Aya Brea
Encyclopedia
Aya Brea is a player character
in the Parasite Eve video games by Square
.
. This gives her a unique appearance as she boasts many Asian facial features, such as the shape of her face and eyes, while possessing typically Nordic blue eyes and fair blonde hair. She had a sister named Maya who, along with her mother, died in an car accident in or around December 1977.
After Maya's death, her organs were preserved, which allowed for one of her cornea
s to be transplanted
into Aya, in 1986. At the same time, one of Maya's kidney
s was transplanted into a young girl named Melissa Pearce. Unknown to any of the doctors, Maya's malevolent mitochondria began changing Aya and Melissa's genetic structure. As a young woman Aya studied criminology
at the University of Virginia
and was involved in their ROTC
program. She later became a detective with the fictional NYPD
's 17th precinct. Within the first six months of working at the precinct, Aya became involved in an event known as the New York Blockade Incident. As an officer, she held a sort of father/daughter relationship with her partner, Daniel "Bo" Dollis, a veteran cop who is protective of her.
On December 24, 1997, Aya went on a date to an opera performance at Carnegie Hall
, which starred Melissa Pearce as the lead. During the performance, Maya's advanced mitochondria, which had lain dormant in Melissa for eleven years, awakened and transformed her into Mitochondria Eve. As her first act against humankind, Eve killed everyone in Carnegie Hall via spontaneous human combustion
, except for Aya who was immune to the effect. During the next six days, Aya fought Eve and the creatures she spawned, known as Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures or NMCs, all across Manhattan
, greatly assisted by the incredible powers she started to exhibit. Aya would later discover that she was granted great power due to the fact that she possessed Maya's mitochondria (transferred to her body during the corneal transplant), but it was unable to take control of her as it did Melissa because of Aya's evolved cell nuclei. Aya fought and destroyed a strain of rapidly evolving mitochondria that threatened to enslave all humanity. Eventually, Aya engaged Eve in a showdown on Liberty Island
, in which Eve was killed. After this however, she had to destroy The Ultimate Being that Eve gave birth to. After an ongoing battle between her humanity
and evolution
, Aya successfully managed to destroy the creature with a little help from Daniel and Kunihiko Maeda (a Japanese scientist assisting them with advice in these matters). She soon became a hero among the government ranks for her courageous acts while few civilians are aware of the details of the event. After the events in the game transpire, she, along with her friends try to make up for a lost Christmas by going to the opera at Carnegie Hall once again. During this time, Aya communicates with the entire audience's mitochondria and their eyes begin to glow a pinkish red. This leads up to this ending possibly being non-canonical, where if the player plays through the Chrysler Building
and defeats the Purebred Eve, Aya will lose her mitochondrial powers (albeit gaining newer, less superior ones leading up to the sequel) thus, saving the audience as well as all of mankind once again.
A few months after Eve's rampage in New York, Aya left the force and joined a newly-formed branch of the FBI
known as the Mitochondrion Investigation and Suppression Team or MIST. The purpose of MIST, based out of Los Angeles
, is to hunt down and destroy any remaining NMCs. During her time as a MIST Agent, Aya had always worked alone due to the abnormality of her powers. However, though she chooses not to use them, she cannot truly hide them; she is never sick and appears younger than her biological age, as her "awakened" mitochondria find a young, healthy host advantageous and actively maintain her body in its early twenties. These psychological factors have acted as a mental block on her abilities, rendering them amazingly weak compared to her capabilities in the first game.
In early September 2000, Aya was following a lead to a tiny town of Dryfield in the Mojave Desert
where she met and formed a partnership with a private investigator
from Texas
called Kyle Madigan. With Kyle's co-operation, Aya soon discovered a strange shadow government
facility called Neo-Ark where scientists were using Aya's DNA
to breed a race of Artificial Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures. To control the ANMCs, the Neo-Ark directors brainwashed a young girl named Eve, a clone
of Aya. After discovering that Eve, as well as the ANMCs were all made from her, she felt obligated to "finish what she started" and once again, save humanity from an ominous fate which was ultimately the cause of her own physical existence. After the destruction of the Neo-Ark facility, as well as her "struggle" having finally ended, Aya left MIST, any documents containing information regarding the NMCs were disposed of by the US Government, she took the young Eve in, forming a motherly/sisterly bond with her, and thanks to one of her friends in MIST, Rupert Broderick, pulled some strings and created a profile for Eve saying that she's Aya's sister, no questions asked. Aya's boss, Eric Baldwin was discovered to be a mole for the shadow government and was ultimately locked behind bars for treason
, courtesy of Aya learning so from another one of her friends, Pierce D. Carradine. Baldwin's place leading MIST was taken by Rupert Broderick following the inside investigation. Kyle Madigan (who disappeared after the Neo Ark events) meets with Aya and Eve in New York.
