Kei Ru (Kor. 케이 루) is a Noble and one of the eight current Clan Leaders of Lukedonia. He is the head of the Ru Clan. Amongst his peers, he is noticeable for his daily exposed musculature, a tall stature and the lack of aristocratic attire as well as his distance from Central's affairs. He is acknowledged as the strongest of the current clan leaders by both nobles and werewolves.
Appearance
Kei is pale with long untidy back-length white hair, stubble, the iconic red eyes, and a big scar across his face. The entirety of his tall body is muscular and scarred, giving him the appearance of a fierce warrior. His attire differs greatly from other nobles, resembling that of a martial artist rather than that of an aristocrat. The sources of his original scars are unknown. For the 500th anniversary of the previous Lord entering eternal sleep, he wears a hooded cloak bound at the neck by a golden cravat with its silver-gold pin. By the time of the werewolves' invasion of Lukedonia, Kei replaces his previous black and gold cloth footgear with ordinary martial arts footwraps. Before his last fight against the werewolves, Kei's martial arts top lacks the Lukedonian emblem and he has abandoned his forearm cloths revealing his bare arms. Notably, during his combat moments in the webtoon, most of his scars excluding the face are temporarily removed for better drawn action accuracy and efficiency.
Personality
Kei believes in strength gained by oneself through training rather than acquired by other means. He is extremely loyal to the Lord and spends most of his time focusing on training. He and his previous Clan Leader trained and stayed away from Lukedonia's Central, as such he is habitually uninterested in happenings outside his clan. He has shown tremendous respect for Gejutel even when the latter was imprisoned for treason. Kei believes in the warrior code of conduct and dislikes several nobles ganging up on one enemy. He does not favor conspiracy and is clear minded in order to not have ambitions of power. A true Noble at heart, he is willing to stake his life against a nuclear bomb to save humans from disaster.
Background
Kei is the leader of one of the seven (later eight) noble clans, the Ru family. Unlike the other nobles, the Ru Clan have set aside everything for their quest to seek strength via hard work. All of their time is spent in training to become stronger and therefore they are located away from Lukedonia's central area. His first time entering the central area is after the new generation Clan Leaders incident five centuries before the awakening of Cadis Etrama Di Raizel. Because of his aberrant lifestyle from other nobles, 21st century werewolves fight him as their equal.
Plot Overview
- Kei arrives in Central to attend the 500th anniversary of the eternal sleep of the Previous Lord. He is shortly summoned again, along with all other clan leaders, to the castle where the Lord calls Rael and Seira for report on occurrences in the human world - an event which leads to Gejutel's imprisonment.
- Later, Kei visits the room of discipline where Gejutel is imprisoned. He asks Gejutel why he has remained silent in front of the Lord as he still firmly believes Gejutel is not a traitor. Gejutel asks Kei to look after Seira should he be executed.
- When the mansion appears in the Forbidden Region, Kei informs his fellow clan leaders what he knows about the place. He learned from his predecessor that long ago, someone inhabited the castle in that place. At this, their current Lord realises the arrival of Raizel in Lukedonia and sends two clan leaders to capture the so-assumed 'leader of traitors'.
- After Gejutel is sentenced to death, all clan leaders are summoned to the place of execution - inside the previous Lord's slumber chamber. The ceremony is interrupted by the arrival of the alleged traitor: Cadis Etrama Di Raizel. The Lord, angry at Raizel's insolence, orders Kei to get rid of him. Although Kei takes out his soul weapon to prevent Raizel from approaching any further, he is quickly dealt with and overwhelmed by powerful mind control from Raizel. Kei is warned not to interfere and obliges as a spectator to withhold the battle between the noble hierarchy.
- After the fight, along with the other clan leaders, he listens to Frankenstein's explanation regarding the past incidents and the previous Lord's part in it, which clears up the misunderstandings concerning Raizel and stability returns in the land of nobles.
- Afterwards, Kei is sometimes shown with the fellow clan-leaders.
