Will

Will in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin.
Will
Species	Human
Hair color	Brown
Debut	Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

This article is about the Advance Wars character. For the Pokémon character of the same name, see Will (Pokemon).

Will (or Ed in the PAL release) is a member of the Rubinelle Armed Forces 12th Battalion following the Meteor Crisis in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin.

Background

Survival

Before the Meteor Crisis, Will's parents were killed in the Great War between Rubinelle and Lazuria. As an orphan, he was enlisted in the Rubinelle military cadet program. Following the meteor impacts, he managed to survive and wandered alone for some time, eventually concluding that he was the only survivor. However he soon came into contact with The Beast and his raiders, who intended not to help Will - but to take whatever food or weapons he had. He was near the brink of capture, but was rescued by the sudden arrival of the 12th Battalion, a Rubinelle unit led by Captain Brenner and Lieutenant Lin. With their help, he escaped the grasps of The Beast. Although still weak, he insisted on traveling with them as they continued their search for survivors. When The Beast attacked again, Will stayed in the fray to keep looking, eventually locating a girl in one of the cities. He pulled her to safety and carried her back to camp, even after the other soldiers left. During this he assured her that as long as there's life, there's hope - echoing the same words he had heard from Brenner.

Following this they headed to Freehaven, with the intention of leaving Will and the girl there in the safety of the Mayor. However the Mayor proved unwilling to take them on due to limited resources, but following another attack by the Beast, the Mayor agreed to consider taking them in if they destroyed the raiders' base. Though successful, the mayor pointed out that he said he would only 'consider' it and never actually agreed to it. Will however had no desire to stay with the Mayor and asserted his desire to stay with Brenner. During this time he also got to know more about the girl he rescued. She had amnesia, but possessed an unusual level of knowledge about military secrets. Because she had no name, Will chose the name Isabella for her.

Leaving Freehaven behind, they traveled north to New Wolfington, another civilian city that was led by Dr. Morris. Like Freehaven, the people there were lacking in supplies. However Morris knew of a factory that could produce food that was not too far away. Before they headed that way, Morris asked Will a specific question - if he believed there were people that were truly evil. Will had no answer at the time and they proceeded to the site of the crop factory, only to discover a mysterious army (the [[Intelligent Defense System, though they didn't know it at the time) led by Penny. Although they drove them off, the factory was destroyed beyond repair. However to their good fortune, Isabella possessed knowledge of a secret government bunker in the Seratte Mountains containing a crop factory that could feed a thousand. However while they were on their way there, Will discovered Isabella had contracted a deadly virus known as the Creeper. Afraid he might get the virus himself, he abandoned her and fled to go tell Dr. Morris.

Although she survived and was placed in quarantine, he felt horrible for abandoning her when she was in need. He was able to convince Dr. Morris to let him speak to her through the door and he was able to heart her murmuring a ten digit number. When they made it to the government facility, Will used the ten digit code to open the way in. However, while they were checking out the contents of the facility, the Beast returned. By the time Will and the others made it there, Isabella and Dr. Morris were within the clutches of the Beast. There was no time for them to escape or be rescued and the unit they were traveling with was destroyed. Enraged, Will led the troops to defeat the Beast with the intention of killing him off. However he discovered Isabella and Morris alive afterwards, while the Beast himself met his end elsewhere. Following this, Isabella recovered and they spent the next few months in peace.

New Rubinelle

Despite dwindling food supplies, they continued to hunt for survivors. One of their excursions ended with them meeting up with Davis, who was under attack by the Lazurian Army. After rescuing him, he told him that they were being sought out by Admiral Greyfield who had reorganized the army into the New Rubinelle Army. With the promise of ample supplies, the 12th Battalion and the refugees traveled north. Soon after arriving, Brenner pledged his support, if only to end the war sooner. They were immediately sent to the Rubinelle Sea to fight where Will, with the aid of Waylon, scored a victory over the Lazurians. Following the battle, Greyfield gave high praise to Will for commanding at so young an age. But he soon realized that Will was much like Brenner in his optimism. When Will heard him speak bad of Brenner, he jumped to his defense. Enraged, Greyfield threatened Will that if he ever saw him in his quarters again, he'd be executed.

