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Rory Mercury (ロゥリィ·マーキュリー Rorī Mākyurī) is a demigoddess and an apostle of Emroy, the god of darkness, war, violence and death. Despite her antediluvian age, she has the appearance of a 13-year-old girl. Along similar lines, despite her delicate, petite frame, she is widely known as Rory the Reaper due to her wielding of her halberd as a scythe, slaughtering those who offend Emroy, and those she views worthy of being punished by death. Her Gothic Lolita dress is an outfit for priestesses. In terms of age, she is the third youngest Apostle of the Twelve Apostles.
Personality[]
Rory has a friendly personality as seen when she immediately became friends with Yōji Itami and started sitting on his lap. However, she shows no mercy to her enemies as seen when she slaughtered a gang of bandits without any remorse. In battle, she is shown to have a violent, sadistic personality, as shown by killing the last bandit after he buried a pair of dead raped women, however, she is not without a sense of justice, often targeting bandits and criminals, while generally friendly towards the common people. After the two of them fight alongside each other at the Battle of Italica, Rory becomes friendly with Shino Kuribayashi, who shares a similar "Warrior" mentality and high level of combat prowess with Rory. Rory seems to rather want to help the people in need, and get rid of the ones that are of clans such as bandits.
It is hinted that Rory is trying to delay her ascension for as long as possible because when she does, she loses any vestige of human emotion she has left. Her attraction towards Itami — aside from finding him "interesting" — is also due to because she sees him as a sort of emotional anchor to the world of mortals.
Later on in the series she falls in love with Itami and said that in her long life, he was the only man she truly enjoyed being with. She likes to tease Itami a lot, however she doesn't like when she is the one being teased. She tried to flirt with him quite a lot, however all those attempts were interrupted (mainly by other girls).
She also becomes sexually aroused when people die near her as seen when she fought in Italica. Lelei La Lalena describes this as the "Souls of fallen warriors on the battlefield pass through her body to be drawn to the side of Emroy". As a demigoddess and apostle, the effect on her is like an aphrodisiac, being an Apostle of God of Violence and Death.
Rory has a complex about her real age and instantly gets mad when someone mentions it. She said that she wants to spend her last 39 years until she ascends to godhood with Itami. At the same time, evident with Mizuki Kōhara and Yao Haa Dushi, Rory would take it as an umbrage when people mistake her as a mere child.
Rory is very attached to Youji, and gets annoyed whenever the lieutenant interacts meaningfully with any other girl, like when he was talking casually to his ex-wife Risa. She also dislikes Hardy and her offers of marriage, which she feared will cost her being transcended. Her desire for Itami is so great that she often attempts to subdue him multiple times in forceful manners like tying him in the bed or to the point of that she nearly rapes him. Her relationship with Itami can also described as tsundere as she often beats him for several occasions whenever he says or does something foolish or for frustrating her.
She also has a great sense of pride, as shown when she punched Itami after he valued her statuette at ¥2000 the lowest of all statuettes modeled after Apostles. They added three more zeros after that to please her.
Appearance []
Despite being 961 years old, Rory has the appearance of a 13-year-old young girl as she has stopped aging when she ascended to become a living deity in mortal flesh and blood but blessed with powers no normal humans could ever hope to gain. She has long flowing black hair with straight bangs above her crimson eyes, with a black and red frill ribbon as a hair ornament.
As an apostle of Emroy, her clothing is a reminiscent of Earth's Gothic Lolita culture: a black dress with red frills, black stockings supported with garters and red boots. She wields a huge purple halberd as her main weapon, which she used with little effort.
In the anime, her lip color changes from pink to purple when she's about to get dangerous.
Before she was chosen to be Apostle of Emroy and during her childhood, she wears a priestess trainee formal black dress.
