Zatch Bell!
Zatch Bell!
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Zatch Bell!
Overview
Mamodo Partner
Leopardon Purio Lupa
レオパルドン・パピプリオ Reoparudon Papipurio ルーパー Rūpā
Purio and Lupa

Purio, known as Papipurio (パピプリオ Papipurio) in the Japanese version and Lupa (ルーパー Rūpā) are supporting characters and minor antagonists in the anime and manga series 'Zatch Bell!'. They are one of the longest-lasting teams in the series. Despite lasting to the top ten they are not very strong. Purio placed 8th in the battle overall. Purio utilizes "Special Slime," which involves Acid and Gas Magic.

Purio[]

Leopardon Purio, known as Leopardon Papipurio (レオパルドン・パピプリオ, Reoparudon Papipurio) in the Japanese version, is a bratty, arrogant eight-year old Mamodo child. Compared to the other Mamodo taking part in the Battle to Determine King of Mamodo World, his appearance is the most royal of all children: dressed in a princely pinstripe outfit of blue and white with a crown on top of his combed blond hair. Purio admits that he is a weakling and that his spells may not be strong enough on their own to win the king tournament. Thus, he decides to be a front for various other Mamodo he teams up with, speaking on their behalf and trying to use his egotistical, me-first personality to show a strong front compared to his weakness. Purio easily becomes jealous at things other people have and usually tries to take them for himself while taking advantage of the motherly nature of his bookkeeper to do so. (even to the extent of growing a beard similar to the bookkeeper of one of his former allies) However, he does care about his bookkeeper Lupa and will do anything to help her, even with her smothering, caring love.

Purio is voiced in the original Japanese version by Michiru Yamazaki and in the English dub by Sam Riegel.

Lupa[]

Lupa (Japanese name: Rūpā (ルーパー)) is a homemaker and bookkeeper for Purio, dressed in a long black dress and notable for her large nose and large black afro. Although Purio is primarily her partner in the Mamodo fight, Lupa also sees him as a replacement for her son, who died of a heart condition not too long before the two met each other by his gravesite. Seeing this Mamodo boy as a replacement for her own son, Lupa does whatever she needs to in order to love and protect him from both the evils of the tournament and from his own stupidity. Lupa spoils Purio to make sure he gets what he wants (even if it means using spells to help him in this manner) and sometimes she uses his powers for evil and selfish reasons like breaking into houses, responding to Purio's demand to destroy an amusement park ride without thinking about the people on the ride, torturing Zatch and Kiyo with Purio's then-new powers and firing enough acid on the mamodo Rein to fatally burn a human being. She is also willing to go in the line of danger to protect him from enemies. However, there are many times where she is found to be as cowardly as her Mamodo, using his spells as a means to escape and survive for another day.

Lupa is voiced in the original Japanese version by Chihiro Sakurai and in the English dub by Dorothy Elias-Fahn.

Biography[]

Zoboron and Purio

Purio working with Zoboron

When Purio and Lupa are introduced in the series, they are shown to be a weak duo who attempt to win the fights on their own until they realize how far behind they are compared to other Mamodo. During a journey in the Himalayan Mountains, they encounter an offensive Mamodo duo: the lizard Mamodo Zoboron and the gigantic bearded Hige, and end up trying to eliminate them from the tournament. But as the two teams realize their own weaknesses, they realize that the only way to survive the Mamodo fight is to become a team. Spending the next two months training in the Himalayas, Purio and Lupa learned to work coordinated with their spells and their abilities with Zoboron and Hige until they were ready to go off and use their teamup to stop other Mamodo partners. Their first stop: Mochinoki Amusement Park in Japan, where the two teams encounter Zatch and Kiyo on a day off and use a two-on-one strategy to eliminate him from the tournament. However, things take a turn for the worse when Tia and Megumi (arriving at the park a tad late) join in the fight creating another duo team and making quick work of the opposing Mamodo. But while Zoboron was sent back, Purio and Lupa's fear of going back releases a new spell, Mokerudo, which allows them to make a smokescreen for a quick escape.

Although Purio seemed to vanish from the Mamodo fight for a while, he soon re-emerged deep within the jungles of Southeast Asia attempting to get the giant bear Mamodo Rein to join their side. Although initially merely appearing to show off a new beard and a few new spells, he soon shows himself allied with the demonic Mamodo Rodeaux, who himself was working as part of the Faudo Cult a group preparing to resurrect the Mamodo Faudo on Earth. After failing to defeat Rein and a protective Zatch, Purio and Lupa followed Rodeaux to Faudo Tower. Although the duo mostly find themselves as auxiliary assistance within the group, the two of them go through their own ups and downs while members of the team. After Zeno takes control of Faudo for himself, Purio attempts to upgrade himself with the power offered to the members of the cult, but his own stupidity and the care of Lupa prevented him from taking the new power. For the remainder of their time in Faudo, Purio and Lupa assisted in one way or another as a means to saving themselves, including guiding the Mamodo Ted into Faudo. Yet in the end, Purio became one of the few Mamodo who survive the Faudo incident, to the chagrin of a couple bookkeepers who wondered how he could last so long in the tournament.