Despite being in her late thirties, Aya appears to be the age of 25 due to her advanced mitochondria. Because of this, she is also the only applicable candidate viable for the Overdive System. She has lost her memories as a result of unknown circumstances, which has led to a drastic change in personality since the first two Parasite Eve games: She is shown to be more vulnerable and fighting for unknown reasons. She has the ability to travel through time via the Overdive system, and also gained the new ability to body swap. She is the secret weapon for the human race in the fight against the Twisted. Using a machine built by the CTI, Aya returns 2 years in the past, where the Twisted first appeared. At the end of the game, it's revealed that the real Aya was destroyed by her own sister Eve Brea at Time Zero. Eve had tried to save her but accidentally developed Overdive into Aya's body, causing Aya's soul to create the Twisted and Eve's body to create the High Ones.
In the secret ending, a blond woman wishes Eve a happy birthday before disappearing into thin air as Eve searches around. Its most likely that this is the Real Aya Brea, making a final appearance by taking over someone's body (or in Eve's imagination).
in Chocobo Racing
as a hidden character, using a police car as her vehicle, and has a promotional card in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. One of her costumes from The 3rd Birthday also serves as an alternate outfit for Lightning in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
(also voiced by Maaya Sakamoto
).
ranked her #6 on the list of the most "tasteful game heroines" (with a comment that "her blond hair and penchant for finding supernatural trouble" has made them "wonder if J. J. Abrams
had Aya in mind when casting Fringe
’s Olivia Dunham
, this generation’s Dana Scully
"). In 2010, she was ranked #32 in the Complex Magazines list of "The 50 Hottest Women In Video Games" and was featured in the GamesRadar's list of "ladies worth scissoring
". In 2011, UGO also ranked her #3 on the list of 50 "Hot Girls We Wish Were Real".
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
in the Parasite Eve video games by Square
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
.
In the Parasite Eve series
Aya Brea was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 20, 1972. She is of mixed ethnicity: her father (name unrevealed), who is a journalist, was of European descent, her mother (Mariko) was JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
. This gives her a unique appearance as she boasts many Asian facial features, such as the shape of her face and eyes, while possessing typically Nordic blue eyes and fair blonde hair. She had a sister named Maya who, along with her mother, died in an car accident in or around December 1977.
After Maya's death, her organs were preserved, which allowed for one of her cornea
Cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...
s to be transplanted
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
into Aya, in 1986. At the same time, one of Maya's kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
s was transplanted into a young girl named Melissa Pearce. Unknown to any of the doctors, Maya's malevolent mitochondria began changing Aya and Melissa's genetic structure. As a young woman Aya studied criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
and was involved in their ROTC
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...
program. She later became a detective with the fictional NYPD
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
's 17th precinct. Within the first six months of working at the precinct, Aya became involved in an event known as the New York Blockade Incident. As an officer, she held a sort of father/daughter relationship with her partner, Daniel "Bo" Dollis, a veteran cop who is protective of her.
On December 24, 1997, Aya went on a date to an opera performance at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, which starred Melissa Pearce as the lead. During the performance, Maya's advanced mitochondria, which had lain dormant in Melissa for eleven years, awakened and transformed her into Mitochondria Eve. As her first act against humankind, Eve killed everyone in Carnegie Hall via spontaneous human combustion
Spontaneous human combustion
Spontaneous human combustion describes reported cases of the burning of a living human body without an apparent external source of ignition...
, except for Aya who was immune to the effect. During the next six days, Aya fought Eve and the creatures she spawned, known as Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures or NMCs, all across Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, greatly assisted by the incredible powers she started to exhibit. Aya would later discover that she was granted great power due to the fact that she possessed Maya's mitochondria (transferred to her body during the corneal transplant), but it was unable to take control of her as it did Melissa because of Aya's evolved cell nuclei. Aya fought and destroyed a strain of rapidly evolving mitochondria that threatened to enslave all humanity. Eventually, Aya engaged Eve in a showdown on Liberty Island
Liberty Island
Liberty Island is a small uninhabited island in New York Harbor in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. Though so called since the turn of the century, the name did not become official until 1956. In 1937, by proclamation 2250, President Franklin D...
, in which Eve was killed. After this however, she had to destroy The Ultimate Being that Eve gave birth to. After an ongoing battle between her humanity
Compassion
Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...
and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, Aya successfully managed to destroy the creature with a little help from Daniel and Kunihiko Maeda (a Japanese scientist assisting them with advice in these matters). She soon became a hero among the government ranks for her courageous acts while few civilians are aware of the details of the event. After the events in the game transpire, she, along with her friends try to make up for a lost Christmas by going to the opera at Carnegie Hall once again. During this time, Aya communicates with the entire audience's mitochondria and their eyes begin to glow a pinkish red. This leads up to this ending possibly being non-canonical, where if the player plays through the Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at , it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State...
and defeats the Purebred Eve, Aya will lose her mitochondrial powers (albeit gaining newer, less superior ones leading up to the sequel) thus, saving the audience as well as all of mankind once again.
A few months after Eve's rampage in New York, Aya left the force and joined a newly-formed branch of the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
known as the Mitochondrion Investigation and Suppression Team or MIST. The purpose of MIST, based out of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, is to hunt down and destroy any remaining NMCs. During her time as a MIST Agent, Aya had always worked alone due to the abnormality of her powers. However, though she chooses not to use them, she cannot truly hide them; she is never sick and appears younger than her biological age, as her "awakened" mitochondria find a young, healthy host advantageous and actively maintain her body in its early twenties. These psychological factors have acted as a mental block on her abilities, rendering them amazingly weak compared to her capabilities in the first game.
