Character Profiles
Zelgadis Graywords
Zelgadis is a formidable foe and powerful sage, well versed in arts arcane. In addition to his sorcerous prowess, he is also askilled swordsman, on par with the greatest, and he's powerfull enough to fight Gourry to a draw. As if this wan't enough he is part human, golem, and blow demon.
lina Invers
Lina is a plucky young woman. She is known throughout the land for her mystical skills and powerfulspells, and feared throughout the land for the swath destruction left in her path. The collateral damage isn't intentional. Lina just doesn't know her own strength.
Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun
Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the Slayers cast, Amelia is often tagged with such undesirable names like, "Justice-freak", "Immature", and "Hero-worshipper." (Funny that no one uses "Idealist" which fits her much better!) Although at first glance it is obvious as to why she is called such things, one must make a closer observation to better understand her character. First off, she hails from the justice capitol of the Slayers world. Such justice is necessary to maintain stability within the kingdom of Seyruun, and in turn, the rest of the continent. Seyruun is the main power to keep the other kingdoms in check to prevent unjust situations for the people. The crown prince of Seyruun, Prince Philionel, has had to maintain justice because many of his relations have become corrupt in the pursuit of power and have tried to assassinate him to assume the throne (t'was his younger brother, Randy, who tried to assassinate him in the first series; then t'was his nephew, Alfred, who tried to kill him in NEXT!) His own wife was the victim of such plotting against him which in turn caused his older daughter, Gracia, to go mad and flee from her royal position ('tis rumored that she is actually Naga the White Serpent, who constantly plagues Lina in the movies and OVA's.), leaving her little sister, Amelia, to assume Gracia's former position as heir to the throne. Hence Amelia's love for justice (and also the reason for her not carrying a sword-although she is quite skilled with one-and her dislike for blood-she saw her mother DIE for crying out loud!!!) Second, she may very well be immature since she's only 15! Sure she has her moments of immaturity, but when needed she composes herself well (anytime she has royal duties to perform.) Third, she respects fellow justice-keepers and tries to learn from them to better herself, like in the first series after Lina Dragon Slaved a giant hill containing ghosts. Amelia expected Lina to take care of the problem in one shot, (using the Dragon Slave-which would destroy the city!) however Lina clued her in that one must know when and where to use a spell-then Lina was possessed and Amelia, taking Lina's lesson to heart, used a Megiddo Flare to safely eradicate the city of the ghosts. (Unfortunately, Lina promptly forgot what she taught Amelia.....oh well!)
Gourry Gabriev
gourry is an ex-mercenary who originally prtnered with lina because he thought a youn girl like her needed a protective escort. Little did he know that he was teaming up with the infamous Lina Inverse. Armed with the legendary sword of lite, Gourry is almost invincible. It's too bad that his sward is the brightest thing about him.
Rezo the Red Priest
With but a simple conjuration, Rezo is able to dring the world's greatest sorcerers to a stand still, bring sight to the blind, and heal the wounded. known thrghout the lands for his generousacts, Ruby-Robed Rezo is a powerful ally.
Valgaav
Val was the sole survivor of the Ancient dragons after they were killed off by the Gold Dragons for safekeeping a weapon of light. Battered and bruised he encountered Gaav, who promised him revenge if Val would become his follower. Val accepted and then was killed by Gaav and reborn as a mazoku (and in turn Val took on the name Gaav = Valgaav.) As everyone knows (well, for those who've seen NEXT) Gaav was killed by Hellmaster Phibrizzo, who used Lina Inverse as bait to lure the rebel lord to his destruction. Because of this, Valgaav has made it his sole purpose in life to avenge Gaav by destroying Lina. He is also employed by Alymace to find the weapons of light, but Valgaav usually disobeys orders to do what he wants, either go after Lina and Co. or avoid Xellos-who's mission it is to destroy Valgaav. Valgaav is quite destructive by nature, wanting to lash out at the world that has been so cruel to him. Near the end of TRY Dark Star manages to get through the gate and consumes the willing Valgaav. But he is not killed. Instead he becomes Dark Star's messenger (so to speak) and using the god's power, wipes out the Gold Dragons. Of course since this is Slayers, Dark Star is beaten back to where he came from, and Val is reborn as an egg to get a second chance at life. Filia takes it upon herself to raise him, perhaps to right the wrong that her race did to the Ancient Dragons.
