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| “ | There is nothing more satisfying that watching a target fall into one of my traps. Oh, how they squirm like an insect in a spider web it's glorious. The harder someone has fought, the more delightful their expression is when the snare tightens and they realize it's all over! Once you've tasted that kind of victory, let's just say the honourable flavours begin to lose their appeal. [chuckles] | „ |
| ~ Killvearn |
Killvearn, originally called Kill, is an extremely powerful and gleefully sadistic Monster Clown-like Death God, who serves as a major villain in the Dragon Quest spin-off manga Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. He is introduced as the personal executioner and one of the three highest-ranked servants of Vearn, but he is ultimately revealed to really serve his major rival Velzar, planning to execute his goal in his stead.
In Japanese, he was voiced by Hideyuki Tanaka (who also voiced Donquixote Doflamingo, Enrico Maxwell, and Ende the Devourer) in the 1991 anime and Hiroyuki Yoshino (who also voiced Solf J. Kimblee, the Egg of the Perfect World, and Ed) in the 2020 anime. In English, he is voiced by Ian Hanlin (who also voiced Shadow) in the 2020 anime.
Nature[]
| “ | It would be a pretty sad world if a Reaper could be killed. Of course I'm alive. | „ |
| ~ Kill Vearn boasting after surviving Baran's attack. |
Killvearn's true name is never disclosed, though those who know him call him Kill. He looks like a mix between a demonic reaper and a court jester, wearing a perpetually smiling mask. (In fact, he owns a large choice of masks, each one reflecting a specific state of mind, with the ever-smiling one being his favorite.)
He is always seconded by a jinkster (a cyclopean, demonic imp wizard) called "Piroro", who usually stands on his shoulder. Far from impressive, playful and goofy, "Piroro" starkly contrasts with the tall and threatening Killvearn. Nevertheless, they are very close, chastising or playfully teasing one another, cheering and all in all acting like a creepy clown duo.
It is revealed at the very end of the story that what was always thought to be Killvearn is merely a mechanical puppet, powered by magma from the demonic Underworld running inside it like blood in a normal body; while "Piroro" is the true Reaper, who is hiding in plain sight as the goofy sidekick whom none ever labelled as a threat.
"Piroro"
Indeed, in spite of his incredible power, his short stature hinders him in his life-reaping role, so he built a decoy more suited for battles and executions, to use his power at its maximum through it.
Killvearn channels his power into the puppet and remotely controls it. He talks through it like a ventriloquist and sees through its eyes, even when in a separate dimension. He can repair it at leisure with a magical powder, no matter how much damage it takes.
The Black Core in the puppet's head.
The only way to fully destroy the puppet is to shatter its head, but this would set off the Black Core hidden within: a demonic explosive as destructive as a nuclear bomb. This would obviously doom any who would dare try and everything in their vicinity.
Personality[]
| “ | Even I cannot match you in terms of cruelty. You're probably the cruellest in the Underworld. | „ |
| ~ Vearn to Killvearn. |
At first glance, Killvearn appears playful and carefree, joking no matter the situation and poking fun of allies and enemies alike, with an exception for his superiors, though his jokes towards his enemies are much more sinister. He speaks with laid-back, faked politeness and tends to jokingly downplay his importance, while at the same time making clear that he means serious business.
But he is first and foremost a ruthless and relentless murderer, as well as an awful sadist, whose cruelty unsettles Vearn himself. He lives and breathes to kill, stopping at nothing to take down his prey. Worse, what really makes his day is watching his prey struggle in vain to escape, revelling in their despair and their broken spirit. As such, he based his fighting style on traps; not out of cowardice but given he finds battles dull and boring. He is sarcastic and condescending, taunting and belittling his prey mercilessly as they struggle, only finishing them off at the very last second. The more his prey escapes him the more it enrages him, growing hell-bent to get their head. Heaven helps anyone towards whom he holds a grudge. He would disobey Velzar and Vearn to get his revenge.
Killvearn is a bit of a wild card. While always faithful to Velzar, he is far too involved in (and enthusiastic about) Vearn's goal to erase the surface of the world – which his liege covets for himself – for just a mere mole. Vearn, who is always cautious with his enemies, trusts him enough to let him fight by his side. Also, Killvearn helped on more than one occasion to protect the secret of Vearn's immortality, earnestly befriending its guardian Mystvearn instead of using that knowledge against them, (though he is bound to have told Velzar).
