Ram

Ram is a major character in the 2014 Japanese dark fantasy light novel series Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World and its 2014 manga & 2016 anime television series adaptations of the same name, and a supporting character in the 2019 non-canon comedy crossover anime television series Isekai Quartet and its 2022 spin-off anime film Isekai Quartet: The Movie – Another World.
Ram was born in the Demon Village alongside her younger twin sister Rem, where it was customary to dispose of twins at birth. However, Ram was born with incredible power, allowing her to protect her sister despite being a baby. Ram grew up as a prodigy despite only possessing one horn, always overshadowing her little sister. One day, the Witch Cult attacked the Demon Village, massacring the entire population with the exception of the twin sisters. During the attack, Ram's horn was sliced off by a Witch Cultist, permanently stunting her awesome potential. The sisters were subsequently taken in by Margrave Roswaal L. Mathers, a wealthy nobleman who put them to work as maids at his mansion.
Eventually, Roswaal began sponsoring a half-elf girl named Emilia, who was a candidate to become the 42nd ruler of the nation Lugunica. Subaru Natsuki, a Japanese teenager who had been transported to Ram's world, saved Emilia from a serial killer known as the Bowel Hunter while the half-elven girl was on a trip to Lugunica's capital city. As thanks for saving his ally, Mathers employed Natsuki as one of his servants despite the boy's lack in talent. Ram and Subaru were usually paired together for housework, and the two spent most their time together bickering like siblings whilst hiding their platonic affection for one-another.
Days after Subaru began working in the mansion, the assassin Meili Portroute infiltrated a local village under the governance of Lord Roswaal with wretched intent. Ram, Rem, Subaru, and Mathers fought together to defeat the mabeasts infesting the forests around the village, although Portroute escaped before she could be identified and captured. After the incident, Rem fell deeply in love with Natsuki. Around a month after Portroute's attack, the Mathers Domain faced another threat in the form of the Witch Cult. The Cult had sought to use Emilia as a vessel for the Witch of Envy to possess. Subaru, who had been away in the capital, returned to the domain with a small army of mercenaries and volunteers ready to battle the Witch Cult. Ram led the evacuation of the aforementioned village whilst Subaru & his new allies defeated Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth and leader of the plot.
Concurrent with the Cult attack, Rem fell into a coma when the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony Lye Batenkaitos devoured her name & memories. Due to Gluttony's power, everyone who knew Rem with the exception of Subaru forgot about her, including Ram. Although she couldn't remember her sister, Ram still felt a connection to her younger twin, and so sought to undo Rem's condition and remember her. Ram and Subaru subsequently grew closer, as they were the only ones left in the world who loved Rem and shared the goal of restoring her.
Ram is voiced by Rie Murakawa in Japanese and by Ryan Bartley in English. Murakawa has also voiced Bubble Girl in My Hero Academia, Constanze Amalie von Braunschbank Albrechtsberger in Little Witch Academia, Hotaru Ichijou in Non Non Biyori, Mamika Kirameki in Re:Creators, Escha Malier in Atelier, Rin Kobari in Magica Wars, and Ageha in Rin-ne. Bartley has also voiced Rei Ayanami in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Yuna in Sword Art Online, the female version of Hakuno Kishinami in Fate/Extra Last Encore, Fluff in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Candice and Korrina in Pokémon Masters, Komugi in Hunter x Hunter, young Sinbad in Magi: Adventure of Sinbad, and Takechiyo in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon.
== Appearance ==
Ram was identical to Rem in every aspect, with the exception of her eyes, the color of her hair, and the size of her breasts. Her pink hair was cut into a short bob and parted to fall over her left eye, as opposed to Rem whose hair fell over her right eye. Her large dark-pink eyes, pink lips, and soft skin gave Ram a youthful loveliness that Subaru Natsuki found both beautiful and adorable when he first saw her. Ram noticeably had a smaller breast size than her younger sister. As previously mentioned, Ram's eyes were different to Rem's, as the elder sister's were slightly more slanted. Her delicate frame featured narrow shoulders and stood at 150-hours centimeters tall (or five foot one).
Judging off of her appearance, Ram inherited the color of her eyes from her mother and the shape of them from her father. She also clearly inherited the natural shape of her hair from her father and the color of her hair from her mother. Ram, as a demon, could manifest a small curved-horn on the center of her forehead that was made out of pure pink energy. When her village was destroyed, Ram's horn was sliced off, leaving an obscured slit-like scar on her head where it used to be.
