Axel is a character in Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. He is voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama in the Japanese version of the game, and Grant George in the English version.
The original romanization of his name is Akutāre. In reference to this, the name of Axel's band in the localization is Akutāre. In the official website for the Japanese version of Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten, his name is romanized as Octaley [1]. Whenever Axel is summoned into battle via Cell Phone (and occasionally in stages where he is the boss or part of the storyline) the background music changes to his theme, a song called "White Tiger".
Story
A demon who prides himself over once being popular, Axel was once a famous demon action hero and rock star known by many as the Dark Hero, a mastermind of evil. Four years prior to Axel Mode, he was on a show, and the director planned a fake kidnapping, but Axel was fighting with his brother at the time, so he decided to "save" him, and due to the fact his brother didn't know it was all fake, he went straight to Axel's arms, but everyone in the audience saw and booed him. Unfortunately, his popularity declined greatly after this due to the fact that he's a demon and demons shouldn't care for family, leading to his situation in Disgaea 2.
Axel Mode
In his journey to regain his popularity, Axel is first offered 2 jobs from the Television Network: one is to have the lead role in a Evil Rangers Show, the other is to be the host for a Travel Show. Deciding on taking the Ranger show because his brother mentioned it before, he shows up and defeats the Evil Rangers (actually several monsters), and Evil Ranger Pink joins, oh-so charmed by him. The job eventually goes bust when several Cu Sith Monsters wreck the set. Axel would later get involved with the production of Makai Wars, the movie, where he is simply the stunt man. He attempts to take the main character spot, only to end up fighting against an A-list Actress, who then joins the party, as it is revealed that she's a major fan of Axel and his work. The chapter ends with a fight against Asagi, and the Director of the movie has to go chat with his sponsors, delaying the movie yet again. Axel later shows up at a dinner theater at the Oriental Hotel, and learns that everyone on stage gets cooked alive and served up. Axel, however, thinks it's just an audition, and ends up fighting through the hungry horde of demons. Main Hero B, an angel with a Masochistic streak, ends up joining, and Axel ends up beating up everyone else, leaving nobody left. Actress and Pink then beat him up.
The final chapter deals with Axel visiting an Orphanage. While there (and having to fight some of the residents), land brokers show up, wanting to tear the place down to construct an Overlord's Castle. To assure this, the Land Broker hires Laharl, Flonne, Mid-Boss, Gordon, Prism Red and Marjoly. Axel ends up winning the fight, and rescues his younger brother, Axial, who had been captured by the broker's minions after running away in chapter 3. Finally deciding on the Veldime Travel Show, Axel leaves everything in Axial's care, and heads off. After the credits, we learn that one year later, Actress, Main Hero B and Pink starred in Makai Wars 2, skipping the first one and going straight for the sequel, making them far more famous than Axel was.
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
Despite being a reporter for the Veldime Travel Show, renamed "Tripping with Axel", Axel attempts to add action scenes to the show, much to the Director's dismay. However, after being defeated by Adell, he and the Director are proclaimed dead. Both of them spend half the game trying to prove that they are alive and Axel trying to become popular once again. After he reveals Overlord Zenon's existence following the coliseum tournament's end, he is given a job as a newscaster on Usagi-san and Pleinair's news program. However, his director claims he lost the "soul of the Dark Hero" during his brief stint as a newscaster, doing things that could be considered honorable, such as holding charity concerts. He realizes this at the last moment, and holds off the multitude of Overlords from other dimensions seeking to defeat Overlord Zenon while Adell and his group fight Overlord Zenon. He claims that Overlord Zenon was all a hoax after Overlord Zenon is defeated, and shortly becomes very popular again, although he is supposedly punished for it according to the news program.
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
Axel appears in Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice. In it, he shows up at the Evil Academy Theater, acting out a "One-Man-Show" featuring a character called "The Dark Detective". He is then interrupted by Mao and the group. Axel is confused as to why Mao and the rest have never heard of him before. He then explains that his Popularity and Stardom were stolen from him by the Legendary Overlord (which he assumes is Mao) however Mao and rest the think that he never had it to begin with. Master Big Star then retorts by saying that Axel could never be a star as he has no grace, leading to the battle. Afterwards, Axel tries to play it cool by saying he knew Mao wasn't the Legendary Overlord all along and that he was testing Mao to see if he was worth enough to join Axel on his hunt for the Legendary Overlord. During the battle, his Theme Song "White Tiger" plays in the background and can later be purchased from the Music Shop in the Item World. Axel can also be encountered and fought by finding a special room in the Item World. Finding this room can (essentially) allow you to unlock White Tiger earlier in the game. Finding Axel's room also unlocks the "Axel's Rose" trophy if you have the latest software update for the game.
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
Axel appears in this installment as a Warden of Hades. He's really trying to suck up to the Government through Emizel, son of current Netherworld President Hugo.
