Lyserg Diethel

Lyserg Diethel is a fictional character from the anime and manga series Shaman King.

Appearance
Lyserg is very feminine looking, being mistaken for a girl by Ryu (among others). He dresses in a similar fashion as his father, both probably having their clothes as a homage to Sherlock Holmes When he joins the X-Laws, he begins wearing a classical white uniform similar to theirs.

Personality
The main antagonist Hao Asakura (Zeke Asakura in the English Dub) killed his parents while he was young and since then he has sought out revenge on Hao.

At first, Lyserg joins with Yoh Asakura and the others, but later joins the X-Laws, a group dedicated to destroying Hao. When Lyserg joins them he is unsure about the ways the X-Laws try to eliminate Hao. Though Lyserg holds great hatred for Hao, Yoh's own philosophies and personalities keep him from crossing the line. In the anime, Lyserg abandons his spirit Morphine for an angel spirit called Zeruel, but in the manga they are inseparable.

For his character, Lyserg is rather unstable when it comes to parent-child situations. He has a generally kind heart, although he becomes a bit of an anti-hero. Lyserg's dreams are to take revenge on Hao and to become a great detective much like his father. He is very passionate in his hatred for Hao, and will snap at the sight or sometimes even the mention of him. He also tends to use stereotypical British phrases and words, such as "...seen it on the telly" when referring to dowsing.

Abillities and Powers
Lyserg is also a dowser, a person who is able to find a person or persons using his special abilities. Lyserg uses his Crystal Pendulum for dowsing and even for spirit control. Lyserg's Furyoku is 170,000 (as seen in chapter 276)

Spirits

 * See More: Morphine|Zelel|Spirit of Fire

His power spirit is known as Morphine in the original Japanese version, Chloe in the English anime, and Morphea in the English manga. Morphea is the spirit that has been passed down from generation to generation of the Diethel family. It is known that she is the spirit of a poppy flower, which to Lyserg is like Horohoro's spirit, a spirit of the Earth. When Lyserg was six, he was given a test for his dowsing skills. He had to find the key to a cage, which was holding Morphea inside. In order for Morphea to be Lyserg's spirit, he had to unlock her from the cage. Although the task of finding the key was difficult, he managed to find it within Big Ben, the famous English clock.

Lyserg's second spirit is Zeruel/Zelel. Zeruel is a mechanical archangel that runs on the Angel Engine. The Archangels were modeled after sports cars, Zeruel being a Lotus Elise. One day, Marco began wondering where Lyserg's loyalities lied and decided it was time for his new weapon. Marco entrusted him with Zeruel, wanting him to deliver justice with him. Lyserg's first use of this spirit was when he saved HoroHoro from Hao's allies.

In the anime, Lyserg abandons his original spirit in favor of the more powerful angel. In the manga however, Lyserg never abandoned his spirit, instead he fused Morphine and Zeruel together to form his armor oversoul, Mastema Dolkeia (Flame of Hostility). Like the others, Lyserg was also one of the 5 warriors chosen by Sati. He went through hell training which in turn, gave him the power necessary for conquering Hao. In a last meeting with him, Hao ditched Spirit of Fire, and Lyserg received it. He was called the cleverest of the 5 warriors by Pascal Avaf and is the second strongest among the 5.

Past
He was born on May 17, 1986.

Lyserg comes from England and was raised by his father to become and dowser and becoming worthy of the spirit Morphine. However on the day he would graduate he came home seeing his family burned and killed by Hao.

Shaman Fights
During the Shaman Fights Lyserg was qualified by Bron.

Plants
Lyserg is shown pushing the Iron Maiden (with wheels on it) with the group and eventually finds out Marco was shot by Luchist. He mourns his loss, but is reminded that they have no time to be grieve. Opacho then comes up from behind to comfort him. Lyserg keeps Marco's glasses in his honor.

In the Plant of the Valley, Lyserg faces the next officiant, Bron (who was his mentor in the preliminary rounds), finding out that both of them had gotten stronger since they last fought. Lyserg begins losing his temper a bit and begins to strike. However, he was unable to hit him and was shot in the chest. Bron goes to finish off the others, but they are protected by Iron Maiden Jeanne. She points out that she feels sad and is about to kill Bron who is still coming after them when Lyserg suddenly regains consciousness and stops Bron's attack using his hand. He later faces Jeanne saying,"Please don't. You should not waste your precious furyoku, Lady Maiden," Yoh and the others assumed he was dead, but Lyserg explained that Marco's glasses were bulletproof and that they kept him safe from the blow.

With Bron's anger rising, Lyserg began examining him and thinking about when he could attack.

The fight then ends with Lyserg explaining how mind over body works and him performing a move called "Cremation."

Funbari no Uta
Lyserg appears in Funbari no Uta as one of the five warrior cameos. Lyserg is 21 and seems to have physically changed. He has gotten noticeably taller, no longer wears his patched shawl, and sports a detective trench coat.

Family
Lyserg's father (Liam Diethel) is a shamanic detective much like Sherlock Holmes. His spirit was Chloe (Morphine) and his focus (medium) was the pendulum. Both items were handed down to his son, Lyserg. Lyserg's mother (Jean Diethel) has little known history. Both were killed by the antagonist Hao Asakura.

Anime/Manga Difference
Due to the fact the anime ended a lot earlier than the manga, different things happen. For example, order of events changed and locations of manga fights change. Yoh and the others fight a vampire in a theater in the anime but in the manga Yoh and the others fight a vampire outside the Patch Village.

For his attitude, Lyserg appeared to be aggressive and friendly when he first met Yoh, HoroHoro, Ren and Ryu in the manga. He even mentioned that he is smart, rich, fashionable and strong. His attitude is more like "open" than what he is in the anime counter-part; wherein he is emotional and too serious.

Name & Censorship
His name is a drug reference to lysergic acid diethylamide. The name of his spirit, Morphine, is obviously a drug reference as well and thus was changed to Chloe and Morphea for the English anime and manga, respectively

Trivia

 * The appearance of Lyserg's father and Lyserg's own appearance in Funbari no Uta is based on the stereotype look of Sherlock Holmes