Nozel Silva

Nozel Silva is a major protagonist in the anime/manga fantasy series, Black Clover. He is the Captain of the Silver Eagles, one of the nine squads of Magic Knights in the Clover Kingdom who are tasked with protecting the kingdom. 
He is also the son of the late Acier Silva, the older brother of Nebra, Solid, and Noelle Silva, and the cousin of Kirsch Vermilion and Mimosa Vermilion.
He is voiced by Kōsuke Toriumi in the Japanese version of the anime, and by formerly Clifford Chapin in (Episode 4) and currently Ricco Fajardo in the English version of the anime.
==Personality==
Nozel is a man who exudes a demeanor that is both haughty and with a royal grandeur. Like his younger siblings and squad mates Nebra and Solid he is arrogant but unlike them keeps up the appearance of someone far above the gloating and bigotry that Solid and Nebra go out of their way to display making him comparatively calm, mature and tolerant and is unafraid to put his foot down when Solid and Nebra cross a line. Nevertheless Nozel is a proud man who takes great pride in his accomplishments as a Magic Knight and his royal pedigree, and is quick to become belligerent when annoyed or provoked, especially by fellow captains Yami Sukehiro and Jack whom he shows a mild distaste for as they are a foreigner and commoner respectively who have an equivalent rank to him. Perhaps because of this pride Nozel feels resent when the Golden Dawn places first over his squad especially as this had been the case for many years at this point in time.
However Nozel has shown that his more mature demeanor when compared to his family is not just for show, unlike many other nobles and royals in the series Nozel is very much unafraid of getting his hands dirty when the need arises and takes the protection of his home country very seriously to the point of volunteering to aid in the attack of the Eye of the Midnight Sun's base when it was discovered, showing a degree of patriotism.
Furthermore though Prideful Nozel is also fairly self-disciplined and capable of great showing of control with his magic, leadership abilities and quick thinking that are indeed worthy of a captain of Knights. He also does not see it as shameful to work with Magic Knights from other squads as when some of the Magic Knights who had been gathered for the decorative ceremony complained about being forced to team up with each other to make it back Nozel responded that they were all Magic Knights and would do what they could to defend the country.
It should be noted Nozel's great pride is in being a Magic Knight, and a squad captain at that, above all else, and like many other Magic Knights Nozel aspires to become the Magic Emperor, and holds both himself, his family and the Magic Knights as a whole up to high standards is even capable of reserving a degree of respect for his fellow Magic Knights, be them commoner, noble or royal especially when they have proven themselves in some way shape or form. This shows that he takes the ideals layed out by the erstwhile Wizard King Julius Novachrono to heart, he even allowed for lenience in letting Asta and Yuno depart to save their hometown despite personally prioritizing the capital. He desired to recruit Yuno into the Silver Eagles after impressing him during the Magic Knight exam, and allowed Zora Ideal to go do his own thing while his own house was under attack reasoning that as someone chosen to be a Royal Knight by the Wizard King would know how best to use his abilities in this situation, and proved correct in this regard as Zora set numerous traps that helped to turn the tides of the battle at House Silva's Mansion.
This respect even allows him to listen to their opinions and judgement on what to do next even when said decision may not seem like the wisest course of action: case in point he silently agreed to trying to save the possessed Magic Knights when outvoted despite the intense danger that they posed to the capitol and being ready to kill them to defend his country he still mercifully merely knocked out the possessed Golden Dawn members despite them destroying a great portion of his house and impaling him personally many times.
Though Nozel often derides his fellow captains, Nozel often unknowingly or unwilling shows evidence of greater respect/closeness/rivalry with them than he does to even his own siblings and squad mates showing that he sees them as people worth their comparative rank despite showing some degree of annoyance at it. Indeed Nozel is unafraid to show his less savory side when in the presence of his fellow captains as opposed to trying to keep up appearances as he tells his siblings to do in meetings with more people such as a decoration ceremony. He also greatly respected the Crimson Lion's Captain Fuegoleon Vermilion as his rival to the point than when he was comatose after his encounter with Patri he personally vowed to avenge him and when infiltrating the base desired to defeat the enemy leader personally vowing to himself that he the one who put Fuegoleon in a coma would not leave until he was defeated unaware that Patri was not in the case at the time of their attack.
Nozel pride seems to made him have difficulties into owning up to his mistakes, but he is not so arrogant as to not acknowledge them, albeit in a rather awkward fashion as when Noelle finally proved herself he was the first to apologize for her previous treatment while scratching the side of his face and not making eye contact.
Though normally he is able to keep his emotions and thoughts to himself Nozel can truly be surprised by unexpected turns of events such as when the Black Bulls come in second in the collection of stars thanks to Asta's efforts.
