|
Spoiler Alert: WARNING! This page happens to contain a lot of heavy spoilers that are all originated from the Overlord Light Novel series written by the author Kugane Maruyama. To every Anime-only watchers and Manga-only reader out there viewing this warning, please mindfully consider your decision first before choosing to expose yourself on reading the information below. If you're not currently up-to-date with the main source material in the official books, do consider staying away from the page for non-spoiler sake until you actually read it first ahead of time. |
Unknown Intruder, this article requires your contribution to the Overlord Fandom!
It is clearly in dire need of a serious cleanup. You can help the Overlord Wiki out by improving it in a way that matches the wiki's layout guide and standards or simply providing a proofread and grammar check.
- "Why, Climb. Are you on your way to show your face to that monster?"
- — Prince Zanac's Introduction.
Zanac Valleon Igana Ryle Vaiself (ザナック・ヴァルレオン・イガナ・ライル・ヴァイセルフ) was the Second Prince of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Despite being the second-born, he aimed for the throne and obtained it after his brother died and he usurped his father, only to be assassinated himself.
Appearance
Zanac is a short and fat person with short blond hair.
Personality
Zanac is a talented, pragmatic, and sensible person, capable of comprehending the true natures of Renner and Marquis Raeven. Zanac is described as an incompetent person in the eyes of many nobles and the common folk, but in fact, it is all a ruse made by himself to mislead his opponents.
Beneath the facade he puts up, Zanac is actually insecure about his abilities. He recognizes that his intellect falls behind that of Renner's and Raeven's and has displayed envy towards them. The same goes for his father and his charisma. Still, he has great ambition and surrounds himself with people more competent than himself to make up for his shortcomings.
Despite his ambitions, however, Zanac has shown himself to be a patriot who prioritizes the greater good of the Kingdom. Although he aimed for the throne, he did so out of a genuine belief that he would make the better king than his brother. In fact, he claimed he would've been fine with abdicating the throne to his brother if the Kingdom prospered from it.
Background
Zanac was born as the second son of King Ramposa III of Re-Estize Kingdom. Growing up, due to him only being the Second Prince, Zanac was mostly ignored by those around him, causing him to be somewhat lonely.
Despite him being the second born, Zanac believed he would make a better King than his spoiled older brother, Crown Prince Barbro. He thus began plotting to steal his brother's birthright, resulting in a bitter rivalry between the two princes. At some point, Zanac allied himself with Marquis Raeven, after he saw through his opportunist act, which caused the latter to see his worth and back his claim to the throne.
Chronology
The Men in the Kingdom Arc
- Main article: The Men in the Kingdom I and The Men in the Kingdom II Arc
Zanac is first introduced along with Marquis Raeven while walking through the royal palace and sees Climb whose on his way to Renner's room. Walking into each other Zanac tries to warn Climb about his master and his younger sister, Renner. However, Climb disregarded his warning about her true nature.[1]
Later, Zanac attends the meeting between Marquis Raeven and Renner. During their conversation, he becomes disturbed when Renner revealed her true nature and her twisted love for Climb. Zanac offers her to marry Climb if she supports his claim to the throne, to which she immediately agrees.[2]
Additionally, he is present when Renner and Lakyus call together all the adventurers in the Kingdom to battle Jaldabaoth and his demon army. During the battle between the adventurers and Jaldabaoth, Zanac along with some of Marquis Raeven's personal troops lead the civilians to safety. Using this, he earned the praise of the citizens and nobles. Thus, it helps him increase his chances to gain the throne over his older brother, Barbro.[3]
The Magic Caster of Destroy Arc
- Main article: The Magic Caster of Destroy Arc
Zanac is present during the meeting between the royalists and the nobility, where his father announced that the Baharuth Empire had allied itself with the newly founded Sorcerer Kingdom and declared war on them. When his older brother, Barbro, volunteered to fight on the battlefield, he tries to stop him and volunteered to go himself, arguing that it would be foolish for both the Crown Prince and the King to risk their lives on the battlefield. However, his father ultimately decides to take Barbro with him to the battlefield over him.[4]
The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc
- Main article: The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc
After the massacre at Katze Plains, his father, King Ramposa III fell into a depression due to the loss of Gazef Stronoff. With Prince Barbro's whereabouts unknown, Zanac had practically taken control of the Royalty Faction and is now first in line for the throne. However, he is also faced with a great amount of pressure and heavy burdens caused by the extreme tensions between the nobility faction and the royalty faction as a result of the war. Zanac is also having difficulty in gaining reliable security and allies as his closest confidant, Marquis Raeven, retreated back into his domain, refusing to provide any further support after the massacre he witnessed.
