#dhsjdhjsjs i could still write more but i think this is sufficient for now

[queen-of-bel]

gonna bring this back bc my initial analysis was based on the original game, and now that i've completed overclocked, i've got more to say, particularly about his morals.

edit: this was the post that kicked off my ongoing series of devil survivor character analyses: currently, kaido’s, atsuro’s, and amane’s are finished.

I'll start with the obvious-- Naoya's eighth day. Naoya makes it very clear that he has no qualms about killing most people who stand in his way (more about that later). He's so desensitized to the concept of death that he really doesn't give it a second thought. He also strongly believes in the concept of the strong ruling over the weak in society.

Here's the thing about this philosophy, though. Historically, SMT games have presented chaos as just straight up darwinism. Anyone can do anything they want so long as nobody is strong enough to stop them. Chiaki, Takeshi, Walter, the Gaians-- all of them subscribed to this interpretation of "strong over the weak".

However, there's a more subtle interpretation that doesn't get explored that much. Those who are in positions of power don't have to abuse their abilities in order to rule over others. Nothing in the chaos ideology says that you have to use the power of demons for selfish purposes. Just that you side with the demons for ultimate freedom. That freedom can be on an individual level (where we see the "might means right"), or can be used for humanity as a whole (focusing more on freeing humanity from YHVH's rule).

That's where the kill/no kill sub-routes in Naoya's eighth day come into play. Both of those routes represent the two different interpretations of chaos.

So now that we've broken down chaos as an ideology, let's get back to Naoya.

Naoya doesn't give a shit which path Kazuya chooses. To take the time to convince others that the angels are the true enemies, or to kill anyone who may oppose the overlord, it's all the same to him. The only thing he cares about is being on Kazuya's good side. This is why he stops Kaido from attacking the mob that confronts them on the beginning of the 8th day. Naoya needs to learn Kazuya's motivations for becoming the King of Bel. If Naoya does something which upsets Kazuya, he runs the risk of Kazuya changing his mind about Naoya's plan. Especially now that Kazuya is the commander of all demons. If Kazuya doesn't agree to Naoya's plan now, Naoya will never get another chance to defeat YHVH.

So, if Kazuya wants to be the overlord purely because he wants power, Naoya has no reason to stop Kaido from killing the civilians. On the other hand, if Kazuya became the overlord truly to help humanity, Kazuya would be pissed that Naoya/Kaido are using their power for personal gain. Naoya is now forced to have unwavering loyalty to the overlord.

We know that Naoya doesn't really care what choice Kazuya makes, but which route would Naoya choose if it were up to him? Honestly, I don't know, and I don't think anybody can know for certain. Killing all those with a dissenting opinion is certainly a much faster method. On the other hand, having humanity unite to back the overlord would absolutely give Kazuya more power. Also, keep in mind that Naoya does truly want what he feels is best for humanity-- to free them from YHVH's rule. This is evidenced by Yuzu's eighth day where Naoya admits he didn't anticipate Kazuya's actions, but is pleased nonetheless because his goal of YHVH abandoning humanity has been completed. Now, I am in no way trying to say that Naoya is a saint, just that there isn't enough evidence to conclude which method he would personally prefer.

At this point, it's worth noting the difference between Naoya and Cain. As confirmed by the writers, Naoya has two sets of memories. Cain's memories are the accumulation of his previous lifetimes and are the cause of his suffering. Naoya's memories, on the other hand, are purely related to his current life. The writers have stated that throughout his lifetimes, Cain has lived pretty normal lives and is implied to be a kind person. Revenge against YHVH is always on the back of his mind, but is typically not the driving force behind his personality.

However, when he sees an opportunity to get revenge, that's when his memories as Cain really take over him. He has endured so much loss and torment over thousands of years, and he won't let anything stop him from getting the revenge he was wanted this entire time.

This doesn't stop the fact, though, that he has bonded with the people in his lifetimes.

As we clearly see in Amane's original ending, and eighth day, Naoya feels extremely guilty that he killed Abel. On Amane's seventh day, he lashes out at Kazuya, having a complete and total emotional breakdown, all the while begging Kazuya to hate and kill him.

The next day, Naoya completely shuts down. He doesn't care about revenge anymore. He feels hurt and betrayed by Kazuya's decision to become the messiah. Ultimately, he feels hopeless. His brother hates him, his chance at revenge is over, and because he refuses to give into YHVH, he accepts that he is bound to be cursed forever.

The rest of Amane's eighth day is pretty straightforward, so I won't analyze it much further. We know that throughout the lockdown, Naoya truly cared about Kazuya's safety, Naoya respects Kazuya so much that he let Kazuya choose his own path instead of forcing him to be overlord, and Naoya steps in during the battle with Okuninushi to save his brother.

