Phoenix Man

I couldn’t remove my bird costume, and before I realized it, I had become a monster!

Phoenix Man (フェニックス男, Fenikkusu Otoko) was a Mysterious Being and a member of the Monster Association. He held a middle management position under the association, outranked only by the executives. He was killed by Child Emperor.

Appearance
Phoenix Man was a tall bird that resembled a phoenix. He had big green eyes, red and gold feathers, and purple tail feathers.

After his first resurrection, his costume turned into a suit of bird-like armor and took on a more humanoid form. In this form, he gained an extra pair of wings, armor-like scales across his body, a large avian eye in the center of his chest, and a helmet shaped as the head of a phoenix. His human face was also now visible, residing within the beak of the phoenix head, though it was mostly obscured by shadow save for his piercing, glowing eyes.

Once he achieved this form, he could also transform into two other modes; his "Fire Falcon" mode resembles a peregrine falcon, while his "Prominence Hawk" mode engulfed his entire body in flames, save for his face and the eye on his chest. After his second resurrection, he entered "Brilliant Eagle" mode, where his suit became much smoother all over and shined brightly, along with three other eyes opening along the right of his abdomen and him gaining yet another pair of wings, bringing him to a total of six wings. After enduring Brave Giant's "Millennium Emperor Nova" attack, Brilliant Eagle mode's costume is burned along its side, giving it a dark and corroded appearance along with making three of its wings resemble bat wings more than bird wings.

Phoenix Man was a human underneath his costume. He had scars all over his body and also had short blonde hair.

Personality
Phoenix Man is the first friendly monster to appear in the series, not attacking Garou despite his rude attitude against him. When Rhino Wrestler asked what he thought of his disaster level, he remarked that he didn't care. He also seemed to be confident in his abilities. Phoenix Man was only one of the two monsters, him and Gyoro Gyoro, that disliked the savagery of other monsters and preferred to deal with problems in a civilized manner. Phoenix Man would occasionally go to Gyoro Gyoro and ask it for advice and question about certain things, such as Gyoro Gyoro's decision to send Bug God and Royal Ripper to watch over Garou.

Phoenix Man was also one of the few monsters who appeared to show some level of care for his allies. He proposed sending reinforcements to help his fellow monsters, but when it was ultimately denied, he did not argue against it. He would give advice to others, be it monsters or potential allies, that appear to be for their own benefit.

He also seemed to have a good sense of judgment and keen intellect. As he was seen taking charge of the situation of their mission and instructing Rhino Wrestler, Sludge Jellyfish, and Elder Centipede. He was also able to figure out that Metal Knight's robot was remotely controlled and fighting it would only exhaust both him and his teammates. Even after his second resurrection, when he saw the corpses of Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, he showed reluctance in fighting Flashy Flash, demonstrating that his arrogance still doesn't completely blind his thought-process.

He was shown to be fearful of Orochi, since he planned to quit the Monster Association in case he failed to capture Garou after sacrificing most of the elite troops of the Monster Association. When he learned of Orochi's past and how he was once a human who went through countless sacrifices and gained immense strength, Phoenix Man wondered if he could become stronger too, imagining himself as the Monster King instead of Orochi, demonstrating an ambition for power.

In battle, in contrast to his analytical demeanor, he could be quite cocky and liked to talk big towards his opponents, causing him to be unprepared against countermeasures from his enemies, which contributed to his defeat during his first fight against Child Emperor. After his revival and power-up, he became extremely arrogant, proclaiming himself to be the strongest of all living beings on the planet, not taking into account Orochi's power or the power of other Dragon-level monsters.

It is possible that Phoenix Man harbored some form of sympathy or weak spot for children that originated from his time as the mascot for a children's show. This is seen when Phoenix Man promised Child Emperor a painless death the first time they meet, and even after being revived and becoming even more arrogant, he still intended to follow through with his promise. Despite this, after his second resurrection, he later went on to claim that he hated children, although this could also be interpreted as hatred for Child Emperor specifically after all the damage he dealt him.

His personality is significantly different in the webcomic. In the webcomic, he was a typical monster with a high superiority complex, stating his strength to surpass a disaster level of Demon, and believing the Monster Association to be a mere stepping stone for him to be at the top of the world. However, in the manga, his lines are for the most part the same as in the webcomic, showing that he still harbored the lust for power and desire to rule the world in the manga. He is also said to have been sensitive for a bird brain, according to Child Emperor.

