Greetings brave Knights,

Today we'll be giving you the history of Demongate's most diminutive Hero, Ayako! Making her debut in the first ever Demongate in 2021, Ayako has gone on to become a firm favourite, especially amongst fans of Alchemists. But what's the story behind her creation?

For a good while preceding Demongate, we had an unused Hero model nicknamed 'Egg Lady'.

Poor Egg Lady was waiting for her time to shine, and, with Demongate, she had a chance to shine.

Proportion and size-wise, and with her mysterious mask, she fit in nicely with the idea of a diminutive, non-human forest spirit. She was to become the basis for Ayako.

She received a visual rework to bring her more in line with Demongate's Japanese theme, and it was decided that her egg would now be home to a tiny pet dragon. Because honestly, who doesn't love tiny pet dragons?

With each Demongate, she's received a new skin to add to her wardrobe, each inspired by a different aspect of Japanese culture. For 2022, we have her the 'Happier Times' skin, inspired by her origin as a forest spirit. The eventual look of this skin was inspired by Studio Ghibli's depiction of Kodoma - tree spirits from Japanese folklore.

For 2023's Hero Skin, 'Tengai Spirit', we were inspired by the komusō. The komusō were wandering monks famed for wearing basket-like headgear, known as tengai. The tengai supposedly suppresses the wearer's ego - as well as allowing them to travel in disguise - much like Ayako in her backstory!

And last year, with Ayako's 'Artful Protector' skin, we went for a traditional kabuki-style look, with a rather fabulous kimono and cherry blossoms.

This year's Hero Skin is 'Orochi Hatcher', where Ayako gets positively reptilian. Orochi references the legend of Yamata no Orochi, a monstruous giant snake. Clearly this lil' snake has some growing to do! Battle against the Lost World Yokai, and earn this fantastic new skin!

But that's not Ayako's only Hero skin on offer this year - for this Demongate, if you head to the webstore, you can go back right to the start with her very original, pre-release appearance! Now bearing the much cooler moniker of 'Lady Tamago', Egg Lady rises once more!