Luke

Luke (Japanese: ルーク Romaji: rūku) is a traveling treasure hunter in the Slayers series. He is around 21 or 22 years old. He worked as an assassin until he met Mileena, who convinced him to reform. The two have been traveling together working as treasure hunters ever since. He appears with his hair black, but he later confesses that he dyes them black instead of his natural ginger color, because Mileena dislikes redheads.

Luke is one of the best swordsmen and sorcerers in the series, not as skilled as Gourry Gabriev and Lina Inverse in each field, yet close behind. He specializes in offensive black magic, including the possibly original spell Ruby Eye Blade. His equipment includes a sword with magical properties, able to absorb spells and fire them out of the weapon later.

Luke has a piece of Ruby Eye Shabranigdu in his soul. In the fourteenth novel, Mileena dies and Luke is overcome with hatred, allowing the fragment to awaken. Lina confronts Luke-Shabranigdu in the fifteenth novel, where she breaks open the Demon Blood Talismans and releases the power within them to destroy him. Luke's strong desire for death allows Shabranigdu to be destroyed by his own power, something that would otherwise be impossible.

Appearances[]

In The Cursed Sword of Bezeld, Luke makes his first appearance. He and Mileena offer to protect Sherra from the men pursuing her, unaware that she is a mazoku.

Luke later helps Lina defeat Galva after Dulgofa transforms him into a large demon. Dulgofa casts Raugnut Rushavna on the demon to make it immortal, allowing it to regenerate faster than Lina's Ragna Blade alone can harm it, but with the help of Luke's Ruby Eye Blade they manage to overwhelm it.

In the tenth novel, Luke and Mileena are serving as bodyguards to Laavas Nexuria Langmeyer‏‎ . He initially comes into conflict to Lina, until she reveals that Laavas has been deceiving him.

In the twelfth novel, Luke and Mileena encounter Lina and Gourry while en route to the Kingdom of Dils. He helps them destroy Sherra.

In the thirteenth novel, Luke and Mileena assist Lina, Gourry, Memphis, and Milgazia in defeating Dynast Grausherra.

In Hatred in Sellentia, Luke and Mileena are hired as bodyguards for High Priest Kereth Rolencio of Sellentia. During a fight, Mileena is struck by a poisoned dagger thrown by assassins hired by High Priest Francis Demitory. Luke takes Mileena to a shrine run by High Priest Sainfort, but he refuses to help her because she was working for his rival Rolencio.

Luke next takes her to Rolencio, but no one at his shrine knows Resurrection, and Mileena dies. Filled with hatred, Luke vows to kill all of the High Priests in Sellentia, who he regards as responsible for her death. Luke succeeds in killing Demitory and Sainfort, but is overcome with grief and runs away without killing Rolencio.

In Demon Slayers!, Luke's intense grief and hatred over Mileena's death causes the awakening of the piece of Shabranigdu within him. Luke-Shabranigdu challenges Lina and Gourry to a final battle, covering his body with a crimson cloak and his face with a featureless white mask and two ruby-coloured eyes. He first hides his identity, introducing himself as Shabranigdu, and fights with the Ma-ō's Starving Bone Staff. But despite this, Gourry recognizes him from his fighting style alone.

Luke-Shabranigdo, with his natural ginger hair and wielding the Bone Staff.

Luke tells them that he doesn't know what to do. He hates humans because a human killed Mileena, enabling Shabranigdu to fully awake, each speaking in turn. At the same time, he also hates mazoku, especially Dynast, as they engineered the situation in Sellentia. He hates the world for taking Mileena away from him, but he still loves her. So, he challenges the two who he admits viewing as friends to a fair duel for the fate of the world.

If Luke-Shabranigdu prevails, he will free Lei Magnus-Shabranigdu and destroy the world. If Lina and Gourry prevail, he will leave it in peace. The pocket dimension he created grants Lina and Gourry heightened magical energy, allowing Lina to wield Ragna Blade for longer than usual and Gourry to utilize the full potential of the Blast sword, so that they will have a chance against him. Even with these advantages, the two are losing until Lina breaks open her Demon Blood Talismans.

The energy of the three other ma-ō within them severely wounds Luke-Shabranigdu, but does not destroy him. He says that there is nothing left for Lina to do, because Shabranigdu cannot be harmed by his own power. Lina breaks open the fourth talisman anyway, and Luke's strong desire for death allows Luke-Shabranigdu to be destroyed by his own power.

Other Appearances[]

Outside of the novels, both Luke and Mileena in the manga Slayers: The Hourglass of Falshes, in which they are currently still traveling with Lina and co. Towards the climax, Luke assists in the fight against Ranzam in which he survives a direct hit from a Dragon Slave. He survives due to the spell drawing it's power from Ruby Eye, thus being useless against him.

Relationships[]

Lina Inverse: Luke is very competitive towards Lina, who he views as a rival. He is not afraid to challenge her and will not back down even when she is incredibly angry. As a result, he is one of the few who will stand up to Lina at times when everyone else is reluctant to do so. That said, he does recognize her strength and is more than willing to work together with her if it helps accomplishing his goals. In the end, he calls her his friend and acknowledges that he wanted to die by her and Gourry's hand, as he felt only they stood a chance. He dies with a smile, thankful, apologizing to a grieving Lina for what he put them through.

Mileena: Luke is in love with Mileena, who never openly returned his affections. He will often break his more serious demeanor around her and instead act more eccentric and affectionate in short bursts before she inevitably turns him down. Despite this, the two of them do respect and greatly care for one another.