Ladd Russo

**Ladd Russo** is the master of Lancer in the ??? Holy Grail war.

"*Unadulterated strength, amoral bloodlust, and unstoppable hunger. Disaster, in other words*." - Ladd Russo

## Profile

### Background

Ladd Russo is a violent hitman formerly affiliated with the Russo Family. He is known for his bloodlust and obsession with killing anyone who believes themselves to be invincible or otherwise safe from death.

Over the course of December 30–31, 1931, Ladd hijacks the Flying Pussyfoot with his followers with the intention of securing a ransom from the railroad company. He loses his left hand and the flesh off his forearm to the Rail Tracer during the journey, and is subsequently arrested by the police.

Once recovered, Ladd physically assaults another inmate while in prison in order to have himself condemned to Alcatraz, where he hopes to meet Huey Laforet. After three years of incarceration, he meets and befriends new Alcatraz inmates Isaac Dian and Firo Prochainezo and finally comes face to face with Huey by December 1934.

Two months later, Ladd is released from prison in February 1935 and is subsequently hired by Luck Gandor as extra muscle for an upcoming casino party at Ra's Lance. He remains unabashedly eager to kill his top three murder targets.

### Personality

Ladd is a chatterbox sadist who finds genuine entertainment in killing others, acting on his bloodlust often whenever he pleases and living life however he pleases. He is always honest about who he is as a person, openly and intentionally reveling in his violent tendencies and forever content to wear his emotions on his sleeve in over-the-top animated fashion. Whether he is dancing in the blood of his murdered friend, hugging his opponents as thanks for the entertainment, or melodramatically complaining about how he lost fair and square while standing on his head, his constant need to burn off his endless excess energy ensures that he does not just wear his emotions on his sleeve, he broadcasts them for all the world to hear.

Though some may dismiss him as 'crazed' or a 'brawn-over-brains' brutish thug, he is more intelligent than others give him credit for. He is a killer, but he is not a mindless killer; it is not that he cannot plan, he simply does not. In 1931, it is Ladd who bothers to gather information on the consequences his uncle’s bad decisions will have for the Family and concludes that it will be untenable for him to remain, his grasp on the situation proving more thorough than Placido's own. As Placido concludes, Ladd "[is] the type of man who always [comes] to action from nothing more than rough ideas, then [forces] those actions to succeed through on-the-spot calculations made in response to each individual moment."

Above all else, Ladd takes the greatest pleasure in killing those who arrogantly believe themselves invincible or otherwise 'safe', not even considering the possibility that they might die until he reminds them of their mortality. Meanwhile, he is most likely to befriend those who are constantly cognizant of their own mortality (e.g. Firo and Nader Schasschule), as fear towards death is perfectly natural and deserving of respect. Others whom he either respects or appreciates are those who fight fearlessly (like Chané Laforet), or enthusiastically subscribe to his personal philosophy (e.g. Graham Specter). While Isaac is none of these things, Ladd recognizes that his lack of fear toward death stems from sheer obliviousness rather than arrogance and treats him amiably as a result.
Most troublesome of all for Ladd are people with lifeless eyes, those who are resigned to or actively seeking death. While he has no idea how to handle men with lifeless eyes, such as Fred, women who possess them are exactly his type. His fiancée Lua Klein is one such woman, and his genuine love for her manifests a softer, warmer side of him than one is used to. They both find the idea of her dying by his own hands honestly romantic, though his caveat that he will only kill her after he has killed 'everyone else in the world' suggests that he does not intend to kill her for a long while yet.

Ladd has mellowed considerably in the years following his defeat at the hands of the Rail Tracer, and he is a tad more humble and less hate-driven than he once was. Some of his hardline worldviews have softened, including his his opinion of giving mercy to strangers; he views the concept with far less disgust in 1934 than he does in 1931.

While it is clear that he possesses a friendly side in 1931 and does care for his friends' well-being (as seen when he seeks revenge for Dune), his capacity for affableness and loyalty towards those he calls 'friend' is especially prominent in 1934 and 1935. Once Ladd views someone as his friend, they are his friend whether they like it or not and he will respect their wishes and defend them accordingly. No matter how much Ladd despises Raz Smith, he has and continues to refrain from killing him because he is one of Graham's idols; when Nader - who never wanted to be Ladd's friend in the first place - points out that he could simply take the money Ladd gave him and run, Ladd immediately acknowledges that the fault would be his own for making a wrong call, and assures Nader that he would not give chase.

Though Ladd has mellowed to a degree, he is still a violent man at his core and will become restless if he goes too long without a good fight. His antipathy toward arrogant, self-perceived 'invincible' people remains as strong as ever, and Sham, Victor Talbot, and Salomé Carpenter's personalities antagonize him just as they would have done back in 1931. However, there are only a few people in 1935 who instantly send his bloodlust levels skyrocketing and leave him consumed with hatred. The three who top his 'kill list' are: Felix Walken; Huey Laforet; and Melvi Dormentaire.

### Relationships

#### **Darth Maul**

Ladd mistakes Lancer for Satan, as he has no knowledge of Lancer's true identity, or even what Dathomirians are. Lancer uses this his advantage as a way to exert power over both him and his gang. Ladd knows Lancer looks down on him as little more than a pawn in his schemes, but is powerless to do anything to him, much to his frustration. Lancer does play to his impulses at times to get him on his side, which helped alleviate his resentment, though their relationship still remained somewhat difficult as his impulses sometimes compromised Lancer's plans. Despite this, they work together effectively enough to form their own criminal empire in a short time, which they use to their advantage against the other Masters.

Within the criminal underworld, Ladd serves as both Lancer's inside man and personal attack dog, though his role as Lancer's anchor to the physical world has limited him to being set on humans and is kept away from foes he can't handle, especially Servants.

## Role

Ladd was randomly chosen by the Grail to be Master of the Lancer-class Servant. Ladd mistakes Lancer for the devil, which he uses to exert power over him and his gang. Together, they take over various criminal syndicates, assimilating them into their fold and brutally torturing and killing anyone who resists them. With their newly built criminal empire, they gather intelligence on the other Masters to stage various attacks on them.

## Abilities

Ladd is a trained hitman and formidable fighter. While on the Flying Pussyfoot, Ladd was one of the most effective fighters against the Lemures, second only to the Rail Tracer in terms of brutality. He has demonstrated impressive marksmanship, wielding guns in an orthodox but deadly, effective manner, and is equally dangerous unarmed; as a fan of boxing, he delivers boxer-style punches with extraordinary power. Though he laments he needs to "work on his right hook" in 1931, he has improved enough by 1934 that he is able to snap a table using his real (right) hand hand and take down Gustavo with just one hit.

Ladd's iron prosthetic left hand and forearm is as strong as his real arm, but can break easily if he uses too much force; using too much force can also threaten the whole arm and shoulder with dislocation. He is able to punch a hole through an automobile roof with his prosthetic in 1935.

Ladd can be manipulative and disarming when he needs and/or wants to be, as someone who is both a quick judge of character and a quick thinker. He is in fact more calculating than one might assume; as Placido observes in 1931, it is not that Ladd "[cannot plan]. He just doesn't," and so Ladd often simply implements rough ideas through successive on-the-spot calculations. However, Ladd is not immune to emotional provocation and can be provoked into rashness.

# References

https://baccano.fandom.com/wiki/Ladd\_Russo

https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Ladd\_Russo