Reinhard van Astrea

Reinhard van Astrea (ラインハルト・ヴァン・アストレア) is the current Sword Saint and a member of the Royal Guard, being the very strongest "weapon" the Kingdom has in its arsenal. During the events of the 3rd arc, he pledged himself to serve as Felt's knight and fully support her throughout the Royal Selections.

Debuting in arc 1, Reinhard played a key role in overcoming the first major obstacle standing in Subaru's way- the northern assassin Elsa Granhiert. While being almost completely absent from the following three arcs, he returned and played a pivotal role in the 5th arc, being one of the key figures in defeating the Witch Cult's Sin Archbishops and retaking the Watergate City of Priestella.

Appearance
Reinhard is a slender, tall and extremely good looking young man with flaming red hair and sparkling blue eyes that radiate strength and determination. He's described as an epitome of a gallant knight. His beyond average looks and his open, calming and approachable personality makes him very popular with people, especially with the ladies.

As expected from a Royal Knight, he's usually seen wearing his Royal Guard uniform that is primarily white with some red finishes and golden accessories. When he's off duty, he is usually seen wearing his "casual clothing" which is also a uniform but not as detailed and complex as his Royal Guard one; the uniform is primarily white with some purple accents and an Astrea crest on his left shoulder. Since he's the current generation's Sword Saint, Reinhard always carries his Dragon Sword Reid around his waist.

Personality
Reinhard is a respected and kind gentleman with others. He is fair, clean, brave, and willing to fight next to justice even when he is not in his hour of work. He is known as a "knight among knights", and is widely trusted among the people of Lugnica. He only uses his sword when necessary, since, in addition to being a rule, he does not intend to hurt an ordinary person.

He mentioned that his specialty is fighting monsters, but his power is so great that upon unleashing just one of his attacks, Subaru already considered him another monster. Reinhard considered this as an offensive comment, implying that he does not like being judged as someone dangerous even when he has good intentions.

He is always looking for a way to solve things, even to the point of giving a Sin Archbishop the opportunity to surrender while hoping he will not have to take extreme measures, such as being forced to kill him. In his fight against Regulus, he even went as far as asking him to stop and leave the city, even after the Sin Archbishop had already killed him and decimated everything in their vicinity. He also respects the decision of his friends despite the fact that sometimes they criticize him for engaging in matters that do not correspond to him.

Due to his calm and kind demeanor, Reinhard is rarely angered, however, he was visibly furious upon seeing that the Witch Cult had resurrected his grandmother's corpse. This also leads to Reinhard's one arguable negative trait; he has shown to be slightly judgemental, continuing to insist that the resurrected Theresia "was not his grandmother" even after she was shown to have regained her emotions shortly before her death.

History
Reinhard was born the son of Heinkel Astrea and Louanna Astrea. He was loved by everyone. His grandmother's first thought upon seeing him was that he was "a child loved by the world". Two years after his birth, his mother fell into a Sleeping Beauty state, which shook the whole Astrea family to its core. At the age of five, he obtained the title of the Sword Saint after his grandmother Theresia van Astrea passed away during her fierce battle with the Hakugei. The reason for her death was the sudden loss of her Divine Protection of the Sword Saint which mysteriously disappeared midway through the battle, transferring to young Reinhard. His grandfather, Wilhelm van Astrea, blamed Reinhard for her death, causing their relationship to plummet, leaving only his father who still cared about him. Sadly, his relationship with his father gravely deteriorated as well. After he gained the aforementioned blessing, his father became an alcoholic, and gradually starting to blame him for Theresia's death as well; it didn't take long for Reinhard to be despised by his closest family members. As the strongest individual in the Royal Kingdom of Lugnica, he was forced to join the Royal Guard at the age of fourteen, becoming the strongest weapon in the Kingdom's possession. Somewhere down the line, he met and befriended Julius Juukulius and Ferris who are to this day two of his closest friends.

