Characters / The Vision of Escaflowne

Hitomi Kanzaki

Voiced by: Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese), Kelly Sheridan (Ocean Group), Caitlin Glass (Funimation) (English), Ilaria Latini (Italian), Julia Meynen (German), Pilar Morales (Catalan, series and Spain, movie), and Alma Wilhelme (Latin America)

The heroine and focus character of the series. Hitomi was just a normal high school student with a schoolgirl crush on her track team senior Amano when a string of events leaves her stranded on Gaea. To add to her problems, her latent psychic abilities (manifesting before only as hunches and surprisingly accurate Tarot readings) begin to explode in power, frequently barraging her with disturbing images of what is to come.

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• Action Survivor: Being on the track team sure comes in handy when you have to do things like, say, leaping six meters across a gaping chasm to save Van.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In the movie, she suffers from depression, to the point it's implied she was contemplating suicide before ending up in Gaea.
• Adaptational Curves: In the movie, while her design is closer to the series than the original manga, Hitomi is less lank and a bit curvier.
• Adaptational Ugliness: In the first manga (released two years before the anime premiered) Hitomi was quite curvaceous with softer features and long hair. In the anime however; she's considerably thinner and more boyish.
• Boyish Short Hair: Probably to indicate her athleticism.
• But Now I Must Go: Hitomi goes back to Earth at the end of the series.
• The Chosen One: In the movie, Folken refers to her as "the Wing Goddess" and believes she will help him end the world.
• Clap Your Hands If You Believe: What's actually behind the accuracy of her fortune-telling. Her talisman is an Atlantean artifact that can change fate, realizing the dreams of its user. However, her anxiety always makes her imagine bad fates. Yes, whenever she predicted a disaster, she actually made it happen.
• Death Is Cheap: Hitomi actually dies twice in the series for several minutes.
• Did Not Get The Guy: Hitomi chooses to go back to Earth while Van stays behind on Gaea to help his world heal from the war it just endured.
• Generic Cuteness: Has rather plain looks, which once or twice trouble her.
• Hair Antennae: Symbolizes her sunny disposition (and is not present in The Movie version where she is an Emo Teen, except in a childhood flashback)
• Identical Granddaughter: She and her grandmother Yuri◊ (when the latter was younger, that is) look exactly alike. Appearance-wise, the young Yuri was basically a long-haired Hitomi. The name Yuri is from the manga but is applied to the anime as well.
• Interspecies Romance: With Van, since he is a half Draconian.
• Joshikousei: She wears her very cute uniform like, 70% of the time.
• Love Epiphany: After she is briefly sent back to Earth, Hitomi finally realizes that the one she really loves is Van.
• Loving a Shadow: Hitomi's crush on Allen is based on the fact that he looks, acts, and even sounds like her beloved Amano-sempai.
• Magic Skirt: The animators were explicitly instructed to keep away from giving her any Panty Shots.
• Memento MacGuffin: Her pendant, given to her by her late grandmother.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Varie explains that Hitomi's anxiety amplifies the worst possible outcomes of her tarot readings.
• Ordinary High-School Student: A completely normal schoolgirl who ends up Trapped in Another World.
• Passionate Sports Girl: Subverted, as it's hinted that she joined her school's track team because she had a huge crush on the team captain Susumu Amano rather than her love of sports. Her running skills do come handy later in the story, though.
• Physical God: By the end of the series, Hitomi is practically this. She is able to not just predict, but directly alter the future on a whim. Because of this, she cannot stay in Gaea and returns to Earth.
• Plucky Girl: Starts as a Girl Next Door, then must develop a stronger will as time passes. Eventually, she becomes a textbook example of this trope.
• Power-Strain Blackout: Her ability to see into the future, via Tarot Cards, often has this effect on her afterwards. It's eventually revealed that both the duration and the severity of her fainting spells is determined by her emotional state. Meaning, the greater her anxiety, the greater its toll on her following her vision; not to mention the part about her anxiety making those visions come true!
• School Uniforms are the New Black: She wears her school uniform despite being on a completely different planet. Justified in that the only other clothes she has with her are her running clothes.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: When Millerna dolls her up in a dress in Asturia, Van is left dumbstruck.
• Shorttank: Is kinda tomboyish, but not to Ladette extremes.
• Spanner in the Works: The only thing that puts the Destiny Prognostication Engine through more hell than Escaflowne: the love between her and Van.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Not only does Hitomi resemble her grandma, but she looks a LOT like her unnamed mother◊.
• Trapped in Another World: She is stuck on Gaea.
• Tsundere: Sweet type. Hitomi is friendly and easygoing, but Van's rude attitude gets on her bad side.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: Hitomi's visions are not set in stone — it's her anxiety over them that makes them come true.

