Yasha

Yasha

Yasha is the second protagonist and playable character of the 3D action beat 'em up game Asura's Wrath. He is the brother of Asura's late wife, Durga and the uncle of Asura's daughter Mithra. When he is tricked by Deus into believing that Asura is responsible for murdering the Emperor, Yasha turns against his brother-in-law. Later in the game, he realizes the truth. As one of the Seven Deities, his Mantra affinity in the game is Sadness.

Biography

Personality

Yasha is a kind and benevolent demigod who strives to protect Gaea and appeal to a morally correct standard. He was often seen as notably depressed by the plights of both demigods and humans and strived for a way to bring peace to the world.

Yasha is in a number of ways the antithesis of Asura. He is emotionally cool, level-headed and melancholic; traits that oppose Asura's seething rage and hot-blooded passion. He was willing to sacrifice his own life in the end for a chance to stop the destruction of the world.

Due to Asura being his former best friend/rival and brother in law, Yasha tended to have many heated arguments with him about who was stronger and behaviors which flared into combat and ended in calm reconciliation. Despite their rivalry, he was Asura's closest friend and brother-in-law before Asura's fall. Yasha also had a close bond with his sister, Durga, and was devastated over her death as well as tormented by the fact he could not avenge her life. Although he joined the Seven Deities, he was still unsure whether or not he should help his former best friend Asura in his quest for vengeance or stay on the side of his fellow deities. Due to the many purifications and harvests of souls done by him and The Seven Deities, he became incredibly distraught and unsure of himself and the Deus' grand plan to save the world at the cost of so many innocent lives.

During his time as one of The Seven Deities, Yasha also displayed self-loathing and hatred for his own atrocities, referring to himself as a "demon" for following the cause.  He began wearing the golden mask to suppress his emotions, but even that did not hide the sorrow he felt for his actions. Yasha also harbored a hidden temper which notably flared when dealing with those who refused to listen to reason or were committing actions he felt were deplorable (i.e. Asura's uncontrollable temper and Deus' orchestration of murders).

Appearance

Yasha is a young man with a brown goatee and shoulder-length dark brown hair with a part of it wrapped in bun. A trait all male Demigods appears to share, he has traditional markings and prints mottled around his body. His clothing and attire consist of a style commonly attributable to the deities of Japanese mythology, complete with dual white scarves trailing behind his shoulders (the Japanese wind god, Fujin, is also known to wear a long white mantlecloth around his shoulders).

Yasha also wears a golden mask which makes it his most recognizable feature of him, protecting his face from brutal attacks. During his time in training with Augus he wore a black gi, black hakama, fingerless gloves and wraps on his ankles.

Concept

Yasha's name is derived from the term "Yaksha". In Buddhism and Hinduism mythology, Yaksha are nature-spirits often portrayed as benevolent, caring and powerful warriors but they are also known to have a dual personality, similar to Yasha's behavior with and without his mask on.

Powers and Abilities

As one of the elite fighters of the Seven Deities and the Former Eight Guardian Generals, Yasha is immortal and possesses superhuman strength, speed, durability, dexterity and endurance. Yasha slices through enemies due to his extensive training as a soldier, a martial artist and a member of the Eight Guardian Generals. He is an exceptional warrior and has mastered many areas of fighting including hand-to-hand combat. His prowess makes him one of the finest combatants in the Demigod Fleet on par with Asura in terms of physical combat skills. Even before Asura's supposed betrayal, Yasha was his equal which was not only the reason for their rivalry, but also for their close friendship. Yasha also possesses incredible speed, allowing him to appear in a different place within seconds and move within the blink of an eye. He also has considerable endurance, as he was able to remain active in various arduous situations even after battles with powerful opponents such as Deus, the Gohma Vlitra, and Chakravartin, and still have enough strength to fight Asura before his death.

Yasha also possesses a unique ability where he can form blue energy blades which can slice through anything, even the hardened body of the Gohma. Yasha also uses an energy enhanced kick which has the raw power to smash through every known material.

Story

Early Life

Yasha was originally of the Eight Guardian Generals and Asura's brother-in-law and former friend, as well as the uncle of Mithra. He and Asura were training under Augus until Deus took him under his wing. Together with Asura and the other Generals, he fought the dark forces of the Gohma. However, after his sister, Durga, was murdered, Yasha started to hate Asura and blamed him for her death. After seeing all the suffering caused by the Gohma, Yasha decided to join Deus' "cause".

