Gilbert Nightray

"Yes, my master is right here. This person will become my master for me." - Gilbert Nightray

Gilbert Nightray (ギルバート＝ナイトレイ, Girubāto Naitorei), usually nicknamed Gil (ギル, Giru) or Raven (鴉　”レイヴン”, Karasu "Reivun"), is one of the protagonists of Jun Mochizuki's Pandora Hearts. He is the childhood friend and former valet of Oz Vessalius. An amnesiac, he first met Oz fifteen years before the events of the story with no memory of his family or past.

When Gil was around fourteen, Oz disappeared into the Abyss, and shortly after the Nightray Dukedom adopted him. There, he learned of Vincent, another adopted son of Nightray who claimed to be his younger brother by blood. Gilbert's adoption allowed him to join the government research organization Pandora and form a Legal Contract with one of the five Black Winged Chains, Raven. Though he hoped to use Raven to free Oz from the Abyss a decade after Oz's disappearance, Alice the B-Rabbit, a Chain, beats him to the punch. As he is the only person capable of sealing the B-Rabbit's power so as to prevent strain on Oz's body, Gil accompanies the two in their quest to find Alice's memories.

Embarrassed by having aged ten years and joined an enemy house, Gilbert initially hides his identity from Oz. However, he is quickly confirmed to be Oz's former valet by Zwei, a Baskerville intent on antagonizing Gilbert. He, along with Alice and his childhood friend Oz, are the central protagonists of Pandora Hearts.

Appearance

Gilbert is a tall (182cm/6'0"), solidly built man who looked to be in his early to mid twenties. He has golden, almond shaped eyes with thin eyelashes. In the anime, his eyes are given a greenish tint. He has a slightly wider chin and jaw than his younger brother, and is usually drawn with a thicker neck. Multiple omake mention him having large hands. His hair is short, black, and wavy, and he usually does not style it, though it is long enough to sometimes pull back into a small ponytail. A long, lateral scar angling upwards from his right to his left crosses his upper chest.

Noted as having no sense for fashion, Gilbert's choice in clothing is relatively informal, and he rarely changes outfits. For most of the series he wears a long black coat with silver details over a white shirt and black pants. He usually wears a white neck piece resembling a jabot or cravat, folded into three layers. On his right leg he wears what appears to be a lightly colored thigh holster. Up until he amputates his left arm, Gilbert would wear a pair of white gloves. He usually wears a black, wide rimmed hat. Though his outfit has many white components, he remarked that lightly colored outfits made him uncomfortable. He also wears a golden ear cuff on his left ear, though he does not have piercings. Jun Mochizuki tries to draw his expressions to have both anguish and romance.

As a child, his hair was styled in a slightly different manner, his bangs parted at one side instead of falling straight onto his face. Though still larger than Vincent, Gilbert was frail in build when he was young. He had numerous outfits, generally some kind of commoner's uniform, which were almost always dark. The timeline suggests he experienced a growth spurt when he was about seventeen or eighteen.

Following the hundred-year timeskip, Gilbert has not visibly aged. He wears a modern black suit with a black leather glove.

Personality

Oz is his most important person, for whom he is willing to sacrifice anything; this protectiveness is compounded by the fact that he was brainwashed by Miranda Barma to protect Jack Vessalius (and therefore Oz, who is his medium) even if it means killing. When Gil is drunk, he reverts to his fourteen-year-old self, an insecure crybaby. He cares deeply about the hat that Ada gave him. He is a great cook, terrified of cats, unable to quit smoking in eight attempts, and constantly afraid that as Oz grows, he will be left behind.

Gil is shown to have become close to Alice, despite his constant arguing with her. Though at first wanting to kill her.[13] Gil saves Alice when she falls down in a small rockslide later.

He is a wonderful cook who happens to be terrified of cats. Ten years earlier, he was very shy and very emotional. He also was constantly picked on by Oz , who was a kind and loyal boy nevertheless. Ten years later (current setting), Gilbert seems to have developed a cold and reserved exterior but despite this, his caring and kind personality remains intact. He is Oz's servant and is completely loyal to him. He has numerous times, expressed and shown his commitment to him. (eg. breaking free of Doldum's control rather than harming Oz) He can be harsh at times; especially towards Alice, likely due to her contract with and the threat it poses to his master. He hates it and becomes furious when Oz withholds information pertaining to the contractor's seal from him. He does this out of concern for him. Sometimes (for example when drunk) he reverts to his old self again, crying easily and calling Oz "Young Master." Rufus Barma revealed that he tried to quit smoking eight times and failed.

Gallery