Mayor of Koka

Template:Character Infobox The Mayor of Koka is subservient to the Snake Lord and offers the lives of his townspeople to him to preserve his own life.

Personality

The Mayor of Koka is a fearful man who is completely submissive in the presence of the Snake Lord, yet easily offended when his moral choices are questioned. Though he claims that his offering of townspeople to the Snake Lord is his means of protecting Koka, he is truly a selfish man that cares only to protect himself and sustain his own life.

Story

Black Swordsman Arc

Following the killing of the Snake Lord's thugs by the Black Swordsman, word passes to the mayor who orders for the Black Swordsman's capture. Later on, while the Black Swordsman is being tortured in the town dungeon, the mayor enters with his guards to observe. He commands the torturer to stop and notices the stockpile of weapons confiscated from the swordsman. In shock, he asks if he is a mercenary and begins to explain to him what a terrible thing he has done by killing several of the Snake Lord's bandits. It is his fear that by doing this, the Snake Lord would take out his rage on the town and utterly destroy it and the mayor himself.

Guts retaliates by insulting his guards, infuriating one of them, but the Snake Lord halts him to continue his explanation. He considers the Snake Lord an absolute monster, despite not knowing his true nature as an apostle, and fears no human could bring him down. It is then that the swordsman comments on the mayor's offering of women and children to the Snake Lord. Outraged, the mayor approaches the Black Swordsman, demanding to know how he could understand his actions being a mere vagrant in his eyes. Blind sighted by Guts' accusation, the mayor proclaims that it is his duty as Mayor of Koka to do what he must to protect his people. Guts concludes that the mayor's methods are a selfish way to protect himself. As a result, the miserable man experiences what appears to be a stroke. He falls to his knees and orders that the torturer abuse the Black Swordsman as much as he wishes to without killing him, for the mayor intends to pass him onto the Snake Lord as an exchange for his own life. He looks up and prepares himself to head to the castle.

When he finally arrives, the Snake Lord welcomes him in an eerie manner that elicits more fear from the mayor, prompting him to ask for forgiveness. He then proposes to double the output of gold and prisoners for the Snake Lord's desires. However, the mayor is suddenly interrupted as the Snake Lord reiterates that the frightened man is only interested in his own safety despite his position as mayor. With that, the Snake Lord flicks the food he was eating at the mayor, revealing that it was, in fact, human flesh. This scares the mayor beyond comprehension and the Snake Lord reveals to him his intentions for the town; burning it to the ground and murdering all of the inhabitants. the mayor is then dismissed and taken away.

Notes

• In the 1997 anime, it is revealed that the mayor (named "the Minister") was killed, as he is shown impaled on top of a spear being carried by the Snake Lord and is then thrown to the ground in front of his aide, who dies shortly thereafter along with two other guards.