Allow me to begin with this: I really like Guilty Gear.  I really like the Assassins.  And I really, really like Venom.  He's the type of character that appeared to have a bright future in 2000 but then kind of got brushed aside along with the Guild in later installments.  Then Revelator came along and actually put him in the spotlight.  Which is why the more I think about After Story B, the more I feel the need to address it.

Before I go any further, there will be spoilers for Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator and After Story B.

–

So, what do we know about Venom?

He was one of many war orphans that appeared during the Crusades, placed in an orphanage that was one of many fronts for the Guild, and then was recruited into the Guild around 2173 (according to GG World).  He can inherently use anything as a weapon, making him an excellent choice to be trained as an assassin.

Except that he hates murder.  This little snag put him on the quick track to be executed.  Yes that escalated quickly.

In steps Zato-1, who just rose up as the Guild leader after obtaining his forbidden beast.  He spared Venom's life because he believed Venom had great potential.  In return, Venom decided to devote his life to Zato and became a skilled assassin.  The whole dynamic between these two (and the issues that are brought up with it) is another essay entirely, so we'll only be touching upon it here.

Then Zato died, making Venom the Guild's leader, and then Zato got better in Xrd.

And thus we start seeing the cracks.

–

Sign, Revelator, and making the Assassins relevant again

As a whole, Sign is a decent story.  Not great, but it advanced the plot.  For the assassins, they're just a stepping stone.  They got some pertinent info, they decide to do the right thing and turn it over because that's what Zato would want (HA), and then their screentime gets cut short by Bedman.  None of them show up after chapter 5, with the entire storyline being 10 chapters.  Their entire last scene together boiled down to “we have to get this info to the king and Venom says something cool and smart”.  Then Zato goes off on his own anyway, leaving the rest of them in chapter 3.

Riveting stuff, I tell you.

So we've yet to really get more on Venom here.  His arcade story has him finding out about Zato's revival and talking about a potential war brewing again.  Not really much about him, but more about the Guild and Zato returning to the land of the living.  But we do get an important piece of information here, though it's in the game's library: once Venom has reunited with Zato, he starts focusing on finding his own path and acting on it.  This mostly comes into play with what I feel is the best representation of Venom and the Guild overall: Revelator.

–

With the crushing defeat by Bedman behind them, Venom's left to speculate about what it means to protect the organization.  While I'm still left the question of “why do they call it Zato's Guild in the beginning if Venom's the leader?”, they do give some good development in Venom's arcade mode.  After some plot-forwarding battles with Millia and Slayer, Venom revealed his plan to make the Guild's dealings public.  He's fully aware of what might happen, leading into Revelator's main story.

Why would he want to do this?  He didn't want his fallen allies to be forgotten along with their deeds.  And he felt this was the only way to save the Guild.  It shows how selfless Venom's become compared to his previous incarnation.  The selflessness and humility come more into play as Revelator's story progresses, though honestly I do have a nitpick regarding speaking to the Kings.

As the story starts taking off, we see Zato speaking to the Third King regarding a deal to allow the assassins to enlist as soldiers.  It gives them a chance to show they're looking to turn over a new leaf, but why did Zato have to be the one to speak?  Venom's the leader and he was the one who wanted all of this.  Was it just because Zato's dead and they wanted to give him something to do?  This never made sense to me from a narrative standpoint.  Please let Venom speak on behalf of the Guild.

ANYWAY...

Slayer wanted to celebrate their new roles but Venom politely declined any involvement, showing that he's all business and remains Mr. No Fun Allowed.  More seriously, he felt that if everything didn't go as planned, then the celebration would be presumptuous.  He didn't stay much longer and departed shortly after that exchange.  Then we get one of the most pleasantly surprising friendships that I've ever come across in any game.

Venom befriends Robo-Ky.  Yes, Robo-Ky.  A bizarre creation from the Post War Administration Bureau who talks shit and tries getting a girlfriend.

They actually have a short but very sweet character moment while traveling to their destination.  Venom listens to Robo's dream of having a tangerine farm, and he's glad to hear Robo having friends, even though Robo corrects him in that he “had” friends.  Soon they talk about fate, and if Robo hated his.  Venom apologizes for dragging Robo into the darkness and we get the sense that Venom is a kind person, even to a snarky robot.  And I do like that bit of foreshadowing with Robo telling Venom that he shouldn't over-extend, even if he sees a chance to win.

