Inquisitor Wolf [+]

“Your pitiful spells won’t save you now.”

Name: Joseph Wolf
Title: The Inquisitor
Age: Unknown
Gender: Male
Allegiance: Machina of Man

Race: Superhuman.

Height: 7’ 2”

Weight: Not sure. The scale broke when we tried to find out.

Personality:
Wolf’s mind is a cold and efficient one. A firm believer in the ends justifying the means, he will go to any length to complete his assignments with ruthless efficiency. His years of conditioning to fight magic has given him a deep hatred of it; viewing it as the crutch that has doomed the other factions and as such detests when his own kind turn to it. Between his strict personality and his robotic armor, it’s easy to see why many have mistaken Wolf as just another machine and not an actual human.

History:
Though it’s origins are unknown, it is speculated The Inquisition started out as an order wanting to learn magic; much like The Knights of Winter. However, when such orders began to fall apart, it became clear magic was not something man would be able to out class its enemies in. Thus, The Inquisition instead turned from trying to control it, to eradicating it.

Using what they had learned about magic, they discovered that those with psychic abilities could connect with the magical essence of the Nexus and, theoretically, alter it. The power needed to do this though was exponential and the only way to achieve it would be to enhance a natural born psychic with neural implants. Of course doing so often resulted in the subjects mind being fried from an overload of power, but The Inquisition wasn’t about to give up. After spending years perfecting neural technology, The Inquisition finally saw their first success in Joseph Wolf.

Though he was only a child at the time, Wolf was the only subject whose mind could tolerate and use the high amounts of psychic energy. From there they began his training, teaching him how to control his powers and use them effectively in combat. As he grew older he was enlisted in one of the Machina’s super soldier programs, undergoing genetic modification and further combat training.

Equipped with the latest Power Armor and weapons, Wolf is now ready to show the Nexus why it should fear any warrior of The Inquisition.

Powers:

Incorruptible (passive): With the mind of a fortress and the increased defense of his power armor, Wolf is immune to possession, hypnosis, hallucinations or other metal attacks of any kind.

Magic Detection (passive): Wolf’s psychic nature enhanced by his power armor allows him to detect and pinpoint any nearby magic and identify if it is holy, demonic, or perhaps something else?

Dispel: Using his powers to disrupt the energy of a spell, Wolf is able to essentially cancel and destroy even the most advanced spells. Requires at least medium proximity.

Disruption: Focusing on a specific target, Wolf can break their focus and blocking their magic essence, canceling any active spells while preventing them from casting anymore. Target can resume casting once Wolf’s concentration has broken.

Telepathy: Self-Explanatory.

Weapons:

Inquisitor Halberd: There are few weapons out there that match the quality of Inquisitor weaponry. Forged from pure adamantium and crafted with a celestial silver edge, these weapons are made to be unbreakable and able to cut down any foe. For added damage, there is a high powered flame unit installed at the back of the blade. It not only unleashes or torrent of fire upon its enemies, but also engulfs the blade giving it’s already devastating swings a lingering burn.

Arm cannon: Mounted on Wolf’s off hand is a high powered double barreled machine gun. While it’s low fire rate prevents any real crowd control, it’s damage output makes it than capable to handle stronger units.

Equipment:

Power armor: Easily the most important part of The Inquisitor’s equipment is their power armor. Designed to look like the Paladins of old, this hulking suits of armor is anything but ancient. The pinnacle of neural technology, The Inquisitor armor links directly to the users mind allowing full movement with thought essentially eliminating any sacrifice to mobility. Much like the rest of the Machina, the armor has a direct link to Eos for power and communication purposes. Top it all off with drastic increases in speed and strength and you have one of the most deadly warriors the Machina has to offer.

Other:

Theme [+]

Saef Harken [+]

Saef Harken [+]

Name: Saef Harken

Title: Heavenly Thaumaturge, Captain 1rst Heavenly Mechanized Squadron

Age: 32

Gender: Male

Allegiance: Heaven

Race: Ascended Human

Height: 6' 1"

Weight: 180 lbs

Personality: Long campaigns against the forces of Hell have a way of teaching a person what is really important. Over the past year Saef has gone from being a vain and arrogant physicist to a shining beacon of hope and solace for his men. On the battlefield he leads with a cool head, striking for effect rather than glory or honor.

A paladin is more than just a crusader however. When not fighting the forces of the Pit Saef is a pretty nice guy. Always willing to listen to another's problems and do what he can to help out. It may be how much time he has spent around angelic beings or simply the natural growth a person undergoes in a stressful situation but Saef is a much better person now than he was before.

