#best elf

There are few reasons why Marcille works as a character.

First is foremost is that she is an elf who serves as the butt of many jokes. For how high and mighty elves can be in fiction, it is kinda refreshing to see one taken down a peg. Kinda like Aqua in Konosuba, just without making my ears bleed. Heck, any other member of the team makes a more attractive elf than her so it’s like her whole existence is one big cruel joke by the cosmos.

Okay, that’s just me joking around. While Marcille is the cast member who gets messed with by the story the most, it’s not why she works... though it does help.

The reason why Marcille works is she demonstrates the importance of properly using magic. Magic can allow characters to do many things, and when a magic system is too soft it weakens the story. For example if a sorcerer can turn anyone around them into a frog then then there’s less real threats to them. There needs to be some kind of drawback or limitations in order for there to be tension.

Marcille has magic, and up until the red dragon she has to conserve it. She has a finite supply of mana, and it can recharge only so fast. So she can’t just fling spells around willy-nilly. She has to be smart about it, otherwise she won’t be able to use them when it counts.

There’s also the matter of her training. She was a magic researcher, using her elven lifespan in pursuit of knowledge. She didn’t just get these spells from killing enough monsters. She has put in the time and effort into knowing her craft, including illegal magic. And she wants to learn more, especially from the Mad Sorcerer and his spellbook.

Which, I feel ties into a very human aspect of Marcille. She’s afraid of letting go. Her father died at a young age, and she knows she will outlive others because of her lifespan. She will outlive her friend of Falin by an order of centuries, and followed Falin to the island once she learned she was there in order to bring her back to not-Hogwarts. I don’t think it’s a matter of her being in love with Falin, it’s more a matter of her not wanting to lose those closest to her. And she’s a romantic so she wouldn’t want to close herself off from others. I think her real goal is to learn some secret to prolonging the lives of those she cares about, so that the day she has to say goodbye will be a long ways away.

On top of that, her reluctance to eat monsters acts as a nice counterpoint to Laios’ enthusiasm (and Laios being disgusted by the seafood Marcille loves is the icing on the cake). I mean, we’ve all had those foods we don’t want to try and would instead eat something we see as normal. My dad is like that, someone who rarely tries new things because he knows what he likes. It’s less of a trait nowadays since Marcille has gotten more used to it, but it was still there.