Verloren

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

Verloren  is the God of Death in the 07-Ghost series. He was hailed as the Chief of Heaven's greatest and perfect creation, and presided over souls.

Etymology
In Dutch and German, 'verloren' means 'lost'.

Physical appearance
In his true form, Verloren resembles a skeleton. In his human form, he looks very similar to Ayanami, appearing as a young man, though his exact true age is unknown. He has a single skeletal left wing that he can seemingly manifest at will; his scythe transforms to provide his right wing.

Clothing
He wears a black cloak with a hood, and is always shown wearing the hood up. He has a series of plates with various designs on their surface around his shoulders, and a long ribbon or streamer of some sort hanging from the front of them. At least one of the designs on the plates appears to be the same as the mark left by Kor on the chest of humans who have made a contract with them. Around his head he appears to wear a circlet of some sort, though it's unclear whether it actually rests on top of his hood or if it simply floats around his head.

Personality
Verloren is characterized by his sense of pride, referring to himself with the title that was given to him: a perfect creation. Possibly as a result of being addressed with this title, he defines himself as 'the perfect creation' and becomes offended and/or desperate when he is no longer seen as this. However, some of Verloren's arrogance may only be his stating the truth.

Before Eve's death, Verloren was shown to be calm, logical and reserved, similar to the personality of his current vessel, Ayanami. Eve insisted that, despite this, he was a kind person, as he created flowers to help ease the suffering of the dead. Due to Eve's positive influence, Verloren eventually began to get more in touch with his own emotions, and eventually learned to express them.

The fact that he caused the death of his beloved had a considerable effect on his sense of judgement, causing his sanity to slip into madness. Desperate to find his love again, Verloren denounced his duties as the Chief of Heaven's greatest creation and fled to earth, where he began endlessly killing humans to search for Eve's reincarnated soul, threatening that he would kill all the humans until she could be found. Even after being reincarnated in Ayanami, a different body, Verloren still appears to be insane, having wild eyes and grinning manically, when Labrador said he would never have his lover again.

Strangely enough, although he grieved Eve's loss, Verloren doesn't appear to feel guilty about causing his beloved's death: when accused of murdering her, Verloren simply says that he should have killed her sooner. His seemingly callous attitude towards the deaths of his loved ones is eventually revealed to be caused by his desire to "get ahold of a perfect love".

Verloren still seems bitter and resentful about the creation of the Seven Ghosts, insisting or mocking that the Ghosts are 'just his fragments' or "just my replicas" when meeting with Profe, Fest and Zehel (e.g. chapter 70).

Chief of Heaven
"I can't find it by myself. That Chief of Heaven, he set me up!"

- Verloren

Before Verloren's fall from grace, he was loyal and obedient to the Chief of Heaven, carrying out the duties that the Chief had assigned to him and acknowledging the Chief as his creator. Verloren also did not protest the Chief's decision to execute him , though he did initially disagree with it in his thoughts.

It seems that Verloren began to hate the Chief when the latter accused him of killing Eve and sent the Seven Ghosts to punish him. Even after a thousand years, Verloren still hates the Chief (e.g. in episode 19, he smiled at Castor mockingly, saying "There is no God in this world"). He has also said that he prays for the "death of God".

Despite their mutual dislike, though, the Chief is implied to have pardoned Verloren by the end of the series.

Eve
"Until I've bitten into all the souls in the world!"

- Verloren

Verloren's was deeply in love with Eve, learning to comprehend human feelings as he carried out his duty in the human world. Regardless of his romantic feelings, Verloren respected Eve as someone he could talk with on equal terms.

In an effort to get him to embrace his own feelings, Eve taught Verloren about the importance of expressing his emotions, which she believed would help him understand himself and other people better. Her efforts appear to have paid off, as Verloren eventually began to understand his own feelings and even learned to express them.

It is shown that Verloren disliked seeing Eve unhappy, and that he let Eve tease him, though he was occasionally exasperated by it. However, he also expressed annoyance at her continuous visits, grumbling to himself that she distracted him from his work. Verloren was once shown wanting to reach out and touch her, but then just lowered his hand and quietly saw her off.