Van Slanzar de Fanel

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki and Yoshiko Kamei [child] (Japanese), Kirby Morrow (Ocean Group), Aaron Dismuke (Funimation) (English), Fabrizio Manfredi (Italian), Bjorn Schalla (German, Series), Robin Kahnmeyer (German, Movie), Angel de Garcia (Spain, Movie) and Jesús Barrero [child] and José Gilberto Vilchis [teenager] (Latin America)

The Hero, pilot of the Escaflowne and newly crowned king of the country of Fanelia. Van has the misfortune of having his kingdom burned to the ground on the day of his coronation, and is now forced on the run from the Zaibach Empire.

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• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Gets one in the movie like Hitomi; Van is much more embittered and haunted by his past and far more quick to anger with a borderline Murder Is the Best Solution mentality when dealing with his enemies.
  Van: I will slay all of my enemies!
• Armor-Piercing Question: He deals a very important one to Folken as a little boy. When a pre-Face–Heel Turn!Folken was explaining the Dragon-killing Ritual, little Van innocently asked "Why does the dragon have to die? Poor him!" Folken was taken aback, then agreed with little Van's sympathy for the dragon.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: He is crowned king just moments before The Empire invades his kingdom.
• Awful Truth: He finds out that his older brother Folken was the one responsible for Fanelia being burnt to the ground.
• Believing Their Own Lies: Van believed, for 10 years, that his older brother Folken had been killed by a dragon (during the dragon-slaying ritual to become king of Fanelia). He also never believed that Folken had run away or abandoned Fanelia.
• Berserk Button: A past poster boy. Do. Not. Hurt. Hitomi.
• Betty and Veronica: The Veronica to Allen's Betty for Hitomi's Archie.
• Blood from the Mouth: Once after a dragon-induced concussion, and once when the Zaibach sorcerers start dismantling Escaflowne, heart first, while he's still synchronized to it.
• Break the Cutie: Van probably goes through more physical and emotional torture than any other character in the series.
• Bring My Red Jacket: Wears a red shirt. It's often covered in blood.
• Broken Pedestal: As a child, Van idolised, trusted and loved his older brother Folken. But Van found out, to his shock and horror, that his older brother Folken was alive - and had betrayed Fanelia. This caused Van to lose the trust and affection he had for his older brother.
• Cain and Abel: With Folken. They make up at the end. And then, Folken dies.
• Cannot Spit It Out: He comes very close to confessing to Hitomi in Episode 19... and then he fucks it up. Luckily, he gets it right at the end of the series.
• Corrupt the Cutie: He eventually starts enjoying the fighting, to the point Hitomi becomes terrified of him.
• Declaration of Protection: He swears to protect Hitomi several times.
• Defrosting Ice King: He comes off as aloof and somewhat cold at first. Hitomi defrosts him fast.
• Determinator: "I...I can still fight!
• Face Death with Dignity: Averted with ‘death’ part. When Van was captured by the Zaibach Empire and reunited with his older brother Folken (who he didn’t recognise at first,) Van refused to be used by Zaibach and attempted to kill himself by putting his own sword to his neck. Fortunately, Folken stopped him.
• Freakiness Shame: He is ashamed of his wings because they marked him as a descendant of the Atlanteans, who are universally disdained in the setting, but Hitomi (who comes from another world altogether) just finds them beautiful.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Half Draconian on his mother's side.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: He’s only seen wielding a sword.
• He Who Fights Monsters: As the series progresses, Van starts cracking from the strain of the Break the Cutie process and gradually goes from a borderline Martial Pacifist to an all-out Blood Knight. Thank God for the Power of Love, or he might have gone off the deep end.
• Hot-Blooded: He's voiced by Tomokazu Seki. What else do you expect.
• I'll Kill You!: In the movie, Van recites this multiple times. Devolves into Madness Mantra in his final battle with Dilandau when his armor's flamethrower triggers Van's Trauma Button.
  Van: I'LL KILL YOU!!! (impales Dilandau's armor) NOW DIE! (impales him again with his spear) My enemies die! (starts stomping on the armor) I'll kill you!
• Interspecies Romance: With Hitomi, since he is a half Draconian.
• Like Brother and Sister: His stance on his relationship with Merle. Her feelings are clearly beyond that, though.
• Last of His Kind: After his older brother Folken’s death, Van is the only one left of the royal Fanel bloodline.
• Love Hurts: Seeing Hitomi preferring Allen over him deeply hurts him, especially when he sees them kissing under the influence of the Zaibach Empire.
• Master of the Mixed Message: In Episode 19, resulting in a slap from Hitomi.
• Modest Royalty: Or to quote Hitomi, "He's a prince?!"
• Momma's Boy: Van was very close to his mother when we was a child.
• Noble Fugitive: Despite being a king, he spends most of the series on the run from the Zaibach Empire, who need him so they can take control of Escaflowne themselves. While the royalty of countries like Asturia are at least somewhat sympathetic to his plight, they're not entirely willing to risk their asses by truly granting him refuge.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Roguish Male to Allen's Noble Male.
• Orphan's Ordeal: The deaths of both of his parents, and the disappearance of his older brother Folken, caused him to be a orphan. Or so Van believed, only to find out his older brother Folken was alive. But then he becomes an orphan for real when his older brother Folken dies.
• Overdrawn at the Blood Bank: If this were the real world, there would have been no chance in hell of Van surviving episode 14, Draconian heritage notwithstanding.
• Parental Abandonment: Father is dead, while his mother disappeared in search of his missing brother and is strongly implied to have died.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Official sources list him as 165 cm and 51 kg (5'5" and 112 lbs, just about) — in other words, absolutely tiny. He is introduced killing a dragon the size of a small building in single combat.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Allen's blue. It's even Color-Coded for Your Convenience.
• Say My Name: "HITOMIIIII!"
• Screaming Warrior: The inevitable result of letting Tomokazu "THIS HAND OF MINE GLOWS WITH AN AWESOME POWER!" Seki voice your Humongous Mecha pilot.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Hitomi is the only woman he’s shown a romantic interest in.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: Thanks to his minimal shirt.
• Spanner in the Works: Escaflowne's existence plays absolute hell on the Zaibach Empire's Destiny Prognostication Engine, which is why they're investing so much into capturing both it and its pilot.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Comes off as this at first.
• Synchronization: Halfway through the series, Van applies Hitomi's dowsing technique to gain more control over Escaflowne. Unfortunately for him, the link works both ways — mentally and physically.
• Unstoppable Rage:
  • Van just goes utterly apeshit on the Dragonslayers in the 14th episode.
  • In the movie, Van similarly goes completely berserk against Dilandau (screaming multiple times I'll Kill You! in mad rage) after the latter's flamethrower triggers Van's memory of the night his parents were killed by Folken and his kingdom was destroyed.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: TV Van is not a case of this, despite the frequent Clothing Damage. Movie Van, on the other hand...
• Warrior Prince: You are not allowed to be King of Fanelia until you kick dragon ass in single combat. This is precisely what Van does in the first episode.
• Winged Humanoid: Due to being a Half-Human Hybrid of the Draconian race, Van has wings that he can "summon" when he needs to.

