A skilled Meister formerly associated with the DWMA, the discovery of his Witch-based heritage caused him to pursue a long struggle for power.
Now working towards the creation of a new type of being, a Warlock, Franz has proved himself to be a particularly dangerous threat and powerful enemy in the eyes of others from the Soul Eater universe.
A talented and skilled Meister, Franz is most effective when wielding a sword-type Demon Weapon, having much experience through the use of double-edged sword Moralltach Redgrave and, more recently, the eastern blade Tsurugi. Whether or not he can carry another weapon type with the same mastery is yet to be seen.
An intellectual and intelligent man, Franz is adept at reading into situations in battle to best determine the way to fight against what is presented to him with the skills he has on offer, but his obsession with power can blind him to the obvious on occasion.
Proto-Warlock[]
As the son of a witch, Franz did not inherit the potency for magic from his mother, but has since discovered that the Sons of witches have the capacity to wield magic, if not naturally so. Using the souls of slain witches to channel and resonate with, he can draw out the magic within them and manipulate it to his own needs.
Franz's White Wings and Raven's Talons
Multi-Soul Resonance: Franz has displayed an adept ability with channeling multiple witch souls, the greatest number seen being four at once. The more he uses, the more powerful he becomes. This does come with risks, however, as attempting to resonate with witch souls has a chance of overwhelming his own, effectively shorting out the entire link.
Familiar Channeling: Having not yet become a full warlock, relying on witch souls for power, when he draws from them he also draws from their respective animal familiars, absorbing and utilising the powers that come along with them.
White Wings: The most prominent of Franz's magic abilities are the white wings he uses to fly, which are usually always present whilst he channels magical power. Believed to be caused by the channeling of his mother's Raven Witch soul, it's also possible that this is a small window into his full Warlock form.
Raven's Talons: Honed through the use of his mother's soul, Franz's typical weapon during battle are the twin-talons he forms from the black energy, which is a skill directly taken from his mother and adapted for himself.
Weapon-Magic Channel: Franz has proven himself capable of both resonating with Witch souls and his partner, Tsurugi, at the same time, causing the resonance to be amplified by the magical effects, similar to how a witch might wield a weapon, if they are so inclined.
Personality[]
A dark and twisted man sleeps within the calm demeanour
Fuelled by a lust for power for what he believes to be a worthy cause, Franz will stop at nothing to achieve what he desires most of all - becoming what he classifies as a 'Warlock', a male Witch species. Because his objective is not the defeat of others, he is not above leaving fights if he feels they are going wrong, as saving his skin is much more important than any kind of pride.
Manipulative of others for his own personal gains, Franz has attempted multiple times to sway others to his side, most notably Crona Makenshi, whom he considers his 'brother', as a fellow Witch-born Son. Along the same lines, whilst he is certainly not above killing those he pleases, he is also very conservative about those whom he believes can further his cause.
Somewhat spiteful and dismissive, he wishes to not only be powerful, but appear so to others. His constant mocking of Moralltach Redgrave is an example of this, as the very idea that he would require a weapon to be effective feels insulting to him, with even his new partner, Tsurugi, being treated as a mere tool.
History[]
Early Life[]
Growing up in Northern France with his father, Gaston De Montague, Franz was initially completely unaware of who his mother was other than the fact that she had left them shortly after he was born. His parents were not married and there was only one picture of the two together in the entire house. Because of this, he grew somewhat resentful of his missing mother, and closely worked with his father, the successful owner of De Montague Trade Ltd, which dealt with various industries whilst also being a powerful player in the French stock market.
Developing the ruthless and precise thought processes that such high-level business required, Franz found himself not necessarily interested in the subject matter or the products, but of being able to analyse, predict, and judge the flow of things. This applied well to the hobby he and his father regularly partook in, fencing, which combined his sharp mind with his quick-developing reflexes and finesse.
The pair often spent time in a summer vacation house located in the United States, with Franz having been taught English to better appropriate himself into a globalising society. It was there that an aquaintance happened to mention the DWMA to Gaston, to which he responded that he considered such a place 'too close to his Mother's world for my son', a conversation which Franz overheard. Incredibly curious, having barely heard much about his mother in his life, he immediately began pursuing a career as a Meister, honing his skills in wielding a weapon whilst also studying what he could about souls.