Their bond comes into play against Bedman, and this is where we reach the highlight of Venom's development.  Don't worry.  We'll be covering story B right after this.  We need this part for comparison as I believe this part does Venom more justice.

For one, it shows just how powerful and brilliant Venom is as a leader.  He puts Bedman at a disadvantage by utilizing Robo-Ky.  The kid can read human minds, but not a robot one.  Then Venom weaves a deadly spell sure to put an end to his opponent, with the intent to end his own life.

Venom knows the Guild won't be forgiven for what they've done, even if he's to end Bedman.  And since he's unhappy with his own life, he's decided to sacrifice himself so the Guild can live on in the light.  In that short line, it speaks volumes about Venom as a person.  A young man who's realized that all he has anymore is the Guild, and it's brought him nothing but misery.  He loves his master but that's not enough.  His master can be happy with someone else.  The scene shifts focus to Robo-Ky, who balks at Bedman's response that his mission is more important (but not that much different).  Robo then sacrifices himself and leaves Venom the opening he needs to finish the job, causing him to lose consciousness.

And after a stinger at the very end of the story, we're brought to the heart of the matter: After Story B.

–

Just Kidding: only five minutes is about Venom

Story B is only the second assassin-centric story in the Guilty Gear series, the first being Night of Knives (we'll tackle that one once it's been translated).  It has Zato and Slayer discussing the Guild's new beginning, but they know Venom's still alive.  Zato brings it upon himself to eliminate Venom since it's a loose end, and because Zato's dead or something.

Venom's holed up in an alleyway and using Robo-Ky's old storefront to try to make money and repay Robo by repairing his body.  Here we have yet another good character moment.  Robo actually calls out something I've known about Venom for a long time: he doesn't care about his self worth.  And he doesn't really know how to interact with others on an emotional level, as Robo says Venom's more of a machine.  Soon some familiar fellows interrupt their conversation: uniformed assassins and a commander type by the name of Jean Reno- er, 2cave.

What comes next is a very bizarre conversation that makes me wonder why the writers chose to tell it this way.  Since Venom is trying to keep a low profile, he agrees to shine their shoes while they talk.  It goes into the Guild being like a pack of wolves and how their leader became a metaphorical sheep.  The sheep is poisonous and poses a risk to anyone out in the open.  But if the sheep returns, the wolves can house it properly.  When Venom's life is vaguely threatened, he accepts his fate, but is then asked why he's ready to throw away his life.

Because bushido and staying loyal to his leader... wait what-

FINALLY we get some decent Venom moments as 2cave threatens a bystander and tells Venom if he's going to rejoin or protect this town.  Venom opts to protect the town and 2cave leaves our ex-assassin with payment: a deed to a shop in the shopping district.  Now Venom can live his life in peace while making money for Robo-Ky's repairs.

All because Zato knew everything.  Thank you, Zato.

Insert collective sighs here.

I'm mostly side-eyeing the whole conversation with 2cave and Venom.  I suppose one could argue that they were trying to speak in “code”, but why show up wearing Guild uniforms?  On top of that, it only addresses Venom as a leader and not a person.  There are bits about him being kind but Venom doesn't really speak much.  2Cave sort of does the speaking for both of them (2cave even points this out).  Then when the deed is handed out Robo is all “he (Zato) knows your personality and knew you'd be stuck”.

How did Zato know Venom would be stuck, or even where he was?  Did the Guild send out spies to make sure he was dead?  And now that Venom's safely in hiding, it leaves Zato free to pursue Millia, whether she wants it or not.  They made “Zato loves Millia” abundantly clear, even “killing” Venom in the process.  That comes off as some severe “no homo” despite heavily hinting at Venom's sexuality from day one.  I don't like pairing off Zato and Venom at all but I do recognize that Venom's feelings are completely canon.  Besides, it kind of goes against Zato saving Venom in the first place.  Zato saw potential but now he's setting Venom free?  Not sure why this entire dynamic is being retconned, and  fundamentally, I should be happy.  Venom, my favorite character of all time, gets a chance to live free of the Guild and he no longer has to deal with a line of work that fed into his misery.  I just cannot come to terms with how it was handled and the motivations behind it.