Ayanami

'''SPOILERS AHEAD! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!'''

Ayanami, born Krowell Raggs, is the primary antagonist in the anime and manga series 07-Ghost.

He is the leader of the infamous Black Hawks, a Warsfeil and a military strategist. He has held the post of the Barsburg Army's Chief of Staff for several years after the Raggs War, and after he drowned Marshal Oak, rose to become Field Marshal. It appears that he is widely known and respected throughout the Barsburg Empire for his accomplishments, despite his relatively young age, usually being greeted with salutes by his inferiors when they see him, but because he is a Wasfeil, many soldiers talk about him negatively behind his back or are afraid of him.

He is directly or indirectly responsible for many of the turmoils that Teito has suffered in his life including the death of Mikage and Weldeschtein Krom Raggs, Teito's father. Ayanami seeks the Eye of Mikhail and has been shown to be targeting the Seven Ghosts, particularly Zehel as the scythe that Zehel is wielding actually belongs to Verloren, Ayanami's soul.

He is revealed to be the reincarnation of Verloren later in the story, and is trying to regain his original ageless and powerful body (Verloren's Body) by unlocking Pandora's Box.

In chapter 90 of the manga, he revealed to Teito that he is in fact Teito's paternal uncle, being the youngest of Teito's paternal grandparents' three sons.

Physical Appearance
Ayanami is a youthful-looking man who is 34 years old. He stands at 183 cm in the manga, but is said to be shorter in the anime's fanbook. He weighs 69 kg and has a slender build with broad shoulders.

He has sharp facial features with a pointy nose, narrowed eyes and full lips. Out of all the Black Hawks, Ayanami has the palest skin tone, almost white when compared to others. His hair is neck length, wavy and colored white.

His eye color is violet but the rims of his irises flash red whenever he uses his Zaiphon. In the manga, Ayanami's eyes are either drawn as having no pupils, or slitted pupils like that of a snake, this not occurring in the anime, as Ayanami is drawn as having normal eyes in the anime.

Ayanami is considered very handsome in the series universe, with Eve and Katsuragi commenting on his beauty. The Imperial Army has been shown to take advantage of Ayanami's attractiveness, using pictures of him to attract more females into the military. Many women in the Barsburg military have a crush on him.

Clothing
Ayanami is nearly always seen in his Military uniform, which consists of a black, or possibly dark blue, ankle-length overcoat with gold trimmings on the chest, sleeve cuffs and neck-guard. Like his subordinates, Ayanami wears black trousers, knee-length black, buckled boots and white gloves. His uniform has a small half mantle hanging off his left shoulder emblazoned with the Barsburg Military insignia, and on his right he has a golden epaulet and shoulder boards as an indication of his high rank. It is unknown what is worn under the overcoat but it is possible it is a plain white shirt (as Mikage was shown wearing one when attired in the Military uniform).

Ayanami's uniform is more decorated than those of his subordinates, a major difference being that Ayanami wears a peaked cap which is trimmed with gold and has the Barsburg Military insignia in the centre. Ayanami is very fond of his military cap (to the extent that Hyuuga teasingly said that Ayanami's cap grows on his head), and does not like to take it off, except around Yukikaze. The reason for this is unknown.

When the Black Hawks went to Antwort, Ayanami wore a winter version of the military uniform. It looked very similar to the standard uniform, but was made of a thicker material, with a higher neck-guard and silver decoration instead of gold.

In Kapitel 45, Ayanami infiltrated the Barsburg Church in order to attack the Ghost Profe, and while doing so, wore the traditional Bishop's clothing. He wore a cassock with white trimming on the collar, under a long white outer cassock that hid his arms. The cassock was held together with a loose belt and a large, silver, rectangular brooch emblazoned with the carving of a cross. He also wore the standard Church mitre with a cross in the centre and a veil that extended from the mitre to fall over his face.

In Kapitel 80, Ayanami attended Princess Roseamanelle's masquerade, and wore the appropriate noble clothing. On the cover page of Kapitel 91, he is shown wearing a plain white bathrobe that exposes his bare chest, as well as an ornament that resembles a necklace. The pendants on the necklace bear a resemblance to military ID tags, a form of identification for military personnel. Therefore, the writing shown on the pendants is presumably information on Ayanami himself.

