Duran (デュラン Duran), also known as the Lion of Elbe, is the King of Elbe Kingdom and was the commander of the Allied Army Godu Rino Gwaban during the third offensive of the Battle of Alnus Hill. He's a former vassal of the Empire, while currently he's allied with Japan.
Personality[]
Duran is a seasoned battlefield commander known for his quiet, harsh and intelligent demeanor. He holds in very high regard his pride as a warrior and king, and he's one of the very few leaders native of the Special Region to be genuinely interested in the welfare of his people.
Duran is on good terms with some of his fellow nobles, most notably Duke Ligu, as he was visibly concerned with his death and wanted to avenge him by inflicting at least one casualty against the enemy. He also appears to be popular with his people, as he was not distressed by Piña's threats when she threatened to have the Kingdom of Elbe destroyed.
Like many of the Special Region officers and nobility, Duran was confident that the JSDF were a weak force that would be easy to overwhelm through the Allied Army's sheer numbers, although he had expressed caution to Ligu prior to the duke's death. Despite the failed attacks and the technological advantage by the JSDF, he chose to fight to the bitter end, mostly to avenge Ligu's death and at least inflict one casualty on the enemy.
Unlike most of the remnants who went insane after the battle, Duran's mentality was kept mostly intact despite having a breakdown during the failed night raid. He was not angered by the JSDF for injuring him, instead pinning the blame on Molt for sending them on a suicide mission. He was also impressed by modern technology, appreciating his prosethic arm and leg replacement that the JSDF provided him; with his ingenuity, he was able to weaponize the prosethic arm.
Appearance[]
Duran is a man in his late 60s. He has dark grey hair as well as grey eyes, and he wears heavy red armor on the battlefield. After the Battle of Alnus Hill he lost his left arm and leg, and they were replaced with prosthetic ones. He also suffered from Marie Antoinette syndrome, as the heavy stress after the Battle of Alnus Hill turned his hair completely white.
History[]
When the JSDF "invaded" Alnus Hill, Molt called upon the vassal states to amass an army to help fight off the invaders from their world. The Allied Army was quickly formed, and Duran was appointed general of the army. A day before the battle, the alliance was confident that they would overwhelm the enemy, although Duran cautioned Ligu not to be reckless as they were fighting a foreign enemy. The following day, Duran headed to Alnus Hill to help support the other armies there when he witnessed Alnus Hill "erupting", a JSDF artillery strike on the area. Duran and his men arrived as the smoke cleared, witnessing numerous casualties and withdrew.
Duran and his men attacked again in greater numbers but were slaughtered just like the previous attack and the survivors withdrew. The remaining nobles and officers fell into despair and suggested retreating, but Duran insisted on one final attack, hoping to avenge Ligu's death and ordered a night raid.
As the Allied Army made their way to the JSDF encampment at night, the JSDF fired several flares, revealing their attack and catching the army off-guard. Duran was immediately aware that the JSDF had caught them and ordered all of his men to attack before they would be cut down. As Duran made his way towards the JSDF, he ran into some barbed wire and was knocked off his horse, but was quickly helped back up by his soldiers, who prepared a tortoise formation to protect him. Duran immediately told his soldiers to run, but before they could, they were cut down immediately from machine gun fire. Duran looked on in complete shock and horror as a bullet grazed his helmet. He later picked up a bow from a fallen soldier and shot an arrow at them, although it was unlikely to have hit anyone as he stated that they had barely reached the halfway point when they were slaughtered. He wondered how this could've happened and began to laugh when a mortar shell struck him, leaving him badly wounded, and presumed dead by the Empire.
The ordeal caused him to lose both his left arm and left leg and the subsequent stress turned his once black hair turn completely white. Duran is apparently very broad-minded as he showed no ill will towards the JSDF but instead directed his anger towards the Empire, specifically the emperor whom Duran describes as a fool that would recklessly charge at an enemy without having any plans or knowledge. He stated such to Piña, because the Empire was responsible for making Japan their enemy for which Duran had hoped that the Empire would suffer complete defeat. When Piña threatened to have the Kingdom of Elbe destroyed, Duran laughed, telling her that he would be with his people if that was the case.