He is not without his scars though. Most of his planet has been turned into uninhabitable wasteland by the demons. Unsurprisingly he holds a grudge. Deep within him the paladin holds a cold pit of rage against all the forces of Hell.
Billions dead on his own planet, trillions elsewhere.

Saef won't rest until Demonkind is no longer a threat.

History: Fittingly, it was a dark and stormy night when the world ended. The worst storm in recorded history was scouring much of the surface of Dinas Affaraon. Even with the advanced technology of the planet's inhabitants it was going to be a task to repair all the damage.

The storm was more than just a mass of electromagnetic and kinetic energy though. It seethed with magical power as well. A massive wellspring to those who knew how to harness the arcane. One such group had gathered at the center of the megastorm. The Brotherhood of the Pit Beyond. An insane cult that had somehow gotten in contact with several high level demons. It was a tale as old as time. The demons whispered promises, handed out hints of knowledge and passed tidbits of power over the interdimensional link the cultists had formed.

Open a Gate for us. They whispered in the minds of the Brotherhood. We can give you so much more if you just open the way.

The members of the Brotherhood never gave it a second thought. So enthralled were they by the power just out of reach. Demonic corruption had run so deep through them it was starting to effect physical changes. A dark ceremony was performed at the eye of the hurricane. Human torture and sacrifice so vile it tore the very fabric of reality asunder.

To the rest of the world it looked like the gigantic storm had somehow triggered a volcano. Magma shot hundreds of feet into the air, accompanied by sulfurous fumes. Fire and brimstone rained down on the surrounding landscape for miles in every direction. It took almost a day and multiple cases of live video footage before the reports of things in the area were taken seriously. And by then it was too late to repulse the foothold Hell now had on the planet. The Gate at the center of the disaster zone was mystical in nature and the various militaries were a bit short on spellcasters.

Militaries mobilized slowly at first, then with ever increasing speed and desperation as the the demonic forces overran the countryside. Over the next three months the entirety of Dinas Affaraon's forces were pushed back along an ever widening front. Problems they could only attribute to the invaders hindered them the entire way. Their machines of war broke down far more often than they should have and loyal soldiers and officers turned traitor seemingly at the drop of a hat.

Once it became clear that the first of Dinas Affaraon's two major continents was lost the commanders in charge of the war switched tactics. All forces fell back to the remaining demon free landmass, taking as many people with them as they could. The plan was to build a massive series of fortifications along the shores. A grand barrier meant to give what remained of the world a chance to catch its breath.

In the end it didn't matter. The Gate was still spewing forth legions of filth and the grand defensive line around the second continent stalled the demonic advance for a bare two weeks before leviathans and colossi swept it aside and horror poured through. Outnumbered and overwhelmed it was all the defenders could do to send refugees and essential civilians to ever shrinking safe zones.

It as one of the latter that Saef found himself. As a well known physicist he was thrown at project after project, feverishly trying to find the magic bullet that would at least slow the monsters down. As the brass frantically shuffled him around he found himself watching people die to protect him, fighting off Corrupted assassination plots and occasionally taking up arms himself when the nearby battle lines broke before he could be evacuated.

At the start of the war Saef was an arrogant fellow. At the top of his field, a field that wasn't easy to get into in the first place. He was assured of his place in the world. In his thoughts the smartest mind in a society that valued a person's intellect over their physical strength. He had it all. Over the course of those three months his worldview was shattered. He froze the first time he saw a demon. An act that cost the lives of half the platoon assigned to his protective detail. His assistant and best friend went mad and tried to strangle him with electrical wires.

Contrasted against untold horror the arrogant scientist saw the best that Humanity had to offer. Acts of selflessness and courage in the face of certain doom. Generosity when one had nothing to give. Self sacrifice so that the child of a stranger might live. Saef saw it all and it changed him.

By the end of those three months eighty percent of the planet's inhabitable landmass was under demonic control. The only nation still fully intact was the realm of Falias. Its capital was also the holy city of the largest organized religion on the planet. The fact that it laid on the exact opposite side of Dinas Affaraon from the portal to Hell was likely not a coincidence.

A great demonic host had gathered to strike at it. Slice deep into the core of remaining human territory and cut the heart out. Shatter their symbol of hope and have a good old time hunting down the rest at their leisure. It was set to be the defining battle of the war. Both sides had gathered their forces and the disparity was obvious. Even without their inherent advantages the demons outnumbered the humans by ten to one.

