Noblesse (manhwa)

Noblesse
Cover of Noblesse volume 1 featuring Rai
노블레스 (Nobeulleseu)
Genre	Shounen, Action, Comedy, Mystery, Supernatural
Author	Son Jae Ho
Illustrator	Lee Gwang Su
Magazine	Naver
Original run	2007 – ongoing
Collected volumes	6

Noblesse (Korean: 노블레스, Revised: Nobeulleseu) is a webtoon written by Son Jae Ho and illustrated by Lee Gwang Su. Started on 30 December 2007, this webtoon/manhwa was released on Naver and is still publishing.

Plot

Noblesse is about a powerful noble - Cadis Etrama Di Raizel (called Rai) - who has been asleep for 820 years with no knowledge of mankind's advancement and scientific successes. He has recently woken up in an abandoned building in South Korea,^[1] and is starting to get used to the modern world. He goes to a school where he meets his loyal servant Frankenstein. With Frankenstein's help, Rai enrolls into Ye Ran high school, and inadvertently befriends Shin Woo - an athletic teenager, Ik Han - a computer geek, Yuna - Shin Woo's crush, and a few others. Noblesse follows the group's often dangerous adventures against a secret organization while uncovering Rai's past.

Characters

Main Characters

Cadis Etrama Di Raizel (a.k.a. Rai)

Rai is a very charming, elegant, and mysterious Noble. He has no knowledge whatsoever of the 21st century, and will often become lost and confused especially with regards to modern day technology (such as using a cell phone). He is often used as the manhwa's comic relief with his love of ramen, the errors he makes with technology, and his terrible sense of direction. He had fallen into a deep slumber for 820 years, and had woken up in an abandoned building in South Korea. After seeing what most of the humans on the streets were wearing, Rai took on the uniform of a student from Ye Ran High School, which is under the administration of Frankenstein, and inadvertently followed the students there.^[2] He currently resides with Frankenstein. He is shown to be extremely powerful with the ability of mind control, along with a technique called "Blood Field". Although he seems cold and apathetic on the outside, Rai has shown compassion towards human beings, though it is not known whether this is due to actual compassion or merely a sense of duty. Rai is extremely handsome and possesses a youthful appearance, scarlet-red eyes (a common trait among pureblood Nobles), beautiful jet black hair and a quiet disposition and he is usually seen wearing the Ye Ran High School uniform and a silver cross earring on his left ear (a gift from the previous Lord and an item that seals away the majority of his power). It seems that if Rai uses his powers extensively, his overall health and well-being deteriorates, as seen after the battle with the D-5, although Rai said that it was nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, Frankenstein knows that his master needs time to fully recover his old strength. However, as said by Regis, even in his current state Rai possesses an enormous power comparable if not superior to that of the current Lord. During the confrontation between him and the Lord (during the Lukedonia Arc), Rai has shown superiority over the lord. Rai demonstrates his absolute governance over blood by creating powerful blood fields with perfect form without the use of an apparent soul weapon. Gejutel, an ancient advisor to Lord, explains that Rai's soul weapon does not materialize as a weapon; Rai's blood and soul is his soul weapon. Noblesse is the title of a single Noble (Rai), and was later adopted by Nobles as the name of their race, (some time after Rai went to sleep). In their society there are two beings who are held in high esteem: one is the Lord who rules with authority, and one is the Noblesse, with strength above all others, who watches over and protects the Nobles. The previous Lord left his soul weapon in the shrine of Reijar as a gift (although Rai cannot use Ragnarok because he is not related by blood to the previous Lord). Rai is shown to have relinquished his ownership of Ragnarok so that the current Lord can complete her soul weapon Ragnarok. Rai's power consumes his life force when used. Frankenstein finally gets Rai to take a short hibernation, but as soon as he wakes up, he uses a great amount of power.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein is Rai's devoted servant. He supports Rai whole-heartedly and calls him "Master".^[1] He had tried searching for his master after Rai disappeared and eventually went into seclusion to search for Rai privately. Frankenstein is the principal/director of Ye Ran High School, which he made so that if Rai should return, Rai would be able to live a normal life. He was stunned to find Rai in his school office after Rai had woken up and assumed the uniform of the school's students. Frankenstein is immensely powerful. When he caused a disturbance in the world, the previous Lord sent two clan leaders (the Kertia and Langdregre clan leaders) to capture him. Frankenstein is the only human to be acknowledged by the previous Lord because he exceeded human limitations and acquired power by his own means. Later however his powers had been sealed away by Rai due to misdeeds committed in pursuit of scientific knowledge and power. Frankenstein is a very cheerful person, but becomes quite serious and calculating when the situation calls for it, although during battles Frankenstein has shown a sadistic side. He is extremely organized and loathes messiness (especially in his house). Like Rai, he is very compassionate towards human beings, especially the students in his school. Frankenstein is an impressive scientist, who has researched human modification . All the research done was recorded down in his diaries, however one diary is now in the possession of Dr. Crombel and another in possession of the Union. His research is responsible for many of the advances humans made with modification. He was very familiar with the previous Lord, whom he calls "old bugger." Frankenstein is actually human (CH190); although it has not yet been explicitly stated, it is most likely he experimented upon himself to attain the strength that he has now. Frankenstein has possession of Dark Spear, a human-created weapon similar to a Noble's soul weapon.

