This article contains plot and/or ending details for Pandora Hearts.
Read at your own risk.
| “ | ...Or else convince yourself somehow "that's just the way it is." | ” |
—Retrace LXVIII: Glen | ||
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Introduction
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Levi (レヴィ, Revi), also known as one of the previous incarnations of Glen Baskerville (グレン＝バスカヴィル, Guren Basukaviru), is a character from Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. He was Oswald's predecessor, having died a year or two before the events of the Tragedy of Sablier. As a former leader of the Baskervilles, he held control over the entire Baskerville Clan and all of its estate up until Oswald succeeded him and took up the Glen title.
Few specifics are known of Levi's life before his time as Glen. Like all Baskervilles, he was born human. At some point, he and a possible Ill Omened counterpart encountered the Droplets of Golden Light and traveled to Sablier. He was determined to be an incarnation of Glen Baskerville by the Glen presiding at the time, and eventually made to execute his Ill Omened counterpart and take the role of Glen himself. Eventually, he would meet Oswald and his own Ill Omened younger sister Lacie, when the two were still small children. As Oswald was found to be the next incarnation of Glen Baskerville, Levi raised Oswald and his sister personally. Though it was not standard practice, Levi told Lacie of the reason for her impending demise when she was very young. Immedietaly after informing Lacie of her fate, Levi revealed his idea of impregnating her as part of an "experiment" he thought up.
Levi's plan would eventually lead to the birth of Alice and the Intention of the Abyss, Levi and Lacie's twin daughters. While the former girl was found by him and Oswald at the Door to the Abyss following Lacie's death, the latter girl stayed within the depths of the Abyss, the two communing through the link in their souls. After Oswald's succession, Levi's body began to break down and slowly, painfully morph into a Chain. Before he succumbed to this fate, he privately met with Jack Vessalius, a friend of Oswald's with a persistant fixation on Lacie. Levi told him in detail of everything to do with the Abyss and the circumstances of Lacie's death. He advised Jack to do whatever he wished with the information given, then left, never to be seen again. His body would soon fade away and he bore witness to the Tragedy that followed from within the collective consciousness of Glen.
Appearance[]
Levi was a pale skinned man of average build and above average height. His face was long, thin, and gently angled, with a large, pointed chin, downturned violet eyes, arched eyebrows, a small nose, and thin lips. He had long white hair, which he had pulled back and twisted around a ponytail coming out from the back of his head. A small section of Levi's bangs was allowed to drape over his face, reaching down to his shoulders, while another section of hair was brought forward from the back of his head and tied in a long braid which draped over his left shoulder. When taken out of its braid, Levi's hair was shown to have been long and flowing, reaching the entirety of his torso in length. In most appearances, Levi had no distinguishable sclera. Instead, his eyes were completely violet. His sclera were more distinct in appearances where he had just met Oswald and Lacie, and his irises take up a normal amount of his eyes in his appearances as a spirit.
Most commonly, Levi wore a white dress shirt and a white ascot under a purple vest, which he wore under an overcoat that had black trim and was adorned with gold buttons. Over top of this, Levi usually wore a blue shawl lined with fringe that he wrapped around his torso, wearing dark colored pants and black boots to complete his outfit. When attending official ceremonies, such as Oswald's Succession Ceremonies, Levi would wear a black coat with an elongated collar on the right side, which faded from black to bright crimson further and further down the coat, this being the exact same coat that Oswald would inherit from Levi when he became Glen.
Personality[]
Levi's overall personality was quite cheerful, rather sarcastic, finding entertainment in most situations no matter how inappropriate his humor may be for a given situation. Levi always seems to have a reason to smile despite facing his own potential death and losing people who he cares for. Although he did show that he could be serious if needed, it appeared that he had a strange way of showing his humor. Most notably he is seen laughing hysterically at the chaos thar proceeded Jack's appearance at the Baskerville manor, not to mention his jovial commentary on the events that unfolded following Leo's ascention to the Glen title.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Each Glen Baskerville is capable of approaching and making contact with The Core of the Abyss, although this had destructive consequences and could only be done in the most dire of circumstances
- Pandora Hearts 18.5: Evidence revealed that Levi was skilled at archery.