During a rescue mission involving Crusch Karsten and the House of Argyle, Marcos Gildark tasked Reinhard to keep an eye on Prince Fourier and the knights accompanying him. While Julius and the rest of the knights were disposing of the reanimated corpses, Miles, who was the culprit behind the incident, tried to make his escape, ignoring Reinhard's warnings, and refusing to surrender. After his attempt to get rid of Reinhard had failed, the latter was forced to incinerate him along with his Winged Dragon as he could not allow the valuable information to reach the Vollachian Emperor.

Six months prior to the events of the series, shortly after the entire Lugnician royal family died, the Vollachian Emperor Vincent Vollachia invited Reinhard to the Empire, alongside two members of the Sage Council in order to negotiate a non-aggression pact. In order to at least partially suppress Reinhard's power, he was forced to wear a so-called Collar of Submission, a meteor which suppresses its wearer's powers. After the initial negotiations ended on a rather negative note, Reinhard wad summoned to the Emperor's chambers in where he suddenly found himself surrounded by corpses of the guards and one of the Nine Divine Generals, Balleroy Temeglyph. Having been accused of attacking the guards, Reinhard had no other option but to take Vincent hostage and escape with Julius and Ferris. While they were running away from the whole Vollachian army, Groovy Gamlet and Mogro Hagane Sixth and Eight Divine Generals respectively) attacked the trio in an effort to retrieve the kidnapped Emperor. While Ferris and Julius were preoccupied with securing the Emperor's life, Reinhard fought the two Generals bare-handed and defeated them without suffering any damage whatsoever. Not long after, Cecils Segmund himself made his debut and attacked Julius, almost managed to decapitate him when Reinhard returned, used Cecils' broken katana to deflect all of Blue Lightning's strikes and delivered a devastating kick, knocking the famed Divine General out instantly. After the three Generals made their retreat, the three Royal Guards were attacked by 30 highly skilled and feared Vollachian assassins from the Insect Cage Clan; Reinhard made quick work of them as well, defeating all 30 of them without killing a single one or taking a hit. After Reinhard's awe-inspiring display of power, Vincent was able to safely return to the Crystal Palace where he apprehended the culprits and officially signed the non-aggression pact between the Kingdom of Lugnica and the Empire of Vollachia.

Roughly one month after the Empire incident, Reinhard was sent off on an escort mission to the Kingdom's border with the Holy Kingdom of Gusteko. When he returned to the Capital, Cecils Segmunt was waiting for him, requesting a rematch, though, this time, he had his famed Dream and Fiend Swords with him, setting on showing him just how powerful he is. After captain Marcos Gildark himself arranged a proxy-match between the Sword Saint and the Blue Lightning, Reinhard was finally able to fight the famed Vollachian General for real. Both with their swords unsheathed - Reinhard with the Dragon Sword Reid and Cecils with Murasame and Masayume - the battle commenced. Reinhard came out victorious and Cecils set his goals of getting stronger and one day defeating him.

Abilities
Divine Protection (加護 Kago): Reinhard has the ability to gain any Divine Protection he feels like he needs in a specific situation, such as the Divine Protection of Judgement (審判の加護 Shinpan no Kago) during the battle at Priestella. These Divine Protections are granted to him by the Od Lagna, which is even capable of creating new ones that never existed before, but sometimes there are errors in conveying his intention, and Reinhard doesn't get a proper Divine Protection. This ability is confirmed to be unrelated to him being the Sword Saint.


 * Sword Saint (剣聖 Kensei): Reinhard is the current Sword Saint as the current holder of the Divine Protection of the Sword Saint (剣聖の加護 Kensei no Kago), which he inherited when he was 5 years old. According to the author, even if he didn't have this Divine Protection, Reinhard's sword skills would be the same.
 * Various combat oriented Divine Protections: As mentioned above, Reinhard holds an insanely rich arsenal of Divine Protections. To name just a few of his combat oriented abilities; 80% of all magic attacks from all six magic types is dispersed away or neutralized, he gets stronger when he's standing under the blue sky, rainy sky, night sky and when he's bleeding, he can move at superhuman speeds, any projectile thrown against him automatically changes their trajectory making him unable to get hit by projectiles, he cannot get ambushed and the first attack will always miss unless he willingly takes the hit, the following attacks will also miss unless he's physically unable to avoid them, he is a master in unarmed combat and he will automatically master any weapon he picks up even if he never saw or handled it before, just to name a few. In total, Reinhard is said to possess more than one-hundred Divine Protections.

