List of Slayers characters

This is a list of major characters from the anime, manga and novel series Slayers.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Major characters

Lina Inverse

Main article: Lina Inverse

Lina Inverse (リナ・インバース, Rina Inbāsu^?) is the primary protagonist and the only character that appears in all incarnations of Slayers. She is an adolescent but very powerful sorceress, with a great love for money, treasure (especially the magical sort) and food. In the anime and manga (but not the light novel) Lina uses overly destructive magic recklessly (but comically), often with little provocation. She is reputed to be an evil, powerful, destructive, diminutive sorceress (the evil part is arguably not true, though one may consider her greed and general lack of concern for others unless they are in danger of being killed can be considered "evil"). She has an older sister, Luna, who is the Knight of Cepheid and reputably a strong warrior. Although Lina has faced down dragons, monsters, and even Dark Lords with little fear, the mere mention of Luna's name sends her into terrified hysterics. This fear is caused by the fact when Lina was a child, she sold pictures of Luna naked in order to earn money, and in turn, Luna punished Lina so severely that Lina's feared her ever since. It has also been suggested that she has a fear of slugs, though nowhere on the order of the fear of her sister. Lina has many different nicknames, including "Bandit Killer" and "Dragon Spooker", neither of which she's very fond of, though to her, her most embarrassing nickname is "Lina the Pink" which is her official title amongst the sorcerer's guild.^[1] At the current point of the anime series, Lina's accomplishments include the destruction of a piece of Shabranigdo and having a hand in the destruction of Flaredragon Gaav and Hellmaster Phibrizzo, as well as kicking out Darkstar from their world. Because of these accomplishments she is increasingly piquing the interest of the Mazoku race and has become a frequent target.

In the first episode of the TV series, she introduces herself by destroying a gang of bandits known as the Dragon Fangs. She steals a large portion of their treasure, then sets off towards the nearest town to cash it in for a sizable profit. On the way to the town she is ambushed by the remainder of the Dragon Fangs. However, mere seconds before she would have blasted them to bits, Gourry Gabriev valiantly comes to her "rescue" and they begin their adventures together. She and Gourry have traveled with each other ever since then and have been both featured in every form of Slayers media that takes place in the timeline after they met.

Over the course of the series, Lina appears to fall in love with Gourry, once even risking to destroy the universe in order to save him. This aspect of their relationship is rarely if ever addressed however, due to Lina's immaturity and discomfort with such subjects, as well as Slayers creator Hajime Kanzaka's confession that he is poor at writing romantic scenes, even though in the anime episode Go to NEXT!And then Again she and Gourry kiss, but when they return to the real world, neither remember it. Voices: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese), Lisa Ortiz (T.V series), Cynthia Martinez (Movies / OVAs) (English)

Gourry Gabriev

Main article: Gourry Gabriev

Gourry Gabriev (ガウリイ・ガブリエフ, Gaurī Gaburiefu^?) is a wandering swordsman who meets up with Lina in the first episode of the television series. He accompanies her from then on. He carries the fabled Sword of Light, originally known as Gorun Nova before it came to the Slayers world.

Gourry is somewhat less than scholarly and appears to have memory deficiencies, but his skills as a swordsman are unmatched throughout the franchise and has shown to be nigh unbeatable. He also has excellent skills of observation and can often tell when something is out of place long before anyone else in the group catches on. A characterization of Gourry from his manga profile is "as loyal as man's best friend but not quite as smart." After he meets Lina he decides to become the "little girl's" unpaid bodyguard (despite his disappointment at his charge's lack of development), and they slowly get to know one another. Gourry's kindness (he spares the life of his rival Zangulus on several occasions), loyalty (absolute to Lina) and consideration for others is clear throughout the franchise, but is not as quixotic as that of the Seyruuns'. It has been revealed through interviews that Gourry actually has a rather high magic capacity and has the potential to deal spells in power that rival Lina's, however due to Gourry's faulty memory and disinterest, he cannot remember spells and is thus never uses them.

While Gourry is powerful with an ordinary sword, he is absolutely deadly when armed with his family's magic blade. He is the keeper of the Sword of Light, a mystic weapon whose steel blade can be detached, allowing the use of an alternate blade made of pure, destructive light powered by force of will. The sword can fell lower-ranked demons on its own and absorbs magic. If magic is cast directly on the sword of the light, the sword's power becomes combined with that of the spell. Gourry takes great care of the Sword of Light, and watches it carefully to protect the valuable relic from thieving hands, especially those of Lina herself. Lina often tries to trick him into giving it to her by claiming he already promised it to her, but these are one of the few times where Gourry's less than astute memory is crystal clear. Gourry does allow Lina to borrow the sword in certain extreme circumstances, however.

At the end of the third series, Gourry gives up the Sword of Light so that it and the other light weapons can be protected. In the following book series, he acquires the legendary Blast Sword. Manipulating the magical energies around it, the Blast Sword creates an extremely sharp blade. If not treated with care, it can slice through its sheath, and will sink up to its hilt into the ground below. An enchantment placed on it by the party allows them to change its sharpness to be useful again.

Gourry eventually falls in love with Lina, and he somewhat expresses this in his promise that he will guard her for the rest of his life. Though he is not as shy towards the notion of love as Lina is, for example he won't violently deny his feelings when the subject arises, he doesn't act on them, as he seems rather content with merely watching out for Lina's well being instead, although they do share a kiss in the anime episode Go to NEXT!And then Again... neither remember it when they come back.^{[citation needed]}

Voices: Yasunori Matsumoto (Japanese), Eric Stuart (T.V Series) & Christopher Patton (Slayers Premium movie) (English)

Zelgadis Greywords

Zelgadis Greywords (ゼルガディス・グレイワーズ, Zerugadisu Gureiwāzu^?) is a sorcerer who begins the various incarnations of the franchise as a retainer for his ancestor Rezo, opposed to Lina, but ends up in Lina and Gourry's group. He is a chimera made of rock golem, brau (English trans. blow) demon, and human.

Zelgadis tends to become something of an enigma to his comrades, due to his quiet and asocial nature. When he was around the age of a teenager, he was transformed by Rezo, the red priest—who is both his grandfather and great-grandfather (actually, Rezo is only Zelgadis's great-grandfather, the previous presumption made by a translation error to English)—into a three-part chimera.

Zelgadis specializes in Shamanistic magic, which pulls its power from the astral, or spiritual, plane. His elemental spells are formidable, and include Stone Spiker, a modified version of Ray Wing, and his trump card, the mighty Ra-Tilt. However, because he is part demon, he is unable to cast Black Magic, as doing so requires him to call upon the power of another demonic being which, in the Slayers universe, is akin to willing oneself out of existence. Though he is not as learned in the art as Lina, Zelgadis's even combination of physical brunt and magical finesse render him among the most fearsome warriors.

Zelgadis travels with Lina & co. because he wants to find a spell that can change him back into a human. Despite the incredible abilities bestowed upon him by Rezo in the transformation, he dislikes his change in appearance (his skin is stone hard, tinged blue-grey, with pebbles scattered across its surface and his hair being as stiff as steel wire) and wishes more than anything to regain human form. However, Zelgadis likes to consider himself evil, but not too evil. In one episode Zelgadis (and the others) are described in insulting terms. Zelgadis is called "the heartless mystical swordsman", an epithet he actually likes (Lina and Gourry are called "Some smartass sorceress and an idiot swordsman" while Amelia is called "a crazy girl").

During Slayers Evolution-R, Rezo informed Zelgadis that he knew of no cure to return him to human. It is unclear whether this means that Zelgadis will forever remain a chimera, or if Rezo's knowledge was simply limited in that respect. Hajime Kanzaka has however stated in past interviews that Zelgadis would probably eventually find his cure.

Out of everyone in the group, Zelgadis seems to gather feelings for Amelia. This becomes more clear in NEXT, as he gets extremely upset whenever she gets hurt, even going so far as to put his body between her and Gaav's sword and saving her, but nearly killing himself. In later seasons, they become quite close and he stops being closed up around her. Amelia returns the feelings and when they part before the end credits of TRY ep26 apparently give him "The Lady's Favour" in the form of one of the pink bracelets (with a blue gem) that form part of her standard slayers costume.

