Simon

Despite what is insinuated in the Prologue, Simon is the main character of the game. A weary veteran of the war against the Incubus King, he has been trusted with guiding Ivala's Chosen when circumstances give him a chance to change the world, hopefully for the better.

Story
Simon appears as a secondary character in the very beginning of the game, when Kai, the latest Chosen of Ivala, arrives at the Withered Mountain and gets introduced to Simon by Altina, an elf mage also in the service of the Church. When trying to storm the mountain's fortress, the party is ambushed and captured by the elite succubus Riala, an old enemy of Simon's. Kai is killed and Altina is given to the fortress' orcs as a fuck-toy, but Simon manages to escape. Unbeknownst to him, Riala has managed to inoculate him with a Soul Shard, thus setting in motion the plot of the game.

As Simon is the protagonist, any further description of his involvement in the story would be equivalent of recapping the whole game.

Background
As the game progresses, more and more details about Simon's past are revealed.

When he was 15, the Incubus King's invasion started, so he is old enough to know that the things back then weren't much better. A somewhat idealistic person (at heart, at least) but with an eminently practical mind, he is determined to make a difference. To do that, he doesn't have any problems working with various organizations, although he does not always share their objectives.

Simon is a widowed middle-aged man with a past filled both with determination to do the right thing and regrets about his own failures, both real and imagined. He is a man with various intellectual interests, like theology and business.

He describes himself as an older soldier with many regrets:

As would happen with any other person, others see him differently. The queen of Ari-Yhilin, Janine says:

Riala remarks on some of his flaws, as she has known him for a while as an adversary:

Simon is a patient man, who puts very little value in the opinions of most people. He is also a very good listener, as even the Queen can attest.

As can be seen during his captivity in the Orgasmic Empire, he is also a survivor and has a great instinct of self-preservation. Another notable characteristic for his age is his remarkable willingness to learn new things in different subjects. In that sense, sometimes he feels more like a scholar than a warrior.

Personality
As a veteran soldier, Simon is noted to be world-weary and tired. Despite his atheistic beliefs he puts the trust of the defeat of the Incubus King in the hands of the Church of Ivala and it's Chosen. He is very patient and able to attempt to communicate with any who would offer the same no matter their race. However, in the first chapter he is shown to be somewhat depreciating of himself and was so even when he was younger, believing himself undeserving of Wendis' hand in marriage and happiness when other's were suffering at the hand of the Incubus King. He also suffers from Survivor's Guilt when he lost his wife in one of the after skirmishes during the war and blames himself for it, which Riala refutes.

When Riala finally calls him out on his indecisive nature nature, he admits to having it but only because he believes it takes more than just desire to change the world. However, as the story goes on he learns from various people that reactionary measures have their place but so do proactive, showing that despite his age he is willing to learn new things.

He is known for his fatherly attitude towards Qum, Nalili, and Robin; at least when not in bed with the first two, patiently teaching them on societal and political mores that are less than exhilarate. As soon as becoming the Doom King and acting in public as his own most trusted agent, Simon now takes a more proactive, if still careful approach to forming political ties for Yhilin.

Powers
Simon's possession of/by a soul shard gives him a number of supernatural powers, mostly centered on lust and domination. The extent of his abilities progresses along with the story as he gains additional power and further mastery of his skills.

Gameplay perspective
Simon is the only non-succubus character who has Sex Points (SP) in addition to Mana Points (MP). Unlike the succubi though his SP gain per turn is very low in the beginning of the game (it can be raised at several points of the plot). As with the succubi, SP are used by certain skills, but his starting array of lust-based skills is also lackluster and the first chance of expanding them is Simon's visit to the Orgasmic Empire.

Simon is also immune to lust-related status effects (Lust Mad, Lust Stun, Sexbind) and partially resistant to lust damage, though it's unclear if this is an effect of the shard or just of his training as a holy warrior.

Story perspective
Perhaps the most notable (and sinister) powers of Simon as a minor shardholder concern the ability to dominate the will of other sentient beings. This can manifest in a variety of ways.


 * A domination against Reval in Merchant's Camp.
 * A "Sleep" against raped humans in Castle.
 * Orc domination against Orcent, The Impaler and many rebellious orcs.
 * Reshaping or Dominating Altina and Varia.

In addition to the powers of corruption, Simon's shard apparently also grants him more mundane magic abilities. He is able to exert destructive forces against inanimate objects, such as ordering the gates of Stineford's Thaumaturgical Academy to "CRUMBLE!" and blasting his way out of the lower caves at Devil's Pass. He also puts in use some kind of shielding or telekinesis when he sends back Varia's bomb during their second encounter. When he has tried to blast a sizable number of objects in Eutrin, he had some minor (?) difficulties after, but nothing too serious apparently.