History
At an unknown point in time, Phoenix Man was an actor and mascot who played an idiotic phoenix called Bird Brain in a dark humor TV show called Animal Kingdom who always revived every time he accidentally died in every episode. Because of the dark humor, the show was canceled due to the negative reaction from the audience and Phoenix Man was fired by his cruel and unsympathetic producer.

Unable to let go of his role in the show, he refused to take off the costume and began to lose his humanity day by day, until one day, he found that he couldn't remove it and began to hear the voice of his suit. Its will caused him to fuse with the costume, turning him into a Mysterious Being and granting him the powers of a phoenix, which is resurrection.

Monster Raid Arc
Phoenix Man is first seen in S-City accompanying Sludge Jellyfish and Rhino Wrestler. The three monsters corner Mohican and Pineapple, who are carrying Narinki and his son Waganma. He watches the battle between Garou and Metal Bat and comments that Garou could be a useful asset to the Monster Association.

He then invites Garou to join the Monster Association, but his offer is rejected. He says he will overlook Garou's rude behavior this time and promises that they will meet again if Garou continues to hero hunt.

After successfully capturing Waganma, Phoenix Man retreats underground with Rhino Wrestler and Elder Centipede.

Super Fight Arc
Phoenix Man takes Waganma to the Monster Association headquarters and is commended by Gyoro Gyoro. He informs Gyoro Gyoro about monsters being cornered by heroes and asks if they should send reinforcements, but his request is denied.

Monster Association Arc
During Garou's fight against Bang and Bomb, Phoenix Man is sent by Monster Association to rescue Garou with the assistance of Elder Centipede and some other weaker monsters.

After seeing Genos, Bang and Bomb's presence, he laments that he cannot approach them to grab Garou without risking death, having seen many of his monster comrades have already fallen. Phoenix Man considers quitting the Monster Association and fleeing, since he would be devoured by Orochi if he came back empty-handed after sacrificing so many troops. Eventually he decides to make his move, catching the group by surprise and blowing them away with a gust of air before grabbing Garou and flying off with him. As he escapes, Genos begins to target him to blast him out of the sky, so Phoenix Man calls Elder Centipede to cover him, intercepting the attack. He then takes Garou away, informing him of their plans to take him to Orochi.

After Garou's recovery, Phoenix Man reveals to Garou that Bang, Bomb, Genos, and the rest of the heroes survived the battle with Elder Centipede.

During Royal Ripper and Bug God's observation of Garou, Phoenix Man questions Gyoro Gyoro on the purpose of sending combat types to observe Garou as both Royal Ripper and Bug God can decide to kill Garou if they're being provoked enough. Gyoro Gyoro reveals that it was a test and to facilitate Garou's growth, stating that he needs to be ravaged both physically and mentally. Gyoro Gyoro in particular is excited to see what changes Garou will undergo as a result of experiencing monsters. Gyoro Gyoro reveals that Orochi was once a human that, after countless failures and sacrifices, became the ultimate being, much to the deep shock of Phoenix Man. Gyoro Gyoro created Orochi and that only it knows the secret trick of doing so. Gyoro Gyoro mentions that with the right nourishment, Garou has the potential of becoming a second Orochi, but that if he dies then he was never good enough. While resting in his nest, he ponders that if Gyoro Gyoro could make Orochi, a former human, become such a powerful monster, so could he. Therefore, he began to dream about being a monster king like Orochi.

During the Hero Association raid, he faced off against Child Emperor, but wastes too much time mocking Child Emperor, which enables the latter to put the transparent defense wall to nullity his Beak Attack, effectively stunning him. He is then shredded to death by Child Emperor's utility backpack. However, in a shocking turn of events, Phoenix Man overcame his near death experience and explosively grew in power to a Dragon-disaster level. He then engages Child Emperor in battle and forces the hero to call in his trump card. He engages in a very arduous and intense battle against Child Emperor, but during the battle, he's trapped by an invisible electromagnetic web. Child Emperor then attacks Phoenix Man with all of his power, and manages to temporarily knock Phoenix Man out of commission, as well as breakthrough a floor of the Monster Association Headquarters. They are knocked down further underground into a pool of water where Phoenix Man revives once more. Phoenix Man displays his newfound powers by reanimating the corpses of the Subterranean People, Hellfire Flame and Gale Wind. While Child Emperor finishes the undead off, he launches an all-out energy beam on Phoenix Man. Confident in absorbing the energy beam, the monster attempts to absorb the attack. Phoenix Man withstands the energy beam and calls for Child Emperor to leave his robot. Child Emperor's taunt draws Phoenix Man in for an attack and he is trapped within the robot. The monster destroys the mecha but Child Emperor manages to sneak in a tickling robot within Phoenix Man's costume. Phoenix Man frantically attempts to get rid of the robot but accidentally rips his costume, depriving him of his powers. Child Emperor proceeds to kick Phoenix Man in the groin before tearing off the rest of the costume and finishing the monster off with a stab through the chest.

