Gourry Gabriev (ガウリイ・ガブリエフ, Gaurī Gaburiefu) is a master swordsman and the self-proclaimed protector of Lina Inverse, the main character of Slayers. His Japanese voice actor is Yasunori Matsumoto and his voice actor for the English TV series is Eric Stuart. He is voiced by Chris Patton in the Slayers Premium movie.
Overview[]
He is handsome and well-built, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Even though the characters in Slayers do age with time, Hajime Kanzaka has stated that he sees Gourry as "forever 22." It might be reasonable to predict that this is his age at the beginning of the series, and he ages at the same pace as Lina and the other characters as the series progresses. He is 182 cm (just under 6 feet) tall, which makes him the tallest of the main cast.[1]
Despite being one of the most prominent characters in the Slayers series, Gourry is arguably one of the most lacking in background information; it has been implied that this is due to Gourry probably not being very proud of his past. Almost nothing is known about his immediate family, except that he has a grandmother as well as a brother who he is on bad terms with. Gourry's family often feuded amongst each other over who would inherit the family treasure, the Sword of Light, a conflict that Gourry was not fond of. It is mentioned that his brother also died as a result of this feud. Eventually, Gourry ran away from his homeland of Elmekia with the sword in an attempt to stop the fighting it caused. After running away from home, Gourry became a mercenary, taking whatever odd job he could in order to earn a buck. He gave up his wandering lifestyle when he met a man who advised him to do something important with his life. In an odd twist of fate, this man turned out to be Lina's father (neither Lina nor Gourry know this) and, a mere few days after parting with the man, Gourry came across Lina in the woods. The rest is history as, from that point on, Gourry became Lina's full-time "protector."
Rowdy Gabriev is his distant ancestor, but it's not known how exactly they are related. It should be noted that Rowdy's girlfriend in Slayers: The Motion Picture, Mellyroon, an elf, is not related to Gourry, as elves age at a much, much slower rate than humans and Melliroon would thusly still be a young girl when Rowdy would be an old man, according to the author.
Gourry is semi-famous in Sairaag, due to a task he performed there some time ago (it is not known what exactly it was). Gourry is extremely protective of his sword, as it has been in his family for many generations. In both the novels and the anime, Gourry gave up the Sword of Light. In the anime, he gave it to Sirius so it could return to its rightful place in Dark Star Dugradigdu's world. In the novels, Hellmaster Phibrizzo took it and returned it to Dark Star. After this happened, Gourry acquired the Blast Sword, a sword which recycles magical energy in the blade to make it become increasingly sharper. Milgazia the golden dragon had to put a spell on it so that it would be dull enough to be useful.
One running gag regarding Gourry is that he has been seen dressed as a woman in the seventeenth episodes of the first three seasons of the Slayers anime. This tradition was not continued in Slayers EVOLUTION-R.
Personality[]
Gourry is portrayed as heroic, having a calm demeanor and a chivalrous attitude that serves as a foil to Lina Inverse's fiery temper tantrums and greedy disposition, and also often provides comic relief, depending on the scene. Though he means well, he is also characterized by his tendency to put things bluntly, without much tact, occasionally hurting the feelings of others or embarrassing Lina. That being said, some of his comments are so on-point that it can be difficult to believe that they're unintentional.
Gourry remains Lina's closest, most consistent companion throughout the series, traveling with her even when their other two friends, Zelgadiss and Amelia, are off somewhere else. Though Lina once claimed she only let him tag along because she wanted his family heirloom, the legendary Sword of Light, they continued to travel together long after the weapon was no longer in Gourry's possession, with Lina instead saying she stayed with him so she could help find him a new sword. Despite her frustrations with Gourry's seemingly apparent lack of mental agility, among his other habits such as making frequent blunt observation about Lina's less-than-favorable traits (which usually results in Lina abusing him with objects and nasty spells), Lina eventually falls in love with him, and he apparently falls in love with her. Despite this, their relationship never blossoms fully within either the manga, light novels or the anime. However, this lack of a developing relationship is partly because Lina, as an excitable, whimsical but not fully emotionally matured teenager, is not adept at expressing affectionate or romantic feelings. Instead, their relationship is referred to and makes presence in the series through slightly more subtle ways other than blatant public affection. The two have proven to be a highly effective pair in battle, and often can sense what the other is thinking. They get a sort of closure when they share a kiss at the end of the anime series Slayers Next when Gourry came to resce Lina from the Lord of Nightmares, but they did not remember it afterwards. In the anime series Slayers Evolution-R, a character inquires "You love Lina, don't you?" out loud to Gourry; while Lina stumbles through a denial in embarrassment, Gourry does not vocalize a denial at all. At the end of the fifteenth volume of the original novel series when Gourry asks Lina to visit back her hometown in Zephilia, Lina thinks that he is proposing to her and that is the reason he wants to visit her family.
While Gourry may not be the smartest of characters, his ignorance is purposefully beneficial to helping the audience understand what is going on; hence making him a device for exposition. The other three main characters are well educated and have knowledge regarding the cosmology and history of the world which is assumed everyone in the world would know. Since Gourry, however, does not know or remember these facts, it forces the other three to verbalize these facts, which allows for the audience to learn what is assumed to be well known - even the author himself admitted to be making use of this fact. In the original novels, his intelligence is portrayed more as tactless and slightly out of-the-loop rather than idiotic, as the novels are written from Lina's point of view and thus she is able to explain situations through narration rather than having to resort to Gourry's supposed faulty memory. In the novels, it is also heavily implied that Gourry tends to purposely obfuscate his intelligence most of the time to annoy or tease Lina, as well as deceive others into underestimating him.
