Nemesis Sudou


 * For other uses, see Master of the Hellish Yard (disambiguation)

"Sinful man... Now, repent."

- Nemesis Sudou

Nemesis Sudou, codenamed Eight and also regarded as the Master of the Hellish Yard, was an assassin in the Union State of Evillious and the underling of Santa Claus. After carrying out a job to kill her lover Nyoze Octo, she swore vengeance on her former master and father, becoming possessed by the Demon of Wrath.

Early History
"Master, Master! Something happened! M'lady and Lady Michelle were in an accident. It seems the ship they were riding on sank! Just before arriving in the harbor, it was attacked by a giant octopus never seen before..."

- Rennert

Born in an abandoned house in the Millennium Tree Forest in EC 964, Nemesis was raised alone by her mother, Kayo Sudou, and grew up in isolation, never knowing her father's face. Around EC 970, she adopted a small ziz tiama as her pet and named it "Mr. Ziz", playing with it in its tank throughout her childhood.

Later on she was told about her father, Gallerian Marlon, and became aware of his life as the USE Dark Star Bureau's Master of the Court. After Nemesis' pet ziz tiama killed her half-sister, Michelle, and Gallerian's wife in EC 978, Nemesis happily played with her enlarged pet by the harbor.

At some point, her mother left and locked the child inside the house. While she awaited her mother's return, Nemesis was tormented by the twin voices claiming she was abandoned. Eventually, the girl began to stop sleeping for fear of waking up alone and began to scream for the door to be unlocked. Accepting her apparent abandonment, Nemesis succumbed to the voices' claims.

Eight the Assassin
"Sorry..."

- Nemesis to Nyoze

Eventually, the girl was trained to become an assassin and became a hitman for her father, codenamed "Santa Claus". Over time, Nemesis, codenamed Eight, killed multiple people under the orders of Santa.

In spring of EC 982, she saw a soldier investigating her killings while under a sakura tree. After seeing the katana on his hip, Nemesis closed her eyes to ignore him; when he suddenly approached her, the assassin was surprised and they began to converse. Despite the man, Nyoze, being on the side of justice, she began to like him and the two fell in love.

During the summer, Nyoze decided to take her to a fireworks festival. Garbed in eastern kimono, he grabbed her hand and led her towards the festival. During the event that night, they watched the fireworks together and she smiled. At some point, they promised each other to always be together. On an autumn night, he hugged her tightly and the two became a couple.

That winter, the end of EC 982, Santa sent Nemesis a loaded gun and the orders to kill her lover. Wracked with grief, Nemesis brooded over the scenario in her room before finally accepting her mission. Conflicted, she met up with Nyoze under the sakura tree where they first met, pointing her revolver at him.

Absolutely torn, Nemesis began to cry as she readied to fire, wishing he wouldn't look at her so fondly since everything was her fault. After she apologized, he spoke to her, grabbing the barrel of her gun.

Shocked, her trembling finger fired the gun, killing him. After he collapsed on the ground, Nemesis cradled his corpse as she sobbed. Regretting everything that had happened, the assassin stood up and remembered her promise they had made. She then reassured him they would meet again soon. Shortly afterwards, Nemesis fired a second shot at her temple, attempting to kill herself.

Leviantan Civil War
"Relinquish your fortune. If you return everything you stole from the people, your life will be spared." "I will never hand over my fortune to you!"

- Nemesis and Gallerian

Having failed in her suicide attempt, Nemesis became enraged at her master; seeing him for his corruption, she swore vengeance on Gallerian and donned a mask. At some point, she acquired the Golden Key and became possessed by the Demon of Wrath. During the Leviantan Civil War in August, EC 983, Nemesis entered Gallerian's mansion as it was set ablaze during the revolts.

She then confronted the Master of the Court while he held the Clockworker's Doll. Deciding to give him a chance to atone, the assassin offered to to spare his life if he returned everything he stole to the people, gesturing while she referenced his fortune. When Gallerian refused, Nemesis resolved he was beyond help and drew her gun. Pointing it at his head, she offered her father the chance to either die shot in the head or burning in the mansion's hell fires. She then noticed him comforting his "daughter" and, enraged, put the gun to his head and prepared to shoot. Wishing him goodbye, the assassin fired.

