When I originally wrote this I hadn't seen the entire series so I was unable to fully describe his character. I was disgusted with the weak description I gave here, So I decided to write a whole new one.
When I originally wrote this I hadn't seen the entire series so I was unable to fully describe his character. I was disgusted with the weak description I gave here, So I decided to write a whole new one.
Van Slanzar de Fanel is 15 years old; Hitomi's age. He is an inhabitant
of Gaia, more specifically, of Fanelia. To be even more precise, he is
the king.
When we first encounter Van (which is when he
slays a dragon in the first episode) he is haughty and irritable. Hitomi
slaps him for being such a jerk, because she saved his life and he didn't
so much as give her a thank you. Hitomi goes into hysterics, and her tears
cause the evidence of Van's victory over the dragon (a little gem taken
from the dragon's heart) to react and before they know it they are both
shot up in the sky by a pillar of light that's going to take them back
to Gaia. And thus, our adventure begins.
Van is crowned king in the second episode (the
slaying of the dragon was part of the rite of passage). He really doesn't
take well to the girl that followed him home; rather he finds her to be
a thorn in his side.
"Oh, it's you." he snorts at Hitomi when
she's caught watching him train with his swordsmaster, Balgus, in episode
2.
Whoever said man's best friend is a dog obviously
never saw an episode of Esca. Van's best friend is a cat. A 
catgirl
, to be precise, an odd mix of a 13 year-old girl and a cat. She's
extremely possessive of her "Lord Van", and demonstrates this by clinging
to him at every visible opportunity. Some may think she's in love with
him but I disagree; I think she sees him as an older brother who she adores.
Zaibach, the evil empire, attacks Fanelia and burns it to the ground, this
leads to Hitomi and Van escaping and landing on the outskirts of Asturia,
a neighbouring country. Allen Schezar, the dashing knight of Caeli, is
encountered. From day one Van issues a rivalry with him. Allen defeated
him in their first two battles together; one with swords and the other
in melefs. Van is arrogant, as I mentioned before, and loathes being inferior
to someone. He continues his attempts to gain one over Allen, but seems
to fail in every instance.
The water really starts to boil in their rivalry
around episode 5 or 6. Van no longer has one simple level to compete with
Allen on. A new one has just formulated: Van starts to develop feelings
for Hitomi.
From about episode 8(The Day the Angel Flew),
it's probably safe to say that Van is head over heels for her. He realizes
that she's currently oggling Allen, but with his arrogance he believes
that there's some way to win her heart.
Van has wings, believe it or not. No, he's not
an angel. His mother was a Draconian, a descendant of Atlantis. 
Basically,
that means that she had wings and her ancestors came from a land that was
considered to be cursed because in its quest for complete power it consumed
and destroyed itself. So therefore, Draconians are seen as being cursed.
Van is seen as being curse, which is why it took him until episode 8 to
reveal his heritage. Hitomi is falling to her death after an earthquake,
and Van, seeing her imminent death, tears off his shirt (^_^! ee hee hee)
and dives to save her. Beautiful white wings unfurl from his back and he
saves Hitomi. Later, when she wakes up (we can assume that she passed out
from the trauma) Van is waiting for her, wings out. Merle tries to cover
up the evidence because she thinks that the wings will make Hitomi hate
her 'brother'. Instead, Hitomi touches the feather and receives visions
of Van's past....
Van's mother was a Draconian, and his father,
evidently the King of Fanelia. Goau, his father, met Varie, his mother,
in a lake during a meeting that was 'fated'. He took her back to Fanelia
with him, where he married her despite his advisors recommendations. Together
they had two sons; Folken, and then 10 years later, Van. They both acquired
the heritage of wings.
Goau died when Van was only 5. His mother was
grief stricken, despite Van's attempts to convince her that 
everything
would be OK.
A few months after that, Folken, Van's idol,
went off in order to slay the dragon as part of the rite to become king.
When he didn't return, Varie went to look for him.. and she never returned
either. Van was left alone, which is probably why he can be so cold sometimes.
In order to stop the pain from really hitting home he built a wall up around
himself, refusing to let anyone in.
It is Hitomi who melts that wall.
Van is in love with Hitomi, plain and simple.
Some think that he never was, it was just a crush or something. I disagree.
Van loved her, he would give his life for her, he would do anything for
her. He loves her from afar up until episode 19 (16 in the cut) when, when
they're alone, he asks her...."Hitomi? I want you to stay with me. Stay
with me from now on, that is." As in, no going back to Allen or the Mystic
Moon. When she pretends to not understand he yells, "I want you!!" but,
not wanting to get himself hurt, he quickly changes the phrase to wanting
her power. He gets slapped for that, and that same day, has to endure
the pain of seeing Hitomi in a passionate kiss on the bridge with Allen.
He still longs for her, even after Allen tells
him that he proposed to Hitomi.
For all you VH shippers out there, you can rejoice
but then grab a kleenex. In the final episode, Hitomi tells Van that she
loves him. He rescues her from Zaibach, after flying there on his
own wings. They embrace tightly as he 
lifts
her up, as if they never want to let go.
However, all good things must come to an end.
Hitomi doesn't stay with Van. In a tear-jerking farewell scene, she gives
him her cherished pendant. She holds out her hand with it in it, but instead
of simply taking the necklace, he takes her hand as well, tugging her into
his crushing embrace as tears slide down her cheeks. It's a scene that's
breathtakingly beautiful and sad.
Van was arrogant in the beginning, as aforementioned
several times. He kept to himself, bottling his emotions in side and not
wearing his heart on his sleeve for it's too battered to withstand the
outside world. His encounter with Hitomi, though irksome in the beginning,
grew into a trust, friendship, and eventually love that caused Van to crawl
out of his shell. He softened with his love for the girl from the Mystic
Moon, and his adventure with her made him a stronger person.