Axel Almar

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Axel Almar (アクセル・アルマー) is a fictional character from the Super Robot Wars series. In canon, he piloted the Ash Saver, before switching into his default mecha, the Soulgain, in the Original Generation universe and may have been the pilot of the same mechs, or the Laz Angriff or the Vysaga in Super Robot Wars Advance.

Axel's surname, Almar, is probably derived from ArmaLite, the maker of the M4 and M16 assault rifles.

Personal Data

  • Name: Axel Almar
  • AKA: Axel (official), Sleeping Prince, Aho-seru (fan-based)
  • Voice Actor: Nobutoshi Canna
  • Status/Rank: Captain
  • Affiliation: Shadow Mirror (formerly), himself (currently)
  • Related characters: Kyosuke Nanbu (Rival), Lemon Browning (Lover), Einst Alchemie (partner), Beowulf (Sworn enemy)
  • Mecha: Soulgain, Laz Angriff, Ash Saver, Vaisaga (Advance only).

Appearances

Axel has appeared in the following games:

Theme Music

  • Dark Knight (Retitled The Dark Knight in the North American localization of Original Generation 2) - Default theme in all appearances

Personality and Traits

Upwards to the release of Original Generations, Axel has four unique types of personalities, depending on the continuity:

  • If chosen as a main character in Advance, Axel is an amnesiac man who quests for his memory, fighting alongside the Londo Bell, yet fearful of the truths that will be revealed once it has been restored. He is easy-going and gets along with the Londo Bell crew rather well, trading jokes with the men and flirting with, but usually getting turned down by, the women. Also a bit of an idiot, Axel earned himself the nickname "Ahoseru" (アホセル) from fans of the game, particularly on 2channel's robot game board. Import gamers who have played Advance would usually refer him as Silly Axel.
    • It is confirmed that Axel will revert to this personality in the OG Timeline after being thrown into the Endless Frontier universe.
  • If the player didn't choose him as a main character, Axel becomes the rival character to the other Advance protagonist. His personality changes considerably, becoming a cold-hearted soldier who puts his missions before anything else. If picked as a protagonist, however, he will eventually revert back into this personality, with a slight change that he has a better moral view and distaste towards war.
  • In Original Generation 2, Axel becomes more sadistic and too headstrong. He is driven with only one goal: the defeat of Beowulf, who soundly beat him in combat. This intense rivalry is quickly transferred to Beowulf's alternate-dimensional counterpart, Kyosuke Nanbu, driven to the most extreme levels (ironically, the voice actors for Kyosuke (Toshiyuki Morikawa) and Axel (Nobutoshi Kanna) also play rivals/arch-enemies in Berserk). Caring very little to other things that does not concern his objective, he is shown to be extremely disgusted towards human-like artificial lifeforms, especially the W-Series of bioroids Lemon Browning created.
  • In Original Generations, Axel's personality is changed again to be closer with his antagonistic self in Advance. He is shown to be more clear-headed, understanding the horrors of war, and dedicated to his mission. Although he tends to mock on the W-Series, after Lamia Loveless' defection, he actually became impressed that even someone artificial like her could match his skills and in the end, he ended up somewhat respecting the W-Series. The reason why Axel hates Beowulf was due to the fact that he believed Beowulf had to be stopped, before he brings ruin to the world (as he is shown to possess an Einst-like influence in Original Generations).
    • By Original Generation Gaiden, Axel has matured much more. He has let go of his past rivalry with Kyosuke by not addressing him as "Beowulf", even recognizing Lamia Loveless by name rather than her original call sign, although this also have connections with how Lamia impressed him once more, and he acknowledges her as a full human being. As the world has been thrown into chaos without his push, Axel now wonders about his purpose in the new world, occasionally helping the EFA whenever necessary.

