Extra info from the databook and stuff, mostly just for my own reference. Also I think about the captains a lot, don't look at me. (Every time I end up in a new shounen manga I promptly gun for the trainwreck adult squad and this will be the fucking end of me someday.)
RANKED BY AGE (+ HEIGHT)
- Julius Novachrono, 42 (180cm) - Kaiser Granvorka, ??? (he big tho) - Mereoleona Vermillion, 32 (178cm) - Fuegoleon Vermillion, 30 (188cm) - Nozel Silva, 29 (177cm) - Yami Sukehiro, 28 (183cm) - Jack the Ripper, 28 (197cm) - Gueldre Poizot, 28 (194cm) - Charlotte Roselei, 27 (171cm) - Dorothy Unsworth, 27 (145cm) - William Vangeance, 26 (172cm) - Rill Boismortier, 19 (165cm)
Notes: - Huge appreciation that Mereoleona is (almost?) the oldest and nobody dares fuck with her and also she's unquestionably hot. Thank u for drinking your minimum dose of respect women juice, Tabata, I was so fucking tired of any shounen manga woman over 25 being portrayed as a distressed Christmas cake pining for a husband and shit. I want Mereoleona to rip me in half. - I knew Jack and Gueldre were big but I didn't realize Fuegoleon is also standard huge??? Oniisama ... - For some reason I thought Nozel was younger than Yami for ages, he has the face of an angry teenager. - Vangeance isn't even objectively short but most of the other captains are tall mfuckers in comparison. - Rill shouldn't you be taller ... isn't your growth spurt almost over at age 19 ...
PLACE OF ORIGIN: - Noble Realm: Julius, Vangeance, Fuegoleon, Mereoleona, Nozel, Charlotte, Rill, Gueldre - Common Realm: Jack - Land of the Sun: Yami - Witch's Forest: Dorothy
??? (Has a stat chart but it's deliberately left as a big '?')
Kaiser
??? (No basic info or stat chart)
Rill
2
5
5
3
3
Gueldre
3
5
5
3
4
Mereoleona
5
5
5
4
4
Licht (Patry)
4
5
5
4
4
- I don't really care about these stats in terms of dick-waving proofs of strength or whatever, but I feel like they're fun indications of the general direction/weaknesses/strengths that Tabata intended each of the captains to have. - That said Vangeance is actually kind of a scrawny binch, I'm gonna lose my shit. "Physical abilities" presumably encompasses both raw strength and general fitness, so I'm assuming he's in good shape but just not really reliable for actually punching someone out. - I guess the baseline for being a captain is huge capacity ... - Interesting that nobody's that good at magic sensing ... ? I feel like it was a minor point early on that Mimosa has good magic sensing, but even she's at a 4. Yuno's the only one I can find who's listed as a 5. - Why does Litch's physical strength go up a tick from William's?????
MISC. RANKINGS
CAPTAINS BY INTELLIGENCE (from vol. 13): 1. Fuegoleon 2. Nozel 3. Charlotte 4. Gueldre 5. Vangeance 6. Kaiser 7. Mereoleon 8. Dorothy 9. Rill 10. Yami 11. Jack
I feel like this is an interesting ranking in comparison to the above stats. The word used for intelligence here is 'atama no yosa (頭の良さ)', which leans more towards traditional book-type smarts, while the word used for cleverness in the rankings is 'kiten (機転)' which I guess is more an indication of how quick-witted someone is (as opposed to something like 'kashikosa (賢さ)', which is 'cleverness' but leans more towards 'intelligence'). So while someone like Fuegoleon is both quick-thinking and also really smart, Jack is probably dumb as a brick when it comes to book smarts but is still extremely adaptable and quick-witted in practical matters, as expected of a captain. In that regard Rill is kind of in trouble when it comes to smarts, which makes sense since he's the youngest and least experienced in comparison. He does seem to flounder when it comes to adaptability and authority, so I guess he was made captain out of sheer magical potential ... As expected of a youthful prodigy-type.
BEST AT HOLDING THEIR BOOZE: 1. Julius 1. Witch Queen 3. Mereoleona 4. Fuegoleon 5. Yami 5. Jack
WORST " : 1. Charlotte 2. Augustus Kira Clover 13th 3. Nozel (<- !!!)
-------------------
V. 10
Q: Characters like Yami, Yuno in his youth, and Mars are shown using magic without using their grimoires. About how much magic can be used without the use of a grimoire?
A: You can use most simple magic that doesn't have a specific purpose. Things like shooting a bullet of magical energy, injecting magic into a magical tool, simple emission and control over magical energy. If your attribute is fire, you can create fire, and if your attribute is water, you can create water, etc. If your magic capacity is higher, you can create more fire, and if your magic control is strong, you can also control the fire's movements to a certain extent.
Due to the gruesome scar on his face, Vangeance was treated as a cursed child from his early youth. Even at that time, his magical abilities were great, and he was gifted with World Tree magic. It's still unclear why he possessed such magic potential. But whatever the reason, it was that magic and his kind nature that Julius acknowledged, allowing him to join the Magic Knights.
↑ Who is that 'certain noble'? The details of his origin are still unclear.
↓ What kind of influence have his childhood experiences had on him ... ?"
I feel like this is sorta hinting that there's one more twist regarding Vangeance's lineage??? And like I know that a lot of side characters in shounen mango tend not to get their full backstory unless they're really popular since pacing and such tend to rely so heavily on popularity and/or editor intervention but ... I desperately want to know ... please feed me Tabata-sensei .......................
