Ruby Eye Shabranigdo is the main antagonist of the Slayers franchise. He is the God of Evil, the creator of demons and monsters and the direct or indirect source of everything wrong in the world. Having been sealed away by his archenemy the Dragon God Ceifeed, his demons seeks to awake him or to destroy the world on his behalf.
Background[]
At the beginning was the Sea of Chaos and its incarnation, the genderless Lord of Nightmares (Referred to as female despite her masculine title.) Through her dreams, the Lord created four worlds, each with a Demon God embodiment of evil and a Dragon God embodiment of Good.
In the Slayers World, Ruby Eye Shabranigdo fought Flare Dragon Ceifeed for eons, wrecking the planet in what is known as the War of the Gods and Demons. Five millennia before the story, Shabranigdo spawned five vassals:
- Hellmaster Fibrizo, Demon Lord of Death and Departed Souls, the Mightiest of the five.
- Dynast Grausherra, Demon Lord of War and Ice.
- Chaos Dragon Garv, Demon Lord of Fire and Demonic Dragons.
- Greater Beast Zelas Metallium, Demon Lady of Monsters and Evil Beasts.
- Deep Sea Dolphin, Demon Lady of Sea and Water.
Ceifeed fighting Shabranigdo in the Dawn of Times.
Shortly after, the two deities defeated one another, Ceifeed being destroyed, dividing himself into four Dragon Lords and scattering his soul across the world, and Shabranigdo being divided in seven fragments, each sealed into human souls.
The Demon Lords built their own domains and spawned two high-ranking demons each as their main enforcers, one Priest and one General. Except Zelas who spawned one demon named Xellos to fulfil both roles, making the mightiest demon, second only to the Demon Lords themselves.
Appearance[]
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Shabranigdo's complete form at the beginning of the world.
Shabranigdo is never depicted in the original novels, with his aspect only being hinted to be hardly comprehensible.
When an awakened fragment fully takes over his host, he induces nightmarish mutations, reducing them to a monstrosity.
In the anime, Shabranigdo's complete aspect only glimpsed in flashbacks. He appears an eldritch, indistinct, mountain-sized, amalgamation of demonic bodies, claws, snake-like tentacles, and tails, covered with spikes and eyes, and sporting a head even more monstrous that that that of his fragments.
Awakened fragments transforms their host into a grotesque, building-sized, dark reddish-brown demon with an insectoid or crustacean-like body, sporting leathery wings, four arms, long fingers, oversized horns, glowing red eyes and big protruding fangs. Being sealed revert it to its host's aspect but he retains full control and is able to use his powers in his surroundings.
Personality[]
Ruby Eye Shabranigdo is pure evil, awfully cruel, ruthless, hateful, violent, and sadistic, but callous and uncaring. He is confident that no-one can resist him and revels in crushing opposition, taking time to taunt them and savour their despair.
Still, he is collected and courteous, knows how to tempt people, respects worthy enemies and takes defeat surprisingly graciously, congratulating his victors in earnest (though he yearns for a rematch). He views his servants as tools, but praises their loyalty and generously rewards good service. His ultimate goal is to obliterate the world, so that he and his kind could dwell in the Sea of Chaos: the primordial void, source of all creation.
Powers and Abilities[]
Shabranigdo's fragment in the anime.
As the Demon God, Shabranigdo is incredibly powerful. He created the demon race as an extension of himself, spreads disasters, and is the origin of all woes. His presence alone is enough to warp his surroundings and corrupt everyone exposed to it. He is so strong that he triggers waves with a mere move and tremors or pressure blasts with a blow. He can conjure a harmful aura of dark miasma; conjure countless, titanic snake-spirits acting on their own; raise energy barriers; fire or breathe deadly energy blasts, unleash devastating attacks and nuke regions.
Even his much weaker fragments can spawn monsters; corrupt and warp things and people; empower servants; alter the weather; create pocket dimensions; spread darkness over regions; control all monsters around; and reflect or take control of spells. They wield the Starving Bone Staff, that channels their power and can be reshaped at will.
Shabranigdo and his demons are spiritual entities from the Astral Plane, who can manifest themselves in the world. The places they reach and the form they take depends on their power, the mightiest ones being able to spawn (and reabsorb) lower demons from their essence, shape-shift, alter their surroundings, and create things. Slaying their worldly avatar is just a setback, for only powers able to strike their astral form can harm them, and they regenerate.
They sense negative emotions, which feed them and fuel their power. Yet, positivity hurts them. Magic working by drawing power from supernatural beings and nature, Black Magic is drawn from demons and its mightiest spells from Shabranigdo himself: the Dragon Slayer or Drag Slave (a red blast as destructive as a nuke), and the Ruby Eye Blade (channelling magic to bewitch swords or make a giant energy blade, cutting through everything).
