Everything Johan did was for Anna.
A “Monster” capable of love.
“What I’m most afraid of is…forgetting Anna. The strange lessons we have everyday… are making my memories fade. Please, don’t make me forget Anna. It’s only Anna and me in this whole world. Just give me that - please. Please.” – Johan Liebert”
I was very confused about the complexities of Johan’s character up until the last handful of episodes. After rewatching the series for a 3rd time and exploring how Johan is portrayed in the manga, it became very clear to me that my initial opinions about Johan were basic and devalued the intricacies of Naoki’s writing. From the beginning we are only TOLD by conflicting views, who Johan was. His character, in the fictional world as well as our own, is simply defined by an individual’s perception of him and the story presented. However, if we dissect ALL of the themes and even the undertones Naoki presented to us through the world of characters; I think it would be evident that Johan was not committing heinous acts for superficial reasons such as: simply being evil to be evil.
So what was the method to his madness?
I believe… Everything he did was for Anna.
(Yes this includes erasing himself from existence too )
Author’s Note: I want to preface before you read on that although these essays are written in a sympathizing light that this is not written in an attempt to dismiss his heinous acts lightly, but to simply understand the “Monster” of the series by tackling Johan’s crimes deeper than the surface. I tried to make sense of Johan’s every action in regards to his OVERALL PLAN and why Naoki presented them to us as viewers.
For those who will nitpick the term “everything” quite literally, I want to make it clear that not E V E R Y -S I N G L E- A C T I O N Johan has taken coincides with his love for his sister; his actions towards the children specifically - because there are some things that had nothing to do with his “perfect plan” but more to do with attempting to build Johan’s character and his view of the world us as viewers.
Justifying ones actions vs. rationalizing ones actions are completely different. I am in no way attempting to discard the accountabilities that Johan should face for his actions, but instead trying to make sense of it all.
I’ve analyzed Johan’s crimes against children here:
However, this will explain the root of Johan’s character and the core of his overall plan(s) that was committed for the sake of his sister from the very beginning to the end.The overarching theme and message of Monster is that there are no such thing as Monsters, only broken human beings capable of great evil; so we will humanize this great Monster in order to understand not only Johan Liebert, but the hows/whys Tenma/Nina was able to forgive him and ultimately find value in saving the life of this supposed Monster.
Thank you for reading! Hope to share some future discussions with you all!
Anna was set up from the beginning to become The “Monster” given she was the one who actually endured the experiments. Her tendencies are shown in glimmers throughout the show. The heartbreaking twist to it though… is that the only reason why she DID not become the beast, was because SHE ( unlike Johan ) HAD KNOWN UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. -Johan’s love and sacrifice is what kept her safe from the darkness he knew very well. He got his hands dirty to shield her. He chose to leave her behind in the care of her foster parents, knowing she would forget him, in order to heal.
He chose her than himself over and over; becoming her shadow; choosing to lose his only attachment to his already weakened identity in order for her to heal.
His love for her is why she never became a monster...and tragically, Johan had.
Which reflects exactly what Mikhail Petrov (whose real name is Reinhart Biermann) said about his “PROFOUND DISCOVERY” concerning his current experiment on the children he had in his home; he said the children did not become animals because he gave them LOVE.
In his own twisted way and view on things, he was protecting her. He killed every “parental” figure they had because he was betrayed by every adult figure in his life so far. People who mentioned calling the police, ended up finding out about their past - anything that could lead the man, who Johan referred to as “The Monster” into finding them, he disposed of.
The adults in their lives thus far would betray them, torture them, hurt them, throw them away- and forcefully separate them. In his severely abused mental state, any adult figure was a potential threat to his and Anna’s safety. So he’d kill in order to runaway from “the monster” and protect Anna. Then when Anna found out about the blood on his hands that fateful night the Monster paid them a visit, he realized that now he had become someone Anna feared - a different kind of Monster but all the similar to the one they were running from.
