Lye Batenkaitos

* Anime
* Light Novel

**Lye Batenkaitos** (ライ・バテンカイトス) was a **Sin Archbishop** of the **Witch Cult**, representing the **Gourmet** aspect of **Gluttony**. First introduced in the Arc 3 interludes, he later served as a major antagonist in Arc 5 and one of the main antagonists of Arc 6, alongside his brother and sister. In the climax of Arc 6, Lye fought Ram and was subsequently decapitated by her.

He was one of the most mysterious and overlooked Sin Archbishops, as due to the nature of his Authority, he was not held responsible for any attacks orchestrated by the Witch Cult. Accordingly, Lye didn't have any actual enemies that would direct their hate towards him alone. Throughout his years as a Sin Archbishop, he ate an innumerable amount of people, inherited their memories and skills, and all the while utilized all sorts of abilities and techniques which he would use for his own benefit until his end.

## Appearance

Lye Batenkaitos stood at four feet and eleven inches tall, making him a fairly short youth, the same height as his younger brother. Like his siblings, he appeared to be roughly twelve or thirteen years of age with a high-pitched voice that denoted his apparent youthfulness. His straight unkempt light-brown hair that had tips drenched in blood and dirt, trailed down to his knees and fell over his face in a way that obscured his right eye. His diminutive and slender physique had a surprising amount of musculature to it, and his dark skin was littered with a multitude of grotesque scars that varied from whip to bite marks. His most distinctive facial features were his repulsive emerald green eyes and fang-shaped sharp teeth that usually formed a sadistic smile.

Like most other Sin Archbishops, Lye's clothing deviated from the religious black habit worn by most Witch Cultists. Much like his body, the Sin Archbishop of Gluttony's clothing was tattered and dirty. His primary piece of clothing was a skin-tight purple bodysuit that exposed his arms, bare feet, and chest and had horizontal pink stripes across it. Over the top of his bodysuit, he wore a tattered black cloak with red patterns that reached down to the ground. A pair of Witch Cult daggers were strapped to his forearms that served as his primary weapons.

In Arc 5, Lye fully showed off his body, revealing a multitude of grotesque and horrid wounds, ranging from whip marks to bite and scratch marks. He gave off an unnatural and bizarre aura; completely opposite from what you would expect from a child.

After utilizing Solar Eclipse and breaking out of his shell, Lye took on a more monstrous and distorted appearance; an amalgamation of most of his victims. One could see body parts of Neiji Lockhart, Beli Heinelga, Dorkell, Rem, and numerous others. His limbs were of different length, his head was of distorted proportions with a part of it belonging to Dorkell, part of it resembled Rem's, and so on. Lye himself was unaware of this change.

## Personality

Lye believed that everything came down to experiences and the one who manages to get better knowledge is the one who enriches his life and wins over people. Remarking that knowledge is power and memories are bonds, he ultimately concluded that it meant that he and his philosophy were the greatest. Because of that, Lye focused on the quality of the lives he ate, often giving his opponents a chance to "prove" themselves as worthy meals before ultimately eating them and claiming their abilities for himself with his Authority of Gluttony, which befitted his title of **Gourmet**.

Unlike Roy, Lye strongly believed that if the number of lives in the world is limited, then the amount of worthy food is limited, and so he would not miss a single chance to eat someone. Due to their differences in how they approached eating, Lye held distaste for Roy's way of fighting, thinking that just trying to eat anything would lead to the loss a "gourmet" platter. Lye also showed to look out for Rui, pointing out how she may be happy if he was to eat Otto, Felt and Dynas, though he would ultimately abandon her for himself if put in danger. Although his past with his siblings is unclear, Lye seemed to show a strong dislike towards merchants.

Lye remarked how Subaru was his "saviour", as he is able to remember the people who have gotten their names eaten and pointing out how the forgotten feelings of rage and revenge were a source of dissatisfaction for him, but Subaru was an exception. Upon being confronted by Ram within the Pleiades Watchtower, Lye attempted to eat her, believing that both his desire to devour her and the gluttony that he felt were the ultimate form of love, and he directed his warped love toward Ram up to his very end.

Additionally, Lye spoke in a collective manner using us and we instead of first or third person. When he used Solar Eclipse and changed his form into a person that he had ate, Lye took on the mannerisms and way of speaking that they previously had.

