God Child

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God Child ( Jap. ゴッドチャイルド , Goddo Chairudo ) is the continuation of a first under the title Hakushaku Cain ( 伯爵カイン , Hakushaku Cain published) manganese series of Zeichnerin Kaori Yuki ( Angel Sanctuary ).

action

Set against the backdrop of Victorian London , the story is about the inevitable doom of 17-year-old Count Cain C. Hargreaves, who lives under a curse punished by his name. Because the sick ghost of his mother Augusta, who was also the sister of his father Alexis, wants to take revenge on Alexis for Cain's birth by stealing his family's love. When she dies madly, she drives Alexis to torment his sons forever. The innocent Cain becomes the reason for a spiral of violence and death around him, which begins with the death of his half-sister Shuzette. His sinful love for her makes him believe that he is actually responsible for everything. But contrary to the prophecies of his family, he finds confidants in his loyal butler Riff and his adoptive sister Merryweather. These give him the strength to fight against his father to escape the curse. But it doesn't seem to work. The question arises as to the meaning of Cain's suffering, which is not answered. However, the count finds his peace with the only one who could give him support: his butler reef.

Kafka

Young Count Cain is in bed with a fever and is plagued by nightmares. The family's new general practitioner, Dr. Ansel Allen, suggests going to the country so the Count can recover. He also tells him that his fever comes from a poison. Once in the country, Cain is immediately invited by the master of the nearby castle, Weatherby Castle. The hosts are young Darque and his sister Justine. It is sensitive to sunlight and does not like mirrors. Since Merry and Justine get along well, the Hargreaves move in with the two nobles. A little later a woman's body is found and the rumor about a vampire spreads. Riff becomes suspicious and leaves the house.

When Cain starts flirting with Justine, the amorous Darque reveals the mystery out of desperation: Justine's and Darque's father experimented with dark magic and used Justine as a test subject. Justine's "dark side" has been awakened and at night she thirsts for the blood of beautiful virgins. She had seduced Darque and her father too. The shocked Justine panics and knocks over a candle in her madness. The tower soon bursts into flames, but Cain can't stop Darque from coming to her rescue. Both burn in the tower. Cain is shocked because he recognizes himself in Darque: He was also in love with his half-sister Shuzette, who he thought was his cousin.

Doctor Allen, aka Doctor Jezebel Disraeli, tells Cain that the Delilah organization was responsible for the tragedy of the two nobles, and that he himself is one of them. He wants to kill Cain because he hates him more than anything. Riff saves Cain from the doctor, who sees his chance wasted and swallows a poison capsule. It turns out that Cain never doubted Riff and that he went to London to get information about the doctor. Some time later they find out that the doctor's coffin will later be found empty and Cain wonders what Delilah is actually.

The red sheep mark

Back in London, Cain's guardian, his uncle Neal, is angry because Cain has made negative headlines several times. In order not to ruin the reputation of the house any further, the young Count is supposed to marry immediately. Neal suggests a deal: if Cain marries his fiancée, he'll sign Merryweather's adoption deed. Cain has to consent and goes to the house of the Lauderdales, whose daughter Emelyne he is to marry. However, she has two other admirers in tow, Oscar and Keith. Merry, meanwhile, plays with Emelyne's retarded brother, Gilford. When the two fiancés attend a ball that evening, a gifted fortune teller is supposed to read the future for them. Merediana is horrified when she reads from Cain's hand: his future is pitch black. He is strangely fascinated by the girl. Merediana flees the hall with her companion, who is none other than Dr. Jezebel Disraeli is. Late that night, Jack the Ripper murders his first victim in London. Rumor has it that visitors to the fortune teller are disappearing and Keith also dies in her house. Cain and Oscar want to investigate and meet Merediana, the doctor and his subordinate Cassian. When Emelyne learns of the nightly action, she interferes in the action and is killed by Jack the Ripper. The desperate Cain is now at least trying to save Merediana, who, according to her mother, should be dead. Cain sets out to find the Doctor, free Merrediana, and avenge Emelyne. In the game the young Gilford also has something to say and before the young Count, Riff and Oscar see through the game, Merediana dies and Gilford does not survive the tragedy either. Once again, Cain feels responsible for the events and Jezebel is still at large.

