Esdeath
Esdeath is a female anime and manga villain who features in Akame ga Kill!.
Contents |
Biography
Esdeath (Japanese: エスデス, Hepburn: Esudesu) was a woman that was born in the Northern Frontier Lands where she was an inhabitant of the village of the Partas Clan. During her youth, she spent the majority of her time with her fellow tribesmen and lived alongside her father who was the clan chief. Her mother was killed by a super-class Danger Beast but Esdeath's father taught her how to be strong. In time, she matured to be a skilled and formidable warrior even at a young age. During this time, she would go off to catch prey and return it to the tribe where her father would gut the creatures without killing them. As a result, Esdeath became comfortable with the concept of inflicting pain on living creatures. Her father worried that she might have lost something that she could never regain but was content with this approach to life as it meant that she would focus on survival. Thus, he taught her that among the North that only the strong survived and the weak died which was a creed that she adopted and lived by in her life. On one day, she returned to the tribe and found that it had been destroyed with her kinsmen either dead or dying. Her father was among those mortally wounded who uttered the words that the strong survived and that their deaths proved that they were weak. After he passed away, Esdeath vowed to make herself the strongest fighter in the world and never be weak.
She would later join the military of the Empire and had managed to rise through the ranks quickly. Such was her attention that Prime Minister Honest met with her in order to allow her to choose a Teigu Imperial Arms. The pair went into a chamber filled with many such weapons with a goblet catching Esdeath's attention. Prime Minister Honest explained that the goblet was the blood of a powerful Danger Beast that would gift the person that drank it with incredibly power but that everyone that had tried to use it went insane and died. Esdeath felt the Imperial Arms calling to her and decided to choose it with her drinking the entire large goblet. She managed to survive and tamed the Teigu whereupon she gained the title of the strongest warrior of the empire. During this time, she learnt of a skilled Imperial General named Liver who had been incarcerated for his actions. Esdeath was impressed with his achievements in the past and decided to enlist him into his staff with him becoming ever grateful and loyal to her as a result. Liver would join two other warriors named Nyau and Daidara that became loyal subordinates of the General with them being known as the Three Beasts. At some point, she was sent on a mission to subdue a Revolutionary Army's base where she led the Imperial forces jointly with General Najenda.
At some point, she was dispatched on a mission to subjugate the Northern Tribes where she managed to defeat them faster than anyone had expected. In the conflict, she buried 400,000 of her foes people and had broken the hero Numa Seika. With his sanity and pride shattered, he as forced to trip naked and lick her boots before she killed him. With her mission a success, she returned to the Capital and met at the Imperial court where she was praised for her success. The Emperor offered to grant her any wish she desired to which she surprised everyone by stating that she wanted to try her hand at falling in love. The Emperor agreed to aid her and Esdeath provided him along with the Prime Minister incredibly specific requirements for the person she had desired to be her love. Her first mission was to eliminate a band of assassins called Night Raid that had been eliminating Imperial forces at the Capital. Her plan involved discrediting the assassins by targeting allies of the revolutionary army that happened to be enemies of Prime Minister Honest. At the same time, posters of the known Night Raid members was posted around the Capital. On one target, her subordinates the Three Beasts had their first encounter with Night Raid when they were confronted by the assassins Bulat and Tatsumi. During the event, the Three Beasts were killed but at the cost of Bulat's life. The Three Beasts bodies were later buried in a grave that Esdeath visited where she commented on how they were weak which was why they died. Despite their death, she vowed that she would avenge them by killing Night Raid. As part of her new offensive, she decided to create an elite band of warriors that she called the Jaegers that had the express purpose of eliminating Night Raid.
