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So. What is Grooming? The full definition via oxford dictionary is:

brush and clean the coat of (a horse, dog, or other animal).

prepare or train (someone) for a particular purpose or activity.

form a relationship with (a child or young person) with the intention of sexually assaulting them or inducing them to commit an illegal act such as selling drugs or joining a terrorist organization.

With that, we will be referencing this word, along with a few other key terms such as disassociation, submission, and dependency.

From what we know about Homare’s childhood, she was basically groomed by her other family due to inheriting Amanosako. I use groom in this context due to not only everyone fighting over her but her response once Saburota kills everyone. He tells her to “Do with it as you like” in regards to her inherited familiar. But when faced with a decision, she immediately mumbles as her first reaction (which I will touch on in a moment) and shows confusion at the idea of doing as she likes. To which we can all see here:

In regards to her mumbling prior to finally speaking up, that can actually signify underlying anxiety, or just straight up lack of confidence in children. This is especially important as we will touch on this when discussing her relationship with Lucifer. 

Next, Saburota offers the solution of essentially going with him to the Illuminati. That Lucifer will decide for her. Note that in the previous panels, her eyes have seemed almost dead, whereas she seems more “alive” in a sense when she meets Lucifer. As if she is seeing the Light.

Now, the next panel, I noticed something interesting. Mephisto has mentioned prior that there are certain subtleties in regards to human and demon relations. 

Notice how Lucifer has his tail between his legs. I feel this is intentional. This, in animal behavior, is a sign of either fear, stress, or submission. In this case, it seems to be intentional submission to show that he is not a threat to an otherwise uncertain child. Bravo once again to Kato for subtle body language. Now this is where we begin to discuss her relationship with Lucifer. I have been poking constantly through the chapters not only for this blog but for edits, theories, etc. I do not always read the text in my rereads, which often helps a lot. We tend to get caught up on just words when there is also contextual body language, actions, etc that match said words. 

To start, I do believe without a doubt that Lucifer is manipulating her and has continued to do so, but I believe Homare has slowly become aware/has been aware the entire time. Whether it stems from a lack of confidence or what that may cause her to relinquish control, there are a few things that manipulators tend to do. I believe I have mentioned prior that the term I use for Lucifer is “Narcissism”, specifically covert narcissism. Covert narcissism has many traits and behaviors, but the parts that stick out to me the most are externalized blame, subtle manipulation, lack of empathy, hypersensitivity to criticism, and controlling behavior disguised as care. There are numerous examples of this, such as his goal, his reaction to Samael and Shemihaza telling him to basically give up his body, his reactions to external factors, and his lack of reaction/false empathy for others. But in this, I’m going to focus primarily on his interactions with Homare. In the beginning we see her in almost a caretaker role when we meet her. Her rushing over once he collapses, making sure that Gedoin addresses him respectfully, so on and so forth. Once again, you could spend well over an hour discussing how she acts when we first meet her and how we do not think much of her in the beginning due to the events taking place and the characters that took precedence.

We also notice fairly early on how Homare is more “icy” to those around her versus to Lucifer. One could argue that it is due to him being her superior in her role, but another argument could also be made in the form of isolation. Isolation is a common tactic with abusers, manipulators, etc. With how Homare met Lucifer as a child, this is not particularly far-fetched to assume there is a semblance of isolation at play. Between how she reacts to her father now compared to when she was a child (the brief snippet of how we saw Saburota “help” versus their interaction before he sacrificed himself for the elixir), it also would not be too horribly presumptuous to presume her relationship with Saburota became further strained once she met Lucifer. Her “needs” in terms of being around Lucifer are met; she does not need to make decisions for herself, thus she does not need another potential authority figure.  With this, I’ll start going into dependency. Their relationship is as we can see it, codependent. Lucifer needs Homare to dull his pain. Homare needs Lucifer to make decisions for her. One without the other can cause issues. This isn’t to say that Homare cannot make decisions on her own. That is not the case. Rather, she is likely more comfortable when the idea of making the wrong choice is taken out of the equation. If Lucifer decides for her and decides wrong, then the wrong choice will not be her “fault” in a sense. It takes the guesswork and fault aspect away from her.

However, all of that is where things begin to get muddled. If you see below: 

We can see that Lucifer’s concerns primarily lie with ensuring that his needs are met. This scene also displays some excellent subtext.

There have been numerous questions and theories as to why Homare is in a state of undress here. To which I ask something in return: Would we really put it past them with what we have seen so far as to not have some sort of sexual relationship if they are already seen as potentially codependent on one another? You could try to say that he was only checking her body for deterioration, but even that seems far fetched. Say it with me folks, you can’t spell subtext without sex.  This whole codependent relationship can easily be furthered by her reaction to Shima when he was recruited into the Illuminati. When Lucifer asked her to train him, she argued at first. 

This obviously came after the conversation above where Lucifer asked her to find a replacement. Let’s place ourselves in her shoes for a minute. She isn’t emotionless, she’s human. Can you imagine someone who you consider your “Light” is choosing someone you deem unworthy to take your place one day? How insulting that may be? If we compare the picture of when she first met Lucifer with her facial reactions to her reaction to Lucifer deeming this necessary, you can tell the subtle differences in her emotions. One held hope. The other? The potential beginnings of resentment. 

