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Bell Cranel (ベル・クラネル) is the main male protagonist of the series. He is a first-tier adventurer and the captain of the Hestia Familia. After he leveled up to Level 2, he received the alias Little Rookie. Following his level up to Level 4, his alias was changed to Rabbit Foot. He is the reincarnation of the famous hero Argonaut.

Appearance

Bell is a young teenager with white hair and red eyes, often compared to a rabbit based on his appearance. He is considered cute, as many female characters have pointed out throughout the story. He prefers wearing lightweight armor and wears a hip-length brown coat with a small black patch on the right side above his chest, along with a long-sleeved black shirt underneath. He also wears black pants, a beige belt with a silver buckle, and brown shin-high boots.

Personality

Bell is a kind, straightforward, brave, yet shy boy who desires to be a hero like the ones he grew up reading about. He cares deeply for the people around him, especially his Goddess, Hestia, and his Familia. He considers them like family due to the death of his grandfather.

After being rescued from a minotaur by Ais Wallenstein, he fell in love with her. However, after being ridiculed by a member of the Loki Familia about the incident and for how weak he was (not knowing that he was within earshot), Bell couldn't help but acknowledge his words and thought himself foolish for thinking that Ais could be with someone like him. He became determined to grow stronger so that he could be someone that could stand beside her. The initial incident also left him with a fear of minotaurs.

Bell's goals didn't start out pure, as he wanted to be an adventurer in hopes of picking up girls, even thinking of starting a harem, all thanks to advice from his grandfather. However, after his encounter with Ais, Bell seems to have forgone that dream in order to catch up to her and to become more like a hero. Although, he does get embarrassed when others find out about his desire to be a hero, as most kids grew out of that dream by his age.

Though it is a good trait, Bell is often scolded by people around him for his trusting nature. He was tricked out of his money by Naaza and Lili multiple times before he found out. In the latter's case, Hestia warned him that she may be untrustworthy; nevertheless, he still refused to abandon her. However, being the type to not hold grudges, he easily forgave both of them. When a body was discovered in the eighteenth floor and Ryuu was thought to be the murderer, he continually held doubts (despite mounting evidence seemingly pointing to her) and wanted to believe in her.

Bell is also a terrible liar. His inability to lie or keep a secret is often easily recognized by others. This inability is part of the reason why Hestia has not told him about the skill behind his extremely fast growth, knowing that he would unable to keep it a secret for long. Conversely, it has been noted by Hestia that he has an extraordinary ability to read people. He recognized the loneliness in Lili to be similar to what he felt and was able to pick up on Lyd's feelings through his facial expressions fairly quickly.

Though he gets flustered quite easily from time to time, especially around women, and can appear to be timid, Bell does possess a strong will. His feelings for Ais were strong enough to grant him a skill that highly accelerated his growth. His desire to be strong and stand next to her gave him the resolve to overcome his fear of minotaurs and defeat one while still only a Level 1. He unknowingly went against Hermes's divine will and refused to kill Gros, choosing instead to believe in the dream of the Xenos and risk death.

When he sets his mind to a goal, he puts his all towards completing it. He is the only adventurer to endure Eina's strict lessons, and he persisted through Ais and Tiona's harsh training in preparation for the War Game against the Apollo Familia.

Bell often acts based on his feelings, causing him to be frequently caught up in trouble, such as when he decided to help Lili, rescue Haruhime, and protect Wiene. However, such actions have also worked in his favor. His actions caused him to earn the affection of the aforementioned women, as well as several others. He saved Mord Latro, who had kidnapped Hestia and attacked him, from monsters, turning him from an enemy into an ally. His staunch support of the Xenos and his belief that they are worthy of being saved has made him extremely popular with them.

His encounter with the Xenos deeply troubled him for a time. He was unsure if he could keep killing monsters, knowing that there were some that had the emotions and intelligence of people. With some advice from Fels, he decided to become a hypocrite: he would keep taking lives so that he could get stronger and protect others.