So he rationalized that now he needed to die.
In that moment, I think we should focus on his body language and expressions. Johan faced the ground. hardly picking up his eyes. His shoulders were sunken and he did not have that menacing little smile he usually had. He could hardly look Anna in the eyes. Johan has killed in secret various times with Anna and back at Kinderheim.
So why was he so messy with the Lieberts?
Because he did not want to kill them - he said HE HAD TO.
It was not a calculated murder, because he was not truly calm and collected; He was afraid.
Lets not forget who Johan was up until that moment: the infamous little boy who provoked an entire riot and massacre by simply opening his mouth. With mere words he was able to sway the adults and children into doing what he wanted. BUT IN THAT MOMENT when Anna caught him red handed, he could not, or rather, would not - try and manipulate Anna even though he had the power to do so.
Instead, he asked her to shoot him and run - in an attempt to finally liberate her from the horrific life they had to lead up until now - blaming his existence for the constant chase their predator (Boneparte) gave way to them as prey because in that moment, his memories were distorted and he believed he was the one who went to the Red Rose Mansion. (***)[reference]
But when he was brought back to life and realized the gravity behind his methods, seeing how terrified Anna was of him - he started to cry. Because despite his initial feelings of finding his death absolutely necessary for her to be safe, he still wanted what he had with her; the only bond of love he ever knew.
What set his entire ADULT plan into motion (wiping out everyone who ever hurt Anna and created HIM) was Anna’s rejection at the hospital. That was when he realized internally, he was beyond forgiveness and that he was nothing more than a monster. A Nameless monster in her reflection that needed to die in order for her to live in peace. (Referencing the God of Peace storybook. )
Johan was the one who gifted the God (Anna) her hat and then she saw herself as the Monster she was supposed to be due to the Red Rose Mansion experiments. This would NOT have happened if Johan did not give her the hat (the red hat which can symbolize the blood he spilled for her. ) so in this instance, Johan is also the reflection. (you are me and I am you. They are both nameless monsters.)
From that moment on, he wanted to wipe out his entire existence, and that meant those who ALSO “created” him so that Anna could heal as Nina.
I believe this is what is depicted in the Nameless Monster storybook.
Initially, we are made to believe Johan wanted to “consume everyone” so he would be the last one standing. The Monster known as Johan in the book also devours his counterpart, the Monster who went West and then there is no one left to call him by his name. But clearly, Johan never does this, because Johan never attempts to kill/devour Anna - because what it has symbolizes is entirely different in nature regarding Johan’s intention.
A quick reminder that both Johan and Anna were considered Nameless Monsters. HOWEVER - by Johan’s hands, Anna does not remain “Nameless” nor does she ever become a “monster” the moment Johan decided to not only leave her behind in the hands of a loving family, but by her changing her name and her identity to Nina. The Fortners never made any implication that they knew of Nina’s past concerning the Lieberts murder and I believe this is because Johan introduced her as Nina to the Fortners and never allowed them to see the trail behind her identity as Anna Liebert.
Symbolically, Johan, as the Nameless Monster, consumed the Monster inside of Anna and became the only Monster left. This is what is mirrored in Johan’s intentions and the Nameless Monster storybook.
With Anna forgetting him and Johan leaving her behind thus losing his only connection to someone who truly knew him, now all that is left is Johan, without absolutely anyone to call him by his name - the one and only Nameless Monster.
There wasn’t some sick satisfaction from any of his killings done when he was a child. To him, it was needed for the sake of her safety. This was Johan’s initial “plan.” set in motion. He wanted to be the only one left in the world with his sister - so that they wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore.
(I also believe at that point when they were kids, Johan’s very first plan he referred to when telling Anna “Remember, I have a plan.” was to run to another country with her so that the Monster will never find them. It is the only logical idea of a plan that a child could conjure following what he actually leads them to do, which was cross the border. Simply destroying the world is unreachable in his current state and Johan is smart enough to not be delusional in his endeavors. With that being said, he had to kill that old couple to erase any trail they may have left of “two beautiful blonde twins.” But this plan fails because they nearly die at the Czech Border and was discovered. )
One of the biggest moments in Ruhenheim has been misinterpreted and lost due to mistranslations in both the English Dub and the Japanese subtitles.
