Lin, the Dragon of Duality is the protagonist of ULTIMATE. A Nephillim who was separated from his family at a young age, Lin got through life within a gang known as the Tenjokai, up until the death of his leader, the Patriarch. To find out the culprit behind both his family and Patriarch’s murders, he joined the Devil Hunters. In his journey, he reunites with his uncle, Levita, who is revealed to be the culprit as well as a Nephillim working together with the Lux Order in his plan to rebuild the Autochronos. From then on, Lin would dedicate himself to the eradication of demons, investigation of the Lux Order, and plans to reunite with his sister, Yu Mei.
– Personality –
Like a storm, Lin slides his way into any room with his laidback and can-do attitude. He taunts his enemies, flipping the tone of the room to his favor, and enjoys taking any opportunity to be a showoff. His hot-blooded nature makes him enjoy the fights he gets into, provoking the strongest and drawing attention to him. Being known for his manic and aggressive fighting style that easily tears through his opponent, earning him his dragon title. Lin commonly speaks in English phrases and yakuza terms as a result of his gang experience, titling his comrades as “Brothers”, and shouting out declarations such as “Let’s go guns blazing!” He’s brash, stylish, and emotionally blunt, mixing street swagger with poetic conviction. Lin’s sharp aesthetic intuition lets him find joy in the little things to lead into bigger results. Being intensely alive when in motion due to how he enjoys to be challenged with new things that go beyond his comfort.
Though he wears his bravado like armor, Lin guards his heart when it comes to those he truly loves. He can’t bear the feeling of letting those around him be endangered with his past. Stemming from how he never wants to feel helpless again. Deep down, Lin is searching for a purpose that isn’t inherited and wants to live by peaceful standards that everyone can share. He distrusts institutions and teachings (Such as getting itchy or dismissing it with bored sarcasm, seeing through people’s posturing), doing whatever he pleases. In turn, this gives him a very lackadaisical lifestyle, living unstructured and irresponsible, as he feels his near-immortality means he shouldn’t care in the same affairs ordinary people have.
Lin intentionally limits himself in combat, fearing who he is when he wins too easily. Suppressing tears and memories by throwing himself into action. Despite his great strength, Lin views it as a curse, as it is the same power that has drawn attention towards his family’s murder. He fears being nothing more than a tool to other’s suffering, struggling to reconcile free will vs. fate and believes he’s cursed to always react. His guilt over the Patriarch and his mother haunts him with the belief that he fails the people he loves. Yet no matter how distant he acts, Lin never leaves someone behind, believing in loyalty to the few along the way, rather than loyalty to a system.
Lin’s central motivation is paving the way for himself and others along the way to choose the person they want to be. Whether if prophecies, fate, or any outcomes seem inevitable, the important thing in Lin’s eyes is whether people choose it. He rejects succumbing to absolutism due to how it often reduces people to a single role, as people constantly change around him, making the idea of one, certain future to be inherently flawed to him. Valuing his inner circle, Lin rejects the idea of fate in exchange of creating his own meaning through the people that surrounds him.
– History – Past –
Lin and his sister Yu Mei were born as a pair of Nephillim hybrids destined to be the inheritor of their family’s legacy, serving as descendants of generational cross-breeding. Lin’s father, Longwang would always attempt to persuade him into this direction through stories of the man who carried their Espada relic, the Autochronos and how he encountered him when he was little. His mother was in contact with angelic beings that were part of the Lux Order’s hierarchy as a result of a forbidden pact between humans and angels that led to abominable results. After those results, Lin’s mother was amongst many that were guided to simply slay demonic beings after she conducted the mana of angelic beings from her birth. She wasn’t very well treated by Longwang, who was often dismissive if she got in the way of how he was raising their child. Thus she interacted more with his brother, Levita. Who was more vocal about how he felt with the methods of Longwang.
Levita had always resented Longwang for allowing Lin to reject his inherited role in life, believing Lin should choose the fate he’s meant for. Levita secretly contacted those from above, and offered them a deal involving their plan of great re-enlightenment. He would help them infiltrate and destroy his brother’s village, in exchange for a safe place for him and Lin’s mother. He hoped that by doing this, he could save Lin from his father’s influence and give him a chance to choose his own destiny. He did not care about the consequences of betraying his own kind, as he saw them as corrupted and doomed by their demonic heritage. He waited for the right moment to strike, when his brother was away on a mission and Lin was left alone in the village. He led a group of blessed agents to the village gate, pretending to be a friendly visitor. He then signaled them to attack, unleashing a massacre on the unsuspecting villagers. Lin was abruptly awoken from his sleep by his mother, who urgently attempted to escort him away from the village for his safety. While a fight breaks out from the back, eventually going to the extreme which causes debris to fall over Lin’s mother. Lin’s confidence sank when he tried to help his mother to get back on her feet. Until he was told by her to simply run away and never look back before she is eventually caught in a devastating blast that pushes Lin away while he runs with tears across his eyes.