He would extend this approach to being a "hypocrite" when it came to his relationships to the women around him. Unbeknownst to him, many of the women he knows have crushes on him to varying degrees, with him appearing to be completely unaware and dense toward most of their feelings and advances; in particular not taking any of Hestia's confessions seriously, only seeing her as his Goddess. After Syr confesses to him, he initially is troubled on how to respond, due to his feelings for Ais, but with advice from Welf, rejects her. Despite this, he still resolves to do everything he can to help her, even after learning her true identity as Freya, and recognizing himself as the source of her suffering. He demonstrated a similar form of action when he protested Finn's marriage proposal to Lili, without knowing about her feelings for him.

Following his loss against Asterius and ascension to Level 4, Bell has become more calm and level-headed. Due to his goals now including creating a world that both people and Xenos could live in and defeating Asterius, his desire to be stronger has grown and he approaches adventures in the dungeon with more seriousness.

Bell does not like sweet things and prefers bitter foods instead. In regards to women, Bell likes blond girls. He also has a preference for Elves.

History

Bell was born as a result of the union between a member of the Zeus Familia and Meteria of the Hera Familia, some time after the defeat of both Familias by the One Eyed Black Dragon. Before dying, his mother gave him to Zeus so that he can take care of him, who took him to raise him as his grandson in a rural village deep in the mountains. As he grew up, Bell heard and read many stories about heroes from his grandfather, forming his dream of aspiring to be a mighty one himself.

In the past, Bell was almost killed by a goblin and was saved by his grandfather. After his grandfather's presumed death, he took it upon himself to leave the village, traveling to the land of Orario to fulfill his dreams. Upon his arrival in the city, Bell attempted to enter numerous Familia, but was rejected by each one. Hestia, a Goddess, unable to find members willing to join her Familia, asked him if he'd like to become the first member of her Familia. Bell gladly accepted, and so started his new life, finally with a Goddess' blessing.

Abilities

Bell is a talentless person, as it has been recognized by Eina and his grandfather. Oomori made an analogy that if the world was a gacha game (with Gods being players and dependents being characters), Ryuu and Ais would be SSSR characters, whereas Bell would be just a R character. However, he is a character that broke the game through achieving a specific event.[1]

Excess Status: As a result of having SS and SSS stats at each level, Bell has grown to become a powerful adventurer that far surpasses others of the same level. When his Level 3 stats were still low, he was on par with Aisha who was one of the strongest Level 3 at the time. As a high Level 3, his overall prowess was close to Dix's, who had the status of a Level 4 due to the effects of his curse. Aisha pointed out that as a new Level 4, Bell's status was at least mid Level 4 tier while his Agility seemed to be at the top of Level 4, and later proved to be even higher.

Thanks to this, Bell has been able to clash with and defeat enemies above his level. After going past the normal limit of basic abilities as a Level 2, he defeated Hyakinthos who was Level 3. When he was a completely new Level 4, he defeated an irregular Moss Huge that Aisha recognized she would have great difficulty defeating in spite of having been level boosted to Level 5. He also faced the Juggernaut born on the 27th Floor and put up a good fight against it.

Exceptional Strength: As a Level 2, Bell destroyed pavement with a kick and reached the roof of an eight meter tall building with a single leap while carrying Hestia. Since then his strength has extremely increased with each subsequent status update and rank up.

Exceptional Speed, Agility, and Reflexes: During the War Game against the Apollo Familia, Bell as a Level 2 outsped Level 3 Hyakinthos, who was so fast that Bell previously couldn't even see his movements. When his agility stat as a Level 3 was still low, he already had the advantage in speed against Aisha, who was one of the strongest Level 3s at the time. By the time he ventured with Mikoto to save Haruhime his stat was shown to already be on par with a Level 4's, as after receiving Haruhime's level boost his speed was quite close to that of Phryne, a Level 5 with her agility at rank D, albeit she still held a slight advantage.

