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Axel Almer (アクセル・アルマー Akuseru Arumā) is a fictional character from the Super Robot Wars series. In canon, he pilots the Ashsaviour before switching into his default mecha, the Soulgain, in the Original Generation universe. He can pilot the same mechs, in addition to the Razangriff and the Vaisaga in Super Robot Wars A.

Axel's surname, Almer, is often romanized "Arma", and is probably derived from ArmaLite, the maker of the M4 and M16 assault rifles.

Appearances[]

Axel appears in the following games:

Appears in the anime:

Axel also makes a voiceover in the drama CD of Endless Frontier: Super Robot Wars OG Saga.

Theme Music[]

  • Dark Knight (Retitled The Dark Knight in the North American localization of Original Generation 2) - Default theme in all appearances

Personality and Traits[]

Upwards to the release of Original Generations, Axel has four unique types of personalities, depending on the continuity:

  • If chosen as the protagonist in Advance, Axel is an amnesiac man who quests for his memory, fighting alongside the Londo Bell yet fearful of the truths that will be revealed once it has been restored. He is easy-going and gets along with the Londo Bell crew rather well, trading jokes with the men and flirting with but usually getting turned down by the women. A bit of an idiot, Axel earned himself the moniker "Ahoseru" (アホセル) from fans of the game, particularly on 2channel's robot game board. Import gamers who have played Advance usually refer to him as Silly Axel.
    • If the player does not choose him as the protagonist, Axel becomes the rival character . His personality will be as always in the Original Generation, becoming a cold-hearted soldier who puts his missions before anything else, and looking down on human-like artificial lifeforms, especially the W-Series of bioroids Lemon Browning created.
  • In Original Generation 2, Axel is closer to his antagonistic personality in Advance, but he also becomes more sadistic and too headstrong. He is driven with only one goal: to defeat Beowulf, who soundly beat him in combat. This intense rivalry is quickly transferred to Beowulf's alternate-dimensional counterpart, Kyosuke Nanbu, driven to the most extreme levels. He cares little for other things that do not concern his objective, while his dislike towards W-Series is made to be more intense, ridiculing them and generally being unsympathetic of their development.
  • In Original Generations, Axel's personality can be said to be a combination of his protagonistic and antagonistic selves previously. He's more laid back and does not insult the W-Series a lot more often, although he still voiced doubts if they could really do their jobs in war when boggled with emotions. He's also a man scarred with his experiences at war and tends to dispense some hard truths to those who are still green in the field of war, regardless whether it's the enemy or ally. His rivalry with Kyosuke/Beowulf is also toned down, as he has witnessed the horrors of his universe's Beowulf ruining his world and wants to make sure that Beowulf will not rise again in another universe.

History[]

Super Robot Wars A[]

If the player chooses to use the Ash Saviour for Axel, his story begins while waking up in the chosen unit with the remains of a battle around him. His machine is slightly damaged, has some of its ammunition and energy stores used up, and is alone amidst all the destruction. He wonders if there are any other survivors and why he can’t remember anything, save his name. As he surveys the area, he is swiftly caught up in a battle between three stolen Dragonar units and the Giganos team pursuing them. After being aided by the Londo Bell flagship, the Argama, Axel and the Dragonar pilots are drafted into the force.

If the player chooses to use The SoulGain, his story begins when Sayaka Yumi and Boss of Mazinger Z are out on patrol when they notice an object fall from the sky. Upon investigation, they discover it is a humanoid robot and the pilot has amnesia. As they interrogate the pilot, who can only remember his name as Axel Almer, the Great General of Darkness' forces arrive and decide to capture the unknown robot. This leads to a battle, with Kouji Kabuto in the Mazinger Z, Tetsuya Tsurugi in the Great Mazinger, and Jun Hono in the Venus A arriving to help. Axel wonders why he can pilot and fight effectively, and the Mazinger team suggests heading to the Photonic Labs to try and get some answers.

Axel is disconcerted after an encounter with a woman calling herself W17, who addresses him as a ranking officer. He still has no idea who he really is; all he knows is he is fighting for what he believes is the side of good. After encountering Vindel Mauser, it all returns to him: he is a high ranking officer of the Shadow-Mirror and volunteered to do a dimensional jump and scout this dimension’s defenders and rival factions as a precursor to the Shadow-Mirror invasion. His amnesia is due to a mishap during the jump – thus, he has been fighting alongside his "enemies" all along, for which Vindel praises his ability to function as a sleeper agent.