- At the end of Volume 4, Kei and the other Clan Leaders learn during a meeting with Raskeria about Seira's report that Roctis Kravei of the Traitor Nobles is an Elder of the Union through his contract with the 12th Elder.[1]
- Near the end of Volume 5, Kei and the other Clan Leaders who are attending a meeting with Raskeria sense and learn of Karias Blerster protesting to visit outside Lukedonia through his constant release of Amore's Arrows.[2]
- The deaths of Zarga Siriana and Urokai Agvain were reported at another meeting, confirming the fact the Traitor Nobles are all part of the Union. Kei and Rozaria complain about Karias attempting to call Raskeria "noona", saying he went to far.[3]
- Kei joins Ludis and Rozaria to send off Rajak who was on his way to the human world. They also learn of Rajak doing house work during his previous stay.[4]
- When the traitor nobles and werewolves enter Lukedonia, Kei has been meditating deep in the mountains. The moment the werewolves enter his territory, Kei is aware of the intrusion and goes to greet the intruders. The werewolves Drakon, Kaiyo and Mount also realise that they have trespassed into a clan-leader's zone and are shocked when Kei appears. Kei takes down Mount who jumps to attack with a single hit. He is then invited to a one-on-one battle by Drakon who has heard about the speciality of Ru clan. The battle progresses and although Drakon seemed stronger, Kei gains the upper-hand when he realises that Drakon has been using enhanced regeneration. He then proves the pride of pure strength and summoning his full-power attack, he overcomes Drakon. Seeing that, Kaiyo and Mount join the fight and gradually begins to thwart a worn-out Kei. Kei is further deep in trouble as Drakon admits Kei is stronger and combines forces with his teammates to finish their mission rather than keep to a humble duel. A fierce blow is aimed at Kei who is in no state to block or dodge. However, he does not need to act as the blow is stopped by another soul weapon. Seeing the form of the weapon, Kei kneels down to greet its wielder while the enemies stare with awe. The Lord, herself, has come to Kei's aid. The werewolves warriors attack Kei in order to distract Raskreia and escape after finding out that they are no match for her. Kei assures his noble Lord of his safety and requests her to chase the enemy werewolves who have joined traitor clan leaders. Kei stays behind to recover.
- After some time in the battle between Raskreia and traitor clan leaders, Lagus launches a powerful sneak attack on wounded clan leaders (Ludis, Rozaria and Gejutel) . Kei comes in the nick of time and blocks it but loses consciousness due to the injuries sustained from his fight with werewolves and now Lagus' attack.
- After the end of invasion, Kei is present in the throne room when Raskreia forgives Claudia Tradio for her role in the invasion and than appoints her as the new clan leader of Tradio Clan.
- Raizel is on his way to look for M-21 when he reaches a wooded area. As he's moving through the forest, a number of Ofuda (Japanese paper talismans) on the trees, start glowing. The Ofuda cause a large explosion. Raizel escapes the blast unscathed. Zaiga appears before him, disappointed that he's not Muzaka. Raizel asks him to step aside. Zaiga laughs, stating he'll do as he asks, only after killing him. A voice from above chides him for daring to speak to the Noblesse in such a manner. Zaiga senses an attack and uses his power to protect himself and his companions. He asks the identities of the attackers, as Raskreia and Kei Ru make their entrance.
- Kei and Raskreia land next to Raizel. Raskreia asks why he's in the werewolves' territory before retracting her question, stating he must have a good reason for being there. Bashum and Gaura unaware of the identities of the Nobles before them, make insulting comments before being reprimanded by Zaiga. Zaiga tells them to watch their words, since even though they're enemies, they're not people, they should take lightly. Zaiga then proceeds to welcome the Lord of the Nobles and the Noblesse, introducing himself as a werewolf warrior named Zaiga and apologising for his rude behaviour earlier. Bashum and Gaura are shocked to learn of the identities of the Nobles. Zaiga asks why they've come to their territory. Raskreia tells Raizel they can't talk given the current circumstances and asks him to go on ahead, while she handles matters here. Bashum and Gaura object to this, stating no matter who they are, they're not going to let them act however they please. Zaiga orders the two of them to step aside and let Raizel through. He thinks that it'd be easier to take them on separately than altogether. Raskreia asks Raizel why he isn't leaving. Raizel looks at her, before taking off, to resume his journey. Zaiga asks Raskreia why she's come to their territory, since there's no telling what will happen to her, now she's