Carmilla (Re:Zero)

Carmilla of Lust

Rem (false identity)

Mind manipulation

“ Now then, what is it you'd like to ask me? [...] Maybe you want to hear about Carmilla, the Witch of Lust, who granted emotions to non-humans in an attempt to fill the world with love? „ ~ Echidna talking with Subaru Natsuki about Carmilla.

**Carmilla**, also known as the **Witch of Lust** and **Carmilla of Lust**, is an anti-villain in the 2014 Japanese dark fantasy light novel series *Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World*, as well as its anime television series & manga adaptations of the same name.

Carmilla, at some point, absorbed the Lust Witch Factor, which gave her access to the power of the Authority of Lust. With the Authority of Lust, Carmilla joined the Witches of Sin, a group of seven other women and one man who each possessed a Witch Factor. The Witch of Lust, like the other Witches, was dreaded around the world due to the mass chaos and death she sowed. However, unlike the likes of the Witch of Pride Typhon whose acts of killing were deliberate, the deaths caused by Carmilla were generated by her Authority that made anyone who laid eyes upon her stop breathing. Although she couldn't necessarily be held accountable for her crimes directly, Lust proffered no form of reflection, indicating her nature was amoral at best.

Carmilla is voiced by Manaka Iwani in the Japanese version of the anime adaptation and by Lisa Reimold in the English version. While under the guise of Rem, Lust was voiced by Inori Minase in Japanese and by Brianna Knickerbocker in English.

## Appearance

Carmilla stood at five feet and three inches tall, making her taller than the likes of Rem but shorter than the likes of Emilia. She had round red downcast eyes and long pale-pink hair that was parted down the middle and tied into loose asymmetrical bunches falling down the front of her shoulders that went all the way to her hips. As a reflection of her personality, the Witch of Lust's physical demeanour more commonly than not conveyed meekness. Her face looked very refined, and, as opposed to being a standout beauty, Carmilla's charm was derived more so from how abnormally adorable she was. Although her physique was well-hidden by her clothing, Carmilla was known to have a fairly shapely figure with surprisingly large breasts.

Carmilla, who was averse to exposing her skin, would often resort to wearing baggy clothes that hid her fairly generous physique. Her ensemble consisted of a dark-red dress that reached down to her ankles and had diamond patterns on the bottom, a pair of light-brown boots, a long snow-white coat with a pink collar that covered her dress and reached slightly lower down than it, and an exceedingly long light-green muffler that trailed along the ground behind Carmilla. Overall, the only parts of the Witch of Lust's body that were exposed were her head and her hands.

## Biography

### History

At some point during her life, the young woman Carmilla absorbed the Lust Witch Factor, granting her access to a power known as the Authority of Lust. The Authority of Lust caused any person who met Carmilla to become completely transfixed on her to the point that they would forget to breath and eventually die. However, some individuals were capable of resisting Carmilla's Authority to a certain extent if their hearts were particularly strong. As she wasn't capable of fighting beyond the power her Authority bestowed her with, Carmilla had a contingent of bodyguards whose hearts were strong enough to resist her. In time, Carmilla became affiliated with the Witches of Sin, a group of other Witch Factor bearers who were ostracized by the people of the world for various reasons. As the member of the group who possessed the Factor representing the sin of Lust, Carmilla became known as the Witch of Lust. The Witches had a fairly amicable relationship with each other, as they were more-or-less the only people who could stand the personality or power defects that each other possessed. Eventually, Carmilla burned to death for unknown reasons. The Witch of Lust wasn't the only Witch to perish, as the Witches representing Gluttony, Pride, Sloth, Wrath also met their end in varying circumstances.

