Honest

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

• Build: Bloated and heavyset, with thick fingers and short legs; his appearance conceals exceptional strength and agility 130 131 136.
• Facial hair: Has a beard and mustache, which he frequently strokes or lifts while speaking 27 54.
• Clothing: Wears splendid robes, aristocratic leather boots, and the crownlike Jeweled Headdress Erastone 131 135 139.
• Eyes: Outwardly ordinary, but Seryu finds their expression devoid of emotion and filled with cunning 136.

Personality

Honest treats government as a means of preserving his own wealth and authority. He profits from corrupt appointments, accepts bribes, and portrays criticism of his decisions as treason. When an old general challenges his misuse of military forces, Honest persuades the emperor to have the man seized for execution 27 76.

His loyalties depend on usefulness. He initially demands Lin Feng’s death, then defends the same killings as an internal disciplinary cleanup once Lin Feng proves capable of challenging Esdeath. After Night Raid’s apparent destruction, he immediately reclassifies Lin Feng from a valuable asset to his greatest threat 52 55 110.

Honest values his own survival above family or civilians. He regards Syura as replaceable and knowingly permits a maximum-output attack that will engulf innocent people. His confidence deteriorates when Lin Feng’s powers defy his understanding, leading him to offer shared rule before ultimately succumbing to terror and illusion 110 141 157 158 159.

History

Control of the Imperial Court

With a child occupying the throne, Honest holds the Empire’s effective governing power. His advocacy of rule through force accompanies widespread corruption and military indifference to ordinary people’s suffering 1.

Ogre’s death disrupts one of Honest’s sources of bribe money. Despite the culprit being unconfirmed, he urges the emperor to punish Night Raid, arguing that its destruction would intimidate other assassins regardless of responsibility. He postpones further action until Esdeath returns from the northern campaign 27.

After her return, Honest borrows the Three Beasts. They are subsequently ordered to assassinate loyal civil officials and frame Night Raid, while Honest assigns Wave to assist them 32 43.

Recruiting Lin Feng as a Counterweight

Following Dr. Stylish’s death, Honest’s faction issues a kill-on-sight order against Lin Feng. When Lin Feng enters the palace and presents evidence against Stylish and Nyau, Honest diverts the emperor’s attention to his unusual shadow ability and secures an execution order 49 52.

Lin Feng’s confrontation with Esdeath changes Honest’s calculation. Seeing someone capable of pressuring his strongest general, Honest intervenes, excuses Lin Feng’s actions, and supports his appointment as a palace lieutenant general. He also approves Seryu’s succession to Lin Feng’s former position 54 55.

Honest intends to exploit both Lin Feng’s strength and Esdeath’s feelings toward him. By keeping the two in opposition, he hopes to prevent either from becoming powerful enough to threaten his authority 55.

The Path of Peace Scheme

Honest installs Bolic within the Path of Peace to gain control of the movement during its planned uprising. He deploys the Four Rakshasa Demons as protection and maintains contact through informants 60 61.

The operation collapses after Bolic’s assassination. Honest recalls the surviving forces and questions Suzuka about the loss of her companions. Although she implicates a shadow-controlling attacker, he accepts Lin Feng’s account and states that he can support his western-side alibi 71 72.

Wild Hunt and Night Raid’s Apparent Defeat

After Syura’s return, Honest orders him to deploy Wild Hunt while staying out of the Night Raid affair. He later promotes Lin Feng to Great General and places both Wild Hunt and the Jaegers under his command, ordering him to eliminate Night Raid 78 80.

Lin Feng instead arranges Wild Hunt’s defeat and stages Night Raid’s destruction. He presents Syura’s corpse and four captured female members to Honest, then apparently executes the women before the court. Honest accepts the spectacle as proof that Night Raid is finished, explicitly considering his son’s loss a worthwhile sacrifice 105 108 109 110.

With the assassins supposedly eliminated, Honest strips Lin Feng of command over the Jaegers. He then orders Esdeath and Budo to monitor him and kill him upon finding suspicious activity, intending to fabricate evidence of rebellion if necessary 114 115 116.

Palace Assault and Death

During the palace uprising, Honest encounters Night Raid and discovers that the women he watched die are alive. His concealed combat strength initially lets him withstand their coordinated attacks, but Tatsumi’s Dragon Transformation and Susanoo’s Magatama Manifestation overwhelm him. Susanoo severs part of his left arm before Honest uses Erastone to destroy both opposing Teigu 130 135 136 137 138.

Honest persuades the emperor to activate Shikoutazer and later its Purge Mode. Lin Feng’s intervention turns the battle against him: the Machine God damages its own fists against Lin Feng’s body, while the capital’s fallen guards return as Lin Feng’s undead troops 139 146 152.

After killing the emperor and taking the throne himself, Honest continues fighting through the transformed Machine God. His attempt to bargain with Lin Feng fails, and Erastone proves useless against powers that are not Teigu 156 157 158.

Lin Feng removes and crushes Erastone, releasing the suppressed effects of Honest’s accumulated poison. Under Eye of the Dark Heavens, Honest hallucinates an ocean as an escape from his burning agony, leaps from the Machine God, and dies when his skull strikes the ground 159.

