Esdeath

Esdeath was a high-ranking general of the Empire. Eventually, due to Night Raid's effectiveness as an assassination unit, she becomes the leader of the Jaegers under the orders of the Prime Minister. She was deeply in love and obsessed with Tatsumi.

Appearance
Esdeath was a tall, beautiful and slender woman with long light blue hair and blue eyes. She wore a General's apparel with long sleeves, a blue scarf on her neck, and high-heeled boots. She also has a tattoo on her chest, which is the sign of her Teigu.

In the anime, Esdeath was shown to have a porcelain color skin (most likely due to the cold climate of her home village). Also her breasts were exaggeratedly bigger than her manga counterpart.

Personality
Esdeath was a sadist who lacked empathy for people of whom she deemed weak, since she lives by her father's philosophy ("The strong survive and the weak die"). She enjoyed putting her enemies through great pain, both physically and emotionally. She had no qualms about killing innocent people to get what she wanted, and rationalized her behavior with her father's old creed. Esdeath was known to treat her subordinates well, letting them do as they please, which in turn inspired their intense loyalty and devotion; this makes her followers the strongest offensive force of the Empire. To her credit, Esdeath has demonstrated genuine care for her subordinates - the Three Beasts and Jaegers in particular - and unhesitatingly authorized them to kill Tatsumi should he ever endanger their lives.

Esdeath loved to fight and held special respect for strong opponents, which shows when she openly recognized Susanoo as a warrior rather than a simple Teigu. Her love of battle has occasionally inspired her to take actions that would incite more hatred against the empire, in the hopes of being able to put down more rebellions. She has even stated that should the empire fall, she would simply start a war herself to satisfy her need for bloodshed.

Despite her reputation, Esdeath possessed great charisma, able to inspire many to fight for her. Even Run, who expected her to be a scumbag, softened his stance on her, despite his otherwise apprehension towards her sadism.

Although she was unabashedly bloodthirsty, she kept it from dominating her judgment. If she were to see that the battle is too much for her soldiers, she orders a retreat and doesn't risk heavy losses. While she will torture subordinates who fail, she can be forgiving to failed servitors, provided that they aren't complete failures, and gives them the benefit of the doubt if the failure wasn't their fault. However, during the final battle against the Revolutionary Army and the remaining Night Raid members it becomes clear that beneath that charismatic military officer is a person of pure evil and bloodlust. This is proven when she used her real trump card to cover the Empire in a Russian Winter. Najenda noted that such a technique put Esdeath's subordinates, as well as their families, at risk. Her response of not caring, and once again rationalizing it with her belief of social darwinism, showed her cruelty and depravity.

Before Akame ga Kill!
Esdeath was born in the Northern Frontier Lands and is the sole remaining survivor of her village, the Partas Clan. She spent most of her childhood in the north with her Tribe and she was very close with her father, the clan chief due to the death of her mother at the hand of an super-class Danger Beast. She was a skilled and formidable fighter at even such a young age. Whenever she caught prey for the tribe her father would begin gutting the creature without killing it. Due to this she became comfortable with the idea of inflicting pain on living things. However, her father was worried that this might cause her to lose something that she can't regain, but in order for her to survive this was fine with him. Her father told her that in the North "The strong live and the weak die", a creed she kept close to her heart. One day she returned from an outing to find her tribe destroyed, with everyone either dead or dying. Her father was mortally wounded and soon past away in her arms. From that day on, she vowed to herself to become stronger. Later, she joined the Empire's military, rising through the ranks rapidly, and at some point the Prime Minister allowed her to choose a Teigu, she noticed one that was chained off from the others, felt that it was calling for her and chose it. Instead of drinking one glass which would have been enough, she drank the whole thing. After taming the Teigu, Esdeath would gain the title of the strongest in the empire.

