Skills And Abilities: Nightmare Realm

[crimsonflame]

Quick Videos:

Disgaea 2: Fist Weapon Skill Exhibition. Starts with relevant attacks. Weapon Skill names in order: Triple Strike, Tiger Charge, Lion's Roar, King of Beasts, Rising Dragon, Big Bang, and No Way Out.
Adell's Unique Special Moves

Attack Descriptions

Triple Strike: A series of three well-placed blows aimed at foes' vital spots, with the final blow causing knockback. This move is intended to knock foes away from their current position, and potentially into a more dangerous one. Though it is the simplest tool in the arsenal of a Fist user, it remains a staple ability. Triple Strike amplifies base attack power slightly and is considered Physical damage.

Tiger Charge: A long-distance charge attack that causes the user to fade from vision, replaced with a series of illusions which are false. The user appears to move faster than the eye can see for a brief period, usually to pop up behind their foes like a tiger pouncing on its prey. Tiger Charge is often an initiating technique as it closes the gap between the user and its target very rapidly and reliably, even over considerable height. This ability does not grant true invisibility however, and the user can likely still be detected with supernatural sensing combined with very quick wits. Impact normally causes knockback on the target, and Tiger Charge improves base attack power somewhat.

Lion's Roar: An energy beam shot from the user's hands, similar a ki blast. The beam is fast and when it strikes a point of impact, it explodes, often violently and spectacularly. This attack has an area of effect, unlike Triple Strike or Tiger Charge. This move is usually used to clear an area around the user. Lion's Roar amplifies base attack power slightly and is effectively an energy-based attack, and fulfills the role of a ranged projectile attack for a martial artist.

King of Beasts: A wicked series of blows that becomes an aerial combo. Starts with an attack to knock the foe airborne, and once launched, is followed up by a chasing corkscrew kick or punch, followed by a grab. The grab flings the foe back to the ground or into another surface, which is followed by the user into a crushing final stomp. This final stomp releases an explosion into the target, further magnifying the ability's damage capability. While there are no true aerial foes in Disgaea mechanics, it would stand to reason that the second part of the attack may be used to knock foes from the air and bring them to the ground, provided their altitude isn't too high. King of Beasts deals Physical damage and boosts base damage.

Rising Dragon: A powerful two-hit combination that starts with an upward blow, usually an uppercut, to bring a foe and the user airborne. Once at a sufficient altitude, the user slams the foe with another punch, sending them flying away. In gameplay terms, this attack knocks the target behind the user, implying they've been punched clear around the world. Whether or not it fully does this is up to debate, but regardless, the second blow from Rising Dragon causes extreme knockback and is most likely used as a finisher. Rising Dragon deals Physical Damage and boosts base damage considerably, making it a very powerful tool in a martial artist's arsenal.

Big Bang: A punch powerful enough to tear open the fabric of reality to effectively create a vortex, not unlike a localized black hole. The user is immune to its effects, but anyone within a radius of the epicenter of the vortex will get sucked into it by powerful gravitational forces. Once the targets within range have been sucked in, the vortex quickly destabilizes and explodes violently, flinging its contents out and dealing massive amounts of damage to those unlucky enough to be caught inside. Big Bang deals Fire Damage and boosts attack power considerably, while also having a wide Area of Effect. This move is one of the singular most potent moves in a Fist-User's arsenal.

No Way Out: The user channels their inner power and blasts out a sphere of energy, trapping their foe inside with them. The target may not pass through the barrier, but the user can. With the foe trapped in the bubble with them, the user then will proceed to attack the target barehanded, with blows amplified in strength. If the target impacts the side of the barrier, they're sent careening away, usually starting a chain reaction of repeated bouncing. Once this has started, the user will leave the sphere, and striking it, usually from above, send it plummeting into the ground or into another surface where it and whatever is still inside is wracked by a massive explosion. Though this ability only affects one foe, the damage from this attack surpasses that of even Big Bang. Obviously, explosions cause collateral damage at times, but the main force of it is directed at the contents of the bubble.

Crimson Flame: Adell focuses his power on his fist, creating a burning flame. He rushes forward in a line at very high speed, passing by foes and damaging them as he goes. It allows him to cover ground quickly and close the gap well. Adell frequently ends this attack behind his target, able to turn around and begin fighting immediately. Crimson Flame deals Fire Damage and increases attack power somewhat.