Once it was high, his speed was equal to that of Dix, who had the status of a Level 4 under the effects of his curse. As a completely new Level 4, Bell's speed seemed to be high Level 4 tier as noted by Aisha, with him later proving to be much more faster after his body and mind synchronized. As a new Level 5, he could perfectly see Level 4 Vanir's movements quite clearly and easily handle his double attack with his twin swords using a single hand and while hesitant.

Exceptional Durability: As a new Level 4, Bell survived being drenched in a Lambton's gastric juices for a considerable period of time, though he was severely injured. Even in his grave condition, he withstood the shockwave of a Kaenseki blast powered by a four minute Argonaut charge and a huge fall. As a new Level 5, he survived an attack and being buried under debris by a shockwave created by a beastified Ottar, who boasted a Level 8's power and just in his normal state is strong enough to generate tremors that extend for several kilometers with a single attack, although he was badly injured.

Massive Endurance: Bell survived for four days along with Ryuu on the 37th Floor. Even with his body injured by a Lambton's gastric acid, he demonstrated that he could fight effectively despite his multiple and constant confrontations with monsters throughout their journey. At the end of their adventure, he pushed himself to his limits in the battle against the Juggernaut of the 27th Floor, even managing to hold out on his own against the monster for a considerable period of time.

Skilled Fighter: Due to his rapid growth, Bell suffers from a lack of experience that has led to him having inferior fighting skills for someone of his rank at various points in his career. As a Level 2, his skills were below average compared to adventurers of the same level. However, he managed to improve and refine his abilities thanks to Ais' and Tiona's tutelage. In the War Game against Apollo Familia, he proved to be a match for Hyakinthos in terms of technique and tactics. Later he also began training with Ryuu and by the time of his duel with Dormul he possessed a level of skill comparable to that of the Dwarf, who was described as a true Level 3 veteran, even though he had just ranked up.

However, his skills are still inferior to those of the most experienced adventurers. In his journey through the 37th Floor together with Ryuu he received several teachings from the Elf that helped him improve considerably. Even so, she was still much better than him in terms of technique. Likewise, he was significantly less skilled than the Freya Familia's Level 4s, who possessed a much greater amount of experience and breadth of techniques.

Despite all this, his skills still greatly improve his combat ability. During his training with Hedin, he passed from being utterly hopeless against the Elf to being able to cope with his assault, and could even manage to make a slight cut on his face when he remembered Ais' and Ryuu's teachings, though Hedin was holding back at that moment. Hogni also recognized potential in him. While he described his techniques as the most basic of the basics, the Dark Elf also noted that when his life is in danger his responses expand in unexpected ways, making him strong when he is in a pinch. Therefore, he concluded that what he lacks is experience with the unreasonable and an absurd amount of experiences.

Bell mainly employs a hit and run tactic coupled with a dual wielding knives style to confront his opponents. His fighting style is based mainly on his speed. Bell uses it to overwhelm his opponents and thanks to this he can dominate opponents whose overall prowess is greater than his own. His fighting style also has a striking resemblance to Ais' due to his training under her, as noted by Phryne and Narvi.

He has also on a few occassions used a greatsword to battle. In his first usage, Tiona pointed out that he was terrible with it, though he still managed to use it to seriously injure and push back his opponent, the 9th Floor Minotaur. It is unknown how much, if at all, his skill with them has improved since then. Since his fight the Juggernaut of the 27th Floor, Bell has become adept at using his Goliath Muffler as a whip to hold his enemies in place or deviate their attacks as well as an improvised shield.

  • Rabbit Rush (白兎の猛攻(ラビット・ラッシュ)): Bell charges at his opponent to perform a ferocious series of high-speed slashing attacks with his two knives.

Fast Learning: In spite of his lack of talent, Bell has demonstrated to have an outstanding learning capability that allows him to quickly grasp any lesson taught to him and improve his skills at an astonishing rate. His learning capability impressed even Ais and Ryuu. Within the span of a week, he became a match for Hyakinthos in terms of techniques and tactics, who was previously vastly better than him in said area, under the tutelage of Ais and Tiona.