When Vindel calls upon Axel to reveal his identity, Axel does so, informing the Londo Bell of the Shadow-Mirror's plans in the process. However, he comes to realize their methods are wrong. He then self-detonates his unit, severely damaging Vindel's Zweizergain, and vanishes in the explosion. He is later revealed to have been retrieved by Lemon Browning, Vindel's second-in-command, who asks him who he is really fighting for and who is right in this war. Lemon then lets him free, saying the next time they meet it will be as enemies. Axel rejoins the Londo Bell, telling them they are welcome to shoot him in the back if they choose to, but he would rather fight alongside them again. After defeating Vindel’s forces, he activates the dimension transposition bomb by using the Zweizergain in an attempt to stop the Axis asteroid from falling onto the Earth.

Some time later, there is much ado over a space-time disturbance in a region of space – it seems to be an event that the various Londo Bell-affiliated laboratories and agencies have been waiting to occur. In deep space, Axel reappears, his unit badly damaged and with only a limited supply of oxygen, muses how he survived only to die from a lack of breathable air. Just as he resigns himself to joining Lemon, the members of the Londo Bell converge on his location. After being rebuked by his friends for not deciding to see the effects of his deeds, Axel decides to live and face what the future will bring.

Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2[]

Axel appears in the prologue, conversing with Lemon as to how the transposition is proceeding, with Lemon replying that everything is proceeding as best as possible under the circumstances. It appears the Shadow-Mirror are on the move, yet a last ditch effort by an Earth Federation Army elite Gespenst squad could throw things off. Axel orders all remaining soldiers, including Lemon, into the portal – not as an act of valor, but because he wants to have a deciding match with the squad leader, Beowulf, who pilots a blue Gespenst MK III. Lemon steps through the portal, and Axel launches his Soulgain at Beowulf’s machine and its squad of Gespenst MK IIs.

Axel manages to jump dimensions but arrives at a different time, earlier than his comrades who went first. Images of his Soulgain fighting against Aerogater forces right before Operation SRW are found in the Earth Federation Army data banks, under the codename White Wraith. Upon rejoining his Shadow-Mirror comrades with a battered Soulgain, he explains his delay as having to recover from various injuries sustained. Later, the ATX Team encounters the Soulgain and Axel recognizes its team commander, Kyosuke Nanbu’s Alt Eisen, a Gespenst MK III; only in this dimension, it is painted red. Seeing it renews Axel’s resolution to defeat his nemesis, which he had not been able to do in his home dimension. On the other hand, Kyosuke has no idea who this new enemy is, something which Axel refuses to believe.

Axel carries on his vendetta against Beowulf, this time in the form of Kyosuke, and this serves as a catalyst for the story's events. During a crucial mission, Axel severely damages the Alt Eisen, ripping its limbs off. He is about to destroy the torso, but is foiled by the arrival of the Einst, led by Einst Alchimie. Axel makes a last stand inside the Balmar White Star, ultimately falling under the combined might of Earth's defenders. In his final moments, Lamia points out that by the way Axel acted, it was like he was Vindel's puppet - an ironic statement because he usually considers Lamia the puppet. However, Axel counters it is by his own free will that he chose to be Vindel's puppet, most likely to mock Lamia's newfound free will. Before he collapses, he asks Lamia about her choice of free will, to which she answers she would like to feel human, an answer that he does not hear, as the Soulgain explodes before he could hear it.

Super Robot Wars Original Generations[]

Although his general story is unchanged in Original Generations, Axel's origins are fleshed out greatly and given greater depth in this enhanced remake. He used to be a member of the Earth Federation Army, working alongside Beowulf, until they had a difference in ideals and Beowulf was behaving abnormally (speculated to be an influence in the form of the Einst). Axel's discontent with Beowulf caused him to join the Shadow-Mirror, which he believed possessed the power to defeat him.

Before the Shadow-Mirror's attempt to jump to the Original Generation universe, Axel ambushes Raul, Fiona, and the members of the Excellence Team, while taking one of the newest robots created by the Tesla Leicht Institute, the Soulgain, for a test run. Axel damages Fiona's Excellence unit heavily and demands Raul's surrender of his Excellence. However, the appearance of Duminas causes him to pull back, watching both Raul and Fiona being sucked into a dimensional portal.