Asura's Wrath

After Wyzen's defeat, Yasha met Asura on the battleground, wearing his golden mask. Saying that Asura should let Mithra go, made Asura even more angry. Asura shouted "I'll knock that mask off your arrogant face!" and attacked him, but Yasha proved to be more powerful and Asura was wounded. Yet with all his rage, Asura attacked Yasha once more, hitting Yasha with a headbutt, finally cracking the mask. The mask fell down to the ground, as well as the exhausted Asura. Yasha, now unmasked, used his powers to slice through Asura's body, killing him once more.

500 years later, Asura returned a second time, and manages to kill Kalrow and wipe out his fleet. Yasha was distraught at how Asura's power has somehow surpassed what took the Deities twelve millennia to gather. Olga ordered the attack on a village, killing everyone but Asura, who, in his rage and sorrow, became a demon of infinite wrath. Wondering why Asura is still coming back, even after losing everything, Yasha discusses the matter with Olga. Enraged, Olga ordered to use the Brahmastra. Seeing that this would wipe out a huge amount of the gathered Mantra, Yasha yelled at Olga to stop, but she did not listen and continued with her attack. Confused and angry, Yasha went out to stop the Brahmastra, killing the Shinkoku soldiers that tried to stop him.

Although Yasha's speed was admirable, he came too late and Olga fired the Brahmastra. The transformed Asura tried to counter it, but he failed and was near death. Using his full power, Yasha smashed against the Karma Fortress with his foot to alter the Brahmastra's course. The Brahmastra was successfully moved and Asura's life saved. Knowing that his deed could be a sign of treason, Yasha went to Deus to reporting him the situation and his reason. Deus agreed with Yasha that the Mantra is more important than Asura's defeat, however, Olga arrives, saying that Yasha betrayed them.

Being aware of the current situation, Deus ordered Olga to leave, but she ignored Deus order, which resulted in being pushed against a wall. Hurt, Olga retreated while Deus told Sergei to take Yasha with him to purify a village. A huge army of Gohma were traversing towards the village. Sergei told Yasha to destroy the village but Yasha didn't accept this and jumped down to fight the Gohma. During his fall he killed many Gohma forces and shot into the ground, which later resulted in the rest of the Gohma force's demise.

He later found Sergei ordering the attack, resulting in the destruction of the village and the annihilation of the Gohma. Sergei arrived at the scene to collect the souls of the dead. Yasha was slowly thinking if the Cause was nothing more than a lie, when suddenly Sergei's fleet was destroyed and the demon Asura showed up. Crying in fear, Sergei was struck down by Asura. Shocked by Asura's immense change, Yasha stood still while Asura was holding Sergei's body. Despite being fatally wounded, Sergei mocked Asura and Yasha, telling them that it was him who murdered Durga and took Mithra. Yasha answered that he knew, with Sergei replying that Yasha took the Cause over his sister, which made Yasha angry. Screaming with rage, Asura smashed Sergei into the ground and crushed his head, killing him. Then Asura and Yasha engaged in battle and fought with all their strength. During a huge attack, Yasha's mask broke completely. Saying that Asura was only a maniac with power which would destroy him, Yasha stomped on the mask's remains and engaged Asura.

After various hits, Yasha smashed Asura through a few hills. Finally his full powers awakened, Yasha made his choice, he wanted to rescue Asura. He defeated Asura which also returned the latter to normal, and went out to defeat Deus alone, claiming that he is no longer one of the Seven Deities. Yasha confronted Deus, saying that he found a solution of destroying Vlitra without harvesting souls. Deus asked him to demonstrate it, and they engaged in fight. However, Deus was much stronger, and Yasha was defeated. Deus seemed to be the victor, but Asura joined Yasha and together they fought Deus. Seeing his nearby defeat, Deus merged with the Karma Fortress to kill his former subordinates. Asura and Yasha used their combined power to defeat Deus. The victory was short lived, Vlitra emerged from Gaia, more powerful than ever. Deus, before dying, claimed that he was the only one who could defeat Vlitra and now with his death Gaea was doomed. Mithra was freed and was happy to see her uncle, Yasha responds with saying that he is not worthy of being called her uncle.