Rise To Power
"Now we are all... sons of bitches."

- Someone following the successful test of Punishment

After the civil war, Nemesis was charged with Gallerian's murder and was subsequently imprisoned. Around EC 989, she was pardoned for her crime and released. Afterwards, she joined the Tasan party in Elphegort and elected as the party's vice president. When the party's leader, Gammon Octo, suddenly disappeared, Nemesis succeeded him as President.

By EC 993, the Tasan party gained power both locally and internationally, allowing them to gain control of the Elphegort government. Nemesis then became a dictator and ordered the Elphegort army to invade Lucifenia. Sparking a war with the USE, Nemesis immediately allied her nation with Beelzenia and Jakoku, and war spread across the entire world.

As the war dragged on, Nemesis witnessed its carnage and decided to completely obliterate the Evillious region. With the USE army pushing a two-front offensive upon Elphegort, the dictator ordered her military to launch a secret project to develop the nation's newest weapon: Punishment. In EC 998, a prototype for Punishment was created and moved to the Millennium Tree Forest for testing.

With the Golden Key in hand, Nemesis inserted the key into Black Box and fired the weapon, resulting in the entire Millennium Tree Forest being scorched by the blast. After the weapon's successful test, the dictator decided to have the weapon aimed throughout all of Evillious. Activating the weapon again, Nemesis destroyed all life in the Third Period.

Legacy
Following the destruction of the ground world, the mortal realm began merging with the Hellish Yard and all souls of the Heavenly Yard were pulled from the heavenly world into the hellish domain's new land. Shortly after its destruction, the god Sickle prepared to intervene and tasked Allen Avadonia with meeting some of the souls who had been possessed by the Demons of Sin.

Personality and Traits
Nemesis was a strong and ruthless young woman, eventually consumed by her wrath and desire for vengeance against her father. As a child, she acted like a cheerful girl and often played with her pet ziz tiama she affectionately referred to as "Mr. Ziz" throughout her younger life.

Raised in seeming isolation, Nemesis treated her mother, Ma, with love and respect, and looked to her for guidance. At the same time, Nemesis was wounded by her mother's sudden departure and seeming abandonment. Although at first in denial, the girl eventually accepted the outcome. Similarly, she became loyal to her father, Gallerian Marlon, despite not knowing his face, which carried over to her assassination work for him.

Tormented by the voices of Hänsel and Gretel, Nemesis slowly slipped into insanity, becoming more and more paranoid by her apparent abandonment. Fearing to even sleep on the chance she'd still be alone when she awoke again, the girl grew desperate to escape her home. As time went on, the girl began to losing feeling for her emotions, other than her wrathful hatred for her situation. As "Eight", Nemesis was desensitized to killing from a young age and became a cold-hearted assassin.

However, she also came to deeply care for Nyoze, despite being on opposing sides; as a result, her two conflicting loyalties caused her great anguish, and drove her to attempt suicide after ultimately fulfilling her mission for Gallerian. However, with her suicide attempt failing, she developed an immense hatred for her father and swore vengeance upon him for her lover's death; fueled by the influence of the Demon of Wrath, Nemesis' hatred turned into blind rage and she sought retribution for Gallerian's numerous crimes.

As a result, she justified her vengeance via Gallerian's corruption in the Dark Star Court and cruelty towards the populace. But, despite originally being a killer for hire, Nemesis also held a sense of justice, albeit warped, and began to act on feelings of self-righteousness following her lover's death. She also believed that anyone, no matter how vile, deserved a chance to atone for his crimes, albeit giving them only one chance.

Nemesis also hid a deeper loathing for her father, envying Gallerian's obsession with her half-sister, Michelle. Aware Gallerian believed the Clockworker's Doll to be his long-dead daughter, Nemesis considered him hopeless trash that had vainly gone mad in the hopes of not losing her. Despite being aware of that fact, Nemesis grew furious of Gallerian acknowledging the doll as his beloved daughter instead of her, fueling her hatred towards him.