When the time came for the Shadow-Mirror to make their jump, Axel confronts Beowulf and his advancing squad with a question about his purpose. When he hears Beowulf's disjointed speech about him destroying and rebuilding the world, Axel is furious beyond reason and attacks him. Unfortunately, Beowulf's machine mysteriously regenerates and quickly defeats Axel, who is forced to retreat to the Original Generation universe.

His story remains the same as in Original Generation 2, until Lamia Loveless betrays the Shadow-Mirror by attempting a self-destruct sequence in front of Vindel Mauser. Axel, who dislikes the W-Series and tends to mock them for only following orders, begins to feel impressed towards Lamia, who dared to disobey her orders and actually put up a good fight against him. When Lamia breaks free from her detainment, instead of mocking and insulting her as a broken doll, Axel tells her to return to her cell, in exchange that he would forget she betrayed the Shadow-Mirror, an offer she refuses.

During Operation Plantagenet, Axel attacks the Kyosuke Nanbu of the Original Generation universe, damaging his Alt Eisen. Remembering his parallel self in the Shadow-Mirror universe, Axel tears the Alt Eisen's arm to see if this Kyosuke is the same one he fought in his home universe (in Original Generation 2, he tore the Alt Eisen's parts for sadistic fun and to keep a trophy as proof that he defeated Kyosuke). To his shock, the Alt Eisen does not regenerate. After he retreats due to an attack by the Einst, Axel concludes this Kyosuke is not the same person he hated thoroughly, although he still intends to stop Kyosuke before he becomes like the Beowulf knows.

After Operation Plantagenet, Axel finds the Excellence team again and fought Raul, Giliam and Lamina in an Ashsaviour.

During the defense in the White Star, when Echidna Iisaki sacrifices herself to protect Axel from imminent death, he is angry they had to lose a soldier like her, only spreading despair among the remaining Shadow-Mirror forces (in Original Generation 2, he is thoroughly disgusted when he finds out that a doll saved his life), but honored Echidna's death by no longer referring her as a puppet, but as a comrade. When he is defeated inside the White Star, Axel expresses the W-Series are more than just dolls, as he points out that Lamia and Wodan Ymir both gained free will and also expressed his growing cynicism, admitting that he just wanted to become a puppet that only followed orders in order to escape the pain he experienced from the horrors he has experienced (instead of mocking Lamia's artificial human status). In his last moments, he laments to Lemon that he'll be departing from the world first before her, showing he does genuinely possess some feelings for her (in Original Generation 2, their relationship is more platonic - business-like, so to speak).

The Inspectors[]

Axel's role in the anime follows very similarly in the Original Generations version, except that Soulgain's repair took longer and he's forced to use an Ash Saber for a good amount of time. Despite that, Axel shows his skills as an ace pilot, not only overwhelming Lamia in her more bigger Angelg and eventually triggered her order to blow Hagane up (in which she eventually defied), but also completely wrecking Kyosuke's Alt Eisen (something that in the games, he did with the much bigger Soulgain) and giving him critical wounds.

In the finale, once the Shadow Mirror and Vindel Mauser was defeated, Axel resurfaced when Beowulf makes a jump to the OG universe, stating that even if Beowulf ruined the Shadow Mirror universe, he'll not let him ruin another universe, thus he teams up with the EFA. Despite eventually being killed in action (though see below for the eventual outcome), Axel's help (planting one of Soulgain's hand onto Beowulf's mecha) proves vital for the EFA to eventually destroy Beowulf.

Original Generation Gaiden[]

Shortly after his defeat, the Cry Wolves squadron went to excavate the remains of the Shadow-Mirror inside the White Star, finding the Soulgain's remains. While escaping the facility before it is absorbed by the Einsts, the Cry Wolves accidentally drop the cockpit block containing a still-breathing, yet semi-conscious Axel. Floating in space, he encounters the re-emerged soul of Alfimi, who mysteriously reappears in the Original Generation universe; however, she has no memories of any of her prior encounters. The two realize they are about to be erased from existence, thus, they pull towards each other and the result is Axel becoming a vessel for Alfimi's soul. The Cry Wolves retrieve him, finding Axel stripped of his clothing, yet neatly folded next to him (it is speculated Alfimi is the one who did this).

