Aldebaran

Aldebaran (real name unknown), commonly known simply as Al, is a supporting character in the 2014 Japanese dark fantasy light novel series and its 2014 manga & 2016 anime television series adaptations of the same name, and a major character in the 2015 spin-off prequel light novel series Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World Ex.
The man known as "Aldebaran" was a mysterious figure who, like Subaru Natsuki, was originally from Japan on Earth. After being summoned to the other world, he spent a decade as a sword slave in the Holy Empire of Volakia. He had some form of past with the Witches of Sin, and wielded an unknown Authority. His numerous battles left him with many scars, including his face which he covered up with a helmet. He eventually entered the service of Priscilla Barielle, whom he sought to place on the throne of the Kingdom of Lugunica.
In the first season of the anime adaptation, Aldebaran was voiced by the late in Japanese and by in English. Since Fujiwara's passing, Al has been voiced by in Japanese. Fujiwara has also voiced Leorio Paladinight in Hunter x Hunter, Maes Hughes in Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Shiro Fujimoto in Blue Exorcist, Shuichi Aizawa in Death Note, Hinahoho in Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, and Eledore Massis in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team. Seki has also voiced Gilgamesh in Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia, Sanemi Shinazugawa in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, teenage Black Jack in Black Jack, and Toya Kinomoto in Cardcaptor Sakura. Silverstein has also voiced Robert E. O. Speedwagon in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Vector the Crocodile in Sonic, Morax in Genshin Impact, Arsène Lupin III in Lupin the 3rd, Zasalamel in Soulcaliber, Masrur in Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, and Simon Belmont in Castlevania.
==Appearance==
Aldebaran was a middle-aged man with light skin, hairy legs, and a muscular build who stood at five feet and seven inches tall and weighed around seventy kilograms. He had black eyes, unkempt long black hair wrapped loosely in a ponytail, and facial hair consisting of a goatee beard and untended stubble. His left forearm was missing, and he had a pair of large scars on his right forearm in the shape of claw marks. His face was heavily scarred, making him unpleasant to look upon.
Every piece of clothing Aldebaran wore gave a slightly different impression. His ensemble consisted of a pair of green split-toe sandals with yellow buckles, sand-colored linen trousers, a bandage around his right wrist that matched the one that went around his missing limb, bandages of the same assortment that were wrapped around his feet like socks, an open green linen vest with yellow lining and a hem of white fur, and a shabby yellow mantle that reached down to his hips. Additionally, he wore a brown belt with a golden buckle that had a collection of green pouches attached to it. Al's weapon of choice, a beautiful sword with a fat blade that resembled a Chinese crescent sword, was fastened in its sheath at the rear of the belt. Perhaps Al's defining physical quality was the pitch-black helmet he used to conceal his scarred face. The helm in question, in contrast to the rest of his clothing, was very refined and featured a plume of neat red hair as a crest. His overall shabby look, including his clothes and unshaven legs, made him look like a bandit or some other kind of lowlife. It could be said that his appearance was the polar opposite of his mistress Priscilla Barielle's.
==Personality==
Outwardly, Aldebaran was an overly friendly man who spoke pleasantly to most people he conversed with. He wasn't quick to anger, as he usually brushed off the insults of Priscilla and Subaru Natsuki without placing any kind of stock in them. Because of his light-hearted tone and friendly disposition, Al was a man who was easy to get along with, even when taking his eccentric behaviour into consideration. However, his attitude also portrayed him as a childish man who needed to shape up and act his age. Despite happily wearing strange clothing that labelled Al as a suspicious character upon first sight, the man from another world did care somewhat about his appearance, as he demonstrated insecurity regarding his disfigured face several times. He adored the helmet that he wore on his head, as he felt that he wouldn't be able to have face-to-face conversations without it.
According to the man himself, Aldebaran was rather naïve and inexperienced when he was first transported to the other world, two traits that cost him his arm and his freedom. After spending nearly two grueling decades in the other world, Al's experiences had morphed him into a hardened survivor. He never hesitated to take the lives of his opponents, especially those who threatened the life of his mistress Priscilla. That being said, being covered by the blood of his enemies was a horrible feeling for him, regardless of however many times he cut down his foes. The one-armed wanderer was a figure of mystery, as he subtly displayed several times that he was hiding important parts of his past behind his friendly demeanour. One example of this was when he discovered that both Ram and her twin sister Rem were still alive, a fact that saw him briefly lose himself in anger despite the fact that both sisters didn't recollect meeting him before.
==Powers & Abilities==
===Powers===
*Magic: Through the use of a gate, an internal foci existing within all living things, people were capable of naturally absorbing magical energy from the atmosphere and converting it into magic. Despite originating from Earth, Aldebaran also possessed a gate. Every person had a natural inclination to one of the six magical elements, with Al's being earth magic.
**Earth Manipulation: The chief application of earth magic, as its name implied, was to generate and telekinetically manipulate dry landmass. Al was capable of using a basic-level earth magic spell, called "dona," to summon a single wall of earth that could defend him from incoming attacks or strike enemies if summoned in the right place. He could also use a more advanced version of dona, called "el dona," that allowed him to form earth out of thin air and burst it outwards into deadly spikes.
