Aethon Solarius means "the burning light that belongs to the sun." His name comes from the divine mother's warhorse, which brought light to the world. His parents hoped he would protect all living things like the sun.
But this newborn sun rose only to set. In the epic, he burned himself up to light the way for those who came after him, casting one last warm dawn over the people he loved. His body dissolved into motes of light, leaving behind a hymn that would be sung for a thousand years.
This is an introduction to Aethon, a character in the general-audience game Aerion. Debuting in version 2.0 and appearing through version 2.8, his characterization across several updates brought him unprecedented popularity. When he launched, his art, model, voice acting, story, mechanics, and stats were all top-tier. Players called him the version's golden boy, a jack-of-all-trades, a must-pull at the top of every tier list, and the champion of the Vanilla Cup, among other things. He proved countless players who refused to play games with male characters wrong.
So what was the price? Perhaps becoming a jack-of-all-trades meant having an E-rank in luck, in every sense of the word.
Aethon soon went from an internal favorite to an internal enemy amid company infighting, going from royalty to an abandoned pawn. Over the next three years, he endured power creep; vanished from the main story, side stories, and events; suffered an unbearable decline in his character art; saw his voice actor's reputation collapse; and got a direct upgrade instead of the buffs his mechanics needed. Even his magnificent model lost its luster because it wasn't updated alongside later versions. No matter how popular he was, he couldn't escape the fate of male characters in general-audience games.
Outside the game, players campaigned for their rights, but before a response came, a shutdown notice arrived.
Then Aethon unexpectedly awakened. A person claiming to be from the Space-Time Administration took him away. His first mission was to debut in an unrelated idol survival show, but as a beginner's mission, it finally let him be a true company favorite in this world.
Aethon: I'm going to be the company favorite! For real?
Being the company's favorite on an idol survival show isn't so easy! Just as passersby were ready to criticize him, they suddenly realized: Hold on, this company favorite's model is unbelievably gorgeous. No way, absolutely no way! Surely this company favorite is terrible at performing. Wait, how can he sing, dance, and do everything else? All it took was one performance for the passersby to go from doubting him to loving him. They became fans and left a comment: Give us more company favorites like this!
(The protagonist is a real paper-doll character. At first, he doesn't understand idol survival shows, but later the fans move him, and he works hard for them, instinctively mastering the art of charming fans. Whether in the game or after awakening, the protagonist is a charismatic, universally adored charmer, but his eyes are only on his career and fans. He's a career-focused person who will never have a scandal.)
Theme: Everything in the past is a prelude.
