Dragon Slayers
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The Dragon Slayers (also: Dragonslayers, Ryuugekitai) are fictional characters from the anime television series The Vision of Escaflowne. In the series, they are a group of elite soldiers who can fight with swords, but whose area of expertise is piloting guymelefs, which are giant-sized battle robots (also known as mecha). They are typically considered to be part of the "villain" side of the story, however they are not evil; they simply are allied with the antagonists.
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[edit] Job Description
The Dragonslayers are an elite group of young soldiers and guymelef pilots in the Zaibach army. They pilot Alseides-model guymelefs equipped with liquid metal launching Crima Claws, stealth cloaks that turn their guymelefs invisible, and flight capabilities. Their primary task in the series is to hunt down and capture the Ispano-made guymelef Escaflowne and its pilot, King Van Fanel of Fanelia (protagonist of the series).
Their uniforms are a black outer jacket and pants made from a type of water-repellent material (presumably because their guymelef cockpits fill with some sort of hydraulic fluid when they operate them) over which they wear distinct dark blue armour and boots.
The exact number of Dragonslayers is hard to put down, as eighteen or so are seen when they are first introduced, though fourteen are later seen in one place, and fifteen are seen later when they are assembled again. During one scene, as many as thirty have been seen. Fifteen is the most commonly accepted number of Dragonslayers.
[edit] Command and Affiliation
Though they are under the direct command of Dilandau Albatou, they are part of the greater Red Copper Army which is in turn a division of the Zaibach Army. This places them nominally under the command of General Adelphos, and Strategos Folken Fanel (brother of Van Fanel and traitor to his country). However, the Dragonslayers are fanatically loyal to Dilandau alone and will heed his orders regardless of the orders of anyone else.
Zaibach itself is a country in the fictional world of Gaea.
[edit] The Six
All the Slayers are young men, presumed to be about the same age as their commander, placing them between the ages of 14-16.
Regardless of their numbers, only six Dragonslayers are ever named in the series: Gatty, Chesta, Dallet, Guimel, Viole, and Miguel Lavariel (the only one given a last name). Several alternate spellings of these names exist.
There is debate over who is Dilandau's second-in-command, if anyone at all, but most fans believe that it is either Gatty or Shesta.
[edit] Dallet, Guimel, & Viole
Though these Slayers are given names, none of them have more than one or two spoken lines in the series.
other spellings include: Dalet, and Biore (for Viole).
[edit] Gatti
Gatti is a Slayer with light brown hair and blue eyes. He is, like all the other Slayers, extremely loyal to Dilandau and cares greatly for his commander's well-being. He is not afraid to speak his mind to his commander, even though it almost always earns him a beating. Evidence of this can be seen in various scenes:
- As the unit pursues Escaflowne, they reach a point where they will have to fly in order to continue their chase. Gatti reminds Dilandau that they cannot use their stealth cloaks in flight-mode. He's knocked down and told to remedy that problem by "[killing] anyone who sees [him]."
- Dilandau is picking at a wound on his face and Gatti nervously tells him that he should perhaps not "touch the wound like that." Dilandau punches him and throws him to the ground.
Gatti also gets messenger duty, as seen when he reads the message from General Adelphos to Dilandau. Apparently, Dilandau has never heard the phrase "don't shoot the messenger" because he slaps Gatti when he reads something Dilandau disagrees with.
(also spelled as: Gatty)
[edit] Chesta
Chesta has blonde hair and blue eyes and is the shortest of the Slayers. The idea that he has a timid or "soft" personality in comparison to the other soldiers is a misconception as there is no evidence of this in the series. There is also no evidence that he is a poor swordsman. While he is quickly bested by Allen Schezar in a one-on-one fight in an early episode, one must keep in mind that Allen is several years older, has received extensive training from Balgus, and is a Knight of Asturia (which may have led to more training in swordsmanship).
[edit] Miguel Lavariel
Miguel has floppy brown hair and blue eyes.
A common fan-belief is that Miguel is smart because he is the only Slayer to come to the conclusion that Hitomi has the power to see the Guymelefs even when they are in invisible mode. His behavior when captured (and taunted) by the enemy is generally aloof and sullenly defiant.
