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Haunted (ホーンテッド) is Valhalla's unruly rogue officer who seeks to sate his desire to spread despair and suffering rather than following through with the organization's actual goals. He wields the Magical Heritage blade, Dáinsleif.
Appearance ︻デ═一
Haunted possesses lifeless purple (later colored blue) eyes and neck-length blonde hair. Contradictory to his extremely violent and perverse urges, he seems to prefer wearing priestly cassocks, a remnant of his former occupation as one.
Personality ︻デ═一
Matching the pitch-black robes he wears, Haunted is an agent of chaos who only acts out his own self interest. Haunted passionately preaches towards his love for humanity and finds the most beautiful moments of a person's life to be when they are about to die. Haunted solely lives to witness these moments of despair and suffering and is so particular about his obsession that he cannot condone the acts such as mass murder as it trivialized an individual's death. Unless it involved killing everyone slowly and as intimately as possible, he would view it as wasteful and in bad taste. While having no ethical basis for his actions other than his enjoyment, he is surprisingly very upstanding and almost moral about his past time and was visibly angry at others who didn't show emotion when killing was involved.
Haunted goes back and forth from being a friendly and gentlemanly individual with an exuberant tone of voice to being crude, insensitive, perverse, and scheming. Haunted doesn't usually hide his emotions and openly puts his thoughts out which leads to many not enjoying his company. His actions further degrade any sort of relationships with others.
Biography ︻デ═一
History
Haunted's personal backstory is relatively unknown but rumors surrounding the Despair property he wields reveals the probable source of his madness and powers. Three users of the Despair property were known to have lived, one was an infant who died as a stillborn while the other two lived normally and tried to unlock the secrets of their abilities. One failed to master his craft and died naturally while the other made contact with another world the property allowed him to traverse to but went mad from the experience and died off. Apparently the child was the true and only survivor and instead of dying, was transported to another world, survived the encounter, and returned with control over its creatures and abilities. He apparently served as a priest for an unknown amount of time. Haunted was present during the First Witch Hunt War but was not a prolific combatant as he is currently. He had apparently known the other officers such as Mother Goose and Orochi for quite some time and had quarreled with the latter over something. It is unknown when exactly he began using Nacht but the two have been together for a long time as well. Haunted joined Valhalla's cause for unknown reasons.
Around the time the series began, Haunted was sent to the Inquisition controlled territories and struck a bargain with Isuka Suginami and he utilized the Alchemist's 5th Laboratory as his hideout. He also was sent to recruit Mari Nikaido and tricked her into joining Valhalla and act as an informant around the border territory, while having killed the children who he stated were safe in another facility. Apparently, Haunted was supposed to have worked with fellow Valhalla member, Mephisto, but the two had refused to work together. He had also encountered Hayato Kurogane on multiple occasions, and was only able to evade capture after endangering a large number of civilians, prompting the latter to prioritize on saving them instead of continuing his chase.
Hero Summoning Arc
Over the course of a few weeks, Haunted prepared a sufficient sacrifice to summon an Einherjar to assault the Anti-Magic Academy, in a time where a large number of Inquisitors were not present, to free a number of Valhalla's operatives who were previously captured. Mari was responsible in acquiring and handing over the necessary materials for the Einherjar to be fully armed with its weapon.
Witch's Struggle Arc
Mari learns of the Einherjar's attack and threatens Haunted after she is wracked with guilt over the amount of lives she was responsible for. Haunted however revels at the sight of her torment and as a number of Inquisitors, as well as a single academy student storm the two's confrontation. Haunted forces Mari to watch him kill them, before knocking her out with a memory inhibition spell before retreating, leaving her to be captured. Haunted admits to regretting this decision of only knocking her out and decides to infiltrate the Academy to "rescue" her. Haunted's first attempt at infiltrating the academy grounds ends up unsuccessful and he makes a call to the Alchemists to arrange for his grand entrance. Haunted kills Akira Yoshimizu and replaces her with a near exact clone of her and bursts out of her body during the academy's mock battle tournament. The 15th Platoon is completely wiped out, with the sole exception of its captain and Haunted is bombarded with a hail of bullets as Kurogane had expected an attack. With Kurogane distracted in evacuating the civilians, Haunted utilizes a barrier to isolate the 35th Platoon and himself inside while the new dragoons displayed during the events become compromised which further distracts Kurogane.
