the similarities between ash lynx and river phoenix
i know akimi yoshida based ash on river a couple volumes into the manga but therers a ridiculous amount of similarities that id love to dive into. some are lose and some are super strong i just know way too fucking much about river phoenix and when i saw bf i lost my mind.
TW sexual assualt and rape, CSA, drug use, banana fish spoilers.
going chronologically through rivers life
river was born august 23rd, 1970
ash was born august 11th, 1969 (maybe... the first volume of the manga was released ‘86 and if ash was 17 then he wouldve been born in ‘69).
river grew up in a cult called the children of god. the cult had rampant sexual abuse present and river reported he was 4 the first time he had sex.
ash was 6 when his abuse started.
river later committed to celibacy due to this until he was 14 because of the abuse.
akimi said ash would be asexual due to his abuse if he had lived.
after the phoenixs escaped the cult, river along with his siblings preformed music on the streets to make money. they were living in poverty until river was first casted in seven brides for seven brothers when he was 12.
ash was forced to ‘preform’ while living on the streets/with marvin and others, until dino came around when ash was 11 (i think this is the right age? im a little tired).
river’s father had alcohol problems and this led to river having to be the bread winner and become self sufficient.
jim, ash’s father, is a piece of shit that led to ash having to become self sufficient as well as literally forcing him to become a type of bread winner by having ash collect money from the baseball coach.
river never attended school.
ash dropped out when he ran away when was in the (4th grade?).
river eventually starred in stand by me. the movie prophecizes the fates of each of the actors, (but thats a whole different can of worms, look it up tho!). river played chris who comes from a bad family so everyone assumed he was bad.
a dead body begins both stand by me and bf and both rivers character and ash are stabbed at the end due to an alrercation they didnt want to be involved in. yoshida also drew ash as chris
ash is also drawn as danny from running on empty
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river then starred in the mosquito coast with harrison ford and also later goes on to play young ford in indiana jones and the last crusade.
yoshida based max lobo off of harrison ford. also yoshida drew ash as charlie (rivers character in the mosquito coast) (the link for the image is the same one from above). yoshida also drew ash as indiana jones
Banana Fish Guidebook Rebirth interiors 3, hitting me with that sad sad Cape Cod vibe in th end, thanks Akimi Yoshida, thank you for the agg
yoshida also drew ash as rivers character from little nikita
“Holy shit that's Ash with a side parting and a middle parting hairdo”
later river was in my own private idaho. boy where do i start with this one. river plays mike a gay hustler who is the product of sexual abuse. mike has narcolepsy and so after passing out at one point he asks scott, keanu reeve’s character, how much money he made off him while he was out. mike is expecting to have been raped while asleep.
ash is also a gay hustler. both grew up surrounded by sexual abuse and later grew to expect it.
mike is only close with scott and doesn’t really care about any of the other hustlers and homeless people they stay with.
ash really only cares about eiji, especially later on as lao points out (before some big gang fight against fox im trying to remember its literally 5:30am).
mike confesses his love to scott saying “i love you and you dont pay me”. this is during the infamous campfire scene that river wrote himself during production.
this scene is reminiscent of the stay by my side bedroom scene between ash and eiji. except bf gets the happy version :)
scott is someone who can leave at any time because he comes from a normal, respectable family.
eiji can leave at any time to go back to japan but refuses to because he cares about ash. (scott is just rebelling against his dad by hustling, which is wild but ok)
mike’s narcolepsy attacks are triggered by memories of his mother and leads to him dreaming about her and going to find her with scott. she abandoned him as a child.
ash’s mother also abandoned him and he dreams about her and calls out to her in his nightmares.
before the filming began, both river and keanu started hanging out on the streets with hustlers in Portland to research their roles
bf begins by eiji coming to america with ibe to research gang/street kid life
yoshida drew one of the promotional pictures of river and keanu, the blowjob scene (just ash from shoulders up), ash passed out from narcolepsy and eiji dragging him everywhere, the campfire scene, and when mike and scott are shirtless in bed together as ash and eiji.
river was in the movie sneakers were he is a genius hacker
ash is also a great hacker, allowing him to steal a ton of dino’s money.
river died october 31st, 1993 of a drug overdose.
the 17th volume was released october 26th, 1993 (2nd to last). the final volume was released later the following year.
In an interview about bf yoshida said, ‘she had made up her mind for him to die from the very beginning itself. she did get conflicted about going through with it as the series was approaching its end, but the reason for that was river phoenix’s death.’
interview cont. fujimoto: and the fact that it was because of a drug overdose… it must have felt like too much of a coincidence. yoshida: that’s true. […] fujimoto: but there are many ways of dying, did you originally plan for him to die that way too?yoshida: yeah it was pretty much like that.
re: the 20-page interview with fujimoto yukari and yoshida akimi
it covers a wide range of topics including her other works which i’m not fa
after river died it left a huge impact amongst hollywood. his brother joaquin phoenix stopped doing any acting work until 1995.
in an interview joaquin says, “I feel like in virtually every movie that I made, there was a connection to River in some way”.
another interview says, “But he was also deeply influenced by his brother, and by his death, even if he remains reluctant to draw a straight line between his unusual background and his private tragedy and his talent for inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters he takes on—roles he seems vividly made for.”
after ash died max writes in his letter, “The photos of Eiji Okumura are said to be sad, nostalgic, and have a unique feeling to them. But I know what it is. It’s you Ash.”
REEVES: I really would like to do Shakespeare with River. I think we'd have a hoot. We could do A Midsummer Night's Dream or Romeo and Juliet. PHOENIX: I'll be Juliet.
"I don’t have any friends in the business. Just River. Oh where, oh where has my Juliet gone?" - Keanu Reeves (post rivers death)
Define 'Best Friend'. RIVER: Someone you can tell all your secrets to. For me it’s a guy you enjoy being with, a guy you love and a guy you care about. Keanu is my buddy, dude. KEANU: I've always loved you, River. River is my best friend and I don't have many of them. RIVER: That's really sweet, Keany.
"Keanu and River were kind of soulmates, they had known each other for a few years… but they were." - Gus Van Sant (director of My Own Private Idaho)
in garden of light, akira: “did okumura-san love this ash person?”. sing: “yes, he did. very much”.
gol, akira: “was this ash person okumura-san’s uh... well, lover?” sing: “he was more than that. which doesn’t mean their relationship was sexual, because it wasn’t. but they did love each other... maybe the way lovers do. they connected to each other, soul to soul.”
alright folks thats it, there may be more but im tired and need to go to sleep. i included links to all the ash artwork but if you want links to any of the river interviews/info sources let me know! i dont even care if this doesnt get any traction cause it was cathartic to outline all the jumbled trivia in my head.
UPDATE: fixed the formatting online so now its probably messed up on mobil :))) also i added a keep reading thing cause it was a bitch to scroll past
i'm not even that far into requiem of a rose king but i don't think anyone has truly lived until they see the drama that comes from a teenage boy, his wife, and his father (who he hates) all being in love with the same guy . In the midst of immense political drama partially caused by a gay breakup
Why did Yukio shoot Rin? I think there’s a very simple explanation to this: related to the recent turn of events, he did it to deter him from going to rescue him from the Illuminati but, related to the bigger picture, Yukio took the chance to aim even higher: he also did it to “stop” Rin from feeling the need to come to his rescue all the time/help him out in general.
Premise: by now we know that having people claiming they want to help him, makes Yukio feel even more weak than he already considers himself to be.