Esdeath later attended a gladiatorial match sponsored by the Empire with the victor being awarded a money reward. She showed no interest in the events that unfolded until a young male warrior emerged called Tatsumi. After seeing him, Esdeath was smitten with the warrior and had fallen in love with him. Tatsumi matched all the qualities that she wanted and had a smile that was one of the reasons Esdeath was attracted to him. After winning against his opponent, he stood ready for the reward when Esdeath temporarily paralysed him and took him to her chamber in the palace. She declared her undying love to him and wanted him to stand by her side as she swore to be every committed as well a faithful to him. As such, he was effectively held prisoner in the Empire where he was to sleep in Esdeath's bedchamber whilst she took him to her briefings with her Jaegers. Tatsumi attempted to convince Esdeath to abandon the Empire and join the Revolutionary Army but she refused to listen to such words and stated that she would not bend to him but that he would turn to her wishes. Afterwards, she along with her forces were dispatched on a new assignment where she had Tatsumi taken with the Jaegers. After splitting up her group into teams, she had Wave sent to watch over Tatsumi where he was to ensure his survival. However, Night Raid emerged and Tatsumi disappeared after the battle with Esdeath displeased in Wave where she had the warrior lightly tortured for his failure. Around this time, the Jaeger Dr. Stylish disappeared as well with it suspected that he was killed. Furthermore, around the Empire there were reports of a new type of Danger Beast that was massacring Imperial citizens. General Esdeath and the Jaegers were dispatched to eliminate the creatures with her desiring to capture a few as it was suspected that the beasts were creations of Dr. Stylish. Whilst on patrol, she encountered Tatsumi and was reunited with him when the pair were confronted by a cloaked individual who had unleashed the new Danger Beasts. In the battle with the figure, Esdeath and Tatsumi were transported to an isolated small jungle island by their foes Teigu. With Tatsumi, Esdeath decided to use this opportunity to spend time with her love.
The pair stayed on the island where they hunted the native beasts to survive with Esdeath eventually learning their location. During this time, she shared her past history with Tatsumi who became horrified at learning her mindset. Before they could head back to the mainland, the portal to their prior destination with Tatsumi going first. Esdeath followed but her love was gone when she emerged on the other side despite this she was content to know that they would meet again. Afterwards, she received reports of a Night Raid attack from two different locations and split her forces to intercept. However, the location she pursued was a ruse where she was forced to deal with a horde of bandits with the other Jaegers falling into a Night Raid ambush. During this attack, the Jaeger Bols was assassinated by their foes though Kurume managed to kill the attacker. Afterwards, she and the Jaegers received a new assignment which was the protection of an Imperial spy named Bolic who was in the ranks of the Path of Peace religious organization. As expected, Night Raid arrived on the scene where they proceeded with their goal of eliminating Bolic. During the Invasion, Esdeath shows exceptional skill which is well beyond the level of a mere soldier. It is during the fight where she reveals her Demon Extract's Trump card Mahapadma which can freeze time and space itself. After Bolick was successfully eliminated, Najenda activated Susanoo's ultimate ability. The Magatama Manifestation was then used in an attempt to create a diversion for Night Raid to escape, intending to sacrifice both herself and Susanoo. Esdeath attempted to hinder Susanoo from throwing the Night Raid members out of the building but fails. After Night Raid's escape, an angry Esdeath strikes down Susanoo and shatters his core, killing him permanently. After the conflict between Wild Hunt with Run turned into a corpse, Esdeath returns from the invasion with the Western Tribe Nation, leaving her army there. And from hearing the news about Run, Esdeath is vexed with Wild Hunt and claims that they will not get away with this; despite the close relations Wild Hunt has with the Prime Minister.
During a fight with Night Raid, one of their assassins was captured and the other killed. The captured warrior was revealed to be none other than Tatsumi who was kept in a jail cell where he awaited execution. Esdeath upon learning this became enraged and intended to take her anger out on him. But upon reaching his cell, her anger had disappeared after seeing his face. Esdeath stated that she would spare Tatsumi from his execution if he renounced Night Raid and joined her. However, he refused stating that he had intended to bring down the Empire that he saw as being corrupt. As Tatsumi tries to escape, successfully eluding the members of Wild hunt and is almost successful in escaping with Lubbock, Esdeath stops Tatsumi by knocking him down to the ground, claiming she will never let him run away again. Tatsumi is then defeated by Budo and he and Lubbock are then captured. As Tatsumi regains consciousness, he is met by Dorothea and Suzuka who mean to violate him, through means of torture. As they begin their attempt, Esdeath arrives and quickly smashes Suzuka's face into a wall. Esdeath then threatens Dorothea and tells her to inform the rest of Wild Hunt to never touch Tatsumi again, emitting a powerful aura as she does so, leaving Dorothea terrified at her killing intent. Upon meeting Tatsumi's eyes, she sighs that while she has lots of things she wants to say and questions she wants to ask him when she sees his face none of it matters to her anymore and she embraces Tatsumi while blushing. Tatsumi, however, says that he still has no intention of joining her but Esdeath tells him they can talk about that some other time and that he should not think about whether they are friends or enemies as she leans in to kiss him. Tatsumi then pushes her away, leaving her shocked. She asks why he is refusing her kiss, Tatsumi then confesses that he already has someone he likes and that he is already going out with her, leaving Esdeath shocked.
