Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti

Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti (ペテルギウス・ロマネコンティ) was the primary antagonist of Arc 3. He was a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, representing sloth. He was later killed by Natsuki Subaru with the help of Julius Juukulius.

Petelgeuse was considered to be the most active Sin Archbishop; according to Julius, more than half of all known activities were led by Sloth. On top of that, he was one of the founding members of the Witch Cult and was even granted the title of an Archbishop, despite not being entrusted with the seat of Sloth until roughly 100 years before his demise.

Appearance
Petelgeuse had short dark green hair that was cut neatly along with gray emotionless eyes. He wore a black, green, and red robe along with clerical attire specific for the Witch Cultists. Perhaps one of his more subtle features were his two small red earrings that he was seen wearing.

A hundred years ago, his appearance was mostly the same, except that he had a tough yet gentle look. He had a sinewy and tall body, longer dark green hair and also wore a black clerical robe.

Personality
Petelgeuse preferred to talk while in weird positions, such as tilting his head or bending his waist and also liked to engage in self harming activities such as crushing his own fingers, pulling his hair out, smashing his head onto nearby walls of the cave he was situated in etc. His principles of living consist of diligence and love, his reason for living to prove that. His love for Satella was the largest among the Sin Archbishops. He diligently followed orders, always acting first in various situations, causing his name to be well known.

A hundred years earlier, Petelgeuse was a moderate, upright and rational man. He was a close friend of Fortuna and Emilia, enough to be described as being like a family. However, when Regulus and Pandora attacked their village, he accidentally killed Fortuna through Pandora's power which combined with the damage he received when taking in the Witch Factors of Sloth which he wasn't compatible with, causing him to go mad.

Abilities
Authority of Sloth (怠惰の権能 Taida no Ken'nō): Petelgeuse was able to use the Authority of Sloth until his Witch Factors were taken by Natsuki Subaru following his death.
 * Sloth (怠惰 Taida)
 * Petelgeuse can let out a black wave toward his surroundings, corrupting the minds of those who have no knowledge of Spirit Magic. Those affected experience hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and severe pain, then expose the whites of their eyes, foam at the mouth, and are nearly driven mad. This ability was cut out of the Light Novel.
 * Unseen Hand (見えざる手 Miezaru Te)
 * Petelgeuse can cause physical interference by creating Unseen_Hands_Opening.png invisible force field in the shape of a hand. The effect area, power, and number of hands are based on the user. Normally, Petelgeuse is only able to use seven hands however, if the Witch Factors he used to make people into his fingers returns to his body, he is able to summon up to a hundred or more of them. He can also combine hands together to increase their size.

Earth Magic: Petelgeuse was able to use Earth magic and was skilled in it. Possession: While he differs from the norm as a Spirit, Petelgeuse can possess others' bodies, with Subaru describing it as a forcible one-way contract. Compatibility varies between people, which depends on whether the person has an affinity for Spirits, as he mentioned that Subaru's body was optimal while Ferris and Wilhelm's bodies were incompatible for various reasons. He is usually accompanied by special followers, called the Ten Fingers, who act as sub-commanders and spare bodies for Petelgeuse, with each one leading a group of several lower-ranking cultists. The fingers themselves have positions that correspond names of fingers on the human body. To make other people into his fingers, he adds Witch Factors to their body that allows him to possess them, as he can possess people with an affinity for Spirits but needs to make normal people into his fingers first. He used this over and over to live for 402 years until he was killed at the end of Arc 3.
 * Ul Dona (ウル・ドーナ): Petelgeuse was able to lift thick walls of earth around himself in a shape of a dome.

Trivia

 * According to the author, the basis of his actions, his relations with the witches, his past 400 years ago, and why his name is intentionally spelled as Petelgeuse are important plot points scheduled to be revealed in a future arc.
 * Red Star is the common Japanese nickname for Betelgeuse.
 * Petelguese's last name is named after a famous wine under the same name that was originated in the French Revolution.
 * The author asked his readers on "Let's become a Novelist" about whether he should change the surname Romanee-Conti to something else in the Light Novel version. However, most readers told him to keep it as is, thus his surname was not changed.
 * According to the author Petelgeuse was the "nicest" Sin Archbishop compared to others but after he went mad, he lost every ounce of dignity and morals, frequently going on rampages all across the world, becoming responsible for more than half of all attacks orchestrated by the Witch Cult, being known as the most active Sin Archbishop of the aforementioned cult.
 * Before he lost his mind, Petelgeuse was shown to have a rather intimate and close relationship with Fortuna. Their relationship lasted for decades if not centuries.
 * According to the author, there were times where Petelgeuse was forced to use a female body. Despite that, Fortuna still loved him.

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