| “ | I love you, Brother. I really do. I love you truly, deeply. And... I'll never forgive you. | ” |
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Introduction
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Mikhail (ミハイル, Mihairu), also referred to by the pet name "Misha" (ミーシャ, Miisha), is a character from Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas. He is first referred to as No. 71 (ナンバーナナイチ, Nanbaa Nanaichi) by Doctor Moreau, revealed as one of his human test subjects in an attempt to create artificial Vampires. He was eventually revealed as Vanitas's younger brother, though the two have no blood relation. Both were saved from Moreau by the Vampire of the Blue Moon, whom Mikhail referred to as "Father."[1]
This article contains plot and/or ending details for The Case Study of Vanitas.
Read at your own risk.
Born to a human prostitute, Mikhail was inducted into the Catholic Church as a potential Chasseur after his mother was killed by Vampires. However, he was taken by an anti-Vampire extremist faction which had propagated within the Church, and became the test subject of the mad scientist Moreau, who wished to turn humans into Vampires. There he met Vanitas,[2] whom he soon acknowledged as his elder brother. Vanitas grew intensely protective of Mikhail as the two were subjected to inhumane experiments, despite his aloofness. After being conditioned to the Vampire of the Blue Moon's blood, he and Vanitas became the Vampire's "pseudo-Kin," gaining bodies marginally beyond that of humans and becoming able to heal slightly faster. The two were to be bound to the two Books of Vanitas in a procedure that would destroy their minds, but were rescued by the Vampire of the Blue Moon.[3]
While Vanitas remained continually hostile to the Vampire, Mikhail was quick to warm up to them, happy to have someone who would treat him kindly. He thus dubbed them "Father" (とうさん, Tou-san) and considered them and Vanitas to be his family. After some time had passed, Mikhail's body began to break down. The Vampire explained to him and Vanitas that, due to the experiments performed on them, they would eventually perish. No other option was found, and thus, the Vampire offered to make Mikhail and Vanitas their "Kin" through a Mark of Possession, allowing their existences to stabilized and extending their lifespans. Mikhail quickly agreed, but Vanitas harshly refused. This would eventually result in Vanitas killing the Vampire in an event which would lead Vanitas to believe Mikhail had died.[4]
Appearance[]
Mikhail is an thin, pale skinned adolescent boy with a prosthetic left arm. His left arm is pale, somewhat doll-like in form, the prosthetic appearing to replace his limb at around the elbow or slightly above. On what remains of his left arm, just beyond his shoulder, he bears a Mark of Possession left by the Vampire of the Blue Moon. He has a softly defined, childish face with a small chin and nose. Noted as being the same color as Vanitas's, his eyes are round and pronounced, with long eyelashes. Straight, lightly colored hair is cut to about the length of his ears, his bangs long and falling onto his face, though they usually do not cover his eyes.
While Mikhail wears a number of outfits over the course of the series, his most prominent appearances has him in a short, pleated dark coat with dark shorts, worn over a white shirt, black socks, and white, heeled boots. Over his left shoulder he wears a short cape, most concealing his prosthetic arm. When he was very young, prior to being taken into the Catholic Church, he had very long hair and would wear girls' clothing.
Personality[]
Mikhail had a cheerful smile and seemed to be quite friendly and perceptive, but was also extremely dangerous and somewhat unhinged. He was willing to recklessly endanger people’s lives to achieve his own goals and was highly manipulative. He seemed to enjoy watching Vanitas and Noé fight and cheerfully looks on as their friendship was dismantled.
Mikhail liked everything that was cheerful and warm and hated being in pain. His morality was incredibly twisted, likely thanks to his abusive mother and a childhood that just went downhill from there. He believed that vampires were good, not evil, since one made his mother “happy” while drinking her blood (before killing her). Misha adored Vanitas of the Blue Moon, and would do anything to go back to the happy time when he, Luna, and Vanitas lived as a family.
Powers and Abilities[]
- The “Book of Vanitas“- Misha owns a book with seemingly similar powers to his brother’s Book of Vanitas. This book appears to give him the ability to rewrite formulas.
