"Yeah...high and mighty rules...the fates of all wolves in the entire world are controlled by human rues. If any of them threatens a human's way of life, they're killed. Then when there's not many wolves left, they're taken into custody. I don't want a crappy future like that! Now it's my turn to judge. My anger is the anger of nature!!!" |
The Wolf Man with the Demon Eye (鬼目で狼男, Oni-me de ōkami otoko)[8] is a Werewolf who is the last of the Immortal Clan[9] and was imprisoned for stealing Maba's left eye.[10] After being freed by Eruka Frog from Medusa Gorgon's instruction, he renames himself Free (フリー, Furī) and joins her group until her death. Free was one of the antagonists in Soul Eater.
Personality
Despite his impressive power and viciousness in combat, Free is actually silly and reasonably comedic in his thoughts and actions. During his escape from Witch Prison, he explained to Eruka that while in jail he had devised a plan to escape: dig a tunnel under the cell's wall with a spoon. Free came up with this idea out of inspiration from movies he had seen, to which he had always had thought that the concept was very "cool". This plan, however, is foiled on account that the prison would only serve food that only required chopsticks to eat with, never providing Free with the spoon he so desperately needed. Free is also reasonably foolish and even he acknowledges it, stating that he is isn't very good at coming up with ideas. When Eruka suggested that Free could have escaped Witch prison by urinating on the prison bars so they would corrode and rust over time, Free, upon realization of how simple the concept was, bashed his head against a nearby tree, calling himself an idiot. However, he has shown he is capable of being cunning. During the attack on DWMA he used an illusionary duplicate to delay Kid and Black☆Star. He has also managed to steal one of Maba's eyes, implying he was previously much more skilled than he is at current. This decrease in ability was likely due to his 200 year incarceration.
He also has been shown to have an incredibly bad sense of direction. During Operation Charge Baba Yaga's Castle, Free was assigned to destroy a Lock in Baba Yaga's castle's second tower, but instead, ended up in tower 8, the tower on the complete opposite side of the Castle. Free responds to the realization in much the same way as he had done when Eruka had mentioned another cliche for Free to escape prison, holding his head and shouting, frustrated with himself.
Free, overall, doesn't seem to like when others draw attention to his mistakes. When he fought against Maka and Soul in London, he accidentally hits himself with his own attacks on two occasions as a result of not having fought in over 200 years. He tries to avert the attention of his opponents by saying that everything is okay, and that there is nothing of interest to see.
He takes pleasure in actions against DWMA or enemies of Medusa, noticeably smiling when he is responsible for any kind of successful action against either force. When he successfully tricks Kid and Black☆Star into thinking that they were actually fighting him during The Eve Party Nightmare while they were actually only fighting an image of him, he is shown laughing at the duo after they discover the truth.
When he feels as if he is in debt to someone, Free always likes to repay the person he believes he is in debt to. Upon first meeting the Witch Medusa, Free almost immediately asks Medusa how he can repay her for breaking him out of prison. At first, Medusa purposefully tests Free, saying that he doesn't have to repay her, to which Free persists in asking that he does so.
Relationships
Main:Free/Relationships
Appearance
In his human form, he is a tall, attractive man with a rather muscular build, apparently seeming to be in his thirties, with some facial hair unkept. On his right shoulder he has a tattoo of unknown form, which resembles an eye. HIs left eye is removed and replaced with Maba's own Demon Eye. Above this Demon Eye is not an eyebrow but instead a tattoo of the words, without spaces, "NOFUTURE." This eye also shows no pupil or iris, instead it has a magical array.
Despite his escape from the Witches' Prison, Free still almost always wears his prison clothes, complete with a ball and chain on his left leg and black and white striped prisoner pants. Although generally the top half of the outfit is tied around his waist, he also wore a simple white t-shirt instead. Later he is shown with the same shirt, but with an inverted color scheme.
