Yeling Mah

The Devil's Flames
Mah Ye Ling (Tidalflame)
Player: Darwin
Basic Data
Class Focus:	Long, Mid, and Close Range Combat
R & D:	N/A
Level:	A+ Class (As Tidalflame CI Recruit) S Class (As Tidalflame Squad Four Operative) SS Class (Post Urca Capture Op) D Class (Yon Arc) B Class (Arii Arc) A Class (Hinokami and Shenlong Unlocked) S~ Class (Stage Two Hinokami and Shenlong) SSS Class (Akuma Dogma Hunter Arc) Omega Class (Yeling vs. Aelienne Arc) Beyond Omega Class (Stage Four Hinokami)
Occupation:	Drifter Adventurer Contingency Initiative Operative (Formerly)
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)
Identity:	Yeling Mah
Species:	Devil Contracted Human
Age:	18 (Part I) 22 (Part II and III) 24 (Part IV)
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)
Hair Color:	None, Black (Before Level 2 Dogma Exchange)
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 2 Intangibility Rain God Shenlong (formerly) Rain Style
Training / Abilities
Numerous Rain Style Martial Arts Techniques, Bilingual, Trained Pain Tolerance, Emotional Resistance
Equipment
Tidalflame Mask, Magical Hair Disguise, Tatsu, Chain Blade, Floki
Footnotes
Yeling is a character in Darwin's Great Akuma universe, and is not in the Champions Universe.

"But maybe it was because I wasn't meant to be in this world, that it had to be me to change it."

- Yeling Mah

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 remains to take down Transplant and provide a fair world.

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.

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.

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.

Powers

The Dogma of Equivalent Exchange: Yeling is a Dogma holder, in which the Dogma would present Yeling with power in exchange for a sacrifice the Dogma deems is equivalent. Yeling has thus far unlocked two Levels. After reconciling with Aelienne, the older Hinokami user decoupled Yeling from the Dogma, allowing him to access his powers to the fullest of his extent without any repercussions of sacrifice.

• Level 1 Hinokami: Yeling's Level 1 Dogma is an Akuma Grade Dogma, which is a special Dogma ability that is akin to The Great Akuma itself. In Yeling's case, he inherited The Devil's Flames, an overwhelming celestial fire in the form of a Fire God which far surpasses normal flame. When not controlled or suppressed, calling even just 10% of the Devil's Flames is enough to incinerate an entire area and deal significant damage. Yeling's sacrifice for the Hinokami was his family, in which the moment he unlocked the flames, blue tattoos appeared all over his left arm, racing up to his face, and the fire unintentionally incinerated his mother, father, and little sister. Initially blue, Yeling's flames evolved to become red with the help of Aelienne, signifying that he no longer sees his flames as a symbol of destruction.
  • Hinokami Stage Two - Cobalt Assimilation: Yeling is able to tap into more of Hinokami's power, allowing it to course through his body constantly and gaining even more demonic power. This power was able to contend with Urca the Slicer, who was widely known as CI's strongest operative, and the only person who had ever pressured Taras Pax, with the exception of Danny Zheng. Stage Two contains hints of purple flame mixed in with Yeling's blue fire. To unlock Stage Two, Yeling had to promise to the Dogma that upon his death, he would never reunite with his family in the afterlife.
  • Hinokami Stage Three - Grand Cobalt Assimilation: Yeling is able to access even more of the Hinokami's power, amplifying his abilities even further to the point where he became strong enough to seemingly kill Tianlong, the Celestial Dragon, and the God of Divinity. Stage Three was so powerful that it was enough for Yeling to be considered the Dogma's Champion, a tool that the Dogma would use to assess other Akuma Grade Dogma Holders to test their worth, seeing Yeling as his most powerful Dogma Holder.
  • Anarchy Form: Yeling brings out the maximum power of his corresponding stage, overloading his cells with the Hinokami's flames in the form of a gargantuan towering avatar of pure flame. The avatar possesses all of Yeling's weapons and arsenals, and all of his techniques, but the power is equivalent to a 4000% boost. The trade-off of this ability is that the flames will actually incinerate his nervous system and the neurons in his brain, causing him to become more and more feral as he calls upon this state. Yeling has used Anarchy Form in both Stage Two and Stage Three. This form was able to completely overwhelm a Stage Two Aelienne, who had previously easily outclassed a Stage Three Yeling.
  • Hinokami Stage Four - Cobalt Phoenix Ascendent: This state was only achieved by Yeling by fusing Aelienne's power into his after the two reconciled in the Hinokami Plane. Calling upon Aelienne's Stage Four Full Phoenix Ascendent flames, and adding that upon his Stage Three flames, Yeling is able to access a new state of power. In this state, Yeling is the only known being who has been able to fight toe to toe with Transplant, and at times, gain the upper hand. This is the highest level of power Yeling can achieve so far.
• Level 2 Intangibility: Yeling's Level 2 Dogma is a normal Dogma that allows him to become Intangible. In this state, Yeling becomes a wisp of pure blue or red flame, allowing him to phase through objects and pass through them, and is impervious to all damage. The cost is a high stamina drain. Additionally, the state has limits, as if Yeling's wisp body is encased in high pressure, he will actually take damage. Despite this, Yeling is able to use this Level and integrate it in fights, allowing him to chain his moves together by going Intangible. The exchange for this ability was half of his face, in which the Dogma set fire to his right side, scorching his flesh and leaving behind a hideous appearance. This had caused Yeling to be extremely self conscious about his face, believing girls would never love him for his appearance.

