Zelgadis

In case you haven’t noticed I also have some serious Zelgadis leanings. While I really enjoy all the characters in Slayers, Zelgadis is my ultimate favourite. As to my reasons for this, I really feel like my fanfic speaks for its self. I do have one thing I would like to say in this section about Zel that I think is fairly important to the purpose of this site.

Zel will never find his cure, because there isn’t one.

Some things a person experiences in their life can never be taken away and will never be quite forgotten, no matter how much we might want it. Zel will have to live with his choice and his reasons for it forever. It’s actually a fairly interesting way of presenting what the desire for power can do to a person. So Zel desired power, and as “the blood of the virtuous Rezo flowed in his veins”, the likelihood that he could have achieved all the power he wanted through the passage of time was very likely. He was very determined to have it. We all know what Rezo did with the power he was granted in resurrecting Shabragnido. It is quite common that the pupil becomes greater than the master, so Zel possibly could have been much more evil than Rezo ever was. Yet, this doesn’t seem to be quite what fate had in mind. Instead of his insides being corrupted by power and the soul inside his human body becoming uglier than the chimera body, his body was changed to that of a freak before the power was even attained. Zel doesn’t seem to understand the lesson until he fights Shabragnido himself, as until then he is searching for the Philosophers’ Stone so that he could use the power in it to kill Rezo. His fight with Rezo goes of course to the end of the first season, but after that – what is it that motivates him? He is looking for his cure. However, after a certain point in NEXT I think Zel has realized that there is no cure to be found. Want me to show a little back up? I’d be delighted.

In the anime when they are at Dragon’s Peak, Zel is told that he cannot go with Lina to see the Claire Bible because inside the mountain was a labyrinth and he could very easily be lost forever. Zel inclines his head and allows Lina to go alone. That doesn’t seem much like the Zel at the beginning of NEXT who said repeatedly, “Because I’m risking everything to find the Claire Bible”. If he still believed there was a cure to be found, I think he would have taken the risk and gone with them, but he didn’t.

Also before the first Rezo dies Zel asks him about his body and Rezo replies, “It was done, and you will have to live with that”.

Also in Book three of the manga, Zel is talking to Shabragnido about joining him. Zel says he will join him if he’ll turn him back into a human, and Shabragnido says that is something that even he cannot do. If Shabragnido can’t do it, then who can? No one.

And then of course there is the fact that Zel has never found anything to indicate even slightly that it is possible to change himself back to a human. Not even the smallest thing.

Plus, he puts his search on hold for his friends over and over again. There’s no rush if there’s no cure.

So what is Zel always looking for if he isn’t looking for his cure?

More power.

Why do you think Xellos never lets him have a look at any of the Claire Bible manuscripts? To annoy him? Well – yeah. But I think it’s more than that. Not that Xellos is concerned about Zel getting in his way or something, he just likes to hinder someone with possibility. That is way more fun to the trickster than irritating someone who has no potential. What’s the fun in stopping something that’s not going anywhere anyway?

Once again I’d like to go to Dragon’s Peak. Zel cared deeply for his friends, especially Lina (at that moment). He wanted her to find what would help to protect her against the mosuku that were obviously after her. Zel is a wise man and he knew that if he were to gain the knowledge it would not help Lina, as he could not always be with her. The knowledge inside the Claire Bible could save her life. Zelgadis is practically indestructible and need not worry for himself as much as he worries for his friends, which would also explain why he is so angry at Amelia whenever she jumps in front of him to protect him. Zelgadis doesn’t carry a shield. He is a shield.

So why all the pretence? Why does he keep saying, “I’m looking for my cure”?

I don’t think this is very difficult to explain. Zel is very reserved. He builds up layers of protective barriers to keep himself from being hurt by others. Therefore, wouldn’t it be strange for him to share his dearest desires with anyone? And being so ridiculed by them, stay with them? Imagine how quick Lina would jump all over him if she knew what he was really doing? She would eat him alive, bringing his stone skin to his remembrance. I don’t think he could take that from Lina, so it’s better for him to leave her out of his plans completely. Plus, I think saying that he’s looking for a cure gives him an excuse to stay with the gang even though he’s a loner.

So, does Zel like his appearance?

I think he’s confused as to how he feels about it. Slowly, slowly, I see him coming around to the benefits, and slowly not being so ashamed. I think he likes turning his opponent’s blood cold like when he was fighting Dilgear – any time he was fighting Dilgear. It’s when he thinks of love or having an intimate relationship that he gets all angsty about it. He doesn’t want people to act like he’s a freak or as though he’s just acceptable as the grandson of Rezo, the Red Priest – he has quite a foot print to fill. Could it be that he needs to surpass Rezo before he can present himself to the world? Perhaps he needs to know that the world would acknowledge him as the best they have ever seen before he would present himself as a lover?

So, if Zel gets the power he’s looking for - won’t he be evil?

Not with the friends he’s got and the skin he’s in. He’ll never forget what happened to Rezo and his body is a constant reminder.