Naoya gets written off by a lot of players as "evil asshole cousin", but is actually an extremely complex character. The Shomonkai forced him into a tough decision by defeating Jikokuten, and the only thing to do at that point for the sake of humanity was to get Kazuya involved. This happened to coincide with his goal of defeating YHVH, so Naoya put a very intricate plan in action to undermine the Shomonkai and ensure that their plan failed, all the while freeing humanity from YHVH's reign. His two sets of memories make him a walking contradiction. He's kind and ruthless at the same time. Manipulative yet respectful. He carries around a tremendous amount of emotional baggage, pain, and suffering, and while he does have a personal stake in making Kazuya overlord, he also does it for the sake of humanity as well.

Major Devil Survivor spoilers

Okay, I see Naoya’s character gets a lot of shit sometimes for two major reasons:

1. He was the reason Kazuya, Atsuro, and Yuzu were in the lockdown.

2. He created the Demon Summoning Program.

Alright. Let me set some stuff straight.

1. Yes, he invited Kazuya, Atsuro, and Yuzu to Shibuya knowing that they would get trapped in the lockdown. The Shomonkai had already defeated Jikokuten six months prior to the beginning of the game, which meant the barrier between Tokyo and the Demon World had begun to deteriorate. This is why demons such as Kudlak were able to come into Tokyo on their own.

So, let’s say that Kazuya, Atsuro, and Yuzu weren’t in the lockdown during that week. There are two things that could have happened. Either the humans trapped in the lockdown failed, and humanity is eternally stripped of their free will, forced to walk under YHVH’s command, or somehow the humans are able to end the lockdown and survive another ordeal.

Here’s the thing, the most realistic way the the lockdown could have been ended is if the demon tamers broke out, like in Yuzu’s ending. We all saw how that turned out: Honda lost his fucking shit, and everything was thrust into a truly chaotic world. Any other means of ending the lockdown involves either rewriting the summoning program, or becoming King of Bel. Both options just aren’t realistic without Naoya’s guidance. Yes, it is possible that another person with Abel’s essence was trapped in the lockdown, and could have defeated either Beldr or Belial, but to then discover the truth about the War of Bel on their own is very very unlikely. The only reason Kazuya knew about the whole Bel situation and the truth behind the lockdown is because Naoya orchestrated the whole thing.

The takeaway from this first point? If Naoya hadn’t involved Kazuya and his friends, either the world would turn into a chaotic wasteland, or humans would not survive the ordeal, and humanity would be stripped of its freedom forever.

2. Again, the dissolution of the barrier between Tokyo and the Demon World had already begun because of the Shomonkai.  Defeating Jikokuten was difficult and put a huge strain on Amane, but it wasn’t impossible. After she had time to recover, the Founder would have just had Jezebel defeat the other three Devas, thus completing the dissolution of the barrier. The Shomonkai would just summon demons the old fashion way, and guess what? YHVH would still order the lockdown!

So really, by the time the Shomonkai commissioned Naoya to create COMPs and the Demon Summoning Program, it was already inevitable that the lockdown would happen. The COMPs made the ordeal come sooner, but it still would have come anyway.

Naoya modified the program so that the Shomonkai didn’t have complete control, though. During Gin’s battle against Azuma, the “safety” precautions that Azuma assumed Naoya had put on the COMPs didn’t exist. Evidently, despite Naoya’s desire to get revenge on YHVH, Naoya didn’t agree with the Shomonkai’s morals.

So why does creating the Demon Summoning Program not make Naoya a bad guy? The modified COMPs were the only thing that helped Kazuya and his friends survive. Also, as I stated earlier, without Kazuya being in the lockdown, there is no good ending for humanity. Everyone is either thrust into chaos, or stripped of their free will by YHVH.

And yes, the demon summoning program wasn’t without casualty. We all know that Aya was dragged into the demon world and presumably killed. But here’s the thing. Aya knew what she was getting into. She sacrificed her life to complete the demon summoning program. Naoya didn’t sacrifice her. This was made clear when she left her sequencer with Haru. If Aya didn’t know she was going to die, then why would she task Haru with completing the dispelling song? Haru even says during her route that Aya must have known what was going to happen.

I’ll just end by quickly saying that it’s obvious that Naoya no longer holds any resentment towards Abel. Even if Kazuya chooses to forsake the title of King of Bel and become the Messiah, Naoya puts up a fight at first, but eventually concedes. By this point, thousands of years later, the only resentment Naoya holds is towards YHVH.