History[]
Over 900 years ago, when Rory was but a young child after her parents were killed, she was a priestess trainee at the temple of Emroy in the Kingdom of Eden. There she makes a loyal group of friends who finds out one of them, Belle, is a daughter of the Faun family. The Kingdom of Eden used to worship Zufumut, God of Light and Order. Zufumut blessed the royals by bestowing them the divine Blood Sword Diva. The King who wields the Diva can command any mortals to obey. The blood sword is forged out of the blood and the heart of a daughter of the Faun family, and costs the host's life when created. For generations the Eden kings ruled by sacrificing the life of a girl born in the Faun family to summon the sword (for a limited time usage). But few generations ago, a benevolent king of Eden declared this to be inhumane and cruel, and banned worshiping of Zufumut. He instead chose Emroy, God of Darkness as their prime religion.
The Zufumut worshipers became outcasts and turned into a cult. Kasutori, a Eden noble who was secretly a Zufumut follower, sought to gain the blood sword Diva by sacrificing Belle. Rory and her friends find out his evil scheme to wed Belle and kill her on the wedding night to summon the sword. So Rory and her friends try to protect Belle. One night Rory hears a voice "I pick you". She instinctively realizes Emroy has chosen her as his apostle, but does not understand why. But upon learning Belle's fate, she takes it upon that she was chosen to save her and destroy the Zufumut cult brooding in the underground of the Emroy temple. Rory and her friends are victorious, Kasutori is killed, Zufumut cultists are captured, and Belle is saved.
In The Foggy Night side story, it is revealed that some time after becoming an Apostle, Rory uses a golem body due to her real body being taken by Emroy's followers as some sort of trophy. Wolf, who has somehow come back to the past, helps her reclaim it and puts her head and limbs back onto her body. After getting her body back, Rory is hungry and asks Wolf if he has any food. Flashing forwards to the present, Rory eats youkan with Lelei, Tuka, and Yao, and comments on how she has tasted it before "a long, long, time ago."
Plot[]
Rory is first shown wandering around the desert where she meets a gang of bandits. She heard their plans about attacking the refugees from Coda, so without any remorse she slaughtered every last one of them, forcing the last one to Bury the bandit group's victims, killing him after praying. Sometime later, she appears walking alone on the road the Third Recon Team was taking to evacuate the city of Coda, surrounded by ravens. Rory becomes intrigued by the Humvee being driven by Takeo Kurata, and decides she wants to ride in it as well. Unfortunately, she decides to sit in Yōji Itami lap, while he's navigating.
After significant arguing, they reach a compromise of sharing the seat, with Itami nearly hanging partway out of the vehicle. She travels with the wagon train in this fashion until the Flame Dragon attacks the convoy. She aids the Third Recon in fending it off. Rory accompanies Third Recon back to Alnus Hill along with the refugees, and joins the group that travels to Italica. Although she keeps out of the political aspect of the goings-on there, she is happy to assist in the city's defense against bandits and is instrumental in holding the city until reinforcements from the JSDF arrive to drive off the attacking force.
She is also one of the three members of the unofficial envoy to Japan. There, she defends the JSDF from Mizuki Kōhara, who tried to accuse it of incompetence and of using refugees as sacrifices during the battle against the Flame Dragon. She is at first dismissive of Japan's culture and trade, until she happens upon a shop selling Gothic-Lolita clothing, admiring a white outfit in particular. She also rides her first subway train, but is terrified due to a past experience with the Goddess Hardy who rules the underground.
As such, she clings to Itami and worries him to the point where he departs from the train with his group ahead of schedule. Rory also meets Itami's ex-wife, Risa, and scrutinizes her, seemingly jealous. After arriving at Hakone hot springs inn, Rory gets a bit of alone time with Itami when everyone else is passed out drunk, showing that she knows of the battle taking place outside. She is also in a state of arousal, to which she tries to seduce Itami. In the manga and anime, when the group is ambushed at Hakone, she obliterates the foreign special forces soldiers who came to kidnap them, however, in the light novel, Rory spends so much time seducing Itami that she does not engage in combat, with the Special Forces instead wiping each other out.
When the native population at Alnus Hill balloons, Rory assists the MP's in keeping crime down with the assistance of her new underling Myuute Luna Sires, likely due to Emroy's domain including justice.Later, when Itami decides to hunt down the Flame Dragon, Rory joins him and forms a blood pact with him, to Itami's dismay. It is only revealed later that the pact transfers all physical harm from Itami to Rory, effectively making Itami invincible. While waiting outside the volcano that is the Flame Dragon's nest, however, she is ambushed by Giselle, an Apostle of Hardy, who is intent on taking Rory to be married to Hardy. In the battle, she was cut down, but still alive. Itami later on reattached her severed limbs, allowing her to regenerate.
