"Dinner is... not supposed to... TALK..."
—Stratos, Azure Striker Gunvolt
Stratos, "The Gluttonous Fly", also known in Japan as "The Gluttony Fly", Stratos (喰り尽く翅蟲（グラトニーフライ）ストラトス, guratonii furai Sutoratosu; Gluttony Fly translating to "Devouring Flying Insect") is a Sumeragi prisoner, later one of The Sumeragi Seven, a group of Adepts whom serve under Nova, and one of the antagonists of Azure Striker Gunvolt.
Once a handsome and popular man, he was captured by Sumeragi and experimented on repeatedly. The constant experiments caused his Septima to grow so unstable that his Glaive alone cannot contain his powers and he relies on a highly addictive, experimental drug called S.E.E.D.
The experiments have also taken a heavy toll on his mental state, reducing him to a feral creature whose only instinct is to devour all in sight and sate his constant hunger. He has an affinity for The Fly Septima, which allows him to transform his body into insect-shaped energy particles that can break down and consume all kinds of matter.
English Website Description
Stratos is an adept being held prisoner by Sumeragi whose septimal power, known as the "Fly," allows him to transform his flesh into insect-shaped particles of energy that can break down matter and incorporate it into his body.
However, repeated experimentation has caused his septimal power to grow out of control, to the point which his Glaive alone cannot contain his powers. The only thing keeping him in control now is a special drug called S.E.E.D., which is extracted from an experimental and highly dangerous plant specimen.
Before being captured by Sumeragi, Stratos was a handsome, popular young man. Now, not a single trace of the man he once was remains.
The Glaive which holds his septimal power is known as the "Lizardslayer." [1]
Appearance
Stratos is a teenager with shoulder length, messy green hair, red eyes, and extremely pale skin. He wears a tattered white shirt, a black Sumeragi officer's jacket tied around his waist, black trousers, and brown boots. His forearms and palms are also heavily wrapped in bandages.
In his Weaponized form, Stratos's appearance changes dramatically. His body appears to be made of bright yellow flames, possibly plasma. He wears black and white armour on his hands, chest, feet, thighs and groin. His hands are overly large with three digits and a thumb on both. Above him floats a black and grey shell comprised of three parts that vaguely resembles an insect head, with the two parts on the side each having one massive yellow "eye".
Personality
Stratos's original personality is largely unknown. It is known he was very popular and attractive. After being captured by Sumeragi, his personality changed drastically. Representing the sin gluttony, repeated experiments have driven Stratos to insanity, to the point where Gunvolt and Moniqa actually feel pity for him.
As a side effect of the multiple experiments he's endured, Stratos suffers from a constant, agonizing hunger, which only twists his already broken mind even further. His mental state has deteriorated to such a degree that he can barely control his powers any more, even with a glaive, and operates mostly on pure instinct.
Plot Role
Originally, Stratos was an attractive, popular young man, before being approached by Sumeragi. Presumably, he refused to cooperate, and he was captured and subjected to numerous experiments. Though the tests greatly advanced adept research, it came at a cost of both Stratos's mental health and self control.
His powers reached the point to where his glaive alone could not control his Septima, and he became reliant on a drug known as S.E.E.D. to keep his abilities and never-ending hunger in check.
Azure Striker Gunvolt
Pharma Lab (Garden)
In order to stop S.E.E.D. production, QUILL sends Gunvolt (guided over commlink by Monique) to the Pharma Lab to destroy the flower responsible for the drug. Gunvolt is able to succeed in his mission, but Stratos, with nothing to control him, breaks free.
After killing and devouring his captors, he sends swarms of insects to attack Gunvolt, who is attempting to escape the lab. However, just before the exist, he comes across Stratos, who notices the smell the flower left on Gunvolt, and is instantly attracted to it. Gunvolt asks if he is the adept controlling the insect hoard, but Stratos merely says dinner shouldn't talk, before he begins moaning about the hunger pains. Transforming using his Glaive, Stratos declares Gunvolt his next meal and attacks him.
