Roswaal L. Mathers (ロズワール・L・メイザース) is the lord of Roswaal Manor and the Mathers Domain, the current head of House Mathers, the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica's Head Court Mage, and the margrave of the Kingdom's western territories. Since the age of 14, Roswaal has been possessed by the soul of his ancestor, Roswaal A. Mathers—originally named Altair Mathers. He set up the events of Arc 1, played a supporting role in Arc 2, Arc 3, Arc 7, and Arc 8, and he was one of the main antagonists of Arc 4.
Although supporting Emilia's quest for the throne, he was actually using her, Subaru, and Ram for his own goals, which involved killing the Divine Dragon and resurrecting his mentor. However, in Arc 4, he made a bet with Subaru and subsequently lost, forcing him to truly support Emilia, though he hasn't given up on his ambitions.
Roswaal is a rather tall man standing at 186 centimetres, making him taller than Natsuki Subaru by at least half a head. His well-toned body is slender and appeared delicate despite its impressive musculature. His very handsome face is ghastly pale which gives him the impression of a classic pretty boy. However, his physical beauty is somewhat concealed by his peculiar makeup and getup. Like previous generations, Roswaal had the same heterochromatic eyes in the same arrangement. His straight Indigo blue hair is long enough to cover his whole back and is usually tucked behind his ear on the left side of his head. His face is usually decorated with a light-lavender powder, purple lipstick, and purple eye shadow that is adorned on his right eyelid. His yellow left eye is also bedecked with eye shadow that is more elaborate than the right's eye shadow and covers the whole area around the eye rather than just the eyelid and accompanies his unusual outfit comparable to those similar to a clown or jester, consisting of a black hat, a top and bottom with different shades of purple, along with red and black boots and a cape. He also has a chain surrounding his right ankle.
Although rarely, Roswaal sometimes does make an appearance without his signature make-up. His skin complexion is noted to be very ghastly and pale and his eyes give off a gentle and rather welcoming expression, a polar opposite of what they give off when he's wearing make-up. When the situation calls for it, Roswaal also dons a more formal outfit, consisting of a long black coat that covers his entire body.
His initial incarnation, originally named Altair Mathers, and later, Roswaal A. Mathers, was male. His long, straight indigo hair flowed freely down his back and both his eyes were blue. At the age of sixteen, Roswaal had a wicked charm about him that was only possible for a blooming young man of his age. He was also rather tall, towering over Ryuzu Meyer by a full head despite still having room to grow. Despite his youth, Roswaal possessed a natural elegance befitting of his lineage as a noble. He could usually be seen wearing rather well-suited black robes. Many of his physical traits, such as his hairstyle and colour, would be adopted by the descendants he possessed.
Personality
Roswaal comes across as an eccentric due to his flamboyant appearance and odd speaking style, the latter which he shares with his grandmother. However, he harbors a more calculating and reserved side with a sharp political mind and gaze that reads others quite well.
Roswaal cares about Ram and Rem a great deal and holds them in high regard among his staff. However, he is unusual among the nobility for having such close relations with Demi-Humans, to the point that many are hired by him, and he has come to be known as the Demi-Human Lover because of it. This has led to unsavory rumors that have suggested he has a fetish for them. That said, Garfiel speculates this is actually because he's been gathering half bloods to the Sanctuary.
In actuality, his body is possessed by his ancestor, Roswaal A. Mathers, whose purpose is to meet his teacher Echidna again at any cost, even if that means sacrificing himself or those close to him, making Echidna describe him as being "a little too earnest." With the writ of his Gospel, he figured out that Subaru had an ability that allowed him to return to a previous point in time. Subaru used his knowledge to challenge him, and Roswaal subsequently lost. Though he has agreed to help him after losing, he has threatened to force him to loop if he makes a mistake.