Allen Schezar

Voiced by: Shin-ichiro Miki (Japanese), Brian Drummond (Ocean Group), Sonny Strait (Funimation) (English), Peter Fletchner (German), and Óscar Flores (Latin America)

A member of the Knight Caeli that happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to Hitomi's crush, Amano. Allen is the sole, impeccable gentleman among a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits that guard one of Asturia's outposts. Despite his near perfect outward appearance and demeanor, he's hiding quite a number of abandonment issues just below the surface.

And yes, the Goliath's hero unit in StarCraft is named after him.

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• Betty and Veronica: The Betty to Van's Veronica for Hitomi's Archie.
• Big Brother Instinct: Allen has a thing for attaching himself to barely legal ingenues out of misplaced filial instinct.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Allen wants to do this to Leon, his Disappeared Dad. Turns out Leon was Dead All Along.
• The Casanova: He even has the bastard son to prove it, though he doesn't seem to do it on purpose. He just has a tendency to fall for women he can never be with, even if they do reciprocate, which they usually do.
• Chekhov M.I.A.: Both his father and little sister. His father Leon was Dead All Along, and his little sister Selena was forcibly turned into Dilandau.
• Chick Magnet: How many girls have fallen for him? There's Hitomi, Millerna, Marlene, Eries...
• Disappeared Dad: It turns out that he's Dead All Along. He also is one to Prince Chid, though it's likely Chid doesn't know it.
• Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest: Hitomi feels attracted to him because of his incredible resemblance to her senpai.
• Failure Knight: For not protecting his mom and Selena, and later for what happened between him and Marlene.
• Giant Poofy Sleeves: Contrasting with Van's chronic lack of sleeves.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Certainly a noble and knightly kind of character. He has a bit of trouble with the chaste part of the trope, though.
• Knight in Shining Armor: From start to finish. He always does the right thing, even when it hurts.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Just look at his picture!
• Loving a Shadow: He's not looking for love so much as for a Replacement Goldfish for his missing younger sister.
• Noble Male, Roguish Male: The Noble Male to Van's Roguish Male.
• Officer and a Gentleman: A well-spoken, clean-shaved gentleman commanding a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits.
• Out of Focus: In the movie he is downplayed to a secondary character and the Love Triangle between him, Van, and Hitomi is nonexistent.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The cool, collected Blue Oni to Van's hotheaded, impulsive, borderline-Blood Knight Red.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: His reason for leaving his post as a Knight Caeli and accompanying Van and Hitomi.
• Stay in the Kitchen: He seems rather chauvinistic at times towards Princess Millerna and Hitomi, though this is somewhat explained through his traumatic backstory in which his mother died of a broken heart and his sister disappeared.

Merle

Voiced by: Ikue Otani (Japanese), Jocelyne Loewen (Ocean Group), Alexis Tipton (Funimation) (English), Christin Marquitan (German), and both Claudia Mota and Mayra Arellano (Latin America)

Van's closest, and clingiest friend. She has quite the love-hate relationship with Hitomi, thanks to Van's feelings for her.