After witnessing his father’s village being destroyed, Lin was filled with rage and confusion. He had always been taught to fight against demonic beings, but now it seemed like the angelic beings were just as monstrous. With nowhere else to turn, Lin sought refuge with a group of orphans who had banded together for the sake of survival. They were led by a man known as Patriarch, who had taken in the children and trained them to become skilled thieves and con artists. Lin quickly proved himself to be a valuable member of the group, using his cursed blood to enhance his abilities and his cunning mind to come up with elaborate plans. However, he couldn’t shake off his past and the guilt of not being able to protect his village. This guilt manifested in his constant desire for revenge.
Patriarch saw potential in Lin and decided to train him further in combat, teaching him how to wield weapons and hone his demon powers to their fullest potential. Through his training, Lin discovered that his hybrid abilities. He vowed to use this power to take down the Lux Order and avenge his fallen village. As he grew older, Lin became more and more involved with the criminal underworld, rising through the ranks within Patriarch’s gang. He also began to learn more about the world of demon hunters and their struggle against otherworldly mutants. He saw this as an opportunity to fulfill his desire for revenge and work towards a greater cause.
But as he delved deeper into the world of Devil Hunters, he found himself torn between his loyalty to Patriarch and his newfound loyalty to his fellow hunters. He constantly struggled with his heritage. It was a constant battle within himself, but Lin knew that he had to find a way to control it if he wanted to succeed in his mission. But yet, during the events of World War X. Lin slipped into a dimensional crack of a leyline and was converged toward a “parallel time” Inhabited with life that had similar genetic structure to him yet completely different anatomy that seemed impure. Living on the anchor point known as Itea Eroemil, where Lin finds the crusader that will rid the world of it’s illness.
– Abilities (Neo-Gen) –
Lin is a humanoid (Nephillim) combining abilities of a half-demon and a half-angel, born from the union between Longwang and Tien Chichi, creating an immensely powerful superhuman. Lin’s power takes the form of a fire-like aura, often colored white, augmenting his physical attacks by converting his bodyparts, causing a fire-like impact that scorches opponents on hit. By gradually dealing more damage on opponents without interruption, Lin’s fire becomes more intense, and can be spent on charged maneuvers, where he unleashes explosive bursts of energy to demolish crowds.
With his Angelic abilities, Lin possesses immense speed, capable of dashing so quickly it appears as teleportation. He can leap to great heights, run up walls, and execute aerial acrobatics with minimal exhaustion. His heightened perception grants him near-instant reflexes, allowing him to dodge, and intercept attacks with precision. Bodyparts can be converted into spectral forms, allowing Lin to partially phase his limbs or entire body during evasion, bypassing physical defenses and extending attack range through intangible limb projection.
With his Demonic abilities, Lin wields immense physical strength, allowing him to overpower others with precision and deliver devastating strikes. Each strike often leaves residual shockwaves or impact distortions, shaking up the environment around him and sweeping nearby enemies. His body possesses extreme durability, enduring severe damage while healing serious wounds through rapid cellular regeneration.
- With Luan Dou, Lin can project a green, spherical shield of wind around his body. Protecting him from every manner of attack. Upon countering enemies, Lin blows them away with a gust of repulsion
Lin is able to channel angelic or demonic energies into his weapons, altering their properties. When channeling energy into his fire arm, Lin can release charged shots, varying between rapid piercing beams, explosive high-impact blasts, and long-reaching orbs that stun enemies with constant damage. Lin can fuse his angelic and demonic powers to enter a brief dragonic form known as Ultimatrigger: Alpha, which amplifies his capabilities. Lin manifests two spectral wings (one angelic, one demonic), enabling flight and full aerial mobility. Speed and strength both drasticall increase, and regeneration accelerates.
– Weapons –
Liberty (Pyro): Liberty is Lin’s signature weapon, a gas-powered chainsaw sword. Running through Liberty’s motor is a reinforced nitrogen circulation system. Whenever the engine accelerates, pressurized nitrogen is routed through cooling rails across the blade. Around the blade are sets of chains lined with serrated teeth forged from a plutonium-infused alloy, with each one being engineered to destabilize organic tissue upon impact. Rather than simply cutting flesh, Liberty tears through cellular structures and leaves behind microscopic radioactive fractures that continue degrading damaged tissue after the strike lands.
Along the sword’s spine is a nitrogen-containing motor that stabilizes internal temperature, preventing structural failure while When revved, fuel is injected along the chain and ignited by sparks generated from high-speed rotation, producing a continuous flaming edge. Simultaneously, the chain vibrates at high frequencies, converting kinetic energy into extreme heat that allows the blade to melt and tear through material.
Fuel is continuously channeled into microchannels along the blade’s frame. As the chain accelerates, friction-generated sparks ignite the fuel stream. The faster the chain spins, the more violent combustion becomes. At it’s peak output, Liberty’s blade opens up at the middle, as the sword lights up brightly with heat streaming from the exhausts. Entering a state known as Hype-fryer, where heat constantly streams from the exhausts and parts of the injection system, glowing into a bright, red heat.