Soaring Fire: Adell focuses his power at his feet, creating searing flames around his body. He then launches himself like a missile at a foe, and wherever Adell impacts and the area around him is hit with burning flames. Soaring Fire has an AoE component and moderately raises his attack power. Soaring Fire is typically used while airborne, to better facilitate a straight path between Adell and his target.

Vulcan Blaze: Adell's unique ultimate attack and signature ability. Vulcan Blaze is a vicious series of extremely powerful and lightning fast punches and kicks, each one infused with a great deal of energy. Each landed blow increases a buildup of energy in the target. After the barrage is completed, the foe is usually left paralyzed for a time, energy crackling around them. Adell then wills the energy to erupt, which causes all of it to explode upon the victim at once. Vulcan Blaze deals Fire/Physical Damage and increases Adell's offensive power by a very large amount. Vulcan Blaze is one of the most powerful abilities in terms of raw damage, single target or otherwise, in Disgaea canon, and is an absolutely devastating finisher. Despite the end explosion, the collateral damage is quite low. This ability likely is likely so strong exactly because of its focused nature: energy is trapped in one place, and then overloads at his will. Assuming the target survives this attack, any paralyzing effects the energy built up within them had are gone, leaving them free to fight on if they can.

Overview:

Some of these attacks synergize well with each other in combat situations, though given Disgaea's nature as a turn-based SRPG, characters don't take advantage of this in-game. However, from a strictly logical standpoint, stringing some of these special attacks together in quick succession is possible. For example, stringing Crimson Flame to draw into a target at close range and then immediately following up with Rising Dragon. Another example would be to launch a foe skyward with King of Beasts and then follow up the final part of the attack with Soaring Fire. A weakness to some of these attacks is telegraphing. A brightly glowing fist might indicate a Big Bang coming, for example. Others, like Tiger Charge or Triple Strike, and even Vulcan Blaze, offer little windup time to react to. As well, like many characters, Adell has control over how much damage his attacks will do and is capable of scaling back the destructive nature of his attacks if he deems it necessary. Logically, he can control how much energy goes into a Lion's Roar, and limit its blast radius. Not all of his attacks are innately very destructive, but at full power, there will be significant collateral damage if he does not restrain himself. Disgaea demons are not known for being subtle and Adell is no exception to this rule.

More information:

To put it mildly, Adell is an extremely powerful individual, capable of defeating a very powerful Demon Overlord. Overlords are demons that rule over entire planets' worth of demons, and the fact that Adell was directly responsible for the defeat of one of them, that says a great deal about his power. To make matters worse, the Disgaea canon is well known for having main characters who reach absurdly high heights of power.

In more concrete terms, there is no canon "Level" that Adell truly is, but deductions based on events in the game can give a ballpark estimate, considering other major characters do have canon levels. I would estimate Adell's level to be approximately Level 1,000. By benchmark, this makes him half as powerful as Overlord Zetta (the most badass freakin' overlord in the cosmos), who is Level 2,000, weaker than Laharl, who is Level 1,200 in his storyline appearance, and about on par with Etna, who appears at Level 1,000 in her unwinnable boss fight. Other storyline justifications for this estimation are that Etna lost her levels due to a botched summon, and refused to leave until Adell helped her regain every last one of her levels. Odds are this means Adell participated in many of these battles and got stronger himself in the process.

Moreover, Adell was capable of defeating the Overlord of Veldime, who was himself capable of killing Overlords of other Netherworlds almost en-masse. That being said, in a story battle, the Overlord lost to Etna (Level 1,000), and revived due to the power of the curse. This suggests the Overlord is below Level 1,000 himself. His final boss appearance in the game only sets him at Level 90, though this is more likely a gameplay mechanic to make it so the game is reasonably beatable. Based on other estimations and analysis of the canon, it's more reasonable to assume that the Overlord was at least Level 900 in his transformed state. Disgaea 1 had a similar issue, with Seraph Lamington only being about Level 100, when he was the ruler of all Celestia, which faces frequent warfare with demons, and Laharl came out of the experience at apparently Level 1,200.