Han Shin Woo

Shin Woo is an energetic and athletic teenager with bright red hair. He is always seen with a bandage over the bridge of his nose. He is well-known within the city to be skilled in martial arts and feared by gangs. He is on par at fighting the top level trained agents of the Union, those who have not been transformed. He fights the infected guy and causes very serious damage to him while receiving no significant damage from him. Shin Woo is often shown sleeping (and drooling) in class and slacking off. Though he is shown as a lazy student, he is very courageous and would protect his friends at all costs. Shinwoo is shown to be popular among the student body of Yeran High and other school due to his superior fighting skills. At beginning of volume 4, he was scouted by KSA to become modified human because of the very reason. Shinwoo is hinted to have feelings towards Seira, who displays favor for him.

Woo Ik Han

Ik Han is Shin Woo and Yuna's childhood friend. He is extremely skilled in technology, especially computers and games. He has been shown in the series to be a highly skilled hacker. Ik Han has short brown hair and glasses and is 157 cm (5.15 ft) tall. He has a height complex, being so short, but has found some comfort in meeting Regis, who is about the same height. Initially thought to display signs of attraction toward Seira J. Loyard, however it is later revealed than Ik Han has interests in Regis because of his small body.

Suh Yuna

Yuna is Shin Woo and Ik Han's childhood friend. Yuna rejected Shin Woo when he confessed to her two years ago. Yuna accidentally becomes the target of the infected guy when their paths cross one night. Yuna is a friendly, ordinary and sensible young woman, demonstrably more level-headed than her friends, who tends to sedately sit out, be amused by and often remind them of the mundane reality behind their dramatics. When she and Rai are introduced to video games, she apparently is quite competent despite it being her first try. It has been hinted that she has a crush on M-21 after he becomes a guard at her high school.

Yim Suyi

Suyi is a pretty popular pop idol who is studying at Ye Ran High School. She first appeared in chapter 94 of the series; she returned to school after doing her concert. Suyi is friends with Ik Han, Shin Woo and Yuna; she is always shown hanging out with the group. She later joined Shin Woo and the others in visiting Frankenstein's house regularly.

Nobles/ Noblesse

Nobles are a race of nearly immortal, elegant and powerful people that guard humans against predators since ancient times, due to their inability to ignore the slaughter of the weak, helpless humans. "Noblesse" was the title given to only one person (Rai), but the Nobles adopted it as the name they use for their race some time after Rai entered into his long sleep. Pureblood Nobles seem to share a common power of mind control and crimson red eyes. In this series, the concept that we know of as "Noblesse Oblige" historically stems from the behavior of The Noblesse (Rai), who protected the weak. People from the Union have thought Noblesse to be beings at the top of the race of the vampires. It is later known that vampires are created through Nobles' consumption of human blood.

Regis K. Landegre

Regis is a Noble, like Rai, Gejutel and Seira. Regis cares greatly about elegance and judges everyone by their amount of elegance. He has brushed back short silver hair with black stripes at the temple, and is often seen with Seira J. Loyard. Regis has an extremely haughty attitude and initially looked down on the modified humans allied with Frankenstein. He follows the Noble's code of honor and does his best at all times to protect the humans from harm. Regis truly respects Rai, and finds him more elegant than anyone. It is mentioned that he is 199 years old. As part of his preparation for his "Coming of Age" ceremony, Regis has left Lukedonia and visited the human world to gain experience. (Note that it has not been explicitly stated in the manhwa if this ceremony happens at a certain age.)