Filia Ul Copt
Filia is a shrine maiden for the Fire Dragon King, so it's obvious that she'd most likely be a dragon (which she is...) She has the ability to transform into a human, except her tail is still visible-when she gets worked up over something (which is almost ALL OF THE TIME!) her tail usually sticks out from under her dress causing quite a scene with the locals. Although she acts somewhat prissy and drinks tea, she wields a mace and tends to use it whenever she feels offended. Most of the male cast has been victim to her mace attacks! She is usually calm-until Xellos comes anywhere near her. Filia has a lot of hatred toward Xellos solely because he is a mazoku (it doesn't help that he killed off most of her race-the Gold Dragons-but hey, it was a war after all!) She manages to offend Xellos near the beginning of TRY, so he spends most of the remaining series getting back at her. He knows how to manipulate her to his advantage, and she is all too aware of this and tries to get back at him....Anyway, Filia was sent by her elders to find the strongest human in the world-Luna Inverse. Unfortunately Luna wouldn't leave her part-time job, so Filia is told (by Luna) to find Lina and her rag-tag gang instead. During her travels with them, Filia learns that the Gold Dragons aren't as righteous as they act. Filia comes to learn that the Gold Dragons were solely responsible for the genocide of the Ancient Dragons. Eventually she gives up her role as a shrine maiden and takes it upon herself to raise Valgaav (or is it just Val?), who is the only survivor of the Ancient Dragons and was given a second chance at life.
Martina Xoana Mel Navratilova
Martina, the obsessive stuck-up princess that Lina would rather forget about (and she actually does for a while!) We first see Martina at the beginning of NEXT when she and her father, the king of Xoana plot to take over the world (how original is that?) by overthrowing Seyruun by taking Princess Amelia hostage. They even go so far as to hire Zelgadis to help dispatch the visiting princess in return for the Book of Xoana, which supposedly contains information that Zelgadis could use to aid him in finding a cure. Unfortunately for Martina and her father, the said book also attracts Lina's attention. Needless to say when Lina leaves Xoana it's utterly demolished (the kingdom-not the book which turns out to be useless anyway.) From that moment on Martina obsesses over getting revenge by either a) totally humiliating Lina, or b) killing her (Martina opts for b!) Along the way she manages to fall hopelessly in love with (in order of appearance:) Zelgadis, Gourry, Xellos, and Zangulus!! Martina isn't totally bad, however, for she proves again and again that if you really want something you've got to work for it. She also points out that Lina does have feelings for Gourry, which in turn helps Lina save the day (but I'm not going to tell you how! ^_-) Oops, almost forgot: one strange aspect of Martina is that she worships her own home-made god, Zoamelgustar, and is constantly asking it for advice (she even answers for it!) or using it to put curses on Lina! Okay, so maybe she is scary! Anyway, everything turns out all right in the end. Martina even gets married to Zangulus (many people are STILL in shock about that) and takes over as ruler of Xoana (which she plans on rebuilding), much to her father's joy. Hopefully married life will mellow her out a bit...Nah!
Xellos
Xellos. An extremely powerful mazoku (monster/demon) that likes to take advantage of others. He holds a high position in the monster race as Xelas' priest AND general. (He's the only mazoku to hold two positions!) Not too much is known about him except that he is over 1,000 years old, and during the War of the Monster's Fall he annihilated countless gold dragons in seconds by simply using his finger! (Hence Filia's disgust and distrust for him.) He doesn't usually associate with the Slayers gang unless he needs something. Then he'll manipulate them (mostly Lina) to do his bidding-they don't realize this until after the fact. He posed as a human priest at the beginning of NEXT and used the gang to find where the Claire Bible manuscript-and eventually the actual Claire Bible-was. The gang doesn't realize that he's a monster until half of the series is over (you think they would've caught on sooner because he had the ability to appear and disappear at crucial moments!) No one is too thrilled to see him in TRY because they've finally learned that he uses them to his advantage and cares very little about what happens to them in the process. He does redeem himself in the end because he plays an integral part in saving the world. That's a big sacrifice on his part considering his ultimate goal as a mazoku is to revert the universe back to nonexistence! That's all I have to say about him (he's not that interesting to write about...), how about you view some pictures of him instead? (A picture's worth a thousand words you know!)