==Relationships==
===House Silva===
Nozel is the first son of the House Silva, as he is stated the the son as opposed to head, it can be assumed that this is held by someone else at this time.
====Acier Silva====
Acier was Nozel's mother and of her children he is the only one to inherit her "Steel" element while his siblings all have the Silva line's "Water" element. Nozel clearly respected his mother lacking his usual demeanor in the flashback and was quite upset that Acier died in childbirth to his younger sister Noelle. Nozel lied and gave off the impression that he held Noelle in contempt for being the cause of their mother's death but in truth was afraid of loosing her the way that he had lost his mother.
====Nebra Silva and Solid Silva====
His first younger sister Nebra and his younger brother Solid both greatly respect their brother and squad captain, but Nozel does not specifically return these affections remaining distant from his far more bigoted siblings. This does not mean that Nozel does not care for them as he rushed to save his siblings when their home was being invaded by elves and stepped into save Nebra and Solid from being killed by Kvin. Solid greatly respects his brother who is the only person who is capable of quieting Solid when he crosses a line, such as when he insulted House Vermilion for Fuegoleon's defeat Nozel was quick to point out that while as Fuegoleon's loss was disgraceful House Silva were no better for missing the fight in its entirety, this is the only point in time when Solid has ever been silenced. Nebra respects her brother and was unsurprised at his abilities in defeating and enemy who she was no match against.
====Noelle Silva====
Noelle is Nozel's second younger sister, secretly afraid of loosing Noelle because of her weakness Nozel treated Noelle with disdain, insulting and dismissing her as not worth his time, albeit nowhere near as extremely or as harshly as the Nebra and Solid were. Noelle's difficulty in controlling her magic was only worsened by her siblings treatment and Nozel refused to grant Noelle entry into his squad because of her ineptitude. The anime added a scene where it is shown that Nozel told Noelle to not even bother trying to become a Magic Knight. Compared to her other siblings whom Noelle feared and was submissive towards their beatings Nozel who did not go out of his way to harass and who's merits as a Magic Knight were unquestioned made Noelle significantly more comfortable and respectful about Nozel than Nebra or Solid, and after her progress as a member of the Black Bulls Noelle begrudgingly earned her eldest brother's respect.
During the battle against Kvin when Noelle flooded the enclosed space to force Kvin to undo Another Atlas Nozel took full advantage over this brief opening to counter showing a similarly close dynamic to that of Asta and Yuno during their fight against Licht.
Secretly Nozel truly did care for Noelle all along who's resemblance to their mother was uncanny in Nozel's eyes and only treated her coldly because her lack of control and talent in magic meant that she would be in danger as a Magic Knight who risk their lives to protect their kingdom. After the battle with Kvin Nozel confided that he had only afraid of loosing Noelle the way that he had lost their mother and apologized for his behavior after seeing how far Noelle had come under the Black Bulls.
===Magic Knights===
====Asta====
Asta did not impress Nozel during the Knight's entrance exam and he passed on having him in his squad, later however Asta personally earned Nozel's ire during a decoration ceremony when he demanded that Nebra and Solid apologize to Noelle and fought back against them. Nozel felt that Asta was out of line for a commoner with no magic who Yami had picked up on a whim, but turned his attention to Fuegoleon when he pointed out that as Asta had been invited by the Wizard King he had acknowledged Asta's worth. Later when Asta was kidnapped Nozel prioritized the kingdom's defenses, dismissing Asta as a single slum rat. Interestingly he threatened Asta and Yami both when they talk about how he styles his hair making him one of the few cases outside of the captains where Nozel showed anger at someone.
However like Noelle, Asta has shown that he has earned the grudging respect of the Silver Eagle's captain. Nozel recognizes him by name as being the one who saved Meleoleona Vermilion when she was cornered and than used a magic tool to heal the currently gathered knight Asta included. He even allowed Asta and Yuno to separate from them in order to save their home village Hage.
====Fuegoleon Vermilion====
Nozel and Fuegoleon have known each other sense childhood and apparently have a rivalry with each other. During the decoration ceremony Fuegeoleon needed to personally interfere before Nozel could attack young Asta and the two were ready to engage with each other until news of the Capital being under attack after which Fuegoleon took commanded and though not particularly pleased about obeying the Crimson Lion Captain's orders he did so regardless as Fuegoleon's judgement was sound and he respected his rival. When Fuegoleon was incapacitated Nozel was enraged: for a Magic Knight loosing is a disgrace and makes Fuegoleon "worthless" but as he had been transported away from the capital he felt even less than worthless for being absent when the capital and his rival needed him.
