This article contains information found in chapters 156+ of the Ousama Ranking manga. If you are avoiding post-anime spoilers please proceed with caution!
Despa (デスパー, Desupa) is a character in Ousama Ranking and its anime adaption. He is a prince of the Underworld, younger brother of King Desha, and older brother of Ouken.
Appearance[]
Despa is an average-height man with blond hair, brown eyes, long eyelashes, and a thin moustache. He wears a red coat with a white fur collar, white stockings, and enormous black trunk hose with gold details.
Personality[]
Despa appears to be a typical dandy, obsessed with his own appearance and favoring the finer things in life. In spite of his outward appearance Despa seems to be a capable and resourceful man, and has gladly taken on Bojji as his apprentice (for a price).
Despa believes his older brother, Desha, is deeply envious of both Despa's abilities and Despa's good looks. This is a dubious claim, as Desha's abilities drastically exceed Despa's, and Desha appears to be comfortable with his own appearance. In all likelihood Despa may be the one who is envious of Desha. The two have an antagonistic relationship.
In spite of their fraught relationship Despa is loyal to his brother, and won't hesitate to cooperate with him to protect the Underworld.
Though Despa appears to be a very frivolous person, he cares deeply for Bojji and shows enormous empathy for the young prince, even going so far as to stage a "fake" fight to help Bojji gain confidence in his abilities.
Plot[]
Early Life & Desha's Revolution[]
Though the circumstances of his early life are unknown, upon reaching adulthood Despa conspired with his brothers Desha and Ouken to overthrow their father. Satun had become a sadistic tyrant in his pursuit of immortality, slaughtering many of his own subjects, obsessed with the idea that humans contained a clue to the ability.
After serving for the majority of the war, Despa became disgusted with the brutal and inhuman behavior he witnessed among Desha's troops. When Desha refused to correct his soldiers for fear of damaging their morale, Despa angrily quit, leaving the resistance before its decisive battle against Satun's forces.
The revolution was successful, and Despa assumed a place in the newly-crowned Desha's court alongside his brother Ouken. Despa was there when Ouken first revealed his immortality, and felt deep dread for his younger brother.
Trainer of Kings[]
Sometime later Despa began using his magical perception to help others develop their abilities. He quickly grew wealthy and notorious in this role, supposedly having assisted a highly-ranked king at some point. With his reputation growing, Despa was eventually sought out by a young guardsman named Bebin.
Bebin was desperate to increase his own abilities, and Despa happily assisted, for a price. Despa's training was enough to turn Bebin from an ordinary guardsman into one of the Big Four of the Bosse Kingdom.
Bojji's New Master[]
Years later Bebin, now the spymaster for the Bosse Kingdom as well, would charge Kage with escorting Bojji to the Underworld to acquire training from Despa. Again, Despa was happy to train Bojji, for a price. With Despa's diligent training Bojji was finally able to make use of his true abilities, and quickly became an incredibly powerful combatant. Despa also proved himself a wise and kind-hearted mentor to the young prince, helping grow Bojji's self-confidence.
Coup of the Bosse Kingdom[]
While Bojji completed his training, strange events began to unfold in the Bosse Kingdom, culminating in the release of six notorious Underworld prisoners into the Bosse Kingdom's castle. This would be the latest attempted coup by Miranjo, now in her guise as the Magic Mirror. Despa and his brother Desha quickly responded, splitting the Order of the Underworld troops between themselves, and invading the Bosse Kingdom both overland and via a magic portal deep below the Bosse Kingdom's castle.
Despa was present during Bojji's battle with the terrifying Ouken, and was ultimately slain by the rampaging immortal along with everyone else on the field. While briefly dead, Despa and Bojji witnessed Kage attempting to cross over to the afterlife, only to be stopped and rescued by Miranjo. Despa provided further counsel to Bojji during this time, helping him through the traumatic experience.
Capturing the Demon[]
Once resurrected, and with Miranjo defeated, Despa was finally able to capture his true goal: the Demon. Despa and Desha had long ago planned to use the Demon's power to restore Ouken's mortality, and Despa attempted to do so on the spot, only to be thwarted by a recently-restored Daida. Daida used the wish to restore Miranjo's original body, giving the mage a chance at redemption. As the wish was granted the Demon freed itself and disappeared, but not before taunting Despa.
Though bitter at first, Despa recalled a vision of his younger brother, and decided he was meant to help save Miranjo before he could save Ouken.
Ouken's Return[]
In the aftermath of the attempted coup Despa found himself trailing Ouken's decapitated body, searching for its head. Though bemused by what had happened, Despa remained committed to finding a way to restore his younger brother's mortality.
The means for doing so were closer than Despa suspected, as his brother Desha had recently been promoted to the #1 ranked king in the world. Desha accepted the position specifically to gain access to the Divine Treasure Vault, hoping an artifact within could cure Ouken's immortality. Instead he found a trapped Demon who consented to give him his wish at a terrible price. Desha agreed, and the Demon restored Ouken's mortality in exchange for all of Desha's memories.
Desha had remained in contact with Despa up until making the wish, but Despa was unaware of the circumstances surrounding it. Initially joyous at the return of his little brother, it quickly became apparent that something had happened to Desha, and the two princes immediately set out for the Divine Treasure Vault to find their brother.
Relationships[]
Desha[]
Desha and Despa do not get along. Despa considers his brother a heartless ogre for what transpired during Desha's revolution, while Desha generally seems exasperated by his younger brother's frivolity. Still, the two have a grudging respect for one another, and don't hesitate to help each other further the interests of the Underworld.
Despa seems to act as a direct emissary for Desha when the king can't be present, suggesting a deep level of trust between the brothers.
Ouken[]
In contrast to his relationship with Desha, Despa is genuinely fond of his younger brother. Ouken was one of Despa's first students, and Despa considers him one of the finest swordsmen he's ever produced.
Bojji[]
Despa is perhaps Bojji's first true mentor, and immediately saw past Bojji's weakness to appreciate the prince's true abilities instead. He was a strict and relentless teacher to Bojji, but found Bojji to be a talented and willing pupil, and quickly developed a deep affection for him.
Bojji and Despa's relationship remains strong even after the completion of Bojji's training.
Kage[]
Though not a direct teacher to Kage, Despa has developed a respect and friendship for the young shadow as well. Despa and Kage are a bit more comedic and confrontational in their interactions together, but like each other all the same.
Abilities[]
Demigod[]
Despa is a Demigod, or a God-human hybrid. In contrast to his brother King Desha, Despa inherited a very small amount of his father's power. This power manifests as the ability to sense the strengths and weaknesses of anything he touches, including living beings. He prefers to use this ability to sense the hidden strengths in people, and then help them develop and master those strengths.
In Bojji's case Despa was able to sense that the young prince has absolutely no physical strength. He was also able to sense that Bojji had excellent speed, accuracy, and intelligence, which Despa then trained Bojji to use in a new personal fighting style.
Despa's ability to sense strength & weakness is so great that he's able to discern weak bonds between molecules.
Communication Magic[]
Despa is capable of communicating with his older brother, King Desha, over vast distances. He does so by speaking into his own cupped hand. The two are able to hear each other and converse freely.
Quotes[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despa's name likely derives from the Greek God, Hades (ハデス, Hadesu).
- Despa's name is also similar to the Japanese slang エスパー (esper), used to describe a person with ESP (psychic or supernatural abilities).