Engen

WARNING! This article may contain major spoilers for the Hero Killer manhwa series. Please read at your own risk!

Engen (엔겐), also known as the Smiling Man, is the deuteragonist of the original action manhwa, Hero Killer. He is the leader of the villain organization known as the Nameless and was once a central figure of the major conflicts from the previous era of Nera that fought in both the War of Inheritance as an heir to the throne of Nera and as its second king during the Great War over a century ago. After his loss against the Hero Clan, he went into hiding and somewhere along the decades saved Rachel Sinclair and started organizing the survivors of the war. While he lost against both the clan and the mysterious The Steel Witch, Engen refuses to give up as he wishes to defeat the mysterious Witch who gave him his iconic scar and destroy the Hero Clan.

Towards the end of the Invasion of Castle Gray, Engen became the newest member of the Elders, the nine strongest Gift users in the world, after defeating Reagan Sinclair and has taken control of the lands of Castle Gray, which he declared to be New Nera. Into Hero Clan's Civil War, he has formed an alliance with Bishop on the premise of fighting against the Skysword and luring out the Witch.

Engen was introduced in the District 17 Assault Arc, where he and the Nameless save Hero Killer after she was nearly killed by Chaos and Viper. Asked by Yushin to look after her, Engen used Hero Killer as a living "weapon" against the Hero Clan in his renewed war that followed his public announcement of their return, while in turn promising to help Ihwa in her search for clues about her sister's death.

Appearance[]

Engen is a very handsome man, with short light brown hair and grey eyes. He is a tall man, having stood over Jintae Yang, with light tone skin and large scar on the left side of his face and neck, given to him by The Steel Witch, which resulted in his moniker the "Smiling Man".

The scar is stylized as red whenever he is going all out during a battle, and throbs with pain whenever he is reminded of the circumstances behind it.

Despite his youthful appearance, Engen is very old having been born around the time of the Era of Nera over a century ago. Although only shown underneath bandages at the most, he has an athletic physique. With clothing, Engen typically wears a dark overcoat with various kinds of equally dark-colored clothing underneath or prefers fashionable casual clothing.

Personality[]

Engen is a stoic, calm, and collected man at nearly all times, which shows an aura of mystery. However, Rachel says that this is just a front and he's quite crazy, which he used to be more open about in his youth, although it still surfaces from time to time.^[1] According to Chain, Engen has always had a creepier side to his personality even in his youth, but he became more twisted as he got older. ^[2]

A first-class villain, Engen is incredibly ruthless as he won't hesitate to kill his opponents and isn't against harming a great number of bystanders when necessary. He isn't above threatening or even killing his comrades if needed, having once casually warned John Nash that he would kill him the next time he interrupted a conversion, and displayed real intent to kill towards Hero Killer if she couldn't awaken her Gift.

Aside from his villainous tendencies, Engen is a capable leader as shown when commanding the Nameless with respectable authority and charisma that doesn't rely on fear or meaningless intimidation. He shows a great amount of influence in using other villains and isn't above forming alliances with them despite his threatening nature.

Nevertheless, Engen is open to helping others, as he took in Rachel Sinclair to help her kill her father and routinely gave advice to Ihwa for her to become stronger as he expected her to become the "torch" that will allow him to finally destroy the Hero Clan and change the era. While remorseless, Engen is shown to honor all those who helped him along the way in the path of becoming powerful in his twisted way but has no regrets about having used them. Whenever in combat, he is incredibly rational and intelligent, not getting easily fazed or openly intimidated when facing powerful opponents like the Elders.

Battles & Events[]

Trivia[]

• Engen and Bishop share the same birthday, though there is a significant age gap between them.^[3]
• It's unknown if Engen personally knew Islotta Rainfall.
• Engen is one of three people to have wielded Chain in his Sword of Rewinding - Reconquista.
• Engen is the second person from the Era of Nera to have become an Elder aside from the Master of the Clan and the second youngest member of the Elders as well.
• Engen's Hell pays homage to the Hot Narakas, the eight great hot hells located on one Cakkavāla in Buddhist sutras.
  • Sañjīva, the "reviving" Naraka, has ground made of hot iron heated by an immense fire. Beings in this Naraka appear fully grown, already in a state of fear and misery.
  • Kālasūtra, the "black thread" Naraka, includes the torments of Sañjīva. In addition, black lines are drawn upon the body, which hell guards use as guides to cut the beings with fiery saws and sharp axes.
  • Saṃghāta, the "crushing" Naraka, is surrounded by huge masses of rock that smash together and crush the beings to a bloody jelly. When the rocks move apart again, life is restored to the being and the process starts again.
  • Raurava, the "screaming" Naraka, is where beings run wildly about, looking for refuge from the burning ground. When they find an apparent shelter, they are locked inside it as it blazes around them, while they scream inside.
  • Mahāraurava, the "great screaming" Naraka, is similar to Raurava. Punishment here is for people who maintain their bodies by hurting others. In this hell, ruru animals known as kravyāda torment them and eat their flesh.
  • Tapana, the "heating" Naraka, where hell guards impale beings on a fiery spear until flames issue from their noses and mouths.
  • Pratāpana, the "great heating" Naraka. The tortures here are similar to the Tapana Naraka, but the beings are pierced more bloodily with a trident.
  • Avīci, the "uninterrupted" Naraka. Beings are roasted in an immense blazing oven with terrible suffering. Life in this Naraka is said to last for the length of an antarakalpa.

References[]

Navigation[]