Throughout the game Axel is trying to rise to the top and become a well respected demon in the Corrupterment's eyes but, through a constant case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (a common thing for Axel), his plans get constantly foiled by Valvatorez (often ending in supreme pain for Axel). There are several occasions where it appears Axel dies horribly only for him to return later.
During chapter 6, a virus known as the A-Virus (a parody of Resident Evil's "T-Virus" and Zombie viruses in general) appears and starts infecting several of the main characters and numerous demons around the Netherworld. The A-Virus starts slowly turning demons into perfect physical copies of Axel (right down to his clothes for some reason) as well as changing their minds to start thinking and acting like him. Valvatorez and his group have to fight hoards of Axel clones to fight the original in order to find a cure. The main characters defeat the original and (with the help of Vulcanus) the A-Virus is cured, with all demons returning to normal. However, Axel manages to escape when the heroes aren't looking.
Alternatively, losing to Axel results in the "Axel Ending". The A-Virus causes all the main characters (except Vulcanus) to turn into Axel clones, resulting in the entire Netherworld being populated by Axels which in turn results in complete peace in the Netherworld. However, that peace turns into all out war when one Axel asks "Who is the most best looking?". Because all the Demons think and act like Axel, all of them refuse to admit that another Axel is better than they are. The war is expected to last indefinitely.
After the defeat of Hugo, Valvatorez and company allow Axel to take the President's seat on a first come first serve basis, becoming the 62nd President of the Netherworld while they deal with Nemo. However, since he's the first character battled in the post-game, he's easily dethroned.
Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness
Axel appears in Disgaea D2 as a recruitable Post Game character. He now has a new special attack that replaces Celebrity Tackle and retains his other 2 specials.
Personal Life
Axel is unlike the other main characters in Disgaea since he is from a different Netherworld entirely. There, he lives in a house that's not unlike a traditional old style Japanese home with his Mother, his multiple younger siblings and the family's pet Catsaber. The reason he needs to be famous is so he can help provide for his family due to the poor state they live in. He cares a lot for his family, almost more than being a star himself.
Personality
Axel's most prominent traits are his desire to be popular and being a show-off. He tends to be oblivious to the intentions of others and frequently offers them his autograph despite how they never asked for it. His habit of showing off also causes him to use very extreme actions or decisions even when there is a far more logical and simple solution already in front of him (example: choosing to guest star in an Evil Rangers show, unsure of the pay but would allow him to show off to his brother, instead of choosing right away to host the Travel Show, which would've secured a steady income for his family). Furthering his extreme tendencies, he is very reckless and will charge in headfirst with no regard to strategy. In Disgaea 4, he is repeatedly shown attempting to suck up to the corrupternment and admits that he has no shame in humiliating himself in his attempts to gain political power.
Despite his numerous flaws, Axel does have his redeeming qualities. Although he is a demon, he cares about others and his family, the latter of which is his main reason for trying to regain publicity due to the income he can make and was extremely worried about leaving his family to go on the Travel Show to Veldime. In addition, when Vulcanus reprimanded him in Disgaea 4, he admits that he does feel guilty about harming others and is only doing so because "evil is justified in its own evil way."
Gameplay Style
- Main article: Dark Hero
Like Adell, Axel has high stats and aptitudes in the Attack and Speed categories. Much like Adell, Axel is often associated with Fist Weapons. However, unlike Adell, his SPD is slightly lower (110% Aptitude, unlike Adell's 120% Aptitude), and he has better Mastery ratings with Swords and Spears. Axel's special ability allows him to take only half damage from attacks by Humanoid characters. While Adell is completely focused on maintaining a steady offense, Axel is more defensive and will likely be able to defend against an enemy swarm or ambush much better than any of the other main characters. To increase his efficiency further, Axel has one more Counter than Adell.
His Unique Specials are Shocking Soul, My Heart Shakes and Love Dynamite.
In Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten, while he retains My Heart Shakes (though it is renamed "Aching Heart"), Shocking Soul has been replaced with a new move called Celebrity Tackle. Love Dynamite has been changed to Love Dynamite S and Axel's theme "White Tiger" plays during the animation for Love Dynamite S. In addition, some of Shocking Soul's animations have been incorporated into Love Dynamite S. In terms of power, it's best to treat him as a defensive version of Fenrich due to his native Evility. This makes him an excellent "decoy" character.
Trivia
- One of Axel's Special Attacks "Love Dynamite," has a description that states "I voted for Pedro." This is an elusive shout-out to the movie "Napoleon Dynamite," in which there's a character named Pedro.
- Along with Laharl and the Dean of Evil Academy, Axel's travel show is referenced by Joshua in Prinny 2 during the second Phantom Thief battle
- Axel has the second highest amount of character themes (beaten by Asagi) associated with one. Axel has 3 themes which are "White Tiger", "Let's Dance at the Final Battle" and "Pandora Ignition".
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