As Verloren, Ayanami wore a black cloak with a hood, and always wore the hood up.

Personality
"I must protect this country. I will protect it no matter what I'll become."

- Ayanami

As Ayanami (not Verloren), he is very dedicated to his profession as a soldier and to his country, willing to kill and die for what he believes in. Nationalism is his main motive in his actions, and Ayanami holds a lot of respect for those who are willing to make sacrifices for their country. He originally shared Marshal Oak's view that the best way to protect Barsburg from losing its present territories is to exterminate all the wielders of the Eye of Mikhail, so that no one can make use of the powerful Eye to threaten Barsburg. However, over the course of the series, as Teito proves that he is what Ayanami needs but the Empire hinders him, Ayanami has lost all loyalty to the Barsburg empire, and all of his priority over nationalism has vanished and he begins using his position as Chief of Staff and later Field Marshal to search for Verloren's body so he can find Eve. He shows full willingness to commit acts of treason.

He does not change his behaviour or go out of his way in order to impress or please his superiors, and the opinions and comments of other people has no affect on him. The only thing Ayanami is shown to be rather sensitive to is when someone mocks his family, as he was shown to be very offended when the Antwort King mockingly referred to him as 'low-born', Ayanami being quite willing to sympathize with his situation until he had said that. Despite how ruthlessly he killed his family, Ayanami seems to hold them at a high regard, as he never called Krom by his name despite being his brother and thus able to do so and always referred to him as the King of Raggs and also acknowledged that Kreuz, being as clever as he is, would certainly leave something behind to Teito.

He is quiet and always polite when speaking to colleagues and superiors, rarely showing any facial expressions and always speaking in a monotone. However, when involved with individuals he strongly dislikes, such as Frau or Teito, he is not above speaking to them rudely and always shows sadistic humor. He occasionally displays a dark sense of humour even around his subordinates.

Ayanami is very tidy, meticulous and organized, as seen by his tendency to sort his garbage before disposal, and likes to complete his work quickly and to a high standard. He often prefers to work quietly and alone, and dislikes it when anyone distracts him. If someone does distract him during work, or if his subordinates do stupid things (e.g. joking that Ayanami's cap grows on his head) to annoy him, Ayanami is quick to lose his temper and isn't above using violence to discipline them.

He values hard work and diligence, both in his subordinates; he commends Teito and Konatsu for their hard work and is displeased at Hyuuga's laziness. He also values loyalty, and expects it in his subordinates. He dislikes defiance, and denial in subordinates. Ayanami doesn't hesitate to kill people who offend him but is more merciful to those who show humility.

Despite his cold demeanor, Ayanami is aware of his subordinates' feelings and well-being. Despite trying to keep relationships professional (possibly as a result of Yukikaze's death) Ayanami does show kindness towards his fellow Black Hawks. He will also try his best to protect them from harm, and will risk his own safety to help them if he feels the situation has become too dangerous for them. Ayanami occasionally shows a gentle side to his subordinates, especially Yukikaze in the past, and Kuroyuri and Teito in the present. He is also fair to his subordinates, and does not practice favouritism.

Ayanami is an exceptional tactician, and as the Chief of Staff, he has planned many of the military's attacks. He is rarely caught off-guard and shows surprise only when his opponent is stronger than he has thought. He is also very patient, waiting more than ten years until it is the right time to carry out his plan to remove Major-General Ogi. Ayanami can be very cunning and manipulative.

Ayanami has great respect for power, as his motto is "Justice without power is vain". He also strongly respects the darkness within people and believes that everyone is strongest when they tap into the darkness within them and openly mocks Teito for not depending on his dark emotions, clearly considering him inferior because of that.

Ayanami also has no intrest in women and it is implied that he does not like or agrees to having pictures of him being gentle made to recruit female soldiers, as Hyugga and Katsurugi believes that Ayanami most likely did not let himself be pictured in such a manner and someone who made this modified the picture. This is due to the fact that Eve is the only woman who he loves as Verloren. Due to not needing to sleep or eat, Ayanami never sleeps and instead prefers thinking on his future actions at night and he also rarely eats food, always thinking on the next step to his goals, showing that he values success in his goals foremost.