It's been confirmed that Verloren is Eve's murderer, grabbing ahold of her as she fell into him, dying in his arms due to his fatal touch. After realizing that he killed the woman he loved, Verloren began to slip into madness, laughing manically as he holds her corpse. Keeping his earlier promise, lays Eve's body in a field full of Flowers of Eden, which she found to be pretty, as the white petals reminded her of snow. He grieved her loss and felt guilty about causing his beloved's death. Having been deceived by the words of the Chief of Heaven, Verloren went mad in his search for her soul.

The Chief of Heaven accused Verloren of her death, and Verloren, sanity slipping, denounced his duties as the Chief of Heaven's greatest creation in order to search for her reincarnation on earth.

Verloren's driving force behind regaining his physical body was for the reason of finding Eve's soul. When Profe/Labrador tells Verloren/Ayanami he can never have what he wants again, a picture of Eve is in the background, and Ayanami is furious at Labrador's comment. Even after a thousand years have passed, Ayanami, the current reincarnation of Verloren, still wants to find Eve after regaining his memories as Verloren, and shows no interest in any other woman. He once declared to himself that once he regains his true body, he will definitely find her.

Eve's death was also the reason for Verloren's descent into madness. After Eve's death, Verloren became insane with grief and was inconsolable. His sole mission became to find her soul and reunite with it. He escaped to earth, which became contaminated with disease and plague in his presence, and began searching for her. Verloren became so obsessed with finding his love again that he was willing to kill everyone on earth down to the last person alive in an effort to find her. By the time his search was stopped by the 07-Ghosts, he had already killed hundreds, if not thousands, of people (chapter 46).

Ayanami
Verloren's insanity has had an effect on his current reincarnation, Ayanami. Verloren does not seem to be very concerned about Ayanami's wishes and well-being.

Hyuuga mentioned that Ayanami is unable to sleep due to nightmares, some of which are likely brought about by Verloren's memories or personality. Whenever Verloren is controlling Ayanami, he (Ayanami) starts to behave much more irrationally than he usually would, becoming more ruthless and even showing signs of Verloren's insanity.

His scythe
Verloren seems to like his scythe as he is furious at Frau for possessing it. Ayanami warned Frau several times to look after the scythe as it will return to him one day. Frau is aware that the scythe misses its old master, as he had once said "you miss him, don't you" to it. The scythe recognises Ayanami as its old master, and even obeys his orders over the orders of its current wielder. This was shown in Kapitel 70, when Ayanami commanded the scythe to stop, it listened and refused to attack Ayanami. His scythe also listens to Verloren's reincarnation.

Warsfeil
Warsfeil are known for being Verloren's followers, and for having sold half of their souls to him. Ayanami has been shown to genuinely care for the Black Hawks, many of whom are Warsfeil. The Warren Family, a family of Warsfeil, have been shown to respect Verloren, referring to him as 'Verloren-sama', although Ayanami has probably not directly interacted with any of the Warrens, apart from Konatsu, before.

Kor
The Kor, like the Warsfeil, respect Verloren and call him 'Verloren-sama'. Before his fall from grace, the Kor were also often seen with Verloren in Heaven. The Kor have a high amount of respect for Verloren and have been gathering souls for when he revives. They faithfully serve his current incarnation, Ayanami.

Zehel (Frau)
Verloren's hatred of Frau is that he is a 'replica' which is a great blow to Verloren's pride. Frau has also been wielding Verloren's scythe, and Ayanami warns Frau that the scythe wants to be with its true master and will soon return to him. Ironically, despite Ayanami's and Frau's mutual dislike, Frau eventually succeeds Verloren as the God of Death.

Fest (Castor)
Verloren apparently hates Castor as much as he hates Frau.

Profe (Labrador)
Comparing his attitude towards Frau and Castor, Verloren seems to like Labrador, possibly because Labrador looks very much like him physically, doesn't want to kill Verloren, and can understand Verloren better than other Ghosts

In Kapitel 46, it is shown that Ayanami/Verloren did not hesitate to attack Labrador/Profe when the latter prophesied that he (Verloren) would not be able to hold Eve in his arms again, suggesting that though Verloren may be biased in favour of Profe, this bias is still limited. As with the other Ghosts, Ayanami/Verloren wants to devour Profe so that he (Ayanami/Verloren) can regain all of his original powers.