By the time only ten Mamodo remain, Lupa began to realize that while Purio had made it this far, he isn't strong enough on his own to survive the final stage. However, she had a plan to help him: after finding out about his potential as a musical star from an agent, she had him audition (while shaving off his beard) and he eventually became a worldwide phenomenon! Lupa's ultimate plan: to use all proceeds from Purio's new stardom to save up for a special shelter that the two of them would hide in for ten years, allowing for all the remaining Mamodo to send each other back and, ultimately, make him the new king. But for added protection, she decided to go to Milan where the two of them would be protected by the Mamodo Kanchomé and star Parco Folgore. Soon after, the duo are finally tracked down by one of the remaining powerful enemies: the beetle Mamodo Goomu. Realizing their spells did nothing to the opponent, the duo attempted to flee until Lupa attempted to sacrifice herself, for the sake of protecting Purio and his book both as a Mamodo and as her son. Yet the duo appear to be saved by Kanchomé and Parco Folgore, who use their own new set of spells to stop Goomu and save them. But just as one opponent appeared to be stopped, the evil Mamodo Clear Note discovered them and fired a homing attack at all the humans and Mamodo. In a last-ditch effort to save everyone, Folgore steals Lupa's book and throws it, along with his own, against Clear's beams, destroying both of them. Watching in sorrow, Lupa and Purio embrace each other one last time as he is sent back due to the actions of the true enemy.

Along with all the other Mamodo, Purio appears to help Zatch in the final battle against Clear. His last appearance shows him enjoying himself with Kanchomé and Gorm at their school.

Lupa reappears in Zatch Bell 2 as one of the bookkeepers gathered by Dr. Riddles to assist Kiyomaro and the other bookkeepers.

Spells[]

Unlike many Mamodo, who use a variety of offensive, defensive and assist spells, nearly all of Purio's spells are of an assist variety, causing a particular status change to whomever it is fired at from his mouth. However his Acid spells (Joboido, Gigano Joboido etc.) are sometimes considered offensive spells, and indeed, are the most offensive/aggressive ones.

Dareido (ダレイド)
The First Spell
Specialslime
Special Slime
Japanese Name: Dareido
Type(s): Assist Episode: 29 Chapter: 67
Description: Purio spits glue out of his mouth that hardens and immobilizes the enemy.
Known user(s):


Poreido (ポレイド)
The Second Spell
Specialslime
Special Slime
Japanese Name: Poreido
Type(s): Assist Episode: 29 Chapter: 69
Description: Purio's spit becomes a paralyzing poison.
Known user(s):


Mokerudo (モケルド)
The Third Spell
Smoke
Smoke
Japanese Name: Mokerudo
Type(s): Assist Episode: 30 Chapter: 70
Description: Purio spews smoke from his mouth.
Known user(s):


Joboido (ジョボイド)
The Acid Spell
Specialslime
Special Slime
Japanese Name: Joboido
Type(s): Attack Episode: N/A Chapter: 297
Description: Purio spits acid from his mouth.
Known user(s):


Gigano Joboido (ギガノ・ジョボイド)
The Stronger Acid Spell
Specialslime
Special Slime
Japanese Name: Gigano Joboido
Type(s): Attack Episode: 114 Chapter: 179
Description: Purio fires a burst of acid out of his mouth.
Known user(s):


Nyureido (ニュレイド)
The Slippery Spell
Specialslime
Special Slime
Japanese Name: Nyureido
Type(s): Assist Episode: 115 Chapter: 180
Description: Purio spits oil to trip up the enemy.
Known user(s):


Mosureido (モスレイド)
The Itchy Spell
Smoke
Smoke
Japanese Name: Mosureido
Type(s): Assist Episode: 115 Chapter: 180
Description: He ejects a poisonous smoke that causes the enemy to itch.
Known user(s):


Amireido (アミレイド)
The Net Spell
Specialslime
Special Slime
Japanese Name: Amireido
Type(s): Immobilization Episode: 115 Chapter: 181
Description: His spit turns into an unbreakable net.
Known user(s):


Dioga Joboido (ディオガ・ジョボイド)
The Strongest Acid Spell
Specialslime
Special Slime
Vortexes
Vortex
Japanese Name: N/A
Type(s): Attack Episode: N/A Chapter: 297
Description: A larger form of Gigano Joboido, almost like a vortex of acid.
Known user(s):


Trivia[]

  • Purio's first name (Leopardon) was revealed on the author's blog.
  • Purio's Japanese name, Leopardon Papipurio, is a reference to the american actor Leonardo Dicaprio.
  • Lupa's appearance is based on the american actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg, specifically her role in Sister Act.
  • Purio and Gorm are the only two participants of the Clear Note Arc who are not able to use a Shin-class spell.
  • Purio has the distinction being the second male Mamodo to have a female partner, (the first being Brago).
  • Purio's partner, Lupa, is shown to have perverted tendencies. (e.g. In the manga, when Zatch and Kiyo were trapped by Amireido, she grabbed some crabs on the beach and made a comment about how the crabs would attack their penises.)
  • The death of Lupa's son is hinted at on the cover of Volume 8.[1]
  • In chapter 232, after Ted and Jido show up in Faudo, Lupa told them that she is an alien, reshaping her neck and face into something similar to E.T. from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.[2]
  • Purio's starting location in the Human World was in USA.

References[]

  1. Volume 8, Chapter 67, title page Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "gravestone" defined multiple times with different content
  2. Volume 24, Chapter 232, page 7 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "et" defined multiple times with different content
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