Taken under the care of Mitarl Zapad of the Tsentr Project, Axel is nursed back to health by Professor Eric Wong, who also gathered enough funds to repair the Soulgain. For 6 months, Axel remains comatose and is dubbed the Sleeping Prince by the lab residents. When the contained Jetzt Regisseur runs amok in the lab and the Cry Wolves and the Wendigo mobile weapon cannot hold it fully, Axel deploys in his machine to help out. It is then Alfimi physically materializes and explains to Axel about his past relationship with Kyosuke and Excellen Browning. He proceeds to help out the Cry Wolves from being assaulted by one of Duminas' homunculi, Tiz. With the Jetzt Regisseur destroyed, Alfimi decides to clear up some unfinished business, which is to destroy the last remaining Jetzt she knows of. In addition of growing curious on what a world where his group, the Shadow-Mirror, lost would be like, and speculating that it was Alfimi's actions that brought him back to life anyway, Axel agrees to accompany her, also hoping to repay the Tsentr Project by eliminating the rampaging monsters from them that was stolen by Duminas by Tiz.

He later appears in front of Kouta Azuma, Raul Gureden, and Lune Zoldark, who have just recovered the missing Fiona Gureden, her presence was enough to make Raul stop being overly antagonistic towards him unlike the time during the Inspector Wars. The Hagane and Hiryuu soon followed suit with Kyosuke and Excellen surprised to see the two former foes returning from the dead, but they are more skeptical towards Axel, to which he doesn't blame them for being antagonistic, but he still has business to do against Tiz, who was using her stolen monsters to antagonize the three. Kyosuke decides to trust his gut feeling and trust that Axel isn't going to resume his deadly rivalry, and he has no intention to revive the Shadow-Mirror either.

Tiz, however, has other business and retreats while promising a replacement pawn. From there, Axel notices that Lamia is missing, and as he learns soon, she appears as an enemy, as she was previously killed during the Bartoll Incident, but resurrected and reprogrammed by Duminas, and somehow Kyosuke is in great anguish over it. Axel notes to Alfimi that this may mean bad news, as in a continued state of Kyosuke in grief may turn out badly for him, like turning him into another Beowulf. And seeing that Lamia has registered Axel as an enemy, he decides to strike back too, noticing that right now, their position was reversed: He was the one fighting for the Earth Federation Army (albeit not officially joining) while she was the one fighting against it.

As the battle reached its climax, Lamia then threatened to self-destruct with Code: ATA, completely disregarding her own safety and if Kyosuke would try to save her, he'll die in the explosion. Axel, however, is quicker and prepares to kill her instead of saving her because he knows better the exact danger Code: ATA poses. Since Lamia during the fight has constantly referred herself as W17, a mindless doll only existing to follow orders and has no place to call home, it went against the experience and respect Axel gained from her during the Inspector Wars, so as he prepares to kill her, he laments that Lemon's so-called 'greatest creation' did not turn out as she envisioned.

The mention of Lemon and creator/mother, however, triggered one final programming Lemon had on Lamia to resurface beneath Duminas' multitude of reprogramming, causing her to weakly say that deep down she wants to experience what it feels to live beyond being a W Number. Realizing that the Lamia he grew to respect still existed in some capacity, Axel changed his mind and instead beckons Lamia to execute a 'sink and swim' method of recovery: He will activate Code: DTD, which took priority over ATA, the Code will cause her body to heat up a reboot to her body and remove whatever reprogramming virus she has while retaining her memories, but she has to have the will to live on while Axel has to give one final push to cause her to shut down so she can start rebooting. After concentrating the power of Soulgain for one final strike and praying that Lemon in spirit will save her daughter through him, Axel unleashed Soulgain's ultimate attack, Code: Kirin to not only pull Lamia out of the Valsion Custom Type-CF, releasing her from Duminas's control, but also destroying the huge machine.

After reminding Lamia that she should remember her identity not as W17 but Lamia Loveless and she has her home within the Earth Federation Army, Axel hands her back to Kyosuke while resuming his quest to repay his debt from both the Tsentr Project and Alfimi. Grateful, Kyosuke promised that one day, he will pay back this huge debt.