In early September 2000, Aya was following a lead to a tiny town of Dryfield in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
where she met and formed a partnership with a private investigator
Private investigator
A private investigator , private detective or inquiry agent, is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private detectives/investigators often work for attorneys in civil cases. Many work for insurance companies to investigate suspicious claims...
from Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
called Kyle Madigan. With Kyle's co-operation, Aya soon discovered a strange shadow government
Shadow government (conspiracy)
The term shadow government besides its party political meaning can also refer to what is sometimes called "the secret government" or "the invisible government" , an idea based on the notion that real and actual political power does not reside with publicly elected representatives but with private...
facility called Neo-Ark where scientists were using Aya's DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
to breed a race of Artificial Neo-Mitochondrial Creatures. To control the ANMCs, the Neo-Ark directors brainwashed a young girl named Eve, a clone
Human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
of Aya. After discovering that Eve, as well as the ANMCs were all made from her, she felt obligated to "finish what she started" and once again, save humanity from an ominous fate which was ultimately the cause of her own physical existence. After the destruction of the Neo-Ark facility, as well as her "struggle" having finally ended, Aya left MIST, any documents containing information regarding the NMCs were disposed of by the US Government, she took the young Eve in, forming a motherly/sisterly bond with her, and thanks to one of her friends in MIST, Rupert Broderick, pulled some strings and created a profile for Eve saying that she's Aya's sister, no questions asked. Aya's boss, Eric Baldwin was discovered to be a mole for the shadow government and was ultimately locked behind bars for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, courtesy of Aya learning so from another one of her friends, Pierce D. Carradine. Baldwin's place leading MIST was taken by Rupert Broderick following the inside investigation. Kyle Madigan (who disappeared after the Neo Ark events) meets with Aya and Eve in New York.
Despite being in her late thirties, Aya appears to be the age of 25 due to her advanced mitochondria. Because of this, she is also the only applicable candidate viable for the Overdive System. She has lost her memories as a result of unknown circumstances, which has led to a drastic change in personality since the first two Parasite Eve games: She is shown to be more vulnerable and fighting for unknown reasons. She has the ability to travel through time via the Overdive system, and also gained the new ability to body swap. She is the secret weapon for the human race in the fight against the Twisted. Using a machine built by the CTI, Aya returns 2 years in the past, where the Twisted first appeared. At the end of the game, it's revealed that the real Aya was destroyed by her own sister Eve Brea at Time Zero. Eve had tried to save her but accidentally developed Overdive into Aya's body, causing Aya's soul to create the Twisted and Eve's body to create the High Ones.
In the secret ending, a blond woman wishes Eve a happy birthday before disappearing into thin air as Eve searches around. Its most likely that this is the Real Aya Brea, making a final appearance by taking over someone's body (or in Eve's imagination).
Guest appearances
Aya makes a cameo appearanceCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in Chocobo Racing
Chocobo Racing
Chocobo Racing, known in Japan as is a racing game for the PlayStation game console. The game was developed by Square Co., creators of the Final Fantasy series of video games. The game was first released in Japan in March 1999...
as a hidden character, using a police car as her vehicle, and has a promotional card in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. One of her costumes from The 3rd Birthday also serves as an alternate outfit for Lightning in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
is a 2011 fighting game published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was developed by the company's 1st Production Department...
(also voiced by Maaya Sakamoto
Maaya Sakamoto
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...
).
Reception
Critical reception of the character was positive. In 2007, Aya was included on UGO's the list of "Top 11 NYPD Cops in Entertainment". In 2009, GamesRadarGamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
ranked her #6 on the list of the most "tasteful game heroines" (with a comment that "her blond hair and penchant for finding supernatural trouble" has made them "wonder if J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
had Aya in mind when casting Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
’s Olivia Dunham
Olivia Dunham
FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series Fringe . Olivia first appeared in the pilot episode on September 9, 2008. She is portrayed by actress Anna Torv....
, this generation’s Dana Scully
Dana Scully
FBI Special Agent Dana Katherine Scully, M.D. is a fictional character and protagonist on the Fox television series The X-Files , played by Gillian Anderson. She also appeared in two theatrical films based on the series...
"). In 2010, she was ranked #32 in the Complex Magazines list of "The 50 Hottest Women In Video Games" and was featured in the GamesRadar's list of "ladies worth scissoring
Tribadism
Tribadism or tribbing, commonly known by its scissoring position, is a form of non-penetrative sex in which a woman rubs her vulva against her partner's body for sexual stimulation. This may involve female-to-female genital contact or a female rubbing her vulva against her partner's thigh, stomach,...
". In 2011, UGO also ranked her #3 on the list of 50 "Hot Girls We Wish Were Real".
External links
- Aya Brea - Parasite Eve Wiki
- Aya Brea at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
- Aya Brea at Giant BombGiant BombGiant Bomb is an American video game website and wiki that includes gaming news, reviews, commentary, and video, created by former GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis in collaboration with Whiskey Media...