In his werewolf form, Free's appearance is that of the typical depiction of a werewolf. It features mostly dark fur; with his chest area, abdomen, hands, face and ears all being gray. This form used to include a long tail when Free first revealed himself as a werewolf, however, after it was cut off by Maka's Witch-Hunt it is yet to be seen again. He also has both extended sharp claws and fangs.
Free's soul is large, its diameter much longer than he is tall. Free's soul changes shape depending on the form he assumes. When assuming his more humanoid form, his soul includes spikes along the top resembling his tufts of hair and decorated with the same array as his Demon Eye and his "NOFUTURE" eyebrow tattoo. When transforming into his Werewolf form, Free's soul expands and gains two spikes at its top, resembling his wolf ears.
Magic & Abilities
Magic
Demon Eye (悪魔の眼, Akuma no Me): Plucked from the left eye of the Witch Queen, Maba,[11] the Demon Eye gives Free the ability to utilize the same Magic she possesses.[12] Along with bestowing him other Magics, it also includes a spell under the usage of the Demon Eye itself.[13]
Free drawing power in his magic stance.
- A Vasili (アヴァシリ, Abashiri): Free is an extremely proficient wielder of A Vasili, magic specializing in freezing his intended target/subject.[14] This Magic is also his most commonly used type.
- Spatial Magic (空間魔法, Kūkan Mahō): Free is also adept at using Spatial Magic, magic which specializes in warping & manipulating space.[15] Although he is proficient at it, he has admitted his own control over this magic is poor in comparison to Maba.[16]
Powers
Immortality: Due to being of the Immortal Clan, this allows Free the ability to not only live longer but to also survive any injury set to him and instantly heal,[17] even healing as far as losing his limbs such as his arm[18] or torso.[19] He can also take amazing levels of punishment due to his immortality such as being stabbed, being skewered, and taking Death the Kid's shots from the Demon Twin Guns, though he still feels the pain.
Abilities
Free as he transform
Lycanthropy: As a Werewolf, Free himself has the ability to change into a Werewolf and Human at will. By transforming into a Werewolf, he gains more power and his own soul even expands to showcase this increasing power.[10] This allows him to perform more powerful spells as well as increase his overall performance in battle by making him fast and stronger then he normally is.[20]
- Legendary Wolfman
Enhanced Senses: Free does at least have an enhanced sense of smell both in his human form and presumably in his Werewolf form.[21]
Free pushes back Mosquito in his 200 Years Ago form.
Martial Way Expertise: Free is an extremely proficient and capable martial artist, having easily gotten the upper-hand on Maka Albarn in his Werewolf form[22] and combined with his unarmed capabilities & A Vasili in his human form, was powerful enough to even physically outclassed Mosquito in his 100 Years Ago form during their battle with him in Baba Yaga Castle.[23] He also displayed an impressive level of skill when fighting Death the Kid to keep up with the ruse of being a illusion.[24]
- Fighting Wolf Fist (闘狼拳, Tōrōken): Free's selected fighting style in which is an aggressive fighting style that takes advantage of his immortality body and allows him to power on through other's attacks.[25]
Immense Strength: Free is incredibly strong, capable of lifting up his iced-enhanced Ball and Chain in his human form with incredible ease and utilize it as a weapon[26] as well as send Mosquito in his 200 Years Ago through a brick wall with ease.[27]
Immense Power: Free possesses an exceptional amount of power, with his notoriety being known throughout the Witches' Realm and the world and those whom know range from knowledgeable such as Eruka Frog[28] and Maka Albarn[29] to even more powerful individuals such as Mosquito held him at a respectable degree.[30]
Paraphernalia
- Ball-and-Chain (formerly): Free formerly had a ball-and-chain which he could freeze with his A Vasili and use as a weapon.
Weaknesses
Free misplaces his spell due to rustiness.
Being considered a Witch and a Magic user, it was speculated that Free himself may be subseptible to attacks like that of the Witch-Hunt (or the other Great Traditional Techniques of the Scythe-Meister) by Maka Albarn despite being Immortal.[31] In addition, Free after breaking out of prison was subjected to being rusty after having not used his own abilities in over 200 years in which caused him to misplace his own spells to affect himself instead of his targets. This causes him to lose against Maka Albarn and Black☆Star using their respective weapons.[32] He would later overcome this weakness.
