Alastor

Alastor
Japanese	アラストール
Rōmaji	Arasutōru
Debut (Anime)	Shakugan no Shana Episode 01
Debut (Light Novel)	Volume I
Debut (Manga)	Chapter 01
Appears in	Anime, Manga, Light Novels, Game, Drama CDs
Voice Actor (Japanese)	Masashi Ebara Akio Ōtsuka (Drama Disk)
Voice Actor (English)	Paul Dobson (Geneon) Kent Williams (FUNimation)
Personal Info
Gender	Male
Class	Crimson God
True Name	"Flame of Heaven" "God of Retribution"
Divine Vessel	Cocytus
Contracted to	Mathilde Saint-Omer (previous) Shana (present)
Contractor's Title	"Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter"
Affiliation/s	Flame Haze
Color of Flame	██ Crimson (紅蓮)
Status	Active
Powers and Abilities
Other Unique Creations	Yogasa

"A Heartbeat that lasts for eternity. Lives consumed in soundless balls of fire. No one can tell when the world is displaced and the Flames of the Crimson World sweep over all."

—Alastor's opening narration of the first season.

Alastor (アラストール, Arasutōru) is the God of the Crimson Realm to whom Shana is bound. His true name is "Flame of Heaven" (天壌の劫火, Tenjō no Gōka), but he is also referred to as the God of Retribution (天罰神, Tenbatsushin) and God of Atonement. He is greatly feared by Denizens. Alastor is the strongest of all Lords and Denizens, a "God that can kill Gods (神をも殺す神, Kami wo mo Korosu Kami) who is considered the only being capable of destroying the "God of Creation", Snake of the Festival. Even so, he is one of the Crimson Lords that opposes Denizens, trying to stop them from consuming Power of Existence.

Appearance

Alastor's Manifestation in the movie

In his sealed form, he expresses his will through a divine vessel called Cocytus, which takes the form of a pendant when he is under Shana's contract and a hand accessory in Mathilde's case, both forms sharing a pitch-black gem.

Alastor's true form is a massive creature with powerful limbs and horns that resembles a Minotaur. He has large wings with membranes the color of the night sky and burning eyes. He is completely covered in flames which are powerful enough to incinerate everything in his path. A black mass is hidden inside those flames.

In the novel, he is described as having a voice resembling the roar of distant thunder.

Personality

Initially, Alastor shared Shana's apathy and prejudice towards Torches; he was confused as to why Shana was embarrassed to be naked in front of Yuji, claiming it was no different than being naked in front of a rock or a tree. However, he was also shown to be exasperated by Shana's stubborn attitude, such as when she refused to assume the identity and personality of Junko Ōgami during their investigation before coming to Misaki City. He starts to tolerate Yuji around the same time Shana does and even starts to use Shana's name himself, saying it comes in handy when talking about her, though eventually he just does it out of habit. Despite this, he is still quite cold to Yuji, though this is more prominent in the novels than in the anime. He is especially critical of his initial lack of progress during training, calling him clumsy and incompetent.

Alastor is like a father-figure to Shana and cares for her deeply, as he had watched over the future "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter" as she grew up and usually tells her stories (particularly about his former Flame Haze and lover, Mathilde Saint-Omer). He seems to have the personality of a typical king (in his case, of another world), as he speaks in a regal tone and is ever mindful of disciplining Shana, especially when she's being overly stubborn. He is also very wise, as one would expect from a centuries-old god.

Despite his serious nature and regal mannerisms, like a hapless father struggling to deal with his child, he tends to neglect what some would consider to be common sense and stumbles when it comes to matters he is unfamiliar with, like human relationships. He is also shown to be very uncomfortable talking about "how babies are made" when Shana becomes curious after learning Yuji is going to have a new sibling, pleading Kazumi to not make him tell Shana how it comes about. As a result, it is not uncommon for him to be reprimanded by his closer associates, in particular Wilhelmina and Tiamat, a treatment he would sheepishly endure. He is commented by the Snake of the Festival as the "one who wishes for judgement" or simply "retribution-crazy one" by Denizens. Unlike Wilhelmina, however, he recognizes his mistake in not teaching Shana how to be sociable, describing it as one of their mistakes during training.