History

Super Robot Wars Advance

If the player chooses to use a real robot for Axel to use, his story begins while waking up in the chosen unit, with the remains of a robot battle around him. His machine is slightly damaged, has some of its ammunition and energy stores used up, and is alone amidst all the destruction. He wonders if there are any other survivors, and why he can’t remember anything, save his name. As he surveys the area, he is swiftly caught up in a battle between the three stolen Dragonar units and the Giganos team pursuing them. After being aided by the Londo Bell flagship, the Argama, Axel and the Dragonar pilots were drafted into the force.

If the player chooses to use a super robot for Axel to use, his story begins when Sayaka Yumi and Boss of Mazinger Z were out on patrol when they notice an object fall from the sky. Upon investigation, they discover that it is a humanoid robot, and that the pilot has amnesia. As they interrogate the pilot, who can only remember his name as Axel Almar, the Ankoku Daishogun's forces arrive and decide to capture the unknown robot. This leads into a battle, with Kouji Kabuto in the Mazinger Z, Tetsuya Tsurugi in the Great Mazinger, and Jun Hono in Venus A arriving to help. Axel wonders why he can pilot and fight effectively, and the Mazinger team suggests heading to the Photonic Labs to try and get some answers. Now an adopted member of the Mazinger team, Axel goes with them when their might is needed to protect Earth.

Axel is disconcerted after an encounter with a woman calling herself W17, who addressed him as a ranking officer. He still has no idea who he really is; all he knows is he’s fighting for what he believes is the side of good. After encountering Vindel Mauser and his Zweizergain, it all returns to him: he is a high ranking officer of the Shadow-Mirror, and volunteered to do a dimensional jump and scout this dimension’s defenders and rival factions, as a precursor to the Shadow-Mirror invasion. His amnesia was due to a mishap during the jump – thus, he has been fighting alongside his "enemies" all along, for which Vindel praises his ability to function as a sleeper agent.

Later on, when Vindel calls upon Axel to reveal his identity, Axel does so, informing the Londo Bell of the Shadow-Mirror's plans in the process. However, he comes to realize that the methods of the Shadow-Mirror is wrong. He then self-detonates his unit, severely damaging the Zweizergain and vanishes in the explosion. He is later revealed to have been retrieved by Lemon Browning, Vindel's second-in-command, who asks him who he is really fighting for, and who is right in this war. Lemon then lets him free, saying the next time they meet it will be as enemies, as there is no turning back. Axel rejoins the Londo Bell, telling them that they’re welcome to shoot him in the back if they choose to, but he’d rather fight alongside them again. After defeating Vindel’s forces, he activates the dimension transposition bomb by using the Zweizergain, in an attempt to stop the Axis asteroid from falling onto the Earth.

Some time later, there is much ado over a space-time disturbance in a region of space – it seems to be an event that the various Londo Bell-affiliated laboratories and agencies have been waiting to occur. In deep space, Axel reappears, his unit badly damaged and with only limited oxygen, musing how he survived only to die from lack of breathable air. Just as he resigns himself to joining Lemon, the members of Londo Bell converge on his location. After being rebuked by his friends for not deciding to see the effects of his deeds, Axel decides to live and face what the future will bring.

Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2

Axel appears in the prologue, conversing with Lemon as to how the transposition is proceeding, with Lemon replying that everything is proceeding as best as possible under the circumstances. It appears the Shadow-Mirror are on the move, yet a last ditch effort by an Earth Federation Army elite Gespenst squad could throw things off. Axel orders all remaining soldiers, including Lemon, into the portal – not as an act of valor, but because he wants to have a deciding match with the squad leader, Beowulf, who pilots a blue Gespenst MK III. Lemon steps through the portal, and Axel launches his Soulgain at Beowulf’s machine and its squad of Gespenst MK IIs.