Seira J. Loyard

Seira is a Noble who is the last remaining blood descendant of the House of Loyard. Seira uses a "Death Scythe" as her soul weapon which proves her position as the head of the House of Loyard. Frankenstein mentions that the myths of Death seen carrying a scythe originate from this particular weapon. Seira's character is rather quiet and shy, and blushes when complimented. She has long silver hair and the same scarlet eyes shared by other high-class nobles. Seira acts as guide and guardian to Regis K. Landegre in his preparation for his "Coming of Age" ceremony. She learns to cook very rapidly and soon comes to make the meals in Frankenstein's house, with the exception of ramen which is Frankenstein's project for his Master. It is mentioned she is 217 years old. She has many admirers such as Rael,Yuri, and Shin Woo and it is shown that she may have some feelings for Shin Woo.

Gejutel K. Landegre

Gejutel is a Noble, like Rai, Regis and Seira. He is Regis' grandfather, and has the same sense of honor that Regis possesses, testing Regis on the issue of protecting humans. He seems to be on tense terms with Frankenstein. Not much is known about him except the fact that he is head of the house of Landegre, and that he is the only known clan leader who served the previous Lord (all the other had either gone to eternal sleep with the previous Lord or betrayed him). He was given the task to guide the Lord in order to lessen the confusion when the previous Lord and previous clan leaders enter eternal sleep. After meeting Rai and Frankenstein he withholds information from the Lord because Rai does not wish his location to be known. Because of this the Lord sentences him to a forced "Eternal Sleep", the Noble equivalent of an execution, for treason.

The Lord

The Lord, Raskrea, is a female Noble who is the leader of the current Noble society, and her position is ruler of the world. Note that eventually her name will become lost in time and she will be known only as Lord, for this is what happened to her predecessors. There appears to be customs that bind Lord's political power, but she seems powerful enough to set new precedents if she desires it. She is apparently blood-related to the previous Lord (daughter) and loathes Rai, claiming that he was the one who led the betrayal against herself and the previous Lord. She was prepared to sentence Gejutel to eternal sleep for treason. However after facing Rai and receiving "Ragnarok" from him (as the previous Lord left him part of Ragnarok) discovering that Rai has been asleep for 820 years, she realizes that he could not have been involved in the betrayal. The previous Lord and those loyal to him chose to enter into eternal sleep and thus allow greater freedom and opportunity for change for the young generation of Nobles, who now live in a world where humanity no longer needs protection as it is capable of protecting itself. During the Lukedonia Arc, the lack of confidence suffered by the Lord and her hatred of Rai is dispelled after the true intentions of the previous Lord are explained: he did not want his precious daughter to suffer the hardships that come with the position of Lord. After deciding she is not ready to complete Ragnarok, another message of the Previous Lord is revealed, containing fatherly advice and words of support for his daughter, thus giving her a (positive) sense of resolution and closure regarding unsettled issues she had with her father.

Lazark Kertia

Rajak is the head of the House of Kertia. His soul weapon, Kartas, takes the form of two daggers. The Kertia Clan specializes in speed and stealth; assassins. Very loyal to Lord. He subdued his younger brother, Rael during Rael's destructive rage, 10 years prior to Rai's awakening.

Rael Kertia

Rael is the ambitious younger brother of Lazark Kertia. Their father allowed a portion of his soul weapon to be inherited by Rael despite not being the head of House of Kertia. Rael can manifest this incomplete soul weapon as a pair of daggers named "Grandia." Rael proposed marriage to Seira, was rejected, and flew into a destructive rage. (It has not been explicitly stated in the manhwa, but many suspect that Rael proposed not out of love but because he hoped to usurp her position as Clan Leader.) Rael's tantrum/ rampage was stopped by his brother and he imprisoned for 10 years for this transgression. Frankenstein sensed that Rael had a soul weapon and urged him to use it in their fight, therefore Frankenstein felt justified in using Dark Spear. Rael mysteriously disappears after chapter 193, however he reemerged after the battle between Rk-5 and Yuri's group. Later on it is shown that he truly cares for Seira.