He was later taken and treated by the JSDF's doctors, though Duran initially lied that he was a farmer. He was extremely impressed with Japan’s advanced technology, particularly in the prosthetic arm and leg he received. Duran was later moved by Itami's willingness to slay a Flame Dragon to help the dark elves, as well as Tuka. The task proved problematic since the JSDF couldn't send a large force to pass the borders without dealing with the Elbe Kingdom. Thus, Itami was forced to go alone. This prompted Duran to later reveal his identity to the JSDF so that reinforcements would arrive to help Itami. At the time, Duran had deemed the JSDF to be trustworthy as he needed their help in reclaiming his kingdom from his eldest son, who had rebelled against him and assumed the throne for himself.
While Duran offered to permit the JSDF to enter the Elbe Kingdom after helping him return to the throne, Yanagida pointed out that they could receive the same offer if they offered his head to his son. Ultimately, Duran was forced to give in to Japan’s demands which included exclusive rights to mine the Elbe Kingdom’s underground resources, along with tax exemption. Japan was willing to split any newly discovered precious metals but had the rights to claim all other resources that Duran had no knowledge of. Since then, Duran has apparently become an ally of Japan. He had also given Itami the rank of nobility for slaying the Flame Dragon, which gave the soldier a positive image that helped him even when he was given a list of punishments by his superiors upon returning to base.
During the Imperial Civil war, he supported the pro-peace faction and the JSDF in the war against Zorzal's army. During the Second Battle of Italica, he nearly loses his life after the helicopter transporting him was struck with a metal chain-net from one of Zorzal's dragon riders. He was also shown to have enough strength to protect the helicopter crew and overwhelm Podawan's troops.
Duran later plays an important role during the offensive to retake the Imperial Capital from Zorzal, he and his men learned how to rappel from helicopters and were later transported into battle by the UH-01 helicopters of the 4th combat group. During a Wyvern rider ambush, Duran uses his new prosthetic limbs to catch a spear, which was thrown by General Podawan, who intended to kill the pilot. Duran and Podawan later dueled, with Podawan gaining the upper hand due to Duran's prosthetic arm. However, when Podawan got overconfident and claimed that Duran shouldn't have injured his left hand by protecting the JSDF pilot, Duran revealed he had long-lost his left hand, and shot Podawan with a crossbow built into his arm, killing the treacherous senator. He later participated in the relief of Italica when it was besieged by Zorzal's forces, and after the battle was finished, he set aside his previous contempt for the Empire and reconciled with Princess Piña.
Skills & Abilities[]
- Leadership: While the ancient armies are all weak against the JSDF, Duran still chooses to send his troops to attack Alnus Hill at night. He even rushes to the very front to run through the barbed wire defense.
- High level of luck: Duran is shown to survive multiple lethal situations due to sheer luck ranging from surviving the barrage of artillery from JSDF during the Second Battle of Alnus Hill to survive a helicopter crash during the Imperial Civil War.
- Peak human strength: despite losing his limbs, he is shown to strong enough to fight Zorzal's troop with ease. Even when he suffers massive injury after the helicopter crash, he still has enough strength to kill several Zorzal's troops and kills Podawan.
- Modified Prosthetics - Duran's prosthetics were apparently modified so that they would be more useful for combat, such as how a miniature crossbow was installed in Duran’s left arm which was able to kill an impolitic Podawan.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is still unclear how he lost his left eye.
- He seems to have stranded relationship with his son, the Prince of Elbe as Akira stated the JSDF could just send Duran's head to the prince, so they could cross the Kingdom to rescue Itami's gang during the Battle of Mount Tube.