I actually thought long and hard about how to address Vangeance, whether to go by his given name or his surname, and sorta flipflopped between the two options a lot even while writing his app. And though I originally went by William to stick with standard English conventions, in the end, I feel like it's more true to his presentation in the manga to refer to him with his surname.
Other characters refer to Vangeance almost exclusively by his surname. Of course, for a lot of characters that's true just because he's the Golden Dawn Captain, but it's in contrast to the other captains who are often referred to by their first name (plus honorifics). Going by first name basis is obviously a necessity for characters like Fuegoleon and Nozel who share surnames with a bunch of other characters, but even characters like Charlotte and Rill who have unique surnames are addressed by given name when the captains are talking to each other. The only exceptions seem to be Yami (who goes pretty much exclusively by 'Yami') and Vangeance, who most people address by surname.
The only characters who address him as 'William' seem to be Julius, Patry and, for some reason, Fuegoleon ... ?
Obviously, Julius has known Vangeance since his childhood days, so they share a special bond; Vangeance also refers to Julius as 'Master Julius' instead of 'Wizard King' as a suggestion of some personal intimacy mingled with his tremendous respect and devotion. And he also shares a special bond with Patry, which explains the first-name basis.
I'm not entirely sure why Fuegoleon is on a first-name basis with him, but my guess would be that it's more a reflection of Fuegoleon's character than it is of Vangeance's. Fuegoleon is one of the more compassionate captains, and being one of the elders captains, might feel some level of protectiveness or warmer camaraderie towards the other younger ones. The manga doesn't go into it much, but the anime also portrays him as showing some concern for Vangeance during the Big Reveal, which really just goes to show what a good guy he is. (Sorry Fuegoleon, you didn't deserve the bullshit you got put through.)
Anyway, the bottom line is that Vangeance is probably meant to stay a little mysterious and aloof for most people, and so I stick with going by his surname in most cases. He won't shy away from being called by his given name or anything, but it'll probably feel a bit odd for him. After all, he's practically defined by his position as 'Captain of the Golden Dawn,' with very few people knowing about him as 'William Vangeance, an individual person.'
I find it so funny that the Golden Dawn is the only brigade with an official uniform, when you'd think that a royal-led brigade i.e. the Crimson Lion Kings or the Silver Eagles would be more uptight about things like dress code. I imagine the logic behind this is that Vangeance is super determined to create 'the best Magic Knight brigade' in order to support Julius as best as he can, and part of that entails creating a brigade that's highly unified and respected so that the citizens are all the more trusting of them.
Anyway, it's basically confirmed in-canon that the uniform is based heavily off the clothes that the first Wizard King, Lumiere Silvamillion Clover, was memorialized wearing. Since Vangeance was the one who established the brigade as opposed to inheriting it from another captain, I have to assume that he commissioned a uniform design that was specifically meant to emulate the first Wizard King. Attempting to bolster his brigade's image by associating them with the much-celebrated historical figure, maybe? Or maybe a roundabout way of also bolstering support for the Wizard King (i.e. Julius) by making Lumiere's image more well-known? It is a mystery.
The Golden Dawn's double-breasted shirt is mostly similar to Lumiere's except the sleeve's cuffs, with the addition of a center hem, piping around the center panel, and a black belt instead of a gold one. The pants have presumably been extended from calf-length to full-length, usually with the front crease. There seems to be some wiggle room for personal customization in thing like accessories, an individual's belt buckle design and longcloak color, but the uniform is otherwise the same across both male and female members. (With the exception of Mimosa, presumably because she's a royal and can do whatever she want, and also because she's on fanservice duty.)
All that said, I lowkey wonder if Vangeance's design is meant to have some callbacks to Julius'. Things like the color of his longcloak, the fact that it opens at the chest and not the shoulder, and the fur trim around his neck and wrist are unique to him, and are kind of reminiscent of Julius' general image. Otherwise, elements to his uniform unique to him are: blue center panel instead of red, red decorative cord instead of blue, unique cord badge, metal arm-cuffs with fur lining, metal throat-piece with fur lining, and his hideous mask. Presumably the first three are because he's captain, while the latter three are just personal choice.
The characters in the series most liked by animals are:
1. Henry Legolant 2. Yuno 3. En Ringard 4. William Vangeance 5. Zora Ideale
And like setting aside the fact that Vangeance is here, I love that it’s a fucking sausagefest for this ranking instead of being like ... 1 guy and 4 girls. Yuno is kinda expressly written to be a Gary Stu so it’s not surprising to find him in this ranking, but the others are kind of unexpected ... ?
Anyway between this and Vangeance’s ‘likes’ being listed as songbirds, I’m basically assuming he’s a lowkey Disney Princess type who’s really soft on animals and I know I’m right, don’t look at me.
Also God bless this brave and tenacious soul that mostly deciphered the written language that they use in Clover (and other countries). Basically, the language they use on the continent is basically based off cursive English, but with minor differences. If Vangeance were to ever write something in his mother tongue, then English-speakers could probably squint and kinda-sorta parse it, probably? We never hear what the language sounds like when spoken, obviously, but I'm just gonna assume it sounds kinda like a bastardized romance language.
From what I can tell, the lettering system is far less consistent in the manga so I'm happy to just handwave and say the system in the anime is pretty much accurate.
Important annual dates: - Mid-March - grimoire ceremony - Early(?) April - Star Festival - several days after Star Festival (Early April?) - Three Leaf Day - September - Knights exam
After so much (too much) internal debate, I've decided that the Clover Kingdom doesn't celebrate Christmas.