In the past, Roswaal was bright and a little prideful, until his encounter with Hector, the Warlock of Melancholy. His psyche was greatly wounded, and he started mimicking Hector's mannerisms including his eccentric way of speaking and his clown makeup. He has stated to Beatrice that on the inside, he is a clown, even without his makeup.
After the events of Arc 4 and after losing his cherished Book of Wisdom and the bet he made with Subaru, Roswaal carved an oath curse mark on himself, which acted as a safety mechanism, making sure he couldn't just randomly decide to go against the bet he had lost. If he does so, his body and soul will be destroyed, permanently killing him. However, as his Book of Wisdom has been destroyed, Roswaal decided to follow Subaru's path, which will eventually allow him to accomplish his four centuries old goals. Accordingly, he stated he'll make sure that Subaru will uphold his part of the promise as well–in case one of the people he loves will die, Roswaal will burn everything and everyone dear to Subaru, forcing him to restart.
Over the year that followed, however, while his ambitions remained, he became softer, truly deciding to assist Emilia in becoming the next ruler rather than simply using her. He has shown to become less ruthless than before, and after the events of Arc 8, he became confused in how he should be, as he was conflicted over how he and Subaru should interact regarding his own dream, Subaru’s Authority, and other such issues. Likewise, Subaru noticed that Roswaal did not decide to act on the words he’d given after the Sanctuary events. Whether this is because of him becoming softer or because Priscilla did not count amongst those Subaru was meant to keep alive is unknown.
History
Life as Roswaal A. Mathers
Altair Mathers was born into the Mathers family, a noble house active within the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica. The wealthy family owned, governed, and occupied large portions of populated land in the northeast region of the nation. The era in which Altair was born into had a distinct ignorance regarding magic, which was unfortunate for Mathers who possessed incredible latent magical talent. In his youth, Altair became known for his magical potency, although he struggled to comprehend the power within him. At a certain point he began suffering inexplicable burning sensations that would last for hours or even days and could not be explained by any doctor. As he tended to thrash and moan during these random moments of pain, no one ever dared comfort the boy. In fact, his family considered him a burden because of his unexplainable condition. As time went on, he became more accustomed to the pain to the point that he could behave normally whilst under the burning sensation.
One day, when Altair felt that the pain was on its way, he rushed to his room to have some privacy. However, upon entry he discovered a beautiful white-haired woman sitting on his bed in black clothes. The woman stood up and approached Altair as she praised him for his capability to resist his pain. Just then, a jab of pain struck Altair, causing him to vomit onto himself and the woman. Feeling shame at what he had done, Altair tried to apologize to the woman. However she approached him before he could utter his words and kissed him on the lips. After holding the kiss for a few seconds, the woman backed away and explained that she had extracted the magical energy in his body, as the excess energy within his body was poisoning him. From the woman, Altair learned that mages with high quantities of magical energy in their bodies were susceptible to great pains and even death if they didn't get rid of the excess magic their bodies absorbed. The way to do this was to either use magic on a regular basis or release a large quantity of magic at once.
The woman explained she knew this because she had suffered similar problems in her childhood. After breaking into tears because someone finally understood him, Altair asked the woman her name. She introduced herself as an "evil Witch" whose name was the Witch of Greed, Echidna. Altair introduced himself to her in turn, and eventually went on to become her loyal apprentice. He fell deeply in love with the Witch to the point that she mattered to him more so than anyone else including himself. Eventually, Altair would come to expel his parents and siblings from his house, and due to his family's tradition where each head succeeded the name Roswaal, he changed his name to Roswaal A. Mathers after becoming the family head.[1]
Throughout the years, Roswaal slowly began to unravel his magical talent and honed his abilities to near perfection although he was never able to achieve the same magical prowess as his mentor Echidna. By the time he was sixteen, Roswaal was already considered to be one of the top mages in the kingdom. Soon after, the Warlock of Melancholy successfully located Echidna at the Sanctuary located in the Kremaldy Forest. Roswaal confronted Hector in order to buy Echidna some time but he ended up swiftly defeated and almost killed. In the last second, Echidna came to the rescue, fending off Hector and saving Roswaal's life. But the defeat Roswaal suffered was demoralizing and he was never able to fully heal himself again. Instead of achieving the pinnacle of Arcane Arts, he spiralled down the dark path of sinister magic, and over time, his mind had utterly changed. After Echidna died, Roswaal started to possess his descendants, with the purpose of bringing her back. Shortly after his thirtieth birthday, Roswaal A. Mathers died and possessed the body of his son, Roswaal B. Mathers.
