Midnight's Darkness

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Midnight's Darkness
Age	Unknown
Sex	Male
Race	Human (Imposter)
Affiliation	Priest Order (Formerly) Black Order (Current)
Occupation	Exorcist Black Order Shepherd Pureblood
Alias
Location	Fortress of Nemesis Paradise of Ruin
Foreign Name(s)	N/A
Likeability	N/A

Banya, AKA Midnight's Darkness is a Exorcist and former Priest Order member until he had grown disillusioned in his faith in God and became an Imposter through a contract with the Four Demonic Beasts, later alligning himself with the Black Order as one of their Shepherds, making his debut in the Exile Mountains patch.

Lore

Character Biography:

Male/Age unknown.

A former Monk of the Suju Parish known to have been as strong as one of the Four Archpriests, Shinjang.

He once was as faithful as the next Priest, but couldn't stop wondering why his god wouldn't save people from suffering.

After much agonizing contemplation, he came to a conclusion that he must save them on his own, and his decision led him to the path of the Imposter.

Then, the Four Demonic Beasts, the shikigamis strictly forbidden by the Priest Order, approached him. Midnight's Darkness entered into contract with them to employ their powers.

In his twisted mind, Midnight's Darkness believes that he's only trying to save the world and the real redemption comes only if everyone on the earth becomes an Imposter.

---

Exile Mountains Exerpt:

I never doubted my faith in God.
I always believed He worked in mysterious ways.

But look at these starving children,
these poor people groaning under the harshness of life.

Is this the world that He really wanted for His children?
Or is our god so weak that He can't help us?

I say now it's time we help ourselves.
We need new bodies and new strength to escape our doomed fate.

The solution is right next to us.
We just haven't noticed it because of our anger and hatred toward it.

The Imposters. Hah hah. I knew you'd react that way.
But why don't you think the Imposters can save us?

We have to use everything we have at our disposal, even if it's evil.
Even if it's the notorious God of Chaos.

Even Michael, who saved us during the Black Crusade, was an evil Apostle.
We can use Imposters.

I can be a demon if I can break this chain of karma that binds us.
I can sacrifice myself if I can save the world.

I'll die if it can turn this world into paradise for everyone else.

History

This part of the current article contains spoilers.

Although little is known about Banya's early life, he would become a renowned Exorcist and joined the Suju Parish who's powers are said to rival that of Archpriest Shinjang. Despite being very faithful to Lemidios like many Priests, he showed a lot of concern about why his god isn't saving the people that continued to suffer. Because of this, Banya grew disillusioned with his own faith and decided to leave the Priest Order by taking a path in his mind believing he could save the world by becoming an Imposter on his own accord and alligned himself with the Black Order.

As he accepted this new path of corruption, Banya is later approached by shikigamis called the Four Demonic Beasts that the Priest Order forbids anyone from using, entered a contract with them and gained access to their powers, he would also save and recruit a young man who just lost his family to a fire by suggesting he too join the Black Order if he wanted revenge on those who were responsible for the attack.

In Chantri, The Adventurer along with Oberith & Lucille Redmanye would fight off Imposters during their investigation into a possible Black Order Resurgence at the Stru Mountains, eventually making their way into the Fortress of Nemesis by confronting Banya who's been waiting for them. After a conversation, he would lose to the Adventurer, but not before showing how impressed he is in their faith before leaving.

Sometime after Devastar's defeat, Revelator Calling Jade would take his blood by preparing a ritual called the Ceremony of the Purebloods proclaiming his successor inside Abandoned Haven that was originally intended to be Nilvas Gracia, Banya would take this opportunity to interrupt this Revelation by drinking the Pure Blood himself, claiming that salvation draws near by own hands and leaves the Haven.

(If the Adventurer is a Avenger or Mistress) During the events surrounding Black Purgatory, the Adventurer along with Nilvas confronts Banya in Outskirts of Roschest about what transpired back at Chantri as the new recipient to Destructive Berias's blood would show off by transforming into a demon and unleashes his new powers towards the duo. Although he lost again, Banya promises they'll meet again soon as he escapes.

With the Second Black Crusade underway, he prepares to make his next move by appearing in Aventus the Cradle of Despair where the Adventurer and their group fight Chaos Follower Despero. Rather than help his ally fight the enemy, Banya would instead absorb the Pureblood of his powers while exchanging words with Shinjang before leaving yet again. Speaking to an angered Jade, he reveals to her yet another transformation as a result of fully absorbing Despero's power, making him even more powerful.

