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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | There's nothing special about being born. Not a thing. Most of the universe is just death, nothing more. In this universe of ours, the birth of a new life on some corner of our planet is nothing but a tiny, insignificant flash. Death is a normal thing—so why live? | ” |
| ~ Johan, tormenting Miloš with his nihilistic world views. |
Johan Liebert is the titular main antagonist in the manga and anime series Monster and the overarching antagonist of its light novel sequel Another Monster. He is a ruthless and psychopathic serial killer whose life was saved by Kenzo Tenma as a child. He is also the twin brother of Nina Fortner.
Johan has stated that his one true goal is to be the last one alive when the world ends—but upon rediscovering a children's book that appeared to play a pivotal role in his past, he instead set his mind on committing the "perfect suicide", i.e. dying without leaving behind any evidence of his existence (with the possible exception of Dr. Tenma's memories of him, in order to destroy Tenma's faith in humanity).
He was voiced by Nozomu Sasaki in the Japanese version of the anime and Keith Silverstein in the English dubbed version.
Actions and Characteristics[]
- Throughout the series, Johan is portrayed as the representation of evil, being an allegory of the Antichrist and the Beast.
- He is by far the most heinous and influential villain in the series. In most of his appearances, Johan displays an angelic presence and impeccable courtesy, being able to manipulate various people, including serial killers and children, into doing what he wants while psychologically destroying them, leading them to commit suicide most of the time, which instigates most of the murders in the series. He also planned to take down Schuwald to take over Germany's economy and thus start his plan to be the only human being alive at the end of the world, only to scrap this plan as he was no longer interested in taking Schuwald's position.
- He is the most irredeemably evil villain in the story. He refuses to take any chance offered to him by Tenma and Nina to help him and change his ways, and stays to be evil at all time. The closest thing of redeeming qualities of him is his twisted care for Nina and respect for Tenma, but even with that he is still completely beyond redemption.
- While some might think that Franz Bonaparta could have influenced to Johan, with Bonaparta being responsible for the creation of Kinderheim 511 and reinforcing Johan's nihilism by forcing Johan and Anna's mother to hand over one of her children to him, which made Johan think that all lives are not equal, it is ambiguous how much Bonaparta really influenced Johan's actions, since Hartmann himself admits that even the Kinderheim 511 could not have turned Johan into the monster he is today, and Bonaparta himself never intended to turn Johan into what he became, as he had asked Johan's sister Anna not to turn into monsters. Johan had the chance to start a new life like Anna did, but in his place he became a murderous monster whose actions cause the events of the series, showing no remorse for it, unlike Bonaparta.
Stats[]
| Intelligence | 5 / 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Skills | 5 / 5 | |
| Speed | 2 / 5 | |
| Stamina | 3 / 5 | |
| Strength | 2 / 5 |
For information on stats, review the stats page.