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"Yeah yeah that's me, yup. Merak, The Mighty Super Genius Commanding Officer."
Merak, Azure Striker Gunvolt


Merak, "The Slothful Conjurer", also known in Japan as "Sloth Horror", Merak [1] (怠惰なる亜空孔 (スロースホーラー) メラク, Suroosu hooraa, Meraku; Sloth Horror translating to "Lazy Subspace Hole") is a member of The Sumeragi Seven, a group of Adepts whom serve under Nova, and an antagonist in Azure Striker Gunvolt.

A brilliant genius despite his young age and extreme apathy, he was personally recruited by Nova and serves as a commander of Sumeragi's private army. He has an affinity for the Wormhole Septima, which allowed him to create portals in the fabric of space.

English Website Description

Merak is a young Adept who commands Sumeragi’s formidable private army. His Septimal power is known as the "Wormhole," which gives him the ability to create holes in the fabric of space itself.

While Merak has an extremely sharp mind, and is seen as an invaluable resource by Nova, he is also extremely lazy, apathetic, and unmotivated. In combat, Merak cannot even be bothered to stand on his own two feet, which is fine for him since he sits in a floating armored chair.

The Glaive which holds his Septimal power is known as the "Unwavering Spirit."

Appearance

Merak is a young teenage boy with blue eyes and somewhat spiky, sand-brown hair, with his bangs swept over his right eye. He wears the standard Sumeragi officers uniform, with the jacket unbuttoned, the shirt untucked, and white and black shoes with light blue soles. He also wears a pair of blue headphones.

In his Weaponized form, Merak gains black eyes with blue irises, and his hair turns a bright blue, with dark blue horn-like appendages attached to his head. He wears dark blue armour with glowing light blue highlights, and white gloves. He is usually seen sitting in a matching hovering throne with large mechanical arms.

Personality

Representing the sin sloth, Merak is described as a brilliant strategist and an incredible genius. However, he is extremely unmotivated and lazy (he defines his supreme goal as "I don't want to work."), to the point where he can't even be bothered to stand on his own two feet during fights.

He appears to be fond of playing video games, something he mentions he would much rather spend his time doing, and has a tendency to use gaming slang.

Merak is incredibly apathetic and seems to have no regard for human life, once flooding his base in an attempt to kill Gunvolt, not caring that his own soldiers would drown as well. He is said to have the capability to make drastic decisions, yet he himself admits his plan to drown Gunvolt was something he thought of at random.

Despite his lazy attitude, he is capable of coming up with genuinely good plans when he puts in the effort, though this is often to get a reward out of Nova. Merak is also privy to the occasional display of emotion, showing genuine excitement in outsmarting Teseo, and is somewhat prone to sarcasm, introducing himself with a slew of grand adjectives. He also appears to have a slight ego, acknowledging himself as a genius, revealing a somewhat prideful side. Merak is also quick to lose his temper if things don't go his way.

Compared to other Sumeragi Adepts with more complex, eccentric personalities, Merak has a calmer, more rational mindset which makes him one of Nova's favourites among his Swordsmen.

Plot Role 

In his early life, Merak was frequently picked on by other children due to his incredibly high intelligence and his Septima, resulting in him often skipping school. One time he did this, he was scouted by Sumeragi Lieutenant Nova Tsukuyomi, and joined the group.

Azure Striker Gunvolt

Subaquatic Base (Abyss)

At the beginning of the story, the protagonist Gunvolt frees Lumen from her forced role as Sumeragi's sonar in their project to locate and capture adepts throughout the world.

Later, QUILL sends Gunvolt to investigate Sumeragi's underwater base, which Merak is in charge of, in order to investigate the possibility of an armed submarine being built. As Gunvolt makes his way through the base, guided by Moniqa, Merak uses wormholes in an attempt to distort him. At one point, he floods the base in an attempt to drown him, however, the soldiers seal the valve to prevent themselves from drowning. Eventually, he is forced to take Gunvolt directly to himself.

Annoyed that Gunvolt didn't die, Merak groans and assumes he has to fight him. Gunvolt asks if he's the commanding officer, which Merak confirms in a heavily sarcastic manner. Wanting to go home and play MMORPGs, Merak transforms using his Glaive and attacks.

During the fight, Moniqa and Gunvolt assume Merak is messing with them, but he reveals he's not even trying, explaining that, as a genius, hates doing anything himself. When asked why he doesn't just stay home, Merak says he only works because he needs to buy food. However, he mentions that if he defeats Gunvolt, he gets three years paid vacation, so he created a plan to lure Gunvolt to his base, which, however, was interrupted when his soldiers drained the water, much to his annoyance. Shocked by Merak's apathy, Gunvolt eventually beats and kills the Slothful Conjurer.

