Krul Tepes (クルル・ツェペシ Kururu Tsepeshi?) is the a third progenitor among the vampires and a character in Seraph of the End. In the Vampire Reign manga, she is a secondary major character where she reigned as the queen of Japan. Krul is responsible for turning Mikaela Hyakuya into a vampire. Krul is also featured in the prequel story detailed in the Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen light novels, where she also transformed Mahiru Hīragi into a vampire as part of a goal to locate her older brother, Ashera Tepes.
As one of the highest ranking members of the Progenitor Council, Krul made promises that she destroyed the human organizations involved with experimentation. Sparing the lives of the orphans involved instead, Krul brought them and other surviving humans underground to Sanguinem after the world ended. While she would have little patience for small talk, a failure to fully appreciate threats beneath her would result in her being ensnared in Ferid Bathory's plots. Krul would uphold her end of a bargain struck by working with Guren Ichinose and while acting to destroy the expanding Japanese Imperial Demon Army she was willing to betray her own kind.
Having lived in the ancient past as a human, she would be aware of the first progenitor, Sika Madu. Her options to make alliances were limited, with little help from higher ranked vampires such as Saitō, yet she would details her plans with Urd Geales and a rival third progenitor, Lest Karr. Dedicated to reclaiming her brother, Krul would deploy Mika on campaigns against the humans and direct him to locate Yu.
| Note: This is the page for Krul in the manga and light novels, for the anime article detailing Krul see: Krul Tepes (Anime). |
Appearance
Her regular appearance
Krul is a young girl, she is noted to have a petite figure, she is considered to be extremely pretty, even by vampire standards. She has calf-length rosy pink hair, partially done up into two pigtails held by black hairpieces of which the design appears inspired by bat wings. The black headdress is connected by a black headband, and she also has what appear to be short black horns at either temple. Krul has large, sharp, slightly slanted eyes that are red, as with all vampires, along with fangs and pointed ears.
She is occasionally seen with a one-eyed bat familiar, by the name of Arukanu, upon her shoulder. The bat is about the size of her fist and has a large eye in the center of its face. It has a pair of small horns on top of its head and has a thin devil-like tail about twice the length of its body. It has small bat wings and minuscule feet.
In the past as a human
Before she turned into a vampire, Krul's eyes were blue like her brother's. She wore her long pink hair with one of her bangs tied into a long single braid. This was frequently decorated it with flowers. Krul's attire consisted of an ancient Greek styled chiton, with a simple ribbon tied to her waist, and sandals tied with long ribbons to her feet.
Her attire as a vampire consists of a short black, frilly style dress with a layer of white ruffles over black ruffles of the skirt. The top has a raindrop shape opening on her chest, and the straps of the top cross before reaching her neck on either side. The top has an open back with two x-shaped crossing stitches tightening it at her waist. A strip of pink heads down either side at the front of her top and ends at bows above the ruffles. Five golden buttons are distributed evenly going down the top on either side between the pink strips. She has a white collar of lace parted in the center of her neck that reaches over her collar bones. It is bound by a pink ribbon with a large bow on the right side of her neck. It has a golden oval decoration in the center and a pair of ribbons trailing from it that reach her hips. She wears tall black boots that are initially folded below her knees, but they become unfolded after she attacks Ferid.[3] After unfolding, they reach mid-thigh and have a slit down to either knee. They have tall golden stilettos.
A prisoner without her regal attire
The loose black sleeves are worn detached, that are puffed up under her shoulders. These run past her hands, becoming wider toward the end. It has two gold buttons at the cuff. A black ribbon is tied into a bow at the top outermost sides of these sleeves, and its tails reach the length of the sleeves. White lace frills decorate the tops of the sleeves, and longer white frills hang out under the sleeves. The white also peeks out in a slit at the puffy part of the sleeves under either ribbon. Under these sleeves, Krul wears a pair of black gloves that are tighter against her skin, and reach her knuckles. Each one has a pair of pink stripes running down from her knuckles to the end of the glove. They can only be seen when the loose sleeves over them are slid back.
On certain occasions, she may wear a black cloak underneath her skirt. It runs from her waist down to her ankles and is split down the center. The inner lining is pink. When leading vampires to gather surviving humans, Krul also wears a military-esque black jacket that trails to her mid-calf. It has shoulder decorations and overly-large cuffs ending in white frills. Each cuff has a line of trimming at either end and has three buttons attached to it. Later, Krul's outfit receives a few changes. She does not don her bat-like hair decorations and wears ribbons instead, and the bow on her white collar is absent.
