The Earl of Millennium

"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."

- The Earl

The Earl of Millennium (千年伯爵, Sennen Hakushaku) known publicly and to fellow Noah as Lord Millennium (千年公, Sennen Kō) is the primary antagonist of the series.

The Earl of Millennium is the patriarch of the Noah Family, and the current incarnation of Adam. He is the creator of Akumas known as The Maker. He is also a player of the Noah's Ark. The Earl plans to 'cast god into outer darkness' and cause another three days of darkness.

Spoiler Note
Night 219 reveals an intricate link between the Earl, Mana D. Campbell and Nea D. Campbell. This reveal creates much confusion in the continuity of the story as their connection has yet to be fully revealed. For convenience's sake and rule of precaution, aside from reference to the previous past Earl, all plot and personality descriptions will be about the current earl as displayed in the series and not Mana Walker, Mana D. Campbell, or Nea Campbell as to prevent clutter and confusion. This page will be regularly updated as new information on the subject becomes available.

Appearance
In his initial form, the Earl resembles a grotesque caricature of a Victorian gentleman, and appears much more similar in appearance to an Akuma upon initial introduction than the rest of the Noah Clan. He has a large, almost cartoonish, rotund figure, easily towering over everyone else. The Earl has a goblin-like face, with long pointed ears, and perhaps his most notable characteristic, is his large rectangular-shaped mouth that appears stuck in a perpetual grin. Like the rest of the Noah Clan, he has gray skin and, on the rare occasion they can be seen behind his glasses, golden eyes. This gives him an overall demonic and otherworldly appearance. Unlike other members of the Noah family we are introduced to, he initially lacks the usual stigmata on the forehead. Instead, upon the rare times he is shown without his signature top hat, he is shown to have two devilish horns on his head.

In the original anime, his usual attire consists of a tan overcoat with a light purple inner collar, a black and green striped shirt, black trousers, and black shoes that curl up at the toe. In addition, he also wears a pair of pince-nez glasses, and a black top hat, the decorations of which change with each encounter.

In Hallow, his attire consists of a light yellow overcoat, a green shirt with slightly darker green stripes, a light-colored tie, black trousers, and black shoes. His top hat is now dark purple, and his pince-nez glasses have been replaced by a pair of gold spectacles.

The Earl wears a different hat in each encounter, each with a different decoration. In a gag comic in volume 2 of the manga, he is shown taking off his hat, and has another set of bunny ears. In reality, it has been revealed that he has two devil-like horns under his hat. He is sometimes seen as being more friendly or goofy looking in both the manga and anime due to his smile and otherwise flamboyant way of speaking. He is almost always "happy" in appearance and only rarely "frightening", an example being in chapter 134 when he exhibits extreme rage at the loss of the Noah's Ark due to the previous actions of The 14th. Recently, as a result of Hoshino's change in art style, his appearance has gone through minor changes, most notably The Earl's face being slightly shorter and rounder, his teeth having become more drawn in detail, along with a slight change in body shape (namely his shoulders being more drawn out). In the Hallow anime, his skin has changed from light gray to a slightly pale pinkish hue. In his encounter with Allen chapter 218 and onward the Earl has shown that his body can morph at will into more nightmarish and grotesque forms when losing control of his emotions.

The Earl has been shown to have a human form. It was first seen in chapter 158, where he appears as a typical Victorian gentleman in a suit and top hat, and a monocle over his left eye. His face is rarely seen and when it is, it is often hidden, though this has changed in recent chapters. When his human form is shown in full, he resembles a tall, handsome, middle-aged man with beard-mustache combo like stubble, or a five-o-clock shadow. He has medium length dark hair, and wears a human sized version of his usual attire. There are 6 buttons on his jacket, and a stripped green and black shirt underneath. He also carries Lero in a cane form rather than an umbrella.

In the 219th night, his human form is revealed to be related to Mana D. Campbell by Nea. Though his exact relation is unknown, due to the death of Mana Walker earlier in the series, it is implied he was created in part from the "Mana" half of the Earl's soul, the other belonging to Nea. It has also been shown that the Earl's current face is not that of the original body of Mana D. Campbell. The original whole Earl was a younger man with greyish brown skin and long dark hair. It is unknown whether the current Earl classifies as the same as the past Earl, but should be noted that when addressed by a human name the Earl refers to himself as Adam, the same way past Earl is referenced.

