Super Robot Wars Compact 3/Characters
Folka Albark (Voiced by Yasunori Matsumoto)
"Oh, hello there, Kenshiro! Since when did you dye your hair red?"
Protagonist of Super Robot Wars Compact 3, who gets his limelight in Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden. He's a member of the fight-happy Shura, though due to his refusal to their ideals of constant fighting, he eventually defects. He's also a practitioner of the fighting style Kishin Ken, which is really Hokuto Shinken IN.GIANT.ROBOTS!. Do note since he's too much into the culture of the Shura since he was child, he can go a bit..."backwater, country boy" in front of human cultures.
His story in Compact 3 begins with him being pitted with his brother Fernando Albark in a holy deathmatch about who gets to be a Shura general. On top of beating Fernando, Folka's doubts reaches its peak and leaves the Shura, leaving his brother extremely bitter. Folka goes off to join the Londo Bell and proceeds to search for a new lifestyle of the Shura. He faces lots of his brethrens and is forced to kill them, ultimately defeating Shura King Alkaid Naash and is anointed the new King. Folka leads his remaining people with the new lifestyle of Shura.
In Original Generation Gaiden, this story gets a bit of a revamp: there's no holy deathmatch. Instead, he finds a rivalry with Ordinary High School Student Kouta Azuma, after he dons the Roar Armor, becoming the Henshin Hero "Fighter Roar". Folka kidnaps Kouta's younger sister Shouko per a deal with Duminuss to goad Kouta into fighting him. Ironically, Folka didn't expect to be persuaded by Shouko to stop the rivalry, leading him to develop a relationship, fall in love and make a decision to protect her, ultimately becoming the reason why he defects. The rest of the story goes pretty much the same as Compact 3, except he gets his Mid-Season Upgrade in the middle of battle as opposed to in the middle of a intermission dialogue. That, and not all his brethrens (including Fernando) end up dead.
Folka's mecha is the Shura God Ialdabaoth, which transforms into the godly Apotheosized Ialdabaoth. They embody these tropes:
- Aloof Big Brother: Towards Fernando, who's louder than him.
- Ancestral Weapon: Ialdabaoth is centuries old.
- Art Evolution: Not so much for him, but for Apotheosized Ialdabaoth. In Compact 3, it is a solid white version of the regular Ialdabaoth with a different design for the feet. In OG Gaiden, it has been completely redone to look white with more reddish highlights and looks overall more human-like.
- Badass: Comes in parcel with him being Kenshiro's Expy, making Folka a contender of SRW's top tier badasses like Sanger Zonvolt.
- But Now I Must Go: End of Original Generation Gaiden.
- Cain and Abel: Inverted: he's the the good "Cain", while Fernando's one bad "Abel".
- Death Glare: Apotheosized Ialdabaoth's Shin Kishin Ken; may double as another Shout-Out to Hokuto Shinken about Kenshiro and his older brother Raoh's test of subduing a tiger with just their Battle Aura.
- Defector From Decadence
- Expy: Folka's tailored to be the Expy of Kenshiro when he's brought to Original Generation. The Endless Frontier sequel gives him his own Expy called "Alady Naash".
- Fish Out of Water: Only at one point, when he meets Princess Shine Hausen; his first reaction is thinking her title makes her a complete Badass.
- To be fair, he got the badass part right.
- Ho Yay, Foe Yay: Shippers love to pair him up with Fernando,
- Leitmotif: "Crimson God Of Carnage".
- Lightning Bruiser: Even more augmented he has BOTH the Soul Spirit Command and Mirror Image (50% chance of perfect evasion)...and that's before the Apotheosized Ialdabaoth.
- Ki Attacks
- Megaton Punch: Apotheosized Ialdabaoth's Shinha Gou Shou Sen; the punch winds up with someone getting punched through and shatters a mountain.
- Which causes both the foe AND THE MOUNTAIN to explode if it winds up being a Dynamic Kill.
- Mid-Season Upgrade
- Proud Warrior Race Guy
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Ialdabaoth's Kouha Kishin Ken and Apotheosized Ialdabaoth's Shinha Gou Shou Sen.
- Recycled in Space
- Redheaded Hero
- Ryu and Ken: Again, him-Fernando, Ialdabaoth-Valefor (Fernando's Shura God).
- Shout-Out: Kishin Mougeki Ken -> Hokuto Hiei Ken (and its opening walk is like Kenshiro during the "Ai Wo Torimodose" opening), Kouha Kishin Ken -> Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken (or Hokuto Ujou Mou Shou Ha). Hell, every mighty attack always gets followed with showing the kanji of the attack name on-screen.
