Vanitas and noé

Noé Archiviste is A Vampire raised in the rural French village of Averoigne, Noé is sent to see Paris for the first time to complete an assignment given to him by his Teacher. Instructed to locate the Book of Vanitas and discern its "true character," he encounters Vanitas, the human owner of the Book and a self-styled "Vampire medical specialist." Despite his distaste for Vanitas, he agrees to serve as his companion, seeing Vanitas's mission to cure Malnomen as noble, and hoping to complete his research on the Book.

Noé is a tall, well built young man at the age of nineteen. He has dark skin, a long, angular face, thin, purple, almond shaped eyes, and thin eyebrows. His hair is short, white, and fluffy, going just past his ears. Though his hair usually stays out of his eyes, his bangs are parted at the right, causing some of his hair to fall onto his face. A portion of his hair lies over the rest at the front, to the left part. Like all vampires, his eyes will occasionally turn red.

Noé is "a simple country bumpkin who is several varieties of unfortunate because of his tendency to blindly follow any road that interests him," according to Dominique de Sade. All he sees is new to him and he is easily amazed by spectacular sights. He is often described as childlike by others, due to his tendency to get lost and be easily distracted — such forgetfulness often results in him leaving behind his cat, Murr, who in turn tends to scratch Noé in retaliation for being forgotten. Noé is also extremely kindhearted, as shown by his willingness to help Amelia during her imprisonment and execution, and his general care for the well-being of others.

At heart, Noé holds a deep determination to save those close to him, and make sure that they don't befall a horrible fate like his friends when he was a child. Noé recognizes that he was unable to save Louis, Mina, and the other children, but wishes to prevent any such deaths in the future.

Noé is instinctive and has high emotional intelligence, usually using his gut feelings towards things to guide his actions. On occasion, Noé can be impulsive, especially when fighting what he perceives as wrong, and has a moral opposition to doing acts he sees as dishonorable — such as when Vanitas suggests taking Maria as a captive, or allowing Moreau to pluck out Vanitas' eye. Noé’s current sense of morality has been highly shaped by his late adoptive grandparents and his Teacher.

While Noé's idealism and morality earned him many allies, it also prevents him from acting decisively. He failed to quickly defeat Astolfo, despite being far stronger than him, due to his apprehensions regarding battle with children. Johann states that Noé sees violence as a tool to get others to follow his will, but refuses to "dirty his hands," preventing him from killing others even when the alternative put himself in danger.

Originally the child of a former doctor and a performer, Vanitas's biological mother died in childbirth, leaving him to be raised by his father and the traveling players he worked with. Their party was eventually attacked by Vampires, leaving Vanitas as the only survivor. Subsequently, he was picked up by the Catholic Church, and trained to be a Chasseur. However, his death was faked by Doctor Moreau, and he was kept as a test subject, renamed No. 69.[3] There he would meet Mikhail, known as No. 71, and come to regard him as a younger brother. The two were subjected to inhumane experimentation in hopes of turning them into Vampires, all to no avail. Eventually, it was revealed they had received the blood of the Vampire of the Blue Moon, being the only human subjects not to reject it. This gave them abilities somewhat beyond normal human capacity, allowing them to heal slightly faster. The two were to be forcibly linked to the Books of Vanitas in a procedure which would destroy their minds, but were rescued by Vanitas of the Blue Moon.

Desperate, Vanitas and Mikhail went along with Vanitas of the Blue Moon, and were taken as their adoptive children. While Mikhail quickly warmed up to his new guardian, Vanitas remained distrustful, despite taking an active role in supporting them and Mikhail. After some time had passed, Vanitas of the Blue Moon confessed that Vanitas and Mikhail would likely soon die due to the strain the Moreau's experiments had put on their bodies. They said that, lacking any other options, the two could be saved by becoming the Vampire's Kin. While Mikhail, whose body had begun to break down, quickly accepted, Vanitas vehemently refused. He killed the Vampire of the Blue Moon after being Marked, in an event he believed to have killed Mikhail, thus leading him to believe he was the only legitimate Kin of the Blue Moon.