Role in the Series[]
In the franchise, only three fragments of Shabranigdo have appeared.
Lei Magnus-Shabranigdo[]
Over a thousand years before the series, Hellmaster Fibrizo discovered a fragment of his liege sealed in the great archmage Lei Magnus, inventor of the Drag Slave (Dragon Slayer) spell. He staged a worldwide war, using it to make Lei Magnus fall to despair and awake the Demon God, known as the Demon King of the North.
Lei Magnus-Shabranigdo, sealed in ice.
Shabranigdo took the reins of the demons and created monsters to attack the Dragon Lords and their kind. So began the gruesome War of the Dark Lord's Resurrection (War of the Monster's Fall in the anime), the worst conflict in the Slayers world and a turning point in history.
It killed countless dragons, elves, dwarves, humans, monsters, demons and other creatures, and the Demon Lords destroyed most of Ceifeed's temples to erase nearly all knowledge of Holy Magic (the best weapon against them).
The Demon Lords raised the Demon Barrier: a gigantic force-field cutting the world in two and cancelling Holy Magic, drastically weakening dragons. Shabranigdo rewarded Xellos (Zelas's right-hand) for single-handedly slaughtering hundreds of golden dragons, by giving him the Demon Bloods Talismans: four extremely potent magic amplifiers, drawing power from the Demon Gods of each Four World created by the Lord of Nightmares.
After that, Shabranigdo and Chaos Dragon Garv mortally wounded the Dragon Lord of Water Aqualord Ragradia, but before dying she managed to fuse Chaos Dragon Garv with a human body and to seal forever Lei Magnus into the everlasting ices of the Kataart Mountains. Thus ending the war with no real winner and much damage on both sides. Since then, the still sentient Lei Magnus-Shabranigdo still rules over demons. His jail being located in the domain of the Demon Lord Dynast Grausherra, he then served as his spoke-person of sorts.
The Second Fragment[]
Rezo the Red Priest
A second fragment of Shabranigdo was sealed within Rezo the Red Priest, once more a powerful archmage, with the strange side-effect of making him incurably blind.
Not knowing the cause of his ailment, Rezo spent his life in an increasingly frantic search for a cure, his increasing frustration slowly awakening Shabranigdo, who started influencing his actions without him knowing.
Over time, Rezo got persuaded that releasing Shabranigdo was the only way to see at last. Still, he believed that the fragment had been sealed in his tower, and devised a plan to slay him right after. It is even explained that by the time Rezo met the heroes, he was only a shadow of his former self almost fully controlled by the Demon God.
In the first novel (or the first story arc of the anime and manga), Rezo has his great-grandson, the powerful mage-warrior Zelgadis Graywords whom he transformed into a chimera, look for the Philosopher's Stone. With such a potent magic-amplifier, he could awake Shabranigdo.
Resenting Rezo for his mutation, Zelgadis joins the heroes: the mighty sorceress Lina Inverse and the master swordsman Gourry Gabriev, who found the Stone. Alas, Rezo threatens to kill Lina in the novel, or to petrify entire populations in the anime, if they do not hand it over.
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Rezo's atrocious mutation in the novel.
Shabranigdo takes over when Rezo opens his eyes, awfully mutating him in the novel, taking his true form in the anime. He offers the heroes wealth and power if they swear fealty to him, but they refuse. Zelgadis' friend casts the Drag Slave, but attacking Shabranigdo with his power is stupid (In Lina's words: "It's like asking him "Hey! Help me kill you"), and he sends it back. Lina, Gourry and Zelgadis survive, but must flee.
Shabranigdo covers the region in darkness and gathers every demon, monster, troll and werewolf there under his command, planning to reunite with all his fragments, starting with Lei Magnus, before destroying the world. The following day, he sends hordes of trolls after the heroes, before appearing to deal with them in person.
Shabranigdo effortlessly overwhelms them, destroying swathes of land in a single blow, deflecting back their spells tenfold or spawning monsters from them, and shrugging off their every attack. He blasts them with countless yellow energy darts, until Lina channels an incomplete Giga Slave (a spell drawing power from the Lord of Nightmares herself) into Gourry's fabled Sword of Light. Zelgadis calls out Rezo, whose lingering soul restrains the Demon God from within, keeping him from blocking the attack. Genuinely impressed, Shabranigdo finally crumbles into dust.
Shabranigdo's Ghost[]
In Slayers Revolution and Evolution-R, an anime-exclusive story arc using characters left out from the adaptation, it is revealed that Rezo devised an artifact called the Hellmaster's Jar to store and safeguard his soul after his death. Unfortunately, Shabranigdo's fragment being sealed in the archmage's soul, it means that he survived as well.
