Anguished One

The Anguished One is a major character that appears in Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2.

Appearances

 * Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2

Design
The Anguished One has curly white hair and a very pale complexion. He is always squinting, giving him a sleepy appearance and white make-up around his eyes. He wears a red and black striped shirt with a frilled undershirt, having a design similar to the ship possessed by Alioth, along with matching shoes and black pants.

His true form as a Septentrione takes the appearance of a cube with red and black stripes not unlike his shirt, encased in a blue frame. When he shifts into a different form, it resembles a crystal with the same red and black striped pattern, with wires wrapped around the middle.

Personality
He has a strange fascination with people. Although he has a very sinister appearance, and his motives can come across as evil, he is actually a very kind person. The Anguished One is very fond of the protagonist to the point where he takes everything he says seriously, even if it is obvious to other people that the protagonist is joking.

4th Day Wednesday's Changes
The Protagonist will meet the Anguished One on the fourth day and gives the hero an important message, calling him the "Shining One". From time to time, he reveals important details that help the party defeat the subsequent Septentriones, starting from the true form of Megrez up to Yamato Hotsuin's intentions on remaking the world.

5th Day Thursday's Shock
The Anguished One is seen with Bifrons, who attacks two JPs members and Otome. The Anguished One mentions to the protagonist that he did not want to fight, but needed to verify humanity's potential, and dissappears after ordering Bifrons to carry out his commands. After the battle, the group discusses his identity even further, confused at the fact that although he controls demons, he does not have any interest in the towers and that he sent Otome's death clip exclusively to the protagonist.

7th Day A Saturday Towards Reformation
Once his Fate reaches rank 4, the player can choose his route at the end of 6th Day, depending on how the player answers his questions.

If the player decides to choose his route, he will join the party and ask the Protagonist to call him Al Saiduq. The Anguished One discusses with the protagonist on how to grant humans the freedom they deserve, and the player suggests that Polaris be overthrown, and the Anguished One taking his place as the world's new administrator. Unlike Polaris, however, the Anguished One will not be managing humans, instead leaving them to their devices to determine the fate of the new world themselves.

The player starts off with only the protagonist and Al Saiduq as the only team leaders available, and would have to fight their way through members of all 3 factions - Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka - to regain their companions.

Last Day Sunday's Fruition
Near the end of the week he reveals himself as the eighth Septentrion, Alcor. He is killed by the protagonist and his party on the Last Day on any other route except his own, in order to open up the path to Polaris.

On his route, Ronaldo and Yamato are fought on this day. However, neither will join the Anguished One's cause. Ronaldo will refuse to sacrifice his ideals, while Yamato becomes the one to reveal Alcor's identity and clings on to his vision of a merit system.

When the party heads off to face Polaris on the Anguished One's route, he reminds the protagonist that he cannot overthrow Polaris alone, yet if he falls there is nobody to take over Polaris' throne and their efforts would be moot. Once Polaris is defeated, Alcor becomes the controller of the universe and recreates the world, creating a world where humans are free and are looked over by a benevolent god.


 * The curtain of mankind's previous history has been drawn and a new era has begun.
 * There is no knowing what this new future holds.
 * However...
 * Mankind will go on as a species with untapped, limitless possibility...

After the credits, the protagonist's phone receives a message from Nicaea:
 * You now have a new world.
 * Let's survive.

The player receives the Kingmaker title for reaching this ending.

Fate System
At Fate 1, the Anguished One gains the most resistances out of any playable character, becoming resistant to Fire and Electricity while also immune to Curse. At Fate 3 he unlocks Deity Asura (Lv. 77), and at Fate 5 Tyrant Lucifer (Lv. 99).

The Anguished One's Fate route focuses on his views on humanity. When Polaris first created the world, he was dissatisfied with Polaris' desired order. However, as the human civilization grew, he noticed their potential and granted them the ability to seek their own freedom. However, in the present day, his doubt in the human race returned as humans lost the will to live after having their desires easily satisfied, and he blames himself for leading humans to this fate. Raising Fate with the Anguished One will show him that life has meaning, and that it would be best if people strove to find their purpose in life.

Battle
Alcor is fought on every route except his own. He starts the battle in the center of the battlefield with several demon teams on the sides. His signature attack is Ominous Star, which inflicts the Ill-Starred ailment onto one team. While that ailment lasts until the team's next turn, it also causes any affected character to take 200 additional damage when they are hit.

Should the player spend too long in finishing off Alcor (or instead choose to attack the demon teams), he will change forms and begin actively moving and engaging the player's teams. While said form is weak to Physical and Force attacks, it also reflects all other elemental magic and comes with the Anti-Almighty skill. After some time, Alcor will shift to his previous form and resummon all demon teams.

It's second form also carries the skill Chaos Stir, which will automatically activate whenever it is hit with an attack, regardless of type, and mimic all characteristics of the attack exactly towards the user(or team, depending on whether the attack was single or wide range). For example, using Deathbound on Alcor in it's second form will activate Chaos Stir, which will unleash a Deathbound attack of it's own on the team, and using Drain on Alcor will unleash a Drain onto the user.

Stats
Al Saiduq is a fairly balanced teammate with only a slight preference towards Magic. He is also significantly stronger than all of the other human team leaders, having significantly higher HP and MP and greater (undisplayed) speed.

Trivia

 * The Anguished One's Fate route unlocks incredibly powerful demons (much more powerful than those unlocked with human companions), foreshadowing his true identity as a Septentrione.
 * It is revealed in Anguished One's Fate System, name, and back story involving him giving humanity fire, culture, and language in ancient times seems to resemble Prometheus of Greek mythology.
 * The Anguished One has also been seen as Devil Survivor 2's expy of Lucifer, who also happens to be the demon you unlock after maxing out his Fate. He wears red and black, the two main colours of Chaos, and the demons you unlock by raising his Fate (Asura and Lucifer) were leaders of the Chaos faction in Shin Megami Tensei.