However many years later, he and Clind fought and apparently defeated someone that he referred to as a longstanding foe.
At some point after becoming Roswaal D. Mathers, he and Toska made an effort to bring Beatrice out of the Forbidden Library. However, the unfortunately failed in doing so. Likewise, at some point, he began making preparations for the Royal Selection, which Roswaal implied was being prepared for for generations.
Roughly 15 years before the events of the main story, His Majesty Randohal Lugunica held a ceremony in honor of the then-14 year old Roswaal L. Mathers inheriting his father’s, Roswaal K. Mathers, name after the latter met a premature end. On his way back from the Royal Castle, Roswaal was robbed by a small kid. After successfully cornering the kid in a dark alleyway and demanding the return of his stolen golden-feathered ornament, Roswaal was interrupted by a large man who introduced himself as the kid's boss. Not wanting to shed blood, Roswaal moved in for a one-hit knockout, however, due to recently switching bodies and not yet being fully accustomed to the new body, the so-called boss took the hit and retaliated with his own, knocking Roswaal out instead.
Upon waking up, Roswaal quickly noticed a man standing next to him. He introduced himself as Russell Fellow and explains that Roswaal was likely mugged by The Brotherhood, an organisation running rampart in the Royal Capital, stealing from the rich and demanding rights and equality for the poor. After teaming up with Russell and starting their search for the stolen ornament, Roswaal and Russell soon stumble across a 5 year old boy who urged them not to continue down the street as his father is currently working. Sensing the boy's peculiarity and noticing something's off, the pair complied to the boy's request, asking the boy who his father is, to which, the child states it's Heinkel Astrea.
After Heinkel's business with Marcos (Heinkel's "work" was trying to convince Marcos Gildark to rejoin the Royal Army), Roswaal interjects, starting a banter with Marcos, which quickly turns into a fist fight. After both giving their all, Marcos finally surrenders and admits defeat, to which Roswaal doesn't take too happily, demanding the continuation of their fight as he could not accept his given victory. It is only after Russell interjects, that Roswaal dropped the lust for battle. After further debate, Marcos calls the young boy who robbed Roswaal a couple of hours ago, demanding him to return the stolen badge and apologize, to which, the boy, Belmont, reluctantly complies. Roswaal, Russell and Marcos then discuss Marcos' involvement with The Brotherhood, asking him why he abandoned the Royal Knights. It is only after Marcos states that he's repulsed by the class discrimination, that Roswaal smirks and requests Marcos to be his accomplice.
Not long after, Roswaal arranged a meeting between 5 highest-ranking members of both The Brotherhood and the Golden Wing Faction, including Marcos and Fareed Impusen, urging the two factions to form an alliance under Roswaal's supervision, as he, too, wants to make a change in the Kingdom, just like the two factions. After a bit of discussing things through, they agreed and formed an alliance.
Approximately ten years prior to the story’s beginning, Roswaal became aware of the Witch Cult’s attack on the Oni Clan. He ultimately allowed it to happen so that he could pick up Ram and Rem, who he had planned to assist him in his goals. Approximately a year later, the Witch Cult attacked again at Miload Manor. Though they successfully managed to fend them off, it resulted in the deaths of Dudley and Grace Miload, the latter of which giving birth to Annerose Miload shortly before her demise.
