Chaos Hero

The Chaos Hero is a playable character in Shin Megami Tensei and, as the name implies, the chaotically aligned hero of that game.

It should be noted that 'Chaos Hero' is obviously not his true name, but rather a title that can be seen in the boss fight against him near the end of the game.

As a party member, he is proficient in fire spells, such as Agi. After his transformation into a demon, his stats skyrocket, but he can only be used for a very limited time.



Appearances

 * Shin Megami Tensei: Playable Character/Boss
 * Shin Megami Tensei if...: Fiend Clan (Boss)
 * Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE: As a silhouette in the intro's cut-scene of the game.

Shin Megami Tensei
The first appearance of the Chaos Hero is on a introductory dream sequence of the protagonist, where he is freed after being tormented by a demon. He appears once again in a second vision, ready to take on the master of Echo Building along the hero's party, before being seen for real in Kichijoji Mall. Here he is being beaten up by Ozawa's gang after trying to warn the people of the coming of the demons. After this, he joins the player and Law Hero in their plan to save Tokyo from destruction.

He later leaves the protagonist's party after helping in the rescue of the Heroine from a public execution orchestrated by Yuriko, deciding to exact his revenge upon Ozawa by assisting the Resistance in their plan to seize his gang's base and capture him-- as he made an alliance with Gotou and become a "Demon Summoner" himself. After the events of the Great Destruction, the Chaos Hero appears once again before the protagonist, this time on Makai, stating that he was teleported there "out of the blue". He then once again joins the team and accompanies the protagonist back to a post-apocaliptical Tokyo, where they discover that 30 years have passed. They meet an aged Ozawa on the ruins of Shinjuku Mall, where thanks to a deal he struck with the nearby demons, he rules with iron fist, brainwashing anyone that oposes him with the powers of the Psycho Diver. The Chaos Hero ends up confronting him, but is quickly defeated by Ozawa's demon minion, Takeminakata. That is when he finally realizes that the fastest way of gaining strength is through demonic power, and in order to gain it, he must fuse himself with a demon. After doing so in a Jakyou Manor (forcing the player to sacrifice the highest level demon of Chaos alignment in his COMP), he challenges Ozawa to a rematch and easily defeats Takeminakata. Whenever the player decides to spare Ozawa or not, the Chaos Hero steps in and finishes his old rival for himself. He permanently leaves the group, believing that their ideals differ greatly from his own and that they must go about their own ways, so that neither would endager the other.

Later, he appears in Ginza, warning the hero not to go to Ikebukuro. If the player chooses to keep going anyway, the Chaos Hero will dissuade him for violating the Gaian territory and will take him under custody towards the presence of Yama-- the ruler of Ikebukuro. If the player chooses not to listen to Yama's request of aiding the Gaians on the destruction of the Great Cathedral, the Chaos Hero will free him from his cell, as they were once friends. After witnessing the defeat of Yama under the hands of the protagonist, he realizes that he must get stronger than even Yama himself. Following this event, he can be found on the entrance towards the inner depths of Tokyo Destiny Land, accompanied by a woman named Rie. There, he reveals that he joined the Gaian Church in order to stop God's machinations, and will confronts the player if he is Law aligned. In case he's Chaos or Neutral, he will instead advice him to meet Echidna, the master of T.D.L. The Chaos Hero is positive that after listening to Echidna, the protagonist will finally see that the Chaos Path is the right one to take. If the protagonist takes his advice he must fights the angel Haniel instead of Echidna.

The player once again encounters him, this time, arguing with the Law Hero near the heart of the Great Cathedral. He tells the hero about the Four Heavenly Kings, and after their defeat and the flooding of Tokyo, he requests the player aids the demon Gaian general, Ravana, in the battle against his messian rival Vishnu-- who is trying to take down Ravana's barrier that is impeding God from coming to Earth. If the hero chooses to stay on the path of neutrality or law, the Chaos Hero will state that he is tired of waiting for him to join his cause, and as such, they will fight as enemies the next time their meet. In the seventh floor basement of the Cathedral, this does occur, and the Law Hero also dies by the Chaos Hero's hand if the player is law aligned. This results in the Chaos Hero being killed in a battle against the protagonist. In his final moments, he realizes that the hero "always were a step ahead" of him, and dies. If the player took the path of Chaos, he finds out Rie was Lilith, who was just using him to get near to the protagonist all along. This seemingly disappoints the Chaos Hero, and he asks to be left alone for a short while. After the protagonist recovers the Devil Ring, the Chaos Hero wears it in an effort to open the door to the Seraph Michael. In his arrogance, he proclaims it gives him more strength than that of God, but his body fades away because of the power. The Law Hero then appears and gloats that the Chaos Hero brought it upon himself for defying God's will. Shortly after the Law Hero is defeated.

He's given the name Tetsuo in Shin Megami Tensei Final Story: Atlus Official Replay Novel, Takeshi in Shin Megami Tensei Character Profile: Steven Report I, and Waruo in Kazuma Kaneko Complete Illustration Works.

Trivia

 * After fusing with a demon, the Chaos Hero abandons his glasses. This implies that his sight has been probably recovered after gaining demonic power. But it is also possible he just wore the glasses for aesthetic reasons.
 * Oddly enough, the Chaos Hero's Illustration Works name Waruo is written in Katakana as ワルオ, which literally means "bad guy" (悪男).
 * In Stange Journey, the game's representitive of the Chaos alignment, Jimenez, also fuses himself with a demon.
 * The Chaos Hero's coat, the Chaos Coat, is an obtainable promotional item in Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine. There is a green version known as the Outlaw Coat. Also available is the sword and armor he uses after fusing himself with a demon.
 * He is also the only hero the player can use following his transformation, but only for a brief time.
 * After fusing, the Chaos Hero does not wear his helmet in his close up portrait in the Sega CD version of the game.
 * In the PC Engine version of Shin Megami Tensei, the Chaos Hero's transformation has a fullscreen animated sequence.