Acquiring clothes available in the area
After she got barfed on by Shinoa and Mitsuba, she wore her hair down in two long low pigtails worn over the front of her shoulders, and held with hair ribbons. Krul wears casual clothing including a white hoodie with black sleeves. Appearing slightly too big for her, the sleeves cover her hands and there are pockets in the waist area as well. The motif in the center of the hoodie is a picture of a shark with the words "!Danger! Do Not Touch" on it. She also wears tight black leggings that cover her legs entirely, with black boots.
A form change after her weapon is activated
When she has Arukanu drink her blood during her fight against Ferid, Guren, and Mahiru, Krul's form change regains her similar looking black dress attire, but now has sharpened bat like wings attached to the lower back. It has three buttons on each side, the ends of the skirt are white and goes to above her knees, and combined with the the black leggings, covers all of her legs. The detached sleeves are all black, but are still poufy below the shoulders. She regains her bat-like hair decorations and has a white, thin ribbon around her neck.
Personality
Striking down Ferid after threatened by him
As with other vampires, Krul views the humans as nothing more than livestock. She does act to gather them to ensure vampires will still have a supply of blood after the world ends. Where their traits are concerned, Krul sees them as foul and endlessly greedy creatures who will do anything for their own personal gain. This view of humans was the reverse of how Krul felt when a human girl where she had fears about blood-sucking monsters.
| “ | Turns out the true monsters were humans... And my brother turned into the blood-drinking monster. Then he made me a monster too. | ” |
–Reflecting on her and Ashera's perspectives on what monsters are. Chapter 138: "Really for Real" Page 17 | ||
Krul is proud, especially as a third progenitor that gives her the power to back up her reason to be so, further as the queen of Japan. When Third Progenitor Lest Karr challenges her position as the ruler of Japan, Krul becomes angry with his accusations and affirms she never fails, ever. She is temperamental when challenged and does not hesitate to remind her challenger of their place. When Ferid Bathory slaughters the Hyakuya Sect orphans she carefully hid in Sanguinem and kept as livestock, she becomes enraged because he fatally wounded one of the seraph and allowed another to escape. Krul hates the First Progenitor for turning her brother into a demon, a feeling that has not diminished with time.
An effective leader, Krul will lead and deliver announcements on her goals for the humans. Through her own channels, Krul has communications sent out to summon who she desires, where contact was made with other vampire nobles to update them of the human threat and instruct them they were to act. Leading through example, Krul once again shows her appearance to induce others to comply. Not having lesser vampires deal with threats such as Guren when possessed, Krul overcomes them herself. Firm when speaking, Krul orders her troops to not come when she wishes to hold private talks, then directs them to head to head to the next location.
Showing her care to Mika
In assisting others, Krul saves Mika's life against his will by turning him into a vampire, but this appears to have been done for her own personal interests. When Mika refuses to drink from a human, Krul's response is to provide her blood to him in exchange for making him dependent on her. There is affection behind this, and Krul shows Mika kindness where there are several moments when she hugs him or treats him gently. After developing a close bond with Mika, Krul expresses concern for his family member, Yu. She claims to like both Mika and Yu, however it is uncertain if this is due to her close relation with Mika and concern for his sake, or if this is because she wants to use the seraph for her own purposes.
Also appearing to invest a great deal of trust in Mika, it may be the case that he is one of the few beings to know Krul's true goals. Willing to confide sensitive information that only he heard, Krul would have Mika act as her agent in a mission to reclaim Yu from humans and vampires. Her objective is to locate her brother, Ashera Tepes, who wilfully became a demon under the first progenitor's command. In doing anything in order to find him, Krul even turns Mahiru Hīragi into a vampire when she claims to have information on him. For the few Krul does work with, she will provide considerable resources to assist her allies. This includes training Mika in combat, and bestowing what would be a prodigious gift to him and Mahiru in providing her blood for a vampire transformation. Evidently she allowed Guren to be transported to the airport.
When keeping some secrets safe, Krul often hides them within plan sight. She enabled the children with seraphs within them to live as livestock as any other child would, and neither paid them any mind to not draw attention with her interest shown. Similar with Mika, while she kept him close to the point where he was seen as favored, Krul still largely left him to his own devices. Behaving as normal while keeping many secrets, including what she knows of the "seraph of the end," Krul is willing to be deceitful toward the Progenitor Council to keep her criminal activities to them unknown. At first she was also withholding details from Mika, before being willing to share it. Krul done the same with divulging information to other vampire progenitors on what her plans for the First were. This is done both to satisfy curiosity and put other's minds at rest, then to simply proceed with a plan she has in mind.