Voices: Hikaru Midorikawa (Japanese), Daniel Cronin (episodes 2–10) and Crispin Freeman (Episodes 18+ and Premium film) (English)

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun

Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun (アメリア・ウィル・テスラ・セイルーン, Ameria Wiru Tesura Seirūn^?) is a young miko (shrine-maiden, sometimes translated as priestess) and the princess of Seyruun with an unwavering (quixotic) belief in justice. She joins Lina's group during the first TV series. Amelia longs to be a "hero of justice" and quixotically pursues her quest by following Lina and fighting (what appears to her as) villains. Amelia's naïve tendency to believe whatever she is told sometimes leads her to mistake friend and foe. In the novels, Amelia is the same age as Lina. But in the Anime-manga franchise Amelia is a year younger than Lina and smaller (though very busty, much to Lina's annoyance). In all incarnations of the franchise Amelia's manner is that of a little girl playing crusader.

She initially comes across as a naive young girl who can't distinguish between the good guys from the bad guys without relying on cliched stereotypes (such as her belief that "all villains dress in black"). However, her perspective upon good and evil matures significantly as the series progresses. Although Lina was often annoyed with Amelia for her naïveté, desire to learn the Dragon Slave, and larger bust size, eventually Lina comes to accept her as a friend and treats her like a little sister. Most of Amelia's lessons in justice and heroism came from her father Prince Philionel of Seyruun, the "ultimate pacifist" armed with a variety of oxymoronic but very effective attacks, whom Lina once mistook for a bandit king (TV series). It is rumored that Naga the White Serpent might be Amelia's long-lost older sister, the crown princess Gracia (this rumor was later confirmed by Hajime Kanzaka during an interview). This rumor is played to great comedic effect in Evolution-R with the character "Nana" and several ironic statements made by both of them that allude to the relation. After the murder of her mother, Amelia has vowed never to use blades, though she once used the Sword of Light to channel the Ra-Tilt.

Amelia becomes close to everyone in the group, but it is clear that early on she starts to develop feelings for Zelgadis. Even though their first meeting was not a very good one. She even starts to think that the way he looks is really cool, despite his irate protests that looking like a monster is anything but cool. They become quite close as they tend to be together in missions- enough that Amelia can tease him playing chess, or angrily beat him over his treatment of innocent forest animals and get away without even an angry glare.

Voices: Masami Suzuki (Japanese), Joani Baker (episodes 11-13), Veronica Taylor (episodes 14+), and Luci Christian (Slayers Premium film) (English)

Naga the White Serpent

Main article: Naga the Serpent

Naga the White Serpent (白蛇のナーガ, Sāpento no Nāga^?) is a buxom sorceress with an obnoxious laugh (similar to Ayeka Masaki Jurai's in Tenchi Muyo!, Kodachi Kuno's in Ranma ½, Renge Houshakuji's in Ouran High School Host Club and Green Esmeraude's in Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon) who is Lina's partner in the movies and OVAs.

Naga was often found hanging around Lina Inverse during Lina's earlier adventures, but the two had later parted company under unknown circumstances. During the time that they were together, whenever Naga was around, she was either working together with Lina or against her, all the while irritating the sorceress to no end.

Naga claims she is Lina's only serious rival. Lina calls her "goldfish feces" — as in, she trails after Lina. Like Lina, she has a massive appetite for both money and food. She's also able to hold down her liquor as she's often seen drinking a ridiculous amount of alcohol. She is extremely well endowed, much to Lina's disgust and jealousy, and wears very little clothing (it is characterized in the OVA as the "evil sorcerer look" and as an even less respectable sort of look).

Despite Lina's mockery of Naga's skill, she is an exceptionally talented Sorceress, and may in fact be Lina's greatest rival to her own right. Just as Lina is proficient in fire-related spells, Naga opts for ice-based attacks. Above this, she's exceptionally talented in White Magic, though she only uses it when absolutely necessary. She was able to stop countless living-dead powered via necromancy with a Flow Break spell. This is so far, the widest effect the spell has gotten without amplification. She was also able to cast Dicleary on Lina when poisoned, another display of her prowess in White Magic. Naga is also talented in astral magic, and well versed in black magic.

Her swordsmanship is often the subject of question, as she carries around a large sword, yet never uses it. It is assumed that this is caused by her strong fear of blood. She's seen having a panic attack at even the smallest drop of spilled blood. At one point, she nearly drew her sword, yet in comedic, anti-climactic draw, her sword got stuck.

Naga has also a number of spells credited to her own name. She usually creates useless spells, like the spell Zelas Gort, a spell to summon a large number of jelly fish to her immediate location. She's known to make stone Golems, though they often go berserk and turn against her.

It is hinted at throughout the different Slayers series that Naga is really the daughter of Prince Philionel El Di Seyruun, and the elder sister of Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun. In "Slayers Try" Lina laughs in the same way Naga does and brings Amelia bad memories. Furthermore, in Slayers NEXT Zelgadis stated that Seyruun had a "Runaway Princess" also implied to be Naga.

Naga appeared particularly in the OVA’s and movies, however there is a debatable cameo appearance by her in the first season Episode.17 of the TV series(during a crowd scene exactly 7 minutes in, several people walked in front of the 'camera' including a shapely lower torso that bore an uncanny resemblance to Naga's design, though the long trailing hair was red so it may have been an homage, or potentially Serena from the second OVA series who became a follower of Naga's. Amelia notices the character during the brief scene).^[2]

Voices: Maria Kawamura (Japanese), Kelly Manison (movies/OVAs), Eva Kaminsky (Evolution-R) (English)

Sylphiel Nels Lahda

Sylphiel Nels Lahda (シルフィール・ネルス・ラーダ, Shirufīru Nerusu Rāda^?) is a young cleric who knew Gourry before he met Lina and the others. She became infatuated with Gourry to the point where she refers to him as "Dear Gourry" or "Gourry Dear" (in the Japanese version she refers to him as Gourry-Sama indicating respect). Gourry only remembers her for her good cooking. While she is weak in shamanism and black magic, as a cleric however, her skills in white magic (healing and protection) are impressive. Her defensive magic was powerful enough to easily hold its own against an attack from Copy Rezo that put all of Lina's efforts to hold back. Her prowess in defensive magic is again seen as she holds her own against Zanfar in the season one finale. As far as healing magic goes, Sylphiel was able to bring Lina back from the brink of death with a high level Resurrection spell. This is mainly due to her profession as a Shrine Maiden. Ironically, in Slayers Next, she manages to get the hang of Lina's signature spell, the Dragon Slave. Her only other offensive spell, Flare Arrow, is comically pathetic: slow, weak and shaped like a carrot or beet. In the T.V. series, she joins the group for the end of the first series and again near the end of the second series. She reappears in Slayers Revolution during the attack on Seiryuun.

Voices: Yumi Tōma (Japanese), Stacia Crawford (English: Slayers, Slayers Next), Stephanie Sheh (English: Slayers Revolution)

Xellos

Main article: Xellos

Xellos (ゼロス, Zerosu^?) is a high level Mazoku (see Universe section below), who is more than a thousand years old. Xellos was, according to Gaav, created by Shabranigdo and given incredible powers. He seems to serve as a priest/general for various monster lords^[3] The remaining three of the five demon lords each have priests and generals that serve them, each created by their respective masters. While most of the demon lords have at least one Priest and one General, in Xellos' case, he alone serves Zelas, making him the most powerful being in the world outside of the 5 higher Mazoku Lords and Dragon gods. Xellos served Hellmaster Phibrizzo (another of the five demons) by request of Zelas in his attempt to destroy Gaav the Demon Dragon King. Gaav stated that Xellos was given power beyond any Mazoku created by Shabranigdo, outside the five demon lords. Dragons fear Xellos and see him as their mortal enemy after he killed half the population during The War of Monster Fall. In the 6th Slayers novel (Vezendi's Shadow), Xellos says his real name is simply Xellos the Priest. He is also known as Beastmaster Xellos (dub only), "trickster priest" (by many, including himself) and "namagomi" ("raw garbage" by Filia) or simply Xellos. Xellos is sometimes a hindrance, sometimes helpful to Lina and her friends. He claims to serve to goals of Phibrizzo, and in season three that of the Monster race, but his actions do not always appear consistent. His trademark response to any important question is, "Sore wa himitsu desu!" (Literally: "That is a secret!"). Xellos and Lina have a mutual respect for one another, though they are far from friends. The two generally refrain from attacking one another as they are both aware that each one is perfectly capable of destroying the other. A constant duel goes on between fans whether there is a love or hate, or even a love-hate relationship between Xellos and Filia. While he usually maintains his human form during the series, his true form is that of a spinning, pitch black cone that is capable of drilling through and tearing apart enemies and can separate into multiple cones. He first appears in the second episode of Slayers NEXT.