Capturing the Muse

At some point after his death, Merak is resurrected on Nova's orders by Sumeragi's necromancer Elise alongside Sumeragi's other adepts. On his superior's orders, Merak goes to Gunvolt's apartment, where Sumeragi has located Joule, warping in just as GV is coming home from a mission. Gunvolt is, obviously, shocked to see Merak alive, which bugs the latter. Not wanting to deal with Gunvolt, Merak snatches Joule and takes her to Firmament, lamenting on the inconvenience.

However, Gunvolt pursues Merak, and quickly catches up with him, demanding he free Joule. Annoyed at Gunvolt's persistence, Merak reluctantly uses his septima to fall back to Firmament, letting Gunvolt face a 9th generation Sumeragi tank.

Eridu (Streak)

Almost immediately after, Gunvolt and Asimov launch an attack on Sumeragi's orbital elevator Babel, with Gunvolt attacking head-on, eventually coming face to face with Merak once again, who is guarding the entrance. Gunvolt demands to know where Joule is, with Merak responding that she's on Firmament. Merak then mentions that Nova told him to stop GV should he show, and, given Nova revived him, attacks Gunvolt to pay his leader back.

Gunvolt is intrigued by Merak's revival, something Merak makes as obvious, given his death, but doesn't tell him how it happened, calling it a company secret. Gunvolt notes Merak is still the same, and swears to never forgive him for taking Joule. Mocking Gunvolt by pretending to be scared, Merak groans about the work he's to do, and finishes the conversation, tiring of Gunvolt.

Eventually, Merak is beaten once more, sent to eternal rest for good.

Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime

Merak stars as the OVA's main antagonist. He first appears with Romeo watching over The Muse, when the latter asks if he thinks Sumeragi is overreacting. Merak states that he just does what Sumeragi tells him to do. Romeo says that they do take good care of Merak, saying he is just as cute as him. Merak then leaves, telling him to figure it out before Nova arrives.

He later appears when Gunvolt finds Joule, complaining that he picked Merak's battle route. He introduces himself, before telling Gunvolt that as they need Joule intact, they should fight outside.

Once on top of the train, Merak transforms with his Glaive, and attacks Gunvolt, who asks if he ever felt pity for Joule. Groaning about Gunvolt's hero cliché, Merak responds with more attacking, only to be interrupted by someone firing lasers, though Merak quickly ignores them.

Gunvolt asks what he's fighting for, but Merak just says he only works for money to buy games, prompting Gunvolt to claim Joule has needs too. Merak, sick of the hero gimmick by now, performs Lazy Laser, becoming increasingly frustrated as Gunvolt dodges his attacks. However, Gunvolt is then empowered by Joule, with Merak in despair over his "cheating". The Sumeragi Adept then watches dumbstruck as Gunvolt summons a massive sword of lighting, before cleaving Merak in half, killing him.

Armed Blue Gunvolt

During the Drama CD, Merak warns Nova about an email that he found in the Japan Ministry of Defense mailbox and which was sent by Adept supremacist group known as "Eden": in there, they proclaim their intent to attack the UTU Media Tower and bring down the "Kamishiro" barrier. In response, Nova tells him to watch for any hackers, much to the Slothful Conjurer's great chagrin.

Later, while observing the fight between Jota and Gibril, Merak encounters Teseo, who tells him that he has nearly broken through the Media Tower's security programs. Merak uses his Wormhole Septima to teleport to the Media Tower's main computer, but Teseo has already broken through all the security programs and has locked him inside the room. Merak, however, turns the tables by telling him that he sent an email with a virus to Teseo's computer, much to Teseo's dismay.

Before the two could do anything more, they are interrupted by a surprise attack from QUILL. Teseo hurriedly claims credit for the attack and leaves. After the ordeal is over, Merak reports to Nova about QUILL.

Lazy Kingdom

After a long day at work, Merak looks on the Internet and hears a rumor about a Player Killer on the MMORPG September Record who can turn players to stone and come back from death.

While playing September Record with newcomer Elise, Merak encounters the Player Killer when one of Lumen's songs start playing. After unsuccessfully battling her, Merak correctly deduces that Elise is the Player Killer, having somehow managed to use her Septima in the game world and that she attacks whenever Lumen's songs play, as her song resonates and amplifies Septima.

With this knowledge, he sets a trap for Elise, distracting her avatar with a remote controlled avatar of his own while he goes to her house and captures her. Afterwards, he delivers her to Sumeragi.

