It's Asuka. For now, at least. Asuka R. Kreutz, also known as the Gear Maker and That Man, is the primary anatagonist of the Guilty Gear series. To be honest, I had no idea what went on in Guilty Gear up until, like... May or June 2023? My friend who is really into GG showed me Asuka and I went. Holy shit. That guy is cool. So I decided to buy the game and it was all downhill from there.
So why do I like Asuka so much? Well, the first thing that captivated me: his design. What in God's name is going on with it. He is wearing: a cape consisting of the cosmos, a priest's robe, a hakama, some KICKASS sneakers, and there are biblically accurate angel wings on his eye. I like to imagine that's his actual eye, because that would be terrifying. What were the character designers on when designing him in Strive? Can I have some?
As I learned more about Asuka and the Guilty Gear lore, I realized that I actually kind of relate to him. This sounds bad at first because Asuka blew up a country but hear me out here. Basically, the entire plot of Guilty Gear happened becasue Asuka is really, really bad at interpersonal communication. And if you know me, you know that I am one, autistic, two, deathly afraid of all conflict to the point where I accidentally cause more conflict when trying to avoid it. If I had more power and was as smart as Asuka, I could see myself accidentally nuking the entirety of Japan due to my own social incompitence.
Asuka also heavily influenced my favorite OC. His name is Aretia and he sucks. It all began with me thinking to myself, "Ha, ha. What if I gave him cool sneakers like Asuka because he also has a priestlike design." And then I ended up rewriting his entire character. Oops.
What else... He's a little bit unhinged, but I like that in a man. Here's some of his quotes in Strive: "If this gets scary, I'm quitting." "I could destroy you with a strangelet."
And now, I leave you with his reaction to getting his shin smashed in by a wheelchair. What the fuck is wrong with him.