Born in 1890 to a Japanese father and a Russian mother, Yuri's birthplace is unknown. In his youth, he moved throughout China, going wherever his father's military assignments took them. Both of his parents died when he was 10 years old. Yuri's fusion ability awakened at the moment of their death and he has been a harmonixer ever since. He is searching for the owner of a mysterious voice, which guides him during this story.

The son of Anne and Colonel Ben Hyuga, our "Rude Hero" was raised in a loving family, though his father was often away due to work. Like most other children, he was simple-minded and happy, and also wanted a little brother or sister.

After the death of his parents, Yuri lived and travelled alone, searching for his father with neverending hope, and relying on his fusion abilities and his wits to survive. He became an efficient fighter, skilled with his fists.

Sometime during this period, he was contacted by a mysterious voice, giving him instructions to go to certain places to eradicate monsters and protect specific people. This eventually leads him to the Trans-Siberian Express, where Alice is being held by the Japanese army.

A sarcastic, irreverent and stubborn young man, Yuri is unburdened by the heavy logic of an educated mind and prefers the straight arrow path. Though he hates runarounds and underhandedness and can often be impatient, he laughs most problems off due to his experience on the street, and is generally quite unflappable. He is prone to terrible seasickness.

(SPOILERS - HIGHLIGHT TO READ) One winter while his father was away, there was a magnificent storm. Under the power of the Earth Sage (Dehuai), villagers became possessed, turning into cannibals, and Anne was struck down as she tried to protect her son. In Yuri's blind rage and fear, his dormant Harmonixor blood awakened and the demon soul took over, slaying everything in sight. His father did not return as he had been killed on assignment, having sacrificed himself to save the world from Dehuai's Demon's Gate Invocation.

The Harmonixer

The Harmonixer, after defeating a demon and bringing it into submission, can fuse with its soul and acquire its powers. This ability is passed on by blood, as both Yuri and his father are Harmonixers, and the warlock Dehuai is also said to have "substantial blood connection to the Harmonixer line".

(SPOILERS - HIGHLIGHT TO READ) However, the dark arts can also give the power of fusion to an individual who was not born with it, as it happens in the case of Albert Simon when he forges a Soul Contract with Amon, Master of Destruction and King of the Fusion Spirits.

The Harmonixer does pay a price for this power. Escape in pleasant dreams is impossible; the Harmonixer's subconsciousness is a graveyard, where guilt, doubt, and carnal emotions take up permanent residence in tangible forms. The souls of defeated demons and monsters remain here, and their hatred and malice for their killer drags the Harmonixer's soul down into self-destruction and darkness. (Yuri has a talisman of unknown origin which responds to this growing malice, its colour gradually darkening to that of blood.)

Four masks guard the graveyard, each representing an aspect of the Harmonixer's inner self.

They are the servants to Atman the Executioner, the seven-eyed mask. He is the final aspect of the Harmonixer's inner self, the "realized form of darkness that exists in every person's mind." The sacrifice of Harmonixer souls will allow him to release the other masks and the souls of the vengeful demons into the world.

(SPOILERS - HIGHLIGHT TO READ) The soul sacrifice is the ultimate price for the Harmonixer's powers. However, another soul can be substituted for the Harmonixer's own. Alice offers her soul in exchange for Yuri's, but as the player can discover, even Atman's own "soul" can be used to pay the price.

History & Mythology

The shapeshifter is usually a sly, mysterious and ambiguous character, depicted as an outsider or an outcast because of these transformational powers.

Atman
Atman is a fixture in Hindu mythology. According to the sacred Rig Veda text, Atman - which means "breath", "soul", or "vital principle" - is the individual aspect of the immortal, universal essence that began all creation. It forms the core of every living thing, but unlike the Western concept of an distinctly individual and separate soul, it is actually part of the greater existence of the universe.