As the battle rages, Gunvolt wonders if Stratos is brainwashed, whilst the former obsesses over Gunvolt's smell, complaining of his eternal hunger. Monique observes he can turn his body in flies and reform into different shapes. Gunvolt notes how the flies devour everything in sight, and expresses sympathy for Stratos's plight. Monique says she feels the same, but that they can't do anything for him now. Noticing Gunvolt's chatter, Stratos reminds him that dinner shouldn't talk. He then once more begins moaning of his hunger, and starts begging Gunvolt to just having a nibble, soon resorting to screaming for help. Horrified, Gunvolt eventually manages to defeat and kill Stratos, ending his pain, and leaving the lab.
Babel (Stratosphere)
At some point in time after his demise, Stratos is resurrected by Sumeragi's necromancer, Elise, and transferred to the command of Sumeragi lieutenant Nova (though whether or not Stratos himself was aware of this is debatable). He, along with Nova's other resurrected Adepts, await Gunvolt as the last defence between him, and Nova and The Muse.
As anticipated, Gunvolt ascends an Earth-to-space elevator (after killing Merak) to Sumeragi's orbital space station, Firmament, to finally topple Sumeragi. As he rides the elevator, Stratos, Jota and Viper attack him one by one in an effort to destroy him.
Soon after Gunvolt loses a signal and is unable to communicate with his allies, Elise beams Stratos in, who mocks Gunvolt's determination by saying he will eat him there and now.
Gunvolt is shocked at the beam of light that Stratos arrived in, but the crazed Adept tells him he shouldn't focus on it, informing him that he was brought to life, and is now even more ravenous. He goes in to state that because of Gunvolt, he is now living in his own Hell, and demands Gunvolt satisfy is needs, cackling madly. Seeing his pain, Gunvolt swears to put him down for good.
Eventually, Gunvolt makes good on his word and sends Stratos once more to death, as Jota steps in.
Azure Striker Gunvolt: The Anime
Stratos appears at the end of the OVA as a silhouette surrounding Gunvolt alongside Nova's other Adepts (minus Merak).
Justice Rage
Stratos is mentioned by Nova as an example of some of Sumeragi's more unnecessary and grievous actions, though Jota writes off his suffering as worth the results it yielded.Other Appearances
Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
Stratos appears as a DLC boss in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, featuring revamped attacks. He appears on the Prism Highway.
Mighty Gunvolt
Stratos is a boss in Mighty Gunvolt, featuring similar attacks to the original game.
Mighty Gunvolt Burst
Stratos appears as a collectable pixel sticker that is randomly dropped from an enemy.
Powers and Abilities
As a human attuned to the Septimal stage of the Lifewave, Stratos is a powerful Adept who can harness the power of The Fly Septima, which, true to its name, allows him to transform his body into fly-shaped energy particles that can break down and absorb virtually all types of matter. The energy flies have no sense of friend or foe and will indiscriminately consume all in sight.
In his armored form, Stratos can disassemble and reassemble at will and can change into various shapes. However, due to Stratos' primal nature, the forms he takes are quite simplistic, often being large mouths. Stratos can burrow underground to catch opponents off guard. He can also create eggs that spawn large insects and can use the halves of his mantle to generate swarms of flies to overwhelm opponents.
Unlike other Swordsmen, who are require permission from Sumeragi to so much as summon a Glaive, Stratos is implied to have a certain control over his, possibly due to his warped powers, which only adds to the number of concerns surrounding Glaives as a safety device.
Skills
Devouring Charge
マッドネスイーター、Madness Eater
Stratos' standard attack. He transforms into a giant chomping mouth and charges from one end of the screen to the other.
- Stratos always charges from the side of the screen that is farther from Gunvolt.
- Beginning at battle phase two, Stratos summons a slow-moving swarm of insects to fly across the screen before he charges at Gunvolt; the insects can be dispersed with the Flashfield.
Insect Spawn
サーベイジミニオンズ、Savage Minions
Stratos' standard attack. Stratos jumps to the center of the top of the screen and tosses two eggs on the right and left sides of the arena; he disappears shortly after. Each egg hatches to spawn two insects that fly toward Gunvolt similar.
- The eggs and the insects can be tagged and electrocuted to destruction with the Flashfield.