I clarify and mend this by breaking down what Nina unraveled in Boneparte’s house when she looked at the portraits by correctly translating the Japanese script/text in depth here:
But to summarize it for the purpose of this essay, it was revealed to us as viewers that Johan apologized to Anna when she returned from the Red Rose Mansion, revealing the overwhelming weight of guilt he carried when Anna had been taken that day.
and then Johan accepts his mother will never return to them (assuming she abandoned them) and goes on to tell Anna this:
This information provides clarity as to why Nina was finally able to understand Johan, empathize with him enough to be able to forgive him. She remembered he was a boy who felt guilty over what happened to her; a boy who cried when he realized they were now all alone in the world. She understood that Johan desperately did anything and everything to ensure he and Anna survived despite it all.
I want to GREATLY EMPHASIZE the important factor I missed my first time watching the scenes with Johan/Anna - the scenes shown to us were through her recollection were only fragments. They were told from what she COULD remember, so her take on what really happened that rainy night the first few times the events are unfolded before us should not be taken as absolute.
At least…up until it is revealed in the final episodes that Anna realized that on that night instead of seeming like an empty shell of a person asking for death, Johan was crying and crying before she shot him.
The scene where Anna finds the portraits reveals what truly happened between them that night and its so important. She said “Johan was crying “here” just like before.” She was mimicking a memory she had just recalled in its entirety. “Why are you crying, why are you crying?” She sounded in distress. Directly after she reveals that she remembers him crying, it shows the image of him pointing at his head that rainy night so she was not referencing any other moment.
Even though Johan told her to shoot him, it is IMPORTANT that he was ALSO crying.
I believe that, finally being able to remember that day finally revealed to her that Johan wasn’t the “face of absolute evil” she initially dismissed him to be; he was a boy/man who could cry and mourn - he was human. He was a terrified boy protecting Anna and himself the only way he knew how. and instead of showing him forgiveness/love - she added on to his collection of wounds scarred upon his soul from everyone else who chose to harm him.
Tenma…was ultimately the ONLY one in his life who showed him kindness.
Johan’s intentions and reasons behind his many crimes:
( I will summarize it here and link the 2nd essay as it was too long to put on this post)
(***) I want to ask, did Johan truly believe he was the one who went to the Red Rose Mansion or was that simply a masquerade he performed to not only make sure Anna did not remember but to also foil the life long plans of those running these experiments?
(I wrote an essay on this being a possibility here: PART 2 OF THIS ESSAY. This will explain Johan’s intentions in depth)
(this is a theory I FIRMLY believe and have completely adopted. But for the sake of argument, I will entertain both concepts behind Johan’s memory in this essay.)
If we entertain that idea, I can dissect Johan’s intentions some more. ( I will summarize it here as the extension essay was far too long to put on this post)
Throughout the series you see that he is trying to wipe everyone who knew of what happened to Anna off the face of the earth, that included himself. He did not want Anna to remember. So when it was revealed she did remember, he mourned. It was subtle but evident in the anime when she reveals “you are wrong.” something in him shifted - for once he was reacting to the words of another.
She said “he had a smile but seemed like he was crying. I never seen such an expression on his face before.” [view photo in the post.]
That entire scene, Johan’s eyes expressed something we’ve never seen from him throughout the series - a sense of mourning or longing?
Johan in front of Anna always appeared the most human
If, however, Johan DID truly think he was the one who suffered at the red rose mansion, his “perfect suicide” plan still relates to his feelings for Anna.