**Sensory Deprivation: Aldebaran was capable of using "shamac," a low-level shadow magic spell that formed thick black smoke in a radius around the user. Aside from the user and anyone they chose to spare, anyone enveloped in the smoke had some of their physical senses temporarily divorced from their body. Victims of shamac couldn't see or hear anything while under the spell's affect, though their sense of touch remained intact. It was possible for decently skilled warriors to circumvent the affects of shamac by simply relying on their honed instincts or their sense of touch, meaning the spell was typically only affective against inexperienced opponents.
*Temporal Reload: The greatest weapon in Aldebaran's arsenal was an ability he claimed to be an Authority, a type of power gained by absorbing a Witch Factor. Upon activation, Al's Authority warped space-time around him to create a special territory within a certain radius of his position. The conditions needed to activate the Authority remain unclear, and if Al left the designated territory his power would cease to take affect. While within said territory, Al would be designated as either the "victim" or "subjugator" based purely on chance. Everytime Al died inside his territory, time would rewind to the point at which he first deployed his Authority. If Al was designated the victim, only he would retain memory of the time loops in which he had died and as such could develop a strategy against his enemies via trial and error. If Al was designated the subjugator, then only his enemy would retain the memory of all the failed loops in which they killed Al. As a result, enemies under the affect of the subjugator aspect of the power would slowly lose their will to fight as they were forced to repeatedly replay the same loop of time. From Al's perspective, subjugated opponents would simply give up as soon as he activated his Authority. Regardless of whether Al was the victim or the subjugator, the Authority could only be deactivated when he chose so.
===Abilities===
*Expert Fighter: Having spent over a decade fighting as a sword-slave on Gladiator Island, Aldebaran was a highly experienced combatant. He showed expert proficiency in hand-to-hand combatant and bladework, with particular preference for one-handed swords. Due to his experience and his Authority, Al was highly resourceful in a fight. Though an expert fighter in his own right, Al was still outclassed by a lot of warriors and couldn't hope to compare against truly talented combatants.
==Quotes==
==List of Appearances==
Light Novel
===Volume 4===
*Chapter 2: Blessings, Reunions, and Promises (First appearance)
*Chapter 3: On the Very Worst of Terms
*Chapter 4: The Candidates for the Throne and Their Knights
*Chapter 5: Subaru Natsuki, the Self-Proclaimed Knight
===Volume 6===
*Chapter 2: A Pig's Greed
===Volume 15===
*Chapter 4: Next Time, I'm Sure We'll Have Tea (Voice only in vision)
Anime Adaptation
*Episode EX: Memory Snow
*Episode 12: Return to the Capital (First appearance)
*Episode 13: Self-Proclaimed Knight Subaru Natsuki
*Episode 16: The Greed of a Pig
*Episode 48: Love Me Down to My Blood and Guts (Voice only in vision)
Manga Adaptation
===Chapter 3: Truth of Zero===
*Chapter 2: The Orange Girl (First appearance)
*Chapter 3: Shared Homeland
*Chapter 4: The Royal Selection Begins
*Chapter 5: Statement of Conviction
*Chapter 6: The Silver-Haired Witch's Request
*Chapter 7: Subaru Natsuki, the Self-Proclaimed Knight
*Chapter 8: The Self-Declared Knight and the Knight Proper
*Chapter 16: Immature Negotiating
==Trivia==
*Al received his namesake from , the brightest star located in the Taurus constellation. Al wasn't the only character in Re:Zero who was named after a celestial body, as every individual confirmed to possess a Witch Factor (with the exception of Satella) also was. Witch Factor bearers included Subaru, the Witches of Sin, and the Sin Archbishops of the Witch Cult. Whether or not Al's name implies a connection between him and the Witch Cult or the Witch Factors in general is unknown.
*Aldebaran was the first of the Royal Selection knights to be featured on a cover of the main light novel series. He made his cover debut in the background of the fourth volume cover, as opposed to Felix Argyle who first appeared on the fifth volume cover and Reinhard van Astrea who first appeared on the eighth volume cover. Subaru Natsuki and Julius Juukulius have yet to appear on any light novel covers.
==External Links==
*Aldebaran at the Re:Zero wiki.
*Aldebaran at the VS Battles wiki.
==Navigation==
Category:Male
Category:Anime Heroes
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Manga Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Dark Fantasy Heroes
Category:Fantasy Heroes
Category:Horror Heroes
Category:Re:Zero Heroes
Category:Adventurers
Category:Amnesiac
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Bond Creators
Category:Bond Protectors
Category:Brutes
Category:Contradictory
Category:Elementals
Category:Fighters
Category:Gladiators
Category:True Neutral
Category:Guardians
Category:Harbingers
Category:In Love
Category:Knights
Category:Lethal
Category:Localized Protection
Category:Loyal
Category:Magic
Category:Martial Artists
Category:Mysterious
Category:Nameless
Category:Right-Hand
Category:Scapegoat
Category:Sidekicks
Category:Supporters
Category:Voice of Reason
Category:Warriors