Age: Over 1000^[4]

Voices: Akira Ishida (Japanese), David Moo (Slayers NEXT and Slayers TRY), Kurt Stoll (Slayers Premium movie) & Michael Sinterniklaas (Slayers Revolution and Slayers Evolution - R) (English)

Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova

Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova (マルチナ・ゾアナ・メル・ナブラチロワ, Maruchina Zoana Meru Naburachirowa^?), along with her father, plotted to capture Amelia. Lina, along with Gourry and Zelgadis, saved Amelia then used the Dragon Slave to destroy Martina's castle and the surrounding town. Enraged, Martina ran off and learned magic so that she could take revenge on Lina (technically she learned curses, which she manages to pull off without either magic or outside assistance). Later, Martina joins forces with Lina and company. Martina is fickle in her love affairs, obsessed with whatever man she happens to see first that day. At the beginning of the series she is hung up on Zelgadis, but her interests switch to Gourry and even Xellos as the series progresses, before settling on Zangulus. She is obsessed with her Lord Zoamelgustar, a monster (demon) god she made up. Martina specializes in curses.

She is usually an antagonist and comic foil for the other characters, but when Hellmaster Phibrizo "kills" her during the final battle, Martina uses her last moments to encourage Lina to keep fighting and save Gourry. She eventually marries Zangulus in a fake backdrop church, as her hometown is still rebuilding after Lina's Dragon Slave. She is a character that is exclusive to the T.V. series, as she doesn't appear in the original light novels or the manga.

Voices: Tomoko Ishimura (Japanese), Rachael Lillis (English)

Filia

Filia Ul Copt (フィリア・ウル・コプト, Firia Uru Koputo^?) made her appearance exclusively in Slayers TRY. She is a Priestess of the Fire Dragon King. Being a Golden Dragon, she has a huge sense of honor and is dedicated to "fulfilling her duties to the temple." She is annoyed to great extents by any monster that crosses her path. She carries a large mace (affectionately dubbed Mace-sama) in her garter, and uses it to end many of her arguments. Filia originally wanted Lina's big sister Luna to accompany her on her quest, but Luna refused and suggested Lina as a replacement.

As a Golden Dragon of the outer world, Filia's magic is based on an older form of White Magic. Amelia once states that the white magic used by clerics today is but an "empty shell" of Filia's ancient holy magic, implying that holy magic is a raw, more intense form of white magic. Filia displays a number of useful skills with her magic including clairvoyance, healing, purification, transportation, and offense effective against the most powerful Mazoku. Her spell "Chaotic Disintegrate" is an astral offense spell that outclasses the Ra-Tilt.

Aside at being proficient in Holy Magic, Filia also has abilities granted to her by her race. She is able to switch back and forth with relative ease (though much to her embarrassment as she believes it is her being naked) between her dragon and human forms. Her dragon's form comically wears a pink bow on the end of her tail. While in her dragon form, Filia is granted the ability of flight, far surpassing the speed of a normal Levitation, or Ray Wing spell. She is never seen flying in her human form. Filia also has the ability to use a type of magic called "Laser Breath" which fires an incredibly destructive beam from a dragon's mouth. She can use this in both human and dragon forms.

Filia, at the end of Slayers TRY, accepts the egg of the reborn Valgaav in repentance of what her ancestors did to his kind. In the ending credits, you see the glowing see-through egg nestled in a warm basket with Filia yelling something at Gravos and Jillas while they are polishing her pottery. She later becomes Valgaav's adoptive mother.

Filia does not appear in the novels.

Voices: Houko Kuwashima (Japanese), Tara Sands (English)

Pokota

Pokota (ポコタ, Pokota^?), full name Posel Korba Taforashia (ポセル＝コルバ＝タフォーラシア, Poseru Koruba Tafōrashia^?), is an original character created exclusively for Slayers Revolution and Slayers Evolution-R, though he borrows certain elements from the character Luke seen in the Slayers novels.

Pokota resembles a small stuffed animal with large ears that double as a set of functional arms used for casting spells, wielding swords, or gliding through the air. Like Lina, he is a powerful sorcerer capable of casting various spells, including the Dragon Slave. He wields a replica of the Sword of Light, which he carries within a pocket in his chest.

Pokota was born a human, but when he was an adolescent, the Durum sickness plagued Taforashia. The king, Pokota's father, became very ill. Rezo, the Red Priest, appeared and sealed the residents of Taforashia in sleeping chambers to isolate them until a cure was found. Rezo sealed Pokota's human body in a chamber, but he used a magical jar to transfer Pokota's spirit into his current form. Years later, Pokota is searching for Rezo so as to find a way to revive his people, eventually leading to his meeting Lina and her companions.

Voices: Yumiko Kobayashi (Japanese) and Colleen O'Shaughnessey (English)

Villains

Noonsa

Noonsa (ヌンサ, Nunsa^?) was a fishman; he had the body of a fish and the legs and arms of a human.

He was one of Zelgadis Greywords' top four henchmen. When Lina Inverse refused to tell Zelgadis anything about the Philosopher's Stone, Zolf called Noonsa in and told the fishman to give Lina a kiss, an idea which horrified and disgusted Lina. Noonsa gave Lina what both Dilgear and Zolf called a "deep kiss" (which involved Noonsa sucking on her head inside of his mouth, which she clobbered him for).

Later, when Zelgadis broke Lina out of the castle, Noonsa watched from the water and attempted a sneak attack on Lina. He was upset at her, thinking that she was cutting out on them. Noonsa than rushed forward at Lina and smashed himself into a wall. He soon recovered from the impact, however, and shot several thorn-like projectiles at Lina. Just when the situation seemed hopeless to her, Zelgadis rescued Lina by trapping Noonsa in a bubble of air and frying him with a Fireball.

Later, some of Dilgear's followers found Noonsa's fried corpse and brought it back to him. The followers then ate Noonsa's body, which infuriated the wolf-troll mix.

In the Manga version of the story, Noonsa had no romance relationship with Lina and was ordered by Zelgadiss to steal the Philosopher Stone. After firing all of his scales, Gourry Gabriev killed him by slicing him in two and eating him.^{[citation needed]}

In the novel, Nunsa also had no relationship of any kind with Lina. When ordered to kiss her, he asked where the eggs were, having no concept of kissing beyond that it was related to mating.

Voices: Kozo Shioya (Japanese), Junior Ringenbach (English)

Dilgear

Dilgear (ディルギア, Dirugia^?) was a half-wolf, half-troll and was a henchman of Zelgadis Greywords and his great-grandfather; Rezo the Red Priest.

Unlike Zolf, Rodimus, and Noonsa, Dilgear was actually quite violent during battles and would even go as far as to kill his foes. He first appeared in episode 4 of the anime. Despite Dilgear was placed under Zelgadis' rule, his ultimate loyalty was to Rezo, so it came as no surprise to Zelgadis when the half-breed turned against the chimera. During the battle, when Zolf and Rodimus arrived, Dilgear thought that he had been saved, however, Rodimus said that their loyalty was to Zelgadis, not Rezo. Dilgear was seriously wounded by Zolf shortly afterwards, his final words being: "Just wait until I come back to life!" Thanks to his half-troll regenerative abilities, he actually did, but instead of seeking revenge, he ended up as Luna Inverse's pet, who calls him Spot. The exact circumstances of this radical change in Dilgear's life are unknown.

In the manga, Dilgear appeared differently compared to the novels or the anime. He was a bounty hunter sent along with Rahanimu and Vrumugun to eliminate Gourry Gabriev and Lina Inverse by Eris. Strangely, Dilgear vanished shortly after his introduction. It is possible that he either fled or was simply killed off-screen.

Voices: Hirohiko Kakegawa (Japanese) and Jimmy Zoppi (English)

Rezo the Red Priest

Rezo the Red Priest (赤法師レゾ, Aka Hōshi Rezo^?) is one of the "Five Wisemen of the Age", a world-famous priest and healer. It is never said exactly how old Rezo is, but according to Zelgadis, he is over a century old. However, he does not look his age (in the first novel, Lina describes him as looking "both young and old" at the same time.) Rezo's only known relative is Zelgadis Greywords, who is his great grandson.

Rezo was born with one of the seven pieces of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo sealed within his eyes; as a result, he was gifted with superior magic ability and cursed with blindness. Rezo took up studying white magic in an effort to cure his blindness, not realizing what the true cause of his blindness was. Once he mastered white magic, he traveled the land healing the sick and blind, performing "miracles." Sadly, although he was able to cure the blindness of others, he could not cure his own. Thus he studied shamanistic magic and black magic, hoping in vain that one of the two fields might provide him with a cure.