Yet at the same time, he is trying to contemplate how to proceed with relations in regards to the newly formed Sorcerer Kingdom. As well as dealing with the internal infighting for power that is plaguing the Kingdom for some time now. When he received news that the Sorcerer Kingdom would be sending a diplomatic envoy to their nation, these complications were instantly solved. Several days later, his father sent him to personally welcome the envoy, Albedo.[5]
The Witch of the Falling Kingdom Arc
- Main article: The Witch of the Falling Kingdom Arc
Zanac is seen working in his father's office along with his sister back in the capital, looking at all the reports that have been plaguing the Re-Estize Kingdom. Among the many problems that have been listed since the end of the war, food supplies and manpower are revealed to be getting dangerously low. In addition to that, other possible threats out there include the endangerment of the remaining crop rations as they could suffer from cold snaps and droughts. Zanac has been seeking solutions to deal with them. He asked for his sister's opinion and suggested a few ideas like using high leveled druid adventurers as well as even using the excess surplus of grains purchased by merchants who got them from the Sorcerer Kingdom.
He also has been motoring the situation with the humanitarian aid the Sorcerer Kingdom has been providing to the Holy Kingdom. Seeing how this is unfolding, he had started to contemplate that all of this was set up so that the Sorcerer Kingdom is moving against them to eventually take over by manipulating events in the Holy Kingdom while also making the Re-Estize Kingdom look in an even badder light for not providing them aid as they had done.[6]
After learning of Philip's attack on the trade caravan, Zanac participated in a court meeting with his father about the gravest news about the Sorcerer Kingdom's response to it. Particularly, he announced to those participating in the meeting that the topic will focus on the declaration of war their nation have received from the Sorcerer Kingdom. He suggested to the king that they should bring the head of Philip as an apology to the Sorcerer Kingdom. Although he was quickly scolded by his father for that idea, Zanac refuses to yield and states that it is imperative for their nation to avoid a large loss of life with a small sacrifice. When the suggestion of an alliance with another country was brought up, Zanac immediately turns down that idea as negotiations have been unsuccessful with the Argland Council State and there has been no reply from the Slane Theocracy. Despite his father's other suggestion of forcing the Sorcerer Kingdom's army to retreat, he felt they are better off putting Philip on trial and giving him over to the enemy kingdom as a way to guarantee their nation's survival. Upon learning news of Prime Minister Albedo from the Sorcerer Kingdom arriving soon, he was given an order by his father to get dressed in a more formal attire and meet him in the throne room.
Once the meeting between King Ramposa III and Albedo had finally ended, he attempted to suggest chasing the Sorcerer Kingdom's Prime Minister down but his father quickly turns that idea down. When he and Renner had a private meeting with Ramposa, the latter suggested he flee from this nation that's about to be destroyed. However, both he and Renner refuse to abandon their home nation.[7]
With the new war on the horizon and the Kingdom's weakened armies and low chance of actually winning against the Sorcerer Kingdom, Zanac had already begun making several preparations in gearing up the nation for war and has made several allies with the Kingdom's high ministers in preparation.
However, despite the obviously hostile stance of the Sorcerer Kingdom, King Ramposa was still insistent on trying diplomacy to diffuse the war between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Sorcerer Kingdom. A notion that eventually led Zanac, and several of his allies, to deem Ramposa to be no longer worthy to be their nation's leader during this national crisis. This finally led the Crown Prince to stage a coup d'etat and dethrone his own father for the good of their kingdom. After successfully taking power and becoming King Regent, Zanac proceeded to secretly place Ramposa under house arrest, and suppress all knowledge on the Coup in order to prevent mass panic and confusion to the already vulnerable nation.
