Midnight's Darkness

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

Midnight's Darkness (Chinese:半夜) or Banya (Korean:반야) is a Exorcist who once alligned himself with the Priest Order, until he had grown disillusioned in his faith in God and became an Imposter through a contract with the Four Demonic Beasts, later joining 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. During this time, he would also save and recruit a young man who just lost his family to a fire, suggesting that 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 Redmayne, are fighting 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 in battle, but not before showing how impressed he is in their faith before exiting.

Sometime after Devastar's demise, Revelator Calling Jade would take his blood to prepare a ritual known as the Ceremony of the Purebloods, by proclaiming his successor inside Abandoned Haven that was originally intended to be Nilvas Gracia, yet Banya would instead take this opportunity to interrupt the ritual by drinking the Pureblood himself, claiming that salvation draws near by own hands and leaves the Haven.

If the Adventurer is either a Avenger or Mistress during Black Purgatory, they are accompanied by Nilvas as the duo confronts Banya in Outskirts of Roschest about what transpired back at Chantri, while the new recipient to Ruinous Berias's blood would show off by transforming into a demon and unleashes his newfound powers towards them. Although he lost a second time, Banya promises they'll meet again soon as he escapes.

Within the Otherworldly Dark Side, he prepares to make his next move by appearing in Aventus the Cradle of Despair where the Adventurer and their group fight and eventually corner Chaos Follower Despero. Rather than team up with the Pureblood, Banya would instead betray Despero, and absorb him for his powers while exchanging words with Shinjang before leaving yet again. Confronting an angered Jade, he reveals to her yet another transformation as a result of wielding two Purebloods, making him even more powerful. But before he could subdue her, Watcher K would teleport and takes Jade with him.

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 remarking that 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 is defeated, Banya would try to intercept Judy Ringwood's attempt to take the Apostle's energy with a ring she's equipped with, until he is abruptly taken away through a Dimensional Rift, and absorbed by Michael of the Holy Eye.

Personality

Characteristics

During his introduction, Banya is shown to be a very arrogant and ambitious Black Order Shepherd who considers himself a self-proclaimed savior amongst Arad's residents that wants nothing more than to acheive an albeit, insane goal of pursuing a ideal world of Imposters known as the "Western Paradise" to escape poverty and irrationality. Apart from his twisted demeanor, Banya somehow can mantain a respectful, calm and collected composure towards ally or enemy, no matter the situation he's involved.

Unlike several Black Order members who highly worships Ozma after being abandoned by society and became Imposters through the Blood Curse, Banya himself does not show any signs of loyatly towards the Chaos God, let alone be affected from either his hallucinations or madness.

In Black Purgatory, Banya becomes rather intoxicated by the power that he obtained through Berias' blood from a deceased Devastar, giving him the ability to not only transform into a Demon and wield destructive powers, yet shows no hesitation to insult his opponents in battle. But despite this acheivement, he felt that this wasn't enough power for his main goal and waited for Ozma's resurrection.

During Dark Side, he takes his twisted ambitions to another level by wanting to become the next God of Chaos that resorts to great lengths by backstabbing his own allies and gaining a new transformation after managing to absorb Despero instead of helping him when being cornered.

Relationships

Shinjang

• While Banya considers the Archpriest his rival in terms of strength during his pre-Imposter years of the Suju Parish, he finds Shinjang's Four Symbols pale in comparison to his Four Beasts he receive through his new path of enlightenment, and has accused him of being jealous at their confrontation in Dark Side.

K, the Watcher in the Night

• WIP

Calling Jade

• The Cult's Fierce Blood Revelator greatly distrusts Banya, let alone aknowledge him as a Pureblood because he interrupted her ceremony in Abandoned Haven by stealing Devastar's blood that was originally meant for Nilvas Gracia.

Pureblood Despero

• Although they have barely spoken to each other, Despero doesn't seem to trust him that much either because of Devastar's death. After being outnumbered by the Adventurer and their group in Dark Side, he was willing to put aside his differences asking for Banya's help when he arrived, only to be betrayed by him instead as he gotten absorbed for his powers.

As an Enemy

Midnight's Darkness

Type

Appearances

• Fortress of Nemesis (Boss)

Black Purgatory

He returns for a second boss encounter as Bloodlust Midnight's Darkness in Paradise of Ruin.

Ozma Raid

He appears for a third and final time as Chaos-coveting Midnight's Darkness in Armis, the Mirror Garden.

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 can fatally hurt players.

• 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.
• It's advised not to stay in one spot during his Black & White Waves pattern as the multi-hits from those waves can quickly drain your HP, resulting in being killed.

• 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 (optionally) 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..."

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 since the Black Order members have a similar naming scheme.
• 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