Scolds Briddle

Merry's friend Drew Benjamin has complexes about her appearance. Then she found out about a clinic that supposedly can work miracles. This clinic is run by Jezebel Disraeli and Drew is only one of his many victims. An elixir makes it very beautiful, but shortly afterwards it dies. The doctor also kidnaps Merry, who accompanied her friend to the clinic, but Cain and Riff manage to save the girl. The young Count is shaken because he again failed to beat Delilah and now Merry was also in danger.

The butterfly bone

The Hargreaves family visits distant relatives, the Cromwells. The gentlemen of the house, Mr. Cromwell, his confused daughter Lucia, his second wife Abigail and their son Emile, welcome them. But not everything seems to be right. During the night, the magician Clehadol tries to restore Lucia, who is possessed by the ghost of her late mother Toko, to her normal state with a seance, which he succeeds. It turns out that Abigail was responsible for Madame Toko's suicide and that Lucia was also killing Lucia. She dies from the poison she tried to give the girl. Her son Emile is not sad about this as he loves his sister, who is the only one who really took care of the boy. In the course of the plot, Emile also stabs his stepfather, who, however, never meant harm to the boy. Cain wants to make it clear to Emile that he is loved by his father and sister, but at that moment Alexis appears surprisingly. This reminds Cain that people who are dirty drag their loved ones into the dirt with them. Although this remark is aimed at Cain, Emile takes it to heart and throws himself off the roof. The Count is devastated again, as Alexis prophesied that he, Cain, named after the first murderer of mankind, would never be able to save anyone.

Gypsy ways

Cain's father won't let the count rest. When Alexis meets with his brother Neal, Cain comes just in time to overhear his uncle's concern for his well-being. However, he cannot prevent the latter from being seriously injured. Cain learns more about Delilah: Alexis is at the top as cardmaster, below him ranks are awarded according to the arcana of the tarot game. Cain finally decides to defend himself against Delilah and now tries to track down the organization.

Mortician's Daughter

Meanwhile, an ominous coffin maker is up to mischief in the city and Oscar is the target of his attacks due to a mix-up. The coffin maker is part of the young major's funeral home hired to clean up her dead father's fake friends who drove him to suicide - and a certain Oscar was one of them. The man fails and burns to death in the company's house. The girl is brought to her aunt by Cain and the property is bought by a certain Barabbas & Company. Cain finds out that the coffin maker was also part of Delilah, but he still doesn't understand what the man's assignment was.

Little Miss Muffet

It's the anniversary of the death of Cain's cousin and half-sister, Shuzette, whom he loved dearly. The count is staying at her grave when he meets a girl who claims to be Shuzette's reincarnation. Worried, Cain decides to visit the grave again and to make sure that the girl's body rests intact in her coffin. He meets the girl again, this time in the company of the doctor. Jezebel explains that he created Mikaela from Shuzette's cell samples. Cain is horrified and rejects Mikaela, who in turn poisons Riff in an attack. The count does not succeed in snatching the antidote from Mikaela, but the doctor helps Riff. Intrigued by Riff's devotion to Cain, Jezebel saved him so she could watch her bond with Delilah's intrigues break.

Bloody Maria and Castrato

To find out more about Delilah, Cain hires the shady magician Clehadol, as he seems to have ties to the organization. He tells Cain z. For example, people who join the arcana, the high tarot cards, are required to take an exam. Jezebel Disraeli must pass such a test. He has to give the high priest Kassandra insight into all his painful memories. Kassandra, who knows Jezebel's secret needs, uses his knowledge and clashes with Jezebel's henchman Cassian. Clehadol can also give Cain a hint about further activities of the doctor and so he approaches a lady, where he actually meets the doctor. The episode ends once more with death and the property is bought again by Barabbas & Company. Kassandra lets herself be celebrated as a charitable nobleman of London and hosts a big street festival. However, he has it blown up in order to free London from the "scum of the lower class". Cain is able to uncover Kassandra's machinations with the help of Merry's childhood friend Leroy, disguised as a girl and muzzled with drugs.

The Judas kiss

Cain tells his family and Clehadol all about Delilah and his struggle. But the magician can only be persuaded to help when his lover trips over Delilah and has to die. When Clahadol summons Sheila's ghost to clarify, a serious suspicion first falls on Oscar, then on Riff. In the course of the investigation, the mayors unmask Gloria, who works with Delilah, and Delilah draws her greatest trump card: Riff is revealed as a member of Delilah. Apparently he was chosen early on by Alexis to deal the heaviest blow to Cain later and was hypnotized by the high arcana Madame Justice. Thus a faithful servant was created, whose true personality has now been awakened again by Madame Justice.