Chapter 96 starts with a full page focused on a specific “question”…
…as to "introduce” the “theme” the following happenings will revolve around. I think it’s safe to state that this is prolly what Yukio’s been pondering while he was silent, until Rin shows up: “Yukio! This is a rescue!” And the next panel specifically focuses on Yukio’s “reaction”:
I had doubts about this at first, but if I tie this to the above panels, I’m now pretty positive this can be read as the typical Yukio’s “bugged reaction” to someone declaring they want to offer him help. “This again? Gimme a break!”
Yukio lets Rin escort him out of the building. He lets Rin help him. For the last time. And, once they’re out, instead of keep following Rin, he just stands there. As in: “This is as far as it goes. But it ends here.“ Yukio starts talking about something that looks like a question he’s been thinking over and over for a long while. I assume he had more to say, but Shima shows up with an Illuminati helicopter and an offer.
Rin, obviously, takes for granted Yukio would never accept it. But, to his surprise, Yukio turns his back to him and sets to go. And here’s where it starts my analysis. This is where “it ends”.
Yukio, obviously, takes for granted Rin would try to stop him. He knows Rin that much. So he thinks of a first plan:
He starts by telling Rin what he learned about the Order’s secrets, their connection to the Illuminati and Shiro’s true identity and what he thinks was his real purpose: to raise them to be weapons. Yukio tries to give Rin “reasons” to justify his leaving. But, as soon as he brings Shiro up, Rin (of course) refuses to accept Yukio’s insinuation. So Yukio plays along for a bit, taking the chance to confess to Rin how he felt about Shiro and the way he treated them and concludes: “Well… that doesn’t matter anymore.”
But Rin can’t accept the fact his brother thinks so bad of himself neither and has him know. Yukio, again, concludes: “It doesn’t matter.” and this time adds: “I have no more ties to this place.” As to say: “As I just explained to you, the Order I’ve been working for is evil. The man who raised us was evil too. And, as you can guess by the fact I’m about to turn away from you: I don’t consider YOU a reason to stay here neither.“
So far, Yukio’s only been using harsh words, evil arguments to have Rin give up on trying to stop him. But, oc, he fails.
“Ah… not good. So he STILL won’t give up? Then I’ll have to try harder. I’ll have to make my point clearer for him to understand. Brutally clearer.”
Time for plan B. Yukio grabs his gun, points it at Rin and proceeds to recreate a familiar scenario. Up to the words he used back then. The only difference will soon be clear to Rin: this time the bullets are real. This time it’s ALL for real.
“Do you finally get it, brother? This (the fact that I don’t want you to help me, to rescue me, to stop me) is THAT important to me and THIS is how serious I am about it. So stop doing that.”
Ending note: crushing Rin’s perfect image of Yukio in this whole process I’m not sure it was meant to be "intentional” or it happened by chance (as a “collateral bonus”) but it helped too.
Yukio requires a lot of critical reading from the get go
And if you're only starting that critical reading once Satan bums a ride in his eye, you're much too late.
He also requires a willingness to acknowledge that sometimes the character that annoys you has reasons even if you don't like them, and sometimes you're too biased about your favorite character and boy oh boy has Rin gotten caught up in this lack of critical engagement to. The story is more complex than victim and abuser and that simplification robs the story and Rin and Yukio of their richness and complexity.
This is going to be several parts and will be taking deep dives into some of the most important Yukio interactions that explain his story and character and beats that I think get often overlooked or misunderstood entirely. It will be entirely manga based because the animes take a fairly anti-yukio stance in several instances and seem to intentionally pick paths to mangle his character. The first anime mostly. But man did it do that to a lot of characters. None so badly as Yukio though.
It's fine to dislike the character, but darn it he deserves you at least disliking the real him.
Yukio Okumura is one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized people in Kato's world (if not the most misunderstood, though sometimes I think Rin should get that slot because man people will just not read any of his flaws or short comings.) By both sides of the arguments, typically.
He is an immensely complex character who is messy, depressed, armed to the teeth, suicidal, brilliant, exhausted, livid, abused, abusive, eternally rocking a customer service smile, aware of the world in a way most of his peers simply aren't, and not always sympathetic. He is a teenager who has to act like an adult, the twin brother (but more often babysitter) of Rin, and the boy who doesn't fit in anywhere.
Probably the most frequently disliked character in the anime/manga as well, which is amazing with the cast of vile human-experimentation committers we've got, and when Ernst Egin is just walking around in the anime sullying Yuri's last name and being an awful character.
In my last essay on Blue Exorcist, I stated that most people's characters misconceptions started with the Kyoto arc, but for Yukio, we're going to have to go back a bit further. We have to go back to chapter two.
Chapter two is Rin, who has figured out he's Satan's son and has sworn to become the greatest of exorcists to defeat Satan and knows nothing about exorcisms or defeating Satan or even Satan at this point, who hasn't figured out that Mephisto is a demon or that Yukio is an exorcist, has been told to hide his flames and to either hide the tail, ears, and fangs, or make up some kind of story about them that doesn't involve Satan and his flames, is trying to sit through the orientation and is only kind of going along with it at all because Rin, our main pov character, has the attention span of a caffeinated squirrel and the impulse control of one as well at this point of the story. It makes him a great character to read from because he kind of skips over any lore drops that would be dull and lets us, the reader who is clueless about this world, find out things as they're important.
We were introduced to Yukio in the previous chapter and found out that he was Rin's younger and more successful twin. That he wants to be a doctor and was heading to True Cross.
This chapter, as Rin is sitting at the orientation, we find out that Yukio is smart.
Yukio is smart. He is the representative for the entire class, and we will find out that he managed to get that rank and position while maintaining a side job as an exorcist. He beat out every other student in this rich school while having a side job and awareness of a secret world that only a small percentage of people know about. He is a remarkable and driven student who is almost always thinking several steps ahead of Rin, the character we're mostly viewing this manga through.
That is the easiest thing to forget about Yukio. He is almost always aware of things Rin is not and almost always thinking of a bigger picture or a different picture than Rin is. That does not mean he is always correct, but he is almost always working off a dataset that Rin is not even aware of the existence of. He is playing 3d and sometimes (4D chest when Mephisto is involved) and Rin is still grappling with the regular 2D chess rules. He has always lived in the world of demons and by all likelihood known about who/what Rin and himself are since he was very little. We don't know the exact age he was told the story, but we know he has known it for a long time.
Another very important thing to take from this section, and the main reason I'm posting these particular panels is because it tells us how Rin sees his little brother at this point. His first thought when he see Yukio excelling is that his younger brother was always a crybaby who needs protection and couldn't stand up for himself or his dreams.
Rin is stuck in this false perception of his twin. Even though he can acknowledge that his twin is really smart, he struggles greatly with accepting that fact and even more with ever listening to his twin because for most of his life, Yukio was a cry baby that got bullied a lot and needed someone to stick up for him.
Yukio was those things, and we know from Yukio's own mouth much later in the manga that Yukio despised being that way and still fears that he is that way. That he is weak and pathetic and can't be strong.
Rin goes off from this orientation with the determination that his twin will graduate, become a doctor, and never have to find out about demons and the dark side of the world, and he runs into Mephisto who transforms into a dog in front of him, and God Bless Rin's heart, he just kind of assumes that's a thing some exorcists can do and does not clue into the fact that Mephisto is a demon and will not until Mephisto flat out tells him it.
Rin misses a lot of things. He is not that smart of a character. He is a great character, and he has a fantastic heart and a lot of wonderful character development, but picking up on details and critical thinking are not his strong suits, so we can't always trust his view point.
Rin can be wrong and often is.