After their deaths, the Witch of Envy Satella, who was the most powerful of the Witches, absorbed the Factors of the deceased Witches into her body, essentially coveting their power for herself. It should also be noted that there were conflicting statements suggesting that it was in fact the Witch of Envy who killed Carmilla and the other Witches. Either before or after this, the Witch of Greed Echidna collected the souls of the dead Witches into her body so they could live on within her. However, Greed herself eventually met her end at the hands of either Satella or the Holy Dragon Volcanica. Regardless of who killed her, Greed's Factor was also absorbed by Satella. With the accumulated power of the seven Witches of Sin, Satella drained half of the world dry in a brutal rampage. Eventually, Satella was defeated and imprisoned by Volcanica, the Master Swordsman Reid Astrea, and the Sage Flugel. The remains of Echidna were apparently sealed in a Tomb by Volcanica. Although her body was dead, Echidna's soul continued to exist in a dream realm which the living could access by entering her Tomb and completing three difficult trials relating to the past, present, and future. A person meeting with Echidna could also commune with the souls of Carmilla and the other dead Witches, as they resided in the dreamscape with the Witch of Greed.

Sometime after Carmilla's death, a new person stalked the world in possession of the Lust Witch Factor. The person in question, Capella Emerada Lugunica, was an extremely sadistic and vile individual who owned a criminal empire in the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko. Capella was also a member of the Witch Cult, an international terrorist group dedicated to the reverence and attempted restoration of the Witch of Envy. The Cult was led by the Sin Archbishops, who each possessed a Witch Factor previously owned by one of the six Witches that Satella devoured. Capella was among the ranks of the Archbishops, and was aptly known as the Sin Archbishop of Lust.

### The Trials of Subaru Natsuki

“ I-if I looked like somebody else to you, i-it's only because y-you wanted to see me that way. I didn't want to, but Echidna told me that all I needed to do was be kind and dote on you a little bit. „ ~ Carmilla defending her actions to Subaru Natsuki.

Roughly four hundred years after Carmilla's death, a teenager from another world named Subaru Natsuki entered the dimly-lit and foreboding Tomb of Echidna and was subsequently warped into her dream realm. Echidna appeared before Subaru and offered the young man access to her vast knowledge of various affairs. Subaru Natsuki had a blessing known as "Return by Death" bestowed upon him by the Witch of Envy that reset time every time he died, essentially allowing him to cheat death. The Witch of Greed was deeply interested in Natsuki's power and began manipulating him into forging a contract with her that would allow her to study the blessing. Trying to spike his curiosity, Echidna told Subaru the names of the Witches of Sin as well as brief descriptions of their personal histories. On the topic of Carmilla, the Witch of Greed briefly spoke about the Witch of Lust's attempts to bequeath emotions on non-humans while conjuring an illusory silhouette of Carmilla for Subaru to see. Shortly after meeting with Echidna for the first time, Subaru bested the trial of the past.

Later on, Subaru once again entered Echidna's Tomb seeking the Witch of Greed's advice. Knowing he had to undergo another Trial to gain an audience with Echidna, Subaru began the trial of the present. The trial showed Natsuki possible alternate realities where he had failed and perished instead of saving his loved ones from misfortunes. As the trial went on, Subaru's mind began to break due to the mental turmoil it was being subjected to. Understanding that Subaru's mental state was in trouble, Echidna managed to convince Carmilla to sooth him before the damage done to Natsuki's psyche was irreparable. In compliance with Greed's wish, the Witch of Lust appeared before Subaru within the dingy ruins. Carmilla activated a power of the Authority of Lust known as the "Faceless Bride," an ability that allowed the Witch to manipulate her target's minds in specific ways. In this case, Carmilla used the Faceless Bride to make Subaru see and hear her as whomever he desired to be with most at that moment. As such, Subaru believed Carmilla was his beloved Rem, who had fallen into a perpetual coma roughly one week prior.

The Witch of Lust approached Subaru, whose heart was instantly healed upon seeing the face and hearing the voice of the woman he cherished once again. As Natsuki began to vent his frustrations to the face of the woman he loved, Carmilla knelt down and embraced him in a warm hug. Touching his forehead with her own, the Witch of Lust explained that no matter what pained him, he would be alright, as she was now there to love him unconditionally. With that being said, Carmilla moved into plant a kiss on Subaru's lips. However, before she could reach him, Subaru quietly asked her who she was. The Witch reeled back defensively at Subaru's query while shaking her head with fear and lament in her eyes. Seeing Carmilla's reaction, Subaru's suspicions gained ground as he began to explain that the Rem he knew would never let him give up on anything or anyone. Natsuki bound to his feet and began howling about all of the reasons he cherished Rem and why the woman before him was not that same girl. Carmilla timidly tried to cover up her mistake, a vain attempt that only served to fuel Subaru's anger. After listening to Natsuki's piece, Carmilla lowered her head and expressed confusion, as she failed to comprehend why Subaru was so angry that she had taken the form of somebody he had wanted to see, clearly not realising the circumstances surrounding Rem's current state. With that said, the form of Rem melted away to reveal the true Carmilla.