Enhanced Senses: After acquiring his falna, Bell's senses became much sharper than those of a normal person. His senses further improved with each subsequent rank up. Since reaching Level 3 Bell has become capable of sensing the size of a person's container for their status, allowing him to determine how powerful they are.

Gaze Sensing: As a result of Freya constantly observing him, Bell developed the odd ability to feel people's stares towards him. He can tell whenever someone is looking at him even if he doesn't have his guard up and accurately point out said person's position. His perception has sharpened to the point he could properly fight Mord despite the latter being invisible.

Extensive Dungeon Knowledge: Due to his constant lessons with Eina, Bell possesses a great and deep knowledge about the dungeon. He was shown to have a clear understanding of floors quite beyond the ones he had reached and the monsters that inhabit them, such as with the 37th Floor.

Magic

As he only had one magic slot available, Bell is currently unable to learn any more magic without a Grimoire. However, he rejected Hestia's proposal to use one since he is not a mage and dislikes the idea of using magic that requires time to chant.

Firebolt (ファイアボルト): Firebolt is Bell's only magic he learned from reading the grimoire he borrowed from Syr. It is a no chant magic, which only requires saying the magic's name to activate it. Because of this, it can be used quickly, making it a good complement to his speed-focused combat style. Bell frequently uses it at short range and at most in medium range, however, long range is his weakest point. If he is facing a distant, fast-moving enemy, landing a shot becomes significantly more difficult.

Although the lack of a chant makes it a weak magic, Bell's level and high magic stat makes it a strong attack capable of either killing or just taking out monsters and people of a lower level than Bell's in a single shot and deal heavy damage to opponents of the same level. He sometimes combines it with Argonaut for stronger damage.

Skills

Liaris Freese (憧憬一途(リアリス・フレーゼ)): Liaris Freese increases the speed of Bell's growth as long as he is in love.[Note] The strength of the effects is related to the strength of Bell's feelings. As a side effect, it makes him immune to charms. It also allows him to exceed the limit of his abilities, having had stats in the SS and SSS ranks in all his previous levels. Due to Bell's own nature, the skill would cease to work if his feelings changed and he fell in love with a girl other than Ais.

Argonaut (英雄願望(アルゴノゥト)): Argonaut allows a charge for active action. It allows Bell to spend stamina and mind to perform a single powerful attack called the "hero's strike" by Hestia. The longer the charge the more powerful it is, and therefore the higher the cost of stamina and mind will be. Bell needs to think of a hero to activate the skill and can only create a charge in one place at a time. Initially, the full charge was 3 minutes, but it was later extended to 4 minutes when Bell reached Level 4, and then to 5 minutes when Bell reached Level 5. When he performs a charge the skill creates a noise that sounds like a small chime.

It can be used to strengthen attacks that originate from him or to help him move, but the effects will dissipate when he is attacked or if he loses focus. If he charges the skill into something other than himself, the charge will dissipate a few moments after it leaves his hand. Bell is also capable of dispelling a charge at will, but doing so does not restore his stamina and mind, leaving him just as exhausted as if he had used it. Also, using the skill damages whatever he's charging as recoil, destroying weapons after use and severely injuring his hand when he used it to punch Dix. The damage is implied to be worse the longer the skill is charged.

During a Limit Off, the skill's power grows exponentially and it sounds like a grand bell, hence it being named Grand Bell (大鐘楼(グランド・ベル)) while it is enhanced by this state, as well as seemingly gaining the passive effect of restoring and raising the morale of those who hear its chime.

When he was Level 2, a Firebolt powered by a full three-minute charge was able to completely destroy the head of the Black Goliath, a Level 5 black Monster Rex characterized by its resilient skin, as well as continue to fly for a great distance after impact and create an explosion when it collided with a wall of the 18th Floor. As a Level 4, with a four minute full charge powered by a Limit Off, Bell completely destroyed Enyo's Nidhogg. Even small charges can be devastating. As a Level 3, with a status equal to a Level 4's, just one hit from Bell strengthened by a twenty-second charge dealt critical damage to a Level 5 Dix, shattering his ribcage and making him vomit large amounts of blood.