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• Age Lift: Was a preteen in the series, was roughly the same age as Van and Hitomi in the movie.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: While she certainly wasn't ugly in the anime, she was still a preteen girl. Come the movie and she's been aged up to Van and Hitomi's age which leads to a more developed build.
• Cat Girl: She has a cat's ears and tail, along with stripes on her face and legs. She also has catlike mannerisms, such as Running on All Fours as fast as Hitomi can sprint, licking and grooming, puffing up her fur when angry, and being prickly towards Hitomi at first before warming up to her.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She's a friend of Van's since early childhood, and makes no secret of the fact she's got a crush on him. Unfortunately for her, Van only views her as family.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: The main reason she's so hostile towards Hitomi, in the beginning, is because she's afraid she'll try and steal Van from her. Which she sort of does, but unintentionally.
• Cute Little Fangs: She has a small pair of fangs, which add to her cuteness as well as emphasize her catlike traits.
• Genki Girl: Though not incapable of being serious.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: When Merle manages to (literally) slap Hitomi and (not-so-literally) Van out of a dark vision, which saves their lives.
• The Glomp: Has a tendency to bodily launch herself at Van, especially when she's relieved that he's survived a dangerous situation.
• Going Commando: Merle doesn't wear underwear, a fact that is shown quite often.
• Hopeless Suitor: To Van; she's blatantly in love with him, but he has no interest in her that way and later falls for Hitomi instead.
• If You Ever Do Anything To Hurt Him: Merle begins taking this approach after it becomes obvious that Van is in love with Hitomi. Her anger at Hitomi in the second half of the series isn't because Van likes her more, but because Hitomi's Love Triangle indecisiveness is hurting him.
• Inconsistent Spelling: Early fansubs had "Meruru" as her name, now mostly forgotten.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: She eventually accepts the fact Van loves Hitomi and backs off.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: She steals Hitomi's pendant right in front of her, and is later shown to have a number of other items, some of them definitely not hers, in her pockets.
• Morality Pet: Shares this role with Hitomi to Van.
• Mouthy Kid: She always has her heart on her sleeve... and that's not necessarily a good thing.
• Orphan's Ordeal: Merle lost her family, most likely due to war. Fortunately she was found by Balgus, she was brought to Fanelia and Van’s family took her in.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Merle's straightforward and child-like personality provides some... funny moments.
• Rose-Haired Sweetie: She has pink hair and is very energetic. She also fits the Fiery Redhead variety.
• Secret-Keeper: She's one of the few people alive who knows Van is a half Draconian.
• The Unreveal: It’s never revealed, if Merle is her birth name or if her name, was given to her by Van’s family and her family, her parents or siblings if she had any are never seen. So we don’t know, what Merle’s family looked like.
• Token Nonhuman: A Cat Girl traveling alongside humans, except Van isn't quite human either.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: She uses her cleavage to store several of Hitomi's belongings in Episode 8.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Hitomi. Although they have a rivalry over Van, and Hitomi doesn't like Merle's tendency to steal, they also bond over some things, such as their intense desire to make sure Van is safe.

Princess Millerna Sara Aston

Voiced by: Mayumi Iizuka (TV series), Aki Takeda (Film) (Japanese), Venus Terzo (Ocean Group), Colleen Clinkenbeard (Funimation) (English), Antje von der Ahe (German) and Martha Ceceña (Latin America)

The youngest princess of Asturia who happens to be quite smitten with Allen, but is betrothed to Dryden Fassa. Millerna is not quite comfortable being royalty, particularly since it she was forced to abandon her medical studies because of it.

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• Adaptational Badass: In the movie, Millerna serves as the first mate aboard Allen's land ship and is a proficient fencer.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Golden Blonde hair in the TV series, strawberry blonde in the movie.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: To a very mild degree, with Dryden.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: A beautiful and young princess with blonde hair, who wants nothing more than to help people.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: She is introduced as a mild Alpha Bitch, but she mellows out soon.
• Marry for Love: What she wants. It doesn't quite go as planned.
• The Medic: And one that's not a White Magician Girl.
• Medical Monarch: Is studying medicine in contrast to her station.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Played with. She and Dryden are a mild version of Belligerent Sexual Tension. They grow fond of each other as the series advances. The trouble starts after their disastrous wedding. Dryden decides he cares for Millerna, and might be in love with her at that point, but he feels he still has to work hard to become truly worthy of marrying a girl like her.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Wears some of these and dolls up Hitomi in one, too.
• Princesses Prefer Pink: Her dresses are pink.
• Rebellious Princess: She'd rather be a medic and Marry for Love than a traditional princess.
• Shorttank: Even more noticeable due to how her sisters are all much more quiet and Ojou-like.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: In the movie.
• Tsundere: More towards Dryden than towards Allen.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter : King Aston is fat, beady-eyed, balding, and generally not at all attractive; Millerna and her sisters, by comparison, are exceptionally beautiful, being archetypical Princess Classic types with flowing golden hair, big blue eyes, and willowy physiques.