Rin goes into cram school, meets the rest of his class who awkwardly stares at him as he takes a seat at the front of the class with dogphisto and they wait for the teacher who turns out to be none other than Yukio Okumura.
Yukio Okumura who does in fact know about the demonic world. In fact:
Yukio has been an exorcist since he was thirteen.
Rin makes a scene, because of course he did. His twin just flipped his entire world upside down and now not only did Rin's adoptive father know a whole lot of things that he never told Rin, Rin's twin did too.
It is important to remember that Mephisto has dictated how Rin's entire day has gone at this point. Yukio's story is heavily tied with Mephisto's manipulation, and that is often over looked by readers of this story, and I cannot stress enough that Mephisto is manipulative. He has pushed and controlled most of the characters in this story and he has done a lot of manipulation, both subtle and blatant, of Rin and Yukio. From the times they meet to the lessons they learn to the money they earn to the place they live, Mephisto's hand is in EVERYTHING.
He was the reason they had little to no time to talk before the school day started and absolutely the reason Rin didn't know Yukio was teaching this class until the entire class knew Yukio was their teacher. Yukio was given Shirou's class to teach by Mephisto, and he has already been given very specific orders on how to treat Rin and what specifically to do. Shirou has also given Yukio very specific instructions on what to do with Rin and how to take care of him.
Anyway, Rin makes a scene but the lesson forges forward with Mephisto and Yukio explaining things to the class, Rin, and us the reader. We learn about temptaints and that their classroom is a goblin nest and Rin holds his opinions and questions in for a few seconds but busts and once again makes a scene.
Yukio tells him plainly that he's seen demons since he could crawl which clues us the audience (and Rin) in on the fact that Yukio has always known about demons. We also learn that he has been training since he was SEVEN. Yukio has spent more of his life training and being an exorcist than he hasn't.
He tells Rin that the only one that didn't know about demons (and their parentage) is Rin. This is obviously shocking, and traumatizing, and a really blunt and honestly mean way to tell Rin this. There are reasons for that we'll get to in a minute.
(This has got to be the most awkward of classes for the other students. I'd be dying of second hand embarrassment xD)
Rin grabs Yukio, the vial is dropped, and goblins start popping out of the ceiling, walls, and just everywhere. The first-day students are immediately overwhelmed because half of them still can't even see the demons, and Yukio immediately springs into action. He takes out the hobgoblins that are the biggest danger and ushers the vulnerable and ill-prepared students outside the room so he can properly exorcise it, maturely takes blame for the entire thing (even though it is easily his and Rin's fault) but Rin won't go out because a BIG part of Rin's character is pushing for immediate conversations when he's frustrated or mad.
It's a positive and negative trait of his. He refuses to wait on conversations when he wants to have them, but he also refuses to have a conversation at all if he doesn't want to. He seldom takes the other person's pov into view on these until much later in the manga after a lot of development, and he's not great at hearing the other person he's conversing with. He makes a lot of assumptions and puts them on the other person until they clarify in some way, if they do. This means that we the readers can be left assuming incorrectly if we're not paying attention.
Mostly posting that moment because Rin getting chewed on is hilarious and cute but also to point out that Yukio is basically choosing the path to most irritate Rin here. He's refusing to engage the conversation and basically treating Rin as a nuisance who is in his way while he's trying to solve a problem.
As a side not, Rin is very much in the way here. Yukio could quickly clear this up without Rin being a talkative demonic chew toy.
This talk is a vital one to understand the twins and their dynamic until after the Kraken arc. It is, I would say, one of the three most important twin moments until the Kraken arc. It is also one a lot of people don't take time with because they're (understandably!) upset about what Yukio is saying and how he's saying it, and how heartless it feels at first glance.
This conversation is entirely about Rin. Rin asks how Yukio feels about him and doesn't ask how Yukio feels in general. (That's not how these twins operate.)
It is heavily implied that Yukio was told that if Rin were to be unsealed, Rin would no longer be Rin. That he would become someone, something far different and dangerous. He would be violent and wild and evil and he would have to be put down. It is heavily implied that Yukio was taught by Shirou to try and guard Rin and keep him sealed at whatever cost, and if he was unsealed for some reason, it would be on his shoulders to take Rin out if Shirou couldn't do it himself.
Yukio calls Rin a fool and asks why he wants to be an exorcist. Does he want revenge? Or does he want to atone? If he wants to atone, then he should turn himself in as the son of Satan or just die.
Rin hears all that and asks Yukio if Yukio thinks he's to blame for Shirou's death. Yukio asks if he'd be wrong if he did. We also get this wild lore drop that becomes a big deal much later on in the manga but we don't really fully grasp at this point
Yukio knows. Yukio knows that Shirou has been possessed by Satan before and has been fighting him for fifteen long years and has never stopped being targeted.
Also I have to point out that Yukio just never stops shooting and killing the hobgoblins in this entire scene and Rin is on fire and whacking a few with his bagged sword but not really doing anything about them at this point.
The talk culminates in this moment.
This is a shocking moment. It sounds very much like Yukio does blame Rin and possibly should blame Rin, and more than that, as Rin is drowning in guilt and grief he won't let himself confront over Shirou, Yukio aims his gun at Rin and calls him 'big brother.'
"You killed father Fujimoto!"
Yukio says that to Rin, and Rin gets mad that Yukio is pointing his gun at him (can't confront the grief and guilt yet and won't except in pieces at our most broken spots until much much later) and charges at Yukio shouting at him to shoot--
And Yukio--
Doesn't.
I am positive at this moment Yukio broke his script and was indeed supposed to shoot Rin. Whether or not he was meant to, he doesn't.
Rin destroys the hobgoblin behind Yukio that was gearing up to tear into his little brother, and turns to look back at Yukio.
"Don't insult me. I'd never fight my little brother." (I think there's a lot that could be said about Rin not fighting him but the demon being all gun ho for it but that's an entirely different discussion)
Rin declares that while looking like a demon. He has the sword drawn so the demonic features are entirely there. The fangs, the ears, the eyes, the flames, everything.
Yukio looks forward and down again (we learn Mephisto is still here, because of course he is. He's directing this scene.) Yukio asks how Shirou was at the end. (I hear: "Was he brave? Was he still our dad?" in that question. "Did he become something else? Did Satan win in the end?"
The answer is no. Satan destroyed his body, but Shirou won.)
This. This is such an important moment so oft glanced over. The amount of times both these boys long to be strong and hate themselves for being weak and see the strength in the other or completely miss it, the essays that could be written on that know no ends.
And Yukio?
He smiles, It's not much, and it's laced with a heavy kind of sadness, but it's there and it's relieved and accepting. He tells Rin a powerful truth, one Rin doesn't understand the weight of at all, and one we the readers also don't get at this point, but he tells Rin that he also became an Exorcist to be strong.
They both take a moment to notice that the schoolroom is just wrecked to hell. The hobgoblins did a number and Rin's flames finished that number.
Yukio is warning Rin. Rin never thinks things through. He is an impulsive puppy who gets himself in situations and keeps charging forward, trampling things in an attempt to solve them again. He speaks without ever thinking and he acts with his emotions, which are why his flames are so often out of control. Yukio is warning him about all of that and that the harsh words he spoke will follow Rin from everyone if he pursues this path.
"Think it through," he's saying, "be sure."
Rin says bring it on and grins and calls Yukio teach and it's a cute moment.
THEN WE GET TO THE MOST IMPORTANT SCENE THAT THE ANIME CUT OUT
And why they did it I don't know and it makes me want to scream because it has made so many people miss so much about Yukio and Mephisto and the manipulative bastard Mephisto is. (That is said fondly and exasperatedly. I'd punch the hell out of Mephisto if I knew him in real life and I thoroughly enjoy reading about the bastard.)