As Verloren
The fact that Ayanami is Verloren's reincarnation has had a considerable impact on his personality. Despite Ayanami being calm and composed, when Verloren is in control of him he appears uncharacteristically eccentric, his behaviour is irrational and he grins maniacally. When ruling Ayanami, Verloren is impulsive in his actions, a trait which is not normally associated with Ayanami.

Verloren's crippling insanity also seems to have had an effect on Ayanami, with Hyuuga remarking that Ayanami is often unable to sleep at night because of the nightmares he experiences.

Healing
Being a warsfeil, Ayanami can recover from injuries at an inhuman speed, at the expense of shortening his overall lifespan. An example of his quick healing was shown when he was able to heal a wound on his cheek in a matter of seconds.

Zaiphon
Quite possibly the most powerful user of a zaiphon, Ayanami is one of the only two characters who can wield dual Zaiphon.

Attacking zaiphon: Ayanami holds exceptional levels of immense power and profiency at using an Attacking Zaiphon, able to perform extremely powerful offensive attacks such as rings that explode upon impact. He is universally acknowledged as the strongest of the Black Hawks and can easily overpower his subordinates, as shown in the Drama CD. He is quite possibly the strongest user of Zaiphon through the whole series. He is shown in all their altercations in the anime to be far superior to Teito, as when he attacked him in Mikage's body, Ayanami's attack quickly overwhelmed Teito's shield and later on in their fight in the Center of the Earth, despite Teito wielding a Baculus to amplify the strength of his Zaiphon and his improvements, Ayanami still proved able to easily dominate him, easily blocking and countering Teito's rage Baculus powered Zaiphon attacks and going as far as to mock him for his inferior power and skill. Even after Teito, empowered by Mikage's words, he still proved unable to defeat Ayanami. He can also put up vastly powerful shields capable of easily blocking attacks from Teito and even managing to block an attack from Mikhail himself as well as turn his zaiphon into several bindings powerful enough to knock off Mikhail from Teito. Ayanami was shown to be strong enough to destroy the barrier that was protecting the city of Antwort with a single attack from his Zaiphon.

Forbidden Arts
As a Warsfeil, Ayanami is capable of using black magic and as he is the strongest out of all the Black Hawks, he is also the strongest user of Black Magic. His ability to manipulate Wars is so strong that even while in the Church, his power remains unhampered, as Labrador was shocked at how much power over Wars Ayanami exerted while in the proximity of the Church's barrier. Ayanami is also able to use Wars to protect objects, as shown when he has the Eye of Mikhail protected by Wars. In the anime, he seems to be able to use black magic to teleport himself and others to other realms, as shown when he apported himself and Teito to the Center of the Earth to begin their battle, as well as somehow warp reality and teleport, as he was able to make the exit of the second part of the Bishop Exam to instead send Teito back to the beginning rather than take him out and then teleport himself to him.

Verloren's abilities
As Ayanami is the reincarnation of Verloren he has also inherited some of Verloren's abilities too, however he cannot use them at their full strength because he is in a human body.

Verloren's Scythe: Ayanami is able to command Verloren's scythe.

Control over Kors: As Verloren was the master of the Kors, Ayanami has authority over them and can send them to do his bidding.

Mind Manipulation: Ayanami has the power to read the minds of others, as shown when he could tell that Teito thought he was an illusion in the anime. He can also force someone to remember lost memories, which is an extremely painful process, as shown when he attempted to probe Teito's mind to gain knowledge on the Pandora Box, which caused Teito to feel excruciating pain.

Power absorption
As the powers of the Seven Ghosts originally belonged to Verloren, Ayanami is able to absorb their powers.


 * Manipulation of souls: "There were formally two owners of that power: both are traitors who rebelled against God."

- Castor


 * After devouring the soul of Vertrag, Ayanami gains the ability to possess souls by making a contract, as seen in Mikage's case.


 * Episode15shot1.pnger, in a human body, Verloren can only use the power imperfectly, hence possessing only half of Mikage's soul. But this is enough to allow Ayanami to control a person's movements and what they say. It is currently unknown for how long he can possess a person's soul and if this works on everyone. The Black Hawks, his loyal subordinates, have given half of their souls to Ayanami (07-Ghost official character book), with the sole exception of Konatsu. Ayanami can communicate telepathically with the owner of the soul he holds. He will also receive the same injury if these owners are injured, as seen in episode 19 (when blood comes out from Kuroyuri's mouth, blood also comes out from Ayanami's mouth). However, while Ayanami is injured when one of his subordinates is hurt, his subordinates do not appear to be injured whenever Ayanami himself receives damage.