Dryden Fassa

Voiced by: Jurota Kosugi (Japanese), Michael Dobson (Ocean Group), Eric Vale (Funimation) (English), Stefan Gossler (German), and Jorge Ornelas (Latin America)

Millerna's fiance. A brilliant and successful merchant with a frank, laid-back demeanor and a massive generosity streak.

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• Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: The repair bill for Escaflowne? 50 million, which one of the crew calculates is equivalent to two thousand years worth of their salaries. Dryden casually offers his entire fleet, causing his assistant to choke and sputter that the fleet is worth at least ten times that.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: To a very mild degree, with Millerna.
• Brutal Honesty: Dude never sugarcoats his words.
• Establishing Character Moment: His first scene is in his airship, after purchasing a mermaid that he is transporting back to her home.
• Guile Hero: Very kind-hearted and rich, but also very cynical and manipulative when needed. See how he completely owned Allen with words alone and how he dealt with the creators of Escaflowne and got them to fix it, thus saving Van's life.
• Insecure Love Interest: Dryden gives Millerna back the wedding ring after their disastrous wedding, claiming that he's not worthy of her quite yet.
• Insufferable Genius: He is quite aware of how awesome he is, and is quick to point it out.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Abrasive, hedonistic, kinda selfish. Also generous, kindhearted, and quick-thinking.
• Mad Dictator's Handsome Son: Dryden's father makes an appearance before him in Episodes 6 and 7, where he pays to have Hitomi kidnapped. Dryden thankfully doesn't take after him in any way.
• Merchant Prince: His father's connection to the king means he's betrothed to Millerna and thus will be Asturia's future king.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Played with. He and Millerna are a mild version of Belligerent Sexual Tension. They grow fond of each other as the series advances. At the end, Dryden decides he cares for Millerna, and might be in love with her, but after their disastrous wedding, he feels he still has to work hard to become truly worthy of marrying a girl like her.
• Perma-Stubble: For the most part until the botched wedding episode where he, surprisingly, looked quite dashing. Seriously, who would've thought?
• Round Hippie Shades: In a medieval-like environment, to go along with his laid back yet hedonistic personality.
• The Team Benefactor: An Intrepid Merchant, with zero fighting skills, who manages to join Hitomi and Van's little gang by providing funding (read: an ungodly sum of money) for the eponymous mech's mid-season repairs.

Balgus

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda (Japanese), Don Brown (Ocean Group), Chris Guerrero (Funimation) (English), Thomas Kastner (German) and Jorge Fink (Latin America)

One of the "three master swordsmen of Gaea" and Van's retainer/surrogate father. Balgus dies while covering Van's escape from Fanelia, but he nonetheless shows himself to be a major influence on both Van and Allen in the past.

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• Cool Old Guy: Balgus took out a Guymelef on foot.
• Posthumous Character: Most of what we learn about Balgus comes after his death.

Emperor Dornkirk

Voiced by: Masato Yamanouchi (Japanese), Richard Newman (Ocean Group), Jeremy Schwartz (Funimation) (English), Horst Lampe (German), and Federico Romano (Latin America)

Emperor of the Zaibach empire. Through Atlantean technology and a Magitek device known as Destiny Prognostication Engine, Dornkirk seeks to create a future for Gaea free of war — Even if it means burning down a city-state every now and then.

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• Adapted Out: He doesn't exist in the movie, so his Big Bad status is relegated to Folken instead.
• Big Bad: The series' main villain.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Confirmed by Word of God to be Sir Isaac Newton. In Real Life, Newton did have quite an interest in alchemy and the occult, though of course he never took it to the horrific ends Dornkirk does.
• Dark Lord on Life Support: Dornkirk is perpetually hooked up to a massive life-support machine keeping him alive well past when he should have died of old age. In the last episode, he rips free of it and lets Folken kill him to set in motion his Thanatos Gambit.
• Emperor Scientist: He is actually Sir Isaac Newton magically transferred to the fantasy world.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: As part of his plan to activate his fate engine.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He seeks an Instrumentality where there would be no war or fighting, even if it involves kicking a few puppies along the way.

Dilandau Albatou

Voiced by: Minami Takayama (Japanese), Andrew Francis (Ocean Group), Joel McDonald (Funimation) (English), Laura Lenghi (Italian), Claudia Urbschat-mingues (German), Albert Trifol Segarra (Spain, Movie), and Víctor Ugarte and Rebeca Gómez [as Selena] (Latin America)

A complete and absolute psycho, Dilandau is the man put in charge of capturing Van and Escaflowne. He is happy to oblige to this order — provided he gets to blow up a lot of shit along the way.