Slowly Rezo's desire to find a cure turned into an obsession, and the fragment of Shabranigdo within him began to corrupt his soul and take over. Rezo eventually decided that resurrecting Shabranigdo was the only way to cure his blindness. He hoped that in exchange for reviving him, the Demon King would grant him sight.

He began searching for the Philosopher's Stone, believing that it was the key to the Demon King's revival. He eventually obtained the stone, and resurrected Shabranigdo from within himself. In the end, Lina Inverse was able to defeat the Demon King using the incomplete Giga Slave and the Sword of Light, with help from Rezo's soul, killing the priest in the process.

It was later revealed that Rezo had survived and somehow managed to transfer his soul into the Hellmaster's Pot and with him the ghost of Shabranigdo (which wasn't revealed until the Slayers: Evolution-R season). When Lina's group finally found the Hellmaster's pot Pokota resurrected Rezo in order to revive the people of Taforashia from their suspended state. In doing so, Rezo could keep Shabranigdo asleep for as long as he didn't open his eyes. After reviving the people of Taforashia, Rezo wanted to see again even for a moment so he opened his eyes while asking Lina to destroy him once more. Once again, with the help of the completed Giga Slave, Lina destroyed Rezo and the ghost of Shabranigdo with him.

Age: more than 100 years old.

Voices: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Charles Rolfe (English: The Slayers), Liam O'Brien (English: Slayers Evolution-R)

Eris

Voices: Etsuko Ishikawa (Japanese), Rachel Nanstad (English)

Copy Rezo

Copy Rezo (コピー・レゾ, Kopī Rezo^?), sometimes referred to as "The Rezo Clone" is a copy of Rezo the Red Priest.

Copy Rezo was created by the original Rezo as a lab rat for experiments. The original Red Priest was seeking to cure his blindness, and used Copy Rezo to test his experiments on. However, while Copy Rezo's eyes opened, the original's did not (though neither knew this at the time, the reason behind Rezo's blindness was that the dark lord Shabranigdo was sealed within Rezo. Since this wasn't the case with Copy Rezo, his blindness was cured).

Copy Rezo's greatest and only wish was to surpass his original. At first, he intended to achieve this goal by killing Rezo in a fair fight. However, when Rezo was killed by Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, and Zelgadis Greywords, he decided that the only other way to surpass Rezo was either to kill the ones who defeated the original Rezo (namely Lina, Gourry and Zelgadis) or withstand the Giga Slave. He used Erisiel Vrumugun, the assistant of the late Red Priest, to lure the three of them to Sairaag with wanted posters. There, he attempted to defeat them by resurrecting and absorbing the power of the demon beast Zanaffar (which gave him an enormous amount of power). However, Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis (along with Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun and Sylphiel Nels Lahda) killed him using the Blessed Blade and Flagoon. Shortly before his death, the Rezo clone wondered how he had lost. The Slayers answered that his desire to kill the Slayers, surpass his original, and his inability to decide what he could do after that was the reason for his failure. Before dying, with a smile on his face, he asked the Slayers to bury him beneath Flagoon, where he could rest in peace, and even though he never surpassed the original red priest, he had won his enemies' respect.

In the novel series, things happened a little differently. The original Rezo became enraged when Copy Rezo's eyes opened but his own would not. Out of spite, he conducted a number of other experiments on Copy, one of which included fusing him with a mazoku (as opposed to Copy absorbing the power of Zanaffar, as it happened in the anime). This gave Copy Rezo both pride and a will of his own, causing his desire to get revenge on and surpass Rezo.^{[citation needed]}

Voices: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese) and Peter Davis (English)

Seigram

Seigram is a major villain of Slayers Next in service to Gaav, the demon dragon king—one of the main antagonists in the Next series. He is a pure evil monster who is seemingly powerful as his active rival Xellos. He first appears as the mysterious figure that framed Tarimu and Damia for summoning magic beasts and he made an alliance with Halsaform. However, when confronted by Xellos, he retreats without a fight. He later attacks Lina in the temple of the Claire Bible manuscript, revealing that he was granted some of Gaav's power and is able to withstand a Dragon Slave. He is killed when Xellos holds him in place to get hit by Lina's Ragna Blade.

• Voice Actor: Robert O'Gorman

Gaav the Demon Dragon King

Gaav is high-ranking Mazoku, bearing the title of Chaos Dragon but unrelated to the other dragons of the world. For a long portion of NEXT, Gaav appears to be the main antagonist, though it was later revealed that he was simply a pawn in Hellmaster Phibrizo's plan. Before he started hunting Lina, he met Valgaav during the war of the extermination of the Ancient Dragon race and made the last of the Ancient Dragons his minion. Valgaav would then proceed to be a main plot driver in the next season, Slayers TRY. Long ago, Chaos Dragon Gaav battled with Aqualord Ragradia, and eventually defeated him. However before his death, Ragradia somehow managed to seal Gaav's Mazoku soul into a human body, dramatically weakening the demon lord. However he still displays a considerable amount of strength, far out classing that of Xellos who is unquestionably the strongest Mazoku outside the five demon lords. Even in a human body, he was still able to attack on the Astral Plane, as he once bested Xellos at his own game. Furthermore, he was able to withstand and survive a direct attack from Lina's Ragna Blade, considerably the second most powerful spell in her arsenal, second to the Giga Slave.

• Voice Actor: Jay Snyder

Hellmaster Phibrizzo

The primary antagonist in Slayers Next. Phibrizzo (冥王フィブリゾ, Herumasutā Fiburizo^?) is the oldest and the most powerful of the five Demon Lords created by Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo. It is hinted that he is the second-in-command of the Mazokus. Like the other Mazokus, he seeks to destroy the world and return everything to the Sea of Chaos. He manifests as an androgynous little boy in order to better trick his victims.

Phibrizzo is extremely powerful, probably second only to Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo and Flare Dragon Ceiphied themselves. He has total control over Death and the souls of the departed, being able to raise thousands of people from the grave as living dead under his control with their memories and personality intact; to encase people in a life-absorbing green crystal or to kill anyone simply by breaking a golden marble that represents their lives. He is also highly intelligent and cunning, achieving his goals through complicated plans. He perfectly knows how to manipulate people and can pretend to be a normal child in a very convincing way.

His eagerness to destroy the world is far beyond any other Mazoku's, it is his dream instead of a single goal and he his exhilarated by its apparent success. Though cruel and sadistic, his personality somehow fits his childish appearance as he enjoys to make fun of his victims, to use people like toys to entertain him when he is bored, and he acts playful in general.

Phibrizzo is the one who ignited the War of the Monster's Fall, first as a conflict between humans, then in a world wide war between Mazokus and Ryuzokus in order to awoke the part of Shabranigdo in the mage Lei Magnus. Phibrizzo is probably the one who decided to create the Mazoku Barrier which isolated the battlefields, weakening the Ryuzoku's forces.

In Slayers Next, he elaborated a complicated scheme to force Lina Inverse to cast the Giga Slave, a spell using the power of the Lord of Nightmares powerful enough to destroy the world. First he had the former Demon Lord Gaav "informed" that he was planning something against him, involving Lina Inverse. Then he ordered Xellos to escort Lina, protecting her against Gaav's underlings and "guiding" her to the True Claire Bible so that she could learn the complete Giga Slave. Acting like a young pickpocket, he gained the trust of the Slayers group and followed them in order to be able to strike when Gaav would show up. However, Lina fearing the power of the Giga Slave defeated Gaav with the weaker Ragna Blade spell instead.

When Gaav survives the attack, he reveals himself, finishing Gaav off with no more than a flick of his finger. He then proceeds to capture Gourry Gabriev, and holds him hostage to lure Lina in his temple of Sairaag. There he took down Lina's friends one by one and threatened to destroy Gourry, finally forcing her to cast the Giga Slave. He then tried to kill her to complete his plan. However, to his surprise the Giga Slave summoned the Lord of Nightmares herself in Lina's body. Desperate with his failure, Phibrizzo went literally mad and tried to destroy Lina's body, hoping to set the Lord of Nightmares free but the creator of the universe obliterated him, giving him the destruction he craved for.

Age: about 5000 years old^{[citation needed]}

Voices Kazue Ikura (Japanese) Wayne Grayson (English)

Valgaav

Valgaav is one of the main adversaries in the third arc of Slayers, Slayers TRY. He is the sole surviving member of the Ancient Dragon Clan, who were wiped out by the Golden Dragons because they feared their powers. Originally Prince Val, he was nearly killed by the Golden Dragons, but was saved at the last moment by the Demon Dragon King Gaav after Gaav's soul had been sealed into a human body following the War of the Monsters' Fall. Seeing a powerful ally and a spirit of hatred towards the Golden Dragons born of their betrayal, Gaav rescued Prince Val, bestowing him with the powers of a monster (Mazoku) and thus naming him "Valgaav."