Chains[]
Levi had contracts with each of the five Black Winged Chains. As Levi was a Baskerville, he was able to form Chain Contracts without fear of a limit on his time remaining on Earth. Using the Black Winged Chains, Levi was able to open paths to the Abyss. As well, the Black Winged Chains could pass judgement on those who have committed sins against the harmony of the Abyss (i.e. being born with the Red-Eyes of Ill Omen) and then summon forth the Chains of Condemnation to wrap around the sinner and drag them into the depths of the Abyss to be destroyed by the darkness of the Abyss. All five Chains could also mend the Chains which encircle and stabilize reality should they ever be severed, thus allowing Levi to prevent the world from falling into the Abyss in its entirety. Apart from their main abilities, Levi could also access secondary abilities of the Five Black Feathered Chains during combat. All five contracts were nullified with Levi when he passed them into Oswald.
Raven[]
- Raven can breathe blue flames, capable of severing limbs and causing even death to the likes of even the Baskervilles. Raven can send out flurries of feathers doused in fire as well to attack victims from a further range.
- Raven can also bind the powers of other Chains (which it had done on Dodo and B-Rabbit 100 years after Levi's time).
Owl[]
- Owl can spin threads which it can connect to individuals. These threads are invisible to everyone apart from the holder of the threads, and they are able to lead the holder directly to the individual its connected to by the shortest path possible.
Dodo[]
- Dodo's primary ability is to create illusions, which are able to make physical contact with victims, as well as assault the victims mind.
- Dodo also displayed an attack which it used on Sharon Rainsworth long after Levi's time, the ability to attack individuals with dark energy. However, this seems to have been a relatively weak attack.
Gryphon[]
- None of Gryphon's secondary abilities have been displayed as of yet.
Jabberwock[]
- Jabberwock is capable of generating energy beams which can potentially vaporize anything in its path. Unfortunately, generating the energy beam takes time.
Literary Career[]
In several pieces of bonus content released alongside the manga, Levi's literary career has been mentioned repeatedly. The first canon instance of Levi's in-universe fictional novels occurs in the third volume of Caucus Race, midway through the story "A Promised Lost". Levi had challenged Jack to lay a single strike on Oswald with a sword, after which he would allow Jack to take Lacie out of her tower for a day. When Lacie approaches Levi with suspicion about his motive, Levi reveals that he wanted to use the duel of the two friends for something he has been writing, with the emphasis on the theme of chivalry. In general, Levi enjoys reading and writing, and covertly publishes some of his works under the pen-name Evil B. Still, he complains that he finds the material Jack is giving him boring and he will move on to something else. Briefly, he teases Lacie with the mention of the new novel, a tale of two detectives and a murderer. It is clearly based on Lacie's relationship to Jack, as one of the detectives had previously met the murderer and gave him a gift which the murderer finds incredibly precious, but the detective does not even remember. Lacie responds by calling Levi's writing cliche and tasteless.
In the entirety of the third Caucus Race volume, some titles of Levi's novels are also given, alongside short snippets. The first one, titled Recollections of Black and Gold, appears to be the finished version of the story of chivalry with protagonists modeled after Jack and Oswald. The short fragments showcasing the two characters, named Caudwell and Walter, facing off against one another against a backdrop of corpses of their followers. Their deep bond, featuring themes of simultaneous friendship and hatred, obviously mirrors the relationship of who they were based on. The second one, titled Fruit of Uncertainty, is the previously mentioned detective novel, with the protagonist named detective Ivel examines a pair of black gloves which are the only piece of evidence left in the murderer's track. In "Adoration", Oz is given this very book by Elliot and he is quite entranced by it, reading it late into the night. A comic at the end of the third Caucus Race volume additionally shows Oz, Elliot and Leo all discussing Evil B.'s works too, showing that Levi's books had not lost popularity even after a whole century has passed - a testament to his writing ability, perhaps.
More information about Evil B.'s works is given in the Drama CD, "Another Story of a Promise Lost". Levi asks Jack and Lacie to describe their experiences of lust or love to him, as he plans to use them as inspiration for a new novel he is writing. Apparently, the main theme of his stories is that of friendship between two men, so a narrative centered on steamy romance is uncharted territory for him. Initially, he fails at getting anything out of the two, but when him and Jack are left alone the blond recounts his past experiences with women. Whatever he says even the cynical Levi finds a bit traumatising, but he says he can make it into a great story nevertheless. In the second part of the Drama CD, another novel title of Levi's is revealed - "Fan Flower's Whisper". Inspired by Jack's memories, it is half a love story and half psychological horror. The main characters are said to be in a love triangle, presumably involving the Jack-inspired character being in love with the Lacie stand-in, while the Oswald-stand in is explicitly said to be in love with his own sister, no doubt as a way for Levi to mock his succesor. It even features Oswald's famous distaste for cherry tomatoes as a major plot point and namesake. After finishing it, Oz is moved to tears and praises the writing again. "Fan Flower's Whisper" stands out as the one book of Levi's we know the most about, having been shown how it came to be, Oz's description of the plot, some snippets narrated by the Tragedy Trio and Levi's afterword saying it might be his biggest work.
