Issei Hyoudou

Issei Hyodo is the male protagonist of High School DxD. He is a second-year student at Kuoh Academy and a member of the school's "Perverted Trio", a trio of the most perverted men in the student body.

He is a member of the Occult Research Club, and his rank in Rias' peerage is "Pawn". His power as a Devil ranks at the bottom in the beginning (which increases as the series progresses); however on his left arm, he wields the Sacred Gear, Boosted Gear, making him a dangerous opponent to underestimate. His goal is to one day rise in rank into a High-Class Devil so that he can gather his own servants and create his own harem.

Appearance
Issei is a young man in his adolescent years with an average body build, short brown hair, and light brown eyes. Following his training with Tannin, he has gained a more muscular and toned build.

While he has worn various outfits throughout the series, his most commonly worn outfit is the Kuoh Academy boys' school uniform, which consists of a black blazer with white accents over a white, long-sleeved dress shirt with a black ribbon on the collar, matching black pants, and brown dress shoes. However, Issei's uniform differs in the fact that he wears a red t-shirt underneath his open dress shirt and blazer, and wears blue and white sneakers in place of dress shoes.

Personality
Despite the fact that he is a pervert, gaining notoriety for being one of the members of Kuoh Academy's Perverted Trio, he attracts numerous girls around him: Rias, Asia, Akeno, Koneko, Xenovia, Irina and Ravel. This is due to his kindness of wanting to protect and help those who are important to him despite almost dying in the hands of his opponents. He is also oblivious to the girls around him being in love with him, often believing they are simply teasing him.

History
Issei is the only child of his family. Not much is shown on his past, except the fact he is a childhood friend of Irina Shido. He attends Kuoh Academy one year before the story and has come to be known as a pervert to just about all of his classmates.

The Red Dragon Emperor's Awakening
Issei was introduced in Volume 1 of the light novels, where he is asked by Yuma Amano to go on a date with her. However at the end of the date, Yuma suddenly kills him, revealing herself as a Fallen Angel in the process. However in his dying moments, Rias Gremory saves his life. The next day, after notcing some strange changes within his body, he is attacked by the Fallen Angel Dohnaseek, who critically wounds him until Rias arrives and saves him once more. He is then introduced to the other members of the Occult Research Club: Yuto Kiba, Koneko Tojo, and Akeno Himejima, and soon learns that all of them, including Rias, are Devils. He soon learns to his surprise that he a Devil as well. However, after learning from Rias that he can one day have his own servants, Issei then decares his dream to have his own harem, becoming a "Harem King". Later on, he meets Asia Argento, a nun, and quickly befriends her. He soon learns that she, too, possesses a Sacred Gear after using it to heal a young boy. He then guides her back to the church, where, upon reaching it, he gets strange chills coming from his body, forcing him to stop while Asia goes on ahead (Rias explains to him that Devils cannot go near churches or risk getting killed by the Angels' light spears).

During his first-ever battle with the Stray Devil Viser, he learns from Rias about Kiba, Koneko, and Akeno's respective traits as Knights, Rooks, and Queens, and later learns, to his disappointment, that he is a Pawn. The next night, Issei goes on another run to meet up with a client, only for the client to be killed by Freed Sellzen, an excorcist, upon arrving at the client's home. He is nearly overwhelmed by the berserk priest until Asia intervenes, pleading Freed to let Issei go but gets hit by him, angering Issei who fights Freed one more time but is stopped when the rest of the Occult Club intervene to bring Issei back. Fortunately, Issei eventually meets Asia again at a nearby park the next day, and the two spend the entire day together which ends with the sudden appearance of Raynare who takes Asia back after overwhelming Issei despite the latter using his Sacred Gear. Determined to save Asia from the Fallen Angel, Issei, with Kiba and Koneko's help, manages to reach the church where Raynare is hiding while fighting Freed once more. However, it is too late when Raynare takes Asia's Twilight Healing, killing her. Determined to avenge Asia's death, Issei fights Raynare in a one-on-one duel and defeats her after activating his true Sacred Gear, the Longinus, Boosted Gear. He then allows Rias to kill Raynare after the latter desperately begged Issei to save her, even going as far as saying she loves him, having seen through her ruse. After the battle, he was delighted after Rias revives Asia as one of her Bishops, sharing an emotional reunion with Asia.