1. Because I don't even want to think about how Jesus fits into this dumb fantasyland, it's already stupid enough that they have Catholic-style priests and nuns without ever clearly defining who these churches worship (just a generic God???) and
2. The mini-arc involving rescuing the children leading into the cave fight with Licht is kicked off by Marie's birthday, which is stated to be December 21st, and finishes within one or two days (presumably) but no mention or visual cue is ever given for anything Christmas-y. I feel like, if nothing else, Gauche would have said something about bringing double the gift haul for Christmas AND Marie's birthday given the date, but since there was nothing, I'm taking this as an excuse to pretend there's no Christmas, yeehaw.
That said, given the Clover Kingdom's highly European inspiration, I'm assuming that they celebrate a sort of knockoff-Christmas, watered-down Yule -- wishing each other health and good luck, reflecting on and being thankful for the past year, a Midwinter Feast, a small exchange of gifts (though nothing as formal or extravagant as Christmas).
Edited 2020-12-01 15:10 (UTC)
regarding Three Leaf Day (because I find it unbearably cute)
Snippets from the light novel taken from Blazardragon's translations, part 1 and part 2:
---
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.
---
“I-I’m telling the truth! I’m just giving him a gift out of courtesy, like during Valentine’s Day!”
“Jeez~, I get it, okay? You’re so stubborn!”
Oh god they have Valentine's Day
---
“If you put it like that, then I cannot refuse you…… Ah! Aah, that’s right! A few days ago, during the Star Festival, I ended up owing a small debt to Yami! I’d hate to leave it unpaid, so maybe I should buy him something…… Ha ha, this is a good opportunity, after all. Let’s do it.”
So a few days after the Star Festival, which probably takes place in April.
---
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
Sandler said, turning around to leave, but……
“Ah, could you wait just a moment?”
Vangeance opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a small box. He went out of his way to walk to where Sandler was standing, and said as he held the box.
“Thank you for everything, Alecdora. Will you please accept this?”
“………V-Vangeance-sama, this is……?”
Sandler stammered, overcome with surprise. Vangeance informed him with a smile behind his mask,
“Today is Three-Leaf Day, isn’t it? You’re always trying your best, so I wanted to thank you for that. Well, this isn’t all that valuable, but……”
“N-no…… that’s no problem at all. I gratefully accept.”
Man I know this is absolutely just me 500% overthinking things for my oshi (as you do), but Vangeance's situation was just ... the most horrible perfect storm of circumstances for absolutely destroying who he is as an individual and it messes me up so good.
It's not exactly clear how Vangeance lived in the Forsaken Realm, but he's always shown alone. I have to assume that his father put some stake into ensuring his survival as a backup heir candidate, so maybe he got dunked into some sort of orphanage? Left with a caretaker who only ensured his physical survival and not much else? Either way, there was only loneliness and survival, and the only thing he had to sustain himself was ... a mission. Not any sort of kindness shown to him, or something to look forward to, but duty -- the knowledge that he was the only thing standing between a weaker being and death.
And it's so fucking depressing that Patry didn't even awaken until years later, because that means the devotion was almost completely one-sided. All Patry did was sit there, sleeping, radiating hatred and rage and grief, but Vangeance knew that this person was weak and suffering, and so he defined his own existence in terms of protection and kindness. Everyone hates him because of his face, which isn't even his fault, he's constantly called cursed and hideous so he has no reason to value himself as a person, life in the Forsaken Realm is hard and shit sucks, but there's just one thing in his life that he does have some meager amount of control over, and it's the fact that 'I need to live because that is the only thing keeping this other hurt person alive, which is just ... such a heavy fucking burden for a child. But it's all he had, and so he clung to it.
From ages 0 to almost-8, Vangeance would have defined himself purely as 1) something disgusting and cursed and 2) Patry's protector.
And at age 8 he finally earn another identifier, and it's 3) heir replacement. He knows he's only a last resort, that he's only accepted as his father's son because the original and ideal candidate died, and that his foster mother fucking hates him.
(As an adult he probably has a better understanding that she was likely also angry because he was proof of his father's infidelity, and that this was a woman who was grieving the loss of her son, but still. For someone as generally gentle as him to use the word "hellish" to describe his childhood, he definitely knows that what was done to him is unforgivable, and it was probably ... pretty bad.)
We know that he was subject to physical violence once he was taken in as a noble, but I feel like, given he spent his earliest years in the Forsaken Realm and now has the most impeccable Knightly presentation as an adult, his childhood from ages 8 to 15 mostly entailed training to be the noble heir. Because that was the only reason he was taken in, after all. His foster mother beat and abused and trained him, molding him into something that would even stand a chance at being a worthy replacement of her son (although she'd still never accept him, because that's how grief and anger and hierarchical standards work), and Vangeance continued to accept that his only worth as a human being is in terms of duty. Duty to Patry, and duty to his family.
And it's fucken tragic that even when he does finally meet someone kind, it's Julius, who tells him, "You have value as someone with the strength and ability to protect others!"
I feel like Julius is generally presented as the Big Good of the series, but he also has his limits, both in terms of his ideals and what he accomplishes. He can be a little self-centered in his thinking, he's definitely capable of killing in order to do his job, and he's ultimately too focused on his goal of country-wise reform in order to notice smaller-scale problems (like the rampant classism in the Order, the turmoil within royal families, Vangeance's whole two-souls dilemma, etc). And I don't doubt that Julius was genuinely kind and nurturing to Vangeance, but I feel like just the fact that for Vangeance, who's already couched his entire existence in terms of protecting and serving others, for the first good influence in his life to also define him in terms of his duties to others, that just cements his mindset that he has no inherent value. If even Julius -- the kindest, wisest, most generous person he's ever met (because he's never met a decent person before in his fucking life) -- tells him that his purpose in life must be service towards others, then it must be true.
