Heat O'Brien
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| Heat O'Brien | |
| ヒート・オブライエン | |
Render from Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 | |
| Other Name(s) | True Heat In battleKazuki Homura Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner |
| Age | 24 (That's Catch 22)That's Catch 22 26 (Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner) Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner III |
| Relative(s) | Unnamed parentsQuantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner IIIThat's Catch 22 Unnamed younger sister (Deceased)(That's Catch 22) That's Catch 22 |
| Occupation(s) | Gene therapist |
| Affiliation(s) | Karma Society |
Heat O'Brien, known as Kazuki Homura in the Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner novels, is a character in the Digital Devil Saga series.
Profile
In the Digital Devil Saga games and That's Catch 22, Heat O'Brien is a young American man bearing a physical resemblance to the Embryon's Heat, with the only differences being his blond hair and laboratory attire in place of Heat's red hair and Embryon uniform.
In the Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner novels, Kazuki Homura is three-quarters Japanese, with his maternal grandfather being German, giving his hair a red tint. He also holds Australian citizenship.
Gameplay
Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2
Heat O'Brien, named True Heat during battle, appears as Agni during the fight against Real Varna and Fake Varna as Serph's only teammate. Unlike other party members, True Heat is incapable of reverting to his human form or participating in Combo Skills. True Heat disappears from the party as soon as the battle ends.
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Game Appearances
Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2
Heat O'Brien was a gene therapist working for the Karma Society's God Project. He regularly protested against Serph Sheffield's inhumane treatment of Sera, and his hostile demeanor would cause Sera to perceive him as scary. Sera's perception of O'Brien served as the basis for his AI doppelganger in her virtual paradise, who itself would become the basis for the Junkyard's Heat.
Later, during an attempt to communicate with Brahman, Sera's performance was lower than usual due to prolonged physical and mental stress. O'Brien interrupted the procedure by pointing a pistol at Sheffield, and a researcher inadvertently began broadcasting footage of the event to Sera. The real Argilla, who had been manipulated by Sheffield, shot O'Brien in the back, and Sheffield did not put up the usual friendly facade he presented to Sera, revealing his true self to her. Sera's negative emotions at witnessing this were sent to Brahman, resulting in the Black Sun.
Heat O'Brien's data later appears in the EGG Installation to comfort Serph after he learns of Sheffield's actions. Then, the data of Sheffield and the AI Serph that existed prior to the Junkyard also appear, with the former confronting O'Brien for his death. Serph and O'Brien defeat the other Serphs, returning their data to their natural cycles and allowing O'Brien to rest in peace.
Novel Appearances
That's Catch 22
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Heat O'Brien is a young Irish-American medical student attending Yale University during the events of That's Catch 22. Though his peers perceive him as cold and intimidating, Heat's internal narration and interactions with his only friend Serph Sheffield reveal him to be a dutiful and deeply caring person, albeit rather socially awkward. Similarly to his Junkyard counterpart, he is easily overwhelmed by his emotions and is susceptible to outbursts of rage, fear, or grief; at the same time, his guilt and strong sense of personal responsibility drive him to dedicate himself to those to whom he feels most indebted, with the most significant examples being his family and Sheffield.
Heat was born circa 1996 to an Irish mother and an English father on the East Coast of the United States. His younger sister was born with DiGeorge syndrome, a genetic disorder also colloquially called CATCH22; Heat, who was too young to understand his sister's condition, avoided her out of fear that she would infect him. In 2005, when Heat was nine years old and his sister was seven, the East Coast suffered an influenza epidemic. Because his sister was immunocompromised and Heat had not yet received his vaccination, their mother forbade him to leave the house, but Heat disobeyed her and snuck out to play with his friends. Tragically, he was infected, and the incident resulted in his younger sister's death.
Heat blamed himself for his sister's death and dedicated himself to the study of medicine, hoping to be able to save the lives of other children. After his parents divorced, Heat decided to stay with his mother and took her last name. Thanks to his academic dedication, his extracurricular boxing, and his mother's financial support, Heat was able to enroll in Yale University a year early, at the age of 17. Around that time, he learned of the existence of Cuvier Syndrome; upon learning that its first victim was also a seven-year-old girl, Heat became fixated on researching and fighting the disease.
That's Catch 22 takes place during Heat's sophomore year. Hoping to attend a guest lecture by Margot Cuvier, Heat approaches medical professor Henry Harris to ask about open seats, only to end up losing his temper at the notoriously stubborn professor's anti-Irish bigotry. When he returns the next week to reluctantly apologize, he finds the professor bleeding out at his desk. Blinded by panic, Heat attempts to perform an impromptu surgical procedure to save his life, but other students arriving on the scene mistakenly assume Heat to be the professor's killer and forcefully subdue him.
Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner II
Varin Omega calls some of the Embryon by unfamiliar names, including calling Heat Kazuki Homura. This is later revealed to be due to memories implanted in him of being William van Beck, which were intentionally altered to drive Varin to want to kill "Shin Minase".
Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner III
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Kazuki Homura was born a psychic and an empath. His parents were afraid of him for his ability to sense their negative emotions, and he was abused as a child as a result. When he was seven years old, a social worker recognized the signs of abuse and Kazuki's parents were arrested, while Kazuki was transferred to a facility for protected children, where his abilities would be discovered and identified as Class B. Kazuki spent his youth in the facility and earned a scholarship to attend university and become a mental engineer. There, he met Shin Minase in a seminar for mental manipulation, and was surprised that Shin knew that he was a psychic despite the efforts he took to not reveal it.
Later, Kazuki started his practice as a Rank A mental engineer. He was approached by Shin to treat his sister, Kei Minase, though he noted that her complaints could be handled by a psychiatrist. Shin then told him that he did not trust psychiatrists, nor did he want to risk entrusting his only family to someone who would only prescribe her some medicine, but he trusted Kazuki, a mental engineer that he had known for years at this point. Kazuki accepted his request and began treating Kei, though their sessions were unusually frequent and the treatment lasted much longer than usual, which her modest finances would have been unable to pay for if not for Shin's own large inherited wealth. It became apparent to him that most of Kei's symptoms were due to her brother's intense personality and her conflicting feelings towards him, and that she was deeply dependent on him, such that removing that dependence would cause her psyche to collapse. Kazuki gradually developed feelings for Kei, and before Kei could leave during the session where she explained her frustration at being a designer child, he embraced her and sent her his feelings, effectively confessing his love; a taboo for a mental engineer. Kei explained that she did love him as well, but that they should not be together due to Shin's influence. Their sessions became private meetups as lovers, and Kazuki stopped treating her, as he thought he should not try to fix her as her lover. Unbeknownst to him, Kei had contracted Cuvier Syndrome by the time they had their last session, and she completely crystallized a few months later, though Kazuki was instead informed that she was absent due to illness and that she committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. Kei's death shocked Kazuki deeply, and he became unable to work as a result. He was advised to take an indefinite leave using his paid vacation days by the master of the Tech Guild, which he accepted.
Kazuki spent months locked up in his flat, surviving off of periodic deliveries of water and supplements. One day, he wakes up to the sound of an incoming call from Shin Minase, which he barely processed without viewing the recording a second time later, given that Shin's face was so identical to Kei's. Shin requested Kazuki's participation in the treatment of a patient with an extremely complicated condition, which he accepted, despite later regretting his decision during his flight from Melbourne to New York. Arriving there, Kazuki was pulled aside to another runway by men that had tailed him from Melbourne, where several men in black suits and a small flyer were waiting. Kazuki, realizing that he had been deceived, tried to resist, but he was anaesthetised and taken to the EGG, where the situation was explained in more detail by Shin, who revealed that he was in a similar situation as Kazuki.
Shin introduced Kazuki to Sera, though Sera could not perceive Kazuki. He was dumbfounded at how she moved through him and could seemingly teleport, but still could physically interact with Shin and a handkerchief he was using to clean her feet. Shin then took Kazuki from Sera's room to the residential area of the EGG, where he met many of the other researchers and was led to Shin's room for a proper explanation of the history behind Angel and Sera, and the nature of God and the Cuvier Syndrome. The next day, Kazuki went through a battery of examinations to evaluate his health, register him to the facility, and create a digital avatar that Sera could perceive. He then met with Annabella di Fiori, who explained the purpose of the avatar and some of the technical aspects of the EGG, and was met by Shin, who took him to Sera's room again. This time, Cielo Alondra was there, dancing, and made apparent to Kazuki that he too was a psychic, then left the room. Shin suggested to Kazuki that he should try touching Sera, which he managed to do, causing his proxy to receive updates from Sera's touch. He then saw Sera's lips move, and heard Kei's voice, which startled him, but Sera was no longer interested, so he was forced to return later.
Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner V
Kazuki appears to talk with Serph while the latter is in the "shore of nothingness", observing Heat's fight against the remaining Embryon from there and regaining his body in the process, and he introduces himself. When Heat merges with the EGG's gate, Serph decides to stop Heat for his friends' sake. Kazuki contemplates causality, pointing out that Serph's Water Crown brand is the same as Shin Minase's, both representing a "curse", and that causality might have been why he met Shin, loved Kei, and chased her phantom in Sera. Kazuki elaborates that he is only there to help fulfill Serph's goal, and that he will go find Kei and Shin and apologize to them afterwards. Kazuki takes Serph's hand and puts it in his body, allowing Serph to connect to Heat's energy channel and emerge in the physical world from within Heat.
Nomenclature
The surname used in Quantum Devil Saga is homophonous with 焰 homura, meaning "flame".
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 English
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Heat O'Brien | |
| True HeatDigital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 (Battle) | ||
| Kazuki HomuraQuantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner | ||
 Japanese
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ヒート・オブライエン Hīto Oburaien | Heat O'Brien |
| リアルヒートDigital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 (Battle) Riaruhīto |
Real Heat | |
| 穂村 一幾Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner Homura Kazuki |
Kazuki Homura | |