Previous Lord

The previous Lord chose to enter into eternal sleep 320 years after Rai went missing. In ancient times, the previous Lord had given Rai a gift of two silver crosses, one of which Rai wears as an earring. The previous Lord seemed quite keen on making Rai the next Lord, which Rai would constantly decline. When Rai disappeared, the previous Lord gave orders for all Nobles to search for Rai. However, Rai was not found. Wanting to see Rai before entering into eternal sleep, the previous Lord devised a plan to at least pass on his message to Rai by hiding Ragnarok and messages in Rai's shrine, and messages in his own shrine. Regarding Ragnarok left in his shrine, Rai said: "The Lord has left a troublesome thing behind". The Lord's soul weapon, in the shape of a beautiful decorated sword, is supposed to be so powerful that humans equate it with the end of the world. From what little is shown of his personality, the Lord seemed to have had an easy going personality, at least compared the current Lord. The previous Lord along with the (loyal) previous clan leaders voluntarily entered Eternal Sleep to allow greater freedom and opportunity for change for the younger generation of Nobles. It is shown that he cares a great deal for his daughter (the current Lord) not wanting her to take the mantle of Lord due to the heavy burden it carries and left her a personal message giving her typical fatherly advice on boys and acknowledging that she will be fine as Lord. The previous Lord left an incomplete Ragnarok to Rai simply because he wanted Rai to become the Lord rather than continue his role as Noblesse since the fate and burden of being the Noblesse is much greater when compared to being the Lord.

Ludis Mergas

Ludis is one of the seven loyal clan leaders. His Soul Weapon is called Izarok and takes the form of a scimitar and shield. He is the head of the Central order and the "Shield of the Lord". Defending seems to be his specialty, although he has shown considerable strength when he singlehandedly destroyed the eighth fleet of the Union during its invasion of Lukedonia. He is short and his hair covers his right eye. He is the smallest of the clan leaders.

Kaye

Kaye is one of the seven loyal clan leaders. He is said to be the strongest of the clan leaders, and his Soul Weapon takes the form of twin gauntlets. His appearance is that of a scarred and muscular man with white hair.

Rozaria

Rozaria is one of the only two female clan leaders, the other one being Seira. She is very powerful as she defeated Seira during the Lukedonia arc. She is close to Seira as she has told Seira to call her Unni. Her Soul Weapon is called Blood Witch and it takes the form of a staff with a gigantic red eyeball on top. Her appearance is that of a redhead with glasses, with her hair being tied up into a ponytail.

Werewolves

Long ago, werewolves were one of the dominating species on the planet. However they have always been even fewer in number than the Nobles and lacked the mind control ability. Because they could not wipe human memories, they had to hide themselves very carefully. That's why their existence remains hidden. Werewolves are warlike and have superior regenerative powers. Their strength rivaled that of the Nobles. They are said to be equal to Nobles in terms of power with the exceptions of their high regeneration and the Nobles' mind control.

Modified Humans/Experiments

Modified humans are humans who were experimented on by the Union in order to gain more power, usually without their consent. Successful experiments are usually much more powerful and stable than failed experiments; failed experiments are often disposed of. Failed experiments still generate useful data that is used to prevent similar failures in the next generation of experiments; thus newer experiments are generally more stable, powerful and successful. These modified humans are shown to be much more powerful than a normal human being. The successful high-level experiments have the ability to transform their bodies, which increases their power even further. M-series of experiments were considered to be failures, although the data gleaned from them was used as a basis for the next generation of (successful) experiments.

