| Gourry Gabriev |
| Gourrry Gabriev: the always trustworthy and dependable, but sometimes clueless, expert swordsman. Gourry calls himself Lina's "guardian" or "protector", and is the only member of the Slayers group that cannot cast any type of magic. Horrible long-term memory, but understands battle strategy and terminology down to the finest detail. Typically a more innocent, friendly, easygoing person, except in extremely dislikable situations. Three sides: Outgoing, mild, accepting and determined, serious, ready to fight to the death and clueless, oblivious, dense. A wonderful companion, easy to talk to. Gourry was originally a traveling mercenary, and presumably a very good one, considering his swordsmanship. He has yet to find another swordsman that can beat him, though Zangulus was a contender for a time. With his normal sword, he can already cut people's swords apart, and defeat whole crowds of people with just a few strikes. This talent had been passed down along his family for many generations. However, even a swordsman such as himself would not have been much use in huge battles that the rest of the group participates in if it were not for his hidden weapon - the Sword of Light. Although he sometimes keeps a normal sword in the hilt, the "hilt" is actually the base for the Sword of Light itself. Once Gourry draws the Sword of Light, even mozaku can be defeated by him. He can cut perfect circles with his skills through solid rock, and stop hundreds of small objects in fast, swift movements. He's also very nimble on his feet, and so can move abnormally fast. More recently, after he was possessed by Phibrizzo, and then in Try, Gourry's sword is shown to be able to shoot projectiles of energy, which just about makes up completely for his inability to cast spells. However, it doesn't seem as if he has mastered projectile attacks with the Sword of Light completely. Gourry is extremely reliable, EXCEPT when doing something he really really hates, and when he doesn't know what's going on enough to realize the importance of keeping information secret, or something similar. For example, when he was forced to dress up as a girl in the original Slayers season, he plain REFUSED to go across the sea like that, and only complied when Lina threatened him. Also, when he revealed the Orihalcon statue to the first mozaku they'd ever faced (the one Rezo had sent after him), he was only doing so because he was confused about the relation between the Philosopher's Stone and what he was holding. Other than that, he's a great companion to have just because he always fights his hardest for his comrades. Also, he'll pretty much go along with whatever Lina is saying in the end. Now, about the "mild" description earlier. I mean this because usually he doesn't put in a whole lot of input in discussions; mostly he just listens, and then complies with the plan expertly later on. Except, again, for those two situations mentioned above; the cross-dressing one was a perfect example; it was one of the few times Gourry's eyes seemed to be on fire over the passion he had AGAINST the situation. However, he does mostly follow Lina's intuition; that also includes the "accepting" adjective used. Stupid. That's the one word that many people use to describe Gourry after watching Slayers. And this really isn't fair to him. True, there are times when it seems he is completely ignorant of what's going on, or has never heard of an immensely well-heard-of legend, but it doesn't mean he's stupid. It just means that his memory doesn't carry over when he has no use for the information. If he was stupid, he would never have learned to use the sword. He remembers all of the techniques perfectly, and then improved upon all of them, because it is useful to his life as a mercenary. However, there is that "clueless" side to him as a result, such as when he forgets who Rezo is, or has never heard of the Legend of Shabranigdo. That's simply classic Gourry. The third side to him comes up in serious battles. There's definitely no "mild" side to him there. This is when he puts all his swordsmanship skills to the test, and makes himself go past his own limits. If a comrade falls, Gourry will be the first to charge at the opponent with a sense that something must be DONE. When Lina was going to be taken away by the Lord of Nightmares, Gourry went after her out of desperation and pure instinct. He didn't know how he was going to get her back; he was just GOING to. When Gourry goes into these kinds of moods, you don't want to be on his opposing side. Gourry is an odd person in terms of how he acts sometimes. For example, you don't actually see him "train" with his sword at all during the series. When Zangulus wants to challenge him to a rematch, Gourry isn't all that interested. He really only fights when he needs to, almost the opposite of Lina. And, he may have that "never give up" trait in battles, but in everyday travel, he might not feel obligated to finish a battle if something is conspiring against him. Gourry is a very understanding person. If someone is pissing him off, he usually doesn't go off the deep end, turning around and yelling or grabbing someone in a headlock (he's never physically done something to anyone before out of anger, come to think of it). In fact, he even politely tells the person the situation when he actually knows it (ex. When Amelia ruined all the food in Slayers season 1, and wondered why both he and Lina were ignoring her). It goes to the point when he'll warn just about anyone out of compassion (ex. When he warned the bandits in the first episode of Slayers Next not to bother Lina anymore). Gourry has also changed somewhat from his first entrance in the first episode of the first season. When we first saw him, we took him to be someone just trying to impress girls, and he was even characterized as somewhat vain ("I'd tell you my name, but you'd get it dirty"). Also, he was insensitive at first, even, muttering about what a "disappointment" Lina was under his breath. He's changed a lot since that first encounter to the lovable Gourry that fans can identify with. |
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