Inside Armis the Mirror Garden, Banya states he's no longer bound by human limits or a Imposter vessel, claiming that a voice who guided him to enlightenment said "Chaos is a mere scapegoat used to usher in the world of redemption" and saying he's worthy of becoming the next God of Chaos. Battling him one last time, Banya notices that Ozma is on the move and makes his escape from Armis.

After Ozma's demise, Banya would intercept Judy Ringwood's attempt to absorb the Apostle's energy through the rings she's equipped with, until he is abruptly taken away through a Dimensional Rift and absorbed by Michael of the Holy Eye.

Personality

As an Imposter, Banya is quite arrogant, ambitious and often considers himself a savior amongst Arad who wants nothing more than to acheive an albeit-- insane goal of pursing a ideal world known as "Western Paradise". Despite of his twisted nature, Banya shows a calm and collected demeanor towards ally or enemy alike no matter the situation he's currently in, though this does not stop him from insulting his opponents during battles.

While he does consider Archpriest Shinjang his rival in terms of strength during his time with the Suju Parish, he berates his Four Symbols' power for being pale in comparison to the Four Beasts he received through enlightenment and accuses him of being jealous during their conversation in Aventus.

His ambitions did eventually pay off during the Night of Revelation when he managed to obtain Destructive Berias's power through drinking the deceased Devastar's blood, letting him transform into a Demon with better control over his Four Beasts, much to the ire of Calling Jade who refuses to acknowledge, let alone trust his status as a Pure Blood due to interrupting her ceremony back at Abandoned Haven. He isn't afraid to dispose of others to continue his pursuit for more power either, even going so far as to betray an outnumbered Despero by absorbing him when he needed help fighting against the Adventurer and their group, only to result in his new transformation.

As an Enemy

Midnight's Darkness

Type

Banya makes his first boss appearance inside the Exile Mountains' Fortress of Nemesis.

Move Set

•  Holy Amulet: Banya launches out three much larger amulets in front of him, dealing moderate damage with hitstun upon contact.

• Black & White Waves: Banya slams the ground with his staff, creating black and white magic circles that spouts out energy waves to appear beneath party members causing multi-hit damage upon contact.

• Four Demonic Beasts: Throughout the fight, Bayna is able to randomly summon either of the four Shikigami to attack with their own patterns:
  • Qiongqi: It flies upwards and opens up it's wings to create six red tornadoes from different angles around the room inflicting moderate damage and knockback if a player is hit by one of them, then those tornadoes quickly move towards Banya altogether before disappearing.
  • Hundun: It opens it's mouth to suction in party members similar to the Shaman's  Soul Magnet, then bites down for an explosion.
  • Taowu: It will launch out a AoE roaring attack like the Avenger's  Dark Howling that causes numerous rocks from above the ceiling to fall down.
  • Taotie: Two clones of Taotie appear by having them dash around the room in a Z-shaped pattern, then colliding with each other in the center to create an explosion.

• Beastly Riot: Banya relocates to the room's middle section and summons all four of his Beasts to perform their respective attack patterns. While he does this, there are four Yin-Yang orbs locationed each with a opposite color spawning on both left and right sides that each player needs to pick up and collide with each other (I.E Player 1 = Yin Orb, Player 2 = Yang Orb) that shoots them upwards into the sky being similar to Sirocco's Dark Energy Sweep in her Leveche Form to avoid Banya's shockwave that inflicts a instant kill.

• Berserk:
  • Yin-Yang Balance Breaker: When Banya's HP is around 45%, he'll teleport to the room's middle section, forms a protective shield around him that acts like a Nen Guard with it's own HP bar and then summons a large Yin-Yang symbol beneath him that spins in a counterclockwise rotation. There are also lightning bolts that spawn on that corresponding color as stepping in the Yang (White) portion spawn white bolts periodically and stepping in the Yin (Black) portion spawns black bolts are able to ignore Super Armor. In order to activate Banya's groggy state, all party members are required to stay in at least one color portion and follow it while they destroy his shield before the pattern ends.

If the party succeeds in destroying his shield before the timer gauge on Yin-Yang Balance Breaker depletes, Banya knocks down everyone to perform a large energy explosion around him, quickly use  Quick Rebound to evade being hit by the attack that may inflict nearly fatal damage or be instantly killed, afterwards he'll enter his groggy state.

Strategy

• Banya himself can be seen as a extremely tanky boss due to wielding a large HP threshold compared to Devastar the Pureblood, he also posesses strong attack patterns that can be easily avoided with a well-coordinated party.
• Try not to stay in one spot during Black & White Waves as the multi-hits from those waves can deal nearly fatal damage, resulting in casualties.

