Elite (エリート), or Vampire Elite (吸血鬼エリート, Kyūketsuki Eriito), is a vampire who appears in the Shonen Magazine story Vampire Elite. He originally appeared in the rental manga, where he is referred to as Johnny (ジョニー), also known as Johnny in the Mist (which is also the original name of the story).
In the Shigeru Mizuki's Obake School picture book version, he is called Vampire Charan Poran (吸血鬼チャランポラン, Kyūketsuki Charan Poran).
Appearance
Elite is a short man of average build, usually seen wearing a tuxedo of varying color. His hair is parted down the middle, and he has large, upward slanted eyes, a hooked nose and a wide mouth.
His appearance was modeled after Shigeru Mizuki's friend and fellow manga artist Saburō Tsuyuki.
Abilities
Like all vampires, Elite has the ability to drink the blood of his victims. The effects of drinking blood depends on the adaptation, but it is usually for maintaining his youth. Being an elite vampire, he can safely go out into the sunlight without being burned like a normal vampire would be.
Elite was originally a regular vampire bat who became a vampire through some means, and as such he can transform back into his bat form when the need arises. He also possesses a serum (called Kororipon in the 5th anime) that is capable of melting even the most durable yōkai's flesh clean off.
Elite's main skill, however, is his hypnotic guitar playing. By strumming his guitar, he can put people in a trance and manipulate them into doing anything he wants. Depending on the adaptation, this requires either special songs or simple improvising.
Personality
Like many evil yōkai, Elite is a cold-hearted man who has no qualms about using others for his own gain. He is quite egotistical, often informing people of his elite status. Elite is considered one of the most handsome men in Japan, and he uses this greatly to his advantage. He dislikes using brute force, as seen when he refuses to break open the window of a woman he is perusing. In the 4th anime, he cares deeply for his sister Tina, whom he tries to perform a ritual on so she can become a vampire.
History
Johnny in the Mist (rental manga)
Johnny is a vampire from Western Europe. About a month prior to the story, he moved from France to Japan.
He hires Nezumi-Otoko as an assistant and aims to feast on the prime minister. During his stay he heard about Kitarō and immediately began planning to take him out. Johnny uses his hypnotic guitar to lure Kitarō outside and abduct him. He then ties him up and gives him a special serum that melts him to the bone. After this, his attempts to attack the prime minister are hindered by both Medama-Oyaji and Kitarō's skull. Johnny believes this is Nezumi-Otoko's doing and shoves him into the inescapable sand pit beneath his house. He then attempted to throw Kitarō's skull and the jar of his melted remains into the pit, but Medama-Oyaji jumped out of the skull's eye socket to attack Johnny, causing him to fall into the pit. After Medama-Oyaji helps Kitarō's skull and Nezumi-Otoko escape, Johnny follows soon after and chases them into his house. Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko escape through a hole in the wall and set the house on fire. The house collapses into the sandpit, killing Johnny in the process. In the anime version, he is still trying to escape the sandpit when they set the house on fire and is killed when it collapses on top of him.
Medama-Oyaji guessed that he probably came to Japan shortly after World War II, but Johnny's house was shown to have been built in 1810.
Shonen Magazine/1st anime
He appears in episode 15 and 16 of the 1st anime adaption, Vampire Elite (Part 1) and Vampire Elite (Part 2).
Elite uses a guitar to hypnotize his victims, using the sounds of the guitar (in the rental manga it was specific songs he used to hypnotize people). Although he has sharp teeth he otherwise looks human, but his true form is that of a giant vampire bat, and he has hundreds of vampire bats as minions he can control with his guitar. Medama-Oyaji guesses that he probably came to Japan during or after World War II, but he has actually been living in his hillside house for 150 years (at the time of publication, that would've been long before the Bakumatsu era).
20 years ago he began traveling the world, drinking the blood of beautiful women. After returning, he starts a plan to drink the blood of famous people all over Japan. His first target is Secretary of Defense Hayato Ikeda (in the anime, he is instead the chairman of the company Hanabishi Konzern). He hires Nezumi-Otoko in to help him eliminate Kitarō. Elite lures Kitarō away from the Minister's guards with his hypnotic guitar and abducts him. Like in the rental version, he melts Kitarō but Kitarō's skull begins to thwart him. He throws both Nezumi-Otoko and the skull into his sand pit, only for Medama-Oyaji to pop out of the skull's eye socket to attack him, causing Elite to fall in the pit as well. Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko (with Kitarō's remains) escape and run into the house, with Elite escaping soon after them and following them with his bat army. They escape through a whole in the wall and set the house on fire, killing Elite and all of his minions. In the manga, Elite's true form as a giant bat isn't revealed until his death, but in the anime he fights a revived Kitarō in his bat form after the house is set on fire.
Monday Dramaland
Elite appears in the 1985 Monday Dramaland TV movie, although his appearance is more like Dracula's. He appears as a minion of Nurarihyon and successfully melts Kitarō into sand. Other unique powers he had included the ability to give his victims the mind of a child, a cape that allowed him flight and a can that he could use to fire electricity attacks.
4th anime
He appears in episode 57 of the 4th anime adaption, Vampire Elite.
Because he Elite did not appear in the 3rd anime, this marks his first color anime appearance. In this version, he drinks the blood of beautiful women to maintain his youth, and the blood of skilled people to enhance his abilities. Because of this, he begins targeting beautiful and intelligent women. He was also aiming to turn his sister, a bat named Tina, into a vampire like himself. After being defeated by Kitarō, Elite loses his powers and reverts back to his original bat form. He and Tina then fly off together.
5th anime
He appears in episode 54 of the 5th anime adaption, Vampire Elite.
As a tie-in to the Hakaba Kitarō anime, which was also running at the time, he was referred to by his original name Johnny, appearing in episode 9. His victim this time is the Minister of State, whom he sends a business card signed "Johnny in the Mist". He is said to be powerful enough to rival Dracula of the Western Yōkai. His serum he uses to melt Kitarō is given the name Kororipon, and after Kitarō revives himself (with the help of Nezumi-Otoko) he breaks Johnny's hypnotic guitar. After this, he transforms into bat-human form and fights Kitarō on the roof of his flaming house. Johnny nearly prevails until Kitarō hits him with a Hair Spear, breaking the vial of Kororipon he had on him, melting his body into the flames of the house.
Gallery
Trivia
- In the Drawn & Quarterly translations, his name was spelled Eryt.