Subaru's anger was briefly placated by his bewilderment, as he had no idea who the woman standing before him was. Carmilla timidly introduced herself and asked Natsuki not to hit her when she saw the intense glare in his eyes. Subaru assured her that he didn't intend to get physical, but nevertheless wanted to know what she was trying to do to him. Carmilla explained that although she hadn't wanted to, Echidna had made her pamper him. Unbeknownst to Natsuki, a second ability of the Faceless Bride had activated that caused anyone who came into contact with Carmilla to be so captivated by the Witch of Lust that they forgot to breathe. In the case of Subaru, his captivation took the form of pure rage at Carmilla's previous blunder. All the young man could think about was shutting Carmilla's squirming demeanour up. Before he could take any action however, Echidna transported Subaru into her castle of dreams, dematerialising Carmilla's soul in the process. As Subaru desperately filled his lungs with air that he hadn't realized he was missing, Echidna explained the power of the Faceless Bride to him and revealed that she was behind the Witch of Lust's actions.

## Powers & Abilities

### Powers

**Authority of Lust**: At some point during her life, Carmilla absorbed the Lust Witch Factor. Overtime, the Lust Witch Factor blossomed, bestowing Carmilla with the Authority of Lust. With the power of the Authority, Carmilla was considered one of the weaker Witches of Sin in terms of combative potential. Her battle power was roughly on equal terms with the Witch of Greed and surpassed that of the Witch of Wrath Minerva. Furthermore, she was marginally more powerful than the Sin Archbishop of Lust Capella Emerada Lugunica that succeeded her. Despite both being utilizers of the Lust Witch Factor, Carmilla's and Capella's versions of the Authority did different things, as Capella's Authority of Lust focused more on changing things physically rather than mentally. The empathic affects of Carmilla's Authority, although potent, could potentially be resisted by individuals with strong wills.

* **Madness Inducement**: As the possessor of a Witch Factor and a member of the Witches of Sin, Carmilla's very presence had an adverse affect on the people around her. Most ordinary people that encountered a Witch such as Carmilla would instantly fall into madness and kill themselves. The Witch of Lust had no control over this effect, as it was the very nature of being a Witch that drove those around herself to end their own lives.

**Mind Manipulation**: The Authority of Lust allowed Carmilla to use a power referred to as the "Faceless Bride." The Faceless Bride forced Carmilla's victims to be completely captivated by her presence to the point that they would entirely forget everything else at that moment. In short, this meant that those in Carmilla's presence would fail to notice if any damage were done to them externally (for example being stabbed). Additionally, their body would neglect ordinary functions such as breathing and their heart would eventually cease to beat. It was that aspect of the Faceless Bride that caused most people to perish upon meeting the Witch of Lust. Another aspect of the Faceless Bride that Carmilla could use made it so her target would see and hear her as whomever they wanted to see and hear at that point in time. Lastly, the Witch of Lust had the power to make her target understand the love other people had for them. Carmilla used all three of these aspects of the Authority's power on Subaru Natsuki during the Witches' Tea Party.

## Trivia

* Carmilla's birthday was on the 19th of June.
* Like the other Witches of Sin (with the exception of Satella), Carmilla received her namesake from a celestial body. 107 Camilla is the name of a large asteroid located in the solar system's asteroid belt. Her name, like the celestial body, may also be a reference to Camilla, a princess appearing in Roman mythology.
* Despite her title as the Witch of Lust, Carmilla felt no desire to love or be loved due to a traumatic experience she suffered during her life. Using the Authority of Lust, Carmilla could transform into whomever their target desired to see most.