Haunted happily "reunites" with Mari but she failed to recognize him. Takeru attempts to fight back against Haunted but he quickly neutralizes him with Nacht and he brings Mari's memories flooding back to her and the circumstances which she was in. Takeru continues to combat Haunted while Mari slowly begins to decide to return to Valhalla's side with him to not bother her newfound friends. However, Takeru reveals information that Ouka had retrieved that the orphans she was trying to protect that were all killed as well. Haunted is prompted to prove this and Mari screams with absolute horror from this revelation. Haunted is once again delighted to see such expressions on her but Takeru once again tries to fight back, with his weapon-change ability proving somewhat of a challenge. Elsewhere, Ouka, Ikaruga, and Usagi recover and move to assist on the duo's fight against Haunted and Ouka was able to negotiate with Sougetsu over Mari's condition and disables her Gleipnir, allowing her to fight back. Whilst being distracted by Ouka and Usagi, Mari shoots a couple of magic bolts toward Haunted, who effortlessly dodged them but in fact, they were for Takeru to absorb.
Back in full condition, Takeru faces off against Haunted and he runs out of patience and decides to utilize Nacht's intrinsic ability. Takeru meets this attack head on but is backed up with Mari's magic and is able to strike Haunted straight through the chest. After sustaining multiple wounds from constant fighting and with this decisive strike to the chest, Haunted decides to fall back and asks for Takeru's name to which he recognizes the surname as the name of the demon hunting clan back from the war.
Two Alchemists Arc
Haunted is seen covered in bandages and recovering from his previous fight inside the 5th Laboratory where he converses with Isuka on the worth of human life and he criticizes her for feeling nothing when killing. Haunted is mostly unseen through its events and is presumed to have been studying Isuka's data. He appears at the end of Isuka and Ikaruga's confrontation where the former's showcase of emotions and sadness prompts enough excitement for him to kill her. Haunted briefly clashes with the transformed Ikaruga before the laboratory crumbles down and he offers Ikaruga to join Valhalla before getting shot in the head as a result. Haunted takes the hint and excuses himself, while also leaving behind a gift in form of a mechanical dragon.
Valhalla Calling Arc
Haunted is recalled back to Valhalla's headquarters in the Magic Academy's premises but admits to following orders only because he head that Mari had been retrieved. He barges into Elizabeth's house, where its owner was conversing with Kanaria over allying herself with her to avenge her mother. Haunted comments on both their appearances and gets his hand cut off by Kanaria, but immediately attaches it. He is soon driven out of the meeting room, where it is revealed that he killed two guards on the way here. Haunted finds Nacht in her human form and she demands that they go and kill Takeru and Lapis who were also retrieved along with Mari. Haunted however states that he is not yet willing to kill them just yet and plans for something more grandiose.
Haunted appears again during Takeru's mad dash to Elizabeth's manor to recover Lapis and Takeru is quickly overwhelmed by the large number of pureblood wizards fighting against him. Haunted arrives and taunts him while the pureblood wizards greet and thank him for his assistance, but Haunted begins to kill them instead. After the short massacre, Haunted walks over to Takeru and heals him of his sustained wounds, but is cut in half by him in retaliation. Uncaring, Haunted denotes disapproval at Takeru's weakness in his current state and informs him that he has many things to tell him but the two are surrounded by more pureblood wizards. The two stand back to back and unexpectedly clash against each other, prompting the wizards to attack, and the two bounce off their momentum and begin to slaughter the purebloods. The pureblood wizards are mercilessly cut down and at the end, the two clash blades again. Haunted gleefully exclaims his opinion on Takeru, mocking his shallowness and goal that disgusts him to his core. However, Haunted finds that shallowness to be equally intriguing as Takeru, unlike Orochi or Kurogane, strives for a goal without compromise to save everyone important to him and he brands Takeru as his one true nemesis, an embodiment of hope. Haunted knocks Takeru to a wall and begins to disappear and hopes to see him again, with his power restored, so that they may fight again.
White Escape Arc
Haunted joins Mother Goose and Orochi in their agreed meeting place with Sougetsu to discuss peace talks but things go awry when Sougetsu makes clear that he has no intention of stopping what he plans on doing. As he leaves a number of Guillotine users to face Mother Goose and Orochi, Haunted appears to strike at Sougetsu, with an intense aura of anger directed at him. The two's exchange however is short-lived as Orochi's technique blasts an incredible volume of force their way and they retreat.
Heretic Alliance Arc
Haunted unexpectedly visits Suzaku inside the First Laboratory where the latter regrettably informs him that she cannot continue business with Valhalla as per her agreement to Sougetsu. Haunted pays it no mind and states that he just wanted to visit and see progress on Suzaku's work and witnesses Kiseki in stasis. Suzaku explains with pride at how she was able to pacify Kiseki by stimulating her dreams and "faking" her happiness and Haunted becomes angered but feigns excitement and congratulates Suzaku with a bouquet of flowers from his Belladone Garden.