With his father indisposed, Zanac began to handle the affairs of the Kingdom. He was interrupted by his sister Renner as the latter reported that more than half of their cities and villages in the Kingdom had already fallen to the Sorcerer King’s conquest. Zanac asked his sister how they did not get this intel sooner, only for her to inform him that someone had put all the Kingdom's sources of intel on lockdown. He was shocked when she revealed it to be none other than Marquis Raeven himself. He was provided multiple reasons explained by his sister on why the Marquis would choose to side with the Sorcerer Kingdom rather than their nation. Hearing one of such reasons, he thought the Sorcerer Kingdom's actions were despicable at best. He then asked for his sister's opinion about what she thinks of the Sorcerer King to which the latter responded with admiration and respect for the undead. Listening to Renner's response to his question, he would go on to ask her further if the Sorcerer King was also better than her which the latter chose not to answer.
Along the way, Zanac was shortly later then asked several questions by Renner about how he will handle their country's situation with the Sorcerer Kingdom during the war. For instance, Zanac has already taken into consideration the mobilization of soldiers in the capital city where the final battle will happen between his army versus the Sorcerer King's army. Particularly, he took a stance by choosing to let himself be the royal who will take charge of leading the army to their death. He is hoping to leave it to his father to prepare his own funeral after he died. Since his elder brother is no longer around, Zanac felt utterly compelled to take responsibility for the Kingdom's survival and cannot afford to run away while it is on the brink of destruction. Zanac acknowledged that if only his elder brother was still here with them, he would have agreed to his father's idea of leaving the Re-Estize Kingdom with his sister Renner to go to the Karnassus City-State Alliance.
On the other hand, he even offered a suggestion to his sister Renner to flee their nation at any time like her father always wanted them to do initially. Hearing Renner's response on why she is not leaving immediately, he felt it would only help the Sorcerer King to exploit her death after she died such as the concern for the undead using her corpse. However, upon hearing once more from Renner, he was reassured by his sister that she will leave the Kingdom when the time comes for her to do so.
After the Sorcerer Kingdom's army laid about a half a day's march from the capital, Zanac mobilized the entire army of the Kingdom to assemble a front to combat the opposing nation. Zanac leads an army of 400,000 men against the Sorcerer King's forces of 10,000 undead. Despite his forces numerical superiority, Zanac already knew that they were no match for the Sorcerer King's overwhelming monsters. Hence, he has decided to approach the Sorcerer Kingdom's army alone without bodyguards and meet face-to-face with the Sorcerer King to try and better understand his motivations for this war. At the same time, he was hoping to find out what kind of a thought process would have led the Sorcerer King to do what he had done against them.
Going out alone, he was given an audience with Ainz Ooal Gown, and treated with courtesy. There Zanac asked why Ainz, though having so much power commit to this senseless war. Ainz declared it was to show the world his power, but Zanac believed it was petty and asked what his actual goal was. Ainz in thought considered the path he took in finding his comrades and later caring for his NPCs, revealed that all he strove was 'happiness'. Zanac asked if he would trample on the happiness of others to achieve his own, which Ainz affirmed, causing the former to nearly outburst in objection but quickly calmed down. Ainz forgave him stating he was merely doing for his nation, which Zanac could relate to and understand him as a fellow ruler. Along the way, the two discussed on many things like the late Gazef Stronoff and even the fate of Zanac's brother Barbo. After learning from Ainz that he was probably killed by one of his subordinates, Zanac actually thanked the undead for telling him. In the end, he also made Ainz promised to give him and his own countrymen a gentle death painlessly. Though the two were still enemies, the conversation ended on pleasant terms, but it also allowed Zanac to see there was a human side to the Sorcerer King.
After return back to his army's side, Zanac inform his subordinates that the Sorcerer King's plan to kill them all was non-negotiable and cannot be swayed no matter what he says.