Pincer Ball
デュアルタイラント、Dual Tyrant
Stratos begins using this attack at battle phase two. Stratos splits into two halves of a mouth at the upper corners of the screen. The two halves then begin unleashing a lateral stream of insects as they move downward. They briefly stop at the surface of the arena before colliding into each other to form a ball. The ball then performs three crushing jumps towards Gunvolt.
- The insect stream can be dispersed with the Flashfield.
- Stratos' defense increases while he is using this attack.
Antlion Fangs
タワーリングラトニー、Towering Gluttony
Stratos burrows underground. The halves of his mantle will rise up from the ground and sweep a certain distance trying to hit Gunvolt. Then the halves will both pop up at once and clamp the space between them.
Nemesis Fang
デスティニーファング、Destiny Fang
"Like a dire swarm / Echo loathsome chewing sounds / A hunger without end! Nemesis Fang!"
Stratos' special attack, only performed when on the last third of his health. He gathers flies with the halves of his mantle while shooting energy orbs at Gunvolt. If Gunvolt does not destroy at least one of the halves or kill Stratos in time, he will crush Gunvolt with both mantles and the insects devour him, resulting in instant death.
Quotes
"I'm so... hungry... I'm gonna feast on your delicious meat..."
—Stratos
, breaking free
"... There's a nice smell coming from you... I want it... Kweehehehehee!!"
—Stratos
, facing Gunvolt
"That stench on you... It's exquisite. My stomach has been rumbling for so long... It's driving me crazy... I can't stand it..."
—Stratos
, fighting Gunvolt
"What... are you talking about there, hah? I already told you... DINNER ISN'T SUPPOSED TO TALK... YOUR TABLE MANNERS ARE SO POOR... HEEHEEEE! Maaan... I'm starving... C'mon... let me eaaat you... even just a nibble is fine... someone... someone... someone please... MAKE THE HUNGER STOOOP!!!"
—Stratos
, lamenting his hunger
"That's too bad... Sorry, but I can't allow that..."
—Stratos
, revealing himself
"Because I'm gonna eat you up, right here and now..."
—Stratos
, before the rematch
"You really shouldn't be worried shouldn't be worried about that, you know... Because, I... was just brought back to life... and I'm hungry... so hungry... Ah, it can't be helped.... Because of you, I'm living in my own personal Hell... Now, satisfy my hunger!! Kweeheh...! KWEEHEEHEEHEEHEEE!!!
—Stratos
, during his rematch
Designer Comments
This game depends on a very important factor, “teen mindset”, so the bandages that Stratos is wrapping around his arms surely aren’t effective items. I think that anyone has a period (in life) in which they feel that meaninglessly wrapped bandages feel cool. I had such a period myself. The post-transformation form uses a gluttony fly as a motif, and also has an image of a skull with a tightened crown. (Stratos’) slim and narrow main body, inside of the huge mouth, represents hunger that’s never satisfied no matter how much he eats.
(Hatakeyama Yoshitaka)
Trivia
- Stratos is the only adept who holds his Glaive pointing down before transformation.
- Stratos and Elise are the only known Swordsmen who aren't in the service of Nova at the beginning of the game.
- During battle, Stratos disappears from the screen in between his attacks. The only other boss to do the same is Jota.
- Stratos's past in experimentation is similar to Elise, Gunvolt and Nova.
- Despite the fact that Stratos is a prisoner, he wears the Sumeragi officer's uniform, albeit heavily damaged.
- The seven featured adept bosses are based off of the seven deadly sins and an animal based on it. Stratos represents gluttony and based on flies.
- Gunvolt calls Stratos "Lord of the Flies", a title associated with the demon Beelzebub, who is also known as the demon of gluttony.
- It's very possible his name was based on the Lancia Stratos, as all of Sumeragi's boss names also happen to be used in cars.
- Stratos is the only character in the series not to be featured on the official height chart, possibly due to his perpetually hunched back. Based on his weaponized form's sprite and by comparing it to others, it appears that when standing straight Stratos's height may be close to Carrera's, who stands at 200cm (6'6").
Japanese version
"Fill up... my hunger... will ya...!?"
—Stratos, official Japanese site
- Title: The Devouring Winged Insect (Gluttony Fly)
References
See also
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