- Spam Attack: Other than those Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs, there's also Shinha Kou Ken, where he spams energy bolts. Folka loves to spam.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Is it Folka or Phorka? And lets not get started on Ialdabaoth's spelling; that's a tongue-twister in its own right.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Him and Shouko; also mixes in May–December Romance.
- Too Many Belts: His outfit is loaded with it.
- Fridge Brilliance: Considering Kenshiro had a habit of losing his shirt every other second, the belts may be a way of preventing Folka from accidentally winding up naked while in combat.
SHURA
A race of fight-happy people, the antagonists of Compact 3. They ride the Shura Gods, which drain their lifespan in compensation of immense power. Their world is dying, so they travel through dimensions and find a place to settle and conquer, spreading their culture of fighting. Their greatest champions are called "Shura Generals". Some of the characters here also practice the fighting style Kishin Ken.
Alkaid Naash (Voiced by Chafurin)
The Shura King, Alkaid led his people across dimensions trying to find a new land to inhabitate and spread his culture of Blood Knight. He picked Earth as a headstart, but had to lay low since his power was diminishing after the dimensional jump. He later emerges after the death of Mizal Touval, and tries to eliminate the traitor Folka, clinging to the old ways of life. With his defeat, Alkaid commends Folka's strength and elevates him into the new Shura King, requesting he lead his people according to Folka's new way of life: a life without fighting.
In Original Generation Gaiden, Alkaid's role remains the same, except rather than unknown places, he sets his headquarters in the abandoned Swordian Fortress, and due to the Shura's mostly backwater technology, he applies help from Duminuss to teach him how the fortress works. However, Alkaid's notably killed before Mizal, but still promotes Folka to king.
Alkaid uses the Shura God Extim and uses the fighting style Haoh Ken. When he's down to his last moments, he regenerates and evolves it into the Raha Extim. Tropes associated with Alkaid:
- Expy: Undoubtedly Raoh, except without the Aloof Big Brother part. He even tributes to Raoh's awesome "Defiant Fist To Heaven" pose during Raoh's Famous Last Words in the Raha Extim's Haoh Hametsu Ken attack.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Subverted: Alkaid hands most of the Shura's power to Mizal, but he didn't care if Mizal's using it for his own agenda, since at least he's using it to further the Shura's tradition of carnage.
- Noble Demon: A ruthless warlord Alkaid may be, but he mourns for the deaths of his fallen brethren in battle...even if they just betrayed him seconds ago.
- Megaton Punch: Raha Extim's Haoh Hametsu Ken, which will get you punched across mountains.
- One-Winged Angel
- Orcus on His Throne: Although once you actually face Alkaid, you may either be glad he stayed on his throne through most of Original Generation Gaiden and/or begging him to sit back down.
- Warmup Boss: Get used to fighting him and his boatload of HP, regeneration and power. If you ever so much throw your console out the window because you believe he's too tough, you'd better throw yourself out the window when you fight Dark Brain.
Fernando Albark (Voiced by Wataru Takagi)
Folka's sworn younger brother. In Compact 3, he competes with Folka in a "holy deathmatch" to see who gets to be the next Shura General. Folka wins, but refuses to deal the finishing blow, leaving Fernando humiliated, swearing to kill Folka for it. Most of the time, he gets his ass kicked, so he turns to Mizal to enhance his power, which makes him into an uncontrollable berserker fueled with rage out for Folka's blood. Unfortunately, Mizal didn't take into account that by causing Folka and Fernando's older brother Altis Tarl to die, Fernando's rage turns against Mizal. He's then cured by Maysis Mark, joins Folka in killing Mizal, then puts a defiant stand against Alkaid, only to get himself killed.
Fernando in Original Generation Gaiden is pretty much the same, except there's no "holy deathmatch" and he's simply pissed at Folka because he betrayed the Shura for the sake of a woman. Fortunately, he avoids his intended Compact 3 death and allies with Folka and to defeat Alkaid, and later Dark Brain.
Fernando rides the Shura God Valefor, which is practically a blue/purple Palette Swap of Ialdabaoth, thus also practices Kishin Ken. It's eventually apotheosized, but in Original Generation Gaiden, the Mid-Season Upgrade only appears in the Valefor's strongest attack. Tropes associated with Fernando:
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Perhaps voluntarily...or not...
- Cain and Abel: Inversion.
- Can't Catch Up: Primarily his problem with Folka, whether he wants to admit it or not.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Only in Compact 3; in fact, it's unfair since he's killed right after he pulls his Heel Face Turn.
