Hansel

Hansel is a minor character in Black Souls I and a temporary ally in Black Souls II. His name is derived from the character of the same name in a fairytale written by the Brothers Grimm, "Hansel and Gretel." In both games, he appears alongside his sister, Gretel.
==Appearance==
Hansel takes the appearance of a young boy, with red eyes, fair skin and short blonde hair, with his fringe making a small v-shape in the middle of his forehead and hovering above his eyes. His clothing is composed of a simple white undershirt with puffed up sleeves, alongside a brown cloth that acts as a harness. A small light blue ribbon is placed on his shirt, as well as a similarly colored flower pinned on the left side of his head.
As a Demonbeast, in his "Cursed Brother" form, his appearance drastically changes to a blue cyclops with muscular arms, two horns and a tail. He carries a giant, bloody axe with the main blade on one side and three smaller blades on the other side in combat, carrying it with one arm. 
==Personality==
Hansel is an optimistic, friendly soul who seeks to make friends even with complete strangers. Familial bonds are especially important to him, even after his potential conversion into a demonbeast. It's easy for him to see the best in others, but much harder to do the same with himself. Despite this, he tries his best to be mature and protect him and his little sister from any harm, and always looks on the bright side of things to the point of delusion. Hating others is not something that he can do easily, at least as a human.
He's often stressed by the expectation imposed on him as his status as an older sibling towards Gretel, as well as his sister's own ideals about what a big brother "should" be. When Gretel expresses that Grimm should have been her big brother instead of Hansel in admiration, after the undead saves them from Sinner Vilt in his demonbeast form, Hansel is silently shunned by the sentiment, indicating that he feels somewhat self-deprecatory towards himself, and often feels disappointed that he simply doesn't "fit" the role of being an older sibling.
==Biography==
=== Black Souls I ===
Hansel's story, alongside Gretel, is similar to the original fairytale. They were kicked out of their home by their mother so that she would be able to selfishly conserve more of the food and water for herself, at the cost of losing her children. They were given bread before getting kicked out, which gave Hansel the idea to leave behind crumbs so that they can eventually find their way home. This evidently backfires, as the crumbs disappear due to animals within the forest having eaten them themselves. At some point he and his sister eat mushrooms out of desperation, fueling their demonbeast forms and effectively sealing their doom.
The remainder of Hansel's as well as his sister's story is influenced by Grimm's actions, or lack thereof.
Before Grimm approaches the Witch's House to meet with Dorothy, a trail of items will be present within the Abandoned Forest, each one of them giving Grimm breadcrumbs if he picks them up. If he picks up a single one, the entrance to Dorothy's house will be fogged, and entering through will reveal Hansel, alongside his sister, as demonbeasts. Perceiving the undead as a dessert, they initiate a fight. Once Grimm defeats the two of them, their fairytale will drop, and their story ends.
Conversely, should he ignore the trail of items, the house will not be fogged, and Hansel alongside his sister will be revealed as normal children. Hansel will have a one-sided conversation with Gretel, speaking of how nice it is that there's a house this deep in the woods, and that they would certainly get back home, at this rate. Annoyed by his optimism, his sister tells him to be quiet, a command he obeys before apologizing. Killing them will always be an option from this point, but can be rendered impossible if Grimm makes a specific choice. 
Hansel, if talked to, will ask Grimm if they can be friends, but regardless of the undead's response, nothing will change; he will be sensitive to either option, however. After having talked to Gretel at least once, Grimm can give Hansel a piece of candy, prompting the Sinner Vilt to arrive at the doorstep of Dorothy's home. If the undead doesn't kill him immediately, he tells Grimm that he's part of Hansel's family, and that he wishes to share his souls with him and his sister so that they will not transform into demonbeasts. 
Grimm can choose to kill Vilt immediately, retaining progression for Hansel and Gretel's side quest, or follow through with his request to get a match from Elma so that he can properly share souls with the siblings. Should the undead do the latter, Vilt will head inside, before having a short conversation with Hansel and Gretel. Hansel will appear confused by the man's claim of being their brother, leading the man to believe that the two had already become demonbeasts, before turning into one himself so that he can "save them." If Grimm leaves the area or loses the fight against Demonbeast Vilt, Hansel will be consumed with his little sister.
