Bruno Bangnyfe

* Unmasked
* Masked

**Bruno Bangnyfe** (ブルーノ・バングナイフ, *Burūno Bangunaifu*?) is the Director of the **Inks** division of Wing Bind.

## Appearance

Bruno is a young man with black, spiky hair that is close-shaven on either side of his head and has a single bang falling down on his forehead, as well as two blue streaks running upward at the front. He has thin and sharp eyebrows that curve upward toward his temples and level out past the top of his ears, light-colored eyes, and a pronounced jawline. He wears a blue jacket with a furred collar over a dark shirt emblazoned with an animal skull, as well as a pair of black fingerless gloves with a backwards-pointing metal spike attached to a ring on each finger and thumb, gray pants with a sweater tied around his waist, and black sneakers inscribed with an X on the tongues. He also keeps a blue mask tied around his left elbow; this mask is decorated with the visage of a the lower half of a skeleton's face with a filter on either cheek, and when worn, the jaws move in accordance with Bruno's own mouth movements.

## Personality

Bruno is a fierce and temperamental young man who is committed to upholding the safety provided by Wing Bind: when Balgo Parks inadvertently attracted a **Dark Dragon** to Reverse London, Bruno was enraged by this being the first such incident to occur in nearly a century, calling it a catastrophe, and was further vexed by none of the other division Directors reacting negatively to it. Additionally, he is also intolerant of those who lack professionalism, having berated Harry Shayk for chewing gum during the meeting on the **Dark Dragon** attack and Saka Rynn for not even showing up. Bruno values recognition and fame; he was personally offended when Noel Niihashi failed to recognize him even though he knew who she was, and took on the mission to detain and execute Balgo because the one who does so will have their name remembered in Reverse London for all of history; compounding this, he was willing to temporarily delay Balgo's elimination solely so he could take on and exterminate Cinderella, a **Märchen**, because doing so would provide him with more recognition than any other opponent ever could.

In combat, Bruno is sarcastic and unempathetic; after blasting Ninny Spangcole with a powerful **Magic** spell, his only concern about the possibility of her being killed by it was the resulting incident report that he would be forced to write, and when he later disarmed her, Bruno mockingly told Ninny to not hold her **Witch Kit** while agitated since it could discharge. Though he generally has no desire to harm or kill lower-echelon Witches like Noel and Ninny in the course of an operation as long as they remain uninvolved, he can be easily enraged to the point of wanting to kill them if his hair is insulted, since he takes great pride in it. He is also quite cunning and manipulative, having engineered a terrorist attack on a prominent newspaper through Macy Baljure and her Dragon, Cinderella, by exploiting Macy's desire to feel special, all in order to accuse Balgo of this crime and target him for execution. However, he is not without empathy or compassion, having a strong bond with his mount Rickenbacker, and is willing to set aside grievances with others in order to fight a powerful foe, even offering to accept Noel and Ninny's transfers to the **Inks** should they help him take down Cinderella. He is also reasonably pragmatic: upon learning that Macy coming into contact with Balgo is what triggered the appearance of Cinderella, Bruno formally filed an application for him to be released from his status as a **Punitive Dragon** so Wing Bind could draw out and eliminate the rest of the **Märchen**.

## Plot

When a **Dark Dragon** is attracted by Balgo Parks' status as a **Dragonclad** and begins a rampage in Reverse London, Bruno is called to a meeting of the **Top of Horns**, where he points out how such an incident has not occurred in almost a century and admonishes the other Directors for remaining quiet on the matter, not paying attention, or even not showing up to the meeting at all before turning to Wolfgang Slashhaut, who concludes they will need to eliminate Balgo. That night, Bruno approaches Macy Baljure and requests the help of her and her Dragon, Cinderella.