Vangeance, age thirteen, decides he'll swear his life to the first person who was ever kind to him, because all he's ever known is devoting himself to others -- to Patry, to his family, and now to Julius.
So when Patry finally awakens and the true crux of his dilemma emerges, it suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.
Vangeance really is a gentle person at his core, I think. The fact that he survived his childhood purely out of the desire to protect someone else really shows that he's a dutiful and kind person at his core, who cares deeply about the wellbeing of others. The official materials and narration in the lightnovel always insist that he's kind, he's gentle, he cares, he likes children, he wants to protect people, he really does. I feel like in that respect, Julius' initial assessment of his magic being an embodiment of "wanting to kindly protect others" isn't incorrect.
But even if he loves and cherishes people, and doesn't really want to raze the Kingdom to the ground, he can't just deny Patry because Vangeance has defined himself as a protector, and Patry is the person he's protected all his life.
Like ... how soul-crushing would that prospect be? You don't give a shit about yourself as an individual except in the context of being able to protect others, and then you're put in a position where maybe, just maybe, there's a possibility that 'the right choice' is to backstab the one person whose pain you empathize with the most, who you wouldn't be alive without (because protecting Patry was the only thing that kept him alive long enough to meet Julius), who you've always known and and cherished and protected, who was the sole reason for your existence in your earliest years. Black Clover plays coy with the word 'love' because it's ultimately shounenshit, but I feel like it's so obvious that Vangeance truly loves Patry with his entire heart and soul, probably not in a romantic sense but in terms of valuing him above all else. Because Patry is the encapsulation of why he's even alive, and Patry was the only one in his life he was allowed to hold dear for the longest time, and he knows as an absolute truth that Patry deserves so much better than the miserable fate he was handed.
And I think a lot about how things might have been different if Vangeance had had even one or two more kind people in his life, who told him he had value beyond what he could do for others. Because then he might have been able to stand up to Patry when he first awoke, and better insist that "humans are capable of being good, actually," and be able to stomach the thought of hurting Patry, because that wouldn't be the be-all and end-all to one of the two pillars of his raison d'être. But he didn't. So Vangeance knows deep in his bones just how shitty humanity can be (and has been to him for his entire childhood, with the sole exception of Julius, up until the day he just started wearing a mask), and also he's desperate not to betray Patry, so when Patry declares that the Kingdom has to burn, Vangeance has the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair and buckles.
The fact that the betrayal wasn't even a full betrayal -- that he couldn't just fully side with Patry and shank Julius in the back and peace out, because he does ultimately love and respect Julius so so so much -- is honestly the kicker, because it's what really just incinerates his final dregs of self-worth.
It's ten years that Vangeance spent playing both sides. Ten years of accepting Patry's burning vitriol and hatred towards humanity, while also fighting every day to protect humans in Julius' honor. And it wasn't like he could cleanly divide the time he spent supporting Patry vs. the time he spent supporting Julius, the line is so blurred that that slow betrayal is steeped into every aspect of his life. The Golden Dawn is a powerful brigade that's earned so much merit and that has done so much for the people, but also it's an incubator for a bunch of elf vessels. Vangeance can't ever just leave Patry behind, because Patry and he are one and the same, but he's become such a national hero that there's no way to dissociate himself from his identity as Grand Magic Knight, either. Not to mention how closely Patry's plan was tied into Vangeance's status and privilege as a Captain.
Those ten years must have completely eroded his ability to self-identify as a protector of the people, since he was a traitor to his Kingdom and race, leaving him with only his loyalties to his two most cherished people ... and even that, he wasn't allowed to retain, because he'd ultimately lose one or the other. And I think that's why, in the end, he couldn't choose. It was a boiling-frog situation where he allowed himself smaller betrayals against the Kingdom at first (the Kingdom that he knows has so horrendously wronged Patry, and that was so cruel to him in his formative years), telling himself that any one of those actions was more forgivable than the absolute crime of betraying his literal soulmate, who had genuinely been wronged by humankind. First just secretly harboring post-awakening Patry, and then sympathizing with his cause, and then forming the Golden Dawn with members who could serve as elf vessels, and then finally starting to allow Patry to act as 'Licht.' But with each betrayal, he could no longer call himself any sort of true protector, increasingly just a lying traitor, eroding his sense of identity bit by bit, leaving him with nothing to sincerely call his own except his devotion to the two people he loves most -- Patry and Julius. His dearest friend, and his benefactor and father figure. And finally, he's fully cornered, and has to accept that they can no longer coexist in any capacity. They will fight, and one of them will probably die.
And I think the pain would have been further magnified by the fact that Vangeance isn't oblivious to what he's doing. Vangeance, fully aware that every single path of action he could take would hurt someone he cherished, tried desperately to walk the middle ground in hopes that some miracle would manifest and stop the slow-moving trainwreck of his life. But he also would have known that no miracle would manifest, and he should have just made his choice, but maybe, but maybe. Every time he hurt someone would have been a fresh regret to add to the pile, and every addition to that pile would have made him all the more desperate not to hurt the people he did have remaining, and so the vicious cycle went for ten years.
Vangeance is a fucking coward who couldn't choose who to be loyal to, and I do think a part of his cowardice is selfish. Selfish because it's driven by elements of self-preservation, of the desperate desire to protect the people important to him, because they were all he had for the longest time. And he's aware of all this, Vangeance knows exactly what he did wrong, but he still can't stop himself, and because of that he truly hates himself. He grew up surrounded by people hating on him and was sustained only by his desire and ability to protect, but now that he knows he's failed even in that aspect, to his subordinates, to the Kingdom, to the most important people in his life, there's no reason for him to disagree with all those people who said he's just some cursed thing.