After seeing the determination in his eyes, Esdeath decided then that she would allow the execution to continue but that she would be the one to bring the killing blow. She felt that this was the last thing she could do for him and wanted to see his commitment to his path as she deeply loved as well as respected him. At the coliseum, Tatsumi was readied for his execution with Great General Budo present to witness the death. However, at that point, Night Raid struck with Najenda bringing her remaining assassins in order to save Tatsumi. To battle Esdeath, Najenda unleashed her organic Teigu Susanoo that battled the Imperial General. Esdeath proved too strong for the Imperial Arms and managed to defeat Susanoo which caused Najenda to give up her life force to empower her Teigu. In the fight, Esdeath acknowledged the strength of the Teigu and told Susanoo that she him not as a weapon but as a warrior. Susanoo managed to fight with increased power to distract Esdeath in order to allow Night Raid to free Tatsumi and kill Great General Budo. As Night Raid departed, Esdeath unleashed her trump card where she froze time and destroyed Susanoo.
- In the anime, she had a final battle at the Capital with Akame following the death of Tatsumi where she was killed by the Night Raid assassin. Esdeath congratulated her foe and in her final moments she encased herself in ice with Tatsumi's body in the hope of dying alongside him.
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Esdeath was a tall beautiful slender woman with long light blue hair and blue eyes. As an adult, she wore an Imperial General's uniform with long sleeves and a blue scarf on her neck along with high-heeled boots. Typically, she was seen wearing a military style hat that she took off during meetings with the Emperor. On her chest was a tattoo that was the sign of her Teigu. Her status led to her being known as by the monikers of the Empire's Strongest General and as the Ice Queen.
She believed in the rule of the jungle namely that only the strong deserved to survive. Such was her respect of strength that when fighting the organic Teigu Susanoo that she came to acknowledge him as a warrior instead of a weapon. Part of her sadistic nature showed when she was dispatched to eliminate the empire's enemies where she allowed a few scattered survivors to escape. This was not an act of mercy as she instilled a burning hatred in these survivors before letting them leave. The goal of such a tactic was to allow these survivors to be driven by their rage to instigating a new uprising so that she could dispel it once again. Esdeath showed to pleasure in battle and enjoyed fighting strong opponents. She seemingly enjoyed putting her enemies through great physical and emotional path with Esdeath showing no qualms about killing innocent people in order to get what she waned.
Whilst bloodthirsty, she managed to keep this from dominating her judgment. In a battle, if she felt that her forces risked too much in a fight then she would order a retreat rather than risk heavy losses. For failure, she tortured her subordinates but was forgiving of failed subjects so long as they were not complete failures. In fact, she gave her subordinates the benefit of the doubt if she believed that the failure was not due to them. After Tatsumi escaped initially, Esdeath performed some light torture on Wave who was watching him as punishment for allowing her love to escape. Following the death of the Three Beasts, she stated at their graves that her subordinates had proven that they were too weak in a world where only the strong survived. Despite that view, she said that she intended to avenge them by killing Night Raid. Despite her fearsome reputation, Esdeath was noted to be charismatic and able to inspire others to fight for her. An example of this was in Run who initially had a low opinion of her due to her sadism but softened his stance after meeting her. She comforted Seryu following the loss of her mentor.
After her return to the Capital, she felt that after many years of war that she desired to fall in love. However, the person that could be her partner had to fulfil her strict requirements. Among these were that she wanted a person that she felt had potential to be a general, someone younger than her for her to dominate, someone born outside the capital and a person able to fight the beasts of the wild. She believed that the person who embodied this was the warrior Tatsumi with her being enchanted with his smile. Esdeath claimed that she wanted to live as his love and promised that she would not look at another man as she would be faithful to him. However, when he tried to convince her to join the revolution, she rejected such a notion and stated that she was not going to change but rather he would have to change to accommodate her. Despite her loyalty to the empire, she did not execute Tatsumi and attempted to ensure his survival. Esdeath was smitten with Tatsumi to the point that she rejected any other suitors and stated that she had made her choice in choosing him. Despite this being the case, she told the Jaegers that they were allowed to kill Tatsumi if he endangered their lives. Esdeath commented that if Tatsumi died then it was because he was weak but if he survived then he proved himself worthy of her love. However, when he was revealed as a Night Raid assassin, she initially felt anger until she saw his face. Esdeath then attempted to convince him to pledge allegiance to the Empire and that she would save him as a result. After he refused, she vowed to be his executioner as an act of kindness as she did not want anyone to kill him and that she desired to see the strength of his convictions. Akame believed that Esdeath was genuinely truly in love with Tatsumi but that the general could not understand her own feelings.