Axel manages to jump dimensions, but arrives at a different time, earlier than his comrades who went first. Imagery of his Soulgain fighting against Aerogater forces have been found in the Earth Federation Army data banks, under the codename, White Wraith, right before Operation SRW, and upon rejoining his Shadow-Mirror comrades with a battered Soulgain, he explained his delay as having to recover from various injuries sustained. Later, the ATX Team encounters the Soulgain. Axel recognizes its team commander, Kyosuke Nanbu’s Alt Eisen, a Gespenst MK III, only in this dimension, it is painted red. Seeing it renews Axel’s resolution to defeat his nemesis, which he had not been able to do in his home dimension. On the other hand, Kyosuke has no idea who this new enemy is, something which Axel refuses to believe.

Axel carries on his vendetta against Beowulf, this time in the form of Kyosuke, and this serves as a catalyst for the story's events. During a crucial mission, Axel severely damages the Alt Eisen, ripping its limbs off and was about to destroy the torso (severely damaging the Alt Eisen, causing Kyosuke to have it revamped into the Alt Eisen Riese), but is foiled by the arrival of the Einst, led by Einst Alchemie. Axel makes a last stand inside the Balmar White Star, ultimately falling under the combined might of Earth's defenders. In his final moments, Lamia points out that by the way Axel acted, it was like he was the puppet of Vindel, an ironic statement that he usually considered Lamia as the puppet. However, Axel countered with the statement that it was by his own free will that he chose to be Vindel's puppet. Before he collapsed, he asked Lamia about her choice of free will, which she answered that she would like to feel like a human, an answer that he didn't hear as Soulgain exploded before he could hear it. This death exactly mirrors his death in Advance, in the case that Lamia was picked as the protagonist.

Super Robot Wars Original Generations

Although his general story is unchanged in Original Generations, Axel's origins were fleshed out greatly and given greater depth in this enhanced remake. He used to be a member of the Earth Federation Army, working alongside Beowulf, until they had a difference in ideals and Beowulf was behaving abnormally (speculated to be an influence in the form of the Einst). Axel's discontent with Beowulf caused him to join the Shadow-Mirror, which he believed to possess the power to defeat Beowulf.

Before the Shadow-Mirror's attempt to jump to the Original Generation universe, Axel ambushed Raul Gureden and Fiona Gureden and the members of the Excellence Team, while taking one of the newest robots created by the Tesla Leicht Institute, the Soulgain, for a test run. Axel damaged Fiona's Excellence unit heavily and demanded Raul's surrender of his Excellence unit. However, the appearance of Duminuss caused him to pull back, watching both Raul and Fiona being sucked into a dimensional portal.

When the time came for the Shadow-Mirror to make their jump, Axel confronts Beowulf and his advancing squad with a question about his purpose. When he hears Beowulf's disjointed speech about him destroying and rebuilding the world, Axel was furious beyond reason and attacked him in his Alt Eisen Nacht. Axel's attack failed as Beowulf's machine mysteriously regenerated and quickly defeated Axel, who was forced to retreat to the Original Generation universe. The Mugen no Frontier Drama CD revealed that although Axel was defeated, he succeeded in stalling Beowulf for his allies to escape, while trapping him in that world, so in a sense, he was victorious.

His story remained the same as in Original Generation 2, until Lamia Loveless betrayed the Shadow-Mirror by attempting a self-destruct sequence in front of Vindel Mauser. At that point, Axel, who somehow disliked the W-Series and tended to mock them for only following orders, began to feel impressed towards Lamia, who dared to disobey her orders and actually put up a good fight against him. When Lamia broke free from her detainment, instead of mocking and insulting her as a broken doll as in Original Generation 2, Axel told Lamia to return to her detainment, in exchange that he'll forget that she betrayed the Shadow-Mirror, an offer that she refused.

During Operation Plantagenet, Axel attacked Kyosuke of the Original Generation universe, damaging his Alt Eisen greatly. Remembering his parallel self in the Shadow-Mirror universe, Axel tore the Alt Eisen's arm to see if this Kyosuke is the same one he fought in his home universe (in Original Generation 2, he tore the Alt Eisen's parts for sadistic fun and to keep a trophy as proof that he defeated him). To his shock, the Alt Eisen did not regenerate. After he retreated due to an attack by the Einst, Axel concluded that this Kyosuke was not the same person he hated thoroughly, although he still intended to stop Kyosuke before he became like Beowulf himself.