Bell gained Argonaut upon ranking up to Level 2 out of his desire to become a hero. As of volume 9, he has become able to use Argonaut while moving, a feat he was previously incapable of doing. Following his defeat to Asterius, Bell began experimenting with Argonaut, and came up with a new application of the focusing aspect of the skill, referring to it as dual charge (二重集束(デュアル・チャージ)), allowing him to charge two attacks at once instead of the usual one.

  • Argo Vesta (聖火の英斬(アルゴ・ウェスタ)): Argo Vesta is Bell's new technique using Argonaut's dual charge that's named after Hestia. He first casts Firebolt on the Hestia Knife, then uses Argonaut on both of them to charge them at once, surrounding them with particles of light. Due to the skill, the magic envelops the blade and spreads out, making the blade as thick as a sword and as long as a short sword. The heat and brilliance increase the longer it's charged, making it give off a crimson light, and once he reaches the desired charge time, Bell slashes at his opponent. The power from the attack causes a bright flash of light and sends out both a heatwave and a shockwave.

Ox Slayer (闘牛本能(オックス・スレイヤー)): Ox Slayer heavily increases all abilities when fighting raging bull-type monsters, potentially making Bell stronger than his actual level when fighting them.

Vanadis Tevere (美惑炎抗(ヴァナディース・テヴェレ)): Vanadis Tevere raises all of Bell's stats by a large amount and regenerates his stamina and mind when Charm is being used on him.

Development Abilities

Luck (幸運): Luck is a rare development ability Bell chose once he reached Level 2. It is an unprecedented ability, as Eina hadn't heard of it, even though she was a Guild member, and Hestia states that it's close to divine protection. Overall, it improves his luck, such as finding resources in the dungeon and getting drops more frequently, in addition to winning repeatedly at a casino. Cassandra believes that his luck is what allows him to believe her prophecies.

Abnormal Resistance (耐異常): Abnormal Resistance negates the effects of abnormalities such as poison. Bell has reached rank G, so almost nothing can affect him, even the strongest poisons in high doses.

Escape (逃走): Escape increases Bell's speed when running away. Bell obtained it at Level 4 after all the running he did being chased by enemies since Level 1. In the War Game against the Freya Familia, despite being under the effects of Haruhime's level boost and Hedin's Laurus Hildr, Allen had managed to outspeed him and close the vast distance between them. However, once Bell obtained the speed boost of Escape, he was able to surpass Allen and increase the distance between them, with Allen bitterly acknowledging that he could only reach Bell using his magic Gralineze Fromel.

Chain Attack (連攻): Chain Attack increases the power of attacks delivered continuously.

Trivia

  • Meteria wanted her child's name to be something that was received from Alfia so she decided to name her child "Bell" whether it was born a boy or a girl, in reference to Alfia's magic making a bell ringing sound.
  • Oomori stated that Bell's birthday is in spring, like Haruhime, Ryuu, and Nina. He also added that Bell looks like he is from April.[2] This makes the four of them the only characters about whom details of their birthdays have been given.
  • Bell achieved Level 2 in a month and a half, Level 3 in one month, achieved Level 4 in two months, and Level 5 in two and a half months.
  • Currently, only Hestia, Riveria, Ais, Finn, Hermes, Lili, Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime, and Freya know that Bell has gone past the limits of his abilities.
  • Bell has appeared on every DanMachi light novel cover except for volumes 8 and 18.
  • The author stated that he does not want to change Bell's age throughout the story, which is one of the reasons why he does not want to make the story last more than a year.[3]
  • The term used for what fuels Bell's skill, Liaris Freese, is 懸想(おもい). The rubi, おもい, can translate as feelings (想い); therefore it is a valid translation and the actual word used. However, the kanji translates as being in love (懸想); it clarifies to what the word "feelings" refers and is also the actual meaning.

References

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