In Disgaea, demons are extremely powerful, and their abilities are fueled from an energy source called Mana. This source is inherent to the universe, and defeating other beings, demon, human, or angel, or drinking special potions are the only way to increase one's maximum Mana reserve. Short of reincarnation, once a mana reserve grows larger, it does not seem as though it shrinks, even when Mana is expended. This means while a Demon might run out of energy eventually, he or she will return to maximum power with rest or medical treatment.

As for the amount of power high-level demons have, Laharl is seen wiping out an Earth Defense Force space fleet with relatively little effort single-handedly. Demons that reach the power level of Overlord are undisputably the most powerful beings on their planet, and many actually possess the power to destroy entire worlds. Again, Laharl in a non-canon bad ending for Disgaea 2, actually destroys Veldime entirely if he loses a fight. Though Adell does not have access to the levels of power Laharl does, it does give a good benchmark of just how dangerous Adell can be, to some degree.

That's a lot of analysis and justification for picking a number, yes, especially when I haven't gotten into the specifics of what Adell can actually do, and what weaknesses he has. But considering the sheer level of power Adell carries with him from his canon, I feel it is better to give a much larger amount of information than just handwaving it.

Effectively, Adell can take insane amounts of punishment, and has superhero level strength, defense, and agility. On top of this, he has few specific weaknesses. Despite being a demon, holy type attacks seem to be no more effective against him than normal ones, though he has no resistance to unholy attacks either. Attacks that specifically hurt demons might work against him, however. As well, high amounts of Mana power allow demons to perform extreme feats of defense. If an enemy is not strong enough, it is entirely likely that even if they land a blow against Adell, they may not hurt him at all, or if they do, they may leave little more than a scratch. Adell's agility also allows him to dodge many incoming attacks as well, so landing a blow would prove to be difficult in many situations. All of that being said, he's not invincible. Sufficiently powerful characters should be able to damage him, hurt him, and possibly incapacitate him.

His fists can probably punch through just about anything at full power, save materials that are expressly unbreakable. He can also utilize his Mana power to infuse his attacks with fire, and often does unless his foes are immune or resistant to it. Naturally, the fire would increase the lethality of these attacks. His Lion's Roar blast can be used as a long range energy attack as well. Adell's top speed and jumping abilities are remarkable, but he cannot fly, and his top speed is more limited to short bursts, usually while dodging. He cannot, for example, run around the world in a matter of seconds. However, Disgaea demons do not require oxygen or air at all to live, and can even survive in the vaccum of space with seemingly no problems as illustrated in both Disgaea 1 and 4.

In general, Adell's combat abilities are extremely remarkable, made even more so by the fact that he only uses his fists in a world where his enemies wield swords, axes, spears, guns, and bows with great regularity. The fact that he has even survived as long as he has, let alone defeating a demon Overlord, speaks volumes to how dangerous he can be. This is all made worse by his sheer determination and iron will, and his utter refusal to die thanks to a promise he made to his mother. He is not immortal, but actually killing Adell would be an extremely difficult task.

The biggest limiting factor on them is Adell himself. Adell at least fights his battles head on and honestly. Moreover, he's unlikely to overkill things or people given his personality. Though he has killed plenty of times, he's not a murderer either. Many times he'll hold back enough that his foes are only incapacitated. That being said, I am certainly not averse to holding back Adell's power in any way, shape, or form. I am very flexible in dealing with his power, so if there are any questions or concerns, I will be more than happy to address them.

Most of Adell's biggest weaknesses come from out of combat situations. He's usually predictable in that he won't lie or will always try to do the right thing. Generally speaking, the best way to beat Adell is to outsmart him, but if he discovers treachery or skullduggery, he will almost respond with force. Generally speaking, unless you're fully capable of outsmarting Adell and able to cover your tracks entirely, or manage to be stronger than he is... or if you bring an army... it's best not to mess with him. If forced into combat, the best option of escaping his wrath is to simply yield. Only in the most extreme of circumstances will he not accept a yield, which would be if the character has proven extraordinarily dangerous and untrustworthy, and if they've hurt someone Adell cares about. In this situation, his "Style" wins out over what would be traditionally "honorable."

But if it ever comes to that point, whoever did it probably deserves it.

And obviously, for sake of parity, Adell's abilities will be held back appropriately to better balance him as a fighting game character. It's much more fun for everyone that way, but the length I went to describe his power here is to describe what his canon is really like to avoid confusion and any future issues.