Engen (smiling man)

{{char}}

Engen (엔겐), also known as the Smiling Man, is the deuteragonist of the original action manhwa, Hero Killer. He is the leader of the villain organization known as the Nameless and was once a central figure of the major conflicts from the previous era of Nera that fought in both the War of Inheritance as an heir to the throne of Nera and as its second king during the Great War over a century ago. After his loss against the Hero Clan, he went into hiding and somewhere along the decades saved Rachel Sinclair and started organizing the survivors of the war. While he lost against both the clan and the mysterious The Steel Witch, Engen refuses to give up as he wishes to defeat the mysterious Witch who gave him his iconic scar and destroy the Hero Clan.

appearance

He looks dangerous... Engen is a very handsome man, with short light brown hair and grey eyes. He is a tall man, having stood over Jintae Yang, with light tone skin and large scar on the left side of his face and neck, given to him by The Steel Witch, which resulted in his moniker the "Smiling Man". The scar is stylized as red whenever he is going all out during a battle, and throbs with pain whenever he is reminded of the circumstances behind it. Despite his youthful appearance, Engen is very old having been born around the time of the Era of Nera over a century ago. Although only shown underneath bandages at the most, he has an athletic physique. With clothing, Engen typically wears a dark overcoat with various kinds of equally dark-colored clothing underneath or prefers fashionable casual clothing.

personality

Engen is a stoic, calm, and collected man at nearly all times, which shows an aura of mystery. However, Rachel says that this is just a front and he's quite crazy, which he used to be more open about in his youth, although it still surfaces from time to time. According to Chain, Engen has always had a creepier side to his personality even in his youth, but he became more twisted as he got older. A first-class villain, Engen is incredibly ruthless as he won't hesitate to kill his opponents and isn't against harming a great number of bystanders when necessary. He isn't above threatening or even killing his comrades if needed, having once casually warned John Nash that he would kill him the next time he interrupted a conversion, and displayed real intent to kill towards Hero Killer if she couldn't awaken her Gift. Aside from his villainous tendencies, Engen is a capable leader as shown when commanding the Nameless with respectable authority and charisma that doesn't rely on fear or meaningless intimidation. He shows a great amount of influence in using other villains and isn't above forming alliances with them despite his threatening nature. Nevertheless, Engen is open to helping others, as he took in Rachel Sinclair to help her kill her father and routinely gave advice to Ihwa for her to become stronger as he expected her to become the "torch" that will allow him to finally destroy the Hero Clan and change the era. While remorseless, Engen is shown to honor all those who helped him along the way in the path of becoming powerful in his twisted way but has no regrets about having used them. Whenever in combat, he is incredibly rational and intelligent, not getting easily fazed or openly intimidated when facing powerful opponents like the Elders.

history

Engen's early life is currently a mystery, but he was likely born after the end of Chaotic Era. Around his childhood and early teens, Engen joined the King of Nera's followers. It's unknown if he willingly chose to follow the king or if he was abducted. He met another candidate named Chain and befriended him during this period. Eventually, the King's power reached its limit as his body could no longer handle the capabilities of The Torch, so he gathered his strongest followers, among them Engen, to make a proposition. Whoever conquered the most districts would inherit everything that he had, and the War of Inheritance had begun. and the two fought together in countless battles. They later met and befriended Abyss Dancer and Nugal, two powerful Gift users who swore their loyalty to Engen as they grew to love his boldness and conviction during this period of war and strife. He would become one of the leading candidates among the heirs during the war in which he took over and conquered Cloud Garden, the hometown of the Elder Bishop. From this achievement, the Elder would come to know about Engen and his prowess. It's also assumed that Engen came to know The Butcher or heard about her infamous actions towards the district lords during this period. The war lasted until Engen and Chain reached adulthood, Islotta Rainfall's death and the king eventually died. Engen eventually won the succession and was crowned the second king of Nera. In the following three days after he assumed the throne and was ready to inherit the The Torch, a mysterious woman appeared who called herself The Steel Witch. She would kill everyone in the area in a mere second and destroy the Torch by shattering it into 12 fragments. Engen would clash against this powerful woman but was overwhelmingly defeated. The Witch, in a mocking tone, asked why he had such a gloomy expression on his face and decided to put a "smile" on it, giving him an incurable iconic scar on his face. She then disappeared.

history//2

Engen, defeated and humiliated by the Witch, wouldn't give up. Nera, while no longer at its peak, was still strong enough to fight for a place of dominance in the world. After the time in which the Witch defeated him, certain rumors started to spread around the same time. A man known as the Skysword had gained the attention of the world after he killed numerous district lords and defeated one of the Elders, Yushin in a duel. The Skysword had gained enough power to establish an organization called the Hero Clan based around his fame. It was only a matter of time until the clan, having operated underneath the banner of justice, clashed with Engen and the remaining remnants of Nera in what would be called the War of the Reeds or the Great War. Engen fought on the frontlines in numerous battles as he slaughtered dozens of heroes and opponents during the war. In one such battle, a fighter for the clan named Jeremy Bernstein witnessed his actions as the hero hid while observing Engen fighting. It was around this time that Engen started to be referred to as the Smiling Man with his scar mimicking an ever-present smile or smirk on his face. It's assumed that Engen met Yushin in this period as the former Elder was sympathetic to the Villains and also saved Chain's life at one point in the war. [10] But eventually Engen and his forces were defeated once again after losing two major battles. The word "Nera" ceased to exist with the clan banning its name after their victory. Engen's activities in the decades following his loss and the coming Age of Heroes and Villains aren't fully known as he disappeared from the public eye with many assuming he had died in the war