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=== As a Boss ===
 
=== As a Boss ===
  +
* '''Chapter 06-05 - '''2B and 9S are designated to investigate the ''Forest Kingdom'' by Pascal, until the two come across a large castle structure, in which various robots protect their "king" by attacking the two androids. Whilst this happens, 2B and 9S make it to the end of the castle, to find A2 at the end, impaling the king in the side, killing it. 2B fights this new android with the assistance of 9S, and is informed by the Commander through the Pod that A2 deserted the YoRHa force and needed to be annihilated. The two fail to defeat the android, as 9S asks A2 why she left the force, when A2 responded by saying that ''YoRHa ''betrayed them. During the battle, A2 will dash around the screen and attack the player, jumping from high distances, and will '''not''' use Berserk mode.
* '''Chapter 06-05 - '''''TBA''
 
 
 
* '''Chapter 17-09 (Branch D) - '''''TBA''
 
* '''Chapter 17-09 (Branch D) - '''''TBA''
   

Revision as of 16:52, 20 June 2017

"I never quite realized...how beautiful this world is."
—A2, in Ending C.

YoRHa Type A (Attacker) No.2 or A2 serves as the protagonist of Branch C in NieR:Automata, as well as the final boss in Branch D. She is also a major character in the YoRHa Stage Play.

She is a prototype model YoRHa android that was used in order to create the superior 2B and 9S. She doesn't like to speak and often keeps to herself.[1]

Three years prior to the events of NieR: Automata, she was a member of the first YoRHa squadron deployed to Earth as part of the Pearl Harbor Mission. Her alias at the time was No2 but is referenced in Automata as "Number Two".[2] She was portrayed by Ruka Endo in the stage play.

Story

Template:SpoilerNA

A2 appears as part of the initial YoRHa squadron deployed to earth during the 14th Machine War.[3]

A2 is first encountered by 2B and 9S killing Immanuel. Pod 153 warns the pair that A2 is a wanted android and is recommended for annihilation. 9S questions the directive while 2B initiates battle against the mysterious A2. Following A2's defeat, 9S asks her why she betrayed them. A2 mentions that Command was the one who betrayed them and escapes. 2B and 9S attempt to give chase but realize she's already gone.

After the defeat of Adam and Eve, when a corrupted 2B is being accosted by androids of YoRHa, A2 appears and disposes of her assailants. Realizing there's no hope for survival, 2B relegates her sword and memories to A2. A2 stabs 2B with her sword while 9S watches her take the sword out of 2B's bloodied corpse. 9S has a mental breakdown and proclaims that he will kill the rogue android. A2 cuts her hair with 2B's sword in a style reminiscent of the deceased android. As he runs towards her, he falls off a bridge while gigantic pillars rise from the ground, forming The Tower. A2 is caught within the pillars' movements and is knocked unconscious.

A2 wakes up on a piece of debris with Pod 042 greeting her a good morning. A2 wonders about the Pod following her and is told that 2B's final order insisted that Pod 042 should assist A2. A2 scoffs at the notion of needing help and tells the Pod to shut up. After requesting her motives several times, A2 finally relents and tells the Pod that her goal is to destroy machines. He then directs her to the Desert.

A2 arrives at the desert and encounters a Goliath-class Machine named Hegel. She defeats the machine and hacks into its mainframe, ultimately annihilating its core. A mirage of 2B appears to her and tells her that she and A2 are the same, with A2 angrily rejecting the notion by throwing her sword at where 2B appeared. After falling unconscious and reawaking, Pod informs A2 that her filter is full of sand and must be replaced. After heading to the Resistance Camp, A2 meets Pascal, who is under attack by several hostile machines. After dispatching them, A2 spares the machine, despite her grudge, and continues to the camp.

After reuniting with Anemone, A2 finds out she needs Pascal's help in order to get a filter. Hesitantly, A2 recieves help from Pascal, and in turn, helps him and his villagers with requests. After obtaining a book on philosophy from Anemone, Pascal's village turns on itself with some of the machines becoming cannibalistic. A2 returns to the village, only to find it in flames and the villagers feeding on eachother. She tells Pod 042 that they need to locate Pascal immediately. After dispatching the zombie machines, she and Pascal take the child machines to the abandoned Factory to hide from the machines.