At the beginning of Volume 2 after his daily training with Rias, Issei was shocked to learn from her that Asia will be moving in with him and transferring to Kuoh Academy. Issei later gets a sudden visit from Rias, who asks to take her virginity much to his shock and surprise. Unfortunately, Rias' attepmpt is foiled with the appearance of Grayfia Lucifuge, Sirzechs' Queen, who scolds Rias for attempting to break off the engagement set by her brother and father. Later on, Issei meets Riser Phenex, a man from the Phenex Clan who, to his shock, is revealed to be Rias' betrothed. Refusing to accept it, he activates his Boosted Gear in an attempt to face Riser one-on-one but is defeated by one of his Pawns. After Rias agrees to face Riser in a Rating Game with her engagement on the line, Issei and the rest of the Occult Research Club members goes to a mountain to train. He later assisted Rias in her first-ever Rating Game against Riser, in which he assisted in defeating half of Riser's peerage before going off to face Riser. Issei, however, was incapable of doing anything as his body has reached its limit due to the burden of the boosted power that is continuously placed on his body, and was nearly beaten to death by Riser, forcing Rias to resign. Waking up in his room and being informed of Rias' defeat by Grayfia, Issei becomes frustrated and blames himself for his weakness only to be given a paper with a magic circle engraved in it by Grayfia. Arriving in the engagement party hall, Rias' brother and Satan, Sirzechs Lucifer, reveals that he set up this event as an entertainment for Rias' engagement party, which allows Issei to battle Riser one more time in a one-on-one fight with Rias' engagement on the line, and won through the strategy he formulated beforehand.

Birth of the Breast Dragon Emperor
In Volume 3, he meets his childhood friend, Irina Shido, who was under the Church's orders to retrieve the stolen Excalibur swords. He also found out on Yuto's past and decided to help the latter to overcome his past. To that end, Issei goes to find Irina and her partner Xenovia and makes a temporary alliance with the Church duo, where they will help the two of them to retrieve the Excaliburs in return for allowing Yuto to detroy the Excalibur. The Occult Research Club was then confronted by Fallen Angel leader Kokabiel, and was overwhelmed until the interference of Vali Lucifer, who came to retrieve Kokabiel under Azazel's orders.

In Volume 4 of the light novels, Rias introduces her other Bishop, Gasper Vladi, to Issei, Asia and Xenovia. Issei later helps in Gasper's training on how to use his Sacred Gear. Prior to the meeting of the three factions, he receives St. George's Dragon Slayer sword, Ascalon, from the Archangel Michael, and later assisted during the attack caused by the Chaos Brigade. After successfully rescuing Gasper from the Chaos Brigade, Issei, Rias and Gasper are surprise at the sudden betrayal of Vali Lucifer who then goes on to fight Issei. Using the bracelet given to him by Azazel, which act as a substitute for the sacrifice needed to use the Scale Mail. While initially incapable of doing much against Vali, Issei using Ascalon to break Vali's shield, manages to transfer Ddraig's power to Vali's Scale Mail forcing it to temporarily stop its function and land an attack on Vali. Issei, however, was shocked at the recovery rate of Vali's Scale Mail and with few option left, Issei decides to take a risk by implanting Albion's power to the Boosted Gear, which was successful and created the Dividing Gear, Vali who was interested at the situation goes on the say that he will halve all of Issei's surrounding which Azazel adds on that breast will be halve as well angering Issei to the point that he is able to overwhelm Vali in his usual Balance Breaker form. The battle, however, was ended abruptly but the sudden intrusion of Bikou who came to retreive Vali. before he could activate his Juggernaut Drive.

In Volume 5, he goes into the Underworld with Rias and his friends for the Young Devils Gathering. Upon arriving at the Gremory region, Issei, along with Rias and her peerage, is greeted by the servants of the Gremory household before meeting Rias' mother, Venelana Gremory, and nephew, Milikas Gremory. During that time, he was taught how to read and write the Devils' alphabet, proper table manners, dance classes and how to interact with people with high social status. After the Rating Game between Rias and Sona was determined, he was forced to train with the former Dragon King, Tannin, in one of the mountains in the Gremory region, and obtained a great stamina that he can use when he gained his Balance Breaker. Issei, however, did not attain his Balance Breaker until the fight against Kuroka where he gained full-access to his Balance Breaker. He then assisted Rias in her Rating Game against Sona Sitri. While he manages to defeat Genshiro Saji, he lost due to blood loss which was set up as a plan by the Sitri Group to defeat Issei. Before disappearing however, Issei reveals his new move, Bilingual, which allows him to talk with female breasts and learnt of the Sitri Group's strategy, allowing Rias' team to win the match in the end. While the Occult Research Club is leaving the Underworld to head back to the human world, the group was surprised by the sudden appearance of Diodora Astaroth, a Devil whom Asia healed in the past, who came to propose to Asia.