Valgaav and Gaav were later separated when the other four of Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo's subordinates created the barrier separating the outer and inner worlds (the barrier remained in effect until Hellmaster Fibrizo died at the end of Slayers NEXT). Valgaav remained a loyal servant of Gaav, seeing him as the only person to ever help him out. He thus is antagonistic towards all sides: the Slayers, the dragons (Ryuzoku), the gods (Shinzoku), and the monsters (Mazoku).

When he appears in Slayers TRY, Valgaav is working with Armeice, one of the Shinzoku from the Overworld. He is intent on acquiring the Sword of Light (Gorun Nova) from Gourry and attacks Lina and party to get it. With the combined power of a Mazoku and Ancient Dragon, he proves to be the strongest of Gaav's servants. However, he is notably weaker than Gaav, having difficulty fighting Xellos whereas Gaav easily outclassed Xellos. His Ancient Dragon power also cause his body pain since they conflict with the Mazoku side of him (why his Mazoku powers seem to have no adverse impact is a mystery). That said, he bests Xellos in a one-on-one fight when Xellos underestimates his opponent armed with Ragud Mezagis (one of the five Darkstar weapons along with the Sword of Light). He also survives a magically amplified Dragon Slave fired directly into his body.

Valgaav is a powerful warrior, but he is also radically unstable which leads to his recklessness. At the midpoint of Slayers TRY Valgaav activates the gateway created to summon Darkstar with only two of the five weapons. Although the gateway is closed by other Shinzoku from the Overworld, Darkstar fires a blast that seemingly destroys Valgaav.

However, Valgaav does not die at this point, and reappears at the end of the season. It is revealed that Valgaav has merged with the fusion of Darkstar/Volphied and now acts almost as an arbiter of both. He possesses the powers of both Shinzoku and Mazoku lords, easily becoming the most powerful being faced in the entire storyline of Slayers (although his power his cut in half by the gateway). Valgaav/Darkstar/Volphied is destroyed by the combining the dark and light powers of Xellos and Filia's abilities along with the five Darkstar weapons and the chaos power/incantation of Lina.

At the end of TRY he is reborn as an egg and falls under the care of Filia and two of his former demi-human subordinates Jillas and Gravos.

Jillas Jillos Jilles

Jillas Jillos Jilles (ジラス＝ジロス＝ジレス, Jirasu Jirosu Jiresu^?) is a red fox beastman and a servant of Valgaav.

Before meeting Valgaav, Jillas' people were nearly hunted to extinction. After being injured by humans and losing his left eye, Valgarv saved him and took Jillas' life into his hands. He was than partnered with Gravos Maunttop, who was also saved by Valgarv. The two became close and Jillas frequently referred to him as "Boss".

During the incident with Dark Star Dugradigdo, Valgarv, who had made an alliance with the overworlder Almayce, ordered Gravos and Jillas to recover the five Dark Star weapons and bring them back to him. However, things became worse for Jillas when Gravos was assumed to be dead after losing control of Ragudo Mezegis and being blasted away by a Dragon Slave. Jillas swore vengeance on the Slayers and eventually stole Gorun Nova from them by the use of psychological warfare.

Later, after everyone got separated and Valgarv was presumed dead, Jillas was rescued a fox named Elena and her son Palou, who called him "uncle". When Jillas discovered that the Slayers were still alive, he abandoned them and tried to get his vengeance again. When trying to kill the Slayers, Filia Ul Copt saved his life from getting caught in an explosion with one of his bombs. He was very grateful and referred to her from that point on as "Boss" as well, a name that Filia was not comfortable with.

After the final battle with Dugradigdo, it was revealed that Valgarv had been reborn as a pure ancient dragon and was adopted by Filia. Jillas, along with Gravos (who had only been literally launched into orbit by the Dragon Slave) became her partners and are helping her sell maces and pottery in a shop.

While Jillas is not skilled in magic or swordplay, he can still be a formidable opponent thanks to his experience with guns, gunpowder and other explosives. He also has a knack of exploiting the existing frictions within an enemy group to his advantage, managing to turn the Slayers against each other on one occasion.

Voices: Takumi Yamazaki (Japanese) and Maddie Blaustein (English)

Gravos Maunttop

Gravos Maunttop (グラボス＝マウントトップ, Gurabosu Mauntotoppu^?) is a reptilian beastman, a servant of Valgarv. His first appearance in the series is in episode 54 of Slayers TRY.

Shortly after Valgarv met Demon Dragon King Garv, he saved Gravos from death and took him as his servant after his own people almost killed him, causing him to lose his right eye. At the start of TRY, Gravos was ordered by his master to capture Gorun Nova and bring it back to him. Despite all that Gravos and Jillas Jillos Jilles tried, they were always unsuccessful in trying to get the Sword of Light. During a struggle to get the holy magic and the black magic vessels from Princess Sera and Prince Marco, Gravos was knocked away into the distance after losing control of Ragudo Mezegis and was presumed dead. However, in reality he was only literally launched into orbit by Lina Inverse's Dragon Slave. He was shown alive and well in the epilogue of TRY, once again partnered with Jillas and helping Filia Ul Copt run a store that sold maces and pottery.

Voices: Hisao Egawa (Japanese) and Nathan Price (English)

Zumma

Zumma is an assassin that appears in Slayers REVOLUTION hired to kill Lina Inverse. However, he states that he wanted to kill her anyway, having become an assassin solely for the purpose of killing Lina. Gourry used Pakota's sword of light to blast one of his arms off, while Lina blasts the other one off.

Zumma returns in Slayers EVOLUTION-R as the main antagonist alongside Shabranigdo. He orders Lina to come to the city of Vezendi or he will kill a merchant named Radok, who has the Hellmaster's Jar. It is later revealed that Zumma actually is Radok and it was all a ploy to draw Lina in. It is uncertain precisely why Zumma wants to kill Lina, but it is implied that she killed a set of bandits that were responsible for killing his wife, and thus denying him vengeance. In the manga, he is killed by the Ragna Blade, but in the anime, he merely has his hands slashed off a second time. However, immediately following this, Xellos appears and kills him to get a chance to steal the Hellmaster's Jar.

Voice Actor: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Troy Baker (English)

Minor characters

Zolf

Zolf (ゾルフ, Zorufu^?) (also referred to as "Mummy Man") is a sorcerer loyal to Zelgadis Greywords. While under the command of Zelgadis and the Red Priest Rezo, Zolf infiltrated the Dragon Fangs gang in order to steal the Orihalcon Statue and the Philosopher's Stone it contained. Unfortunately for him, he joined the gang just in time to be blown up by Lina Inverse who robbed the gang for their ill gotten goods. Due to being caught up in the attack he wears bandages all over his body, hence the nickname Mummy Man. After Zelgadis' break with Rezo, Zolf chose to follow Zelgadis and remain under his command, also removing his bandages. Zolf dies at the hand of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo (who was summoned into the body of Rezo) after mistakenly thinking that casting a Dragon Slave at it would finish it off. Shabranigdo reflected the spell, killing Zolf as well as Rodimus.

Voices: Masato Hirano (Japanese) and Stan Hart (English)

Rodimus

Rodimus (ロディマス, Rodimasu^?) was an elderly man who was loyal to Zelgadis Greywords. Despite his apparent age, Rodimus appears to be a skilled fighter and manages to hold his own (with the help of Dilgear) against much younger fighters like Gourry Gabriev.

Despite Zelgadis turning against Rezo, Rodimus chose to remain under the chimera's command, as he stated that their loyalty lied with Zelgadis, not Rezo. After which, Zolf and Rodimus both joined the Slayers along with their master. They didn't remain on the team long, however, as soon afterwards, Rezo resurrected a fragment of the Demon King. Zolf mistakenly cast a Dragon Slave on Shabranidgo, hoping it would be destroyed. However, the Demon King reflected the spell which killed Rodimus and Zolf.

Voices: Katsuhisa Hōki (Japanese), Junior Ringenbach (English)

Crown Prince Philionel El Di Seyruun

Crown Prince Philionel El Di Seyruun (フィリオネル＝エル＝ディ＝セイルーン, Firioneru Eru Di Seirūn^?)is the crown prince of Seyruun. He has two daughters: Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun and Gracia Ul Naga Seyruun (who now calls herself "Naga the White Serpent"). However, Gracia left after Phil's unnamed wife was killed by an assassin. Phil also has two brothers, Christopher Wil Brogg Seyruun and Randionel Seyruun, and a nephew, Alfred Seyruun. Sadly, both Randy and Alfred were killed in separate attempts to seize the throne for themselves. Though Phil's father Eldoran Seyruun is technically still the king, he is old, sickly, and bed ridden, so Phil now more or less runs the country. Possibly due to his wife's death and his eldest daughter's absence, he is very protective of and shares a close bond with his youngest daughter Amelia, and she is essentially "Daddy's little girl".

