Category:Four Heavenly Knights

The Four Heavenly Knights (Japanese: 四天王 Shitennō) are four insanely powerful monsters, only bested by the Monster Lord when looking at fighting strength and are usually considered leaders or powerful figures in their respective races.

Usually, when a Monster Lord is selected, the heir to the throne may receive a challenger, such as Cassandra, during Alice XV's coronation. However, during the last coronation, four powerful monsters fought against Alice XVI (Sixteenth). These were Alma Elma, the carefree Queen of the Succubi; Tamamo, the kitsune tutor and leader of all beast monsters with a vast history; Erubetie, the Queen of all Slimes who hates humanity; and Granberia, the dragonkin with unmatched swordplay skills.

Each competitor had their own reasons for partaking in the battle. Alma Elma simply viewed the competition as fun; Tamamo, who was Alice's surrogate mother and the mentor of many Monster Lords before her, felt that Alice was outnumbered and would possibly be overwhelmed if she did not step in; Erubetie planned to use the position of Monster Lord to eradicate the humans due to their oppression on the slimes; and Granberia wished to test her skill against the daughter of the previous Monster Lord, having no intention of claiming the throne at all.

During the battle, the winner would become the next Monster Lord; Alma Elma left the match early on a pure whim and Tamamo and Erubetie knocked each other out simultaneously, which left Granberia to battle Alice. Alice managed to win after seeing every move that the dragonkin had at her disposal.

After being defeated by Alice for the right to the Monster Lord’s throne, the other combatants became the Four Heavenly Knights. This was done to aid the Monster Lord in keeping the the balance of power in the monster race. That doesn't mean, however, that the Monster Lord controls them, seeing they all tend to do their own things. Another thing present is that the Knights have very different opinions on Luka, with Tamamo acting like a tutor, Granberia testing him for his skills as a possible rival, while Alma Elma treats him nonchalantly and seemingly only teases him while the two of them battle, and Erubetie wants to outright kill him due to her intense hatred of the human race.

Although some speculate there is some form of tier or ranking system within the Heavenly Knights due to their difference in HP and level, the order they are fought, and the nature of the competition to see who would succeed the throne, they act more like the knights of the round table. When Alice is questioned by Luka about their levels of ability, she states that, although they have their own strengths and weaknesses in various situations, they all have the same level of raw power. For instance, Alma’s speed and hand-to-hand fighting is unmatched, while Granberia’s swordplay is second to none.

All Heavenly Knights are capable of teleportation and telepathy and are said to possess abilities associated with a particular element, namely wind, earth, water and fire. Alma Elma is associated with wind, Tamamo with earth, Erubetie with water, and Granberia with fire. However, it is possible for the knights to use skills that are associated with different elements, as seen with Granberia, who displays mastery over the other three elements, and Tamamo, who is also shown using fire.

Under Ilias’s order, Promestein created four special chimeras, the Next Dolls, to deal with the Heavenly Knights. These were called Hainuwele, Amphisbaena, Tsukuyomi and Arc-En-Ciel. She analyzed the Heavenly Knights and engineered these four chimeras to defeat them.

Trivia

 * The Japanese name, 四天王 Shitennō, translates to the Four Heavenly Kings, which references the Buddhist deities who watch over the four gates of heaven. The renaming from "King" to "Knight" during translation may have been because they are of lower status than the Monster Lord. Additionally, Granberia and Alma Elma do not act as leaders of their own race,even if the latter has the title "Queen".
 * Although the Four Heavenly Knights in the game are linked to elements via the Four Spirits, the traditional iteration of the legend does not link the four kings to the classical elements.
 * However, the original legend does state that each king is a guardian of a direction (North, East, South and West) though not linked to the Four Heavenly Knights, this extends to another four monsters being associated with this part of the legend, these being Poseidoness (North), Sphinx (East), Kraken (South), and Yamata no Orochi (West).