- Automatons - Misha seems to be able to control automatons, although it's still uknown whether that's due to his abilities of manipulating astermite or if they were already programmed to serve him.
Relationships[]
Vanitas[]
Mikhail loves Vanitas and sees him as his beloved older brother. However, despite wanting to return to a time when he and Vanitas and Luna lived as a happy family, Misha is very willing to completely ruin Vanitas’s mental state to get there.
Vanitas of the Blue Moon[]
Mikhail sees Luna as a parent, and calls them his “father”. He saw Luna as his savior from the moment they helped him and Vanitas escape Moreau’s lab, and only got closer to them during their travels together after that. Misha has plans to bring Luna back to life, using yet unknown means.
Doctor Moreau[]
Mikhail was extremely traumatized by Moreau at a very young age. He was kidnapped by associates of Moreau, to be used for gruesome human experiments in pursuit of Moreau's goal of becoming a Vampire. After a variety of torturous experiments, Moreau decided to slowly inject him with Vanitas of the Blue Moon’s blood, along with other drugs. On the last day of the experiment, Moreau was willing to risk Mikhail's life to unlock the Books of Vanitas, but was stopped by Vanitas of the Blue Moon.
Dominique de Sade[]
Mikhail sees Dominique as an important tool— Noé’s oldest and closest friend. At some level he seems to like Domi, as he likes kind people, he goes on to explain that he doesn’t want her to die and patting her head as she cries, but this doesn’t stop him from controlling Dominique and threatening her life to get Noé to do his bidding.
Noé Archiviste[]
Mikhail quickly earned Noé's anger, taking Dominique as a hostage in order to achieve his goals and get Noé to do drink Vanitas' blood. Mikhail takes great joy in the fight between Vanitas and Noé, and proudly points out that the vampire doesn't know anything about Vanitas. Apart from that, Mikhail doesn't seem to care much about him.
The Teacher[]
Being presumed dead after the death of Vanitas of the Blue Moon, Mikhail was saved by the Teacher, whom he calls kind and his savior. The Teacher told him that there’s a way to bring the Vampire of the Blue Moon back to life, and, believing that his family will be able to be together again, Mikhail joined his side. Aside from putting Mikhail in danger, the Teacher seems to take good care of Mikhail, not only giving him a metal arm but also tending to his wounds post-fight.
Roland Fortis[]
Albeit for a short time, Roland got along very well with Mikhail, since he's very good with children. After the death of Mikhail's parents, he was taken in by the Church, where he met Roland. Roland was the one who stopped Mikhail from getting lost in the Catacombes and guided him to the correct place before getting interrupted. Due to being injured and bandaged up, Roland got the nickname "Bandage Man". After Mikhail vanished, Roland still went to look for him, stating that it would be bad if something happened, even after his colleague Rinaldo suggested that the child had simply run away.