• For Beastly Riot:
  • Try not to collide with whoever has the opposite orb color of yours too early.
  • Whenever Banya's Shikigami finishes their respective patterns, collide soon as possible once he prepares to launch out his shockwave. Though the best time to collide is when Hundun's pattern ends first.

• For Yin-Yang Balance Breaker:
  • Most parties mainly stick to staying within on the Yang portion when they're attempting to destroy Banya's shield during the symbol's rotation period.
  • Don't step into both portions as this causes room-wide lightning strikes.
  • Failure to break his shield before the pattern ends will have him use the explosion wave without knocking down everyone.
  • Depending on the strength of your party members, have the leader activate Light Judge for a temporary damage boost alongside the Crusader/Enchantress to deploy their  Apocalypse/ Final Judgment,  Crux of Victoria/ Laus di Angelus,  Marionette/ Curtain Call and use your strongest skills upon entry into the boss room or another tactic is to hold off on Awakenings until he's in a groggy state after clearing his berserk pattern.

Quotes

Encounter

• (この先さきが底そこなし地獄じごくだとしても...)

"Even if the path ahead leads to the abyss..."

Black & White Waves

• (喝かつ!)

"Katsu!" (Victory!)

Shikigami Summons

• (貫つらぬく、窮奇きゅうき！)

"Break through them, Qiongqi!" (Summoning the Red Beast - Qiongqi 'Depravity')

• (吠ほえろ、檮杌とうこつ！)

"Howl, Taowu!" (Summoning the Blue Beast - Taowu 'Ignorance')

• (来こい、饕餮とうてつ！）

"Come forth, Taotie!" (Summoning the Green Beast - Taotie 'Gluttony')

• (飲のみ込こめ, 混沌こんとん！)

"Swallow them, Hundun!" (Summoning the Orange Beast - Hundun 'Chaos')

Beastly Riot

• "Run riot, my beasts!" (Summoning all four Shikigami)
• (荒々あらあらしく泣なき叫さけべ。)

"Howl fiercely!"

• (そして、帰依きえするがいい！)

"And submit to God!"

Yin-Yang Balance Breaker

• "At the end of enlightenment is refuge!" (On cast)
• "Yin Yang Balance Breaker" (Tooltip)
• (悟さとりは肉体にくたいを堕だすることになる。)

"To be enlightened is to be freed from your body."

• (至心ししん帰命きみょう!)

"Dedicate your life!" (On full charge)

Defeat

• (悟さとりの後あとでまた会あうことになろう。)

"We shall meet again at the end of enlightenment..."

Black Purgatory

Banya makes his return in Black Purgatory as Bloodlust Midnight's Darkness.

Ozma Raid

He'll appear for his third boss encounter in Ozma of Chaos Raid as Chaos-coveting Midnight's Darkness.

Appearances

• Fortress of Nemesis (Boss)

Trivia

Exile Mountains

• The name Banya in the KDnF version is derived from Prajñā, one of six perfections in Mahayana Buddhism meaning Wisdom in Heart Sutra, a very popular and influential Indian scripture.
  • Ban-ya in either Korean or Chinese language (반야 / 半夜) translates to Midnight Black, which is an actual real-world shade of the color black within that CMYK color system.
• His Shikigami are based upon the Four Perils (四凶) in Chinese Mythology that often described as evil malevolent beasts being a antithesis to the Four Symbols.
• His goal of achieving Western Paradise is another word for Sukhavati a western pure land of Amitābha in Mahayana Buddhism.
• The line Bodhi svāhā, is a reference to the Heart Sutra that goes "gone, gone, everyone gone to the other shore, awakening, svaha."
• His Fortress of Nemesis boss theme is created using traditional instruments:
  • Haegeum
  • Moktak
  • Taepyeongso
• In the Arad Senki/JDnF version, Banya will sound off on the Japanese names for his Shikigami:
  • Tōkotsu -> Taowu
  • Kyūki -> Qiongqi
  • Konton -> Hundun
  • Tōtetsu -> Taotie

Black Purgatory

• His Demon Form is based on a Oni of Japanese folklore due to inheriting Berias' blood.

Ozma Raid

• His ambitious nature and goals on wanting to acheive godhood seems to mirror that of Black-Eyed Sarpoza during scenarios.
• Although his new form comes from an Asura, he does bares a striking resemblance to Zenyatta from Overwatch.
• His Armis boss theme plays a short tune similar to Arirang, a Korean folk song.

Gallery

Arwork

Sprites