The Earl of Millennium

The Millennium Earl (千年伯爵 Sennen Hakushaku, lit. Thousand-Year Earl), is the story's main antagonist.

Personal Info

 * Interest: Hat arranging (side job)
 * Likes: Crocodile (food)
 * Dislikes: Exorcists

Personality Bar
Education - 5

Affinity - 1

Battle Ability - 5

Mental - 5

Flexibility - 5

Persuasion - 5

Background
The Earl is the First Disciple of Noah, and supposedly the most powerful - apparently his true name is "Millennium Earl". 7000 years before the story, he battled an unnamed opponent wielding the Heart and emerged victorious; shortly after, the Great Flood wiped out all of humanity, and the remaining twelve Disciples founded the second generation of humanity. As a result, all humans possess Noah genes. Once every generation, the genes and Noah memories within twelve people will awaken, transforming them into Noahs and compelling them to help the Earl in fighting the Innocence; the Earl comments on them "protecting" him.

Around 35 years before the series started, The 14th Noah refused to obey the Earl's wicked plans the two had a fight which resulted in the Earl's barely won victory. The 14th and his older brother Mana Walker were on the run from him for a long time however, the Earl eventually killed the 14th. When Mana died, the Earl tricked his adopted son, Allen Walker, into turning him into an Akuma. Much to the Earl's surprise however, Allen had Innocence and it activated to kill Mana's Akuma. The Earl just left as this happened instead of killing Allen which the Earl still questions himself about. It is implied that the Earl is still feeling the after math of his fight with "The 14th" as seen in the latest chapter.

Earl tricks people with dead relatives and friends into creating Akumas. He is a sorcerer from long ago, and he plans to lead the world to its death. In the anime he is shown to have a split personality - the first is his normal cheerful, friendly, and happy attitude, almost like a friendly old uncle. With the Noah, he's a member of the family, and is particularly playful and affectionate towards Road. His other personality is one of sheer, sadistic malice, capable of happily playing with people's lives. He also seems to invariably uses polite Japanese. In the manga, almost every one of his lines of dialog ends with a heart. 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; he appeared to be frowning, and he didn't end any of his sentences with a heart. Throughout the series, he also expresses regret that he didn't kill Allen when he had the chance.

Hoshino says she based the Millennium Earl off a legendary alchemist/preacher (most likely the Count of St Germain or Nicolas Flamel, though in many ways he's also reminiscent of Dorian Gray, possibly referenced in "Dorian Grey man" and thus "D.Gray-Man", as adapted in the film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) whose tale even claims he still may be alive somewhere.

Appearance
The Earl resembles a grotesque caricature of a Victorian gentleman. A rotund figure, he has sickly gray skin and usually dresses in a large coat and top hat, with an enormous grin that remains fixed even when he is speaking and even eating, and his eyes permanently hidden behind a pair of pince-nez spectacles. Occasionally they have been seen; in the first few appearances, he appeared to have slitted pupils, but this has not been repeated in later installments. He 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 having another set of bunny ears. Recently he has revealed two devil horns under his hat. He can be mistaken for being actually quite friendly looking in the manga as he is seen in a darkly comedic light, due to his smile and otherwise flamboyant way of speaking. He is almost always "happy" in appearance and never stereotypically "frightening", except in chapter 134 when he exhibits extreme rage at the loss of his Ark due to the previous actions of the 14th.

The Earl has been shown to have a human form. It was first glimpsed in chapter 158, where he appears as a typical Victorian gentleman in a tuxedo and top hat, and what appears to be a monocle. His face is rarely seen and when it is, it's covered in shadow. His human form is shown in full in chapter 187, where he resembles a handsome man in his late 20's or early 30's with a very slight beard, medium-length hair, and a slimmer version of his usual attire. He also carries a cane rather than Lero.

Synopsis
The Earl plays a rather small role in the series usually sending others to do his dirty work while he creates Akuma. However, when he does appear, usually something big happens.

Intro arc
The Earl appears in the shadows as he starts checking up on an Akuma he created as Allen puts an end to them.

Ghost of Mater arc
As a Black Order scientist's son, John, started to hound the Earl for a while, the Earl turned John's friend into a Akuma powered by the mother's soul. He had John brought to him so he could scare him into stop annoying him or kill him with the Akuma.