- Expy: A unique twist: Fernando's a loose cross between Shin and Jagi, being Folka's brother/best friend pulling a Face Heel Turn, having become obsessed in defeating him and eventually manipulated in order to get a Mid-Season Upgrade. His fate in Original Generation Gaiden might be a What If take on Fist of the North Star continuity, in regards to "What if Shin realized he's being duped by Jagi?"
- Hot-Blooded
- Ho Yay: Shippers love to pair him up with Folka.
- Crack Pairing: Or Ibis.
- Ryu and Ken: Definitely the Ken to Folka's Ryu.
- Spared by the Adaptation
Alion Lucada (Voiced by Shigeru Shibuya)
The self-styled "Freedom Knight", Alion's not a Shura General, but he's definitely strong enough to lead several Shura troops and get a unique Shura God. He's heavily under-characterized in Compact 3, and dies a generic, ruthless Elite Mook, with a bit of laid-backness. In Original Generation Gaiden, however, he somewhat becomes an Ascended Extra, with an upgrade in personality to Chivalrous Pervert who hits on his own mecha for jokes. He's also one of the people who ends up pulling a Heel Face Turn and joins Folka.
Alion rides the anthromorphic horse Shura God Agares and uses the style Marou Ken. Tropes associated with Alion:
- Blood Knight: Oddly more so than other Shura Blood Knights.
- Chivalrous Pervert: Most likely in Original Generation only...on Maysis' expense.
- Cool Horse: Agares...well, an anthromorphic version, anyways.
- Expy: His make-shift martial arts and self-styled title seemingly reflects Jyuza of the Clouds. The Agares resembling a horse may be a brief Shout-Out to Koku-Oh, since Jyuza once stole and mounted the stallion from Raoh.
- Heel Face Turn: Original Generation only.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Interestingly enough, the Agares' Marou Hyakuretsu Ken is a direct Shout-Out to Kenshiro's Hokuto Hyakurestu Ken. However, him saying "ORA ORA ORA ORA!!!" brings up another punch-spamming individual.
- Spared by the Adaptation
Altis Tarl (Voiced by Yasunori Masutani)
AKA Altis of the Flash. The eldest of the sworn brothers (consisting of him, Folka and Fernando), he's the top Shura General Alkaid has to offer. Despite that, this man upholds Honor Before Reason and prefers a fair fight. He's later pitted in a match to the death with Folka, which ends up in him dead, but turns out to be a Xanatos Gambit for Altis to buy time so Maysis can find a cure for the Brainwashed and Crazy Fernando. Winning would have been good too but just delaying was the goal.
In Original Generation Gaiden, he occupies the same role, but rather than a Xanatos Gambit, he pulls a Heroic Sacrifice for Folka, protecting him from a fatal attack by the homunculus Tis (who turns out to be Arco Katworl in disguise).
Altis mounts the centaur-like Shura God Mardikt. Tropes associated with Altis:
- Aloof Big Brother: More so than Folka to Fernando.
- Anti-Villain
- Expy: Two possible ones: he could be a cross between Toki and Shuren of the Flames, being a White-Haired Pretty Boy Aloof Big Brother of our Kenshiro pastiche (though he also carries shades of Raoh, what with his Cool Horse), and is actually kind-hearted enough. Like Shuren, Altis wears red and has the element of fire.
- Heroic Sacrifice
- Red Baron
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
- Xanatos Gambit
Maysis Mark (Voiced by Yuriko Yamaguchi)
AKA Maysis of the Ice Spear. She's the only female Shura General and accompanies Altis most of the time. In fact, she's in love with him, but projects an aloof face to others. Along with Altis she wants to cure Fernando and eventually joins Folka in killing Mizal since he orchestrated Altis' death. Shortly after, she makes a defiant stand against Alkaid and got herself killed. At least she and Altis will be Together in Death.
In Original Generation Gaiden, Maysis pretty much has the same role, except since there's no Xanatos Gambit, she confronted Folka right after Altis died. But then, news comes in that everything was orchestrated by Mizal, and then Alion told her to lay low since she's too heavily wounded. Maysis spends the rest of the story in the sidelines, but still accompanies Folka when he had to leave with the whole Shura race.
Maysis rides the Shura God Peirines. Tropes associated with Maysis:
- Amazon Brigade: Leads an all-female squad of Shura Mooks.
- An Ice Person
- Even Evil Has Standards: In Compact 3, Maysis starts out like your basic, cookie-cutter villainess, but is disgusted enough at Mizal's overall scheme that she was willing to kill him. Altis had to restrain her from not going off the rocker on the former.
- Everything's Better with Spinning: Peirines' Hyousou Ranbu.
- Heel Face Turn: Original Generation Gaiden; however, she isn't playable.