here. Raskreia wonders if it's appropriate for a warrior to say such a thing after invading Lukedonia. Zaiga realises that she's come for revenge after they invaded Lukedonia, and states that there's a difference between a few warriors invading Lukedonia and the Lord coming in person to invade the werewolves' territory. He tells her that it was foolish for her to invade their land, even with all of her clan leaders, when they are at their strongest, and that their deaths will mark the beginning of the disappearance of the Noble race. Raskreia asks if he's done talking adding that he's mistaken, since she's not come with all her clan leaders, the only ones who came were her and two clan leaders. Zaiga is taken aback, and finds it amusing that only three of them came to invade the werewolves' territory. Raskreia tells him the reason they've come is not to fight their people, but to show them who they messed with, and make them pay for the death of Rajak Kertia, the leader of the Kertia clan who was loyal to her for and the Nobles for such a long time. Zaiga is shocked and asks if she's really here to dispute the death of one clan leader. Raskreia states he can think whatever he likes, but she has to make sure Rajak's eternal sleep isn't too lonely. Zaiga wonders if the Lord of the Nobles has gone insane and asks what the three of them will be able to accomplish on their own. Raskreia tells him that the three of them are more than capable of avenging Rajak. Zaiga thinks she's crazy and wonders where the remaining clan leader is. Rozaria has summoned her soul weapon and is reciting a spell to gather energy for her ultimate attack. After gathering enough energy an eye opens in the sky above Maduke's castle. She unleashes the power of her attack on the castle below, with the shock wave being felt at Raskreia's location. Zaiga chides her for daring to attack the Lord's castle. Raskreia replies he's in big trouble if he thinks, this is over, since destroying the castle alone isn't going to be enough to comfort the Kertia clan leader in his eternal sleep.
- Zaiga addresses Raskreia, telling her the decision she has made is rather foolish and not only will it lead to her death, but the death of the Noble race, as well. Zaiga transforms and launches an attack at Raskreia which Kei blocks. Kei declares himself Zaiga's opponent and pushes his attack back. Zaiga is happy to be facing the strongest of the clan leaders and goes on about how pleased he is to be able to face such an opponent. Kei tells him, all the werewolves say the same thing when facing him. This makes Zaiga squirm. Kei tells him to bring it on and the two begin fighting. Kei and Zaiga are evenly matched. Bashum who watches the battle, is impressed by Kei's strength against Zaiga who once challenged Maduke and Muzaka for the title of Lord of their people.
- Zaiga is impressed by Kei Ru's strength, stating it has been a long time since he fought like this. Kei manages to hold out against him. Zaiga uses all the powers at his disposal and manages to gain the upper hand temporarily. He tells Kei he only gains the upper hand as time goes on and the two continue their battle. Zaiga comments that once he's finished with Kei, he'll make their Lord kneel before him. This infuriates Kei who goes all out and manages to land a few good blows on Zaiga. Zaiga realises that Kei is stronger than he first thought, despite him not being a leader for very long and thinks he needs to get rid of him now, otherwise there's no telling how strong he might become. The battle continues. Bashum attempts to defeat Raskreia, and fails. Zaiga thinks Bashum was foolish and if the Lord of Nobles gets involved, it'll be a dangerous situation for him, so he'll have to eliminate the Clan Leader in front of him as soon as possible. He launches his ultimate attack, and Kei does the same. Both attacks hit their target, leaving both injured. Zaiga compliments Kei Ru for lasting as long as he did against him, since he once fought Muzaka for the position of Lord. A voice from behind him, says he did, Zaiga recognises the voice and turns around to see Muzaka, who states he has a bad habit of showing up at the end of a battle. Muzaka looks at an injured Zaiga and states judging by his appearance, he's right on time.
- Muzaka greets Raskreia, saying he's heard a lot about her from her father. Muzaka attacks Zaiga relentlessly. Muzaka then smiles at Kei Ru and Raskreia asking if it'd be alright if he handles Zaiga, since he has personal business he'd like to take care of. Kei Ru and Raskreia are stunned as Kei comments he already started it. Muzaka slices Zaiga into pieces, as Bashum, Raskreia and Kei look on.
- When Titan unleashes his full power and transforms, his aura is felt by everyone. Mirai, Urne, Lunark, M-21, Kei, Raskreia and Muzaka are all surprised by the power, while Maduke smiles knowing that Ignes has succeeded in reviving the beast.