Abilities & Skills

Political Manipulation

Honest governs through the emperor’s trust, a network of corrupt officials, and control over military appointments 1 27 76.

• Imperial influence: Turns accusations and personal wishes into the emperor’s orders, including executions and promotions 52 55 76.
• Balancing military power: Uses Lin Feng and Esdeath to constrain one another, then withdraws authority when an asset becomes threatening 55 80 114.
• Covert operations: Employs informants, infiltrators, assassins, and false accusations to undermine opponents 43 60 61 116.
• Combat training: Personally trained Sten, Ibara, and Mez of the Four Rakshasa Demons 72.

Forbidden-Drug Enhancement

Repeated consumption of a prohibited substance derived from special-class Danger Beast blood gives Honest extraordinary physical ability. Akame judges his displayed strength to exceed what three doses could produce, estimating seven, eight, or more than ten 131 135.

• Durability: Tatsumi’s full-force spear thrust leaves only a slight scratch on his neck 130.
• Strength: Holds off Tatsumi and Susanoo simultaneously, then kicks both several meters away 136.
• Speed and perception: Tracks Akame’s feints, detects Lubbock’s threads, and evades coordinated gunfire and sword attacks 135.
• Claw attacks: Uses his fingernails as cutting weapons, tearing threads and inflicting deep wounds on Leone 131 135 136.
• Limits: Dragon Transformation Tatsumi breaks his ribs, while Susanoo’s Kusanagi Sword cuts through his enhanced flesh 137 138.
• Toxic dependence: Erastone suppresses the poison without eliminating it. Destruction of the headdress causes paralysis, internal corrosion, and extreme pain 159.

Swordsmanship

Honest combines a sword with his enhanced reflexes rather than relying solely on brute force 135 136.

• Blocks Akame’s concealed attack without looking directly at her 135.
• Uses a discarded sword as a landing point during an aerial evasion 135.
• Deflects dozens of firearm rounds with successive swings 136.

Jeweled Headdress Erastone

Erastone dismantles other Teigu through the arcane energy field attached to it. Honest uses it to eliminate Susanoo and Tatsumi’s Demon Incursion when they place him in a lethal predicament 138 159.

• Gem expenditure: Two of its original three gems disappear after destroying the two Teigu 138 139.
• Replenishment: According to Honest, its gems regrow at a rate of three per week; destroyed enemy Teigu do not regenerate 139.
• Poison suppression: Keeps the forbidden drug’s toxicity suppressed within his body 159.
• Restriction: Cannot nullify Lin Feng’s Alucard abilities because they are not Teigu 158.

Shikoutazer Piloting

Honest operates the Supreme Throne Shikoutazer after its activation by the emperor, using its immense body and weapons against the palace attackers 139 146.

• Armament: Directs physical strikes, the Destruction Orb, and a slicing air barrier 141 146 150.
• Royal-blood requirement: Cannot activate its full power himself; nonroyal operation reduces its output by half 150.
• Energy limitation: Initially mistakes the air barrier for an inexhaustible defense and is caught off guard when it must recharge 151.
• Transformed state: Takes control after Purge Mode’s transformation, enduring rejection by the throne; its mental influence subsequently worsens his instability 152 156 157.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Jeweled Headdress Erastone — Crownlike anti-Teigu weapon and the safeguard against his accumulated drug toxicity; destroyed by Lin Feng 139 159.
• Forbidden tablets — Carries additional doses inside his robes and consumes them during combat 131 137.
• Sword — Used against Akame and to deflect Seryu’s gunfire 135 136.
• Supreme Throne Shikoutazer — Royal Machine God commandeered during the final battle; destroyed by Lin Feng after Honest’s death 156 159.

Relationships

• Young Emperor — Public sovereign and political puppet. Honest exploits his trust and royal blood, then kills him to seize Shikoutazer’s throne 76 150 156.
• Syura — Son and leader of Wild Hunt. Honest considers him expendable compared with eliminating Night Raid 76 108 110.
• Esdeath — Strongest military asset and a potential threat. Honest values her effectiveness but recruits Lin Feng to counterbalance her 27 55.
• Lin Feng — Intended pawn turned principal enemy. Honest alternately condemns, promotes, and undermines him before dying through his intervention 52 55 80 116 159.
• Great General Budo — Military subordinate whom Honest finds less useful politically than Esdeath; later ordered to help monitor Lin Feng 27 116.
• Four Rakshasa Demons — Private execution squad, entirely subject to his orders and assigned to protect Bolic 60 72.
• Bolic — Infiltrator used to pursue control of the Path of Peace 60.
• Dr. Stylish — Profitable business associate. Honest supplies political protection that enables his experiments 150.
• Ogre — Corrupt officer whose bribes and connections benefit Honest; his death disrupts that income 27.
• Night Raid — Assassin organization Honest regards as his greatest thorn; their apparent destruction briefly convinces him that his position is secure 108 110.

Notable Quotes

“I can have more sons if they die, but Night Raid can never come back to life!” 110

“Your Teigu cannot regenerate after I shatter them, but my gems can grow back at a rate of three per week…” 139

“Lin Feng, with power like yours, why don't we rule this country together?” 157