Elias Brandt Dale Raeven

: "Absolutely not! How could I turn my child over to a woman like you?!"
::— Marquis Raeven to Princess Renner about his beloved son.
Elias Brandt Dale Raeven (エリアス・ブラント・デイル・レエブン) is a great noble of the former Re-Estize Kingdom. While putting on the guise of an opportunist, he was actually a patriot who helped keep the nation together amidst constant political infighting. However, he retired from politics after the Massacre at Katze Plains and later defected to the Sorcerer Kingdom under threat.
== Appearance ==
Marquis Raeven is a tall, thin man with slicked-back blonde hair. He looks like a snake due to his pale-white skin and narrow blue eyes. Gazef Stronoff noted that Marquis Raeven looked older than his actual age because of his unhealthy pallor.Overlord Volume 09, Chapter 2: Preparation for the Battle.
As one of the six great nobles, Marquis Raeven possesses clothes of the highest quality. He wears a doublet made from high-quality fur woven with golden threads. There are intricate patterns and small jewels sewn into his clothes.
== Personality ==
Marquis Raeven was actually a cold-hearted person before the birth of his son. His intelligent and careful nature makes him seem cold-hearted and is characterized as an opportunist by some, Marquis Raeven is a good father and a patriot in the Re-Estize Kingdom. He is a highly skilled noble and a master manipulator, being able to single-handedly keep the Kingdom united through his connections to both the Royalty and Nobility Factions.
However, he also suffers from great stress due to the sheer amount of influence and responsibility he has taken on his shoulders. While maintaining a cold and calculating demeanor in public, he vents out his frustrations while in private by criticizing those whose actions he views as foolish.
The only time when Raeven completely drops his act and shows his true feelings is when in the presence of, or discussing his son Rii-tan, whom he constantly dotes and spoils.
== Background ==
Marquis Raeven originally aimed for the throne, but the birth of his son made him forsake this goal and changed him and his wife into a real loving couple. He now simply wants to give his son a better life.
On the other hand, Marquis Raeven commands the highest authority among the six great nobles. He is known to be an opportunist, cooperating with both Patricians and Loyalists from time to time and constantly switching between the two factions like a snake in order to further his own goals. However, Marquis Raeven is, in fact, the leader of the Royalty Faction, and his behavior as an opportunist is just a performance to prevent the Kingdom from splitting.
== Chronology ==
=== The Bloody Valkyrie Arc ===
Marquis Raeven first appears in Ro-Lente Castle, where he discusses the plans to the King and the great nobles on the course of action against the Baharuth Empire and how many soldiers will be sent at Katze Plains.Overlord Volume 03 Intermission
=== The Men in the Kingdom Arc ===
 and The Men in the Kingdom II Arc
At Ro-Lente Castle, Marquis Raeven is talking with Prince Zanac about their similar interests and meet Climb, who is on his way to Princess Renner's room.Overlord Volume 05 Chapter 2: Blue Rose Marquis Raeven along with Prince Zanac is called by Princess Renner, who asks for his help for her operation against Eight Fingers. Marquis hired Darkness to enhance his estate's security in the wake of the recent disturbances, but he really wanted to suppress the criminal group known as Eight Fingers, and they hoped Momon would fight alongside them, against Six Arms.Overlord Volume 06 Chapter 7: Attack Preparations
However, their plan changed with the appearance of Jaldabaoth and his demon army, looking for a certain item in the Royal Capital. He and Prince Zanac support Princess Renner on defeating Jaldabaoth.Overlord Volume 06 Chapter 11: The Final Battle of the Disturbance After the Royal Capital's disturbance has been resolved, he thanked Momon for his cooperation and hope they will continue their cordial relationship in the future.Overlord Volume 06 Epilogue
=== The Magic Caster of Destroy Arc ===
Marquis Raeven was given total command over the Royal Army in the Katze Plains. The Marquis was shocked and surprised after seeing Ainz Ooal Gown's army, he sought advice from one of his adventurer guards, the adventurers warn Marquis about the Soul Eaters that killed hundreds of thousands of beastmen in the past. After seeing such a terrifying army, he ordered the Kingdom's army in full retreat, but it was too late and the massacre began.
