A monster and human-like physical appearance is the true form Elias Ainsworth. He is probably one of the few anime characters who are not notable for his good looks, but rather for his rare appearance and the ability to turn himself from a handsome man to a very disturbing animal.
In the series, Elias Ainsworth has been around for quite a long time now. However, his relationship with other beings, specifically humans isn’t that great due to his appearance. Many people fear him and instantly ran away just the mere sight of him which is literally understandable. Good thing we’re not Chise. Although love is not based on physical appearance. We cannot deny that it’s the first thing that we notice. Since Chise is a sleigh beggy and a notable sight user, she doesn’t appear to be afraid of him or to distance herself from him.
Moreover, even after season one of the dark fantasy anime, little to none is known of Elias’ history. When Lindel and Rahad first met him, they asked about his earliest memory. However, they gained no information that would help them to know what kind he is. Elias only remembers nothing but a memory full of the color red.
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Elias Ainsworth is a mage with a skull head shaped like a wolf and horns similar to a goat. His eyes are empty sockets glowing with red beams. Elias’ neck appears to be the only part of his body that has the texture of human skin. But its color is different which is grey. In comparison to almost all the humans he interacted with in the series, Elias is certainly much taller than the average height of human beings.
In most of his scenes in The Ancient Magus’ Bride, he is frequently seen in a three-piece suit, a necklace, and the magic wand he uses to manifest his magic. Even with the odd shape of his head, Elias is perceived in the series as an elegant and noble-like man.
However, you can expect that an ancient mage so powerful and wise as him can transform his appearance, right? Because in the series he was able to transform into different forms that made the fans scream “handsome!!” to “what is that look?”
The 9 Forms of Elias Ainsworth in The Ancient Magus’ Bride
Elias has the magical power to transform himself to blend in with the environment. He can be a blonde English man or an unfamiliar reptile in a matter of seconds. As one of his magical abilities, Elias has shapeshifted from different beings and copied the looks of those around him. However, no matter how good or bad he looks, Chise never treated him differently. So, here are all of Elias Ainsworth’s forms that Chise appreciated in the series!
1. Elias’ Ainsworth in His Go-To Priest Look
As mentioned, Elias Ainsworth can shapeshift based on the appearance of others. The first shapeshift of Ainsworth featured in the series is based on Simon Cowell. Simon is a priest from the nearby church at Elias’ home. In episode two of season one, Elias and Chise went to visit Angelica’s shop to have her make some magic tools.
Since they were already in London to do some shopping. Elias thought of visiting Angelica at the same time and introducing her to Chise. However, when both were still on their way. Chise questioned the appearance of Elias since it was her first time seeing him in his human form.
One of the downsides of Elias’ true form which is a skull-head is that people, specifically Chise, find it difficult to know what he feels since he lacks facial expressions. Hence, when she saw him in his Simon-like appearance, Chise asked what happened to his skull head. Elias answered that he used a little bit of magic since he would look suspicious if he wanders around London in his true form.
Furthermore, Elias also used this form when they went to rescue Chise from the untamed dragon. It is safe to assume that this look of Elias is his emergency human form. Maybe because he had known Simon for quite some time or maybe because it’s easier to copy his appearance? Who knows. The only person who knows the reason is Elias himself. So for now, let’s just stick with it being his favorite go-to human form.
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2. The Fearsome Humanoid Beast: Elias Ainsworth
In episode seven of season one, Elias appears as a giant monster during their first face-off with the series’ villain, Joseph. Many faes and humans from the world of The Ancient Magus’ Bride fear Elias, and his capability to transform his appearance is probably one of the reasons. When Chise was stabbed across her chest by Joseph’s chimera, he wasn’t able to contain his anger and transformed.
No matter how gentle he is when it comes to Chise even in his humanoid fear other people will still get scared. Even Alice Swayne feared the creature that was transforming in front of her. We cannot blame others, specifically, those who do not know his heart to get scared for their life when they see such a humanoid beast in front of them.
This form gives more justification to one of the names they call him, Pilium Morili. The name itself means Child of Thorn. This title was bestowed upon him because of his magical ability to hide in a shadow and produce thorns.
3. The Cutest Form of the Ancient Mage
Elias’ magical capability is not only limited to shadows or erasing memories. As one of his magical powers, Elias can also change his size depending on his preference. When Lindel met Elias, he thought of seeking the knowledge of his master, Rahad, to know what kind of creature Elias is. Lindel took Elias on his journey as they travel to where Rahad is located. Upon reaching Rahad, the series featured another form of the mage.
In episode ten of season one, Lindel and Elias found Rahad’s place and explained the case of the mage his apprentice found. Rahad did not show any fear or hesitations in helping Elias despite his looks. However, since Rahad’s place is a humble home, Elias will not be able to enter due to his size.
Hence, Rahad requested for him to transform himself to a smaller size which he politely did. Even with his skull head, little Elias gave us a cute memento of how innocent he still is despite his monstrous look.
