Issei Hyoudou (Solarverse)



"I am who I am, and now that I've thought about it, there is nothing wrong with that. The past continues onto the future just like it always has, constantly bringing conflicts and solutions."

- Issei Hyoudou to Indra

Issei Hyoudou is the main protagonist of High School DxD, as well as the heroic-neutral protagonist in the fanfiction story, High School DxD: Rise of the Solar God.

Unlike the original depiction of Issei Hyoudou, this version exists in an alternate universe in which he is born from the essence of the Shinto Goddess of the Sun and the Universe, Amaterasu.

History
Dreading that Takamagahara, and by extension the rest of the supernatural world would be detrimental to her child, Amaterasu sent the infant Issei to live on Earth, where he is found in the Ise Grand Shrine by Mitsuru and Sachiko Hyoudou.

Initially unbeknownst to Issei himself, many dwellers of the supernatural world have all been aware of his existence, and seek either to challenge him, kill him, or to convince him to join their allegiance, much to Issei's own dismay.

Because of this, Issei has come in contact with many of the creatures of the supernatural world. Such entities include the Ouroboros Dragon Ophis; who would mark him as her mate at the age of six, the Apocalypse Dragon Great Red, and much later on, a female incarnation of the Supernatural World.

Appearance
Issei is a 17-year old high school student of average height with brown hair, with two short locks of hair behind his head. Initially, he was born with heterochromia, and as a result, had different colored eyes. His left eye was a doe-brown color, while the right eye was a yellow-orange sun-like shade. After he unlocked his full power and made peace with himself, his right eye gained a brownish hue. He is noted for having a innocent face, but later adopts a sterner disposition, and gains a more muscular and toned build. His common attire is a white, short-sleeved dress shirt with black highlights, black pants, and brown dress shoes. However, Issei leaves his dress shirt open, and wears a red T-shirt underneath it.

Six months later, Issei’s attire consists of a black V neck shirt with black pants, and black shoes. He is noticeably much taller than he was before, and his facial features have sharpened as well. On occasion, he wears his short-sleeved dress shirt over his current attire.

Personality
"He's like the Sun. All of the planets that reside in space; they surround and orbit around it. But as they continue to move, they pay no attention to the Sun at all. They never get close to it. And yet the Sun...it just chooses to stay there and endure through it all."

- Sachiko Hyoudou talking about her son. In contrast to the original Issei Hyoudou, this Issei initially possesses a shy and reclusive nature, and is often alluded to being an introvert. As a child, Issei was noted by Sachiko to be somewhat quiet and melancholic, and she believed that his behavior was solely affected by the cycle of the Sun. Whenever the Sun was present in the sky, Issei was more lively and energetic, while during the times when the Sun descended, he became reclusive and rarely uttered a word. He is also shown to be kind, thoughtful, and benevolent. His inability to fully interact in most social situations, along with occasional lapses of literal-mindedness, are his most irrevocable, and occasionally endearing traits.

Hidden beneath his gentle demeanor lies a great amount of rage that is a result of all the bullying and harassment he endured since he was a child. This hidden fury finally manifested itself when Issei transformed into the first stage of his solar evolution against Riser Phenex. When his rage was fully unlocked, he became a person of pure overwhelming fury with murderous intent.

Overtime, Issei's personality has changed to that of a neutral loner, and wishes to be left to his own devices. However, this behavior is often challenged due to the presence of the many people who have interacted with him. When around his family and allies, Issei shows an honorable and gentle spirit, and maintains an adamant desire to protect the people around him.

Issei is shown to be rather vengeful and capable of apocalyptic wrath; characteristics often seen in Gods and Buddhas. He is more than willing to bring great pain and suffering to whoever wronged him or his family without hesitation. Such cases include bisecting Fallen Angel Kokabiel for desecrating the Ise Grand Shrine and threatening Issei when he refused to join the Fallen Angel's plan to start a second Great War. After this encounter, Kokabiel became deeply traumatized and suffered through great pangs of terror while he was sealed in Cocytus. His loss against Issei wounded his pride and resolve so heavily, that he referred to Issei as "the most terrifying being he had ever come in contact with".