During the defense in the White Star, when Echidna Iisaki sacrificed herself to protect Axel from imminent death, he was angry that what Echidna did was only spreading despair towards the remaining Shadow-Mirror forces, that they had to lose a soldier like her (in Original Generation 2, he was thoroughly disgusted when he finds out that a doll saved his life). When he was defeated inside the White Star, Axel expressed that the W-Series was actually more than just a doll, as he pointed out Lamia and Wodan Ymir. In his last moments, he uttered Lemon's name, showing that he did genuinely possess some feelings for her (in Original Generation 2, he only treated his relation with Lemon as mere business). Ironically, in Super Robot Wars Advance, if Axel was picked as the main protagonist, the first word he remembered was Lemon's name, and in Original Generations, Lemon's name was the last thing he uttered... or at least until...

Original Generation Gaiden

Shortly after his defeat, the Cry Wolves squadron, led by Albero Esto, went to excavate the remains of the Shadow-Mirror inside the White Star, and they just happened to pick up the Soulgain's remains. While escaping the White Star before it was absorbed by the Einsts, the Cry Wolves dropped the cockpit block containing a still breathing Axel. While floating in space, he encountered the re-emerged soul of Alchemie, who mysteriously reappeared in the Original Generation universe; however, she had no memories of any of her prior encounters. Both Axel and Alchemie realized that they were about to be erased from existence; thus, they pulled to each other and the result was Axel becoming a vessel for Alchemie's soul. The Cry Wolves picked him up (finding him naked while having his clothes neatly folded, which was mistaken as some sort of suicide ritual), ensuring their survival.

Taken under the care of Mitarl Zapad, Axel was nursed back to health by Professor Eric Wang, who also gathered enough funds to repair his Soulgain, for 6 months and dubbed as Sleeping Prince by the residents of the lab. When the contained Jetzt Regisseur ran amok in the lab and the Cry Wolves and the Wendigo couldn't hold it fully, Axel deployed in his machine to help out to repay the 6 months they spent to restore him. It was then that Alchemie physically materialized and explained to Axel about his past relationship with Kyosuke and Excellen. He then proceeded to help out the Cry Wolves from being assaulted by one of Duminuss' homunculi, Tiz. With the Jetzt Regisseur destroyed, Axel left along with Alchemie to pursue the rest of the Jetzt.

He later appeared in front of Kouta Azuma, Raul Gureden, and Lune Zoldark, who had just recovered the missing Fiona Gureden. When Kyosuke and his allies arrived, they were shocked to see the Soulgain again, knowing that Axel was the only person who could operate the machine, but he opted to maintain his neutrality by telling that they are free to shoot him down, though he won't retaliate, just dodging, which somehow earned Kyosuke's trust. Axel soon fought against Lamia, who was under the control of Duminuss. Axel attempted to save her after learning that her condition causes Kyosuke a great anguish and if left alone, it would lead him to become Beowulf, Axel's worst fears. After defeating her, Lamia attempted to self-destruct with Code ATA until Axel stopped and chastised her, reminding her of the people in her past like Lemon. Although at first he decided that it was a lost cause and he was preparing to finish Lamia for good, her sudden return to her past self made him change his mind and instead cancelled the detonation sequence using the Code DTD, which overrode Code ATA and rebooted her memories to the point before Duminuss reprogrammed her and pulled Lamia out of her Valsion Custom, releasing her from Duminuss's control. After returning her to Kyosuke, Axel left on a good note with the Earth Federation Army, resuming his chase of the Jetzt, with a grateful Kyosuke promising that he would one day repay Axel's efforts for saving his comrade.