Other Appearances

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2

Merak appears as a DLC boss for Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, featuring altered attacks. He appears in Sewers stage.

Mighty Gunvolt Burst

Merak appears as a collectible pixel sticker that can be obtained in the stage "Capitol Building".

Powers and Abilities

As a human attuned to the Septimal stage of the Lifewave, Merak is a powerful Adept who wields the Wormhole Septima, which, true to its name, allows him to create portals in the fabric of space and travel long distances in an instant. While this power is primarily used for transportation, Merak can also use it offensively as well, using it to teleport Gunvolt into traps filled with soldiers.

However, his power has a few drawbacks. Merak can only travel to places he has been before and where he can exist without danger: he can't travel to unknown places such as the inside of a wall where he might be in danger. Also, while he can use his wormholes as placement traps, it's not completely accurate.

Fitting his title and personality, Merak rarely fights on his own. Instead, he fights exclusively with a specialized hover chair. The chair is designed to be directed by Merak's thoughts, allowing him to control it as if it were an extension of his body. It is capable of hovering for months without a power supply and is outfitted with various weapons to fight. It can stretch its arms, fire missiles from its hands, and fire a powerful laser from the "mouth".

Merak can use the chair's weapons in conjunction with his wormholes to confuse his opponents such as punching through a wormhole and warping the space to make the fist bigger, firing missiles through one wormhole to attack from three wormholes, and for his Lazy Laser Special Skill, firing a laser through a wormhole and directing it with his powers.

Skills

Chair Punch

イスパンチ

Merak's standard attack. Merak floats closer to Gunvolt and extends his mechaniloid's arms in a straight punch towards Gunvolt. Merak can perform up to 5 punches and they can actively pursue Gunvolt if he is within close range in front of the mech. In Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, he can aim his punches upwards.

  • Merak will always initiate this attack at the start of his battle.
Ramming

イス突撃、Chair Assault

Merak's standard attack. Merak performs a ramming attack towards Gunvolt as a follow-up to his attacks. At the conclusion of this attack, he will reposition himself in the air at the right or left side of the screen, depending on whichever side is closer to him.

  • Merak will always perform a ramming attack at the start of his second or third phase if he's not in his usually position at either sides of the screen.
Wormhole Missiles

亜空孔イスミサイル・ワームホールイスミサイル、Subspace Hole Chair Missile / Wormhole Chair Missile

Merak's standard attack. Merak creates a wormhole in front of him as well as three wormholes along the top of the screen that initially track Gunvolt's location on-screen. Merak then fires missiles into the wormhole in front of him, which causes the three top-screen wormholes to spit out several missiles.

  • The missiles can be destroyed with the Flashfield.
  • Merak always fires two or three waves of missiles at a time. After each wave, Merak repositions the top-screen wormholes to track Gunvolt's location on-screen.
  • Gunvolt can shoot into the wormholes and the shots will land onto Merak.
Wormhole Punch

亜空孔パンチ・ワームホールパンチ、Subspace Hole Punch / Wormhole Punch

Merak begins using this attack at battle phase two. Merak creates a wormhole in front of him along with a second wormhole at an arbitrary location near the surface of the arena. His mechaniloid then performs a straight punch into the wormhole in front of him, which relocates the punch's trajectory at the surface of the arena. In Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, these punches may be relocated anywhere in the arena instead of just above the floor.

  • Merak may perform one to three punches at a time.
Giant Punch

亜空孔ビッグパンチ・ワームホールビッグパンチ、Subspace Hole Big Punch / Wormhole Big Punch

Merak begins using this attack at battle phase two. Merak creates a wormhole in front of him, and his mechaniloid performs a straight punch into the hole. A giant wormhole appears at either side of the screen and immediately spits out a magnification of the mechaniloid's punch; a second giant wormhole and punch appears on the other side of the screen. In Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, the giant wormholes may open near the top of the arena.

  • If Merak's mechaniloid punches into the initial wormhole with its right arm, then the giant wormhole appears on the right side of the screen; if it punches into the initial wormhole with its left arm, then the giant wormhole appears on the left side of the screen.
Lazylaser
Lazy Laser
Lazy Laser

レイジーレーザー

"Light whose fell pillars / Leave rifts in the wider world / And lead it toward ruin! Lazy Laser!"

Merak's special attack. Merak fires a giant laser into a wormhole that reappears at different locations and at different angles on-screen; the reappearances occur up to four times in succession and track Gunvolt's location.  In Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, the number of lasers is increased, and they are angled so they are harder to avoid.