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• Afraid of Doctors: In The Movie. Though there's a very good reason for it.
• The Alcoholic: He drinks quite heavily even though he's underage by Earth standards, though In-Universe; 15 is considered legally an adult on most of Gaea.
• Ambiguously Brown: In the manga.
• Ax-Crazy: Not only gives absolutely zero fucks about the collateral damage his rampages inflict, but seems to like doing it even more because of it.
• Bad Boss: To the Dragonslayers, but despite this they have Undying Loyalty to him even after death.
• Blood Knight: Does not care at all about Zaibach's goals or philosophy and is purely in it for the carnage.
• Break the Haughty: Oh boy, was Dilandau ever shaken up after that one battle with Van.
• Char Clone: An Ax-Crazy variant. He acts as The Rival to Van and even Allen to an extent, pilots custom red Guymelefs, and turns out to be Allen's little sister Selena. Basically, imagine if it was Sayla Mass who went nuts.
• Cosmic Retcon: This is basically what Fate Alteration does: it turns you into a totally different person, physically and mentally.
• Freak Out: The Break the Haughty process somehow manages to make Dilandau even more fucked up. He spends several episodes freaking out in epic and continuous ways.
• Gender Bender: He's actually a girl named Selena Schezar who was subjected to Zaibach's fate alteration experiments.
• Gender Flip: In the anime, Dilandau is a guy who is later revealed to be a girl magically changed into a guy. In the movie, Dilandau is a guy with no evidence he was ever female. In the manga, Dilandau is a girl who stays a girl through the whole story.
• A Glass of Chianti: He has a taste for red wine.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: His henchmen quickly learn that it doesn't take much to wind up on the receiving end of a beatdown from him.
• Hates Being Alone: The sole idea of being alone makes him more crazy than he already is.
• Karma Houdini: In The Movie.
• Laughing Mad: When killing and destroying, he has an Evil Laugh that would make The Joker himself proud.
  • They're amped up in the German dub. And they are absolutely bonechillingly creepy.
• Long-Lost Relative: He is Allen's sister Selena Schezar.
• Meaningful Name: The name "Dilandau" is a pretty clear nod to Durandal, the legendary sword tainted with a curse of insanity to prevent it from being wielded by the wrong hands.
• Mid Series Upgrade: Well, more like end-of-series upgrade, but. He upgrades to a Guymelef called the Oreades four episodes from the end of the series. It appears to be a souped-up, stylized Alseides with dual flamethrowers/even more liquid metal claws (his only remaining soldier Jajuka also receives one, albeit in rank-and-file blue). In an aversion to this trope, however, the Oreades doesn't appear to do him much good, due to his increasingly-unstable nature, at least against main characters. Van pretty much takes it apart during the final battle with Escaflowne.
• Minor Injury Overreaction: Dilandau has a considerable freak out over the cheek scar Van gave him.
  "It stings... it stings... it stings..."
  "Cheek... cheek... cheek..."
  "My face. He cut my beautiful face!"
• Moral Myopia: Only Dilandau is allowed to fuck with Dilandau's Dragonslayers, understand?
• The Ophelia: Becomes a male version post Freak Out. Then again, he is actually female...
• The Power of Friendship: The only thing keeping him sane. Yes, that is his sane mode. He might beat the shit outta the Dragonslayers, but if one of them is wronged by somebody else, the attacker will DIE. Just as a certain Master of Disguise.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: And they even seem to glow when he's feeling especially Ax-Crazy.
• Scars Are Forever: Maybe they wouldn't be if he'd stop scratching at it.
• Self-Harm: Has a tendency to pick at the cut on his face and reopen it, despite being warned that this will slow the healing. The Mook who first points this out to him promptly gets backhanded.
• Sissy Villain: But there's a very good reason for that.
• Slasher Smile: His other default expression.
• Slouch of Villainy: Does this whenever he's at his home base, usually while brooding.
• The Sociopath: Seems like a straight example at first, but after the loss of the Dragonslayers he's shown repeating their names to himself sadly, and then we find out who he really is and how he got that way...
• Sociopathic Soldier: To an ungodly degree.
• The Fighting Narcissist: A formidable combatant who is beautiful, vain, condescending, and arrogant to a fault. Van ruining his "perfect face" sends him right over the edge into psychotic obsession.
• Tyke-Bomb: Dilandau is what you get when you kidnap innocent little girls, like Selena Schezar, and put them through Fate Alteration experiments.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite his horrendous treatment of the Dragon Slayers, they're devoted enough to him that their spirits show up to try and stop Van from killing him even after they all die.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Dilandau used to be a genuinely sweet little girl by the name of Selena Schezar.
• Villainous Breakdown: When all the Dragonslayers are killed.
• Vocal Evolution: The movie was dubbed after the TV series, not surprisingly. But if you watch both the series and the movie in English, you'll notice it within seconds of movie Dilandau's appearance.
• White Hair, Black Heart

Folken Lacour de Fanel

Voiced by: Joji Nakata (Japanese), Paul Dobson (Ocean Group), Vic Mignogna (Funimation) (English), Sergio Di Stefano (Italian), Bernd Vollbrecht (German), and Víctor Ugarte [child] and Jorge Santos [adult] (Latin America)

Van's long-missing brother. After his disappearence ten years ago, Van finds his brother — only to find that he's serving as The Dragon in Emperor Dornkirk's plans.