As he was coordinating with the minister of military affairs of how to proceed from here, both were ambushed by a group of mercenaries and nobles who planned to take Zanac's head to the Sorcerer King as a means to appease him. Zanac was not going down without a fight and he pulled out his sword and dared everyone to try and take it from him by force. His severed head was later given to Ainz Ooal Gown as a gift of their loyalty. The Overlord took it and ordered Albedo to prepare a proper burial for his fellow sovereign. After giving these orders, Ainz tells Albedo to take the mercenaries and nobles to Neuronist Painkill for their "reward" as well as their families.[8]
Abilities and Powers
Zanac is aware of his incompetence, but he is capable of seeing through the facades worn by his sister and Marquis Raeven. Maruyama himself considers Zanac to be a good ruler, on par with Pe Riyuro. Unlike his father, he is more than willing to take a few risks if it means to get results.
Job Classes
Main Equipment
- Amulet of Immortality (former): Provides regeneration.
- Gauntlets of Endurance (former): Grants endless stamina.
- Guardian Armor (former): Made of extremely hard steel or adamantite. Enchanted with magic, it can protect the wearer from lethal blows.
- Personal Armor
Relationships
Ramposa III
King Ramposa III is Zanac's father. However, the Prince's opinion of him has shown to drastically shift depending on the situation. He admires his charisma and his willingness to self-sacrifice for the sake of his people. He was also worried about his wellbeing when he fell into a depression following Gazaf's death.
On the other hand, though, Zanac dislikes his father's unwillingness to take risks and make sacrifices for the greater good. In the end, while he never desired to overthrow his father, the Prince finally resorted to a coup d'etat after the King continued to mootlessly seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict with the Sorcerer Kingdom. Zanac still respected Ramposa, but just did not believe he was the right person to handle the situation.
Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself
Barbro is Zanac's older brother, whom he competed with for the position of their to the throne of the Kingdom. However, rather than a desire for power, he did so out of a genuine belief that he would be a better ruler than his spoiled brother, who would likely only have become a puppet of the nobles or the criminal underworld. Despite this though, the Second Prince did believe his brother to be more charismatic than himself.
Due to their bad relationship, Zanac was actually happy that his brother went missing following the Annual War and was later confirmed dead.
Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself
Renner is Zanac's younger sister. He feels uncomfortable around her and is sometimes terrified by her and her incomprehensible behavior. Zanac describes Renner as an unfathomable monster as he knows about her abnormal intelligence and inhumane mindset.
For a long time, he believed that Renner's objective was to destroy the kingdom since it was the cage that kept her imprisoned. However, this changed when he, his sister and Marquis Raeven spoke openly and he discovered her obsession for Climb.
Currently, Renner is Zanac's "ally," under the promise he will allow her and Climb to marry. After becoming crown prince, he now looks to her for advice more often since Raeven retired from politics. However, on the other hand, he keeps feeling that he's being manipulated by her and fears that she might revolt and steal the throne from him.
Elias Brandt Dale Raeven
Marquis Raeven was Zanac's main supporter in his claim to the throne. He convinced the Marquis to back him when he managed to see through his facade of being a sly opportunist. Despite theirs being a purely professional relationship, the Prince also deeply valued Raeven on a personal level and considered him to be the closest thing he had to a friend.
Unfortunately, Marquis Raeven left the Prince's side after he was traumatized by the Massacre at Katze Plains, which saddened Zanac a great deal. Following the revelation that Raeven had defected to the Sorcerer Kingdom, Zanac was shocked but understood that it was likely because the Marquis' family was threatened.
Climb
Zanac sees Climb as Renner's faithful servant. He once cautioned Climb that his sister was an unfathomable monster, but Climb disregarded his talk about her. Zanac feels pity for Climb after finding out about his sister's fetish.
Ainz Ooal Gown
Seeing how he single-handedly drove the Kingdom to the brink of collapse, Zanac wishes the Sorcerer King had never appeared in the New World. When he finally met face to face with the Sorcerer King, Zanac was able to see that the undead was far more complicated than what was previously thought. Despite his actions and appearance he saw that there was still some humanity in the undead. Zanac felt the Sorcerer King was too human and that that should not have been the reaction of an undead, the mortal enemy of the living.