Before his death, Crombel engineers a nuclear missile based world genocide. Lukedonia intercepts with Kei, Raskreia and Rozaria to combat one missile while Raizel and Muzaka pair to destroy the other to protect the human countries from being destroyed.[5] They succeed destroying the missiles and eventually resume their lives as Lord and Clan Leaders.[6]
Spin-offs & Other Media
- Kei Ru does not feature in Rai's Adventure.
- Kei Ru does not feature in Noblesse S.
- Kei Ru does not feature in the Beginning Of Destruction OVA.
- Kei Ru does not feature in the Awakening OVA.
- Kei appears with the other clan leaders in the Lord's main throne room to greet the returned Seira's. Unlike the webtoon, Kei and the other four clan leaders gather in the leaders' meeting room to discuss about the Lord's choice to imprison Seira and Gejutel. They, excluding the Kertia Clan and Blerster Clan leaders, also have a group battle scene against Cadis Etrama Di Raizel. Notably, Kei unleashes Garant with a verbal cue, "Roar, Garant!" In the end with Seira and Gejutel found innocent, Gejutel's 'Lord training' is completed: Kei and the other clan leaders learn about the Noblesse's innocence from 820 years ago and became more united while further trust their Lord.
Relationships
- The Previous Lord: Kei remembers the previous Lord as a strong, whimsical weirdo from when he was the Ru heir.
- Erga Kenesis Di Raskreia: Kei's Lord and the one he is most loyal to. He wholeheartedly respects her orders however, while loyal, he is not blindly devoted and will give advice on choices that might bring non-beneficial results to her and the Nobles such as Gejutel's execution even if he cannot successfully convince her. On the other hand, he is dense when it comes to understanding emotions due to his reclusive lifestyle and once made a fool of himself after the death of Maduke. Kei is the Lord's escort and bodyguard during her travel to the Werewolf territory to fight the Union werewolves.
- Cadis Etrama Di Raizel: Kei only knows about the Forbidden Region from his predecessor. He meets the Noblesse alongside the other new generation Clan Leaders during the Gejutel-Seira incident. With the Noblesse's intrusion into the throne room, Kei and his fellow Clan Leaders immediately move to defeat the intruder and defend their Lord, however, the Lord intercepts their battle and as a result, Kei witnesses the strength of the Nobles' top combatant. He and the other Clan Leaders respect the Noblesse second to the Lord.
- Gejutel K. Landegre: Kei deeply respects Gejutel and trusts his guidance as the most experienced of the seven Clan Leaders. He even agrees to look after Seira in the high chance of Gejutel's execution.
- Other Clan Leaders: Amongst his same generation peers, excluding Gejutel, Kei is an elder brother of sorts to them, being the one who provides security and reliability during times of crisis and difficult choices. While he does not force the Clan Leaders to choose, he is acknowledged by them as the strongest of the current Clan Leaders.
- Traitor Nobles: Clan Leaders who betrayed Lukedonia either immediately as in the manhwa, or about a century later as in the Neowiz timeline, after the previous Lord entered eternal sleep. Against them, Kei is calm and distant due to his ascetic lifestyle and lessened contact with other Clan Leaders. Excluding the ones who killed innocent nobles a century before the Previous Lord's eternal sleep 500th anniversary, Kei does not feel negatively towards them. He only has disgust for their desire to harm Lukedonia. It is unknown if he knows what the traitors did inhumanely after they left the island.
- None
Powers & Abilities
Kei is a Noble Clan Leader and is acknowledged as the strongest by the Lord. His power is so great that all werewolves acknowledge his strength and grow excited at the thought of challenging him. He defeated Drakon, a very powerful werewolf warrior without much effort and was able to fight on par with Zaiga, one of the most powerful werewolves who fought Muzaka for the position of Lord. Zaiga states that out of all the current werewolf warriors, none of them could face him and also states that Kei would have defeated him if he had more time.
- Mind Control: As a top Noble, Kei possesses the common technique among the Nobles. While proficient, his focus on physical training delays his growth in this area. If the opponent has equal or higher Telepathy to the Noblesse, Kei will easily be restrained and lose.
- Telepathy: A unique trait of the Noble race. Telepathy encompasses abilities that include: establishing mind links in order to communicate mentally, the power to read minds forcibly, manipulate memories, transfer information, clairvoyance, empathy, hypnosis, coma induction, illusion creation and mind control.
