Slayers

スレイヤーズ

Light Novel7.91406 votesPublishing

ActionAdventureComedyFantasy

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About this title

Synopsis

After pilfering as many valuables from a band of thieves as she can carry, Lina Inverse—self-proclaimed beauty and genius sorceress—departs with the gift of a fireball into the heart of her unwitting patrons’ campsite and continues on to Atlas City with dollar signs in her eyes. Before she can get very far, a horde of the surviving bandits ambushes Lina with vengeance on their minds. But sooner than she can put these one-dimensional goons out of their misery, a gallant wandering mercenary enters the scene, mistaking Lina for a damsel in distress. Lina gladly plays the role and lets the swordsman, Gourry Gabriev, do all the work for her. Soon enough, however, she comes to regret her decision, as Gourry insists upon his honor on escorting Lina the rest of the way. The thought sends shivers down her spine, but when the original owners of her stolen goods come to take them back, Gourry proves more valuable than anything of theirs. Figuring out that whichever item they seek is being tracked via magic and that some big names are attached to what is quickly becoming quite the scandal, Lina realizes that something far more precious than money has fallen into her hands. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Publication notes

The first eight volumes of Slayers were published in English by Tokyopop from September 7, 2004 to January 2, 2008. On July 3, 2020, J-Novel Club announced it had licensed the series; the light novel has been rereleased digitally since August 17, 2020, and in print as hardcover 3-in-1 omnibus volumes since July 20, 2021. The series has received multiple video and tabletop game adaptations, as well as various cameos in other media.

Published

Jan 17, 1990 to ?

