"I finally found it...A place to pour this 800 damn years' worth of murderous rage into. I'd been waitin' for so damn long, changin' bodies over and over and over again...waitin'....And for a short-tempered guy like me, that's a friggin' long time to be waitin'...an eternity...but I could do the time 'cos Arachne was there. She was the only thing that got me through...and then you two brats destroyed that! Well, thanks, 'cos I couldn't have asked for a better target for my 800 years' worth of murderous rage!!." |
Giriko (ギリコ, Giriko) was an Enchanter and Demon Weapon allied with the witch, Arachne Gorgon,[5] and served as one of Arachnophobia's top and most powerful members.[6]
After the demise of Arachnophobia, he later allies with Noah and becomes part of Noah's Group in an effort to avenge Arachne's demise.[7] He is later killed by the efforts of Maka Albarn and Soul Eater.[8] Giriko is one of the major antagonists in Soul Eater.
Background
After Arachne's "demise", he waited for her in Loew Village, where she had placed her soul into the Oldest Golem. Giriko became an Enchanter, using such skills to maintain the Oldest Golem to survive for 800 years. But for himself to live 800 years, Giriko used his skills as an Enchanter to implant his memories into his descendants, operating those children like he would any golem.[9]
Personality
Giriko first appeared to representatives of the DWMA as a polite person, introducing himself as a Loew Village Enchanter under the false name of Saw (or Sou), but during this encounter with Maka Albarn and Crona, he quickly showed his true colors. Giriko is far from refined and is highly uncooperative with most people. He is extremely rude, not caring whom he offends; therefore, he is quick to start arguments that turn into fights, out of his desire to prove himself the better. Although he admires the powerful witch Arachne, which may explain his desire to prove himself, he is not above losing patience with her before he can restrain himself, and he will even mock Arachne's other recruits into Arachnophobia such as Mosquito, his frequent opponent in arguments and fights despite being his own ally.
Because Giriko had to feign kindness for 800 years, he has built up so much bloodlust that, upon the Kishin's revival, he assumes he can catch up on all his gluttonous, lustful, and violent activities from which he has abstained from doing for so long.[10] Therefore, Giriko lives for such reckless behavior, regularly giving into his destructive urges.
Aside from his devotion for Arachne, Giriko shows little concern for other people, not even his own children. By using his enchanter powers, Giriko has managed to encode his memories and soul into his descendants, overwhelming them with his own soul. Therefore, in the 800 years he has waited for Arachne's revival, he has lived more than 30 lives.[9] He actually possessed at least 31 such bodies, upon assuming the body of one of his female descedants.
Although he is a weapon like Tsubaki or Soul, Giriko openly states his hatred for DWMA, claiming that he wants to follow his own path, rather than be used by a meister.
Giriko has also shown a particular fondness for most kinds of alcohol, rarely seen without a bottle in one of his hands. His heavy drinking has been detrimental to his effectiveness as a fighter, such as when Liz and Patty Thompson drugged his drink, preventing him from fighting against the DWMA's siege on Baba Yaga Castle, which led to the death of his beloved Arachne. Overall, Giriko gives into his vices for alcohol, flirting, killing, sex, and partying, all of which makes him a violent, unethical person, willing to kill his opponent—unless he is attracted to them, in which case he threatens to rape them before killing them.
Relationships
Main article: Giriko/Relationships
While an effective fighter, capable strategist, and talented Enchanter, Giriko can be blunt and direct with his allies and enemies, inadvertently insulting people he respects such as Arachne, or making comments and arguments easily mocked by more savvy opponents such as Justin Law. As he is so direct, however, Giriko can pick up details about his opponents rather well, such as identifying Justin Law's fall under the Kishin's sway or Maka Albarn's failure to see through the golem she constructed.
Capricious, Giriko follows the path of easiest resistance and most enjoyment: while he may be able to kill someone quickly, he enjoys toying with his opponents, and if he can get someone else to do the work for him, he will, whether seizing the body of one of his descendants to fight his opponents or escaping from a losing battle. He is prone to mood swings that make it difficult for him to form long-lasting bonds with others, as he quickly leaves the defeated Arachnophobia for Noah's gang on just the invitation of Justin. He is also easily distracted by strangers, as when an offer for drinks and conversation with Liz and Patty Thompson made it easy for the siblings to put a drug in his drink to knock him out.