He states to be obligated to Vearn but denies duty to protect him. He enforces Vearn's goal as long as it serves his liege's interest (and his amusement), and shares their goal of a lifeless Surface. He desires the never-ending chaos and strife that both would cause, and is implied to enforce the one with the best chance can make it happen.
Powers and Abilities[]
Killvearn is extremely powerful, being stated to be equal to Hadlar and Baran themselves at their mightiest, if not higher. As Piroro, he displays impressive mastery of magic, casting the highest-level fire, ice and healing spells, among others. And it is fair to assume that his mastery of magic is way over what he lets appear, given that he downplays his abilities as part of his disguise.
Killvearn with his new mask and his rapier.
As Killvearn, he can appear and disappear at leisure, as if he came in and out from nearby walls; he has access to other dimensional planes where he can bring anyone he wants; and his mere grasp is enough to melt powerful, metallic weapons into a puddle.
The Reaper puppet only displays the most basic spells, to fly, teleport and other things, but is able to infuse cards with his magic to create fearsome artifacts and deadly “Kill-Traps” that he can place everywhere and trigger at will. The only trap displayed conjures the hottest flames from the Underworld into a blazing inferno that only someone who matches his power can keep at bay; except that the trap lasts as long as it takes to destroy its victim, while a normal spellcaster gets quickly exhausted. And he states that all his traps are equally fearsome.
Killvearn is immensely strong, fast and spry, as well as a deadly fighter, who wields a scythe or less often a rapier. He greatly favours his scythe, especially to hold his foes in place with the blade around their neck and to finish off his prey, only resorting to using his rapier in serious battles. While very few warriors can match his skills, he gets disadvantaged facing one, since he was never interested in training to his fullest potential in the first place, leaving him unable to hold his own. He compensates his flaw with his traps and special weaponry.
First, he owns a deck of razor-sharp cards, each linked to one of his traps, with he can launch like throwing blades, or use as a tarot deck to make always accurate, if vague, predictions.
His scythe is in fact a flute which he uses to play melodies. By spinning it, he generates ultrasounds affecting his victims' brain. First, they hallucinate, seeing mirages and losing their perception of distances, then their brain shuts, leaving them unable to move a muscle, and he finishes them off.
Avan trapped in Phantom Razor.
He also hides thirteen blades strong enough to cut metal in his headgear, which turn invisible to everyone but him upon releasing them. He can throw them and his deadliest trap, the Phantom Razor, makes them float around his victim to hinder their every move, cutting them as they dodge or try in vain to fight back and leaving them open to the finishing blows.
Finally, the hottest magma from the demonic Underworld runs in his veins. Its strong acidic properties corrode every weapon that wound him, and he uses it for his most devastating attack Incinerating Inferno: He tears one limb of and sets the magma inside ablaze to create a gigantic, whirling sphere of demonic fire, impossible to dodge or block, reducing anything to ashes.
Biography[]
Background[]
How long Killvearn has dwelled in the Underworld is unknown, but he is implied to have lived for eons. Also, his role as Reaper is never defined, but despite his boasts, he appears be more of a harbinger of Death than a personification.
With the Dark King Vearn and the Abyss Dragon King Velzar, fighting for dominion over the demonic Underworld, Killvearn sided with the latter and became his right-hand-man. At some point Velzar sent him to Vearn as a servant and a "truce gift". Naturally, his real mission was to murder Vearn should the opportunity arise, hence the codename he would become infamous with.
Vearn instantly figured this out and named him his personal executioner, in order to always have him away while still keeping him useful. Eventually though, he earned Vearn's trust to the point of being revealed the secret between his immortality. (Probably to show him that any attempt on his life would be useless.)
Since then, he served both Dark Lords at the same time, all the more faithfully that their goals (and his own) were similar. As centuries went by, he built himself a frightening reputation among the darklings (demons).
Battle of the Dragon Knights[]
Killvearn shows himself to Dai.
Killvearn first appears after the Dark Army failed to kill the disciples of the Great Hero Avan, in spite of a full-scale ambush on Valge Island. He taunts Hadlar, the second-in-command of the Dark Army, for his lack of result.