Their war path against Lazuria went well, much to the chagrin of Greyfield who wanted only to see Brenner fail. Eventually the war came to an end when Brenner scored a victory over General Forsythe, leader of the Lazurian army. The conditions of the surrender was the safety of all the Lazurian soldiers, however when Greyfield arrived this arrangement was quickly nullified with the execution of Forsythe. Unwilling to renege on his agreement, Brenner vowed to rescue the Lazurians by himself providing a distraction to cover their escape. Though Will wasn't willing to leave Brenner behind, he was convinced to escape. Once they were in the clear, Will attempted to raise Brenner on the radio. Eventually he made contact with him and discovered Brenner was still alive, but wounded and surrounded. In the end, Greyfield used a powerful fiery weapon to wipe out the area, killing Brenner.

Despite Lin's stoic acceptance of the events, Will was unable to accept Brenner's death until he realized Isabel depended on him in the same way he did on Brenner. Soon after, Lin convinced him to take command of the army. Her cold tactical methodology had proved unpopular with the soldiers and civilians and she felt Will would make a better figurehead for the army, even if she was still calling the shots. In addition, he also gained the support of Tasha and Gage, two Lazurian COs that survived due to Brenner's sacrifice. However they were constantly pursued by the New Rubinelle Army. To make matters worse, a new strain of the Creeper had emerged, one that could target both children and adults. When Lin revealed she too had the virus, she urged Will to abandon them and save himself. Instead he took them to a place called Salvation where there was supposed to be someone who could cure the Creeper. Instead it turned out to be a group of fanatics who worshiped the 'Worm', which was in fact a common Earthworm.

Following a battle with Waylon, they discovered that the New Rubinelle Army was also being plagued with the Creeper - only Greyfield was executing those with the virus. They also discovered that Greyfield had, through Caulder of Intelligent Defense Systems, gained access to both Rubinelle and Lazuria's stockpile of weapons. With only forty days until he could fire, Lin volunteered to lead the 12th against him. After a difficult battle, New Rubinelle was defeated - but the problem of the Creeper virus was still present, as well as the revelation of Caulder. Before there was even a chance for the troops to rest, he set his own army against them - but offered Will the chance to have the IDS troops withdraw if Will gave him Isabella. He refused to do so and fought anyways, a decision that sparked protest from the Mayor of Freehaven, who ended up chasing Isabella away - part of a secret arrangement with Caulder.

Aftermath

With Isabella gone, Will decided to leave his post as Commander and left Lin in charge. He then tasked himself to find Isabella, but instead met up with Cyrus, one of Caulder's clones. Cyrus agreed to help Will get on board the Great Owl undetected. But before they left, Lin showed up with some troops, having followed Will there. Once on board, Will found Isabella and assured her that even though she was a clone, that he didn't care and she was as human as any of them were. He was also able to convince Penny to come with them before they abandoned the Great Owl, which was on a crash collision due to the battle on board. With Isabella safe, Will returned to the 12th Battalion, where Tasha and Gage were about to defeated by a force led by Tabitha. They defeated her force and confronted Caulder at his own headquarters, a place he called "The Nest".

During the battle, Caulder accused Will of being brainwashed by society. And how Will's parents were killed in the Great War and he was raised by Rubinelle to be a soldier. However Will dismissed all of it by saying he didn't care and that he only wanted to protect people. Will also learned that Caulder was actually a clone of the original clone. After the Nest was destroyed, Caulder quickly advised them that the antidote to the Creeper was inside the facility before he himself died. With the antidote, the poison was wiped away. One year afterwards, he and Isabella continued to help people resume a new life. And after over two years of cloudy skies, they finally got to see the sun finally break through.

Gameplay

• CO Zone: 2
  • Boosts: Direct-attack ground units
  • Effect: Attack up: **
• CO Power: Rally Cry
  • Boosts mobility of direct-attack ground units by 2.