This was a test. Mephisto is putting both twins to the test. Yukio is to keep an eye on Rin and make sure he stays Rin. That he doesn't become a rampaging demon and doesn't turn into a second blue night. (We the readers don't actually know what Satan did that was so terrible outside of, you know, killing Shirou and trying to take Rin to Gehenna but we'll find out more and more and more as the manga goes. Yukio already knows and has since he was at least seven. He has slept in the same room as Rin and known his twin was temporarily sealed in Kurikara and that if the seal broke, Rin could become an utter monster.
No one knew what Rin would be when the seal was broken and he had his heart again. They knew at the very least that the Vatican would want him dead, and that if he wasn't a feral monster, they'd have to hide him.
(And I for one would not want that responsibility. I love Rin and think he's a great character but he cannot listen to orders and has no sense of danger and consequences and the thought of trying to keep those flames and his mouth contained would make me crumble under anxiety and dread.)
Anyway, Yukio and Mephisto have very clearly been in talks and we'll see a few chapters later during a certain reaper attack that Mephisto has given Yukio orders about protecting Rin and being ready to take Rin out if he's at risk.
Yukio remembers as he's talking to Mephisto, and we see the moment the little seven year old started his training, and he's so small it hurts.
Also woah on the lore drop. What do you mean, Shirou? WHAT DO YOU KNOW?????
Anywho, Yukio is told he could protect Rin, and of course the boy who has always been bullied and frightened by things that aren't just humans would jump at the chance to protect his fearless big brother.
And thus, Yukio's fate is sealed and Mephisto moves a piece forward on the board.
The chapter ends with Rin going to his new dorm room in the old and abandoned dorm, and Yukio is there too. Their now roommates.
Before this moment, Yukio had a room in the nice dorm with his fellow students. He was actually Ryuuji's roommate, or he was going to be. Before he became a full time teacher on top of a full time exorcist and the top student. Now he is all of that and a full time babysitter directly responsible for protecting Rin, which essentially means not letting Rin's secret get out.
Now most people who watch or read this chapter take the argument at face value and leave it with a deep rooted feeling that Yukio was cruel and unfair. I'd remind those readers that Yukio came home to Shirou very very dead and Rin very very demon, and that Mephisto separated them and told Yukio to take a teaching position his very newly dead dad was meant to have. That Yukio had moved out to his own space apart from Rin for the first time in his life the day of his father's death, and the day he was supposed to start forging his new identity not revolving around Rin, his identity and life became even more tied to Rin.
Yukio is a character who has never gotten a life to live that was his own and free and has always been seen by those around him (and himself) as weak. He despises that and fears himself to still be the small crying boy who was terrified of the dark and needed his brother to protect him. From the very get go Kato lets us know that Yukio is smart and he is the one with all the responsibilities, and he is in direct conversations with Mephisto. He is placed in a position of authority over Rin, but Rin is not told this and will never accept Yukio being in a position of authority over him. That on the first day of his high school life, he agrees to take on the role Shirou had in both teaching and guarding Rin.
He threatens his brother but does not shoot him. He calls him a demon and brother. He accuses him of killing their father and asks what their father was like at the end. He tells his brother that 'just die' will follow him wherever he goes but calls them the same at the same time. He tells Rin to get control of his flames and then treats him like the rest of the students.
He tells a lot of half truths, but shares a vital one in trusting Rin to know that Yukio too thought himself weak. (Still thinks himself weak.)
Yukio is not one thing. He is a multitude of complex things and at this point, the reader is only just starting their journey with him, and there are far more dramatic and horrifying things awaiting him.
But that's the next part. For now, I ask that you take a second look at chapters you think are familiar, and for the love of critical reading, ask yourself what the other characters who are not Rin know and are thinking. The story is so much richer when you look at them all.
heck i never realized that meph holding everyone in his palm could be seen as a bad thing but i guess seeing shiro's fate that it is the case after all
Hello Anon! And yep, took me a while to admit it myself, because as much as we all love-hate Mephy, one can’t deny that…
he serves his own interests which happen to coincide with Assiah’s survival and which is exactly what the main cast is after.
Does it make Mephy a “good” character 100% honest to God, though? Well…
Nope.
And as I mentioned previously, it shows up particularly through Shiro in my opinion, who so wanted to one day bite the Order back for all that they did to him:
but who eventually must have given up, possibly for the twins’ sake (because the only way to guarantee their survival was to vouch that they could be good weapons on the Order’s side), and who remained a chained pawn till his death.
So yeah, I love “Mephisto as the big bad” theory, not because he’s a threat to Assiah (we know he isn’t), but because of the grip he has over everyone else in the story. So far, his interests are met but that’s all that matters to him: he does whatever he wants with whoever he needs, he leads them right where he wants them, because he knows what’s going to happen…
And even though some fight back…
so far, there was no success in metaphorically punching him in the face (Shura physically got close to that result after the Aomori arc, but nothing else).
However, Mephy isn’t 100% unbeatable (otherwise he wouldn’t make a possible interesting big bad), as we saw recently when he was shot in ch94…
because he can’t foresee everything all the time and that’s why there is a possibility for the twins to maybe tell him to back off at some point, gaining control of their own fate which was until now (in many timelines) in Mephisto’s hands.
I just would find it interesting to see it happen, is all: right now Mephisto is getting out of time, ironically enough, and even if it might be planned it means that there is a way around him controlling everything.
Anyway, for sure Lucifer and Satan are presented as the biggest threats, because they’re both a danger to Assiah, but their influence over the twins is ridiculous compared to the iron grip that Mephisto has over basically everyone.
I mean, yeah Lucifer has Yukio where he wants him right now, but it’s Mephisto (helped by Shima) who let Yukio reach this point of no return. Same for Rin: yeah Satan killed Shiro, but hoping to get Rin to become his vessel is pretty much not happening by simply waiting and asking.
Meanwhile Mephisto just fucks around with everyone in a very calculated way, all for his plans, and all we have is…
mostly Shura being fed up with that shit.
Just look at Yukio, how can we even see Mephisto in a good light when he let Yukio attempt suicide, even pushing him down that road from the very beginning? Nah, he’s a manipulative asshole from head to toe, heart to tail, and he gets away with it because he doesn’t even bother to hide that “he’s a demon”. Except that…
…we can see he’s way worse than most demons, since he can even manipulate his own kind just as much as humans.
TL;DR the story (aka Sensei) could let Mephisto get away with all that shit he’s constantly pulling because he’s truly Assiah’s ally, or the twins may find it in themselves to eventually fight him in order to gain control over their own fate. I don’t know, either possibility can happen (later).
That being said, Mephisto isn’t a good guy and trying to justify that it’s his nature because he’s a demon doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Personally I roll my eyes at Satan, I shrug at Lucifer, I love Rin but I can’t ever trust a single thing coming out of Mephisto’s mouth, because I’m always dead scared that it’ll bite me back later in the plot. xDD
My take on it. :) Sorry for rambling, have a nice day Anon!
this is a big read, and not a bad analysis either! However, I disagree with Mephisto being the big bad, and here's why!