In maintaining a business as usual approach where she is patient and happy to coast along, Krul is left vulnerable to developing problems she does not appear to recognize. During her reign, the Japanese Imperial Demon Army's capabilities grew exponentially with cursed gear developed. While acting swiftly to deal with Ferid's threat of revealing her activities to the progenitor council, Krul may have assumed the beating she administered had settled the matter, which did not prevent Ferid entrapping her further and entwining Krul's course of action with his. Powerless against blackmail, Krul had her to keep her temper in check, and had no way around the inability to kill him where he stands. Similarly, while her response to the threat of the army was prompt in resolutely deciding to destroy them, with her attention elsewhere the humans would still gain a major foothold in Japan. Ultimately, Krul's focus on her plans would distract her enough to fall in an ambush to Ferid. The undefeated and emboldened humans would then sack her city.
Around one thousand years ago when she was human, Krul was happy and cheerful. She was thankful for being born into a noble family. Also caring deeply for her brother Ashera Tepes, after his disappearance with Sika Madu she was distraught. Content to be found by him, Krul was fine in her new vampire state so long as Ashera was around and also displayed a calm side. Krul will do anything to find him to the point to turn Mahiru into a vampire and acquiring information at any cost.
| “ | No, it's not your fault! What's done is done. It's nobody's fault. | ” |
–Assurances that Ashera should not feel guilty that they are supposedly cursed now. Chapter 117: "Of Monsters and Demons" page 3 | ||
Believing him to have been found again, Krul pressed Ashera to possess the human he was with and cannot understand his hesitation, more so given a danger to them both being around. Since her meeting with Yu and joining his group, she repeatedly asks for her brother to be called by his real name. With the failure to comply, Krul is annoyed to no end. She also finds the group to be utter idiots after the girls accidentally vomited on her as she tried to restrain them. Greatly incensed when they displayed no remorse over their acts towards their vampire queen, Krul thinks none of them would have turned out remotely this stupid had she raised them. She radiates with indignation at their conduct.
Propitiation is effective in appeasing Krul. With her power recognized where she is paid attention to, Krul comfortably fits into her role of a respected ruler. Taking note of her unsatisfactory surroundings, Krul smashes her way through a wall to enter another room. Questioning manners, Krul demanded a demonstration of how sincere Yu was in his conviction of saving Mika. She raised this for Mika's sake, as it would not be fair to what he went though otherwise. Guessing she could help, if listened to, Krul ordered silence and poses questions to ascertain how much others know.
Against what may be a stronger foe, Krul remains remarkably calm. Able to sense that she may be defeated, Krul gives thought to whether she can win. Falling back is not entertained at all. In being struck with a chain weapon, Krul is analytic in wondering what it is for. Even in sensibly guessing that it may be poison, or a spell that will sap her power to make for opponent stronger, Krul displays no worry at all. Rather than herself fleeing, Kurl embraces what would function as psychological tactics namely attempting to have her enemy doubt their chances of victory.
| “ | Fool! If you can't get away, I'll beat you to death here and now. | ” |
–After kicking an enemy in the head and psychologically inducing them to excape to ensure her own victory. Chapter 137: "The Queen's Time" Page 3 | ||
Time being against her does not rattle Krul, the new weapon of a demonic maw leaves her unconcerned, she is not moved by the ambush of two additional foes. For her close work with Guren and Mahiru, she was not impacted by their betrayal. Krul underwent a marked change after being ambushed by Ferid before, to remaining firmly in control of unexpected situations, both mentally and in terms of physical prowess.
Being outnumbered meant nothing, Krul focused on how she saw her victory. Which outcomes she wanted were also considered. After striking away Ferid she meant to interrogate him later. Deeming Mahiru the greater threat Krul was upfont that she meant to end her as the greater threat.
Aspirations
From an early age Krul was close with and committed to defending her brother, Ashera.
| “ | And if a monster comes and takes you away... I'll come rescue you! | ” |
–Dedicated to her brother from an early age. Chapter 138: "Really for Real" Page 16 | ||
Story
For the total coverage story detailing Krul's history as well, see
Main Article: Krul Tepes/Story
Powers and Abilities
Natural abilities
Being a vampire, Krul has immortality which grants eternal youth at the age she became a vampire. Having very sharp and enhanced senses, Krul could discern activities occurring in Shibuya while she was on her way there, and was able to sense the location of her brother, a demon, which are largely invisible to the eye. Almost uniquely for a vampire, Krul appeared to manifest her presence in a demon realm in an attempt to contact Ashera. Her senses are honed where she can perceive that Ferid has somehow absorbed other vampires to bolster his own power. After striking him, Krul finds her senses were accurate where she guessed right of how much he had increased in strength. Should targets hide in buildings for example, Krul can locate them.
