Earl

Earl (安琉 Aru ) was one of New Birka's elite Priests. He is a master puppeteer that guards the Upper Yard with the Trial of Personas, boasted only a nine percent survival rate before it was completed by Romeo. Earl and the other Priests act as the primary antagonists of the New Birka and Ten Trials arcs.

Physical Description
Earl is a tall man with a mildly muscular build and broad shoulders. His hair is blue and black in color, with the black parts being almost shaven, and the blue ones, occupying the top and the sides of his head, being much longer, with the one of the top being styled in a mohawk-like crest, and the ones on the sides pointing backwards.

Earl's large eyebrows are also blue, and the upper part of his nose and his forehead bear the tattoo of a stylized man extending his long, curved arms outwards. His irises each have a concentric circle surrounding the pupils inside them. He also has prominent eyelashes ending in a spiraling curved motif, each placed at one of his large eyes’ sides; the pair of eyelashes pointing towards his nose are headed downwards, while the outer ones jut upwards.



Earl’s upper body is covered in a dark, mildly fitting cloth covered in vertical white stripes, which extend up to his head to cover it in a tight hood, exposing only his hands and face. The upper part of the latter, however, is almost always obscured by a metal visor reminiscent of a Medieval sallet, which comes covered with eight small, elongated holes, with four of them in front of each of his eyes

He wears large armbands, and he has large shoulder pads each with skulls on its center. His waist is circled by a simple dark band, which holds up a massive waistguard made of cloth, which comes in four long, light-colored pieces, each adorned by a dark “X”, reaching down below his knees. Under such waist guard, Bickslow dons a pair of extremely baggy, loose dark pants, with each leg being adorned by a pair of lighter-colored belts crossing in an “X” formation. Such pants are tucked inside a pair of light, armored greaves.

Personality
Earl is a very comical character who has a strong tendency of laughing out loud maniacally and sticking his tongue out. He enjoys fighting and dislikes weak people, as shown when he said that he didn't consider weak people to be his league. As one of the priests, Earl possesses diluted sense of justice and can seem sadistic at times, especially when it comes to battling Shandians. He also can be seen as a Birkan supremacist or racist who believes that his birkan race is superior to the Shandians, Humans and the Skypieans.

Abilities and Powers
Priest Earl is widely considered one of the most powerful individuals in all of Skypiea. His mastery of Mantra combined with his wide knowledge of Dials and combat instinct combined with his incredible acrobatic physical talents prove to be a unstoppable force. It is common belief that he is the third strongest of all the Priests.

Physical Prowess
Earl is a very acrobatic and agile individual who tends to fight from a far range by using his flexibility to get to places where its difficult for his enemies to reach. He could stay at the top of an alley using a split with no effort or hang upside down wire high above the ground. He is a very quick individual who normally chooses to evade his opponents attacks and when he is hit he is able to take a direct hit without much trouble as he is very durable.

Mantra
Earl is capable of using a very powerful form of Mantra he calls "Vanquisher Mantra". This technique not only allows Earl the ability to see souls but he can control the souls of those who are close to death or defeated by him. These souls are then combined with Earl's signature "Remote Dial" in order to control his puppets.

Dial Puppets
Earl is infamous for his five puppets which are quite small in size, appear to be made of wood, and are reminiscent of tribal totems, each possessing a colored face and little wooden wings at their sides. dolls are always shown floating beside him, and often go on to repeat the last words of the sentences he pronounces; such comedic trait isn't limited to their owner, the dolls could repeat what a victim would say before attacking them.

The Puppets themselves are comprised of three different dials within each of them. First a Jet Dial (ジェットダイアル Jetto Daiaru) is used to keep them in constant flight. Second a Spark Dial (スパーク ダイアル Supaku Daiaru) gives the puppets the ability to fire laser like beams at their opponents. Thirdly a Remote Dial (リモート ダイアル Rimoto Daiaru) is used so that Earl is capable of controlling the puppets.

The puppets are put in different formations for both attack and defensive maneuvers. The Dolls attacks can be anywhere from a warning shot to a deadly laser that could incinerate pirate ship, not to mention a group of people.

Techniques

 * Orion Formation (オリオンの形成 Orion no Keisei): The five puppets line up one ontop of eachother. From such linear formation of puppets, a large, vertical crescent-shaped beam, roughly taller than a human, is released towards the opponent. Unlike normal beams, this type of attack cuts through its targets, and possesses enough cutting power to cleanly bifurcate both the ground and large pieces of rock.
 * Hercules Formation (ヘラクレの形成ス Herakuresu no Keisei): The five puppets form an X and fire an x shaped beam similar to the Orion Formation but twice as effective.
 * Capella Formation (カペラの形成 Kapera no Keisei): The five puppets form a horizontal pentagon around Earl. They rotate clockwise to form a green ring which in turn forms a forcefield which protects Earl from any incoming attacks.
 * Lyra Formation (リラの形成 Rira no Keisei): The five puppets align around their target, four behind them and one infront. They connect via green lazer, forming a cage around their victim. They are able to electricute anyone trapped in the cage on command.
 * Pegasus Formation (ペガサスの形成 Pegarasu no Keisei): The five puppets form a horizontal line which Earl mounts on in order to levitate and fly.
 * Draco Formation (ドラコの形成 Dorako no Kesei): The five puppets spin around in a pentagonal pattern, which then releases a massive beam of energy towards the opponent, which is capable of mass destruction.