After gaining her Teigu, at some point later, she would become aware of General Liver's incarceration and free him. Later, she would be ordered by The Empire to go with Boss and "Make an example" of the Ban Tribe that had rose up in rebellion against The Empire. Using her mastery over Ice, she froze an entire river that cut her army off from the Tribes' main village and used this makeshift ice bridge to cross over and defeat them, capturing their leaders. She then ordered her army to "violate this town until [they were] satisfied," resulting in the mass murders of civilians as well as the burning of the village to the ground. She forced the leaders to watch their village "violated" to encourage future insubordination to the Empire. Some time after this she is told to go subjugate the Northern Tribes. Her forces defeated them faster than anyone expected. During this conquest she buried 400,000 of its people alive, and broke the hero Numa Seika's sanity and pride, forcing him to strip naked and lick her boots before killing him. Following her return to the capital, Esdeath has stated that she wishes to try her hand at falling in love. She provides a list of short but incredibly specific qualifications to The Emperor and the Prime Minister.

Events of Akame ga Kill!
On a request from Honest she sends the Three Beasts to lure out Night Raid by having them kill his political enemies. After the death of her three bodyguards at the hands of Tatsumi and Bulat, Esdeath forms a new group of Teigu wielders she subsequently names "Jaegers" to hunt down the members of Night Raid and to maintain peace and order throughout the empire.

Following the formation of The Jaegers, Esdeath holds a tournament in order to determine a new wielder for Extase, the Teigu secured from Sheele following her death, as she knew that if there was no wielder the Prime Minister will take possession of it. Esdeath also takes advantage of this event in order to find a proper lover that will fulfill her requirements. Tatsumi participates in the tournament in order to gather information and hopefully, if he wins, obtain money in order to send back to his village which was ultimately his original goal before becoming entwined in the war between The Resistance and The Empire. His incredible skill and bright, warm smile attracts Esdeath's attention and she instantly falls in love with him, completely oblivious to the fact that he is a member of the opposing force. Snapping a collar on his neck, Esdeath knocks out Tatsumi and drags him back to the Jaeger's headquarters.

Seeing an advantage in her affections, Tatsumi tries unsuccessfully to defect Esdeath to Night Raid. His attempts to convince her to leave the empire fall upon deaf ears, and Esdeath sternly retorts that it is she who will change and control him and not vice versa. After a few days with the Jaegers, Tatsumi manages to narrowly escape from Esdeath, and a hostile Wave, who spotted Incursio and recognized it as a Teigu belonging to Bulat, and attacked. Tatsumi's departure only serves to increase Esdeath's longing.

After she lost him, Esdeath begin to feel depressed and noted the change in herself while she was on night patrol (while riding her dragon) and how she went out because of how pretty the moon was. Something that was very out of character for her. When she noted a person on mount Fake, she jumped down to fight him, only to find that it is Tatsumi, much to her delight (and his horror).

During their encounter, a mysterious individual clad in a coat appears after Esdeath easily cuts down a group of Danger Beasts. Before she can attack or capture the man however, he activates his own Teigu, Shambhala, and instantly teleports both Esdeath and Tatsumi to an unidentified South-Eastern island. On the island, they encounter a danger beast nearly identical to Dr. Stylish's final monster form, and using her Demon's Extract Teigu, she fairly quickly dispatches the colossal Danger Beasts. Esdeath later sits down with Tatsumi to discuss their pasts before the mysterious Teigu user activates the previous portal, allowing Tatsumi to slip away into it and back onto the mountain. Esdeath chases after him, but loses sight of Tatsumi after he engages Incursio's invisible ability, and hides behind a rock.

After Esdeath is done reminiscing and wondering where Tatsumi had gone, she received word that Night Raid was spotted on the outskirts of the Empire. Along with the Jaegers, she headed toward them in expectations of Najenda and her tricks. The entire ordeal ended up being part of a rouse by Night Raid as their plan went astray, and even went as far as to lose a member of the Jaegers. Unfortunately for Esdeath, she was played skillfully and was used to clean up a large group of Bandits.

Immediately after their battle in the outskirts of the Empire, Esdeath & her Jaegers received their new mission of protecting Bolic, an Empire spy in the ranks of the Path of Peace. The Jaegers were assigned to overlook the well being of Bolic under the assumption that Night Raid would attack. Just as predicted, Night Raid invaded. During the Invasion, Esdeath shows exceptional skill which is well beyond the level of a mere soldier (just as expected of the Empires Strongest). It is during the fight where she reveals her Demon Extract's Trump card "Mahapadma" which can freeze time and space itself. After Bolick was successfully eliminated, Najenda activated Susanoo's ultimate ability

"Magatama Manifestation", in an attempt to create a diversion for Night Raid to escape, intending to sacrifice both herself and Susanoo. Esdeath attempted to hinder Susanoo from throwing the Night Raid members out of the building, but fails. After Night Raid's escape, an angry Esdeath strikes down Susanoo and shatters his core, killing him permanently.

After the conflict between Wild Hunt with Run turned into a corpse, Esdeath returns from the invasion with the Western Tribe Nation, leaving her army there. And from hearing the news about Run, Esdeath is vexed with Wild Hunt and claims that they will not get away with this; despite the close relations Wild Hunt has with the Prime Minister.



A week later, Tatsumi and Lubbock are trapped inside the palace, Tatsumi is agitated by numerous attacks from Wild Hunt causing him to wield Incursio. Esdeath appears and is ultimately shocked, finally realizing that Tatsumi is a member of Night Raid. As Tatsumi tries to escape, successfully eluding the members of Wild hunt and is almost successful in escaping with Lubbock, Esdeath stops Tatsumi by knocking him down to the ground, claiming she will never let him run away again. Tatsumi is then defeated by Budo and he and Lubbock are then captured.

As Tatsumi regains consciousness, he is met by Dorothea and Suzuka who mean to violate him, through means of torture. As they begin their attempt, Esdeath arrives and quickly smashes Suzuka's face into a wall. Esdeath then threatens Dorothea and tells her to inform the rest of Wild Hunt to never touch Tatsumi again, emitting a powerful aura as she does so, leaving Dorothea terrified at her killing intent. Upon meeting Tatsumi's eyes, she sighs that while she has lots of things she wants to say and questions she wants to ask him, when she see's his face none of it matters to her anymore and she embraces Tatsumi while blushing. Tatsumi, however, says that he still has no intention of joining her but Esdeath tells him they can talk about that some other time and that he should not think about whether they are friends or enemies as she leans in to kiss him. Tatsumi then pushes her away, leaving her shocked. She asks why he is refusing her kiss, Tatsumi then confesses that he already has someone he likes and that he is already going out with her, leaving Esdeath shocked.

Despite being surprised about Tatsumi's relationship, Esdeath makes Tatsumi food and tries to feed him, claiming on of the dishes as her specialty. Esdeath then plans to win Tatsumi over by making him her subordinate, making the arrangements so that his past crimes will disappear. Tatsumi then says to her that until she has done something for Lubbock, he refuses to negotiate. Esdeath then informs Tatsumi of Lubbock's fate, as well as saying that he only has that night to accept that offer before he is executed. Enraged by the loss of Lubbock, Tatsumi blatantly rejects Esdeath's offers, saying he would not serve the Empire that he is prepared to die. Esdeath begins to panic, and tells him to not think about it as serving the Empire but becoming hers. Tatsumi again rejects the offer, causing Esdeath to panic with a worried face. Esdeath is then taken by surprise as she realizes that the sun has risen and that the time Tatsumi had is up, with Tatsumi once again saying that he would not change his mind. Esdeath then concedes that Tatsumi is not going to change his mind, and says that if it is not possible for him to be hers, then she will kill him herself so that no one else will touch him. She then grips her fist and declares that 'Tatsumi of Night Raid' will die.

At the execution grounds Budo asks Esdeath whether or not Night Raid will show up fro one of they're own even with the Teigu Incursio set up as bait to lure them out, commenting on how naive Najenda is the possibility was likely. When Budo is asked why he so humbly serves the corrupt prime minister, only to reply his duty is to serve the empire and defeat it's enemies; quoting that once the rebellion has been dealt with he would personally dispose of the Minister; Esdeath only smiles knowing full well that would set them at odds with one another in the future and is looking forward to the conflict. Once all pleasantries are settled and the cruel general moved to murder a smiling Tatsumi after boasting her knowledge of all human vital spots just as part of the execution stands are blown away. Mine come bursting through proudly exclaiming she is of Night Raid and had come to save her boyfriend, this bold statement greatly incenses her rival for Tatsumi's affections.



After the assassin dispatches Budo flinging him through a wall with her Pumpkin Esdeath immediately goes on the attack. With the augmented power of her Teigu, Mine easily repels her barrage of ice daggers while freeing Tatsumi at the same time, who moves to retrieve his own weapon, inciting him to don his armament while commenting to herself she never intended to kill him but instead fake a killing blow so she could whisk him away when this sham of an execution set up by the minister had been set and done, but found this to be much more enjoyable than her previous plans.

After dodging another shot from Mine she muses about how she was able to approach Tatsumi and that she would endear in pulling her apart limb from limb. After Mine denounces her as the psychotic gutter trash the rumors depicted her as and would never let her anywhere near him, as the dueling bicker more they're interrupted by an abrupt burst of energy created by an Evolving Incursion. When the smoke clears Tatsumi emerges from it in an upgraded form doing fierce and heavy handed battle with his obsessive enemy.

Elated by this Esdeath feels they are truly connecting but Tatsumi retorts tat she can no longer be lax while in combat. After Esdeath evades Tatsumi Mine fires a full power charge shot forcing her to use Mahapadma to freeze her surroundings, as she moves in to execute Mine Tatsumi suddenly shoots in behind her within the frozen time-space knocking her back. Having deduced Incursio's evolved state had somehow adapted to her stilled atmosphere while marveling at Tatsumi's ability to wield it, her trump card ends with Mine none the wiser as to whats happened as her assailant sets to finish what she started with the former, only to be interrupted by the timely arrival of Night Raid heralded by Akame. As General Budo recuperates from his initial assault spiting the crew of assassins for disturbing the Empire's peace, swearing to eliminate them all in a clash of thunder and lightning. Esdeath grins eagerly, waiting to engage in the horrendous conflict to come.

While Budo begins his frontal assault, Esdeath strikes from behind attacking Akame while also dodging Mine's cover fire, she comments the two's gun & sword combo make them a lethal combo. As Akame nears landing a killing blow she is stopped by a thin layer of ice for armor with the latter noting and gloating over her lack of strength, this is made up for however by Akame's irregular motions and Mine's precision marksmanship. After claiming to have grasped Akame's technique noting how she'll enjoy crushing her beneath her boot, but a stray bolt of lightning soon disrupts they're bout. Esdeath made immediately aware that Budo is royally peeved by the crashing storm, surmising the only one capable of such a feat was Tatsumi. As the battles intensify Esdeath cleverly interrupts opting that she was assigned to execute Tatsumi snatching him away from her fellow general, much to the irate commanders charging whose attentions were drawn away by the rest of night raid. After which a heavy rain of thunder crashes with the earth but Esdeath reminds a concerned Tatsumi that she is his opponent beckoning him to come at her with everything, impressed by his rapid growth she contemplates as strong as he is he's still not up to her league. Opting to capture him by encasing him in a block of ice but her adversary evades, awe struck at how Tatsumi was growing even as they fought. With a heavy blow Tatsumi strikes Esdeath who blocks him with frigid arm guards but when the latter discards his weapon to make another attack, the general throws up another ice armor guard only for it to crumble under Tatsumi's mighty strike. A gut punch landed sends the sadistic adversary reeling a good distance away, taking her out of the fight.

After making their successful escape having finally dispatched Great General Budo at the cost of Mine, Esdeath's train of thoughts drifts towards how powerful Tatsumi had become but also because of her womanly instinct's getting the better of her she disrespected him as a warrior, promising once again to meet up with her beloved on the battlefield, someday. As the empire preps to make final preparations for the upcoming climax of the war; noting that the opposing army has no real opposition worth her time or focus, she notes that the real threat comes from whoever's supplying they're forces with its arsenal is.