This proves to be a mistake, however, as a force of machines descend upon the factory. A2 and an enraged Pascal take up arms against the machines, and eventually overcome the enemy force when Pascal takes control of an Engels and kills them all. When the two return to the factory, they find all the children commited suicide out of fear of dying. Pascal, feeling guilt for having taught them the concept of fear, mentally breaks down and asks that A2 fulfill his final request: erase his memories, and therefore who he is, or kill him. After making her choice, A2 leaves the factory and makes her way to the Tower.

A2 enters the God Box, and finds 9S who is about to be attacked by a corrupted Operator 21O. She kills 21O by impaling her several times, saving 9S. A2 then tells him that 2B wanted her to tell him that he should continue to be a good person. A mentally unstable 9S becomes enraged at the mention of 2B and attacks her. However, he falls down through the crumbling floor and Auguste appears before A2. Following the machine's defeat, its brothers surround it with pleas of "Big Brother", kowtowing and begging A2 to spare them. She hesitantly executes them all.

Having arrived at the base of the Tower, A2 encounters a wounded Devola and Popola, who explain that they've already opened the tower for 9S. As they make their way up the tower, A2 and Pod 042 enter a familiar Library, with Pod 042 explaining to A2 what libraries are. Within the library's depths, A2 encounters a book titled "Operational Summary of Model Number Two in Project YoRHa", and opens it, expressing surprise at its contents. Shortly after reading through the book, A2 is attacked by Ko-Shi that's infiltrated the library. After fighting the machine on an ascending elevator while 9S combats Ro-Shi above, the two knock their respective enemies into an arena. 9S attempts to confront A2, but the two are forced to work together to combat Ko-Shi & Ro-Shi, the two previous machines merged. After destroying the machine, A2 and 9S finally confront one another.

A2 mentions that the tower they are in is actually a cannon aimed at the human server on the moon. If they don't do anything, all of the remaining human data will be destroyed. A mentally unstable 9S tells A2 that humanity is extinct and that the human server was a lie perpetuated by YoRHa to keep the androids in line. If an android did find out, they were deigned to be killed. He states that the commander, him and 2B were all sacrificial lambs. A2 reveals to 9S that 2B was actually a special android unit called 2E that was designed to specifically execute YoRHa units, and that 2B hated killing 9S over and over again. Enraged by A2's words, 9S tells Pod 153 to stop talking until either he or A2 is dead.

flowers for m[A]chines

A2 is absent for the events during Ending A.

or not to [B]e

A2 is absent for the events during Ending B.

meaningless [C]ode

  • Choosing A2 will yield this ending.
A2 decides to battle 9S and near the battle's end, she cuts off his arm and hacks into his mind with Pod 042's assistance. While navigating the mind of 9S, Pod 042 continuously warns A2 that the chances of removing the corruption plaguing 9S are slim at best. A2 suggests she has a plan but Pod 042 strongly advises against harm against YoRHa units it supports, with A2 expressing admiration at the pod's loyalty. After discovering a slumbering 9S at the end of the labyrinth, A2 tells Pod 042 to take care of 9S while she tries to accomplish one more thing.
As Pod 042 leaves with 9S's body, A2 walks towards the pillar of light and hears the laughter of children. She severs the functionality of the structure, causing it to crumble and returning her to reality. A2 mentions that she never realized how beautiful the world was, proclaiming to "everyone" that she is coming. As A2 reaches her hand out to the sky, she perishes within the crumbling structure's decline and debris.
In the aftermath of the credits, the debris from the destruction of the structure is seen throughout the area. A lone moose stares at a rock with 2B's sword and mask impaled on it.

chil[D]hood's end

  • Choosing 9S will yield this ending.
9S fights A2 with severe malice and is almost overpowered by her. A2 hesitates as she recalls 2B's request and is impaled by 9S's sword. A2 falls to the ground in a pool of her own blood while 9S falls right beside her, impaled on her sword as he succumbs to his data corruption.

the [E]nd of YoRHa

  • Obtain Endings C and D
During the credits. the Pods begin to delete all data related to the YoRHa project, as was originally intended. However, Pod 042 has doubts and refuses to go through with it, which Pod 153 agrees to. The two both voice their wishes that A2, 2B, and 9S could have lived, and decide to rebuild them. The player must do a final hacking game, fighting all the names in the credits. After this, the Pods are shown flying parts to a building that 2B and 9S are laying on. The screen then pans up to show A2 sitting on the edge of another building as a dove perches near her.