Appearance
Giriko has a bland tan skin tone and has a varied types of piercings, along with a metal necklace. His eyes and hair color are that of a calm brown. His hair spikes, in several places, like a series of blades and possesses sharp teeth. He typically is outfitted with blue-green jeans, a white sleeveless collar shirt, black boots, and brown enchanter gloves that extends halfway between his elbows and his shoulder with the cuff folded over. As of joining Arachnophobia, the only recognizable difference in his wardrobe is the addition of a fur-trimmed jacket.[11]
During Salvage Arc, Giirko was in need of a new body due to the last one falling apart and as a result, gained a new body in which was female contrary to his previous forms. As a woman, Giriko appears similar to his male form, physically and sartorially. Giriko retains sharp teeth, wears attire similar to his male form: gear-adorned jeans and belt, a sleeveless buttoned shirt, and Enchanter Gloves. Aside from some anatomical and gendered differences in physical form, Giriko's female form differs regarding hair, which now resemble chainsaws.[8]
Giirko's soul appears as a purple-hued soul a sharp chain wrapped around it and numerous other instances of mechanisms. His soul appears as large Justin Law's own.[12]
Special Abilities
Full-Weapon Transformation (全身武器, Zenshin Buki): As a Demon Weapon, Giriko can transform into a weapon.[3]
Chainsaw | Buzzsaw
- Deadly Demon Weapon (魔凶器, Makyōki): As a Demon Weapon, he is capable of transforming himself into a large chainsaw as well as a buzzsaw, in which is assumed to be a capability due to a weapon's ability to shift forms. As a gaint chainsaw, he (or a Meister) can use the gears to increase his power. As a buzzsaw, the "Saws" are actually energy in place of saws. Furthermore, due to his large size and preference, he instead uses a Golem to act as his Meister in place of a living being.[3][13]
Giriko's Chains active.
- Chain (チェイン, Chein): This allows Giriko to cause the chain associated with his chainsaw weapon form to appear upon specific parts of his body to act like a sort of chainmail armor. As the chain is constructed much like its real life counterpart, it is highly reinforced and durable; this means it is capable of completely preventing the damage inflicted by even high-level attacks such as the Holy Cross Chop.[3]
- Reverse Gear (逆回転, Gyaku Kaiten; FUNimation "Reverse Rotation"): This technique allows Giriko to reverse his movements from his chain, usually used in an attempt to surprise his opponents.[5]
Giriko uses Saw Leg against Crona.
- Saw Leg (鋸脚, Nokoashi): With partial transformation of his weapon, Giriko can enable Saw Leg. His Saw Leg ability is maintained by "gears" like that of a regular chainsaw in which can make his attacks more powerful. He can also skid along the surface with his saw legs[14] His Saw Legs are capable of immense destruction, seen as a mere clash between his Saw Leg and Justin's Law-Abiding Silver Gun causing great destruction.[15] Later as a female, he's capable of transforming his entire leg into a Chainsaw-like partial transformation and sends powerful tidal waves powerful enough to nearly incapacitate Maka.[16]
- First Gear (1速, 1 Soku; Speed Setting 1): His first gear is capable of sending out powerful kicks in which moved strong individuals such as Justin Law a few feet away.[17]
- Second Gear (2速, 2 Soku; Speed Setting 2): On it's second gear, his saw leg was powerful enough to break through Crona/Ragnarok's Black Blood.[18]
Wave of Slaughter.
- Third Gear (3速, 3 Soku; FUNimation "Speed Setting 3"): Not much has been seen of it's capabilities on individuals. However, only of his techniques with third gear was powerful enough to send a powerful tidal wave through an avalanche[19] and capable of easily dispatching a platoon of DWMA troops.[15]
- Wave of Slaughter (虐殺風潮, Gyakusatsu Fūchō): Giriko raises his leg high up in the air, engaging his Third Gear, and then performing a downward, vertical kick with his slaw leg.[20]
Using his skills as an Enchanter, Giriko creates decoys from snow.
Enchanter (人形技師, Enchantā; FUNimation "Puppet Engineer"; Literally meaning "Makers of Clay Puppets"): Giriko is a master Enchanter, having been skilled enough to upkeep the Oldest Golem as well as use the skills he possess as an enchanter to program his own memories into his genes, allowing him to live on in nearly 30 bodies for 800 years by inhabiting his own children. It is assumed he can easily control Golems for his own use.[22] Unlike other enchanters, he can also use his skills with even the likes of soil-like material such as snow, as shown when he made decoys in which appeared similar to him until struck.[20]
Murderous Wavelength (殺人の波長, Satsujin no Hachō): Possessing this Wavelength, this causes Giriko to possess a large amount of negative energy within himself in which makes to an unstable and volatile personality. In turn, this allows his attacks to become more powerful. However, such a Wavelength comes with a fatal weakness.[3]
Giriko uses his combat skills and weapon abilities against his equal, Justin Law.
Master Hand-to-Hand Combat: As witnessed by his Golem counterpart, Giriko is immensely skilled in unarmed hand-to-hand combat, often using it with his weapon abilities. His fighting style revolves around using kicks. He was capable of easily taking both Maka and Soul in hand-to-hand combat, in which the latter held no match for.[23]
- Master Autonomous Combatant: Much like Justin Law, Giriko is one of the few individuals who's extremely competent in fighting alone without the reliability of a Meister. He is skilled enough to fight on par with the likes of Justin Law as well as nearly kill Crona/Ragnarok during their fight.[5] After inhabiting the body of a female (his daughter), his prowess remained the same and was capable of overwhelming the likes of both Maka Albarn.[8]
Weaknesses
Giriko's soul explodes.
After Arachne's demise, his yearning for revenge on Maka Albarn specifically had caused his soul to began wearing from the Murderous Wavelength's influence on his soul amplified by his hatred for her. In turn, this also causes pain and cracks on his body to appear. According to Maka, no matter how many times his soul and body was renewed from his Echanter skills, his soul was too small for his bloodlust to "cram" into his soul. Despite Maka's advice to rest his vendetta against her, his personality and intent to kill her caused him to ignore. As a result, his soul exploded and instantly killed Giriko.[8]
Equipment
Enchanter's Gloves: As an accomplished and extremely competent Enchanter, Giriko possess the Enchanter's Gloves, allowing him to mix soil with the usage of Magic from the gloves to knead and shape soil-like material. It is assumed that he can also command Golems with such devices.[24]
History
Being a servant of Arachne and Enchanter, Giriko bides his time to await her revival. To ensure his own survival, he used his skills as an Enchanter to implant his memories into his genes that passed on to his own children. He lived nearly thirty, mundane lives. During the wait, he would also build power enough to later stand against Death Weapon Meister Academy though the process of living those lives nearly made him lose his mind out of boredom.[4]
Synopsis
Trial Enrollment Arc
Giriko's true nature is revealed.
As Soul, Crona, Ragnarok, and Maka explore Loew Village to investigate the Oldest Golem rampage to no luck with the villagers, Giriko (under the alias "Saw") offers his assistance in finding the Oldest Golem.[25] Leading them to it, Soul notes his suspicious behavior despite Maka's protest. Giriko begans spieling about the peaceful nature of Loew Village and reveals those who appear the nicest are the one who have the darkest of intentions. The Oldest Golem appears, Giriko claiming they can no longer keep it hidden.[26] Noting Maka having found a wavelength with the Golem, Giriko reveals himself having waited for the day to stand against the DWMA with a surprising revelation: he himself is a Demon Weapon without any need of a actual Meister.[27]
A battle between the group and himself ensures, with Giriko spouting out his sinister and twisted views and gradually falter his own sanitiy as he begins having the advantage. Despite Maka's initial hit on the Golem, she finds herself paralyzed from Thread. As Giriko and the Golem go in for the kill, she is saved by Crona. However, the fight is paused on account of Arachne's reemergence.[28] Giriko attempts to bring Arachne to speed but is brushed off due to her own knowledge of the situation. After Crona attempts to excute Arachne, she order Giriko to kill them. Obeying, he nearly kills the Meister. It was then they are saved by Justin Law, who almost killed Giriko with his Holy Cross Chop had his chains not surround him in time.[29] After some banter, the two weapons proceed to duel, with each exchanging powerful blows. During this, Maka is able to deduce that the two are equal in strength, resulting in there being no clear victor. After the brief skirmish, Giriko departs with Arachne. He is last seen arriving at Arachnophobia's main base, in a car that he had swiftly altered into a convertible, by unceremoniously cutting its roof off.
The Bodyguard Arc
While Arachne discusses the current circumstances surrounding the Moral Manipulation Machine, Giriko abruptly interrupts her, questioning "will it be safe with just that geezer (Mosquito)?". He then explains that he's "itching for some violence" and so he'll head there too but Arachne proceeds to stop him, saying that she has obtained the 'employment' of a very strong bodyguard. After the reciting of numerous details about Mifune, Giriko is just glad they managed to gain his cooperation.