Although he and Shana generally have a parent-child dynamic, Alastor is aware that Shana must grow up and may be trying to adapt, especially after she meets Yuji, and as such doesn't hold her hand through situations, as he knows better than to babysit her. However, like any father figure, he isn't above scolding her at times, such as when he calls her out for avoiding Yuji and leaving his training to Wilhelmina due to all the time he was spending with Fumina Konoe, saying that she would have to face him at some point, advice she ultimately takes to heart.

Alastor is also very protective of Shana, which is shown when he assumed his true form after she was severely hurt by Friagne and killed him without remorse. This protective nature is noted by Yuji and the Snake of the Festival; when Hecate attempts to kill Shana, as she believes her mere presence is a huge threat to her master, the two of them intervene and call her out for being short-sighted, knowing full well that if Shana dies, Alastor will make another contract and seek revenge on all of Bal Masqué.

Background

The Great War

Before the Great War, Alastor chooses to not participate in the sealing ceremony of the Snake of the Festival. However, he actively participates in the conflict following the Snake's sealing, where he, under a contract with Mathilde Saint-Omer, defeats the forces of the Crimson Realm, and ultimately, the leader of the Crimson Realm organization Töten Glocke, Asiz. Unfortunately, the victory is due to a sacrifice in his contractor's part, as his beloved Mathilde perishes the moment she summons Alastor through the ceremony called Tenpa Jōsai (Heaven-breaking, Earth-sundering).

After the end of the Great War, with Wilhelmina Carmel and Merihim, they head off to the Tendōkyū, where he stays inside a Treasure Tool called Caina as the Flame Haze searches for the candidates for the next "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter". Hundreds of years later, they finally found a child perfectly fit to be the vessel of the true Crimson God.

Plot

Second Great War

After Shana's defeat, he follows Yūji and a few member of Bal Masqué then travel to the rift between the human world and the Crimson Realm, the place where the body of the Snake of the Festival is sealed to know his intentions.

Through various battle and tactical planning, Shana reunites with him and her team returns to fight Yūji Sakai as they realize the new world would cause an imbalance of Power of Existence in the far distant future if Denizens consumes Power of Existence recklessly. Through ensuing battles, Shana and Margery Daw successfully re constructed the Unrestricted Spell to include a Law that humans can never be consumed in Xanadu. This is a last ditch effort as Shana's team is too small to prevent the creation of Xanadu, so they merely wanted to protect the Xanadu humans instead. As they feel relieved that their plan worked, Shana is agitated to see Yūji Sakai smiling.

Yūji Sakai, having foreseen such a plan, revealed that the Unrestricted Spell is a secondary effect. In reality, the only requirement is to wait till midnight so that the Reiji Maigo would refill, during that time he ask the Professor to place a special Unrestricted Spell to obtain an extremely vast amount of Power of Existence under his control, where he can direct it to the creation of Xanadu and nullify the Law placed by Shana. Shana and her team has not won, but clearly lost, and can only watch helplessly on the creation of Xanadu. However, Yūji Sakai, as the God of the Festival hears the Denizen's wish as well as the Flame Haze's wish, and did not undo the Law placed by Shana.

Post-Second Great War

He, together with Shana and Margery Daw, in the aftermath, faces Yūji. During the battle Yūji activates Lamie's Unrestricted Spell and cast it on Kazumi Yoshida, with the last plea for her to agree. The spell activates and it repairs the distortions caused in Misaki City and restored the existence of those eaten by Crimson Denizens.

Shana asked Sakai Yūji what his intention is, and he replied that in order to atone for the killing of many Flame Haze and, indirectly, Humans on his quest, he will travel to Xanadu alone to teach Denizens and humans to coexist peacefully, even if it takes thousands of years so that he can finally be together with Shana without guilt. Shana and Alastor, however were furious with his philosophy of severe self punishment, They used their tremendous strength to overpower and defeat Yūji. Later, after Shana and Yūji embraced and kissed, the Spiral Organ's Unrestricted Spell activated and Sakai Yūji becomes a "solid existence", as prophesied by himself - something more than a normal Torch or a Mystes. As Yūji Sakai and Shana delights at this revelation, he, Yūji and Shana departed to Xanadu.