Gameplay

As a Playable Character

A2 handles very similarly to 2B, but she has several key differences:

  • Primary Attack - Basic light attack, does less damage, but is faster and has a higher combo potential.
  • Heavy Attack - Basic heavy attack, does more damage, but is slower and has shorter combos. Holding the heavy attack button will charge the attack up to two levels, the second of which will have an extended attack if it connects.
  • Aerial Attack - Primary attacks in the air will keep A2 in the air as long as the combo lasts, while using a heavy attack will result in a ground slam.
  • Dash & Evade - Dash around and can evade attacks when dashing just before an enemy attack connects.
  • Taunt (A2 Only) - Hold down the primary attack button to taunt the enemy for a damage boost to both A2 and the enemy.
  • Dashing Boost (A2 Only) - When holding down the dash button, A2's damage will be increased for a short time.
  • Berserk (A2 Only) - A2 has the ability to go in Berserk Mode, in which her damage output is amplified, but at the cost of taking more damage and has her health drained rapidly.
  • Finisher - Pressing the action button on a downed enemy will do a special attack that does a fair amount of damage.

Strategy - A2 has a very aggresive moveset, and as such, has the highest damage potential out of all the playable characters in the game, especially with the right Plug-in Chips. When using Berserk with the higher level Offensive Heal, Deadly Heal, Auto-Heal, and Damage Absorb Chips, the health drain will be offset by the massive amounts of health gained while dealing damage and killing enemies, especially when fighting a boss and/or a swarm of enemies.

As a Boss

  • Chapter 06-05 - 2B and 9S are designated to investigate the Forest Kingdom by Pascal, until the two come across a large castle structure, in which various robots protect their "king" by attacking the two androids. Whilst this happens, 2B and 9S make it to the end of the castle, to find A2 at the end, impaling the king in the side, killing it. 2B fights this new android with the assistance of 9S, and is informed by the Commander through the Pod that A2 deserted the YoRHa force and needed to be annihilated. The two fail to defeat the android, as 9S asks A2 why she left the force, when A2 responded by saying that YoRHa betrayed them. During the battle, A2 will dash around the screen and attack the player, jumping from high distances, and will not use Berserk mode.
  • Chapter 17-09 (Branch D) - TBA

Intel Description

Chapter 06-05 - The A-model is a YoRHa prototype that specializes in close-quarter combat. Though not presently in use, it was originally created to speed along the implementation of other official models such as 2B and 9S. This particular unit- whose official title is Class A, Number 2- was wanted by Command for desertion and ordered to be destroyed on sight. She first appeared in the Forest Castle, where she slew the Forest King. 2B and 9S engaged her in combat, but she managed to escape.

Chapter 17-09 - 9S and A2 face off. A2 tries to convince 9S of how pointless the fight is, but her words fail to penetrate the cloud of violent anger in his mind. During the battle, A2 hesitates for a moment when she hears a memory of 2B call out to her, leading to her demise.

Trivia

  • In the ending meaningless [C]ode, A2 makes reference to her role in the stage play YoRHa. The "everyone" she mentions in the ending refers to her squadmates No4, No16, and No21 as well as the Resistance forces under the command of Rose from the stage play.
  • It is mentioned in the stage play that A2's memories were taken from the memories of a young girl who lived a happy life with her grandmother, likely in reference to Kainé.
  • According to Nier: Automata Guide Book, A2 three sizes are B: 73cm, W: 54cm, H: 82cm. Her height is 168cm (including heels). Her weight is 139.2kg.
  • When A2 self-destructs, rather than losing a piece of clothing like 2B and 9S, she would enter her berserk mode instead.

Gallery

 
YoRHa Type A No.2 SS
A2's close-up.
 
A2Trailer
A2 with short hair.
 
A2BranchC
A2 about to battle 9S.
 
A2KoRoShi
A2 and 9S about to battle Ko-Shi & Ro-Shi.
 
A2vs9S
A2 just before fighting 9S.
 
YoRHa Type A No.2 SS2
A2 walks past the debris.
 
YoRHa Type A No.2 SS3
A2 confronts 2B.
 
YoRHa Type A No.2 SS4
A2 engages in battle.
 
YoRHa Type A No.2 SS5
A2 meets with 2B and 9S.
 
NA Countdown 8 2
Countdown artwork featuring Pod 042, 2B, Emil, A2, 9S by Nishii Tomoko.
 
NA Countdown 5
Countdown artwork featuring A2 by Matsudaira Hito.

Reference