Quotes[]
- “Big brother. Please give Father back. Give Father back. Give Father back. Give Father back! Give Father back! Give Father back! Give my ‘Father’ back…!!”[1]
- “Hey… big brother? Why do you hate ‘Father’? Father rescued us from Moreau’s laboratory. Father is a good person, right?”[5]
- “You’re too late anyway. You should hurry and tell those people. That way, nobody else will have to get hurt for no reason. You don’t want someone to die because of you again, do you…?”[5]
- “I am Mikhail. I inherited only this Book from the Vampire of the Blue Moon, and I am… an average human being.”[6]
- “Sink your fangs… into that pale skin… Noé. Reveal the blood of Vanitas.”[6]
- “You’ve been together all this time, and yet… you don’t know a thing about my brother, do you, Noé!”[2]
- “Why? Wasn’t all the pain supposed to be over? I don’t want it to hurt. I hate pain.”[3]
- “I’ll be that. I’ll be your Kin, Father. If I do, then we’ll be able to stay together always, won’t we!? All three of us!!”[4]
- “I hate pain. I hate cold. I like everything that’s gentle and warm. I want the three of us to be together forever. Forever forever forever forever forever—”[7]
- “We’ll be able to live together again, all three of us! Forget this silly revenge and come with me, Brother!”[7]
- “Fight as if you’re exorcizing a nightmare in this kingdom of dreams… and try to kill each other for dear life!!”[7]
- “You said you’d stay with me forever. You promised you wouldn’t leave me by myself!!”[8]
- “Don’t worry, Brother. Even if you kill Noé… even if you’re hurt, and sad, and all torn up… I’ll stay with you forever and ever and ever. I’m the only one who will.”[9]
- “Why didn’t you kill him!? Brother, he tried to drink your blood!! You could have killed him but you—! Tell me! Why!!? You know I’m all you need!! You’d be fine without that guy!!”[10]
- “I want to be with you and Father again, just the three of us… That’s all I want, and yet…!”[10]
- “It’ll be just like that. You’ll become something that’s not you. I’m the only one who’ll understand that pain.”[11]
- “…You know already. I like kind people.”[11]
Appearances[]
- Mémoire 15: Chasseur — Those Who Hunt Crimson*
- Mémoire 17: Cicatrice — No. 69* (First Appearance)
- Mémoire 18: Dos à Dos — The Shape of Salvation*
- Mémoire 21: Serment — Promise (Part Two)
- Mémoire 38: Naenia — She Who Harbors Death (Part One)
- Mémoire 40: Avec Toi — Alone Together*
- Mémoire 42: Encore une Fois — Love*
- Mémoire 43: Encens Restant — Lingering Scent of the Dream*
- Mémoire 45: Mal d'Amour — The Incurable Illness (Part Two)
- Mémoire 46: Un Autre — Scar
- Mémoire 47: Hétérogène — Sneering Laughter
- Mémoire 48: Rencontre — Blue Night*
- Mémoire 49: Douleur — Kind Child
- Mémoire 50: Petrichor — The Thread that Reels in The Past
- Mémoire 51: Tempest — A Silent Scream
- Mémoire 52: Sens Unique — Fall
- Mémoire 53: Pleuvoir — Rain Which Doesn't Know The Sky
- Mémoire 54: La nuit sans lune — Dark Night (Part One)
- Mémoire 54.5: La nuit sans lune — Dark Night (Part Two)
- Mémoire 55: Après la pluie — His Wish (Part One)
- Mémoire 55.5: Après la pluie — His Wish (Part Two)
- Mémoire 56: Faire un gâteau — Bittersweet*
- Mémoire 58: Observation — The Darkness in Between*
- Mémoire 60: Bonne journée — Sweets, Complaints, and Reconciliation*
- Entracte: Couche — On Clothing*
- Mémoire 61: Jeu de paume — Court Tennis (Part One)*
- Mémoire 10: Cicatrice -No. 69-*
- Mémoire 17: Vengeance -Hands Upon a Nightmare-
- Mémoire 18: Avec Toi -Just the Two of Us-*
- Mémoire 19: Canorus -Snow Flower-
- Mémoire 20: Mal d'amour -The Incurable Disease-
- Mémoire 21: Un Autre -Scars-
- Mémoire 22: Rencontre -Blue Night-
- Mémoire 23: Pleuvoir -Tears like Rain-
- Mémoire 24: Après la pluie -His Wish-
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Trivia[]
- "Mikhail" is the Russian form of the name "Michael," a Hebrew name meaning "who is like God?" or "there is none like God."[12]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mémoire 17: Cicatrice
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mémoire 47: Hétérogène
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mémoire 48: Rencontre
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mémoire 49: Douleur
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mémoire 18: Dos à Dos
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mémoire 46: Un Autre
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Mémoire 50: Petrichor
- ↑ Mémoire 51: Tempest
- ↑ Mémoire 52: Sens Unique
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Mémoire 54: La nuit sans lune (Part One)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Mémoire 55.5: Après la pluie (Part Two)
- ↑ Wikipedia: Michael (given name)