She and the rest of the hunting party are rescued by the combined arms division of the JSDF, who received permission to travel to the area by King Duran. After Itami is transferred to commanding Special Region Resource Investigation Team 101, Rory, along with Tuka, Lelei, and Yao, follow him. Rory rides with Itami to Crety, where she aids in finding a cure for a disease which will eventually lead to death and "zombification" that has afflicted Lelei in the Arrun Labyrinth. In the process, Rory is swallowed whole by a Minotaur, but survives thanks to her regenerative powers. She is, however, unable to escape until she is rescued by Itami and Yao, after they slay the creature and retrieve the Rokude Pear needed for the cure.
Skills & Abilities[]
- Immortality: As an apostle of Emroy, she is granted immortality. As well as immunity to aging, she will remain alive even if torn to pieces, though if the pieces of her body are separated by long distances, she can be effectively neutralized (at least until she ascends) however she can make other people immortal for time, so that every time that person takes damage Rory gets hurt instead, this can cause Rory to die.
- Superhuman strength: Rory has superhuman strength and is able to wield her Halberd with ease. Her halberd is so heavy that ordinary people may injure themselves just trying to lift it. Due to her Halberd being as heavy as a car, she is shown to be strong enough to lift a Humvee with her bare hands in order for Itami and the rest to cross an extremely narrow mountain route.
- Immense speed: Rory is able to dash around battlefield at incredible speed, and outrun a speeding vehicle. During the Hakone Incident, she also managed to dodge gunshots from an assault rifle used by CIA agents but this ability is not absolute since she cannot outrun all the bullets in which she receives a few shots in her torso.
- Situational Awareness: When Rory was at the hot springs with the others, she could feel presence from a great distance. She was able to sense the presence of a soldier watching her from 450 meters (1476.38 ft) from her present location. Rory can also sense that there is a battle going on somewhere nearby or blood is being shed.
- Combat prowess: Rory is very skilled with her Halberd, shredding large enemy forces and even throwing it very accurately. She is never shown fighting without her halberd. Being alive, for over 960 years, Rory is capable of going against a number of soldiers, armed with guns, and emerge victorious. However, her fighting capability has limits since she would not attempt to fight the entire JSDF, knowing fully well that they can incapacitate her with their heavy ordinance as well as the fact she was overwhelmed and immobilized by the large group Arachnid Warrior Bugs in which Itami had to save her.
- Hex: Rory is capable of using Hex based spells. She often uses Hex on JSDF's vehicle and supply crate to prevent someone from stealing it. Anyone touches the Hexed objected will die a gruesome death.
- High speed regeneration: Rory's body regenerates any wound it receives. Even if her body is torn apart the body parts will heal if they are stuck together. It is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Giselle states that an apostle can be imprisoned, or even de-facto eliminated (at least until they ascend) by breaking them into small enough pieces (can be done through explosive or high caliber firearm like 50 cal), separating them, and burying them. As the result, this is also the factor why Rory doesn't try to instigate conflict with the JSDF since she fully knows that the JSDF has enough firepower to incapacitate her.
- Blood Pact: Later in the series Rory made a blood pact with Itami, aiding him in exchange for his servitude after his death; though as she made this pact without his consent (by licking his blood without warning), Itami has no obligation to fulfill his part (given he will likely died on Earth, outside Rory's jurisdiction). The real motivation and purpose behind the pact is unknown; however, all injuries that Itami suffers appear on Rory's body, which her body quickly regenerates, so long as all her limbs stay attached.
- High Intelligence: During the journey to Japan, she revealed she was able to learn the Japanese language with ease. She is also very articulate and was able to stun the politician Mizuki Kōhara into silence during a debate with ease.
- Driving: During her time with the JSDF did Rory, along with many of the dark elves that chose to side with the JSDF, learn how to drive, albeit very poorly where she nearly run over someone. Furthermore, she is also unable to ride a bicycle.