The sword of Oedipus

Riff's betrayal broke Cain. He decides to kill Riff with his father Alexis. The reappeared Mikaela is supposed to lead him to Delilah, but Alexis lets his creature fall ice cold. When Mikaela becomes aware of her role and is put on the right track by Merry, she dies by an assassin Delilah. Meanwhile, Cain meets Riff and his half-brother, the doctor, whose fate as his father's doll he does not want to share.

Godless

Delilah has huge sacrificial obelisks set up in the shape of a pentagram on the land he has bought . These are needed for the ritual that is supposed to bring Cain's mother Augusta back to life. Cain has Merry taken out of town under Oscar's care and confronts Delilah with Clehadol. He finds Madame Justice and Owl, whose job it is to "watch the end of the world". The ceremony is near and thousands of people are driven to London by Madame Justices' talismans to be blood sacrifices for the revival. Meanwhile, Riff has ambitions to become a Cardmaster and hires Alexis. The shot hits the doctor, who was unable to free himself from his father's yoke until the end. In addition, Riff wants to free himself from the control of Madame Justice and kills her. However, he did not expect two things: He too was artificially brought back to the living by the doctor, so that his body has a decay date and the death of Madame Justice released the butler reef again, his second personality, the upper hand over the Body wins.

The dying Jezebel gives Riff some time with his blood so that he can help Cain finally kill Alexis. With his last breath, Cain explains that he has always loved his sons. Since Riff's body has reached its limits, Cain doesn't leave the collapsing building either. He is shielded by reef and buried under the rubble.

While Owl announces that he will experience the end of the world another time, because Delilah is far from finished despite the death of the cardmaster, Merry meets Alexis at the mausoleum built by Cain. This is driven by Augusta, whose sick spirit was the mastermind behind all misfortunes and who now needs a new, living body. But falls into her own grave in the mausoleum, so that the driven Alexis can finally find peace.

Years later, Clehadol had Merry Shuzette's ring, who was married to Oscar, delivered and which Cain had always worn. Since he comes in clothes that are very similar to Cains and does not meet Merry directly, it remains open whether she believes in his life or death.

people

family

  • Count Cain C. Hargreaves - is the 17 year old heir to the land and fortunes of the old noble Hargreaves family. He is the son of Alexis and his sister Augusta. He is very attached to his Butler Reef and adoptive sister Merryweather. The name is derived from Cain, the second son of Adam and Eve, who slew his brother Abel and thus became the first murderer of mankind. According to Cain's grandfather, this name is supposed to curse him and condemn him to kill the family's killer, Augusta. Ultimately, however, Cain's father explains that Cain was also a child loved by God that he sent away but cared for well. He dies in Riff's arms.
  • Merryweather Duke - is the supposed daughter of Alexis and Allegra Duke, a maid of the Hargreaves. After the death of her mother, for whom Alexis is responsible, she struggles as a fortune teller until Cain finds her and takes her in. She is 10 years old at the beginning. In truth, however, she is not related to the Hargreaves, as only Cain and Neal know. Cain adopted her because he could be sure that she doesn't have the "cursed blood" of the Hargreaves. In the end she marries Oskar.
  • Alexis - is Cain's father and head of Delilah. He hates Cain and has often beaten him with the whip. He disappears for 6 years after Cain tries to poison him with arsenic and now wants to get revenge on his son. In the end, however, it becomes apparent that he is guided by Augusta's spirit and only torments his sons at her instigation.
  • Augusta - is Cain's mother and aunt. Because she cannot cope with the birth of Cain, she loses her mind and is sent to an asylum. Years later she throws herself out of a window in Cain's presence. However, she is not innocent because it was she who seduced her brother. By making Cain and Jezebel hate Alexis, she torments him.
  • Neal - is Cain's uncle. He does not blame this for the family members' misfortunes. He adored Augusta and takes care of everything as Cain's guardian. He tries to watch over Cain.
  • Shuzette - is Cain's cousin and half-sister. She was his first love and her death was very painful for him.