Rain God Shenlong (Formerly): Yeling struck up a contract with the God of Rain, Shenlong, after Shenlong provoked the Dogma. Yeling became able to call upon Shen's power in the form of his holy water, allowing him to heal his wounds, and even transform into pure rainwater, mimicking his Level 2 Dogma when it had been deactivated. Additionally, Yeling is able to create projections of rainwater in the form of glowing green constructs, which he used to create weapons, and tendrils mimicking Matt's techniques. One of the abilities that Yeling had called upon the most, that engrained themselves into Yeling's muscle memory, was Shen's Rain Style, which was the result of the numerous warriors who challenged Shen back when he was still at full power and failed. Shen remembered all of the styles, and these styles would pool together into one, the Rain Style. Using Rain Style, Yeling is able to wield numerous weapons, from knives, to swords, to katanas and polearms.

Even when Yeling's contract with Shen disappeared upon failing Tian's test, the Rain Style was still part of him, allowing him to call upon its techniques and integrating it into his fighting style with Hinokami.

Abilities

Way of the Rain God: After having spent months fighting with the skill of numerous experienced warriors, borrowed from Shenlong's pact, Yeling's body became adapted accordingly. By constantly using the movements that made up the Rain Style, Yeling's muscle memory became accustomed, allowing him to fight using the Rain Style even when the pact between Yeling and Shen was broken. So far, Yeling has shown mastery of the following styles:

• Rain Style Kenjutsu Forms 1-10: The complete repertoire of the Japanese Samurai who had battled Shen ages ago, pooled into one style. Yeling is able to call upon all ten forms of the Rain Style Kenjutsu style flawlessly. The Rain Style Kenjutsu repertoire mimics that of water and rain, with long flowing sweeping strikes, and elegant stances similar to that of rain. While the Rain Style Kenjutsu can be used on normal swords, it is best used on Japanese blades such as Maika's Katana, or hybrid blades such as Tatsu.
• Rain Style Two Sword Technique: The two sword technique allows Yeling to wield two swords simultaneously, swinging and striking at a rapid pace to mimic that of a lotus flower. When using the Rain Style Two Sword Technique, Yeling strikes are so fluid and consecutive that defending against such a style is often very demanding.
• Rain Style Empty Handed Technique: An empty handed martial art that came from numerous martial arts masters who challenged Shenlong, pooling into one style. This style mimics the flowing characteristics of water, taking heavy emphasis on Tai Chi, allowing Yeling to control the momentum of a fight to his advantage. Even if Yeling is physically inferior in a fight, for instance, his battle against Charles Ainsworth, by using the Empty Handed Rain Style, Yeling was able to fight on terms of his opponent, by adding upon his momentum with his enemy's. This technique ultimately was insufficient to take down Matthew Lam, but was enough to allow Yeling to hold his ground for a brief period of time, until he was forced to use Hinokami in conjunction to the Rain Style.