Vanir (バニル) is Wiz's close friend, a Duke of Hell, and a former general of the Devil King's army, becoming Wiz's assistant at her shop after his defeat. He is a main supporting character in the KonoSuba series and Limelight spin-off, as well as the protagonist of the Consultation spin-off series.
Appearance[]
Vanir appears as a gentleman with slicked back hair, wearing a black and white mask with a small star design placed under each eye hole. Later, the roman numeral for 2 (II) replaces the star (signifying he had lost his life once). With this second mask, he states he is now reborn, now as "Vanir the Second".
He wears a black suit with white gloves which is the typical attire for the Dukes of Hell. However, his physical body in the mortal realm is only a mask and the current human body is just an add-on. Vanir's real body is hidden away in Hell and he can quickly resurrect into another mask if he is "killed."
It is revealed in his spin-off that he has a stunningly handsome face underneath the mask, enough to make the Adventurer's guild receptionist Luna fall in love with him when Vanir showed his face to her. In one of the author’s Q&A, the author said that he has no fixed appearance and will change his face to one where he would pull all of the other person’s strings when they see his face below his mask.
Personality[]
Vanir is characterized by his eccentric behavior, usually talking in a theatrical and archaic manner, being very direct and confident, as well as bragging frequently, declaring himself "stronger than the Devil King" and "the model citizen of Axel". He is very lively and it's common for Vanir to let out an evil laugh when he feels joy or fulfilment. Vanir usually refers to himself as "wagahai" (我輩) and prefers being called "dan'na" (旦那).
As a demon, he feeds on people's ill feelings such as: shame, rage, jealousy and disappointment, Vanir tries to extract these emotions at every available opportunity, often using his abilities to expose people's hidden feelings and secrets to tease them. It is also common for Vanir to play pranks and fuel misunderstandings in order to extract such feelings.
Because of the fact Vanir sees humans as a mere food source, but since he doesn't enjoy emotions like despair, Vanir tries to stay on good terms with others. He even acts as an exemplar citizen, gossiping with old ladies, enforcing the trash dumping rules and driving away crows from the dumpsters.[1] He also has a rule about not killing or hurting humans, although such rules don't apply to gods.[2]
However, as a demon, Vanir is quite cunning, using his abilities to manipulate people and events for self-profit or seize the right moment to make business, like making an offer for all Kazuma's intellectual property by the exact value Kazuma would need in the future, with not a penny more.[3] He also doesn't do any favor without getting something else in return. For example, he would offer fortune-telling in exchange for answering embarrassing questions, in order to feed on the customer's shame.
Although Vanir is usually carefree, he can be very iritable, often punishing Wiz for her bad business with his Murder-Ray; and severe, forcing Wiz to work with no rest for several days, until the brink of exhaustion, so she wouldn't commit any mistake.[4] Vanir also regularly quarrels with Aqua, with whom he has a cat and dog relationship, which sometimes ends up in an actual fight.
Vanir also has a big "death wish", as his greatest ambition is to build the world's grandest dungeon in order to attract powerful adventurers who, after a tough battle, would eventually kill him only to find out that the final prize is just an empty chest, so Vanir could feed on the exhausted adventurers' disappointment before passing away. Most of his actions, from working at Wiz's Shop to gaining money, are motivated by this sole objective.
As a demon, contracts are absolute for Vanir, fulfilling his deals to the letter. Although he never lies, Vanir will attain to his each of his contract details and word, such as helping the succubi after they show him "true fear", but never specifying who should demonstrate such fear; in that case, the succubi themselves.[5] This is also the reason Vanir keeps working for Wiz's Shop.
Also, as a Duke of Hell, Vanir puts other demons at his territory under his protection, as the succubi, Zeeleschilt and even his fellow Duke of Hell Maxwell. He helps those demons, even if it means sacrificing one of his extra lives to revive Zeeleschilt. Vanir does so while staying committed to following Hell rules about survival of the fittest, not helping those who are unwilling to fight by themselves. He also has a great disdain with the gods and religions, as both Eris and Axis Order.
History[]
For Vanir's history, see his History tab.