The DWMA[]
The pair as Students
Entry into the DWMA thanks to his father's influence, though much to Gaston De Montague's disdain, was relatively easy, especially given than Franz showed promise in the entrance exams. He was, however, incredibly picky with weapon choice, so much so that his inaction led him to almost be left without a partner at all. It was at this point that Professor Stein intervened, telling him that he needed to find a partner, lest he be placed in the NOT class.
It was here that he was introduced to Moralltach Redgrave, a double-edged sword Demon Weapon who also had trouble in finding a partner. The opportunity proved to be a fruitful idea for the Professor, with the new pair proving to be incredibly effective, though far from perfect. Franz still carried himself with a very haughty attitude whilst Moralltach appeared generally disinterested and usually grumpy, but at least they had made it into the EAT class.
With good grades accompanied by the pair's combat effectiveness, Franz found himself among the top percentage of his class, whilst Moralltach seemed to drag them somewhat down as a team. Either way they got along, knowing that they relied on each other to be in the place that they were. Eventually, the events of the Soul Eater anime began to occur, starting with the release of the Kishin.
It was shortly after this event that Franz received a parcel from an unknown location or sender. Upon opening it in his room, inside was a small, ornate black box, along with a note, which read:
My beloved son.
You have been sheltered from your heritage for far too long.
It is time you saw the truth of who you are, and what that means.
-Corvusia
A simple message, yet to the point, Franz was utterly shocked. Had his mother finally contacted him? Corvusia? He'd never heard the name before, only seen her picture and heard passing references to 'mother'. What did she mean about his heritage, and what had been hidden from him for so long?
Upon opening the box, inside was a deep purple soul, adorned with small wings and claw-like spikes at the bottom. As a DWMA student, he was able to instantly recognise it as the soul of a Witch.
New and Dark Beginnings[]
Fully recognising his status as the son of a witch, Franz was sent into a state of shock and turmoil. If word were to get out about this, he would likely be shamed, dismissed and pushed aside. His father would become known as something akin to a heathen and everything good about his life thus far would come crashing down, or so he believed.
Thus, at first he kept it a secret. No-one else knew, and he could carry on as he was. The pressure surrounding him, however, and the curiosity about who his mother was and what that letter meant gave him great stress. It wasn't until Crona arrived that he caught the whispers about him being the son of Medusa. Yet, his treatment only gave him more cause for concern. Crona was thrown in the school dungeon, only brought out of it when he was under watch and looked at as though he were some kind of monster by most of the students.
Franz was now aware of two things. The first was that his assumption of the treatment he would receive as the son of a witch proved to be true, as far as he could see. Secondly, and most importantly, he was not the only one. If Crona existed, as he did, he was certain there must be others, coping with the unfair prejudice of heritage in a cruel world.
It sickened him. So much so that his attitude quickly became more distant, observant and reserved as he watched the his peers with disgust. More than that, however, was his building hatred for his own mother.
If she hadn't shown herself, he wouldn't be this worried, this angry. There would be no risk of his life coming apart at the seams. She had left him be as a child, and that was parenting enough, as far as he was concerned.
One night, in a bid to destroy the evidence entirely, he attempted to destroy the soul by whatever means necessary. Yet, when he touched it with his own soul wavelength, he made a discovery that would change his life.
He could feel the magic within the soul, channeling through his own as though it belonged to him. A rush of power, a desire to use it, but most importantly he could feel just a touch of his mother's great care for her son. How she could feel that way when she had simply vanished was beyond him, but it was there.
It wasn't fair. The prejudice, the smoke and mirrors he had to pull each day. Within a mere month, his mind had been left in a somewhat unravelled state. Enough, he thought. No son of a witch deserved to constantly live in fear, they should respect him for it. To be born of someone so powerful was something to be proud of, to channel the magic like that was something to be feared.
He would master that power, learn everything he could, until he was strong enough to show the world itself what being the son of a witch truly meant. But he couldn't do that here, not in Shibusen. The DWMA would find out eventually if he stayed. Some of the staff were already inquiring about his state, it was too risky. Yet, heading alone into the world would be dangerous because of the Kishin's release. He would need his partner, Moralltach, in order to guarantee his survival until he could fully utilise magic. Such a grumpy, talentless weapon would hardly understand his goals, however. No-one but a fellow of his could truly get it. Moralltach would have to be kept in the dark.
