Orphanage Little Girl

"I won't tell anyone. You can trust me."

- The girl "promising" that she will never tell Lucy about the puppy

The Orphanage Girl is a minor but pivotal character in the manga and anime Elfen Lied. Her actions, and the reasons for these actions, remain a deeply divisive matter of debate. She was either a victim of circumstance or a false friend whose betrayal served as the final push in creating a monstrous killer.

Little is known about the girl's origins but she is first shown befriending Lucy by protecting & aiding her against the bullies. Lucy at first resisted her offer of friendship, her alienation already begun. Lucy had kept a secret from all at the orphanage. In the grounds just outside the building, she had been feeding a stray puppy, and it became the only thing she cared for.

She later realized she did not have enough food for the growing dog, and thus went to the human girl for help out of necessity. The girl made a promise to Kaede (Lucy's real name) not to tell anyone about the animal, knowing full well that if she did, the puppy would most likely be tortured as well. For reasons that are not clear, the girl told Tomoo and the bullies about the pup. Possible reasons range from her being tricked into revealing the secret to her being loose-lipped to her entire offer of friendship being a deception meant to gain and then betray Lucy's confidence.

As the girl enters the room, she is shocked to see Tomoo about to kill the puppy while forcing Lucy to watch, and though she begs them to stop, the dog is soon killed. The girl admits she was the one who told them, but her dialogue is ambiguous as to why she did this. The girl then seemingly confirmed her betrayal by sporting an enigmatic grin. Again, the reason for this smile is unclear : It could have revealed her deliberate betrayal, been a nervous smile brought on by tension, or even been a hallucination on the part of a despondent Lucy.

Lucy, enraged by this, unleashes her telekinetic vectors for the first time, killing everyone in the room. The exact manner of the girl's death is unclear from the scene. In later sequences, she is seen as a hallucination in Lucy's mind, tormenting her and showing a hole blown in her face.

Trivia

 * Many fans hate the orphanage girl. Many believe that she really did betray Lucy on purpose, thus being nicknamed "Traitor Girl".
 * There are many theories about the orphanage girl's reasons for revealing the pup's existence to Tomoo. It's felt that she could have been loose-lipped, been tricked into it, or she could have only pretended to befriend Lucy so that she and the bullies could torment her even more.
 * The girl's enigmatic grin still remains a mystery, and it is unknown whether if the smile is real or just a hallucination by Lucy. The grin appears in both versions of the series.
 * The girl is only a villain if she had a grim reason for her actions, in which case she is a true villain. Evidence exists both ways, Her remorse, for example, could have been faked to set up future cruelty. The answer is simply not known for certain.