Xellos

Slayers character
Xellos The Trickster Priest
In-Universe Information
Homeworld:	Red Orb, Sea of Chaos
Homeland:	Wolfpack Island
Species:	Mazoku (His true appearance is that of a black cone / whirlwind)
Gender:	Male
Hair Color:	Purple / Black (Novels)
Eye Color:	Purple
Known Relatives:	Zelas Metallium
Age:	over 1,012
Height:	5'7" (170 cm)
Abilities:	Mazoku Powers Black Magic Teleportation Super Speed
Weapon:	Wooden staff
Weakness:	The Lord of Nightmares power Amelia's positive energy
Allies:	Lina Inverse Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun Gourry Gabriev Zelgadis Greywords Filia Ul Copt
Role:	Neutral
Series Information
First Episode Appearance:	Slayers NEXT Episode 2 (Season 2)
Voice Actor:	David Moo (NEXT and TRY) Kurt Stoll (Slayers Premium) Michael Sinterniklaas(REVOLUTION and EVOLUTION-R)
Seiyu:	Akira Ishida

Xellos (ゼロス, Zerosu) (sometimes spelled Xelloss) is a fictional character and prevalent figure from the Slayers manga, light novels, and anime.

Xellos is the single most powerful servant of Zelas Metallium, who in turn is one of the five retainers of Ruby Eye Shabranigdo, one of the Slayers series' deity-like beings. Because of this some consider his full name to be Xellos Metallium, but according to he himself he is simply called Xellos, the Priest. This also shows that a similar belief of him being both the general and priest of his master is also unfounded.

Plot overview

In Slayers NEXT, under the orders of Hellmaster Phibrizzo, Xellos followed Lina sometimes helping, but often hampering her quest to find the Claire Bible. During this time he hides under the guise of a traveling priest, though he is revealed to be a Mazoku in the later episodes of the series. In the climactic showdown with Chaos Dragon Gaav, Xellos defends Lina and Co. from the attacks of Seigram and Gaav, though taking a grievous wound in the process.

In the third series, Slayers TRY, Valgaav tries to summon Dark Star to the world of Ruby Eye; his mission this time is to stop this, bringing Valgaav back to the Mazoku's side if possible. In the end, he helps Lina and co. to fight Valgaav and stop Dark Star from being released into their world.

In the newest fourth (and fifth) season, Xellos' screentime was somewhat reduced. His goal in the season has been to ascertain whether Red Priest Rezo's soul is all that was sealed in the Hellmaster's Jar, or whether the piece of Shabranigdo killed in the first season was sealed with it. If so, he was to prevent the demon lord's shard from breaking free, due to the unforeseeable consequences such a irregular awakening might have.

Personality

Xellos tends to behave like a playful trickster, answering nearly all questions directed toward him with "Sore wa himitsu desu," literally "That is a secret." He seems to delight in the frustration that ensues with his withholding of information. For the majority of the second season, Xellos acts simply for comedy's sake frequently breaking the fourth wall and addressing the viewers; all the while subtly and even sinisterly advancing the plot. Generally, Xellos' mood can be determined by the state of his eyes. If they are closed, he is acting as the "Trickster Priest," but when he opens them, he reveals his dark nature.

Xellos' true intentions always seem to be a mystery. As a mazoku, his main goal is to return the universe into the nothingness of the Sea of Chaos, but near the end of the third season he aids Lina and the others in saving the world instead. Even though he tends to manipulate Lina and the others he has saved their lives on few occasions, such as saving Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova from bandits for no apparent reason, and saving Filia during their battle with Valgaav. The reasons for doing so are never given which leads Xellos to be one of the many enigmas of the series.

Xellos is extremely loyal to Zelas Metallium and usually acts only if ordered (although at times he has aided Lina's group without having been ordered by Zelas), and it is assumed that he would gladly follow any of her requests in order to keep her pleased, even if he himself is not pleased with them. (An example of this is when he was ordered to offer to kill Lina Inverse if Valgaav joined the Mazoku side in TRY).

Relationships

In the novels, the Slayers group generally abhors his presence, while in the anime he is treated as more of a tolerable nuisance.

In the anime, Xellos and Lina seem to have a sort of mutual respect for each other. He seems to enjoy the chaos that follows Lina, and follows her for the sake of fun even if he is not ordered to do so. Lina is also known to comically beat him when he gets them into trouble. In the novels Xellos seems to be more distant around her, looking somewhat troubled by the fact that Lina, unlike other humans he has dealt with, is able to see the bigger picture of things and is not easily manipulated.

Zelgadis holds a powerful hatred towards the Mazoku because in the 2nd episode of NEXT, he had destroyed a Claire Bible manuscript which, the chimera thought, might have contained the cure to his appearance. This naturally does not bother Xellos one bit, even though he is the only one who does not tease Zelgadis about his appearance.

When Amelia makes one of her heroic, "justice filled" speeches Xellos listens with amusement and mild curiosity, although they do tend to disturb him at times. When she makes endless comments about how beautiful and wondrous the world and life are Xellos becomes extremely weakened, and even cringes at her minor comments. So great is the effect of these speeches on Xellos that, when forced to fight him, the group has even used one of them as a weapon to render Xellos helpless.

Filia is the only being capable of annoying and angering Xellos. Even though he tries to be polite to her, she continues to insult him and call him names like raw garbage (namagomi). Xellos likes to tease Filia by the fact that she is part of the dragon race. Her hatred towards him originates from the fact that he killed many dragons during the Kõma War (War of the Monsters' Fall) 1000 years ago. By the end of the series, they learn to tolerate each other and are capable of having at least one decent conversation.

Powers

According to Gaav, Xellos was created by Shabranigdo himself, which grants him incredible power. As he is a monster, Lina's group is often cautious of his movements, as if he were to become their enemy, defeat is almost certain.

He is immune to most magic; nothing short of a direct hit from Lina's Ragna Blade, or Gourry's Sword of Light can stun him, given that his enemies are fast enough to even pin him down.

Xellos is capable of annihilating nearly anything using his own power. This is best shown by his destruction of an entire clan of Golden Dragons with a casual gesture, killing nearly 1/2 of them in the War of Monster's Fall. For this reason, dragons consider him their mortal enemy. He fights monsters with attacks from the Astral Plane.

However, he tends to underestimate his opponents, leading to himself getting beaten severely by Valgaav. Like all Mazoku, Xellos can teleport anywhere he can imagine by phasing to and from the Astral Side, the realm of spiritual existence in the Slayers world.

Reception

While Xellos started off as a single arc character in the original novel series, his enormous popularity among readers (he was ranked 1st in at least one of the popularity polls, surpassing even the main character Lina Inverse) allowed him to be included in the last novel, and also in all anime seasons to date after his introduction. Akemi's Anime World describes Xellos as "one of the best characters in Slayers", saying there is "much more to him than initially meets the eye", while the Escapist Magazine mentions him as "a key addition to the Slayers Next cast as the manipulative force steering Lina and company".

Voice Actors

• Akira Ishida (Japanese Media)
• David Moo (Seasons 1-3)
• Kurt Stoll (Slayers Premium movie)
• Michael Sinterniklaas (Slayers Revolution and Evolution-R)