Yeling Mah

Black Legion Auxiliary Shadow Rank 8 "The Devil's Flames"
Mah Ye Ling (Tidalflame)
Player: Darwin
Basic Data
Class Focus:	Multiversal Cosmic Scale Fire DPS Smelter (Orlais Adventurer Class)
R & D:	N/A
Level:	Elite Tier SS Rank (Stage Five Hinokami - Dead Man's Pact) High Tier SS Rank (Potential Unleashed Hinokami) A Rank (Post Training with Hakah) C Rank (Stage Four Hinokami) 40 (Sidekicked to Vicki Harriet)
Occupation:	Drifter Adventurer Contingency Initiative Operative (Formerly) Black Legion Auxiliary Shadow (Current, Reporting to Vicki Harriet)
Personal Data
Real Name:	Mah Ye Ling
Known Aliases:	Yeling, Ah Ling, Yao Ming (By Matt), Nagumo (By Arii villagers), The Devil's Flames, Tidalflame, The Chinese Terrorist, Mister Stage Two Arsonist, Old Guy, Freeloader, The Godkiller, Dai Goh (By Hakah), Goh goh (By Hakah), The Black Legion Maverick
Identity:	Yeling Mah
Species:	Devil Contracted Human
Age:	18 (Part I) 22 (Part II and III) 24 (Part IV) 26 (He Saves Gods as a Man)
Height:	175 cm
Weight:	150 lb
Eye Color:	Cyan Green (When using Shenlong's power) Brown (Before Hinokami and Start of Part II) Gold (Magical Implant Prosthetic, Formerly)
Hair Color:	None, Black (Current)
Blood Type:	N/A
Biographical Data
Birthplace:	China
Birthdate:	N/A
Nationality:	New Ulyssian, Chinese (Technically Cananite, but politically Chinese)
Current Residence:	None (Drifter)
Religion/Faith:	Buddhist (Formerly)
Sexual Orientation:	Straight
Marital Status:	Single
Known Languages
Canan, English
Known Relatives
Mah Wen Siu (Father, deceased), Mah Yuen Kee (Mother, deceased), Mah Ha Kah (Younger Sister)
Known Powers
Dogma of Equivalent Exchange: Level 1 Hinokami, Level 1 Stage Two, Level 1 Stage Three, Level 1 Stage Four, Level 1 Stage Five, Level 2 Intangibility Aspect of the Rain God
Training / Abilities
Numerous Rain Style Martial Arts Techniques, Bilingual, Trained Pain Tolerance, Emotional Resistance
Equipment
Tidalflame Mask, Magical Hair Disguise, Tatsu, Chain Blade, Floki (Formerly)
Footnotes
Yeling is a character in Darwin's Great Akuma universe, and is not in the Champions Universe.

"Show no fear to the Devil.

I die on my own terms.

Even in my last moments, I will not die resenting the hand I was dealt. Give fate a last final fuck you."

- Yeling Mah facing Lucifer

Mah Ye Ling (Chinese Translation: 馬 易 玲) also known as Yeling "The Tidalflame" Mah, or just Yeling is the thirteenth Dogma Holder for Hinokami, the God of Fire, a spectral entity that made up the flames of The Great Akuma.

Originally a terrorist serving the Contingency Initiative under Matthew "The Mirage" Lam and Elimination Squad Four, Yeling completed contracts as Tidalflame, the Chinese Terrorist. A destroyer with mass genocidal powers, Yeling's reputation was so feared that his name became an international threat, such that even those in remote areas such as Arii and Cobblestone knew all about his exploits. After CI's downfall and Transplant's rise in power, Yeling became an adventurer with close friends Shia Megumi, Inoko the Berserker, and God of Rain Shenlong. Decoupled from the Dogma, Yeling's life became liberated from The Great Akuma, however, his main prerogative remained to take down Transplant and provide a fair world. After defeating Transplant, Yeling discovered that his younger sister was alive and that she was part of the Black Legion Organization.