In Volume 6, during Rias and Diodora's scheduled Rating Game, the match was interfered by the sudden appearance of the Chaos Brigade and the revelation of Diodora's alliance with them before kidnapping Asia. The Gremory Team would then go on to defeat Diodora and his peerage and rescue Asia until the sudden appearance of Shalba Beelzebub who sends Asia to the Dimensional Gap. This act caused Issei to activate the Juggernaut Drive of the Boosted Gear due to the negative feelings that appear after the apparent "death" of Asia and made him go berserk. He went on to defeat Shalba but was incapable of stopping himself until Azazel and Sirzechs composed an Oppai Dragon song and used Rias' breasts as a switch to help release the Juggernaut. Issei then witnesses the appearance of the Great Red, who was swimming in the Dimensional Gap.

The Heroic Oppai Dragon
In Volume 7, Issei goes on a date with Akeno, which ends with both of them meeting Odin, Rossweisse and Baraqiel, Akeno's father and Fallen Angel leader, who served as Odin's bodyguard at that time. The Occult Research Club is then attacked by Loki who came to kill Odin and create Ragnarok. Issei faces off against Loki in a fight but was dominated by the arrival of Fenrir. Issei and his friends are, however, saved by the timely arrival of Vali Lucifer and his team. The two teams eventually decided to work together to fend off Loki and Fenrir, asking the advice of the Dragon King, Midgardsormr, on how to defeat Loki and Fenrir. During the final battle against Loki, Issei wielded a replica version of Mjolnir, a hammer used by Norse God Thor. While initially incapable of fully using the Mjolnir, Issei gains the ability to use it after helping Akeno reveals her true feelings and make amends with her father through the help of the Breast Fairy, adding with the Holy Lightning of Baraqiel and Akeno and allowing them to defeat Loki.

In Volume 8, Issei and Rias go into the Underworld where they undergo an engagement ceremony at the ruins of "connection". Throughout the ceremony, Issei and Rias undergo four trials set up by the "Satan Rangers". In the first trial, Issei and Rias had to dance; in the second trial, Issei and Rias were tested on table manners; and in the third trial, Issei and Rias was tested on the history of the Gremory Clan and general knowledge in the Underworld, all of which they successfully pass before moving to the final trial. In the final trial, Issei was forced to fight Sirzechs/Satan Red and was completely overwhelmed by the latter until Grayfia's advice on using Rias' breasts as a power-up allowed Issei to use one final Dragon Shot but still lost after Sirzechs negated the attack and retreated while Issei loses consciousness. After the ceremony, Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the Four Satans and the original creator of the Evil Pieces system, remodels Issei's Piece to adapt to the powers of Ddraig.

In Volume 9, Issei and the rest of the second-year students goes to Kyoto for their school trip. During the trip, Issei was attacked by several yōkai led by Kuno, who thought that he is the one responsible for capturing her mother, Yasaka, the leader of the yōkai. While they manage to clear off the misunderstanding, Issei and his friends are soon confronted by the culprits who captured Yasaka: the Hero Faction led by Sousou. While the first fight was cut short by the interference of Le Fay Pendragon and Gogmagog from the Vali Team, Issei and his friends are forced to face off with the Hero Faction one more time to rescue Yasaka from them. During the fight, Issei achieved Illegal Move Trident due to his desire to protect his friends and Rias' breasts, allowing him to change the Scale Mail armor through Promotion. With the newfound power, Issei manages to temporarily overwhelm the entire Hero Faction before succumbing to the exhaustion caused by the Illegal Move Trident. The team, however, was rescued by the sudden appearance of Son Goku who fends off the Hero Faction and using his Senjutsu to rejuvenate Issei, allowing him to use one more attack which he landed on Sousou's eye. After coming back from Kyoto, the team was scolded by Rias for not calling her to help them before Azazel tells the group that Ravel is transferring to the Kuoh Academy, much to the dismay of the girls of the Occult Research Club.

In Volume 10, after finishing another Oppai Dragon campaign, Issei and Rias met Rias' mother, Venelana, who complimented them for their hardwork before scolding Rias for her lack of pogress with Issei. Rias would then attempt to seduce Issei by trying to have sex with him in the sauna room of the Hyodo Residence. Issei, however, fails to understand and calls Rias "Buchou", greatly saddening and angering the girl, asking him what is she to him. During Rias' Rating Game against Sairaorg Bael, Issei fought against Sairaorg's Bishop, Coriana Adrealphus, and Queen, Kuisha Abaddon, whom he both defeats before facing off against Sairaorg and his Pawn, Regulus, in the final match with Rias. During the match, Issei was doing well against Sairaorg until Sairaorg fused with Regulus to use his Balance Breaker, overwhelming Issei. Issei, however, was able to overturn the situation by gaining access to the True Queen, achieving Cardinal Crimson Promotion which combines the power of the Rook, Knight and Bishop to his Balance Breaker armor while changing it to crimson. Using his newly acquired powers, Issei manages to fight on par with Sairaorg, successfully defeating the man after Sairaorg lost consciousness. Following his victory, Issei cannot hold back his feelings for Rias and confesses to her, calling her by her first name for the first time. She accepts his feelings in tears of joy and the two officially become a couple, although it seems none of the other girls (Akeno, Xenovia, Asia, Koneko, Irina, and Ravel) have given up on Issei. Rias' mother then suggests that Issei and Rias get married.