Hat decorations
The multiple decorations seen on the hat of The Earl are:

Zone
In zone, the work preceding D.Gray-Man, The Earl appears much more muscular and fit. He has a black top hat and a black fancy costume. He also has horns under his hat and devil-like wings.

Continue
In Continue, The Earl is less muscular than in Zone but still much slimmer than in D.Gray-man.

Personality
Despite the Earl's evil intentions for the destruction of humanity and constant trickery into creating Akuma, the Earl always seems to act as a cheerful, friendly and carefree character, almost like a friendly old uncle. Allen Walker notes that the Earl always acts like he is playing the fool and a huge grin seems to be permanently fixed upon the Millennium Earl's face, with a speech pattern unfitting for the ultimate evil in that he always speaks in a cute, loving manner, and up until recent chapters of the manga, almost always ends his sentences with a heart. The Earl has also shown to be rather eccentric, an example is out of nowhere pulling out a rooster costume when trying to wake up Alma Karma.

However there is more to the Earl's character than simply a fool trying to supposedly end humanity. He has shown concern and happiness in his actions for The Noah, and became outright furious after the destruction of the Ark, although whether it was because of the 14th or because he destroyed the original home of humanity and the Noah family is unknown. It is evident that the Earl cares for his fellow Noah a great deal, and seems to be particularly close to Road, even aiding her in her homework. A majority of the time, he is rather lax and cordial, and occasionally affectionate towards them. However, there has at least been one instance in which he has shown anger and strictness towards his fellow Noah, namely while in Japan, he ordered Jasdevi and Skinn Bolic to complete the tasks assigned to them (which they made little progress in) in a rather threatening manner (similar to how he acts towards enemies) which left them greatly intimidated. Up until that point, he had never shown such behavior towards the other Noah before, and did not do so again following that instant. Road Kamelot, however, states that in spite of everything, the Earl could never truly be angry with the other Noah. The Earl is unusually insulted when referring to the weight of his "suit form", playfully commenting he "isn't fat" when prodded by family members such as Tyki. This is a somewhat a running gag among the Noah considering his awkward embarrassment and denial of his appearance.

He has also displayed a manipulative side, capable of acting out sheer, sadistic malice, and happily plays with people's lives. During Cyril Kamelot's dinner party, the Earl in his human form appeared far more stern, addressing the issue of the Akuma Egg and the Heart in a serious manner; in this moment of seriousness he didn't end any of his sentences with a heart. When appearing again in his human form (this time fully), he is shown to be much more calm and quiet, but also somewhat more tired and melancholic in comparison to the jovial and eccentric persona of his suit form. In addition, he does not display the same eccentricities as he does in his other form. He also appears to be prone to getting comically depressed rather easily, specifically when the topic of Nea is brought up, where at one point, he crumbled into a ball and cried, while lamenting 14th's betrayal. Road states that he can be such a "crybaby" in his human form.

After learning that the original Ark was put into human hands, and that eighty-percent of the Akuma Egg was lost, The Earl showed an incredible amount of anger.

After learning that Allen Walker was the reincarnation of Nea Walker, the 14th Noah, the Earl has asked him to join the Noah Family despite Nea attempting to kill 35 years prior and Allen Walker being an Exorcist, showing a forgiving side, yet at the same time he seems to hold a deep and intense hatred towards Mana Walker, refusing to ever forgive him for his actions. He is also shown to be affectionate to the point of obsession towards certain people, namely Nea. The other Noah even go so far as to call him "love struck" and he claims to want to be by his side, chasing Nea down to the ends of the Earth. This obsession is the catalyst for the entire Alma Karma Arc, the objective being to obtain Nea so he can continue to be with him. Eventually this leads to his run in with Allen in the Search for Allen Walker Arc, being so incredibly overwhelmed by emotion and sorrow he breaks down crying in his arms after almost killing him, only because Nea chose to acknowledge his existence and offer the slightest hint of kindness. This bipolarity continues later on continuing to switch between worrying greatly and crying over Nea to actively trying to absorb him into his very being by "devouring" him after being betrayed.

In addition, when confronting Allen during his run from Apocryphos, the Earl shows he is not always menacing or collected. During this chapter due to high emotional strain he madly chants Nea's name constantly asking him why he doesn't recognize him all the while his body and face in suit form grow more deranged and aggressive. He then remembers Mana suddenly and starts blaming him for an unknown event.