4. Elias’ Form During the Presumed Teenage Era
Although Elias’ true form is already taller than an average human being. He can magically shapeshift into something that is even taller. As seen in the photo, Elias seems to be twice the height of Lindel and almost on the same level as the trees behind him.
Some fans referred to this form of the mage as his teenage phase. Since Elias was basically grasping the world and all the happenings around the time he met Lindel. He was like a teenager learning the ways of life. In addition, in episode ten of season one, it was during this form that Elias revealed to Lindel that he might have eaten humans before but could not remember it clearly. When Lindel and Elias ran out of food Lindel went to knock on the villagers’ doors for help.
Lindel introduced himself as a shaman and asked if anybody from the household was sick and needed some healing in exchange for food. The family let Lindel in and let him inspect the sick child. However, little did they know that another child from that household was gifted with the sight.
The sight allows a person to see magical creatures. Since Elias was hiding under Lindel’s shadow they thought no one would notice. When the gifted child pointed out the scary shadow from Lindel all the villagers ran after them. The ruckus that happened between them and the humans made Elias remember that he confidently knows that he has tasted human flesh before despite not knowing a lot about his past.
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5. Elias Ainsworth’s Uncanny Resemblance with His Bride
There is a weird phenomenon believed by some and that is couples looking like each other as time goes by. They say that as two people keeps on sharing an intimate relationship and spends more time together they will eventually resemble the other. Isn’t it sweet? Well, it was also supposed to be a sweet thing for Elias and Chise’s case if the series didn’t involve mages and magics.
Elias was able to transform into an appearance just like his bride, Chise Hatori, in episode seventeen of season one. Chise met her friend Stella whose brother was kidnapped by the Ashen Eye.
Ethan (Stella’s brother) and Elias became the prize for the game arranged by the Ashen Eye. Chise and Stella must find the two boys before sundown. Elias’ true form scared young Ethan when he woke up from fainting earlier; hence, he transformed into someone with an appearance that is familiar and would help the kid to calm down, Chise’s look. We have to admit that this form of Elias is indeed very comforting to look at.
6. The Unexplainable Reptile Form
Right after their encounter with Joseph in episode seven, Elias locked himself inside his room for days avoiding everyone even Chise. But, since he doesn’t accept anything that they give him including food, Chise entered his room to make sure he is okay. Surprisingly, Elias locked them both inside his dark room.
He asked Chise for some forgiveness because he cannot control his body very well and was in a form he wouldn’t want Chise to see. Well, most of us can relate to that because who wouldn’t want to show their ugly side just like that? Elias was just worried about how his future bride would perceive him.
This unexplainable reptile form of the mage allows him to transform into something similar to a snake. He is still with his skull head and horns. However, his arms turned into a horse’s hood, thorns hanging out behind his back, long hair, and an extra long body similar to a snake.
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7. Quadruped Animal Transformation
Elias appears in this form twice in The Ancient Magus’ Bride. In episode fourteen of season one, when the Ashen Eye visited the ancient mages’ household, Chise’s loyalty was put to test and turned into a wolf. With the fear of losing the one thing he treasures most, Elias went after Chise and shape shifted into a four-legged animal.
He then again transformed into this form after his tantrums toward Chise. Elias transforms into his humanoid form after running away from home because of jealousy. But, when Chise was able to reassure him that she will never be leaving him and reiterate his significance in her life Elias transform into his four-legged form and eventually calmed down.
8. Unknown Handsome Form of Elias Ainsworth
This is form is presumably the most awaited one. If looks were the basis of it all (which is not by the way) this form of Elias would have won without breaking any sweat. In episode nineteen of season one, Elias shapeshifted into this appearance when they went to the black market to save the dragons that were kidnapped and are being auctioned.
Since the human forms of Elias are usually based on the people he knows, such as Chise and Simon, many questioned to whom this face belongs which was never answered until the end of season one. Regardless, we cannot deny that this appearance of his is definitely an eye-catcher.
9. The Depressed Form of Elias Featuring a Mixture of Everything
This form of Elias Ainsworth was seen in the last few episodes of The Ancient Magus’ Bride. It appears that this transformation of his is used when his filled with certain emotions, such as feelings of sadness and loss. In episode twenty-one of season one is up, Chise left Elias because of sacrificing her friend’s life in replace of hers. Since Chise’s lifespan was getting shorter day by day Elias chose the path even if it is against the will of Chise.
Thus, when Chise found out she accepted Joseph’s offer which is to prevent her death and give back Stella’s body. After losing Chise, Elias wandered aimlessly in the snowstorm hopelessly finding Chise together with Ruth.
It is a popular theory among fans that Elias Ainsworth’s character is a Wendigo. Wendigo in real-world mythology pertains to a monstrous creature born out of cannibalism. They are known to have deer heads, and horns, are oversize and are partially skeletal which are definitions that are very close to our main character.
However, wendigos originated in North America while Elias’ story is based in London, England. Because of this fans aren’t quite sure if he was indeed based on real-world folklore, especially since not much is known about his history.
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