## Abilities

**Authority of Gluttony** (暴食の権能 *Bōshoku no Ken'nō*): Lye was able to use the Authority of Gluttony until his demise.

* **Gluttony** (暴食 *Bōshoku*): Lye could eat the name and memories of their opponent. To eat a name, he had to touch them with his left hand, then licked the palm of the same hand as well as chant their full name. Things such as experience, talent, and the likes and dislikes of human relationships served as food for him, allowing him to take advantage of any and all abilities or memories his opponents had. However, if he ate a fake name, he became plagued with severe nausea, usually throwing up only seconds after.
	+ Those that had their names eaten had their existences erased from the world, destroying any human relationships along with negating any contracts with spirits. Not even the people closest to them could remember a single thing about them.
	+ Those that had their memories eaten became amnesic and any characteristics they may have had are reset, effectively making them into a different person.
	+ Those that had both their name and memories eaten simply became a shell, and although they were alive, they no longer ate, excreted waste, or aged, putting them in suspended animation.
	+ Lye could not eat the same person twice until that individual gained enough new memories to establish a different sense of self from their old one.
	+ Lye could not eat the names or memories of non-humanoid beings, such as different animals, Demon Beasts or Earth Dragons.

* **Eclipse** (蝕): Eclipse was considered to be the trump card of Gluttony and it also had two types; **Solar Eclipse** (日食 *Nisshoku*) and **Lunar Eclipse** (月食 *Gesshoku*).
	+ **Lunar Eclipse** allowed the holder to use their victims' memories and harvest their skills and knowledge.    Lye used Lunar Eclipse to boost his physical strength and perform numerous techniques, including Palm of the Fist King and Leaper. It is worth noting that by eating a person's name and using Lunar Eclipse, Lye did not gain his victims' Divine Protections, spirit arts, or Authorities. On top of that, Lye could also combine any number of memories and skills which would in turn allow him to create any sort of synthesized super-class technique he desired.
	+ **Solar Eclipse** allows the holder to harvest their victims' name and transform their appearance accordingly. Rui, for example, transformed into Neiji Lockhart and numerous other victims she and her two brothers had eaten throughout the years using her sibling's body. Originally, Lye never used Solar Eclipse as he didn't like the side effects of morphing into his victims; according to him, he felt like he was losing himself. After his fierce battle with Ram however, Lye was forced to use Solar Eclipse to morph into Dorkell in order to escape certain death and effectively overcame his fear of using the aforementioned Solar Eclipse by finding a way to retain his own sense of self. Following that incident, Lye freely started using both Solar and Lunar Eclipse, greatly amplifying his fighting strength as by morphing into the original owner of a specific skill he planned on using, the effect will be much greater; by morphing into Dorkell, Lye was able to leap much farther, and by morphing into Neiji Lockhart, the Palm of the First King was much more devastating.

**Master Class Fighter**:

     Through the accumulation of souls eaten with his Authority, Lye gained any abilities his victims once had, such as martial art techniques and magic by using Lunar Eclipse. In turn, this granted him extraordinary combat strength. He was able to overpower multiple strong opponents at once, as shown in Arc 6. At the end, after embracing both Solar and Lunar Eclipse, Lye was able to use, combine and create hundreds and hundreds of skills and attacks with no drawbacks. According to the author, Lye Batenkaitos is one of the most skilled Sin Archbishops in hand-to-hand combat.

* **Huma** (ヒューマ): Lye created a shining water barrier that blocked other projectiles and sorts of magic. However, if the incoming magic was stronger than the shield it would get through it and damage Lye.
	+ **El Huma** (エル・ヒューマ): Lye formed and shot multitudes of ice spikes from his hands which easily pierced through human flesh and immediately vanished on impact.
* **Palm of the Fist King** (拳王の掌): Palm of the Fist King allowed Lye to strike his opponents with an extremely powerful fist, and its destructive force granted him the capability to blast and drill through steel or flesh. This ability originally belonged to Neiji Lockhart.
* **Leaper** (跳躍者):     Leaper allowed Lye to use a short-range teleportation in quick succession, essentially allowing him to "leap" behind his opponents or avoid extremely precise and quick attacks. He was also capable of utilizing it vertically, making it appear as if he's flying. This ability originally belonged to Dorkell.
* **Carnivorous Beast** (肉食獣): Carnivorous Beast allowed Lye to strengthen his body and gave him two advantages: he could withstand powerful attacks and strengthen his limbs to deliver devastating blows. With this ability, he was able take a hit from Emilia's ice spear and come out unscathed, then deliver a retaliating punch that, from Subaru's perspective, would be as devastating as getting hit by a car. This ability originally belonged to Beli Hainelga.
* **Ice Brand Arts** (アイスブランドアーツ): Whenever Lye successfully ate Emilia's "name" during the events of Arc 6, he copied her Ice Brand Arts with the help of his **Lunar Eclipse**. This technique allowed Lye to instantly conjure ice made weapons which he could use and freely manipulate in close-quarters combat. The weapons were very sturdy and were even capable of withstanding heat.
* **Unnammed Invisible Wind Blade Technique**: This allowed Lye hide invisible blades made of Wind Magic in a fixed space of his choosing, making them unable to be blown away by even Ram's Wind Magic. He could launch an attack with a wind blade that cut through a person's clothes and body, and he could jump atop the blades as footing to move through the air with. This ability originally belonged to an unnamed shinobi.