- Telekinesis: An extension of telepathy that is found within high-ranking Nobles. Through telekinesis, Nobles can manipulate the world around them at a cellular level or lower with their thoughts. Kei uses it to assist in having footholds and positioning for mid-air aerial combat. If the travel distance is short, he will walk, otherwise, he uses it in battle or to travel by flying up and across long distances like other strong Nobles.
- Regeneration: The Noble race is able to regenerate and heal injuries that would be considered fatal to humans. However, it is inferior to that of Werewolves. Kei's strong physique compared to other nobles allows for fast regeneration, but eventually there will be a decline.[7] He notably uses this ability to recover from his physical injuries after his fights with the werewolves. He can also voluntarily restrain his regeneration to allow his training wounds to scar permanently.
Soul Weapon
Garant (Kor: 가란트): Garant is Kei's soul weapon that takes the form of two powerful gauntlets. He can imbue his gauntlets with his aura to increase the strength of his punches. He can also release a black stream of aura from his gauntlets to use as a smoke screen. Befitting his overall martial artist-like attire and appearance, Kei is an extremely skilled and powerful hand-to-hand combatant.
- Tiger: Using his soul weapon, he can release a gigantic tiger-like creature of red aura energy that he uses against his opponents. This attack causes massive destruction upon contact.
- Black Cloud: Combining his soul weapon and aura, he can release a conic cloud palm strike of black aura energy that forces his opponents within range away.[8]
- Air Shot: In the anime, he can punch out fist-sized air bullet shots with turquoise-white aura energy. These air shots can shatter rocks.[9]
- Aura Clad: In the anime, he can clad Garant with turquoise-white aura energy to reinforce his fists' surface and temporarily increase their strength. Garant's physical offense is also improved.[9]
- Lightning Impact: In the anime, he can clasp turquoise-white aura energy reinforced Garant hands together and release lightning upon impact though his aura empowered double downward hammerfist.[9]
Physical Prowess
- Superhuman Strength: Kei possesses an immense amount of physical strength, as he is the leader of the Ru family that trains only their physical power. He was able to take down Mount, a werewolf warrior with a single hit and during his battle with Drakon, he easily matches him in strength with Drakon admitting that Kei is stronger than him. Even Zaiga, one of the most powerful werewolves acknowledge his strength.
- Superhuman Speed: Kei is extremely fast, easily able to keep up with Drakon's speed and outpaces the powerful werewolf warrior. He also has impressive amounts of stamina, shown when he continues to fight Mount and Kaiyo even though he just finished fighting a tough battle with Drakon.
Martial Arts
As the Clan Leader of the Ru Clan, Kei is a martial arts master and trains his physical prowess to be at the top of the clan. His combat style is similar to that of the traditional werewolves, using his wisdom, physique and aura to fight. His style is to frontal punch the opponent and jump if a dodge is needed, finding the weakpoint and punching through with his strength. As a result of his combat style, Kei wears loose replaceable clothing for when they are likely destroyed in a fight.
- Meditation: As a talented, long-lived martial artist, Kei has centuries of attainments in meditation. Before the werewolves' invasion of Lukedonia, he was meditating topless under a heavy waterfall within the Ru Clan territory.[10]
- Aerial Combat: Kei knows the battlefield will always fluctuate between individuals, therefore, he is skilled in Telekinesis for flight and aerial positioning support.
- Foothold: Knowing supernatural enemies have aerial abilities, the Ru members use their Telekinesis to subconsciously have footholds and mid-air stabilization for aerial combat.[10]
- Foothold: Knowing supernatural enemies have aerial abilities, the Ru members use their Telekinesis to subconsciously have footholds and mid-air stabilization for aerial combat.[10]
Aura Manipulation
As the strongest Clan Leader of his generation, Kei possesses an immense amount of aura. When three werewolf warriors sensed his aura, they were shocked at how powerful it was, with Kaiyo stating that it was hard to breathe and thought it was the Lord who was exerting such an enormous aura before he revealed himself. His aura has turquoise-white, red, and black stages depending on the level of seriousness.
Battles
- Kei Ru, Ludis Mergas and Rozaria Elenor vs Cadis Etrama Di Raizel (anime)
- Kei Ru vs Drakon
- Kei Ru vs Zaiga
Passive defense or observer in:
- Erga Kenesis Di Raskreia vs Traitor Nobles
- Muzaka vs Maduke
- Cadis Etrama Di Raizel & Muzaka vs Maduke