Mosquito exceeds Free in power in his 400 Years Ago form.
Free is also capable of overestimating at times, such as when he claimed he could hold the Independent Cube for one hour but in reality, couldn't even hold for for less then forty minutes[33] and even admitted that he exaggerated due to being prideful.[34] This may also have been the case since Spatial Magic in particular is distorted against Madness[35] and Death was imprisoned in his spell. However, Free has also admitted himself after a time that his control over Spatial Magic in itself is poor compared to Maba.[16] And Free even has his limits; despite his renowned power, was easily taken out by Mosquito in less then one second just after the latter had transformed into his 400 Years Ago form.[36]
His Demon Eye's magical energy is also finite and must be recharged to pull off the Independent Cube spell in which also requires the backing of Calculation Spells in order to pull off the spell.[37] The Demon Eye can be inhibited, with Maba ensured to cover his Demon Eye with blindfold covered with magical symbols and seals to prevent the usage of his powerful Magic within his arsenal.[2] His large size has proven to be a problem and makes him incapable of utilizing stealth, as seen when he tried to break Eruka Frog out of DWMA custody only to have gotten caught, with DWMA guards pointing out he is "huge and stands out", further speculating that spotting him would be obvious.[38]
History
Imprisonment
Free rails against chopsticks
Two hundred years ago, Free stole the Grand Witch Maba's eye. He then fought the Grand Witch, which is when Maba discovered that no matter how much effort she put into it, she could not successfully kill Free on account of his immortality. Maba, however, used an alternate strategy in defeating Free, and instead of killing him, she was able to restrain him and have Free locked up in Witch Prison for life. Free became famously known among Witches as "Prisoner 13, The Man with the Demon Eye". In order to ensure Free never escaped, Maba personally kept the key to Free's cell in her room.
Experiment
Free's appearance comes in turn when Medusa finds an interest in Soul. She plans to test the Black Blood that is present in his body. Free was released from the witch's jail on account of Medusa's plan. He is called "Demon Eye" by her, he states that everything was taken from him, including his name. So on account of his recent freedom, he named himself "Free". He naturally allied himself with Medusa, based on the fact that they both don't like DWMA. He is then sent out to London where he engages in battle with Black☆Star, and Maka as part of Medusa's "experiment". After fending off Black☆Star, he then reveals that he is a part of the Immortal Clan and is a werewolf. After transforming he gains the upper hand until Maka and Soul use the Witch-Hunt and is tackled after, sending him off the bridge. In an attempt to get back on the bridge, he mistakenly freezes himself and falls into the River Thames below.
The Eve's Fight to the Death
During the celebration of DWMA's anniversary, Free appears alongside with Medusa, Eruka, Crona and Mizune. He was given the job to put up a barrier around the area where all the DWMA attenders were located. He used the power of his left eye to cast the Independent Cube spell with the help of Eruka's Magic Calculation, and trapped everyone in. The barrier was supposed to hold up for an hour, enough time to give Free and Eruka enough time to get to the Kishin, which was buried under DWMA, and inject the Black Blood into the sack which he was in, thus reviving the Kishin, she set herself first after the gate. If anyone where to come in, she would be the first one they meet. If anyone where to get past her, the next person they would meet is Crona. Eruka and Free were assigned to head straight for the Kishin, with the Black Blood. Stein, along with the main trio, Kid, Black☆Star, and Maka also entered the underground layer.