During their short talk together it was apparent in both sides that they both developed a mutual sense of respect and admiration for each other due to both desiring the best for their respective kingdom's. This is seen where Ainz showed obvious fury, anger and hatred for the traitorous noblemen who killed and beheaded Zanac to save their own skins and ordered his servants to collect the rest of Zanac's body and give him a proper burial despite his usual usage of corpses to make undead, showing a obvious sense of respect for the prince. Ainz then proceeded to order his murderers to be continuously and viciously tortured by Neuronist Painkill for their crime of betraying their prince, alongside their families for their traitorous actions, before ordering his army to completely annihilate the Kingdom's Capital and its people without mercy. This in turn further revealed that whatever guilt, mercy or pity he felt for the Re-Estize Kingdom was finally swept away with Zanac's death due now seeing that there was no one decent left in the kingdom.
Trivia
- On Maruyama's Governing Ranking, the second prince ruler's ability is on par with Pe Riyuro, over the Bafolk Lord Buser and below Queen Draudillon. Maruyama commented that if the Quagoa Lord possessed more knowledge, he would be superior to Zanac.[9]
- Zanac was the only royal child who genuinely cared for the Kingdom; Barbro only wanted power and Renner never truly cared for the Kingdom in the slightest.
Quotes
- (To Climb warning about Renner): "Listen, Climb. If you were a bigot then I wouldn’t have even bothered to say anything. But I’m giving you a warning since she could be tricking you. She’s a monster."
- (To Renner): "Is that so. This is your true face. What should I say when you were young, it always felt like something was strange about you, but now I know you’re not normal."
- (To Renner about Barbro): "Truthfully, our older brother has been receiving some money from the Eight Fingers as well. I wanted to use this as leverage against him, so I went ahead and investigated if they had a safe house in the capital. It seems they indeed do. I want to squeeze this place into the hit list as well."
- (To Himself): "—ah—how frustrating! Why do I have to plan this out in the first place! If only the Sorcerer Kingdom did not exist! If only that freakishly powerful undead being did not exist"
- (To Renner): "What do you get out of acting cute in front of your own brother? Go act for Climb instead, he's the one who's gullible."
- (To his subordinates): "You all, my sister is due to arrive soon, what will I ever do with her? Rejoice, for a break is upon you all. Three hours starting from now. Rest up and return rejuvenated."
- (To Renner about his father): "It is not that I cannot relate to his desire to settle this through diplomacy, to reduce the number of casualties to the lowest possible, but things have already progressed to a stage where a resolution through diplomacy is no longer possible."
- (To the Sorcerer King): "I guess so. I do relate to Your Majesty's desire. The pursuit of the betterment of one's own country and a guarantee to one's own countrymen's happiness, that could be said to be the only responsibility of a ruler. If the destruction of our people guaranteed the people of the Sorcerer Kingdom their happiness, I do understand why you did not accept our surrender. I suppose it couldn’t be helped."
- (To the Sorcerer King): "While I have no intention to forfeit in this battle, I would be eternally grateful if Your Majesty was to use magic that would inflict the least amount of suffering on my people."
- (To the minister of military affairs about the Sorcerer King): "He was more human than I thought."
- (After being betrayed by the nobles and soldiers from his side): "Let me say one thing, it is useless for you to take me to him. I, as a member of the royalty, have made up my mind to battle to the end. Those of you who wish to die here, do try!"
- (To the traitors): "Those who wish to claim my head, come if you dare!!"
- (To the traitors): "What!? Weren't you all out for blood!? Shouldn't you have at least prepared to dirty your own hands even if you were to force poison down my throat!? Aren't you supposed to have made your resolve?!"
References
- ↑ Overlord Volume 05 Chapter 2: Blue Rose
- ↑ Overlord Volume 06 Chapter 7: Attack Preparations
- ↑ Overlord Volume 06 Chapter 10: The Most Strongest Trump Card
- ↑ Overlord Volume 09 Chapter 2: Preparations for the Battle
- ↑ Overlord Volume 10 Chapter 2: Re-Estize Kingdom
- ↑ Overlord Volume 14 Prologue
- ↑ Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 2: The Beginning of the End
- ↑ Overlord Volume 14 Chapter 3: The Last King
- ↑ Overlord Volume 12 Author Thoughts
Gallery
                                       |
  |
 |