M-21

M-21 is from the M-series of experiments conducted by Dr. Crombel, a Union Scientist. He is designated as the 21st of 100 in that batch. He was classified as a failed experiment, and took the lowest ranking agent position in the Union along with M-24. M-21 and M-24 were the last survivors of the M-series. When introduced, M-21 was shown to be a cold-hearted, rebellious experiment that often looked for trouble to ease his boredom. He began developing the ability to transform his physical shape which he kept a secret from the Union, as they would undoubtedly continue their experiments on him. M-21 and M-24 had a made it their goal to discover the identities of themselves and the other M-series test subjects, as they have no memories before waking up in the Union lab. After M-24 died defending Shin Woo and his friends from Jake, M-21 moved in with Frankenstein and Rai. Rai assists M-21 by briefly allowing him to glimpse his own true powers, telling M-21 that he must not underestimate the origin of his powers. He then took up the position as a Special Security Guard in the school that Frankenstein runs. Eventually, he makes peace with the death of M-24, letting go of his goal to discover their true identities in favor of protecting Shin Woo and his friends from the Union. Thanks to Tao, M-21 discovers that his defection from the Union was never reported by Crombel, and all the data regarding the test subject's identities had been destroyed recently after lying untouched for so long. Crombel orders the data purge when he discovers that M-21 and M-24 may not have been complete failures as experiments in order to keep other scientists from using their data, (prefers to keep it exclusively to himself). During a health checkup, Frankenstein reveals that M-21 had been quite different from his fellow "M" series subjects: M-21 had extensive gene modification and had been implanted with the heart of a werewolf, a species nearly as powerful but far more obscure than the Nobles.

M-24

M-24 is a rather large and bulky guy who was part of the M-series of Union experiments. He is considered to be a failed experiment, though he had developed the unique ability of low-level mind-control as a side-effect of the experiment done on him. Though seen as a heartless and cruel at the beginning of the series, M-24 was shown to be compassionate and caring towards humans, especially kids, later in the series. M-24 and M-21 share a very close relationship as they were the only two remaining from their group. They share the same dream of finding their comrades' names. He is later thought to have been killed by Jake, attempting to buy some time for Shin Woo and his friends to escape. In Season 5, a revived M-24 reappears however it is revealed he is in fact an imposter: he is really another Modified Human named Mark.

Mary

Mary was one of the first female experiments seen in the series. She often serves as the bodyguard of Dr. Crombel. She and Jake are part of the assassination unit of the Union. Mary is implied to be more powerful, which means she held a higher rank and commanding power than Jake. However, it is mentioned by DA-5 that she was one of the weakest members of the assassination unit. She has been shown to have the ability to transform her arms, which gives her an immense amount of speed and strength. Mary is quiet and adheres to the mission, declining to take any actions outside of her strict orders. She reprimands Jake, who is afraid of her, when he is insolent to Dr. Crombel. She is killed by Frankenstein in the battle to save Shin Woo and his friends.

Jake

Jake is one of the most powerful successful experiments created by Dr. Crombel. He is Mary's partner; the two of them are part of the assassination unit of the Union. Jake is usually egotistical and extremely aggressive, which gets him scolded by Mary. Jake fears Mary only because she seems to have more power than him. He loathes being experimented on, but wants more power. Jake swore to take revenge on Mary and Dr. Crombel, who always looks down upon him. Jake has been shown to have the ability to transform, which gives him an even greater amount of speed and strength. He thinks very little of failed experiments such as M-21 and M-24, and makes it a personal goal to get them trashed by the Union. After being severely injured by Frankenstein, he forces Union scientists to conduct another experiment upon him, without Crombel's knowledge, in order to gain more power. He uses a final, massive transformation against Rai, who still defeats him easily.

Na Yonsu & An Sangeen

They are a Husband-And-Wife team of enhanced humans. Unlike the Union experimental subjects, they volunteered to be enhanced in a KSA medical experiment that was kept secret from the Union and most of the KSA. Their experiment is successful in that they are able to blend in with civilians and mask their enhanced powers to avoid detection. They are assigned the task of gathering information on possible new recruit candidates Shin Woo and Ik Han. However they quickly come into conflict with M-21, Tao and Takeo after the latter three caught them commissioning men to attack Shin Woo in an attempt to judge his fighting abilities. Na Yonsu is quite short tempered and patriotic. Sometimes prioritizes national security over individual rights/ safety, causing her to make morally questionable choices. An Sangeen is more even-tempered, but still a risk-taker. For instance he makes an alliance with M-21, Tao and Takeo even though it would be hazardous for both parties.

DA-5

The DA-5 were created by Dr. Arith. Their mission is to eliminate groups opposing the Union. Unlike the assassin team which works covertly, the special forces team focus is massacring enemy forces completely and very publicly to set examples of what happen to people if they oppose the Union. They enhance themselves by the drug called "D", which unknown to them, can eventually shave years off their life. The DA-5 has 5 members each with specialized weapons. The members of the DA-5 are Krantz, Tao, Takeo, Hammer and Shark.