Moments before the battle was joined however, something extraordinary happened. A rift opened in the sky with the sound of ten thousand trumpets. Rays of light shot out and burned entire formations of demons to ash. The barrage was followed by hundreds of thousands of angelic warriors who fell upon their mortal foes with a fury. What had been a foregone battle suddenly turned into a turnabout rout as the mortal forces on the field recovered from their shock and joined the fray. Dead demons soon covered the open plains, their brethren fleeing or being struck down themselves.

It was explained later that Heaven had known about the invasion almost from the start. No aid had been sent sooner because they, (the only forces who cared enough to help humans) had been tied up in another campaign elsewhere and had only just been released from their duties.

What followed after was a ten month slog back across the planet as the combined Human/Angelic forces pushed their way to the demon spewing gate that was the cause of all their woes. During that time Saef took to an area of study much more helpful to the war effort. Thaumaturgy. Seeing the effectiveness of the holy magic used by the angels and sick of working on projects that never went anywhere the scientist turned his mind towards the study of magic and its uses.

With the holy magic he picked up came the ability to join the battlefield himself. And join it he did. For three long months he had been watching others fight and die while he ran away to some laboratory and failed to keep demons from overrunning his world. Now he had a way of fighting back. Saef's newfound combat power, fame and the high casualty rate earned him a commission in the army. It was not a position he was completely unfamiliar with. Small unit tactics was something he had learned from all the bodyguard details given to him over the course of the war. It was with small groups that he excelled. Taking a strike team and leading them to hit critical targets in the enemy's line of battle.

Over the long slog he continuously proved himself, gaining respect from the Heavenly Host and raising to his current rank of captain in the Dinas Affaraon military. He took part in the assault on the Gate and personally helped in sealing it. When the Gate had been closed and all the demons on the world captured or killed the Archangel leading the Host came forward with an offer. Many of the humans had fought well and bravely. The fight was over here but it would continued on elsewhere. Would they be willing to ascend to Heaven and join them in the fight?

Many said no. It had been a long and terrible fight. They just wanted to be able to pick up the pieces of their world without somebody trying to kill them and/or do horrendous things to their body and soul. For others like Saef simply kicking the demons off their world wasn't enough. The war on Dinas Affaraon had claimed billions of lives. That could not be allowed to happen elsewhere and the Hellspawn needed to pay

They took the offer.

Powers:

Heavenly Body

Upon accepting the Archangel's offer the new recruits from Dinas Affaraon underwent a transformation. Their bodies changed, becoming more idealized versions of themselves. Features became sharper and more defined. Muscles were denser and organs more robust.

They became superhuman. Many times stronger and faster than a normal person. The group could now take blows that would have most certainly killed them before. It would still hurt but they wouldn't be removed from the battle just because they caught a punch from the wrong demon.

A Glimpse of the Truth

When Saef ascended something unexpected happened. While cosmic energies swirled around him the former scientist, now soldier and thaumaturge caught a glimpse of something. For the barest of moments the very bones of the universe were layer bare to him. That glimpse changed him.

On the surface the only clue of his extra transformation is a head of permanently white hair. The real changes run much deeper though. When Saef looks at something or thinks of it he can't help but see how it works. Magical or scientific the mechanics are always laid bare.

It's not an instantaneous thing though. The more complicated a thing is the longer it takes him to figure it out. Nor does it allow him an automatic immunity to illusions. Any mental effects will still take place, he will simply be able to know that there is some sort of spellcraft taking place and eventually be able to puzzle through the mechanics of it.

Divine Thaumaturgy

While still young at the craft Saef has learned enough of the how's and why's to manipulate the mana and underlying principles of the holy spells taught to all the new warriors from his world.

Using those as a basis he has expanded his offensive repertoire immensely. He can now freely manipulate holy light in offensive and defensive manners as well as a variety of other spells generally associated with the angelic.

Weapons:

Hywelbane

Despite being a member of the armies of Heaven Saef and his comrades came from a highly technological world. Their weapons and equipment show that.

Hywelbane has two modes. The first takes the shape of a three foot long golden scepter with a white crystal at the end. Arcane runes run the length of the rod and the entire thing pulses with a soft white light.

In this form Hywelbane focuses and enhances Saef's power. Allowing him to perform greater feats of magic with more finesse.

When the second form is activated the scepter shortens to two feet. The extra material comes up to form a crosshilt and a blade the same color as the crystal extends.