Most of the time, Ram wore a uniform issued to her as part of her job in Roswaal's mansion. This maid outfit consisted of a short black dress with white flowery accents, a white apron, white thigh-high socks, black Mary Jane shoes, and a white-and-black flowery headpiece. The outfit exposed Ram's shoulders and flaunted her body line in a provocative way, leading Natsuki to believe the designer's intentions weren't entirely pure. Positioned on the right side of her head, Ram had a purple hair-clip and a flower-shaped ribbon of the same color. Her weapon of choice was a wand made by Lord Roswaal out of the remnants of her horn. This wand allowed her to channel her magical energy better, reducing the burden magic had on her.
== Personality ==
Ram is seemingly self centered and does things at her own pace, however in actuality she maintains a distance from people to ascertain them. She believes that Roswaal is the greatest and no one else is as precious except for her sister Rem. She is slightly more outgoing in comparison to the generally taciturn Rem, who generally allows Ram to take the lead in their sisterly bond.
Ram is extremely loyal to Roswaal L. Mathers, threatening others (namely Subaru) with violence, should they endanger or badmouth him. Over the course of the series, it's evident that Ram has developed feelings for Roswaal.
Ram seems to enjoy annoying others by getting their names wrong. She constantly jumbled Subaru's name into "Barusu"; though it later becomes a habit since he stopped letting it get to him.
== History ==
=== Birth of the demon god ===
Among the numerous humanoid races that existed in the world, the demons were considered the mightiest. Their powerful bodies and the potency of the magical energy they employed both granted the demons peerless combat strength. However, as the members of the race had a elitist mindset that sought to preserve their mighty bloodlines, the number of demons was always low. The few demon settlements tended to be small rural villages located in mountain ranges that adhered to a strong Social Darwinist and isolationist way of life. The only visible physical difference between a demon and human were a pair of long curved-horns that sprouted from the forehead of a demon when their lives were in trouble. The horns would absorb magical energy from the atmosphere, greatly increasing a demon's physical and magical capabilities. Twin demons were usually only born with one smaller horn each, thus making them weaker than their two-horned kin. In order to maintain the purity of the race, the demons would usually execute twins when they were born.
The demon Ram and her younger twin sister Rem were born in a small demon village located in the Dragonfriend Kingdom of Lugunica. In adherence to demon law, the elderly chief of the village Setanta sentenced the infant twins to death. Both the mother Temae and the father Quark desperately begged for Setanta to spare the lives of their children, yet the stern old man chose to adhere to the law and execute the cursed twins. The children were placed on a shrine in the middle of the village surrounded by braziers that allowed the whole village to witness the deed at the dead of night. As Tamae screamed for the village to spare them Setanta prepared his singular attack to dispose of the children. Ram, hearing the cries of her sister laying beside her, demonstrated her power. In spite of being a mindless child, Ram used her magical energy to summon a massive torrent of wind that knocked the chief from his feet. After a brief moment of shock, every villager including the chief knelt before the pink-eyed child, firmly believing her to be the reincarnation of the demon god. As such, both twins were allowed to live.
=== Childhood ===
Ram was a prodigy, displaying magical power at a young age that was unrivalled by any of the adults in the village. She constantly outshone her sister Rem, who had been born relatively normal in comparison to Ram. Despite the inferiority complex that Rem had towards Ram, the sisters were very close and there was no resentment held between them. Ram was extremely protective and nurturing of Rem, always trying to build her self-esteem and encouraging her to forge her own path.
When Ram and Rem were around seven to eight years of age, the village was attacked by members of the Witch Cult. The Cult, which was dedicated to the reverence of the vile Witch of Envy, massacred the entire population of the village including Ram's parents. In the end, little Ram was forced to face the Cultists alone as the village burned. With her extraordinarily powerful wind magic, Ram cut through her assailants. As Ram fought, Rem, who had been sleeping, emerged from their home to find the village in ruins. Distracted by the emergence of her sister, Ram's horn was sliced off by a Cultist named Faust.
Before the sisters could be killed, Lord Roswaal L. Mathers, the most powerful mage in the kingdom, arrived on the scene and drove off the Cult. With her horn sliced off, Ram's potential had been permanently stunted. Roswaal took the sisters in, putting them to work as maids in his mansion. Overtime, Ram developed romantic feelings for Mathers.