Like his youngest daughter, Phil has a strong belief in justice, and he is also (by self-declaration) a pacifist. However, in spite of this claim, if Phil sees something he believes to be unjust, he will not hesitate to use force.

Unlike most of the Seyruun royal family, Phil has no magical powers, but he does have a lot of brute strength. He uses this mostly in the form of oxymoronic, justice-themed physical attacks, such as Pacifist Crush, Kindness to All Creatures Kick, Benevolent Giant Swing, and All men Brothers, hand-in-hand multiple Slap. His sheer brute strength is even enough to destroy lesser demons, and on one occasion in Slayers NEXT, he teamed up with Amelia to perform a Father Daughter Love Justice Impact, a two-person clothesline attack.

Voices: Masahiro Anzai (Japanese), Matt Black (episodes 11-13), Jimmy Zoppi (episodes 25-53), and David Brimmer (episodes 90-91) (English)

Vrumugun

Vrumugun (ヴルムグン, Vurumugun^?) is the name given to a group of copy men created by Eris, who serve as antagonists during the first season of Slayers and the third novel.

In the novels, Eris used the Vrumuguns to try and capture Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, and Zelgadis Greywords and bring them to Sairaag. However, she only sent one Vrumugun after them at a time, sending a new copy every time one was killed. This greatly confused Lina and co. at first, because no matter how many times they killed Vrumugun, he kept re-appearing (they had thought that Vrumugun was a single person, not a group of copies). The Vrumugun copies disappeared once their controller died. In the anime, he was grouped with Zangulus as they tried to capture Gourry and Lina. However, while Zangulus was short-tempered and arrogant, Vrumugun was quiet, collected, and took everything seriously. Strangely in episode 18, after Zelgadis kills a group of clones, Vrumugun vanishes and is never seen again for the remainder of season 1.

There is much ambiguity as to who the original Vrumugun is, since they never say specifically in any of the Slayers mediums. In the novels, there is evidence to suggest that Eris is the original. She (and possibly the original Rezo) created them, and her last name is also Vrumugun. Furthermore, she does NOT have a control jewel upon her, at one point faking it, yet is able to control others by putting the jewel on them. (In fact, at one point controlling an ally while Lina's back is turned.) In the anime, on the other hand, Eris' last name is never mentioned, nor is it ever hinted that she is the original. Furthermore, at the end of Slayers NEXT, we see, albeit only briefly, a person very much resembling Vrumugun at Zangulus and Martina's wedding. It is implied that this person is the original Vrumugun.

Voices: Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese), and Jimmy Zoppi (English)

Zangulus

Zangulus (ザングルス, Zangurusu^?) is a mercenary, and he is a swordsman of considerable skill. Although he cannot use magic, Zangulus carries a weapon called the Howling Sword, a magical sword created by Rezo that can shoot great gusts of wind. Zangulus had originally been hired, along with the sorcerer Vrumugun, as a bounty hunter by Eris and Copy Rezo to capture Lina Inverse, Gourry Gabriev, and Zelgadis Greywords, and bring them to Sairaag. He soon became obsessed with fighting Gourry, to see who was the better swordsman. He and Gourry did finally duel in Rezo's lab, but Gourry won in the end, and Zangulus then left. He later re-appeared towards the end of Slayers NEXT, looking for a rematch.^{[citation needed]} However, Gourry was being held prisoner by Hellmaster Phibrizzo at the time, so Zangulus did not get a chance to duel him a second time. He did, however, help Lina and the others fight Hellmaster.

It was during this time that Zangulus met and fell in love with Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova, whom he married after the battle with Hellmaster.

Zangulus is yet another character created by the anime staff, as he does not appear in the original novels or the manga. He can still be considered a canon character, as the series' plot and cast was written, supervised and approved by Hajime Kanzaka.^{[citation needed]}

Voices: Bin Shimada (Japanese), Liam O'Malley (episode 13) and Ted Lewis (episodes 14-21, 52) (English)

Milgasia

Milgasia (ミルガズィア, Mirugazia^?) is known to be the leader of the remaining golden dragons who were originally in the service of the Water Dragon King.

Upon entering the Valley of Dragons, Lina Inverse and company are found by Milgasia. He aids Lina by taking her (and, in the anime, Martina Xoana Mel Navrachoa who tags along) to see the real Claire Bible so that Lina can learn the truth behind the Giga Slave. Later, in the novels, Milgasia and his elven companion Mephis also join Lina in her travels for a while.

Milgasia probably is over a thousand years old as he seems to have first hand knowledge about Xellos and the War of the Monster's Fall. At first, he is worried about Lina and company's association with Xellos, until Gourry (in a typical idiot comment on Xellos's age) allows him the chance to realize he doesn't need to worry about Xellos's influence, since this group is completely not intimidated by Xellos in any way.

Milgasia's first appearance is in episode 20 of Slayers NEXT, which roughly equals the seventh novel and manga issue.^{[citation needed]}

Voices: Masaaki Ōkura (Japanese), Zeke Zeigler (English)

Damia

Damia (デイミア, Deimia^?) is a tall, thin man in blue robes with curly hair running for the Guild Master position. He is willing to pay well for a bodyguard to keep him safe from his rival, Tarimu, who is also in the running for the same position. Lina and Gourry, continue to embarrass Tarimu and his bodyguards, but every time they are about to be paid, the other mercenaries show up and embarrass them in front of their employer. They settle on a place to have it out face to face, only to discover it's their own friends. There is a loud explosion and there are little jelly-bean shaped oozes everywhere. Because half of the monsters seemed to have come from Damia's estate, he was put in prison along with Tarimu, and thus unable to pay Lina and Gourry for their services.

While in prison, he reveals that he and Tarimu had been responsible for the empty guild position. Halcyform, the previous Guild Master had been expelled after he was found conducting immortality research, a practice that has long been considered extremely taboo. He lost his position, and was certainly powerful enough to have summoned the monsters to frame them both. Later on, both Damia and Tarimu's lower halves become imprisoned in stone when they try to pay back Halcyform for his wrongs, and, to their dismay, they are not freed at the last possible moment due to their rudeness.

Tarimu

Tarimu (タリム^?) is a rotund member of the Sorcerer's Association who is a contender in the running for the Guild Master position. He is willing to pay well for a bodyguard to keep him safe from Damia. The mercenaries he hires, Amelia and Zelgadis, continue to embarrass Damia and his bodyguards, but every time they are about to be paid, the other mercenaries show up and embarrass them in front of their employer. They set up a duel between the two, only to discover it was their own friends all along. Before things can get serious, gelatinous oozes appear and begin to wreak havoc everywhere. Because half of the monsters seemed to have come from Tarimu's estate, he was put in prison along with Damia, and thus unable to pay Amelia and Zelgadis for their services.^[5]

While in prison, he reveals that he and Damia had been responsible for the empty guild position. Halcyform, the previous Guild Master had been expelled after they found him conducting immortality research, a practice that has long been considered extremely taboo. He lost his position, and was certainly powerful enough to have summoned the monsters to frame them both. Later on, both Damia and Tarimu's lower halves become imprisoned in stone when they try to pay back Halcyform for his wrongs, and, to their dismay, they are left to find their own way of turning themselves back to normal."An Ancient Pledge! One Who Seeks Immortality!"

Ashford

Ashford (アシュフォード, Ashufōdo^?) is a powerfully built man with sandy-grey hair, as well as a cowboy mustache and short beard. He has blue-grey eyes. He wears blue jeans with a brown leather belt, which has a simple bronze square buckle. He also wears a light brown leather scabbard for his two butcher knives which he later uses to slay the lake dragon. He wears black cowboy boots with silver star spurs. He wears a white shirt with a neatly-starched collar and sleeves that go all the way to the elbows and end in cuffs. He wears a red ascot around his neck, and wears what appears to be a cowboy hat with black trim, although above the black trim the stereotypical chef hat prevails instead.

The party run into Ashford when they order Dragon Cuisine at a restaurant that advertised that as one of the meals. Unfortunately, Ashford was not present and the cooking staff tried to fool their customers with some fresh orc and whale meat in the corner of the icehouse. Everyone (except Gourry) realized that this was not the meal that they had ordered, and Lina was understandably angry about this. After the deception was uncovered, Ashford took responsibility for his employees' mistakes, and set out to catch a real lake dragon so they could finally have dragon cuisine.

