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Elf (エルフ Erufu) is a major antagonist of the Nanbaka Web Manga and Anime. He seems to be connected in some way to the Man with the Scar that is responsible for Jyugo's irremovable shackles.
Appearance[]
Elf is a pale-skinned young man with a slim build. He stands at rather below-average height and has short, blond hair worn with a center parting, alongside his bright green eyes. His nails are green, and he has long, pointed ears reminiscent of that of an elf.
His attire consists of a white dress-shirt worn with a large red bowtie, as well as a pair of black suspenders. He wears brown shoes and a pair of white gloves. At times, he also wears a black caplet and hat.[1]
Personality[]
Elf is a sadistic, violent and mischievous character, showing enjoyment in others' pain. He enjoys hurting others, as demonstrated when he gleefully attacks Jyugo, stabs him with his knife, knocking him down and wanting to cut out his brain.[2] He himself admits that he finds it exhilarating to watch a person "getting betrayed by everyone around them and getting their sense of justice smashed to bits"[3] and seems to dislike pretending to form positive relationships with others. The Man with the Scar refers to him as the "greediest and most insatiable togabito he's ever met"[4].
He is confident in his profession, and seems to keep it in high regard, not tolerating any disrespect to the Man with the Scar.[2] He seems to mostly enjoy doing his job, but in the case of Musashi, he hated dressing up as a college student, but enjoyed setting fires, then spreading rumors about Musashi even in his presence. He is angered by those who try to betray, resist, or get in the way of Shiki, the organization he is part of.
He is also serious, secretive and enigmatic and rarely participates in festivities like Halloween and never in Three o'clock Snack Time. He does not talk about his hobbies to anyone. He also seems to conceal some of his feelings. He is manipulative, possessive and controlling, having little regard for life and desiring to corrupt people. He is noted to be very talkative by others.[5][3]
Background[]
Elf originated from an experiment of Mashiro Mutsuki's in the 1920s[6], where they first began testing his cells' ability to replace and take over victims they were implanted into. Once the project was completed to a reasonable degree, Jyugo was chosen to have the togabito's cells implanted into. From then on, Elf has loyally stood by his side.
Despite being nearly a hundred years old, Elf still appears quite young. This could be the standard immortality as seen in Isou, but seeing as Elf appeared as a young child in Noriko's memories[7], it appears that he has some kind of growth rate. All Shiki members have Elf's cells implanted into them, allowing him to monitor them (and even puppet them around if the cells have progressed to that extent), which gives him a great deal of power. Mashiro uses him quite often to manipulate and stage events to occur as Mashiro wishes, such as the case with Musashi and Enki Gokuu.
Enki Gokuu is a specific case, as Elf had infected him with his cells before the man transferred to Nanba and had been slowly eating away at his body the whole time - even before Enki was framed by him for murder.
Plot[]
Being one of the main antagonists, Elf is usually seen under negative circumstances. His existence helps the plot proceed by showing more about Jyugo's shackles and Jyugo's origins. As Jyugo is unaware of most of his background and the fight of Enki Gokuu, Elf baits Jyugo with that knowledge.
After being expelled by Enki in his self-induced suicide, he takes part of a meeting with all members of Shiki possibly through a shared communication space.[8]
Trivia[]
- His name means "Eleven" in German.
- He loves knives; he typically carries one concealed somewhere.
- The doll of his initial design by the author does not have a general smell, but gets smell from what is around them.
References[]
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 32
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nanbaka Anime, Episode 13
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nanbaka Web Manga, Chapter 137
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 422
- ↑ Nanbaka Anime, Episode 12
- ↑ Isou referencing the possibility of "a second world war" - Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 422
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 132
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 146