Powers and abilities
Esdeath had sharp senses to the point that she was able to sense the intent to kill even over at long distances. This allowed her to determine if someone was spying on her. Such was the case when she returned to the Capital and ate openly at a café when she sensed Leona at a distance who had the intent to kill her. However, Leona sensed the great power of Esdeath that caused the Night Raid assassin to reconsider her plan. Esdeath's sense of smell was similarly sharp as she was able to tell that she had been reunited with Tatsumi atop Mt. Fake through a simple sniff. Her sense of direction was good allowing her to discover the location of an island that she was stranded on with Tatsumi by looking the stars. Through that, she was able to determine her position and how far she was located from the Capital.
From a young age, she had been trained to be able to fight and kill Danger Beasts. By adulthood, she was skilled enough to temporarily paralyze a trained warrior like Tatsumi after she was smitten with him. In combat, she was typically armed with a long rapier that she used to fight her opponents. Her skills with a blade meant that she knew the precise movements needed to wound or maim her targets. Such was her skill with the blade that she was able to use it to defeat foes and not use her Teigu.
She was provided her own Teigu Imperial Arms that was called Demon's Extract (Japanese: 魔神顕現 デモンズエキス, Hepburn: Majin Kengen: Demonzu Ekisu) that was crafted from the blood of a Super-Class Danger Beast that resided in the North. Upon drinking it, the weapon resided within her and she was able to manipulate ice and create ice from nothing. With this power, she was able to create blades of ice or shoot icicles to impale her targets or freeze her enemies to death or even create weapons made of ice. Such was the strength of this ability that she could freeze entire lakes within moments. One tactic she made use of was sending large hill sized balls of ice that she formed within moments and send them crashing into her foes. Similar to other Teigu users, Esdeath had access to her own trump card that allowed her to freeze time but the strain of the act meant it could only work for a few moments. With this power, she could freeze time and easily dispatch her foes with a blade. A sign of her Imperial Arms took the form of a tattoo that manifested on her chest.
Notes
- Esdeath was created by Takahiro and Tetsuya Tashiro where she featured in the setting of Akame ga kill!.
- Her name in Japanese was Esdesu that was a pun meaning "I am S" to show her being sadistic.
In other media
Television
- In Akame ga Kill!, Esdeath appeared in the setting of the anime television series adaptation where she was was voiced by Japanese actor Satomi Akesaka with English actor Christine Auten voicing the adult whilst actor Kalin Coates voiced her as a child in the dubbed version. After Tatsumi's capture and Lubbock's death in an attempt to infiltrate the royal palace, Esdeath personally visits Tatsumi's cell, where she tried to offer him a chance back to her side, only to be rebuffed, stating he would rather die than be with someone who only wants to cause destruction. Shocked at his words and realizing his mind is made up, Esdeath resolves to perform the upcoming execution herself. At the royal execution, Esdeath is about to kill Tatsumi herself, but was interrupted by the arrival of Night Raid who came to rescue their comrade and recover Incursio, resulting a confrontation with Najenda and Susanoo. After a tough battle, Esdeath used Mahapadma, froze Susanoo and shattered his body, destroying his core shortly after. However, Najenda had a contingency plan that revives her Teigu and counterattacks. When the rescue was successful at the cost of Mine's life, Esdeath was held off by Susanoo, allowing the remaining Night Raid members to escape. In Susanoo's final moments, Esdeath promises him that she would recognize him as a warrior and not as a Teigu as they continue battling before the former's eventual victory, ending in Susanoo's death. In the breakout of the all-out revolt with the Revolutionary Army besieging the Capital, Esdeath rides out with her army to meet them as she cuts through the rebel ranks, even when they had powerful Teigu on their side, while praising Tatsumi's strong will and resolve to fight and live on. Still convinced that they belong to each other, she declares in her mind that she will go find him after she is done with the Revolutionary Army soldiers.
Appearances
- Akame ga Kill!:
External Links
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