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• Adaptational Villainy: In the movie, Folken is a psychotic Big Bad, while in the original series he was more of an Anti-Villain or a Dragon with an Agenda to the actual Big Bad, Emperor Dornkirk (who is absent from the movie altogether). In fact, in the series, he eventually has a Heel–Face Turn.
• Aloof Big Brother: Towards Van, as he's very cold to him. In the series, he actually loves Van very much, but can only show it after his Heel–Face Turn.
• Anti-Villain: A deeply compassionate man, who has joined The Empire to protect the world... by any bloody means.
• Artificial Limbs: He has a mechanical arm.
• The Atoner: After his Heel–Face Turn.
• Badass Longrobe: He's always wearing a robe that covers almost all of his body.
• Benevolent Boss: He treats all of his subordinates with respect, even the races that are despised by the general population.
• Big Bad: His role in the movie.
• Defector from Decadence: He defects after he finally realizes Zaibach's methods are wrong.
• Determinator: He was very determined to find and capture his younger brother Van, when Van went on the run and into hiding from the Zaibach Empire.
• Disproportionate Retribution: ALL his actions in The Movie.
• The Dragon: His authority within Zaibach is second only to Emperor Dornkirk.
• Dragon with an Agenda: While Folken was The Dragon to the Emperor Scientist of Zaibach, he also had his own plans.
• '80s Hair: Most evident in the movie.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: He employs cat people and even doppelgangers — a race even Dilandau despises — and treats them with the same high standard of respect and courtesy that he does for all of his men.
• Everyone Has Standards: He never tried to harm or kill his own, younger brother Van.
• Evil Genius: Since he's the Strategos (tactician and strategist) for the Zaibach Army.
• Facial Markings: He has a purple tear drop shaped tattoo under his right eye.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Folken's wings are revealed to be black when he shows them the second time, and explains that they represent how the fate alteration experiments have shortened the time he has left.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Half Draconian on his mother's side.
• Handicapped Badass: After he failed to kill a dragon, he lost an arm to the beast. Very meaningfully, at the very end of the TV series, his soul is seen with both arms.
• Heel–Face Turn: He defects from Zaibach and joins the good guys near the end of the series.
• Heel Realization: He finally realizes Zaibach's methods are wrong.
• I Want Them Alive!: In regards to his younger brother Van, as he had ordered Dilandau, Naria and Eriya to capture Van alive and unharmed.
• Knight Templar Big Brother: Failing to pass the Dragon Rite, Folken joined Dornkirk in hopes that he could create a world where his brother Van wouldn't have to fight as king. It’s also implied that he did things behind Zaibach’s back to ensure Van was safe and protected from Zaibach.
• Long-Lost Relative: He’s revealed to be Van’s long disappeared older brother.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: More like, Van I Am Your Brother, as he reveals himself to his younger brother Van (after Van didn’t recognise him).
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Intially inverted with the ‘hero’ in the beginning. By betraying Fanelia and revealing himself to his younger brother Van, this caused the latter to lose the trust, love and affection he had for Folken. But it also caused Van to become blinded by his hatred for Folken, to the point Van couldn’t see just how much Folken cared about him. Even when he was on Van’s side, Van still didn’t trust him.
  • He claimed the reason he joined Zaibach was because the King of Fanelia is destined to fight and he wanted to spare his younger brother Van from that awful fate. But little did he know, that by leaving Fanelia and joining Zaibach, that Van would still fall to that awful fate.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He treats all his employees equally and looks at their results instead of politics or race. He never considers You Have Failed Me.
• Redemption Equals Death: He felt like the only way to atone for his own many crimes while working under Dornkirk was death.
• Reformed, but Rejected: The leaders don't trust him after his Heel–Face Turn. Neither does Van, until Folken saves both of them from a dragon.
• Straw Nihilist: In the movie.
• That Man Is Dead: "Folken of Fanelia is dead. I died the day that dragon ripped this arm off, and it was Emperor Dornkirk who gave me life again."
• The Stoic: He doesn’t show much emotion.
• The Unreveal: It’s never revealed what he got to up to for 10 years while working for Zaibach. The only thing we know is Folken stated that he was a sorcerer for a time.
• Together in Death: His soul is among those who watch over Hitomi's return home in the TV series, alongside the twins' and his parents' own.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He joined The Empire in hopes of realizing Zaibach's ideals of a world free of war and to ensure Van would never have to shed blood, even if it involves kicking a few puppies along the way.
• We Can Rule Together: He pleads with his younger brother Van to join Zaibach multiple times.
• Winged Humanoid: He has wings due to being a Half-Human Hybrid of the Draconian race.
• Your Days Are Numbered: When Hitomi reveals that confronting Dornkirk will kill him, Folken tells her that the result of all of his Deadly Upgrades means that he doesn't have much longer to live anyhow.

