Leviathan

Leviathan (リヴァイアサン, Rivaiasan) is a mysterious man famous for his practice of alchemy. His unusual ability and his ties with the history of Sauville has immortalized him in an urban tale, a movie and a theatrical play, the latter portraying him as a villainous character who destroys the love affair of the King and Queen of Sauville.

The stories that depict him as an astounding person with supernatural abilities have been discovered in two separate events, and his story is slowly pieced together using clues from the past and the present.

Appearance
Leviathan's true features is of a man of African descent, with a dark complexion and black hair. He prefers to keep his features a secret by wearing a loose black cloak and a mask that completely hides any traces of his origin, allowing him to mingle with the people of Sauville without being questioned.

His usual attire also causes him to exude a mysterious aura which, combined with his eloquent speech, has managed to charm Queen Coco Rose while the alchemist became the king's adviser.

Background
Before he was known as Leviathan, he belonged to a group of Africans who were used to secretly transport gold into Sauville which was then hidden in the clock tower of Saint Marguerite Academy. When the king ordered the murder of the rest of the Africans to keep the secret of the gold's location intact, he survived and was able to escape.

The previous king soon passed away and as the only one who knows the location of the hidden gold, he took on the alias Leviathan and masked his face to conceal his African heritage, appearing in front of the new king Rupert de Gilet twenty years later.

With his knowledge of chemistry and botany, he convinced the King's court of his alchemist abilities by turning a white rose blue and agreed to supply the King with gold — in fact, the gold that was brought into the country twenty years prior, under the guise that he was using alchemy to create them. However, it comes under the condition that Sauville protects his African homeland from further colonization by other nations.

As tensions between the Ministry of the Occult and the Science Academy began to rise, Leviathan soon found himself under fire from both Baron Musgrave and the Academy to provide evidence for alchemy.

Under both stress and pressure by the Academy and the nobles, he murders Ian Musgrave out of despair and anguish, condemning himself to execution. However, he was later approached by Albert de Blois who proposed a bargain with him. In exchange for his protection, Leviathan was to create an army of homunculi for the upcoming Great War.

He knew well that he did not have the ability to perform such a task and he was later fatally wounded by a hail of arrows from Baron Musgrave's men. As he managed return to his tower and lock himself in his secret vault that hid his gold, he was sought by Albert, who desparately pleaded for his help. However, using his last breath, he advises Albert to father a child from an unusual bloodline.

The Discovery of Leviathan's Story
Avril Bradley and Kazuya Kujo watch a movie entitled L'illusion de la Tour Sombre, which portrays Leviathan as an alchemist who was able to reject death (demonstrated by his skeletal face in the movie). Avril later discovers that she did know about the story of the alchemist, and she takes Kazuya to the school's clock tower to explore the location where the scene in the film was shot.

They would soon discover that the clock tower is off-limits to anyone, and after being reprimanded by their teacher Cecile Lafitte for attempting to trespass the clock tower, Kazuya heads to Victorique.

It turns out that Victorique, who has found Leviathan's pop-up book, is partly interested with the story, especially with the alchemist's mocking remarks in the book addressed to the reader posing a challenge to her intellect.

Links of the Present to the Past
Inspector Grevil de Blois handles the mysterious death of Kai Wong, a professional magician who was killed with a potent poison in the school's clock tower. With the help of Cecile Lafitte's testimony, they would later link Kai Wong's death with four other similar cases.

With clues found in Leviathan's story book, Victorique explores the clock tower and would discover a secret room inside the clock tower's topmost floor — the infamous "Alchemist's Workshop" — the room where the gold Leviathan has been using as an alchemist is stored.

Leviathan's Pop-up Book
In an unknown part of his life as an alchemist, Leviathan authored a pop-up book which would act has his autobiography. The book tells of Leviathan's journey as a man who discovered the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which granted him his alchemical abilities and, supposedly, immortality. Unlike what really happened, the book adds a twist of magic to the story, integrating the Philosopher's Stone to his discovery of alchemy.

This book was discovered by Victorique de Blois by accident inside the school library.

Controversies
Although not particularly covered by his autobiography, Leviathan is confirmed to have an affair with Queen Coco Rose. Baron Musgrave is among the eyewitnesses to their private meetings, although it is not certain if this has been alerted to King Rupert de Gilet. Nonetheless, the alchemist's forbidden love for Coco Rose has brought a child.

This affair would later be the cause of Coco Rose's murder in the hands of the king himself, an incident that was kept from the public to avoid further controversy.

Trivia

 * His life story has many similarities to Grigori Rasputin, who in his final moments, have been said to have survived otherwise fatal injuries.
 * His life story also reflects parts of the legend of the "Man in the Iron Mask."