| Introduction |
Sophia Valentine (ソフィア・ヴァレンタイン) is a supporting character of the Nanbaka Web Manga. She is the Togabito of Night and the adoptive child of Hakushaku.
Appearance[]
Sophia has long gray hair that goes down to her waist and spikes up at the end. A huge side bang hangs over the right side of her face. Her large, red eyes have slitted pupils. One of her canine teeth is an especially prominent fang, with the other one missing entirely. She has two dots on her neck reminiscent of a vampire bite.
When first introduced, she has numerous bandages all over her, with two on the bridge of her nose and another near her mouth. A couple bandages are on her fingers and her wrist as well. Over time, most of the bandages are removed, save for the large white one on her arm.
She wears an oversized jean jacket, with the sleeves rolled up several times and the buttons undone. Underneath, she has a white T-shirt with a red cross insignia over her heart, black shorts, and black shoes. She also wears a black baseball cap backwards, with the underside of the brim and the symbol on it being red. A few strands poke out from over the clasp. On her right arm, she wears a black armwarmer. Her left arm is wrapped in bandages, hiding a jagged scar left by Rokudo. A small cross pendant on a thin chain hangs from her left wrist.
Personality[]
Sophia is a very sincere and kind individual, with a charisma that wins many people over. However, she has issues standing up for herself and becomes an easy target for bullies and her abusive aunt, Camilla Valentine.[1][2] She cares deeply about Hakushaku, sending him letters in prison and cheering him on at the New Year's Tournament. Lacking a real parent, she's excited to meet a father when meeting Uoza Jyuunoji, noting that she's jealous[3].
Background[]
Sophia was an orphan, adopted by Hakushaku and made the heir of the Valentine Family. This ruling was disliked especially by Camilla Valentine, her aunt.[2] Eventually, a butler came to work directly for her – Ram, who is secretly an agent for Kaazu, sent to monitor her. When she moved to the city she currently lives in, she ran into Rokudo, who was lying on the street. She stopped to offer him help, and he grabbed her arm, leaving a Scar that awakened her powers as the Togabito of Night. This awakening forced almost everyone in the city to fall asleep, Rokudo included.
While most of the people woke up from that incident, Rokudo remained asleep. In exchange for Sophia waking Rokudo in the future, Mikadzuki becomes a distant bodyguard for her.[1]
Plot[]
One of the Togabitos listed in The Key to be necessary for its activation was labeled to be the "Togabito of Night". To search for them, Isou goes undercover as a doctor at an elementary school.[4] Assigned to health duties for the sixth year class, Sophia brings the medical questionnaires to Isou, apologetic at being late. Isou doesn't notice anything amiss about her, overlooking her completely.
Afterwards, Sophia is being bullied by a few children, and is saved by Nadeshiko, who takes her to Isou again for treatment. Once school ends, Sophia goes back home, tailed by Mikadzuki. Upon reaching home, she runs into Camilla and is mistreated by her. Later, Ram consoles her by reminding Sophia that she is going to meet Hakushaku again, due to being invited to the New Year's Butoukai.[2]
On the ship headed to Nanba Prison, Sophia is surprised to meet Nadeshiko again, and the two argue about who was stronger, Yamato or Hakushaku. When they reach Nanba Prison, Sophia has a joyful reunion with Hakushaku, soured by the fact that a transparent barrier was set between them. Hakushaku tells Sophia to wait for Building 6 to win, so that she can show him the outside world. Sophia meets Hakushaku's inmates too, and wishes them good luck[5]. During the First Event, she cheers on Hakushaku from the sidelines. In the Second Event, Hakushaku accidentally gets pulled into his sleep-deprived, bloodthirsty Togabito mindset. Seeing Hakushaku force himself like this, Sophia's Togabito powers begin to subconsciously respond.[6]
Even in his vicious, irrational form, Hakushaku is able to realize that Sophia using her powers in Nanba Prison would expose her. As he retreats into his coffin, he regrets bringing her to Nanba Prison. As soon as Hakushaku retreats, Sophia falls unconscious. When she wakes up, she finds out that Building 6 has been disqualified.[7]
During the night between Events Two and Three, Ram convenes with Kaazu agents to discuss capturing Sophia. He advises them to take her during the day instead of right now. Claiming that her usage of her power in the Second Event was only a small display, Ram convinces them to let him capture Sophia in the daytime himself. Meanwhile, Sophia wakes up from a nightmare of everyone she loved disappearing, including Hakushaku and Ram. She goes to find Ram, who has just finished talking with the Kaazu agents. When she tells Ram about her dream and his presence there, Ram considers that this might be an aspect of her powers. As he worries over her being suspicious of him, Ram tries to tell Sophia that he was just a servant to her and no one special. Sophia vehemently disagrees, pointing out all the ways Ram had helped her and stating that he was important to her. She begs him to not leave, and Ram promises to stay with her.[8]
The next morning, Sophia asks Ram when they were going to go to the tournament grounds. While not explaining anything to her, Ram tries to sneak Sophia onto a boat leading out of Nanba Prison from under the noses of the Kaazu agents. The agents catch onto the scheme, and Sophia stands perplexedly at the sidelines while Ram and the Kaazu agents argue about letting the two leave while having to disguise their malicious intentions. V appears as a distraction, allowing Ram and Sophia onto the boat.[9] However, even more agents ambush them there, and after warring with his loyalties, Ram scoops up Sophia and jumps into the ocean with her.[10]
The two are saved by Akua Jyuunoichi and Uoza Jyuunoji, and Sophia tells Ram that even though she was scared of all the chaos before, she was also happy that Ram had protected her. She tells Ram that she wants to know more about herself, prompting Ram to take them all to meet Mikadzuki. Mikadzuki explains the terms of his agreement with Ram, where Mikadzuki guarded Sophia in exchange of Sophia waking up Rokudo.[3] Now, the time to fulfill that end of the bargain has come, and Mikadzuki helps Sophia use her powers to wake up Rokudo[11].
