Ian (MÄR)

Infobox animanga character
name = Ian
series = MÄR


caption = Ian by Nobuyuki Anzai
first = Manga Chapter 15 "MÄR" Episode 6
voiced by = Shinji Kawada (Japanese)
Doug Erholtz (English)
age =
born =
relatives =
divider = yes
aux1 = Chess Pieces
aux1 name = Affiliation
aux2 = Knight
aux2 name = Rank

Ian (イアン, "Ian") is the name of a character in MÄR. As is a member of the series' main antagonist faction, the Chess Pieces, belonging to the group of its most elite fighters, the Knight.

Character outline

On the surface, Ian appears to be a laid-back, jovial young man who (even when he was still a low-ranked Rook) is one of the few Chess Pieces to have the daring to be blunt and disrespectful towards his superiors. This ranges from addressing the senior Loco "-chan" in spite of her insistence on their age gap, to talking back to Halloween who is one of the highest-ranked Knights, and in his quest for vengeance later on, challenging even the Knights. Ian's amiable manners, however, belies the lethal, battle-thrilled fighter he can be in the battlefield. Once driven by determination he is relentless in his pursuit, be it a simple case of getting the fight he enjoys or the venture to eliminate a superior sworn enemy. Ian's tenacity is prone to lead him go against his orders, and Ian admits because of it, he is always mentally prepared for death penalty [Ian: "Since it's my style to take on a fight I would enjoy, I went in preparation of getting punished" "MÄR -MÄR Heaven-", Episode 58, "Ian's Anger".] . Although his affiliation evidences the contrary, Ian is a man of high morals - in fact, it was his idealistic dream to purify the world instead of selfish desires like most other Chess Pieces that urged him to join it in the first place [Gido: "Let's become Knights together. When Phantom revives, we'll clean up this world" "MÄR -MÄR Heaven-", Episode 12, "Luberia's Boss, Nanashi", Akt 32, "OVER THE SEA"] . He cares for his girlfriend, Gido, deeply: his love for her outweighs his ideals and well-being, and later becomes his motivation in battle throughout the series. His upright nature attracts great respect from his opponent, Ginta, and though the sympathy doesn't align their causes, it eventually manages to diminish their initial enmity.

Unlike the rest of the Knights, Ian's rank isn't a given - he started off in the series as a Rook, the second lowest class. His elevation to Knight position took place during the course of the story.

Roles

The Rook

Ian's first appearance was at Phantom's tomb, where he, along with other Chess Pieces, first celebrated the latter's resurrection. Ian first took an active role in the story when he was assigned to the capture of the fleeing Lestava princess, Snow, accompanied by another Rook, Loco, and assisted by 9 Pawns. When finally cornered at the derelict Frozen Castle on Pazurika island, Snow encased herself and the castle in ice, keeping her pursuers at bay in the process. As they awaited Halloween's aids, Ian and Loco were confronted by Ginta, Jack and , to whom Snow's companion and attendant, Edward, had directed a request for rescue. Restless for a warm-up after many banquets held in honor of Phantom's revival, Ian accepted Ginta's challenge, and they battled until both sustained considerable injuries. Soon after, Edward's alter ego, Alan, and Halloween successively showed up and intervened the fight's further progress. Halloween's rescission of the capture order brought a halt to Chess Pieces operations inside the castle, and Ian, with an arm broken, retreated, leaving their duel a draw.

In the war stage of the 2nd MÄR-Heaven War the Chess Pieces waged several day later, Ian was commissioned to the destruction of a town with Loco and the Knight Rolan. However, he turned a deaf ear to the order and instead, took his girlfriend, the Pawn Gido, with him and searched for Ginta's whereabouts to resume their fight and claim victory. After 3 days tracing Alan by his magic wave, they arrived at his hideout, wherein he was guarding Ginta's and Jack's training ground inside the Training Gate. Ian proceeded to attack the immobilized, weakened Alan until Ginta returned from the Gate and took on the challenge again, this time ending it with an overwhelming win. In an attempt to aid Ian, Gido was wounded by Jack, and the two withdrew. Before he left, Ian vowed to get stronger and defeat Ginta the next time they meet.

His insubordination reaching the ears of the Knights, soon after his return to the Chess headquarter, Ian was detained in the castle' dungeon to be questioned by Halloween. Ian's direct responsibility notwithstanding, instead of him, Halloween chose Gido to be condemned to the final punishment, which was to be carried out by a ruthless Knight of his choice. Upon hearing the news, Ian broke down and appealed to Halloween to spare Gido. His attempts, however, ended in futility. By the time of his release, the day of the War Game's preliminary round, Gido was metamorphosed into a tentacled, half-human half-bug creature with disabled mental facilities. Her mishap conducted significant changes in Ian; he became reticent and always kept his mask on while constantly exudes a hostile aura.

After having spied on the spectacular debut of Ginta's Babbo v.3, in his first battle, Ian realized the width to which their strength gap had extended, and requested the most perilous Training Gate from Phantom to conquer his shortcomings. Dismissing Peta's warning of the risk he was going to undertake as irrelevant, Ian resolved to train inside the Gate until he could be as good as a Knight to kill Ginta and Gido's persecutor [Peta:"Do you really want the most dangerous one ? (Training Gate). You'll die." Ian:"After seeing that (Gargoyle), I have no choice. I'll train to become a Knight.. to kill Ginta and the one who made Gido like that" "MÄR -MÄR Heaven-", Episode 20, "Gate of training returns! We'll teach you how to fight!!", Akt 48, "Dad"]

The Knights

Ian's reappearance was after the 5th round of the War Game at Reginlief castle, where he turned up for a brief meeting with Ginta to warn him about their incoming battle, now that he had finished his training. He returned to Lestava castle and was arranged by Phantom to fight the Knight Rapunzel, who was due for punishment under charges of acts of massacre against subordinate Chess Pieces should she fail to defeat him. Misdiagnosing Ian as a common Rook, Rapunzel entered the fight with confidence and was easily killed (by decapitation in the manga, and incineration in the anime). To the witness of all Knights present, Phantom then officially inducted Ian into their ranks and gave him the Knight earring. Before he left, Ian publicly declared his oath to expose Gido's antagonist among the Knights to daylight and eliminate him.