Naria & Eriya

Naria — Voiced by: Yuri Amano (Japanese), Saffron Henderson (Ocean Group), Michelle Rojas (Funimation) (English) and Ruth Toscano (Latin America)

Eriya — Voiced by: Narumi Hidaka (Japanese), Saffron Henderson (Ocean Group), Felecia Angelle (Funimation) (English) and Rebeca Gómez (Latin America)

Eighteen-year-old leopard girls who serve as soldiers under Folken's command. Naria (the older of the twins) is the silver one and Eriya is the golden one. Folken rescued them from a mob of humans when they were eight years old, so it is only natural that they have an attachment to him.

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• Because You Were Nice to Me: Strongly implied with Naria, as she let Hitomi go and didn’t take her to Folken, most likely because of kindness that Hitomi had shown towards her.
  • Also the reason they are so deeply attached to Folken, as he was the first person to show them any kindness after their parents' deaths.
• Cat Girl: They are leopard girls.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Their parents were murdered when they children. And when they were cornered by men who were hoping to sell them, they jumped from a cliff to escape, only to be saved by Folken.
• Demoted to Extra: In the movie, they're dancers.
• Everyone Has Standards: They didn’t hurt or kill Merle because she was a cat like them, and reminded them of their tragic past as orphans.
• Ignored Enamored Underling: Both Naria and Eriya were in love with Folken, but he didn’t feel the same way about them.
• I Owe You My Life: As seen above, Folken rescued them in their Darkest Hour.
• Orphan's Ordeal: Both of them are orphans, due to both of their parents being killed when they 8.
• Rapid Aging: The fatal side effects of the amplified fortune (luck) intensifier cause them to age gradually and ultimately kill them.
• Spared by the Adaptation: They're alive in The Movie. Unlike the anime, they have no affiliation to Zaibach or Folken. Instead, they're dancers.
• The Jinx: Their amplified luck causes destruction and turmoil around everything and everyone near them. And to themselves.
• The Reveal: Naria’s birth name was Narunaru and Eriya’s birth name was Belubelu.
• The Unreveal: We may have seen glimpses of their (dead) parents, but their overall appearance, personalities, and even their names remain a mystery.
• Together in Death: When Hitomi is about to say goodbye to Van and return home, the spirits of the girls and Folken are present, finally free from their burdens.
• Undying Loyalty: They’re in love with Folken and would give their lives for him.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Eriya gives one to Van, angrily asking why he can’t see just how much his older brother Folken cares about him.

Jajuka

Voiced by: Kouji Tsujitani (Japanese), Scott McNeil (Ocean Group), and Chuck Huber (Funimation) (English)

A soldier in the Zaibach army. He's an anthropomorphic canine of sorts, having the appearance of a dog (specifically, an Afghan hound).

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• Animal Stereotypes: He has the face and head of a dog, and is also as loyal and devoted as a well-trained one.
• Anti-Villain: He's part of the Zaibach military, and thus technically on the side opposing the heroes, but he is kind, compassionate, and courteous.
• Beast Man: Body of a man, head of a dog.
• Chekhov's Gunman: We see him first during Dilandau/Selena's brief stunt as The Ophelia. Later, he reappears with a vengeance.
• Gentle Giant: A man who is as huge as he's kind, even though he's technically on the side of the antagonists.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Shields Dilandau in the middle of the final battle, and dies begging him to become Selena again. His death triggers Dilandau's last Villainous Breakdown... and changes him back to Selena, the gentle girl he used to be.
• Morality Pet: His relation to Dilandau from back when he was Selena is the only thing that humanizes that psycho.
• My Greatest Failure: Jajuka feels horrendously guilty because he was powerless to save Selena from the horrid treatment that turned her into Dilandau. He becomes Dilandau's follower in hopes that he'll be able to fix his error someday.
• Parental Substitute: He took care of little Selena Schezar in her early Zaibach days, and was a sort of Big Brother Mentor to her.

Gaou and Varie Fanel

Voiced by (Goau): Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese), Michael Dobson (Ocean Group), Taliesin Jaffe (Funimation) (English), César Soto (Latin America)

Voiced by (Varie): Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese), Lisa Ann Beley (Ocean Group), Tia Ballard (Funimation) (English), Olga Hnidey (Latin America)

The dead parents of Folken and Van, and the Ruling Couple of Fanelia.

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• Good Parents: Both of them loved their boys, specially Varie.
• Love at First Sight: On a full moon night, a young Goau saw a just as young Varie stepping into a lake and extending her wings; he fell in love with her right there, and she liked him back as well.
• Uptown Girl: Goau was a Warrior Prince, Varie was a non-Fanelian woman [[spoiler: and more exactly, a member of the despised Draconian race.
• The Un-Reveal: It’s never been shown or explained how Varie died.
• Together in Death: When Hitomi is about to say goodbye to Van and return home, she sees the souls of Varie and Goau (among others), hugging happily.
• Winged Humanoid: Varie was descendant of Atlantis, giving her wings.

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