**Demon Beast Control**: Because Lye, Roy, and Rui each possess the Witch Factor of Gluttony which was previously in Daphne's possession, they could direct Demon Beasts to attack certain areas. This is why the Hakugei's attacks were coordinated with those of the Witch Cult. In Arc 6, Lye and Roy were able to get to the Pleiades Watchtower in half a day by commanding the Demon Beasts in the Augria Sand Dunes, and ordered them to attack the Watchtower. Despite his ability to control the Hakugei and the Oousagi, even if Lye had help from his brother and sister, they wouldn't be capable of controlling the Kurohebi, according to the author.

* **Creation**: Rui stated she and her brothers can create life with the usage of her Witch Factor of Gluttony, just like how Daphne created the Demon Beasts four centuries ago. However, Rui has also stated she and her brothers had no reason to do so, hence they never followed through the idea. While all of this was strictly stated by Rui, it's safe to assume Lye was also capable of creating life through his Witch Factor of Gluttony.

**Equipment**

* **Witch Cult Daggers**:      Lye skilfully used two standard Witch Cult daggers that were wrapped around his arms. He was able to masterfully deflect extremely precise attacks, block strikes that would shatter any sword and easily overpower even the strongest knights.
* **Gospel** (福音): As a member of the Witch Cult, Lye was the owner of a copy of a Gospel. Each Gospel was a replica of the Book of Wisdom, a book that had been in the possession of the Witch of Greed Echidna. The Book of Wisdom would provide exact details of future events concerning the Witch of Greed, essentially bestowing Echidna with a form of precognition. Unlike the original Book of Wisdom, the Gospels of the Witch Cult were imperfect replicas, meaning that, although they detailed the future of its owner, the events conveyed were subject to change and the information provided was often up for interpretation. The Gospels took the form of small black books that could only be read by their owners.

## Trivia

* Lye, like every other Sin Archbishop (with the exception of Stride Vollachia), is named after a celestial body. "Baten Kaitos" was the traditional name used for Zeta Ceti, a star located in the Cetus constellation. The word was derived from the Arabic term بطن قيطس (batn qaytus), which translates to "belly of the sea monster".
* Lye represented **"Gourmet"** due to his obsession with preparation before a meal.
* In episode 26, Lye can be seen using the Leaper technique to avoid Rem's ice spears.
	+ In the novels, he was first seen using this technique in Arc 5.
* In the Web Novel version of Arc 3, Lye mentioned that he could create a new Hakugei if he was given another 400 years. However, this line was cut from the Light Novel.
* In a Q&A, the author stated that if Daphne and a Sin Archbishop of Gluttony were to fight, it would most likely end in a draw. It is unknown if this answer was stating that a fight with Lye and his siblings would end in a draw against the Witch of Gluttony if they fought her all at once, nor is it known if the resulting draw would only come from a match with one of them.
* According to the author, if Lye was to be transported to modern Japan without his Authority, he would be a shoplifter.
* In a Q&A, the author said that Lye did wine tasting in his free time, though this might have been said in a joking manner.

## References

1. ↑ *Otto continued to watch as Batenkaitos’ eyes became filled with complete disgust and hostility. “You, are a merchant, right? Putting price tags on things, they are people who sell them to line their own pockets. Human values and opinions too, everything, everything! They are dead people who put them on a scale and calculate, aren’t they?”* Arc 5, Chapter 54, Section 1.
2. ↑ *"However, in the battle with Ram, he almost died, and in order to survive, Batenkaitos broke out of his shell the moment he turned into ‘Leaper’ Dorkell using Solar Eclipse. He had found a way to maintain his sense of self while in his Solar Eclipse form that he had originally been afraid of losing."* Arc 6 Chapter 83; Section 2
3. ↑ *"“You know the Three Great Witch Beasts? It’s said that those, are monsters created by the owner of our Witch Factor long before us. We too, can do something similar. We didn’t do that because there wasn’t really any meaning in doing so…… but, you see.”"* Arc 6 Chapter 75