Esdeath soothes Waves concerns over the lack of manpower and deserting forces on they're front by directing both his and Kurome's attention towards a secret weapon within they're forces ranks that can decimate the Revolutionary Armies forces in droves. She revels in the idea of how strenuous a truly thrilling war can really be, when asked by wave whether she still loved Tatsumi even knowing his true identity. She rewards his concern with an honest reply, while loving him still even as an enemy she knows her feelings won't reach him due to his convictions and resolves to kill him outright but she's also fine if she dies by his hand as well, naturally this unsettles Wave considerably but Kurome simply smiles in agreement. While alone in her quarters she experiments with the fluidity of control over her Teigu. Sometime later, when informed by a retainer that the revolutionary army had been approaching she immediately set out to rally the troops, Esdeath is next seen fighting forces from the Revolutionary Army. Nuge attempts to kill her with L'Arc Qui Ne Faut, but she easily blocks it and proceeds to kill him. She then notes that she was coming up with new ways to use her Teigu.

Sometime after Wave and Kurome's "deaths", two spies infiltrate the Imperial Capital military drill grounds and learns of Esdeath's new trump card which creates soldiers of ice to substitute for regular infantry. Honest compliments Esdeath's ice cavalry and claims that their opponents will be at a loss once they learn of their ability to create more soldiers. Esdeath reaffirms that her troops have currently fortified their position in the west and that the upcoming war will be the war that ends all wars. She thinks about Wave and Kurome believing they simply died because they were too weak and that their deaths were outside of her control. She reminisces about her former subordinates thinking that they had shared plenty of wonderful times together. She announces the upcoming battle will be a tribute to all of her subordinates and that the long awaited war has finally arrived.

On the morning of the war, Suzuka kneels before Esdeath and asks that she become a messenger between Esdeath and the Prime Minister. She accepts Suzuka's request and confesses to her that she respects her lack of hesitation when facing her. Suzuka offers to lick her boots but Esdeath declines, saying that if the person wishes to lick them then it defeats the purpose. Later when the war finally began, Esdeath is on the walls looking at the incoming army with excitement. The revolutionary army begins firing cannons towards the walls which she easily destroys her ice abilities. The revolutionary army then proceeded to summon numerous danger beasts in an attempt to destroy the walls but Esdeath orders Suzuka to give the signal to summon their own army of danger beasts. She laughs watching the scene unfold and comments that this was a fitting ceremony to commemorate the final war. Once the danger beasts had fallen, she ordered her ice cavalry to charge but Tatsumi charged in himself to fight them off.

Eventually, she grasps her enemies movements and charges on a horse made out of ice into battle. While she is attacking the revolutionary army's troops the northern gate gets breached so she decided to try to crush the other army's supreme commands but is stopped by Tatsumi. She begins to attack Tatsumi with her full strength but Tatsumi grabs her arm. She attempts to freeze him but he quickly manages to escape. Esdeath comments on Tatsumi's heavy breathing, telling him that she isn't even warmed up yet. As the battle continues Tatsumi continues to grow strong, much to Esdeath excitement however their battle is cut when a retreat signal is rung. Esdeath congratulates Tatsumi on managing to hold her back and says that they should meet again soon before riding off.

After Tatsumi begins to overwhelm the Emperor's Teigu, she is summoned to assist him but is intercepted by Akame. She blocks Akame with her ice but the ice is soon destroyed. She quickly deduces that Akame must have used a Teigu to boost her abilities. Esdeath questions whether she should be here facing her rather than trying to slash the giant Teigu but Akame confesses that it had no effect and that she is going to do her original mission, taking Esdeath's head. Esdeath notes that Akame is resolved this battle to be the final battle before Akame charges towards Esdeath. Esdeath tells her that she will bear witness to how strong Akame has become.

After the supreme teigu had fallen, Esdeath and Akame are still fighting with the latter covered with her own blood. Akame tells her that the empire had fallen which Esdeath agrees too and says that this is now her own battle. Esdeath charges at Akame but she blocks and tries to counterattack forcing Esdeath on the defensive. Esdeath notes that Akame is adapting countermeasures against her and is even reacting to her attacks so she will have to start to outplay her as well. She excitedly thinks that this is her favourite dance that she just loves. Eventually, Akame begins to become exhausted but Najenda and the revolutionary army arrives to help defeat Esdeath. Najenda claims that they will defeat her in a war of attrition but Esdeath is still confident that she can win and activates her final trump card, ice storm commander in chief, by sacrificing her ice calvary and covers a large part of the empire in ice and snow. The new wielder belvaac, along with several other soldiers, try charging at Esdeath but are quickly frozen. Enjoying Najenda's reaction she challenges the revolutionary army to try to defeat her.