Krantz

Krantz is the leader of DA-5. He hates dealing with lower ranking experiments. He is able to maintain leadership and control over DA-5 because he is stronger than the rest of DA-5 all together; they respect and fear Krantz. Late in the fight of the members of DA-5, it is shown that Krantz can absorb the powers of the other members of DA-5 and that the gain to his powers are enhanced if the members take the pill "D". He first drains the power of Shark when it appears that he cannot defeat Rai alone. He then attempts to drain Tao's powers but Ik Han begs Rai to save Tao which Rai does. He is last shown being defeated by Rai.

Tao

Tao is a 24-year-old computer genius that excels in hacking. He has admitted to being lonely due to no one else understanding him and his love for anything computer-related. This is the reason why he has found comfort in finding someone like Ik Han, who is like very much like him. He is frail in appearance and hasn't been shown to demonstrate any kind of physical strength like the rest of the members did, although it was known that Tao easily defeated Jake before Jake's modification. While Tao's strength does not seem to be above normal human standards, he has been shown to have quick reflexes and athletic ability and uses cables as his weapons. Supposedly designed to maximize team efficiency, not to eliminate his opponents. He is one of the less cold-hearted members of the DA-5 group. After betraying the DA-5 unit, he is now living in Frankenstein's house with Takeo and M-21.

Takeo

Takeo is a tall, purple-haired man, who uses a large sniper gun that is carried in a massive gun case. The Union is holding his sister hostage; thus, forcing Takeo to work with the DA-5. (However, this is a ruse concocted by Dr. Arith, who is pretending to be his sister, and that in reality, he has no sister.) Takeo cares about humans, especially little kids because they remind him of his sister. He demonstrates his softer nature by giving M-21 water when M-21 is imprisoned by the members of DA-5. He likes to get himself involved with normal citizens even though it is against the Union's rules. Takeo seems to be a good-natured person and only does what he has to in order to keep his sister safe from the Union. Takeo later moves in with those living in Frankensteins house, after betraying the Union, who now believe him to be dead. (Note that Takeo and Tao are not related, but tell the kids that they are distant relatives as part of their cover story.)

Shark

He is a brutal, cruel and heartless experiment. He loves to kill people for his own amusement and takes any opportunity to do so. He is extremely haughty in nature and easily provoked. Later, it comes to light that Shark killed all of the people that Takeo made contact with in their prior missions and that his actions were sanctioned by Krantz. (The Union is a secret human organization and agents are instructed to kill witnesses, no matter how little they may know. Any civilian who has come into contact with Union agents is considered a potential witness and must be eliminated. Therefore Krantz was merely complying with Union rules. However, Shark specifically enjoyed killing the people that Takeo had come into contact with.) He has been killed and absorbed by Krantz

Hammer

A large, chubby member of DA-5 that always seems to be eating. Although he has violent tendencies similar to Shark's, he is logical enough to avoid trouble and can use situations to his advantage, no matter how cowardly it may be. He was later defeated and killed by Seira J. Roiard.

Cerberus

Cerberus is the 12th elder's most powerful military force and personal guard unit. After the DA-5 and Dr. Arith were defeated in Korea, the twelfth elder sent Cerberus to investigate the area. Two of them have been killed by Yuri, and the other two by Frankenstein.

The Union

In CH166, Frankenstein explains that humans employed various methods to obtain powers like the nobles and their efforts have recently reached a peak. The Union is the oldest and largest organization ever created by humanity. They influence politics, society, culture, everything, all over the world. There's nothing they don't influence. The Union moves the world right now. The Union is a secret organization that studies, researches and experiments with live humans in order to obtain more superhuman powers. The process of each experiment has been shown to be excruciatingly painful and torturous. The Union doesn't have a name and is often called "The Human Organization" or "The Union" interchangeably. The series, so far, has not revealed the top chairmen and directors of the Union nor how it originated.

Elders

The Elders are the highest-ranking members of the Union, with command over the whole organization. Known elders include Dr. Crombel, Zarga Siriana, Urokai Agvain and Roctis Kravei (the latter three being part of the group of clan leaders who betrayed the previous Lord and his daughter). The elders revealed so far in the manhwa include: the 13th Elder, the 12th Elder, the 11th Elder, the 10th Elder, the 9th Elder, the 8th Elder, the 7th Elder, the 6th Elder, the 5th Elder, the 4th Elder, the 3rd Elder and the 2nd Elder. There are currently 5 Elders remaining.