Abilities[]
Vanir is an immensely powerful character, described as a being whose bare existence defies the laws of physics. The speculation among the Devil King's army has led to rumors of him being stronger than the Devil King himself and powerful enough to take part in a war against the gods in a primordial era long before the events of the story. Claire and Rain, Iris' bodyguards, also expressed surprise, and subsequently fear, when Vanir dealt with a good deal of armed guards with a mere wave of his arm, further cementing his reputation as being a demon to be reckoned with.
Divination: As the All-Seeing Demon, Vanir has the ability to look at people's mind, past and future. Thanks to this ability, Vanir can not only find out the person's location, thoughts and secrets, but also predict their and his own future. However, if he looks too much at the future, the events will change in order to backfire on him. This ability is also weaker against stronger targets.
Mask: Vanir's true body is a black and white mask, partially composed of the bones from magic dragons. Vanir can possess someone's body by attaching the mask at this person's face, completely controlling their actions, causing a unbearable pain if they try to resist.
Doll Creation: Vanir creates spare bodies out of the soil, being able to jump from one damaged body to a new untouched one quickly. He can also store those spare bodies or live within them at the store as if the real Vanir was there. Vanir also uses this ability to create doll-versions of himself that grab the target before explode. The self-destruction function can also be removed in order to do other tasks, such as cleaning.[6]
Vanir-Style Murder Ray: After Vanir does a plus "+" sign with his arms, he shoots a beam out of his eyes that incinerates the target. According to Vanir, since it is a murder ray, it was supposedly to kill the user as well. It is usually used to punish Wiz, and even Darkness once, whose high magical resistances allow them to survive it, but not without passing out due the damage.
Vanir-Style Eye Beam: A beam shooted from the eyes. According to Vanir, it usually burns his eyes.
Vanir-Style Destruction Ray: Vanir shoots a beam from his right hand, that makes the target explode. It was used against a Hell Neroid.
Temporary Appearance: Vanir has the ability to change his appearance or copy someone else's. He usually uses this skill to seduce or cheer someone else before revealing himself in order to feed on their embarrassment (doing it with Yunyun[1] and Kazuma[7] before).
Cursed Darkness: Using the power of darkness, Vanir can place any curse at the target, including removing or adding sexual organs, making mushrooms grows out of the target's rear, or even a death curse.
Submission: A spell to force the target to submit, even to the point of making the target cry.
Summon Demons: Vanir can quickly summon his underlings from Hell, by just using minotaur blood.
Immense Strength: Vanir was able to wrestle and pin a dragon that was as big as a storage room despite having only one arm at the time.
Trivia[]
- In Volume 15, he claimed to be stronger than the Devil King in a very matter-of-fact manner, due to the fact that he is a Duke of Hell.
- Vanir's real body resides in Hell. He interacts in the mortal realm with the use of his mask.
- Although he takes the form of a man, Vanir admits that biologically, like all other demons and angels, he is originally sexless.
- Vanir's birthday is on 26th August.
- Vanir finds masochists (Darkness) disturbing.
- Vanir's name is the same on the norse pantheon of gods of the realm of Vanaheim, the VanirWP, those are associated to the wisdom and the ability to see the future.
- The Devil King used to have headaches with Vanir constantly playing nasty pranks on his soldiers in order to feed on their negative emotions.[8]
- In the initial web novel, Vanir didn't make his first appearance in a dungeon but at Axel, where he defeated Mitsurugi and Yunyun, only to be blown up by Megumin's surprise Explosion.
- Vanir was acquainted with Dust right from the start, and the Duke of Hell was later summoned by Komekko to serve as her bodyguard for a day.
- Vanir ranked the 10th place in KonoSuba Popularity Poll.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Consultation Light Novel, Chapter 1
- ↑ KonoSuba Light Novel Volume 3, Chapter 4
- ↑ KonoSuba Light Novel Volume 7, Chapter 5
- ↑ KonoSuba Light Novel Volume 7, Chapter 1
- ↑ Consulting Light Novel, Chapter 4
- ↑ KonoSuba Light Novel Anthology "Detour" Volume 3, Story 3
- ↑ Preordered KonoSuba Television Anime Season 2 Blu-ray Disc Volume 1, Special Short Story Booklet
- ↑ KonoSuba Light Novel Volume 17, Chapter 4
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