Helio is an antagonist from Bravely Default II. He is the Inquisitor of the Rimedhal Orthodoxy, serving as one of main authorities responsible for the recent judgments taking place in the city of Rimedhal.
He is also the Asterisk holder for the Spiritmaster job.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Helio is a middle aged man with black hair who always appears with his eyes naturally closed. During the view instances where he has his eyes opened, he is revealed to have clear light blue eyes. One of his more unique physical traits is the traditional urna (白毫, Byakugō?) found in Buddhist art and culture upon his forehead.
When he has the Spiritmaster Asterisk in his possession, Helio will don an elaborately decorated set of white robes with golden winged regalia. He wields the Sunshine Staff when fighting against the party, a golden staff with a sun-like design on the top. When in his Freelancer form, Helio will don a simple navy blue coat with white fur linnings.
Personality[]
Helio maintains a calm and welcoming demeanor when making public appearances to the people of Rimedhal, appearing as a devout servant to the wishes of Archbishop Domenic and the Lord of Dragons, and wants to provide nothing more than the best for people of the city.
Behind that facade is an utterly coldhearted and conniving individual who aims to take down the city for Holograd's invasion of the region. He sees any who suspect his ulterior motives as threats to his mission and will do anything to silence them, even murdering common citizens of Rimedhal. Despite the loyalty to his mission, Helio can make subtle complaints about having to do his work.
Story[]
Early life[]
About eight years before the invasion of Musa, Helio was tasked with infiltrating the Rimedhal Orthodoxy and remove any opposition for Holograd's planned invasion of the region. Helio uses his gain position as bishop to exploit Archbishop Domenic’s obsession and hatred of fairies, falsely branding any who began to suspect his motives as fairies and having them jump into the Jaws of Judgment, having those accused kill themselves in an attempt to prove their innocence. Two of the casualties were the parents of Gladys Kelly and Galahad, making it appear they were killed by fairies in order to make Gladys a loyal acolyte motivated by an intense hatred of fairykind.
Three years before Seth's arrival on Excillant, Helio participated in the destruction of Musa, being tasked in bringing the Fire Crystal to Rimedhal at the command of Adam as part of a scheme to terraform the land with its power to allow for easier invasion of the nation to be possible. Helio would spend the next three years to further condemn any potential threats to Holograd’s imminent invasion as fairies.
The Fire of Belief[]
When the party arrives to Rimedhal, Helio and Gladys introduce themselves to the party after their recent meeting with Domenic. Helio apologizes for Gladys's treatment towards the party and seemingly wishes them the best of luck in their future travels, however behind the scenes, he agrees with Domenic that Seth and his friends pose a threat to their control over the city, and he resolves to find a legitimate excuse to dispose of them.
Helio accuses the party of being fairies.
After Helio has Margeret, the daughter of Father Rhydion, falsely executed into the Jaws of Judgment, he follows the party into the canyon with Gladys. Adelle speaks up against Helio, condemning the Orthodoxy for their actions, giving Helio the opportunity to brand the party as fairies. Helio and Gladys clash with the party, but are defeated, losing their asterisks in the process. No longer having the ability to fight against the group, Helio retreats, using Gladys to cover his escape.
Helio takes the Fire Crystal from Domenic.
Helio later resurfaces after Domenic is defeated by the Heroes, murdering the elderly man and revealing his ties to Holograd as he escapes with the Fire Crystal when the Holograders attack Rimedhal.
During Rimedhal's counter-offensive against Holograd, Helio appears before a fatally wounded Gladys, telling her the truth that he had her parents killed. A enraged Gladys knocks Helio to the ground, causing him to lose the Crystal in the process. While trying to make an escape and lamenting how much harder the task of carrying out to invasion was than Adam had said it would be, Helio ends up being among the Holograders incinerated by Gwydion.
Gameplay[]
As a Spiritmaster, Helio serves a supportive role in battle alongside Gladys, using various gradual healing spells, including Regeneration and Healara’s Blessing, an exclusive variation of Healthbringer, while also attacking with the light magic spell Banishra.
When fought in the Halls of Tribulation alongside Martha and Domenic, Helio uses mostly the same strategy, but now using Holy for light magic damage, supporting his team with Reraise, additionally using Bravebringer to regenerate his team’s BP, and auto-reviving once when KOd.
Behind the scenes[]
Concepts for Helio by Naoki Ikushima.
Helio was designed by Naoki Ikushima. Due Rimedhal shifting between Japanese and European Medieval influences during the game's development, Helio's character design was changed to reflect those thematic choices.
The most notable change during the process was when Rimedhal was more heavily based on the medieval period. During this time, his job was listed as Taoist Priest (道士, Dōshi?), likely a play on the Japanese name of the Spiritmaster job, (導師, Dōshi?, lit. High Priest), which is a high priest in the Buddhist faith. Despite the name, his garbs were more heavily inspired by Catholic clergymen robes and also wielded a staff with heraldic flag banners.
Later in development, his final design resembled a mixture of both Eastern and European religious influences, and his job was changed to Spiritmaster. [1]
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
"Helio" is likely derived from "Helios", who was the ancient Greek god of the sun and the sister of Selene, the moon goddess.[2]
References[]
- ↑ Bravely Default II Design Works The Art of Bravely 201X - 2021, p. 48, p. 50.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios