Sometimes you're just a girl, the government hates you because they're morons, people believe it and you just want to find a shelter, a home, But it seems so hard that living is exhausting, your last hope is fading and you want to die that you don't even care that your boss stabbed you BUT that guy who beat up your boss and almost died saves you because lol yeah, aaaand you don't know what to do so you sneak onto his boat because It is their duty not to let you die in a quiet corner . Now you're screwed because you love those idiots and you don't want them to suffer because of you so you give yourself to the navy and they as stubborn as a mule come to your rescue aaaand... You want to live, breathing becomes easier and more bearable at his side, you discover that Saul was right, you found your nakama, your family. You are safe, no one will hurt you ever again
Nacht Faust: A Story of Evil and Unresolved Atonement
So with Black Clover back to regular serialization and some thoughts brewing in my mind, I've decided to do a sort of mini essay/rant/character analysis of Nacht Faust.
Big surprise, I know.
Now this character analysis of Nacht Faust doesn't have months of research and writing behind it, despite Nacht not really being a new character at this point. I just recently got the fire to write down all my (objectively correct) thoughts.
Fair warning to my readers, this post contains manga spoilers and none of this was beta read.
..........
So in the beginning...
Nacht acknowledged that he wasn't really a good person. He did things for the fun of it and fun things were bad things, as it happened. In chapter 286, the description of Nacht's past self includes the line "He used magic arbitrarily, and only for himself." To put it simply, Nacht in the past was a self-serving individual. Satisfaction for him came from serving his own interests.
In contrast, Morgen was "picture of a good man." He was an individual who put others before himself, helping them as second nature. He found satisfaction through serving others, rather than himself.
Nacht, at an early age, picked up on the differences between himself and Morgen. Morgen was good. Nacht was evil. Because of their differences, Nacht decided to pull away from Morgen. Quoting again from chapter 286: "I really loved you. Even if I couldn't shine, I wanted you to do it. If I was besides you, it felt as if I'd defile your light, so I—"
So Nacht doubled down on his bad nature as a way to cope with what he felt to be an unresolvable rift between himself and Morgen. He got became a delinquent, turned down being a Magic Knight on Morgen's suggestion, and eventually...
Now on a first reading, this comes off as Nacht merely being excited at the prospect of something as dangerous as Forbidden Magic and devils. Or perhaps it's satisfaction in knowing that he was considered the rightful heir of House Faust. However, I've come to read this moment as Nacht's malice towards himself, an already present self-loathing and self-destructive nature, finally being confirmed. His internal view was given external affirmation. And so of course Nacht took to Forbidden Magic as a way to continually affirm to himself that yes, he is evil while Morgen is good. Nacht cannot be close with the brother he loves so dearly, otherwise, Morgen would get hurt.
But despite Nacht trying to keep his distance, Morgen constantly sought him out and tried to reach out to him. The attempts were unsuccessful but what matters is that Morgen never stopped being a presence in Nacht's life.
And it eventually led to the tragedy that changed Nacht's life forever.
Morgen's death, though not brought about by Nacht's hand directly, is Nacht's greatest sin. In Nacht's mind, because of him, goodness was lost and all that remained was pure, illogical evil.
Chapter 286 is titled "A Night with No Morning." There are several meanings. Because of their names, the chapter can refer to Nacht no longer having Morgen in his life. It's also symbolic of there being dark despair with no light of hope. And, given Nacht's view of himself and Morgen, the chapter title can even be understood as "evil without good," a lack of balance.
What Nacht does following Morgen's death is him attempting to atone for his sin. Atonement is a complex concept—and it is frequently used in religious contexts but it exists independent of theology—but what it boils down to is a person taking action to correct their past misdeeds. Nacht is atoning, attempting to make up for his sin of killing Morgen.
Nacht devotes himself to the kind of life Morgen led. Instead of being self-serving, he acts self-sacrificing. Instead of reveling in bad behaviors, he looks down upon them.
Nacht even has a spell dedicated to his desire to atone.
However, atonement is... insufficient.
Although atonement is meant to make up for what someone has done wrong, there is no way to take back actions or undo the consequences. As much as Nacht grieves Morgen, his brother is staying dead.
Furthermore, Nacht's atonement for Morgen's death is, as I described in the title, unresolved.
Because as far as Nacht is concerned, his atoning for his sin is also meant to be an eternal punishment to himself. I mean, look back at the way he described Monument of Atonement: "no light, life, or death" and an "endless hellish game of tag."
But why would Nacht punish himself while trying to right his wrongs? Because Nacht hates himself.
Nacht's self-loathing is one of his most notable flaws. I kind of implied it earlier but I'll state outright here but I believe that self-loathing stems from the difference between the twins. Because Morgen was good and Nacht loved him, Nacht ended up hating himself since he was nothing like Morgen. The hate was there from the beginning and then got magnified by Morgen's death.
Thing is, Nacht doesn't admit to hating himself. Rather, he projects.
Nacht hates Yami and the Black Bulls because they represent his own failings. Being aimless and selfish and violent and showing a bad face to others. And then there's something he says regarding how the Bulls turned themselves around.
Nacht rejects the idea of bad people becoming good. He does not believe in redemption, in coming from a bad place and becoming better. And since we know Nacht is projecting, this is him saying that he can never be good.
Nacht is bad. Always has been. Always will be.
Because Nacht was born bad, born evil... Because his evil destroyed Morgen, who was born good... And because evil can never be good... Nacht decides to punish himself.
Nacht knows he can't bring Morgen back so he traps himself in trying to make up for Morgen's death forever.
Nacht's atonement is one without end. Without resolution. Without redemption. Without the one thing that he actually needs. It's something Nacht denies himself.
Nacht wants to atone and even apologize to Morgen, as seen in his thoughts when he thinks he's about to die (for a second time). However, Nacht never asks for forgiveness for causing Morgen's death. He doesn't fear the idea of not being forgiven. Rather, Nacht actively rejects the possibility of forgiveness.
Nacht being forgiven wouldn't erase his misdeeds. It wouldn't automatically make him a good person. But forgiveness is what would give his atonement any sense of closure. Closure, an end to it all, is what Nacht is avoiding though. Because Nacht sees himself as evil through and through, and seeks to punish himself forever for it, he cannot accept the mercy of being forgiven. If Nacht is forgiven, he can then be redeemed. He can go from bad to good. But Nacht doesn't want to be considered good because he believes he cannot, must not, be anything like Morgen whatsoever.
Unforgivable and irredeemable. That is how Nacht views himself. And so his atonement, his punishment against himself, is unconditional to him.
There is no condition which Nacht can meet in order to earn any amount of forgiveness. He deems himself undeserving of that second chance that forgiveness creates.
It's why he tries to drive Yami away. To get Yami abandon him and leave him to die. Because if Yami saves Nacht, that implies Yami's forgiveness. Nacht doesn't want to be forgiven though.
In the end though, Nacht being forgiven is not up to him. It's not his place to ask for forgiveness. But neither is it his place to deny any forgiveness given to him. And it's not about earning forgiveness either. There is no need for atonement to precede forgiveness (though some people would prefer it that way). Forgiveness is simply something given from one party to another.
(This portion delves into my oc content so if you just want the canon Nacht stuff, feel free to skip the next couple paragraphs.)
(It's why I have my oc, Josele, forgive Nacht so easily. In their story, Nacht also carries with him the sin of blaming Morgen's death on Josele and his accusation being a contributing factor to her curse. Nacht hurt Josele personally and tries to atone for that misdeed by looking for a way to break her curse. All the while, Nacht tells himself and other people that he doesn't deserve to make Josele happy even after it becomes possible for her to be happy at all again. Nacht wants to atone for accusing Josele without ever seeking for be forgiven for it.)
(And Josele sees what Nacht is doing to himself. She understands that he is trying to punish himself by never letting his actions be "enough" to make up for the past. And so because Josele loves Nacht, and knows he can do good despite his beliefs, she forgives him. She gives him what he is not asking for but what he needs to end his suffering. Nacht does reject it for a time, unable to think he can do anything good for Josele in comparison to Morgen. He eventually realizes that the unconditional love and forgiveness Josele offers is better than the unconditional hatred and punishment he puts on himself though.)
(Because of Nacht's love for Josele, he wants to atone for what he did to her. And because of Josele's love for Nacht, she forgives him for the pain he caused. Neither really asked for what the other offered, but both still needed those acts in the end. Which is... something.)
To me, Nacht's character reflects this conclusion I've come to: that redemption is the meeting point of atonement and forgiveness.
Nacht was once a bad person and in the present carries the sins of his past with him. He seeks to atone for his misdeeds. He refuses the possibility of being forgiven, of becoming good in the eyes of others or himself. In refusing to be forgiven or redeemed, Nacht leaves his atonement unresolved. Atoning forever does nothing but perpetuate Nacht's guilt and pain. Nacht's struggle, and his atonement, is resolved by Yami (and Josele) giving Nacht that unwanted but entirely necessary forgiveness. From there, Nacht is free to redeem himself and finally move onto a brighter future.
This analysis has made me grow to love Nacht even more.
So often there are characters who have done wrong in the past and get on their hands and knees, begging to be forgiven and accepted as good. But Nacht completely goes against that idea. He does good as a way of punishing himself for once being bad and he doesn't want anyone forgiving him.
It's tragic to see a character not feel deserving of something. But then it's heartwarming when they still get it because they don't need to deserve it and they need it in order to heal. To me, unconditional love and forgiveness will always be better than having to earn forgiveness.
To make a long post short: my love for Nacht redeems him of being a stupid complex and angsty character.
English Translation of Novel 3: Chapter 1 – Gold & Black - (Part 2 of 2)
Here’s the second half of Chapter 1 from Book of Yuno. Again, I don’t have another picture to use as a header for this chapter, but at least there’s still plenty of Golden Dawn and Black Bull action. This half focuses much more on Yuno and his relationship with Asta, both in the present and how they were in the past, but Yami also gets to show off a bit, too.
If you missed Part 1 of this chapter, you can read that here
— Gold & Black: Part 2 —
“Any luck, Yuno!? Did you find him!?”
“No…… I guess you didn’t find him either.”
As they were sprinting across the garden, Yuno met up with Asta. After deciding that they needed to find Yami, Klaus and Mimosa searched the North and South gardens, Yuno and Asta searched the East and West gardens, and Bell searched for Yami from above. Yuno and Asta just finished searching the West garden, so they were about to search the East. Asta cursed upon meeting Yuno,
“Dammit, these gardens are too big! Add them all together and you’d have a village!”
“It’s not that big. It just feels that way to you because your limbs are so short.”
“Not that again, you handsome jerk! Even if my limbs are short, I make up for it with my physical strength!”
English Translation of the Extra from the 3rd Light Novel - How Yuno Spent His Day Off
Though the extra for the 2nd light novel was a disastrous curry recipe, the extra behind the 3rd light novel’s book jacket is a recording of how Yuno’s day went, with time stamps included. Chapter 3 follows how Bell spent her day off, so this summarizes what Yuno did since we don’t get to see him much in that chapter.
Yuno’s Day Off
5:00 AM – Wakes up
Does some light muscle training while practicing his magic.
7:00 AM – Eats breakfast at the dining hall at the Golden Dawn’s base
There, he encounters Klaus. The menu at the base is predetermined, so an additional salad and milk are included with his meal.
8:00 AM – Rests in the base’s lobby after finishing his meal
He encounters Mimosa, who is spacing out, still half-asleep. When he points out to her that she’s wearing her squad robe inside out, she responds in a mysterious way - “That’s right. We have the day off, don’t we?”
9:00 AM – Practices his magic in the forest
He finds Leopold undergoing a training regimen from hell, courtesy of Mereoleona. Yuno runs away as fast as he can.
12:00 AM – Eats lunch at the diner in Heikai Village
He is served by a child trying their very hardest to help out at the diner. He pays a little extra than what he was billed.
1:00 PM – Practices his magic in the forest (at a different location than before)
Somehow, he came across Mereoleona and Leopold again. This time, Leopold noticed him. “Oh, Yuno! How about we train together as riva……wait, where are you going!?” he cried out, but Yuno ran away as fast as he could.
1:02 PM – Gets kidnapped
He was kidnapped by Mereoleona, who came at him with tremendous speed. In the end, he was forced to join the training regimen from hell.
5:00 PM – Returns home
Returns to his dorm room completely worn-out. He notices that Bell hasn’t returned, so he goes to the capital to search for her.
6:00 PM – Takes a walk through the Royal Capital
He gets kidnapped by Yami and Asta, who were walking through the capital. After that, he spots Bell, and he gets dragged along to all sorts of places.
9:00 PM – Returns home
He takes a shower… while grumbling about how utterly terrible the day was.
10:00 PM – Goes to bed
As he reflected on everything that happened today, he smiled just a bit as he fell asleep.
English Translation of Novel 3: Chapter 4 – The Hero Who Disappeared (Part 1 of 2)
I’m saving the illustration that came with this chapter for the second half since it illustrates a scene near the end, but what you see above is a picture of a Yuno card that was tucked into the pages of this chapter. The other novels didn’t come with a card, so I was surprised when I saw it.
This chapter features Yuno and William going on patrol at a festival William organizes a few days before the raid on the Eye of the Midnight Sun’s hideout. While on patrol, they run into Mereoleona, Asta, Noelle, Klaus, and Mimosa, and later they run into Yami and Charlotte. Chaos ensues.
— The Hero Who Disappeared: Part 1 —
“Welcome! For a limited time only, all magic tools are 50% off!”