Ming and Qing: A pair of semi-automatic SMGs, designed to rapidly fire at enemies with a mixture of angelic (Attributed to Ming) and demonic (Attributed to Qing) power. Ming is used for long-ranged targeting, and Qing is used for rapid firing and fast draw times. When charged, these guns fire a golden shot (Rich Shot) that bounces between enemies, building up speed to escalate it’s damage.
Tibetan: A wolf-themed, powerful double-barrel shotgun that boasts great power in exchange for it’s lack of decent speed. It contains water in a pressurized chamber. When fired, it injects water into a freezing nozzle, instantly freezing the water into solid ice slugs that fractures on hit, causing immense damage on hit. Releasing buckshots that hit a wide area, making it an ideal weapon for crowd control.
Detonator: A revolver that fires darts that attach to targets, being able to detonate them manually. It’s signature feature is the Roulette Shot, where Lin spins it’s revolver to cycle between a variety of darts that he can land on for risk/reward effects.
– Angel Weapons –
Lin uses a set of weapons attributed to his Angelic and Demonic abilities. His Angel Arms (Signified by a blue glow) are commonly fast, but have little damage, while his Devil Arms (Signified by a red glow) boast great damage, but are slower than average.
Uriel (Electro): A long-ranged, barbed spear that’s divided into three segments. These segments can split into a set of nunchucks that electrifies enemies on hit, or a hook that pulls enemies in from far distances. The segments are connected by a magnetic ring, holding them together and allowing them to shift form seamlessly. It is fast, but has little damage, making it a complimentary asset to Liberty and Shin Guandao.
Feng Teng (Lumino / Erebo): A set of twin shurikens with curved edges, combining light and darkness. It’s most notable features are being able to switch between two stances whenever Lin throws either shuriken, giving him a set of passive effects. When Lin is using his light shuriken, he gains guard-breaking damage. When Lin is using his dark shuriken, he sweeps enemies with each attack and gains more Climax with each hit. The shuriken throws serve as mid-ranged projectiles that stun enemies, or push them away from Lin.
– Demon Weapons –
Shin Guandao (Geo): A sharp, crystal-infused guandao. The guandao’s blade can bend, forming a scythe. It is far slower than Uriel, but packs massive damage, being a great asset for juggling enemies. The scythe leaves red trails, sweeping enemies with curved cuts and can be thrown for explosive impacts, demolishing crowds.
Luan Dou (Aero): A set of wind-powered, animalistic gauntlets and grieves. Having a set of claws and beast-styled head, with fangs and a mane. It’s fangs serve as the claws for the fists, and the grieves are clawed legs. It is Lin’s power-based weapon, where he can charge each attack for immense damage. However, it is not merely for offense, as Lin can guard himself to absorb damage from enemy attacks. When in use, Luan Dou leaves wind trails and small explosions upon impact. At higher charge levels, it is accompanied by large, spectral claws when attacking.
– Trivia –
Lin’s concept was inspired by not only Dante and Nero from Devil May Cry, but elements of Dante’s reboot counterpart, who is commonly referred to as “Donte”.
Lin’s appearance in his 2018 design was drastically different compared to his current one. Sporting black sclera and a bowler hat.
Lin was once meant to have a prosthetic arm of Plutonium after his village was attacked. This was inspired by Nero from Devil May Cry. Hype-fryer was also inspired by Nero’s Red Queen, along with how the Devil Breaker, Tomboy, buffs Red Queen’s moveset.
In a scrapped plot, Lin was going to be pursuing the god Hades who was wrongfully thought to be a culprit to him. This was scrapped due to how it would’ve come off as cliche despite a twist being set up.
Before Lin had his Ultimatrigger designed, he was planned to have extra forms known as Out of Hell and Solar Lin. Out of Hell would’ve been acquired through claiming the “Hell Head” of a Cerberus in the same vein as Alean’s Stardust form. While Solar Lin was meant to be a counter to the Lunar form of an antagonist known as “The Nightmare”
In addition to his forms, he was eventually going to fuse with the old incarnation of Elpis against an antagonist known as “Extinction” Though details about this fusion are unknown besides it being named Omega.
Feng Teng was originally going to be able to combine to form a greatsword
Various conventions surrounding Lin and his equipment have aspects of Chinese history and mythology;
- Aspects of Lin’s personality being balanced is a nod to the Yin and Yang philosophy. Such as being relaxed and active, calm and excited, etc.
- Though not of Chinese origin, Uriel is named after the angel of the same name. This is due to how Uriel is thought to be with the great affinity of electricity and “sparks” the mind with new ideas.
- Shin Guandao was named after the polearm of the same name. It was almost going to be named Dragon’s Tail or Wei Xiu in reference to the Chinese constellation.Feng Teng are named after the Chinese gods Fengbo and Tengliu. It was originally meant to bend wind and ice.
- Luan Dou is a way of saying “brawl” It was originally meant to bend earth.
- Ming and Qing respectively mean “bright” and “passion”
- Tibetan’s Bite was originally named Fenrir’s Bite, named after the wolf of Norse mythology who bit off the hand of Tyr.
– Gallery –
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