Giessbach ( ギースバッハ Gīsubahha ) was the former First Blood King and Ancestor Ruler, father to Carla and Shin Tsukinami and husband of Krone. He was an old friend and ally of Karlheinz until their relationship turned sour.
Appearance
Despite having a greyed-out face, we can conclude that Giessbach is a middle-aged man with pale skin and shorter hair. He is most likely similar in appearance to Shin, as Carla claims to his looks take after his mother, Krone.
Personality
As revealed in Young Blood, Giessbach was a powerful, envious and cruel man and could be described as paranoid and suspicious of Vampires[1]. As a power-hungry ruler, he mercilessly did what he could to ensure his hold on the throne. He does not show much care for his eldest son, Carla, whose power and intelligence he feared.
History
Much of what we known about Giessbach comes from Dark Fate. While we don't know much prior to his coming to power, he sought to wed Krone while he was already King. However, as she was already engaged to Burai and in a relationship with the Prince of the Wolf Clan, Elberth, who was Burai’s vassal at the time. Once Giessbach and Krone are wed, the two of them become extremely close friends with Karlheinz and Burai.
They have Carla, their heir to the throne, who is to receive the Founder King Emblem which is passed from generation to generation. Before they had Shin as well, Felzien was noted to have contracted Endzeit. However, having no idea what such a disease was and fearing it, he was either sent away or had left on his own terms before going missing (these different versions of the story come from Shin and Carla, respectively)[2][3].
A little later down the line, Shin was born. Giessbach immediately favoured Shin to Carla, praising him and noticeably played favourites.
During Carla and Shin's teenage years, Giessbach was extremely cruel to Carla. He had him training harshly and would often push him, whilst Shin had considerably easier training amongst the other older First Bloods in Banmaden.
Around the same time, Giessbach declared war on Karlheinz and Burai, afraid of the power Karlheinz could possess if he gained control of the Demon World. However, knowing that he couldn’t defeat them by himself, he gathered those from other clans to join him in war and live at Banmaden. These people were called the First Bloods Followers. Despite this, the First Bloods already at Banmaden did not approve, and this was greatly frowned upon despite no one going against Giessbach's orders.
Giessbach and Carla get into a few confrontations during this time, Giessbach often using Carla's training as an excuse to attack him physically. Afraid of Carla's intelligence and magical ability, he is further threatened when Carla shows him a new, powerful magical ability he had obtained. Giessbach decided upon attacking him once again and locking him away in Banmaden's dungeon. Eventually, Giessbach persuades Carla to join their forces in the war, to which he accepts. Krone attempted to talk Giessbach out of creating anymore conflict and confronts him about his envy toward Karlheinz, to which Giessbach hits her before also locking her away in the dungeon.
As Endziet began to spread, fearing the implications of the disease, Giessbach locked all those infected in the dungeon as well. Many considered him to have gone crazy and, when eventually Giessbach had ordered everyone out of the castle, Carla saw an opportunity to fight him. Carla stabbed him with a knife given to him by his mother, who covered in her Endzeit-infected blood.
Relationships
Karlheinz
Karlheinz and Giessbach once had a close friendship, often visiting each other and spending time together. However, they eventually grew apart and their races turned on one another due to each believing themselves to be superior to the other. Rivalry was further sparked when both King's sought the hand of a woman they both were interested in.
Krone
Krone was the wife of Giessbach, who was devout to him despite the humiliation and mistreatment she underwent throughout their marriage. During her final days, suffering from Endzeit, Giessbach imprisons her under suspicion of treason after she plans to murder him for the sake of Carla.
Carla Tsukinami
Carla is the eldest son of Krone and Giessbach, whose power he greatly feared. The moment that Krone gave birth to Carla, she knew that he was unique and that Giessbach would not love him as a son because of it. And she was right, as Carla was treated harsher by his father. Understanding that Carla had the potential to overthrow him on the throne with his power, he sought to subdue him through constant mistreatment.
While from a young age, Carla sought his father's approval, Giessbach never saw him as anything other than a rival. In the end, Giessbach was killed by Carla using a knife that was covered in Krone's blood, infected by Endzeit. This knife also managed to infect Carla during this battle.
Shin Tsukinami
Shin is the youngest son of Krone and Giessbach, who he shared a considerably better relationship with. Giessbach showed to have favoured Shin over his older brother on multiple occasions, even shielding him from physical harm by not allowing him to fight on behalf of their kind. Though this treatment was most likely due to the fact that Shin was not the next heir to the throne and thus, Giessbach did not view him as a threat.
Abilities
As a First Blood, one can assume he had the ability to transform into a wolf, snake, bat and an eagle.
Trivia
- He's name "Giessbach'" is from German "Gießbach" written with "giesen" (to pour, to flow) and "bach" (stream, brook) meaning "flowing water" or "waterfall".
References
| Characters | |
|---|---|
| Sakamaki Family | Karlheinz • Richter • Cordelia • Beatrix • Christa • Teddy • Ayato • Kanato • Laito • Shu • Reiji • Subaru |
| Mukami Family | Ruki • Kou • Yuma • Azusa |
| Tsukinami Family | Giessbach • Krone • Felzien • Elberth • Carla • Shin |
| Others | Yui Komori • Seiji Komori • Kino • Yuuri • Burai • Menae • Hilde • Socrates |