Alexander Anderson (Hellsing)
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This article deals with Alexander Anderson from the Hellsing series. For other uses see Alexander Anderson.
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Alexander Anderson (アレクサンド・アンデルセン Arekusando Anderusen?) is a character from the manga/anime Hellsing. He is a warrior priest or paladin who works for the Iscariot Organization. He was given a Scottish accent in the English adaptations of the manga and both anime series; although, canonically, his nationality is listed as "unknown" and he lives in Italy. Anderson, like many of Kouta Hirano's characters, was recycled from one of Hirano's old hentai works called Angel Dust, where he is involved in a few action sequences and is depicted with black hair.
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[edit] Appearance
In terms of facial features, Alexander Anderson has short, blond hair (grey in the manga), green eyes, a heavy-set squared jaw, and a constant stubble. He also has a scar on his left cheek. He wears round glasses, a large cassock, khaki pants, black shoes, a white shirt, white gloves, and a gold cross around his neck. On his gloves, there are inscriptions written across the crosses drawn onto the back of the glove:
- For the right hand, Jesus Christ is in Heaven
- For the left hand, Speak with Dead
In the manga, these inscriptions change sometimes, such as in the recent chapters, where his gloves read Iscariot Section XIII, the organisation to which Anderson belongs.
[edit] Personality
Alexander Anderson appears as a calm and collected priest; he works at an orphanage in the manga and acts very kindly towards the children under his care. During battles, however, he reveals a darker side.
Anderson carries an obsession for what appears to be his "crusade," and compulsively quotes passages of the Holy Bible as he speaks. He is extremely determined to achieve his end, usually by whatever means necessary.
In battles, he is merciless and almost unstoppable due to his abilities. He does not differentiate between the soldiers of the Hellsing Organization and other monsters. Partially, this is the outcome of the Iscariot Organization's ideology, which is expressed by Enrico Maxwell's words in the anime: "Vampires and those who ally with such filth all stand equal in the eyes of God; sinful dirty heathens to Man."
[edit] Beliefs
Alexander Anderson is a Catholic and, apparently, a fundamentalist. His words, and his constant quoting of scripture indicate a clear, almost fanatical obedience towards "the word of God," yet another indication of his fundamentalist beliefs.(though it must be said that one of the ways in which it is stated a vampire can be defeated is by reciting scripture, as stated in the Hellsing manga itself)
However, in the TV series, Order 3: Sword Dancer, Paladin Alexander Anderson's actions are vaguely relativist. He ignores his true mission, and instead focuses on the basic requirements of his crusade; thus, attacking Seras Victoria, Alucard and killing Captain Gareth of the Hellsing Organization, though Gareth was a human being and attempting to exterminate the same target as Alexander Anderson. While his orders from Iscariot specified the extermination of a single rogue vampire, he engages in combat with Alucard as well.
In the manga, however, his character is more complex, and he shows a greater sense of morality both in his treatment of his orphan charges and his eventual assistance to Integra and betrayal of Enrico Maxwell (who becomes drunk with power and starts killing innocent humans), quite unlike TV series Anderson who is portrayed as little more than a mindless, psychotic killer. His complexity in the manga is later demonstrated by his respect for Integra's conviction and for Seras's bravery. Specifically, he agrees to escort Integra to Hellsing HQ, because it would be impolite to leave a lady to walk there alone. He also appears to have a form of respect for Alucard at points, shouting "The black peril comes!" while laughing as Alucard enters the Thames at the end of Volume 7. His behavior, in the first volume, was depicted as an intense Catholic priest, who went as far as calling Integra "Babylon", as a refference to Whore of Babylon, and menacingly asked her if "They (Catholics) would ever give ground to them (Hellsing) Protestants".
[edit] Abilities
- Combat: Alexander Anderson uses scores of blessed socket bayonets. The degree of blessing seems to vary: in Volume 1, they irritate and sting vampires, but in Volume 6 they are so powerful that vampires literally crumble around them. (However, one possible reason for this is that Alucard and, by extension, Seras Victoria are "true" vampires, while the vampires killed by Anderson in Volume 6 were Millennium's weaker vampires. Another reason could be that he equipped more powerful bayonets; he states to Alucard in Volume 1 that he can't defeat Alucard and Seras with the weapons he has on him at the moment. This suggests that he does have access to weapons to deal with more powerful vampires.) Still later, in Volume 8, he hurls a chain of bayonets that seem to explode and destroy swarms of Alucard's familiars in an instant hinting that Anderson's abilities lie mostly in what Iscariot equips him with. He has a seemingly limitless number of these blades at his disposal; Kouta Hirano jokingly attributes this to him being 4-dimensional. More or less he is considered to have his own Hammerspace. In the OVA, he is seen pulling them out of his sleeves, but that still doesn't explain the number.