Whichever way Grimm decides to deal with Vilt, entering the Witch's House again will trigger another cutscene as Hansel exclaims that he and his sister will turn into demonbeasts. Gretel will tell him off when he asks Grimm to give both him and his sister souls, saying that the prospect of feeding souls can strictly only be between a man and a woman, as it is simply more efficient that way. However, Grimm is given the choice between only Hansel, or only his sister, or the both of them.
If Grimm feeds only Gretel souls, she insults Hansel more, who calls her mean before running away in tears to turn into a demonbeast. When fighting him, he's under the belief he is still protecting his sister from the "witch". On the other hand, if Grimm feeds him souls, he will try to comfort his sister, but fails, ultimately being saddened by Gretel's meltdown, noting to Grimm they have always been together, and that he's not quite sure what to do now that she's gone. Feeding the both of them souls is the best outcome in Hansel's eyes as he will be overjoyed by being able to stay with Gretel, much to her initial annoyance. Should Grimm do the latter, Hansel nor his sister will be able to be killed by the undead.
Should Grimm reenter the Witch's House after either forming a covenant with or killing the first four Demonic Princesses, and he made the choice of giving souls to both Hansel and Gretel, the two siblings will have been killed by Lindamea due to their corruption. Leaf comments shortly afterward on their fate, pondering on why humans kill, destroy, and die, and what could have been if he and his sister had been raised in a household that could sustain them, or one that at least loved them regardless of the horrible conditions. She remarks that this wasn't so, and because of that, this was how their tale ended. 
=== Black Souls II ===
Hansel returns solely as a Dream Spirit alongside his sister Gretel to help Grimm fight against the Pregnant Cake inside Infinite Food, both in their Cursed Sibling forms. After the fight, their fairytale is added to Grimm's inventory.
==Relationships==
===Gretel===
Hansel cares a great amount for his younger sister, and would go through lengths to make sure that she survives, even at the detriment of his own health. He harbors firm belief that since the only family they have is each other, they should cherish their relationship as best as they can. Even as a demonbeast, he shares great concern for Gretel, becoming furious if he witnesses his sister's death first. 
Despite his unconditional love and protection for Gretel, he often finds that he's weaker than what she expects him to be. Due to his own personality, he can't bring himself to hate or even dislike his sister for giving him those expectations, so instead he projects his hatred into himself, leading to a one-sided, toxic dynamic between the two of them.
If Hansel is the only one chosen to share souls with, he goes into a depressive state, unsure what to do with himself now that Gretel is gone. He's much more content should Grimm decide to instead share souls with both siblings.
===Grimm===
Grimm is treated generally like anyone else Hansel meets, and as such, is considered a friend, even before talking to him for very long, even referring to him as "big brother." Dependent on the undead's actions, his view towards Grimm changes from friendliness to possible admiration, of wanting to be strong as him as well.
However, this title given towards Grimm, to Hansel, is not a complete replacement for Gretel. Try as the undead might to be a good adoptive sibling, Hansel can't see him in the same light as his biological little sister.
==Enemy==
==Trivia==
* As he's based off of his story counterpart, he shares similarities to the original character, as well as his fairytale:
** His family comprises him, his sister Gretel, a father and a mother.
*** Akin to the plot of the original, the mother was explicitly said to be the one to abandon them, for the same reasoning of famine. 
*** The father isn't mentioned much at all, but it can be implied that his counterpart here also lacked a backbone, and was forced to abandon Hansel with his sister because of his wife's urging.
** Both pitched the ideas of putting breadcrumbs on the road so that the siblings can find their way home.
*** Both circumstances backfire, and they end up lost.
** Both found a house in the middle of the woods belonging to a witch.
*** However, this iteration's house belongs to Dorothy, a character from a different fairytale entirely. 
*** Additionally, her house is made of conventional building materials, and not of foodstuffs. Instead, it only appears made of the latter to Hansel and Gretel, as both have eaten mushrooms in order to keep hunger at bay.
*** While the witch in the original tale gave them ample amounts of food and warm beds, Dorothy doesn't give them much at all; she either doesn't care or is ignorant to the circumstance of the siblings.
*He and Gretel are one of a few minor, non-companion characters that have a dialogue sprite.
*Their tale in Black Souls II has notably been rewritten from the original in Black Souls I, contextualizing their story as one of justice and revenge due to neglect, rather than submission and quiet loss due to the same.
**Despite this, the siblings' personalities remain largely the same: Hansel is the only one who cares about the other sibling, and Gretel doesn't seem hesitant to note him as useless if he falls in battle.
==Navigation==
Category:Black Souls I Characters