What is ES? Interesting how you put it,mysterious and somewhat psychological like those movies,i wonder if you will make it as good as you gave me the impression here.
Idk man,i get what your trying to do or plan to but Aeolos feels like one of those anime protagonists that are hugely overpowered and beat legendary or super strong characters the first time around just because he is the protagonist. Talk no Jutsu comes to mind:
In my opinion Aeolos is special or overpowered for those reasons:
-he goes toe to toe with the duchess,yes he is just defending until others arrive but still he shouldnt be able to survive her,this implies Aeolos is close to if not at her level,a duchess of a succubi clan,and you claim he is just a normal human.
I dont like the execution of that said choice,like to to the "god of gifts" to help you against the duchess and her hoard,which seems the most logical and not pulled out of your ass kind of thing,since its downright impossible that Aeolos and his gang would be able to take said horde on their own which is over-hyped plus the duchess so early on.
I liked the "god of gifts" arc and the incubus's character plus all the story we got,the 2 succubuses appeared again and it was believable,funny as you claim realism is your goal.
-He fights alot of succubuses,many times without pause,most of them are leaf the weakest true but he fights a beast and a arachnid succubus both are said to be much stronger than the leaf plus the lover/second in command of the duchess.Here it might be because of gameplay and story segregation but it feels overpowered,like he is one man army and even strong for hunter standards,the sucubi he encounters also dont seem afraid of him at all which means that the average avalon hunter isnt nearly as strong as him.
-the way Kain,the angels and others talk to him makes it sound like he is part of a prophesy or special in some way,understandable since the protagonist most of the time has to be special to make the players happy and engaged but if it is the case dont claim otherwise,its ok.
-He kills a very old and experienced witch or 3 demon hunters like its nothing,he beats the chief and shaman of the broken jaw(?) or what is their name,he defeats his mirror self in the trial and overall gives the chosen one vibes.
-he kills a assasin succubus that is part of the elite at the end of chapter 4 by himself with no apparent effort,others are impressed by this.
I could go on but you get the point,its my personal take but he seems like a chosen one.
Its interesting what you said about a succubus contract,you didnt mention before she has to kill someone,can you tell us more about the ritual and how it goes? Can a man sign a contract with a succubus?
I read what you posted and it seems to me that you are against him overcoming odds.
Take for example Guts, from berserk. His entire life was dedicated to overcoming odds that would kill any other man. Same as Aeolos did, recruited very young and trained by Kain and the other hunters for 10 years. Brutal training.
Does that make Guts special? Not for me. It makes him a survivalist that has been training more than others since birth and overcame every single challenge using all he could.
In fact, I could compare Aeolos fight against the Duchess with Guts vs Zodd for the first time. He couldn't win, he could just hold his ground until help arrived.
And Aeolos is forever scarred by that encounter with the Duchess if you choose the hunter's side. That scar and poison screwed his health, something that he'll probably have to carry out for the rest of his life.
Also, the real danger of the succubi are not their individual powers, but their numbers. Individually, you can imagine a succubus as a mage. The higher the rank, the more powerful the mage. But get past the magic and in close combat and they fall rather quickly.
It's the "Glass Canon" build. Extremely deadly, but easy to kill.
Aeolos does that exactly that with his relics.
When angels fight succubi they quickly dispatch them, and those who can't, are overwhelmed by numbers. Which, again, is the true strength of the the succubi. Like a zombie horde.
I never intended for succubi to be like indestructible goddesses, but powerful mages with limited mana.
PS: The Void Clan are not succubi. Might look like one, but they are not.
-When Damia was defeated, she had her power drastically reduced due to her aged state. That's why she activated the guardians there, to avoid confrontation. If you side with her, she greatly recovers the power lost to her age.
That was a dancer at the end of chapter 4. There are 2 factions of the Shadow Knife clan:
-Mountain tigers: ninjas extremely skilled in combat
-Desert Vipers: dancers who seduce and plan traps, but who have zero combat skills.
Aeolos defeated a Desert Viper, not a Mountain Tiger.
-Aeolos is treated well by the angels and his fellow hunters. That might be it. They like to make him feel like home there in Adalon. There is no prophecy for him there. His welcome there. That's it. They do that with all other hunters.
-Yep, a man can make a contract with a succubus to gain forbidden knowledge. He becomes a sorcerer. They don't gain the bodily transformation that a witch has, though, like being able to drain vitality to rejuvenate themselves.
-The ritual is a kid/innocent person is sacrificed in a altar where when the soul tries to escape the body, it's eaten by the succubus, sealing the deal. It's the only time where a non royal clan can feed on a soul.