Stein was left behind with Medusa while the rest advanced. Kid was to go straight after Free and Eruka, Maka was to advance with Kid for back-up, and Black☆Star was to hold up Crona. Disobeying orders, Maka fought Crona while Black☆Star went on to catch up with Kid. Noticing that Kid was catching up, Free decided to setup a diversion. He uses his Forwarding Vision spell to create an image of himself, then uses his Demon Eye Cannon at Kid to support the fact that the image is real. Kid attacks numerous times at the image, but as he believes that it's immortal, he finds himself in a bad situation. Black☆Star then arrives and begins to engage in battle also. Being that he is a close-range fighter, he goes straight to the image and attacks, not knowing that every attack he does goes straight through the image. Kid notices this and exposes Free. But by the time they realized this, Free and Eruka were already so close to the shrine in which the Kishin was sealed in.
Free and Eruka then enter the shrine, feeling the presence of the Kishin the moment they open the door. Upon entering, the madness begins to take its toll on Eruka as she imagines frightful things happening to her. Free notices this and returns to aid her but finds himself being pulled in the madness also. They shortly break free before killing themselves and proceed on with the mission. When they finally reach the Kishin, they are confronted by Kid, who has now caught up with the two. In an attempt to destroy the Black Blood, Kid initiates a continuous fire at Eruka. Free steps in the field of fire taking advantage of his immortality and giving Eruka time to inject the blood. As she was trying to inject it, Black☆Star appears and seemingly destroys the container of the blood, but in reality, he actually mistakenly attacked the statue above, thus failing in his original intentions. The Kishin then awakens and blows back Black☆Star after a his failed attempt in use Big Wave attack and takes Kid out too.
Operation: Capture Baba Yaga's Castle
Before the operation began, Free was shown to have infiltrated Arachnophobia in preperation for Medusa's movements. He was shown several times but does nothing that can be considered noteworthy. When Medusa's plan to confront Arachne goes into effect, he was supposed to go to tower 1 but due to a complete lack of any sense of direction, went instead towards tower 2. However, in the end he ended up at tower 8, where he met up with Death the Kid. Since he recognizes Mosquito's strength, he contributes his messing up to fate and decides to help Kid, even though having to fight alongside a shinigami 'kinda pisses him off'. The pair agree that destroying the locking aritfact at this tower takes priority over their feelings for each other and Free comments that they must be great comrades to be able to desert each other without the slightest hesitation.
Mosquito easily disables Free
Kid and Free assault Mosquito, and Free's physical strength combined with his use of A Vasili proves to be too much for Mosquito's form from 100 years ago to handle. Kid sees a chance to get past Mosquito but Free's subsequent attack knocks Mosquito in this particular direction, causing Kid to call him a fool. Mosquito goes back to his form from 200 years ago, resulting in Mosquito gaining the upper hand for a short while, as even his current speed can not stand up to Free's strength. Free manages to regain his footing and swings Mosquito through a wall along with himself and Kid. In this new area, Mosquito has far more room to move than the hallway they were previously fighting in, meaning Kid is unable to hit him. Free however creates some Ice Pillars to restrict Mosquito's movements, providing Kid with a chance to inflict damage in close combat. Free then proceeds to use his Ice Bind to increase their advantage even further, Kid knocks Mosquito out of his current predicament and onto the floor. Free then uses A Vasili to completely encase Mosquito in Ice, transforming into his werewolf form and firing a Demon Eye Cannon simultaneously with Kid's Death Cannon.
Mosquito survives with heavy damage and goes on revert to his form from 400 years ago. In less than a second he manages to cut Free in half and cut Kid's left arm off. Brew activates within Kid not much later, allowing Free to use him as a distraction and conduct Forwarding Vision, to trick Mosquito into thinking he was still there while he goes off to destroy the Lock. Once it is destroyed Mosquito leaves to protect Arachne, and Free is not seen again in the arc.
Battle on the Moon
DWMA captures Free
Free is next seen, or rather heard, outside Eruka's cell door in DWMA; claiming he is there to rescue her. Eruka is overjoyed to see him when the door opens, but is disappointed to see that Free has merely been captured as well, his size apparently having hindered his infiltration.