There's something really fucking sad about the fact that his 'last words' in both the manga and the light novels ("Perhaps I'll be forgiven for praying, at least ... ?") are pleas to a higher being ... for the sake of those he'll be leaving behind. Because to the end, he doesn't consider himself something worth saving, and all he wants is for those he cherishes to be safe and happy. And since he's failed to protect those people, all he can do (if he's even permitted that luxury, as a coward and a traitor and the worst sort of human being) is pray that someone else will be able to protect them better than he did.
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RANKED BY AGE (+ HEIGHT)
- Julius Novachrono, 42 (180cm)
- Kaiser Granvorka, ??? (he big tho)
- Mereoleona Vermillion, 32 (178cm)
- Fuegoleon Vermillion, 30 (188cm)
- Nozel Silva, 29 (177cm)
- Yami Sukehiro, 28 (183cm)
- Jack the Ripper, 28 (197cm)
- Gueldre Poizot, 28 (194cm)
- Charlotte Roselei, 27 (171cm)
- Dorothy Unsworth, 27 (145cm)
- William Vangeance, 26 (172cm)
- Rill Boismortier, 19 (165cm)
Notes:
- Huge appreciation that Mereoleona is (almost?) the oldest and nobody dares fuck with her and also she's unquestionably hot. Thank u for drinking your minimum dose of respect women juice, Tabata, I was so fucking tired of any shounen manga woman over 25 being portrayed as a distressed Christmas cake pining for a husband and shit. I want Mereoleona to rip me in half.
- I knew Jack and Gueldre were big but I didn't realize Fuegoleon is also standard huge??? Oniisama ...
- For some reason I thought Nozel was younger than Yami for ages, he has the face of an angry teenager.
- Vangeance isn't even objectively short but most of the other captains are tall mfuckers in comparison.
- Rill shouldn't you be taller ... isn't your growth spurt almost over at age 19 ...
PLACE OF ORIGIN:
- Noble Realm: Julius, Vangeance, Fuegoleon, Mereoleona, Nozel, Charlotte, Rill, Gueldre
- Common Realm: Jack
- Land of the Sun: Yami
- Witch's Forest: Dorothy
STAT BULLSHIT:
[ Physical abilities | Magic amount | Magic control | Magic sensing | Cleverness ]
- I don't really care about these stats in terms of dick-waving proofs of strength or whatever, but I feel like they're fun indications of the general direction/weaknesses/strengths that Tabata intended each of the captains to have.
- That said Vangeance is actually kind of a scrawny binch, I'm gonna lose my shit. "Physical abilities" presumably encompasses both raw strength and general fitness, so I'm assuming he's in good shape but just not really reliable for actually punching someone out.
- I guess the baseline for being a captain is huge capacity ...
- Interesting that nobody's that good at magic sensing ... ? I feel like it was a minor point early on that Mimosa has good magic sensing, but even she's at a 4. Yuno's the only one I can find who's listed as a 5.
- Why does Litch's physical strength go up a tick from William's?????
MISC. RANKINGS
CAPTAINS BY INTELLIGENCE (from vol. 13):
1. Fuegoleon
2. Nozel
3. Charlotte
4. Gueldre
5. Vangeance
6. Kaiser
7. Mereoleon
8. Dorothy
9. Rill
10. Yami
11. Jack
I feel like this is an interesting ranking in comparison to the above stats. The word used for intelligence here is 'atama no yosa (頭の良さ)', which leans more towards traditional book-type smarts, while the word used for cleverness in the rankings is 'kiten (機転)' which I guess is more an indication of how quick-witted someone is (as opposed to something like 'kashikosa (賢さ)', which is 'cleverness' but leans more towards 'intelligence'). So while someone like Fuegoleon is both quick-thinking and also really smart, Jack is probably dumb as a brick when it comes to book smarts but is still extremely adaptable and quick-witted in practical matters, as expected of a captain. In that regard Rill is kind of in trouble when it comes to smarts, which makes sense since he's the youngest and least experienced in comparison. He does seem to flounder when it comes to adaptability and authority, so I guess he was made captain out of sheer magical potential ... As expected of a youthful prodigy-type.
BEST AT HOLDING THEIR BOOZE:
1. Julius
1. Witch Queen
3. Mereoleona
4. Fuegoleon
5. Yami
5. Jack
WORST " :
1. Charlotte
2. Augustus Kira Clover 13th
3. Nozel (<- !!!)
-------------------
V. 10
Q: Characters like Yami, Yuno in his youth, and Mars are shown using magic without using their grimoires. About how much magic can be used without the use of a grimoire?
A: You can use most simple magic that doesn't have a specific purpose. Things like shooting a bullet of magical energy, injecting magic into a magical tool, simple emission and control over magical energy. If your attribute is fire, you can create fire, and if your attribute is water, you can create water, etc. If your magic capacity is higher, you can create more fire, and if your magic control is strong, you can also control the fire's movements to a certain extent.
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NNGH ..................................
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"The Life of the Cursed Child
Due to the gruesome scar on his face, Vangeance was treated as a cursed child from his early youth. Even at that time, his magical abilities were great, and he was gifted with World Tree magic. It's still unclear why he possessed such magic potential. But whatever the reason, it was that magic and his kind nature that Julius acknowledged, allowing him to join the Magic Knights.
↑ Who is that 'certain noble'? The details of his origin are still unclear.
↓ What kind of influence have his childhood experiences had on him ... ?"