For one last battle, Yasha and Asura went out to save Gaea. The power of Vlitra was too much for them to handle, but Mithra used her Mantra Manipulation powers to grant Asura immense power, which was able to defeat Vlitra and revitalize Yasha as well. Vlitra was nearly destroyed but its core was still alive, so Asura and Yasha flew into Gaea's and Vlitra's core itself. Vlitra's core had great power, but the two demigods finally defeated Vlitra, killing it one last time and Yasha knew that his path was the right one.

They returned to the Karma Fortress but Olga was threatening Mithra with a sword, saying that they took Deus from her and that she will never see him again. When Olga tried to cut Mithra, her sword was pulled away by golden strings. After hearing a voice, Olga was killed by the Golden Spider which turned out to be the true god of the Mantra, Chakravartin. The Golden Spider took Mithra into a cocoon, emerging as a deity which shocked Yasha and Asura. They engaged Chakravartin in fight, but he was too strong for them.

While Asura tries to save Mithra in his Wrath form, she sends Asura falling down to Gaea to prevent along with Yasha to prevent their death in the hands of Chakravartin. Awakening on the surface, Yasha realizes that, because of his unending determination even against impossible odds, Asura is the only one who can save the planet. Yasha defends the unconscious Asura from surviving Gohma, then installs the Mantra Reactor from the Brahmastra into Asura. The reactor will prevent Asura from destroying himself in the final battle, and can augment his powers to stand against Chakravartin. Yasha then removes his own mantra core to revive Asura, and prepares to battle him as a catalyst for Asura's new potential.

Later Asura awakens to find Yasha eager to battle, a new mask on his face and bandages wrapped around his chest, telling him it was time to find out "who is strongest" of the two.

The two clash in a flurry of devastating blows, during which Asura gains the upper hand as Yasha pushes him to unconsciously activating the reactor. The two have a brief flashback of an intense spar they had long ago where they resolved themselves to make the world a safe place for Mithra when she was born, showing a brief moment of friendship between the two.

After the flashback, the fight becomes more intense as Yasha now battles Asura in his awakened state, no longer holding back. As the battle reaches its climax, the two charge each other for one final attack. As the two throw their final punches, Asura manages to dodge Yasha's strike. However, before Asura can deliver the final blow to Yasha, he observes Yasha smiling underneath his mask. Asura halts his attack, however the bandages that covered Yasha's chest were blown away from the force of the onslaught, revealing Yasha's now heartless chest. Asura's chest plate opens, revealing the Mantra Reactor fused into his chest. As Yasha's mask shatters and falls to the ground, Asura realizes that it was Yasha who revived him. Now knowing that Asura is at his strongest and ready to face Chakravartin, Yasha tells him to save Mithra and dies with a smile upon his face. 

As Yasha's body begins to fade away, Asura bumps his fist against Yasha's, finally acknowledging Yasha as the brother that he always considered him to be.

Millions of years later in the post-credits epilogue, all of the Seven Deities as well as Durga and Mithra have been reincarnated in the modern day. Yasha meets up with his sister and niece as well as his reincarnated brother-in-law. When a meteor strikes, he takes the two girls to safety as Asura stands his ground.

Other appearance

Yasha also appeared, along with Asura, as a card in Street Fighter × All Capcom.

Trivia

• Melancholy or Melancholia is a very severe type of depression, where the risk of suicide is even higher than the ones with clinical depression. It can be caused by tragic events, such as loss of family members or in Yasha's case, his sister.

• Yasha and Wyzen are the only ones of the Eight Guardian Generals whose Mantra Affinity is not one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

• Yasha has some few similar traits with Vergil from the Devil May Cry games. One example is that they have a rivalry with the main characters who are close to them (Yasha with his brother-in-law Asura and Vergil with his younger twin brother, Dante). Another is that they both can slice through anything with blue energy blades (Yasha using his hands and Vergil using his sword Yamato), and also possesses incredible speed.

• Yasha has also a few similar traits with Vegeta from the Dragon Ball manga/anime franchise.^{[citation needed]}

• Yasha's fighting style is similar to that of Nanto Seiken, a character from another famous manga/anime franchise, Hokuto no Ken. Both styles involve slicing into foes merely with the practitioner's body.

Gallery

For more of this character, see their gallery.