The blade can be as long or as short as the wielder wishes it to be and is is made up of holy light. The sharpness of the blade depends on the abilities of the user. With Saef's skill at light magic the edge of Hywelbane can be measured in single digit photons.

LSW-27 (Modified)

Every good soldier needs a backup weapon and this is what most people used on Saef's home world.

A sleek looking silver pistol, the LSW-27 fire beams of coherent light capable of burning through several inches of steel. Since coming to Heaven Saef has modified his. It now has a row of runes running down the barrel that bestow a holy element to each shot.

Equipment:

Duban-X7-99

The Duban is a suit of highly advanced power armor and a big part of why the people of Dinas Affaraon could fight demons at all. Now that Saef has ascended the strength and speed enhancements are less obvious but even so it is a highly useful set of equipment.

Metal/ceramic armor plating is augmented by hard light energy shielding. While the shielding can take several hits it wasn't designed to withstand a sustained barrage. Instead the designers built it to survive short bursts of fire, after which they would start to recharge.

It's not an instantaneous charge. If all the capacitors are empty it can take up to a full minute to refill from the onboard reactor. A long time in a pitched battle.

An onboard sensor suite uses a wide variety of means to keep track of the user's surroundings. Not designed as a scout or full scanning platform the Duban's passive scanners can keep an accurate reading of the battlefield out to about five hundred meters.

That's not factoring in things like the binocular function on the helmet. It's an average of what the onboard computer can tell the user at any one moment.

It has highly effective air filters.

Duban has two different types of comms. The first is your traditional radio., it's usually kept locked down when fighting Machina. The second is quantum entanglement. Each suit has a series of entangled particles linked to both fellow squad members and command.

Communication between those so linked is crystal clear and unhackable no matter how far apart they are. The downside is that it only extends to people with linked particle pairs.

The last major piece of the suits is the jetpack built into each one. Technically called Quantum Particle Propulsion Systems, most everyone just calls them jetpacks.

Since it uses newly created quantum particles for thrust the user never has to worry about running out of fuel. However the system is quite the power hog. Power has to be diverted to it when in full use leading to reduced sensor range or increased shield recharge time.

Knowledge Is Power

After many long hours spent with Librarian Si, the combination of magic and science that is "Knowledge Is Power" was crafted. Aside from the fact that it is double the size of a standard book the primary thing to catch an observer's eye is how white the thing is. The covers are made out of a nonmagnetic white metal alloy and the pages all look crisp and new. It's not completely white though. The name of the book is emblazoned on the front in letters that glow an electric blue and is surrounded in an intricate magical circle of similar luminescence.

Of course carrying such a large and heavy book at all times would be a major pain. To circumvent that a few extra features have been added. When not in use the tome is stored in a personal pocket dimension. Nothing else can enter the dimension either with the book or by itself.

When called upon "Knowledge Is Power" activates a combination of antigravity technology and levitation magic to hover in the air near its master. The tome moves according to Saef's thought but cannot go more than a couple yards away at any one time

In order to prevent a predicted increase in size and weight the two who made it pulled a little trick with the pages. When a reader is about halfway through pages that have already been read will start to vanish. As this happens new pages will appear under the yet to be read pile. It is essentially a never ending book.

Of course those are all ease of use side benefits. The real power of the book lies in the name. Everything that Saef considers useful information is automatically captured by the book. The book then turns that information into power. The more important or useful the information is the more more power the tome can draw from it. These facts are not consumed to create magical energy but rather they add to the book's capacity to generate mana.

TLDR: It's a magic floating book that acts as a secondary mana generator for Saef. The more interesting stuff he finds out the more power it can give him.

Other:

Hider [+]

Name: Animus
Title/Epiphet: The Lost Legion
Allegiance/Faction: Heaven
Race: Amalgamation
Age: 10.000
Gender: Male
Appearance: Varies
Backstory:
When examining the various powers and magics of the Nexus it becomes obvious that there is a metaphysical component to 'life'. Some element of power or energy connected to living beings, beyond their physical forms. This force could be described as 'life energy', or 'the soul', or any one of a thousand names. Many may disagree on the meaning, the uses, the implications, the origin and the applications, but all must acknowledge that this force exists. So what happens when you dig deeper? If there is a 'soul' that is allotted to sentient living beings, then is there an entity or natural process that assigns these 'souls'? Could one understand this process, and manipulate it? Would it be possible to track it down?

