Unlike many characters, Prince Lute has managed to retain his character in both the anime and the manga. When the barriers are erected around Hameln and Sforzend, Lute is about sixteen years of age. Already he has developed his magic capacity to the extent that he is considered a major weapon against the mazoku. In the manga, the mazoku even go as far as to dub him the "Majin no Suforuzendo," indicating that they considered him, in essence, a human version of a mazoku. His demeanor is that of a normal teenage boy, despite his status. He is very cheerful, a favorite among adults as well as children. He himself loved children, and enjoyed playing with them. After is baby sister Flute is born, he is obviously quite proud of her, though a bit out of practice of handling the baby with care.
In the anime, Lute plays another role important to the story. After Pandora trapped Kestra in the box, she traveled the continent to hide the box and key, and lessen the chance of the mazoku freeing Kestra once more. After hiding the box, she goes to Queen Horn and asks her to take the key. Horn, however, refuses, wanting no part of the matter. Lute, however, felt compassion for the unfortunate Pandora, and agreed to take and protect the key himself.
Though the few facts of his life have been similar in both the anime and the manga, how he came to be under Bass's control is similar only in the outcome.
The anime version of Lute's capture is by far the most tame of the two scenarios. It is presented as a flashback, when the Hameln Army is arranged right outside the walls of Sforzend. Bass is floating above the ground mazoku, holding an unconscious Lute and threatening his life unless Queen Horn surrendered. Obviously unimpressed with Bass's threats, Queen Horn put the barrier into effect. The mazoku closest to the outer wall were effectively turned to stone, including Bass himself. Stunned and temporarily unable to cast magic, both the hell king and Lute plummeted from the sky like a couple of rocks (Pardon the cliche, but I could not resist the pun. ^_^). Somehow, Bass is able to detach his head from the rest of his body, and Lute accidentally catches the head. This is all Bass needs to gain control of the unfortunate prince, signified when Lute's normal clothing is replaced by the Hameln uniform. Bass then makes a very hasty retreat with the remaining mazoku, back to Hameln to erect a barrier of his of his own.
Having seen the anime series first and the manga second, I was, to say the least, surprised by the differences between the manga and the anime. Particularly in the gory way that Lute is captured. It is presented through a series on flashbacks. Again, Hameln attacks Sforzend, this time during (I think) Flute's birthday party. As soon as Lute finds out about the attack, he is out on the front lines, and definitely not a happy person. He first single handedly defeats Drum (who was picking on one of Lute's little friends. *F*), and follows it up by making short work of the Hameln's LawKeeper, Pikku. He next attacks Bass. For awhile, it looked like Lute was doing well in the fight, until Bass breaks Lute's cross-weapon into many, many pieces. The battle is then turned the opposite direction, with Bass beating the tar out of Lute. (It's painful to see. ~_~) At any rate, it soon becomes apparent that Bass intends to kill Lute himself, as punishment for inflicting such damage onto the mazoku race (Lute was shown in the past few flashbacks recuing both the kids of Slur, and King Syrinx and Queen Shawm of Dal Segno.) Bass did not notice it, but he was standing upon the crystal of Lute's weapon, that was able to release powerful magic blasts. At least, he did not notice until after Lute activated the crystal and blew Bass sky high.
For several panels, it looked like Bass had been killed, but he soon proves that he is very much alive by mocking Lute. However, now all that is left of him is the head. Just when one thinks things cannot possible go from bad to worse, it does. Back in the Sforzend castle, Queen Horn realizes that baby Flute is missing. Moments later, Orgel pops in, carrying a very terrified Flute. When Lute tries to recue his sister, Guitar steps in and cuts Lute with his sword in various places, such as the throat and the eyes. Finally, Orgel rather unceremoniously removed Lute's soul and presents it to Bass.
But the story has not yet ended. Flute was still crying very loudly, and Guitar gives the orders to kill her, to shut her up. Yet, before the mazoku could do so, a very large contingent of them are destroyed and Flute is snatched away by Lute, who is somehow still alive. He manages to teleport Flute into Queen Horn's arms, but this action apparently takes the last of his strength.
Even after all of this, Bass still is not yet finished with Lute. A false soul is brought out, which Orgel uses to bring Lute back to life. However, he is under Bass's control. Inthe following panel, Lute is dressed in the Hameln uniform. To demonstrate Bass's newfound control over Lute, he destroys a very large number of Sforzendo soldiers, as well as a good part of the Sforzendo castle.
Despite the differences in how Lute came to be under Bass's control, the outcome is still the same. And, though I know the anime is completely different from the manga, I cannot help but to hope that, like in the anime, Lute would eventualy get free and destroy the hell king once and for all. But for now, we shall have to see what happens in the upcoming manga. Hopefully, more updates to this page will be soon in coming!