To his credit, Gourry is extremely loyal to his friends and allies and has displayed a great deal of patience with Lina and her tantrums. The only time his own patience is questioned is when he does not have access to food, much like Lina, as they both share a great passion for fine cooking. Another notable occasion where his temperament was strained is when he was led to believe that Lina was dead in order to deceive the enemy (He openly cries and expresses murderous rage toward her would-be killer), for which, for the first time ever in the series he whacks Lina in the head in way of admonishment for worrying him (in which Lina, bashfully and uncharacteristically, apologizes). In the novels, Gourry will also release an aura of killing intent when he is seriously angered, which intimidates even Lina.
Biography[]
Gourry is first seen when he finds Lina (with Naga the Serpent in Kadokawa Shoten Tsubasa's paperback edition) confronting the surviving members of the Dragon's Fangs gang (she had previously decimated most of their band, killing their leader, and took a fair chunk of their treasure for herself). Believing Lina to be "a luscious damsel in distress," Gourry steps in and defeats the bandits. When Gourry discovers that Lina is not the beautiful maiden he had thought but merely an underdeveloped teenager he is in disappointment, much to the embarrassment and humiliation of Lina (who was not even in any danger given her powers as a sorceress). Assuming that Lina is a lost little girl, he offers to escort her "home", but she plays along with his misconception and he vows to escort her there at any cost. Along the way, Gourry shifts gears into the more familiar nice guy persona that would define him for the remainder of the series.
Abilities[]
Gourry is among the world's greatest swordsmen. His battle ability is formidable, especially taking into consideration that he does not use any sort of magic whatsoever. However, his abilities are often overshadowed by his poor memory and intelligence problems. Gourry often does not remember important facts or even the names of his enemies. Sometimes, he cannot recall things he did only a matter of minutes beforehand. Despite this, he still has great intuition, especially out on the battlefield, and he can sometimes envision the motives of other people, such as when he would know what Lina's attack plan would be without her telling him about it first. Another notable example of his acute observation skills is that he had figured out that Xelloss was a mazoku long before anyone else realized it, not mentioning it to the others only because he had thought it wasn't important and that it was "obvious".
He is one of the few characters who can eat almost as much as Lina Inverse, even accounting for the fact he is much taller and structurally larger than she is.
Surprisingly, Hajime Kanzaka has stated that Gourry actually has a magic capacity that would enable him to wield spells with a power and destructiveness that would near-rival Lina's. However, due to Gourry's inconsistent memory, he's rendered useless in the field of magic.
Relationships[]
Lina Inverse: The only person Gourry is specifically close to in the series is Lina. In the beginning, he assumed she was a child who needed protection, but after he learned she was a famous sorceress, he became attached to her as a friend. Simply put, Lina is Gourry's reason for living, with he himself stating that he would stay by her side "for the rest of his life". He considers it his sole duty to protect her, and, without this duty, he would have nothing. As Lina obviously has no need for help in protecting herself, the pair instead both look out for one another, as opposed to Gourry being the only protector. The friendship between them eventually turns into love, which is affirmed when they are reunited after Gourry's time in captivity at the hands of Hellmaster Fibrizo. The romantic aspect of their relationship is rarely, if ever, explored within any incarnations of the series, partly because of Lina's immaturity and discomfort with such subjects, as well as the fact that, in reality, creator Hajime Kanzaka states that he isn't good at writing romantic scenes. However, it is still plainly clear to see the two have a very strong mutual bond, always traveling together and often being able to tell what the other is thinking. Gourry himself seems content with just being by her side.
Zelgadiss Graywords: Gourry and Zelgadiss being the only non-mazoku, regular males in the party, obviously have a friendship. Gourry does not understand why Zelgadiss occasionally beats himself up, and he shows him respect, despite his appearance. They sometimes converse on the puzzling actions of the women around them.
Sylphiel Nels Lahda: She is openly infatuated with Gourry, yet he doesn't seem to realize this; or if he does realize it, he doesn't let it show. She is one of the few people whose name Gourry consistently remembers, even after long stretches of time without seeing each other, although he does this only by associating her name with her good cooking. He acts as a protector and is almost a doting brother-like figure around her, showing her compassion and sympathy when others aren't able to.
Zangulus: Gourry and Zangulus are both rivals in the first season of the anime and Zangulus is always determined to defeat the swordsman of light, though Gourry always seems to have the upper hand. Though neither of them want to admit it at the time, they both have a grudging respect towards each other. They eventually become good friends by the end of Slayers NEXT.
Appearances[]
- Slayers novels (N01-N15)
- Slayers VS Orphen novel
- Slayers anime (EP01-EP26)
- Slayers NEXT (EP01-EP26)
- Slayers TRY (EP01-EP14, EP17-EP26)
- Slayers Premium movie
- Slayers REVOLUTION
- Slayers EVOLUTION-R
- Slayers! manga
- Slayers: Super-Explosive Demon Story 1-8
- Slayers Premium manga
- Slayers VS Orphen CD drama
- Slayers Royal
- Slayers Royal 2
- Slayers Wonderful
Musical appearances[]
- Uso no Nai Game - SET ME FREE
- SLAYERS 4 the future
- SO IN THE WORLD
Trivia[]
- In Italian Dub, Gourry was renamed 'Guido' and he is voiced by Diego Sabre, whose voice credits include the Italian dub voices for Shaggy Rogers (Scooby Doo), Yamcha (Dragonball), Barney Rubble (Flinstones), and Tobi (Naruto Shippuden).
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Noble Pudding - An informative and detailed shrine for Gourry. [Archive Link]