- Superstrength: Anderson possesses extraordinary strength and speed, far above the human norm. In the anime, he slices a subway car in two using only his bayonets, and in the manga he has fought even Alucard to a standstill. Specifically, he has managed to trade punches with him, and both of them emerge bruised but otherwise unharmed, thanks to the intervention of Seras.
- Consecration: Anderson is capable of using his bayonets to affix pages of scripture onto the walls of a building, in order to "purify the house" and prevent any usage of black magic. In the manga, this ability is referred to as a "barrier," the pages of which are stapled using nails and act more like a ward against demons. Seras, specifically, could not escape through a door or window blocked by this barrier. He can also use his Bible pages to teleport, though how far he can travel has not yet been determined.
- Regeneration: Alexander Anderson is a "Regenerator," meaning that he is able to restore body parts that are lost and heal himself. This is clearly demonstrated in Episode 3 of the anime; Alucard's bullet enters his head, and yet, he recovers almost immediately, alive and unscathed. (This has raised some confusion over why he retains the scar on his left cheek; the most likely explanation is that he received the scar before he received his regeneration ability.) Anderson claims that his ability is "the divine gift of God," but later states that it is due to "man's technology." In the manga he calls it a "technique" while Integra calls it biotechnological regeneration (possibly nanotechnology). In certain adaptations, she claims his regenerative powers surpass biotechnology, being divine.
- The Nail: In the manga, Alexander Anderson received "Helena's Nail" from Iscariot's relic retrieval division. The Nail is one of the nails from the True Cross discovered by Constantine's mother Helena, and upon ramming it into his heart, Anderson became, in the words of Alucard, a "monster of God." Anderson displayed some peculiar plant-related powers, and has shown himself to be now fully equal, if not greater, than Alucard in terms of strength and speed. Also, his blades were powerful enough to affect even Alucard's immortality. He was able to regenerate himself using thorny vines, while similar vines grew from the nail imbedded in his body. Alucard has noted a relationship between these thorns and Christ's Crown of Thorns. In addition, these vines can wrap themselves around and in his foes cause injury, much like the spread of fire. Anderson's face and likely all of his fleshy body was transformed into a humanoid mass of thorny vines, almost like certain parasitic tentacled monsters from games like Resident Evil.
[edit] The End
After watching Maxwell's attack on London and Alucard proceeding to decimate the Catholic Army and the Last Battalion with his familiars, Anderson decides that it was finally time for him to finish Alucard. However, when he engages Alucard in combat, Alucard introduces him to the Jackal, which Anderson had never encountered before. Using the Jackal, Alucard blows off a large portion of Andersons left arm, which does not seem to be able to regenerate itself. Alucard then taunts Anderson, who blindly charges into Alucards familiars in an attempt to re-engage Alucard.
Trapped in the mesh of undead, Anderson is saved by the remnants of Section XIII, who use suicide-bomber-like tactics to fend off the familiars. Anderson finally arrives before Alucard and reveals the weapon that Vatican Section XIII had provided him with: Helena's Nail. After impaling himself with the nail and transforming, Anderson and Alucard do battle, with Anderson nearly destroying Alucard with his newly acquired powers. Seras intervenes at this point, just long enough for Alucard to regain his senses and regenerate his wounds. Alucard then charges Anderson and, plunging his hand into Anderson's chest, removes the nail along with Anderson's heart, destroying most of Anderson's body in the process. As Anderson dies, he and Alucard exchange words as what remains of him decays and turns to ash. With a final "Amen", Walter, now in his vampiric state descends from the sky and crushes what's left of Anderson's head under his shoe and grinds it into the ground. Walter then insults Anderson by saying "Mourning is not necessary for rubbish".
[edit] Voice acting
In the TV series, his voice in Japanese was done by Nachi Nozawa, and his English voice by Steven Brand. For the new OVA series, he is voiced by Norio Wakamoto, with Steven Brand returning for the English dub.
