Emil (Nier)

Emil (Japanese: エミール, Hepburn: Emīru) is a fictional character first introduced in the 2010 video game Nier, developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix. Originally a human child, Emil was created as a weapon to petrify his "sister" No.6. Designated as No.7, he sealed away his sister, but he was left with eyes that petrified anyone he looked at. After his origins are discovered and No.6 is defeated by Nier, Emil absorbs his sister's power at the cost of losing his human body. The character returns in the sequel Nier: Automata as the only survivor of the humanity who often interacts with the three androids the player can control.

Game designer Yoko Taro created Emil as a potential love interest to the protagonist, while D.K. created his design. Critical response to the character was often positive as a result of his dynamic with the rest of the main cast. With the release of the 2021 Nier remaster in Western regions, Emil became popular as the new version explores the character's homosexuality, which the original 2010 Western release did not have, and is often comforted by both the protagonist and fellow character Kaine across the narrative; this has often been analysed as a positive handling of LGBTQ individuals in gaming.

In Nier, Emil is a blindfolded boy whose eyes petrify anyone they see. His butler tricks the protagonist of the game into visiting his manor alongside his companion Kaine to help the young child in finding a cure for his eyes. Despite the protagonist's failure, he and Kaine befriend Emil as the second comforts Emil into not being ashamed by his power.^[1] After journeying for a time, a giant Shade attacks the protagonist's village. The battle ends with Emil being forced to petrify Kainé to seal the shade, and Yonah being kidnapped by a master Shade dubbed the Shadowlord.

Five years after the protagonist's sister was kidnapped by the Shadowlord, the protagonist and Emil successfully find the power necessary to free Kainé and kill the giant Shade, but getting the power transforms Emil into a skeletal being the villagers fear. Nevertheless, Emil remains in touch with Kaine and the protagonist, who kept comforting him while working together with the objective of finding the protagonist's sister. Before reaching the Shadowlord, Emil sacrifices himself in battle to let the protagonist and Kaine move to find Yonah.^[2] Despite the tragedy, the second route reveals that Emil survives the fight. In the Nier remaster, Emil reappears to Kaine with a new body and helps her to revive the protagonist who erased his existence in the previous route to save Kaine from her own Shade.^[3]

Emil also appears as a shop owner in Nier: Automata several years after the events from Nier. The only survivor from the game, Emil can be fought as a boss who has multiple identical copies.^[4]

Writer and game director Yoko Taro said that while both Emil and Kaine are to the Nier protagonist, he refused to explore a love relationship between them as he was more focused on writing a story about the young protagonist wanting to heal his sister instead.^[5][6] Emil's character was derived from a female character named Halua, while Kainé was originally a far more feminine type who hid her violent nature.^[7]

Yoko Taro finds the character convenient due to his extended lifespan that allows him to exist in both Nier and Nier: Automata alongside Devola and Popola and thus becomes an icon of the series. Yoko Taro wanted the player to use the protagonist as a vessel to make him develop feelings for Emil, Kaine, and Weiss in Nier as they travel around the world to fight together enough to make them feel like family. During interviews, Yoko Taro often wears an Emil mask to cover his face during interviews, as he does not want to represent his own image as a game creator.^[8] It was designed by Nier: Automata artist Yoshikaze Matsushita.^[9]

Emil was originally a giant boar, which was revised by character designer D.K. The design changed to its finished product, much to Yoko's surprise. Yoko Taro still wanted to keep the boar design in the game, so it was recycled for Goose.^[10] Meanwhile, the manor where Emil lives in early segments of the story was designed to reflect the idea that time stopped and that Emil is no longer a human being and cannot age.^[11]

In Japanese, Emil is voiced by Mai Kadowaki. In the English localization, Julie Ann Taylor was behind the character.^[12]

Critical response to Emil's character was generally positive. Destructoid found the Nier cast interesting as a whole, with Emil having his own unique traits that help the game be unique.^[13] In "Eternal sunshine and the “Gestaltized” mind: the broken promise of the posthuman in NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139", Emil is viewed as one of the multiple queer archetypes the video game explores but is overshadowed by Kaine's arc, especially in Route E.^[3] Kotaku liked Emil's dynamic with Kaine likable enough to have them prefer playing as them rather than the protagonist, whom they viewed as a common archetype from role-playing games.^[14] As the original Western Nier from 2010 omitted Emil's gender themes, TheGamer claimed that the Nier remaster "finally does" justice for the character for exploring his sexuality, especially since it's strange for queer characters to have their feelings explored in gaming.^[15]

Aitor Fernández from Universidad de las Illes Balears noted that the trio of the lead, Kainé, and Emil represented the people rejected by society, with the first's wounds serving as a mark of what defines his exile, though Fernández noted that Emil is the one who stands out the most.^[16] Kainé and Emil's relationship was also praised by The A.V. Club for how the former comforts the latter in accepting his supernatural powers he is ashamed of. When the character mutates into his skeleton form, Emil is amazed by how the protagonist, Kaine, is not affected a lot by his new form, making the relationship of the main trio of Nier touching and close to families, further embracing the gender themes Yoko Taro explores.^[1]

TheGamer said Emil's homosexuality is not fully explored in the game, as the player character never responds to his confession, as it comes across as too subtle, and the protagonist instead encourages Emil to look forward to his future optimistically.^[17] RPGFan agreed both Emil and Kainé have romantic feelings for the protagonist, which are never returned despite their close relationship.^[18] In retrospect, TechRaptor said Emil's feelings were never seen in the original Nier and were never explored in the original Nier Western game from 2010. The revelation of Emil's and Kaine's queer themes was noted to make them more aspirational, with the former being both an innocent and tragic character due to his young age and transformation into a skeleton-like being who feels ashamed of his new form. Nevertheless, TechRaptor praised how the feelings these two characters have for the protagonist are never treated as a joke.^[19]

In the book The Strange Works of Taro Yoko: From Drakengard to Nier: Automata, Nicolas Turcve said Emil struggles to maintain his humanity in Kaine's village, but his weapon nature results in him committing genocide in the last parts of the games. Despite the horrors he faces when recovering his humanity, Emil is comforted by his partners again. Emil's character arc is further noted to be more notable when the protagonist has problems dealing with Devola and Popola, and Emil takes pride in the powers and appearance he hated to take his friends to a safe place while he sacrificed himself to confront the twins. Despite such heroic sacrifice, this scene is still described as a sad scene due to how the writing of the game focuses on Emil's loneliness as he wants to meet the protagonists, Kaine and Weiss, again, who are devastated over the loss of their partner.^[2]

Outside Nier and its remaster, Emil was also found popular for his role as shop-seller explored in the sequel Nier: Automata and its eventual transformation into an optional boss character, according to Engadget.^[4] When it was announced that Yoko Taro would work in a new TV series based on Neon Genesis Evangelion, Stellar Blade director Hyung-Tae Kim created an illustration of recurring character Asuka Langley Soryu sorrouned by Emil heads. This artwork proved to be controversial for relying on artificial intelligence with Mosizhita claiming "This is the first time I've seen something I created clearly incorporated into a generative AI. The peepholes and paint quirks remain exactly as they were."^[9]