Gyoro Gyoro
While they hold different ranks in the Monster Association, Gyoro Gyoro and Phoenix Man share a mutual friendly relationship as fellow monsters. Phoenix Man follows Gyoro Gyoro's orders and Gyoro Gyoro praises Phoenix Man for his success.

Phoenix Man is not afraid to discuss possible options and question Gyoro Gyoro's decisions. He is even allowed to enter Gyoro Gyoro's room with little complaint from Gyoro Gyoro.

Gyoro Gyoro has some level of recognition and respect for Phoenix Man. It is enough for her to reveal some secrets that she has told no one else.

While he lacks the power to become a cadre, he acts as middle management between the cadres and the weaker monsters. Despite his respectful attitude to Gyoro Gyoro, Phoenix Man sees the Monster Association as a stepping stone and wants to take the Monster King title from Orochi.

Abilities and Powers
As a Demon-level monster, Phoenix Man was a relatively powerful being in his base form. However, he was easily killed by Child Emperor upon their first encounter thanks to the hero's quick thinking. However, his true power lied elsewhere. Due to his monster form being based on a TV character resurrecting continuously after dying, Phoenix Man was also capable of resurrecting himself while also growing stronger in the process. After his resurrection, he became a Dragon-level threat. In this state, he was strong enough to force Child Emperor to resort to using his trump card, Brave Giant, and was able to hold the advantage for most of the battle. Additionally, he was able to quickly change forms to adjust to the battle. The costume telepathically communicated with Phoenix Man and informed him of his powers. Despite his arrogance and newfound power, he still displayed caution in engaging against Flashy Flash after seeing the corpses of Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, showing that he was still unsure of a victory against the ninja hero. Phoenix Man's costume is the source of his power and unique abilities, and without it, he is as weak as a regular human.

Supernatural Abilities
Resurrection: Phoenix Man possessed the ability to resurrect himself after a near-death experience. This ability stemmed from his costume, which was constantly destroyed and repaired during his performances as Bird Brain. It seemed that it took some time for Phoenix Man to return to life, as he only revived himself when Child Emperor backtracked to where his corpse was left after killing him the first time. When he resurrected, his body was engulfed in a burst of light and energy before emerging in his new form, thus living up to his namesake.
 * Power Enhancement: Not only did Phoenix Man revive himself but this resurrection came with an increase in power and an augmented form. Through this aspect, he became significantly stronger through every near-death experience or fatal attraction suffered, similar to Garou, who takes multiple near-death experiences to achieve significant growth in power. As long Phoenix Man's body and the suit remain intact, he can renew and become even stronger.


 * Fire Manipulation: After his resurrection, Phoenix Man gained the ability to create fire. This ability was shown to be even more extensive than any fire-wielder thus far, as he could completely envelope himself in flames. Moreover, in Hawk Mode, Phoenix Man could absorb and release heat.There appear to have been some limit as to how much energy Phoenix Man could absorb, as his body was scarred after taking the full impact of Brave Giant's Millennium Emperor Nova.


 * Reanimation: After his second resurrection, Phoenix Man gained the ability to reanimate corpses. This ability affected all dead beings in the area, even if Phoenix Man was unaware of them. The corpses all possess the original abilities that they did in life. However, they do not possess the same amount of cognitive decision making and self-preservation as they did in life as they were only determined to attack the target indicated by Phoenix Man. Interestingly, the reanimated individuals can regain their sanity and cognitive functions if their minds are shocked with powerful electricity, as seen with Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame. This power also rejoined the severed halves of the ninjas' bodies.