Then following Vearn's orders, he displaces their headquarters, the Sovereign Rock Castle, as Crocodine and Hyunckel, two of Hadlar's Commanders who defected to the heroes' side, know of its location. Killvearn notices Hadlar's suspicious insistence to keep Baran, the Commander of the Dragon Division, away from Dai, the main hero. He borrows a few dragons from Baran and sends them to attack the town where Dai and his friends are searching for weapons.
After Dai defeats the dragons, causing the citizens to fear him for his abnormal might, the God of Death reveals himself and taunts him; stating that even though he is risking his life for their sake, mankind is more likely to shun Dai for his difference than to be grateful.
Killvearn reports to the Dark Army that the young hero is a Dragon Knight and the son of Baran... a secret that Hadlar was keeping for himself out of fear for his rank, much to Vearn's displeasure. Later, Vearn and his Commanders watch the reunion between Baran and Dai, with Killvearn gleefully commenting.
Killvearn in Vearn's throne room.
Having seen Dai fight, Killvearn reports to the Dark Army that the young hero is a Dragon Knight and the son of Baran... a secret that Hadlar was keeping for himself out of fear for his rank, much to Vearn's displeasure. Later, Vearn and his s watch the reunion between Baran and Dai, with Killvearn gleefully commenting.
Battle in the Field of Death[]
The Reaper is next seen after Dai destroys the Sovereign Rock Castle, with which Mystvearn was attacking a summit between the world's monarchs. Furious at the disciples of Avan for having seen a glimpse of his face, he prepares to annihilate them with the power he is keeping secret, until Killvearn of all people stops him.
He reminds Mystvearn that should he use this power without being allowed to, he might be forced to kill him no matter their friendship; and they take their leave.
As the young mage Popp is rushing after them, they lure him to the wasteland known as the Field of Death where Killvearn prepares to dispose of him. He paralyzes Popp with his flute's ultrasounds, but Dai intervenes just as the Reaper is about to kill his prey. Right after, Hadlar appears, now being a tremendously powerful Superior Being, who defeats Dai and casts him into the ocean. Killvearn then attempts to settle with score with Popp, who only owes his life to Crocodine's rescue.
After Vearn confirms Hadlar as the Supreme Commander of the Dark Army, he tasks Killvearn to get rid of Baran, who defected after his defeat. He manages to find the Dragon Knight and explains him the true extent of Vearn's ambition, accidentally cementing Baran's resolve. Since his flute's ultrasounds are useless against a Dragon Knight, Killvearn attempts a direct attack but is quickly slashed in two.
However, Piroro restores his body and he departs, knowing that Baran's blade lost most of its cutting due to his corrosive magma blood. He lets Hadlar fight Dai and Baran, so as to avoid being near the upcoming explosion of the Black Core Vearn secretly placed in Hadlar. He later witnesses the heroes' crushing defeat at the hands of Vearn, before holding Hadlar's Orichalcos Guard in place with Mystvearn as their liege is rebelling against Vearn.
Final Confrontation[]
| “ | I won't allow insults! I control the life and death of all! I am the god of death! | „ |
| ~ Killvearn's breakdown after being bested by Avan |
After the disciples of Avan storm the Vearn Palace and Dai defeats Hadlar for good, Killvearn activates one of his traps, locking Dai and Popp in a blazing inferno. Popp is holding the hellfire at bay, but it cannot be extinguished, while his stamina is dropping quickly.
Avan, whom everyone believed to have died at the beginning of the story, arrives on time to dispel the Kill Trap with a magic-cancelling feather and save his disciples, much to their astonishment, including Kill Vearn. The Reaper teleports there to finish them off but Hadlar slashes at him. He returns to hold Avan in place, but the Hero was stalling to learn about his trap and destroys his mask.
Killvearn's judge.
Enraged, Killvearn retreats and swears revenge, adorning a new "angry" mask. He later traps Avan in another dimensional plane to challenge him in a one-on-one duel; under the watch of a robotic Judge, programmed to serve as a referee in duels like this.
