear), the Empire of Malkuth, and the Order of Lorelei. While Kimlasca and Malkuth are similarly powerful nations, Kimlasca is known for its fontech or fonic technology, and Malkuth tends toward the study and usage of fonic artes. Last but not least, The Order of Lorelei is Auldrant's major religious organization that upholds, protects, and follows Yulia's Score. The Order has its own military branch, the Oracle Knights, headed by Commandant Van Grants and the Six God-Generals. The Score holds much power over the people of Auldrant; in fact, some followers of the Order are so reliant on the Score's predictions that they allow it to dictate events as simple as having breakfast.
Van's mass-produced replicas, both human and otherwise, are composed entirely of seventh fonons, which replicas before this time had lacked. The influx of replicas has caused political unrest as well as instabilities between originals and replicas. Asch is affected in that contact with his replica causes dissonance, a process in which his replica's body steals his seventh fonons to replenish its diminishing supply. The dissonance is gradually killing him. Despite the deaths of thousands of replicas gathered at the Tower of Rem, a sizable number of replicas is likely scattered throughout Auldrant.
The people who are most important to Asch (according to the Dark Wings' discussion about who he speaks of most) are Van, Natalia, and his replica. He cares about Guy's opinion even though Guy hates him and is Luke's best friend. Naturally, he is linked with the other God-Generals through his appointed position. He also has connections with circus performers called the Dark Wings, who he trusts enough to continue hiring them to work for him. Asch had used his position as God-General to make many more connections to halt Van's plans; among these people are Ginji, who pilots the Albiore III, and Spinoza, who was initially one of Van's spies. Asch's leadership qualities and concern for the people shines beyond his brash attitude, garnering the trust and respect of others.