Another case was the Evil Norse God Loki who threatened Issei's life out of a need to prove his superiority. This ended with Loki's defeat at the hands of Issei, who had stabbed Loki in the back with Fenrir's fangs. In both cases, Issei was nearly close to killing Kokabiel and Loki, and was only stopped from doing so due to the arrivals of Vali Lucifer and Rossweisse; respectively.

Although his wrath is one of the sources of his innate power, it has also become a flaw of his. Due to this, it can be inferred that Issei simply does not know how to "walk away" from certain situations. It should also be noted that while Issei, when pushed to his emotional threshold, is more than willing to destroy beings who have threatened him or his family, he is not one who relishes in the act of doing so. In spite of all that, Issei can find it in himself to forgive (to varying extents) some of the beings who have antagonized him, if he is subjected to their vulnerable side (like in the case of 'Amenominakanushi' and especially Izanami-no-Mikoto).

Aside from the drastic change in his behavior, Issei retains his compassionate nature, his uneasiness when getting involved in social situations, and his unawareness of well-known sayings, often taking things rather literally out of context. On the other hand, he adopts a brutal and serious nature and is an utterly ruthless individual in battle. He opts to torture his enemies with humiliation, but will inevitably seek to destroy them in the end. He is also prone to thinking of clever strategies on the fly, a habit that has so far shown to be in his favor.

Issei is shown to have no qualms in forming brief alliances with beings who were at some point, his enemies, showing that he is able to put aside his grudges. Though this tolerance solely depended on the situation at hand. He (with the help of the Yamata-no-Orochi) was able to successfully convince the Evil Dragons Crom Cruach, Grendel, and Aži Dahāka to temporarily assist him in his ongoing struggle against Amenominakanushi, the first Kami of Shintoism. Even Cao Cao, the leader of the Hero Faction, aligned himself with Issei, but with the original intention of wanting to know why the True Longinus chose Issei's will over his own (though earlier on, Cao Cao had sent his team members Georg and Leonardo to help Vali in his fight against Amenominakanushi).

Due to being a God that was raised on Earth, Issei is a rather self-effacing and humble person, harboring no traces of arrogance or hubris; typical traits shown in Gods and Buddhas. If anything, he is a reserved and modest person. As such, he is not confrontational by any means. He is also fully aware that there are many beings who are far stronger than himself, and acknowledges that he is not the most powerful existence. As a result of knowing this, he will try his best to distance himself away from potential conflicts, and will only fight back the moment his loved ones and allies, as well as the Earth and the Supernatural World, are harmed.

Issei is also a person who gives off the vibe of not having concern for his own well-being, but rather for the lives of others; specifically for the ones he cares about. This has grown to the point that the one and only time he's worried about himself is because of him wanting to make sure he is at least strong and conditioned enough to protect others.

According to Leiko Hyoudou, Issei has an inferiority complex, in which he believes that he is incapable of being good enough to do much of anything, despite his various achievements. As a result of this line of thinking, he is extremely adamant in refusing to ask for assistance from his allies, and feels that doing so would make him a burden to them, much to their worries. He has also shown brief instances of having self-deprecation. Though it was not Issei's intention for it to happen, his tendency to self-deprecate himself has caused Ophis' possessiveness over him to grow, in part due to her worry and anger towards Issei for being reckless and doubting himself.

Overall, Issei can be best described as a Heroic-Neutral protagonist, as he is a person who is perfectly content with being left alone to himself, but will interfere the moment a dangerous threat looms over his homes, his allies and loved ones. He can also be classified as a Reactionary Hero, as the beings he has fought are usually the ones to invoke his ire, prompting him to retaliate.

Influence
Despite his young age and being an individual who initially did what he could to avoid the world of the supernatural, Issei's presence has nonetheless made an substantial impact on the world, as well as the planet Earth. Due to him possessing a Heavenly Dragon Emperor and an Evil Dragon, and being affiliated with the Ouroboros Dragon and the Apocalypse Dragon, supernatural beings have come to be much more aware of his existence. In spite of his non-confrontational and arguably pacifistic mindset, Issei's influence has left both a positive and negative effect on the world around him, with him gaining allies and enemies alike.

