The Earl of Millennium/Misc.

Major Battles

 * The Earl VS The Heart Wielder
 * The Earl VS Nea D. Campbell
 * The Earl VS Allen Walker (Edo)
 * The Earl VS Allen Walker (Noah's Arc)
 * The Earl VS Allen Walker (as Nea)
 * The Earl VS Howard Link

Quotes

 * (to Allen) : You think I'm making demons simply as weapons, but demons are created by the human soul.
 * (Warning Tyki) Do not underestimate the Innocence... They will do anything to defeat us... for they are demons.
 * (to Allen) :There's a famous saying in the East. Even with a crappy gun, shoot a lot and you'll hit something. I have a hell of a lot of Akuma.
 * I'm creating Akuma for people's sake.
 * (About the fourteenth after he helped the exorcists to stop the downloading of the ark): It's not fair... You Filthy Sheep!!!
 * Allen Walker... Ever since I found out he is the instrument of the 14th I began having dreams...wondering why I didn't kill him that night. Was it a coincidence? Or was it inevitable?
 * I also wish that putting an end to this so long war... wil be our generation! (...) Let's spread...the darkness broader!
 * (answering Johnny) : I want to be by his side... I want to be by the fourteenth side.
 * It's all Mana's fault.

Reception
The Millennium Earl has been well received by manga, anime and other publications. Reviewing the manga's first volume, A. E. Sparrow of IGN compared him to three of Batman 's villains: Penguin, the Joker and Two-Face, finding those similarities appealing. Additionally, Sparrow called the Millennium Earl a "menacing villain you'll love to hate". Ross Liversidge of UK Anime Network also enjoyed the character, praising his changing design and villainous deeds. Sheena McNeil agreed, saying that the Earl works well as the series' villain with his "loving tone as indicated by the hearts in his speech bubbles and his perpetual grin, both of which are there to make him all the more sinister by masking his true nature". Tom Tonhat of the Escapist also praised the Earl's modus operandi of reviving the dead as Akuma, seeing it as a strong theme that allows viewers to symphatize with his victims. He also noted that the character's initial appearance as "nonthreatening as a portly gentleman clown" made his actions more hateful. Todd Douglass, Jr. of DVD Talk called the Earl's transformation of humans into Akuma "fiendish". Lynzee Loveridge of Anime News Network included him on the website's "7 Clowns to Haunt Your Nightmares" list. Erin Finnegan of ANN found the character enigmatic because he "hangs out in an extra-dimensional space with randomly floating jack-o'-lanterns" and compared him to Mad Pierrot from the Cowboy Bebop anime series.

Brian Henson of Mania Beyond Entertainment enjoyed the Earl and the Noahs' darkening of the storyline in later story arcs, and Yussif Osman of Japanator called them evil but likeable. Anime News Network writer Anne Lauenroth criticized the Earl's characterization in early episodes of D.Gray-man Hallow; although she had considered him "part buffoon, part evil clown" (which made him "a fascinating cross between weird and scary"), his "frozen grin from hell" was less frightening. In a later review, Lauenroth wrote that the Earl had changed from a "intriguing" character during the events of Hallow and she did not understand his obsession with Nea. Chris Kirby of the Fandom Post found the character's confrontation with Allen after the exorcist leaves the Order in the next arc a long, disappointing cliffhanger; readers had to wait for the English-language version to catch up to the Japanese one. Earl's tapioca milk tea was served at the 2016 D. Gray-man Halloween Cafe in Tokyo, and related patches, mobile phone charms and a cosplay costume were marketed.

Trivia

 * The Earl enjoys arranging his hats, alligator (as a food),, cooking, knitting and making silly faces. He likes song, sunsets, sweets and dislikes mirrors and Exorcists.
 * The Earl, along with Apocryphos, is one of the two oldest known characters in the series, having been alive for 7,000 years.
 * The Earl appeared in the oneshot Zone with the same role as in D.Grayman, but with a not so cartoonish appearance, looking more like a demon.
 * In earlier chapters of D.Gray-Man, whenever the Earl's eyes were shown (namely during intense moments), his sclera was black and wrinkles/lines appeared around his eyes. In addition, a thick, black outline would show on his teeth, and in one panel, they became solid black entirely. This is not shown in the anime, though the wrinkles around his eyes do sometimes appear, though are not as prevalent.
 * In the manga, the shape of the Earl's mouth is more broader and rectangular, but in the original anime, it has usually been shown as more triangular/trapezium-shaped.
 * Hoshino says she based the Millennium Earl off a legendary alchemist/preacher (most likely the Count of St Germain, also known as Nicolas Flamel) whose tale claims that he may still be alive somewhere.
 * In the course of 7000 years, the Millennium Earl vanished from this world only once.
 * In the bible, Adam is the first man and first ancestor of humanity, Noah being the second one.
 * It should be noted in the Japanese he also uses an unusual super formal pronoun meaning "we" in all conversation, usually used in Japanese manga as an outdated joke for characters such as Bowser or Snape to use in order to portray self obsession, royalty, power, and snobbishness. It is an old pronoun not currently used by any living person in Japan
 * The Earl is the author's favorite character. She loves both his human form (that makes her heart flutter) and his suit that make her think about how lovely the lines of his hips and belly are.
 * Katsura Hoshino had already decided on what the Millennium Earl’s human face would look like before the series started running. She remembers creating him after thinking that having a tired older man as the final boss would be interesting considering grief is one of D.Gray-Man’s themes. She modeled his face after the editor of the JUMP J-books editorial department.
 * According to Katsura Hoshino, while the Earl’s human version has a sweet tooth, he’s not fat, and she will reveal the secret of his outward appearance later in the story; apparently his plumpness is important.

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