Soon after, Ian entered the 6th Round of the War Games and engaged Ginta in the last battle of the round. Seeing how Ian had shedded his usual light-hearted response to the battle's atmostphere and sparred with a much more aggressive, desperado-like attitude, Ginta inquired into the tragedy that had befallen him and his Pawn lover, and was appalled by Ian's revelation. Reflecting upon his grief as he madly outfought Ginta, Ian admitted that he resented both himself, Ginta and the Chess, for their fair share of culpability in Gido's current miserable condition"MÄR" manga volume 12, Akt 123-124, MÄR -MÄR Heaven-, Episode 58] . Still, he chose to stay a Knight to find a way of restoring her human form"MÄR" manga volume 12, Akt 123-124, MÄR -MÄR Heaven-, Episode 58] . However, Ginta asserted that his joining the Chess, despite knowing their nature from the experience of the previous war, was wrong in the first place"MÄR" manga volume 12, Akt 123-124, MÄR -MÄR Heaven-, Episode 58] . Reminding Ian that he himself also had an important person (Snow) to retrieve from Diana's grasps, Ginta summoned Gargoyle with all his might to defeat the Ian's Guardian, effectively ending their fight. Convinced that he'd taken the wrong path, Ian discarded his Knight earring and terminated his bond with the Chess.

Then, following a hunch that the 4th Knight Chimera might be the enemy he was looking for [Ian: "I have the feeling that the one who made Gido like that.. was Chimera" "Akt 134", "War Games Final Battle: Dorothy Vs Chimera (1)"] , Ian silently observed her battle with Dorothy, only to have his suspicion confirmed. Agitated to get his revenge, he impeded their fight half-way and challenged Chimera, but was disallowed further interference by Dorothy and had to return to his post outside the stage. After the fight ended with Chimera's defeat and her subsequent flight, Ian leapt into action and pursued her to the Lestava base, where she resorted to taking Gido hostage against him. Having learned of Chimera's sorrowful past in her versus Dorothy battle, Ian undauntedly questioned her willingness to repeat a sin years ago was done to her on another [Ian: "Are you going to repeat what others did to you ? While the one to understand that pain best should be you" "Akt 151", "Chimera, Ian and Gido"] (being separated from her loved one and is physically mutilated beyond repair). Wavered, Chimera proposed a fight with Ian on the condition that he would have Gido back by winning. Due to her own physical fatigue, she was easily killed. In her last breath, Chimera revealed to Ian her real name (Eileen) and gave him the ÄRM to undo Gido's transformation, as well as her bless for their happiness (which she saw as compensation for the one she had lost) [Chimera: "Here..this ÄRM will undo Gido's transformation. Be happy in our place (Chimera and Marco) too" "Akt 151", "Chimera, Ian and Gido"] . Gido was then released from her bug form, and left the castle on Ian's arms.

Soon after their departure, Ian and Gido met Ash, who was fleeing the King's massacre with the children he babysat, and they took refuge in a distant village. The three met team MÄR again when Ian happened to witness Snow's death during the King's killing spree. Subsequently, the two sides joined force to stop King, however while Ian managed to survive the encounter with minor injuries, Ash was killed. Ian then opted to stay out of the battle to protect Gido and the children, and the two was welcomed for a permanent stay after Ash's revival at the end of the battle.

ÄRM

Ian's an extremely skillful Weapon ÄRM user. He specializes in ranged attacks, which is demonstrated by his mastery of whip-type Weapon ÄRMs:

* Python Whip: A pair of Weapon ÄRMs that are snake-shaped whips. By concealing these in the long sleeves of his clothes, Ian is able to quickly strike with them before his opponent can see them, serving good confusion.
* Octopus: An 8-armed whip Weapon ÄRM with regenerative ability. After his training in the Shuuren no Mon, he upgrades it into a more deadly weapon with various forms, the Octopus 2.
* Octopus 2: Weapon ÄRM, a more powerful version of Octopus with various sharp weapons at the tip of each tentacle.
* ÄRM Break: A Weapon ÄRM when activated various weapons sprout forth from Ian's body or clothes. This subject is debatable as to whether this is a separate ÄRM or just another function of the Octopus 2.
* ???: It is unknown if this is an ÄRM or a weapon. Essentially a set of big claws attached to the user's wrist.Possibly Shelakey a weapon ARM used by Bishop Avrute.
* ???: It is unknown if this is an ÄRM or a weapon. A set of big fans used to make wind to blow back opponents.
* Moon Fall: Weapon ÄRM, crescent boomerangs.
* Demonic Bond: A ring Darkness ÄRM which creates a chain binding the user and the opponent, used to wear out both's magic by draining their blood. Should this ÄRM be used for a long enough amount of time, both the user and his opponent may die.
* Iron Maiden: A ring Darkness ÄRM that takes the shape of the Iron Maiden upon summoning. Anyone who touches the Iron Maiden, or who is bound to it, will be unable to use Holy ÄRMs.
* Peryton: A ring Guardian ÄRM from which Ian calls forth a mutated hybrid with powerful blast-firing ability.

On a side note, Ian is the only Chess Piece shown having a Holy ÄRM, Healing Angel, though he later gave it to Ginta. A likeness of him appears on a noddle logo on episode 60.

References