Teito Klein is a former slave who now attends the Barsburg Empire's military academy due to his ability to use Zaiphon, a type of supernatural power. The ability is rare and thus highly prized.
Teito is an amnesiac who frequently has frightening dreams. After a year at the academy, Teito prepares to take the notoriously difficult graduation exam. The night before the exam, Teito and his only friend, Mikage, swear they will never abandon each other if the other needs help. Both of them pass the exam. The next day, Teito hears people talking about him. Stopping to listen, he suddenly realizes that the speaker, Chief of Staff Ayanami, is the person who killed the familiar man in his dreams: his father, the king of the destroyed Raggs Kingdom. Teito is caught eavesdropping and tries to attack Ayanami but is quickly brought down by one of his subordinates and sent to prison. Mikage comes to help him escape, only to find that Teito has managed to fight past the guards by himself. The two flee the building but are cornered on a balcony. Teito pretends to hold Mikage hostage, threatening to kill him if the guards pursue him, thus making his escape, though he is wounded by a Zaiphon blast that Ayanami directs at him. Three bishops in the nearby 7th District discover the injured Teito and take him to a nearby church to recuperate. Because of the 7th District's law of sanctuary, as long as Teito stays in the church, the army cannot arrest him.
In due time, it is discovered that Teito carries the Eye of Mikhail, a powerful talisman for which his home country, the Raggs Kingdom, was destroyed. This fact, as well as a fateful reunion, catapults Teito into a quest for revenge against the Barsburg Empire and for knowledge about his past. At the same time, his status as the bearer of the Eye of Mikhail throws him into the long-standing conflict between the evil Verloren and his enemies, the 07 Ghosts.
- Teito Klein (テイト·クライン Teito Kurain) Voiced by: Saiga Mitsuki
The protagonist of the story. His real name is Wahrheit Tiashe Raggs, son of Weldeschtein Krom Raggs, and he is the prince of the former Raggs Kingdom. However, after being entrusted with the Eye of Mikhail during the invasion by the Barsburg Empire, his identity was hidden and he was raised by his uncle, Fea Kreuz, as a church orphan. Upon the death of Kreuz, he was made into a combat slave, but eventually entered the Barsburg military academy and became known as a star pupil. He is a clever student and very talented, making him one of the best students despite other students' mockery.
At the start of the manga, Teito makes a promise with his best (and only) friend, Mikage, that they will always be there for each other.[5] Unfortunately, Mikage gives up his life to protect Teito from the Empire. This crushes Teito emotionally and he swears revenge, even though Mikage told him not to. At the 7th District Church he starts studying to become a priest so he can gain a priest's advantages on his way to revenge: less stringent inspections at borders, access to information and free room and board at any inn in the Empire.
Teito is often teased because of his short stature by Mikage, Frau and others, who often treat him like a child or mistake him for one, which annoys him to no end. While training with Mikage using Zaiphon, Mikage even engraves the word 'chibi' (small) to tease him. It is later revealed in a flashback that the reason for his shortness is probably because he only took pills instead of eating proper meals while he was a slave and a student at the military school.At the beginning of the story, Teito is a cold and serious student due to his only memories being those of a combat slave whose only purpose was to kill criminals. He is initially cold to Mikage as well, although the two eventually become good friends. Strangely, according to the academy chairman, Miroku, Teito's greatest weakness is his compassion, despite all the hardships he has gone through. For example, during the military exam which required him to kill a condemned criminal in order to pass, Teito refused to do so, stating that there was no reason to do so. Ayanami then intervened and killed the criminal instead, mocking Teito for being weak. His compassion is more obvious as the story progresses: he resists Mikhail's control to avoid killing Bastien (even though Bastien was going to kill him), he gives a scarf he brought for Frau to a homeless old man, he tracks down Capella's mother and gives Capella back to her despite his attachment to him and he rescues a soul from the wish of someone possessed by a Kor who felt its sadness. While he was a slave, he often saw other children with their mothers and could not remember ever having a family. The only person who cared about him as a slave was a mute maid in the manor where he lived. Before leaving to go to military school, Teito brought her a feather, promising that someday she would be free as well. It is shown at the end of the flashback sequence that she still has a framed picture of Teito and is shown looking at it fondly.