Meph in an essence is a concept born from Gehenna. Its a demon, and a powerful one at that. As such meph isn’t meant to be taken lightly nor can he be bested easy, a creature made from a dimension that mirrors the human world realizing this, he isn’t supposed to have human morals and part of all that’s being said in that ‘bad meph’ analysis is not really mentioning that…
like the way im reading it, its as if they automatically expect Meph who is something no human can comprehend to understand human emotions 100%. yea sure he can feel to some extent how emotions feel but I feel like
Mephisto is… he is the Logical side to help balance out the human’s emotional side.
like you ever get into a situation and freak out? your first instinct is to use your emotional thinking and go along with that, sometimes the results are good, most of the time they are not. If a train is coming and on one side you have 20 people strapped to the track, and the other side there is one doctor who has the cure for cancer and aids, a very important figure in helping humanity with their knowledge…
An emotional reaction is to pull the train to the Doctor, saving the 20 other lives. A logical one will save the doctor, but not the 20 people…because the end game result is the doctor will then save millions of lives in that process. Mephisto thinks like that, and all those kids and Rin and Yukio especially are emotional reactors.
We saw already how Rin gets when he gets emotional… Mephisto is there to counter that. Not because the emotion in itself is bad but because the actions that happen after are bad. He comes off as cold and unfeeling.. he treated Shiro like that and all but in reality, he’s trying to get him to think more logically. Shiro, when he was younger, was a selfish brat who only worried about getting himself free and as far away from section 13 as possible.
Older Shiro learned to be more empathetic and thus took the twins in, helping to raise them into young men who will later, help finish this war. Sure, they may not have asked for this but I think even meph cant control who gets born into what family (we cant give him too much credit) and then inevitably, brought up into the world of demons and exorcists…
A soldier who reacts to emotions first is not a good soldier. A soldier who chose to fight for others must think for others first before themselves. Yukio at first was kinda okay… but he bottled up his emotions until he flipped his shit and defected… Mephisto needs the kids to learn how to tame their emotions on their own, otherwise, they would lose their world or get possessed easier.
That’s why Meph took Rin to see the past, he wants him to learn how to fight his emotionally racked demon half and take full control. It’s not one of the best methods, but humans tend to learn faster when they are thrown right into the water and forced to swim out. They will be scared, they will not be the same innocent beings, but they will grow and mature into fine exorcists.
All those times that hes set them up to work together? He was seeing who needed their pacifier pulled out earlier. He needed them to suffer a tiny bit for the bettering of their own being, and after this war is finished im sure they can do whatever the fuck they want. Hell, they deserve it.
And, if anything, what’s wrong with him having everyone in the palm of his hands if he is on their side? isn’t that like what a war general is? Isn’t that how real life works? we have actual humans who do this, boot camp training aint sunshine and rainbows. You answer to higher ups always, treated as despendable by the US government ALWAYS, because you chose to defend other people, JUST like the exorcists all chose too…
that doesn’t make war generals bad, that doesn’t really make anyone bad because this is in every country… They are doing what’s best for everyone, the same as Mephisto.
The way I see it, individuality is somewhat sacrificed in the name of saving others. The exquires all knew that when they signed up, just like when you sign up to go to the front lines, aren’t you doing the same?
This thread gets me into very meta thinking. xD People of faith, close your eyes and scroll past, a heathen is about to blaspheme.
As in… yeah, Mephisto tampers with these people’s lives and puts them through terrible things. And we view it negatively because no human wants to have their freedom taken away.
We view it as humans.
While Mephisto is a demon and doesn’t get caught up in the perspective of personal happiness or well-being. He sees the much bigger picture, with global catastrophe looming at the periphery, and he does what needs to be done to prevent it.
Do you know who else matches that description?
God.
Gods demanding people to leave everything they know and love and embark on perilous quests. Gods demanding humans to sacrifice their own lives for the greater good. Gods demanding humans to put the few through suffering so that the many may have a better life. It can be pertinent to remember that in myth and legend, it has been regarded as an honour, a privilege, to be chosen by the gods for greater things.
It’s terrible for them, absolutely. It’s not fair to those who have to pay the price, it’s not humane in any way, and the only justification we have for it is “god said so”. God knows things humans don’t, has a perspective humans don’t; we trust god to use that to our benefit, we trust god to be good, even though the trials we’re put through indicate the opposite.
Viewed through this lens, what Mephisto is doing now is no different from Jesus pulling his apostles-to-be out of their everyday lives like “sorry, I happen to need you, higher calling, most of you are gonna be martyred in gruesome ways and also have to watch me die and I know that doesn’t sound like a very good deal for you but hey - god commands it, humans won’t understand, just trust me on this“.
Now, if gods and demons are the same in AnE, then what really makes the difference between Mephisto dictating people’s fate and god doing it? If he is the bad guy for what he does, then what does that make our gods?
I’d also like to comment on this frame:
It has been brought up before, but it was a while ago and I can’t remember by whom. Mephisto isn’t tossing on the dramatic villain cape here, he is furtively quoting Nietzsche and tossing on the dramatic villain cape.
The quote is Nietzsche saying that humans have evolved from worms into men but that we fall laughably short of being done with our development. We have a lot of our nature still to overcome if we are to reach the highest peak of what we can be.
That is what Mephisto is grooming these poor kids for. They are pathetic embryos of their true potential as they are right now, fit only to be toyed with by higher powers; but he’s also saying that they can grow into truly worthy allies/enemies (depending on their attitudes to him) if they are prepared to climb that mountain and surpass themselves.
Perhaps they can win their freedom?
I would love to see the pawns try to overwhelm the player.
But the path there will mean dancing to Mephisto’s tune, and the growing pains will be severe. How else do you become powerful enough to defeat a god?
My reply to this reblog is CURSED! Holy crap, I have never had to just through so many frikin hoops to post to tumblr before!
Anyway, this reaction:
Ok, so here’s where I stopped screen shotting (like an idiot); just pretend this is delightfully nuanced and shit. Basically I’m going to paraphrase myself….badly.
Mephisto by his nature stands against entrophy, but Assiah is in a crap situation because the only way you can reverse entropy is by adding energy into the system. A closed system by its very nature is closed meaning you can’t add energy into the system.
But here is where the canonical cosmology of the Ao No Exorcist world comes into play.
Assiah and Gehenna are separate but mirrored realities; their interaction is limited and always involed a give and take or an exchange of energies. This way they maintain the integrity of their closed systems.
However, for Mephisto to be able to add energy to Assiah from the nearest source of energy (Gehenna) he needs a conduit that exists in Assiah and can channel energy from Gehenna.
To that end, it seems likely to me that the early Nephilium were a failed attempt to make this happen (they were only able to channel negligable ampunts of energy). Mephisto’s ultimate goal with the cloning program may have have been an attempt to correct his failure with the earlier nephilium and the nudging of the energy of Gehenna towards manifest consciousness was not entirely accidental.
The birth of a nephilium of Satan, the conscious manifestation of Gehenna, is exactly what Mephisto needs. Even better he got two for one, twins, double the power assuming they don’t perfectly mirror each other and cancel each other out.
🤔 the question stands; how would Mephisto go about harnessing that power?
Ah, yes. The strife, struggle, trials and tribulations of Yukio and Rin.
So yes, while Mephisto is working toward the greater good, slowing the eventual heat death of the universe (Assiah) by introducing external energy from Gehenna, he is still the big bad in Yukio and Rin’s story.
Yukio and Rin will save the universe (probably for about another 14 million years) but at great personal cost; the fact that they are essentially children and just the latest of a long series of lives destroyed for the sake of Mephisto’s endgame, makes Mephisto’s actions even more sinister from a alturistic, moral standpoint.
To be sure Mephisto’s overall goal is a noble one, but ultimately it is in his own self interest, and while he is certainly powerful he is not omniscient.
DAD SAYS IT’S HIS TURN ON THE XBOX!