Friends

  • Riffuel Raffit - is a retired medical student. After the fire in his parents' house, which he was the only one to survive, Alexis took him in. He becomes Cain's servant and his most loyal companion. He is named chief butler by Cain and is always with him. But Riff has a second side that has been hypnotized by Delilah's Madame Justice. For this reason it is for a time in league with the organization as the tower.
  • Oscar Gabriel - is the 20-year-old, disinherited son of the Baron von Gabriel and a friend of Emelyne. He helps Cain and Merry and claims he wants to marry Merryweather, which he will later do.
  • Emelyne Lauderdale - is a black-haired beauty and Cain's fiancée. She was never taken seriously by this, from which she suffered greatly and ultimately dies from Jack the Ripper. Delilah is responsible for her death. It is only when she is dead that Cain becomes aware of his feelings for her.
  • Gilford Lauderdale - a childhood friend of Cain and Emelyne's brother. He was mentally confused by drugs for a long time and died at the end of his lover's mother, who was also Jack the Ripper.
  • Merediana - is a fortune teller who worked for the doctor because she thought she could not live without his treatment. But she falls in love with Cain and in the end gives her life for him.
  • Clehadol - a dodgy magician of poor origin, who, however, achieved fame and prestige through his skills and who turned down Delilah's offer. He helps Cain find information about the organization.

Delilah

The organization has two goals. On the one hand she is supposed to make Cain's life hell by killing his friends, on the other hand she is preparing for the ritual of the “Last Judgment”. To this end, the organization acquires land in London on which it erects obelisks. When all twelve have been placed, the ceremony begins, but is interrupted. Delilah falls apart with Alexi's death.

  • Cardmaster - Alexis Hargreaves , is the head of the Delilah organization. He is driven by the spirit of his sister Augusta to torment his sons so that they will hate him. However, until the end it looks like Alexis is the mastermind who delights in human misfortune. He dies from Cain.
  • Moon - the gypsy Ida , is loyal to Alexis and wounds Neal on his behalf. She is a gypsy who is not accepted into society and therefore joins Delilah.
  • Death - Dr. Jezebel Disraeli , is the foster son Alexis. Alexis' cruelty drives the animal-loving boy into a mad love-hate relationship, so that he does not manage to free himself from Alexis influence. Throughout his life he struggled for his attention, which he only got in the form of lashes. He hates Cain because Alexis' attention is on him. He dies for Alexis, hit by Riff's bullet.
  • High Priest - Kassandra (Lord Gladstone) , he performs the ceremony that determines a new arcanum, a new card. He can read people's memories. He also has the ability to hypnotize people and thus submit them to his will. However, since he failed in one of his assignments, Delilah decided to eliminate him.
  • The tower - Riffuel Raffit , is under the direct command of the card master and tries to usurp his power. Since his being was sealed for a long time, the personality of Cain's Butler Riff emerged, which in the end wins.
  • Cassian , is a subordinate of Jezebel. He has the body of a child, but is already 35. He was an extra in a circus first, but killed the director and fled. Now he's working for the doctor to get him a new body. However, Cassian was fatally injured by Kassandra when he tried to kill Jezebel. The doctor, whose life was saved by Cassian, captured Kassandra on behalf of Delilah and planted Cassian's brain in Kassandra's body. He is the only one who loved the doctor and is responsible for his burial.
  • The ace of swords - the coffin maker - died when he was commissioned to buy property from a funeral home.
  • The barn owl is a foster son of the cardmaster. He is a very talented violin player and has known Cain since his grandfather's funeral. His job is to witness the end of the world and to see it as the last witness. When the tragedy came to an end, he moved on to see the world go on.

Publications

The manga series was published in Japan in individual chapters in the manga magazine Hana to Yume of the Hakusensha publishing house. While the first chapters appeared from 1992 to 1994 under the title Hakushaku Cain and were summarized in five anthologies, Kaori Yuki continued the series from 2001 under the new title God Child , under which eight anthologies were published by January 2004. The long pause within the 13 volumes caused by the production of the Angel Sanctuary series is particularly evident in the change in drawing style.

In German, the series appeared at Carlsen Comics under the uniform name God Child in the manga magazine Daisuki , but was then removed again because it was too gloomy for the magazine. From January 2004 to January 2006 the publisher published the story in full in paperback.

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