When Loyce ordered the retrieval of Yeling as part of his plan, Yeling was forced to break all ties with his friends. Loyce gave Yeling a choice as to how each and every one of the friends and allies he gained would leave his life forever. Yeling's choice would be to allow each ally to live a life forced by Loyce's reality creation ability where Yeling never existed, essentially erasing memories of his presence in each and every one of his loved ones. Yeling would spend two years watching his friends live their lives without him in it - with most of this time spent watching Shia grow up. These two years caused Yeling to grow distant towards forming new connections with Aaron Hope and his Auxiliary Shadows, for fear that he would lose them too.

He is the older brother of Mah Ha Kah, an extremely powerful Inner Shadow to Lord Ginga, and the current Dogma Holder for Susanoo, the God of Storms. Yeling and Hakah are the only remaining survivors of the Mah Bloodline. Yeling is currently gaining strength, serving as an Auxiliary Shadow to Vicki Harriet, and reporting to Inner Shadow Loyce Hal, in hopes of rising up the ranks, defeating Loyce and Vala, and continuing with the mission of bringing a fair world to all realities through the Akuma's power.

Yeling is the secondary protagonist of He Saves Gods as a Man, and is the main protagonist of The Story of Yeling Mah.

Appearance

Part I

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.

Part II and III

After Yeling's first battle against Danny, his right hand was severed, his power was reduced, and he lost his connection to the Dogma. This resulted in Yeling's right half to be healed, and his hair to grow out during the four year time skip. However, after failing a test from Tianlong, Yeling's original appearance returned. At this point, Yeling, now in his early twenties, showed signs of maturation, including a more chiseled face, and toned muscles.

Part IV

Following Yeling's second battle against Danny, Yeling's right eye was slashed out, and the ring finger on his left arm was crushed, forcing him to cut it off. At this point, Yeling's body has become matured and possesses an athletic toned physique.

When in his magical disguise after the time skip, Yeling is depicted to have long black hair reaching his shoulders and eyes similar to his mother, a chiseled face similar to his father. Yeling also donned a black leather jacket with a light coloured fur at the collar on top of a grey t-shirt, and dark grey jeans. A pair of fingerless gloves are fitted on his hands to allow him to wield his weapons. On his back is Tatsu, Aelienne's longsword, and around his right forearm is his Chainblade, which is a long chain with a blade attached at the end.

Later on, after Shin uses Time Displacement on Yeling to speed his recovery after the titanic battle, Yeling's hair grows out naturally to shoulder length, and his appearance from his magical disguise becomes his actual appearance, with the exception of his scars on his right side. Yeling now has his long hair tied back in a ponytail, his long bangs reaching his chin and covering his right side. Rui then provided Yeling with a magical eye prosthetic, Floki to replace the eye that he lost.

He Saves Gods as a Man

Yeling's appearance does not change significantly despite being two years apart. However, after his titanic battle against Lucifer and the entire realm of Hell, Yeling loses Floki and gains further burn marks around his missing right eye.

Personality

Before Time Skip

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.

Due to his inability to socialize, Yeling has multiple times been called out for being socially awkward, and is unable to speak to girls. Additionally, because of this inexperience, Yeling has admitted that he is attracted to practically every girl who is nice to him.

After Time Skip

"If I had gone back in time and knew that things would turn around... Would my reasons to bring back The Great Akuma still exist?"

After the four year time skip, Yeling's personality becomes noticeably more mature. Although he still harbours deep hatred for people, Yeling recognizes that this hatred was in fact out of envy and jealousy. Yeling retains his hot bloodedness, especially when he must deal with Shenlong's antics, however, he does keep a responsible mindset, especially when it comes to Shia, who he sees as a little kid.

Yeling is uncomfortable with children, rarely ever interacting with them, and frequently refers to them as "brats".

