TV series: Elfen Lied (English title)
Erufen Rīto (Japanese title)
Voices: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese dub)
Kira Vincent Davis (English dub)
There is a reason why this character is placed into two different characters. The next entry will not be a Villain but a Sidekick and this will happen if anymore joint Princess/Villain entry should appear. In the case of Prince/Villain entries, it will be written in place of a Prince entry, then there will be a Princess entry and then jump to a Sidekick entry before the process starts again.
The Character
Lucy is perhaps one of the most complex female characters in anime. Her complexity comes from the fact that despite being stereotypical of anime, she breaks stereotypes of female anime characters. In fact, it is being a stereotypical character that makes her break the rules of anime.
In the first few minutes, Lucy‘s action results in some of the most graphic openings of any anime. She is basically a Diclonius (aged around eighteen) which is a human with two cat-ear-like horns with a telekinetic ability called 'vectors'. With these vectors, she can grasp and impact things as if they are solid, but also become insubstantial and pass through objects. These can slice objects as well, which is how Diclonius kill their victims. With these vectors, she has no hesitation in killing anyone who gets in her way. She has four vectors with a limited range of two meters, which is the shortest vector range out of the three main female Diclonius in the series. Also, these vectors can also pass on the virus, particularly to male humans which can result in, if they mate with a female who in turn gives birth, that child will be a Diclonius.
Lucy is a cruel, cold-blooded killer that wouldn't even hesitate to kill anyone, not even a human child. She does, however, like animals and will not harm them. Like the typical Diclonius, Lucy hates humans and seems to lack empathy and kicks sadistically without much concern for anyone else. Despite this she cannot and does not harm Kohta.
Nyu appears early in the episode soon after she is escaped. In fact, Nyu is her split personality brought on when a bullet strikes her head and she loses conscience. Throughout most of the series, we see her change from Lucy to Nyu and then back again. In the manga, there is a third personality and is based entirely on Diclonius instincts and who takes over when there is doubt in Lucy (who is prominently more dominant than Nyu), not fully awakening until near the end of the manga. This third personality is not mentioned or brought up at all in the anime: it merely focus on Lucy and Nyu.
These two personalities and looks could not be any different. Nyu looks more like the stereotypical anime female. She has big pink wide eyes and due to the bullet to her head, she can only say “Nyu” which is what prompts Kohta and Yuuka to name her “Nyu”. She is very sweet and naïve, has a childlike personality and infantile knowledge of the world. Nyu is innocent and incapable of violent acts, a complete constrast to the normally cold and sadistic Lucy. She is loveable, always trying to make others happy. Whilst Nyu’s hair does not cover her face, exposing her features, when she becomes Lucy, her fringe covers one eye. Her eyes are not as wide and more menacing. Their voices are different as well: Nyu is more high-pitched, almost to the point of irritation whilst Lucy is darker in her tone.
When Nyu is attacked violently (or hit on the head), she regresses into Lucy; likewise, when Lucy is treated with love and kindness, or wants to hide herself from Kohta, she will uncontrollably switch back into Nyu.
It is halfway through the series when we learn about Lucy’s past that this split personality enters a new level of complexity. First of all, it is important to note that Lucy is the original Diclonius and further Diclonius started when she passed on the virus to males via her vectors. She is known as the “Queen”. Born from humans, she can reproduce in a natural way with humans.
Despite being a Diclonius, she did not hate humans when she was a child. She was bullied as a child but she was relatively shy if not a bit sullen. The start of her descent into darkness and hate comes from when the people who bullied her killed a puppy that she adored simply to see her cry. She retaliated by using her vectors to kill those who bullied her.
Later, she encountered Kohta as a child and they became friends. However, when Kohta had to cancel a meeting to see his cousin, he lied to Lucy and said that his cousin was not female (he was meeting Yuuka for a fair). When Lucy follows him and discovers the deception, she feels betrayed which leads her to kill his sister and father in front of her (due to the traumatic experience, this becomes a repressed memory so when he meets Lucy/Nyu, he does not recognise her (as a child, he saw Lucy’s horns).
Once one knows her past, it can be interpreted that Nyu is not just a split personality but could be what Lucy could be if she had not become a killer. Nyu could be the manifestation of her “good side”. While Nyu exists due to head trauma, it is believed (and confirmed by Lucy in the manga) that Lucy encourages Nyu to appear due to her guilt towards Kohta and to prevent herself from harming him.
Her friendship/relationship with Kohta is important in her past and her present. By the end, she shows her true side and we see a side of Lucy that could have been if they had remained friends for she is guilty of killing his family. For the first time, we see Lucy being completely honest, her cold barrier broken. She admits to Nana that she feels she cannot do what Nana can do and that is love. To Kohta, she believes that their few days together as a child were the happiest she has known in what she describes as a hellish life. Despite the murders she has done, we the audience are not supposed to sympathise and want her to live but when one learns her past, one can only feel pity and we want her to live and succeed and have happiness with Kohta and the others. Despite what she did, she had transformed from a villain into a princess that needs to be rescued and maybe Kohta could be the one to do that, even though he admits he cannot forgive her for killing his family.
The ending is also important. In the anime, during the final battle, she loses one horn via an attack from Mariko’s vectors and after Mariko is defeated, she says her farewells to Kohta and the last we see of her is her second horn being blasted off and the next day, Kohta and the others see a shadowy figure by the house gate waiting for entrance and we can imply it is Lucy. In the manga, the third personality has taken over and kills numerous guards and intends to take as many people down with her, including Kohta. Due to the intervention of Lucy and Nyu's consciousnesses, Kohta and the others remain barely unscathed, as Lucy reminds Kohta of the promise he made to kill her if she ever killed a lot of people. Kohta grabs a gun from one of the dead soldiers but backs down at the last moment, unwilling to kill them. However, the third personality, possibly moved by Kohta's actions, ceases all attacks with a lone vector picking up the gun for Kohta to shoot her, which he finally does. Moved by Kohta's actions, she ceases all attacks with a lone vector picking up the gun for Kohta to shoot her, which he finally does.
The voices behind the character
It is hard for me to decipher which one is the more superior for they are both brilliant as Lucy/Nyu. They both sound very similar as Nyu; very high-pitched and child-like. Both with both of them, their strength come from how they make Lucy sound. You would not think that the same actress was voicing both characters. They are both equally cold in the beginning although Kobayashi is softer in her voice than Vincent Davis is (the latter is particularly chilling as Lucy).
Towards the end, although they are both, they are both softer in their voice, implying sadness. However, Kobayashi sounds sadder and is stronger with the emotion than Vincent Davis is.
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