Teito Klein
Veloren appears to be interested in Teito, or at least doesn't hate him enough to wish to harm him. In Kapitel 94, Teito notes that even though Pandora's Box was opened and Veloren has captured him, Verloren wasn't targeting or attacking him. Teito remembers that it was the same way when he first became Pandora's Box: Verloren hadn't attacked or tried to hurt him then, either.

Mikhail
Little direct interaction has been shown between Verloren and Archangel Mikhail so far, but considering that Mikhail helps the Ghosts oppose Verloren by sealing Verloren's true body through the Eye of Mikhail, it is likely that he hates Mikhail as much as he hates the Ghosts. Verloren has probably known Mikhail for very long, both of them being gods.

Raphael
Little direct interaction has been shown between Verloren and Raphael so far, but considering that Raphael helps the Ghosts oppose Verloren by sealing Verloren's memories through the Eye of Raphael, it is likely that he hates Raphael as much as he hates the Ghosts. Verloren has probably known Raphael for very long, both of them being gods.

Abilities and Attributes
Verloren seemed to possess considerable agility, speed and strength, as during his 'fight' with Eve he was able to quickly block Eve's attack with a single hand when she attacks him. He also holds extradionary levels of power, as it took the combined power of the Seven Ghosts and two archangels (Mikhael and Raphael) to seal him away. As he is a god, Verloren is immortal, and his human form does not show his true age. Apart from his Scythe, which was what dealt the final blow to him, the Chief is the only one who holds the power to kill Verloren for good but decides not to.

Verloren also has the ability to create, as shown when he told Eve that he created the Flower of Eden, and like the Ghosts, can transform between his human and skeletal form at will.

Knowledge: According to Verloren and all other inhabitants of Heaven, Verloren is omniscient. However, there seem to be limits to what he knows; such as human standards of beauty, and is ignorant when it comes to understanding human emotions. Verloren is also quite naive when it comes to relationships, as he doesn't understand what it means to have something precious to protect, or why Eve would consider it important to talk to her father.

Like the other immortal beings in the series, Verloren is able to speak the language of the gods, as well as human languages.

Defect: According to the Chief of Heaven, despite Verloren being perfect, he had a "defect" that was highly contagious, and would turn not only his own body and soul dark, but also everything and everyone Verloren came into contact with would become "black like mud." Verloren was ordered to live in solitude until a cure was found, but it was later revealed that the defect was too serious to treat.

In manga chapter 97, it is revealed that the defect is a result of Verloren learning to love. The Chief of Heaven had created Verloren to be emotionless, so that he could fulfill his reaper duties 'without having his heart disturbed'. However, despite the efforts of the Chief, who planned to have him executed and was determined to make Eve forget about Verloren, the death god and Eve came to care for each other, thus, Verloren became 'imperfect' and developed a defect or 'bug'.

Scythe
Verloren's scythe is both his weapon and his tool for work, as he uses it to attack others and to reap souls. Verloren seems to be fond of his scythe, as he always had it with him in his flashbacks, and the scythe is very loyal to him even in his reincarnated form, Ayanami.

Creation
Verloren is a shinigami (a death god), and was created by the Chief of Heaven to preside over souls.

Verloren's purpose was to sort the souls entering Heaven; allowing the pure souls to enter Heaven, but punishing the 'bad' souls by devouring them. Devouring the soul was a process that involved either sending the soul back down to earth to be reincarnated in a different body with no memories of their previous life, or sending them to purgatory. The worst souls which are irredeemable even by Verloren would be destroyed or sent to hell.

Imperfection
"No. You people don't know how terrifying that is. It will surpass any kind of darkness existing above ground presently, and become a demon who will swallow everything."

- The Chief of Heaven

An unknown amount of time after his creation, Verloren was told by the Chief of Heaven that a "defect" was found within him that would eventually turn both Verloren's body and soul "black like mud." The Chief of Heaven told Verloren that a remedy would be administered the next day, and ordered Verloren to remain in isolation until then. Due to the fact that his "defect" was highly contagious and would infect anything it touched, the Chief of Heaven forbid Verloren from meeting anyone until he was cured.

