The Nobles (Kor. 귀족) are an ancient and powerful race that possess great strength, speed and telepathy as well as various blood related abilities, such as the ability to grant similar powers to others via contracts of 'blood and soul'. They reside on an island nation known as Lukedonia that cannot be detected by human senses. They have guarded humans against predators and the forces of nature as long as they have existed which is why they were worshipped as gods by various cultures around the world in the past. The strongest individuals are capable of safely surviving nuclear explosions and flying within the Earth's atmosphere.
Etymology
Although the actual name of the race is 'Nobles', gradually along the centuries, humans and Nobles alike have come to refer to the race by the term 'Noblesse'. However, this is a distortion of the original meaning of the word. The Noblesse is a title given to only one person and not the entire race as a whole.
The word "noblesse" comes from the French phrase noblesse oblige which translates into "nobility obliges". The meaning of this phrase is that those with power -the nobility- must conduct themselves accordingly and use their power responsibly, particularly to help others. Nobles are depicted as possessing the urge to guard humans against predators and the inability to ignore the slaughter of the weak.
Physical Appearance
Nobles have above average humanoid beauty that mesmerizes others, mainly normal humans. Due to their above average appearance, most Nobles tend to perceive the inner beauty of things beyond the outer shell.
Culture
- Main article: Noble Talk for All
Noble society is similar to modernized Victorian era Europe but with gender equality and clothing conforming to the 20th century, long before the era came about in human history. Only actions and deeds speak louder than appearances. Their society is a combination of modern high-technology, limited facilities and old European architecture. They prefer to wear black with golden or white accents. Their clothing colour is not expressed in their society's architecture or furniture.
Prosoponym
Only the Lord and the Noblesse possess a unique, but similar personal name structure of a name name Di name: for example, Erga Kenesis Di Raskreia and Cadis Etrama Di Raizel. The entire name is stated to be the first and last name.
Other Nobles follow the structure of a given name and surname (in this case, the clan name), with the relative exception of a middle name. Such examples are Kei Ru of the Ru Clan, Seira J. Loyard of the Loyard Clan and Gejutel K. Landegre of the Landegre Clan.
Surnames can be voluntarily forsaken by Nobles as seen with Gradeus.
Pureblood
Nobles born with crimson red eyes are pureblood Nobles. They possess all the general abilities of Nobles but have greater development potential and lifespans, with all clan leaders being purebloods. Nobles who are not purebloods are ordinary members of the clans.
Powers and Abilities
Common traits among the Nobles, aside from the strength and speed mentioned above, include extremely long lives, mind control abilities, and a shared code of honor and conduct.
From the Nobles' perspective, eternity and life are synonymous due to their incredibly long life spans: a Noble undergoes their coming of age ceremony when they are 200 years old. In fact, no Noble has been known to die of natural causes. Nobles have only gone into eternal sleep or forced eternal sleep. It is unknown whether eternal sleep is a euphemism for death or if it is a separate process from death altogether.
Nobles, while uniformly stronger than humans, display great variance in their powers. Particularly, mind control, the signature ability of Nobles, ranges from stopping a single modified human for a few seconds (when used by a Noble younger than 200) to complete domination over several Noble clan leaders at once (when used by the Noblesse). Additionally, not all Nobles possess the entire range of blood-based abilities. For example, Nobles can grant lesser beings power by making a contract with them, which involves exchanging blood. While it seems many, if not all, Nobles can make contracts, only the Lord and the Noblesse have been shown to wield blood-based abilities in battle, an ability referred to as governing blood.
Another ability possessed only by pureblood Nobles is that they can easily identify a modified humans from the normal humans. Regis, Gejutel and Rael are able to identify M-21, Tao and Takeo as modified humans while the knights from the Central Order couldn't.
Unlike ordinary humans, Nobles' seem to reproduce less. With the exception of the Kertia brothers and Raizel who had an older brother, Nobles shown in the webtoon do not appear to have any siblings. Furthermore, they do not require sleep though they may engage in it and do not excrete like humans.[1]
General Abilities
- Aura Manipulation: A common power among the purebloods and high-ranking Nobles. They can freely manipulate a phenomenon known as aura which is the manifestation of the very essence of the soul as a luminous energy field. This can be used for energy beams, bombs, force fields and constructs (such as spears and platforms). This power, shared by other strong races like the werewolves, inspired common human modification research.
- Contract: An uncommonly used ability among Nobles in which an exchange of blood grants lesser beings power. The inhuman acts conducted by certain past contractees popularized vampirism within human history.
- Enhanced Speed: Nobles have been shown to be able to move at hypersonic speeds & beyond.
- Enhanced Strength: Even the weakest and youngest Nobles have the physical strength to demolish buildings with punches and kicks.
- Enhanced Durability: Nobles are able to withstand impacts strong enough to destroy entire city blocks, and can survive damage that can obliterate ordinary human bodies.
- 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 the werewolves.
- Telepathy: A unique trait of the Noble race. Telepathy encompasses abilities such as mind links in order to communicate mentally, reading minds forcibly, manipulating memories, transferring information, clairvoyance, empathy, hypnosis, inducing comas, creating illusions and mind control. The level of power differs based on the individual users' mental strength and proficiency.
- Telekinesis: An extension of telepathy that is found within high-ranking Nobles. Through telekinesis, Nobles can manipulate the world around them with their thoughts. This enables them to fly in the air and across the ocean.
Advanced Abilities
- Soul Weapon: Only used by clan leaders and the Lord. They can manifest unique weapons which can be summoned by using their spiritual energy and aura.
- Blood Reign: Only used by the Noblesse and the Lord. They can govern blood and use it to perform unique attacks such as blood field.
Hierarchy
There are two pillars that govern, influence and embody Noble society: the Lord and the Noblesse. These two figures appear to be equal and can override each other's decisions and actions. The Lord symbolizes authority and is the public face of Noble society. They rule over virtually all of Noble society and commands absolute obedience from all other members of the race, except for possibly the Noblesse.
The Noblesse symbolizes strength and is the hidden protector of the Noble race from both internal and external threats. The Noblesse is also a symbol of justice, acting as the judge of all Nobles, and reserves the right to execute anyone whom they deem in violation of the traditional Noble code. Though the Noblesse is hidden from all but the very highest echelons of Noble society, they are the strongest member of the Noble race.
Below these two pillars are the clan leaders. The number of clan leaders have fluctuated over time; in the past, there were 13 clans (and thus 13 clan leaders), but there are only 8 clan leaders under Lord Erga Kenesis Di Raskreia. The clan leaders report directly to the Lord. They appear to be the main force in administrating and governing Lukedonia as well as the principal military might of the Noble race.
Additionally, there is the Central Order, Lukedonia's military force and intelligence agency. They have the responsibility of handling the security of Lukedonia. The Central Order is led by officers who answer directly to the leader of the Mergas Clan, whose authority is only superseded by the Lord, who handles the most important executive decisions.
Any other further hierarchy is unclear.
Vampirism
- Main article: Category:Contractee
The Nobles' creation of contracts has led humans to draw comparisons between them and vampires. This association made humans view crimson red eyes, bats and blood-related abilities as the mark of vampires. In reality, vampire is a derogatory term defined by humans because of murderous Noble and contractee actions during the past.
Objects like wooden stakes, garlic, crosses and other stereotypical anti-vampire items used by humans are ineffective against Nobles and are considered an insult to them. This was demonstrated humorously several times by Nobles such as Raizel, Raskreia and Gejutel when they saw ramen for the first time and misinterpreted garlic and chopsticks as attempts on their life.