Osamu Nishi has given birth to a world that is so vast and colorful, complete with a wide range of characters. The world-building is unique, and although demons in manga are not exactly sporadic, the Netherworld created by Nishi-sensei has a charm unlike any other.
Each character is unique in their own way, and you cannot help but be swept in their emotions in different situations.
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! is about Iruma Suzuki, age 15, as he gets adopted by the demon Sullivan after his worthless parents sold him for money.
Iruma wants nothing more than to keep himself hidden from the terrifying demons, who seemingly hate humans, but things don’t go his way when Sullivan enrolls him in Babyls Demon School.
Iruma’s school life is anything but boring. New encounters bring new friendships, some of which are more mysterious than others. One of Iruma’s closest confederates and friends is Alikred, the physical form of the Ring of Gluttony, who helps Iruma with his magic.
Alikred, more often known as Ali by Iruma, is a pretty unusual being and has shown some peculiar signs in the series. Signs which suggest that he is more than he lets on. So, let’s talk about Alikred today.
Table of Contents
Alikred in Iruma-kun
Ali is the physical manifestation of the Ring of Gluttony. He speaks in a somewhat sassy tone and has a playful, prankster-like personality.
He often acts as Iruma’s guide, coming out of the ring whenever Iruma is in trouble and giving him advice. Since Iruma is a human, Ali is the reason he can manipulate magic.
Ali is quite protective of Iruma and considers him his master. They have a special bond with each other as they cannot get separated. After Iruma acquires Rank 5 [He], Ali can move freely without being connected to the ring, but he still cannot go far from Iruma.
I. Past
The Ring of Gluttony was initially just a magical tool that stores and releases magic. The ranking owl gave it to Iruma instead of a rank badge, probably because he is a human.
In his initial form, Ali was nothing more than a magic-hungry black mist that devoured everything. His scream made every demon fall down, but Clara’s lullaby calmed him down.
After the ring drains Azz’s and Sabnock’s magic, Kalego gets closer to take a look at it but is shown a hallucination of his arm getting cut off by it.
In retaliation, he gets ready to cut off Iruma’s arm, but Sullivan stops him in time. Sullivan gives the ring his magic, and thus the magic mist goes back to sleep.
After Iruma gained Rank 3 [Gimel], Ali gains sentience. Iruma gives him a new form, which is how he appears now. The most baffling thing they find is that no one has ever known for the Ring of Gluttony to talk, and Netherworld holds no record of such a thing.
Iruma and Ali figure out that Ali changed because of Iruma’s increase in rank, and thus, he will evolve when Iruma gets up in rank too.
As Iruma gained Rank 4 [Dalet], Ali somehow got incredibly tired and went to sleep. After Iruma moved up to Rank 5 [He] during the music festival, Ali woke up due to the sound of Amduscias’s trumpet and grew in size. He can now be as large as Iruma but decided to stay small to be inconspicuous.
When Ali first came into being, he told Iruma that his memory of the past was hazy. However, he seems to be connected to the missing demon king Derkila in some way.
II. Power and Abilities
As Ali is the manifestation of the Ring of Gluttony, he is capable of devouring magic from others. This magic can be freely used by Iruma after the ring got adjusted by Sullivan.
His power is dependent on Iruma’s rank and the magic it gets. Since Sullivan feeds him his magic, Ali is quite powerful.
- Magic Absorption: Ali’s primary ability is magic absorption due to his powers as the Ring of Gluttony. With a mere touch, he can incapacitate low-level demons.
- Demonic Scream: Ali has a piercingly loud scream which covers a wide range. Every demon within his range is left with covering their ears out of pain. This does not affect Iruma, either because he is human or because he is the holder of the ring.
- Size and Form Manipulation: Ali grew in size after Iruma reached rank He and can make himself smaller again. His current form is what Iruma envisioned him to be, and he can change his appearance at his will, wearing different outfits according to the mood he is feeling.
- Danger Sensitivity: Ali, like Iruma, has a high sensitivity to danger and can easily detect potential threats. Even before taking a tangible form, he manipulated Iruma’s arm to choke Ami to warn him that he is dangerous.
- Personality Manipulation: Ali manipulated Iruma’s personality and was able to induce a fake evil phase for him.
III. Relationship
Alikred’s existence is only known to Iruma so far. They are quite close, partially because they cannot get separated from each other after a certain distance.
Ali is loyal to Iruma and initially refers to him as master as the wearer of the ring. On Iruma’s insistence to change the way he addresses him, Ali starts calling him Iru-boy or little Iru.
Ali is one of the very few characters who know of Iruma’s true identity. Since he knows that Irum is a human, Ali often helps him out of sticky situations, like when he forms a pair of wings on his back to avoid suspicion from the teachers.
Iruma started missing Ali a lot after he went to sleep and was elated when he woke up after the music festival. Ali assured him that he may not be his family, friend, or lover, but he will always be his partner.
IV. Facts
- Alikred is Derkila spelled backward, which alludes to his connection to the missing demon king.
- In fact, Ali and Derkila have the same voice actors in the original Japanese and English dubs of the anime.
- The Ring of Gluttony is heavily implied to be the Ring of Solomon mentioned in the Demon King’s prophecy.
V. Conclusion
And with that, we have reached the end of our article. Ali is definitely one of the mysterious characters of the series. Although, since he said that he doesn’t have memories of what happened before Iruma got him, we are not fully aware of his identity.
One thing is certain. Ali has been through all parts of Iruma’s journey with him and may as well be the biggest factor for Iruma’s growth as a ‘demon‘ in the Netherworld.
It seems that we will soon be getting more answers to Ali’s identity at the start of the new arc. We hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are since Ali is undoubtedly one of our favorites in the series!
Do small things with great love.
Follow us on Twitter for more post updates.
Also Read:
