Roswaal L. Mathers

Roswaal L. Mathers (ロズワール・L・メイザース, Rozuwāru L Meizāsu) is the lord of the Roswaal Mansion, margrave of the Mathers territory, and the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica's Court Mage. In actuality, though, he has been possessed by the soul of his ancestor, Roswaal A Mathers (ロズワール・A・メイザース Rozuwāru A Meizāsu) since he was 14 years old. He is one of the main supporting characters of Re:Zero, as well as the true antagonist of Arc 1 and Arc 4 and Isekai Quartet as a whole.

Although supporting Emilia's quest for the throne, he was actually using her, Subaru Natsuki, and Ram for his own goals, which involved killing the Divine Dragon and resurrecting his mentor. However, in Arc 4, he made a bet with Subaru and subsequently lost, forcing him to truly support Emilia, though he hasn't given up on his ambitions. In the world of Isekai Quartet, he is a schoolteacher.

Appearance
Roswaal is a rather tall man standing at 186 centimetres, making him taller than Natsuki Subaru by at least half a head. His well-toned body is slender and appeared delicate despite its impressive musculature. His very handsome face is ghastly pale which gives him the impression of a classic pretty boy. However, his physical beauty is somewhat concealed by his peculiar makeup and getup. Like previous generations, Roswaal had the same heterochromic eyes in the same arrangement. His straight indigo hair is long enough to cover his whole back and is usually tucked behind his ear on the left side of his head. His face is usually decorated with a light-lavender powder, purple lipstick, and purple eye shadow that is adorned on his right eyelid. His yellow left eye is also bedecked with eye shadow that is more elaborate than the right's eye shadow and covers the whole area around the eye rather than just the eyelid and accompanies his unusual outfit comparable to those similar to a clown or jester, consisting of a black hat, a top and bottom with different shades of purple, along with red and black boots and a cape. He also has a chain surrounding his right ankle.

Although rarely, Roswaal sometimes does make an appearance without his signature make-up. His skin complexion is noted to be very ghastly and pale and his eyes give off a gentle and rather welcoming expression, a polar opposite of what they give off when he's wearing make-up. When the situation calls for it, Roswaal also dons a more formal outfit, consisting of a long black coat that covers his entire body.

His original body, then-known as Roswaal Mathers and later referred to as Roswaal A Mathers, was male. His long straight indigo hair flowed freely down his back and both his eyes were blue. At the age of sixteen, Roswaal had a wicked charm about him that was only possible for a blooming young man of his age. He was also rather tall, towering over Ryuzu Meyer by a full head despite still having room to grow. Despite his youth, Roswaal possessed a natural elegance befitting of his lineage as a noble. He could usually be seen wearing rather well-suited black robes. Many of his physical traits, such as his hairstyle and colour, would be adopted by the descendants he possessed.

Powers & Abilities
Flight: Roswaal could magically fly from one place to another. With such ability, he was able to stand on top of a telephone post.

Ram
Prior to the events of Isekai Quartet, Roswaal took Ram and her sister under his wing when the twins were kids. Even when the twins were working as maids, Ram became Roswaal's confidant as the sisters were becoming older.

After ending up in the new world, Ram and Roswaal had the additional student-and-teacher relationship.

One day; Ram leaked to Roswaal about the attempt of Grantz, Koenig, Neumann, Aqua, and Kazuma to steal from the principal.

During Valentine's Day, Roswaal appreciated Ram gifting him chocolate.

Emilia
Prior to the events of Isekai Quartet, Roswaal was Emilia's benefactor and sponsor for the royal selection.

After ending up in the new world, they had the student-and-teacher relationship. By drawing names, Roswaal made Emilia the representative of Class 2 to the dismay of Albedo.

After Emilia asked about a new student (who walked off without saying a word), Roswaal told the class, "Well, no.  That sullen young man will be joining the students in Classroom 1".

Subaru Natsuki
Prior to the events of Isekai Quartet, Roswaal had taken Subaru Natsuki under his wing after the boy saved Emilia's life during the insignia incident. He obliged in allowing the teenager to work as a servant in the Roswaal manor.

