Willem Ehrenfried

> "***Good hunting hounds require a vicious disposition. A good owner's skill is measured by how well they can direct that viciousness toward their enemies.***"
> ― to Richard, regarding the Eighty-Six.
>
>

## Statistics

### Age

* 27 (Volume 3)
* 28 (Current)

### Nationality

* Giadian Empire (Defected)
* Federal Republic of Giad

### Affiliation

\*Federal Republic of Giad's Western Front* Ehrenfried Clan

## Personal Unit

### Unit Model

Úlfheðinn (Former)

**Willem Ehrenfried** (ヴィレム・エーレンフリート,, *Viremu Ērenfurīto*?) is a secondary supporting character in the 86 -Eighty Six- series introduced in Run Through the Battlefront.

Willem is the Chief of Staff of Western Army which is responsible for the Federal Republic of Giad's Western Front, as well as an old friend of Grethe Wenzel.

## Appearance

Willem is a man in his late twenties with graceful appearance. As a pureblood Onyx, he has jet-black eyes and hair.

He typically wears the Federacy's military uniform. Unlike most officers, Willem usually carries his saber with him as part of his ceremonial wear. He also wears cologne.

## Personality

Growing up as a son of powerful noble family, Willem possesses a coldhearted and calculating nature, unafraid of sacrificing subordinates to complete an objective. Willem is also unabashed about reminding people of harsh truths if he deems it necessary. For instance, he frankly admitted to Shin that the Federacy might handed over the Eighty Six to the Republic if the situation demanded it.

Willem places importance on emotional control and hates nothing more than to have his emotions read. Only people close to him, like Richard and Grethe, have ever seen Willem display any strong emotions.

Underneath the cold demeanor, Willem has his own caring side. While he showed no outright concern over sending Nordlicht Squadron into a suicide mission, Willem and the other commanders did their diligence in ensuring Nordlicht's success, while also providing them the option of regrouping after the engagement at Kreutzbeck. He also voiced his support of the Eighty-Six rehabilitation program, helping them integrate with a peaceful life after the war instead of eliminating them outright.

As mentioned by Grethe, for how coldhearted he is, Willem is never pointlessly cruel. Despite this, he does burden his subordinates with real paperwork instead of letting them do it electronically. His odd delight when looking at stacks of paper seems to suggest he either prefers it or finds it funny.

## Background

Willem hails from a powerful noble family. He soon received special education at the military staff college along with Richard Altner.

At some point in time, he proposed to his old friend Grethe Wenzel, but she turned her down in favor of a fellow pilot who died before they could marry. Willem and Richard had the idea to annoy her by filling the wedding hall with roses.

## Chronology

### Volume 7: Mist

**Chapter 1**
Willem discussed the current situation with Richard and another major general.

## Abilities

Willem is described as a very capable staff officer. Having been received special education in his family’s field of study: combat leadership, since the young age. His level of understanding and experience in the field made most other officers seem unskilled. He used to be an armored infantryman capable of using CQC against the Legion, likely owing to his pureblood Onyx heritage. Despite the Úlfheðinn-clad soldiers' role as fire support for Feldreß, Willem vowed to kill ten Legion for every Federacy soldier lost, engaging in melee combat against light-class units like the Ameise and even Grauwolf - an act considered the height of insanity. A testament to his monstrous strength was shown when he cut a Grauwolf in half by himself. This earned him the nicknames Killer Mantis and Killer Hatchet, though Richard joked that his name should have been the Dismantling Mantis because of how often he hacked them to pieces.

## Relationships

### Grethe Wenzel

Grethe is an old friend of Willem. In the past, he once proposed to her but was turned down. He was also the one who gave her nickname, Black Widow, much to her chagrin.

### Richard Altner

Richard is Willem's associate from the military staff college and fellow officer in the Western Army. Along with Grethe, they formed somewhat of a close trio in the Western Army. Knowing that Grethe would explode once she heard the plan for the Morpho Elimination, Richard volunteered to be the bearer of bad news, despite the plan mostly coming from Willem.

As Willem's senior, Richard seemed to always be concerned with his previously reckless style of combat, in the same way he was concerned for Grethe's self-sacrificial piloting. While Willem continued to do as he pleased in his years as an infantryman, he eventually came around to see Richard's point of view as he raised through the ranks.

In his final message to Willem, Richard ordered him to never take up the Killer Mantis persona again, to which Willem reassured Grethe that he'd have an easier time killing Legion as the chief of staff rather than an infantryman. Willem mourned quickly, accepting Richard's demise and focusing his efforts on the war moving forward.

### Unnamed older sister

Not much is known about their relationship. She appears to be acquainted with Richard's wife. Like Willem, she seems to like to get involved with the lives of the younger officers as she and Richard's wife were enthusiastic to dress Lena and Annette for a Halloween party.

### Shinei Nouzen

Outwardly, Willem maintains a cold, professional relationship with a young captain. Behind of the scene, he is actually rather supportive of Shin and his fellow Eighty Six. While many high-ranking officers have considered using extreme measures to deal with the Eighty Six, for example, disposing them after the war, Willem supports the Eighty-Six rehabilitation program, helping them integrate with a peaceful life.

Despite being a pureblood Onyx, Willem does not discriminate against the mixed-blood like Shin, claiming that he is not such a narrow-minded person.

## Gallery

Illustrations

Volume 11 Cover
Anime

Episode 17Episode 19Episode 19

## Quotes

* > **"I feel nothing for that monster. But I hate the idea of seeing you cry again because of him. So in that regard, I don't particularly want him to die in battle."** — to Grethe, regarding Shin.
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## Trivia

* Willem likes to pretend he is a comically evil character. He assumed Gendo Ikari's signature pose during the briefing for the Charité operation, confusing Lena and unamusing Shin. He continues this act when he, along with other high ranking officers, spoke as if they were plotting something malicious against the Strike Package's 1st Armored Group, when in actuality they were planning for their vacation in the Alliance of Wald.
* The castle which served as the Western Army's headquarters previously belonged to Willem's family.
* Despite the widespread use of electronic documents, Willem still often forced his subordinates to write paper reports. Grethe considers it as a form of bullying.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Volume 4 Chapter 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Volume 3 Chapter 8
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Volume 3 Chapter 6
4. ↑ Alter.1 All-Star Perfume Battle
5. ↑ CHARACTER | TV ANIME "86-Eighty SIX- Official Website
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Volume 4 Chapter 2
7. ↑ Volume 9 Interlude 1
8. ↑ Volume 7 Chapter 4
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Volume 11 D-DAY PLUS ELEVEN: The Astronomical Twilight
10. ↑ Asato Asato Official Twitter Account
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Volume 11 D-DAY PLUS EIGHTEEN
12. ↑ Asato Asato Official Twitter Account
13. ↑ Volume 4 Epilogue