Several months prior to the story’s beginning, Roswaal decided to release the staff of his manor in preparation for the chaos of the Royal Selection, save for Ram and Rem. A short time later, he confronted Emilia and Puck in Elior Forest. Due to Puck’s wariness of Roswaal, the two ended up in a battle that spanned for half a day. Ultimately, he managed to get Puck to listen, and he placed the Dragon Insignia in Emilia’s hand, signifying her potential as a Royal Selection. With the promise of the Dragon’s blood should she win to unfreeze the Forest, Emilia accepted, and he brought her back to the manor to be taught about the country and her other duties.
A few days before the story’s start, aware of Subaru’s sudden appearance in the Royal Capital, the time traveling aspect of his Authority, and his infatuation with Emilia, Roswaal gave a magic-protection cloak to and hired Elsa Granhiert to attack Emilia, who would be sent to the Royal Capital, as a means to bring Subaru into the camp and achieve his goals, thus leading to the events of Arc 1.
Taking place at the same time as the Battle for Priestella, Roswaal, accompanied by Petra Leyte, Frederica Baumann, Clind, and Annerose, met with the western nobles in an effort to convince them into backing Emilia. After giving his own opinions and having Petra do the same, they successfully managed to bring the nobles to their side, and they returned to the manor.
After the successful Pleiades Watchtower Expedition, the group returned to Roswaal Manor to report Subaru and Rem’s disappearance to Vollachia. Realizing the danger, he had Clind use his Authority to take everyone where they needed to be, leading him and the other members of the camp, Annerose, Clind, and Meili Portroute excluded, to arrive at Picoutatte. After settling a dispute between Otto Suwen and Diadora Regundra and getting the assistance of the Suwen Company, they decided to reverse through the Everlasting Darkness. After a short confrontation with the representative of the molepeople, Musica, they managed to reach Vollachia.
Abilities
Magic (魔法, Mahō): Roswaal is a mage capable of using magic of all six elements, whose skill had reached the pinnacle of human possibility, surpassing even that of his mentor, the Witch of Greed. There is no magic that he cannot use or has difficulties acquiring, apart from healing magic, which he can't use as, according to himself, he lacks the necessary care for life. The original Roswaal, Roswaal A. Mathers, was known as the most talented mage of his era, basically mastering all six forms of magic, though still falling behind Echidna in terms of overall magical knowledge and Beatrice in terms of Yin Magic knowledge. His twelfth body, Roswaal L. Mathers, had magical potency that eclipsed the already impressive might of the original Roswaal. It has been stated that with the considerable magical power at Roswaal's disposal, he could single-handedly defeat a whole army's worth of soldiers. He was one of the rare individuals capable of channeling the magical power of all six magical elements—earth, fire, yang, yin, water, and wind. His skill was so impressive that he earned the titles the "Yellow", the "Green", and the "Red" that were bestowed upon the one considered the most skillful at utilizing earth, wind, and fire magic respectively. Roswaal's magical knowledge is, in fact, so advanced, that he's able to cast six different spells at the same time. His mastery was so incredible that he could fight both Ram and Puck simultaneously, using multi-fold magic spells and rearranging the magic construction of an incoming attack, while manipulating the weather on the sly from a distance. It was noted that the technique of conjuring three or more spells at the same time is something that verges on the realm of gods.
Goa (ゴーア): Roswaal manifests a blaze of fire, which incinerates a foe.
El Goa (エル・ゴーア): Roswaal rains fire down on an opponent.
Ul Goa (ウル・ゴーア): Roswaal fires a large number of powerful fire bullets. A powerful flame scatters when the bullets land.
Al Goa (アル・ゴーア):
Roswaal casting Al Goa against Puck.
Roswaal lets loose a massive inferno. Al Goa is mentioned to be one of his most skilled spells, falling behind only his threefold, fivefold and his trump card–sixfold magic spells.