====Julius Novachrono====
The Magic Emperor, Julius Novachrono, is the only person in the Magic Knights who outranks Nozel, while no interaction has been shown between the two it is clear that Nozel respects the Magic Emporer, and aspires for the position one day as well. As for Julius himself he seems to be quite aware of Nozel's feelings as when Fuegoleon was incapacitated Julius noted that the enemy had "awakened a sleeping lion and robbed a bear of her cub at the same time," referring to Nozel specifically which proved true as Nozel who vowed to bury whoever did this to his rival and avenge Fuegoleon.
Though their personalities differ Nozel truly does adhere to Julius's merit-based system as it is both more fair and allows for a stronger military force. Nozel has yet to find out about the Magic Emperor's death.
====Kirsch Vermilion and Mimosa Vermilion====
Kirsch and Mimosa are Nozel's cousins no direct interaction has been shown with Nozel and Mimosa, but they were both selected to be members of the Royal Knights assigned to stop the Eye of the Midnight Sun which Nozel would later volunteer to join as well. After the members who were not possessed met back up Kirsch's magic tool helped to heal them and Nozel's Mercury Magic allowed them to make it back to the Royal Capital at about the same time as the Elves arrived.
Kirsch apparently holds Nozel up to a high standard calling him one of the few things that he considers to be beautiful, likely because of his royal heritage and position as a Captain but Nozel was more occupied with the current threat of the elves and told him to shut up.
====Yami Sukehirio and Jack the Ripper====
Nozel has a particular distaste for his fellow captains Yami Sukehiro and Jack the Ripper who are of equal rank but are a foreigner and commoner respectively. He has threatened them on more than one occasion such as when Yami and Asta traded banter about how he styles his hair or when Yami boasted at placing ahead of him in the year's achievements. He was mildly annoyed when Yami and Jack headed to the King and when Yami gave him orders to protect the people, but stills respects him enough listen to Yami's advice and head to his home to protect it from the invading elves.
==Abilities & Powers==
As a Squad Captain for the Clover Kingdom's Magic Knights Nozel is one of the strongest mages in the Clover Kingdom's military force, and he himself is in command of the Silver Eagles one of the strongest and most noteworthy squads which took third place in the year's listing behind only the Black Bulls and Golden Dawn. Furthermore Nozel is also a Royal and his clan's name alone is great enough that other nobles desire to bootlick his name for their own ends.
Nozel's abilities are praised by the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun Patri himself and noted by Asta to be on the level of Captain Yami, and when he and Fuegoleon Vermilion were about to clash the very room shook as a result and many looked on in terror at the potential clash between captains. Indeed Nozel was simply able to volunteer to become a part of the Royal Knights while all other members including fellow captains Rill Boismortier and Meleoleona Vermilion were selected by the Wizard King himself implying that his skills are deeply respected.
===Magic===
Unlike his siblings Nozel is the only member of his family to have inherited his mother's "Steel" element granting him Mercury Magic, the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature and allows for Nozel's magic to be just as fluid as the "Water" element of his siblings. Nozel is capable of Mana-skin to be able to fight the elves without his magic going awry.
==Trivia==
*Question Brigade Rankings:
**Nozel is the Fourth most Beautiful Man, behind (in order) Yuno, Licht, and Kirsch Vermilion
**Nozel is the Second Smartest Captain behind his rival Fuegoleon Vermillion who is first.
**Nozel is third most disliked by animals by Augustus Kira Clover the 13th who is the most disliked and Meleoleona Vermilion who is second most disliked.
*Nozel likes discipline and Roast Duck.
*Nozel's Grimoire is the fifth captain's grimoire to be the background design for the cover of the manga's volumes. Specifically Volume 18, after the Grimoires of Fuegoleon Vermilion for Volume 3, Yami Sukehiro for volume 5, Charlotte Roselei for Volume 11, and Meleoleona Vermilion for volume 14.
*Nozel is one of the most popular captains in the series having come in 23rd and 10th place in the first and second popularity poles of Black Clover, making him fifth most popular in the first pole and fourth in the second surpassing Jack the Ripper who fell from 22nd place in the first pole to 27th place as the sixth most popular captain. His placement in the second popularity pole also makes Nozel the fifth most popular character who is not a member of the Black Bulls.
*He is similar to Lord Sesshomaru from Inuyasha.
**They are the eldest of their siblings respectively (in Sesshomaru's case, half siblings).
***They mistreated their younger siblings who share their tsundere personalities (Noelle and Inuyasha).
**They share the same emotionless expression and hair color.
**They also share the same set of personality of being proud and arrogant.
**They share the same role of being the anti-hero.
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