Later, as the Heretic Alliance finish with their preparations on the raid of the First Laboratory, Haunted remotely utilizes the petals from the flowers he gifted Suzaku earlier to enter into Kiseki's dream and forcibly awaken her to convince her that the happiness she sought with her brother was a lie and that her true happiness would be achieved through her death. Through Haunted's actions, Kiseki awakens from her peaceful slumber and runs a rampage through the facility.
Witch Hunt War Arc
As Orochi and Mother Goose prepared to move against the Inquisition, Haunted smiled with glee for the upcoming carnage he would get to indulge himself in.
As the war raged on near the vicinity of the Inquisition's headquarters, Haunted delighted himself to slowly killing the townsfolk one by one to savor their anguish and had reunited a young girl with her mother, right before he decapitated the child in front of her. Haunted gleefully witnessed the mother's reaction before an explosion breaks his trance and he realized the explosion's direction was near the Antimagic Academy. Haunted screams in disappointment at how his reveling in the town had costed him time and his intention to involve Takeru, Orochi, and Kiseki for his amusement was all for naught. However, as pillars of flesh begin to sprout around the town, Haunted realizes that Kiseki was on the move and Nacht confirms Takeru's victory over Orochi and Haunted excitedly heads out to find them.
Call of Twilight Arc
Haunted interrupts the Kusanagi siblings In the middle of a heated argument where Takeru was close to cornering Kiseki's true feelings. As Haunted jaunts into the scene, Kiseki hides herself to rethink her thoughts while Takeru angrily enters combat against him. However, Haunted himself is interrupted during the fight when Kurogane makes an appearance and has Takeru chase down his sister while he fought in his stead. Haunted expresses his disinterest in fighting Kurogane's overwhelming but unmotivated persona but even so, Haunted is pushed back. Kurogane deduces Haunted's immortality to the amount of lives he has taken and Haunted himself begins to find joy in fighting Kurogane after the latter states that he finally feels anger towards him, as well as the shouldered anger from Takeru. Haunted gleefully unveils an unfamiliar magic circle where he begins to chant in an alien-like language and Kurogane sees the scale of the magic and confirms it as Sacred Treasure summoning. Haunted comes out of the magic circle with an eerie skull mask and declares that the significant sacrifice he just made with his soul stock is well worth its price to bring Kurogane down once and for all.
Promise of Dawn Arc
The Sacred Treasure allows for Haunted to keep up and provide Kurogane with a hefty amount of challenge, a lot more compared to the overwhelming strength Kurogane exerted against him before. Haunted's summonings become more complex and he forces Kurogane to the corner as he is able to launch Kurogane into the air and leave him defenseless on his descent. Haunted watches Kurogane be ripped apart by his Tindalos but witnesses a bright flash of light and sees Kurogane continue to descend completely unscathed. Haunted is stunned to see Kurogane overcome his powers and prepares to retaliate as he realizes that he doesn't have much time to sustain his Sacred Treasure and utilizes Nacht's Berserk Enchant in conjunction with the mask's own powers. Haunted's final strike matches Kurogane's Maximilian and the ensuing explosion covers the area in a powerful explosion. Kurogane falls to his knees exhausted while Haunted approaches him with his mask gone and prepares to finish off his most formidable adversary. However, Haunted is blindsided by an unfamiliar voice to him and turns around to find Kyouya with Nero aimed at him, only split into a countless amount of barrels. Haunted is assailed by a hailstorm of bullets and his quick application of a defensive spell is easily shattered. At the end of the volley, Haunted is reduced to a head and he curses his attacker while Kyouya trudges toward him and fires the finishing shot to Haunted's head. Haunted however tricks his death as he actually had 2 lives in stock and he uses his final one to confront Takeru after the latter returned from his duel with Sougetsu and separation from Lapis.
Epilogue
Haunted is revealed to have lost his cataclysmic duel with Takeru but was forced to live as Takeru deemed his centuries-worth of knowledge too valuable to lose over in a grudge match. Haunted becomes depressed over how his long-awaited duel was inadequate to his expectations and agrees to be held prisoner. For 5 years, Haunted is placed into maximum security and was separated from Nacht, who was kept in another facility. Takeru comes to visit him to ask him if he had any clue on curing Kiseki's curse over his lengthy life. Haunted states that he may have a lead for Takeru to know but in exchange for information, he demanded a proper rematch with Takeru with their lives on the line to which the latter agreed to. Nacht is brought back to Haunted's hands and he faces off against Takeru one last time.