However, Allen appeared and as the two exchange ideals, the Earl remembered Allen was someone he had made a Akuma for as he summoned several Akuma to take him out. Allen then works with Lenalee Lee (anime only) to defeat his Akuma which Allen defeats them all with his Cross Grave but the Earl escapes and curses how he didn't kill Allen when he was younger. He reminds Allen that everyone is willing to make Akuma deals with him so his army will never wither.

Edo arc
During the Black Order's attack on Edo, the Earl played a small part; he was seen in the Akuma factory explaining the origins of the Noah to Tyki Mikk, Skin Boric and Jasdevi. He then asks whether they've all achieved their objectives. He then sends a signal out to all Akuma in Japan to gather at a nearby tower and orders them to kill the Exorcist Generals. He also threatens the Noah to not fail again; notably, he doesn't shout at them, but they are still intimidated. He watched the battle until Lenalee showed a possibility of having the "Heart". With this, the Earl casually floats down to her crystallized shield of Innocence and prepares to kill her. However, Allen returns and battles the Earl and surprises him by showing his improved Anti-Akuma Weapon the Crown Clown. This however only makes the Earl sarcastically question why Allen is being so similar to him as they are both clowns now. Despite the similarity, the Earl pulls out his sword, battles Allen for a second and casually leaves. He then demonstrates his power by leveling all of Edo, with the exception of the tower he was standing on. This power results in him sneezing uncontrollably later on. He later rescues Tyki and Skin to aboard the Ark.

Noah's Ark arc
The Earl ran into Cross Marian again as he tries to destroy the old Ark and much to his surprise, he is stopped by a familiar piano song.

Invasion of HQ arc
As the Earl arrives to find his Akuma Egg gone he also found that the 14th returned to save the exorcists which causes the Earl to experience great anger to find that his old enemy had return and he couldn't create Akuma for the time being.

Later, the Earl appeared at a ball hosted by Cyril Kamelot but this time he was in a human form. Tyki even was surprised to discover that the Earl is actually a human (The Earl's human face is obscured so the reader/watcher cannot see him). While at the party, the Earl keeps asking himself why he didn't kill Allen when he had the chance. Despite this, the Earl leaves to buy some flowers from a little girl.

Noah Revival arc
The Earl is first seen talking to a revived Noah, the supposed 13th and remarks that 35 years ago, all of the Noah received memory damage when the 14th died. It is implied however, that Road did not receive any memory damage due to the fact that she hasn't changed in the last 35 years. The Earl then welcomes back the 13th as a "brother",and proceeds to reveal the real names of the Noah, and their true nature.

The Earl flashes a smile and confirms that only "Wrath" was left and wonders who and where the next "Wrath" would reincarnate after Skin being killed. He also expresses a wish that the 'long war' would be concluded by their generation. The Earl then lapses into a mental distress and a young man is shown telling the Earl not to push himself too hard and that he would be there by his side, though his face is hidden. The Earl's head seems to hurt as he clutches it tightly and he tells Road that he can hear "his" voice again. Road then is shocked and reveals that it was the 14th.

The Earl then rises and a dark aura surrounds him while he says "Let's spread the darkness broader." Later on, he is seen with Road, who has transformed into a doll near the North American Exorcist base. Surprisingly, he is in human for, and comments that the Exorcists are "kind of excited to see a visitor after such a long time."

Powers
His main form of combat involves his umbrella, Lero. He is able to summon hundreds of Akuma at a moment's notice, and can also mentally compel them to do his bidding. He has also shown the ability to create massive explosions of Dark Matter. As the first Disciple of Noah, the Earl is able to pilot and command the Ark, and can also create a new one; such a process takes a considerable amount of time, however. The Earl is also able to summon a large black broadsword with a white cross embossed on the blade; interestingly, it is the opposite colors to Allen’s Sword of Exorcism.

The Earl mentions that only the twelve other Disciples of Noah reincarnate, implying he is immortal. However, as he only narrowly defeated the 14th, this could suggest that he simply never ages.

Trivia

 * Allen and the Earl serve as antitheses of each other – Allen genuinely cares for people whilst the Earl fakes empathy to create Akuma. When the two collide at Edo, the resultant shadows appear extremely similar, the only difference being Allen’s crown and the Earl’s hat. Their swords are also palette swap versions of the other.


 * The only time the Earl has ever showed anger was when he learned the 14th had sided with the Innocence and saved the Exorcists in Noah's arc.


 * A common theory among fans is that The Earl is actually Dorian Gray, the immortal who sealed his mortality into a portrait and the man the series is named after. Interestingly, the Earl’s human form also bares a slight resemblance to Stuart Townsend’s portrayal of Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.