Dr. Crombel

Dr. Crombel is a cold, cruel, mysterious and ambitious scientist. He is one of the top executive scientists, named 13th elder in the Union; thus, he is highly respected and has a large amount of commanding power within the Union. He climbed up to be one of the top executives of the Union through only his genius. Dr. Crombel has been shown to possess some form of superhuman power that may rival Frankenstein's own power. Almost no one is aware of his superhuman power. He has a great interest in experimenting on humans to create more and more powerful beings and would go to any length to progress in his research. Dr. Crombel possesses one of Frankenstein's diaries, which he credits for his quick rise in the Union. However, his current scientific experimentation has gone beyond that which is noted in the diary. In CH141, after examining M-21, Frankenstein acknowledged that Dr. Crombel must have considerable skills in order to carry out such experiments. Crombel than taken a role as one of the new leaders in the union but hid knowledge about Rai or Frankenstein was far too little to go on. After the event of Rai defeating two former nobles clan leaders, who were elder in the union, Crombel requested a meeting with Frankenstein delivered by Takoa

Dr. Arith

Dr. Arith is a red-haired woman who created DA-5, referring to them as her children. She has a twisted personality. She initially presents herself with an innocent, childlike demeanor, but is amoral when it comes to experimenting on humans. For example, she tells her assistant, Yuri, to get "souvenirs". These "souvenirs" are humans that Dr. Arith will experiment on. Dr. Arith is very demanding and psychotic; after the capture of Frankenstein, Frankenstein attempts to leave but is threatened by Dr. Arith who demands that he withdraw his leg from the door frame and attempts to pull said leg off when he refuses. She becomes maddeningly angry when disobeyed and orders her human-machines to eradicate the victim. She is shown to have considerable power; she even has a robot-like nano-suit that is quite powerful for fighting. Dr. Arith is initially believed to be Takeo's sister, Teira, due to their similar hair color, and his reaction towards Frankenstein's murderous intent toward her. As it turns out, Dr. Arith fabricated the identity of 'Teira' for her own enjoyment simply because she was bored with just experimenting all day. While attempting to drain Takeo's life-force to escape from Frankenstein (as she is the other person besides Krantz who can absorb the energies of DA-5), she took the strawberry-flavored pill from Takeo's pocket which is formulated by Frankenstein. However, she collapsed after taking the pill which supposedly should increase her power 200% and shortly afterward was taken away by Yuri. Her current condition was near death, but she resides at one of the Union's base and has been noted that she would need a considerable amount of time to recover, physically and mentally.

Yuri

Yuri is Dr. Arith's glasses-wearing personal assistant and is seen accompanying her everywhere. He is the one sent to retrieve "souvenirs" e.g. human subjects for Dr. Arith's experiments. He is usually shown accompanied by two giant men in black coats who later engage in the fight against Frankenstein and are shown to be powerfully altered robotically-enhanced human beings with a short life span and whose only capacities are as bodyguard functions. Dr. Arith trusts Yuri. He has superhuman powers, demonstrated in use when shielding Dr. Arith and himself from Frankenstein's attacks but ultimately his shield failed under Frankenstein's power. However, Yuri's true alliance is to Dr. Crombel, accompanying Dr. Arith only under Dr. Crombel's orders. Yuri has returned with Cerberus to investigate the destruction of the building that was destroyed in the battle between Frankenstein and Rael. Later on as Yuri work Dr.Crombel, He was engaged in battle with his two comrades against Regis K. Landegre, M-21, Tao and was gaining upper hand because of the hostages they have taken in the school. With help of Rael Kertia, M-21 and others were able to gain the antidote to save the children. However, Rael Kertia had to make a delivery to make it in time and because of that Yuri and his accomplices were able to get away. After returning Yuri made an report of the events that happened to Dr. Crombel. He seems to taken a liking to Seira.