Snake
After the destruction of the Moral Manipulation Machine and Mosquito's return, Giriko insults him by calling his judgment on the situation of whether their soldiers are fit meaningless, as he himself isn't fit. A small confrontation ensues, where each trades offenses at the other, with Giriko focusing upon Mosquito's age. However; just as Giriko proposes that he take a commemorative photo after cutting Mosquito up into little bits, a messenger bursts in, bringing the battle to a sudden conclusion.
Reunion Express
Giriko is in attendance during Medusa's visit to her sister Arachne but he does very little; that is until she turns to leave, where Medusa finds herself immediately surrounded by the imposing forms of Giriko, Mosquito and Mifune. A conflict appears inevitable, yet Arachne strangely allows her sister to leave without incident, provoking even Giriko to ask if it's really okay.
Brew Tempest
Giriko, along with many others, was sent on the mission to retrieve Brew. In this battle he was the leader of a force of Enchanters but he is quickly confronted by Justin and a huge avalanche, caused by his loud voice. Giriko manages to easily stop the tide of snow, however, it is at the expense of everyone around him. After an exhausting battle between the pair, Giriko is forced to retreat and escapes by creating duplicates of himself, made of snow.
Operation: Capture Baba Yaga's Castle
When DWMA successfully manage to infiltrate Arachnophobia's base, by disguising themselves as members of the organization, Maka is mistakenly dragged into maid service. The room she is tasked with cleaning belongs to Giriko, who is currently drinking at the time she arrives. Once he notices that it's a girl hidden under the cloak, he demands that she take her mask off but luckily, both Liz and Patti interrupt before she is made to reveal her face. However, as Maka is about to leave she trips and her mask flies off, yet Giriko simply tells her "in 7...no, in 10 years, feel free to come back", completely not recognizing who she actually is.
Much later, a member of Arachnophobia is seen furiously banging on the outside of Giriko's door, as he sleeps soundly inside the room. It is then revealed that during his time with Liz and Patti, they had spiked one of his many drinks with a powerful sleeping drug, resulting in his present condition.
Tying Things Up, and New Beginnings
Only after the conclusion of the battle at Baba Yaga's Castle does Giriko wake from his slumber, only to find the castle both empty and destroyed, as he proceeds to stumble around. Suddenly, Justin appears again before Giriko, claiming that they had been searching for him to ask him to come along with them. After the events of the previous arc, Giriko accepts and joins Noah's newly formed group.
Formation
When Justin subsequently returns to Noah's concealed location, stating that the "Ultimate Fighter of DWMA" and the "Crusher" prevented him from achieving his intended aim of assassinating Maka, a small argument then ensues between himself and Giriko.
I'm gonna be an Angel
During Gopher's brutal interrogation and assault on Death the Kid, Giriko does and says nothing at all. However, it is only after Kid replies with a quip on how disorganized The Book of Eibon is kept, eliciting a further punch from Gopher and a subsequent reprimand by Noah, that Giriko comments on how the show makes a great side dish for his drink.
Black Feathers vs White Feathers
When Gopher returns from his failed assassination attempt on Maka, his anger leads him to violently beat Kid. While this occurs, Justin is observed simply standing outside but when the assault begins to pick up rhythm, he removes his earphones and serenely listens to the disturbing beat. It is at this point that Giriko appears, stating that Justin has nice tastes in what he listens to.
Salvage
Giriko enters the Book of Eibon as per Noah's suggestion to fight Maka and Soul and to finally avenge Arachne's death.
He finds them in the "Sloth" chapter and kicks Soul to the side and then throws Maka on the bed with the intention to "make her scream right now". But when Maka doesn't show any emotion to this, Giriko screams in her face in anger and just plans to gut Maka when Soul kicks him off of her. Due to her experience in the "Envy" chapter, Maka barely puts up a fight at the beginning of the fight, until Soul decides to challenge Giriko one-on-one. Unfortunately, Giriko still manages to get the upper hand on Soul, since he doesn't have much experience fighting without a meister, and badly injures him by grabbing his arms and using his Saw Foot to cut away at his torso while manically laughing before he kicked the injured Death Scythe towards Maka. After Maka gets her confidence back after seeing Soul still attempting to fight Giriko,she and the Enchanter go at it again. Giriko manages to keep Maka on the defensive until Soul used his "Adagio of the Soul" to nullify Giriko's soul wavelength to the point where he ends up in a trance-like state long enough for Maka to use Demon Hunter to kill him until a female version of him surprises Maka and attacks her from behind. He then explains that what they had killed was really his old body that he had turned into a golem because it was no good and it was worn out caused he messed around with it to much. The new body he now has was developed from an embryo to its adult stage by Brew with all of his old memories intact. To his disappointment, Giriko doesn't like the fact that he's now a "A big-titted female", but he still continues fighting nonetheless.