I feel like this is sorta hinting that there's one more twist regarding Vangeance's lineage??? And like I know that a lot of side characters in shounen mango tend not to get their full backstory unless they're really popular since pacing and such tend to rely so heavily on popularity and/or editor intervention but ... I desperately want to know ... please feed me Tabata-sensei .......................
regarding vangeance's name
Other characters refer to Vangeance almost exclusively by his surname. Of course, for a lot of characters that's true just because he's the Golden Dawn Captain, but it's in contrast to the other captains who are often referred to by their first name (plus honorifics). Going by first name basis is obviously a necessity for characters like Fuegoleon and Nozel who share surnames with a bunch of other characters, but even characters like Charlotte and Rill who have unique surnames are addressed by given name when the captains are talking to each other. The only exceptions seem to be Yami (who goes pretty much exclusively by 'Yami') and Vangeance, who most people address by surname.
The only characters who address him as 'William' seem to be Julius, Patry and, for some reason, Fuegoleon ... ?
Obviously, Julius has known Vangeance since his childhood days, so they share a special bond; Vangeance also refers to Julius as 'Master Julius' instead of 'Wizard King' as a suggestion of some personal intimacy mingled with his tremendous respect and devotion. And he also shares a special bond with Patry, which explains the first-name basis.
I'm not entirely sure why Fuegoleon is on a first-name basis with him, but my guess would be that it's more a reflection of Fuegoleon's character than it is of Vangeance's. Fuegoleon is one of the more compassionate captains, and being one of the elders captains, might feel some level of protectiveness or warmer camaraderie towards the other younger ones. The manga doesn't go into it much, but the anime also portrays him as showing some concern for Vangeance during the Big Reveal, which really just goes to show what a good guy he is. (Sorry Fuegoleon, you didn't deserve the bullshit you got put through.)
Anyway, the bottom line is that Vangeance is probably meant to stay a little mysterious and aloof for most people, and so I stick with going by his surname in most cases. He won't shy away from being called by his given name or anything, but it'll probably feel a bit odd for him. After all, he's practically defined by his position as 'Captain of the Golden Dawn,' with very few people knowing about him as 'William Vangeance, an individual person.'
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Grimoire cover and spine.
Sample page.
on the golden dawn uniform
Anyway, it's basically confirmed in-canon that the uniform is based heavily off the clothes that the first Wizard King, Lumiere Silvamillion Clover, was memorialized wearing. Since Vangeance was the one who established the brigade as opposed to inheriting it from another captain, I have to assume that he commissioned a uniform design that was specifically meant to emulate the first Wizard King. Attempting to bolster his brigade's image by associating them with the much-celebrated historical figure, maybe? Or maybe a roundabout way of also bolstering support for the Wizard King (i.e. Julius) by making Lumiere's image more well-known? It is a mystery.
The Golden Dawn's double-breasted shirt is mostly similar to Lumiere's except the sleeve's cuffs, with the addition of a center hem, piping around the center panel, and a black belt instead of a gold one. The pants have presumably been extended from calf-length to full-length, usually with the front crease. There seems to be some wiggle room for personal customization in thing like accessories, an individual's belt buckle design and longcloak color, but the uniform is otherwise the same across both male and female members. (With the exception of Mimosa, presumably because she's a royal and can do whatever she want, and also because she's on fanservice duty.)
All that said, I lowkey wonder if Vangeance's design is meant to have some callbacks to Julius'. Things like the color of his longcloak, the fact that it opens at the chest and not the shoulder, and the fur trim around his neck and wrist are unique to him, and are kind of reminiscent of Julius' general image. Otherwise, elements to his uniform unique to him are: blue center panel instead of red, red decorative cord instead of blue, unique cord badge, metal arm-cuffs with fur lining, metal throat-piece with fur lining, and his hideous mask. Presumably the first three are because he's captain, while the latter three are just personal choice.
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The characters in the series most liked by animals are:
1. Henry Legolant
2. Yuno
3. En Ringard
4. William Vangeance
5. Zora Ideale
And like setting aside the fact that Vangeance is here, I love that it’s a fucking sausagefest for this ranking instead of being like ... 1 guy and 4 girls. Yuno is kinda expressly written to be a Gary Stu so it’s not surprising to find him in this ranking, but the others are kind of unexpected ... ?
Anyway between this and Vangeance’s ‘likes’ being listed as songbirds, I’m basically assuming he’s a lowkey Disney Princess type who’s really soft on animals and I know I’m right, don’t look at me.
regarding language
(From volume 9, ch. 75 omake)
Also God bless this brave and tenacious soul that mostly deciphered the written language that they use in Clover (and other countries). Basically, the language they use on the continent is basically based off cursive English, but with minor differences. If Vangeance were to ever write something in his mother tongue, then English-speakers could probably squint and kinda-sorta parse it, probably? We never hear what the language sounds like when spoken, obviously, but I'm just gonna assume it sounds kinda like a bastardized romance language.
From what I can tell, the lettering system is far less consistent in the manga so I'm happy to just handwave and say the system in the anime is pretty much accurate.
timeline nonsense
Timeline of canon-specific events
Important annual dates:
- Mid-March - grimoire ceremony
- Early(?) April - Star Festival
- several days after Star Festival (Early April?) - Three Leaf Day
- September - Knights exam
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1. Because I don't even want to think about how Jesus fits into this dumb fantasyland, it's already stupid enough that they have Catholic-style priests and nuns without ever clearly defining who these churches worship (just a generic God???) and
2. The mini-arc involving rescuing the children leading into the cave fight with Licht is kicked off by Marie's birthday, which is stated to be December 21st, and finishes within one or two days (presumably) but no mention or visual cue is ever given for anything Christmas-y. I feel like, if nothing else, Gauche would have said something about bringing double the gift haul for Christmas AND Marie's birthday given the date, but since there was nothing, I'm taking this as an excuse to pretend there's no Christmas, yeehaw.