Starting equipment
Weapon: Simple Blade.
 * Swords
 * Axes
 * Daggers
 * Claws

Off-hand: Weathered Shield.
 * Shields

Headgear: Cracked Helm.
 * Helms

Bodygear: Worn Armor.
 * Armor

Accessory: Old Ribbon.
 * Common accessories

Tactics
Simon naturally has high defense(both physical and magic) and he's stuck in most/all battles. He actually has higher than average attack but since he's always around with Aka (who between high crit rate and naturally gain ATK faster than Simon), he doesn't shine until his own chapter.

His ability to equip different weapons and armor lets him modify his stats to suit the needs of the party (although this has relatively limited use for most of the game since he doesn't have any options to amp his MAG for instance).

All his "strikes" (including precise) can crit and therefore almost completely nullify his attack command since they're so cheap and have a status effect as well. Battlefield Medicine should only be used for healing status effects, it scales off MAG but is generally very weak throughout most of the game, consider amping AGI, by equipment of getting caches, to support this skill as the speed bonus for this skill is relatively low. Commanding Presence has a lower stun rate but works really well for mobs. When he gets his upgraded skills, he becomes an even stronger support fighter, with Unified Strike to land a number of status effects and a party wide reviving, status effect clearing healing skill.

Chendler - I use him for Stunning Strike and later for the revival skill when he finally gets it. He can tank some hits, so I concentrate healing on squishier targets. Battlefield Medicine is probably the third skill I use, when Stun fails and an opponent applies Poison on a character. The rest of the skills I have not even touched aside from testing what they do.

Some tips:
 * 1) He's the only character that can do Silencing Strike which can be very useful.
 * 2) Stunning Strike and later Commanding Presence are a good way to impede an attack, you might also consider blinding strike sometimes.
 * 3) Rebuke and King's Rebuke can clean lust status effects and King's Rebuke can remove the same status effects on the whole party.
 * 4) Suppress Lust is a good way to refill Simon's MP. You should consider using lust increasing skills on him from other members to speed-up the process especially since the version 0.15 where its cost has changed.
 * 5) Precise Strike is a little bit expensive but sometimes you just need to do damage as fast as possible.

AWC suggests:

Special notes

 * Simon is the real main character.
 * If he is present in the formation, he can't be removed from the active party.
 * He is the most versatile character with the weapons: he can use a sword, an axe, a dagger or a claw.

Scenes
Either these scenes do not contain ANY party members, or they contain more than 5 at once.


 * Riala Prologue - After losing to Riala, she takes Simon to bed... and he takes himself out the window. Unmissable.
 * Wendis Dream - Knocked out by Varia's bomb, Simon dreams of his late wife. Unmissable.
 * Another Wendis Dream - A random scene when you sleep in the inn. No sex.
 * Noble Prostitute - A high-class courtesan. Behind the armor shop in Stineford.
 * Local Prostitute - Bastard of Yhilini traveler. The first room from the left in the Stineford brothel.
 * Zirantian Prostitute - A zirantian catgirl who falsely claims to be in heat. Second from the left in the Stineford brothel.
 * Mysterious Prostitute - A woman who just likes sex a lot. Third from the left in the brothel.
 * Mysterious Prostitute II - It turns out that there's a reason why she likes sex so much - she's a succubus. Third from the left in the Stineford brothel, after you have found out about the hiding succubi.
 * Exotic Prostitute - An "exotic" Tasteni girl. Last room to the right in the Stineford brothel.
 * Sick Succubus - A succubus needs a man really badly. On the third floor of the succubus hideout, lying on a bed. Talk to the one next to her.
 * Serving the Empress I - Simon's first night in the Orgasmic Empire. Unmissable.
 * Serving the Empress II - Second night. Unmissable.
 * Serving the Empress III - A few nights later. Unmissable. Just do something that takes more than one day.
 * Chaya's Reward - Chaya appears in Simon's room wearing only her apron, but they are interrupted by the Empress. After you help Chaya with all her requests. No sex.
 * Lamia Prisoner - Left to rot in a cell without any sex, she needs a man badly. Try to resolve the lamia complaints in the office first, then talk to the lamia in the cafe, then visit the prisoner.
 * Office Orgy - Simon is invited to a celebratory orgy by the office succubi as a reward for his hard work. If you complete all the tasks in both offices in the Orgasmic Palace.
 * Reunion Orgy - On Simon's return to Yhilin, he avoids picking a favorite in a rather unique manner. Unmissable.
 * Ardford Orgy - Well, that's one way to make travel by carriage less tedious. On leaving the summit, if you got all the threesome scenes in Ardford.
 * Forest Orgy - Simon provides sexual energy for the drained succubi. After freeing the captured succubi in the Twisted Glen for Iris.