Realistically speaking, Homare has suffered. Even if she isn’t vocal about it, she has suffered and has come to terms with her suffering in at least some sense. Between enduring Lucifer’s pain, the stress of her position, her deteriorating body, and the fact that she is literally seen bent over a sink? She’s suffering. 

The fact that her inner dialogue is her convincing herself over and over that she’s happy and things are easier since she doesn’t need to think about her life just solidifies this fact, and the fact that seeing Shima with Ryuji and Konekomaru together makes her begin to internally question herself also furthers the idea of isolation from others. 

Even prior to all of this, it seems Lucifer has begun to pick up on her questioning herself. Again, Lucifer is a manipulator. That has been said by NUMEROUS sources over the course of the manga. Which is why this is so tragic:

She is still alive. She is still useful. To cast a pawn away before their use is reckless. Thus, false pretty words to keep Homare close. Human hearts are fragile, and I’m sure Lucifer is aware of this. 

Now, I want to focus on Homare’s reactions during her fight with Shima. Shima consistently accuses her of hating him. Which…I do not think there is hatred. I think she was partially telling the truth with it. I think she resents him. Shima is “free” in a sense compared to her. She was raised training her power. Basically given to Lucifer and the Illuminati by her father, and now the only steady person (Lucifer) in her life has told her to train Shima for whenever she basically kicks it. How fucking humiliating, honestly.

Homare doesn’t always outwardly show reactions, and the eyes are the windows to the soul. In this case, they are the windows to her own soul. That isn’t a look of hatred. That’s a look of not only disgust, but bitterness when using the context we read/are given. Granted, things may expand in the future. We don’t fully know right now. Which is where I begin to end things off with this:

She looks almost relieved when Shima beats her. She couldn’t lie as much as she had to, and there is a sense of relief because finally she’s thinking at least a bit for herself again. We see her outwardly panic during the battle as well. She is fairly collected like I would say 8 times out of 10. So to see her panic is a big thing. Either way, she is downed, and she can finally rest. There are no further expectations for her as far as we know. And with the way Lucifer left instead of staying by her side? It shows that he likely knew she would be downed, and that he doesn’t have any potential further use for her yet from what we may be able to tell. 

Biographical info

Gender: Male Age: (°w°) Rank/Titles: Director of True Cross Academy and head of the exorcism cram school, Honorary Knight for the Knights of the True Cross, King of Time Anniversary [T/N Katoh gives demons these in lieu of a birthday]: August 28 Blood type: ( ʹ - ʼ ) Height: 195 cm (184 cm without the "horn") Weight: 74 kg Skills and interests: movies, manga, anime, games, music, toys, miscellaneous subcultures

Fan Q&A

How do members of the Knights of the True Cross usually find out that Mephisto is a demon king?

I think some people might find out from books, the internet, etc even before they become exorcists. They do publish demon field guides that you can find at regular libraries, and Mephisto seems like the type to mention it in online interviews. Rin was the only one who didn't know.

How long has he had his current body?

About 200 years.

Which media from Assiah has had the greatest impact on him?

I imagine he would have been shocked the first time he saw a cinematograph.

Mephisto really likes all sorts of entertainment; has he ever tried making something himself?

Demons in general (not just Mephisto) tend to be bad at creative pursuits, though there are exceptions. Mephisto has a certain respect for human creativity.

Why is he so fond of Beelzebub?

Beelzebub just kind of struck a chord with him. Meanwhile, Beelzebub also likes being spoiled by Mephisto.

Which other demon kings get along with Mephisto the best?

In order: 1. Beelzebub 2. Amaimon 3. Egyn 4. Astaroth 5. Iblis 6. Lucifer [T/N it took me like an entire minute to work out that Azazel is the one missing from this list. Presumably because he's a rock]

Has Mephisto ever altered the past?

He sure does say a lot of things that imply that! [T/N: Katoh. Katoh. Katoh.]

How rich is Mephisto exactly?

He's actually one of the world's top businessmen and investors. His total assets are probably over one trillion yen [T/N: Jesus f*ck][T/N: that's about US$6.7 billion]

Author interview

Mephisto is a character who can solve just about anything; does that make him hard to write? Honestly, he's super easy to deploy. Mephisto has the plot in the palm of his hand and can fix stuff behind the scenes; he's the one pulling the strings. For adaptations and spinoffs, I just say "if you need to fill in a plot hole, make it Mephisto's fault" (laughs). But I do think it's dangerous to overdo it.

He even took on a sort of narrator role in chapter 44, didn't he? Around Volume 10, I was trying to treat each chapter like its own self-contained oneshot. Mephisto didn't even feel out of place as an omniscient narrator for one chapter, and for me that really drove home what a convenient character he is. Though I'm always wondering when and how to show Mephisto's own serious motives and inner thoughts, since he does fall into that eternal comic narrator role.