Free joins Kid, Eruka, Kim, Risa, and Arisa to go to the Witches' Realm to negotiate with Maba and the witches about an alliance against the Kishin—only to be caught and put on trial. As an immortal, Free is sentenced to death one-thousand times, an amount that dwarfs his witch allies' single- to double-digit number of death sentences, yet itself is dwarfed by Kid's sentence to death one-million times. Fortunately, Kid is able to negotiate a different outcome, earning the opportunity to leave the Witches' Realm and leave Kim to conclude negotiations.
Dark Side of the Moon
Aftermath
Free's last appearance in the manga
A few weeks after Asura's defeat, Free is seen with the other witches at Kid's ceremony. As Eruka says that peace between witches and DWMA may not be so bad, Free seems to agree.
Trivia
- Suitable for his status as a wolfman, Free is prone to making references to fairy tales involving the Big Bad Wolf: When he battled the DWMA students for first time on Tower Bridge, he said he would blow down every kind of house just to find them (stated in manga only), a reference to "Three Little Pigs", where the wolf character blows with his breath the houses in which the pigs were hidden, though he couldn't destroy the solid one. He also makes a reference to Little Red Riding Hood, saying that Maka would look good as the Red Riding Hood.
- Free's English voice artist, Travis Willingham, is married to Maka Albarn's voice artist, Laura Bailey. Willingham and Bailey also played characters on opposite sides in the English dub of Fullmetal Alchemist, with Willingham as Colonel Roy Mustang and Bailey as the Homunculus Lust.
- In the Funimation English dub for Episode 37, Free, disguised as an Arachnophobia agent and speaking with Medusa Gorgon via her crystal ball, was voiced by Chris Cason, credited as "Arachnid" (perhaps a generic name for members of Arachnophobia).
- Although Free wears the chain and ball on his left leg, on the cover to Volume 6 of the manga Soul Eater, the chain and ball is on his right leg.
References
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 27 - Free:Demon Eye Man...that's right...when they put me in that jail, they took everything from me...even my name.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Soul Eater Volume 3; Chapter 9, page 176
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 27
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 10 - Free: You guys have been watching over me for two hundred years, haven't ya?
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 31 - Maka: There's something about his soul..it's not normal...there's a bunch of stuff mixed together
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 (Yen Press) Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 32 - Maka: There's something about his soul..it's not normal...there's a bunch of stuff mixed together. Human!? Witch?! I sense something else too.
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 51
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 23; Chapter 98,page 29 - In a legal Witch Trial, Free is referenced only as this.
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 38
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 39
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 9 - Eruka:Y-you mean "The man with the Demon Eye"?! He's the guy who stole Maba-sama's left eye!
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 13; Chapter 52, page 157 - The Demon Eye is emphasized when Free casts even his A Vasili.
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 11, page 52
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 3; Chapter 10, page 12
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 15 - Stein:Space is warping...oh no! Are we being sealed in?!
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 101 - Free:This is legit...way better then my Spatial Magic.
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 10 - Free:Yeah, I'm healing. BEcause Im one of the Immortal Clan.
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 11. page 81
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 53
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 10-11
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 10
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedChapter 11, Page 49-59 - ↑ Soul Eater Volume 13; Chapter 52, page 140-142
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 6; Chapter 20, page 68-73
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 11 - Maka:An aggressive offense that takes advantage of his immortal body!!
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 13
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 13; Chapter 52, page 148-149
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 3; Chapter 9, page 172-188
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 4; Chapter 10, page 39-40
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 52 - Mosquito:Magic...Power and speed...You're...not human I see...but I know you...you're the Man with the Demon Eye...
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 10 - Maka:If the Witch-Hunt can work on Demons, I'm sure it can beat an immortal too!
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 11
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 22 - Eruka: Free, didn't you say your spell would last an hour...it hasn't even been forty minutes yet...
- ↑ (Yen Press) Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 22 - Free:Yeah so I exaggerated a little about how long I could last...I'm a guy after all...got an image to keep!!!
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 23; Chapter 101, page 134
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 16; Chapter 52, page 169-170
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 5; Chapter 15, page 8
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 22; Chapter 97, page 160