During the massacre, one of the Dark Young then started chasing Marquis Raeven and his adventurer guards. All of Raeven's adventurer guards are instantly killed, but it suddenly froze in its tracks, allowing him to escape and survive the massacre.Overlord Volume 09 Chapter 4: Massacre
=== The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc ===
Although he survived the massacre at Katze Plains, Marquis Raeven was left traumatized by the experience. He abandoned his position as Prince Zanac's closest confidant and retreated back to his private territory, with seemingly no intentions of returning.Overlord Volume 10 Chapter 2: Re-Estize Kingdom
=== The Witch of the Falling Kingdom Arc ===
Sometime after the Massacre at Katze Plains, the marquis was contacted by the Sorcerer Kingdom and was coerced into co-operating with them under the threat that, should he fail to comply, his family and especially his son will pay the price. After witnessing the scale of power the Sorcerer King had unleashed, and not wanting any harm to befall his family, Raeven accepted.Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 1: An Unexpected Move
When the war with Re-Estize had started, the Marquis used all of his resources to prevent information of the invasion from reaching the capital. This allowed the Sorcerer Kingdom to cut off all routes of escape as well as block any ally aid from the eastern and northern regions. After the Battle of E-Naeurl, news of his treachery had finally reached the capital and Prince Zanac.
Renner and Zanac discussed what might have been the reason why someone like the Marquis had chosen to side with the Sorcerer Kingdom, effectively betraying his home nation for the enemy. According to Renner, she speculates the Marquis’s decision was based on the possibility that someone from the Sorcerer Kingdom had kidnapped his son, thinking the Marquis was being blackmailed to help the Sorcerer Kingdom as the enemy is keeping his son hostage. If this was not the reason, she explains even further that he might have just chosen to betray the Re-Estize Kingdom solely because he thought that the nation had no chance of survival. Not only that, but the Marquis was believed by Renner to betray them for the sake of protecting the lives of the people from his city besides his son. Let alone that, it was said by Renner that the Marquis was probably given the order by the Sorcerer King to kill off any people who are seeking refuge in his city as a way to test his loyalty.Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 3: The Last King
Elias and his entourage of nobles were given the order by Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown and Kingdom's Prime Minister Albedo to come to greet the two of them at Ro-Lente Castle. Although he and the nobles were sadly devastated by the destruction of the Royal Capital, he thought of bringing up a positive topic such as the birth of his second child to stop the depressing atmosphere from spreading. He also reprimands one of the nobles not to belittle the Sorcerer King in their presence, stating that he doesn't want his efforts of saving them to be in vain. Elias noted that in the past the Sorcerer King's subordinates wanted him to decide on which of the nobles to spare and this is how this entourage came to be. He asked the nobles to never speak of the tragic fate surrounding the people of Re-Estize as they are no longer living and breathing. While continuing to their destination, he reminds the nobles to think about their future including the nobility. He suggested they find a way to convince the Sorcerer King to help better children's way of life happily along with preserving the tragedy of the Re-Estize Kingdom's fallen Royal Capital. Elias also informs them that he will be the one to hold responsibility in handing over hostages to the Sorcerer Kingdom.
When he accompanied by the nobles finally met up with their new ruler the Sorcerer King and his Prime Minister Albedo, they immediately knelt down before Ainz Ooal Gown. Elias and the nobles were commanded by Ainz to administer their demesnes and follow the same laws as usual until Albedo notified them of the new changes she finished preparing for the Sorcerer Kingdom. To prove their loyalty to the Sorcerer Kingdom's causes, he suggested to Ainz that they be allowed to make a few proposals to him. However, Ainz decided to save such a request for another time as he tells them not to allow any citizen from the Sorcerer Kingdom to come to the Royal Capital as it will be burned to the ground while applied with magic to prevent a possible plague to take root. He emphasizes Ainz's message that in the following aeons, it will be foolish for anyone to try opposing the Sorcerer Kingdom after knowing the mountain of ashes served as proof for the Fall of the Re-Estize Kingdom.Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 4: Well-Prepared Traps
=== Mass for the Dead Arc===
Marquis Raeven later attended an emergency meeting with the king and other nobles to address the loss of Gazef Stronoff and the consequences for the Kingdom's standing in the Tripartite Alliance. To compensate for Gazef's absence in E-Rantel, the Marquis offered to position his forces to protect the capital of the Alliance.Mass for the Dead Chapter 10: Crumbling Overture
The marquis stood alongside Prince Zanac, when he the latter was met by the protagonist and Saint Clementine to share the results of their investigation into the child trafficking operation. Raeven stated that both he and the prince made inquires to several nobles on who the mastermind was. And while the testimonies were vague, many of the other nobles had witnessed the illicit operation and pointed out that the culprit was a member of the Nobility Faction. Though it looked like the noble seemed confident that he would not be pressed with any charges, feigning ignorance and using his own subordinates as scapegoats. Due to this Raeven suspected that the noble had covered up or destroyed all incriminating evidence.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Prayers for Mother's Day 
After E-Rantel was attacked by an explosion of Cracks and invasion of Chaos Beasts, the Re-Estize Kingdom suffered tremendous losses. Among them included the disappearances of most of the royal family save for Prince Zanac, who now led the country in the missing king's stead. Raeven acted as Zanac's advisor during the long months of rebuilding. Like the prince he was shocked at the speed by which E-Rantel was rebuilt due to the support of the Sorcerer Kingdom. 