  • Merak's defense increases while he is using this attack.[2]


Quotes

"Man, you haaad to come here, didn't you? Wish you would've just died. By the looks of you... I guess I'm gonna actually have to fight you, huh?"
Merak , facing Gunvolt

"Alrighty, let's do this thing. Niiice and easy now."
Merak , about to attack

"Not really... I'm just not trying. Waaay too much effort to go all out on you. Ya see, I'm a super genius. So I hate doing stuff myself."
Merak , fighting Gunvolt

"That would be super legit. But, no work means no food. Man, real life is the worst game ever. But this time around- If I pwn your sorry behind, I get a 3 year paid vacation. So I made this special plan... While my MMO's server was down. I even used my septima. That is totes a big deal, you know. But those worthless grunts just haaad to ruin everything. Those sons of glitches had no business draining that water. It's so weaksauce.
Merak , explaining his plan

"You just -had- to go there... Man, you're such a pain. Not that I owe you a reply... Ahem... I take it you're Lumen? Orders from the boss man... You're coming with me."
Merak , kidnapping Joule

"...You're a persistent bugger, man. I'm wiped, and I reaaally don't feel like breaking this out, but... Go go Septimal power..."
Merak , fleeing Gunvolt

"...She already has a cozy new home up on Firmament... Haaah... This sucks... Nova told me I had to stop you if you showed up. Nova brought me back to life, so I kinda owe the guy one, y'know?"
Merak , about to fight Gunvolt a second time


Designer Comments

I think that he (Merak) is a character that truly represents teen mindset by putting on headphones and making it unclear whether he’s listening to you, and by behaving like the world’s not big deal. The pre-transformation design uses a previously submitted (design) with some small fixes on it. Amongst all the other characters, bigger than the protagonist, he’s smaller than him (GV) and is in the “cute category” position. It’s hard to hit small characters so we used the gigantic seat to establish balance. Merak's motif is a lazy bear but the image of the demon Belphegor, sitting on a toilet, is more pronounced. Although he (Merak) uses a seat and not a toilet. The vertical long fluorescent parts on his arms and feet were added so you can tell he’s sitting cross-legged from a distance.

(Hatakeyama Yoshitaka)

Trivia

  • All of Merak's attacks were named by Merak himself, resulting in somewhat bland, random attack names.
  • Despite his stage being themed around the water element, Merak has no water elemental attacks.
  • Merak is one of two Swordsmen seen using his Septima without activating his Glaive, the other being Nova. However, he actually does use the Glaive in the first fight with him.
  • Merak plays a game called "Realms of Robocraft," which is likely a brand-name product knockoff of the MMO RPG "World of Warcraft." (This name only exists in the original English version of the game. In the Japanese and new English version, he only says he wants to play "a net game" but doesn't specify any.).
  • Merak has the most screen time out of all the Sumeragi adepts encountered in the game, appearing in three different stages (unlike the rest who appear in one or two).
  • The seven featured adept bosses are based on the seven deadly sins and an animal based on it. Merak represents Sloth and based on the Grizzly Bear (although Nova called him a dog as a joke).
    • Merak is also the name of one of the stars that form the Ursa Major constellation, that in latin means "Great Bear".
    • Merak was seen wearing a teddy bear suit in the Halloween Artwork.
    • Merak's Weaponized form bears resemblance to the demon Belphegor, which also represents the sin of sloth.
  • Merak is the youngest known member of Sumeragi at 13.
  • Merak unintentionally caused Elise's horrific experimentation, which resulted in her multiple personalities growing stronger, the death of many Sumeragi scientists, and the lose of an entire Sumeragi science facility, simply because he didn't report her to Nova, thinking that would have resulted in more work.
  • The names of Nova and The Sumeragi Seven are taken from luxury cars. Merak's name was derived from the Maserati Merak.
  • According to an official height chart, Merak is 150cm (4'11") tall, making him the shortest male character in the series.
  • His Lazy Laser attack draws similarities to the Granzone's "Worm Smasher" from Super Robot Wars Series. Both use attacks with lasers being shot out of random worm holes.
    • The fact that both use Worm Holes in their attacks could be an homage.
  • Merak was originally intended to be the opening boss and fought on the train in 1st Sumeragi. Although this concept was omitted from the game, it would eventually be used for the OVA.
  • An early concept of Merak had him wielding powers nearly identical to Asroc's, using strings or electric cords to control a robot to do battle for him.

Japanese version

"Yeah, yeah, that right. Genius Commander Lord Merak…That’s me, y’know?"

MerakJapanese Official Site

  • Title: The Lazy Subspace Hole (Sloth Horror)

References

See Also

Sumeragi
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