[allfictions]

Originally Posted by SmokinFerret88

Okay, so I got bored, and like everyone who's bored with internet access; I went random net surfing. During that time, I came across this:



Now I don't know how to alter kanji to make someone's name mean 'the great prince who protects your people' but I was able to work with 'prince of the first rank' and what I got was Ichiryū ōji.

So, having said all that, I now have the full intention of making a character with that name and be an antagonist at some point in my Darkness Project. The question I have is what kind of power should they have and if they should be magic-side or science side. I'm honestly leaning more towards magic, but I'm not ruling out the possibility of making him a science side antagonist.

Thoughts on this anyone?

Originally Posted by allfictions

Let's see, it would be difficult to think up powers for one aligned to Michael after the representative of the Archangel on Earth (Fiamma of the Right).

Hmmm, know what, gonna do some more research before coming back to you, specifically gonna look into Zoroastrianism.

Okay, so I came back to properly give my two cents.

First, let me explain why I chose to talk about Zoroastrianism, which, when thinking back on it, seemed like it came out of nowhere.

Spoiler for Long story not short:

I was wondering if it would really be a good idea to go for Michael since he had already been used in two contexts as pointed out earlier in this thread: Curtana and Fiamma. Something like a Magician possessed by Michael is kinda out of question, what with Angel Fall and all. Then there is the option of having this Magician Antagonist draws his powers from the motif of the Archangel, but let me ask you: what would made him different than Fiamma or user of Curtana? He probably has the same powers, which is redundant, but also weaker, unless he is born like Fiamma naturally aligned, which is even worse as it demeans Fiamma's character and makes it looks like copycat.

So I went ''no'', no Judeo-Christian motifs this time. And naturally, I went to check on the other official source on Archangels, the third Abrahamic religion, Islam. It was...disappointing to say the least. In the Quran, Michael is mentioned once only, in Sura 2:98: "Whoever is an enemy to Allah, and His angels and His messengers, and Jibreel and Mikhail! Then, Allah (Himself) is an enemy to the disbelievers."

That doesn't say a lot, does it?

Then, something striked me. Ferret quoted Daniel, and I recalled this part:

Originally Posted by Book of Daniel

13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Other versions have and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia, meaning Michael stayed behind to defeat a supernatural being (pretty sure the human king of Persia would have been screwed, lol) in Persia.

And Zoroastrianism being the major religion in Persia...

Now, I had in mind to find the Zoroastrian equivalent of Michael, which would theorically be of equal power to him to being able to resist the Chief Archangel. It wasn't that much of a stretch, I mean Zoroastrianism is also a monotheistic religion, and was at one time among the top five religions in the world. The One True God of Zoroastrianism is called Ahura Mazda, and is eternally in conflict with Ahriman (also called Angra Mainyu) in a Good vs. Evil battle on an universal scale. The religion is essentially the contest of goodness, truth, and order against chaos, the end result of which should be the eventual triumph of Good, bringing about the end of time with the subsuming of all creation into Ahura Mazda.

Another interesting note is the complex mythology of the religion, involving not only those two, but also the Amesha Spentas and ahuras (for Tolkien fans, think of the Valar and Maiar). Mazda being transcendent, his existence can only be experienced through the immortals, the Amesha Spentas, which basically serve as Archangels's equivalents.

Among their more interesting customs was the famous belief in the sacredness of fire. This led to the custom of keeping an eternal flame at Zoroastrian temples. This also led to the mistaken belief by outsiders that they actually worshiped fire rather then regarding it as a symbol of Ahura Mazda.

Why all this infodump? To explain what I came up with:

Spoiler for Profile? written on ToAru wikia as a basis:

Ichiryū
Abilities:
Ichiryū is a magician who specializes in Fire Magic. His sorcery name is [to be chosen by SmokinFerret]. Most of his power itself is aligned to Mithra, the Zoroastrian angelic divinity of covenant and oath, ''Whom Ahura Mazda created the most glorious''. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth, and the guardian of cattle, the harvest and of The Waters.

• Fire Magic: Most basic form of Ichiryū's powers. Attacks in the form of small shoots of fire or giant fireball, etc. He can also make his fire “burn forever” to prevent it from extinguishing. The attacks can be divided as follow in accordance to the "five kinds of fire" described in Zoroastrianism:
  1. atar berezi-savah, "the highly beneficent atar", qualified in texts as "the fire that eats food but drinks no water". Creates a fire sword capable of melting steel or even magic attacks, it can extend like a whip.
  2. atar vohu-fryana, "the atar of good affection", later qualified as "the fire diffusing goodness", and "the fire that consumes both water and food". Creates an explosion that expands none stop until it captures the selected target.
  3. atar urvazishta, "the atar of greatest bliss", later qualified as "the fire of happy life", and "the fire that drinks water but eats no food". Creates an automatic flame barrier that burns anything that tries to approach Ichiryū.
  4. atar vazishta, "the atar most swift", later qualified as the fire in clouds, i.e. lightning, and as "the fire that neither drinks water nor eats food". The flames arround Ichiryū takes form of wings giving him ability to fly. He then stays out of his enemy range and proceedes to bombard his enemy with flames.
  5. atar spenishta, "the atar most holy", "the fire of prosperity" and described as the spiritual fire burning before Ahura Mazda. This ability allows him to create and control an eternal pure white flame. This flame not only burns bodies but also steals life, magic, knowledge, etc. of his opponent. It can be used to burn magic of his enemy, and the flames will grow stronger in result. Ichiryū can control these flames in any shape he want though he usually fires it as a big blast. The last power it grants it to use devoured life as a substitute to his own, allowing him to ''resurrect'' after he’s killed but since he can only hold one life he can resurrect only once.
• Mihryazd ("The Living Spirit"): powerful defensive ability due to Mithra's status as a spirit of sunlight. By adjusting the refraction of light, Ichiryū is able to alter the visual image his enemy's eyes receive, creating illusions. In addition, by spreading small amount of magic through them, he creates multiple images of himself. While he can’t be harmed in that state, due to the transgression of Zoroastrianism's commandment of upholding ''truth'', he also can’t attack.
• Mihr ("The Messenger"): Fire being seen as the agent of Truth, it sometimes acts as the medium for detecting guilt and revealing truth. Using an innate ability of it, Ichiryū can foresee things a few seconds earlier than the moment in which they happen (precognition). This gives him more options in selecting his strategy against different opponents. He even foresaw his own death that way once.
• Asha Vahishta: strongest spell of Ichiryū. According to some sources, at the final judgement a river of molten metal will cover the earth. This spell creates a pocket dimension like the barrel of a canon, and every inch of this pocket dimension is filled with flame over a couple thousand °C. The ability that truely allows no escape, by stripping the possibility of escaping in the very first place. But this ability is also a great weakness. You see, in Zoroastrianism, death is seen as the realm of chaos (druj) and as such, the dead must never touch fire. So if someone somehow manage to survive Asha Vahishta, they would technically be dead, and as such Ichiryū's spells would no longer work on them. This annoying constraint is why Ichiryū uses it only as a last resort.