El Fura (フーラ) and El Huma (ヒューマ): Through those two spells, Roswaal can create swirling winds that carry slashes of ice that cut through his enemies, inflicting deep wounds. When blood spills from these wounds, it freezes instantly, causing the damage to spread and affect multiple enemies in the vicinity.[2]
Jiwald (ジワルド): Using Yang Magic, Roswaal is able to conjure and manipulate visible light into beams of scorching heat that attack whatever stands in its way.
Magic Bullets: Inspired by Balleroy Temeglyph, Roswaal is able to fire off bullets made of light in order to pierce his target.
Unnamed Earth Pillar Spell: Roswaal is able to create pillars of earth that he can use as a midair foothold for himself or others.
Threefold Magic: A utilization of magic that Roswaal uses to conjure up three spells at once. They can attack simultaneously in different directions and transform into towering flaming pillars or rolling waves of fire while expanding their size and hardness. The implementation of threefold magic seen by Roswaal can break through other magic and is difficult to neutralize. It is far beyond a vast majority of mages' hopes of ever successfully casting. In order to cast it, Roswaal had to use his mouth and both hands to activate the three spells.
Fourfold Magic: A utilization of magic that Roswaal uses to conjure up four spells at once.
Fivefold Magic:
Roswaal using fivefold magic against Puck.
A utilization of magic that Roswaal uses to conjure up five extremely destructive spells at once. When he was observed casting fivefold magic, his attacks allowed him to scorch a target with intense fire, slice it apart with destructive wind blades, and pulverize it in seconds.
Sixfold Magic: Sixfold magic is Roswaal's trump card and the very pinnacle of what he is capable of casting. The spells cast with sixfold magic are so destructive, that they allow him to compete with the Beast of the End itself. He has only been noted to use it once during his initial fight with Puck, several months before the start of the main story.
Four Colors of Mana:
Roswaal casting four Colored Mana Orbs.
In Arc 2, when Roswaal was preparing to fight Beatrice, he conjured four mana orbs of different colors. Tappei later noted the spell to be one of his original and extremely destructive & powerful attacks which he didn't bother naming.
Various unnamed spells: Due to his insane magical talent and a wish to improve himself, Roswaal modified and created a lot of spells. Most of the spells he uses are at least heavily modified if not created by him from scratch. Despite that, he never bothers naming these new and/or modified spells.
Soul Transcription (魂の転写): A lost magic technique that allows a person to transcribe their own soul over another's . By doing this over and over to extend their life indefinitely, the user can achieve what Beatrice termed as "subjective immortality". However, it has one major restriction in that for it to work, the person whose soul is overwritten must usually be of blood-relation to the caster. The spell was originally created by Echidna to gain immortality, but she could not complete it before her demise. Instead, it was finished by Roswaal who had been using it to survive until the present era.
Cognitive Disruption (認識阻害, Ninshiki Sogai): A spell effect that can be woven into objects, such as cloaks or masks. It inhibits people from being able to recognize the person wearing the object that the spell is enchanted into.
Magic Composition Rewriting: By simply touching an incoming magic attack with any part of his body, Roswaal could easily rewrite the spell's composition, completely disassembling the incoming attack and absorb the mana through his own gate. He does so by using his own gate to interfere with the magic cast by an opponent, without coming into contact with their own gate. This skill is mentioned to be extremely hard to pull of and completely unheard of to use, during an ongoing battle, as it would require the user to have next to no regard for their own life–a small mistake would most certainly result in the caster's death.
Flying Magic (飛行魔法, Hikō Mahō):
Roswaal leaves the mansion using Flying Magic.
By combining the magical power of the Earth, Wind, and Yang elements, Roswaal could float in the air, or, if he wished to do so, fly. He can reach speeds over 100 km/h which is faster than an earth dragon and roughly on par with a flying dragon.