She begins slaughtering the soldiers until Tatsumi, who has now become a tyrant, attacks her directly. Despite this, she still manages to kill countless of soldiers including multiple teigu users. During the fight, she casually raises her hand in the air and Akame immediately takes advantage of this and cuts her arm. Esdeath quickly uses Mahapadma to stop the poison from spreading and amputates her own arm. While Mahapadma is still in effect Tatsumi tries to attack her but she counters with an ice blade and injuries Tatsumi. Seeing that Esdeath was missing an arm, the revolutionary army charges at her but to no avail. Just before she kills another teigu user she notices Akame activating her trump card, Little War Horn.

Akame attacks her again, surprising Esdeath with her new speed and power. Esdeath creates a wall to separate the two from the rest of the army saying that she doesn't want to be interrupted. Seeing Akame beginning to tire, she drops her rapier and creates an ice golem with her inside it so she wouldn't be able to cut her. When Akame cuts through the ice Esdeath breaks out of her own ice and catches the sword and proceeded to shatter it. Akame quickly picks up Esdeath's sword and stabs Murasame's handle which pushes the broken blade into Esdeath's chest. After being stabbed she admits that she let her focus slip from Mursame after she had destroyed it. She looks up into the air and notices Tatsumi was still alive. She fully admits defeat and in her final moments, she thinks about she failed to make Tatsumi look at her and that this failed was her last and only regret.

Teigu
Esdeath was considered the finest soldier in the Empire's army and one of the world's strongest. She possessed a powerful Teigu called Demon's Extract that allowed her to manipulate ice and mold it from nothing. Due to her ego and immense mental willpower, she was able to withstand the Teigu's overwhelming insanity and obtain its abilities. She used it to create icicles, freeze people to death and more. She has been able to freeze an entire lake within moments with her ability. She is also capable of creating her own army of ice soldiers from nothing but her own Teigu. However, using her Teigu on a massive scale like that render her unable to use it for a while and must rest. Her trump card also allows her to freeze time.

Physical Abilities
Ever since her childhood as a Danger Beast tribal hunter, Esdeath became very proficient in wielding blades, such as hunting knives and daggers which she used to dissect Danger Beasts for valuable material. Growing up in a region with low temperatures, Esdeath, as well as other members of her tribe, acclimated to harsh winters rather well. As a General of the Empire, Esdeath carried a long rapier and was capable of swift, piercing strikes that could dismember large Danger Beasts in an instant. She showed to be quite adept with this weapon even without having to resort to her Teigu. Esdeath was a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant as well, possessing great physical strength, tremendous stamina and endurance, being able to send Tatsumi crashing to the ground with a single kick.

Other Abilities
Esdeath had sharp senses and was very aware of her surroundings, being able to detect someone's killing intent at a long distance, identifying suspicious characters in a group, as well as spotting hidden individuals even if they weren't directly within her line of sight. Her sense of smell was strong as she was able to confirm Tatsumi's presence after checking the scent when she reunited with him on top of Mt. Fake. She was considered as a master strategist with an uncanny skill in psychological warfare.

Esdeath has an extensive knowledge of human physiology due to having been a torturer for a long time; as seen when she dissected the body of Chelsea after her death looking for anything telling. Overall, she is quite intelligent and invents new torture methods and moves, such as her trump card Mahapadma.

Familiar
Esdeath also had a pet dragon-like Danger Beast that she flew around on.

Trivia

 * In Japanese, Esudesu is a play on the phrase "S, desu!", which means "I am an S(sadist)".
 * She has kissed Tatsumi twice, giving him her first kiss as well as her second kiss.
 * She has a small book that she uses to draw Tatsumi as well as advice on how to make Tatsumi fall in love with her.
 * Her Army has its own symbol; a black cross, which was originally the emblem of the Partas Clan.
 * Her hobby is hunting High-class Danger Beasts.
 * Her measurements are 87-54-85.

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Esdeath Эсдес 艾思黛絲