Axel's hunt led him to the Cry Wolves being on the verge of destruction against the Jetzt Regisseur, with Foglia Esto having already been slain along with the remaining members of the Cry Wolves and Hugo Medio heavily wounded, while Albero Esto failed to make a dent against the Jetzt Regisseur in spite of his special instructions given by Mitarl. Axel's arrival allows Albero to escape, but soon the Earth Federation Army arrives to answer Albero's previous distress call. Axel ends up allying with the Earth Federation Army again and notices that Lamia has already recovered, thanking him for saving her life. After the deed is done, Axel considers wandering himself, and asks Alfimi what she would do now that her mission is done. Alfimi suddenly decides that she has grown interested in Axel and tags along with him.

Axel (along with Alfimi) later reappears in the Swordian Fortress with the surprise appearance of Shu Shirakawa and his Granzon, as Duminas makes her appearance. Axel can finally strike against Duminas for her first interruption at his mission to retrieve the Time Flow Engine (though he's no longer interested in grabbing the Engine again). The battle ends up extending into a battle against Dark Brain and later Shu himself once he evolves his machine into the Neo Granzon.

As the allied Shura warriors bid farewell to the Earth Federation Army by teleporting away the Swordian Fortress, Axel muses about an operation Lemon undertook for her W-Numbers: To find another world that is so close and yet so far away, which is akin to the story of Adam and Eve, with the W-Numbers trying to find their own paradise, so he decides to investigate that too. He promises Lamia that just in case he finds that paradise, she'll be the first to know. With that Axel left the Earth Federation Army to wander with his new companion Alchemie.

Endless Frontier EXCEED[]

Axel later ended up dropping by to Earth on the urging of Alfimi, who was worried on a strange amoeba-like creatures that have been attacking Kouta Azuma. As it turned out, these creatures are the ones that will later be known as 'The Lamalice', creations of the Dark Brain Cult formed after the defeat of Dark Brain. The creature's real target, however, was Alfimi. During the fight, the Soulgain was damaged and Axel was forced to fight on foot using his Mizuchi Blade, resolved to save Alfimi to pay her back for saving him from death. After entrusting the Soulgain to Shouko Azuma, Axel and Kouta charged to save Alfimi who was being dragged into the dimensional portal, which ended up taking the three of them to the Endless Frontier.

Axel was able to stay close with Alfimi. However, the impact of arriving to the Endless Frontier made them both suffer amnesia, with Axel reverting to his Advance Protagonist self. While trying to find a clue on what's going on and their identities, he encountered the very first of the W Numbers, W00/Haken Browning, along with a miniaturized version of the Gespenst Haken, Axel and Alfimi fight Haken and his mini-mech to a draw. but shortly afterwards are separated from him and later stumble upon the wreckage of Trilobite-class ship Neverland (known as Mai Tierria to the locals), where he's reunited with Haken along with his allies. Axel finds the android Aschen Brodel familiar-looking, but fails to recognize Brodel(W07) as the predecessor to W17, Lamia Loveless. He and Alfimi then joined the team to find out more about his memories, also meeting something that triggers his memory, a PT Machine named Arkgain, which was too similar with Soulgain, only human-sized.

Shortly after, a figure claiming to be W03 named Pete Pain, the one that Haken has been pursuing arrived along with a rather similar face to Axel; Cardia Basilissa (W06). Unfortunately, Pete used the Code PTP to take control over Aschen and had her fight the team along with him and Cardia. After fending them off, Pete ordered Cardia and Aschen to blow themselves up with their Code ATA. Cardia succeeded in blowing her up, but when Aschen attempted to do so, Axel ended up triggering his latest memory of saving Lamia from blowing herself up and made him recall Code DTD, which he wasn't sure on how it should work, but decided to give it a shot anyway. In the end, Axel successfully saved Aschen from blowing herself up and restored her programming, like he did to her sister, sub-consciously.

Further traveling had him encountering the PT Machine Nacht, which triggers yet another memory, his feud with Beowulf. This was the first time Haken would see Axel's serious side resurfacing for a short while. He's later reunited with Kouta, but couldn't recall his experience with him other than his name. Aside of that, the many elements he found in the Endless Frontier universe also started to unconsciously trigger his memories (such as the encounter with the wolf-king Rubor Cucullus made him remark that wolves are bad and dangerous, in reference once again about his feud with Beowulf). In the end, eventually Axel has his memory and previous personality completely restored and decides to return to the OG universe along with Alfimi and Kouta. He offered Haken to tell the nature of his origins and the W-Numbers, but Haken declined the offer.