Despite any superior intelligence he may have, his loyalty and desire to please Dilandau eventually overrides any common sense he has and gets him killed. In episode 9, Miguel is imprisoned in the dungeons of Freid and is to be interrogated by the Priest Plaktu, who can extract information from his mind via hypnosis. Fearing that Zaibach’s upcoming invasion of Freid will be uncovered, Strategos Folken sends a dopplegänger named Zongi to kill Plaktu and take his place. Instead of freeing Miguel, Zongi implants fake memories in Miguel to satisfy the interrogators. During his interrogation, Miguel reveals his last name to be Lavariel, thus making him the only Dragonslayer to be given a last name.
Miguel escapes —with or without Zongi’s aid— and reclaims his damaged guymelef and attempts to flee, only to be stopped by Van and Escaflowne. Miguel could have simply escaped quickly, but instead attempts to bring Escaflowne down and capture Van to please Dilandau and redeem himself for being captured in the first place. He determined during an earlier fight that Van can’t see the invisible Guymelef without Hitomi’s aid, but unfortunately for Miguel, Van has recently learned Hitomi’s method of seeing the unseen and destroys Miguel’s guymelef. Miguel, wounded, limps from the wreck of his Guymelef only to be strangled from behind by Zongi, who does not wish to be discovered.
Lord Dilandau later avenges Miguel's death by killing Zongi saying, "that was a horrible thing you did to him (Miguel)."
(also spelled as: Migel; Labariel, Lavalier)
[edit] Relationship With Dilandau
Dilandau Albatou is, simply put, a psychotic raving lunatic with no regard for human life and is generally ill-suited to be an army officer (apparently Zaibach does not administer routine sanity tests for their army commanders). He is violent, destructive, implusive, irrational, and insubordinate. He appears to lack any sense of morality as he gleefully maims, kills, and destroys everything he sees. He is quick to treat his Slayers with harsh punishments for even the most minor of infractions. He seems much more sane in the beginning of the series but progressively becomes more and more unhinged as his world falls apart around him.
The Slayers are 100 percent loyal to their commander despite his rather serious personality flaws. Although Dilandau doesn't appear to care about his men, they repeatedly risk punishment to assure his safety. In episode 14 they make the ultimate sacrifice to their Lord by dying for him in battle, in which they are systematically slaughtered by an emotional Van Fanel. They prove to be loyal even in death, as their ghosts return to protect Dilandau from a berseking Van. They surround Van and even then attest their loyalty to Dilandau:
Gatty: Lord Dilandau is our patron.
Shesta: He gave us our glorious Guymelefs. He bestowed Guymelefs upon us.
Dallet: We won't let you kill the man who chose us for his Dragonslayers.
The experiences causes Van to collapse, saving Dilandau's life. They do not begrudge Dilandau; they gave their lives for him and seem to be willing to do it again.
Dilandau, for his part, turns out to have a soul after all. He is seen later on the deck of the Vione, where he says his Slayers' names and mutters to himself that they were "incompetent" in a manner that suggests the complete opposite. He is revealed to be emotionally dependent on his Slayers and is devastated by their deaths; eventually he suffers a psychotic breakdown because of it. He loses his grip on reality and screams for his Slayers by name, seeming incapable of comprehending they are dead and gone.
[edit] Jajuka
It can be argued that the “beastman” Jajuka is a Dragonslayer; he wears the blue armor of the Dragonslayers and is loyal to Dilandau. Like his predecessors, Jajuka is killed defending Dilandau from Van Fanel, killed by a stroke meant for Dilandau.
By the end of the series with the fall of Zaibach and the end of the war, the Dragonslayers cease to exist, with Dilandau as the only survivor.
[edit] Movie
In the movie, all the characters were re-imagined, the Slayers included. They no longer pilot Guymelefs; instead they ride horses and fight with swords in a more traditional soldierly manner. Their armor is also different. They are now loyal to Dilandau alone, no longer being affiliated with an army or country; they seem to be more like a group of mercenaries. Dilandau himself is no longer an officer, but works for Folken Fanel. It is also worth noting that several of the characters in the movie have special powers. Shesta is given some type of psychic ability in the form of foresight while Dilandau is half-Draconian and has limited psychic ability such as being able to "attack" people and manipulate physical things with the power of his will/mind.
The Slayers also have a relatively happy end in the movie. Several do die, but three along with Dilandau himself surive and are last seen riding into the sunset, while Dilandau cheerfully mentions that since there will always be wars to fight, they will always have a place in the world.