Slowly, day by day, Franz began to talk to his partner about something new. Pre-Kishins weren't the only evil ones in the world. Humans could be just as devastating to the lives of others without having eaten a soul. They deserved to be punished. It was a twist to the tale, but it fit nonetheless - the humans around him already disgusted him, it was simply a very convincing white lie. Eventually, feeding on his partner's rage, he convinced the sword to come with him on a 'journey' to 'right the wrongs of the world'. Right them he would, as he fully intended to re-create the world as he desired once he truly became worthy of the title 'Witch's son'.
The Journey[]
The plan was set in motion the day students were shipped out to the Battle for BREW. He and Moralltach could slip out unnoticed. Those who went to the battle would simply think they were among those prevented from coming, and those who were left behind would believe they were summoned to fight. It was a perfect window. By the time anyone realised they were gone, it would be much too late.
Thus, they vanished, out into the world beyond Death City. Whilst Franz's goal didn't really rely much on specifics, he humoured the lie he told to his partner by researching and creating a 'list' of people who had done wrong in the world. Together, they would cull them all from this rotten Earth. In the mean time, he would continue to practice, in secret, with his mother's soul.
He did, however, make use of the souls that were gained. Again with an interesting lie, he slowly began to gather the harvested souls in bags, taking them with the both of them on their travels. Needing a place to store them on a regular basis so Moralltach wouldn't catch on, he utilised a seemingly abandoned motel in North America, taking advantage of the chaos the Kishin had brung. Once a month or so, they would travel back there so Franz could store the souls and they could 'plan their next move'. As time passed, over 900 souls were gathered through this method, as Franz continued to hone his magic wielding skills.
Around a year after they left, he finally developed a weapon he could utilise through magic - the Raven's Talons, a simple yet effective magical form. Claiming to Moralltach that it was simply a new soul technique, he began to test this new weapon out on their targets to devastating effect, eventually leaving Moralltach behind most nights to do the work himself.
It was during this period he heard that a witch was close by, making her home in a nearby abandoned building hidden in the woods. The ultimate test of his new skills were nigh, and he once more left Moralltach at 'base' in order to challenge the witch. It was a tough fight, but ultimately he slew her, retrieving her soul. In a brief test, he found that the theories he had been working on were correct. Able to channel any witch soul he obtained, his power would increase exponentially, but there was also the hidden energy he had been wondering about, true magic, held within both souls. It was finally time to put his plan into action.
However...
The Split[]
Moralltach, in his impatience at being left alone for all this time, the lack of inducing his rage having cleared his head, had become curious. In this curiosity, he had discovered Franz's stash of over 900 souls, as well as the fact that everything about merely 'cleansing the world of bad people' was an outright lie. Even worse, the sword had managed to stumble across his true goal - the Dark Soul.
If true magic did exist, it would need to be identified and filtered. The fact that it existed as an entity of its own, rather than truly one with the witch soul, gave the idea that such a thing could be given to other souls. It was why he had been gathering up so many human souls - testing. Franz knew he would need as many Witch souls as possible in order to filter out the animalistic properties of witches and gain access to the pure magic within, but it would be a difficult process. 7 Witch souls ought to suffice, and over a thousand human souls would provide him ample opportunity.
In a strange moment of humour, he decided to go with 1330 in the notes. Perhaps anyone that discovered them would think there was some kind of significance to the 1337 beyond the popular reference.
Yet, now his partner knew, and he wasn't pleased he had been tricked. No matter. Franz had control enough of Magic to slay a witch by himself, and now that he had two instead of one, what possible need did he have for some pathetic weapon who was so easily manipulated? Moralltach had just become a liability, and it was time to take out the trash.
Franz beat Mort within an inch of his life, using his newfound powers, even going as far to collapse the apartment building on top of him to prevent his escape. Taking the over 900 souls he had gathered with him, Franz moved onwards, leaving the bloodied and beaten weapon behind as he begun his quest to obtain 5 more witch souls.