Johan learns it was not him that suffered at the Red Rose Mansion…but Anna instead. and then Johan goes on to commit the “perfect suicide.” In his plan to die, he wanted to take The Monster with him, forcing Bonaparte to endure the same exact hell he forced Anna to suffer as a child. Call it an act of revenge. Some may think Johan is incapable of being vengeful but I cannot see this cruel and calculated act as anything other than malice. After Bonaparte was finally dead, the monster disposed of - Johan was ready to die.
But you can see his conviction began to slip away when Anna forgave him. What made it worse was realizing he was wrong about Tenma because even now, Tenma was still hesitating on killing him ruthlessly like he always presumed would happen. Johan thought he had humans all figured out - after all, all Johan has EVER known was the darkness in people’s hearts. That is why he was so confused/moved by Tenma and wanted so desperately to prove him wrong.
The manga portrays Johan’s expressions 1000X BETTER THAN THE ANIME. As soon as Anna arrives, Johan is just staring at the floor, unable to look at her - Repeating everything from that fateful rainy night when they were kids. But this time, Anna doesn’t kill him, she chooses love and compassion. and when she says she forgives him - his reaction is something the anime does not do justice
The subtle shift in the way the artist expressed in his eyes is so significant but missed in the anime; but he reacts rather deeply, moved and shocked by her words.
Because, “forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again.“
In the manga he isn’t quick to reply. He ponders over her words carefully and I think this is when his mind starts panicking.
Anna realized that forgiveness was the one thing he wanted that night she shot him, despite him also thinking his death was needed. His value depended on her view of him; and what she once robbed from him was now returned - a human being worthy of forgiveness instead of a monster.
Johan refuses her forgiveness not because he resents her or thinks its too late for her to redeem herself - but because he doesn’t think he deserves it. “There are somethings that cannot be undone.” Because it is too late, Johan is going to die - he WANTS to die. Then you see the fear and helplessness in his eyes after getting the one thing he always wanted [ Anna’s forgiveness] because he desperately wanted to die as the only thing he knew himself to be: the nameless, nonexistence monster. But both Anna and Tenma rob him of that by bestowing upon him the gift of compassion, mercy and empathy; for the first time treating and valuing him like a human being instead of a monster,god,experiment, devil etc. as everyone around him has.
(The Monster inside of Johan begins to crumble.)
Johan in his final moments was cracking and finally falling apart. You see it in the final expression he makes: the distraught, confusion and sadness. Because he realized, he was wrong about people, he was wrong about the world. But how can we blame him for his view on humanity when all he has ever been shown since birth was how ugly, selfish, cruel and inhumane people can be?
How can we expect someone who has only seen darkness to be able to find the light?
I want to clarify one thing I noticed: Johan has never shown to take any kind of sick satisfaction from killing unlike all the other serial killers being interviewed in the series. The writer highlights this in the show on purpose. Especially contrasting Johan with Roberto, specifically, when Roberto tries to kill Anna.
Despite his callousness and his lack of care for life - Johan, despite how much of a “monster” he was, very clearly had humanity and had love….for his sister most of all. Johan saw when his mother choose, how little their lives meant to her and this instilled his nihilism at such a young age. He watched Anna get tossed to the wolves like nothing and in that moment, he probably thought his mother chose Anna over him for a reason. (even though the question on her intention would haunt him for the rest of his life) But her being able to choose is what affected him the most and it’s probably what instilled his self sacrificing mentality to care for Anna above the world in order to never make the same mistake his mother had.
That is why after she got back from the Red Rose Mansion, he cried for her story. It should have been him that suffered. Then after, he treats her with the upmost care, telling her everything is hers, no matter what she will win everything because he would deem it so. He is kind to her, never letting go of her hand even when she is dragging behind - he sacrificed all of himself for her…
Because she deserved everything in the world to contrast their mother throwing her away.
(it should be noted that the Lieberts did not want Anna either but only adopted her because Johan refused to leave the orphanage without her. Which is also why I believe he killed them when Bonaparte came because he thought the Lieberts were conspiring with Bonaparte to get Anna)
He wanted her to know above all else, she was loved.