If you were to ask Animus about his origins, he would claim that this force not only exists, but that he was spawned from this force. The raw energy of life given physical form, a manifest spirit of divine creation. On other days he would claim that he was a residue, the energy left over from the process of creation. A side effect, if you will. Sometimes he might even claim that he was the souls that were never assigned, children never born into the world. Consciousnesses that banded together into a single entity in order to experience the reality that they had been denied by the cruel hand of fate. Based on these different and seemingly contradictory tales it's easy to conclude that either Animus is lying, or he himself does not understand his own existence. It might be that he believes all of these to be true, to some extent.

Of course, despite Animus' own confusion, what is known is that he appeared within the Nexus from a barren and lifeless world and soon allied himself with the forces of Heaven. He was adamant that his purpose was to bring life and unity to this warring realm, a goal he believed could only be accomplished by crushing the opposing factions. His strange nature raised some suspicion but none could deny that his power was 'holy', drawing on pure life energy. However a quick background check also made clear that the world Animus entered the Nexus from was not always barren, and in fact once hosted a thriving civilisation until they were wiped out by some apocalypse.

The truth of the matter is that Animus was the result of an attempt, through magic or technology, to access the 'origin of life'. A place or force of incredible power, potentially connected to all living things at least in his universe of origin. The Well of Life. A force that connects all living beings, an energy field throughout the universe, a semisentient creator god, an alternate dimension composed of pure positive energy... nobody could quite grasp the nature of the Well of Life. But whatever it was, contact with this force annihilated nearly everything on Animus' planet of origin. He himself was formed from that event, carrying within him the soul of every creature that was wiped out by the blast, and a little bit of something mysterious. Something alien, or perhaps all too familiar. Something primal. How much of his ramblings are truth, and how much is delusion, only time will tell.

Powers:

[Possession]
In his most natural state Anima is a bundle of incorporeal light and energy. In this state it is very hard for him to affect the world, or for the world to affect him. However he is able to take the body of any living creature or even inanimate object as a host, creating a 'golem' if necessary. While possessing a body Anime gains any abilities linked to that body's physical attributes, such as the fire breath of a dragon, or the enhanced senses of a tiger. At any time Anima is able to leave his current body and find a new host. This means that even if his body is destroyed he can simply find a new one. However damaging or 'killing' his current host does cause Anima mental strain, and if he's forced to leave his host unwillingly it will often take him a while to gather himself again. Anima cannot possess a fully sentient being unless their willpower has been somehow drastically degraded (or they've been knocked out or something), and even then it's usually a matter of time before he's pushed out again. Bodies possessed by Anima will usually be granted superhuman strength in the 1-ton range as well as sub-wolverine regeneration, assuming they did not already possess these abilities.

[Healing Magic]
Due to his nature as a being of life energy, Animus is incredibly good at healing. With a touch he can heal even the most grievous of injuries, leaving people refreshed and full of vigour. Even lost limbs and chronic diseases can be healed fairly easily. This power makes Animus an excellent support. In fact his healing abilities are arguably a little bit too powerful. Things around him naturally become more healthy through his sheer presence. Animus' presence removes the need for food, encourages rapid plant growth, curses diseases, and causes bodies to become healthier and more efficient. Standing next to him feels like a refreshing shower. This 'aura' effect can't be turned off, and affects his enemies as much as it does his allies. This means that even Animus' enemies will find their wounds healing at about 5x the rate of normal healing, assuming they're biological. Only demons are unaffected, and undead even find this aura highly unpleasant, slowing down any healing abilities they may have.

[Anima Spirits]
Being composed of many different personalities, Animus is able to create seperate beings from parts of his being. These separate 'spirits' function by the same rules as Animus himself, although they are unable to move on if their initial host is destroyed. Often he will use these spirits to create powerful minions by possessing the local wildlife, architecture, or a pile of corpses. These spirits are also capable of attaching themselves to allies, granting them regeneration by constantly using their healing energy on those allies until they become 'used up'. Destroying or using up these spirits damages Animus' mind, making it harder for him to maintain on the battlefield. As such he will often pull these spirits back into himself before this happens, if given the chance.

[Energy Eater]
The only reason Animus is able to exist is due to it's nature as a vacuum. It both projects and absorbs energy, almost functioning like a 'filter', turning normal energy into healing energy. This doesn't usually have much of an effect, but when Animus is in contact with a constant source of energy such as a forcefield, spell, or portal, it will absorb the energy from that source. This process requires a moment to start up, meaning that the effect on energy-based attacks is negligible. However any ability that seeks to affect Animus for an extended period of time is going to get 'eaten' after a while, unless that ability is purely physical.