At the beginning of his life, the creatures of the supernatural world had already sensed the dormant power within him. His human parents, Mitsuru and Sachiko Hyoudou, as well as his adoptive cousin, Leiko Hyoudou, all had a brief inkling of Issei's nature, often comparing him to the various aspects of the Sun. Upon his arrival to Kuoh Academy, Rias Gremory and Sona Sitri, sensing his immense potential and initially unaware that he was a God, already had plans of enrolling Issei into their peerages. Azazel, who had also taken an interest in Issei, ordered Raynare to watch and observe him.

Issei himself has saved the inhabitants of the Earth, as well as the planet itself from numerous counts of destruction. For instance, his battle against Kokabiel became well-known throughout Heaven and the Underworld, with Serafall Leviathan and Gabriel thanking Issei for (in his case, inadvertently) preventing the Fallen Angel from starting a Second Great War. Issei's participation in the battle against Qlippoth has earned him a partial leeway to making personal requests, such as asking Michael and Gabriel to transport Riser Phenex's soul and the spirits of the Hyoudou children to the Third Heaven, with both of the requests being granted by the Angels.

Hobbies
In his free time, Issei either watches the Sun disappear into the night, or watches it rise up in the sky; both habitual activities he retained from his childhood.

He also shows a liking for reading manga; specifically the Drag-So-Ball manga, a hobby he shares with his neighbor Morisawa. At times, he rides motorcycles with the Great Red, and has taken a hobby of bicycling at night. On occasion he often spends time with the members of the Occult Research Club and the Student Council.

Themes

 * Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2 OST: The Anthem Of Lives
 * Bleach OST: Pleasures Of Combat
 * Way Down We Go by Kaleo
 * God of War III OST: Rage of Sparta
 * Rebirthing by Skillet
 * Time Of Dying by Three Days Grace
 * Theme of the Seven Deities, from Asura's Wrath

Trivia

 * This version of Issei is often referred to as Solar God!Issei, or Solar!Issei, to differentiate from the original Issei Hyoudou. His new title, due to his body becoming the physiology of a star, is Stellar!Issei or MorningStar!Issei.


 * Post-Timeskip Solar!Issei (in which the timeskip is six months after the battle against Rizevim) shares his appearance with Naoto Kurogane from the Blazblue franchise, as a way to show Issei physically maturing with age. His Post-Timeskip self also shares an appearance with Toshiki Kai from Cardfight!! Vanguard.


 * The image used in Issei's "Influence" section was edited by the author, but was originally created by RazielKain1997.


 * Solar!Issei is not only an alternate universe counterpart to the original Issei Hyoudou, but could also be considered as the alternate counterpart to Ama-no-Oshiho-mimi, who is the actual son of Amaterasu in the original Shinto Mythos. Their connection is also ironic, as Amaterasu sent Ama-no-Oshiho-mimi to rule over the Earth, with the latter refusing the task due to the many disorders that occurred on the planet. Solar!Issei on the other hand, lives on Earth, and has consistently saved the planet on many occasions.


 * Much like the original depiction of Issei Hyoudou, this Issei possesses an appreciation for breasts, specifically Ophis' breasts. Although he is not as obsessed or enthusiastic about them as the original Issei is, he often rests his head on Ophis' breasts when feeling sleepy, with him saying that they're as 'firm as pillows', and also referring to them as 'big marshmallows'.


 * Issei's decision to wear dark clothes is due to black clothing being able to absorb sunlight easily.


 * Issei is ranked as the 6th most powerful entity in his Universe.

Personality and situational wise, this version of Issei Hyoudou is similar to that of the title character of the movie John Wick:

Both characters are well-known in their respective Universes for being powerful forces of nature, with others having enough sense of mind to not trifle with them.They are genuinely polite and well-meaning protagonists, but can shift into utter brutal and ruthless combatants who are willing to kill whoever wronged them. They mostly remain to themselves and do not bother anyone in their specific Universes, but will immediately retaliate when someone antagonizes them personally.

A trait this Issei shares with his original counterpart, is the fact that he has also died more than once:

He first died in his battle against the Shinto God of the Storms Susanoo, due to Issei being weakened by the Solar Eclipse. This prevented him from being able to recover from the wounds Susanoo inflicted upon him.His second death was a result of his body disintegrating from the black hole that was summoned by Amenominakanushi. This would lead to his soul descending into Yomi, the Underworld of the Shinto Faction.

Issei is often referred to as an unintentional cougar's prey, a reference to him being the object of affection and/or interest of older women/primordial entities who have taken feminine form.