After ending up in the new world due to an unknown circumstance, they went from lord-and-servant relationship to teacher-and-student. Roswaal politely reminded Subaru, "It would appear that the first lesson you need to learn is that you should never judge a book by its cover."

One day, Subaru found Roswaal's announcement about field trip to the beach as "jumping the gun". Roswaal made a point, "No, silly. Youth goes by too quickly. Poof."

After Roswaal made an announcement about field day and there was a class next door, Subaru went to check out through the window of the neighboring classroom. Roswaal reminded Subaru along with Ainz and Tanya to return to class.

During field day, Roswaal observed that Class 2 was losing and reminded to the class (especially Subaru) about the cavalry game. Later in Subaru's shock; Roswaal, Mr. Rerugen, and their other two colleagues entered the cavalry game. After a gigantic destructive machine entered the scene, Roswaal used magic on Subaru's team, "If I were you, I'd definitely start running." Despite Roswaal and the teachers lost the cavalry game to Subaru's team, the boy did not take it well that Roswaal had lied to the class of returning to their respective home worlds for winning the field day.

During science class, Subaru apologized to Roswaal when Megumin used explosion triggering the flooding of the school. Underneath Roswaal's saying "Quite the blunder, eh? Well, everybody has bad taste. But as far as boom booms go, this one does seem particularly extreme, doesn't it?"; he somehow was aware of what Subaru and some of the students were up to.

Kazuma Sato
Roswaal did not punish Kazuma for beating Aqua to stop her from attacking Ainz and his followers. Therefore, he placed the teenage boy in the Student Disciplinary Committee with Tanya and Demiurge.

During field day, Roswaal and his colleagues entered the cavalry game competing against the students including Kazuma's team. After a powerful destructive machine entered the scene, Roswaal used magic on Kazuma's team before losing.

One day, Roswaal caught Kazuma holding a bottle of wine. Despite saying "I completely understand how you feel, truly"; Roswaal subjected the boy along with Grantz, Neumann, Koenig, and Aqua to detention after school.

Megumin
When Megumin volunteered for the talent show, Roswaal obliged and took the whole class out into the playing field. "Now, since we don't do boom boom in the classroom, I have a target here for your fiery pleasure," he gave her a bronze statue to blow up.

Whether it was intentional or did he turned a blind eye in science class, Roswaal did not stop Megumin from using Explosion magic as he somehow was aware of what she and some of the students were up to.

Aqua
The first punishment Roswaal carried out on Aqua was bucketing after he saw her attacking Ainz and his followers on the first day of school.

After catching her along with Kazuma, Grantz, Neumann, and Koenig in their attempt to steal from the principal; Roswaal subjected them to detention after school.

During test day, Roswaal caught Aqua cheating and ordered her out of the classroom before she received an automatic zero.

Albedo
Roswaal became aware of Albedo's animosity towards Aqua who attacked Ainz in the street after school, "Your name is Albedo, yes? Don't even try it." He then used his authority as a teacher to bring her in line, "Please, try to remember it's very important that we all get along here. We don't want any problems now, do we? Although it is a rhetorical question, the answer is still in fact, 'No, sir'."

After Albedo expressed how outrageous she found that the class was being led by a "stammering child", Roswaal said, "I'm sorry you feel that way. But the process was open and fair so ..." He eventually used name drawing and made her the second vice representative of Class 2.

During the Test of Courage activity, Albedo drew a name and teamed up with someone else who was not Ainz. When her team finished the activity, she found it pointless. Roswaal reminded her, "That maybe true for you, but you can't speak for the others".

After the arrival of the new student of Class 2 Chomusuke, Roswaal had the seats changed through name drawing. He continued with the lesson and ignored Albedo's request of changing her seat.

Kyouhukou
Roswaal had a low opinion of Kyouhukou in the extent of declining to have afternoon tea with him, "Not happening".

Trivia

 * Roswaal's makeup made him a subject to a misconception of being a clown.  Prior to the events of Isekai Quartet, Subaru Natsuki was the first to mistake him for a clown hired by a nobleman.  In Isekai Quartet, Tanya von Degurechaff initially viewed Roswaal as a "clownish-yodeling fool".  However, it takes more than the makeup and the eccentric way of speech to make Roswaal a clown character.