However, it turned out that Verloren's 'virus' was too severe to treat, causing the Chief of Heaven to become fearful of what Verloren would turn into once it took over his body.

According to Ayanami, Verloren's reincarnation, the "bug" is only found in shinigami who stray from the duties bestowed upon them by the Chief of Heaven.

Murder accusations and descent into madness
The legend of the ghosts tells that Verloren was in love with the Chief of Heaven's daughter, Eve, but after her skeleton was found and her soul devoured, the Chief of Heaven accused Verloren of killing her. When Eve managed to get Verloren out of the prison cell the Chief was holding him in, the guards came and tried to block the two's path. Eve got in the way of the guards, causing them to impale her through the chest with a lethal wound. So, ironically, it was not Verloren who killed Eve, the the prison guards the chief sent to subdue Verloren.

As Eve's soul being devoured automatically forced it to be sent to earth and reincarnated, Verloren escaped the heavens and fled to earth to find her reincarnation.

Verloren began looking into the hearts of humans in order to find the soul that originally belonged to Eve. However as he looked, that person's heart was instantly tainted by his presence, and slowly slipped into despair. This meant those souls could not enter Heaven in this life because they were no longer pure, and they would be forced to reincarnate again once they died.

Schedel's crusade
"According to the orders of the Chief of Heaven, you will be executed!"

- The Seven Ghosts

When the Chief of Heaven noticed the consequences Verloren's actions had on those souls he looked into, he fashioned seven heavenly lights out of Verloren's fragments, each with one of Verloren's powers, and sent them to execute him.

The ghosts drove Verloren to Seele, but were unable to destroy him. Faced with this, they instead used the powers of the two angel eyes (Mikhail and Raphael) to tear Verloren's soul from his body, in the hope that they never join again so he could never be at his full power.

They sealed his physical body in Pandora's Box on earth, and used the Eye of Mikhail to make sure it could not escape from its prison. They sealed his soul using the Eye of Raphael, putting his soul in a human- and forcing it to undergo a process of constant reincarnation whenever the human body died- regardless of how the person had lived their life- so it could never enter Heaven again.

Even though Verloren had been sealed away for 1000 years, the Kor, his messengers made up of the souls that were tainted by his presence, continue to find and contact humans, and try to taint their souls by bringing them under his influence.

Manga Synopsis
Verloren is often seen in flashbacks throughout the manga. By the end of the series, he is implied to have been pardoned by the Chief of Heaven, as in his last moments, he sees white feathers all around him.

Quotes

 * 'Then do not come!' (to Eve, after Eve said she had argument with her father about her frequent coming to Verloren's place and 'father will be angry')
 * 'Every day, distracting me from my work' (to himself about Eve)
 * 'I don't have injury. I am perfect.' (to Eve, when Eve asked what did he do if he was hurt, since his hands couldn't touch living things)
 * 'But, must you express it?' (to Eve, when Eve writes her thoughts on the ground)
 * 'Stupid thing. Have you forgotten Me?' (to Verloren's Scythe, when Frau used the Scythe to attack Ayanami to save Teito)

Trivia

 * Theories abounded that Verloren is innocent of Eve's murder, and that either the scythe lost control and devoured her or it was the Shadow man who killed her. However, manga chapter 97 revealed that Verloren is indeed Eve's murderer, though it was by accident and he had not intended to kill her.
 * Before the exact circumstances of her death were revealed, it seemed equally plausible that either Eve touched Verloren accidentally and died, or that Verloren touched her by accident. Manga chapter 97 revealed that the latter is true.
 * Verloren plays chess with himself (manga chapter 70).
 * The fact that Eve calls Verloren an "old loner" may be a hint that Verloren is older than Eve. However, given Eve's personality, she may have been joking. Furthermore, the gods probably do not see age in quite the same way as humans do.
 * After Eve's death, the Chief of Heaven wrote his judgement (in Verloren's view, it is a curse) on Verloren's body directly.
 * Unlike the Seven Ghosts and the Archangels, Verloren does not need a human vessel to be able to live in the mortal world.
 * In the wake of Ayanami's death and Verloren's becoming a spirit, it is possible that Verloren's scythe will be destroyed.