He was stunned by Zanac's admittance that it would be better to secede power over to the Sorcerer Kingdom as the new dangers that kept popping up, proved the ineffective ability of the Re-Estize Kingdom.Mass for the Dead Chapter 16: Name of God
Later the marquis was informed by Zanac that he received a letter from the missing Renner and that she had set up a refugee camp at Carne Village. Like the prince he felt that the safety of the other remaining royal was paramount and dispatched the elites of the Kingdom to retrieve her. When the two lost contact with the elites, they contacted the Adventurer's Guild discreetly to hire Blue Roses to investigate. The return of the adventurers brought sad news as they found evidence that the camp was destroyed and Renner had taken her own life. The marquis was horrified, not knowing how to break the news to the king who was still grieving for the loss of his eldest son.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Golden Dance Festival of the Fallen
The marquis, along with Mayor Panasolei acted as advisors to Prince Zanac, for the upcoming pep rally that would be held in prelude to the rescue mission to the world beyond the Crack, to rescue those trapped there. While discussing the limited seating for the event to represent the Kingdom, Raeven, expressed his concern on the cooperation of the Theocracy in the event. 
This was due to the human supremacist beliefs and how willing they were committed to allying with the non-human nation of the Sorcerer Kingdom. The noble admitted that the Kingdom were desperate to curry favor with the Sorcerer Kingdom, and that it was horrifying that there are still people left who don't understand profit and loss in this new dangerous world. The marquis later attended the opening ceremony of the pep rally and the venue as part of the Kingdom delegation.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Achievements for Tomorrow, Variations of the Past
A month after the chaos that occurred with the multiple Cracks appearing throughout the Alliance had subsided, Raeven was absent from the court of the newly ascended King Zanac. This was due to his territory and family were in a state of turmoil. Due to being unavailable, Zanac had to rely on advice from the protagonist.Mass for the Dead Chapter 19: The Battle to Conquer Nazarick 
== Abilities and Powers ==
Marquis Raeven is the most influential noble in the Kingdom and commands the highest authority among the Six Great Nobles. It is because of him that the Kingdom has not yet fallen completely into chaos and vanity. He is shown to have exceptional leadership skills and is praised as a great man.
=== Job Classes ===
* High Noble (Common)
* Charisma (Common)
* Sage
== Relationships ==
=== Marchioness Raeven ===
Originally an engagement to increase his influence within kingdom politics, his wife is described to be a beautiful but melancholic woman. As admitted by them, Marquis's Raeven's Relationship with his wife was initially very cold, detached and almost completely business like, with both of them having agreed to their marriage solely in order to benefit each other politically and mutually build their power base in the Kingdom. However their marriage took a turn for the better after the birth of their first son, an event that changed both her and her husband. As noted by the Marchioness, Raeven's personality completely changed with their child's birth to the point that she could not believe that he was the same man she had married, eventually deciding that she liked the new Raeven better. Since then their relationship had transformed into a genuine loving one between husband and wife. As shown, the Marchioness has became more involved in her duties as wife of the Marquis and seems to be primarily responsible for keeping him away from distractions at home, such as preventing him from becoming too distracted by overly spoiling and babying their only son. As shown from his thoughts while fleeing the battle in the Massacre at Katze Plains, the Marchioness, along with their son was the Marquis's main reason for wanting to stay alive was in order to go home to them.
By the time of the fall of their homeland, the Marchioness was stated to have given birth to her and Raeven's second born son, making the Marquis very happy despite the circumstances.
=== Rii-tan ===
The catalyst for the Marquis' change of heart, Rii-tan lives a somewhat spoiled life, doted on by his father. As admitted by Marquis Raeven, he originally had a very cold and detached view of his son, having originally seen him as another tool for him to use in his rise to power. However, as time went on, Raeven soon began to genuinely love and care for his son, causing his personality to change drastically from someone desiring more power and status to a loving father who wishes to create a kingdom where his son could grow up in peace in. It is said that his birth caused the Marquis to smile. Due to him loving his son, Raeven has shown to have the tendency to baby talk to him and ignore his work in order to spend time with him, due to this, it falls to his mother to discipline their son and to keep the Marquis from getting too distracted to manage the affairs of the Kingdom.