Axel returned and reappeared in front of the Cry Wolves squadron just as they were on the brink of destruction against the Jetzt army. Axel's interruption enabled Albero and Hugo Medio to escape. He would later join up with the Earth Federation Army for a little longer and then leave again. Along with Shu Shirakawa, Axel reappeared in the Swordian Fortress, and this time he joined the EFA to assist them in battle against Duminuss, the Shura, the Dark Brain, and surprisngly, Shu himself in his Neo Granzon. After the long battle concluded, Axel felt a bit nostalgic when he saw the Shura remnants leave the dimension, reminding him with the Project Endless Frontier, but at the same time, he started to get confused on what he should do next in a world without war. On Lamia's suggestion, he decided to wander the universe trying to find his 'paradise'. Alchemie opted to accompany him.

Super Robot Wars OG Saga Endless Frontier EXCEED

In an unspecified time in the OG Timeline (either after the events of OG Gaiden or somewhere inbetween), both Axel and Alchemie are inadvertently transported to the Endless Frontier universe. Due to the jump, Axel suffers amnesia (hinting that he might revert into his Advance Protagonist self temporarily) and later joins the entourage of both Haken Browning and Aledy Naash. He is also separated from his Soulgain and because of that, he uses his innate taijutsu skills and armed with one bladed tonfa to fight the monsters. His fighting style seems to mimic Soulgain's melee combat (as it moves according to his body movement). Later on, he is granted the control over the PT Arcgain, which resembled Soulgain and in the previous title, went rogue against Haken due to the Einst interference.

Relationship with other characters

Lemon Browning

Lemon is Axel's lover. In the Original Generation 2, he was only toying with her feelings, considering their relationship to be mere business and nothing more. Original Generations rectified this that Axel did genuinely love Lemon back. When he was about to die in White Star, he thought about Lemon, and this turns out to be a lifesaver, as it attracted Einst Alchemie to merge with him and ensured his survival.

Vindel Mauser

As the Shadow Mirror's boss, Axel views Vindel very highly. He is shown to be loyal, but in Original Generation 2, Axel can be too headstrong and struggles about any of Vindel's (or Lemon's) commands about him retreating, if he's facing Kyosuke. This traits seems to be gone in Original Generations.

Kyosuke Nanbu (Shadow Mirror/Beowulf)

Kyosuke in the Shadow Mirror universe, calling himself Beowulf, used to be Axel's partner. Certain events cause him to go insane and go astray from Axel's trust, but he has become too powerful for Axel to handle, causing him to join the Shadow Mirror to stop Beowulf. Beowulf reveals that he is going to destroy and rebuild the world as he sees fits, which further infuriates Axel. Thus far, after going insane, Axel has yet to score a clear victory against Beowulf, due to the Einst aspects in his Alt Eisen Nacht.

Kyosuke Nanbu

When Axel meet up with Kyosuke of the OG universe, his rivalry with Beowulf rekindled and thought this Kyosuke is the same. He quickly makes himself into Kyosuke's fiercest rival, and considers him Beowulf, although Kyosuke was not aware about his other self. This continues until his death in Original Generation 2, but in Original Generations, during Operation Plantagenet, he realized that Kyosuke is different from Beowulf, seeing that his Alt Eisen did not self-regenerate. He declared that he's not Beowulf, but still has a chance to turn into one, so he continues to fight him before that happens.

In Original Generation Gaiden, Axel found out Kyosuke was in verge to be plunged into deep despair after his inability to protect Lamia, one that could turn him into Beowulf if left unchecked. Axel, at the same time having already respected the W Numbers, decided to pull Kyosuke out of the despair by trying and ultimately saving Lamia. This earns him Kyosuke's trust and he promised that one day he'll pay for this debt in the future.

Lamia Loveless

Being the latest of the W Series, Axel at first looked down on her, especially on the prospect that she may be a defective product. This does not change at all in the Original Generation 2, but in Original Generations, he actually became impressed that she could get even on him in combat, for a doll, and on the top of that, actually dared to disobey the commands and put Vindel in danger. He even tried to persuade her to return to the detainment and he'll forget her treason, but she refused. In the end, during the battle of White Star, Axel declared that the she and the rest of the W Numbers may be more than just normal dolls.