- Red Baron
- Spared by the Adaptation: Even if she's unplayable, she's definitely this, much to the joy of fans.
- Tsundere: And if you notice, she has kind of a similar hairstyle to a certain Tsundere Shinigami...
Mizal Touval (Voiced by Tohru Ookawa)
AKA Mizal of the Severe Earthquake. The adviser to the Shura King, but is so blatantly treacherous he plans to harness enough power to overthrow Alkaid and usurp the throne. His underlings include Magnaz Ald and Arco. He contacts various factions and manipulates them to further his goal, including goading Fernando to get Brainwashed and Crazy. His plan comes to a halt when he orchestrates Altis' death, which had his brainwashing on Fernando spectacularly backfire, and is confronted by the Londo Bell, Folka, Fernando and Maysis, which gets him killed.
In Original Generation Gaiden, his only contact is fellow Smug Snake Duminuss , under the pretense of "teaching the Shura how to use the Swordian Fortress". Since Alkaid was defeated, Mizal takes the chance to challenge Folka for the position of Shura King; naturally, he gets himself killed in this continuity, too.
Mizal's mecha is Shura God Glasyalabolas. Tropes associated with Mizal:
- Beard of Evil: One nasty, evil goatee.
- Evil Chancellor
- Manipulative Bastard
- Red Baron
- Smug Snake
- The Starscream
- Treacherous Advisor
Magnaz Ald (Voiced by Tadashi Miyazawa)
AKA Magnaz of the Heavy Quake. A Gonk Shura General with GIANT lips and... pretty much personifies the trope Dumb Muscle. Mostly serves as Mizal's ally pawn, which Folka points and lampshades out before he dies. In Original Generation Gaiden, he gets an Ascended Extra bit for harassing Early-Bird Cameo Touma Kanou during the early stages of the Shura invasion...then the Earth Federation Army comes to bust his ass, and things start snowballing down for Magnaz, like usual. Notably, while he tries to sucker punch Sanger by disabling his BFS, the resident Badass reveals why he's not left-handed, even though his primary weapon's knocked away.
Magnaz uses the equally Gonk-looking Shura God Andras. Tropes associated with Magnaz:
- Chest Blaster: Though it really comes from the Andras' gut.
- Dumb Muscle
- Fat Bastard
- Gonk: Those...ugh...gigantic lips...
- Ramming Always Works
Arco Katwor (Voiced by Tomohisa Asou)
AKA Arco of the Transformation. A saner version of Mizal's allies pawns, who specializes in shape-shifting. He's killed off earlier, around the same time as Alion, while impersonating Fernando. In Original Generation Gaiden, he becomes a slight Ascended Extra by impersonating Tis instead and deals the fatal blow to Altis, to which he would've done the same to Maysis, but Alion intervenes. He joins Mizal during his last stand following Alkaid's defeat. Arco's also responsible for kidnapping Kouta's sister Shouko.
Since Arco's not a Shura General, he has no Shura God to command, nor any specific mecha to use. Instead, he pilots the machine of whoever he's impersonating (though the capabilities of his machine-impersonating vary: in Compact 3, he could copy Fernando's Valefor (though still of lesser power); in Original Generation Gaiden, he couldn't copy Tis' Durgatel, thus sticks with a Mironga). Tropes associated with Arco:
- Ascended Extra: Arco plays a much larger role in Original Generation Gaiden compared to Compact 3.
- Bald of Evil
- Redshirt Army: Arco's usually found piloting Mecha-Mooks, but in Original Generation Gaiden, he sticks with a Mironga.
- Shape Shifter
Tropes regarding of the rest of the Shura:
- Ancestral Weapon: High-class Shura Gods are relics of their ancestors; current generation of Shura only has the technology to build the lowest class, namely the Mooks.
- Blood Knight: Being a Blood Knight is a requirement for any Shura warrior.
- Five-Bad Band: The top generals of Shura.
- Big Bad: Alkaid
- The Dragon: Altis
- The Brute: Magnaz
- Evil Genius: Mizal
- Dark Chick: Maysis
- Ki Attacks
- Life Energy: Powering a Shura God requires one's life.
- Subverted once Folka "apotheosizes" the Ialdabaoth.
- Petting Zoo People: All Shura Mecha-Mooks have animal themes.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Is it Phorka or Folka? Is it Fernando or Phernand? Is it Ialdabaoth or Yaldabaoth? Is it Valefor or Valefar? In fact, the inherent use of this trope for the Compact 3 characters and mecha is just mind-boggling.
- Theme Naming: All Shura Gods are named after mythical demons, mostly from Ars Goetia.