The next day, Bruno enters **"The Realist's"** office building in Reverse London prior to Macy having Cinderella destroy part of the building to draw attention. When Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole discover that Macy has been illegally rearing Cinderella and attempt to subdue her, Bruno blasts Ninny with a powerful **Magic** spell after she flies up to the roof of **"The Realist's"** office building, leaving her to fall to the ground and be caught by a stunned Noel, as he mockingly inquires if she is dead since he will need to write up an incident report should she die while working.

After assuring Noel and Ninny that he has no intention of killing them if they stay out of his way and being shocked and angered when Noel fails to recognize him, Bruno calls his subordinates and instructs them to establish an emergency Dragon blockade on the street below that separates Balgo from the other civilians in order to detain Balgo for the terrorist attack on **"The Realist's"**, which he confirms to Noel and Ninny that he orchestrated in order to frame Balgo and enable his execution. Though he asserts that he has no intention of killing Noel and Ninny since he is acting within the law, Bruno is enraged when Noel insults his hair and vows to kill them both.

However, Bruno is startled and confused when Noel and Ninny turn around and hurtle toward the street below, only to realize that they are heading for Balgo, prompting him to order his subordinates to shield themselves as they attempt to detain Balgo. Despite this, Noel successfully rescues Balgo, and as Bruno curses in frustration, Ninny points her **Witch Kit** at the back of his head and demands to know if Bruno brought Macy to Reverse London and gave her Elly. Though he confesses to bringing Macy here, Bruno reveals that she found Elly on her own because she is a **Watcher** who can see Dragons, stunning Ninny enough to allow Bruno to kick her **Witch Kit** out of her hand and into the air.

Suddenly, Noel flies overhead and grabs Ninny's **Witch Kit** before firing both it and her own at an astonished Bruno, resulting in two large explosions engulfing the rooftop. After Noel and Ninny fly away with Balgo and Macy, an angered Bruno summons Rickenbacker and calls them naive for believing that they can escape from him. Some time later, Bruno finds Noel, Ninny, Balgo, and Macy huddled on a radio tower underneath a **Cloth**, which he has Rickenbacker crash through to dispel, and reveals that Balgo is now designated as a **Punitive Dragon**, which means all Witches and Wizards will now be out to kill him.

Bemused by Noel and Ninny not informing a confused Balgo of the situation, Bruno assumes that they are simply showing him courtesy by not telling him when he will die. Though he cannot hear Noel and Ninny's discussion about escaping, Bruno points out how Balgo will not be safe anywhere in Reverse London now that he is a **Punitive Dragon** before being attacked from above by Cinderella, whom he prepares to dispose of since he no longer needs her. Suddenly, Cinderella disappears with **Stealth Scale**, shocking Bruno, and slashes through one of Rickenbacker's wings.

Upon realizing that Cinderella is a **Märchen** and thus permanently designated for elimination, Bruno decides to temporarily halt Balgo's elimination in order to exterminate Cinderella instead, as this will provide him with more recognition. After confirming that Rickenbacker can still fly, Bruno hops on and heads toward Cinderella, where he summons a **Hunger Shadow** to attack the **Crown-Shaped Horn** on her brow, only to be disappointed when Cinderella effortlessly destroys it. When Noel and Ninny join him in the air after moving Balgo and Macy to safety, Bruno agrees to let them help him.

With Noel and Ninny rejecting his offer to join the **Inks** and restraining Cinderella with **Magic #68. Supernal Jail**, an impressed Bruno unleashes **Greedy Curtain** to trap Cinderella and obstruct her attacks, but Cinderella destroys her restraints with another energy blast that injures Bruno, Noel, and Ninny, leaving Bruno to note that even her own blasts do not hurt her before being startled when Cinderella flies toward Noel and Ninny. The next day, with Cinderella having been killed by Billy Banx Jr., Bruno delivers an application requesting Balgo be released from his status as a **Punitive Dragon** to Wolfgang, who deduces that leaving Balgo alive will allow them to draw out and eliminate the other **Märchen**.