At the end of it all he is gambling on the outcome and he is thrilled with the prospect of things not going as expected, after all eternal existence is a bit boring in the long view.
In that way, while Mephisto is serving his greater nature, he is still a bit nihilistic.
This is as flaw that we, as fallible human beings, absolutely identify with.
*************************************************
[1] The Practice of Meaning in Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, M. J. Bowles, Journal of Nietzsche Studies, No. 26 (AUTUMN 2003), pp. 12-24 (13 pages),Published by: Penn State University Press, https://www.jstor.org/stable/20717817
Quote from Bella-gunn: “However, for Mephisto to be able to add energy to Assiah from the nearest source of energy (Gehenna) he needs a conduit that exists in Assiah and can channel energy from Gehenna.”
Maybe he’s also responsible for the artificial Gehenna Gate? Or in the very least wants it to happen. Mephisto benefits from having Gehenna infiltrate Assiah in more ways than one. Having humans see demons would also increase the power of his own concept. He puts his vessel on the line to temporarily stop the gate, but I think his cooperation is just a part of another elaborate hustle. If Lucifer wants to obliterate Assiah he wouldn’t require this gate.
I think that humans being the weaker pawns or “worms” in the equation will surprise Mephisto. He fully expects it and will find the outcome entertaining no matter what happens. Humans will continue to challenge his perception of them in all kinds of ways.
Hi! Non-native speaker, so I hope my English is not that bad. I really like your blog and especially your analyses on Mephisto. Fantastic!(read in his voice)
So my question.Have you read blue exorcist novel Bloody Fairy Tail? In the novel there is a part where little girl describes Mephisto as big void and the black wing towering over him. Do you think this could be a hint to his real form? Or perhaps his role as Angel of Death? Also there is part in the first chapters of the manga, when Mephisto meets with Amaimon and tells him that he took Rin under his wing. It might be just a translation though. Sorry for a long ask
After accidentally deleting this twice I’m going to try again! (New phone, still getting used to it)
I have not actually read the entire thing because finding any of the light novels in the US is really, really hard. Like, really hard. But I have actually read the part you’re talking about through fan pages here on Tumblr talking about that very thing! (And thanks to @facets-and-rainbows I’ve now been able to read more! Thank you.)
Here’s the thing: the only image that exists that depicts Mephistopheles in his pre-Goethe form is this one by Eugene Delacroix from the early 1800’s:
This version of Mephistopheles is from Marlowe’s 1616 version, The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. In it, (the B version) Mephistopheles is said to conjure wings in order to frighten the knights attacking him and Faustus, before turning said knights into demons (or animals in some translations) and giving them horns.
Mephistopheles is also a fallen angel, and uses that to both dissuade Faustus from forming a contract at the beginning, and later to help trick and torment the Pope in this version.
The inscription on it reads: De temps en temps j’aime a’voir le vieux Pére, Et me garde bien lui rompre en Visiére
Which roughly translates to (keeping in mind I’m still learning how to read older dialects of French) : “From time to time I like to see my old/winterly/ancient Father, and take care not to break off/sever with him in Person.” The caption probably is talking about the Pope scene, or maybe Faustsus’ separation from God, but to me it also speaks to the retribution of both.
Aaaaaanyway point is, it’s very popular to depict Mephistopheles as having black, feathery wings, partly because no matter what version he’s in he’s still a fallen angel lamenting his separation from God, (which isn’t especially relevant but it IS interesting) and also because the wings are mentioned directly in the earliest published version of the play.
What’s more, the original Mephistopheles from the late 1500’s (earliest record of the name was 1587) in the original Faustbuch was never a demon at all, but rather either an angel or a man that had been damned to serve Lucifer for all eternity by selling him his own soul, the reasons for which are never revealed. He does, however, from the very beginning, warn Faust about what he’s doing, and what that will lead to, presumably because he’s done the same thing and now regrets it. Fun stuff :)
As to whether I think it has anything to do with his true form, I would say yes, to a point. Samael is a shape-shifter after all, so not too many forms are out of bounds.
However, if he has wings (probable or at least possible) there’s some kind of reason why he doesn’t use them.
These are the closest we ever see to a demon form for him, and he’s… pretty formless, broadly speaking.
He is kind of void-like, true, and warps the space around him. But, no visible wings.
In fact the only wings we see him with are not his own - they’re that of his familiar, which is likely Kin of Azazel.
He can fly without any wings at all, (space timey levitation and all) so one would question why he’d need a familiar’s, never mind his own. Conservation of energy perhaps?
In any case I do think he CAN have wings, when he wants them, if that makes sense. Shape shifting is however tiresome, and flight requires a great deal of energy expenditure even if he’s not working against gravity in the traditional sense. So I imagine that he could use his own wings, or turn into a bird, but he doesn’t do so unless practical because it eats up his stamina, which he’s got little of comparatively.
Though honestly I’m more of the mind that he does shape shift all the time to observe things, (and what better form than a bird? He’s called The Raven too to boot) it’s just that turning into anything like that is going to terrify people, and unless that’s his aim, it’s not terribly reasonable. Similarly I am completely sure he has horns and a tail, but those things are very secretive to him, so he doesn’t show them hardly ever.
Why the girl sees wings may just be a reflection of her own fears; humans see what they want to, and fear-projecting wings into a creepy demonic aura would not be beyond a child.
As to why they might be secret, they’re probably very identifiable. In his current incarnation he thrives on secrecy and keeping his name, and infamy, on the down-low. He’s not trying to give Lucifer any more shit to throw back in his face, and he’s not trying to be a god and rule over people (not directly) he’s just trying to be a chairman and an arc knight keeping the world from literally gong up in flames, but doing so as close to anonymously as possible for himself. He doesn’t want people to fear him in the same way they used to (except when he wants them to of course) he just wants to do his own thing, and pretty much be left alone.
Not to get too speculative here, but I think perhaps he’s tired. Tired of being a god. Tired of being a demon. Tired of being Lucifer’s favorite scapegoat. (The irony of that) Tired of having to be a puppeteer and tired of having to serve the needs of others in order to just keep himself alive and sane. Tired of playing politics with Lucifer and tired of him never changing or being able to.
And who could blame him? Over and over and over and over. The monotony and pain are unimaginable. Perhaps that’s why Lucifer can’t understand him; surely if anyone could appreciate the suffering that comes from eternity and the pain of losing out over and over, it would be him, surely? Yet, Samael perseveres. He finds the smallest, most difficult things to cling to, like a desperate man panning for gold in a sea of sand, looking for specs of dust. He lives solely for those little moments, the butterfly wing that shapes a hurricane on the other side of the world. It’s monotonous, it’s tedious and it sucks, but rarely, ever rarely, it’s worth it. The world will never see perfection and he likes it that way - he doesn’t want perfection, only change.
And change is probably what drives his secrecy. He changes his face to suit the time, and in a time when demons supposedly don’t exist it makes sense to be discreet. There’s also advantages to the relative anonymity; if he does have to ever throw his weight around, he has to do far less to make a deep impression.
Thanks for the ask. I enjoyed answering even if I went a little off topic lol.
You need Love, understanding and empathy to tame a demon.
And chapter 138 has me thinking.
So if demons need love, empathy, and understanding to be tamed.
Who tamed Mephisto?
Was it Faust?
Mephisto founded the knights of the True Cross during Medieval times. We know Mephisto most likely met Johann Georg Faust somewhere in Medieval Germany.
From Wikipedia.
For the year 1506, there is a record of Faust appearing as a performer of magical tricks and horoscopes in Gelnhausen. Over the following 30 years, numerous similar records spread over southern Germany. Faust appeared as a physician, doctor of philosophy, alchemist, magician and astrologer and was often accused of fraud. The church denounced him as a blasphemer in league with the devil.