Weather Changing Magic: By combining the wind, fire, and water affinities, Roswaal is capable of casting weather changing magic. To be more specific, Roswaal could alter the state of the weather within a large radius, manipulating the temperature, moisture, and various other factors. Doing so created a large pulse of magical energy. As the spell is extremely advanced and needs a lot of mana to be casted, Roswaal has to arrange preparations before casting it, as well as using a catalyst in form of a mana crystal, to even be able to cast it in the first place. During Arc 4, he casted this magic to attract the Great Rabbit, as the snow is made out of mana and the witchbeast is attracted to it.
Lightning Magic: According to the author, Roswaal is capable of casting lightning magic; a type of magic that allows the user to cast lightning by combining Wind Magic and different attributes. So far, Roswaal hasn't been observed casting such a spell, though. It also should be mentioned that there is no Lightning affinity, and Lightning Magic is simply a combination of already-explained attributes.
Unnamed Multi-Element Barrier: Roswaal is able to create a barrier using all six elements over a large area, taking inspiration from Julius Juukulius’s own spiritual arts. However, according to Roswaal, unlike Julius’s use of the spell in which the spirits bear the burden of combining the elements separately, being able to create this barrier took a lot of mana, effort, and mental strain, meaning it is a spell he cannot use freely.
Unnamed Foothold Spell: Roswaal is able to hold objects in the air by using this spell. It is capable of withstanding the sheer weight of a massive iceberg.
: Following the events of Arc 4 and losing his bet with Subaru, Roswaal upheld his oath and had a curse mark carved onto himself. According to his oath, if he is to ever break his promise and harm Subaru in any way, he shall be engulfed in a purifying flame, scorching his body and tainting his soul, never allowing it to return to Od Lagna.[3] Roswaal's curse mark appears as a dark blue circle with a pale-blue carving of the crest of House Mathers displayed in the circle's center.
Superhuman Physical Characteristics:
Roswaal easily destroying two icicles sent flying towards him.
Several generations of Roswaal were physically honed to act at a superhuman level. For instance, Roswaal J. Mathers trained for twenty years to defeat the failed Ryuzu Meyer clone Sphinx whilst relying only on her physical might and martial skill. Similarly, Roswaal L. Mathers also sharpened his body into a lethal killing machine in case his magical power ever failed him. However, Roswaal found relying on physical measures somewhat distasteful for someone such as himself who was truly a mage at heart, however, he wouldn't hesitate to use it, if it meant giving his opponents a fair fight.
Superhuman Strength: Roswaal L. Mathers also displayed a degree of superhuman strength, as he was able to impale the incredibly durable Garfiel Tinzel with his fist. He was even able to perfectly handle the immense physical might of Olbart Dunkelkenn with little effort.
Martial Arts: Roswaal is able to fight physically, using moves such as throwing techniques against opponents. He is still vastly weaker than some unarmed fighters like Garfiel, but he's non the less capable of holding his ground against very powerful opponents, as seen when Roswaal J. Mathers defeated Sphinx using her martial arts since she was unable to use magic. During Arc 4, Roswaal was capable of piercing through both Ram and Garfiel's chests with his barehand, heavily injuring both of them. His kick was capable of crushing Garfiel's head. He has also shown to be able to easily destroy a multitude of giant ice spikes sent hurling towards him at breakneck speeds. He is even able to handle the strength and skill of someone as skilled as Olbart Dunkelkenn.
Fa Jin (発勁, Hakkei): Roswaal can use fa jin, a martial arts technique that deals a single crushing blow to the internal organs behind muscle. He learned this technique as Roswaal J. Mathers.
Fa Jin imbued with Fire Magic: During his fight with Marcos Gildark, roughly 15 years before the events of the main story, Roswaal used a fa jin imbued with fire. The strike has the power of a regular fa jin and, due to it being imbued with fire magic, can scorch his opponents' internal organs.
Yellow Eye: Roswaal is able to use his yellow eye to break magic apart. This was first seen when Roswaal J. Mathers fought against Sphinx and destroyed her Magic Circles with her Yellow Eye.