Physical Abilities
Flight: As a bird-like being, Phoenix Man had the ability to fly at great speeds through the use of his wings. His flight speed and maneuverability were further enhanced in his Falcon Mode.

Immense Strength: In his initial state, Phoenix Man possessed enough physical strength to blow a powerful gust of wind that knocked Bang, Bomb, Genos, and Garou off their feet by flapping his wings. Phoenix Man's second form from his resurrection possessed incredible strength, breaking through five layers of Child Emperor's Invisible Wall with no difficulty along with sending the young hero flying, while before this he couldn't break through even one layer. He was also strong enough to damage the armor of Brave Giant, hold back the mech's Super Vibrating Shortsword, and momentarily block its Giant Knuckle Sandwich, only being overpowered when Child Emperor removed the robot's power output limitations and unleashed its full power. After his second resurrection, his power increased further, and he was able to rip off the arm of Brave Giant with ease, whereas his heated talons were only able to scratch the robot before.

Immense Speed and Reflexes: In his first form, Phoenix Man was fast enough to swoop down and blow Bang, Bomb, Genos, and Garou back with his wings when they were distracted and quickly grabbed hold of Garou to make off with the Hero Hunter before any of the humans were able to react properly. After his first resurrection, he became fast enough to pierce through all five layers of Child Emperor's Invisible Wall in one flight jump and attack the hero so quickly that he was barely able to react. His overall flight speed dramatically increased in his resurrected form, as he was able to easily dodge the attacks of Child Emperor's Brave Giant along with outpacing the mech's homing missiles. In his Falcon Mode, Child Emperor notes his speed had increased even more, as he was able to dodge both the Brave Giant and its miniature mechs' simultaneous attacks.

Immense Durability: Initially, when in his first form, Phoenix Man was swiftly defeated by Child Emperor, who shredded his body with his utility tools. After resurrecting, he sustained a direct blow from Child Emperor's mech, Brave Giant, as well as being thrown through a wall and multiple pillars, and was unaffected. Additionally, Phoenix Man was able to withstand several powerful attacks from the Brave Giant and resist the mech's Giant Knuckle Sandwich for a brief moment. After his second resurrection, he was able to withstand the unbelievable force of Brave Giant's Millennium Emperor Nova, although it did scar his body.

Enhanced Senses: As an avian based Mysterious Being, Phoenix Man boasted incredible senses matching his birdlike namesake. Having extraordinary visual capacity long before his resurrection, with the advent of his reincarnated form it can be assumed he gained additional visual perception thanks to the extra eye in the chest of his monster costume.

Fighting Style
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: In his first form, Phoenix Man appeared to mainly rely on incorporating his bird-like attributes with close-quarter attacks. After resurrecting and gaining a humanoid form, he combined both martial attacks of punches and kicks along with his enhanced avian features and fire to explosively increase his combat potential. His skills in his new form along with enhanced power allowed him to fight evenly with Child Emperor's Brave Giant mech head-on.


 * Beak Attack (クチバシ攻撃, Kuchibashi Kōgeki): Phoenix Man attacks his opponent with his beak in the form of a piercing attack.
 * Phoenix Explosion Beak Attack (フェニックスエクスプロージョンクチバシ攻撃, Fenikkusu Ekusupurōjon Kuchibashi Kōgeki): Phoenix Man builds up speed with his wings and smashes his opponent at full force with his beak. This attack is significantly more powerful than his Beak Attack, capable of breaking five layers of Child Emperor's Invisible Wall simultaneously when his original attack could not even break through one.

Searing Winds: Phoenix Man beats his wings to send a powerful gust of heated air.

Phoenix Flare (フェニックスフレア, Fenikkusu Furea): Phoenix Man exerts some fire out of his body which he then sends towards his targets using his wings. This was first used to counter the heat-seeking missiles of Child Emperor's Brave Giant.

Phoenix Fire Falcon Mode (フェニックスファイヤーファルコンモード, Fenikkusufaiyāfarukonmōdo): Phoenix Man changes form to a faster and more agile design and is able to land multiple strikes in extremely quick bursts.
 * Phoenix Heat Up Nail Attack (フェニックスヒートアップ爪攻撃, Fenikkusuhītoappu tsume kōgeki): Phoenix Man heats up his claws and attacks his targets from multiple angles. The attack is hot enough to melt parts of Brave Giant.
 * Phoenix Homing Wing Attack (フェニックスホーミング羽根攻撃, Fenikkusu Hōmingu Hane Kōgeki): Phoenix Man launches multiple feathers that are capable of targeting and tracking.