Other Appearances

Anime Appearances

Dengeki Bunko 2007 Movie Festival Special

When Yūji and Kazumi were going to the movies together, Alastor misinformed Shana that the movies are a place where couples fall in love. Later, in the theater, he is appalled to see Yūji with his head against Kazumi's breasts, even though Yūji was unconscious at the time.

Relationships

Shana

Alastor loves Shana like a father does his daughter. In turn, Shana has a great deal of respect for Alastor, seeing as he is known by many prestigious titles, and she has confessed her daughterly (not biological) love for this Crimson Lord.

Yūji Sakai

As Shana's guardian, Alastor's surface and primary disposition is to act unpleasantly harsh and severely towards him. However, in truth, after overcoming many battles with him, he grows to have the same amount of trust in him as Shana does, though he would never tell this to Yūji and would still act severely towards him.

Alastor uses the rude pronoun "kisama" (貴様) when talking to him and often calls him a fool. The severity of his language towards Yūji is toned down in the anime series.

Mathilde Saint-Omer

He loved Mathilde with all his heart. Even then, he would not set his responsibilities aside just for love.

Powers and Abilities

Divine Summonings

Tenpa Jōsai (天破壌砕, Heaven-and-Earth Sundering): Tenpa Jōsai is the summoning of Alastor himself, capable of burning everything to ashes. Unlike other lords that requires a lot of Power of Existence from human to manifest their forms, Alastor's contractor can perform a summoning ceremony of the God of Retribution that, instead uses Denizens around him as the source of the Power of Existence. This method is his Flame Haze's last resort; as no Flame Haze had survived after using it before. But Shana can endure it due to her power. In the novel, the only time Tenpa Jōsai is performed is in the final battle of the Great War. Mathilde summoned Alastor as the last resort the stop Asiz from succeeding his plan to create the entity from Tis (his beloved contractor) and his own existence aka the "Heir to Both Worlds".

Unrestricted Spells

Flame of Heaven: A heavenly fire that burns and extinguishes everything.^{[citation needed]}

Tatsui no Gen (達意の言, Speech of Conveying): A spell which allows Alastor to "read" into other people's intentions and minds. ^{[citation needed]}

Quotes

• (To Shana) "Would you be embarrassed to be naked in front of a rock or a tree. This is out-of-character for you."
• (To Yuji) "Goodness, you're clumsy."

Trivia

• Alastor's title is widely translated as "Flame of Heaven" while, in its Japanese form, more literally means "The Conflagration That Incinerates Both Heaven and Earth".
• His flame color is described as the "color which burned everything into ashes".
• Alastor is originally a name used for a class of demons in Christian demonology. A variation of this name is used by Edward Alexander Crowley in his new name Aleister.
• Interestingly, Alastor (translated as "avenger") is an epithet of Zeus, the Greek god of sky, lightning, thunder, law, order and justice; he is also described as an avenger of evil deeds, specifically the bloodshed in families. Other source describes that the name is used to designate any deities or demons who avenge wrongs committed by men. In the story, Alastor has a voice resembling the roar of distant thunder and is the Crimson God of Retribution, who punishes Crimson Denizens for devouring humans.
• Alastor is one of two Crimson Denizens who have two known contractors: Shana and Mathilde Saint-Omer. The other is Outreniaia and Vetcherniaia.
• It is said that only Alastor himself could completely destroy other Crimson Gods. Nevertheless, he didn't join the first war to defeat the Snake of the Festival, the God of Creation.
• Alastor briefly appears in A Certain Scientific Railgun (Special 1); Ruiko Saten tries to buy a Gekota toy from the stand, but is instead offered the necklace that Alastor takes the form of.
• The name of his vessel references a river that resides in the underworld in Greek Mythology, and in Dante's Inferno Cocytus is the ninth and lowest circle of Hell, which is divided into four sections, one of them is called Caina, which is also the name of the Treasure Tool he resided on while searching for successor to the title of "Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter".

Gallery

Alastor's Cocytus in the Light Novels

Navigation

This is the 6th Featured Article. Alastor has been featured, meaning it was chosen as an article of interest.