Trial of Personas
By God Jarilo's orders, Earl is assigned a section of the Upper Yard that is completely under Earl's jurisdiction. This area is where Earl conducts his Trial in order to eliminate invaders upon the Upper Yard. He has set his trial up so dangerously that it only boasts a 9% percent survival rate. Anyone who enters his trial is set upon a flat plain surrounded by tree's with a very rainy and foggy environment. From an area where Earl cannot be scene, Earl commences the Trial and the invaders immediately they are struck by Earl's Draco Formation.

Anyone who does not survive the attack is then subject to his Vanquish Mantra, which he uses to control their souls and manipulate them as one of his puppets. Turning comrade into foe, Earl causes a battle royal between invaders, and anyone who falls is also subject to his Mantra, turning them into puppets and the process repeats itself until all of the invaders are controlled by Earl.

New Birka Arc
As one of the five Birkan Priests of God Jarilo, it is Earl's duty to seek out Shandian rebels and other infidels. While surveying the city due to the escape of Shandian rebel Luna, Earl comes across the former Skypiean guardian Zaiel along with humans and several Shandians. Delighted he has the chance to claim glory for capturing them, Earl challenges Zaiel and claims that he far outclasses the former champion's strength. Zaiel is surprised Earl recognizes him despite his mask but accepts Earl's challenge so that the others can escape.

Earl uses his Dial based puppets that are able to fly and strike by firing green lasers which cause a lot damage to the city while Zaiel avoids them. Finding himself on the defensive side, Zaiel prepares one of his illusions only to be foiled by Earl's Mantra which allows him to see past Zaiel's illusions and into his soul. Shocked, Zaiel demands to know how Earl possess Mantra, which are incredible abilities unique to sky people.

Earl explains that Birkans are superior to both Shandians and Skypieans and it should be no surprise that Birkans possess the Sky people's most incredible trait. Earl then asks Zaiel why he's wearing a mask and taunts him about the loss of his own Mantra by asking if the mask is to cover his shame. Zaiel is annoyed and ashamed to find that Earl recognizes him so Zaiel removes his mask. Despite his shame, Zaiel announces that he won't need Mantra to defeat New Birka, he only needs the support of his people. While attacking, Earl states that Zaiel has lost the Skypiean people's support as well as his Mantra because the Skypieans serve New Birka now. Eventually forced into a corner by Earl, Zaiel is saved by the arrival of Shandian Warriors lead by a man named Mars.

Earl plans to eliminate all of them at once using his Hercules Formation but is interrupted when the "Tower of Hate" is under attack. Earl leaves Zaiel to pursue the scene, finding two humans blasting their way past White Berets and into the building. Earl quickly surprises and ambushes the two, and is able to capture them and imprison them inside the Tower of Hate. Earl then regroups with fellow Priest Trance who has caught several Blue Sea invaders alongside Shandians. Referring to the Shandians as monkeys, Earl and Trance are bantered by their enemies for being racist pigs which ensues a fight. Earl traps the group inside a laser cage but a swordswomen challenges Trance to a duel. Knowing Trance's ace in the hole, Earl releases the swordsmen named Lyndis. Trance defeats her after liquefying her sword but is saved by the arrival of Zaiel. Zaiel nearly kills Trance but Earl bargains for his life, trading Zaiel's allies for Trance's life. When Zaiel agrees, Earl takes Trance and retreats.

Earl re-reappears to support the White Berets when the rebels reappear in the city of Lovely Island. Earl finds and battles with Mars, easily overwhelming him with long range barrages. The tide turns when Zaiel rallies the Skypiean people causing them to fight back. Earl is distracted when Earl strikes down one of his puppets and before the puppeteer can retaliate, his God Jarilo descends from the sky. Seeing Lovely City as a lost cause, Jarilo orders the Priests to withdraw and destroys the floating island.

Ten Trials Arc
Weeks after the destruction of Lovely Island, the Red Rebellion beings their counter attack and storms the Upper Yard. Earl remains in his designated section, hosting the Trial of Persona's. Divisions two and three of the Red Rebellion successfully defeat at Priest Nobu and Priest Trance, completing their trials which allows them to open the portal to Earl's trial. Once they arrive, Earl immediately begins the Trial and strikes the group with his Draco Formation. This incapacitates several shandian warriors including third division co-captain Mars. This leaves only Lyndis Harper and Romeo of the second division and former Priest Pansera Ruri of the third division. He takes control of the incapacitated from the shadows by using his Vanquish Mantra. By using Mars he is able to best Lyndis and he uses his puppets and the Shandians to best and take over the mind of Ruri.

Most of the Shandians and Ruri are neutralized by Romeo who freezes them to stop them from moving. Mars pins down Lyndis and Earl sacrifices him by blasting him with the Draco Formation while he holds down the girl swordsmen, allowing him to take control of her. Now his only task is to finish off Romeo with his remaining puppets, he is able to hold down Romeo with his puppets and prepares Lyndis to finish him off. But Romeo is influenced by what he calls a untapped power given to him by Tenshi, using a new glow to free himself. Surprised, Earl uses his puppets to further press Romeo who simply uses his new power to control the earth and fight back. He shakes the entire playing field, knocking Earl from his hiding lace. Wide open, Earl succumbs to an array of attacks from Romeo who allows Earl to live as long as the Trial is completed. Earl coawrdly agrees and completes the trial, allowing Romeo to press on towards Shandora.