It is later shown that Teito was the heir to the throne of the Raggs Kingdom, his real name being Wahrheit Tiashe Raggs. However, he was the son of a concubine, causing the Queen to despise him. She later makes a deal to the Pope and gives Teito's body to him. The Pope seals Verloren's body within Teito, which makes him 'The Pandora's Box' that seals Verloren as well as the vessel for a being that is essentially the source of all evil on Earth. The King was not aware of this because the Queen and Pope constructed a false body to fake Teito's death, concealing the fact that he was made into Pandora's Box. Their plan is somewhat foiled by Bishop Fia Kruez, or 'The Father', who used his power as one of the Seven Ghosts (the Ghost of the Raggs House of God, Vertrag) to subdue Verloren's body, sealing it temporarily.
The identity of any one of the Seven Ghosts must remain a secret, however, so nobody believes Fia Kruez's word against the Pope. This is the origin of the 'lie' (that Kruez committed the unforgivable act of stealing Pandora's Box). To ensure Teito's soul will not be overcome by Verloren's sealed body, saving his life, the King makes Teito become the Vessel of the Eye of Mikhail very early in life. Interestingly, the Eye of Mikhail protects Teito from Verloren while simultaneously being the one thing that can open Pandora's Box. At this time, the Barsburg Kingdom attacks the Raggs Kingdom under the impression that Raggs made a declaration of war, since the messenger that Raggs sent to tell Barsburg about the Pope was killed. This caused Barsburg to believe that Raggs stole Pandora's Box.It's revealed that Fea Kruez is the younger brother of the King — making 'Father' Teito's blood uncle. This explains why Kreuz has been around Teito since the beginning. It also brings up the possibility that Teito himself may become a Ghost, as he is the last of the bloodline of the Raggs God House.
Teito has a combat slave tattoo on his back which he got from the Queen out of jealousy because the king favored him over her (he also is not her son, which exacerbates the issue). During his fight against Ayanami, he gets a slave collar around his neck. Later, Frau accidentally invokes a blood contract when he attempts to get the collar off, making him Teito's 'master'. This enables him to use three commands that Teito must obey: Sleep, Bind, and Pain. In a humorous scene, Castor states that he should not have informed Frau about the commands, implying that Frau will probably abuse this power. However, in actuality, Frau has only used the command 'Sleep' twice in self-defense. The collar will explode if Teito separates from Frau, the collar's master, for over 48 hours.
Teito is very skilled with the Bascules, once even exceeding the Zaiphon limit for it during training.[6] He is very agile and an excellent runner after having trained with Castor's puppets, and manages to get through the examinations on his first try with Hakuren. His slave number was 2741. It is hinted by Mikhail that Teito is the best vessel he has ever had.
In the Hauzen House Arc, Teito found out from Castor's servant that Castor, whose original name is Shinruu, is actually dead. This led to considerable confusion, as he could not figure out why he saw Castor still alive at the church. Teito was later attacked by a Wars in the doll of Shinruu's mother. Teito posed as Shinruu and forgave her, then defeated the Wars. As Teito left, Fest/Castor appeared and asked if Teito had the courage to accept the "curse" -- that is, the first of the seven 'cursed tickets' needed to reach the Land of Seele.[7] He later received the second one from Profe/Labrador.
Later, he went to the Barsburg Empire's 5th District, formerly the Raggs Kingdom. He met the Imperial Princess, Ouka, who holds the Eye of Raphael. After being abducted by Lem, he found out that he coincidentally went into the Krat's, one of the God Houses, where he found Profe. After Lem's soul was freed, Teito received the second cursed ticket, leaving Ouka after exchanging their real names and giving her a doll he made at the church to thank her for the jewel she gave him.
Teito receives extra abilities as the master of the Eye of Mikhail, such as advanced hearing and a sixth sense. More are said to be sleeping within him.
His birthday is the 1st of December. He ranked first in the latest popularity poll in Monthly Comic Zero Sum.[8]
In chapter 70, he participated in the Hawkzile Race with Frau in order to sneak into the 1st District, but he was stopped by the Black Hawks there and was captured by Ayanami.