## Mount

**Rickenbacker** (リッケンバッカー, *Rikkenbakkа̄*?) is Bruno's Dragon mount. He is a large, indigo-skinned Dragon whose narrow and jagged head has an upward-curving snout ending in a point, with narrow, light-blue eyes and two long horns jutting backward from the top of his head, as well as four muscular legs ending in three front talons and a single back talon each, four wings shaped like Khyber knives, and a long tail with multiple spikes leading up to the tip, facing in different directions. Rickenbacker can teleport to Bruno's location in a flurry of dark energy when his name is called, damaging the immediate surroundings, and is durable enough to simply smash through protective barriers like **Cloth**.

## Powers & Abilities

* **Magic Master**: As the Director of the dedicated **Magic** division of Wing Bind, Bruno is exceedingly skilled and capable at using spells, as demonstrated when he casually unleashed a blast powerful enough to knock out Ninny Spangcole and send her flying through the air. When angered, Bruno can project an intense, crackling, spherical aura of energy that damages the area around him. He can also use high-level spells like **Hunger Shadow** and **Greedy Curtain** quickly and without incantation.

* **Expert Strategist**: Despite his hot-tempered personality, Bruno is a cunning strategist and manipulator, having framed Balgo Parks for a terrorist attack by first exploiting Macy Baljure's desire to feel special and convincing her to attack **"The Realist's"** office building, then having Noel Niihashi and Ninny Spangcole called in to apprehend her and making them bring along Balgo and dress him in **Piper** garb in order to easily identify him, before finally appearing at the scene of the attack and having his subordinates detain Balgo, all while acting within the confines of counter-Dragon law.

* **Enhanced Durability**: Bruno is a durable young man, having withstood a direct blast from both Noel and Ninny's **Witch Kits** at the same time without suffering any harm. He later emerged from a powerful blast fired by Cinderella in her fully-grown and molted form with only light injuries.

## Quotes

* (To the other members of the Top of Horns) *"Know how long it's been since the last one? A whole century! A whole century since we let a Dark Dragon get into Reverse London! If this isn't a catastrophe, then what is it?! At least bother to show up! Quit chewing gum! So none of you have anything to say? Am I the only one taking this seriously enough to be livid?! The hell?!"*

* (To Ninny Spangcole after attacking her) *"Oops. Blew you out farther than anticipated. You're not dead, are you? I'll need to write up an incident report if you kicked the bucket on the job."*

* (To Noel Niihashi) *"I ain't trying to kill you. Just keep out of my way and follow orders."*

* (To Noel and Ninny) *"I treated you all nice, since you're lackies. Thinkin' you can get cocky with me... Bring on the workers' compensation forms! Guess I'm writin' up two incident reports!"*

* (To Noel and Ninny regarding Balgo Parks) *"What? You haven't told him anything? Well, guess the smallest mercy you can give to a dead man walking is not telling him exactly when he's gonna bite the dust!"*

* (To Noel and Ninny) *"If you provide backup to help me beat that thing, it'll pump up your value. I'll even accept your transfer to the **Inks**."*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 1, page 54
2. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 2, page 34
3. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages 18, 25 & 31
4. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 1, pages 54-55
5. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 4-5
6. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, page 8
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, page 19
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 2, pages 33-34
9. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, page 16
10. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 8-9
11. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, page 7
12. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages 27-28
13. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages
14. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 1, pages 52-57
15. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, page 28
16. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 4-9
17. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 11-16
18. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 17-22 & 29-31
19. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages 3-7
20. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages 11-12 & 17-27
21. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages 28-35 & 50-51
22. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 21-22 & 29-30
23. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 2, page 33
24. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, page 11
25. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages 23-25 & 31-32
26. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 6-8
27. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 17-18 & 21
28. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, pages 33-34
29. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 1, pages 53-54
30. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 2, pages 33-34
31. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, page 4
32. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 3, pages 11-12
33. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, page 3
34. ↑ *BURN THE WITCH* manga; Chapter 4, page 28