Authors

External links

MyAnimeList page Wikipedia Wikipedia

MAL rank: #1078
Members (MAL): 4,875
Favorites (MAL): 139

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Main characters

Lina Inverse2620 fan favorites
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Age: 15 (First volume; Lina directly states her age as 15); ~16 (Third volume; takes place a couple of months later); 17–18 (Thirteenth volume; takes place two years after the first volume) Height: 147 cm Lina is the primary protagonist and the only character that appears in all incarnations of Slayers. Despite her young age, Lina is a very powerful sorceress, with a great love of money, treasure (especially the magical sort) and food. In the anime and manga (but not the light novel) Lina uses overly destructive magic recklessly, often with little provocation. She is reputed to be an evil, powerful, destructive, diminutive sorceress (the evil part isn't true). Lina has an older sister, Luna, who is a powerful swordswoman. Although Lina has faced down dragons, monsters, and even Dark Lords with little fear, the mere mention of Luna's name sends her into terrified hysterics. She also suffers from a fear of slugs. Lina has many different nicknames, one of them being "Dragon Spooker," a name that she isn't too fond of. This is rumored to have appeared because of an incident in the first episode, in which the Leader of the Dragon Fangs’ pet black dragon escapes. Just when it appears that the beast is going to crush Lina (and Gourry, who was knocked out on top of her in a compromising position), it blanches in disgust and steps over her, a blush along its snout, much to her shock, and thereafter rage. However, the nickname was mentioned before the black dragon met her, thus leading to a possible earlier incident. Another nickname Lina encounters is the "Dragon Nester." This comes from a rhyme: "Little girl with little breasts, scares the dragon from its nest." This takes off from a running gag, in which characters constantly comment on the small size of Lina's breasts. She generally takes offense to these comments, and often responds with violence. This nickname only appears in the English dub but small breast jokes are a staple of the franchise.
Zelgadis Graywords457 fan favorites
External profile
Zelgadis is a human, rock golem, and blue demon chimera. Zelgadis travels the land with Lina and company to find a way to restore his humanity. Zelgadis is a very talented individual in magic, sword-fighting, and several other fields, but his forte is definitely his mastery of Shamanism. He is one of the few characters who remains rather cool and serious throughout the series, and is often the only one in the group with a level head, though he tends to get pissed off when things go awry, or when the group mistreats him (like using him as an anchor due to his weight from the rock golem).
Gourry Gabriev196 fan favorites
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Gourry is a wandering swordsman who meets up with Lina in the first episode of the television series. He accompanies her from then on. He carries the fabled Sword of Light, originally known as Gorun Nova before it came to the Slayers world. Gourry is somewhat less than scholarly and appears to have serious memory deficit along with ADD, but his skills as a swordsman are unmatched throughout the franchise. A characterization of Gourry from his manga profile is "as loyal as man's best friend but not quite as smart." After he meets Lina he decides to become the "little girl's" unpaid bodyguard (despite his disappointment at his charge's lack of development), and they slowly get to know one another. Gourry's kindness (he spares the life of his rival Zangulus on several occasions), loyalty (absolute to Lina) and consideration for others is clear throughout the franchise, but is not as quixotic as that of the Seyruuns'. While Gourry is deadly with plain steel, he is incredibly powerful when armed with his family's magic blade. He is the keeper of the Sword of Light, a mystic weapon whose steel blade can be detached, allowing the use of an alternate blade made of pure, destructive light powered by force of will. The sword can fell lower-ranked demons on its own and absorbs magic. If magic is cast directly on the sword of the light, the swords power becomes combined with that of the spell. Gourry takes great care of the Sword of Light, and watches it especially carefully to protect the valuable relic from thieving hands, especially those of Lina herself. Lina often tries to trick him into giving it to her by claiming he already promised it to her, but these are one of the few times where Gourry's less than astute (incredibly unreliable) memory is crystal clear. Gourry does allow Lina to borrow the sword in certain extreme circumstances. At the end of the third series, Gourry gives up the Sword of Light so that it and the other light weapons can be protected. In the following book series, he acquires the legendary Blast Sword. Manipulating the magical energies around it, the Blast Sword creates an extremely sharp blade. If not treated with care, it can slice through its sheath, and will sink up to its hilt into the ground below. An enchantment placed on it by the party allows them to change its sharpness to be useful again. Gourry eventually falls in love with Lina. Though he is not as shy towards the notion as the young sorceress, he apparently does not know (yet another thing Gourry doesn't know) how to make a romantic advance.
Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune122 fan favorites
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Amelia is Lina's best friend and a female magician and the princess of the kingdom of Saillune. She is a fighter of justice and her only desire is to fight and defeat evil. She is a bit naive and clumsy, and has a faible for holding weird and dramatical speeches before fighting an enemy. Philionel El Di Saillune, the crown prince of Saillune, is Amelia's father. When she was very young, her mother was slaughtered by an assassin, Booley, and as a result, her older sister, Gracia Ul Naga Saillune, left Saillune to learn offensive spells and the ways of the world outside royal boundaries.
Luke0 fan favorites
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Luke is a traveling treasure hunter in the Slayers series. He is around 21 or 22 years old. He worked as an assassin until he met Milina, who convinced him to reform. The two have been traveling together working as treasure hunters ever since. He is in love with Milina, who never openly returned his affections. Luke was very competitive towards Lina, who he viewed as a rival. He specializes in offensive black magic, including the possibly original spell Ruby Eye Blade. His equipment includes a sword with magical properties. Luke makes his first appearance in the ninth novel. He and Milina offer to protect Sherra from the men pursuing her, unaware that she is a mazoku. Luke later helps Lina defeat Galva after Dulgofa transforms him into a large demon. Dulgofa casts Raugnut Rushavna on the demon to make it immortal, allowing it to regenerate faster than Lina's Ragna Blade alone can harm it, but with the help of Luke's Ruby Eye Blade they manage to overwhelm it. After that, Luke and Milina are serving as bodyguards to Laavas Langmeyer. He initially comes into conflict to Lina, until she reveals that Laavas has been deceiving him. Next time they encounter Lina and Gourry while en route to the Kingdom of Dils. He helps them destroy Sherra. In the thirteenth novel, Luke and Milina assist Lina, Gourry, Memphis, and Milgazia in defeating Dynast Grausherra. (Source: KanzakaDex, edited) No voice actors have been added to this character. Help improve our database by searching for a voice actor, and adding this character to their roles .
Milina0 fan favorites
External profile
Milina is a sorceress. A closed-mouthed cold-blooded mercenary, she specialized in shamanistic magic. She met Luke, another magic-using mercenary, during contracts where they chased after the same target. He quickly fell in love with her. In addition to her analytical ability and spellcasting prowess (she can cast Val Flare), her agility keeps her out of danger. Luke will risk his life to protect her as well. She and Luke were introduced in the ninth novel. They quickly met up and joined with the Slayers as well. (Source: KanzakaDex) No voice actors have been added to this character. Help improve our database by searching for a voice actor, and adding this character to their roles .