Extensive Arcane Knowledge: Roswaal's knowledge on magical practices was quite probably unrivalled, save for possibly his former master Echidna. Over his four-hundred years of life, Roswaal learnt numerous magical techniques and concepts from across all Four Great Nations, giving him a humungous stockpile of knowledge. He also spent time to read every single book inside the Forbidden Library that contained all of the important knowledge his master had accumulated during her life. Presumably, Roswaal knew of many spells and magical rituals forgotten by civilization due to the passage of time. In addition to harbouring an impressive understanding of pre-existing magical information, Roswaal was a keen inventor of new magical practices that were often known only to him. One creation of his was a magical theorem that allowed a mage to imbue objects with light magic enhancements. A majority of the magical spells Roswaal made active usage of were invented by or heavily modified by him. However, as he saw no point in it, Roswaal never allocated names to his techniques.
Equipment:
Book of Wisdom (叡智の書): Just like Beatrice, Roswaal was given one of the two imperfect replicas of the Book of Wisdom Echidna created before her ultimate demise. It allows Roswaal to use a limited version of the original Book of Wisdom, as it shows him a detailed path to his desired future. For four centuries, Roswaal strictly acted upon the Book's writ, doing exactly as it was written. The Book was destroyed by Ram at the end of Arc 4. The ashes were later collected by Otto Suwen, in an attempt to repair the book and hopefully read about Roswaal's plans. Unbeknownst to Otto, however, his actions would prompt the Witch Cult into action, in the very next story arc.
Roswaal's Black Gloves (ロズワールの黒手袋): The gloves are a special piece of equipment supposedly left behind by Roswaal's ancestors. They are said to be able to stop the cutting edge of a holy sword.
Sais: In Arc 7, due to the necessity that he restrain his use of magic, Roswaal donned a pair of sais in combat, which he used to excellently defend against Olbart’s attacks.
Great Power: Roswaal is said to be the strongest magic caster in Re:Zero. He also has one of the biggest mana supplies, most likely falling only behind Emilia. Roswaal L. Mathers was in fact created with the intention to make a child with the greatest suitability for magic. Apart from healing magic, it was a success as he is the most powerful mage in Re:Zero. According to Puck, Roswaal's power is on par with the Four Great Spirits.[4]
Trivia
All Roswaals' middle names follow the English alphabet thematically.
Starting with his original body, Roswaal has been changing his middle initial every time he possesses a new descendant. His first incarnation was named Roswaal A. Mathers (ロズワール・A・メイザース Rozuwāru A Meizāsu), making his current body his 12th one.
His name at birth before changing it to Roswaal was Altair Mathers (アルタイル・メイザース Arutairu Meizāsu). Altair is the name of the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth brightest star in the night sky. The name Altair is Arabic in origin and has the same meaning as the name of the constellation Aquila in Latin; that is, they both mean simply "eagle". The association between the Mathers family and their crest, the hawk, may be a potential reference to Altair's name.
In the web novel, Roswaal originally possessed the Divine Protection of Sorcery (魔導の加護 Madō no Kago), which made him compatible with all six elements of magic. However, although this Divine Protection was removed in the Light Novel, Roswaal still retains this power.
According to the author, Roswaal's birthday is September 16.
Roswaal L. Mathers stated he has no sense of taste since a long time ago, secret which only Clind and Annerose knew of before he revealed it to Petra at a banquet during Arc 5.[5]
He has a habit of putting the crest of his family, a Hawk, into possessions and in clothes of people who live with him. It can be seen clearly in the sleeves of Emilia's outfit and in the cape of Subaru's knight outfit.
In the novelization of Arc 4, Roswaal is crueler than in the web novel, according to the author.
Despite having hired Elsa Granhiert in Arcs 1 and 4, he did not hire Meili Portroute in Arcs 2 and 4.
Roswaal has read every single book in the Forbidden Library.
The author has stated that even if Roswaal were to learn that Echidna from the Castle of Dreams resurrected as Omega, he would still need to kill the "Dragon" to fullfil his goal of resurrecting his teacher Echidna from 400 years ago, those two things being unrelated.[6]
Wilhelm van Astrea is one of the few people Roswaal harbors genuine respect for their way of living and their convictions.