Following his adventures with Shia, Inoko, and Shenlong, Yeling developed feelings for Inoko. However, after discovering that Inoko did not reciprocate these feelings, Yeling became very depressed. During this time, the words that Lewis had told him four years ago resurfaced, claiming that due to Yeling's horrific sins as a mass murderer, his burnt right side, and his personality would lead to him being unable to find love. Believing he would be alone forever, Yeling fell into despair and was tempted by the Dogma to return to him and be his champion.

Even during the events of Part IV, Yeling's overwhelming feelings of loneliness takes a noticeable toll on his mental health, to the point where his jealousy and envy cause him to lash out whenever people speak about their soulmates and partners. As shown when Yeling and Aelienne spoke in the Hinokami Plane, Yeling angrily revealed to Aelienne that he hated it whenever she talked about her husband and children, believing that they were purposely looking down on him for being alone and unloved.

One of Yeling's most redeeming qualities is his loyalty to his friends. To the point where he would openly admit anything that he has hidden to make sure they would be okay. An example of this was during Inoko's test in Tianlong's Celestial Plane, where Inoko's older sister Inko berated her for being useless and an embarrassment to her. Seeing Inoko overwhelmed and in desperate need for support, Yeling gave her words of encouragement without hesitation.

He Saves Gods as a Man

"I appreciate the sentiment. But I fully embrace what I am. I am the worst guy in the world. Maybe this story doesn't need another hero, because it already has one. And that's in the form of a gunslinging six-foot idiot with his band of Auxiliary Shadow hooligans. But Aaron's methods can only get him so far. This story needs both. Someone who stands for light. And someone who stands for darkness. That's what I believe must happen."

When Yeling was captured by Vicki Harriet and Tommy Riordan, Great Demon Lord Loyce Hal made Yeling choose how each and every person who he cared about would leave his life forever. Yeling decided to request Loyce to create realities for each of his friends where they could live their dreams, but without ever remembering that Yeling had existed in their lives. Because of essentially losing yet another group of friends and allies, and being forced to watch them live their lives happily without him for two straight years, Yeling became extremely distant and reluctant to form new bonds of friendship, despite no longer harboring the same feelings of jealousy and resentfulness that he once had. The reason was that Yeling feared another event where he would have to part ways and be left alone once more.

Yeling's personality became more stoic and serious, similar to his mentor, Matthew Lam. When Yeling first met Outer Shadow Aaron Hope, the two men were not on good terms, as their personalities were direct contrasts from one another. Yeling found Aaron's goofy and troublemaker personality irritating, and frequently berated the younger Shadow and called him a "dolt" whenever Aaron would tease him. At one point, when Aaron tried to hug Yeling after Yeling had returned from Hell, Yeling openly lost his composure and yelped out loud. Of the two, Yeling can be considered "the adult". Though Aaron would be more empathetic and open towards others, while Yeling would remain hostile to people he is not familiar with.

Despite all this, Yeling respected Aaron, recognizing his good deeds and acts of kindness, and showed gratefulness to the Outer Shadow for helping his little sister recover from her trauma. As the two spent more time together, Yeling openly admitted that Aaron was "a good person", while he himself "was not" when Aaron became depressed after having an emotional argument with his fiancee, Sarah Ultear. When Aaron lost his second Auxiliary Shadow, Robbie Fernandez, after he had sacrificed himself in a last-ditch effort to defeat a Vala Enhanced Grond, Aaron became so distraught that he went against his philosophy of hating gods to consider accepting godhood so that he could no longer feel emotional pain. Seeing Aaron was hurting, Yeling came to visit the Outer Shadow and offered to drive him to Arii, where Yeling showed Aaron how to pay his respects to his fallen comrades and move on from their deaths properly.

When speaking to Loyce at the Church of Babel, Yeling told the Demon Lord that Aaron was "the hero" of the story, and that he would take the required role of the opposite, believing that in the end, there was no opportunities left for him to play the role of "a good person".