Ao Fukai

Ao Fukai (フカイ・アオ Fukai Ao), or more appropriately Ao Thurston (アオ・サーストン Ao Thurston), pronounced as "aʊ", is the protagonist of Eureka Seven: AO. Ao the son of the two main characters from Eureka Seven; Renton Thurston and Eureka, and the younger brother of the late Amber Thurston.

History
Ao is the son of Renton Thurston and Eureka. His mother one day fell from a clear sky into a bay in Iwato Jima, before giving birth to Ao sometime later. After Eureka was handed over to the American Armed Forces ten years ago, as the islanders believe her and Ao's presence angered their local deity the "Sea Colossus" with the appearance of Scub Coral, Ao ended up in the care of his mother's only friend, Dr. Toshio Fukai. Ao discovers the RA272 Nirvash Mark One after he unintentionally retrieves his mother's bracelet from Gazelle who was smuggling it for the Japanese Army, and then Gazelle gets him to pilot the IFO, both named the Nirvash by Eureka and created by Renton. Ostracized by the villagers and targeted by the armies of several countries, Ao decides to join Team Pied Piper of Generation Bleu, hoping to find her.

At birth, Renton and Eureka named their son Ao Thurston. He was later renamed Ao Fukai by his adopted grandfather after his mother's disappearance.

Appearance
Ao has a pale complexion and purple eyes with stained red rings that he inherited from his mother, and brown hair that he inherited from his father. From his father, Ao inherited the shape of Renton's face and eyes, and he looks almost identical to his father. Although his natural hair color is brown, it turns turquoise, like his mother's hair color, when he first awakens the Nirvash Mark I, possibly due to it mistaking Ao for his mother due to his Coralian heritage. His outfit consists of a blue hoodie with a black shirt underneath, dark half-cut pants with black knee-length stretch pants underneath, and blue shoes. As a member of Generation Bleu, he wears the standard uniform that consists of a blue and white shirt with the company's blue triangle symbol, a yellow tie, blue pants that reach his knees, and black shoes. He wears a space suit that is white and blue whenever he pilots Nirvash in battle.

Genetic makeup
It is revealed that Ao has a slightly different genetic makeup than a normal person due to being a Human-Coralian hybrid, but only that he sees things slightly in the infrared range is known, such as being able to see the movements of Trapar. This becomes a setback for him while in space because there is little to no Trapar there. The incidents in episode 11 reveal that Ao belongs to a class of people that can be influenced by trapar. This class consists of people that are born near a Scub Burst, wherein Generation Bleu concluded that their brain structure have been altered by the Scub. The exceptions to this are Ao and Elena, who were not born near a Scub Burst.[1] In episode 12, it is revealed that Ao can apparently see trapar, and calls it the "path of the wind".[2]

Personality
Ao is a brave, modest, and empathetic boy who is willing to do anything to protect his friends and family. Ao seems to have inherited traits from both of his parents. Like his father, he is upfront and determined, and his unwillingness to give up; also like his father, Ao is shy around girls, but to lesser extent than Renton had been. Unlike his father, Ao is never obsessed with girls and instantly develops a good relationship with all of his crew mates. According to Eureka, Ao is just as honest as Renton is. Like his mother, he is blunt but a bit weary around certain people and suffers from identity crisis, although to less extent than Eureka did. Unlike his mother, Ao is modest and has always treats his friends nicely, especially Naru and Fleur. He is very curious; despite believing his father abandoned him and his mother, Ao increasingly becomes interested in learning more about his father and the rest of his biological family, craving to know the truth about his origins.

Towards his family and friends, he tends to be very mature, caring and protective. In difficult situations, he presses others and becomes their voice of reason in order to prevent them from running away from their hardships or feeling down. Generally, when under attack or in dangerous times, he urges the others to help out in any way they can no matter how bad the odds are against them. Despite learning he is a Human-Coralian hybrid and suffered years of ostracism, Ao doesn't care about the value of his identity because, as he says, no matter who his parents are or if it is his destiny to fight Truth and the Secrets as their natural enemy, he will continue to fight for the sake of others.

During his early days with Generation Bleu, he tended to engage in combat without fully understanding the risks of battling, and he eventually starts to think about the events around him before coming up with a rational solution. He is very intelligent for his age, but always finds himself at the center of attention due to his unusual appearance. He is shown to be reckless; seen when the Nirvash's arm broke and he used it to smash the Secret. He also has a fierce temper and sometimes is quick to act out by fighting, especially against Gazelle. Ao loves his mother, Eureka, dearly and keep his memories of her from his childhood close to his heart.

Ao spent much of his life angry at his father, Renton, for allegedly abandoning him and his mother, but upon learning he had been wrong, he risked his life to save his parents without making any more mention of his past feelings for his father. After this, he develops great respect and affection for his father, happy to know that he was always loved by his father. Despite growing up without either of his parents in his life until he was 13, he turned out to be a pretty grateful kid, who was willing to repay them for giving him life and preserving it by saving his mother from her doomed fate and reuniting her with his father, despite knowing he may never see them ever again.