2nd Super Robot Wars Original Generation[]

The return from the Endless Frontier is a bumpy one, but at least all Axel lost from the journey was just his consciousness temporarily. Alfimi kept him within her Persoenlichkeit and eventually hands him over to the Hagane in the middle of the battle against the Guests, Gaia Sabers and Ruina, and then leaves on her own. Lamia, still remembering how he saved her life, treated him until he regains consciousness and eventually briefs him on what happens in Earth while he was away. However, Axel also learns that despite his previous help, he was still under suspicion by the army since his past antagonism was greater than Alfimi's, though he actually does not mind that too much.

During another attack by the Guest, Guest General Justine Chafrois came too close to strike at Hagane, but against the suspicion put against him, Axel struck out with Lamia's Vaisaga, modifying it so he can control it and claims that he just doesn't want to make the Hagane his coffin while he's just a sitting duck. This convinces the Hagane to register Axel as an ally, and he proves himself throughout the rest of the battles until the Hagane could return to Earth. Once the deed is done, Axel leaves the ship alone to recover his Soulgain in the Kurogane.

Axel later returns in the middle of the battle between the Hiryuu Custom and Hagane (now christened the Steel Dragon Group) against the Baral Garden under the leadership Jun Kanan and Taihou Sandayu. With his Soulgain ready for action, and deciding that he's grown interested in whatever troubles the group is having, he'll fight for them. He also makes a stop to re-encounter Hugo and expresses his thanks for retrieving him back in the White Star before it was consumed by the Einst.

Later on, he's called in to be a martial arts instructor for Touma Kanou in order to master the usage of RaiOh without the LIOH system, instead using direct motion system similar to Soulgain. Axel proves to be a strict instructor, but it bears fruit, as Touma grows stronger and breaks away from the curse of LIOH set upon by its mad creator, Kaoru Tomine. Around the time, however, Axel finally locates Alfimi, but before he can reunite, Duvan Org consumes her to strengthen his own body. Axel resolves to save her, but that doesn't mean he will go rogue against the Steel Dragons, he'll play along with their pace.

This leads Axel to be involved with the operations to defeat the Gaia Sabers and then the Ruina. Duvan would resurface with Eldy Mitte carrying the AI-1 and from there, Alfimi manages to break free and rejoin Axel. The battle continues in fighting the Baral Garden and eventually Irui Gan Eden and Euzzeth Gozzo. When all was done, Axel decides to stick around in this world and staying at Kurogane, much like how former enemies of the Earth Federation reside. Additionally, Touma also expressed that he'd like to continue to train under Axel, so he accepted the deal.

The Moon Dwellers[]

Axel's role is more minor in the Moon Dwellers, as he only assisted the Earth Federation Army against the invasion of Fury, the remaining Guests, Gadisword and finding out that the Dark Brain Cult that sent him to the Endless Frontier has made their move. However, during this event, he's reunited with both Haken Browning and Aschen Brodel, who were transported to the current world and eventually getting stuck due to the destruction of the Cross Gate in the end of the game.

Trivia[]

  • Axel is proficient in ground Taijutsu, which goes hand-in-hand with Soulgain's Direct Motion Link-like system. This also enables him to battle on ground with ease when he is stuck in the Endless Frontier. It is also the reason why Kai appointed him as Touma's battle instructor.
  • His fighting style in Endless Frontier encompasses the techniques used by both Soulgain and Vaisaga . For various inhuman feats executed by the mecha, Alfimi enhanced his strength to be able to execute such technique (Genbu Goudan and Seiryuu Rin/Byakko Kou respectively) and others based on the Vaisaga are done using his Mizuchi Blade, a blade tonfa/rekka that can change form.
  • Axel's line of lamenting that Lemon's creation isn't turning out as envisioned, which he delivered before he was about to kill Lamia before he changed his mind, is ironically similar to his protagonist Advance self's quote that he uttered AFTER he killed the antagonistic rival Lamia.

External links[]

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