That said, given the Clover Kingdom's highly European inspiration, I'm assuming that they celebrate a sort of knockoff-Christmas, watered-down Yule -- wishing each other health and good luck, reflecting on and being thankful for the past year, a Midwinter Feast, a small exchange of gifts (though nothing as formal or extravagant as Christmas).
regarding Three Leaf Day (because I find it unbearably cute)
---
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.
---
“I-I’m telling the truth! I’m just giving him a gift out of courtesy, like during Valentine’s Day!”
“Jeez~, I get it, okay? You’re so stubborn!”
Oh god they have Valentine's Day
---
“If you put it like that, then I cannot refuse you…… Ah! Aah, that’s right! A few days ago, during the Star Festival, I ended up owing a small debt to Yami! I’d hate to leave it unpaid, so maybe I should buy him something…… Ha ha, this is a good opportunity, after all. Let’s do it.”
So a few days after the Star Festival, which probably takes place in April.
---
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
Sandler said, turning around to leave, but……
“Ah, could you wait just a moment?”
Vangeance opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a small box. He went out of his way to walk to where Sandler was standing, and said as he held the box.
“Thank you for everything, Alecdora. Will you please accept this?”
“………V-Vangeance-sama, this is……?”
Sandler stammered, overcome with surprise. Vangeance informed him with a smile behind his mask,
“Today is Three-Leaf Day, isn’t it? You’re always trying your best, so I wanted to thank you for that. Well, this isn’t all that valuable, but……”
“N-no…… that’s no problem at all. I gratefully accept.”
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he says it so nicely ...................
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It's not exactly clear how Vangeance lived in the Forsaken Realm, but he's always shown alone. I have to assume that his father put some stake into ensuring his survival as a backup heir candidate, so maybe he got dunked into some sort of orphanage? Left with a caretaker who only ensured his physical survival and not much else? Either way, there was only loneliness and survival, and the only thing he had to sustain himself was ... a mission. Not any sort of kindness shown to him, or something to look forward to, but duty -- the knowledge that he was the only thing standing between a weaker being and death.
And it's so fucking depressing that Patry didn't even awaken until years later, because that means the devotion was almost completely one-sided. All Patry did was sit there, sleeping, radiating hatred and rage and grief, but Vangeance knew that this person was weak and suffering, and so he defined his own existence in terms of protection and kindness. Everyone hates him because of his face, which isn't even his fault, he's constantly called cursed and hideous so he has no reason to value himself as a person, life in the Forsaken Realm is hard and shit sucks, but there's just one thing in his life that he does have some meager amount of control over, and it's the fact that 'I need to live because that is the only thing keeping this other hurt person alive, which is just ... such a heavy fucking burden for a child. But it's all he had, and so he clung to it.
From ages 0 to almost-8, Vangeance would have defined himself purely as 1) something disgusting and cursed and 2) Patry's protector.
And at age 8 he finally earn another identifier, and it's 3) heir replacement. He knows he's only a last resort, that he's only accepted as his father's son because the original and ideal candidate died, and that his foster mother fucking hates him.
(As an adult he probably has a better understanding that she was likely also angry because he was proof of his father's infidelity, and that this was a woman who was grieving the loss of her son, but still. For someone as generally gentle as him to use the word "hellish" to describe his childhood, he definitely knows that what was done to him is unforgivable, and it was probably ... pretty bad.)
We know that he was subject to physical violence once he was taken in as a noble, but I feel like, given he spent his earliest years in the Forsaken Realm and now has the most impeccable Knightly presentation as an adult, his childhood from ages 8 to 15 mostly entailed training to be the noble heir. Because that was the only reason he was taken in, after all. His foster mother beat and abused and trained him, molding him into something that would even stand a chance at being a worthy replacement of her son (although she'd still never accept him, because that's how grief and anger and hierarchical standards work), and Vangeance continued to accept that his only worth as a human being is in terms of duty. Duty to Patry, and duty to his family.
And it's fucken tragic that even when he does finally meet someone kind, it's Julius, who tells him, "You have value as someone with the strength and ability to protect others!"
I feel like Julius is generally presented as the Big Good of the series, but he also has his limits, both in terms of his ideals and what he accomplishes. He can be a little self-centered in his thinking, he's definitely capable of killing in order to do his job, and he's ultimately too focused on his goal of country-wise reform in order to notice smaller-scale problems (like the rampant classism in the Order, the turmoil within royal families, Vangeance's whole two-souls dilemma, etc). And I don't doubt that Julius was genuinely kind and nurturing to Vangeance, but I feel like just the fact that for Vangeance, who's already couched his entire existence in terms of protecting and serving others, for the first good influence in his life to also define him in terms of his duties to others, that just cements his mindset that he has no inherent value. If even Julius -- the kindest, wisest, most generous person he's ever met (because he's never met a decent person before in his fucking life) -- tells him that his purpose in life must be service towards others, then it must be true.
Vangeance, age thirteen, decides he'll swear his life to the first person who was ever kind to him, because all he's ever known is devoting himself to others -- to Patry, to his family, and now to Julius.
So when Patry finally awakens and the true crux of his dilemma emerges, it suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.
Vangeance really is a gentle person at his core, I think. The fact that he survived his childhood purely out of the desire to protect someone else really shows that he's a dutiful and kind person at his core, who cares deeply about the wellbeing of others. The official materials and narration in the lightnovel always insist that he's kind, he's gentle, he cares, he likes children, he wants to protect people, he really does. I feel like in that respect, Julius' initial assessment of his magic being an embodiment of "wanting to kindly protect others" isn't incorrect.