== Powers & Abilities ==
As a demon, Ram, like the rest of her race, had physical attributes that surpassed regular humans. Demons were capable of manifesting a pair of pink energy-like long-curved horns out of their foreheads. While manifesting the horn, vibrant pink energy would exude from Ram's forehead. Despite appearing like energy, the horn still acted like a physical part of the body. While manifested, a demons' horns would awaken a demon's instincts and act as a gate that allowed the demon to absorb mana from the atmosphere, significantly increasing its ferocity and physical strength. If a demon over-exerted itself while manifesting its horns, it was likely that the recoil would render them weak. It was also possible for a demon to lose control of themselves, blindly attacking those in their way whether they were allies or enemies. As a twin, Ram was born with a single horn that appeared smaller than an average demon's, meaning her power in her demon state was lower than her kin's. Despite this, Ram was easily the strongest of the demons, considered an incredible prodigy by everyone in the village. As a new born baby, she was powerful enough to erect an energy shield strong enough to deflect another demon's magical strike. If her horn hadn't been sliced off when she was a child, Ram would've become the third most powerful being in the world, falling short behind the Master Swordsman Reinhard van Astrea and the Witch of Envy Satella. For an unknown reason, possibly related to her demon blood, Ram had an empathic connection to her sister that allowed them to share their emotions from afar.
Aside from her demonic traits, Ram had various other martial abilities. In the fantasy world, individuals were capable of manipulating magical energy because of a "gate" that existed within every person's body. This gate would draw mana into a body as well as expel it out, functioning as a kind of faucet for magical energy. Each person possessed a different elemental attribute that allowed them to produce magical spells related to that element. Of the six elements, Ram's designated element was wind, one of the four common attributes. When she still had her horn, Ram's wind magic was incredibly powerful.
Ram was capable of using the secret demon art "Clairvoyance" that was passed down by demons for generations. Few demons ever mastered the technique, and as of the modern day, Ram was likely the only individual capable of using it. The power allowed the user to synchronize with the vision of organic life-forms, briefly borrowing their sense of sight to see through the target's eyes. Even when there were no people within her range that Ram could borrow the sight of, the demon maid could borrow the sight of animals such as insects and steeds. By using all sorts of organisms, Ram could connect with a multitude of beings and form a security camera-like network where she would flip back and forth between organisms to observe an area. A creature usually wasn't aware that they were being used as a spy tool and even if they were, they had no way of stopping the power except by closing their eyes. However, to link with a life-form, Ram needed to be on the same wavelength as her target. Furthermore, her awareness of her own surroundings was greatly diminished when she employed the demon art and she also experienced motion sickness if she gazed through a single set of eyes for too long.
Aside from her combative abilities, Ram was incredibly intelligent. Having received a formal education thanks to the patronage of Mathers, both Ram and Rem excelled academically. She had excellent observational skills and was a strong judge of character. Unlike her sister, Ram was able to discern that Subaru was not a threat despite the scent of the Witch of Envy that rested on him. She was also able to understand that Subaru wanted Garfiel's necklace from observing his line of questioning, even though Natsuki didn't convey this information to her. Ram was adept at household chores due to her years of servitude under Lord Roswaal. However, despite being teamed up with Subaru a majority of the time, Ram and her partner only completed around twenty percent of the work load, leaving the rest to Rem. Ram's cooking was only subpar, as she herself claimed her best dish was steamed potatoes.
== Trivia ==
* Ram and Rem's birthday was on the 2nd of February.
* Ram and her twin sister Rem share several similarities with Ram & Rom from the Hyperdimension Neptunia video game series:
** Both Ram & Rem and Ram & Rom are a pair of young twin girls who adore each other.
** Both sets of twins have a sister called Ram and a sister whose name begins and ends in the same letter as Ram.
** While in their "White Sister" forms, Ram & Rom have pink and blue hair respectively. Emphasis shall be placed on the fact that both Rams have pink hair while both of their siblings have blue hair.
** The sisters with the pink hair are more outgoing than the sisters with blue hair, and are therefore both seen as the dominant twins. However, there is a differentiation in the age of the pair of twins, as the pink-haired Ram is younger than the blue-haired Rom in Hyperdimension Neptunia.
Category:Re:Zero
Category:Anime Characters
Category:Characters
Category:Oni
Category:Maids