In Original Generation Gaiden, Axel was at first disappointed to see Lamia turned into a doll of Duminuss and could not even resist, despite all the EFA's information given to him that she was reprogrammed. He tried to put an end to her before there is any more harm, but he changed his mind when he heard Lamia regained her own self temporarily. Axel later opted to use the Code: DTD to break her free from the reprogramming and succeeded. He told her to remember her purpose: Lemon's hope in the world. And from that point on, Axel stopped referring her with 'W17', but instead starts calling her with her given name Lamia. Later on, she told him a similar story that Lemon told her about Adam and Eve and suggested him to find his own paradise. Axel accepts that offer and promised that she'd be the first to know if he ever finds his paradise.

Echidna Iisaki

Echidna is also a W Number, thus Axel at first believe that she is worse than human, can only obey orders, etc. In Original Generation 2, his attitude never change, but in Original Generations, it softened a bit when Lamia betrayed the Shadow Mirror, which prompted Axel to rethink about his feelings regarding on the W Number.

During the battle of White Star, Echidna covered Axel from a fatal shot and was slain, as a proof that she gains a personality. In Original Generation 2, Axel did not care about that and was thoroughly disgusted that a doll saved his life. In Original Generations, Axel was angry at Echidna for covering him, because losing a dedicated soldier like that can only cause more despair to the rest of her allies.

Einst Alchemie

They were at first enemies. But when Axel was dying, Alchemie, without memories of their past encounter, got near him, attracted with the feelings between him and her original's clone, Lemon. Both, not wanting to die, pulled to each other and ends up merging. When Axel got up, Alchemie managed to contact him telepathically several times until he deployed again in Soulgain, whereas Alchemie popped out with her Persoenlichkeit from his machine and fought alongside him. Alchemie is said to be 'the only one who understands Axel', and later traveled together with him in the end of Original Generation Gaiden as his partner.

Cry Wolves (Albero, Hugo, Foglia, Eric)

Axel felt indebted for the Cry Wolves that save his life and nursed him back to health. After he got up and managed to be able to fight on his own, he tried to help the Cry Wolves under the reason 'having to pay back for Eric'. He also interrupts the battle between the Wolves and the Jetzt two times, presumably saving them from utter destruction, though he fails to save Foglia.

Haken Browning

Axel travels with Haken during his tenure in the Endless Frontier world, however, due to amnesia, he is unaware that Haken is actually Lemon's very first W-Series, W00.

Aschen Brodel

Being Lamia's 'sister', Axel knew she was also installed with Code:DTD. They meet in person when Axel got thrown into the Endless Frontier, but amnesia bars him from recognizing her... for now.

Trivia

  • Apparently Axel's shift in personality stemmed from the protests thrown to Banpresto at the first release of Original Generation 2. Fans protested that the way Axel was potrayed there was quite out of character, even compared to his antagonist self in Advance, although fans were aware of Axel being an antagonist in case Lamia was the protagonist, his personality change was not expected. He was also accused for not having that much brain when it comes to fighting Kyosuke, and treats artificial human forms, particularly the W-Series, like utter trash, in a level worse than he did in the Advance self. It is speculated his personality derailment was because the story staffs behind Super Robot Wars Advance did not take part in Original Generation 2.

All these were rectified with the release of Original Generations. It's heard that the original story staffs of Advance returned, and Axel receives a more rounded personality, making him a believable antagonist. To add this further, he survived instead of dying, returned as a protagonist in Original Generation Gaiden, while temporarily reversing the role in OG2, where Lamia was temporarily turned antagonist.

  • In reality, the 'differences' was mainly because they had to give Axel an actual personality based upon his two-three appearances in SRWA, all of which were focused on hating androids. His OGs appearance is near identical, except updated with the knowledge that he was going to be a good guy in OG Gaiden.
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