Knowing that now both Shiki and Kaazu would be after Sophia, Uoza decides to guard her as well, as she reminds him of his dead daughter.[12]
Powers & Abilities[]
Sleep Manipulation (Togabito Powers)[]
Sophia can put people to sleep and wake them up at will. This ability can be used with physical contact, but has been demonstrated to work on a large area without proper thought behind it.
Relationships[]
Hakushaku[]
Sophia is his adopted ward, and she cares about him deeply. She defends Hakushaku to people who judge him when hearing he's an inmate, and exchanges frequent letters with him[13]. He returns this affection, looking forward to her letters and promising to go see the outside world with her.[5] That promise to her is the last thing he thought of when he was drugged into unconsciousness by the Kaazu agents. Despite this, Sophia notes that she has never had a mother or a father − including an adoptive parent, as this was in reference to Uoza being Akua's non-biological father.[3] Because of this, her exact view on Hakushaku's role in her life is unclear.
Hakushaku and Sophia share a deeper bond as well, connected to each other by both being Togabito of Night. When seeing Hakushaku's violent side run wild, Sophia's powers automatically resonate to aid him. Hakushaku's violent side also recognizes Sophia, even noting that he didn't want Sophia to be in danger, despite this side never showing such concern to anyone.[6]
Camilla Valentine[]
Hating Sophia for taking Camilla's place as heiress, Camilla treats Sophia terribly, even physically harming her. Sophia is scared of her.[2]
Ram[]
Five years ago, Ram began serving Sophia. He did so to observe her and the rest of the Valentine Family, but provided Sophia with much-needed support when she started first living with Camilla.[8] He tries to step in when Camilla hurts Sophia, and comforts Sophia in the aftermath. Sophia counts Ram as one of her special people, making him promise to always stay with her. Even when Ram is hiding things from her and leading her through hostile enemies, Sophia recognizes that he is trying to keep her safe and is grateful to him for it.[2]
Despite his orders to kidnap her, Ram grows to care for Sophia and betrays Kaazu to save her. He brokers a deal for Mikadzuki to defend her when Ram himself could not. At the end of the series, he is still on Sophia's side.
Uoza Jyuunoji[]
Sophia meets Uoza when he saves her and Ram after they jump off the boat. They exchange an awkward interaction when Uoza asked Sophia about her parents and she explained that she had none. Sophia is curious about Uoza, having never had a father, and takes a shine to Uoza[3]. After they split ways with Mikadzuki and Rokudo, instead of going off in search of Shiki, Uoza asks Ram to let him guard Sophia too, citing that she reminds Uoza of his daughter.[12]
Akua Jyuunoichi[]
Being a prickly person, Akua claims that he had decided to work as Sophia's guard because he needed money and time to repair his weapon. When Sophia explains that she has never eaten anything outside of her home, Akua gets incensed and tells her there is nothing wrong with eating what she likes. He then buys her crepes and also helps clean her face after she gets messy from eating. This shows Akua's kinder side, which is not seen often.[14]
Trivia[]
- Sophia is a sixth-year elementary school student, making her likely 11-12 years old.
- She is studying cooking but appears to be bad at it, exemplified by the picture she sends Hakushaku of an omurice she made.[13]
- As the Togabito of Night, she is the only confirmed person listed in The Key's document.[4]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 369
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 370
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 413
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 368
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 371
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 375
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 376
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 388
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 389
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 290
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 414
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 415
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 318
- ↑ Nanbaka Web Manga: Chapter 416