Engen

**Engen** (엔겐), also known as the **Smiling Man**, is the deuteragonist of *Hero Killer*.

He is the leader of the villain organization known as the Nameless who was once a central figure of the major conflicts from the previous era that fought in both the War of Inheritance as an heir to the throne of Nera and as its second king during the Great War, afterwards he went into hiding and somewhere along the way saved Rachel Sinclair and organized the survivors of the war. While not all his motives are clear, he wishes to defeat The Iron Witch, the mysterious woman who gave him his iconic scar and destroy the Hero Clan.

## Appearance

> He looks dangerous...
>
> Ihwa on Engen as she meets him.

Engen is a very handsome man with short light brown hair and grey eyes but despite his youthful appearance he is very old, having been born in the era after the Chaotic Era over a century ago. He has a large scar on the left side of his face and neck, given to him by The Iron Witch, resulting in his moniker the "Smiling Man".

    The scar glows red whenever he is going all out during a battle and throbs with pain whenever he is reminded of the circumstances behind it. Although it hasn't been shown, it can be assumed that he has an athletic physique. When it comes to clothing, Engen usually wears a dark overcoat with various kinds of clothing underneath or prefers fashionable casual clothing. He is never seen wearing ordinary t-shirts or bright colored clothes.

## Personality

Engen is stoic, calm and collected man at nearly all times that shows an aura of mystery, however Rachel says that this is just a front and he's actually quite crazy which he used to openly display in his youth, and it still surfacing from time to time. According to Chain, Engen has always had a creepier side to him even in his youth.  These habits surface whenever he is smiling devilishly or showing his evil side, which has only grown over the years.

And as a first-class villain Engen is also incredibly ruthless as he won't hesitate to kill a great number of bystanders when necessary and isn't above threatening or even killing his own comrades if needed as he casually warned John Nash that he would kill him the next he interrupted a conversion and displayed real intent to kill towards Hero Killer if she couldn't awaken her Gift while telling her that he was ready to get rid of her right there and at that moment if she disappointed him in order to motivate her. Aside from his villainous tendencies, Engen is a capable leader as seen while he commands the Nameless with respectable authority despite his threatening nature and showed a great amount of influence in using other villains.

Nevertheless, Engen is open to helping others as he took in Rachel Sinclair to help her kill her father Reagan Sinclair and gave Ihwa some advice in order to become stronger as he expects her to become the "torch" that will allow him to finally destroy the Hero Clan and change the era. He is also incredibly rational in his intelligent. When fighting or in combat Engen doesn't get easily fazed even when facing powerful heroes and villains alike.

## Background

Engen's entire early life is currently a mystery, but he was mostly likely born after the Chaotic Era. In his childhood and early teens, he decided to join the King of Nera's followers but it's unknown if Engen willingly chose to follow the king or if he was abducted. He met another candidate named Chain and befriended him during this period of time.

At some point, the King's power reached its limit as his body could no longer handle the capabilities of The Torch, so he gathered his strongest followers, among them Engen, to make a proposition. Whoever conquered the most districts would inherit everything that he had, and the War of Inheritance had begun. Engen teamed up with Chain and was one of the leading candidates among the heirs during which he took over and conquered Cloud Garden. It's assumed during this period that Engen came to know The Butcher or hear about her infamous acts towards the district lords. The war lasted until Engen and Chain reached adulthood, Islotta Rainfall's death, and the king eventually died.

During this period of war, he met and befriended Abyss Dancer and Nugal, two powerful Gift users who would swear their loyalty to him as they grew to love his boldness and conviction. Engen eventually won the succession war and was crowned the second king of Nera. In the following three days after he assumed throne and was ready to inherit the The Torch, a mysterious woman appeared who called herself The Iron Witch. She killed everyone in the area in a mere second and destroyed the Torch. The powerful woman fought with Engen and defeated him overwhelmingly while giving him his incurable iconic scar on his face and disappeared.

Engen, defeated and humiliated by the Witch, wouldn't give up. Nera, while no longer at its peak, was still strong enough to fight for a place of dominance in the world.  After the time in which the Witch defeated him, certain rumors started to spread around the same time. A man known as the Skysword had gained the attention of the world as he killed numerous district lords and defeated one of the Elders, Yushin in a duel. The Skysword had gained enough power to form and create an organization called the Hero Clan based around his fame. It was only matter of time until the clan, having operated underneath the banner of justice, clashed with Engen and the remaining remnants of Nera in what would be called the War of the Reeds or the Great War.

     Engen fought on the frontlines in numerous battles as he slaughtered dozens of heroes and opponents during the war.  In one such battle, a hero named Chaos witnessed Engen's actions as the hero hid while observing him fighting . It was around this time that Engen started to become known as the *Smiling Man* with his scar mimicking an ever-present smile or smirk on his face. It's also assumed that Engen met Yushin in this period as the former Elder was sympathetic to the Villains and also saved Chain's life at one point.  But eventually Engen and his forces would be defeated once again after losing two major battles in the war. The word of "Nera" ceased to exist with the clan banning its name after their victory. Engen's activities in the decades following his loss aren't fully known as he disappeared from the public eye with many assuming he had died in the war.

In the modern era, he once traveled to Castle Gray where he met a young girl named Rachel Sinclair. Engen saved Rachel's life from her torturers after killing them. The girl had wondered what he was doing in the snow-covered wasteland, and Engen answered that he was preparing for his third attempt against the Hero Clan. Engen seeing Rachel's potential decided to take her underneath his wing and raise her, promising to help her achieve revenge against her biological father Reagan Sinclair, the Elder.

Afterwards, Engen would start recruiting survivors, outcasts, or those with grudges against the Hero Clan amongst the Villains. During this period he met Vector, a former scientist of the clan, who had offered his services in exchange for witnessing and playing a role in Engen's plans, his partner John Nash, and Baek-Ji, a young Gift user with a grudge against the Hero Clan's leader. This gathering of individuals would start to be referred to as the Nameless, survivors of the war amongst a new generation of villains. Engen and the group of villains settled down in District 17: Dust City.

## Story

### District 17 Assault Arc

Engen and the Nameless watch Hero Killer's fight with Chaos and Viper. Rachel wonders if saving her is really worth catching the attention of the Hero Clan but Engen answers that there's strength in numbers and that Hero Killer is quite an asset.

## Battles & Events

**District 17 Assault Arc**

* Smiling Man vs. Heavy Smoker
* Smiling Man vs. Chaos
* Smiling Man vs. Victoria

**Hero Candidate Arc**

* Smiling Man vs. Jintae Yang

**The Torch Arc**

* Smiling Man vs. Bishop

**Nostra Arc**

* Ijincheon vs. The Smiling Man

**Assault on Castle Gray Arc**

* Smiling Man vs. Raxfer Sinclair
* Smiling Man vs Jintae Yang Round 2

## Trivia

* Engen shares the same birthday with Bishop despite the big age gap between them.
* It's unknown if Engen knew Islotta Rainfall on a personal level.
* Engen is one of three people to have wielded Chain in his Sword Form.

## References

1. ↑ Episode 5
2. ↑ Episode 111
3. ↑ Episode 111
4. ↑ Episode 86
5. ↑ Episode 16
6. ↑ Episode 111
7. ↑ Episode 5
8. ↑ Episode 24
9. ↑ Episode 14
10. ↑ Episode 20