Dens Blau

"Dens Blau"

- moments before his death.

About
Dens Blau was a common soldier of the Helman 2nd Army who served as a member of Bitch Golch's exploration party on the floating city of Ylapu in Rance IV. Under Bitch, the group consisted of Dens, Hubert Lipton, Merim Tser, and Io Ishtar. The team was tasked with uncovering the ancient Tousho of Ylapu and returning with one to Helman for use as a weapon.

Dens was a gigantic and burly man with a fairly dim disposition that spoke with a distinct stutter. Despite his imposing appearance, he was a kind and attentive person who cared deeply for his friends and was distressed by the substantial corruption that had begun to plague Helman. He was a supporter of the Patton Faction and was saddened after Patton Misnarge was (falsely) declared dead after Helman's failed occupation of Leazas in Rance III. He had a very close friendship with his teammate and superior Hubert Lipton. Despite Hubert's attempts to hide it, Dens recognized his emotional stress during the mission, which had followed the apparent deaths of his father and Patton, his best friend since childhood. Dens encouraged Hubert to open up about his conflicted feelings regarding the state of Helman and provided him with emotional support throughout their time together. In return, Hubert referred to Dens as his partner and treated him as his equal despite Hubert's higher military standing. He disliked working under Bitch who simply saw Dens as a brute, valuable only for his strength. Dens was reluctant to go his commander and quietly allowed himself to be abused. However, Dens displayed his morality when Bitch demonstrated his lecherous during the operation - after Bitch tried to rape Shizuka Masou, Dens knocked him unconscious without hesitation and, along with the rest of the unit, gave Shizuka her freedom.

Near the end of the events on Ylapu, Dens heroically gave up his life holding off the crazed Tousho Dio Calmis in order to buy Hubert and Freak Paraffin time to safely escape. He showed no regret in his death, only happiness that he was able to help his friend. Hubert was greatly saddened by Dens' sacrifice, however, it gave Hubert the motivation he needed to rebel against Helman and assist Patton in his revolution. Because of this, Dens was indirectly responsible for the reformation of the Patton Faction and, more indirectly, the eventual collapse of Stessel Romanov's oppressive Helman regime.

Abilities
Dens strength belied his considerable skill. He was proficient with a wide range of weapons and possessed an above average Level Cap of 32. While he mainly relied on an axe in combat (despite having no levels skills in axe combat), he also utilized a powerful shoulder charge that could topple most opponents, even the highly skilled and heavily armored Rick Addison. His massive size and muscular frame gave him greater strength and stamina than an ordinary person, allowing him to be much stronger than another at his level would be, even to the point of holding off the ludicrously powerful Dio Calmis for several minutes, until the raging Tousho eventually killed him.

Besides his combat ability, Dens was a surprisingly attentive listener and skilled conversationalist. He effectively served as a confidant to Hubert's personal struggles and secrets while also providing him with sound advice and emotional support. It is because of Dens that Hubert was able to recognize his own dissatisfaction with the state Helman.

In many ways, Dens embodied the ideal traits of a Helman soldier: a powerful warrior and a loyal ally.

Trivia

 * Despite his gruff appearance, Dens was actually only 22 years old at the time of his death, 7 years younger than Hubert.