Avan chastises the hypocrisy of challenging people to a duel right after dragging them in a dimension they can only escape if they win, but readies himself nonetheless. With the former hero rivalling the Reaper's might and surpassing his fighting skills, he quickly gains the upper hand. He soundly beats up Killvearn, who has no other choice than to stealthily trap him with Phantom Razor. As Avan is struggling in vain and attempts a suicide spell, Killvearn reveals to have programmed the Judge in advance to seize Avan and explode, for an agreement with the referee is one of the oldest traps in existence. As Avan is clinging to his boot, he callously cuts off his hand before returning to the real world.
However, it turns out that Avan filled his glove with magic sand, expecting the wretched Reaper to "sever" his hand and playing along. The powder serves as a beacon, enabling Avan to teleport close to his enemy with a tracking spell. Avan resumes the duel with renewed resolve, and for the first time in his long existence, Killvearn experiences fear. The Reaper severs his left arm to cast Incinerating Inferno, but Avan survives thanks being covered with Hadlar's ashes imbued with his Dark Fire Aura, which shielded him after having already saved him from the Judge's explosion.
Avan grievously wounds the Reaper, who is set ablaze by the magma in his veins ignited by his wounds, only to spare his life following Piroro's pleas. Desperate and enraged, Killvearn uses Phantom Razor with a second set of blades restored by Piroro, mocking his enemy's mercy. But Avan saw it coming, and set a blade he kept from the previous one as a trap of his own, warning him not to move despite knowing he would.
As the Reaper rushes for the kill, he gets beheaded by his own blade and finally collapses. Avan departs without sparing him a glance, coldly stating that no immortal can survive with a severed head.
After the battle[]
Killvearn revealing his true self.
However, Killvearn mysteriously survives and elects to play dead, only resurfacing after Vearn's death.
As they celebrate Dai's triumph, his taunting voice is heard, congratulating the incredulous heroes and all their allies for such a miraculous victory, holding his still severed head and replacing it.
A gloating "Piroro" reveals his true identity and allegiances, as well as the true nature of the Killvearn puppet, before activating the Black Core in its head. The resulting blast would detonate one of the six bigger ones placed by Vearn, which had been deactivated by the heroes, and kill everyone in the surface in an apocalyptic heat wave.
Maam killing Killvearn once and for all.
Killvearn gloats that Ice spells would be useless due to the magma in the puppet, and prepares to leave. But he foolishly overestimated his chances and gets rushed by the enraged heroes. Avan cancels his magic power with a bewitched feather, enabling the grappler lady Maam to kill him once and for all, reducing him to dust. (And in quite a karmic way to boot, using a life-infusing attack that kills by over healing.)
Dai and Pop grab the puppet and fly it to space, where the explosion would not harm anyone. Alas, Dai kicks Pop away to save his life, tearfully departing on his own and seemingly disappearing in the blast. (He disappears for a while but survives, as evidenced with his sword's jewel radiating in synchronisation with his life, with everyone on earth awaiting his return.)
In Video Games[]
Killvearn appears in the mobile game A Hero's Bonds and the PS5 game Infinity Strash, adapting the anime. He is a boss whenever faced in the story, also playing a villainous role in the former's original story. He is very powerful and sturdy, but quite easy to defeat with a strong enough team using powerful moves. In A Hero's Bonds, he use his scythe to strike or fire bluish energy waves along the ground, and places giant cards acting like land mines or casting Nine of Diamonds: Nine giant Hellfire pillars. Bearing his angry mask, he flash-steps, strikes or fires energy waves with his rapier, can rain his Phantom Razor blades on foes, and can cast Incinerating Inferno several times.
Killvearn makes a cameo in the medley games Dragon Quest of the Stars, Dragon Quest Monsters: Super Light, and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, often as a bonus boss in a turn-by-turn gameplay, but sometimes playable. In the latter, Killvearn enter that world out of curiosity for people using monsters to fight. He uses unique moves like Killing Return, that can one-hit-kill after receiving physical damage, Exorcism, a powerful scythe strike reaping the targets' skull-like soul, Judgment, a giant fiery hand from the sky, and Panic Wave, a powerful stats reducer. When defeated, he grants the player a clone of himself.
External Links[]
- Killvearn on the Dragon Quest Wiki
- Killvearn on the Pure Evil Wiki
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