| Hänsel and Gretel | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hänsel and Gretel |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male (Hänsel) Female (Gretel) |
| Weapon | Axe (Hänsel) M1918 BAR (Gretel) |
| Race/Nationality | Romanian |
| Status | Dead |
| First Appearance | |
| Manga | Chapter 11: Bloodsport Fairy tale Part 1 |
| Anime | Episode 13: The Vampire Twins Comen |
| Anime Voice | |
| Japanese Anime Voice | Omi Minami (Hänsel) Tomoko Kaneda (Gretel) |
| English Anime Voice | Ashleigh Ball (Hänsel) Jocelyne Loewen (Gretel) |
| Image Gallery | |
Hänsel and Gretel are two unnamed Romanian twin orphans. They were abandoned in a state-run orphanage due to their parents' inability to afford keeping them.
Appearance
Both of them have silver hair, blue eyes, and pale skin as well as the same height. They both wear Black and white, Gothic attire. Hansel has short hair and wears a black trench coat and a dress shirt with a bow tie, black shorts and boots. Gretel has long, waist-length hair and wears a Lolita gown with black Mary Janes and black stockings with a black ribbon tied in a bow on top of her head and suiting their name of vampire twins they have rather sharp canines.
Information
In their earlier childhood, "Hänsel" and "Gretel" are forced to participate in pedophiliac snuff films, in which they are either to murder other children or be raped. Such horrific incidents and witnessing continual beatings of other children lead them to turn into sadistic, deranged killers. They have a firm belief that their life spans are extended by killing others. This belief probably derives from the fact that they had to kill other children to avoid beatings in their orphanage years.
Unknown to most people, "Hänsel" and "Gretel" are actually two personalities alternately adopted by the two children, both of whom suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder, meaning they swap their identities as "Hänsel" and "Gretel" with each other from time to time (it is likely that these were their screen names in the films). There are slight implications that they are incestuous, possibly due to the abuse they suffered in the state-run orphanage. It is never made clear of what gender the twins are: in one scene, "Gretel" (formerly "Hänsel" before swapping) shows 'her' genitalia to Rock in what she presumably came to believe was a show of gratitude, causing him to flee in disgust. On the other hand Hänsel and Gretel explicitly switched genders in the Boys and Girls Omake (Hänsel wearing the dress and Gretel wearing the suit)
Both of them are white haired and dressed in dark gothic clothing; for example, "Gretel" is dressed in a Gothic Lolita outfit.
Gretel's Weapon of Choice
In combat, "Hänsel" wields a sharp, wicked-looking battle axe while "Gretel" uses a M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle that appears to be taller than 'she' is. Both also carry additional sidearms. While they were mentally deranged, Hänsel and Gretel were also cunning, having used one other children as decoys to distract the bounty hunters and using money to distract Eda. They were also not above using their innocent appearance to deceive their enemies.
As revenge for killing Balalaika's men, Balalaika used herself to lure Hänsel into one of Roanapuar's parks, where he is shot from a distance by one of her snipers in the leg and the arm. Unsatisfied, Balalaika decides to not torture him but to watch him bleed to death, and witness him crying in his final moments, much to Boris' displeasure. Meanwhile, Gretel manages to escape and eventually boards the Black Lagoon of her own volition. On the ship, she and Rock bond, and his kindness prompts her to open up and reveal her and Hansel's horrific backstory, as well as their twisted belief system. Rock, completely distraught by hearing this, desperately hugs Gretel, who seems genuinely shocked at experiencing the honest affection of another human being. As Rock hugs her and tries to change her view of the world, Gretel momentarily looks affected by his earnestness, and becomes saddened that she upset him. Attempting to cheer him up, she shows him her genitals. Now completely horrified, Rock leaves the cabin, and Revy, thinking the girl was simply messing with Rock, punches her in the face. This brings Gretel's fierce and sadistic front back up, and she taunts Revy about how they are the same. However, she remains affected by Rock's kindness and takes a genuine liking to him. The two arrange to meet up and have a picnic at some point in the future.
However, just as Gretel disembarks she is gunned down by the get away man Dutch contacted, who was bribed by Hotel Moscow. While Rock is initially horrified at her death, he expresses relief that Gretel and her brother are now at peace.
Notes
- Seen in episode 1 of Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage Gretel is shown to have breasts. Which further confirms the idea that Gretel is the girl and Hansel is the boy.
- They refer to each other as "fratele meu" and "sora mea" which translates into "my brother" and "my sister" in Romanian.
Trivia
- The characters' names are taken from the German fairy tale, Hänsel and Gretel. Many of the series' characters compare them to a similar pair of disturbed, sadistic twins from the American film The Shining. In the manga, the song sung by Gretel to Rock on the Black Lagoon is called "Midnight, the Stars, and You", the song used in the ending credits to The Shining. In the anime, she sings "The World of Midnight", made for the anime and sung by Minako Obata. In the TV Show, their specific genders are unclear, and in Omake 4, it makes it seem like nothing changed because the children's true individual genders are unknown.