Weaknesses[]
- Dismemberment: Like all Apostles, Rory can be incapacitated if her limbs and head are separated from her body.
- Someone shouting her name out loud: For unknown reason, she states that if someone shouts her name loudly, her power will be reduced. This is shown when Rory reminds Yao not to shout her name in battle and state that she will lose a portion of her power.
- Effects of Substances: Despite being a demigod, she still succumbs to the effect of substances as she can be so drunk from alcohols that she cannot go home by herself and need someone to drag her.
- Sickness: Rory is shown to experience sea sickness during a boat trip.
Weapon[]
Halberd: Rory owns an gigantic halberd that is almost twice her size and weighs roughly over a thousand pounds. Given to her as an Apostle of Emroy, the halberd is shown to be sharp and strong enough to nearly cut an Ogre in half, and easily slice a human's head off or bisect them. Even being able to use it as a shield against projectile weaponry. The materials used in the weapon point towards a incredibly dense and heavy, as shown when anyone other than Rory or Giselle only end up injuring themselves when trying to simply hold it. This is best exemplified when a thief attempts to steal the weapon from her, only to end up on the ground, getting crushed by its sheer weight. Hideyo Komakado ends up injuring his back in trying to pick it up; getting called "Weak" by Rory because of it. The weapon itself has a purple color to it with the shaft having snakes on around the base of the shaft with a pointed spear edge, has a single twined near the axe head, ending with a skull on its end, with two prongs on the end of it, with the large blade on the front, which has some light purple.
Trivia[]
- It is explained that Demigods who ascend into godhood can claim an aspect of the Deity they're Apostles of or claim any other aspect that has no associated Deity. Rory wants to become Goddess of Love after ascending; presumably it is an aspect that is currently unclaimed. Furthermore, she also asks Itami to let her meet Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love so she can ask some experience for her role much to his confusion and hesitation. However, much to her dismay, Hardy also falls in love with Aphrodite after seeing her picture in Lelei's Earth Mythological book.
- She shares Hardy dislike of Anubis since they both think he is ugly.
- She, along with supernatural beings such as the Gods, demigods and other apostles, are one of the few beings from Special Region that are quite capable of posing a relative threat to Modern-Era Soldiers, as evident during the Hakone Incident, as her superhuman abilities and reflexes allowed her to defend herself from US, Russian and Chinese Special forces, although it should be noted that these forces were ambushed and in a state on confusion, giving Rory the advantage.
- However, despite her superhuman strengths, in a realistic scenario, if she or the other supernatural beings fought a well-prepared JSDF, they would lose as under prolong fire from high caliber rounds from Assault Rifles, 50 caliber weapons, or even heavy weapons such as anti-tank rounds and artillery fire would render her regeneration useless as her body would be incinerated and destroyed by modern military weapons.
- She has underground-phobia since she's afraid of Hardy.
- Rory's name is a pun on the Japanese word Loli (ロリ Rori) which refers to Lolita, Lolita fashion and so on.
- Rory Mercury could be compared to that of liquid mercury metal. Like the element, she is quick and swift during a melee combat but is also deadly and extremely dangerous to anyone who dares to confront her. Also, as liquid mercury tends to change its state constantly, so does Rory's erratic and hot-tempered vile nature. In the anime even her lipstick color seems to change with her moods.
- Mercury (Mercurius) is the Roman / Latin Name of Hermes, a god from Greek Mythology. One of his duties is to guide the souls of the dead into Hades (the greek underworld).
- Mercury carried a wand, the Caduceus, that has a pair of snakes twined about it, Rory's halberd has a single twined near the axe head.
- She wants to visit Valhalla and meet Odin, the God of War from the Norse-Germanic Mythology when she has the chance to go back to the world beyond the gate, only because they have similarities.
- Rory falls deeply in love with Itami and has never been in love before.
- Rory is a heavy drinker.
- She can only collect souls of warriors who die in the Special Region not in the world beyond the Gate showing that the world beyond the Gate like Japan is out of her jurisdiction.
- Rory is the only girl in Itami's group to use physical violence against Itami in multiple occasion.
- Her Birthday is on March 31st.