Van Slanzar de Fanel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Van Slanzar de Fanel, or simply Van Fanel, is a fictional character from the anime series The Vision of Escaflowne. He is the King of Fanelia and the pilot of the mecha, Escaflowne.
[edit] Character History
By the hands of fate, King Goau of Fanelia met and fell in love with a woman named Varie. Varie is a Ryuujinbito (English translation: Draconian), a group of winged people who are the direct descendants of the people of Atlantis. The Ryuujinbito are stigmatized by the people of Gaea and believed to be berears of bad luck so it's no wonder that King Goau's advisers dissuade him from marrying Varie. But Goau was determined, and so eventually he and Varie got married.
Van is the second son of King Goau and Queen Varie. He has an older brother, Folken, who is ten years older than him. Despite their age gap, Van looked up to his older brother while Folken very much doted on his younger brother. Some flashbacks from the series reveal that the brothers are close to one another. Both of them has pair of white fluffy wings that they can sprout from their backs at will; this is because their mother is a Ryuujinbito.
When Van was 5 years old, his father died of unknown cause (although it is presumed that he fell ill and died). In order to prove himself worthy of becoming the next king of Fanelia, a prince has to go in the forest full of dragons and perform the Dragon-Slaying Ritual and obtain the dragon's heart, an Energist. As the eldest child, Folken was tasked to do this, but after going to the dragon's lair, he never came back. Van's mother was inconsolable in her grief but he tried his very best to comfort her while saying these words tearfully : "Don't cry Mother. I'll take my brother's place and be a strong king. I'll be a strong man just like my Father. Mother, it will be okay, I promise. Please Mother." Very soon, Varie went to the forest to find Folken but she too didn't return to castle. And so Van became an orphan at a very young age. Fortunately, the swordsman Balgus, the former King's right-hand man, came back to Fanelia after a long absence and he became Van's surrogate father.
Folken's failure to slay the dragon and thus become king left an indelible mark in Van's disposition. Van didn’t really want to become a king but he wants to make his people happy and makes sure his family’s honour won’t get demolished again after Folken’s failure that’s why he trains very hard for the day when he would also venture out to fight and slay a dragon, thus becoming a “true” king of Fanelia.
[edit] The Escaflowne Storyline
At the beginning of the series, Van is shown fighting a dragon as a part of the rite to become king but he was suddenly transported to the Mystic Moon (or Earth) and met Hitomi Kanzaki. With Hitomi's help, he was able to slay the dragon and obtain the Energist. He was able to return back to Gaea but this time Hitomi was sent to Gaea too.