Now a female, Giriko laughs at an injured Maka as she gets back up as he violently launches an assault on her, while shouting on about how to he going to take his time tormenting her and nonsense like looking at the "huge towering saw between his legs" before he remembers that he's a girl now. Soul attempts to use "Adagio of the Soul" once more, but Giriko's soul wavelength has become so powerful now that he's unleashing all of his stored-up anger. Soul's piano explodes and sends him flying across the Black Room. With a non-stop assault of multiple saws created from his pony-tails and a powered-up version of Saw Foot Third Gear: Tide of Atrocious Killing, Giriko severely injures Maka to the point where she can't even stand or even lift her arms as the Enchanter grabs her head as he tells Maka that he's tired of waiting and wants to kill her now. Soul partially transforms back to kick Giriko away, but Giriko shouts to him that this is a fight between girls and that he doesn't want to listen to the opinion of a prick like him. Just when Giriko decides that he going to kill Maka by strangling her and was about to, his own body begins to undergo soul rejection as Maka discovers that the cause of it is that Giriko's soul isn't able to hold 800 years of bloodlust anymore since a soul isn't able to hold that much in the first place, even if it's new. Giriko still tries to get close to Maka so he can kill her, but he is so blind with rage that he doesn't realize that Maka is trying to get his soul to explode by taunting him and telling him to go rest on the many chairs in the "Sloth" chapter. The moment Giriko shouts at Maka the sentence "You piss me off!!" was the final nail in the coffin as his soul explodes from the pressure, leaving the Enchanter's now-lifeless body slumped down with a disturbing smile on his face.
Arachnophobia vs DWMA Arc (Anime)
Trivia
- When introduced, Giriko is introduced under the pseudonym Saw, also spelled Sou, apt for a chainsaw weapon.[30]
- In the anime, Giriko uses his real name when he first meets Maka, Soul, and Crona, rather than an alias.
- The name 'Giriko' comes from the 'giriko' resin powder used in Kyūdō. However, it is more likely that Giriko's name comes from an anagram of the Japanese word for 'saw' (ノコギリ Nokogiri ギリコ Giriko).
- Part of Giriko's appearance appears to be partly based off of Apple Shinoda from Atsushi Ōkubo earlier series B. Ichi.
References
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 27
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 15; Chapter 62, page 176
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 25
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Soul Eater Volume 7; Chapter 25, page 87
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 26
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 55
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 61
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 77
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Soul Eater Volume 7, Yen Press English translation: Chapter 25, Page 85
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 7, Yen Press English translation, Chapter 25: "You have no idea how fucking boring it is to live one life after another nearly thirty times in a row" (Page 85). "My soul's got 800 years' worth of murderous wavelength built up inside. [...] I had to keep a big o' grin on my face and pile on the flattery just to keep myself off DWMA's radar. I'm talkin' suckin' up and kissin' ass!!" (Page 91). "I wanna smash down every fuckin' thing in the world...!" (Page 94).
- ↑ Soul Eater Anime: Episode 25-26
- ↑ Soul Eater Anime: Episode 25
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 67
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 7; Chapter 26, page 131
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 42
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 19; Chapter 77, page 33
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 10; Chapter 36, page 23
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 7; Chapter 26, page 128-130
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 9; Chapter 34, page 131
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 36
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 18; Chapter 76, page 157
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedChapter 24 - ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 75
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 7; Chapter 24, page 71
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 24, page 72
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 24, page 76-81
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 25, page 85-89
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 25, page 90-105, 107-108
- ↑ Soul Eater Manga: Chapter 26, page 122, 128-134
- ↑ Soul Eater Volume 7 Yen Press English translation: Chapter 24, Page 70
| Top | Arachne Gorgon • Mosquito • Giriko • Mifune |
| Arachnid, Spies, and Assassins | Fisher King • Insight Demon Tool Soldier • Demon Tool Soldier 2 • Morubi • Insight Demon Tool Soldier • Demon Tool Soldier 2 • Morubi • Taruho Firefly • Tabatha Butterfly • Free • Eruka Frog • Mizune Family |
| Other | Angela Leon • Noah (Greed) • Asura |