“Hey, young lady! Would you like to drop by our store? I’ll make it nice and cheap for you~”
Under a clear, sunny sky, cheerful voices called out from the many stalls that were lined up as the townspeople walked among them with smiling faces. It was the square of the royal capital, the same place which served as the center of the Star Festival. Though not as large as the Star Festival, the square was filled with stalls and makeshift stages, offering the same amenities one would expect from a small festival. However, it wasn’t merchants who were manning these stalls.
“This is a magic tool endorsed by the captain of the Aqua Deer himself!! It’s a great security device!”
“This is a meat dish made by the captain of the Green Mantis! It’s delicious and nutritious!”
English Translation of Novel 3: Chapter 3 – The Sun Doesn’t Set For Troubled Women (Part 2 of 2)
Here’s the second half of the rom-com chapter! This one goes deeper into Bell’s feelings than I ever thought we would. It also gives a little reminder of how cool these girls can be before reminding us that they are still, in fact, walking disasters.
— The Sun Doesn’t Set For Troubled Women: Part 2 —
“Okay, that’s three separate purchases, right? Please wait for a moment while I wrap these.”
After explaining their circumstances to the shopkeeper and nearly a full hour of discussing things with her, they each peacefully decided on a book pouch to give as a gift.
‘We did it……,’ Charlotte and Noelle thought as they placed their hands over their chests in relief. However, for some reason, Bell sat on Noelle’s shoulder with a dissatisfied expression on her face.
“…….What’s wrong, Bell? Is there still something worrying you?”
English Translation of Novel 3: Chapter 3 – The Sun Doesn’t Set For Troubled Women (Part 1 of 2)
Here’s the rom-com chapter from Book of Yuno! Apparently, there’s a holiday called Three Leaf Day in Clover Kingdom. Because of this, Bell, Noelle, and Charlotte are looking for a gift for their special someones. Get ready for a wild a ride. This is one disastrous trio.
— The Sun Doesn’t Set For Troubled Women: Part 1 —
Three-Leaf Day.
Each leaf of the three-leaf clover has meaning attached to it: good faith, hope, and love. Three-Leaf Day is a special day which comes only once a year, where you a give a gift to someone in return for giving you at least one of these three things. That day is today. Thus, all the townspeople of every town were talking excitedly about to whom and what they were planning to give, and shopkeepers have been inviting customers to their stores with more enthusiasm than ever. It was a day which livened up the whole town…… no, the whole country.
English Translation of Novel 3: Chapter 2 – The Man Known as Julius (Part 2 of 2)
Here’s the second half of the last untranslated chapter from Book of Yuno! More Julius, Yuno, Jack, and Charlotte goodness, plus Mereoleona and Marx!
With this, Book of Yuno is now fully translated!
— The Man Known as Julius (Part 2) —
And so, in days that followed, they ran into no troubles at all. The days passed by rather smoothly…… Well, that may depend on your definition of “smooth”. As Yuno predicted, Jack and Charlotte frequently dropped by the lake, Graham still didn’t get along with Julius, and each time that happened, Bell would say something insensitive, so Yuno’s training kept getting interrupted. Though their troubles didn’t grow, his worries did.
Nevertheless, Graham’s wounds healed well, and the amount of time he spent near his parents’ tombstone steadily decreased. It would be a little lonely once they do, but, at this rate, they will be able to return Graham to the wild in a few days.
‘I have to find a safe place for him away from humans as soon as possible……’ Yuno thought as he and Bell were shopping in the village of Tonan. It was still early afternoon.
English Translation of Novel 3: Chapter 2 – The Man Known as Julius (Part 1 of 2)
Here’s the first half of the last untranslated chapter from Book of Yuno! This one features Julius, Yuno, and Bell taking care of an orphaned baby boar. It’s adorable and also a little heartbreaking! Charlotte and Jack also get to meet the lil’ guy!
Also, aside from a few tweaks at the beginning, this translation is appended to the translation of the first few pages that the Black Clover discord was kind enough to supply to me. I didn’t see any translation errors when I scanned through it and I liked the writing style of whoever did those first few pages, so a part of this translation also comes from the generous soul who had started this translation before me.
— The Man Known as Julius (Part 1) —
Julius Novachrono.
He is a man who needs no introduction, reigning over the Order of Magic Knights as the Wizard King. The entire Order moves at his command, protecting the peace of Clover Kingdom both day and night.
He himself possesses no small degree of combat ability, stationed at the top of the Order as he is, and he has led his troops to victory through countless battles. Even after ascending to his current position as the Wizard King, he continues to find his way to the battlefield, demonstrating impressive skills in all areas.
He is the hero of the Clover Kingdom, a source of inspiration for all Magic Knights – No, for all the Kingdom’s citizens.
That’s just the sort of person Julius is.
And yet, despite all of that……
Seguir leyendo
Viva el helado crj @lety-ufu - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