Ashford is a very poor sailor and is generally incompetent in that area. After several failed attempts, they camped for the night. Amelia went to go give Ashford his dinner, and asked him if there was another reason he was trying so hard to get that Dragon Cuisine. Persuaded by Amelia, he begins to tell his story.

Years ago, Ashford had a granddaughter. His granddaughter had a weak constitution, and was sick almost all the time. As she became weaker, she wished that she could taste dragon cuisine, just once. So Ashford set out to fulfill his granddaughter's wish. After a great deal of searching, he finally found a teacher. After a time he mastered the technique, but by the time he made it back home his granddaughter had died. And his granddaughter looked just like Amelia.

Amelia, in tears, went back of the rest of the group to tell them what she had learned, but she was met with a surprising amount of indifference. Lina had been told she looked just like his dead daughter, and Gourry looked like his dead adopted son-in-law. Worst of all, Zelgadis looked like his beautiful, gentle, delicate wife. They all decide he's just going senile or just was crazy from the beginning. However, when Xelloss comes back to return the locket Ashford had dropped during the slaying of the lake dragon, it pops open to reveal that Ashford was telling the truth- each member of the group closely resembled family members in the picture contained. This seems to suggest that this is not the only lifetime that the party has spent together.^[6]

Luna Inverse

Luna Inverse (ルナ＝インバース, Runa Inbāsu^?) was born in a small village in Zefilia, the first daughter of merchants. Her father is an ex-mercenary and her mother is an ex-sorceress. Luna and Lina's relationship is not the most affectionate, to say the least. Apparently, when they were younger, Lina would misbehave and Luna would "punish" her by making her do grueling workouts. The most notorious incident between the two was when Lina, ever keen on an opportunity to make some extra cash, set up a device that projected an image of Luna while she was taking a bath. Luna's subsequent reaction afterward 'compelled' Lina to begin her quest. Lina is still terrified of Luna and even the mere mention of her 'sister' sends Lina into a panic attack.^[7]

A fragment of Ceiphied's will is lodged within Luna, and thus she is known as the Ceiphied Knight. This is mentioned in "Slayers Try" while Lina and her group are at the Fire Dragon Temple for the first time.

As the Knight of Ceiphied, Luna wields an immense amount of holy power. While Luna never appears in person during the course of the novels, the author Hajime Kanzaka has confided that she is slightly more powerful than Xellos, the strongest Mazoku aside from the 5 Great Mazoku Generals. She can cut a Dragon Slave in half with a normal (non-magically enchanted) sword, and once defeated a plasma dragon with a kitchen knife. During Slayers Try, Luna was the dragon priestess Filia Ul Copt's first choice to save the world from the prophecy of destruction, but Luna thought Lina was a better candidate for the job and turned Filia's request down. This is because Luna, being on the side of the Gods, was not the candidate the prophecy spoke of.^[8]

Luna currently works part-time as a waitress in her hometown of Zephilia.^[9]

Deities

Shabranigdo

Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo (赤眼の魔王（ルビーアイ）シャブラニグドゥ, Rubī Ai Shaburanigudu^?), also known as Shabranigdu, is a powerful being of evil, the ruler of the Mazoku in the Slayers Universe, and the source of power for Lina Inverse's signature spell, the Dragon Slave.^{[citation needed]}

The sole source of misery and negative emotions in the Slayers world, Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo is the superior of all other Mazoku. Defeated long ago by the Dragon King Ceiphied, Ruby-Eye was split into seven parts and buried in human souls. It was Ceiphied's plan to wear away at these fragments by the constant death and rebirth of human lives, until Shabranigdo ceased to be. A thousand years ago, one of these parts awakened in the legendary sorcerer Lei Magnus, the Demon King of the North, who was defeated by the Sea Dragon King Ragradia. Lei Magnus was a great sage who created devastating spells such as Lina's infamous Dragon Slave and the powerful fire shamanistic spell Blast Bomb. However, his power came at a price for he was an incarnate of one of the Seven pieces of the Demon King Ruby Eye Shabranigdo and once awakened, he led the mazoku against the dragon kings, but was sealed away in ice forever by Aqualord Ragradia.

This was certainly a costly victory, however: the shard of Shabranigdo was sealed away, frozen in a block of ice that no Mazoku could break, and the Chaos Dragon Garv, one of Shabranigdo's main servants, was bound to a human soul much like Shabranigdo before him. However, Garv and the human soul eventually merged in thought and purpose: while he remained cruel and heartless, he was limited in power and no longer wished for the ultimate dissolution of all things back into the Sea of Chaos, the goal of the Mazoku. Ragradia, for her part, was wholly destroyed—all that remained were her memories and knowledge, which became the Claire Bible. The remaining five subordinates of Ruby Eye erected a shield that sealed away the divine powers from the continent where the action of the novels takes place. (These servants were: Dynast Grausherra, Deep Sea Dolphin, Greater Beast Zelas Metallium, Demon Dragon King Gaav, and Hellmaster Phibrizo.) White Magic was created as a shamanistic substitute for the loss of the divine magic.

A second portion of Ruby-Eye awoke again in the first novel of the Slayers series, or in the earlier parts of the first season of the anime. Sealed within the Red Priest Rezo, it was released when Rezo awakened it with the Philosopher's Stone in an attempt to end the blindness that had plagued him throughout his life. Lina Inverse confronted the unbound part of Ruby-Eye, invoking the Giga Slave to defeat him. (The Giga Slave was patterned by Lina on the Dragon Slave, but invokes the power and presence of the Lord of Nightmares instead of Shabranigdo.) It is possible that Shabranigdo could have survived this attack, but it is suggested (or outright shown, in the anime) that a fragment of Rezo's remaining will forced open Ruby Eye's defenses. For his part, Shabranigdo claims that he was so impressed at Lina's improvised spell that he allowed that fragment of himself to be bested.

In the later episodes of Slayers Evolution-R, the revived Red Priest Rezo brought with it the previously slain fragment. Because the circumstances of his rebirth were different, the Mazoku feared he would behave in the same way as the wild card Gaav, following his own agenda. Possessing the true body of Pokota as a vessel, it was destroyed by a combination of Pokota returning to his body to cause instability between the occupying souls and Lina successfully casting a perfect Giga Slave.

In the final Slayers novel, it is revealed that another fragment of Shabranigdo was buried in the soul of a character named Luke, who had appeared as a rival in previous novels. Driven to despair by the events of the previous book, Luke was contacted by the fragment of Ruby-Eye within him, and managed to strike a deal with it: to fight Lina and Gourry one more time, and if victorious, the fragment would wholly revive and stood a good chance of accomplishing the Mazoku goal of destroying the world. This battle was the only known exception to the usual Mazoku immunity to black magic drawn from their own power (described by Lina Inverse as saying, roughly, "Hey, help me kill you.") As Luke ultimately wished to die in the battle rather than destroy the world, this self-destructive impulse allowed him and the fragment contained within him to be wholly slain by the Dragon Slave.

Voices: Daisuke Gouri (Japanese); Roger Kay (English: Slayers); Marc Thompson (English - Slayers Evolution-R)

Lord of Nightmares

The Lord of Nightmares (金色の魔王（ロード・オブ・ナイトメア）, Rōdo obu Naitomea/Konjiki no Maō^?) is the demiurge of the Slayers universe. It has no defined gender, however most people tend to associate female characteristics to the Lord of Nightmares because of the finale of Slayers NEXT in which it possessed Lina's body, thus taking her form but is not necessary to consider a defined sex. Unlike most creator deities in fiction, the Lord of Nightmares ("LoN") is not considered benevolent and humans don't worship it. Even among those steeped in the magical arts, few are aware of its existence, however the Mazoku or "demon race" are, and refer to it as "the Mother of All Beings". Other names given it include:Lord of Dreams that Terrify; He Who Shines Like Gold upon the Sea of Chaos; The Golden Lord; and L-Sama.^{[citation needed]}

The Lord of Nightmares created the entire Slayers multiverse, including the futuristic galaxy portrayed in Lost Universe) and two other known worlds including the realms of Chaotic Blue and Death Fog. Both Shabranigdo, the devil figure of universe where Slayers takes place, and his rival Ceiphied are her direct creations. Some have theorized that the Lord of Nightmares did this simply because she wanted to watch gods, demons and mortals contend because it would be amusing, a hypothesis adopted by Valgaav in Slayers Try in his attempt to remake the world. Others have theorised that Lord of Nightmares requires the chaos of battle for sustenance.

