Issei Hyoudou (The Crow)

''"They're all going to die... Every. Last. One of them." -Issei, Episode 2: Birth of the Crimson Crow'' Issei Hyoudou is the protagonist of the canonical series, Highschool DxD, and the fanfiction series The Crow: DxD, which is to be published on December 24th, 2015. In contrast to his canon counterpart, Issei is revived by a mysterious crow after the brutal murder of both himself and his wife, Mira Heathcliff, and seeks revenge against his killers.

Appearance
Issei's appearance in the series is virtually the same as he appeared in the canon, though he is noticeably older than how he appeared in the anime/light novels. His brown hair covers the vast majority of his forehead and reaches down to his shoulders, and has grown to be slightly spiky. Mira has often chided that he needs to cut it, preferring it's usual puffy nature. Prior to his deah on Christmas Eve, he wore a red t-shirt underneath a plain white jacket and light slacks with boots.

After being revived, his hair has become black, and his eyes have turned red. After resolving to avenge himself and his lover, he wears a navy blue scarf around his neck with a cross dangling underneath it. He also wears a plain  shirt and a black jacket with red edgings, which form into a cross on the left side. To compliment his looks, he also has on a pair of gray faded, worn out jeans with black boots bearing straps, and a black belt to keep them from falling off. In stark contrast to his predecessors, who have donned make-up and markings, he wears a bone-like crow mask over his face when out hunting his killers.

Personality
Due to having been influenced by an old man from a young age, Issei has bored an unhealthy interest in the female body, specifically their breasts. This trait has alienated him from the other kids, save his best friends Motohama and Matsuda, who were also fellow perverts, and Irina Shidou, who later moved due to her father's job. He did have good qualities, such as loyalty and unwavering dedication to his friends, willing to do whatever it took to protect them. He also bore a deep affection for the recent new girl, Mira Heathcliff, a foreign exchange student. He was deeply captivated by her beauty, and she was very popular with the other students. Issei found himself unable to properly approach her, settling for simply watching her. He later developed feelings for her as time went on, especially after she approached him in their second year of high school. These feelings only grew when she came to visit him in the hospital after being beaten brutally by a bunch of boys who threatened him to stay away from Mira. These feelings grew so strongly that, on the day they were to graduate, Issei proposed to her on the spot.

To anyone that knew him personally, especially after marrying Mira two months later, he was described as a loving and caring husband, who took it upon himself to do the household chores and manual labor, prefering that his wife have the time to relax and enjoy her life. According to Motohama, Issei's perversity has faded overtime, and his dream of being a "Harem King" all but forgotten, as he spent his new life with her.

After his and Mira's murder, Issei entered into a brief state of despair, mourning the loss of his wife and angry that he was the only one who was brought back to life, even trying to kill himself by stabbing his heart with a knife in order to join Mira in the afterlife, only to learn that he cannot die. When The Undertaker informs him of the purpose of those revived by the crow, Issei becomes cold, methodical, calculating, and brutal. He shows no mercy to those who have wronged him, yet he has not forgotten his compassionate qualities, protecting those who are still dear to him by whatever means possible. He is also sadistic when he extracts information or delivering his punishments to his and Mira's killers, such as breaking 103 of their bones, shoving a shotgun down their throat and firing away at their innerds, setting them on fire, and even Slow Killing them.

Above everything else, he wants to see his wife again, thinking that, after everything is said and done, they will finally be able to live in peace in the world that comes after life.

Powers and Abilities
After being revived by the crow, Issei displays a number of incredible feats and abilities that are normally impossible, both physical and spiritual, for a human. According to The Undertaker, Issei's power is the crow that brought him back, which serves as his link to the realm of the living. If it dies, he will lose all of his powers, thus leaving him vulnerable.


 * Pain Tolerance: Issei virtually feels no pain at all. Even when shot in the head at point back, or having been stabbed in the heart, or even having his chest ripped open with a chainsaw, he felt nothing. He described the last as "an irritating itch."


 * Healing Factor: Issei's wounds heal at a drastic, nearly instantaneous rate. No matter how serious the wound, it will always heal without fail. One example was when Motohama, who didn't know it was him at the time, shot him in the head with a firearm, only to see the bullet wound in the back of the head heal, pushing the bullet out of his skull.


 * Enhanced Strength: Issei's physical strength has increased significantly, enough so that he can rip open a steel door with his bare hands alone, or even toss someone like Big Carl, who was the muscle of the mafia, across the room with little to no effort.


 * Enhanced Stamina: Issei can fight for long periods of time.


 * Telepathy: Issei is capable of communicating with another's mind through physical contact, even able to send them images of things he had seen, or things the person he is touching has seen, or experienced. If Issei willed it, he could make someone experience the same pain he went through when he died at the hands of the mafiaso Lukkage, who was especially brutal.


 * Wings: Unlike his predecessors, who possessed the power of transformation, Issei can sport ebony black wings that enable him to fly around the city, going from one location to another.


 * Shadow Teleportation: Though the name is often misleading, it best decribes this power. Issei can move quickly from various locations at a short distance, often appearing as shifting shadows, leaving behind a misty trail in his wake. In this state, he can literally phase through anything that would otherwise hinder or damage him, such as a fence, ventelation bars, bullets, knives, and among other things.


 * Shared Vision: Likely because of the link, Issei can see the world through the eyes of the crow, thus one can always find the other close by.


 * Boosted Gear: A strange red gauntlet that manifests on his arm. The Undertaker informs Issei of the history of the Great War and all supernatural beings, including God's Artifacts: the Sacred Gears. Boosted Gear, one of the 13 Longinus, weapons capable of killing a god and a demon king, is said to house the power of a dragon within it. The weapon vastly increases Issei's fighting capabilities, making him a terror to behold in the wake of mortal men. Every ten seconds, he can double his power.


 * Dragon Shot: An attack that compresses all of Issei's power into a single blast. The power of the blast is dependant on the number of [Boost]'s he has performed. Likely due to the influence of the crow, the blast is colored black with a purple outline rather than red.


 * Boosted Gear Scail Male: The Balance Break of Boosted Gear. In this state, Issei is covered in red armor, even sporting reptilian-like wings from his back. While Balance Breaker is active, Issei can boost his power a number of times without the ten second cooldown period.

Trivia

 * Issei is the first reborn not to wear the traditional make-up, excluding the novels.
 * This variation of Issei is older than the canon, due to the altered timeline. Issei graduated Kuoh Academy while Rias was still a first year.