The Earl has shown a deep hatred for both Innocence and Humanity. Despite this he does have a somewhat soft spot for certain humans, especially children, as seen when he buys flowers from a little girl, and bringing a little boy back to his mother in a chapter of the reverse novels. He also lets Allen live when he fails to turn him into an Akuma, despite later questioning why he did so, stating it was fate. His favorite food is known to be crocodile.

The Earl is perfectly conscious that the humans consider him to be the villain. Despite this, he is never stated to be evil, and claims that he creates Akumas for the sake of humans. He has a mission to achieve no matter what, and is ready to make any sacrifice to do so--which relates to the audience just how ambitious of an individual he can be. Much about his personal life and true motivations are still unclear, but some of his past has been revealed in the more recent chapters.

Due to the events of 52 and 35 years ago, the Earl of Millennium's origin is muddled and unclear. Once the whole Earl of Millennium, the man for unknown reasons split into two (or more) individuals who each developed their own personality. The two halves we are currently aware of were raised by Katrina Eve Campbell as Mana Walker and Nea D. Campbell. The Mana half was deeply disturbed and was associated with an animated empty version of the suit. The suits actual capacity remains unclear, but was able to possess Mana in a scene after Nea’s death, and speaks to Mana at Katrina’s death. Eventually the Mana half “devoured” the Nea half, leaving a third party that remains unknown in control. Nea hints at the current Earl being “the old us” but what exactly has happened with the years post Nea’s death, especially including the life of Mana Walker and Allen, along with Mana Walker's supposed death remains mystery. Whether the current Earl is Mana, a part of Mana, or something else all together has yet to be seen, but the correlation between the two is undeniable. It should be noted however that Mana in all his incarnations has a deep fear or hatred of The Millennium Earl, and the Earl himself passionately hates Mana and blames him for the events 35 years or so ago. Most of his viewed memories are from the suit, and he actively protests and becomes increasingly distressed when called Mana (despite Nea’s insistence), denying any recognition or identification with the name. He also states while holding Nea that he hates “Mana’s Nea” showing how little he relates himself to the name.

Zone
In Zone, the Earl of Millennium is first seen tricking Robin who has lost his sister in a shipwreck into bringing her back. He violently impales him to let his akuma take his body. He then sends a letter to Lenalee and makes her believe that her lover is still alive somewhere. Lenalee later comes to his encounter to make a deal with him to see her lover again. Fortunately Robin jumps in and stops the ceremony. He sends his two minions to fight the exorcist who finally defeats them. Upon his defeat the Earl runs away.

Continue
In Continue, the Earl is an alien invader who attacked the home planet of Shiropin located light years away from the earth. Shiropin managed to seal him along with his technologies in a ball that he sent into a black hole.. However on the way, the ball was pulled away by the sun's gravity and became the earth's moon. From then on, the Earl tried to corrupt the moon and then the earth.

The Earl possesses a zombie to attack Taiyo Yamamoto but he is defeated when Taiyo gains the power of Shiropin. He later sends an text message to Koji saying "Sorry to bother you Koji. I am the Millennium Earl". He possesses Koji and creates an facade of his original appearance around the body. Later he is attacked by Taiyo but Taiyo only hits the illusion. The earl then uses his connection with the moon to summon servant number 66, the horrible Tesla. Tesla quickly crushes Taiyo but before Tesla finishes him, Taiyo gets a second wind and destroys Tesla. Taiyo severs the link between his friend's body and the moon.

As they fall, the Earl prophesies that the planet will eventually die due to pollution and asks if such a world is worth fighting for. Koji answers that it is as long as there is hope and the earl smiles in Koji's body before escaping through his blood and returning to the moon.

Trivia

 * Katsura Hoshino, the creator of D Gray Man, at first wanted to create a story with the Millenium Earl as a protagonist.
 * According to Hoshino, the Millenium Earl is one of the most simple characters she can draw.
 * According to end of the 3rd chapter in D Gray Man, Hoshino said that the Millenium Earl is based on a person who existed without naming that person. She said it was rumored to be immortal because his appeareance from the age of 50 hasn't changed at all. He also refered himself as the alchemist of time.

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