Phoenix Prominence Hawk Mode (フェニックスプロミネンスホークモード, Fenikkusupurominensuhōkumōdo): Phoenix Man changes form to a design that is seemingly immune to fire and heat by absorbing the energy of incoming attacks. However, it appears to have a limit to how much energy it could absorb, as it did little to defend against Brave Giant's "Millennium Emperor Nova" beam attack.

Phoenix Brilliant Eagle Mode (フェニックス金剛(ブリリアント)イーグルモード, Fenikkusu Buririanto Īguru Mōdo): A form Phoenix Man achieves upon his second resurrection. It proved to be very powerful, able to easily stop most of Brave Giant's attacks and quickly take Waganma back from him.
 * New King's Awakening Light (新王目覚めの光, Shin Ō mezame no hikari): Phoenix Man activates his life energy and radiates it out, resurrecting nearby corpses into aggressive zombies. Even Phoenix Man doesn't really understand how it works.

Miscellaneous Abilities
Expert Strategist and Tactician: Phoenix Man takes into account the compatibility and abilities of his opponents, allies, and himself before any potential confrontation. This is first seen when he advised Rhino Wrestler against fighting Metal Knight. He further demonstrated this strategic mindset when he was deciding and waiting for the right time to rescue Garou and when comparing the abilities of Bang, Bomb and Genos against Elder Centipede's. Despite this, he is still prone to underestimating opponents, as seen when he took on Child Emperor, an S-Class hero, singlehandedly and was quickly killed. After resurrecting for the first time, Phoenix Man retained his analytical mind despite becoming cockier as he quickly deduced that Child Emperor's ultimate weapon, Brave Giant, had severe limitations, which was why the hero didn't resort to using it until their second confrontation. He also analytically fought the mech in a war of attrition to stall for time, as well as planning to use the labyrinth of the Monster Association Headquarters as a way to hide from the Brave Giant and wait until its power runs out.

Equipment
Phoenix Costume: It's shown that Phoenix Man was, in fact, a regular person, and his costume was the source of all of his powers. The costume was immensely powerful, as it gave him all of the abilities of a phoenix. However, it's revealed that without the costume, his power was that of an ordinary human.

Quotes

 * "The method of how Orochi was created...If that story was true, then I could become it too. "Monster King" Phoenix Man."
 * "For me, the Monster Association is a mere stepping stone. Sooner or later, I will take the "King" moniker from Orochi."
 * "It seems as of this moment, I've become the strongest of them all! I, the great Phoenix Man, now stand at the pinnacle of all organisms!"
 * "Gyoro Gyoro once told me, overcoming the hell of a near death experience is the true secret behind a monster's explosive growth."

Trivia

 * Phoenix Man's role in the story is expanded in the manga. In the webcomic, Phoenix Man died after his first confrontation with Child Emperor and did not resurrect.
 * It was suggested to Murata that Phoenix Man become golden, which he thought was a good idea.
 * In the original storyboard of Chapter 84, ONE gave Phoenix Man a technique called Phoenix Flare (フェニックスフレア, Fenikkusufurea), which Phoenix Man used to avoid Genos' barrage.
 * Fluttering Wall (はためきウォール, Hatameki Uōru) was an attack where Phoenix Man swings his wings rapidly to push away the advances of anyone close to him, but the attack was removed in the final version of Chapter 99.
 * Similar to Garou, Phoenix Man is one of the few monster to increase his disaster level as the battle goes on by growing and not because they were suppressing/hiding their power at first (e.g. Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame.
 * Phoenix Man's numerous forms share certain features with certain orders of angels from Abrahamic religions: Phoenix Man Revived's four wings and his humanoid aspect are shared with the cherubim, four-winged angels; his Brilliant Eagle mode's six wings are reminiscent of the seraphim, who also possessed six wings and were the order of angels closest to God. This is possibly a reference to Phoenix Man's disaster level getting closer and closer to God with each transformation.
 * Phoenix Man is the first monster who is shown to self-destruct, specifically by destroying his own suit and power source.

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