Krul possesses supernaturally fast speed. Immense strength that surpasses humans is innate for her, as is rapid bodily regeneration. Although Krul could re-attach limbs should they be severed, this capability has not been seen yet but is a trait vampires have. She can also gain strength by drinking human blood.
Being a third progenitor, Krul is stronger than those of a lower station. This is apparent when she effortlessly defeats Ferid, who is a seventh progenitor, using her hands to slice off his limbs, and kicks with the force to strike him across a room. Her raw strength is tremendous enough that a swing of her arm can easily destroy a room where the force emitted can break into the solid ground. For all intents and purposes, she is one of the strongest beings existing in the world.
For endurance Krul is also shown to withstand days of torture in the sun without the UV-protective armbands. In fact, Krul herself stated that her body had already begun to adapt to the never ending burning she was experiencing and she was slowly becoming comfortable with the sensation of being constantly incinerated, further showing her body's extreme durability. Krul's raw power was tremendous to the point that Mahiru thought her usual unarmed state was actually herself already using her weapon.
Rank Privileges
As a noble, she also has the ability and permission to turn a human into a vampire. Krul is one of the few seen exercising this ability, first on Mahiru who had information concerning the whereabouts of her brother, Ashera. She later exercises this right on Mika to preserve one of her seraphs in her words.
Her rank allows her to sit on the progenitor council of which sensitive information is shared. She is a member of a council that manage the ruined world between its members. As Queen of Japan, she has an army at her back. Vampires of all ranks below follow her commands. Practically on some occasions Krul would need to appear in person for all vampires to comply with her orders, as was the case for Lucal Wesker who was loyal to Lest Karr's faction.
Equipment
The Arcane weapon activated
Despite being a vampire, Krul is not shown to own a First-class vampire weapon or any weapon for that matter until Chapter 137 reveals that her bat-like familiar, Arcane, is her weapon. Upon activating her weapon by having it bite into her hand to drink her blood, her power increases several times over. While there is a drawback that Arcane drinks a lot of her blood where being unable to move should the drinking stop is a possibility, in practice Krul is able to carry out what she has in mind at a steady pace.
| “ | Arcane drinks a lot of my blood. And if it stops drinking, it can't move. Do I finish this off quickly? Or do I drink their blood and extend my power? Which is wiser? | ” |
–A weapon fusion that allows Krul to display abilities seen on no other vampires, with not much of a setback in practice. Chapter 137: "The Queen's Time" Page 19 | ||
The weapon affords her some startlingly powerful capabilities as her foes find out. Upon her weapons' activation, a form change also causes the unbreakable Kiseishingon chain to disappear, a feat that she couldn't do in her unarmed state. An increase in strength means she does not need to avoid others, rather can seize them and hurl them into multiple buildings as she done with Ferid who had enhanced his own power.
Telekinetic based abilities seem at her disposal, Krul can pin down Mahiru as a demon. Krul can remove the upper section of an entire building with a single movement of her finger. This ability permits Krul to easily cut down Guren's highest rank Black Demon Cursed Gear by merely extending her arm. The blade of the weapon itself was cut in at least three sections and when it was in the middle of utilizing an invoked power.
The blade like wings at her back also allows Krul access to flight. Other vampires can jump to extreme heights and move incredibly fast, then demons can float, yet Krul can undertake genuine flight as a unique capability.
Relationships
- Relationships: Krul Tepes
Gallery
- Image gallery: Krul Tepes
Quotes
Catastrophe at Sixteen Novels
Quotes from the Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen novel series.
