A common fantasy trope is the paladin, which has strong defensive skills and healing, but little attack. Often shown with a sword and shield, and armor. A similar, less common archetype, is the cleric or warrior monk, which bleeds into the white mage archetype but with heavier equipment. The way you described Ivan, he seems like he would fit that niche well, and could be the team's healing tank.
This is also my favorite character archetype, normally. I've always thought of martial arts as keeping yourself and your loved ones safe. Being able to fight with a loved one at your back, negating a threat's blows, and recovering any damage taken, is something that really resonated with me. Old school Newmans normally fit this role, but sacrificed defense for speed.
On the topic of cross-race breeding, PSIV's newmans (well, just the one) were created in part to breed with humanity, to allow them to survive the desert climate of Motavia, which had changed dramatically due to PSII's events, and which humans were never exposed to. Though climate control exists in that world, and is a major plotpoint, the AIs were trying to get humans to rely less on them since they would be shut down before long, and certainly long before humans would evolve naturally to survive the desert planet.
So newman-human crossbreeding should be possible, if we assume PSO2 newmans aren't much different than PSIV's. I believe PSU had some human/newman couples too, but I really can't recall many relationships in those games beyond, ironically, that wierd child couple that PSU had.
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