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. The team was tasked gaining control of the floating island in order for it to be used as a weapon by the militaristic nation.

Throughout his time on Ylapu, Dens was far more focused on providing emotional comfort to his friend Hubert Lipton, who was in the process of grieving the apparent deaths of both his father Thoma Lipton and his best friend Patton Misnarge than he was in assisting Bitch in his mission. While Dens provided ample muscle and formidable fighting ability while exploring the floating city, particularly during his group's various conflicts against the Rance Rescue Team, he was unwilling to assist Bitch in performing his most depraved actions, to the point of freeing Shizuka Masou from his clutches after he had captured and attempted to rape her despite her being his enemy.

Towards the end of their expedition, Bitch successfully managed to activate the crazed Tousho Dio Calmis, though as he was not a blood relative of Dio's master, he was unable to control him and was quickly killed. Believing his friend's life to be far more important to the future of Helman than his own, Dens sacrificed himself in order to hold Dio off and buy Hubert time to escape.

Personality and Appearance
Dens was a gigantic and burly man with tan skin, short-cropped blonde hair with sideburns and a large scar across his forehead. His clothing consisted of a blue tunic, grey plate armor and a grey circlet which he wore around his forehead. Despite his gruff appearance, he was actually quite young, and was only 22 years old at the time of his death.

Dens maintained a fairly dim disposition and spoke with a distinct stutter. In contrast to his appearance, however, Dens 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 prince Patton Misnarge, and was saddened after he was declared dead following Helman's failed occupation of Leazas in Rance III. In many ways, Dens embodied the ideal traits of a Helman soldier: a powerful warrior and a loyal ally. Dens 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 Thoma Lipton 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. Dens' loyalty towards Hubert was best shown when he sacrificed his life in order to hold off Dio Calmis to buy his friend time to escape, showing only happiness that he was able to assist Hubert during his final moments. While Hubert was greatly saddened by Dens' death, it also provided him with the motivation he needed to become inspired to stand against his nation's government, leading to him co-founding the Patton Faction. Dens disliked working under Bitch who simply saw Dens as a brute, valuable only for his strength. Dens was reluctant to go against his commander and quietly allowed himself to be abused. However, Dens displayed his morality when Bitch demonstrated his lecherousness during the operation - after Bitch tried to rape a captive Shizuka Masou, Dens knocked him unconscious without hesitation and, along with the rest of the unit, gave Shizuka her freedom.

Abilities
Dens' brute 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, 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.