I also read somewhere that he dabbled in exorcism and had some magical texts, books of spells or grimoires attributed to him. The books outlined how to cast spells, divination, charms, amulets and talismans. Plus, ways to evoke angels, spirits, deities and demons.
Did Mephisto have a Shiro-like contract with Faust? Did he become so besotted with Faust that they joined into a new hybrid creature? Instead of Faust giving up his soul, they decided to co-exist in one body?
Mephisto teams up with a charlatan magician and finds the entire experience so fucking entertaining that he literally becomes the guy. The thought of Faust tricking Mephisto into a relationship would be a manga I'd die to read.
Remember this panel? Ha....
Without demon powers, Mephisto's default is a terrible magician. Faust is totally in there.
So basically Mephisto went to Japan when the Holy Roman Empire fell. He said he is there since 200 years if I remember correctly. And it plays in the early 2000. So at the beginning of 1800s the Holy Roman Empire collapsed.
And it was also the time when Goethe published Faust. So he was like “Let me help this dude write my story and then I’ll be out of here”.
Understandable tbh.
Also imagine how strange it is to adapt to human customs. For years and years the customs stayed the same. Now he has to adapt to everything at a much faster rate. Maybe that’s why he seems like he has fallen out of time with his mannerisms? Since he is old, time is not something that he perceives the same as humans. In one chapter he explains that 10 human years is like one second to him. Adapting to societal changes that quickly is probably the only sports he does.
Regarding the fashion sense…he has one, it’s just 500 years behind
Hi! Non-native speaker, so I hope my English is not that bad. I really like your blog and especially your analyses on Mephisto. Fantastic!(read in his voice)
So my question.Have you read blue exorcist novel Bloody Fairy Tail? In the novel there is a part where little girl describes Mephisto as big void and the black wing towering over him. Do you think this could be a hint to his real form? Or perhaps his role as Angel of Death? Also there is part in the first chapters of the manga, when Mephisto meets with Amaimon and tells him that he took Rin under his wing. It might be just a translation though. Sorry for a long ask
After accidentally deleting this twice I’m going to try again! (New phone, still getting used to it)
I have not actually read the entire thing because finding any of the light novels in the US is really, really hard. Like, really hard. But I have actually read the part you’re talking about through fan pages here on Tumblr talking about that very thing! (And thanks to @facets-and-rainbows I’ve now been able to read more! Thank you.)
Here’s the thing: the only image that exists that depicts Mephistopheles in his pre-Goethe form is this one by Eugene Delacroix from the early 1800’s:
This version of Mephistopheles is from Marlowe’s 1616 version, The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. In it, (the B version) Mephistopheles is said to conjure wings in order to frighten the knights attacking him and Faustus, before turning said knights into demons (or animals in some translations) and giving them horns.
Mephistopheles is also a fallen angel, and uses that to both dissuade Faustus from forming a contract at the beginning, and later to help trick and torment the Pope in this version.
The inscription on it reads: De temps en temps j’aime a’voir le vieux Pére, Et me garde bien lui rompre en Visiére
Which roughly translates to (keeping in mind I’m still learning how to read older dialects of French) : “From time to time I like to see my old/winterly/ancient Father, and take care not to break off/sever with him in Person.” The caption probably is talking about the Pope scene, or maybe Faustsus’ separation from God, but to me it also speaks to the retribution of both.
Aaaaaanyway point is, it’s very popular to depict Mephistopheles as having black, feathery wings, partly because no matter what version he’s in he’s still a fallen angel lamenting his separation from God, (which isn’t especially relevant but it IS interesting) and also because the wings are mentioned directly in the earliest published version of the play.
What’s more, the original Mephistopheles from the late 1500’s (earliest record of the name was 1587) in the original Faustbuch was never a demon at all, but rather either an angel or a man that had been damned to serve Lucifer for all eternity by selling him his own soul, the reasons for which are never revealed. He does, however, from the very beginning, warn Faust about what he’s doing, and what that will lead to, presumably because he’s done the same thing and now regrets it. Fun stuff :)
As to whether I think it has anything to do with his true form, I would say yes, to a point. Samael is a shape-shifter after all, so not too many forms are out of bounds.
However, if he has wings (probable or at least possible) there’s some kind of reason why he doesn’t use them.
These are the closest we ever see to a demon form for him, and he’s… pretty formless, broadly speaking.
He is kind of void-like, true, and warps the space around him. But, no visible wings.
In fact the only wings we see him with are not his own - they’re that of his familiar, which is likely Kin of Azazel.
He can fly without any wings at all, (space timey levitation and all) so one would question why he’d need a familiar’s, never mind his own. Conservation of energy perhaps?
In any case I do think he CAN have wings, when he wants them, if that makes sense. Shape shifting is however tiresome, and flight requires a great deal of energy expenditure even if he’s not working against gravity in the traditional sense. So I imagine that he could use his own wings, or turn into a bird, but he doesn’t do so unless practical because it eats up his stamina, which he’s got little of comparatively.
Though honestly I’m more of the mind that he does shape shift all the time to observe things, (and what better form than a bird? He’s called The Raven too to boot) it’s just that turning into anything like that is going to terrify people, and unless that’s his aim, it’s not terribly reasonable. Similarly I am completely sure he has horns and a tail, but those things are very secretive to him, so he doesn’t show them hardly ever.
Why the girl sees wings may just be a reflection of her own fears; humans see what they want to, and fear-projecting wings into a creepy demonic aura would not be beyond a child.
As to why they might be secret, they’re probably very identifiable. In his current incarnation he thrives on secrecy and keeping his name, and infamy, on the down-low. He’s not trying to give Lucifer any more shit to throw back in his face, and he’s not trying to be a god and rule over people (not directly) he’s just trying to be a chairman and an arc knight keeping the world from literally gong up in flames, but doing so as close to anonymously as possible for himself. He doesn’t want people to fear him in the same way they used to (except when he wants them to of course) he just wants to do his own thing, and pretty much be left alone.
Not to get too speculative here, but I think perhaps he’s tired. Tired of being a god. Tired of being a demon. Tired of being Lucifer’s favorite scapegoat. (The irony of that) Tired of having to be a puppeteer and tired of having to serve the needs of others in order to just keep himself alive and sane. Tired of playing politics with Lucifer and tired of him never changing or being able to.
And who could blame him? Over and over and over and over. The monotony and pain are unimaginable. Perhaps that’s why Lucifer can’t understand him; surely if anyone could appreciate the suffering that comes from eternity and the pain of losing out over and over, it would be him, surely? Yet, Samael perseveres. He finds the smallest, most difficult things to cling to, like a desperate man panning for gold in a sea of sand, looking for specs of dust. He lives solely for those little moments, the butterfly wing that shapes a hurricane on the other side of the world. It’s monotonous, it’s tedious and it sucks, but rarely, ever rarely, it’s worth it. The world will never see perfection and he likes it that way - he doesn’t want perfection, only change.
And change is probably what drives his secrecy. He changes his face to suit the time, and in a time when demons supposedly don’t exist it makes sense to be discreet. There’s also advantages to the relative anonymity; if he does have to ever throw his weight around, he has to do far less to make a deep impression.
Thanks for the ask. I enjoyed answering even if I went a little off topic lol.
I’ve been going crazy looking for some of these post on my tags, so to make life easier for myself at least, I’m compiling a masterlist of the novels. Eventually, I’ll do the same for the character guidebook which… is still a WIP lol. tagging @silveryogi and @facets-and-rainbows here for their hard work!
