ONA
Description
Prince Aleksandar, known informally as Alek, is one of the two main protagonists of the anime Leviathan. He is a sixteen-year-old Austrian prince, the son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Chotek, Princess of Hohenberg. In the anime's reimagining of 1914, the assassination of his father throws the continent toward war and forces Aleksandar to flee the Austro-Hungarian Empire in a mechanized walker, a steam-powered war machine of the type used by the Clanker powers. His escape ends his sheltered life as a royal heir and turns him into a fugitive who must survive in a Europe on the edge of conflict.
As a character, Aleksandar carries the weight of his family name and the expectations placed on him as a prince. His motivations are shaped by the loss of his father and by his need to stay alive while the empire to which he belongs descends into turmoil. He is a product of the aristocratic Clanker world, raised in a society that relies on machinery rather than the biological engineering favored by the rival Darwinist nations. This background places him on the opposite side of the war from the story's other central figure, Deryn Sharp, a daring young woman who serves in the British Air Service disguised as a boy. Although they come from enemy nations and opposing technological traditions, Aleksandar and Deryn are brought together when their paths cross, and their meeting becomes the central relationship of the series. Their bond is built on secrets, mutual dependence, and the gradual recognition that the people they were raised to see as enemies are not so different from themselves.
Around Aleksandar stands a small circle of companions who accompany him in exile, including figures such as Ernst Volger and Otto Klopp, who serve as part of his entourage while he travels through dangerous territory. These loyal allies help protect the young prince and guide him as he adjusts to life outside the protection of the imperial court.
In terms of abilities, Aleksandar is shown as capable of operating the mechanized walker he uses to make his escape, reflecting his upbringing among the Clanker powers, where familiarity with such machines is a mark of status and training. His upbringing as a royal prince and his connection to the machine-based military tradition of his empire give him a measure of knowledge about the mechanized warfare of his era. Over the course of the story, he develops from a prince defined by his title into a refugee who must prove himself through action, learning to trust and cooperate with someone from the opposing side and to question the assumptions of the world in which he was raised.
As a character, Aleksandar carries the weight of his family name and the expectations placed on him as a prince. His motivations are shaped by the loss of his father and by his need to stay alive while the empire to which he belongs descends into turmoil. He is a product of the aristocratic Clanker world, raised in a society that relies on machinery rather than the biological engineering favored by the rival Darwinist nations. This background places him on the opposite side of the war from the story's other central figure, Deryn Sharp, a daring young woman who serves in the British Air Service disguised as a boy. Although they come from enemy nations and opposing technological traditions, Aleksandar and Deryn are brought together when their paths cross, and their meeting becomes the central relationship of the series. Their bond is built on secrets, mutual dependence, and the gradual recognition that the people they were raised to see as enemies are not so different from themselves.
Around Aleksandar stands a small circle of companions who accompany him in exile, including figures such as Ernst Volger and Otto Klopp, who serve as part of his entourage while he travels through dangerous territory. These loyal allies help protect the young prince and guide him as he adjusts to life outside the protection of the imperial court.
In terms of abilities, Aleksandar is shown as capable of operating the mechanized walker he uses to make his escape, reflecting his upbringing among the Clanker powers, where familiarity with such machines is a mark of status and training. His upbringing as a royal prince and his connection to the machine-based military tradition of his empire give him a measure of knowledge about the mechanized warfare of his era. Over the course of the story, he develops from a prince defined by his title into a refugee who must prove himself through action, learning to trust and cooperate with someone from the opposing side and to question the assumptions of the world in which he was raised.