In Volume 11, Issei, Akeno and Yuto goes to the Glasya-Labolas territory to take the promotion test to become Middle-Class Devils. While the group is resting after the test, they are ambushed by Sousou and Georg who came to steal Ophis' powers. The battle ended with the Gremory and Vali Teams losing to Sousou and Ophis' powers stolen. Near the end of the volume, Issei went to rescue the kidnapped Ophis from Shalba who escaped into a crumbling dimension field. Issei eventually caught up to Shalba and the two of them fought one last time before Issei killed Shalba. During the fight, however, Shalba manages to inject an arrow infused with Samael's blood, which led to Issei's death.

In Volume 12, Issei's original body is destroyed due to Samael's curse but gains another body through the help of the Great Red and Ophis. He returns and sucessfully saves the children of the Underworld who was taken hostage by Jeanne and Heracles, defeating the former easily. He has his third encounter with Sousou but was easily outmached by the latter until Issei used a bullet from Gogmagog that has Samael's blood on it on Medusa's eye that Sousou was using, reversing the situation. In order to turn back the tide of battle, Sousou attempts to activate the Truth Idea, but it does not work because Truth Idea's effects depend on God's will in the Holy Spear and will be different depending on what the will chooses. The True Longinus has chosen the wish in Issei's heart rather than Sousou's ambition, thus Sousou is defeated. At the end of Volume 12, Issei is officially promoted into a Mid-Class Devil along with Akeno and Yuto.

Powers & Abilities
Issei's Sacred Gear is the Boosted Gear, one of the 13 Longinus where one of the Heavenly Dragons, Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor, resides. It is said to have the power to kill a God when fully mastered. His Sacred Gear ability is to double his power every 10 seconds without limit, and his sub-ability can transfer the multiplied power to a being or object, which makes him great in terms of support. Issei can also fire a beam of energy by concentrating his magical powers, which he dubs the "Dragon Shot" (魔力弾（ドラゴンショット） Doragon Shotto). After his fight with Sirzechs, being inspired by the way he uses his Power of Destruction, Issei starts to redirect his Dragon Shot moving them in different directions.

In his initial battile against Vali in Volume 4, Issei placed one of the Jewels of the latter's Divine Dividing on his Scale Mail armor, creating the Dividing Gear which allows him to use Albion's dividing powers. This ability, however, reduces Issei's lifespan and thus was banned by Azazel.

In Volume 7, while fending off the members of the Hero Faction who are humans, Issei has developed mini Dragon magic missiles which are adjusted to knock out normal humans.

In addition to his Boosted Gear, Issei has also invented an array of attacks that go with his lecherous nature. During the training in preparation for Rias' Rating Game against Riser, he invented the Dress Break, which allows him to strip a female's clothes after coming in contact with them by concentrating his magical energy on the clothes. He has also invented the attack "Bilingual" (乳語翻訳（パイリンガル） Bairingaru, lit. "Breast Translation"), which gives him the ability to talk to the breasts of all females, during his training with Tanninim when he could not see Rias for nearly a month. It is a helpful technique as it helps Issei learn his opponents' plans and strategies by asking their breasts; however due to complaints from the female fighters, this technique was banned in Rating Games. Issei can also use fire-based attacks, which were taught to him by Tannin during their training.

Due to his perverted nature and overwhelming sexual desire, he has been known as a person who can defeat any female opponent using his special techniques, and the females who know him are scared of fighting him because of this personality. In fact, he achieved his Balance Breaker just by poking Rias' breast, and gained Illegal Move Trident by using this, too.

Trivia

 * Issei has a tokusatsu show in the Underworld called Breast Dragon Emperor Oppai Dragon (乳龍帝おっぱいドラゴン Chichiryūtei Oppai Doragon), which stars him as the main character named Issei Gremory and is popular among the children.
 * Issei's height is 170 cm. (5 feet 7 inches), as stated in the visual book with his data.