Master Swordsman: Reinhard was born with an insane sword talent. He was 5 years old when he first picked up a sword and immediately defeated his father Heinkel Astrea. At that age, Reinhard was already stronger than the average Royal Knight, only being able to be bested by exceptional and renowned knights the likes of Julius Juukulius and Marcos Gildark. Although not as skilled as the legendary Reid Astrea, Reinhard's sword skill is unparalleled.
 * The Swordplay of the Astrea Family: Reinhard unleashes a devastating attack that destroys everything around him and splits space in half. When Reinhard decides to perform the attack, the mana surrounding him is sucked from the atmosphere and the temperature of the air is noted to drastically drop. His blade begins to give off a brilliant white light and upon slashing down on the opponent, the area in front of him is blown apart, as seen when he blew up the Loot House in the first arc, and the Church in the fifth arc. Coupled with his Divine Protection which allows him to always land his first attack, this attack is devastating for the opponent. Reinhard usually uses it as his opening attack on extremely strong foes like Regulus. And though strong individuals like Elsa have been able to survive this attack, it is generally capable of vaporizing human beings as shown in the Oboreru IF. A downside to this technique is that Reinhard requires a weapon in order to perform it, but said weapon, even if of astounding craftsmanship, will be destroyed immediately thereafter. The sole exception appears to be the Dragon Sword Reid, which is said to be indestructible.
 * Dragon Sword Reid's Slash: Reinhard_van_Astrea_swinging_the_Dragon_Sword_Reid.gifard unsheathes his blade whenever the sword deems his opponent worthy of its divine power. Reinhard will take an offensive stance, usually lifting the blade far above his head, preparing himself to end it with a single strike. Similarly to his Swordplay of the Astrea Family technique, the blade will slowly start to emit a dazzling white light which will soon enough engulf the entire battlefield, blinding the opponents and passersby. If he's aiming to cleanly dispose of the unlucky foe, he'll swing the blade, cutting everything along its arc, as seen when he fought the previous Sword Saint's reanimated corpse. In his simulated battle against Puck, however, Reinhard used the Dragon Sword in combination with his aforementioned sword skill; with a single swing, the Sword Saint unleashed a destructive wave that incinerated everything in its path, including the Beast of the End. Along the blade's slash the sky split in half, leaving cracks running across it, the ground crumbled and the mana swirled in a vortex, completely destroying the world itself. In the next instant, the world was born anew without any consequences or anomalies left behind. Both attacks are the very peak of what Reinhard van Astrea is capable of doing and what he will do if the situation calls for it.

Hand-to-hand combat: Due to the Dragon Sword being useless for most of the fights he has to take, Reinhard is most of the times forced to use his bare hands to fight. With his Divine Protection of Unarmed Combat, Reinhard mastered hand-to-hand combat at early age; his hand is more often than not more effective than a sword. He can easily bisect a person in half and on his journey to Vollachia, he even cut Mogro Hagane's steel limb off with a single swing of his bare hand. He is also capable of delivering devastating kicks that shatter the floor on impact and are able to send even a Steel Human who's weighing a couple hundred kilograms, flying without much resistance.



Equipment: As the Sword Saint, Reinhard wields the Dragon Sword Reid (龍剣レイド Ryuuken Reido). The sword can only be drawn against opponents it deems worthy for it to be used against. Currently, Reinhard has only been confirmed to have drawn his sword against Cecils Segmund and Theresia van Astrea, although according to Wilhelm van Astrea, there was a third occasion where it was drawn. He can also use the sword in its sheath as shown during his battle with the Sin Archbishop of Greed, and it is tough enough to withstand the latter's authority. It is mentioned that the sword was created by the Sword God (剣の神 Ken no Kami).