As few humans are aware of the Lord of Nightmares, even fewer actually seek her attention. Only Lina Inverse has been known to directly use the power of the Lord of Nightmares in spells, and this she does with great reluctance.^{[citation needed]} Spells that call upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares are notoriously unreliable, with failure frequently having devastating consequences. The most notable of such spells, the Giga Slave, could theoretically destroy existence itself if miscast. The Giga Slave is Lina's own creation that she made while much younger by combining parts of the Dragon Slave's incantation with chaos words she found in reference to the Lord of Nightmares in a Claire Bible manuscript. After she cast the spell for the first time, she turned a body of water into a sea of death where no living thing can grow. At the end of Slayers Next, Lina is goaded into casting the Giga Slave by Phibrizzo after he held her friends hostage and threatened to kill Gourry. His plan was to use her so that he may succeed in destroying their world with the power of Chaos. Since learning about the true nature of the Giga Slave and the power of the Lord of Nightmares, Lina's already cautious attitude towards the chaotic spell has increased to the point that she absolutely will not cast it unless she is sure there is no way around it.

Unlike the Dark Lords, whose power is called upon by sorcery, to call upon the power of Chaos is to call upon the Lord of Nightmares herself, and she can withhold it if she chooses: "My mind is my power, my power is my mind." Up until Lina, the Lord of Nightmares had lost its body (presumably to create the Sea of Chaos and the Four Worlds) and does not have a physical form, "I am the one who has dreamed for years uncounted of regaining my form".

The Lord of Nightmares's only direct appearance was in Slayers NEXT when Lina Inverse cast the Giga Slave when fighting Hellmaster Phibrizzo.^{[citation needed]} Using Lina's body as a vessel, the Lord of Nightmares callously obliterated Phibrizzo with no effort. She also made good on Lina's final thoughts and wishes by reviving her companions and allowing them to see her. She then declared that Lina was gone forever, consumed by her power, with Xellos explaining that when 'existence calls forth oblivion, it must return to oblivion'. Gourry Gabriev was able to rescue Lina's soul from the Sea of Chaos with the exchange of the Sword of Light in the original novels. (In fact Gourry lost his sword because Phibrizzo sent it back to Darkstar.) In the anime, it appears that his emotions for Lina are what returns her after the Lord of Nightmares takes her body at the end of Slayers NEXT (though he also lost the Sword of Light in this scenario, with Xellos returning it after its events. Gourry later willingly returns the Sword of Light to its own universe at the end of Slayers TRY).

She did not intervene in the battle against Valgaav and Dark Star, since Lina Inverse did not cast the Giga Slave spell but a power very similar to that of Chaos (the powers of the Mazoku and Shinzoku combined, Light and Dark) was utilized at the climatic battle to completely destroy Valgaav, Dark Star, and the Gate.

Ceiphied

Ceiphied (スィーフィード, Suīfīdo^?) is a fictional deity in the Slayers universe. On each world in this universe there is a Dragon King fighting a Demon King. Ceiphied is the Dragon King of the Red World, where Slayers is set. Ceiphied is also known as Flare Dragon Ceiphied (赤の竜神（フレアドラゴン）スィーフィード, Furea Doragon Suīfīdo^?) or, in Japan, Sekiryuushin Suified.

Ceiphied was successful in weakening his demonic counterpart Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo by cutting the Ruby-Eyed Lord into seven pieces. Ceiphied died in so doing, but left behind four beings to continue his struggle: Aqualord Ragradia, Flarelord Valbazard, Earthlord Rangort and Airlord Valwyn.

A fragment of his will is lodged in Luna Inverse, the sister of Lina, and she is known as the Ceiphied Knight. This is mentioned while Lina and her group are at the Fire Dragon Temple for the first time.^{[citation needed]}

Darkstar Dugradigdo

Darkstar Dugradigo is one of the four Mazoku Kings or Ma-oh created by the Lord of Nightmares, even though Darkstar is the main antagonistic force of the Black World (Lost Universe) it appears in the TRY season of the Slayers series to fit this role again, being his destruction the goal of the alternate world (within the Slayers universe) "gods" by using the five weapons created by him, these being the Gorum Nova (Sword of Light), Ragudo Mezegis, Nezzard, Bodigar and Galvayra. In its own world Darkstar is the equivalent of Shabrinidgo in power, opposed to Volphied who is the equivalent of Ceiphied, and as such both fought with each other, until Darkstar devoured Volphied with its powers, causing it to become a powerful being unable to control its own powers became a being seeking only destruction, so much that it destroyed its own minions. However it is revealed by Valgaav that in fact Darkstar "devouring" Volphied was a decision made up be the two of them, realizing how meaningless the eternal fight between Gods and Mazokus was, thus fusing to bring purification to the worlds by "destroying" them and "remaking" them so that Gods and Mazokus wouldn't have to fight any longer. Darkstar now being half Mazoku and half God, possessed incredible powers, and was able to merge with Valgaav who was the same as Darkstar. Darkstar's "astral body" is different than those of any other Mazoku, thus magic is useless. The only way to defeat Darkstar is by using the five weapons it created. Darkstar can use powerful attacks such as spreading its energy around to damage those around it, it can also use a powerful breath attack, as well as using a mental-attack which greatly affects Mazokus like Xellos. Darkstar can only be defeated by combining the powers of Light and Dark of Ceiphied and Shabranigdo casted by Filia and Xellos, unleashing it through the five weapons of Darkstar, the combination of said powers mixing to create a Chaos force which turns all the destruction left by Darkstar in creation, thus vanishing him for good.

Mazoku

Background

The Mazoku are ruled by the Lord of Nightmares along with all other living beings in the Slayers world. The Lord of Nightmares first created the four Ma-oh: Chaotic Blue, Dark Star Dugradigdu (Lost Universe), Ruby Eye Shabranigdo, and Death Fog and the opposing Shinzoku (神族 race of the gods). In the world where the story takes place, Ruby Eye Shabranigdo and Flare Dragon Ceiphied battled for ages until Shabranigdo was divided into seven pieces and Ceiphied left behind four dragon lords to counter the five mazoku lords Shabranigdo also created at that time: Deep-Sea Dolphin, Dynast Grausherra, Greater Beast Zelas-Metallium, Chaos Dragon Gaav, and Hellmaster Phibrizzo. With time, the mazoku lords created more underlings, which are the "regular mazoku" the main characters in the story encounter from time to time. The lords also make an appearance occasionally. Mazoku are portrayed in Slayers as beings that exist solely on the "Astral side" of the world. they keep their true monster form in the astral plane, while they project whatever form they wish into the real world. To appear in the human world, they usually have to possess a material form, like a human body or in some cases, items like a cloak or armor. Higher ranked (more powerful) mazoku have the power to materialize their own body into the physical world and are able to travel from one place to another by "bending space", instead of retreating to the Astral side and appearing somewhere else. This body however, is unaffected by most forms of physical attack. Although magical attacks can deal damage to both the projected body and the true form in the astral plane, mazoku are highly resistant to magic due to their mind based built. Mazoku also absorb negative emotion from living beings, giving them much sustenance. Likewise, positive emotions weaken them. A few mazoku even suffer from words praising life alone in the series. Highest ranked mazoku also have the ability to lend their power to human beings. The study of borrowing power from a high ranked mazoku is called black magic in the Slayers universe. Spells that belong to this category, such as the widely known most powerful black magic spell Dragon Slave or a lesser spell like Blast Ash all borrow power from mazoku. The ability to use black magic depends considerably on the knowledge of mazoku and thus even regular black mages need to know the basic capabilities of their kind.

Society structure

All mazoku worship their primary creator, the Lord of Nightmares. However, most of them, including some of the maō do not know that the Lord of Nightmares is also the creator of humans and the mazoku's enemies, the shinzoku. They believe that their main goal was given to them by the Lord of Nightmares, which is to return the world into its original form, the Sea of Chaos, effectively destroying it in the process.

References

1. ^ Animerica 7 (5): 34–35. May 1999. 
2. ^ "QUESTION? He's Proposing to THAT Girl?". Slayers. July 28, 1995. No. 17. 07:30 minutes in.
3. ^ Hajime, Kanzaka (2005). Slayers: The Silver Beast. Tokyopop, LA. p. 35
4. ^ 20th episode of Slayers NEXT
5. ^ "A Wonderful Business! Being a Bodyguard isn't Easy!"
6. ^ "Sudden Cooking! Return of the Phantom Dragon!"
7. ^ Slayers Revolution episode 8
8. ^ Slayers Try episode 2
9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya7i7UMmWLk