Decades prior, Rezo had put the entire population of Taforashia Kingdom in suspended animation within magical crystals, to protect them from the Durum Sickness: a deadly plague threatening to wipe out the country. He also removed the soul of Pokota (portmanteau of Posel Colba Taforashia) the heir to the throne, from his sick body and sealed it into a stuffed toy, so that he could free and heal his population once a cure had been found.
Lina confronts the Demon God once more.
After many adventures, the heroes find the jar and Rezo inhabits Pokota's human body, breaking his spell and helping to cure everyone. Later Xellos battles Rezo, seemingly to awake his god, but the archmage matches him.
Alas, Rezo can no longer contain the Demon God and he opens his eyes, counting on Lina to destroy them both, this time for good. Shabranigdo tells Lina that his loathing and fear of her sustained him and wants revenge. Still, this is but an incomplete, nearly mindless remnant that cannot be fully restored and threatens everyone, demons included.
He wreaks havoc in Taforashia: unleashing waves of pure strength, huge streams of lava, countless blazing rays, storms of lightning, thousands of demonic snake-like spirits and even nuclear explosions. Finally, Pokota returns to his own body to restrain Shabranigdo, allowing Lina Inverse to destroy it once and for all with a nearly complete Giga Slave.
In the Manga adaptation of Evolution-R, Shabranigdo awakes as soon as Rezo enters Pokota's body. However, it is nothing but a mindless remnant of his essence, still formidable albeit a lot weaker than in the anime. He surrounds himself with a sphere of demonic miasma and unleashes snake-like spirits, until Pokota returns to his body. He and Rezo then manage to hold him long enough for Lina to destroy it.
The Third Fragment[]
In the final cycle of the Slayers novels, which have yet to be adapted, Lina and Gourry enter a friendly rivalry with two fellow young treasure-hunters, equally powerful in sorcery and swordsmanship: Luke, a master of Black Magic and Mileena, a mistress of Shamanistic Magic he is in love with. As the heroes are searching for a magical sword powerful enough to replace the lost Sword of Light, they often clash and join forces with the other duo.
The four unmask and defeat the Demon Lord Dynast Grausherra, who was impersonating King Wells Xeno Gyria and using Dils Kingdom as an asset, in a complex scheme to ignite a new War of the Dark Lord's Resurrection.
Luke gets corrupted.
Later in Sellentia City, they get dragged in the succession crisis to name a new Head Priest, in fact staged by a demon following Grausherra's orders. Mileena is fatally poisoned, and Luke, overcome with hatred, kills most of the priests before being driven away by Lina and Gourry.
It turns that demons are still active, but oddly opposing one another, while strange phenomenon happen all across the continent. Lina and Gourry are eventually dragged into a pocket dimension looking like Sairaag City, in which they are greeted by an ominous figure wearing a red cloak and a faceless, red-eyed mask, who introduces himself as Shabranigdo.
A disguised Shabranigdo attacks Gourry with his staff.
Shabranigdo battles the heroes wielding the Starving Bone Staff, which he uses to hurl waves of magical winds with a swipe and cancel spells, but a furious Gourry recognizes Luke from his fighting style.
It turns out that Luke was holding a fragment of the Demon God, which Grausherra found and wanted to awake all along, which explains why he orchestrated so many conflicts. (Luke had been aware of Shabranigdo's presence, and had asked Mileena to kill him before it took over should it awake).
Luke explains that his hatred from the world that took Mileena matches Shabranigdo's, resulting in a symbiosis that lets him keep his human form, his and Shabranigdo's voice speaking alternatively. At the same time, his love for Mileena and his hatred for humans and demons let him decide on his own to challenge his friends to a fair fight, for the fate of the world. If he wins or they decline, he will let Shabranigdo take over and end everything.
This is why Luke led them in a dimension vastly magnifying their abilities. And also why some demons sharing Lei Magnus-Shabranigdo's irritation with his choices opposed the ones obeying him. But Luke is too powerful even for the empowered heroes, and knows them too well, turning his staff into a sword and conjuring darkness doubles he can detonate.
In the end, Lina breaks open the four Demon Blood Talismans, (which she forcefully bought from Xellos previously) unleashing the power of all four Demon Gods, Shabranigdo included. As Luke is dying, Lina helps him realize that with his longing for death surpassing Shabranigdo's influence, he let own power destroy him (indeed helping Lina kill him). Luke apologizes to his grieving friends, happy to see Mileena again, and the third fragment is no more.
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| Slayers Villains | ||
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Deities Shabranigdo's Generals Greater Demons and Major Villains Demon-worshiping cult | ||