According to Roswaal K. Mathers, it's an unspoken agreement that after accepting the family name "Roswaal", the current head will not share their personal name with anyone.[7]
In Poltergeist Story, it is revealed that Roswaal has revived his research into artificial gates, research once studied by one of his previous incarnations, Karl, in order to overcome Subaru’s own gate problems.
According to Toska, Roswaal's mansion was identical to Echidna's, implying he modelled it after his teacher's.[8]
The author once stated that if Roswaal wished to, he'd likely be able to defeat the Great Rabbit, as long as he wouldn't pay any attention to his surroundings. He also added that there's a very small chance he'd get overwhelmed by their numbers, or he'd run out of mana.
In the web novel, the original Roswaal was mentioned to have "dark-gray" hair and yellow eyes by Echidna.[9] His hair color was then changed to "navy" later on his first appearance.[10] However, he still had yellow eyes in contrast of his blue eyes seen in Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 13.[11]
Roswaal never once managed to have the aptitude for healing magic through all of his incarnations. Even introducing Garitch Fabless' bloodline didn't remedy this fact, as mentioned in Once Upon a Time in Lugunica.
In 2014, the author stated that Roswaal was among nine known characters introduced in the story up to that point who had the highest capacity for holding mana. However, he chose to not rank Roswaal or any of the other listed characters in order.[12] It is unknown if the list has changed since then.
At a talk show with the author held on March 30, 2024, when someone asked who would make up the Nine Divine Generals of Lugunica if it existed, Roswaal was one of the names he listed.
References
↑“Ah, it refers to me. In our house, generation after generation, the head of the household succeeds the name Roswaal. Before I expelled my parents and siblings, my name had been Altair.”Re:Zero Prequel: Loving the Days Gone By, Chapter 2, Part 9.
↑The swirling wind carries slashes of ice, cutting up the dark shadows throwing themselves at the girl carelessly. The blood gushing out freezes, and the slashing blood cuts up another dark shadow.Re:Zero Prequel: The Oni Sisters of the Hidden Village: Chapter 5 - The Oni That Cried.
↑“Should I renounce this oath, my soul shall be tainted and my flesh enveloped and burned away by purifying flame. And my soul shall fall into the void, never to return to Od Lagna again.”Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 15, Closing Chapter, Section 5.
↑"It would be no idle boast to say you possess power on par with the Four Greats."Re:Zero Prequel: Bonds of Ice Epilogue: The Meaning of Happiness: Section 2
↑"Hmm? It's very siiimple. ...After all, I have no sense of taste. It is only natural that I can't enjoy the taste of cooking."Petra's Emilia Camp Struggle / Page 4, Section 2.
↑"According to the 150-year-old Toska, the Roswaal's mansion looks exactly like Echidna's mansion. In other words, Roswaal built his mansion on the model of Echidna's." Re:Zero Prequel: Loving the Days Gone By
↑"The Roswaal you are talking about, does he happen to be a someone with long, dark grey hair? His eyes would be... yellow, I think, if I remember correctly."Arc 4: Chapter 12.
↑"Facing the youth who practically skated up to her to stop her basket from dropping, Ryuzu quickly bowed her head. Seing this, the boy raked his fingers through his long navy hair."Arc 4: Chapter 101. Section 2.
↑"At the sight of the sad smile rising onto Roswaal's lips, Ryuzu shuddered, wondering if she had upset him. But before she could say anything to salvage the situation, Roswaal blinked his yellow eyes as if having spotted something."Arc 4: Chapter 101. Section 2.
↑“Emilia, Roswaal, Echidna, Typhon, Carmilla, Daphne, Ferris, Priscilla, and Mimi have a large capacity. It’s scary to rank them, considering the future, so I will stop…”2014 AskFM Q&A