Catastrophe at Sixteen Book 5
Quotes from Seraph of the End 5: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen
| “ | You should try to be a little more worried. Do you understand the situation you’re in, human? | ” |
–Krul to Mahiru Hiragi. Chapter 5 | ||
Owari no Seraph manga
Quotes from Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign.
| “ | Ha. Love? The only thing you love is my power. | ” |
–Krul to Ferid. "Vampire Mikaela" | ||
| “ | Then what? What could you possibly do to defy me? I can easily extinguish a life as puny as yours. Beyond that, you are dependent on my blood. How could you possibly defy me? Are you going to say you'd rather die than be my tool? What would happen to Yu, who's being used by those foul humans? Will you abandon him? The countries who've experimented with the seraph of the end are one thing... but human foulness is not limited to any locale or group. Will you abandon Yu to his fate? | ” |
–Krul to Mika. "Taboo Krul" | ||
| “ | Goodness, how selfish. Didn't I already tell you that you can't defy me? And besides, I am not that terrible. I like both you and your friend Yu. Believe it. If it weren't for me, both of you would have died years ago in that orphanage. I am your savior, your surrogate parent, your owner. If you really want to know, then I will tell you why I spared your lives. And why I need the 'seraph of the end'." | ” |
–Krul to Mika when he says he can no longer follow her. "Taboo Krul" | ||
| “ | Hah! What is with that triumphant look? Do you truly think that display of power was enough to impress me? | ” |
–Krul to Guren after he kills his interrogator. "The Namanari Awakens" | ||
| “ | Eternal. Unending. Everlasting. Despair. A body that, even having burned this long, still refuses to die. In fact, it's gone on so long I'm starting to grow accustomed to the pain.... I couldn't care less about KY. Something else has all my attention now. Back there... I sensed my brother. Ashera.... I know it was him. Mahiru Hiragi upheld her part of our bargain. My brother... is inside the human named Yu. | ” |
–Krul's thoughts. "Unremembered Trauma" | ||
| “ | Besides! Mother said we have to be grateful for our food. We may be nobles, but if we aren't grateful for our food, Mother says eventually we won't be given any food at all anymore. | ” |
–Krul to Ashera when they were human. "The Day the Sun Was Lost" | ||
| “ | Just like my deal with Mahiru said, the demon transformation has already begun! And this one... will be a rank one...! | ” |
–What her deal with Mahiru entailed and Krul's awareness of what is happening to Mika Chapter 94 "Hole in the Sun" | ||
| “ | So which one are you now? Is this still all part of your plan? | ” |
–Seeing through Shinoa's innocuous question about what her sister Mahiru said. Her suspicion was well founded as Shikama Doji was in control of Shinoa's consciousness. "The King's Chambers" page 34 | ||
| “ | Idiots. What does any of that matter? If the first awakens, everything is over. Guren, I'll silence these fools... by force if necessary. | ” |
–Indifferent to Kimizuki and Yoichi's plight of losing family members Krul intervenes on Guren's behalf. Chapter 99 "Mortal Love" page 25 | ||
| “ | Say that again and I'll kill you. | ” |
–After Ferid suggests since they are following Guren's plan that this makes them family too. Chapter 112: "Defining Family", page 35 | ||
| “ | But if it's a dream... ...That's okay. At least once... ...Before I die... ...I got... ...To see you. | ” |
–In that past, Krul speaks to Ashera having been rescued, before passing away. Chapter 116: "Brother and Sister", page 30 | ||
| “ | I'll be fine, no matter how long it is. If I have you, then I'll be okay. | ” |
–Content being with Ashera as they rest within a blissful meadow. Chapter 117: "Of Monsters and Demons" page 5 | ||
Trivia
- Her surname may be inspired by the Romanian name, Vlad Ţepeş, who is more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler, the real-life inspiration for the character Count Dracula.
- Mika is commonly known as her favorite among the vampires in Sanguinem.
- Both of Krul's voice actors also voiced Mina Tepes in Dance in the Vampire Bund. Both characters have many similarities to each other:
- Both were Queen of Vampires.
- Both have the same surnames of "Tepes."
- Both have the appearance of a small petite girl with pigtails.
- Both favor a teenage boy.
- In the popularity poll, Krul earned 6th place at 1,275 points.[4] In the 2019 popularity poll, Krul ranked 8th place with 1,708 votes.[5]
- So far, she is the only female vampire who is in the Progenitor Council.
- Krul and Mika were the first and only two characters to ever kiss in the entirety of the franchise, until Mahiru and Guren had theirs in Catastrophe book 3.
References
- ↑ Owari no Seraph chapter 22 (p. 22)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Seraph of the End 8.5 Official Fanbook
- ↑ Owari no Seraph chapter 5 (p. 22)
- ↑ Jump SQ January 2016 issue. Jump SQ (December 2015).
- ↑ 本日発売!!ジャンプSQ.１月号では、『終わりのセラフ』キャラクター人気投票結果発表記念！鏡貴也先生書き下ろしシナリオ＆センターカラー付！！. Twitter (December 3, 2019). Retrieved December 4, 2019.
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