Archer
Noble Slayer of Nine Suns, Hou Yi
Click here for a sketch!
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Region: China
Gender: Male
Height: 189cm
Weight: 72kg
Likes: His wife, hunting, tea
Dislikes: Disobedience, thieves, traitors
Parameters:
Strength: C
Endurance: C
Agility: A+
Mana: A
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: EX
Class Skills:
Independent Action: AA trait of the Archer class. Due to his high level of magical energy and considerable willpower, Archer can act without a Master for up to a week provided he does not utilize his Noble Phantasms.
Magic Resistance: CPossesses some degree of resilience to being affected by magecraft. While his rank in this skill is not of particular note, Archer is virtually untouchable to most modern magi due to highly-attuned senses and considerable agility.
Divinity: B
Archer began his legend as a divine spirit. However, his nature became fundamentally human when became a hunter of beasts on behalf of humanity, and his level of divinity became reduced.
Personal Skills:
God of Travelling on the Wind: AAn inherent capacity to utilize the wind as a method of transport. It is more akin to magecraft then a technique, however. Archer can move on the wind as if it is a solid object, thus achieving a form of flight merely by walking. In addition, his agility is ranked up as long as he walks upon the wind. With his inhuman aim, he can use the wind as a platform from which to unleash arrows down upon his opponents. However, his Noble Phantasms require both feet to be planted firmly upon the ground, and thus he cannot use them while walking on the wind.
Giant Beast Hunt: AMany great beasts plagued the people of China in ancient times. But Archer stood against them, and with his unerring skill using a bow he slew every single last one of them for the sake of the people's wellbeing. His hunting and slaughtering of these beasts is represented by this skill, granting a unique aptitude for dispatching beastly foes. His arrows strike all the more deadly against such creatures.
Affections of the Moon: BIn order to protect the pill of immortality from a traitorous apprentice, Archer's wife Chang'e swallowed it. This caused her ascension, and her arrival at the moon itself. But the love between them was not lost. That love has been crystallized as a skill that confers Chang'e's blessing to her husband, granting him beneficial status and mending his injuries more swiftly.
Clairvoyance: C+
Archer's sharp eyes can surpass even material things to track his targets. The eyesight of a peerless hunter who was capable of striking his targets no matter how distant. It can also be called a sort of supreme awareness of his targets that borders on the ability to peer into the future. Each time Archer prepares to loose an arrow, time itself seems to slow and allow him to perfectly adjust his aim.
Noble Phantasms:Resplendent Weapon of the Beast Hunter
Tiger-Bone Bow
Rank: B
Type: Anti-Army
Range: 0-50
Maximum Number of Targets: 200 People
A bow suitable only for Archer, that can only be drawn by his hand. It was crafted from jade and the bones of a great phantasmal tiger, surpassing all bows made before and after it in China and standing as the finest bow in the land. While it serves as Archer's primary weapon, it can also function as an Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. When aimed skywards and invoked by name, it unleashes a wave of arrows that fill the sky and rain down upon Archer's enemies. These arrows explode on contact, erupting in flames and allowing Archer to decimate hundreds of targets in a single shot. In spite of the potency of the attack, it is possible for targets with a high degree of self-recovery to evade the rain of arrows. Unless they are beasts, who will find the murderous storm impossible to escape.
The Hero Who Shot Down Nine Suns
Sun-Killer
Rank: EX
Type: Anti-Sun
Range: 0-1000
Maximum Number of Targets: 1000 People
A crystallization of the legend of Archer's most famous feat, the slaying of nine suns for the sake of humanity. Only the tenth Sun was spared, at the request of the Emperor. This Noble Phantasm recalls the death throes of the suns. For the death of a sun is a destructive and terrible event, and this Noble Phantasm is no exception. Upon invoking its true name and letting an arrow loose, a miniature supernova is generated upon impact. It expands and incinerates everything within range almost instantaneously, before vanishing just as swiftly to leave nothing in the wake of its destruction aside from scorched, smoldering earth. While the arrow's area of effect can be evaded, survival from within the supernova is impossible.
Lore: A legendary divine hero and hunter who was tasked with controlling the ten suns that were scorching the earth. At first he attempted to reason with them, but the continually rejected his overtures and thus he felt he had no choice. Nine arrows, he felled nine of the suns, until only a single one remained. He was only stopped from slaying the final sun by the words of King Yao, the man who had told him to stop the suns in the first place. After all, slaying all ten suns would have left China without sunlight. Still, even after slaying the suns, Hou Yi chose to remain among China's people.
As a result, he was tasked with slaying and imprisoning many monstrous phantasmal beasts that were plaguing the land. Without hesitation or a scrap of doubt in his heart, Hou Yi used his bow to fell monster after monster. The people of China came to rely upon him, to see him as a great hero. While he was not without his pride in his abilities and deeds, he considered himself to be performing his duty. Praise was not unwelcome, but it was also not needed. He enjoyed his hunts, and felt proud of his successes. But worship was never required by him.
The one thing Hou Yi loved more than anything else in the world was his wife, Chang'e. But because of his hunts, he was frequently away from home. Even after being gifted an immortality pill, he was unable to remain home an ensure its safety. Thus, that duty fell to Chang'e.
It is while he was away subjugating a beast that one of his apprentices, Peng Meng, broke into his home and attempted to steal the pill for himself. Fearing what would happen if such a thief would acquire everlasting life, Chang'e took the pill herself. Immediately she ascended back to the heavens, forfeiting her life as a human and returning to the sky. It is said she reached the moon, though whether this is simply legend or the truth is uncertain.
Upon discovering what had happened, Hou Yi was devastated. Crushed, he could only leave offerings to his wife, who could never again reach him.
A serious and stern man. He treats loyalty as sacred, and will always follow any orders given by his Master. However, he is also pragmatic to the extent that any orders he receives will be interpreted as he sees fit. If Hou Yi does not feel his Master has truly grasped a situation, he will instead do what he believes best serves his Master. Additionally, there is one situation in which he will reject his Master's words. If told to harm innocent people, he will first warn his Master. If ordered to do so again, he will immediately draw an arrow and release it, slaying his Master where they stand.
While he does not require praise, he is also incredibly prideful in regards to his capacity as an Archer. He has not the single doubt in his ability to strike down his opponents. His unwavering confidence and steely determination is unshakable. This is not to say he lacks respect for the legends of those around him. Rather, shakable confidence simply means he believes he can match the legend of any enemy he could come across. Deep down, it is out of a sense of honor. If he did not acknowledge his own abilities as extraordinary, it would disrespect every opponent he ever defeated, and ever monster he ever slew.
But in spite of this confidence and bride, Hou Yi's heart feels empty. A feeling of melancholy follows him wherever he goes. For Hou Yi remains deeply affected by the loss of his wife. Never again able to meet her, he can only long for her from a distance.
Notes: Yeah yeah, I know Hou Yi is a really popular choice for Archer. But I couldn't help but want to make my own take on him, since he seemed really suited for a high-power Archer. I don't know how he stacks up to other people's takes on Hou Yi, but I hope he's decent at least.