After her father's death, Nemesis became a political activist as part of the Tasan party and embraced her powers as dictator, spiraling the world into a massive war. After witnessing what Evillious had become during the conflict, Nemesis determined that it had become Hell itself, and believed that it was her mission to wipe away the world corrupted by the vessels of sin; as a result, she aligned herself as both the Master of the Hellish Yard and Death itself, the destroyer of all, including "Hell", through Punishment.

Skills and Abilities
Nemesis was a trained killer and was skilled with wielding a revolver. In addition to this, she was able to maintain a steady aim on her targets, unflinching even when suffering under intense heat. After becoming part of the Tasan party, Nemesis gained immense political power within the decade. As the dictator of Elphegort, she held absolute power over the nation, its people, and especially its military. Following the development of Punishment, Nemesis was able to freely fire the device at will using the Golden Key she carried and could potentially wipe out all of the Evillious region with the weapon.

Character Connections
Nyoze Octo: Nemesis' lover. Nemesis loved Nyoze deeply despite her opposition to him as an assassin, growing close to him over the time she spent with him. As a result, she was conflicted about her orders to kill him and, afterwards, experienced deep regret at his death. This regret warped into wrath following the event.

Gallerian Marlon: Nemesis' master and father. Nemesis was originally loyal to him as "Santa Claus" and followed his every order as her master. After he forced her to kill her lover, however, she grew wrathful towards Gallerian and saw him as deserving to die; she also displayed envy of the love and attention Gallerian gave to the Clockworker's Doll, wishing he'd acknowledge her, his actual living daughter, instead.

Ma: Nemesis' mother. Knowing her as Kayo Sudou, Nemesis saw her mother as a maternal figure while growing up and would look to her memory for guidance in life. Although loving her in contrast to the hatred she eventually harbored for her father, Nemesis questioned why her mother would ever love such a corrupt man.

Michelle Marlon: Nemesis' half-sister. Nemesis greatly envied her due to the love she received from their father Gallerian, wishing to receive the same love from him as well.

Levia: A god who was also referred to by the title "Master of the Hellish Yard".

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Nemesis is the goddess of vengeance in Greek mythology.
 * In Roman mythology, "Invidia" is sometimes attributed as the equivalent to the Greek goddess and is the Latin name for the Deadly Sin of Envy; Nemesis' apparent mother, Ma, acts as the replacement for the unawakened vessel of Envy and uses the body and identity of Kayo Sudou.
 * Her surname is part of a pun on the English word "stalker", attributed to Kayo.
 * Nemesis' name is partially inspired by the name of her representative Vocaloid, GUMI, with Nemesis' romanization containing "me" from Megpoid in it.
 * Nemesis bears many similarities and parallels to the German dictator Adolf Hitler; both became dictators of their respective countries, held the title "Führer", and participated in worldwide wars; fittingly, Elphegort is also inspired by Germany.
 * Nemesis' actions in the Leviantan Civil War take place in August, the eighth month of the year, possibly referencing her codename; she also has an "eight-armed" octopus as a pet.
 * Prior to The Muzzle of Nemesis album being announced, mothy posted a poem entitled "Nemesis" on twitter, seemingly alluding to the events depicted in the album; at the end of the poem, mothy stated it was a late night work and didn't have any meaning.
 * The Master of the Hellish Yard's relation to the Hellish Yard is connected to the event of Hell in Hieronymus Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things.

Curiosities

 * Nemesis' codename, Eight, and subordinance to "Santa Claus" parallels Gumillia, codenamed Eighth Sniper and subordinate to First Santa Claus in Père Noël.
 * The Master of the Hellish Yard shares the same name as the title attributed to Levia.
 * Her featured song in the Seven Deadly Sins Series was also uploaded on August 8th; humorously, mothy admitted he had uploaded the song on that date by pure coincidence.
 * Wondering what happened to the original incarnations of the Servants, Gammon Octo questioned if they needed to ask the Master of the Hellish Yard to find an answer.
 * In Capriccio Farce, the Servants call the Master of the Hellish Yard "the one who holds every key", foreshadowing Nemesis' ownership of the vessel of Wrath.
 * It is unknown if Nemesis' relation to both Ma and Gallerian is biological, adoptive, or simply her perception.

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