Archangel Jophiel

LORE + SUMMARY OF THE ABAU FROM JOPHIELS PERSPECTIVE: In the beginning... Jophiel was very close to her brothers. She was extremely social and gentle, an excellent conversationalist through and through. She would often create things as gifts for her siblings, imbued with her radiance.

Gabriel, her closest sibling, the Messenger. She thought him a twin despite the fact that she had been created later. The two had a shared fascination in humanity, were similar in personality, and they even looked most alike. Additionally, they were both physically weak- a Herald and a Guide, they traversed Earth together, to spread God's word and God's beauty.

Michael, the brightest of them all. Jophiel looked up to him, of course. He was a fierce warrior, and the siblings' parental figure. He was strong where she was not- it fascinated her, how her brother was seemingly unconquerable.

Uriel had no match in intellect- He was wise and passionate, strong and courageous. Jophiel often sought his advice for things- He always seemed to know what to say. They shared conversation often. She admired his intelligence deeply.

Raphael was an interesting case... His cold, detached, and pessimistic demeanor was the opposite of Jophiel's blindly optimistic and warm attitude, but she loved him still. He was a healer, and an excellent one. Like everyone else, she never understood the root of his power.

Jophiel, ever radiant and kind, acted as Humanity's guide towards enlightenment. She knew humanity the best out of all of her siblings, considering that she was called upon so often. Her presence imbued humanity with happiness and joy, and she would devote herself to her cause, spreading beauty wherever she went. Her work was not limited to Earth, of course. In Heaven, she worked to bring happiness to her fellow angels as well. Whispers of her great beauty and kindness could be heard throughout its gilded halls. She was hailed as the most beautiful angel in Heaven, in spirit and appearance. She took anyone suffering in her open arms, and they would leave them with purpose anew. Jophiel truly loved her work. It brought her immense joy to see the happiness she brought to the mortals she was so curious of.

God had made her deeply compassionate and empathetic- a trait that made the Beauty's teachings ever effective. After God's disappearance, Jophiel started spending less time in Heaven to distract herself from its' chaos- finding herself unable to help the sorrow-stricken angels. She herself, was terrified. So she fled, unable to bear the weight of it all. Her aversion to negativity is her greatest flaw: God had created her to spread her image of perfection and beauty, after all. Her fear of negative things would drive her to work harder to fix them, but He did not foresee that it would bring her ignorance, too.

The Council formed some time after. She was not present at their arrival, so it was a surprise whence she was informed of their establishment. With the arrival of the Council and Heaven's subsequent peace, she returned.

The Councilors practically paid her no mind. She did not command authority. and she spent half of her time on Earth anyways. Whenever she was in Heaven, she would entertain the masses, gather with her brothers, or paint in her residence- not something that they would bother with. They did, however, dislike the fact that she seemed wary of them, but her position prevented them from acting. She often learned of events she would miss in Heaven from Gabriel- something that had been true ever since her creation. He would tell her all things, big and small, whenever he found the time to. It was he who had told her of Michael and Uriel's fate.

She could tell something had changed within her brother, then- There was something she had never seen before in the eyes of her kind, naive brother. It was hatred. She ignored this, too. She told herself it would be fine- Gabriel was surely too kind to let it take over, right?

Shortly afterwards, the Council reaches Gabriel with the preposition of becoming their new warrior. He accepts it, with unyielding hatred in his heart. He must avenge his brothers. Obviously the 'death' of Michael and Uriel's affliction disturbed Jophiel deeply. This marked the beginning of the Beauty's downfall. Until then, she had never experienced something as devastating as this. The Father's disappearance had been harrowing, but that was something she expertly distracted herself from. She could not ignore the sudden loss of her beloved siblings. For a little while, some of humanity's prayers to her went unanswered.

Over time, she watched her family drift further and further apart. Uriel became a shadow of the flame he once was, having lost his memory and his light. Jophiel, try as she might, could never find the Uriel she had known ever again. Raphael became a councilor- Jophiel's insightfulness had failed to detect his silent deterioration, or perhaps, it was ignorance once more. Yet it was Gabriel's transformation that disturbed her the most. She watched her twin brother change, from Messenger to Warrior. He grew and changed, becoming egotistical and ruthless. Gone was the gentle, weak brother she had been so used to. He traded his Preacher's staff for twin swords: Justice and Splendor... As cheesy as it was, she could not help but see themselves reflected in the names of his blades- Just Gabriel, and Splendid Jophiel. How ironic. It disturbed her.

And thus, she turned her attention to humanity- running away from her fears once more. Helping people had always brought her joy, and after her family had been torn asunder, it became her only solace. Their prayers had been increasing exponentially anyways. So she returned to Earth once more, to answer them.

The Beauty began to find it harder and harder to guide her beloved humans as they marched towards their demise.

She worked tirelessly to answer every prayer, trying her best to make humanity happy even in the end times. She grew more and more desperate as humanity began to collapse- finding that her abilities were unable to keep up with the despair of humankind. She began isolating herself further, devoting every waking moment to try to fix everything by herself. She failed. Jophiel fell deeper and deeper into despair. The futility of it all dawned on her, as she saw her efforts collapse. She'd failed them. She failed Him. Her wings and halo grew dimmer and dimmer. Once a radiant magenta, they started to desaturate over time. The few times she visited Heaven, she looked in worse and worse shape every time. Her despair went unnoticed. Gabriel, being as busy as he was in Hell, hardly ever saw his sister anymore.

By the end of things, her wings had been a bleak, pale pink- representing both her emotional turmoil, and the toll of the burden on her soul. When humanity finally ceased to exist, Jophiel felt deeply conflicted. She had finally been released from her ceaseless work, yet she had also lost her only company. Her solace...

She returned to Heaven, permanently this time- for she had lost her purpose on Earth. She devoted the short time she had before the events of the game to painting, which had been one of her favorite pastimes. Her wings began to regain their color, and for the briefest of moments, she felt joy once more.

Unfortunately her joy does not last, for Gabriel passes away. Jophiel falls completely into sorrow.

She will never find joy again. Her bright wings and halo- the same which had been hailed as the most beautiful in all of heaven, fade completely, turning into a lightless grey.

She spends her time mourning for the loss of everything she has ever known. Her beloved family- completely gone. Michael is long 'dead', Uriel's fire is gone, Raphael is unrecognizable, and Gabriel dies as something he was never meant to be. She has no humanity to look after.

No Father to guide her.

Heaven is not the place she once knew.

And the angel created to bring joy to all ends up with none of her own.

REFERENCES:

Archangel Jophiel, Beauty of God.

Post 9-2 Jophiel, also her gijinka version

That's about all! See you around! I tried to make her personality robust while also keeping her innate beauty at the forefront... idk if I did that successfully sigh 🥀 i dont want her to just be perfect even though that's her concept