Roctis Kravei (4th Elder)

Roctis Kravei was the clan leader of Kravei Clan and one of the six traitor nobles. During the reign of the previous Lord, Roctis along with Zarga and Urokai used to visit Rai more often than other nobles. He was also involved in the conspiracy against Rai that had forced him to withdraw to hibernate in hiding. According to Frankenstein, Roctis was after Rai's life. It is later revealed that Roctis had decided to join the conspiracy to protect his daughter, Ignes from being punished by the Noblesse for committing atrocity of killing humans.[2] Rai had assumed it could be the only reason for his betrayal. Within the Union, he was very close to the 9th Elder (for the latter's association with Ignes' experiments) and seemed suspicious of Dr. Crombel's actions. In an unknown period of time after the betrayal of clan leaders, he had formed contract with the 12th Elder. He had also offered himself subject to physical enhancement, making him a modified Noble. He is executed by the Noblesse.

Lunark (5th Elder)

She is a werewolf and the only female Union elder revealed. She seems to have known Muzaka, the previous lord of the Werewolves, in the past.

Urokai Agvain (6th Elder)

6th Elder in the Union. He used to be Noble clan leader before betraying the current lord 500 years earlier by refusing to enter into eternal sleep. It is revealed that he betrayed Raizel out of feeling unappreciated and jealousy. Urokai accused Raizel of displaying indifference toward those who followed him (including Urokai); yet he took Frankenstein, a puny mortal, under his wings over other nobles. So Urokai agreed to eliminate his former master to 'correct' him of his 'wrong' path. However, when Raizel declared that he respected traitors' deeds because that was their will, even though it was an act of treachery, Raizel responded in his usual stoic, tepid manner, which enraged Urokai even more. It can be assumed that at this point, Urokai is also an attention-seeker. He is involved in the event that drove Rai into hibernation for 820 years. He is defeated by Rai when Rai wakes up from his short hibernation. Urokai used to have a rivalry with Frankenstein, despising the latter and swearing revenge on him when Frankenstein beat him in a duel in the past which resulted in him losing his left eye. He is executed by the Noblesse.

Zarga Siriana (7th Elder)

Zarga Siriana, the previous clan leader of the Siriana Clan, is one of the traitors from the aged Lukedonian history. 820 years ago he, alongside the other five clan leaders had betrayed Rai and caused his long slumber. Not only did they try to kill him, but they also somehow used his name during their betrayal 500 years ago, causing Raskreia to believe him to be a traitor as well. According to his own words, he had murdered the previous Loyard clan leader, father of Seira J. Loyard. He joined as the 7th Elder of the Union and after the deaths of Rostere and Muar, he was sent alongside the 5th and 8th Elders to declare war against the Nobles of Lukedonia. It is revealed that his reason for the betrayal was that his values changed over time and conflicted against that of Lukedonia's nobles. He is executed by the Noblesse.

Animation

The first animated version of Noblesse has been revealed in the 17th Bucheon International Animation Festival. Being an OVA, its screening time was 40 minutes.^[3] Animated by Studio Animal,^[4] the animation will first be released as an DVD from Woongjin Thinkbig Funnism on December 4, 2015,^[5] and later on in the form of a VOD. ^[6]

A 30-minute anime short of Noblesse was produced by Japanese animation studio Production I.G. It was exclusively released on Crunchyroll for internet streaming on 4 February 2016.^[7]

Japanese Cast

Cadis Etrama Di Raizel was voiced by Tarusuke Shingaki

Frankenstein was voiced by Daisuke Hirakawa

M-21 was voiced by Hisafumi Oda

M-24 was voiced by Teruyuki Tanzawa

Jake was voiced by Toru Ohkawa

Marie was voiced by Hitomi Nabatame

Korean Cast

Cadis Etrama Di Raizel was voiced by YongWoo Shin

Frankenstein was voiced by SeungJun Kim

Muzaka was voiced by Han Choi

The Previous Lord was voiced by SangHyun Um

Ashleen was voiced by HyunJi Kim

Maduke was voiced by InSeong Oh

Gejutel K. Landegre was voiced by Kwang Jang

Lagus Tradio was voiced by GuHan Kang

Roctis Kravei was voiced by HoonSuk Jung

Urokai Agvain was voiced by DongHa Kim

Zarga Siriana was voiced by JunYeong Choi

References

External links

• Noblesse official website on LINE Webtoon (English)
• Noblesse official website on Naver (Korean)
• Author Jeho-Son's Blog
• Author Gwang-su's Blog
• Noblesse Official Fan Cafe