Defective Gate: According to the Artificial Spirit Echidna, Reinhard's gate is unable to release the mana inside of his body back out into the atmosphere, though she mentions that he is able to absorb an incredible amount and that it doesn't cause any harm to his body as he uses all of his mana to boost his physical abilities. Because of this, he can make others unable to use any magic or spirit magic while he's absorbing mana. Also, Reinhard has no affinity with magic, making him unable to use it at all.

Pseudo Spirit Affinity: Minute Spirits are attracted to Reinhard and try to heal him whenever he becomes injured. However, he is unable to order or use the Spirits himself. This attraction is on par with Julius' Divine Protection of Gathering Spirits (誘精の加護).

Trivia

 * Reinhard's birthday is January 1.
 * The author named Reinhard after Kaiser Reinhard from Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
 * Any text written in Reinhard's POV is considered a major spoiler.
 * The author stated that Reinhard van Astrea is the strongest character in the series and no stronger characters are scheduled to appear in the story.
 * He often compared his strength with Godzilla.
 * Despite him being the strongest, he still wouldn't be able to kill the Witch of Envy, due to their affinities. Reinhard would not be able to bypass her immortality and Satella would not be able to land a finishing hit.
 * He's fully aware of his own strength and is respectively aware of himself being the strongest person in the world.
 * It was stated that Reinhard could easily destroy the world if he so wished.
 * When asked how much time it would take him to completely destroy it, the author replied that it would take him approximately the same amount of time as it would take Godzilla to destroy Eurasia.
 * Reinhard is likely the 7th or 8th Sword Saint in his lineage.
 * By the time he was 8 years old, the Kingdom already issued the "Reinhard law", preventing him from freely visiting other countries, meaning he was already considered a national threat by that age and the strongest character in the series.
 * Even if he lost all of his Divine Protections, Reinhard would be about as skilled with a sword as he is now, only being unable to defeat those who are basically cheating, like Regulus and Satella.
 * The author has stated that Reinhard would be able to defeat Od Laguna in a battle, if it ever came to that.
 * Reinhard would be able to fight Volcanica one-on-one if he'd draw the Dragon Sword Reid.
 * When asked how Volcanica's strength would compare with Reinhard's, he stated it's like King Ghidorah (Volcanica) vs Godzilla (Reinhard).
 * He is the most handsome male character in the series, according to the author.
 * Reinhard's favorite color is unsurprisingly red. He likes the sparkliness and its visibility.
 * Reinhard with most of his Divine Protections disabled is still strong enough to defeat Cecils Segmund and kill both Puck and Halibel while being gravely wounded from his fight with the aforementioned Blue Lightning.
 * According to Reinhard himself, Regulus was the second person who forced him to use the Dragon Sword Reid (sheathed or unsheathed).
 * The author stated he would be able to move through a rainstorm without getting a single drop of water on him.
 * Reinhard is so powerful that even Subaru is unable to find a way to defeat him, despite having unlimited tries and unlimited ways of tackling the "Reinhard threat". In fact, no matter which character would decide to try and destroy the world, they wouldn't be able to, as Reinhard would always stand in their way, spoiling their plans.
 * Reinhard received his honorary title of "van" at the early age of 8. Incidentally, it's the same year as when the "Reinhard Law" passed, effectively rendering the young boy unable to travel and move outside the Kingdom.
 * In Arc 1, during Elsa's attack, Felt ran for help and encountered Reinhard who she asked for assistance. The author later revealed that the place where the two encountered each other for the first time was the same place where Wilhelm Trias and Theresia van Astrea first met, 40 years before the start of the main story.
 * Contrary to popular misconceptions and beliefs, Reinhard is not able to gain a Divine Protection just by wishing for it.
 * Reinhard is aware of Reid Astrea's vile personality, despite never meeting him in person.
 * Despite his fight against Regulus where he was forced to rely on others rather than just on himself, Reinhard still does not feel like relying on others is something "worth doing".
 * Reinhard could easily adapt and survive even in outer space.