The After Story involving Takeru and co. heading towards Haunted's lead presumes that Haunted was finally slain in his final duel.
Abilities ︻デ═一
Witch: A survivor from the previous Witch Hunt war, Haunted is an immensely skilled individual with numerous talents ranging from different branches of sorcery and the sciences. His longevity coupled with his apparent immunity to death only adds to his dangerous presence.
- Necromancer: Haunted's first and foremost "profession", citing his extensive medical knowledge of the human body that allows him to effectively kill and utilize bodies for his rituals. He can also manipulate bodies for further use in more complex summonings. This expertise can also assist him in combat, an example being one of Haunted's spells that can accelerate his brain's processing speed similar to Takeru's Soumatou if used carefully and correctly on the specific part of the brain that can stimulate the effect.
- Summoner: Haunted has showcased the ability to summon not only revived bodies through necromancy, but the summoning of Einherjars. His primary spell, Belladone Garden is associated with this skill. Haunted's true abilities however lie with his connection to creatures from beyond the regular world and call upon their assistance.
- Alchemist: Given his longevity and knowledge in the sciences, Haunted has shown to be capable of creating mechanical constructs after briefly reading design schematics.
Ancient Attribute- Despair: A dark based property whose disastrous effects on its targets inflict an unbelievable amount of pain. Haunted utilizes his property in conjunction with a summoning spell that assists him in movement and combat. The attribute also grants him exclusive access to another world where he can beckon creatures to aid him.
- Garden of Despair- Belladone Garden: A summoning spell derived from Haunted's attribute that spawns an amalgamation of swamp creatures in the form of tentacle-like thorns and flowers that can remotely act on their own. Haunted utilizes this "black swamp" like projection for transportation as well as extending his range in combat as numerous thorns can be called upon.
- Belladona Forest: A mass summoning spell that summons numerous creatures from the Garden to assault the target in a continuous stream of variants.
- Soul Stock: Haunted's primary ability that gives him his immortality. Haunted's Despair property allows him to contract himself with a certain magical organism that agree to serve him in exchange for human souls rather than magical power. Whenever Haunted receives fatal damage, the creature would provide a new body in exchange for a soul. A stock is added to Haunted's collection if someone is killed directly by his magic.
- Number of the Beast: An immensely sturdy barrier that functions as a synthesis of six hundred and sixty-six individual barriers that provide an enormous amounts of defensive usage against certain anti-magical techniques which can only target a single layer.
Magical Heritage- Dáinsleif: Haunted's longtime partner and trusted blade. Despite the general image of magicians being poor close-range fighters, Haunted proved himself an extremely capable duelist when he was able to match Takeru's own skills under the effects of Soumatou. Dáinsleif, or Nacht, has been with him since the first war and her own twisted nature had her accept him as her master and partner. Armed with numerous effects, Nacht's most fearsome ability allows Haunted to sacrifice what little sanity he has left to considerably boost his physical ability.
Sacred Treasure Summoning: Haunted is able call forth an immensely powerful artifact to utilize by sacrificing a significant portion of his soul stock. Haunted's chanting communicates with the dark gods to grant an extremely powerful addition to Nacht's armored Hero Form, symbolized by a skeletal mask that greatly expands upon his strength and summoning capabilities. This powerful artifact is however temporary and lasts according to the amount of sacrifices utilized to summon it, which is already a significant amount. Haunted mentions that this ability is limited and he cannot summon or deify himself as either an Outer God or a Great Old One. The creatures he is able to summon must have been previously "acquainted" with him as well. The ability apparently also specialized in spiritual damage but apparently took a long time to take effect.
- Tindalus: A summoning technique that spawns skeletal, four-legged beasts that launch themselves at opponents with their sharp snouts. They are curiously summoned from corners such as the edges of blades or the jagged points of rocks.
- Ithaqua: A summoning technique that calls upon a humanoid beast made up of and able to control powerful black winds. Haunted was able to defend himself with a wall of wind and command the beast to attack independently of him.
- Deep King's Blessing- Dagon Enchant: Haunted embraces the dread and despair and coalesces it as magical power amplified by the mask which takes upon a giant humanoid shape behind him that mimics Haunted's attacks. This aura intermingles and grows stronger when used in conjunction with Nacht's Berserk Enchant that induces madness in its user.
Trivia
- In the Bluray Character commentaries, Haunted jokingly revealed his "actual" name as Yoshiki Takemoto.