Aegis



Aegis (シールドオブイージス) is a shield that can be used by Vexen in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

Design
The center of Aegis is shaped like an upside-down heart with gold side edges and a black bottom edge with a small spike on it. There is a two-pronged, ornate, gold spike sprouting from either side of the bottom of the heart. These spikes have black inner edges and a small, lilac diamond on their bottom corners. A similar, wider apparatus of four spikes is connected to the top of the shield. This one shares the gold outer edges and black inner ones, but has two, larger lilac diamonds on it, one on each of the two middle spikes.

In ancient Greek culture, an Aegis is a collar or cape worn to signify protection by a religious figure. It is also the shield used by Zeus and Athena. In the Final Fantasy video game series, the Aegis Shield is a recurring shield that has appeared in all of the main series, except for Final Fantasy VII, in which it was an Armlet. It usually protects the user from the Petrify status, or has a great bonus to Magic Defense.

Gameplay
Aegis's ground combo begins with a forward thrust followed by an upward throw, a second thrust forward, and finally a spinning throw forward, with Aegis remaining at the furthest reaches of its arc for an extra second. Pressing during the combo causes Vexen to jump and thrust Aegis upward. Continually pressing will start a combo finisher of throwing Aegis in an arc upward then crashing down on the enemy, while pressing  will begin the aerial combo.

Aegis's aerial combo is two upward slashes followed by combo finisher of throwing Aegis in an arc upward then crashing down on the enemy.

When Aegis makes contact with an enemy, a purple circle with an inscribed purple prism bursts out. When it contacts a wall, yellow sparks appear, but the combo will continue if it hits after the first forward thrust.