Resistances & Immunities:
Immune to physical attacks when not in a body. Resistant to mind-affecting abilities - too many minds.
Weaknesses:
Requires mental cohesion in order to remain active in a battle. Things like destroying bodies make it harder for Animus to remain in the battle, and it usually needs to spend a moment to recover. Repeatedly being exposed to mental strain will force Animus to lose cohesion, and remove him from the battle. Attacks that target the soul or mind can affect Animus while incorporeal. An energy draining attack can affect Animus while incorporeal, and will heal the user. Has a lower resistance to demonic corruption effects than most angels, and such effects often contribute to Animus' mental strain.
Skills: Animus possesses pretty much every mundane skill imaginable.
Sample Post:

Hider [+]

And then, there was light.

Space, stretching infinitely as it pulled at his edges. Time, ticking forwards inexorably. A cacophony of voices cry out and are immediately smothered. Light, sound, touch. There is fear, and rage, and hope, and grief, and there is light. Burning white, wiping away all that is not. Reality defined, solid, immutable. There was a sense of inevitability to it, a sensation of compression that Animus could not hope to describe. From this point the universe extended, as far as his light could reach. Curving and jagged stone, in stark contrast to empty and flowing air. Boiling oceans formed intricate patterns in the sky above. A deep thrum seemed to push forth from inside him, a vibration that marked all around him. A wave that passed through the air, and the stone, and the oceans in the sky. He glowed brighter, and his light reached further. He was the light, and all that he touched was real. Defined. Compressed. Brighter and brighter, until he was a pillar of white in the centre of an endless landscape of swirling dust.

He had stood there, encased in brilliant white, until the sun had come up in the morning. At first he had felt astonished, that there was a light yet brighter than him. Was that his light of origin? Or was it his destination? In time he would learn it was neither. It was merely an agent of time, marking the days of his existence. And as he explored time, so too did he explore space. He learned of great gaps, of plains of water, and of burning fire in it's many forms. But he felt a loss he could not define. A loss of purpose, perhaps. He mapped the plains and mountains, he explored the depths and he reached for the heights. And yet he always knew that this was not where he was meant to be, what he was meant to do. He could hear it in the voices within, and the emptiness without. Something was missing.

It was inevitable, perhaps, that Animus would find his way into the Nexus. After many cycles of light and dark he reached out to the light in the sky, seeking some greater purpose. Whether by coincidence or grand design, Animus discovered a gateway hidden in plain sight. A fold in the space he had thought so uniform, a portal to a place beyond. It was strange, and for the first time since his birth Animus experienced a fear of the unknown. Perhaps it was because he had been given the time to establish a norm, a baseline that this unexpected object could violate. Perhaps he had always felt the fear, but could name it only now. But regardless of his trepidation, it was clear that whatever destiny awaited him it did not wait on this barren rock. He was light, and all that he touched was defined. Thus he would define new worlds, abolishing the darkness that shrouded new lands. Perhaps it was this journey of enlightenment that was his destiny. Confident in the knowledge that he was truth itself, Animus extended through the fold in space, and entered into the Nexus.

Notes: The Well of Life is kept vague and ill-defined for fear of altering the mythology of War. If the GMs wish for me to define it more, I'll have to see what they will allow it to be. As it stands it can be as relevant or irrelevant as the plot demands. Should I create a follower CS for the Anima Spirits?

I realise there might be some issues with the powerset I chose for him, but figured I'd give it a try.

If he leaves a body of his own free will, he can keep going pretty much as long as he pleases. If a body he occupies is destroyed twice in rapid succession that's enough to boot him off. This means he'll usually retreat after he loses a body, depending on how badly he wants to win the fight he's in. If he takes a full post or so to rest between destructions and nobody interrupts him he should be able to keep going. No damage to his mental state is permanent, so it's important to strike while the iron is hot. Other attacks that contribute to the mental strain would of course also be a factor, such as destroying his deployed spirits or performing mental attacks.

To me, any attack whom's target is the physical body would be a physical attack. A laser beam's goal is to disrupt materials by flash-heating them, the damaging factor is heating physical matter rapidly. As such it's a physical attack. Nonphysical attacks would be things like soul-destroying spells, psychic assaults, stuff like that. A Machina with dedicated ghostbusters technology could certainly affect his incorporeal form, and something like the Reality Breaker would definitely work. But something like a standard Machina laser beam is going to go straight through him.