Raeven himself is shown to be highly protective of his eldest son, this is seen where after Renner proposed a engagement to him as part of their alliance, he immediately rebuked her and lost his normally cold and calculating demeanor. Revealing that his son was one of his weaknesses able to completely addle his mind. Later, it was implied that the main reason why Raeven had switched sides to the Sorcerer Kingdom was due his son being directly threatened by them and him wanting to insure his family’s survival.
=== Ramposa III ===
Marquis Raeven, being the leader of the King's inner circle, is loyal to King Ramposa III. However, privately he criticizes him for letting his emotions cloud his judgment and stubbornly refusing to pass the throne. On the other hand, after becoming a father himself, he has become able to somewhat understand his favoritism.
=== Gazef Stronoff ===
Beneath his cold facade, Marquis Raeven admired the commoner, Gazef, and his talents. He even wished to petition to the king to grant him nobility status so that he would be on equal footing with the domineering nobles.
=== Zanac Valleon Igana Ryle Vaiself ===
He and Prince Zanac share similar interests and cooperate with each other when necessary. He also supports the Second Prince's claim to the throne in return for him making him Prime Minister. However, privately, he criticizes him for further dividing the Kingdom through his rivalry with his brother.
=== Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself ===
Marquis Raeven is one of the few people who know Renner's true self. The two had somewhat of a business relationship, with her aiding in making Zanac king in return for him helping with her own endeavors. Aside from this, while he was in open awe at her intelligence, it also scares him; to the point where he was horrified when proposed engaging his son to her as a joke.
=== Lockmeier ===
Lockmeier is Raeven's subordinate, tasked to help Blue Roses, Gazef Stronoff, Brain Unglaus, and Climb in the fight against Eight Fingers. He was also charged to help protect the Royal Capital from the demons during the demonic disturbance. Following his retirement from politics, Zanac believed that Lockmeier's death during Massacre at Katze Plains was one of his reasons for leaving.
=== Ainz Ooal Gown ===
After learning of Ainz and how even Gazef considered him a great threat, Marquis Raeven already was cautious of him. However, upon witnessing his full might, he claimed him to be "a monster" and that he needed to form a counter-strategy lest he will conquer all of humanity. Unfortunately, this never came to pass, as he was so traumatized by the experience that he retired from politics.
Despite the Sorcerer King inducing such trauma onto him, however, Marquis Raeven would ironically end up defecting to the Sorcerer Kingdom during its invasion of the Kingdom. Though this was most likely because his family was threatened. Still, he privately prayed for the arrival of a hero who would slay the "Demon King."
== Trivia ==
* In the Web Novel, Marquis Raeven did not survive the massacre at the Katze Plains.Overlord First Half Chapter 97: Massacre Part 3
* His given name, Raeven, is likely named after [Ravenloft], a Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
== Quotes ==
* (To Renner): "Of course, Princess Renner. Those are the same eyes I had seen in the past. You've been putting on quite an act ever since then."
* (To himself about his family and the Kingdom): "Even if I have to sacrifice myself, I will protect all of this."
* (To himself about his King): "The King's no better either! He's no fool and he's not drunk on power, but he isn't thinking at all! The way he's clinging onto the throne will only fan the flames of the succession crisis to greater heights! Princess Renner gave him a good opportunity by making things favorable for the Royal faction, so he should hurry up and transfer power already! It ended up like this because he pitied his first son. It's not like I don't understand his feelings, but nobody's thinking about what’s important! Nobody at all!"
* (To himself upon witnessing Ainz Ooal Gown's Army): "...the Empire has enlisted monsters into their ranks, it seems. This is quite surprising. It's made me break out in goosebumps."
* (To Gazef): "I'm returning to my unit. There's no more time to waste. Ainz Ooal Gown's power is immeasurable. Doing battle with him was a mistake from the start. All we can do is minimize the number of casualties, and at the same time we need to get back to E-Rantel as fast as we can. Gazef-dono, please protect his Majesty. After that, retreat without delay!"
* (To himself about Ainz): "Ainz Ooal Gown, what kind of being, what kind of magic caster are you?!"
* (To his Knights during the massacre): "This isn't a battlefield any more, it's a killing floor! Just run!"
* (To himself about Ainz): "That magic caster's a monster! How can someone like him be allowed to exist in this world?!"
* (To himself about Ainz): "Dammit! We have to do something! I need to think of some way to protect our world — our future!"
* (To himself about Ainz): "If this goes on, all of humanity will be conquered...No, that's the best case scenario. In the worst case, all of humanity will become toys for Ainz Ooal Gown, to be tormented until the ends of their wretched lives."
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