But even if he loves and cherishes people, and doesn't really want to raze the Kingdom to the ground, he can't just deny Patry because Vangeance has defined himself as a protector, and Patry is the person he's protected all his life.
Like ... how soul-crushing would that prospect be? You don't give a shit about yourself as an individual except in the context of being able to protect others, and then you're put in a position where maybe, just maybe, there's a possibility that 'the right choice' is to backstab the one person whose pain you empathize with the most, who you wouldn't be alive without (because protecting Patry was the only thing that kept him alive long enough to meet Julius), who you've always known and and cherished and protected, who was the sole reason for your existence in your earliest years. Black Clover plays coy with the word 'love' because it's ultimately shounenshit, but I feel like it's so obvious that Vangeance truly loves Patry with his entire heart and soul, probably not in a romantic sense but in terms of valuing him above all else. Because Patry is the encapsulation of why he's even alive, and Patry was the only one in his life he was allowed to hold dear for the longest time, and he knows as an absolute truth that Patry deserves so much better than the miserable fate he was handed.
And I think a lot about how things might have been different if Vangeance had had even one or two more kind people in his life, who told him he had value beyond what he could do for others. Because then he might have been able to stand up to Patry when he first awoke, and better insist that "humans are capable of being good, actually," and be able to stomach the thought of hurting Patry, because that wouldn't be the be-all and end-all to one of the two pillars of his raison d'être. But he didn't. So Vangeance knows deep in his bones just how shitty humanity can be (and has been to him for his entire childhood, with the sole exception of Julius, up until the day he just started wearing a mask), and also he's desperate not to betray Patry, so when Patry declares that the Kingdom has to burn, Vangeance has the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair and buckles.
The fact that the betrayal wasn't even a full betrayal -- that he couldn't just fully side with Patry and shank Julius in the back and peace out, because he does ultimately love and respect Julius so so so much -- is honestly the kicker, because it's what really just incinerates his final dregs of self-worth.
It's ten years that Vangeance spent playing both sides. Ten years of accepting Patry's burning vitriol and hatred towards humanity, while also fighting every day to protect humans in Julius' honor. And it wasn't like he could cleanly divide the time he spent supporting Patry vs. the time he spent supporting Julius, the line is so blurred that that slow betrayal is steeped into every aspect of his life. The Golden Dawn is a powerful brigade that's earned so much merit and that has done so much for the people, but also it's an incubator for a bunch of elf vessels. Vangeance can't ever just leave Patry behind, because Patry and he are one and the same, but he's become such a national hero that there's no way to dissociate himself from his identity as Grand Magic Knight, either. Not to mention how closely Patry's plan was tied into Vangeance's status and privilege as a Captain.
Those ten years must have completely eroded his ability to self-identify as a protector of the people, since he was a traitor to his Kingdom and race, leaving him with only his loyalties to his two most cherished people ... and even that, he wasn't allowed to retain, because he'd ultimately lose one or the other. And I think that's why, in the end, he couldn't choose. It was a boiling-frog situation where he allowed himself smaller betrayals against the Kingdom at first (the Kingdom that he knows has so horrendously wronged Patry, and that was so cruel to him in his formative years), telling himself that any one of those actions was more forgivable than the absolute crime of betraying his literal soulmate, who had genuinely been wronged by humankind. First just secretly harboring post-awakening Patry, and then sympathizing with his cause, and then forming the Golden Dawn with members who could serve as elf vessels, and then finally starting to allow Patry to act as 'Licht.' But with each betrayal, he could no longer call himself any sort of true protector, increasingly just a lying traitor, eroding his sense of identity bit by bit, leaving him with nothing to sincerely call his own except his devotion to the two people he loves most -- Patry and Julius. His dearest friend, and his benefactor and father figure. And finally, he's fully cornered, and has to accept that they can no longer coexist in any capacity. They will fight, and one of them will probably die.
And I think the pain would have been further magnified by the fact that Vangeance isn't oblivious to what he's doing. Vangeance, fully aware that every single path of action he could take would hurt someone he cherished, tried desperately to walk the middle ground in hopes that some miracle would manifest and stop the slow-moving trainwreck of his life. But he also would have known that no miracle would manifest, and he should have just made his choice, but maybe, but maybe. Every time he hurt someone would have been a fresh regret to add to the pile, and every addition to that pile would have made him all the more desperate not to hurt the people he did have remaining, and so the vicious cycle went for ten years.
Vangeance is a fucking coward who couldn't choose who to be loyal to, and I do think a part of his cowardice is selfish. Selfish because it's driven by elements of self-preservation, of the desperate desire to protect the people important to him, because they were all he had for the longest time. And he's aware of all this, Vangeance knows exactly what he did wrong, but he still can't stop himself, and because of that he truly hates himself. He grew up surrounded by people hating on him and was sustained only by his desire and ability to protect, but now that he knows he's failed even in that aspect, to his subordinates, to the Kingdom, to the most important people in his life, there's no reason for him to disagree with all those people who said he's just some cursed thing.
There's something really fucking sad about the fact that his 'last words' in both the manga and the light novels ("Perhaps I'll be forgiven for praying, at least ... ?") are pleas to a higher being ... for the sake of those he'll be leaving behind. Because to the end, he doesn't consider himself something worth saving, and all he wants is for those he cherishes to be safe and happy. And since he's failed to protect those people, all he can do (if he's even permitted that luxury, as a coward and a traitor and the worst sort of human being) is pray that someone else will be able to protect them better than he did.
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