🌰 (The ‘Acorn game’ represents their Mother’s choice, a child in each hand. But in this version, Johan would ensure that no matter what hand Anna chooses, she will NEVER choose wrong. He manipulates the fate behind her choices by holding two acorns instead of one; never letting her make the same mistake as their mother.)
A clear indication of this adoration/attachment he has for her is the fact that he DOES NOT forget her even after enduring the hellish experiments in Kinderheim that aimed at wiping out / messing around with his memories. That is pretty incredible to me.
There is a reason why the author chose the words “precious sister” whenever others described Anna in regards to Johan. The world saw how important she was to him. If she meant nothing to him, how did everyone else conjure up this concept that Anna was important to him, despite also saying with that very same breath he was a heartless Devil?
It’s contradicting honestly.
I wrote this because I was astounded to see various posts/Wiki pages implying that Johan’s intentions were to torture Anna and make her kill herself. Telling her to shoot him was his first attempt to drive her insane? They twisted a lot of things Johan did to try and make this statement true. But I cannot comprehend how they drew this conclusion? The series has characters mentioning on more than a few occasions that Anna is dear to Johan. “He is lost with you." Everyone knew Anna was important to Johan; Professor Geidlitz was the first to mention this besides the old blind man. Roberto was aware of this which is why he tried to kill her as mentioned in Another Monster. Which is ALSO why Peter Capek tried to hold her hostage to prevent Johan from killing him.and for the first time, Johan DOESN’T kill him.
Johan cried when he awoke at the hospital after he reached for his sister and she screamed in fear of him. His face full of tears - his heart completely broken. If his intention was to drive Anna insane, he would have triumphed in that moment she screamed and fell to the ground after he reached out to her. But instead he mourned.
To those who believed Johan crying as he reached out for Anna was a façade - those tears were genuine, which is the ONLY reason why her forgiveness was so powerful at the end.
Anna has mentioned several times that Johan has cried for her, like when he was in the room full of their happy portraits, he was crying. He never once tried to bring harm to Anna - not intentionally towards her person. I firmly believe he killed the Fortners after they decided to keep lying to her, thus keeping him in the shadows when he wanted to return. (or because they were going to tell her the truth. Either or works) If he wanted to torment her, he would not have tried to lure her away to the castle when he set up the Fortners to be killed.
They imply that Johan wanted to torture her and then kill her at the end. But that makes absolutely no sense. Where in the storyline does Johan give off this tendency towards her? Even at the end he told her where to meet him in Ruhenheim and not once did he try to shoot her or Tenma. Honestly, if he really wanted to provoke Tenma to shoot him, he would have held the gun to Anna instead of a random child. But even though being shot by Tenma was his greatest endeavor, he refused to point the gun at someone who was important to Tenma…because Anna, is important to Johan too.
To say Johan, despite being hailed as the Monster of the series, had no love or humanity in him and was merely the Devil himself...completely missed the point of the story…
I’d like to point out the constant mentioning of Hitler in this story and draw another important factor…Hitler brainwashed people to commit mass genocide. Under his rule, millions perished in horrific ways. But despite that…Hitler was capable of loving others. Hitler was also loved by others. The terrifying truth about people who commit atrocities…is that they are not monsters or demons or devils…
PSA: My twin brother FINALLY finished his INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL Johan Liebert analysis video. It is a 2 hour, in depth break down of not only Johan but the overarching themes surrounding the characters that helps define Johan as well. My essays make an appearance as it served as the groundwork to his analysis video so please take the time to watch it despite its length! (Bring tissues)
PART TWO OF JOHAN’S INTENTIONS HERE:
EDIT: Here’s two passages from ANOTHER MONSTER [novel post Monster written by Naoki] that really drives this point:
tangentwithtanner
stormborns
ellievsbear
areudirty
2087
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
jacobvanloon
gracieabrams
dailybridgerton
