Recently, I’ve been spending a huge deal of time playing Asura’s Wrath, and with the last bit of DLC that was released, I finally had enough information to write up an analysis/revision of one part of the game that I wanted to clarify. If you haven’t played the Part IV: Nirvana, Chapters 19-22 DLC, please be aware that there are spoilers ahead.
The Official Mantra Affinities of the Eight Guardian Generals
• Deus: Pride
• Olga: Lust
• Sergei: Vanity
• Kalrow: Sloth
• Wyzen: Violence
• Augus: Greed
• Yasha: Melancholy
• Asura: Wrath
In the final interlude after Chapter 22, we get to see all of the main characters reincarnated, but because Chakravartin has been destroyed, they no longer have the mantra affinities that they had in the game - with the exception of Asura (and possibly Yasha).
What’s interesting about this is that it gives some insight into what the characters’ mantra affinities actually represented, and in a few cases it seems that the terminology used to describe them is slightly inaccurate, as it’s mostly utilizing the iconic descriptive words of the Seven Deadly Sins. Deus, Sergei, Wyzen, Yasha, & Asura’s are all fairly accurate, but the others all seem a little off, and I’d like to get into some description on why this is, and provide from alternative descriptions of their mantra affinities. I managed to contact S. Shimoda from the CC2 team via Twitter, and got the official Japanese words used for Olga’s & Augus’ mantra affinities. From there, I did a little searching, and I believe that I’ve managed to find the other 6 that are used in the game. I’m using the kanji definitions of their mantra affinities, as well as contextual analysis of their reincarnated manta-less forms from the interlude after Chapter 22 to try and create a better description of some of their mantras. The kanji are as follows:
• デウス (Deus): 我
• オルガ (Olga): 色
• セルゲイ (Sergei): 虚
• カルロ (Kalrow): 怠
• ワイゼン (Wyzen): 暴
• オーガス (Augus): 欲
• ヤシャ (Yasha): 憂
• アスラ (Asura): 怒
All of the mantra affinities are an inward-facing trait of some kind that can be seen as a type of obsession, since it completely defines the characters. Asura could be described as obsessed about his anger but that falls short of describing the vindictive nature of his rage, and vengeance doesn’t portray his continual emotional infuriation. However, all of the facets of this emotional mantra affinity are appropriately covered in the word Wrath. Similarly, Yasha’s could be seen as despression, but that term is a bit too broad and loses the aspect where he’s happy doing the right thing for someone else by doing the wrong/hurtful thing for himself. Thus, him embodying Melancholy is a much more apt description. The same holds true for Wyzen’s obsession with destruction as Violence, Sergei’s obsession with aesthetic beauty as Vanity, and Deus’ obsession in his own vision and singular capability as Pride.
After their reincarnation, Wyzen’s pacifism after Asura punches him in the face, Sergei being less self-obsessed and expressing his love to everyone, and Deus’ being humble and assisting the reincarnated Emperor Strada cross the street clearly shows that the previous characteristics that defined them due to their Mantra affinities have been lost. What’s interesting is that some of the other reincarnations compared to their original forms make the specifics of these traits seem a little more clear, and they’re the ones that I want to describe in the most detail.
Olga’s mantra affinity is described by the game as Lust, but her pairing as Deus’ secretary afterwards doesn’t quite portray that she’s not still attracted to him in some way, even though this part of the mantra affinity was supposedly lost, making me think that it’s not quite Lust that her mantra embodies. Lust is typically more of a sexual attraction, whereas aside from Olga’s romantic attraction to Deus, she is also blindly committed to his ambitions. Her mantra affinity seems to fall somewhere between lust for Deus physically and dogmatic obsession with his idea of Great Rebirth. I would describe this trait as Infatuation. This fits better with her now-professional attitude towards Deus, and her un-cowering attitude towards him when he attempts to tell her off for insisting that he depart for the meeting.
Augus’ mantra affinity is given as Greed. Greed is often seen as a selfish obsession with physical goods, especially those of high monetary value. Augus isn’t shown as being interested in money, but rather in pleasure and experience. He has no interest in assisting others unless it’s something that he finds pleasure in doing for the sake of doing it. While this makes him seem quite Hedonistic, he is equally obsessed with fighting as he with with drinking and women, which isn’t necessarily an avoidance of pain that Hedonism describes (although one could argue that his pleasure from fighting overcomes the physical pain he may experience). I would describe his mantra affinity as Indulgence, as it shows his need to partake in the things that bring him pleasure above everything else. This also fits with his reincarnation rather shyly asking where to find Japanese Food, but not making a big deal out of needing what he wants to eat.
Kalrow’s mantra affinity as Sloth is perhaps the most complicated. Sloth typically carries a very strong connection to apathy, which isn’t at all descriptive of Kalrow’s carefully orchestrated planning. He’s incredibly meticulous in the machination of his plans, but he’s also very protractile in their execution. This attitude is reflected in the fact that Kalrow places little to no value in his physical ability and allows it to atrophy, because he’s compensating for it by careful calculation. He doesn’t even walk on his own, and is never in a hurry at all. Because of this, I would describe his manta affinity as Leisure because it fits his overly casual attitude and doesn’t have a connection to mental uncaring. This fits with the fact that his reincarnation is exceptionally busy and doesn’t have time to listen to the cop trying to get him to slow down as he makes his way onto the road.
With that, I present for you:
The Revised Mantra Affinities of the Eight Guardian Generals
• Deus: Pride
• Olga: Infatuation
• Sergei: Vanity
• Kalrow: Leisure
• Wyzen: Violence
• Augus: Indulgence
• Yasha: Melancholy
• Asura: Wrath
