Maira

Maira
Japanese	マイラ
Rōmaji	Maira
Gender	Male
Status	Deceased
Team	Chess Pieces
Class	Bishop
ÄRMs	Vaqua
Seiyū (Japanese)	Keiichi Sonobe
Voice Actor (English)	David Lodge

Maira (マイラ, Maira) was a Bishop in the Chess Pieces.

Appearance

Despite being a Bishop, Maira still retained the cloak and mask he wore during his time as a Pawn.

Personality

Maira was a black-cloaked masked man who took pleasure in killing his opponents but cowered in fear when his own life was threatened.

Etymology

Maira, written as Μαῖρα, is an Ancient Greek name meaning 'the sparkler'. It is also spelled "Maera" in classical Latin.

In Greek mythology, Maira was a hound belonging to Erigone, daughter of Icarius of Athens.

History

First Great MÄR Heaven War

During the early stages of the first war, Maira and a number of other Pawns were engaged in fierce combat with the Cross Guard in a castle where an ÄRM was hidden. One Cross Guard soldier chased him through the halls of the castle. The soldier unintentionally breaks the rusty lock on a set of doors behind Maira, and chases him further into the room. There, Maira discovers the Guardian ÄRM, Vaqua, and uses it to kill the Cross Guard with its digestive abilities.

With this ÄRM, Maira was commended by Phantom and promoted to the Rook class, and then to the Bishop class.

Second Great MÄR Heaven War

War Games

Maira is first seen watching the War Game battle between Ginta Toramizu and Garon.

Round 2

During the second round of the War Games, Maira reappears as a fighter for the Chess Pieces. He has the last of the battles in that round, and goes up against Dorothy.

Right before there battle begins Maira announced that he will present Dorothy as the first corpse in the war game. Dorothy smiles commenting that Maira doesn't know who she is. In response, Maira confirms that he's never heard of the witch, nor is he at all interested.

As the round begins Dorothy summons her Guardian, Ring Armor, to test Maira's abilities. Maira comments that it is a guardian anyone could use and is being underestimated. The Ring Armor charges towards him but suddenly stops when Maira activates his own guardian, Vaqua. Vaqua engulfs Ring Armor within it, where it then cracks and shatters, destroying the ÄRM completely. Maira tells her that he'll gladly give Vaqua to her if she can defeat him in response to her interest in acquiring it for her collection. Dorothy then summons a new guardian, Rock Giant Golem, she acquired while trying to acquire Babbo. Immediately nicknaming it "Brikin" upon summoning, the giant golem delivers several huge punches to Vaqua causing it to splatter, only to immediately reform.

Maira tells Dorothy of Vaqua's great power by measuring it to the number of its victims, both Guardian ÄRMs and humans alike, and how it allowed him to receive two class promotions from his original rank of Pawn. Dorothy hypothetically suggests that if Maira were to lose, he would be demoted back to a Pawn, and asks if he would rather die than accept that. Maira, unfazed by Dorothy's change in demeanor, does not recognize the danger he is in.

Changing her strategy, Dorothy recalls Brikin. Maira sees this action as a surrender and brags about giving team MÄR their first corpse. While he's gloating, Dorothy activates her Dimension ÄRM, Zipper. As she uses it a large zipper appears in the space next to her and begins to unzip revealing a separate dimension. She puts her hand in and begins rummaging through it commenting where she'll find the ÄRM that will kill him. She feels through several ÄRMs within the zipper aren't the one she's looking for. Maira impatiently orders Vaqua to attack. Suddenly, Dorothy finds the ÄRM she's settled on using. She pulls out a small chain ending in a dog's head, radiating an aura. Maira ask if it's a weapon of a guardian, commenting that regardless Vaqua will kill her soon. He commands the guardian to engulf and destroy her. Dorothy then activates her Guardian ÄRM, Rain Dog. As Vaqua charges at her the air itself begins to crack and reveal a hole that Vaqua flies into. Within the hole emerges sounds of crunching and slurping, as if something is enjoying a fine meal. Both teams watch apprehensively, when suddenly the broken pieces of Maira's ÄRM are spat out from the hole. Maira rushes over to pick up the pieces from the sand. Dorothy invites her Guardian, "Toto", to step out onto the battlefield.

A beast emerges from the rift in space to his master's side. Dorothy asks how Vaqua tasted. The beast now revealed to be a huge wolf comments that it was too syrupy. She then gets angry at Toto commenting she wanted that ÄRM to which the large guardian apologizes. She calms down and brushes the loss off, saying that it wasn't really suited to her taste anyway. Maira, still horror-struck that Vaqua was literally eaten, stands up to look upon the Guardian at her side. Dorothy properly introduces her gluttonous Guardian ÄRM, Rain Dog.

Toto's attention turns to Maira as he finally realizes he's in danger and frantically states that he doesn't have any more ÄRMs and surrenders. Pozun begins to call the match but Dorothy interrupts, refusing to let the match be over. She points out how many lives Vaqua ate and how he should experience what it's like to eaten, too. Maira begs for mercy, but Dorothy merely reminds him who she is. With his master's permission, Toto sucks Maira into his mouth and devours him whole. Dorothy jokes that the first corpse of the War Game is a Chess Piece.

ÄRMs

Maira's ÄRMs are:

• ???: A weapon ÄRM in the form of a scythe wielded by most Pawns, which Maira discarded after obtaining Vaqua.
• Vaqua: A Guardian ÄRM in the form of a giant blob of slime with one eye. The blob will digest anything it swallows up into its body, such as ÄRM or even enemies themselves, and will regenerate from any damage. It is destroyed by Dorothy's Toto, although Dorothy was hoping to add it to her collection.

Trivia

• The cloak is vastly different in effect in the anime and manga. In the anime, it is given a mirage-like appearance; and the manga a shifting mass of darkness.