Naga The White Serpent
Naga: tall, beautiful, and a large bust-everything that Lina is not. (Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder!) Naga is renowned for her looks, her ability to summon creatures, and especially for her laugh. She is extremely full of herself, and when given the chance will proclaim her superiority over Lina, and then she'll break out in prolonged laughter. Aside from all this, much of Naga's past is unknown. Or it was... Like many of you, I didn't know too much about her past, whether it was true rumors or blatant lies! But thanks to my every growing collection of Slayers books, Naga's past has been revealed! *Cue scary overly dramatic music* The whole rumor of Naga being the Crown Princess of Seyruun is in fact true! When she was younger, and went by her given name Gracia, an assassin attempted to kill Gracia, but got her mother instead. Gracia witnessed this, and killed the assassin with a spell. Needless to say there was much bloodshed, and Gracia was left pretty shaken up. I'm not too clear on the details here, but in any case, Prince Philionel, Gracia's father, allowed for her to leave the kingdom, most likely for her to get away from the pressures of being royalty. Before she left, she found her crazy getup (known as a battle bikini! >.<) in her mother's closet. Gracia had been very close to her mother, so she took it and went out in the world(unbeknown to the rest of her family). With her new look and new name, 'Naga' traveled the land in search of stronger spells. Of course this search led her to Lina Inverse, one of the most powerful sorceresses alive. After a shaky beginning, the duo had many crazy adventures taking odd jobs to earn money, or trashing bandit hideouts for treasure. (Some things never change with Lina around! Their adventures can be seen in all of the Slayers movies, OVA's, and (if you can read Japanese) the Slayers novels.
Zangulus
One of the few secondary characters that appears in not one series,but TWO seasons (Slayers, and Slayers NEXT.) In Slayers, Zangulus was hired by Eris to hunt down and bring Lina and Gourry back to Sairaag. He and a sorcerer, Vrumugun, chase after the duo for awhile, but do not actually capture them until Amelia joins the cause to 'bring the villains to justice' (it was all a horrible misunderstanding!) Lina and Gourry do escape, however, and set out with Amelia in tow to Sairaag to figure out what is going on. Zangulus and Vrumugun hound them all the way. All Zangulus wants out of it is to prove who is the better swordsman: Zangulus, with his Howling Sword (it shoots out huge beams of power) or Gourry, with his Sword of Light. They finally have an out-and-out duel deep within Rezo's laboratory, with Gourry as the victor. But since Gourry's such a nice guy he doesn't kill Zangulus; instead Zangulus gains respect for Gourry's skill and then disappears until NEXT where he again wants a rematch with Gourry. Unfortunately at the time of his reappearance Gourry has been taken away by Phibrizzo and is, unbeknownst to Lina and Co., used to attack the group. It isn't until Zangulus fights the mysterious swordsman that he realizes that it is in fact Gourry, whereupon Phibrizzo takes him away to Sairaag (is that the universal city for a bad guy to take over or what??) In Sairaag Zangulus helps Lina and Sylphiel get to Phibrizzo's place, and once there he comforts Martina when the two are left behind to ultimately be killed by the destruction caused by the Lord of Nightmares. (If you haven't seen NEXT by now, I'm sure you are very confused. GO SEE IT NOW BEFORE I SPOIL IT FOR YOU!!) But of course this is Slayers and the two don't die! Instead Zangulus marries Martina and becomes the king of Xoana (talk about your promotions-he takes the cake!)
Sylphiel Nels Rada
Although not one of the main characters, Sylphiel appears in the first and second series of Slayers to journey with the gang (usually when they travel anywhere near Sairaag.) Sylphiel hails from Sairaag, the ill-fated city that was almost totally destroyed by Kopii (Copy) Rezo, and then was taken over by Hellmaster Phibrizzo. Sylphiel is a shrine maiden and is supposed to be proficient in white magic. Unfortunately she isn't too good at casting effective spells, however she can cast one of the most powerful spells of white magic-Resurrection. She is also able to cast the Dragon Slave, the most powerful black magic spell (shadowed only by the Giga Slave!) Sylphiel learned how to cast the Dragon Slave because she is totally in love with Gourry and felt that she had to compete with Lina. One thing that sets Sylphiel apart from the rest of the female cast is that she's actually quite feminine and has a strong sense of responsibility (who else would travel around healing warring bandits?) She is also very open with her feelings and emotions, which is usually quite upsetting for Lina when Sylphiel confronts her about her true reason for traveling with Gourry-Sylphiel's not buying that, "I only want the Sword of Light" bit. Sylphiel disappears from the Slayers after NEXT, only having a cameo appearance in the TRY commercial break. Perhaps after she witnessed Gourry chasing after Lina to save her Sylphiel finally figured out that Gourry didn't return her love, and then left for parts unknown. Who knows? All I can say is that she'll be missed.
SLAYERS RULE.
