Baron Byron Balazs, Noble of the Year

I would like to take a moment to bring attention to one of my favourite Nobles in the entire Vampire Hunter D series thus far. His name is Baron Byron Balazs.

Thar he is on the right! As usual D has to photobomb every portrait.

Baron Byron Balazs appears in the 4 part Pale Fallen Angel series, which spans Vampire Hunter D vol. 11 & 12. He is so cool that his story gets 4 parts! 4!

"But what about Mayerling?" says legions of Mayerling fans. "Mayerling falls in love with a human, like Romeo and Juliet. Their story is so tragic and sweet!"

God, Mayerling is so good looking in the manga!

No! This article will focus on the Baron only! Compared to the Baron, Mayerling is a nincompoop!

Which brings me to my first point on why Baron Balazs is so cool. Even though Mayerling is in love with a human, he still ends up biting at least one villager in order to whisk her away from her father, thus causing her entire village to become victims of the Nobility because of that one mishap.

Baron Byron Balazs, on the other hand, has not bitten a single human throughout his journey with D or even before then because...he just can't. He was programmed not to by the Sacred Ancestor from the time he was a baby in his mother's womb! Instead, he feels compassion for humans and gets his blood fix via those little blood capsules just like D.

I also can't help but feel sorry for the poor Baron. Unlike D, whose father is the *ahem* Sacred Ancestor, at least D's father seems to almost love him even, his one success. The Baron's father, on the other hand, hires a whole bunch of assassins to kill him, because he is ashamed of his human tendencies. His stupid father even tried to kill him as a child by exposing him to the sunlight! It's amazing how normal Baron Balazs turned out, despite having a batshit crazy dad.

Like D, he also has ungodly fighting skills, attacking people via projectile flashes that come out of his cape. In fact, D's Left Hand has commented on more than one occasion that the Baron's skills may rival or even surpass those of D's own. Someone even stronger than D, who is even stronger than most Nobles? Unheard of!

He is also able to survive in the rain and amidst running water, normally a great detriment to the Nobility's movements. Thus far, only D showed this kind of physical stamina. Whilst D is only a half noble dhampir, Byron is a full-on Noble. Just imagine how much harder it must be on him!

And did I mention mindspeak? He has this amaze-balls telepathic skill in which he can speak directly into people's minds, often from within the comfort of his amazingly pimped out carriage. Even D can't do that! 

And perhaps his most important quality that I think outshines D by miles and miles is that he is a perfect gentleman. D should definitely take some notes:

Just imagine this theoretical scenario in which I am trying to cross this chasm. What would D do? He would simply say, "too bad," (or more like ignore me) as he leaps across on his own, perhaps only zipping back to rescue me last minute if I decide to leap across anyway. Baron Byron Balazs, on the other hand, would say, "May I assist you young lady?" as he gathers me in his arms and we leap across together and land elegantly on the other side with nary a ruffle in my hair...well, you get the picture.