Yeling Mah
"The opportunity to eliminate them from the world. Yeling Mah. Join me, and you will become one to engulf this world in flames. Like a tsunami. Like an unstoppable torrent of vengeance. Like a tide."
- Taras Pax giving Yeling his Contingency Initiative Codename
Mah Ye Ling (馬 易 玲) also known as Yeling "The Tidalflame" Mah, or just Yeling for short is an 18 year old Chinese immigrant, formerly residing in New Ulysses. Yeling is the vessel for Hinokami, after unlocking the Fire God of the Great Akuma as his Level 1 Dogma Bargain in exchange for his family. On the night Yeling unlocked Hinokami, the uncontrollable fires of the Akuma incinerated his family alive, causing Yeling to suffer tremendous survivor's guilt, and trauma, believing that he had been the one to kill his loved ones.
After being recruited by super criminal Taras "The Legion" Pax to join The Contingency Initiative, the most feared terrorist organization of New Ulysses, Yeling was picked up by Squad Four Leader Matthew "The Mirage" Lam, to become an operative to the Elimination Squad, under the code name Tidalflame. As a rite of initiation and proof of his loyalty to Taras, Yeling initiated his second Dogma Bargain for the gift of Intangibility, at the cost of half his face.
Like all of the members in Contingency Initiative, Yeling was a believer that The Great Akuma would bring world equality among humanity, making everyone equal, regardless of race, class, or wealth, by bringing forth a terrifying danger that would force everyone to unite to survive.
It is revealed that in time, Yeling, along with five other vessels containing a Level 1 Akuma Grade Dogma, will unite to revive The Great Akuma, and bring upon the Second Great War. Yeling's allegiance to the Contingency Initiative also makes him an enemy to the Realmwatch Collective, a New Ulyssian Military Organization with the sole purpose of reviving Vala, the Spirit of Hope, who killed the Great Akuma in the First Great War.
After accepting a contract to take down the super criminal Transplant, it was revealed that Transplant was in fact an old classmate of Yeling's by the name of Danny, who Yeling had killed along with the rest of his old colleagues in a prior elimination op. When Yeling and Danny fought in Danny's home province Fa Shan, Yeling was severely outmatched, and the fight ended in his right hand being severed. Pronounced dead, Yeling took refuge from Danny, who continued to pursue him in an effort to avenge his former classmates under the hospitality of Shia in the country of Yon.
In addition to losing to Danny, it was revealed that Yeling had lost a significant portion of his power, and after striking a (one sided) deal with Shenlong, The Ancient God of Rain, Yeling no longer is bound to the Dogma of Equivalent Exchange.
Appearance
Yeling is a young man with a somewhat short stature (standing at 5 foot 7 inches). According to Marcela Greene, Yeling's face is average for a Chinese male, neither attractive nor unattractive, however he possesses unnaturally bright blue eyes, similar to topaz, which glow in the dark, and glow in the light whenever Yeling uses his powers. Yeling is bald, and does not have any hair on his head, but prior to initiating his Level 2 Dogma Bargain, Yeling had short black hair in the form of a fade.
One of the most defining features of Yeling's appearance, which has caused him to be extremely self conscious about, is his severe facial deformity on the right side of his face and head. In a flashback, it is revealed that this deformity was his exchange when he initiated his Level 2 Dogma Bargain for Intangibility, in which half of his face caught on fire, leaving behind scorched flesh in the process. Yeling describes his right side as "hideous", and consisting of scarred darkened cracked tissue. As with the rest of his right side, Yeling's right eye is constantly bloodshot. Yeling covers his right side with a black wig, giving him an angsty teenager appearance whenever he is in disguise. Yeling wore the wig during the first few weeks Marcela stayed with Squad Four, for fear that his appearance would frighten her. Eventually, Marcela discovered Yeling's right side, and Yeling stopped wearing the wig whenever she was around.
Running down the left side of his face, all the way to his left palm, are numerous angular navy blue tattoos denoting his Level 1 HInokami Dogma Bargain. In finer detail, these tattoos actually consist of runic demonic lettering representing the Dogma Bargain. After unlocking Hinokami Stage Two, the tattoos became even more complex, branching off and giving an appearance somewhat resembling that of circuitry.
During missions, Yeling dons the standard Contingency Initiative robes, which consists of a black and crimson trench coat, that covers his arms and most of his body. Underneath the coat, Yeling wears a black t-shirt and black cargo pants. On his neck, is a jade necklace. When in mission, Yeling also wears a black kevlar Contingency Initiative combat mask, which covers the right side of his face, and his mouth. The mask is decorated with grey contours of a skull, with the skull teeth lining the padding where his mouth would be. The mask also possesses some swirling contours near the back of his head, which transitions into flame patterns, which represents his codename.
When outside, Yeling wears more casual streetwear, consisting of trousers and a light coloured hoodie. Yeling's necklace is concealed within his shirt, but the strings that attach the jade are visible around his neck. In addition to the wig that covers the right side of his face, Yeling also wears contact lenses that change the colour of his irises back to their original brown from before Yeling unlocked Hinokami. Yeling describes his casual outfit and disguise as "emo", but claims that the appearance is the way it is to prevent him from being recognized as Tidalflame when in public.
Personality
Yeling's personality has been described to be very self-victimizing by a number of people who knew him prior to becoming a Hinokami Vessel. A recurring theme behind Yeling's actions have been an act of vengeance from what he perceives as the world being against him. Yeling's belief stems from his inability to find a niche which welcomes him, due to being a foreigner in New Ulysses, Yeling constantly suffered racial discrimination, both to him and his loved ones, leaving him extremely bitter about the social system around him.
It is revealed that Yeling possessed some semblance of diligence, as shown when Yeling had spent his freshmen year enrolled in college, however, due to his depression, the heavy course load proved too much for him, causing his mental health to further deteriorate. Unable to meet deadlines, Yeling found himself constantly in conflict with his peers, who claimed his mental illness was not an excuse to get anything done. As a result, by the time Yeling had reached his final months of freshmen year, his thoughts of depression quickly spiralled into thoughts of self harm and self destruction.
When Yeling unlocked Hinokami, his powers went out of control, and unintentionally killed his entire family. The horrific accident left a long and painful impact on Yeling through the form of PTSD and a number of other psychological problems which would manifest in the form of mass killing and terrorist acts. In addition to his inability to forgive others, when Squad Four was assigned the Elimination Op of his old university, Yeling was the first to accept, and found joy in slaughtering his old classmates in cold blood.
Despite being a mass murderer, Yeling possessed some degree of sympathy and remorse, after realizing that while he had killed almost all of his old classmates, there were some students who were probably in the same place as he did, which was proof that Yeling still had some degree of humanity left behind. Additionally, Yeling has had lapses of second thoughts during his missions, something that his Squad Leader, Mirage would scold him for. Even so, Yeling has fully accepted his role as an operative to the Contingency Initiative, believing that to kill meant to advance the Second War, and all the blood on his hands are ultimately justified.
To Yeling, Squad Four acts as his surrogate family, seemingly replacing the original one he lost. However, it is noted that Yeling still holds fond memories of his time spent with his mother, father, and little sister.
Out of everybody in Squad Four, Yeling is ironically the most reluctant to take lives, with the exception of Marcela Greene.
