White Whale

The White Whale (白鯨), infamously called the Witchbeast of the Mist, was one of the Three Great Witchbeasts created by the Witch of Gluttony, Daphne. It was one of the main antagonists of Arc 3.

A monstrosity created to feed the masses with its excessive amount of meat, it has terrorized the world for centuries since the era of the Great Calamity. A menace towards merchants and travelers alike, the witchbeast, commanded by the Witch Cult, has overcome numerous subjugations and claimed many lives.

The White Whale eventually met its end by the combined efforts of the Emilia Camp, Anastasia Camp, and Crusch Camp during the Subjugation of the White Whale, where Wilhelm van Astrea personally put an end to its life out of vengeance toward his fallen wife.

Appearance[]

The White Whale was an enormous witchbeast that takes the shape of a massive airborne whale, and it is estimated to be around fifty meters long, if not larger. It had snow-white skin and was covered in tiny hairs. Like all witchbeasts, the White Whale had a large, curved horn protruding from its forehead. It had a glowing pinkish wheel-like sigil on its back that assisted its ability to fly. Its eyes, that were usually yellow, turned into red filled with rage when it felt threatened.

Behavior[]

The White Whale tended to cover an entire area around it when it floated through the sky, and it would pick off its prey quite leisurely, usually with its mist. It is also quite intelligent; rather than kill Natsuki Subaru when it had the chance after having killed the others in his escort, it instead followed after him after he ran towards the Mathers Domain, though it is unclear why. Like other witchbeasts, it can be influenced by the scent of the Witch on Subaru's person, and though it cannot be controlled by the Divine Protection of Demon Manipulation, since even the Black Serpent seemed to feel its influence, albeit not by much, it is possible that the whale could feel the same influence. When threatened, it will enter its Attack Hue, create clones, and hide far in the sky, watching from a safe distance while they kill its prey.

Unlike the other Great Witchbeasts, however, it is shown willing to listen to the commands of certain individuals. Lye Batenkaitos, who saw it as a pet, was capable of making it obey him with the use of his Witch Factor.^[1] The Witch Cult often had it use its mist and reputation to cover up their deeds, which was never uncovered until the whale's demise. Whenever it was inactive, it would be hidden around the Great Waterfall.^[2]

History[]

Following its birth approximately 400 years ago, the White Whale terrorized the world for centuries, becoming infamous for devouring merchants, entire armies sent to kill it, and even whole towns and cities. Around 385 years after its creation, the Great Conquest was organized in hopes of bringing down the White Whale once and for all. It was led by the Sword Saint of the time, Theresia van Astrea. Due in part to her Divine Protection of the Sword Saint leaving her during the attempted subjugation as well as outside interference, Theresia unfortunately died, and the conquest ended in failure. Only a few survivors of the failed subjugation squad had returned relatively safely, such as Conwood Melahau, who returned the Dragon Sword to the Astrea family after Theresia's death.^[3]

Abilities[]

Incredible Might and Resilience: As one of the Three Great Witchbeasts, it held incredible might, having survived numerous assaults across history and always coming away the victor.

• Thick Skin: The White Whale had tough skin that allowed it to survive numerous physical assaults. Although not impenetrable, it could withstand being attacked by numerous strong fighters while taking relatively small damage. It also allowed it to survive being crushed by the massive weight of a fallen Flugel's Tree, though it was still trapped beneath it. However, this did not provide it a perfect defense. Warriors on the level of Wilhelm van Astrea could still deal unto it great harm and make it feel threatened. Likewise, it can use its massive body to crush its enemy under its weight as well, although it usually had no need to do so.
• White Hairs: Across the White Whale's body were white hairs that scattered magical energy from incoming magic attacks. By doing so, it could reduce the force and the amount of damage it could sustain from magic. It was because of this that it could survive an entire magic bombardment and survive a strike from Crusch Karsten's magic and still survive and remain in the air. This being said, it did not provide the beast a perfect defense against magic. It still received damage and shed blood after being attacked with an entire onslaught of magic, and the damage accumulated was enough to make the White Whale feel threatened.
• Large Maw: Although not usually necessary for the White Whale to attack, the beast has a massive mouth that can easily tear through the ground with ease, and while it did not attack often in this manner, it could easily swallow any warrior unfortunate enough to fall in its path.
• Pores: Across the White Whale's entire body, it had pores that allowed it to generate a massive amount of mist that it could manipulate for its own purposes.
  • Mist of Diffusion (拡散型の霧, Kakusan-gata no Kiri)/Mist of Mental Contamination (精神汚染する霧, Seishin'osen suru Kiri)^{[Note 1]}: By releasing its modified mana, it produced a mist that it could use to freely swim around in. This ability essentially provided the beast with the ability of flight, giving it free reign over the skies, and the speed granted to it allowed it to easily keep up with and nearly outpace an earth dragon. By expanding the range of its mist, it can increase the area from which it can swim.^[4] People who are exposed to the mist that has been spread by the White Whale receive an experience akin to mana poisoning. Likewise, those people also experienced mental pain, such as hearing the sounds of pain on a chalkboard.^[5] Some people would experience it worse than others, with some people tearing at their own faces. Others, meanwhile, can resist it but visibly grimace at the pain.
  • Mist of Annihilation (消滅型の霧, Shōmetsu-gata no Kiri/消滅する霧, Shōmetsu suru Kiri): The White Whale is capable of weaponizing bursts of its mist with enough power to tear chunks out of the ground.^[4][5] Anyone stricken by this attack is not just physically erased, but even their names and memories are wiped from existence, leaving them forgotten to the world, akin to the victims of the Authority of Gluttony.
  • Mist Clones:

    

    When it felt that its life was in danger and entered its Attack Hue, the White Whale would create two clones of itself from its mist while it rose higher to the sky and out of danger. The clones lacked the original's full power, splitting its power and weight, but they were still strong enough to take down any opponents. Regardless of how much damage the clones received, they did not reflect onto the original's body. However, if the whale itself dies, then the clones completely vanish.

Sky Swimming: The White Whale's biology allowed for it to naturally swim in the sky.

Trivia[]

• Like Lye, the White Whale was likely inspired by or represents the constellation of Caelus.
  • The White Whale may also have been loosely based off of Moby Dick, the white whale from the book of the same name by Herman Melville.
• According to the author, Reinhard, Ram, Regulus, Sekhmet, and Puck are capable to taking down the White Whale by themselves.^[6] As Reid Astrea is also said to have the capacity to behead all of the aforementioned characters besides Reinhard,^[7] he could assumedly also slay the White Whale singlehandedly.
• The White Whale was not in the original plan for Arc 3's story.^[8]

References[]

Note[]