The final mention of Levi's novel is made in the Pandora Hearts Omake book, featuring an extra in which Oz now lends one of Levi's books to Gilbert, likely "Fan Flower's Whisper". Not much new information is revealed, other than the fact that Gilbert quickly catches onto the fact that the characters of the story are blatantly inspired by Jack and Oswald, making him rather uncomfortable.
Overall, the theme of making fun of the people around Levi through his stories seems to be a major point of his works, though he clearly cares about their artistic sanctity as well and gets offended whenever Lacie dares criticize him.
Quotes[]
- "I see. This is… This is my servant Oswald, the older brother of your beloved Lacie."
- "You're an interesting fellow..."
- You look like a living corpse, Jack."
- "I impregnated Lacie, and Alice was born in the Abyss..."
- "What I wanted... was change. However, I'm afraid it is time for an accursed being such as myself to exit the stage. I leave the rest to you. You're free to use her to fulfill your wish, I'll be watching together with all the other past Glens."
- Levi: "The Abyss is at once the beginning and end of all things. The world is protected by Chains that prevent it from being engulfed by the power of the Abyss."
- Jack: I've never heard that before..."
- Levi: "Of course you haven't. It's pretty abstract even to me. And yet, it's thanks to this force that our world can remain as it is. You may not be able to see or touch them, but those chains are all around you just like the air. The Baskervilles are supposed to guard the power of the Abyss, and that includes those Chains."
- Jack: "What if... what if... those Chains were to break?"
- Levi: "Why would you... ask me something like that?"
- "Still, it's pretty unusual for you to show interest in someone."
- "Uh…what? I didn't know you swung that way."
- "Do you even hear yourself talk? Try to explain why you felt that way about this man."
- "It's ok; just tell me what you felt."
- Levi: "Do you want to save his life?"
- Leo: "Can you... do that?
- Levi: We cannot heal those wounds... but we may be able to seal them. Have him drink its blood and pronounce its name."
- Leo: Its name?
- Levi: That's right. I'm sorry but we can't recall its name anymore. You will simply have to guess by looking at it."
- Leo: "... Humpty Dumpty...?"
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Retrace LVIII: Puddle of blood*
- Retrace LXVII: Lacie* (First Appearance)
- Retrace LXVIII: Glen*
- Retrace LXIX: Alice*
- Retrace LXX: Oz (Mentioned only)
- Retrace LXXI: Black Rabbit*
- Retrace LXXII: Bloody Rabbit*
- Retrace LXXVII: Vacant*
- Retrace LXXVIII: Decision
- Retrace XCI: Juror
- Retrace XCII: A Story
- Retrace XCIV: Blaze
- Retrace XCV: Vincent
- Retrace XCVII: I am
- Retrace XCIX: Shade
- Retrace C: Ossia
- Retrace CI: Oswald
- Retrace CII: The Nursery
- Retrace CIII: Call Your Name
- Pandora Academy (Non-Canon)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia[]
- "Levi" is a name of Hebrew origin, meaning "to join" or "to connect."
- It is also an anagram of "Evil," lampshaded in his penname.
- His likes are, in order, reading, hunting, and appreciating the fine arts. He dislikes people who do nothing but suck up to others.
- He is skilled at swordsmanship. He is weak when it comes to boredom.
- Mochizuki's comment on him is that he is the type of person who seemed to be enjoying himself to the very end. She wanted him to be remorseful at least once, but it was impossible as he ended up enjoying most of the things he encountered.
- Jun Mochizuki revealed that she removed the sclera of Levi's eyes so that readers would find him creepy, in order to contrast Oswald's appearance.
- In the Drama CD Another Story of A Promise Lost, Levi is implied to be bisexual. Levi reveals that he was attracted to the previous Glen, before he even knew she was a woman — according to him, she used to dress as a man, and he only found out her gender a long time later.