Weekend Hero - all of these have been translated by silveryogi! <— this links leads to their masterlist!
Weekend Hero
I Want to Dance the Tango with you
Troubled Monk
Okumura Rin Rescue Team
Sir Pheles’ Beautiful Day
Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Snake and Poison (Part 1 - Part 2)
Once Upon a Merry Christmas (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5)
With Love, from the King of Earth (Here)
Bloody Fairy Tale
Drunk Angel (Part 1 - to be continued…?) [Summary Post]
Bloody Fairy Tale (Part 1 & Part 2 by facets! ♥) & also the completed version here, of which you want to start at Part 2 if you’ve read the previous version before: (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5)
Money Money Money
Character Question Corner
Spy Game
Spy Game (sneak peak) (WIP)
The Fundoshi Festival for Men
Kin-nii Leaves Home (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3)
Yukio in Wonderland (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5)
Downpour (Here)
Blue Exorcist Movie
Yukio and Liu-centric Short Story (WIP)
I’ll continue to edit this list consistently. If there’s more that has been translated already that I’m not aware of please let me know so I can update this! <3
look say what you will about VOLN's pacing choices but it is VITALLY IMPORTANT TO THIS ARC to have a studio that's at least a little horny about the demon eyes
Lucifer being incarnated, probably an ego like Satan. Killed a bunch.
“While longing for the heavens”
King of Light, doomed to stay in Gehenna
“And creep a life of shame”
Being a bitch about everything and complaining non stop, trying to kill all humans because he is too strong. That is shameful. Instead of finding a solution like Mephisto or Azazel, Lucifer bitches. Shameful behavior.
Second option, more probable:
Humans from the western world, exploiting other countries, being born into privileged, wanting more, being greedy and then being shameful because they would do ANYTHING for money. Even dance weird TikTok dances while your own son is dying next to you (I hope you know what video I meant. And I know that this was written before TikTok was a thing. But it’s the best example)
Mephisto makes it very clear that he is keeping the role of the antagonist, the original Satan. He loves humans, because they can’t coexist with him. He knows that. He uses them and he loves it. Mephisto is an antagonist because he only helps humans to keep Assiah a shithole. That’s where he lives and where he wants to stay. The chaos, the murder and worse: that’s his domain and he wants to keep the role of Samäel. Lucifer wanting to destroy Assiah would make that impossible to fulfill. He is basically doing God’s work. Keep everything balanced, keep Lucifer suffering like God (El) intended and keep his own role as THE Satan (which Satan ironically took from him. That surely bugs him).
Indeed, there’s quite a few layers imbedded in this line.
It’s a direct reference to Berserk, specifically to Griffiths transformation hallucination:
But I’m not here to fan-geek over that, per se, but rather to point out a double entendre.
You see, Griffiths whole Schtick is that he’s sacrificed many, many lives to serve his own ambitions. (And he feels immense guilt about it) He’s built a mountain of corpses, which in the dream/hallucination he must climb, in order to reach the castle, a castle in which he is King.
Lucifer is much the same. He’s built and devastated entire empires, used people both human and demon as pawns to serve his own ends, but it’s never enough.
His pile of corpses never stops - he is already a god among gods, a king of his own castle; he’s built his own heaven in the sky, and he alone rules it. But that’s not where it stops for him, because it never stops. He longs for a heaven that simply doesn’t exist. (Same theme as Berserk). A perfect world where no one ever suffers or dies in vain. He thinks adding more corpses to the pile, sacrificing more people, and making the mountain taller will get him there - to draw another parallel, Lucifer’s intent to sacrifice Assiah is tantamount to Griffith’s sacrifice during the Eclipse - except that Lucifer is already a god, already a king, and there’s no higher power that can truly grant his wish.
Named-Satan is stronger than him, yes, and that’s precisely why Lucifer clings to him so - he’s the first and only chance Lucifer has ever had to appeal to “God”, to ask someone else who’s stronger than he is to help him in his endeavor. He thinks that it will help, that it will “save” him; but he is wrong, and doesn’t even know it.
Samael does know it - he knows from living at the bottom of the mountain that the higher it is, the more ground it covers, choking out the life underneath. He knows there’s no such thing as utopia, and that attempts to make it are always doomed to fail. He also knows Lucifer very very well; when, inevitably, Lucifer has to make do with near-perfect, he will grow bored of it eventually and discard the whole thing. Where does that leave the demons in this new world? Where does that leave anybody? Lucifer’s ideals are backing him into a corner there’s no way for anybody to get out of. He’s condemning the entire world to hell on a very pernicious whim and not thinking about the consequences.
But I also agree with your take: humans are ambitious little fuckers that rise and fall like the tide. Lucifer didn’t have to climb the mountain - it was already there. He just took advantage of what humans have always done, using their ambition to fuel his own. He doesn’t just build the pile, he was created from it; He’s the concept of light, of the sun and stars and sky; he’s the very symbol of ambition, of status, of godhood. He was made in man’s image, as all demons are, and the image they painted for him was: you must rise above everything. (As the sun does)
Samael, conversely, is a concept built in the image of some of man’s greatest fears - aging, dying, and failure to accomplish their goals in time to the abatement of either. He’s the vast unknown of the wilds in ancient times; he’s the symbol of progress, and also of failure to progress. He’s the symbol of the hopeful future, but also the fearful past. He’s the embodiment of we don’t know, and we want to know and those things aren’t always congruent.
Point is, nothing, nothing foils a man’s ambitions like the passage of time. Nothing spurs regrets like realizing that the ambition you had to rise to the top has died with the creaking of your knees. So, it makes sense that they’d be ideologically opposed to each other on a fundamental level, but it’s also true that without failure, there’s no progress.
Without one’s ambition dying, another couldn’t rise to replace it. Without conflict, without disease, without death, there can be nothing new, nothing changes. Lucifer thinks this would be ideal; he loathes change, and fears failure. He’s a quintessential nobleman that doesn’t want to lose his power because he thinks he’s worked so hard for it, even when he was basically born with a silver spoon.
That’s not to say he hasn’t had to struggle, or that he doesn’t know suffering; but because he’s always been a god, because he’s always been the highest being, always been divine, he’s always been held at a distance. He’s always been removed from the norm, removed from the very picture of what human suffering is. He has suffered, he has endured, but he’s unaware (deliberately so) that his suffering is similar to anyone else’s because in the beginning he very likely wasn’t considered capable of suffering. Humans are cruel, as he repeatedly acknowledges; they never cared that he knew pain, only that he was useful to them.
Samael has known the same, but understands that his suffering is not in isolation. He’s lived among man, and separate from them. He’s seen both sides of the aisle, and knows that the fundamental success of an ecosystem, of life, is dependent on its diversity. Different things must coexist; there must be competition in order to drive innovation and growth. Life does not evolve if it’s environment never makes it, and species whos environment never changes can’t survive when it inevitably does. It is in the best interests of not only man, then, but all life upon which demons fundamentally depend that discrepancy and diversity drives change.
As to the commentary about creeping about a life of shame - Lucifer is fundamentally a coward. He has lofty ideals but no courage to take matters into his own hands; he’d prefer to sit on his throne looking pretty and claiming purity while others do his dirty work. He’s also got a serious complex, as you’ve pointed out. He loves to complain about how everything sucks, but expects everyone else to change it - but at the same time he hates it when things change, so he’s always standing there to crow about how change is only ever good if it’s his idea, and it always was his idea don’t you know? Lol.
I freakin love these two’s dynamics, they’re very very interesting.
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