 * Tying souls together (imperfect): After devouring part of Castor, Ayanami could tie souls together, but to an imperfect degree. He used this ability to revive Haruse by tying his soul to Kuroyuri's.


 * Time Control: After absorbing Lance, Ayanami has gained the power to manipulate time to a degree, allowing him to turn back time and see the past. While this was not shown, Hyuuga mentioned that Ayanami had used Lance's power to see the past, enabling him to find out that Katsuragi was the traitor in the Black Hawks.

Hand-to-hand combat
While Ayanami is rarely shown to fight without Zaiphon, he is shown to be extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat and possesses extreme strength, speed, agility, reflexes and acrobatic prowess, capable of effortlessly performing feats that can be considered to be at superhuman levels. While possessing Mikage, Ayanami was able to effortlessly move so fast that he seemed to instantly teleport behind Teito and then instantly pummel him, kicking and then lifting and throwing Teito with a single hand with so much force that he was effectively incatipated and powerless to prevent Ayanami from putting on the collar and later easily dodging an attack from Teito and again appearing in Teito's back and attacking him before he could react, with Teito being awed at how fast Ayanami was, saying that he didin't even see Ayanami move. He later easily fended off Frau in his Zehel form while apparently not fighting seriously considering as he was shown to be smiling while Frau was completely serious. When he fought Teito in the Center of the Earth in his main body in the anime, despite Teito's improvements, he was still shown to be physically no match for Ayanami, who was able to effortlessly jump high through the air to dodge an attack from Teito and then proceeded to calmly and casually dodge all of Teito's rage powered Baculus attacks in mid-air, all the while remaining completely composed and able to not only casually mock Teito but was able to calmly hit Mikage with a blast of his Zaiphon. After grounding Teito, Ayanami was able to fall through several feet while landing without any issue and easily restrain Teito's hand with a single leg, leaving him powerless to do anything to prevent Ayanami from trying to probe his sealed memories. He also could easily restrain and beat Hyugga to a pulp.

As the leader and strongest of the Black Hawk, all of whom are shown to be highly capable swordsman, Ayanami is clearly an extremely skillful swordsman, with him being left-handed and able to wield his rapier with masterful ease. The illusion of Ayanami that Teito fought in Episode 23 confidently drew his sword and effortlessly countered all of Teito's attacks and managed to slice his cheek and then stab him almost fatally in the stomach both before he could even attempt to defend himself. Although it is just an illusion, it is safe to assume that Ayanami would be capable of fighting that well, if not even better. The real Ayanami himself has been seen to be able to easily take out many of Raggs soldiers during the war with his sword, although in the manga that was the only display of his sword-fighting skills, until Ayanami managed to use his sword to cut his hand off while leaving Teito completely unharmed to get off his grip. In the end of the anime, Ayanami drew his sword confidently and while using it mostly to power his Zaiphon attacks, he also used it to easily cleanly cut and end the Zaiphon battle between his subordinates and the Bishops. He was also confident that he could defeat Katsurugi despite his own incredible swordsmanship skills and teletransportation granting him speed exceeding Hyugga's. Ayanami also carries a whip at his belt at all times, this often being his weapon of choice, and has been shown to be highly skilled at using it; being able to hit moving targets, and targets at a distance with ease. Ayanami also sometimes hits Hyuuga with his whip when the latter annoys him.

Intelligence
One of Ayanami's most notable traits is his incredible intelligence, earning him the nickname 'the Barsburg Empire's number 1 genius'. This, along with how quickly he rose through the ranks of the military reflect his shrewdness and cunning.

Ayanami is an exceptional strategist, able to create extremely complex plans and always having a backup plan if things go wrong. He is a master of manipulation, able to use several advantages to effectively force his target to do what he wants. and is able to find and exploit weaknesses in the enemy's defence or attack style, and his plans are well thought out, always having a fall-back plan if things go wrong.

Multilingual
After awakening as Verloren, Ayanami can speak at least three languages (the Language of the Gods, the Language of Barsburg and the Language of Raggs).